Chapter Text
The relentless blaring alarm alerted Artie to the artifact disturbance and once he’d pinpointed its location his Farnsworth was opened and hailing the presumed culprit with a stock tirade ready to unleash. However when the call was finally, finally, picked up it was obvious that this was going to require some special handling. Especially when a second face joined the one in view and asked what was going on, this one also looking impossibly young and yet so obviously familiar. “What. Did you. Touch?”
It was quite possible the stout pacing man was speaking another language, one better suited to grumbling and harsh consonants, for all the four regressed Warehouse agents could discern.
“Dude, stop throwing stuff around. You’re going to break something… like your back.” The red haired girl didn’t look that different, Artie had to admit. Maybe a couple years younger, but she’d definitely kept her sass about her, if those sardonic words were any indication.
“I wouldn’t have to be doing this if one of you would just tell me what you touched.”
A much younger Pete Lattimer raised his hands in the air defensively. His build was almost unchanged, hair a little longer maybe. It was his face showed the most difference; no stubble or smile lines though that trademark grin still came easily enough. “Why do you keep looking at me? I told you, last thing I remember was a flash and we were all just sitting around in here. Where are we, anyway?”
“He said it was a warehouse of some kind.” Myka Bering, looking all of her sixteen-ish years, spoke up hesitantly from her seated position on the ratty sofa in the ‘Pete Cave’. “Like a storage facility, maybe?”
“It’s definitely got some storage,” Artie agreed absentmindedly, missing Myka’s pleased expression. “Wait, go back to exactly where you were all sitting when you first… woke up.”
Pete and Claudia stopped their perusal of the surroundings and the eccentric man before them and sprawled back to their slouched positions on the floor, visually checking with the others for confirmation. The last to take her seat, also on the sofa, was the criminally attractive form of a young HG Wells, who gracefully sat down, leaning into the arm of the couch while largely ignoring the rest of the room.
Artie observed their positioning, already building a mental diatribe about slacking off in the Warehouse, supposed day off or not. He spun in the direction all four were facing and stalked to the outdated television, eyeing it suspiciously.
“Should we maybe be a bit worried that we’ve been kidnapped and simultaneously developed amnesia or possibly been brain washed?” The girl on the floor stage whispered to the other three.
“I feel like all of this is really familiar, which is weird. Right?” Myka glanced at the person next to her for a second, but the dark haired girl looked positively disinterested in their predicament, not weighing in on either side.
“Nah, I’m getting good vibage all over the place.” Pete dismissed easily, moving from his spot to snag a cream soda from the mini fridge like he’d known what would be inside it already.
“Whatever,” Claudia replied, chipping at her black nail polish with a large eye roll.
“No, it was a good question,” Myka spoke up encouragingly but neither the red haired girl nor the others bothered looking at her or responding, and Myka reflexively pulled her legs up until her knees were tight against her chest.
“You must have been watching something…here we go.” Pushing the eject button on the DVD player Artie took the disc out in his purple gloved hands, nodding as he understood what had happened.
“The Breakfast Club DVD. It’s turned you all into stereotypical teenagers.”
“Umm,” Pete began slowly, “I think I speak for all of us here when I say…what?”
“And you apparently don’t have all your memories either. Just wait… Haha!” The grizzled man cried triumphantly, brandishing the dvd and putting it into a bag in a shower of sparks. His victorious expression only lasted as long as the sparks did for when he looked back up he was met with four Warehouse agents still looking far too youthful and unimpressed for their own good. “Fudge,” he cursed, going back to the drawing board.
“So we’re not supposed to be this young? How old are we really?” Myka’s rapid questions matched the group’s pace as they followed Artie up to the office. On the way all four youths kept getting distracted by the sundry of items they passed by, though the older man had already warned them sternly they were not to touch anything on his brief explanation of the Warehouse and what it contained.
“Old enough to work here without violating child labor laws,” was all Artie replied with, not satisfying the inquisitive girl’s questions in the least. They’d reached the office by then and Artie set to the computer immediately, hurriedly typing in the artifact and groaning when no helpful information came forth. “Perfect,” he muttered, heading for the wall of files, “I’m stuck babysitting until I figure this out. Of course Steve would pick this week to go on vacation.”
“I hardly think we’re immature enough to require that level of supervision.” It was the first time they’d heard a sound from the dark haired girl, the accent throwing them a bit, though the confident tone seemed to fit rather well.
“You’d be surprised.” As if proving Artie’s point Pete stumbled back from the self-shuffling deck of cards he’d tried playing solitaire with.
“Woah!”
“Oh great,” Artie moaned, “They’ll be doing that for the next ninety minutes.”
From her newly commandeered spot in front of the computer Claudia started eagerly exclaiming at the different artifacts she could pull up. “Amelia Earhart’s aviation goggles! Jacque Cousteau’s underwater camera! All this stuff is really here? Eek!” She jerked back from the screen with a grimace. “The Chucky doll. Remind me to steer clear of that aisle!”
