Classified: A New Life

Chapter III: Day 2; Early Morning

Emory groans and rolls over in her bed. She'd been sleeping until now; Melody had put her to bed around nine, but she isn't sure what time it is now. She knows she should be asleep, but she can't seem to make herself tired.

The partly-finished Lego set from earlier that afternoon is begging to be finished, and it's a quiet toy, so maybe she'd even be able to finish it tonight, without waking up Melody. Then she'd be able to sleep for sure!

Emory sits up and sighs. With Melody's willingness to spank her revealed, she isn't sure that getting up to play with toys in the middle of the night is in her butt's best interest...

But it'll be so much fun...

Emory glances over at Rufus, the dim glow of her nightlight illuminating his familiar fuzzy outline.

"What do you think, Rufus?" she whispers around her pacifier.

Her furry companion is silent, as always, but his round eyes seem to be speaking to her. [Don't look at me, this was your idea.]

"Yeah, I know it was my idea, but you're supposed to back me up! Besides, it's not like you're gonna get spanked, so I dunno what you're even worried about. You don't even have to do anything besides be a lookout."

Emory pokes at the stuffie, and he falls over onto his side. [Leave me out of this. It's only going to lead to trouble for you, and my fur getting covered in gross stuff when you cry all over me.]

"Wow. Rude." Emory replies, picking up the stuffed bear and staring into his eyes.

[You're about as stealthy as an elephant on roller skates. With vertigo.]

"That's not true!" Emory whisper-yells. "I'm like, a ninja, or something. What even is vertigo anyway?"

[It makes you really dizzy and you might throw up.]

"But that'd be super loud--oh. Hey! I don't am-meciate that kind of talk...I'm not that loud..." Emory pouts.

[This is stupid, and I'm not getting involved in your shenanigans.]

"Well you can just stay here then, scaredy-bear. I'm gonna go and play." Emory slips out of bed as quietly as she can. Her diaper makes it impossible to be completely silent, but she manages to make it all the way to the living room without alerting Melody. It's only once she's there that she realizes she's forgotten to bring a light source, so she resorts to turning on a lamp. It's risky, but she can't very well build anything in the dark.

She manages to finish the tallest part of the lego set, which is difficult because she has to go slowly to avoid making noise, and because it's taller than she is and awkward to get to.

"Emmy, what are you doing?" Melody asks from somewhere behind her, She doesn't sound mad but it's hard to tell whether she's in trouble or not.

"Um...nothing?" Emory tries, even though she knows it's painfully obvious what she'd been up to.

"Oh really?" Melody sounds utterly unconvinced as she reaches down to pick Emory up. "Because it looks to me like you were playing with your toys, little one. It is very, very late, and you should be sleeping. It's not time to play with toys right now." She says gently, patting Emory's bottom.

"But I'm not tired..." Emory protests.

Melody sighs. "Sweetheart, you can't play right now. Let's go and see if we can find something to help you sleep." She carries Emory into the kitchen, taking some milk from the refrigerator. She sits Emory down on the counter and retrieves the zoo-themed bottle she'd wanted at the store, and some chocolate syrup from the cabinet.