Annie CXVII: Way Under the Whether

(Chronological index: Shortly after Ray/Denise wedding)

Ray carried Denise across the threshold of the new, combined income home.

"Big whoop," Annie grumbled. "You carry me across every threshold." She turned away from the couple to check her hair in the entryway mirror.

"Naw!" Pet protested. "It's sweet!" She stared up at the newlyweds as they kissed in the front hallway.

"Yeah, at this rate they'll suck all the sappy romanticism out of the relationship by Christmas," Annie said. In the corner of her eye she saw Pet spin around on the shelf, eyes wide with fear.

"And then what?" she asked.

She's so EASY was Annie's first thought. Then she mentally slapped herself on the wrist. She wasn't even trying to upset her new blood sister.

She put a smile on her face and turned to hold her hands out to Pet. "I'm kidding, Pet. You KNOW I am."

"Really?" Pet asked, her voice soft, her face hopeful. Waiting for Annie to be reassuring. And how in Hell did I become the source of serenity? Annie thought.

She was going to have to toughen the blonde up, she could tell. That or lighten her own mood, and then who'd put Lurch in his place?

But she kept the smile in place and took Pet by the hand. "Pet, a glacier couldn't cool those two off before we're all old and gray."

"Well, whether or not it ever could," Denise said, leaning down to the two of them. "It's not happening today. So no worries, okay, Pet?"

"Okay!" she enthused. Denise scooped her up. She paused before picking Annie up, too. Both glanced around, Denise over her shoulder and Annie through the Mirror. Ray wasn't in either's sight.

Denise gave a little shake of her head, then slowly picked Annie up. She hadn't hesitated when they were dating, but there was... A difference, now, what with Annie technically belonging to her owner's wife, too.

She suffered through it, telling herself it wasn't really a difference. She wondered if Denise was telling herself the same thing.

The sylphs were placed on the counter, along with the bag of takeout as Denise tried to remember where they'd put the dishes.

Ray came in the door. He had all the luggage the couple had taken to Hawaii in one load. Even the sylph's duffels were wedged under his chin.

"Is this a competition?" Denise asked.

"He's showing off," Annie answered.

"It means less time away from you," Ray said. "Three," he said belatedly. "Less time away from you three."

"Uh huh," Denise said dubiously.

"Riiiiiight," Annie said sarcastically.

"Yeah," Pet said dreamily. Neither of the other two noticed.

--------

They'd unpacked enough for a functional dwelling before the honeymoon, but there were still boxes everywhere.

Pet talked Annie into a game of hide and seek which turned into a game of hide and lose landmarks followed by a quick round of hide and scream for rescue.

Annie found Pet and led her carefully in the direction of what turned out to be the corner farthest from the humans. They wailed and turned around.

Denise held a flashlight shining between the boxes, trying to guide them free. They saw some light, but it filtered between differently sized boxes stacked too close to get by.

Pet started to worry that they'd never make it out. Annie shushed her.

Ray sat down with his back to the outer stack of boxes and opened a bag of Hershey's Kisses. Denise watched with wide eyes as he unwrapped one and placed it next to his open mouth.

"Ahem!" Denise looked down. Annie stood at Ray's hip, a dazed Pet staggering to a stop beside her, looking around the room, blinking. "I believe I get the first Kiss out of every new bag. You PROMISED." She turned to her cohort. "He did."

Ray handed it over silently. And then held the bag to Denise. She sat down next to him and got one out for Pet.

------------

The dust was pretty vicious for the week as they unpacked. So Pet didn't really notice her sniffles right away. Everybody had some at one point or another. And her puffy eyes didn't stand out in that setting. But when it hurt to swallow, she finally told Denise that she was dying.

"Dying for attention?" Denny said with a smile. She scooped her pet up and hugged her close. Then stopped. "Oh, GOD! Pet, you're BURNING UP!"

"I dow," she said through thick congestion. "I dying."

"Oh, it's just allergies or a cold," Annie said from the floor. "A day in bed, you'll be right as rain."

