weird [nate solo]

[jamie]

Waking up in the morning without a hangover was a sensation Nathan had a good two weeks to acclimate to before he had to share his space with another person. That the two weeks passed in a new place might have helped. Turning one's entire life into a tabula rasa is ill-advised when seeking any sort of permanent change but all he really did was move into a rental that wasn't haunted and quit drinking. Maybe quit answering phone calls and text messages that had anything to do with vampires.

The building where he had lived for the first eighteen months of his life as a Denver resident was nine stories tall and boasted one double-doored entrance and an elevator. A shade roamed the corridors between the seventh and ninth floors and he could never convince it to stay long enough to talk. Fucker robbed him of so much sleep he still wasn't used to not jerking awake at three o'clock by the time he had his sister staying in the second bedroom.

The place was a single-family two-bedroom Victorian with hardwood floors and large windows. It boasted a garage in the back that Nathan parked his motorcycle in and threatened to move Hannah into if she threw too many wild parties while she was here for her internship.

Nathan was the first one awake this morning. Hannah had had her last final exam Friday morning and flown herself and everything that wasn't going into storage to Denver afterwards. Not until sometime before noon did she stumble out of the bedroom and walk straight past the dining room table where he was sat with his laptop and his notebook in favor of greeting the coffeemaker.

"Morning, Sunshine," Nate said.
"Mmph," Hannah said.

Nine years separated them. Despite her green eyes and tanned skin telling the two were siblings was not a difficult task. They shared a bone structure and a hair color that lent itself to bleaching out in the sun. His sister's skin had started bronzing even though summer had not yet arrived and she wore her wavy mane in a topknot.

This conversation could have waited for later but Nathan was already showered and dressed and fully intending to drive out to Littleton to conduct an interview this afternoon. He had been up for hours.

"So I'm not trying to bust your balls or anything."
"Nngh."
"But She Who Shall Not Be Named called me this morning."

Baleful exhale. Just let me drink my coffee, Big Brother. Jesus Christ.

"At first I thought it was because she knew you were flying out. So that was alright. But then I actually answered the phone."
"Mmhmm."
"It's weird, Han. It's like our parents still hate each other. I can't figure out why that is."
"Ugh," Hannah said. "Is this about what I said yesterday?"
"What'd you say yesterday?"
"You know what I said."
"Oh, where you decided announcing Shira wasn't speaking to either of us in front of Theodore was a good idea? That's what it was..."
"Uch..."
"Yeah. Now: it's not like I get paid to connect dots all day or anything, so I may just be completely talking out of my ass, but... I'm gonna go ahead and assume what happened was that Theo got lit last night, called Shira, and said a series of awful things, and now she feels bad and thinks she needs to atone for being a bad mother."
"Well..."
"But like I said. I'm just assuming."

The sun come in through the sheer curtains had a softness to it though it was high overhead and bright. Hannah looked as if she was in actual physical pain independent of the brightness blaring at her fresh consciousness. Not a hangover. Not guilt either.

"Jesus Christ," she said. "So what'd she want."

Nathan checked the time in the corner of his screen and started to stand. The notebook went into the messenger bag he had slung over the back of the chair.

"She wants to come out and visit."
"... what."
"Yeah."
"God. No. Why."
"I dunno," he said. Keys jingled. "I'm blaming you though."
"What! No! Don't blame me. I'm an innocent bystander."
"An innocent bystander with a big mouth."
"You're so mean."

The day was threatening warmth but he shrugged into his leather jacket anyway. Leather jackets in general had once proven a useful enough deterrent against claws grown from a possessed man's fingers. They might have saved his life that day. Road rash was another thing he had to worry about.

"There's cereal in the cupboard," he said on his way to the door. "And eggs and whatever else in the fridge. Make sure you eat so Shira doesn't think I'm keeping you locked in the basement."
"You have a basement?"
"I prefer the term 'dungeon.'" The front door locks disengaged. He stopped and pointed at her to grab her attention. "Listen: I should be back before seven, but if I'm not, order food or something. There's money in the drawer by the stove."
"Okay, Nathan."
"And if anyone comes to the door after dark, don't answer it."
"Okay."
"I'm serious. House rule: stay away from the windows after dark."
"Do you have shrapnel stuck in your brain or something?"
"What's the house rule?"
"Like, do they pick up space radio frequencies or something?"
"Hannah."
"Okay. Weirdo. I will make sure the CIA doesn't know anyone lives here."
"Thank you."

He opened the door and was about to step out onto the porch when Hannah cleared her throat.

"Hey, Fartface."
"What, Brat."
"Love you. Don't drive like a moron."

Hannah went back to drinking her coffee and wasn't watching him process what she had said.

"Alright," he said when the heartburn wore off. "Call me if you need anything."
"Grrgh."