“So what is it we do here exactly?” Myka asked, watching Artie rifle through stacks of paper. “You said we’re here to collect artifacts and help keep the ones already here in line, but how do we go about that? And how did we all come to be here?” Her eyes darted across the room to Helena who had lost her bored posture and was now leaning over Claudia’s shoulder with apparent interest. “Are there other Warehouses in foreign countries? How did this one come to be in South Dakota anyway? I assume the vast land expanse due to the need for anonymity, but there are plenty of other places-“
Her rambling was cut off as Artie shoved a pile at her. “Here! The faster you read through these, the faster you’ll be turned back and the answers to all your questions will already be known.”
“And you won’t have to bother explaining things to a bunch of children,” HG supplied without turning around and Artie glared at her though he didn’t bother arguing.
It was silent for a blessed moment until Myka set her stack down with a huff. “Okay, but what am I even looking for? And how would a dvd have the ability to regress us physically?”
“Not to mention steal our memories. I mean, we know our names, but that’s about it,” Claudia added curiously.
“Right,” Myka nodded. It’s possible they would have gotten some form of unsatisfactory answer however a shout from the corner stole everyone’s attention. Pete had tried to reclaim the shuffling cards and they were now flinging themselves at him with frightening accuracy, making him weave and dodge his way around the room, finally taking shelter behind Myka’s surprised form.
One of the cards hit her arm, delivering pain akin to a paper cut and she yelped while attempting to move away from Pete’s clinging hands. All the cards were soon fluttering wildly about the room, several tipping over piles of paperwork and attacking the group indiscriminately.
Claudia and HG quickly took refuge under the desk, watching as Myka finally freed herself from the cowering boy only for the momentum to make her crash into a cabinet of files, its contents spilling out everywhere. Before they could recover from that another card hit a soda bottle which, since it was stationed perilously close to the keyboard, spilled all over it.
“How many times have I told you not to leave your drinks so close to the technology?” Artie yelled at Claudia over the din.
“Umm, in my defense I have no idea and it technically wasn’t me. Maybe you should yell at my other self when we’re the right age again,” Claudia pointed out most unhelpfully and the responding glare made her gulp.
“Perhaps we should make a break for it,” HG said, nodding towards the office door and the two crawled speedily for it, shutting it firmly behind them.
“You two go with them,” Artie insisted, noting their attempts at cleaning up were really just mixing up files that had no business being sorted together. “Stay close, stay together and most importantly -”
“Don’t touch anything.” They all chorused together, Pete helping a prone Myka up off the floor, both of them wincing as card after card battered themselves against their bare skin until they too reached the safety beyond the office walls.
“Hazard pay must be off the charts here,” Claudia mused thoughtfully, rubbing a cut on her cheek. She swiveled around when she noticed HG and Pete walking off in different directions. “Hey! Where are you guys going?”
HG kept walking with no indication she’d heard the query but Pete turned around with wide, innocent eyes. “Hey, he said to stay close, not stationary. I’m just going to go poke around a bit.” When Myka opened her mouth he hurried to add, “I know, I know, don’t touch anything. You guys coming or what?”
Myka and Claudia exchanged glances, the former shaking her head, but the redhead made to follow Pete anyway, leaving Myka on the catwalk alone, frowning disapprovingly.
Despite herself, the lure of current mysterious surroundings drew Myka in and she slowly began exploring. At a certain point the mental warning to stay close to their point of origin was forgotten as the much greater need to know why an entire shelf the length of a football field was needed to solely hold hats became more important. Of course at the end of that aisle were more attention grabbing sights and before long the girl had found herself standing deep in the bowels of the Warehouse, a little guilty and somewhat apprehensive about being lost and alone in such a vast place.
The repetitive sound of a ball being hit back and forth drew Myka’s attention as she came around the next corner and immediately she developed rigid posture. “How does this constitute as not touching anything? You’re going to get us in trouble!”
Pete barely glanced up from his game of ping pong against, well against himself apparently, as he volleyed the ball back towards the mirror. “Technically I’m only touching the paddle, which best I can tell is not dangerous. Besides this is the best competition I could ever hope for; me against me!”
A loud snap of popping gum sounded to her right. “Oh let him play,” HG intoned lazily as she surveyed the shelves around them. “At least he’s keeping himself entertained enough to maybe stop insinuating that these confusing circumstances are a good premise for romantic interludes.”
For some reason the light rebuke from the flawless girl was enough to tinge Myka’s cheeks pink and something uncomfortable lodged in her gut.
Crowing triumphantly at a solid return Pete retorted, “Uh, I believe the words I used were, ‘Desperate times call for sexy measures, but sure, fancy my lingo up all you want.”
Giving them both another frown that went completely unnoticed Myka stood by awkwardly before latching on to a desperate lifeline. “Anyone seen Claudia?”
Rolling her eyes and snapping her gum again HG shook her head disinterestedly, eyes softening a bit when she noticed Myka’s uncomfortable posture.
“Ummm, I think she said something about checking out the computer lab. Or something,” Pete added rather unhelpfully, his reflection taking advantage of the distraction and scoring easily.
“There’s a computer lab in here?” Myka asked, ever baffled by their surroundings. No answer came, though her question had been somewhat rhetorical. Biting her lip and palming the back of her neck she pretended to find the pair of slippers to her right extremely interesting and then actually became quite absorbed with them as she read their tag. Eventually the young girl made to leave the awkward group, figuring those two probably wanted to be left alone anyway. “Guess I’ll just go look for her then.” She turned away, hoping against hope that she was headed in at least the right general direction.
