Beyond What's Known

Chapter 15

short chapter this week sorry i am! tired!

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Whether through luck or the fact that she was so exhausted, Alana had a dreamless sleep. She woke not to the hideout's distress signal or an alarm bell, but to soft golden light illuminating the small bedroom she was sharing with Eli and Trixie.

She yawned and sat upright in the large armchair she'd readily collapsed in the night before. After blinking sleep from her eyes, she saw that both Eli's bed and Trixie's couch were vacated. Alana's slugs, and some of Eli's and Trixie's, still lounged about, either asleep or playing.

Other than the familiar ache of her muscles after a big slugout the day before, she actually felt good. The storm certainly hadn't passed since the Goon was still out there somewhere, but they'd gotten Eli back and gained an ally in Junjie. Things could have gone better, but they also could have gone worse.

Alana gladly would have tried to go back to sleep, but she could smell some form of breakfast being made downstairs. She woefully parted with her comfortable chair and warm blanket, sliding on her boots and scooping up Ash and Mage. She set them on her shoulders, Ash on the right and Mage on the left, and walked out into the hallway.

She took her hair down and shook it out, glancing at the other rooms as she walked past. They were all empty with the doors open - she must have been the last one to wake up. That was relatively normal when the gang's last fight involved ghouls.

As she descended the staircase, not only did the smell of breakfast become good enough to convince her she'd made the right choice in getting up, but she could hear the voices of the others, as well. When she rounded the corner into the dining room, she saw everyone sitting around the table just like the night before, including Siobhan.

"Wow, look who finally decided to join us," Eli teased from where he sat. Alana, who had been about to re-tie her ponytail, opted instead to slingshot her hair tie off her index finger right at Eli's face. "Hey!"

"Good morning to you, too," Alana said cheerfully, taking her seat next to him. He rolled his eyes and handed her the hair tie back, and this time she actually put up her hair.

Everyone else seemed mildly awake, all having already started their meals. Junjie still looked the most tired, and had considerably less on his plate, but he did give Alana a quick nod in greeting when she sat. The table didn't have quite as much food as last night, but it was still a sizable breakfast. There were waffles, slices of ham, strawberries, bananas, and scrambled eggs.

"Siobhan, you are amazing," Alana stated before starting to grab food.

Siobhan, who was once more at the head of the table, just laughed. The pile of food on her plate was the closest rival to the mountain that Kord had gathered.

"It's no problem, but I appreciate hearing that so much!" she exclaimed. "I'd be a sorry excuse of a host if I sent y'all out on empty stomachs."

That definitely wouldn't be the case. Alana had been the last to arrive, but in no time at all she'd created a small stack of waffles topped with whipped cream. And syrup. And strawberries. And bananas.

Breakfast was spent in near silence. Everyone was plenty focused on their food and their own process of fully waking up after the chaos of yesterday. Some of the slugs hopped onto the table, picking things off their slingers' plates.

Luckily, Siobhan didn't seem to mind (she even handed a sizable slice of bacon to the three Infurnuses, who ate and seemed to be chatting with each other).

The only things out of the ordinary were Eli and Junjie.

Alana noticed that both of them would often freeze up and stare off into space every once in a while. Then a sound, sometimes just as quiet as the clink of a fork on a plate, would snap them out of it, and they would continue as usual.