Child of the Moon.

~Chapter Six~

"Lance, please!" Hector shouted in pain and frustration. "Stop that whistling!"

"We just went through a life-threatening ordeal to save each other's lives and freedom," Lance said, pressing one hand against his chest in obvious offense. "And you still have the nerve to complain about my music?!"

"I'm the one who saved you, if you remember correctly. I think you owe me a little peace."

Lance gasped dramatically and Adira laughed. She'd just finished wrapping up the last of her brother's wounds after cleaning them. She had also made him more ginger tea and told him he had to say either lying or sitting down, much to his disgust.

The party had decided to settle down in the entry room instead of their rooms upstairs in the interest of staying together. Being right next to the front door also made it easy for them to escape if the need arose. They also found the gigantic fireplace quite appealing.

They had taken the blankets and pillows from their rooms and brought them downstairs to the entry room to create makeshift beds. No one was anywhere close to ready to sleep, so they kept the lights on and took to chatting amongst themselves and in Lance's case, whistling. 

"Well, what do you propose instead?!" Eugene snapped from where he was sitting with Rapunzel on his lap. "As bad as the whistling is, none of us are going to sleep any time soon. At least hating the noise gives us something to do."

"Why don't you tell us one of your stories, brother?" Adira suggested with a smirk. "They are quite entertaining."

"And by that you mean you want me to embarrass myself for your amusement."

"Yes, that is correct."

"No."

Rapunzel perked up at the mention of stories and smiled widely. She seemed to actually want to hear some wild tale of Hector's childhood or of a daring rescue.

"Um, Hector?" she ventured.

"Yeah?" Hector responded absently.

"Do you... actually have any stories? I'd love to hear one, if you don't mind."

Hector opened his eyes in shock.

"You're serious?"

"Of course!" Rapunzel responded cheerfully.

"Oh, well, uh, any requests?"

"Oh, so you'll tell her stories," Adira interrupted. "But you blow me off?!"

"That's because you only want me to talk about the times I've humiliated myself or nearly died!"

"Don't forget the times we thought you were actually dead," Adira smirked, when she noticed Rapunzel perk up at the thought of such interesting tales.

"What?!" Rapunzel squealed excitedly. "Did you fake your own death or something?!"

"What? No. I... ah, šūdas. This is your way of getting me to tell the story, huh? Fine! I'll tell the goddamn story!"

"I'll help you," Adira offered eagerly.

"What?! No, you-"

"I believe I am just as much a part of the story as you. After all, I was the one you traumatized by mostly dying."

"Fine! But I get to start it!"

"Perfect. Everyone else, get comfortable. This is a pretty long story."

Rapunzel repositioned herself on her boyfriend's lap, smiling widely all the while. Eugene gently wrapped his arms around her and rested his chin on top of her head. Cassandra laid back, tucking her hands behind her head and closing her eyes. Lance curled up into a ball of blankets and pillows. Shorty had already fallen asleep.