Neon Darkness

Chapter 3

Daylight wakes me. My mouth is dry and my tongue feels all disgusting. I'd like some water, but the headache is too much to handle. There's an arm slung across my waist, skin on skin and I feel someone spooning me. A drunky memory from last night shows me Malcolm's sculpted chest and his questioning face. Did we have sex? I'm still wearing my bra and panties. I don't think I'd be wearing anything if we had sex. Would I? The hangover takes its toll and I can't think anymore. It feels so nice having someone in my bed though. I snuggle closer and drift off to sleep again.

The next time I wake up I still feel awful.
"Welcome back to the land of the sober." I hear the grin, but refuse to open my eyes.
"Ugh..." I peek at him.
He's lying on his side, facing me, the grin very much in place. "I never thought I'd wake up in the bed of a beautiful girl after a night of only sleep."
"Shut up." I desperately need a glass of water and painkillers, followed by a shower. Or the other way around.
"Don't be rude, I'm bringing gifts." He picks something up from the floor. A tall glass of water and a yellow patch. Just thinking about the relief has me strangling a moan in the back of my throat. "Give me your arm." He attaches the patch, giving at a squeeze to speed up the distribution of painkillers.
I close my eyes and feel the pain in my brain receding. When the worst of the throbbing has gone away I open my eyes again. Malcolm is holding the glass of water in his hand and offers it to me.
"Thank you." I mean the painkillers and water both. The cold water is like ambrosia.
"You're welcome." He squints his eyes at me. "How do you feel about breakfast?"
"No?" His smile is softer than before. "I mean, I think I need a shower first."

I remember I'm only in my underwear. I also remember taking my dress off in front of him last night. Closing my eyes briefly I decide that he's seen it all before and I might as well just get it over with. Slowly, ever so slowly, I get out of bed and walk towards the bathroom. My head protests at being moved, but the thought of a shower keeps me moving.
I might not like being out and about in the rain, but it has filled the water tank and allows me to stay under the spray longer than I should. The smell of coffee cuts through the steam in the bathroom and my brain begs me to claim a cup. Wrapping a towel around my hair and a short kimono around my body, I join my kind of kidnapped guest.

Malcolm's in the kitchen area, barefoot, but sadly wearing jeans and a t-shirt. "I couldn't find much of anything. But I guess you're not very hungry?"
"Coffee's great, but I think I have toast here somewhere..." I go dig through my ice box and find half a loaf of bread. "Score!" I pop two slices into the black toaster I stole from an ex boyfriend, and lean against the counter. The towel around my head is slipping and I'm not feeling very steady on my feet. Malcolm grins at me and I know I have to admit defeat. There's no use in pretending I don't want to die.
"Alright. First of all I'd like to apologize for forcing you to stay. Second, I'd like to thank you for getting me home. Third. I'm so sorry I made you stay the night against your will." Malcolm isn't even trying to hide his amusement. "I don't usually do this. Invite strangers into my home, that is. Ugh. I'm not drinking that much vodka again. Anytime soon." The towel around my hair is coming undone. I unwrap it and let it fall to the floor. I look at the sad damp pile of terry cloth. Yeah, same. Malcolm pours me a coffee and I gratefully accept the steaming mug.

He pours one for himself and takes a large gulp before he speaks. "Locke is an asshole. Always was, always will be. That's no excuse for him to behave like that to you. Or to anyone." Malcolm frowns and drinks his coffee. I wait for him to continue. "Anyway. Fuck him. Not literally, obviously." It hurts to laugh.
Malcolm motions with his mug towards my work space. "I looked at your work while you were showering. I didn't know you were behind Neural Storm." He leaves me in the kitchen to take another look at my drawings. Pride in my work and the fluttering feeling of being somewhat exposed blends in my stomach.
"Yeah, no. We're a team of five working on Neural Storm. New episodes coming next month." I sip my coffee, feeling life returning to my body with each sip.
"Cool. Any chance of a sneak peek?" I follow him to my desk. There isn't anything from the already finished episodes left to look at. Only old character sketches and colour prints.
"I could, but then I'd have to kill you."
Malcolm laughs and salutes me with his coffee. "Fair enough." He leans over the desk to take a closer look at the sketches I have tacked to the noticeboard. "Hey, this kinda looks like..." I bite my lip. My sketches really aren't for anyone else. "...is this Holbach?" I'm glad Malcolm is learning over my desk to peer at the image.
"Mhm... I sketch the people I know, the people I see, for practice." Yeah. I move closer and start rifling through a pile of sketches I have lying on a filing cabinet. "I have several of my friend Paulette. And more of The Gentleman's regulars." I spread them out over my desk. Anything to have him stop staring at the too many sketches I have of Nikola.

"Hey! This one of Brendon is really good." Malcolm chuckles. "He looks so annoyed."
I smile. "I always assumed that's just his face."
Malcolm throws back his head laughing. "Aw, don't ever tell him that." He lifts it to take a closer look. He shakes his head. "It's true though."
I find what I'm looking for, a trio of sketches of Malcolm, he's smiling or grinning in all of them. Damn I'm good! I place them on top of the other sketches and I see him pausing, taking them in. Slowly he puts the sketch of Brendon down and leans closer to the drawings of himself.

He doesn't say anything, so I feel the need to fill the silence. "You have a few more expressions to your face." I trace my finger over the sketch closest to me. "Much more fun to draw." I try to make my words sound light.
Malcolm looks at me, his eyes and smile soft. "You're seriously talented." He shakes his head and chuckles. "I'm sure you don't need me telling you, you carry your own."
"No, but it's still nice to hear sometimes. That someone appreciates your work." I drain my coffee and start clearing sketches off the desk. I collect the sketches of Brendon and himself and hold them out to him. "Maybe you can give him this? And if you want to, you can keep yours too."
"Wow, really?" His surprised face has me grinning. I press him to take them. "Won't you need them?"
"I can always draw new ones." I trade his now empty coffee for the sketches and return to the kitchen area.

The toast is not quite cold and my hangover has lessened, some. Digging out the last of the peanut butter, I smear it evenly on the two bits of toast. "Breakfast?" Crunching one of them I hold the other one out to Malcolm. He gracefully accepts it and we munch our toast, standing in the kitchen. I pour more coffee into our mugs, this time I add a generous amount of sugar into mine. Malcolm grimaces.
I grin at him and take a big gulp. "Mmm... just what I need."
Malcolm shakes his head as he washes his toast down and plonks his mug onto the counter. "And I need to head home. Thanks for the coffee and the sketches." There's a sinking feeling in my stomach, I had forgotten I kind of forced him to stay.
Gripping my mug tightly I watch him go find his socks and boots. "No problem." My voice is quiet, I'm not even sure he heard me.

Malcolm lingers after he has his boots on. I register that they add another 5 cm or so to his height. He shifts from foot to foot, looking at me from underneath the hair that's fallen in front of his eyes. "Are you going to be alright?" 
"What? Yeah." I crack a smile and gesture towards my work area. "I have a deadline. I should be working on it already." Malcolm steps closer, not looking very convinced."Really. I'm fine. Thanks for staying."

I don't know what comes over me, but I get up on my tiptoes and give him a peck on the cheek. My lips leave his skin and I just want the floor to open up and swallow me whole. The mug in my hands trembles, I watch the tiny waves forming in the lukewarm coffee.
Malcolm clears his throat. "Yeah. I'll see you around." Collecting myself I meet his gaze. He offers a crooked smile and then he's out the door. I listen to his footsteps receding down the stairs. Then I pour my coffee down the drain and go sit at my desk. There's that animation to finish, before Jonas cracks and sends angry shouty messages to my phone.