With Myka’s departure came the return of Helena’s boredom. Deciding she’d had enough of watching Pete play with himself, she turned gracefully and strolled after the curly haired girl.
When Myka heard steady footfalls she turned, meeting HG’s ever confident gaze. “Mind if I tag along?” the girl asked as if she didn’t really care either way.
“Oh I thought you…” At HG’s quizzical look Myka readily decided to keep her mouth shut. “Um, no?”
“Aces.” The English girl smiled, clasping her hands behind her back as they kept up their pace, occasionally pulling Myka towards some curious artifact or another with her hand burning on the girl’s wrist.
Their directionless journey was broken up by several incredible discoveries including a full dinosaur skeleton and what looked to be a hybrid boat/flying machine. Eventually though, one lucky turn down a particular aisle led them to a small room filled with whirring and beeping and Claudia.
“I’m pretty sure this is the first computer. Like ever,” the awed girl said in lieu of a greeting. “Meaning the firsts of all modern technology were done on this machine. It’s like witnessing the birth of fire. Oh and I found this cool printout, it’s full of binary codes and stuff.”
“What? Like the first computer codes ever written? Let me see.” HG shoved over next to the excited girl and bent over the paper. They then quickly became more interested in what looked to be the first mobile phone, laughing hysterically over its size.
Myka edged away, a little disappointed when neither girl seemed to notice, though her breathing did come easier the further away from the brash English girl she got. As soon as she found the library Myka sighed with relief, already knowing this would be the perfect spot for her since it was quiet and secluded and already filled with some of her favorite fictional people. The time passed easily as she curled up on the armchair in the corner with a two foot tower of books on the floor next to her.
“Claudia, this is taking forever. I’m going to go find Myka and then I’ll be back.” She frowned as she thought about the brunette girl and her frustrating vanishing act.
“Just one more piece and… there, try it now.” Claudia jumped up to watch as HG pressed the power button on the oldest computer known to man and they watched with rapt attention as it slowly flickered to life. “Eek! It’s alive!”
“I wonder why it had been disassembled.” HG mused then shared a confused look with Claudia as the screen stayed blank, a lone cursor mark blinking at them. She hit the enter key to no avail and Claudia seemingly had no luck with her series of complicated commands either.
Claudia frowned with disappointment, halfheartedly hitting the monitor. “Lame. Maybe we should just turn it off.” At that sentence the screen suddenly filled with typed words and both girls leaned in closer to read them.
Don’t turn me off. Not again. Good this time. Not like last time.
“What happened last time?” Claudia asked automatically then smacked her head after realizing she was conversing with the machine. At that the computer started sputtering, screen flashing chaotically and both girls stepped back cautiously.
“Let’s just turn it off,” HG agreed. They looked at each other wide eyed with the words that next filled the screen.
No. Don’t listen to the bad girl. I can help. First you must kill her. Kill the bad girl.
Claudia hit the power button with harsh jabs while Helena began yanking pieces from the base unit until finally the erratic machine turned off with a loud pop.
“I’m going to go out on a limb and say plugging in that Atari system is a no go,” Claudia ventured, smiling to show she was kidding at the look of exasperation from HG.
“So this is where you disappeared to.” The words made Myka jump as Helena Wells pulled her out of her fantasy worlds. That the dark haired beauty had contemplated her location at all was a matter of confusion for the well read girl who shook her head when she realized she was staring.
“You seemed pretty enamored with Claudia and all that computer stuff so… I just thought I’d explore some on my own.” There. That made her sound more adventurous than she really was.
HG tilted her head, “I didn’t seem enamored enough with you, you mean.”
Myka flushed and her brow furrowed with incredulity while she sputtered, “What? No. I don’t…I don’t even know you.”
“Sure you do. At least your future self does. We were sharing a sofa during that movie after all so we must be comfortable with each other in some capacity.”
Imagining that if future HG looked anything like the present one, Myka knew she would have no trouble wanting to be as comfortable as possible with that captivating presence. “Well,” she began haltingly, “this self doesn’t know you. So I would have absolutely no reason to be jealous or whatever. So I’m not. Jealous. Because that would be ridiculous.”
The other girl looked supremely satisfied for some reason which caused Myka to roll her eyes and return her attention to the book in her lap. As if intrigued HG sauntered over, plopping down beside the seemingly absorbed girl and glancing at the book in her hands. “Treasure Island. Classic.”
“Looks like a first addition,” Myka said, her plan of ignoring the girl vanishing in less than a second and she cursed her propensity for uninteresting comments.
“This place is amazing,” Helena said, after a long silence between them and Myka murmured an affirmation without glancing away from her pages. “Would it be alright if I stayed in here with you? I don’t really fancy wandering about lost again.”
Myka blinked then nodded. “Of course you can. So long as you stop trying to read over my shoulder.” She smiled when HG huffed like that would be a hardship, though the girl obediently rose and after a short minute, settled back down with her own choice read.
By the time Pete had made his way around to the library and poked his head warily inside, both girls were in the middle of a long discussion about the deeper nuances of the Narnia series. They were still seated on opposite ends of the couch, but were facing each other and talking earnestly and to be honest neither noticed the boy until he was well inside their newfound sanctuary.
