Rough Morning

[StantonBros]

Stanton looked at Zelia with a worried look as she quickly left, hoping that she wasn't in the middle of something dangerous, that she just happens to be on a very tight schedual.

He looked back at Angel with a nod, still part of his concentration on Zelia as she left saying "well, I also help out people, we usually let people sleep in our spair bedroom." Paste then adjusted himself into a more comfortable position looking at Angel's bandage asking "what happened to your hand?"

[Clairice-Sarah]

"Ahh..." Angel stared down at her bandaged hands. They were better, than usual, but she had made a small zombie about a week ago and managed to cut both palms in the process. "Well, see, I bought this kitten a little while ago," she began, with a rehearsed tone and expression. "And he's very fussy. And my sister is always provoking him and then he sinks his claws and teeth into me."

She paused. "I guess I maybe should have called him something like Fang, instead of Arsenic. Anyway, he got me pretty good the other day and they still sting a little."

Angel wondered when someone was going to call BS on her, she'd had the kitten for only a few months and she had been wearing bandages for almost a year. Of course, she wore them mostly to conceal the scars, than the cuts themselves. In Bridgeport, hundreds of people would just jump on a story about a girl being admitted to hospital for cutting herself.

"When he's a bit older, I'm going to have his claws removed," Angel added, "Our other cat had them removed, which is probably good, because she really doesn't like him much either."

(+ ending edits:)

She munched on a big mouthful of her food, turning over the fork in her left hand. She was certain now that the pulsing was caused by...whatever about this guy had that made Zelia nervous. At this rate she'd be driving one-handed...not that she couldn't do it but...all this talk of demons and Zelia running out made her paranoid.

"Anyway, Mister Stanton...I'm not supposed to leave my sister alone at home and I need to look after my cats." She took out her wallet with one hand and put cash down on the table. "It was nice to meet you. Uh...sometimes I have stuff up at the art gallery at the college. You could come see if you wanted." She gave him a ghost of a smile and a small wave. "I'll see you around."