I smile as I realize that he wasn’t joking about being scared of Ethel.
She’ll like that.
When we get to the bottom of the stairs, I realize that in my haste to get snuggles from River, I completely forgot to pick the shirt back up from the floor. I’ll have to go back up and get it after breakfast. I can’t think on an empty stomach anyway.
“Morning, Nene,” Van greets me with a smile, as he kisses me quickly on the way past me to his seat.
“Good morning,” I grin. “The food looks amazing, Ethel and House. Thank you.”
“Of course, dear. You need a good meal for what you will be doing today.” She waits until I’m seated before she adds, “Drink up, dear, you need to stay hydrated.”
I nod. She’s right, although it’s a little bit odd that she’s reminding me since she doesn’t usually. It’s Ethel though, so I decide to just go with it. Picking up my drink as she told me to, I take a sip. Immediately, warmth spreads through my entire body, and all the soreness that was plaguing it disappears completely.
How the fuck did she know?
Before I can ask her or start to tell the guys about what happened, Zephyr, the supernatural who is in the basement for his own protection, appears in the kitchen.
“Zephyr, what are you doing up here?” Ethel asks, in surprise, as I stuff my face.
I am suddenly fucking ravenous.
Zephyr shrugs, “I wanted to introduce myself properly.”
“I’m River.” River waves from his seat with a huge smile, which Zephyr immediately returns.
The guys all introduce themselves with interest. Zephyr is certainly a curiosity, and the Voices seem to like him.
I’m not sure if that’s a good thing or a bad thing, but it’s better than them warning me about him. Especially since he is currently living in my house. Well, he’s living in his house in my house, but it’s the same thing.
Kind of.
He stays for a while speaking with us and adding his apparent expertise to the plan for today when Van goes over it again.
“How are we going to get to the location?” Reed asks, “I get the feeling that Doc might not be too keen on teleporting us all after last night, and it will be really conspicuous if we turn up one by one and someone realizes that we don’t have a vehicle.”
“Good point,” Coen agrees. “I hadn’t thought that far into it.”
“Just take a couple of cars from the garage. The location isn’t that far away, and you’ve got plenty of time to get there,” Ethel suggests, like it’s a no-brainer, and I suppose that it would be if it weren’t for the fact that none of us realized that there even was a garage.
“We have a garage?” I ask.
Ethel chuckles, “Of course we do. Just go around the left side of the house, and it will be there. You will find it adequately stocked.”
“Why do I feel like the van is going to be there?” River asks with a knowing glint in his eye.
“Because it is,” she replies simply.
“Since we aren’t teleporting anywhere, can we please go in two separate cars if there is another car in there? It’s cramped in the back of the van, and we’re going to be in there for a couple of hours, not just a quick teleport,” Griff practically pleads.
He’s not wrong. The guys aren’t exactly small, and it does get pretty cramped in the back. It doesn’t bother me because we are never in the back of the van for very long, but it would get uncomfortable on a long journey. Especially since there aren’t any windows.
“I don’t see why not,” Van says with a shrug.
“Awesome, let’s go and check out the garage!” Raiden says excitedly, and he gets up.
We had to leave his bike behind for obvious reasons, but if the van is here, then that might mean that his bikes are too, and I know that’s what he wants to go and check.
Not that it’s exactly bike weather here, but we might have a nice day at some point. We don’t know how long we’re here for.