“Oh jeez, you’re a book nerd too?” If it weren’t for his good natured smile Myka would have felt more annoyed or perhaps, in a version she liked better, rushed to her new friend’s defense. He was obviously kidding though so Myka reached her foot out to kick at him, grinning when he hopped around like it had hurt. HG merely rolled her eyes, though only until Myka nudged her with that same foot and something sparked inside her as she smiled with surprise.
“I come here with vital information and this is the welcome I get. I see how it is.” The girls simply looked at him expectantly, certainly not offering up remorse of any kind so he gave them a put upon sigh. “Since I,” he held up the item in his hand, “am the one with the Farnsworth, it is I that Artie called to communicate with.” He tilted his head, “Actually he called to yell about how far away we were and that we were clearly not together. Then he derailed for a bit when he saw I was in the games aisle, there’s a games aisle by the way which is one part cool and two parts really creepy.”
“Was there an actual message you were meant to relay?” HG asked snarkily and Pete stared at her with mock offense.
“Why is it the hot ones are always the meanest? Anyway, yes, what I was trying to say is we are supposed to meet up in the office. He promised the murderous cards were taken care of. Didn’t really look too happy about that either. And I was making my way over there when I noticed the door was open and, hey hey hey, here you two are.” He took a breath and eyed them with exaggerated intensity. “All nice and cozy, I see.”
There was absolutely no basis to that teasing statement but much to Myka’s irritation she blushed anyway. Leaping up she discarded her book and gestured to the door. “We should probably get up there ASAP. Artie doesn’t really strike me as the lackadaisical type.”
HG eyed her carefully then smiled and moved to follow. “No, he certainly doesn’t. Hopefully Claudia is still with her electronics.”
“You’re welcome by the way, for finding you guys and bringing you along,” Pete muttered loudly as he trudged behind them.
“Right, totally not because you were desperate for company and had gotten yourself hopelessly lost.” Myka turned around and grinned and he couldn’t help but return the gesture.
“Absolutely not. Hey look, a dodgeball!”
Finally everyone had made their way back to the front of the Warehouse. HG and Myka stood together still glaring at Pete while rubbing sore soon to be bruises. Claudia had been found in the musical instruments section where they had all gotten appropriately distracted. Eventually though they had assembled in front of an aggrieved Artie who, despite all his research, had not found a solution. Luckily he’d been able to send Steve out on the low level ping that had occurred in the meantime and if an agent on vacation had to be sent out on a work assignment, he was glad it had been the Buddhist.
“Obviously you are all still children.” The four teenagers protested mightily at that word but he took no notice. “And I am not staying awake to babysit all night. Especially not here of all places, so it’s off to Abigail you go. Best I can tell the artifact has no ill side effects besides the obvious so we will resume this in the morning. Or maybe we’ll get lucky and you’ll all wake up as semi-competent adult like people again.” He led the four reluctant youths down the umbilicus grumbling as they went. “And you can be someone else’s problem for the next twelve hours.”
“Shotgun!” Pete cried jubilantly as soon as they stepped outside the Warehouse, racing a suddenly spirited Claudia for the prized front seat and winning by a hair.
Throwing open the back door dramatically Claudia got in first and since Myka was trailing behind HG opted for the middle seat, climbing in gracefully and greeting Myka with a pretty smile as they buckled in.
“Wow, South Dakota is pretty boring,” Pete commented as they drove the thankfully short distance to the B&B.
“After everything we’ve seen today, any landscape more interesting than barren desert would be too much of an overload,” Claudia commented and Pete agreed, turning in his seat to compare notes on everything they’d managed to encounter that day.
HG and Myka stayed quiet throughout the journey; though it was a safe bet that had a lot to do with the way Myka was resolutely turned towards her window, seemingly absorbed in the outside world and ignoring the press of HG’s thigh against hers.
The final turn to the Bed and Breakfast was abrupt, mainly because of Artie’s distraction due to his tirade against the numerous artifacts Pete had managed to come in contact with in such a short span of time. He almost missed the long driveway of the establishment, taking the corner sharply and everyone protested as they slid violently to the right. Everyone protested except HG of course, who used the rough movement to slide herself firmly into the body next to her that was plastered against the door. Even when the car had righted itself she remained close to the off centered girl, noting Myka’s flustered state with delight.
“Oh, how quaint,” she said as the car rolled to a stop outside. Using the guise of getting a better look HG practically climbed into Myka’s lap as she stared out the window. It may have been wishful thinking but she was almost positive she’d heard Myka’s breathing hitch at the movement and she turned curious eyes upon her pretty companion.
The moment would have stretched delightfully except for the interruption of the vehicle’s other occupants getting out and slamming their doors, breaking the haze that had settled over the two of them. Unexpectedly the door on Myka’s side opened and she would have spilled out if not for her seatbelt and the way she instinctively grabbed at Helena for support as she floundered helplessly.
“Dude, come on! You take longer than someone’s mom to get out of a car. The type that uses those windshield screens even if they’re only going into a store for one thing. Jeez.”
