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xp_logsGetting ready for work, Amanda and Marie-Ange discover a not-completely-unexpected couch guest.
Exhaustion could be to blame for Topaz ending up in the wrong suite, if she had turned around and walked right back out. She had finally crashed and fallen asleep in the church library, and had woken up quite abruptly after a nightmare.
So sneaking into Marie-Ange's and Amanda's suite was less of an accident and more of a semi-conscious decision to be somewhere safe for a couple hours. She even set a soft alarm on her phone, putting it right next to her head as she bundled up on the couch under her sweatshirt and almost immediately fell asleep again. She did wake up when the alarm went off - only to turn it off and fall right back to sleep.
Weeks - months even of consecutive good sleep did not a morning person make. Marie-Ange had decades of not being a morning person to overcome. It was entirely why she walked past the couch twice, once with her hair bundled in a towel and once with a steaming mug of tea before she noticed the small bundle of sweatshirt and hair and cushion taking up the space she usually dropped her coat and bag in before leaving for the day.
She stopped, sipped the tea, and counted to thirty in her head before pulling her phone from her skirt pocket and tapping out a text. ~Gemstone on our couch. Get blanket?~ She was half sure she'd heard Amanda bustling around, and if not - well, the older witch would want the heads up that her student had somehow appeared in their living room and had not told anyone.
Because if Topaz had let them know she'd have a blanket, a pillow and possibly a stuffed penguin.
There was a muffled chime from Amanda's bedroom and after a moment or two, Amanda emerged, a folded blanket in hand. She was dressed for work but her hair was still a tangled mess - she'd been dealing with it when Marie-Ange had texted. She frowned ever so slightly as she took in the sleeping Topaz before carefully draping the blanket over her.
"I really need to put a ward on the door that tells me when she comes in," she murmured to Marie-Ange. "At least that way she'd be comfy."
"I think she tried to sneak out before we noticed." Marie-Ange pointed to the phone still in Topaz's hand. "Is this not supposed to work the other way around, where the college student sneaks in without being noticed?" She took another sip of tea, and then looked at her mug. "I will put another kettle on.
"Good idea." Amanda shook her head again. "I s'pose we should be glad she's coming here instead of holing up alone."
"It is progress. Perhaps we should start keeping a blanket on the back of the sofa. Hoodies do not make for a warm sleeping environment." Marie-Ange started to the kitchen and busied herself with the kettle and mugs and the endless little canisters of tea. "Should we keep breakfast foods? What do college students eat now? Pop-Tarts? Microwave eggs? Avocados and toast?"
Amanda snorted a muffled laugh at the last and came to help Marie-Ange in the kitchen. "Considering Topaz forgets to eat about as often as she doesn't sleep, let's go with something healthy. Like granola or something." While she was talking she was putting bread in the toaster and getting out the jar of peanut butter. "This ought to do for today."
Awareness was a slow coming thing. First, the voices, then the realization that the room was too bright, then - wait, the voices. Topaz dared to crack her eyes open, raising her head slightly to see Marie-Ange and Amanda. Awake. And well aware she was there. She groaned, pulled her hoodie up to cover her face and dropping her head back against the couch. "I swear I don't make a habit of sneaking in here to sleep." Her voice was muffled by the sweatshirt.
"You're always welcome, you know that." Amanda ignored the hiding and came over with two slices of toast with peanut butter on a plate. "Here, eat that. Marie-Ange's making tea."
Topaz peeked out from under her sweatshirt, still clearly embarrassed about being caught. "Yes ma'am." She was still too sleepy to sound anything but tired as she sat up and took the plate. "Ta."
"It is only sneaking if you steal our food, and since you already have permission to raid everything, even the fancy ice creams, it is not stealing, therefore it is not sneaking." Marie-Ange emerged from the kitchen with a pair of mugs, handed one to Amanda and then one over to Topaz. "It is decaf, yours, because you do not need the jitters." The mug had a little leaf strainer in the shape of a cat peeking out of the water. "Unless you do need them, in which case we have horrid extra-caffeinated black tea, but it tastes like a truck tire."
"That truck fire gets me through extra-long research sessions," Amanda protested mildly, with a grin at her roomie.
"Pass on the truck tire," Topaz said with a wry smile, stirring the tea a little. "But thanks."
"Wise decision, I think. You would end up drinking our juice to get the taste out, and then not want to brush teeth, because no one wants to do that after orange juice, and no one needs bad dental health decisions." Marie-Ange's ramble was distracted, mostly by her pouring more hot water into a thermos and dropping a few tea bags in. It was a horrible way to make tea, except that it was portable for the commuter train. "You know if you text us first, there will be a blanket and pillow, no? Yes?"
"It was three in the morning." Probably not her best defense. "But yeah, okay." None of the usual sarcasm - actual sincerity was rare with Topaz. But Amanda and Marie-Ange had kept her alive enough times that they deserved it.
