"Whatever this 'new gig' is, can't it wait till mornin?" She shot Heath a tired, pleading expression.
"You always say that, but then in the morning you don't even want to hear it!" Heath crossed his arms in a mock expression of annoyance. He knew even if he told her about the convoy protection job he scored for them at the bar in town, she'd barely listen right now. So he changed the subject to something that had been on his mind since he strolled in.
"And where the hell did you get that valley snake that is now trying to burrow holes in our yard?" He uncrossed his arms and pointed out the window where the snake was, in fact, burrowing into their yard.
"Well, I had to find someway out of town without my big strong savior." She put a hand to her head, feigning the look of a damsel in distress. "And his big strong auto-wagon." She pointed to the window and outside, where the snake burrowed itself into a sand hole.
"Not only is that thing faster than your sorry little wagon, it makes less noise, and the only fuel it needs is cacti and fruit." She crossed her arms and smiled at Heath smugly.
"And it shits more than my auto-wagon too, not to mention it can get hurt, or get temperamental." Heath stood from the creaky chair, slowly losing confidence it could continue to hold his giant frame.
Heath slung his sword on his back and began gathering his things as he said, "You sure you're a big enough girl to pick up after something that size?" A hint of coy lacing his tone.
Cass, who was ready for bed 10 minutes ago, began layering herself under her covers to conserve what little body heat she had. "I've picked up after you these past three years. I think I've proven myself more responsible than anyone ever."
"Hah, fair point, fair point." He twisted the rusty bronze door handle of the door leading to his room, and it opened with a slight creak as he stepped through it.
"See you first thing in the morning?" Cass slightly yelled with her eyes closed. She was unsure how far into his room Heath was. He replied back softer from just beyond the doorway, door still open.
"Fuck that, I'm sleeping in."
Her only response was a soft laugh, and he responded the same. With their nightly conversation over, he shut the creaky wooden door, and in an instant Cass's eyes and mind were firmly on the ceiling.
The soft muffled sounds of Heath stepping around his room and crawling into bed slowly eased her back into sleep, yet her eyes remained on the ceiling despite how heavy they felt. The dream, or more so nightmare she had, was still swirling around in her mind.
Remembering exactly what had happened was hard, her father was there, and she was helping him with something. That was before it cut to... that person, but it didn't happen like that. Something was wrong with how it happened, and she didn't know why.
She knew some of the high fae sometimes heralded their ability to divine things from their dreams as a gift. When it wasn't seen as a curse or a bad omen.
Maybe that's what that was? But a half-fae having something like that shouldn't be... whatever.
She figured she could mull it over in morning, if she even remembered the dream. For now, she tossed and turned until sleep finally washed over her once again, but right as she fell into unconsciousness, she heard something.
Something that wasn't Heath, that wasn't the creak of their rundown fort, and that wasn't her.
It was the sound of snakes, not the one resting outside... It was the sound of ones headed this way.
She sat up immediately, her ears twitching and flicking like prey alerted to the presence of a hunter. She tried to focus on what she could hear. The quiet thrum of snakes slinking across the sand made a steady vibrato hit her ears. She couldn't tell exactly how many there were, but she could tell there were more than a couple, and they were moving fucking fast.
She shot out of bed, her feet hitting the hardwood floor as she scrambled to get her clothes on. She wrestled with her pants, one leg in the hole as she hopped to Heath's door and pounded her fist on it.
"HEATH, GET UP, WE GOT COMPANY!!" She buttoned up her pants but received to response from Heath except dead quiet. What the fuck is he doing?!
She began hitting the door again, almost jamming it off its hinges. Finally he responded, "I get it, Cass, you're upset I woke you up." The sorry lug was still in bed, and he damn sure wasn't taking her seriously. "Won't do it again, I promise now please let me sleep, alright?"
She let out a guttural groan that was a mix of fear and anger and with a flick of her hand summoned Truth~Teller and pointed it at the keyhole
Sorry about this...