Renevere Mars: Part Three

Episode 21: Espionage

The hangover that Ren experienced the morning after the Snow Festival hardly seemed fair. She'd felt incredibly sober by the time the night was done, and her head was already pounding from crying as it was. She had gotten herself in bed with a glass of water probably not too long before the first birds to rise would be chirping. When she first opened her eyes to sunlight spilling through her window, the pounding in her skull was enough to stop her from moving from the bed. She buried her head in pillows and went back to sleep.

It was a tapping on her window that woke her next. She heard it, tap tap tap, but she didn't quite comprehend what it meant. It sounded again, more insistent this time, tap tap tap tap tap tap tap. She groaned and rolled over, the light stabbing through her still-closed eyelids.

"Ren, it's noon," came a familiar, agitated voice from outside her window, volume blunted through the glass.

"Are we really back to this again," she groaned.

The sound of the window sliding open gave her no alarm.

"You want me to include you, or not?" Duren asked, voice clear now through the open window. He was letting in an awful draft. Fortunately, he didn't seem to have intentions to stay outside waiting for her for very long, because she could already hear him climbing through her window and shutting it thankfully behind himself. She knew she should pull herself from her slumber but couldn't bring herself to move. She heard him walk to the kitchen, turn on the faucet, and return. He made a loud sound setting what she assumed was a now full glass of water on her bedside table. She moaned at the noise. Following was a plink and a hiss.

Curiosity got the better of her. She pried one of her eyes open to peer out from under the pillow where she'd stuffed her head. There was a fizzing glass of water on her bedside table and Duren looking at her with his infamous cocked brow and lazy posture.

"Drink it," he said plainly. She pulled herself gingerly to an upright position. Her stomach gurgled unhappily, making her moan again and frown in concern. Duren tilted his head to the side and said, "I guess this explains all the emotional outpouring last night."

"Last night..." all the memories of the night before slammed into her. There was a lot there, more than she could dissect in this moment, but the important takeaways of their conversation were present at the top of her mind. "Hey, I meant everything I said last night," she said defensively, squinting up at him. Something about the idea of him thinking she had professed her unyielding desire to be with him simply because she was drunk annoyed her.

He did a good job of masking his features, except his eye which softened slightly. Then in a firm tone he said, "So did I."

Yeah, yeah, you don't have to remind me, she elected not to say.

"Which means," he continued, "I'm here with the peace offering you agreed to, but," he gestured at her generally, "you're in no state to accept it."

"Peace offering?" she asked, squinting at him. "Oh right!" He had offered to bring her in to his search for the spy. She supposed she just hadn't imagined it would be the next morning, but she wasn't mad at it. If she wasn't so hungover, she'd even be excited. She reached for the fizzy water and took a large gulp that gurgled in her stomach once it made its way down. She was becoming more consciously aware of her current state; no pants on, only underwear, lower half still hidden under the covers, revealingly thin tank top, probably crazy hair and rings under her eyes from not successfully removing all of her makeup before going to bed. Duren eyed her and crossed his arms over his chest.

"I still can't believe you snuck into the festival," he muttered, shaking his head and moving to her kitchen again.

"I still can't believe that you went! And with a date, no less," she added a little harshly. He didn't seem like he was going to respond. He was making an awful lot of noise in the kitchen, and then she heard the stove clicking on the gas. She leaned around the short wall the head of her bed was against to see him standing before her stove top, looking down at it.