The Weapon - Resurrection - part 11
By Diana the Valkyrie
Could I share your bed again? 
Update: 28/05/2003 to valkyrie05


I looked up from my notes, and she was standing by the door, silently.
Perfectly still, and waiting. I jumped, and dropped my notebook. "Oh," she
said, "I didn't mean to startle you." "No, that's OK," I said as I picked it
up. "I've done the washing up," she said, as if I couldn't have guessed that,
"would you like me to make you some coffee?" I was beginning to feel that I
hadn't so much found a Guardian of Humanity, more a domestic servant. "No
thanks," I replied, "coffee at this time of night stops me from sleeping. It's
been a long day, and I had a very late night last night, I think I'll just
turn in now."

"Oh," she nodded. "You're welcome to sleep on the .." I started to say, then I
remembered that she doesn't sleep. "I mean, you're welcome to stay here
overnight."

"Thank you," she said, "could I ask a favour of you?" "Of course, what is it?"

"Could I share your bed again? Just to listen to you breathing while you
sleep, I mean. I've been alone for so long ..."

Well, damn. She didn't need to twist my arm, you betcha.

I scuttled up to bed. Last night I'd been so whacked out, I could have been in
bed with a gorilla and not noticed. Tonight, though ... maybe tonight was the
night! Talk about getting lucky.

But my luck wasn't that good. I was in bed, she was lying outside the duvet,
still wearing her waitressing costume. Bah. I closed my eyes and tried not to
think about what was a few inches away.

...

"David?" "Mmmphh?" "It's Sunday tomorrow." "Yes," I answered, "and I'm coming
with you to church." "That'll be nice."

...

"David?" "Nnngh?" "We'll have to leave early to get there in time for the
service." "What time does it start?" "Ten." "OK, it's 40 minutes from here,
say 60 to allow for traffic delays, we leave at nine, that means we get up at
eight. I'll set the alarm." "No need, I know what time it is." "Oh. Right. Of
course."

...

"David?" You know how you're just drifting off to sleep, everything has gone
grey, you're just about to .... "Yes?" I said, a trifle crossly. "Thanks for
letting me stay here. It's a lot nicer than sitting in a dumpster." Now
there's a compliment to the state of my hovel. "You're welcome, Wendy, it's
nice to have you here, and you cook a great curry." "Oh, you think so? Duncan
liked them too. I'll do another one tomorrow." Uh. I foresee a substantial
change in my normal pizza-and-hamburger diet.

...

"David?" "Look, Wendy, you might not need sleep, but I do, and I can't get to
sleep with you rabbiting at me all night." "David?" Sigh. "Yes, Wendy?" "Uh.
Can I. Would you mind if I. I mean. Just for a little while. Can I hold you?"

I could barely get the "Yes" out, my mouth was so suddenly dry. She threw back
the duvet, her arms were around me, and then instead of replacing the duvet,
her cape settled gently over both of us, soft and warm and protective. I
nestled close to her, "Mmm, Wendy." "Oh, Duncan," she replied. I thought of
pointing out that I'm not Duncan, but I guess she really knew that, and was
just trying again to lie to herself. How do we do that, anyway?

I could feel her heartbeat, although I knew it wasn't real. I couldn't feel
her breathing. She held me, and it was a very nice feeling, warm and safe. I
could really get used to this, and curry was just fine now and then. Maybe
even every day, if that was the price. Maybe I could introduce her to the
concept of frozen pizza and microwaves. I fell asleep, and dreamed of flying.

. . .

I woke up, and it was like I'd fallen into a nightmare. She dragged me to the
bathroom, pushed me under the shower, and ran it full blast, ice cold. I
fought with her to try to get out, but it was like wrestling with a 1000 pound
gorilla. She just held me there, naked, freezing, and screaming. Then she
soap-and-flanneled me over, rinsed me off with more cold water, and finally
let me out. She was rubbing me down with a warm towel, and I finally got my
breath back.

"Wendy, what the hell do you think you're doing?" "Waking you up." "You
couldn't be more, like, gentle?" "Oh, don't be such a baby, I did this to
Duncan every day." It figured. And it was actually nice being rubbed down with
a warm towel, I have to admit. I'm not sure that it was worth the torture of
the preceding five minutes, but what the hell, I thought, surely I do actually
want her to treat me like Duncan. Right? Wrong.

She left me to get dressed, and by the time I got to the kitchen, she had
breakfast ready. And I'm certain I hadn't any Marmite in my cupboard, where
did she get that from? Over breakfast I explained to her that maybe Duncan
liked being waked up that way, but different people like different things, and
I really hated it. She nodded, and I think she took it on board. I hope she
did. Anyway, it was in good time that we left for St Hildas, and we got there
half an hour before the service started.