No Angel Who: Rowan, Liah and Juniper (NPC) Where: The house, the master bedroom/bath When: Night
With an extra body in the house, things had had to be shuffled a bit. They could have let Terry sleep on the couch, but with all the noise and with the double points of entry there, Rowan didn't really want to do that to him. But Verity and Jasper needed the double bed in their room, since there was two of them, and that left....
"You sure you don't mind sharing with us, Liah?" Rowan asked, a little self-consciously, as he was waiting for Juniper to finish washing up in the bathroom.
Liah was standing by the window, already dressed in the enormous t-shirt she'd worn to sleep in the night before, trying not to cringe every time there was a blood-curdling howl or a snarl from outside. She'd been peering around the edges of the thick curtains and the blind, and Rowan's voice was enough to pull her back from the dark thoughts that had been creeping around the edges of her mind. She turned and padded over to him, and with a ghost of her usual wicked grin, she said, "Well, I'd rather share with you than Terry or V. They might be scandalized if I accidentally grabbed their ass in the middle of the night." The water was still running, and she was speaking quietly enough that Juny shouldn't overhear her and, possibly, chide her for swearing like Liah had heard her do to Rowan before. She thought she might actually sleep decently in the same room with Rowan and Juny.
"You'd be hard-pressed to reach my ass," Rowan shot back with a little grin. "I've got these honkin' big wings that keep gettin' in the way." Quite honestly, he thought he might sleep a little better with the two of them right where he could get them, if need be. There was something subconsciously soothing about being able to simply turn one's head and see all that was left that was important to him, like they couldn't disappear while they were both behind a door. "We might hafta play with who lays where, until I get 'em settled."
"Excuses, excuses," Liah said, moving over to where she'd left her shoulder bag. Somewhere in the depths of it was a hair elastic, and she thought she might braid her hair to keep it out of her way during the night, something she did sometimes. Once she had it in hand, she plopped down on the end of the bed and separated her hair into three pieces just above her forehead. "We can manage. None of us is that big." Not even with Rowan's wings... and wouldn't that be a pain in the ass to get used to? she thought. She guessed she should feel lucky that her only change was that she could walk through things now. She started making a French braid with her fingers, finding that to be a good enough distraction. Foremost on her mind was asking Rowan what had happened today while they'd been out, but she figured Juny would be emerging from the bathroom any second. Maybe they could talk after the child went to sleep.
"Hey, if you wanna grab my ass, you're welcome to try," Rowan smirked at her, leaning back on the dresser, wings half-spread and pinions dragging on the ground and his arms folded across his chest. Every part of him ached, it seemed like, after the stressful morning-- the wings, his back and shoulders, his arms, his legs, even his head pounded very faintly. His hair was already bound back, which wasn't helping, but it was long enough and thick enough that it made it into snarls every morning if he didn't. "Yeah, though, we'll manage. I bet Juny'll feel pretty damn safe, with the two of us." Part of his mind wanted to snark "like a happy little family", but the rest of him knew that was cringe-worthy, after what'd happened to the real families.
"I'm a little busy right now, but it's a thought for later," Liah said, a coy smile edging her lips as she wove strands of hair into the braid at the back of her head, as narrow and tight as she could make it. It was a fun past-time to kind of flirt with Rowan, especially right now. It took her mind off of the extreme suckitude life had taken on just lately. She'd had way too much time to think today while the guys had been gone, too much time to pace around and miss people who she'd never see again. All she could do was try hard not to think about it through any means necessary. She braided and swung one foot and nodded when he said Juny'd feel safe sleeping with the two of them. She didn't know if she'd ever feel safe anywhere again, personally, but they should definitely let the child keep her illusions as best she could.
Rolling his eyes at her, taking the fake-flirt in stride like usual, Rowan said, "You just know I'm too hot for you." It was nice to get back to a more normal kind of banter, despite everything, like coming home after being gone for a while. He was pretty good at ignoring problems, when he wanted to, but safety was going to be a hard one to feel for a while, all right. He kind of hoped the hotel they were going to was one with really thick windows, to keep some of the sound out.
