Guardian (Sequel to Fearless)

Chapter Fifty Five

A/N -- Remember the contest. It's still going on until February 1st!

Iris woke up the next morning with a headache straight from the hells, which was only slightly outdone by the soreness of her reset shoulder. It had hurt so badly yesterday when they'd snapped it back into place. For a long moment, the rogue didn't open her eyes. She couldn't bear to. Iris was suddenly aware she had no memory of anything past supper time last night.

Her eyes blinked open and she shot up... on the floor? She didn't have time to register why she'd fallen asleep on the wooden floor rather than her bed that was five feet away, because the sun was brutal and seemed to dig into her eyes with its brilliance. As quick as she could manage, she stood and shut the blinds over her window. The movement sent her head spinning for quite a few moments.

Iris regained herself and finally looked over to her bed. "What... in... the... fuck?" was all she could say. Her blankets were completely gone from its surface. All of her pillows, along with some pillows and cushions that weren't hers at all, were arranged in what could have only been the shittiest structure she'd ever seen in her life. The strangest part was that both of her inn tables seemed to be serving as support beams for the apparatus... all on the bed. How in the hell had those gotten there? The door was made of a pair of her trousers.

Iris looked inside the structure to find empty liquor bottles. She blinked twice. Something came back to her... Hench had been in here last night. She couldn't remember anything beyond her sister walking in with her, but all the context clues led straight to heavy drinking.

Iris didn't get a chance to delve further. A loud snore disrupted her from her thoughts, coming straight from the washroom. The rogue jumped a bit and staggered over to the source of the noise, only to be stopped short by a big fucking mess. All of her toiletries were scattered everywhere around her, and several sets of her clothes were just strewn about. Iris opened the door to the room with her privy and tub, only to find a big ass woman sprawled out in the bath. The strong scent of alcohol hit Iris like a galloping horse.

The rogue's eyes just moved over Hench, top to bottom. There were several empty whiskey bottles around the area. Surely she hadn't drank that much. Through the haze of her headache, Iris found that the drain had been plugged like someone was getting ready to bathe, and her sister was lying in amber liquid about an inch high. Her guardian robes were sopping wet with it, and she was missing a boot somewhere.

Iris saw her sister's face last, and huh? Why the hell was Hench wearing makeup? A random array of powder and rouge was just smudged everywhere with no rhyme or reason. Both of her eyes were darkened with an uneven amount of kohl, and the red paint on her lips extended all the way to her cheekbone. Hench's hair was a wild mess, stuck to the sides of her face in sticky clumps.

Iris was too confused to laugh. That is, until she looked up into the mirror to find herself equally decorated.

Finally, a giggle burbled out of her mouth. "What in the hell is even going on here?" she couldn't help but ask herself.

Hench stirred at the sound of her voice, and brown eyes flicked left to right dazedly. Iris sat and waited on her sister to be coherent. It only took a few minutes before Hench sat up in the tub and met Iris's eyes. Rhalla grinned, leaned back again, and shut her eyes, hoping to mitigate her own pounding head. "Girl, you look ridiculous."

"Says the drag queen in the bathtub," Iris retorted.

Hench's grin went wider at the remark, but she kept her eyes tightly closed. "That sounds like a crock of shit when spoken by a tried-and-true crossdresser, doesn't it?" she quickly snapped back. "What was it again? Ingred Gwenneth, I believe it was. It sure sounds like a man that picks fights he can't win." Hench looked just long enough to see Iris's puckered face. The rogue had no rebuttal for the teasing, and the woman saw it immediately. Rhalla let up, though she still wore a devilish smile. "I have such a fucking headache."