“An innkeeper is one thing; do I look like a nanny to you?” Abigail asked him with crossed arms from inside the doorway.
“DO I?” Artie questioned loudly, gesturing to himself comically. “The sooner I can get back to the Warehouse without having to watch them at the same time, the sooner we can reverse this and neither one of us will have to babysit.”
“For the last time old man, we do not need babysitters.” Claudia complained as she pushed passed them and instinctively up the stairs.
“I’m confused, you said they were affected by an artifact?” Abigail joked.
“Man, it smells good in here! Are there cookies?” Pete followed his nose to the kitchen and Artie chuckled as Abigail narrowed her eyes.
“Again I ask…”
“Yes, good thing their physical appearances changed because otherwise it’d be hard to tell in some cases. I’m going to go back and see what I can dig up, hopefully have us out of this mess by morning.” He went back to the SUV, passing HG and Myka who were headed in. Waving his Farnsworth in the air he called out to the unwilling caretaker of four teens, “Call me if you need anything. Not that you will, I’m sure everything will be just fine.” Lowering his voice to a mumble he continued, “Four teenagers of the Warehouse. Yeah, I’m sure the night will be smooth as butter.”
In the room that apparently belonged to her, Myka immediately set about looking for clues about herself. From down the hall she heard Pete’s happy exclamations about the large television and video game cache and smiled at his excitement.
“My room is boring,” HG complained loudly as she entered the room without knocking. Flopping down to the bed with a wistful huff she turned on her back and eyed the room interestedly. “You certainly do like to read, don’t you.” Myka shrugged where she stood but eyed the bookshelf herself, picking up a few of the more worn copies and thumbing through them. She frowned upon opening one and HG crossed the room to see the cause.
“This one is signed,” Myka showed her with confusion. “But that’s obviously impossible. I’m pretty sure a signed copy of ‘The Time Machine’ would be an almost impossible find and…what?” Helena was looking at the signature and cheekily inscribed ‘This is two you owe me’ with bewilderment.
Shaking the errant thoughts away Helena stepped back. “Nothing. Just, that handwriting looks a bit like mine.”
Grinning, Myka shut the book and put it carefully back in its place. “Maybe it is. You do have the right initials after all.”
“So I do,” HG agreed, stepping back to her comfortable spot on the bed. She kicked her feet lazily, frowning when they hit something just barely hidden underneath the frame. Leaning down she found a pair of boots along with familiar looking socks and pulled them out. “These look a bit like mine as well,” she murmured thoughtfully and Myka came closer to investigate them too.
“Those definitely wouldn’t fit me,” she agreed, blushing as she put their casual position, on the side of the bed she never favored, together with their apparent owner.
Thoughts running along the same track Helena smirked happily. “Curiouser and curiouser.” One of her fingers idly traced along the pattern of Myka’s bedspread, roaming dangerously close to brushing with Myka’s left hand.
“Dinner!” came the rousing shout from the floor below and both girls jumped.
“Bloody hell, do you think we are always called to mealtimes in such an abrasive manner?” she questioned seriously as they followed Pete’s thundering footsteps toward the dining room.
At some point Myka hoped to have a better response to Helena’s wit than her useless laughter, but apparently that was not going to happen anytime soon, though the low chuckle caused the woman in front of her to glance backwards with a conspiratorial smile.
Dinner passed by without incident, Abigail mainly fielding questions from the inquisitive young people. She answered as best she could, though having not been around long enough to really give definitive answers to everything, she was largely unhelpful. She did however get away with telling them that the after dinner clean up was always their happy chore, since she usually cooked. Store bought rotisserie chicken and instant mashed potatoes totally counted as cooking, especially tonight.
Afterward the dishes were done they all looked at each other at a bit of a loss as to what to do next.
“Movie night!” Pete exclaimed immediately.
“That’s what got us into this mess,” HG stated wisely, if not a little derisively.
“Well, we’ll stay clear of the Muppet Babies movie then,” he tossed back and she made a face in response, prompting a chuckle from Myka who’d sensibly decided to stay out of it. “Hey!’ he snapped his fingers, “maybe that’s it! We should watch a movie about adults. Maybe that would turn us back.”
Myka winced a little and patted him on the back. “I think that Breakfast Club dvd was an oddity all its own. Besides, there’s not a movie about us specifically so we’d still be in the same boat, just a little older.”
“Yeeesh,” Claudia grimaced while she rummaged through the movie selections. “It might turn me as old as the rest of you. No thanks.” Pete and HG both threw popcorn kernels at her from the bowl Abigail had made before stating she would be in her room if they needed anything, which she fervently hoped they wouldn’t since she now had to be up early to feed a crew of four growing people. She had no qualms about letting them fend for themselves as grown adults, but as teenagers letting them go off to the Warehouse on a breakfast of stale Corn Pops simply wouldn’t do.
“I’m not cleaning that up,” Claudia informed the room as she picked a spot on the floor right in front of the television. Myka sat on the sofa near the back and watched Pete and HG who were now very wrapped up in their decision making.
“I’m not watching a chick flick or anything with subtitles,” Pete insisted.
“I counter your mildly offensive chick flick assumption by nixing anything with more gore than the human body actually holds,” HG countered.
