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Description
For the next week Renee continued to work at the theatre in the mornings and, before the play practice in the evenings, took the energy vampire home with her. Alan never seemed to notice any of it but was surprised how long the building's repairs were taking. The girl kept meeting with all of her friends, in exception of Kindle, who hadn't been feeling well. Once Jonah even got her to the movie theatre for a whole date. She knew he was getting impatient, and as rumors spread that he liked Alexia better. She didn't have time for that sort of stuff anyway. Renee finished all the repairs she had to, on Nos and the old building. It was less than a week until the big night and they still had lots of careful planning to do. Renee didn't care tonight, though, because she was taking a day off from everyone.
"Finally…" She dropped onto the couch with a sigh. The couch replied with a soft gust of mothball scented air. "A night away from everyone." She closed her eyes and rubbed the deep purple bags that had begun to form on them from a serious lack of sleep. She was completely and utterly exhausted. Alan was out again tonight, so the house was all her own. All the lights were out, and she couldn't even bring herself to go upstairs. Just a few seconds after falling onto the piece of furniture she drifted into a deep doze.
There was a poke on her back about three hours later. She sat up, waving a hand dismissively. Her sleepiness was far from gone and her attitude was NOT improving. "Go away." She didn't look at whoever it was that had just poked her, but collapsed into sleep again.
Even later, there was another, gentler but more urgent tap on her shoulder. "Renee? Little One? Are you alright?" She woke up easily this time, drifting upward. She had been asleep for at least eight hours straight and the night had gotten darker.
"What is it, Nos?" She looked at him, still groggy but refreshed. "Why are you here?"
He frowned but gave a little sigh of relief. "I decided to eat out tonight. That's beside the point- are you okay?"
Renee sat up straighter. "Yes. Why?" Something was definitely wrong- the energy vampire wouldn't care so much otherwise.
"Your door was open." He pointed at the open door.
"What?!" Renee jumped off the couch and slammed the door. "Was someone here?!"
"That's what I came to ask you!" He looked at her, worried for the safety of their plan.
Renee struggled to remember anything she had heard in her sleep and found it nearly impossible. "Somebody broke in and didn't lay a finger on me." She pondered. "Is anything stolen?"
"I don't know, I just got here!" He said impatiently. "So check."
"Of course." Renee began to mount the stairs up to her and Alan's rooms. Nothing was changed in Alan's room, the hall closet, or the storage room, but it was a totally different story in Renee's room. Things had been thrown everywhere- little things. Nothing important. Clothes were strewn everywhere about the floor. Papers, books, and stuffed animals were mixed in with the cloth mess. But nothing was broken. Not a single shred of paper was even torn on the edge. "Oh my god." She looked over her room, more scared than she had ever been in her entire life. It was very possibly more terrifying that nothing was broken- someone had taken great care to make sure nothing was damaged-but who? "Who DID this?" She looked back at the energy vampire, who was desperately digging through the open drawer where she kept the necklace hidden.
"Do you really think I know? This whole plot is riding on you- if I knew, they would be dead." He found the necklace and held it up thankfully- undamaged and unmoved. Renee shivered.
****
Kindle sat huddled in the floor of his room with the puppy-shaped stuffed animal he had taken from Renee's room.  He wanted to hug it forever, but vaguely realized that it was nearly two-o'clock in the morning and he needed to get his sleep. That was one thing he could still keep clearly- a sense of time. The only sense he had left. His condition had slowly been worsening for the last week or so and there was only one thing on his mind, constantly at battle with a completely opposite idea- kill the Zephyrite.
It seemed like the only solution to everything that had gone wrong in the last few weeks. Reality was breaking apart and tumbling into an abyss where thought didn't exactly matter. But there was still a little of the original Kindle in that husk. He still was her friend- that was for sure. It was why he hadn't killed her or broken any of her things during the break in earlier. Just emotional damage, you know? He didn't.
His room was clean and that seemed to put his mother off enough to keep from investigating. But he was going insane, more slowly than not. It certainly wasn't his fault. Maybe it was a disease, maybe it was something in the earth air, who knew, but a brain tumor was forming in the center of his brain. Right now it was about the size of a large grape. In a week it would be roughly like a golf ball and causing enough damage to kill a human. But he wasn't human and his body could take it for just a little longer. His mind, however, couldn't.  He was breaking mentally.
Kindle hugged the stuffed animal up to his face. In just a second its fur was matted with thick blood. Feeling lightheaded, he held tight to the animal and crawled into bed. "It's okay, dad." He muttered comfortingly to the blank- eyed puppy. "The war will be over soon."
****
Renee finally finished putting away all of her clothes and books. Nos didn't help- he was holding the moon rock necklace protectively to himself. "We're extremely lucky this didn't get damaged."
She sighed and slid a book onto the shelf. "You're pretty amped about this, huh?"
"Ecstatic!" He looked a little insulted. "Let's go over it again- lay out the plan."
"Fine, fine." Renee stood up and took a pile of notes out of a shoebox. "First on the agenda-"
"How to get the rocks and Ty together in a way that they can't be taken apart. Not easily, anyway. The collar came off far too easily." Nos interrupted. He examined the rocks again happily.
