It can rattle it's chains

                                        

                                              
It was hard to wake up. I really had to pee but I was so damn comfortable. I was snuggled up against someone’s chest, my forehead tucked under his chin. Arms were wrapped lightly around me and someone was tucked against my back. It was a very safe, secure feeling and it took me a moment to realize why I should be bothered by it. I didn’t need to be held and protected damn it. I woke up properly but couldn’t figure out how to get out of the bed without waking up Alex, the one I was being held by, or Barry who was against my back. Finally I squirmed my way out of Alex’s arms and crawled over him to the bathroom. His orange eyes opened as I was crawling away from them.
                              

                              
“Of course you would choose to wake up as I go waddling to the bathroom.” I muttered, hauling myself off of the bed. He chuckled as I stumbled to the bathroom. I got a good look at myself in the mirror. My left eye was swollen partially closed and blackened with some red, and my ribs were more of a blue black colour and hurt when I breathed in too deep. “Oh I’m real pretty.” I said softly to myself. Next to the bruises, my swollen lip looked like nothing.
                              

                              
I pulled on my jeans and tried to struggle into a top. It hurt to move around too much, so I chose a buttoned shirt. I had a choice of wearing one of Barry’s as a dress or stealing one of Alex’s. Since Alex wasn't absurdly larger in the shoulder than I am, I stole one of his and rolled the sleeves up. There were defensive bruises up my forearms. The shirt itself was white with black plaid, and it didn’t look half bad on me despite the obvious bruising. All my own shirts pulled on over my head and I just wasn’t up to trying one. Alex raised an eyebrow when he recognized his shirt.
                              

                              
“Sorry. I’ll wash it and get it back to you ASAP.” I said softly, not wanting to wake the still slumbering Barry. I grabbed my bag of clothes and stuffed yesterday’s clothes into it. It hurt to bend over, I gritted my teeth and tried to ignore the pain. Alex got out of bed and followed me into the kitchen. I washed a couple of Tylenols down with good old orange juice. I could feel his eyes follow me as I puttered around in the kitchen. I poured us both cereal and did my best to ignore him, but he made me jumpy. I suddenly understood how a gazelle felt when a lion was near. I managed to ignore him as I handed him his honeycombs. I sat painfully on the couch, television on but sound low, and ate my damn cereal. Alex sat on the other side of the couch and we watched the news and munched on our cereal in silence. Barry finally woke up and stumbled into the kitchen. None of us had woken up early; it was 9 am.
                              

                              
“You missing work?” I asked Alex around a mouthful of ‘combs. He shook his head no, but politely finished chewing his food before he responded. Dork.
                              

                              
“No, I took a week off to help take care of Albert. I have until Sunday.” He replied. I grinned at him.
                              

                              
“You’re going to love today then.” I informed him. He raised an eyebrow at me but spoke to Barry.
                              

                              
“She has a demented grin on her face, should I be worried?” he asked. Barry rumbled something insensible and ignored us. Apparently he needed his coffee this morning.
                              

                              
“It’s nothing to be worried about, just a costume party at Faerie Tales tonight. It’s short notice, but I’m sure you can figure something out.” I sounded smug. But he disappointed me.
                              

                              
“Oh that. I already have a costume for it.” He replied. “Albert recommended that I go since I’ve the time off anyways.” Damn, I hated not pulling one on him.