Her meeting with her Prefect partner had gone... oddly at best, she supposed, but at least she liked the guy. Still, this whole thing had spiraled a little bit out of control, and she had ended her day frustrated and tense and cranky and also wound up
(
Read more... )
I woke up enough to register Murphy's voice, though it took my brain a minute to process her question. "Sure," I said blearily, rolling over. "What's up?" Murphy had had trouble sleeping in the past, I knew, but I hadn't thought it would follow her here.
Reply
Reply
Reply
Reply
Reply
Reply
"Well, much as I hate to admit it, Marcone's human, too," I said. "He has a life outside of being a criminal--though probably not much of one," I added, rather dryly.
I leaned back against the headboard, turning over her words, troubled. I liked it here--the Council wasn't breathing down my throat, and nothing had tried to kill me in months. I wouldn't mind staying for a while, but I should have realized Murphy would have a problem with it. "Well," I said, searching for the right words--no easy task, sleepy as I was--"maybe part of the reason you worked to get voted Prefect was because you wanted to stay a while. I don't think home is going to go to utter hell without us--I don't think that's how it works, when you get pulled here."
Reply
She pulls her robe closer. "No, that's just it, Dresden. I don't regret it. I just committed to being here for the long haul -- they can have my position only when they pry it from my cold, dead fingers -- and I don't regret it. I'm worried about everyone back home, but I think... I'm kind of starting to be comfortable here." She shivers a little. "So now I'm worried that... I don't know. Stockholm Syndrome? Or am I just actually happy?"
Reply
...Maybe I could sell tickets.
I had to laugh a little. "Murph, you're the only person I know who, when confronted with happiness, wonders if there's something wrong with you," I said. "But really, I kind of know what you mean. When you deal with...when you deal with fear and stress and uncertainty for so long, having it taken away is a little...scary."
Reply
Reply
....
Wow. Okay, wait. Murphy plus bed plus me equals somebody Upstairs likes torturing me. A LOT.
Perhaps fortunately, I was too tired to be as tortured as I might normally have been. I was warm and sleepy and comfortable, and having Murphy next to me only added to that. I mean, yeah, there was plenty I would have liked to do, but I was tired enough that not doing it wasn't murder on my self-control.
"Wizards are furnaces," I said, pulling the blankets up around her. "I think it's why Mister adopted me in the first place."
Reply
She shifts to move closer to the warmth -- to him. "So. Yeah. I can't sleep."
Reply
I was going to say something--something brilliant, really, I was certain of it--but Mister chose that moment to bound up onto the foot of the bed, landing on my feet and making the springs groan. He sniffed at Murphy, gave me an approving glance, and settled down next to my feet, purring like a motorboat. "Looks like nobody's sleeping tonight," I said, nudging the cat with my foot even as I pulled Murphy closer.
Reply
"What, does Mister make you nervous?" She's teasing, eyes closed again. "Or are we crowding you?"
Reply
Reply
Reply
Leave a comment