Triple Point

Chapter 55: The First Week

Day 1 of 14

The first thing they did was go back to sleep.

Camilla became exhausted as soon as her adrenaline ran out, and Elsie was completely in favor of heading back to bed. Since Elsie's room was closer, they both headed there, and Camilla allowed herself to lean on Elsie as they trudged up the stairs together.

While Camilla felt bad about getting into Elsie's bed when she was covered in grime and sweat, Elsie waved off her concerns. It was just as well, because as soon as Camilla's head hit the pillow, she was drifting off to sleep, and she only barely felt Elsie's arms pulling her close.

When she woke up, she wasn't sure how much time had passed. The only thing she did know was that Elsie was still with her, holding her tight with her fingers gently stroking Camilla's head. The gesture almost put Camilla back to sleep, but her empty stomach was against that idea.

"What time is it?" Camilla asked, her voice a little rough from sleep.

"A little after noon," Elsie muttered. "You hungry? I can make breakfast. Or lunch, brunch, whatever."

"You know how to cook something besides toast?" Camilla said with a chuckle.

Elsie tapped Camilla's head lightly with a finger in gentle admonishment. "Hey, I can toast frozen waffles too. Besides, I've picked up a few tricks recently. I think I'm fairly confident in my scrambled eggs now."

Camilla hummed, impressed. "I'll be the judge of that, I guess. I need to take a shower though. I feel too gross to do anything else."

So while Elsie busied herself in the kitchen, Camilla got cleaned up, using Elsie's bathroom out of convenience. As much as Camilla loved the feeling of the warm shower washing days of grime off her skin, she also worried about Elsie's ability to use a stove without starting a fire, so she rushed a little more than she would've liked. After she hurriedly got dressed, she used her abilities just long enough to check that everything in the kitchen was still at a normal temperature before starting a load of laundry with all of her guardian uniforms and Elsie's bedding.

Elsie's attempt at cooking turned out to be a pleasant surprise, especially since her scrambled eggs were actually closer to a Japanese dish. Evidently, during her extended stay in Hawaii, Hitomi's suite included a kitchen where she taught Elsie and the Song brothers some simple Japanese recipes during a drunken night in. Elsie admitted that she didn't remember most of what she learned, and she actually had to message Hitomi for a reminder once she was back in LA.

After breakfast, Elsie shooed Camilla out of the kitchen, not letting her even think about helping clean up. While both of them were stubborn, Camilla eventually gave in when she felt her exhaustion catching up with her again, and she settled on the living room couch to wait.

In the meantime, she ended up calling Hitomi. Her cousin couldn't talk long—Japan was ramping up their guardian presence in case Exodos decided to go international again—so Camilla only wished her a very belated happy birthday ("You've finally hit the old age of 30." "Shut up, you little brat.") and also thanked her for teaching Elsie how to cook something that involved more than just reheating premade food. By the time she hung up, Elsie was still cleaning up, so Camilla leaned back in her seat and rested her eyes.

Camilla woke with a start when she felt something nudge her leg, and she bolted upright, almost headbutting Elsie in the process.

"Sorry!" Elsie suddenly apologized from where she was crouched on the ground in front of the couch. She pulled out her hand from around Camilla's feet and showed her phone. "I just dropped my phone. I didn't mean to wake you."