Tweetie

23

"Hazel... Hazel..."

"I'm working, go away."

"Hazy, you're laying face down on the couch. What could you possibly be working on?"

"I'm working to find what the perfect position is to sleep on a couch. So far, face down and alone is the best."

"...Why are you sleeping on the couch...? Is there another spider in your room? You should have said. I would have gotten it for you."

Hazel pushed herself up, uncaring of the time and uncaring of the fact that Archie had walked into her apartment to find her as the usual mess of a girl. But, unlike all of the other times, this time she had actually slept. It felt a little bit like she was achieving the impossible, but with the previous day, sleep came surprisingly easy. So easy, she fell asleep the minute she collapsed on the couch when she got home.

"Am I not allowed to sleep on my couch?"

Of course Archie could see through her. He knew just about everything, he could tell when she was unsure, when she lied, when she was a little more groggy, he knew even before she spoke. So having him see through the real reason she slept on the couch was unsurprising.

Truthfully, she was a little frightened. She didn't want to sleep in her bed and worry about missing her home being broken into. On the couch, she could at least see it happen. It was uncomfortable, sure, but it was better than lying in bed and worrying all night.

"Your apartment's safe, Hazy," he said, sitting by her feet, "they installed cameras in the hallway yesterday, you have new locks. It's safe."

"Did they find out who stole my stuff?"

"No..." He shook his head and ran a hand through his hair, "they didn't leave many traces."

Hazel sat up, engulfed in the smell of paper and dust that spread around the apartment after the crash of too many boxes. Half of them were still on the ground, but they were slowly being sorted and put back into stacks, presumably by Archie. She hoped, at least, because she wasn't doing it and she didn't know anybody else who would.

Hazel sat silently, bringing her fingers to her lips as she felt the cracks under her fingertips. She had to figure out what to do with her day, what to do to move the case forward. She wanted to go to the cafe, though, she didn't really have a real reason for that. But there were other things to do. Like work.

"Hazel... your eye."

"My eye...?" she moved her fingers away from her lip and to the swelling purple that pooled in the crease of her eye like water in a hole. A punch to a nose could definitely cause that. "I didn't have a very good day yesterday."

She sank, and he saw from just averting eye contact that she didn't want to talk about it. So, he didn't expect her to.

"What's your plan today then, Hazy?" He moved the conversation along, knowing that she always had something planned. Whether it was a good plan was a different story.

"I'm going to the cafe to ask Stewart if I can keep evidence there. Then I'm going to the police station to see Roderick... Maybe I'll go over some more evidence. I don't know, my day might change."

"Well," he said, sitting up and turning to the piles of boxes, "I'll be sorting that mess out, so if you need anything, call me. Alright?"

"Okay... Thank you, Archie."

It seemed after the awful day that had passed, the new one was far brighter and far warmer. Warm enough for shorts, at least. Maybe Hazel needed to wear added layers like a jumper, thick tights, knee socks, a jacket, scarf and woolly gloves. But at least as she walked through the sunny morning, she could have pride in her pyjama shorts covered in bunnies.