Masks and Mirrors Teaser
Happy Memorial Weekend, all! (And happy whatever bank holiday it is for you Brits.)
I'd hoped to get chapter five of Masks and Mirrors posted by the end of this week, but it's been an absolute zoo for me. I'm getting close, though, and hopefully by the end of the holiday weekend I'll get through it. For now, a little teaser...
Remus chuckled. "You know there's a reason why hospitals have visiting hours."
"Wassat?" Tonks asked through a yawn that happened before she could think of covering her mouth.
Tilting his head in a way which, if he'd not been talking to her through a mirror, would have been conspiratorial, Remus said in a hushed done, "I hate to be the one to tell you, love, but you're a wee bit high."
"As a bloody kite!" She had a sudden sinking feeling. "Did I just ask you to strip for me?"
Remus tried, not very successfully, to hide a snigger behind his hand. "You did."
"S'not a bad idea, really."
"No..."
"If I wasn't high, and you weren't in public, would you? Maybe later this week, when I'm off the pain potions?"
"Sirius would certainly approve of me using his mirrors that way."
Tonks giggled, and wiggled her toes again. "And maybe I could eat some of those eggs."
"So these eggs are aphrodisiacs, are they?"
"Afro...?" Tonks wrinkled her forehead as she tried to work it out. "No, I just plain English eggs, I think."
"Chatted to the hens, did you?"
Chatted to the...? What the hell was he going on about? Had he had a pain potion? Maybe something had gone wrong with his Wolfsbane Potion.
"Don't be ridiculous, Remus," she said. "There's no hens here. I'm in hospital."
"Ah, of course. Very silly of me."
Remus' chuckle faded, and his gaze softened into a tender one as he looked at her through the mirror for a long time. She could drift away on his eyes, so blue, tranquil as a lake at sunset...
"I could amuse myself for hours talking to you while you're sky high..." His rasping tones startled her slightly, as though she'd been dozing. "...but I think I should stop misbehaving and tell you to go to sleep."
Tonks didn't remember anything amusing. "What've I said?"
She could've sworn his fingers came through the looking glass and caressed her cheek.
"I'll put it in a Pensieve and show you."
Tonks pulled the covers up under her armpit and shifted slightly onto her side. "Probably show everyone else, too."
"Of course not. We were talking about doing naughty things via two-way mirror."
"We were?"
And thanks for all the good thoughts of Dorrie. Yesterday I was at my wit's end fretting about her, especially when the vet called me just before the operation to say she was concerned about Dorrie's heart murmur and would we like her to run lots of expensive tests that wouldn't be able to tell her anything but that Dorrie needs her anesthesia adjusted, which we declined. She made it through just fine, though, and today I brought her home. Apart from a bald tummy, a bow-legged walk, lots of obsessive grooming, and being slightly less adventurous than usual, my baby seems like herself. She's asleep right now, but as she's not drugged and this is normal afternoon nap time, I'm not attributing that to any particular ill-feeling. But yes, Dorrie's well and home, and I'm very glad. It was so weird without her here yesterday and this morning!
I'd hoped to get chapter five of Masks and Mirrors posted by the end of this week, but it's been an absolute zoo for me. I'm getting close, though, and hopefully by the end of the holiday weekend I'll get through it. For now, a little teaser...
Remus chuckled. "You know there's a reason why hospitals have visiting hours."
"Wassat?" Tonks asked through a yawn that happened before she could think of covering her mouth.
Tilting his head in a way which, if he'd not been talking to her through a mirror, would have been conspiratorial, Remus said in a hushed done, "I hate to be the one to tell you, love, but you're a wee bit high."
"As a bloody kite!" She had a sudden sinking feeling. "Did I just ask you to strip for me?"
Remus tried, not very successfully, to hide a snigger behind his hand. "You did."
"S'not a bad idea, really."
"No..."
"If I wasn't high, and you weren't in public, would you? Maybe later this week, when I'm off the pain potions?"
"Sirius would certainly approve of me using his mirrors that way."
Tonks giggled, and wiggled her toes again. "And maybe I could eat some of those eggs."
"So these eggs are aphrodisiacs, are they?"
"Afro...?" Tonks wrinkled her forehead as she tried to work it out. "No, I just plain English eggs, I think."
"Chatted to the hens, did you?"
Chatted to the...? What the hell was he going on about? Had he had a pain potion? Maybe something had gone wrong with his Wolfsbane Potion.
"Don't be ridiculous, Remus," she said. "There's no hens here. I'm in hospital."
"Ah, of course. Very silly of me."
Remus' chuckle faded, and his gaze softened into a tender one as he looked at her through the mirror for a long time. She could drift away on his eyes, so blue, tranquil as a lake at sunset...
"I could amuse myself for hours talking to you while you're sky high..." His rasping tones startled her slightly, as though she'd been dozing. "...but I think I should stop misbehaving and tell you to go to sleep."
Tonks didn't remember anything amusing. "What've I said?"
She could've sworn his fingers came through the looking glass and caressed her cheek.
"I'll put it in a Pensieve and show you."
Tonks pulled the covers up under her armpit and shifted slightly onto her side. "Probably show everyone else, too."
"Of course not. We were talking about doing naughty things via two-way mirror."
"We were?"
And thanks for all the good thoughts of Dorrie. Yesterday I was at my wit's end fretting about her, especially when the vet called me just before the operation to say she was concerned about Dorrie's heart murmur and would we like her to run lots of expensive tests that wouldn't be able to tell her anything but that Dorrie needs her anesthesia adjusted, which we declined. She made it through just fine, though, and today I brought her home. Apart from a bald tummy, a bow-legged walk, lots of obsessive grooming, and being slightly less adventurous than usual, my baby seems like herself. She's asleep right now, but as she's not drugged and this is normal afternoon nap time, I'm not attributing that to any particular ill-feeling. But yes, Dorrie's well and home, and I'm very glad. It was so weird without her here yesterday and this morning!