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ExD - 5.23.11
🕑 Added 2024-09-03 01:10:02 +0000 UTC“You’re quite energetic today, Deen,” Mom said.
“Because it’s a wonderful morning,” Deen replied, waving her hands and putting on a big smile. I wanted to punch her. She winked at me. “Vegas gets such a bad rap, but Erind and I have been enjoying our time here. We needed to get away from La Esperanza and relax after all the stressful things that happened.”
“Definitely, honey,” Mom said. So, Deen was ‘honey’ now. “I was worried just watching the news. It's worse experiencing it. You can stay here as long as you want. As long as your law school allows online lessons, anyway.”
“Hear that, Erind?” Deen gave me an impish wink. “I can stay here as long as I want.”
I tightly gripped the fork I used to beat the eggs, almost deforming the handle. I continued preparing food, pretending I didn’t hear her. I should just run away and live under a bridge. What about the forest? Somewhere Deen couldn’t find me.
“And you have such a cool mom, Erind,” Deen said. “Thanks for having me here, Mrs. Hartwell. I feel at home already.”
I wanted to throw the milk cartoon at Deen. Instead, I poured it into the bowl. I wondered if we had rat poison I could slip into the food—it might give her a mild upset stomach—but realized Deen’s Guardian Angel would save her.
Mom stood up and hugged Deen. It turned out, that Mom was taller than Deen. Why the fuck didn’t I inherit her genes? “Such a nice young lady you are,” Mom said to Deen. “Erind chose her friend well. Do take care of her honey.”
Nice young lady? I rolled my eyes. If only you knew what she did to me, Mom.
“I’m taking really good care of Erind, Mrs. Hartwell,” Deen instantly replied. “You can trust me that she’ll never be influenced by the wrong crowd.” She looked my way again.
I raised a brow at Deem and mimed choking my neck. Mom had turned her back and couldn’t see me.
Deen’s expression changed to apologetic. She mouthed, ‘sorry’ several times.
“Nonetheless, it’s still very early for you girls,” Mom said, releasing Deen and patting her head. “Erind always wakes up early, so she’s fine. But you should rest, Deen. I’m sorry you had to stay up late because of me—the delayed flight and the traffic. We’ll set aside breakfast for you.”
“I’m fully awake, Mrs. Hartwell. Can you tell me about your work? I’m interested in bioaugmentronics.”
Such a suck-up bitch, I thought, turning around to face the induction stove top and fry some bacon. People say baking them is better, but I hated cleaning the oven after putting in oily food.
Cooking for others made me feel productive. As an Adumbrae, I could only destroy, not create. But as a cook, I was creating breakfast. How philosophical of me. I allowed random bullshit thoughts to invade my mind to tune out Deen buttering up to Mom. I even flipped the bacon with my fingers, testing if the heat could affect me.
I licked the tasty grease off my unhurt fingers. Then memories of licking Deen’s fingers popped up in my head. Dammit, I shouldn’t have done that.
Turning Deen on was fun and made me feel powerful, but tasting her was a bit too submissive. Yeah, that was what I was going for, but there were limits. I wasn’t game for all our top-bottom dynamics between us. Worse, it could lead to more wild acts. I wasn’t prepared to kneel before Deen and… do stuff. I put on a second pan for the French Toast. I then placed my hand on the pan, feeling it become hot—a vain attempt to distract myself from the image of me between Deen’s legs. No way that was going to happen.
“That smells good, Erind,” Deen said. “What’re you cooking?”
“Bacon.” I sniffed my slightly burnt hand that was healing. I do smell good.
I fried eggs in the bacon fat remaining on the pan. French Toast went on the second pan that had seared my palm, the sweet burnt smell of caramelizing sugar filling the room. I got a cartoon of orange juice and poured it into glasses filled with ice. I added sugar to my glass even though the juice was already sweetened. Sugar makes the world go round.
“Deen, help me with the plates instead of bothering Mom.”
As Deen came over, Mom hunched over her laptop again, her messy what hair becoming a curtain. A stroke of brilliance struck my mind—an experiment to see if one of my weapons against Deen remained viable. And also, to mess with her. But there was a risk. If I was wrong, then I’d turn Deen into a worse monster. I shall see if I was a genius or a dumbass.
Deen stood next to me. “What do you want me to—? Uhm!”
I grabbed her face, pulled her down, and gave her a quick kiss on the lips. She pushed me away and looked at Mom with a petrified expression. Mom was typing on her laptop, oblivious to what had happened. Deen turned to me with a furious expression.
“Why did you do that?” she hissed, her cheeks becoming tomatoes.
“A good morning kiss,” I replied in hushed tones while arranging the plates. I celebrated in my head the success of the experiment. “What’s the problem?”
“The problem is that your mother is sitting over there. She could’ve seen us.”
“But she didn’t.” I made a motion threatening to grope her.
She crossed her arms across her chest. “But if she did, then what—?”
“What are you girls muttering over there?” Mom asked.
“Deen’s asking if we have low-fat almond milk,” I said. “Something about diet and stuff.”
“I didn’t say that!” Deen protested.
“I told her to just eat and not worry about calories for once.” I handed Deen a tray with the glasses. “Carry this to the table, please. The glass with the flower design is mine.”
Sensing her loss, Deen complied. She figured silence was the best answer.
While we ate, Deen played a one-sided game of footsie with me. I pretended nothing was happening under the table even as she pinched my thighs with her toes. Were there spike pants online? I’d buy those as an anti-footsie measure. Or maybe I should sit beside her next time so she couldn’t. But if I did that, I was within reach of her hands.
My nonchalance irritated Deen. She shifted down her chair to have better reach. I closed my legs. Deen was aggressive if not seen by others. Duly noted.
“Where do you want to go later, Mom?” I asked, turning my legs to the side so Deen couldn’t try to open them. She surrendered, apparently intent on joining the planning for the day.
“Anywhere, dear. I’m not familiar with tourist spots in Vegas.”
“How about the Grand Canyon?” Deen suggested. “Is that near here?”
“That’s almost a three-hour drive to the nearest part,” I said. “We’ll waste our day going there and back. And looking at rocks is boring. Let’s stick to the city.”
“Says the introvert,” Deen said. “So, shopping? We can try out clothes.”
“Maybe later,” I said, refusing to look at Deen. The last time we tried clothes ended with blood being shed. Her blood. “We can go to museums.”
We cobbled a rough itinerary for the day while finishing our meal. Mom volunteered to wash the dishes. She found it refreshing to do housework again, and she missed our sink. She was probably happy of the family vibe we got going. We have a new family member, after all.
I returned to my room and Deen followed me.
“Can I use your desk, Erind?” Deen asked, opening her laptop. “I can be on the bed if you’re gonna use it. Or I can get another chair and we can sit side-by-side.”
“Why not study outside? You and Mom seem to be hitting it off.”
“I want to be here with you. Are you going to take a bath again?” Deen asked as I hugged my towel and a change of clothes.
“Yes, because of our activities last night,” I curtly said. “I want to freshen up for our full day of activities.”
“Oh… right. Do you want me to join—”
“No! Mom is awake.”
Deen narrowed her eyes. “So, it’s fine if she’s asleep? How about tonight?”
I wore a distressed expression. “Deen, I think we need to slow down with whatever this is.”
“I thought you liked it,” she said, disappointment apparent in her face and voice.
“I’m just telling you to take it slow, okay? Not stop it.” Insert puppy dog eyes. Dammit, I was really becoming the submissive one here. There was no other choice though. “Prove to me that you can control yourself. No shenanigans today.”
“None whatsoever?”
I sighed. “Fine. Just a little.” I was going to mess with her in public.