"But Annie," Denise protested. "Pet NEVER gets sick!"

"Really? I get sick all the time," Annie replied. And in a matter of fact tone, concluded, "I guess it must be Lurch's fault."

"Dho!" Pet protested, kicking her feet feebly in her owner's grip. "I'll be fiyn!"

Denise sat down and Annie crawled up the front of the sofa. "Oh, don't try to protect my Master, Pet. He's at fault, he should shoulder the blame."

"I'm fiyn!" Then she sneezed. She blew herself backwards in Denise's grip, trails of snot spreading like particularly sticky spiderwebs over her and her owner's hand.

"Oh, ick!" Annie said sympathetically. Denise stroked Pet's hair with her other hand, then stood to walk into the bathroom. Pet saw Annie running out to the kitchen as the door closed.

Ray was making the breakfast muffins when Annie called an alarm. "We need the cold remedy!"

"You sound much too clear," he said calmly.

"It's for Pet!" She reached his ankle and tugged on his pant leg. "She's got a cold!"

He didn't respond right away. After he tipped the muffins onto the platter, he reached down to pick up his sylph. "I'm sure Denise has a preferred treatment for sick sylphs."

"No!" The sylph seemed really agitated. "No, she says Pet NEVER gets sick! But she just blew about four ounces of snot out of her nose! You need to start the water now!"

"Okay," he said. He put her down and reached for a pot.

Denise was carefully wiping Pet down with warm water. The poor thing was miserable. "Oh, Pet, what's wrong?"

"I'b god a diseeze amb I dying," she said. Her eyes were closed and she curled up and shivered.

"I'm sure it's just a cold, Pet. We'll.... Um..."

"Annee ib making Ray make a code remmery." Denise blinked, trying to translate.

"A cold memory?"

She held her pet in the water for a minute, letting the heat soak in. Pet seemed to like it. Then she dried her off very carefully, and wrapped her in the fluffiest towel they had unpacked.

Out in the kitchen, breakfast was on the table and Ray was bent over the stove. "Just a minute," he said over his shoulder.

"You'll like this, Pet!" Annie called. "It's got honey and lemon and... And what else do you put in it?" She was bouncing on the counter next to the stove.

Denise had never seen her that agitated without Ray having spilt something on her. Was... Was she worried about Pet? That was so sweet.

"Rum, sometimes," Ray said. "But I don't know what box it's in."

"Oh." She paused for a second. "Well, the liquor stores are open! Go get some! They have a drive-through! Thank God for Florida! Let's go! Let's go!"

"Well, let's see if the tea works, first, before we upgrade," he said with a wink to his wife. She smiled back.

Then she lowered her bundled pet to where Annie could reach her. The brunette paused to gently stroke Pet's cheek. "Hang in there, kid. Does it hurt to swallow?"

"Yes," Pet croaked.

"Well, this stuff will help." Denise smiled at the little show of emotion. Then she watched as Annie did a reset. The sylph must have realized how sentimental she looked, shook her head, made fists and turned to lambast her owner for losing the rum, for spreading disease, for weakening Pet and for dragging his feet when she'd demanded a remedy.

Denise tried to keep a straight face, but Pet laughed out loud. Weak and quiet, but out loud. Annie ignored her and continued to blame Pet's condition on Ray.

They had sylph sized glasses but no mugs unpacked. Ray glanced hopelessly at the stacks helpfully marked 'kitchen, in or near' and looked desperately around the room.

"Well," Denise offered, "we can cool the drink and use a cup."

"No!" Annie snapped. Two heads whipped around to stare at her. "I, uh, I mean, part of the point is that it's hot, as hot as you can stand it. The heat helps.... Doesn't it, Wonderful Master?"

"That's the theory," he said.

"How about a bread bowl?" Denise suggested. Ray turned to slice the bottom off of a muffin and poured a tiny bit of the remedy into the center.

Denise found a feeding spoon and sat down. The bowl of the spoon fit sylph mouths, but the handle was about as long as Pet's thigh.

