Emma was awoken by the sound of someone entering her room. Keeping her breathing slow and even, she slowly slipped her hand under her pillow where she hid the steak knife she commandeered from dinner earlier. She was expecting the MacDougalls to betray her trust; she just wasn't expecting it so soon.
"B?"
Emma visibly sagged into her pillows.
"Yeah Lil'?"
"I can't sleep. Can I sleep here with you?" The tentative voice called out from the doorway.
Emma sighed and lifted the edge of her covers. Lil' crept in and snuggled closely to Emma's warmth causing Emma to flinch.
"Christ Lil' you're freezing!"
"Sorry, I didn't want to wake you but it was creepy sleeping in that big room all alone after...after... you know." Lil' finished in a whisper.
Emma tentatively cradled her arms around Lil'. "Yeah I know Lil'. How long were you standing out there?"
"I dunno...half an hour maybe?"
"Wait you've been here for 3 days. What did you do while I was sedated?"
"Well the first night we were sedated too then Suzy committed suicide and they made us sleep in the same room so they could watch us...and install the cameras. Then last night we slept here because we wanted to be there when you woke up but you didn't wake up until this afternoon."
"Hmmmm...they
made
you sleep together? Sounds great Lil'."
"They asked nicely. They really are nice people. And ummm can you call me Lily from now on? Lil' is too...close."
"...I'll try but given that this conversation is taking place at some god forsaken hour, you might need to remind me tomorrow morning."
Lily smiled and nodded.
"Good now can we go back to sleep? I'm exhausted."
"That's surprising given your 3 days of beauty sleep." Lily teased.
"My god. My quiet, shy Lily making jokes? The world is coming to an end." Emma grinned at the personality change in her introverted, normally withdrawn friend. Maybe this
Daniel
was good for her. "Now shhh, some people are trying to sleep." Raising her voice slightly, she addressed the 3 girls hovering outside her door. "In or out ladies, I want to get some shut eye."
The bed sagged as the girls ran and jumped on the bed and crawled under the covers. Their breathing soon evened out and they were fast asleep.
Emma sighed as resigned herself to a night wide awake, listening to the sounds of her friends sleeping. Despite her original opinions that her bed was ginormous, with 5 people snuggled into it, the bed size shrunk considerably. The 5 girls were essentially spooning each other in order to avoid Emma or Lena falling off the sides. Emma, who instinctually shies away from physical contact, would never be able to relax enough to fall asleep so after ensuring all 4 girls were soundly asleep, she slipped out of bed and made herself comfortable in the large chair by her window. Looking up at the glowing moon, she spent the next few hours reflecting on her plan to get the girls integrated into their new life and then she spent another few hours figuring out how to get away without anyone noticing.
When Lily started shifting in her sleep, Emma slipped back into bed, snuggling into the small woman, trying to infuse as much comfort as she could into her embrace.
The next morning, the girls entered the dining room for breakfast chatting excitedly to Emma, trying to fill her in on all they have learned in the past few days. Emma, sleep deprived and wary of all the loud noises, was barely paying attention when a heavenly smell assaulted her senses.
"Omigod you have coffee?" She exclaimed as she made a beeline for one of the carafes on the buffet table. Hesitating, she looked for the alphas sitting at the head table. "May I have some?"
Smiling warmly, Jane replied "Anything we have here is free for your use. Anything you need, please let us know." Emma acknowledged the statement with a bowed head and a thank you. Pouring coffee and doctoring it carefully, she cradled the mug like she was handling blown glass. She took a sip and let out a relieved sigh. "Sweet nectar of the gods, how I missed you. Did you miss me baby?" She said to her cup.
With bemused smiles, Lena and Doc also poured themselves a cup and sighed deeply when the smooth flavour hit their taste buds. They have never seen their leader act this way, maybe it was a sign she was starting to relax.
The sound of her friends taking out dishes to fill their plates brought Emma back to earth. Glancing around, she noticed she was being watched by half the room, most of them looking at her like she was crazy the rest looked on with pity for reacting so strongly to a cup of coffee. Stiffening her spine, she carefully put her coffee cup on her tray and filled her plate with the offering of bacon, sausage, eggs, hashbrowns and pancakes.
She cackled loudly when she heard Doc mumble "You think they've ever heard of fruit?" and Alice casually reply "Why would they? Wolves are carnivores." Both ladies glanced warily at Emma, failing to see why that was so funny.
Shaking her head, Emma directed them towards an open table. They were soon joined by Dan, Peter and Jane. Dan sidled up to Lily with his own plate and engaged her in a quiet conversation. Lily was so engrossed by the conversation; she failed to notice Dan moving food from his plate to hers. 'Probably in an effort to fatten her up' Emma surmised.
"Good morning ladies. How did you sleep?" Inquired Peter.
"Great." Replied Lena, Alice and Doc together. Emma's reply was slightly delayed.
"Really?" Peter pressed, noting the bags under B's eyes.
"Really." Emma replied with a glare.
"Would you like us move all your bed into the same room? You seem to be more comfortable sleeping in the same area." Jane asked.
"No no" Emma replied before the others could reply "We like having our own spaces, it's just been hard adapting to a new location." Thinking for a moment, she continued. "Perhaps if we had the opportunity to decorate our rooms to our liking it would make us more comfortable with our living arrangements." She suggested.
Jane smiled "An excellent idea! I will send Angie and her crew up this morning with all her fabric and paint swatches. She's our resident interior designer."
Emma thanked her kindly and returned to her food, thinking the conversation over.
"B, how would you like a tour of the compound this afternoon?" Jane asked, grabbing Emma's attention again.
Emma smiled privately. This will give her a chance to scope the compound for possible escape routes. "Love to. Thank you."
"Can we come too?" Lena asked.
"Yeah, we definitely should get another tour after we got lost last night." Alice said with chagrin.
Doc simply nodded. Lily was too distracted to notice the rest of the table.
"Of course you can." Jane replied happily.
Angie turned out to be a big blond who had the ability to talk a mile without needing to take a breath. Her crew involved a tall lanky man who could create a colour palate in mere seconds and a teenage girl who was a fabric savant. Angie was one of those people who could look at you and immediately knew what you needed, even if you had no idea yourself. And god help you if you disagreed with the lady. She was stubborn to a fault. This became obvious when she was consulting on Doc's room.
"But I don't want bright blue in my room, I want pastels and neutrals."
"No way. You need a room that will uplift your spirits and inspire creativity and pastels and neutrals will just bring you down. You'll get totally washed out" Angie stated, crossing her arms.
"Well I'm the client so you have to do what I want." Doc argued
"Says who?"
"Says any customer service handbook!" Doc shouted.
"No. I take my orders from Madam Alpha and she said to make your room a home and pastels will only make you feel like your living in a hospital."
"Exactly!" Doc said, throwing her arms up in exasperation.
That answer took the designer back. "What?"
"The hospital was my home...before." Doc said quietly, breaking eye contact. She didn't want to have to admit her reasons for her colour choices. "Pastels remind me of better times. It makes me calm."
Angie shot her a pitying look, which Doc missed because she was looking at the floor, but Angie's expression hardened "I am NOT giving you a room just so you can live in the past."
Doc glared at the buxom woman and ground through her teeth. "Yes you will."
Emma, watching from the hallway stepped into the room. "She's right."
Both ladies relaxed, thinking Emma agreed with them and not the other woman.
