Under Normal Circumstances

Deepening

When I woke up on my own and felt well rested I got suspicious. I stretched, running my hand over the cool sheets of Slivko's bed, and then got up and grabbed my bathroom bag before venturing out into the oddly quiet house. After freshening up I wandered out to the living room where I found Penny at the dining room table with a cup of tea and the photos.

"Ah, good morning," she smiled when she noticed me standing there. "The boys have all gone to work, Reg didn't have the heart to wake you."

I sighed as my shoulders slumped. I was supposed to go there and help them.

"Don't worry, I'm here to take you," Penny assured me without me having to say a word.

"Thanks. Where's Grace?" I asked as I took a seat at the table too.

"She said she wanted to sight-see for a little while, she took your car. Said she'd meet up at the garage later though," Penny said as she set the photos down and leaned forward with a barely contained smirk about something. "What do you say to some breakfast?"

"Oh, it takes my stomach a while more to wake up, I have a hard time eating first thing when I wake up," I explained, catching a glimpse of the photo on top, the one of me on Slivko's shoulders.

"Well, help yourself to whatever you find and let me know when you're ready," She smiled at me before setting her tea down and gathering up the photos again.

It was odd to be alone with Penny, I was only used to Slivko, and more than that I was used to him navigating the unknown for me. I must have sat still and silent for a little too long because she looked back up at me and her pretty lips curved up in a warm smile.

"I like these pictures," she said as she laid all the ones of me and Slivko down and set the rest aside. "Since his mother passed... It's just nice to see him happy again. To see him care about something. It's like you brought back a part of him I didn't think I'd ever see again since he went to war. And I'm grateful."

I gave a shy, nervous little laugh as I shook my head. "I don't think I can take credit for anything like that, it's not like I knew what I was doing."

She looked at the pictures again, some of my moments with Slivko laid out in front of her, some still hidden in only our memories. "You two really went through a lot together, didn't you?"

"You have no idea."

'''''

She took me down to the garage where I was greeted by an oil stained Slivie with a huge smile on his face.

"You didn't wake me up," I pouted, making him smile wider.

"You looked too cute all curled up in my bed, I wanted you to get enough rest," he explained.

"Well, you're just going to have to think of a way to make it up to me," I told him, getting the playful light to come play in his eyes.

"I got something in mind, don't you worry," he said as he poked my nose, leaving a black smudge on the tip that I didn't bother wiping off. 

He leaned in and gave me a peck on the lips.

"That wasn't it, right?" I made sure, seeing the smudge my nose left on his cheek.

"No," he laughed. "You'll know when I make something up to you. Promise."

He led me to the office and gave me a ring with a few file cabinet keys on it. "All the paperwork is in this room. It might not be in good order, but it's in here," he told me as I looked around. "Do you need anything?"