"Totally," Liah replied. "So I'll just pine away over here, like I always do." She shot him an impish smile and continued working on her hair; she had it down to the nape of her neck now, and she pulled the remaining strands over her shoulder to finish up and secure with the elastic. She contemplated her toenails while she worked. They were lime-green still while her fingernails were black. Maybe she could redo them. It was nice to force her brain to entertain such normal thoughts, even if it was a bit of a strain sometimes. She was determined that she wasn't going to flip out-- or, maybe, that she was going to hold off on it for as long as possible. "So did Juny fall in?" she asked Rowan as she secured the end of her braid and then pushed it off her shoulder.
"Juny is having trouble with the extra arms," Rowan added, voice a little lower, as the water finally shut off. "Kinda like I have trouble with the wings sometimes, only the arms get in the way more cuz they all try to do shit at the same time. The wings just, you know, hit things. Not grab things." He was completely and utterly sympathetic to his little sister in that. Not only was she still a somewhat clumsy five year old, she now had these extra limbs and tail to deal with.
"Do you think she needs any help, or is it just something she's gonna have to get used to?" Liah asked, keeping her own voice very quiet. She wouldn't mind going in there and helping if she needed to, but she also figured that Juny was at the age where she wanted to be independent and might be upset by an offer of help. Rowan would know that better than she would, obviously. She stood up to stretch and then paced over to the dresser to look in the mirror, making a critical face at herself. She was so tired she didn't know what to do with herself, and yet she was twitchy and restless, too. All the monster noises from outside weren't helping any.
Glancing at the door with a little amusement, Rowan leaned over-- since she was right there, now-- and whispered back, "I'm not dumb enough to walk in on my little sister and tell her I'm there to help. She'd scream at me and wake up the whole fuckin' house." Yes, Juniper was in that stage where she wanted to do everything by herself, and Rowan knew better than to try and interrupt. So he was happy enough to wait out here with Liah, bumping her lightly with his wing, since she was practically brushing against it, to begin with. "So you ready to move on tomorrow?"
Liah reached over to poke his shoulder. "I was talking about me going in to help her, but we don't want any screaming, so we'll just wait." There was enough screaming from outside, in her opinion, without adding more. She turned from the mirror to face Rowan when he asked if she was ready to move on, and her fingers reached out to trace the very edge of his wing before he moved it away. "I guess," she said. "What else can we really do?" She fidgeted with the voluminous folds of the t-shirt she had on, not wanting to say out loud how helpless she felt, moved along by the tide of events that had overwhelmed them since this had started. They could stay here and eventually starve, or they could join up with more people and hope that somebody had a bright idea to save humanity. Yippee.
In that moment, watching her play with the giant t-shirt, he really kind of wanted to hug her. For once, he even acted on the impulse-- maybe because he might maybe perhaps need a hug, too. He opened one wing out around her, giving her back a little nudge in his direction. "C'mere," he suggested, feathers soft on her back and expression a little sad-puppy-ish.
Liah had been looking down at the cloth in her hand, a mildly troubled frown settling over her features, and she jumped a little when Rowan's wing nudged her. Glancing up at him, she blinked; it took a few seconds for her brain to register what he was asking her for. The look on his face made the corners of her mouth tremble, just the slightest bit, and she stepped up close enough to him to slide her arms around his neck. Hugging him wouldn't be the easiest thing anymore, she thought, because there weren't as many places to put her arms and hands. She closed her eyes, her cheek pressed to his neck, her grip on him tighter than she'd really intended it to be.
Hugging him might've been tricky, but hugging her was wonderful. He put his arms around her waist, back, and folded his wings around them both. It was, he discovered, very novel and kind of private and really kind of awesome. It made him forget, for a moment, just how much he needed that hug, because enfolding someone in feathers was just that neat. He nuzzled a little into her shoulder, right back, and grinned some. "I can totally make angel jokes and shit, now," he murmured into her shirt.
Liah supposed that hugging Rowan would be a warming experience anyway considering that he didn't have a shirt on, but that effect was intensified by the feathery sweep of wings all around her. It made her shiver a little, something she couldn't seem to help as she clung to him. "Good luck making anyone else believe you're an angel," she mumbled, but there was no bite behind her snark. It was more for form than anything. The wings were beautiful, and completely cool, but what mattered to her the most right then was the embrace. It was rare that she was quite this close to him, and it was nice, and definitely reassuring.