"That's the beauty of this plan, Nos. We're not using a collar. I've been working on that. The school is giving out a free box of popcorn with every ticket because the prices cover popcorn, my pay, costume rental, and the donation money." He cocked an eye, surprised at how much the tickets much cost. "Yeah, it's pricey. Almost thirty unibucks per ticket for over a two hundred people. Beside the point- I'm going to paint two of our rocks white and mix them in with his box of popcorn. I'll keep it separate so the rocks don't go to someone else on accident. He'll be so absorbed with the play that he won't realize he's swallowed two tiny rocks." She smirked.
"Very good, Little One." He smirked. She rolled her eyes. He was so weird, but fun. She held up a stuffed animal and looked at it for a second… it was a little blonde puppy. "What's with that?" He pointed at it.
"What's with what?" She kept looking at it absently.
"The stuffed animal. What's with that?"
"Oh…this old thing." She put it down. "Garth- Kindle's father- gave it to me when I was just a kitten. He worked with my dad. Well… I might as well talk to you about it." She looked at it again, sadly.
"Go on." He put his hands behind his head and lay down on her bed. "I'm not going anywhere. It's not like I can stroll down the open street anyways."
"That doesn't make me feel better." She frowned. "I thought this was supposed to have a matching black one…"  Renee shook her head and sat down on the bed beside him. "How did I get so off topic?"
He sat back up. "You started blah-ing something about a stuffed dog."
Renee scowled at him. Leave it to an energy vampire… She shrugged. "Alright, back to the plan- After he swallows these." She pointed out the two smallest rocks on the necklace. There was a glint in her eye. "He'll suppose he's sick when it starts in his stomach. He'll make a mad run for the bathroom, of course, and will be stuck in there. I'll also lock the exits so our rangers don't go chicken and run out on him. You can go in through the-" She snickered. "Little window over the sink. Get him under control, get XR, and we're home free." She laughed.
He looked at her oddly… nuts. She was totally, completely nuts. He loved that. "Lovely. It's brilliant, and so stupidly simple no one else would ever think of it."
"'Stupidly' simple?" She looked at him teasingly.
"Not stupid… but simple." He chided. "Sorry."
"Don't be." She laughed again. "Just felt like messing with your head. And good lord man, don't apologize! You're the energy vampire whose about to reassert himself at the top of the galaxy." She took up her notes and went over them again. "You're right. It is simple as that. Talk about having your cake and eating it too." She chuckled hysterically again.
Nos-4-a2's eyes narrowed with a smile. "Forget cake, I'm having the whole dinner."

Description
For the next week Renee continued to work at the theatre in the mornings and, before the play practice in the evenings, took the energy vampire home with her. Alan never seemed to notice any of it but was surprised how long the building's repairs were taking. The girl kept meeting with all of her friends, in exception of Kindle, who hadn't been feeling well. Once Jonah even got her to the movie theatre for a whole date. She knew he was getting impatient, and as rumors spread that he liked Alexia better. She didn't have time for that sort of stuff anyway. Renee finished all the repairs she had to, on Nos and the old building. It was less than a week until the big night and they still had lots of careful planning to do. Renee didn't care tonight, though, because she was taking a day off from everyone.
"Finally…" She dropped onto the couch with a sigh. The couch replied with a soft gust of mothball scented air. "A night away from everyone." She closed her eyes and rubbed the deep purple bags that had begun to form on them from a serious lack of sleep. She was completely and utterly exhausted. Alan was out again tonight, so the house was all her own. All the lights were out, and she couldn't even bring herself to go upstairs. Just a few seconds after falling onto the piece of furniture she drifted into a deep doze.
There was a poke on her back about three hours later. She sat up, waving a hand dismissively. Her sleepiness was far from gone and her attitude was NOT improving. "Go away." She didn't look at whoever it was that had just poked her, but collapsed into sleep again.
Even later, there was another, gentler but more urgent tap on her shoulder. "Renee? Little One? Are you alright?" She woke up easily this time, drifting upward. She had been asleep for at least eight hours straight and the night had gotten darker.
"What is it, Nos?" She looked at him, still groggy but refreshed. "Why are you here?"
He frowned but gave a little sigh of relief. "I decided to eat out tonight. That's beside the point- are you okay?"
Renee sat up straighter. "Yes. Why?" Something was definitely wrong- the energy vampire wouldn't care so much otherwise.
"Your door was open." He pointed at the open door.
"What?!" Renee jumped off the couch and slammed the door. "Was someone here?!"
"That's what I came to ask you!" He looked at her, worried for the safety of their plan.
Renee struggled to remember anything she had heard in her sleep and found it nearly impossible. "Somebody broke in and didn't lay a finger on me." She pondered. "Is anything stolen?"
"I don't know, I just got here!" He said impatiently. "So check."
