Another Piece

Chapter 14

I woke up cranky, as always, angry that the morning light was attacking my eyelids as they protected my fragile eyes/pupils from the "newborn" sun. I groaned and rolled over, only to fall onto a soft... body?

I rolled once more, and heard someone else give out a low groan. 

"What in the..." I heard the all-too-familiar voice of Axel, and almost laughed. He seemed nearly as grumpy as I was... Nearly. 

"Jayden... Did you just... What in the name of all things holy are you doing on the ground? And why are you- Oh. Yeah, forgot about that." I heard a grunt, followed by the rustle of clothing, and I looked up.

Axel was standing over me, his messy hair even messier from sleeping. His eyes seemed even greener today, and I fought to keep my calm as he looked at me and sighed disappointingly. 

"You left without getting clothes? Aw, well... I'm sure we can run over to the Anzs' place quickly." He looked at me, and I shrugged, looking down sadly. It was too soon to go over to Drake's place... Too soon after yesterday, plus, I didn't think I was welcome. 

"Can we just buy some quickly?" I requested, and he shrugged before nodding.

"Let's head out. Training starts at seven, so we have roughly two hours before we have to be at Jim's Gym." I nodded and got up, feeling stiff. I stretched before following Axel out the doorway. 

He led me through the basement, which was thoroughly clean but small, with a padded area... probably for practicing their fighting skills. There was a large cabinet on the wall, and upon my noticing it, Axel said, "That's the weapons cabinet. Contains different types of guns, ranges from .22's to Glocks, to a fifty caliber sniper rifle. Yes, a fifty cal. Most of that can be broken off from the cabinet to a safe place at one of the other houses without someone knowing... But some of it can't be taken without someone noticing if they looked at it. Take the fifty caliber, perhaps. Besides guns, there are knives and a few swords- Old fashioned and extremely valuable, mind you. Not too handy in a gun fight, though. Plus, we avoid attracting some collectors' attention by dragging swords around. Their super hard to hide."

"Besides that," Axel continued, "There are some cooler weapons like, I dunno... Nerf dart guns... regular tranquilizers... some nice looking garrotes, and don't forget the pepper spray... And two pairs of sais." I was rolling on the floor laughing at that point... The way Axel looked, you may have been convinced that it was Christmas, just if someone told you in the middle of the summer. I giggled even more at the thought that Nerf Dart Guns could be weapons.

"What?" I looked up, broken from my laughing fit at the sound of Axels' injured voice. I sighed before heaving myself off the hardwood floor.

"Nothing, It's just that... how do you make Nerf Guns into... Nerf Dart Guns? Isn't it the same exact thing? And why do you all need so many weapons? Oh... and-" 

"Jeez! Let me answer one question at a time... After I've had coffee, please." I wrinkled my nose at the last part. My Grandma had put me off of coffee years ago, when she'd let me taste some of her coffee. She'd watered it down a ton to the point where it tasted like toxic death, and from the moment that burning liquid had gone down my throat, I'd been convinced that coffee was worse than toxic death. 

"Tell me you like coffee," Axel waited for a second, gauging my response, and I shook my head, "You're kidding me? You don't like coffee? It's God's gift to us pitiful humans! You must treasure every small sip of coffee!!" He explained, and I giggled. This boy sure did like his coffee... And his weapons. I shivered at the thought of putting a weapon in this kid's hands. World War III would break out... That was for sure.