Of Demons and Reapers

Chapter 6: You have to Fake it to Make it

The next morning Ariel woke up later than normal. She actually had woken up to the sound of Lizzie knocking on her coffin door. Groaning slightly, she opened the lid and groggily looked out at her friend. "Ariel, are you alright? You've been sleeping for an awfully long time." Lizzie said with worry on her face. "How long have I been sleeping?" She asked while stretching out. "Almost all day, it's nearly noon. I've been worried about you and so has Adrian. He tried to wake you up earlier but he said you looked tired still." Bolting upright at the mention of his name, she had a small amount of panic in her eyes. She could see Lizzie growing more concerned watching her. "Oh I'm sorry Liz, it's nothing really. It's just that well; I'm only in a button down shirt with nothing underneath, and it barely covers me. You said Adrian saw me still sleeping, it just startled me." "Oh don't worry about that. He said he only moved the top part not the whole thing. So he only saw your face." Lizzie replied letting her worry ease a little. "Why have you been sleeping so long though? You aren't sick are you?" She asked while putting her hand to Ariel's forehead. "No lizzie I'm fine, honest. Water gazing just took a lot out of me I guess. It takes a lot of energy to go back so far in my memories, and then focus enough to let them become clear on the water." Noticing her skeptical look Ariel reassured her. "Honest Liz, I'm fine. I just needed more sleep than normal is all." "That and the fact I was up really freaking late trying to figure out what to do with our little Benedict Arnold." She thought to herself while putting up the best smile she could.

"You really do look horrible right now." Lizzie said while helping her friend out of the coffin. "Get washed up and dressed and I'll try and make something for you to eat. You know I'm not the best cook though, so just suck it up." With that Lizzie walked out of the room leaving Ariel to her thoughts and routine. Moving towards her dresser she realized she was still very tired. She also knew though, that if she were to go back to sleep Lizzie would have an outright panic attack and probably stroke out on the floor. Sighing to herself she grabbed some clean clothes and headed to the washroom to clean up. As she passed by the stairs she could hear Lizzie yelling out to Adrian that she was awake and getting ready. Narrowing her eyes she walked faster toward the washroom which was across from Adrian's room.

She didn't want to see him yet, didn't want to talk to him. She had to get her wall built up before she could do that. She knew she couldn't stay in the shop today, she needed to get out but she needed an excuse to do so. Simply outright saying "Oh yeah I don't really want to talk to you or even look at you because I heard you last night talking about us," probably wouldn't go over so well. Sighing again she began cleaning up as she tried to think of a reason to leave. While she was reaching for her clothes a thought struck her. They needed to have laundry washed! She could easily go to the local wash house and be gone the rest of the day. Smiling at herself for her brilliant idea, she got dressed and went into the kitchen to see what Lizzie had made for her.

Walking into the kitchen Ariel had a smile on her face and was in a great mood. When she saw who was in there however, her smile immediately faltered and she froze in place. The one person in the world she wanted to get away from, was currently making her food. He was turned away from her as he was cooking and hadn't heard her yet. Quickly remembering she needed to fake being her old self around him, she put on a small fake smile and walked into the kitchen further. Pulling herself out a chair to sit down, she watched him carefully. He had heard her finally and put a grin on his face. "Well look who decided to wake up finally." He said as he turned back to finish cooking. "Yes well the water gazing took a lot out of me yesterday." Ariel replied curtly. She swore she saw him flinch. She knew she sounded mean right now, she didn't care though. She wasn't thinking about when she heard him with the other man, she was thinking of when he just up and walked out without so much as a word.

Moving away from the stove, he put the plate of food in front of her. He then sat down across from her and waited. She looked at the food and then back to him. The food really did look delicious, and if it wasn't for the fact she really was starving she wouldn't have eaten it. Giving in finally she grabbed her fork and began to eat in silence. She had to admit he was a good cook. Since they had been here, Ariel or Lizzie had done all the cooking. She kept her eyes on her plate as she ate. She knew he was watching her carefully. Sighing a bit she finally broke the silence. "Where is Lizzie? I thought she was going to cook something for me." "She is helping with a funeral arrangement downstairs. I told her I would cook since she was busy with our customers." He said while still keeping his eyes glued to her.