Once Bitten, Twice Shy

12

Anne woke up with a smile on her face. For the first time since her resurrection she had had a normal dream. No axes, no swords, no traitors, no darkness. Instead her mind had replayed the conversation from the previous night, reciting every word clear as day. She hadn't realised how intently she was paying attention until she heard it all back and the picture from that night hadn't left her head, it was ingrained into her thoughts, always at the back of her mind.

She got up for the day, opting for a t-shirt instead of her usual green hoodie, and throwing on a pair of leggings before heading down to breakfast. The others pretended not to noticed the slight skip in her step and the small grin that never left her lips as they chatted away, Anne sitting quietly, lost in a daydream.

"So what's the plan for today?" Jane asked as she passed everyone a bowl.

"Anna and I found a new park that we wanna check out." Kat spoke up. Cathy had noticed the increasing amount of time they had been spending together, making a mental note to look into that at some point. She also noticed how their chairs always seemed positioned closer together than everyone else's and the subtle touches of their hands when one reached for something. She never saw Cleves act so calm as when she was with Kat, all trace of her normal intimidating character vanished at the girl's presence, replaced instead with a big softie; something no one had ever expected.

"Ok, have fun, don't get into trouble, and don't die." Jane said and the girl's rolled their eyes.

"I've got some books I want to catch up on." Cathy added, Aragon agreeing.

"Anne?" The girl snapped out of her trance at Jane's voice. "any plans?" She repeated, seeing the blank look on her face.

"oh, um don't think so. Probably just the usual."

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Anne sighed and flopped onto her back, she had been staring at the canvas for the past forty five minutes, telling herself she would start painting, only to be outvoted by her body that seemed unable to stand. She was procrastinating to put it plainly. There was only one thing on her mind and it wasn't the thought of painting. But it was pushing it's way to the front of her brain and deteriorating any thought that tried to compete with it. Any sensible attempt at productivity was overruled by this thought and she wouldn't have it.

Huffing to herself, she reluctantly rose from her bed and left the room, making her way down the stairs one by one, and excruciatingly slowly, due to a lack of motivation to be any faster.

She slumped into the kitchen as Jane was baking. "You alright love? We don't normally see you at this time." The woman said, referring to her habit of hiding away in her bedroom for days on end.

"I'm bored." Anne huffed, collapsing into one of the stools at the counter.

"Well that's new."

She chuckled and placed a tin in the oven, coming to sit next to her after retrieving the spatula from the bowl on the way over. "You wanna lick the spoon?" She offered, Anne laughed and took it gratefully. "It's normally Kitty's job but she's abandoned me today." Pouting sadly, she earned a giggle.

"Well I'm happy to take on this role in the future."

Jane started pottering around the kitchen, washing up and clearing the mess away while Anne watched.

"So what does Anne Boleyn do when she's bored then? I've never had any experience in this area."

"I don't know. Everyone's busy." She wined. It amused Jane to see her like this, she'd always loved Anne's childish side.

"And by 'everyone' do you mean a certain person that's spending their time reading instead of entertaining you?" She teased. Anne's silence told her she was right, and she turned to see an unamused glare on the girl's face.

"Well I'm not busy, you've got half an hour of my undivided attention." She tried to reason, returning to her seat beside Anne. "We can 'hang out'." She nudged her shoulder with a wink.

"Don't try to be cool Jane." She sighed. "It doesn't suit you."