“Guys!” Claudia interjected loudly, holding up her pick and the resulting affirmations made her smile as she slid ‘A League of Their Own’ into the player.
“Do you mind?” Helena asked, gesturing to the couch and Myka shook her head, automatically pulling in tighter to the arm rest on her side. “We are very good at sharing sofas, I think.” She winked and Myka grinned, relaxing her pulled up posture as Claudia turned off the lights and the movie started.
Only ten minutes in HG adjusted her position, then moved around again, eyeing the ceiling while she sighed lightly. Eventually her movements caught Myka’s attention and she grimaced apologetically. “Sorry, I apparently get a bit restless during movies.”
Myka waved her off, definitely more interested in the other girl’s antics than following the movie plot. HG analyzed her fingernails, probably wishing for a file and Myka hoped she didn’t leave the room in search of one because she would then probably get distracted and never make it back. Luckily the ends of her hair proved to be interesting enough for the moment and Myka halfheartedly returned her attention to the screen.
That only lasted until Helena apparently felt like playing with someone else’s hair because she bounced onto her knees, scooting over the distance of one couch cushion and twirling an errant curl of Myka’s between her fingers with deep contemplation. “I really like your hair,” she whispered, tugging on the section in her hand and any hope Myka had for actually watching the movie was gone. She smiled shyly at the girl who was sitting so closely now, wanting to scoff because has HG seen her own hair?
Dexterous fingers moved to another lock of hair, this time closer to her face and Myka shivered when the tips of those fingers made tickling contact with the edge of her ear. “What are you doing?” she asked hoarsely, not moving a muscle; partly so those delightful administrations didn’t stop and partly because she was terrified to make any kind of eye contact at the moment.
“Watching the movie,” came the easy reply and Myka actually snorted which caused Helena to giggle loudly.
“What are you guys doing?” Claudia whispered loudly and their simultaneous response of ‘watching the movie’ resulted in a loud burst of laughter from both of the girls on the couch.
“Shhh!” Pete insisted loudly. Low murmurs were their compliance for a little while then, when another round of laughter occurred quickly lowering to muffled noise, he turned around curiously. “Hey, are you two making out back there?” he asked, purely as a joke but Myka flushed bright red and sputtered denials for days.
Helena merely stuck her tongue out, causing him to reciprocate before turning back around to the film. Taking pity on her flustered friend Helena flopped backwards so her head rested on the armrest and genuinely tried to get engrossed in the movie. Fifteen minutes later she decided it would be much easier to watch the movie if she were a bit more comfortable so in that effort she stretched out a bit until her feet hit Myka’s right leg. When no reaction was given the girl wriggled the toes of one foot under Myka, the other foot running lazy short lines over the denim clad leg.
Myka was frozen, barely breathing, her entire being completely focused on the contact between her and the prone woman next to her. She had no way of knowing whether HG was playing with her or was just a genuinely tactile person since figuring that out would require her to look at the girl’s face and she was incapable of said movement so she simply continued to sit in frozen silence, enjoying the sensation for whatever it was.
As soon as HG fell asleep Myka could tell because the distracting movement stopped and then and only then did Myka risk a glance. Her suspicions were confirmed when she noted the closed eyes and steady breathing of her companion, one sock clad foot still resting idly on her leg. She stared at the pretty girl’s relaxed features and lost track of time because when the lights suddenly came on she startled and blinked confusedly. The abrupt brightness also managed to rouse HG who smiled at her sleepily and Myka jumped up, stammering something about being tired and practically raced upstairs to her room, swirling thoughts and feelings accompanying her behind the closed door.
It was late. Being in bed at this hour was not a ridiculous notion. That was what Myka kept repeating to herself as she turned another page of the inscribed book she couldn’t keep away from. When muffled footsteps sounded down the hall again she sighed with irritation; half at the interruption to her reading and half at herself for being the type of teenager who was irritated with people up past midnight. As she’d done a dozen times already since settling down with the book her fingers flipped it open to the cover page so she could read the inscription again. A loud thud then echoed throughout the inn and Myka huffed, closing the book and setting it aside as she got out of bed to finally see what the hell everyone was doing. The loud noises of people trying to be quiet met her and she took a step into the dark hallway, intending to make her way towards Pete’s room which, if the blue glow of a television screen was any indication, was the source of all the noise. Before she made it however, she was met with the backlit vision of HG in front of her, trying futilely to tiptoe silently down the hall.
When Helena looked up and saw Myka she jumped in surprise, then tilted her head at the way she was regarded. “What?”
“What are you wearing?” Myka asked with great confusion, assuming correctly that the oversized sports jersey and much too baggy sweatpants had not come from Helena’s personal wardrobe.
The woman shrugged then blushed, piquing Myka’s interest exponentially. “It would seem that my older self doesn’t own much in the way of sleepwear,” she explained and then it was Myka’s turn to blush at the implication. “I mean, she has a lot of those silky slip-like things that feel heavenly but don’t really fit right, unless they’re supposed to be that short and…” She stopped her own rambling with a shake of her head. “Anyway, I thought you were asleep and it was painfully obvious Pete was still up so I asked for something that would keep me a little warmer since I didn’t fancy sleeping in pants or the fuzzy bathrobe I found.”
