Inane Verbiage

XI

I wake to a soft, incessant knocking on the door of the room. 

"Psst Latrina, you awake?" Someone whispers on the other side, his/her voice too hushed for me to recognize in my barely-awake state

"Wha?" I mumble incoherently as I stumble out of bed, eyes half-closed in grogginess as I make my way across the darkened room and pull open the door without really realizing what I'm doing.

 Said eyes pretty much pop wide open when I blearily realize that the figure by the doorway is a familiar one. "Eros?" I'm suddenly very aware of the way the thin worn t-shirt I'm wearing to sleep keeps merrily floating up in the water. I yank it down forcefully, hiding my body behind the door frame self-consciously. "What are you doing here?"

 "Can I sleep with you tonight?"

 "What?" 

Even in the dim light from the trapped jellyfish lamps outside the house I can see Eros flush, desperation lining his voice. "Azure is scaring the hell out of me!" 

My eyebrows shoot up. "How so?" I can't help but ask, even though I already have an idea, judging by the way the merman had been blatantly ogling him during the disastrous (but admittedly hilarious) dinner earlier on. 

"So? It's not as though you've never shared a bed with anyone before," I point out, jabbing a finger into his (shirtless - no wonder he's getting molested in his sleep. Idiot boy.) upper torso. "Don't be a homophobe, Diaper Boy. It's not cool." 

"I'm not a homophobe!" He denies fervently, looking a wee bit offended by my accusation. "It's just- just- arghh can we talk about this inside? I'm damn scared Azure will wake up, notice I'm gone, start a manhunt, and drag me back to his room." 

I roll my eyes at his paranoia but let him in anyway, closing the door behind me as I plop down next to a shaken-looking Eros on the bed and uncover the jellyfish lamp on the drawer beside it.

"Well?" I press, when he fails to say anything. "You just woke me up from a much-needed rest - if you're just going to sit here and blub like a goldfish I'm kicking you out and going back to sleep."

 "H- he keeps reaching out to grope my chest and rub his tail all over my legs!" Eros all but wails out finally, looking extremely traumatized. "All over my legs!" 

"…oh." My lips start twitching involuntarily, and I hurriedly press them together before he notices and starts throwing a fit (and wakes everyone in the house up). "At least you get um, a, um, massage, no?"

Eros looks as though he wants to jump off a cliff at that thought. "I don't want that kind of massage!" 

"I'm sure he didn't mean it," I try. "Maybe he's just an… affectionate person when he sleeps." 

"Did you see the way he was looking at me?" He shoots in reply, shuddering. "It looked like he wanted to lock me in his room, tie me to his bed and do unmentionable things to my poor body for the rest of eternity!" That is true. "There is no way any of his actions just now were 'accident's!" 

"You could tell him that you feel uncomfortable from all the attention - Azure seems like a nice person. I'm sure he'll listen!"

 Eros merely looks as though he wants to burst into tears (what is he - five?). "You think I haven't tried?"

 I shrug. "It's worth trying again." 

A stubborn expression creeps up his face. Uh-oh. "There is no way in hell am I going back there."

Which can only mean… oh balls. "What about Caoimhe's oilskin pouch?" I ask in desperation. "You can't possibly leave it here - you've got to go back and get it!" And stay there while I lock my door.