Cora's eyes lowered and the butterflies immediately made a reappearance. "Ten tomorrow morning? Is that okay? And are you sure it's fine?" He didn't sound sure. At all. "I can always visit another time. I don't want to be any trouble." She started twisting the bedsheets in her hands. What if he didn't actually want her there? It had been ages, after all.
Cat slithered up Harrison's body. Listening to the conversation. someone's going to be staying here? she thought. Hissing next to his ear.
"No it's no trouble at all." Harrison half lied, unconsciously stroking the snake's body while he spoke. "Where am I picking you up from?"
Ten in the morning, that gave him just over twenty-four hours to get everything sorted. Spare room, tidy the house in general, run over the rules with everyone else etc. He was definitely going to regret saying yes.
"I'll text you the address. See you tomorrow Harrison." She didn't hang up et, she would let him do that, but her mind had already checked out. He wanted to see her, didn't he? They were friends, good friends. And . . . maybe she felt something that was a little more than friends. She hoped seeing him again could help her sort out her feelings, but that would be a little hard if he didn't even want to see her. Oh god, what if he was dating someone else?
Nas barreled out the door, tackling Harrison to the ground like an excited puppy. "Harrison's getting a girlfriend!~" They sang, laughing almost maniacally. They grabbed the phone from Harrison and spoke clearly into it. "Hi! I'm Nas, one of Harrison's roommates, he'll make sure to pick you up! Oh, and he doesn't have a girlfriend, not yet!"
Cat turned back into a human and giggled. "Nas don't scare the poor girl away," She said loud enough for who love was on the phone to hear. "There will be plenty of time to do that tomorrow!"
A gentle 'oof' was forced from Harrion's lips as he fell down. The wind was knocked from his lungs, but he didn't show any signs of needing his inhaler so as to not worry anyone. He pulled the phone from Nas and wheezed. "Sorry about that, I'll see you tomorrow Cora." he hung up the call and glared at the Fae. "Never do that again." He rose up from the ground and staggered inside, feeling significantly light headed. Where did he leave his inhaler??
"Sorry, got excited," Nas muttered, following sheepishly. "Did she go to one of your schools? I think I saw a girl named Cora in a yearbook when I was looking through your bookshelves." They fiddled with a ball of string they had yanked from a craft store in town.
Cora took the phone away from her face and looked down at it. "See you tomorrow, . . . " she muttered. Odd. Very odd. Harrison had roommates? Why? And what had that person (Nas, was it?) said that he didn't have a girlfriend. She hadn't said that aloud had she? No, Cora was positive she had kept that to herself.
Roommates . . . this visit was about to be a lot more stressful.
"We've known each other since middle school." Harrison's voice was raspy, and it cracked in a few places when he spoke. He began fumbling around the kitchen drawers and cupboards trying to find one of his inhalers. Any of them would do at this point. "You know I was hoping to explain to her myself about the 'roommate' situation, but thank you, you've probably freaked her out now."
Cat followed them into the kitchen. She opened a draw near the sink and gave Harrison his inhaler. She had the entire house mapped out including where anything of importance would be.
Seleme had done as she was told–albeit sheepishly–not that she would ever tell Harrison that, and had stood leaning against the doorway as everyone had chatted in the lounge. The phone call had piqued her interest enough to rouse her from her inner thoughts and follow Harrison back into the kitchen. His thoughts were broadcasting loud and clear in his aura, not to mention his mind, which made the maenad more and more curious.
Reaching out, she clasped his wrist, manipulating his feelings enough to calm him down before letting go. "I'm certain that it will not to much of an issue." Seleme purred, tilting her head and frowning. "Girls like a man with a little excitement surrounding him….and danger."
Because, indeed, they all were dangerous.
(That last sentence though lol)
(I'm thinking of a response, please bear with me)
With the inhaler and Semele's touch, the nerves and the ability to breathe properly slowly returned to Harrison. He was still unsure about how well Cora's visit was going to go, especially if Nas was determined to play matchmaker, but he was going to do his best to see everything through smoothly. He took a deep breath and mustered the bravest smile he could. "Right, I suppose we should make a start in getting this place straight."
Semele smirked, leaning away from Harrison. "That is certainly my queue. I'll leave chores to the rest of you." Moving in the direction of the stairs, she threw over her shoulder. "Besides it about time for my morning ritual." It most certainly was not, but she wasn't going to let anyone stop her from going up to her room.
"Excuse me, young lady." Harrison called to Semele, raising both of his eyebrows as she walked away. "You live in this house, you pull your weight. You should know the rules by now." Besides, that maenad had spent the night out, so if she thought she was going to get away with sneaking off to her room like an anti-social teenager then she was gravely mistaken.
Semele froze, one foot on the bottom stair, and turned slowly to face her human. Her eyes flickered wildly between their usual bright green to the depthless black and the smile that crossed her face was nothing short of truly manic. Within a flash she was standing in Harrison's face, bearing her fangs as she spoke, voice distorting with her barely contained magic. "You may had a connection that I cannot break, human, but you best remember that you are not my master."
Gently Semele pushed Harrison's hair out of his face, still smiling like she'd rather be ripping out his heart. "It is good that I am feeling nice today…. I will assist–since I can feed off your sexual energies later, when–if–you get laid." She chuckled darkly, tapping a loving finger against the side of his face as she pulled away.
(OKay wait what?? I'm not sure how to respond to that, give me a moment)
"Semele, stop. Let's go plan upstairs, good idea, no?" Nas offered up an arm, after bowing dramatically of course. "It'll be fun, plus, I want to show you some videos of guys getting hit by other guys in animal suits."
"Or uhm.." Harrison was still trying to get his mind back on track after Semele's last remark. What was it with the women in the house today? They all seemed to have a fascination with him getting into a relationship and/or having sex with someone—were they trying to tell him something?? He cleared his throat, keeping his firm stance as he looked between the fae and maenad. "I know you two, the moment you set foot upstairs you'll not come down again. Five floors, and all I ask is that just this once you stay on the ground floor for more than half an hour."
Cat was back to sitting on the counter. Another beer in her hand. “I’m not sure why we have to clean. The house is perfect,” she said looking around at all the empty beer bottle that where mainly hers and other trash in the kitchen.
"Well for starters I never said this house needs cleaning." Harrison turned to Cat, the same tired expression from before still on his face. "This kitchen does need some tidying, and I meant hiding all the stuff we don't want outsiders to see." His expression turned dark for a moment and all the colour seemed to drain from his face, making him look rather sickly. "Lock all the doors on the fourth and fifth floor, Nas, I'll let you handle the ones with the brass keys. I'll take care of the box room. Cat, I'm leaving you in charge of the bloodstains that are still in the second floor bathroom from last week. Semele…" Harrison's eyes fell on the maenad and his shoulders slumped. "Do whatever the fuck you want."
A timid voice spoke up from the open back door, and with the bite of his lip, a delicate drus tiptoed into the room. "I want to help too…"
Lock had never been one for engaging with the others—he didn't trust them enough—apart from Harrison and Noel. "Maybe I can help Nas or something?" he looked to the fae, pure anxiety in his eyes. Nas was one of the ones he was most scared of.
Cat gave a mock solute before standing up. “I’m pretty good with getting rid of blood stains,” she said taking another swig of beer. She moved up to the second floor after grabbing bleach and other cleaning supplies from the kitchen closet.
Nas gave a thumbs up. "Sure thing Lock, let's go lock some things." Nas joked, offering up a hand for the other. "And Harrison, your girl already knows I exist, so I'll be talking to her." They sung, sending a too wide smile his way.