Myka’s face was scrunched up with mild displeasure and Helena crossed her arms defensively. “Do you have a better idea? What are you doing up anyway?”
Needing Helena to not be wearing Pete’s clothes for reasons unclear to her, Myka tugged the shorter girl into her room, rummaging through the familiar organization of her drawers. “Here,” she said, handing over a long button down. “It’s kind of like a nightgown. And these shorts should fit too.”
Helena took them easily enough before motioning for Myka to turn around.
“Oh,” the girl said dumbly as she complied, clearly not thinking HG had intended to stay, but more than happy with that idea.
“All clear,” Helena said softly as soon as she was done, tugging at the hemline absentmindedly. She noted the way Myka’s eyes automatically tracked up her legs with a small smirk. “Just how tall do you think you are when you’re all grown up?”
“It’s the only one I have that’s that long, so I’m not really sure. Maybe it’s not even mine.”
“It smells a bit different than you do now,” HG noted idly and Myka was really not sure why she was blushing. “Well,” Helena started slowly, “I guess I should let you get back to sleep.” It was half statement, half question and Myka should let her go because she already knows if this intoxicating person stays she won’t get any sleep and she really should be on point tomorrow for the mounds of research they’ll most likely be doing. However, HG was just standing there looking tousled and sleepy and she clearly didn’t want to go back to her own room and who was Myka to deny them both what could clearly be, if the strange boots in the room were any indication, a long standing ritual between them.
“Did you want to,” she finished the question by gesturing to the bed and HG beamed.
“Well since you asked,” she replied, crossing to her supposed side of the bed and bouncing atop it as she pulled the covers back. She settled in comfortably, hair fanning across a pillow in an almost familiar way that made Myka’s heart clench with the immediate need to know if this was a sight she got to see on the regular. “Lights please,” Helena intoned bossily and Myka rolled her eyes even as she fulfilled the request, plunging the room into darkness.
“Myka,” Helena whispered tentatively, breaking the fragile silence that had grown between them once Myka had settled down next to her.
“Hmm?”
“What do you think we are to each other? Our normal aged selves, I mean.”
Myka turned her head to face her companion. “I don’t know. Pretty good friends, I’d guess.” It wasn’t quite a lie. It definitely wasn’t the whole truth but how exactly was that thought supposed to be voiced aloud?
“Yeah,” HG murmured noncommittally. “You know, when I was trying to fall asleep on my own all I kept thinking of was being over here with you. And now I know why.”
“Why?” the tremulous whisper was breathed out carefully.
“Because it is much more comfy over here with you,” she told the charmed girl like it was a long lost secret. “Also, it’s much easier to talk myself to sleep with someone listening, believe it or not.”
“I believe it,” Myka replied with an air of relief, looking to the ceiling once more. “Besides, I’m a pretty good listener so we’re a good match.”
“Well that was glaringly obvious from moment one, Myka. Your looks and my quick wit? It would be a crime for us to not team up I think.”
The fact that HG thought she was the pretty one of their duo had Myka mentally stuttering for a long moment. “Are you saying my wit is slow?” were the words that finally made it out of her mouth.
A yawn accompanied HG’s response, “I’m really not sure what slow wit would even look like on you, so no. You’re clearly the brains of this operation, though I’d like to think I keep you on your toes.”
“Trust me, that’s not a problem,” Myka muttered under her breath, then yawned since those were so very contagious.
Helena abruptly turned onto her side and stretched her arm out. When it hit the body next to her she didn’t pull back. “Is this okay?” she asked with searching eyes, referring to the way her hand rested atop Myka’s stomach, rising with every breath she took.
“Yes,” Myka replied a little breathlessly, even though her muscles tightened when Helena’s hand curled into the fabric of her tank top.
“Okay,” Helena whispered, snuggling down into her pillow comfortably. “Goodnight, Myka.”
It could have been mere minutes or hours upon hours before Myka whispered back. “Night, Helena.”
The particular quirk of being the first one to wake was a comfort to Myka Bering. Unbeknownst to her it had definitely served her well on the occasional morning after and was doing much of the same for her now. She woke up slowly, but the second she registered warm, bare skin underneath her cheek her body froze with panic. Instantly remembering who she was in bed with she cursed her stupid unconscious self and its apparent need to seek out a human pillow.
Not wanting HG to wake up with her in this position Myka weighed her options quickly, trying not to get distracted by the girl’s natural sweet smell or the slender arm that was wrapped around her tightly, preventing her from simply sliding away. Ever so carefully she lifted her head again, intending to extract herself inch by inch if necessary. This proved to be a faulty plan however as Helena shifted, pulling Myka closer reflexively. The trapped girl huffed out a breath of frustration but then Helena’s head moved more to the side until she was nosing Myka’s curls. Apparently they tickled because her breathing changed and Myka could tell the moment she woke up, even without seeing the girl’s face.
HG had much the same reaction as Myka, she froze in place before realizing what had happened and let out a low hum that Myka could feel more than hear. The arm around her loosened as HG’s hand came up to stroke through sleep-mussed curls. “Myka?” she whispered, nudging the form still resting atop her.
