The rest grunted in agreement, although, for a much different reason.
I shivered grandly, smiling happily. “I knew you’d pick that.” I turned, and bent, rifling through my bag of purchases, grabbing another acquisition I had bought. Turning back to them, I waggled it merrily, doing a little jig. “Who doesn’t love Humphrey Bogart, right?” I tapped the disk’s case. “It’s a two for one deal, so our evening is totally booked.”
As one, they all appeared pained.
I waggled a finger at them. “Only Sin’s allowed to wear that expression. He’s earned it.” I dragged one of the heavy dinette wooden chairs over into the middle of the room, grunting a bit with the effort, no one moving to help me. Glaring a bit, I hopped onto the chair and reached up to the projector…and couldn’t reach it. “Dammit,” I muttered, the thing way too high, and knowing I wasn’t going to get any help as they all watched on. I jumped. And barely kept from falling off the chair while landing, almost reaching the button. Digging my heals in, I bent low, then jumped, reaching…and my fingernail scraped it…right before I fell in a tumbling mess onto the ground, yelping when my shin slammed against the chair.
Cain’s voice was dry. “Are you alright?”
“Kiss my ass,” I muttered, blushing furiously, shaking my head a bit on the ground, and stood to limp over to the bar. I chose the longest liquor bottle I could find, then proceeded to limp back to the chair. I stood on it, this time carefully jumping with my arm extended with the bottle, and bam…the compartment for the disk extended. “Yeah! Who’s your bitch!”
I hopped down, getting rid of the bottle…grinning victoriously…and noticed my movie case was gone. I blinked, and instantly made my chin wobble, turning my back to them after a moment. My breath hiccupping. “I just…I just wanted to watch,” a shuddering breath, “a movie.” I waved a hand. “It’s been so…hard…you know?” I shook my shoulders the barest bit, letting my head fall into my hands, making myself feel—had to with this crowd—a sliver of forced pain, remembering an old painful memory, one of the many I kept locked away, the type you deal with, then try to move past.
“I’m sorry.” King Zeller blurred next to my side, a breeze ruffling my hair, holding the movie. “That was rude, and very inconsiderate.” He handed me the case, and rubbed on my back a bit woodenly, like he didn’t do well with criers. “It’ll get better.”
As he moved away, I heard Sin groan quietly, and I turned, eyes shimmering in hilarity, and started doing a little cowboy dance behind the King’s retreating back. My King and the Elders’ faces were priceless while they watched on, Sin only glaring at King Zeller, rubbing his forehead. King Zeller froze, and turned in a whirl, his eyes going wide. I grinned cheekily, and finished my little dance. “Your wallet, knocked your ass out, and tricked you. You’re falling behind in the count.” I bowed grandly. “With great respect, of course.” Elder Bridges and Brann both started choking on chuckles, earning a glare from King Zeller, but I explained when he peered back to me, “One, I’m a woman. Two, I’m a spirit. Three, my life has sucked a big one. Subterfuge is native to my very being, and a must for survival.” I waggled my shoulders as I moved to the chair, smiling happily. “And you just fell for my fav-or-ite trick.”
“But,” he sat heavily on the recliner, “you were honestly upset.”
“Her third point. Her life has sucked,” Sin stated slowly, still glaring at him. “She knows what to use when it’s needed to get what she wants.” He waved an irritated hand at me as I jumped and put the movie into place. “And now, we’re all stuck watching three fun filled hours of mush because you fell for tears that weren’t even falling.”
When everyone glared at King Zeller, I waved a hand, jumping down from the chair. “Don’t blame him. You were all thinking the same thing.” I proceeded to move the chair out of everyone’s way.
“Not me,” Sin muttered grumpily.
“Given,” I stated easily, and turned the projector on with a remote, black and white stilled images flashing on the white screen as I flicked the lights off. “Now, make room.” I waved my hands between King Collins and Cain on the couch. “This is going to be so much fun!” I hopped a bit, truly appreciating all their revolted expressions. “Like a big slumber party of Royals, but with actual wholesome good times.”
Elder Samson flicked a finger at me. “You’re getting your own damn room at the other cities.”
My eyes instantly gleamed, and I heard many a groan from whatever they saw on my face. “But…you can all protect me so much better if I’m sleeping in the same room as you.” I wiggled down into place between my King and Cain, stretching my legs out in front of me. “And think of all the money I’ll save you when you inevitably try your hand at gambling with the spirits again!” I pressed another button, turning the film on. “It’ll be a blast.”
King Collins held up the silk white scarf I had gotten each of them. “You don’t really want us to wear these, do you?”
All eyes turned to me.
“You can if you want to. It may actually work fashion-wise with what I have to wear.” I waved an absent hand. “And, if you didn’t notice, they’re all embroidered, personalized with my own brand of my likeness for each of you.” And in black, the woman actually having colored thread to do so with at the market.
Instantly, everyone started covertly searching for their scarf in the dimness of the room, lit only by the movie that was starting, trying to discover what I had written about them, the writing small and hard to find.
I heard a few grunts, even a couple of chuckles, my King actually sniffing once when he found my message, and Cain’s wolf huffing quietly as he stared at the message for long moments.
His simply reading, My Badass Wolf Man.
Covertly, I watched a bit warily, but relaxed in slow increments when he draped the scarf around his throat casually, not recoiling from it, even as King Collins draped his over his knees very carefully, my King stating on a gruff voice, “I’m sure I can work it some way.”
I patted his arm, trying to not fall against Cain when he stretched his arms over the back of the couch, his heat penetrating fiercely, his warm flesh rubbing against my shoulders, and told my King, but I was telling everyone, “Only if you want to. It’s not one of those gifts you have to wear to make me feel better. But,” I flicked a finger at everyone, “if you are going to trash it, just don’t do so in front of me, because that’s just inconsiderate.” I heard “Thank you’s” all around for the first time, but I waved a hand for them to be quiet, hitting a button on the remote. “None of that, gentlemen. We have two shows to watch, which demand utter silence and respect. Prepare to be amazed with the magnificence that was Humphrey Bogart.”