Denise slowly scooped a bit of soft muffin out and fed it to her sylph. Pet winced with each swallow but winced less and less with each bite.

Annie sat on Denise's wrist and wiped Pet's chin with a napkin. "Her breathing is easier," she reported after a couple of minutes. Wrapped up in the cloth, almost nothing but her face was visible to the humans.

When she made the report, their owners both relaxed visibly. "Okay," Ray said. "We'll just spend the day with that. Give her the tea when she's chilled, and when the fever breaks, force ice water."

"Oh!" Denise said in sudden memory. "I have to go to work today."

"Family emergency," Annie said, stroking a flushed little cheek.

"No, no. It's 'bring your daughter to work day.' My boss is one of the tour organizers."

"And you...?" Ray asked.

"I have to be in the office, to run things and babysit Tonya's daughter. She wants to take advantage of being where Mommy works, but can't really go on the tours."

She glanced down. "And Pet was going to help me take care of her."

"Ah can go," Pet mumbled, struggling to get out of the wrappings. One thumb gently pinned her down and she faded fast.

"Oh, that's too bad," Ray said. Annie shot him a look. He wasn't looking at her. He wasn't trying to guilt her into volunteering to take Pet's place. It wasn't even his 'single the defenseless sylph out by pointedly not looking at her' expression. He just was not going to pressure her on this.

She glanced up over her head. Both humans were staring at Pet. No one at her. Well, Denise didn't think of Annie in 'come to the rescue' terms. And Ray wasn't going to make an issue out of it.

Whether or not he thought it was the right thing to do, being part of a twice-the-size-it-was-before family, with four times as many responsibilities...

She shrugged, committing herself to the inevitable. "I can go. Help you with the kid."

"Oh." Mrs. Master's surprise at the offer was pretty close to insulting. "Oh, Annie, that's nice but... But you need to stay here and help take care of Pet."

"I..." She glanced over. Master was buttering a muffin. Which was ironic as NOW he had a 'butter won't melt in my smug mouth' look.

Leaving it all up to me, will he? she thought, vowing revenge. "I can go, Denise. Master is very, very good at taking care of sick sylphs, and he's very gentle and he loves Pet almost as much as he loves...you."

She tucked the napkin into the towel and stood. "And so do I. If Pet was going to entertain someone's rug rat, I can take her place."

Denise opened her mouth, perhaps to protest that Annie would be a little rough on a defenseless child? Or to wonder if she'd be too aggravating for a hospital full of sick people?

Master just caught his wife's eye. "You've seen her with the coloring contests. The only ones that cry are laughing too hard." He held a muffin crumb out to where Annie stood. "She's very good with children when she wants to be."

"Damn straight. Little hellion won't know what hit her," Annie nodded, taking a quick bite. "Now, what are we wearing?"

------------

Pet was aware that people were leaving. Denise and Annie kissed her goodbye, then tucked her down into the towel. It was a heat cocoon and she floated in the warmth.

There was movement, gentle and slow, and kind of ponderous. She felt as safe as if Denny was rocking her to sleep, but the smell was wrong. She finally realized it was Ray that held her.

She had a momentary flash of guilt. Ray was clearly marked as Annie's territory. But then she remembered the wedding. The cake, the flower petal canon, the rings... Ray was at least partially her territory, too.

"Yippee," she whispered. She slithered towards the open air. "Ray?"

"What do you need, Pet?"

"Is there more... Wow." She was sweating, rivulets of the stuff coursing down over her. "I'm so hot!" she protested.

"I have a cup of iced water," he said. "Sip it slowly." A pair of fingers hovered over her face, a dripping wet plastic cup pinched between them. She took it happily and lifted it to drink.

Some of the water dripped, landing on her bare belly. She squealed in shock. The finger came back, pushing the towel straight in to dry and warm her skin.

She stroked the knuckle before her like a loyal pet, giggling at the turnaround. The finger paused in its rubbing. Pet looked up. She was in the crook of Ray's elbow. He appeared to be sitting in a kitchen chair, not at his desk with the unpacked computer.

