“Stop being understanding!”
“She needs a nap,” Kronos says.
“I know, but she won’t take one in this state,” Sharp replies. “She’s just going to work herself up.”
“We can put her to bed and stay with her until she falls asleep. If she’s going to rant and flail, she can do that in bed.”
They talk about me as if I’m basically not there, and I am deeply offended by it, but that doesn’t matter because none of my mates care.
“I’m evil. I was trying to ruin your lives.”
“You parachuted from a floating city with a piece of your skull glued in place to try to save us. We’re good,” Kronos says.
“I don’t want to be good! I don’t feel good!”
“Now those two statements certainly have some depth,” Sharp says. “We’ll talk about those once you’ve rested.”
“Promise me you’ll punish me,” I say as Boss lifts me into my bed nest in the cozy little room that I suddenly have so many memories about. I remember the very first time they showed me it. I was being a little shit and then they showed me that they’d made a space for me and I felt super guilty about it.
Kind of reminds me of now. I feel so deeply guilty about realizing that I am the problem. They were telling me I was being bad a lot, but it was always when I was trying to save humans, which I thought was good. But looking back… were they really trying to stop me from saving others? Or were they trying to stop me from getting caught myself… which I was probably doing because that was my secret mission?
“Lie down. Careful of your head,” Boss says.
“What if they secretly put more chips in my head?”
“We are going to take you to a human pet vet,” Sharp says. “You are going to be getting a full work-up. Don’t worry.”
“Didn’t we do this already? Didn’t you get me checked out?”
“Not for brain chips,” he says.
“Oh, that was a mistake on your part,” I say. “Wow. You must feel really silly right now.”
“You are being very silly right now,” Sharp replies. “Get some sleep.”
“Only if you promise to punish me for my treachery. Make me walk the plank…”
“Enough,” Kronos growls, putting rough bass in his voice and flashing his sharp teeth. “It is time you sleep. Now.”
I feel a zip of electricity rush through me. I’m not sure if that’s my own feelings, or if he just gave me a little zap to remind me I am going to be handled.
“But I’m not tired,” I squeak softly.
“That is a lie,” Sharp says. “You are exhausted. Close your eyes now. No more talking.”
I am starting to get in trouble, and I like it. I need it. The guilty feeling in me is assuaged a little by their sternness. I find my eyelids getting heavy. I’m not really being obedient, I tell myself. I’m mostly just giving into my own need for rest, which is more intense than I realized.
It has been a big day, and my mind is flooded with all sorts of feelings and memories.
“We’ve got her back,” Kronos murmurs to the others. “This feels like we’ve really got her this time. All of her.”
“I know what you mean,” Sharp replies softly. “She feels much more present. More herself. More raw. Real.”
“She feels like what she is,” Boss says. “Ours.”
I could fall asleep with them and call everything a wash. I could declare this moment my happily ever after.
But we’re not fucking done yet.
