Fantasy So Night Follows Day by TMaskedWriter

[Ramesh_Rocky]

I opened my eyes. I looked over at the clock. 8 AM. I'd slept all night. I woke up as well-rested and refreshed as Julie would have instructed me. Still, coffee sounded good, so I left my room and went downstairs to the kitchen.

Troy and Julie's bedroom door opened, and Contessa Helena de San Finzione emerged, wearing what looked like it must have been an expensive dress before whatever happened to it last night.

"Oh, hey." Helen said, somewhat sheepishly, carefully closing the door behind her. "I... uh... How're you doing?"

"Good." I told her, scooping the grounds into the filter. "Julie did something really cool and... it was fun. I got an idea from it, but it's going to sound unusual."

Helen lit a cigarette.

"Find anything out?" She asked.

"Just that Suzy-Q might be able to figure out how to do it on her own with practice, but for now, it only seems to work if you're unconscious and one of us is in danger."

"Well, I hope she doesn't get any practice today." Helen replied with a long drag. "I need to go to STRANGERS. I have to make a public appearance after the attacks, or people will start asking where I am, and that might lead to someone looking up any old friends I might have in town."

I got a couple of cups out for us.

"Are they up, too?" I asked, nodding toward Troy and Julie's door.

"No. Julie was up late working. She joined us a little bit before I had to get up."

Helen looked at me, seeming to search for a polite way to say "Oh, and Troy and I most likely had sex." I looked down at her dress again and realized that I was seeing what passed for a Walk of Shame for Helen, if she had displayed any sign of it before now.

I gave her a smile to let her know not to worry.

"Hey, it's cool. 'Our love is big enough to share' doesn't apply to just me; I get that. Hell, some days, it doesn't apply to just them, either."

We laughed at that. The coffee pot finished.

"Ooh," Helen oohed. "Julie's mom always had this hazelnut creamer..."

I reached into the fridge and pulled it out.

"And Julie still buys it." I told her with a smile. She smiled back, and I poured.

"Oh, yeah, Mander has to stay over there today. There's going to be news cameras, and he's got the whole 'wanted on three continents' thing going on."

"Do you trust him?" I asked Helen. She thought for a moment.

"Yes."

"Then I'm being paid enough to trust him too." I replied with a smile. "Tell him Troy's got all the Doctor Who they've put out on Blu-Ray and DVD so far, if he gets bored."

"I will." Helen replied, sipping her coffee. "I'll have him bring the cup back, if you don't mind. I need to go slip into something more... er... Contessa-y."

"Ok." I answered. She headed for the patio door. I had another thought. "Hey, Helen?"

She stopped halfway out the door.

"Yes?"

I set my coffee on the counter and walked up to her.

"I have it on word," I said. "From two reliable sources; one of whom, you just had sex with, the other lives in my skull; that you need to hear this once in a while."