And he had a small smile on his face. "What?" she asked.

"Just...Annie would have been calling me horrible names right about then."

"I can..." she said slowly. "Boogerhead?" Then she blushed, knowing she wasn't anywhere near Annie's league. He had to be disappointed in her.

His smile grew. He tucked the towel around her and gently stroked her hair. "No, Pet, you don't need to do that. Not unless you really do think I'm being a boogerhead."

She sipped at the drink, unable to look him in the eye.

"Pet, you and I are unique people," he said. "You're not Denise and you're not Annie and you don't have to try to be either of them, okay?"

"Okay."

----------

"I won't be Pet for you!" Annie said sharply.

"Oh, I'm not... I wasn't..." Denise waved her hands helplessly over her guest's head. "I didn't want that. I'm just saying, Tanya's kid... Well, she's fond of Pet and looks forward to the visit and... She's shy. And a little fragile."

"Good God, Denise, I'm not going to scar her for life!" Annie said. She turned to pace the desk. She paused and looked over her shoulder. "She's not a Gator fan, is she? Because then, all bets are off."

"Will you be serious?" Denise said, more than a little sharply herself.

"Finally!" Annie said happily. "Tell me what you want. TALK to me, Denise! _I_ am not fragile, or shy, or someone you need to treat like a blown egg!"

"Fine, oh bane of my husband's sleep," Denise replied. "Please treat Sheila at least as well as you treat Pet. For Pet's sake if not mine." They looked at each other for a moment, trying to decide if this was going to get worse or better.

Annie finally nodded. "I will. Okay? I'm here for your and Pet's sake. I'll be nice for your and Pet's sake. I won't be a bubbleheaded beach babe wannabe, though. I won't talk like Pet. I won't pretend to be Pet. But I'll be polite. And I'll try to be fun."

Denise nodded. "Well, thanks for that. And in that case, the Toblerone will be a thank you gift, not a bribe."

"How much Toblerone?" Annie asked instantly. Denise lifted her hands, holding them one bar apart.

That's when the office door opened. "...And of course you remember Denise and Pet, right?" someone was saying.

"Yes, Momma," a very soft voice replied. Mother and daughter came into view.

Mom was a typical adult, in Annie's view. Gigantic, dressed for office formal, brunette. But her eyes were locked on the girl.

Sheila was blonde, what little hair there was to see. Wispy curls floated across the balding head of a kid in the middle of cancer treatments.

Wide blue eyes locked on the sylph on the desk and a shy face started to show a brilliant smile.

Which folded at the exact instant the kid realized Annie wasn't Pet. The look of disappointment was quick but clear, then a more polite smile was firmly placed. The response was heartbreaking and Annie sighed to the inevitable.

"Hello, Sheila. Pet's sick and couldn't come in today. This is Annie."

"Hi, Annie, I'm Sheila."

Annie took a deep breath and started to walk across the desk. "Well, HI, Sheila! I'm Annie, I mean, you know that, Denise said so, but I'm glad to meet you and you have a LOVELY smile, I told Pet her smile was the most adorable one I've ever seen but your smile is as bright as hers and...and you know what? YOUR smile is as BIG as Pet's WHOLE BODY!"

Sheila giggled and held a skeletal hand out. Annie slid into it without hesitation. Sheila lifted her close to her face. Annie realized the girl's shirt had a small emblem of the hated mascot.

"I LOVE the Gators!" she lied. "My master went to Georgia, so I always cheer for anyone that beats up Bulldogs! How are they doing this season?"

Denise mentally wiped her brow and made a note to get two bars of Toblerone.

-------------

Pet dutifully drank the cup of water down under Ray's watchful eye. When he said he was going to force fluids, he forced fluids.

She finished it in one long swallow, gasping and smacking her lips when she finally lowered it. He nodded approvingly.

"Now what?" she asked.

"I don't know," he said. "Are you hot?" She shook her head. "Cold?" Another quiet shake. "Tired?" She shrugged. "Well, then, it's clearly nap time." He cupped his hands around her and lifted.

