Annie H


Ray and Denise were snuggling under the covers, neither of them thinking much of anything.

Suddenly they both sat bolt upright. “I’m thinking they’re on the way back,” Denise said.

“I’m thinking they’ve got company,” Ray said.

“We should get dressed.”

They grabbed pants and shirts and were decent just as the sylph door opened. Pet poked her head in to peer around the room.

“Is it okay if we bring some friends in to wait for a bit?” she shouted.

Denise walked over with a box lid and knelt down. “Of course it is, silly.” Half of the sorting party came in and climbed onto the lid. She moved them to the table next to the bed and sat down.

Annie stood at the back, half-hidden behind the bulk of the hairdresser. Ray sat down beside Denise. “Well, are you guys having fun at what the hell happened to you, Annie?”

“There was a guy that was being mean to me and she stepped in and she was meaner!” Pet shouted.

“I see,” Ray said. “Is that your blood or his?”

“Blood?” Annie asked. She looked down. “Oh. Um, his.”

“Okay,” Ray said, reaching over. “Let’s get you cleaned up.” He took his pet and her nightshirt to the bathroom.

Pet was explaining Kerri’s situation as Ray shut the door behind him. He put Annie on the counter and started running water from the tap.

“You know, sir, that the bathroom isn’t exactly soundproof,” Annie pointed out.

“Ah. You’re afraid I’m going to put something stingy in the cut and you’ll scream, and show weakness in front of your friends?”

“Um, no,” she said. He gestured and she started taking her clothes off.

“So, you think I’m going to lecture you in front of your friends?” She just stared up at him. “If you were taking care of Pet, you’re okay. And Pet’s pretty much incapable of lying, so that’s what happened.”

“Um, yeah,” she nodded.

"Did you hit first?"

"Yeah, and I tried to turn his kneecap into a hockey puck, Master."

"Then I have nothing further to say about that." He got a washcloth wet and reached to dab at her sweaty face. "Now, I may be on the defensive when Amelia hears about sylph-on-sylph violence..." She cringed inwardly, but stayed still for the cloth. That's when she learned that he'd been running the cold water under the tap. The extremely cold water... “EEEEEEEEK!”

Just when you relax and start trusting the bastard, she thought.

On the other hand, the bath he gave her right after that was perfect, she had to admit. She was floating happily as he carried her back out into the room.

The other guests were gone by then. “Nolan picked up Kerri and she invited the other two to hang out with her for a while,” Denise explained.

Pet had changed into her own nightshirt once they’d gone.

“Good, good,” Ray said. He walked around to his side of the bed and lay down. Denise picked Pet up and stretched out. They placed their sylphs between them. “That means we can deal with our pets properly.”

“She shouldn’t be in trouble!” Pet protested.

“Trouble?” Denise asked. “Who said anything about trouble?”

“Sounds like you had a stressful evening,” Ray said.

“And what do we do when there’s stress?” Denise asked.

“Group cuddle!” Pet and Annie cheered. The humans scooted a bit closer.



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Index

120. Annie G

122. Annie I