Standoff

|11| Calm Before the Storm|

"Wha- Princess I said I was fine on the couch!" Aaron protests as he's dragged inside the woman's room.

The curtains are purple and lavender sits in a pot on the dresser, another ceiling fan cools the room and now the darkness from outside was being pushed out by the light in the room.

The blankets on the bed were thick and it was made for two, a fact that made him stop in his tracks.

"Did- you have a lover?" He looks at the bed curiously, and Aphmau chuckles, fixing the covers in her silk nightgown.

"No, the boys just wanted me to have the biggest bed when we moved in. No one's ever slept in this bed other than me, and the boys when they were small." She looks over at him, but quickly looks back, her face pink.

"And now you."

Aaron felt his face heat up more than it already was. And he in the first time in awhile he gave a soft laugh.

"Well, then I'm honored M'lady." He bows in an over dramatic pose and so low his hat tumbles off his head, letting his long, messy black hair fall in his face.

"I'm cutting your hair tomorrow." Aphmau says in a motherly drawl, Aaron opens his mouth to protest, but seeing the look of death on her face, he decides against it.

Aphmau crawls under the covers, sticking a pillow between her and the other side of the bed, before patting beside her.

"Tuck in big guy." Aaron's face goes a little pink before he starts to undress unto just his trousers, Aphmau getting redder and redder until she finally turns away.

He turns the light off and slides under the sheets, what had started with honey-glow in  his cheeks has spread through his body, he was nervous, and a little excited. But mostly terrified.

And yet he falls asleep quickly, into the darkness of his subconscious.

He awakens to a loud, annoying, mechanical buzzing. He gropes around in the pitch blackness, Aphmau wasn't beside him, and he had no idea what time it was.

The buzzing gets a pitch louder, now starting to hurt his ears, his eyes adjust to see a large figure in the doorway.

"M-Mason?" He sits up in the bed, Mason turns on the light, yet, something was wrong, he was covered in blood, and his gun was out at his shoulder.

"Howdy...Partner." The delay in his words was in a deliberate drawl, it was, undeniably creepy.

"Mason. Where's Aphmau, and Malachi?" Now Aaron slides out of bed, but Mason just smiles, the snake tattoo on his arm almost... moving.

"Who? I've disposed of your captors, they were no longer needed." Masons bloodied fist clenches, and Aaron felt his blood start to boil and his heart start to shudder.

"What? What are you talking about? Where are they?!" His voice becomes desperate, and angry, and Mason smiles even wider.

"Where do you think? Not like you care." Mason says his smile suddenly falling and his pistol pointed at Aaron's head.

"You... You Killed them! Why!? They were no threat! They were-" Aaron felt his eyes cloud with tears, but he refused to let them fall.

"They were distractions, come on, now we can seize that train." Mason starts dragging him by the wrist, but Aaron resists and pulls him back.

"After what you just did? After you killed my family?!" Mason looks back with a dead, lifeless stare, no emotion at all.

"Your family. Ha- Hahahahaha! I never took you as a family man Aaron." Aaron felt himself get hotter a blind rage boiling up in his insides.

"I never got the chance. I'm not chasing after a train. Money will never buy back what you just took from me!" Before Aaron can react, Mason cracks his fist over his head, letting him fall into darkness.

He jolted from his nightmare feeling something light laying on his shoulder, somehow, Aphmau had wriggled over the pillow between them and onto him in the night, and it was her moving that woke him.

It was light out, around eight or nine, and Aaron knew the day should have started three hours ago.

He needed to get up, but.....

He didn't quite want to, not with his princess sleeping so soundly, he'd wake her up.

He blushed at his own thoughts, but his nightmare rushed back into his head, and he snapped himself out of it.

"Hey... Wake up Princess... It's late, we need to get up." She gave a wiggle and shifted her face towards his, she slowly opened her eyes just to find his steel ones staring back.

"Uh! How did- aw I did it again!" She quickly rose and moved the pillow again, she wouldn't look at him, and her face was pink.

"Sorry! I forgot I move around a lot when I sleep, I must have wriggled over to your side." Aaron chuckled, he wouldn't admit it, but he thought she was cute when she was flustered.

"It's alright, I didn't mind." He smirks at her, teasing.

This earns him a light slap across the face, well, more like a push just hard enough to move his face to the side.

"Har, Leave. I gotta get changed." He smirks more, and instead of leaving he turns to her and lays his head on his hands staring at her.

She looks back, slightly irritated.

"Hey, continue. Pretend I'm not here." She shook her head, and throws a pillow at his face.

"Fine, look into the pillow then." He nodded and smooshed the pillow into his face.

"Okay, Princess, I won't look."