"Do I get a story?" she asked.

"A story?" He shook his head. "Nap time is for little sylphs to be sleeping." He climbed the stairs slowly.

"I can't sleep without a story!" she said.

"You go to sleep all the TIME without a story!"

"I mean, I can't take a sick day nap without a story. I'll never get to sleep and I'll be cranky and stressed and my body will suffer and the disease will eat me all UP!"

"How do you know?" He walked into the bedroom and opened the sylph's bedroom drawer. "You're never sick!"

"A woman knows these things," she said, matching Annie's tone perfectly. Ray paused. He shook his head and stepped over to the rocking chair in the corner.

"Okay," he agreed. She sat on his wrist, legs crossed, elbows on knees and chin in hands. He rocked slowly, a few times back and forth. "Ooooh-kay. Once upon a time, there was a sick princess. And she went to take her nap and she felt better when she woke up. The end."

He smiled down, expecting an Annie-typical protest. Pet just smiled back up at him. Then the smile faded, just a bit. It continued to fade and she just shook her head, disappointed.

"Oh, that's cheating," he said. She pouted. "Alright, alright. Wanna hear about the first time I saw Annie in a dress?"

"Yes."

"Well. This was long, long ago. Annie and I-"

"How long ago?"

"Hmmm. You were born about two months after The Day? You'd have been...five."

"Love Boat!"

"What?"

"When I was five, we watched Love Boat."

"Alright... So. You were five and watching Love Boat and Annie and I were going to my Senior Prom."

"Ooooh."

"Yes, oooh. And our principal had gotten both of us cornered between Physics and Calculus." He cleared his throat and adopted a rather pompous tone. "You Must Wear Clothing To The Prom!"

"And what did you say?"

"I said I wear clothes everywhere, Principal Niedermayer."

"And what did Annie say?"

"Annie?" He looked thoughtful. "Annie didn't say anything. She was always well behaved around authority figures like Principal Niedermayer. "

"I don't think that's right," Pet said, "because Annie said it's her calling to keep authority figures on the straight and narrow and aware of how arrogant they behave around defenseless sylphs and that's why you love her because you know just what an arrogant prick you'd be if it weren't for her."

Ray blinked for a second or two. "Yes, Pet, I believe that's what Annie says."

"Soooooo?"

"So? Oh. Well, after Niedermayer said, 'you must wear clothes' and I said 'I always wears clothes,' Annie said, 'He was talking about ME doofus! You gotta cover my ass.'

"And I said that I could solve that by leaving her at home."

"No!" Pet squealed in protest.

"It would have been easier," he said. "But," he sighed, "on the night of HER senior prom, she was rolling dice for my Priest Of The Nameless One in a D&D tournament that she's never forgotten or forgiven me for."

"No, I know," Pet said, sadly shaking her head.

"Anyway, I went right out and bought her coveralls."

"Coveralls?"

"Yep," he said proudly. "I let her pick the color!"

Pet rolled to hands and knees and started crawling over his wrist. She kept her head low, scanning the skin.

"What?" he asked.

"I'm looking for the scar."

"Oh. Well, her physical attack was to shoot plastic balls at me with a rubber band."

Pet looked up at him shrewdly. "Her physical attack? What else was there?"

"She told my Mom," he said darkly.

"Ooooooooooh!" She thought about that for a second. "Good."

"So, anyway, Mom and Dad take us to the mall. And Annie behaved in the car, so-"

"Ray? How could Annie MISbehave in the car? You had a carrier, right? And no matter what she does in the carrier, it's safer that way because she can't distract the driver or make him uncomfortable and she could scream but I don't think your father would put up with poopies like that, would he?"

Ray laughed and stroked Pet's shoulders. "No, Dad did not put up with poopies from Annie OR me from the back seat. But Annie was, well, she is five years older than me and thought she should sit up front. And when she did, she sometimes offered Dad the benefits of her point of view.

"When the car was vibrating, but so slightly only she could sense it, or when there was an odd rattle in the engine, or if he drove over a penny on the road."