"Anyone else?" Rowan asked slyly, as if she already did think he was an angel. He lifted his head from her shoulder, though didn't let go, and he was grinning, albeit tiredly. "Am I an angel to you, Liah?" he teased, fluffing his feathers against her back.
"Are you being mushy?" Juniper asked from the bathroom. The door was still closed, but apparently he spoke loudly enough to hear it.
"No, I'm being an a-- uh, a dork!" he called back lightly, chuckling.
"I think you're forgetting how well I know you," Liah told him, raising her head to stick her tongue out at him, Celtic piercing and all. "Dark angel, maybe. Shouldn't those wings be black?" She had to smile, though, as he made the feathers stir against the thin material of her t-shirt. Juny's question made the smile widen; mushy definitely wasn't a word she'd ever use to describe Rowan.
"He's being a huge dork, not just a dork," she called back to Juniper, but her expression softened as she turned her gaze back to Rowan. She hugged him again just because he was there... and maybe she'd needed that closeness just as much as he had.
Chuckling, Rowan gave her a squeeze and another affectionate "back-rub" with the nearest wing, then he let her go. Just in time, too, because as he opened his wings, Juniper came out of the bathroom. "A huge dork?" she repeated, obviously trying to look grown up and talk with the big kids, but the effect was ruined by one hand clutching her stuffed rabbit and another knuckling her eyes sleepily. And the other two holding onto her over-sized t-shirt.
"Very huge," Rowan promised, and moved away from Liah to go scoop her up. "And I think it's bedtime, kiddo."
As Rowan picked up his sister to take her over to the bed, Liah went into the bathroom and closed the door behind her. Using the bathroom, washing up, brushing her teeth. All such normal bedtime activities, but they felt strange here in this house. She felt almost as if she was on vacation and would soon be returning to her home with her mom, Cameron, Tricia and her brother. Well, despite the fact that listening to monsters scream and howl all night was a pretty fucking horrible vacation. She exited the bathroom, turning the light out and heading for the bed where Rowan and Juny were.
By the time Liah made it out, Rowan had already gotten Juniper and himself tucked in. He had to go first, he'd found, or else he had to move everybody else to get his wings in where they belonged. Trying to let them stretch out off the bed and onto the floor gave him cramps, they wouldn't stay folded if he lay on his side like he preferred, and all that really worked was to stretch one out under Juniper-- and in this case, Liah-- and one out over them, or at least over himself. "You better not put my wing to sleep," he warned Liah by way of invitation. He doubted she would; the part Liah'd be laying on was mostly feathers. Juniper got the fleshy, muscled part that could actually fall asleep, and he'd already learned that her weight didn't really cause him many problems.
"Or what?" Liah asked, unable to let a remark like that pass even though she was quite sure he was joking. "You'll spank me with your feathers?" She snickered and pulled the covers back on her side, carefully climbing into the bed and settling herself on the feathery portion of wing that covered part of the bottom sheet. She adjusted the covers to accommodate his top wing and relaxed into the pillow. "'Night, Juny," she said to the little girl, who looked half-asleep already, maybe more. She was just way too cute, and normally Liah didn't like kids all that much. Maybe it was all situational, who knew?
"Night, Liah," Juniper mumbled, turning into Rowan's chest and snuggling down.
Rowan shot Liah a little smile over the top of her head, then leaned back to shut off the light on the bedside table behind him. "G'night, Liah," he said quietly into the darkness, and since she couldn't see him, he smiled a bit more over in her direction. "Glad you're here...."
Liah smiled, too, although hers was slightly wistful. Didn't matter. In the dark, they couldn't see each other anyway. "Me too," she whispered, then muffled a yawn. With the world the way it currently was, she couldn't imagine being anywhere else. "'Night." Despite the intermittent horrendous noises from outside, she thought she'd sleep without twitching and jumping every few seconds. It was rest she desperately needed, and she closed her eyes with a sigh.