A Castle Of Crystal

30. Fingers in the honey pot

The warmth of sunlight on my skin awoke me the next day but it wasn't in the usual place and the room seemed darker than I was used to. I was concerned I'd slept a whole day by accident but when I shifted around I could feel an actual quilt around me, Scylla's body tucked close to my chest while I took a better look. My whole being froze with a strange tingling sensation when I realized...I was in Kane's room. In his bed. I had all my clothes on at least, my hair was still up, albeit frizzy, but I remained utterly confused until I brushed my hand over the wound on my leg. The soft skin of a fresh scar made me reminisce on the pressure of his hand as he helped to steady me while he plucked the thread out of my wound.

"Scylla dear, it's morning," I hummed as I brushed her hair from her face and her eyes slowly open, "did I fall asleep...?"

She nodded groggily before yawning and tucking closer to me. "Kane didn't want to wake you. Went out to sleep on the couch."

"Oh shit," I scoffed at myself, sitting up and glancing around for a moment before I saw my phone on the nightstand. He'd even plugged it in for me, I thought with a tiny pout as I reached for the device. It was almost ten for God's sake, I'd slept fourteen hours minimum.

"Your body is exhausted," Scylla said as if reading my thoughts and struggled to wake herself, reminding me that familiars directly fed off of our emotions and conditions, "better today. You need to eat though."

"I suppose I should," I sighed and pulled her into a hug, "I'm sorry I'm overworking myself. I'm not used to having you back yet."

"Have you been doing this the whole time I've been gone?"

"Just about. It's hard to find time to just relax when you're being hunted by the Guard and assassins."

"No wonder you're so tired," she grumbled, "you need to give yourself a break."

"It's what I've been trying to do," I chuckled softly, "thank you for putting up with me my little squishy."

"You're my natales. My family. My sister. I'll always put up with you but that doesn't mean I won't scold you for not taking care of yourself."

"You're a good sister," I assured her and placed a gentle kiss on her forehead before she climbed out of the blankets, leaving me to grab for my backpack and pull a pair of jeans out. She'd already raced down the hall and I could hear her tormenting Jude while I changed and let my hair down. When I attempted to run my hair brush through it I groaned, bitching and moaning to myself about chopping it all off just so I wouldn't have to work out near three feet worth of knots from the strands.

I hesitantly treaded down the hallway, never having woken up somewhere like this and doing my best to remind myself that Kane said I was welcome here at any time. Jude greeted me from the couch with a smile and I returned one, noting his hair hung loose today when he usually tied it back. Scylla had already commandeered the other controller and I watched with a warm laugh as she quickly knocked him off the screen while he swore.

"How does someone who's never touched a video game in the entirety of her existence learn how to kick my ass in under a week?" He turned to ask as I leaned over the back of the couch.

"Familiars are very quick to learn, they have to be to adapt to changing environments," I explained, "Scylla's intuition also works in her favor because she's very observant, so much so that she's able to predict movements and strike preemptively. Even a screen can't stop her when her opponent is giving her all the cues from beside her."

"Oh, so you're saying I stick her in an online match and she'll get a smack down?" He snorted mischievously while she flipped a little middle finger at him, "sorry for the shit-giving last night by the way, Kane explained what happened on his way out. You feelin' any better?"