"Oh. Did he put up with that?"

"Only until he could sling her back into the back seat with me. ANYWAY, we got to the mall, and she had behaved, so we let her dance in the record store."

"What did she dance to?"

"The Hustle." She looked confused for a second. Ray tried to express the melody. "Doo-doo-doo, dee-dootiy-doo-doo-doo. That one?" She shook her head.

Then there was nothing for it but to go and find the proper cassette and play it and try to remember the dance steps.

Pet watched Ray for thirty seconds and laughed herself silly. He blushed and sat back down. "SO. She danced to that. Then Mom took her... You remember when Denise was in the hospital and I took you two to buy clothes?"

"So you could shoot poor Annie with the little missile thing and knock her over on her BUTT because she was distracted!" Pet said cheerfully.

"That's the one. Same store."

"It was OPEN all that long ago?" Pet asked, eyes wide.

Ray stared for a second. "Yes. After the glaciers receded, we shaved the mammoths and made primitive leisure suits from the fur." She put a hand over her mouth and giggled. He tried not to smile. She didn't need encouragement.

"But Mom didn't go for any of the cheap or reasonable dresses, no. She was out to prove a point AND to punish me for the coveralls, as Annie's proxy."

"That's what Carolyn would have done, too."

"Carolyn would have avenged Buttercup?" he asked.

She shook her head. "Carolyn would have avenged Annie. Buttercup never needs help."

"Moms, huh?" She placed a hand on his wrist and they smiled at each other for a moment.

"What did she get?"

"Ah. Well, next time we're at the folks' place, ask to see the prom pictures. There's one of Annie in....The Dress."

She sat quietly for a moment as he stared off into space. Then she sat impatiently. Then she tugged on his knuckle hairs. "Hey! Boogerhead! The story?"

He was still looking back across more than a decade. But he started talking. "It was deceptively simple," he said softly. "Just black and white. And it clung to her curves like a hint of naughty beauty.

"Curves that I'd actually seen in the nude. But this was like putting a frame on it. Or..." He groped in the air with his free hand, searching for the word. "No, not framing it. It's like... Like finding the perfect spot for a piece of art, and arranging the lighting.

"It caught the eye and fired the imagination and... And she knew it."

"What did she do?" Pet asked softly.

"Well, she did not use her powers only for good," he said. "As she put it, I owned her, she owned The Dress and The Dress owned me." He sighed at the memory, the sound completely eclipsing Pet's own sigh.

He tried to describe the Prom. Pet curled up to sleep as he listed pop tunes from the seventies and 1980. His voice softened, not quite stopping, and he gently moved her to the bedroom drawer.

"...and Jonathan Livingston Seagull, and Another One Bites the Dust..."

He kept talking as he lowered her to the bed, tucked her in and slid the drawer shut. She may have sighed as he tiptoed away.

He did some cleaning and organizing in the kitchen, adding some water to the tea he was keeping warm on the stove.

Ray had just loaded the dishwasher with unpacked plates for the third time that day when the door opened.

Denise was smiling wide as she kissed her husband, then placed Annie and a brand new bottle of rum on the counter.

One eye brow raised, Ray lifted his sylph for a welcoming hug. She looked exhausted. "I think you need to spike the remedy, dear," Denise said.

"What, is she sick?"

"My voice," Annie croaked. "I've never talked so much in one day in my life." Her voice rose on the last word, then she winced and grabbed her throat.

Ray slipped her into his pocket and cracked the lid on the bottle. "Pet's upstairs," he said, "probably napping."

"No," Annie said, gesturing towards her ear. "She's awake. She knows we're home."

Denise took the stairs two at a time. "She is so WHIPPED," Annie whispered.

"Gosh, someone in love with their own ittle best friend in the whole wide world," Ray said softly. He reached down into his pocket and stroked Annie's hair. She smiled back. "Imagine that."

"Rum?" she asked.

"Coming right up," he promised. "I even found the mugs."

"Oooh, baby, love you long time."

"Promises, promises," he muttered, titrating tea into the sylph pitcher.



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