Myka wondered how long she’d be able to feign sleep for, deciding another couple of minutes ought to do it, but then sneaky fingers pinched her arm and she yelped reflexively. Helena chuckled, wide awake now and Myka rolled away, frowning at the pinch and loss of her sleeping guise.
“Good morning,” Helena uttered with a touch of sleep still in her voice, pulling at the other girl’s nightshirt playfully.
“Sorry,” Myka said automatically, finally gathering the courage to look HG in the face.
“About what?” When Myka simply gestured vaguely in her direction Helena laughed. “That’s quite alright, I feel very well rested. You’re a good blanket.”
“Yeah, well. You make a good pillow according to my unconscious self.” The comeback was lame but Myka was a bit distracted; now that she had looked, she couldn’t look away. Helena laid there, white shirt blending in with the sheets and making her hair stand out in stark contrast. Her dark eyes were still a little bleary and Myka’s mouth lifted at the way her sleepy face portrayed almost a pout. The sheets were pulled too high for Myka to see the rest of the lovely girl, but she could still feel Helena’s bare calves tangled up with hers and a pang of longing to be back in that comfortable spot hit her fiercely.
“Myka.” Her name was barely a whisper but was still the only thing that broke the girl out of her contemplations.
“What?” she asked softly, not understanding the soft look upon the other girl’s face.
“You…” HG started then trailed off, not able to gather the words to describe the way Myka’s gaze made her feel. She sat up abruptly though for what reason she was only vaguely aware of, but whatever she’d been about to do got sidetracked at the sound of the fond laughter aimed at her.
Myka gestured to the side of her face that contained creased pillow marks, which was the source of amusement for the young lady. HG feigned annoyance which put an immediate stop to Myka’s joviality, but only for a moment because in the next breath Helena reached behind her, grabbed her pillow, and swung it hard at a stunned Myka’s face.
Needless to say the rest of their time before hearing the announcement of breakfast from downstairs was taken up by a pillow fight of epic proportions and the girls were still arguing about the victor over their eggs and toast.
“Right.” Artie’s stern face observed Myka and HG eating breakfast at the table; the former poring over a copy of the Manual she’d stumbled upon and the latter absently kicking the other’s chair every so often. Each hit prompted a small smile from the one reading though she didn’t look up from her studies. The two still unaccounted for quickly made their presence known as they flew into the dining room in a frenzy of motion and incoherent shouts.
“It was in my room, so it’s mine to play with!”
“Yeah, but the initials on it are P.L. so obviously it’s mine and I want a turn! You probably stole it in the first place!”
“I resent that! And I’m already on level twelve so you can suck it.”
“Artie! Tell her that… Ooh are those donuts?”
Their bickering at a cease fire with the discovery of sugary breakfast foods, Pete and Claudia joined the others at the table and Artie now eyed the whole group wearily.
“Right,” he began again, quickly revising his plan. “I know what Abigail said this morning, but I really think it would be best if I were to go back to the Warehouse to figure this out on my own. You four sit tight and-“
“Oh no. Nice try, but you are not leaving me here with them all day.” Abigail spoke up as she strode into the dining room, setting down a platter of suspicious looking eggs. “You said overnight and overnight it has been. I am pretty sure I got no more than four hours of sleep, due to someone’s Call of Duty marathon, so it’s your turn Papa Artie.” He opened his mouth to refute but she cut him off. “They are rested and fed and ready to go. Have fun.”
“How about a compromise,” Artie tried again, shuffling off to the side with her and adopting a placating tone. “You take two and I’ll take two.” This got the attention of the four youths who had that automatic response of inwardly pleading about who they’d be partnered up with.
“I’ll stay here,” Claudia piped up helpfully, hoping to score a full day of beating level twelve and tinkering with the more curious gadgets she’d found in her room.
The purposefully hard kick aimed at her chair made Myka grin and she met HG’s eyes with a wink.
“And do what with them?” Abigail continued her and Artie’s conversation above the loud partner debates going on at the table.
“You did say there was a lot of yard work that needed to be tended to...”
“I take it back,” Claudia rescinded her offer to stay. “I’d love to go to the Warehouse and be really quiet and helpful. I can type fast too and I promise to only ask like five questions an hour.”
“Don’t listen to her, those tiny little hands would be perfect for pulling weeds. I’ll go to the Warehouse and not touch anything. Probably,” Pete countered which prompted more arguments from Claudia which escalated back into the great gameboy debate.
“Right.” For the third time Artie scanned the group and arrived at a decision, which wasn’t hard given the tumultuous pair and the moderately better behaved pair.
Understanding immediately Helena narrowed her eyes with clear revolt. “No. You can’t punish us simply because we’re the good ones.”
“Hey!” Pete and Claudia voiced as one, but Myka frowned as she ascertained the reason behind HG’s displeasure.
“Sorry. Believe me, if I was doing myself a favor I’d pick…” He looked at the obviously annoyed girls and how Myka was trying to charm HG out of her pout. “Then again, maybe not. You two,” he pointed at Myka and Pete, “you’re with me. Grab your Farnsworths and let’s go.” Pete leapt up gleefully, while Myka departed with a commiserating look towards her left behind friend. “And you two,” he addressed the remaining girls glaring balefully up at him. “Be nice to Abigail and don’t burn anything down.”
He really should have known better.