"Now that's settled..." Amanda rubbed her hands together and looked at them expectantly. "Who wants a fry up?"
Exhaustion could be to blame for Topaz ending up in the wrong suite, if she had turned around and walked right back out. She had finally crashed and fallen asleep in the church library, and had woken up quite abruptly after a nightmare.
So sneaking into Marie-Ange's and Amanda's suite was less of an accident and more of a semi-conscious decision to be somewhere safe for a couple hours. She even set a soft alarm on her phone, putting it right next to her head as she bundled up on the couch under her sweatshirt and almost immediately fell asleep again. She did wake up when the alarm went off - only to turn it off and fall right back to sleep.
Weeks - months even of consecutive good sleep did not a morning person make. Marie-Ange had decades of not being a morning person to overcome. It was entirely why she walked past the couch twice, once with her hair bundled in a towel and once with a steaming mug of tea before she noticed the small bundle of sweatshirt and hair and cushion taking up the space she usually dropped her coat and bag in before leaving for the day.
She stopped, sipped the tea, and counted to thirty in her head before pulling her phone from her skirt pocket and tapping out a text. ~Gemstone on our couch. Get blanket?~ She was half sure she'd heard Amanda bustling around, and if not - well, the older witch would want the heads up that her student had somehow appeared in their living room and had not told anyone.
Because if Topaz had let them know she'd have a blanket, a pillow and possibly a stuffed penguin.
There was a muffled chime from Amanda's bedroom and after a moment or two, Amanda emerged, a folded blanket in hand. She was dressed for work but her hair was still a tangled mess - she'd been dealing with it when Marie-Ange had texted. She frowned ever so slightly as she took in the sleeping Topaz before carefully draping the blanket over her.
"I really need to put a ward on the door that tells me when she comes in," she murmured to Marie-Ange. "At least that way she'd be comfy."
"I think she tried to sneak out before we noticed." Marie-Ange pointed to the phone still in Topaz's hand. "Is this not supposed to work the other way around, where the college student sneaks in without being noticed?" She took another sip of tea, and then looked at her mug. "I will put another kettle on.
"Good idea." Amanda shook her head again. "I s'pose we should be glad she's coming here instead of holing up alone."
"It is progress. Perhaps we should start keeping a blanket on the back of the sofa. Hoodies do not make for a warm sleeping environment." Marie-Ange started to the kitchen and busied herself with the kettle and mugs and the endless little canisters of tea. "Should we keep breakfast foods? What do college students eat now? Pop-Tarts? Microwave eggs? Avocados and toast?"
Amanda snorted a muffled laugh at the last and came to help Marie-Ange in the kitchen. "Considering Topaz forgets to eat about as often as she doesn't sleep, let's go with something healthy. Like granola or something." While she was talking she was putting bread in the toaster and getting out the jar of peanut butter. "This ought to do for today."
Awareness was a slow coming thing. First, the voices, then the realization that the room was too bright, then - wait, the voices. Topaz dared to crack her eyes open, raising her head slightly to see Marie-Ange and Amanda. Awake. And well aware she was there. She groaned, pulled her hoodie up to cover her face and dropping her head back against the couch. "I swear I don't make a habit of sneaking in here to sleep." Her voice was muffled by the sweatshirt.
"You're always welcome, you know that." Amanda ignored the hiding and came over with two slices of toast with peanut butter on a plate. "Here, eat that. Marie-Ange's making tea."
Topaz peeked out from under her sweatshirt, still clearly embarrassed about being caught. "Yes ma'am." She was still too sleepy to sound anything but tired as she sat up and took the plate. "Ta."
"It is only sneaking if you steal our food, and since you already have permission to raid everything, even the fancy ice creams, it is not stealing, therefore it is not sneaking." Marie-Ange emerged from the kitchen with a pair of mugs, handed one to Amanda and then one over to Topaz. "It is decaf, yours, because you do not need the jitters." The mug had a little leaf strainer in the shape of a cat peeking out of the water. "Unless you do need them, in which case we have horrid extra-caffeinated black tea, but it tastes like a truck tire."
"That truck fire gets me through extra-long research sessions," Amanda protested mildly, with a grin at her roomie.
"Pass on the truck tire," Topaz said with a wry smile, stirring the tea a little. "But thanks."
"Wise decision, I think. You would end up drinking our juice to get the taste out, and then not want to brush teeth, because no one wants to do that after orange juice, and no one needs bad dental health decisions." Marie-Ange's ramble was distracted, mostly by her pouring more hot water into a thermos and dropping a few tea bags in. It was a horrible way to make tea, except that it was portable for the commuter train. "You know if you text us first, there will be a blanket and pillow, no? Yes?"
"It was three in the morning." Probably not her best defense. "But yeah, okay." None of the usual sarcasm - actual sincerity was rare with Topaz. But Amanda and Marie-Ange had kept her alive enough times that they deserved it.
"Now that's settled..." Amanda rubbed her hands together and looked at them expectantly. "Who wants a fry up?"