"Of course." Renee began to mount the stairs up to her and Alan's rooms. Nothing was changed in Alan's room, the hall closet, or the storage room, but it was a totally different story in Renee's room. Things had been thrown everywhere- little things. Nothing important. Clothes were strewn everywhere about the floor. Papers, books, and stuffed animals were mixed in with the cloth mess. But nothing was broken. Not a single shred of paper was even torn on the edge. "Oh my god." She looked over her room, more scared than she had ever been in her entire life. It was very possibly more terrifying that nothing was broken- someone had taken great care to make sure nothing was damaged-but who? "Who DID this?" She looked back at the energy vampire, who was desperately digging through the open drawer where she kept the necklace hidden.
"Do you really think I know? This whole plot is riding on you- if I knew, they would be dead." He found the necklace and held it up thankfully- undamaged and unmoved. Renee shivered.
****
Kindle sat huddled in the floor of his room with the puppy-shaped stuffed animal he had taken from Renee's room.  He wanted to hug it forever, but vaguely realized that it was nearly two-o'clock in the morning and he needed to get his sleep. That was one thing he could still keep clearly- a sense of time. The only sense he had left. His condition had slowly been worsening for the last week or so and there was only one thing on his mind, constantly at battle with a completely opposite idea- kill the Zephyrite.
It seemed like the only solution to everything that had gone wrong in the last few weeks. Reality was breaking apart and tumbling into an abyss where thought didn't exactly matter. But there was still a little of the original Kindle in that husk. He still was her friend- that was for sure. It was why he hadn't killed her or broken any of her things during the break in earlier. Just emotional damage, you know? He didn't.
His room was clean and that seemed to put his mother off enough to keep from investigating. But he was going insane, more slowly than not. It certainly wasn't his fault. Maybe it was a disease, maybe it was something in the earth air, who knew, but a brain tumor was forming in the center of his brain. Right now it was about the size of a large grape. In a week it would be roughly like a golf ball and causing enough damage to kill a human. But he wasn't human and his body could take it for just a little longer. His mind, however, couldn't.  He was breaking mentally.
Kindle hugged the stuffed animal up to his face. In just a second its fur was matted with thick blood. Feeling lightheaded, he held tight to the animal and crawled into bed. "It's okay, dad." He muttered comfortingly to the blank- eyed puppy. "The war will be over soon."
****
Renee finally finished putting away all of her clothes and books. Nos didn't help- he was holding the moon rock necklace protectively to himself. "We're extremely lucky this didn't get damaged."
She sighed and slid a book onto the shelf. "You're pretty amped about this, huh?"
"Ecstatic!" He looked a little insulted. "Let's go over it again- lay out the plan."
"Fine, fine." Renee stood up and took a pile of notes out of a shoebox. "First on the agenda-"
"How to get the rocks and Ty together in a way that they can't be taken apart. Not easily, anyway. The collar came off far too easily." Nos interrupted. He examined the rocks again happily.
"That's the beauty of this plan, Nos. We're not using a collar. I've been working on that. The school is giving out a free box of popcorn with every ticket because the prices cover popcorn, my pay, costume rental, and the donation money." He cocked an eye, surprised at how much the tickets much cost. "Yeah, it's pricey. Almost thirty unibucks per ticket for over a two hundred people. Beside the point- I'm going to paint two of our rocks white and mix them in with his box of popcorn. I'll keep it separate so the rocks don't go to someone else on accident. He'll be so absorbed with the play that he won't realize he's swallowed two tiny rocks." She smirked.
"Very good, Little One." He smirked. She rolled her eyes. He was so weird, but fun. She held up a stuffed animal and looked at it for a second… it was a little blonde puppy. "What's with that?" He pointed at it.
"What's with what?" She kept looking at it absently.
"The stuffed animal. What's with that?"
"Oh…this old thing." She put it down. "Garth- Kindle's father- gave it to me when I was just a kitten. He worked with my dad. Well… I might as well talk to you about it." She looked at it again, sadly.
"Go on." He put his hands behind his head and lay down on her bed. "I'm not going anywhere. It's not like I can stroll down the open street anyways."
"That doesn't make me feel better." She frowned. "I thought this was supposed to have a matching black one…"  Renee shook her head and sat down on the bed beside him. "How did I get so off topic?"
He sat back up. "You started blah-ing something about a stuffed dog."
Renee scowled at him. Leave it to an energy vampire… She shrugged. "Alright, back to the plan- After he swallows these." She pointed out the two smallest rocks on the necklace. There was a glint in her eye. "He'll suppose he's sick when it starts in his stomach. He'll make a mad run for the bathroom, of course, and will be stuck in there. I'll also lock the exits so our rangers don't go chicken and run out on him. You can go in through the-" She snickered. "Little window over the sink. Get him under control, get XR, and we're home free." She laughed.
He looked at her oddly… nuts. She was totally, completely nuts. He loved that. "Lovely. It's brilliant, and so stupidly simple no one else would ever think of it."
"'Stupidly' simple?" She looked at him teasingly.
"Not stupid… but simple." He chided. "Sorry."
"Don't be." She laughed again. "Just felt like messing with your head. And good lord man, don't apologize! You're the energy vampire whose about to reassert himself at the top of the galaxy." She took up her notes and went over them again. "You're right. It is simple as that. Talk about having your cake and eating it too." She chuckled hysterically again.
Nos-4-a2's eyes narrowed with a smile. "Forget cake, I'm having the whole dinner."