Silver Umbrellas

Sixteen-- Melody

After Yao and Alice scrubbed off all the sap, Lili used plenty of ointment and wrapped up her injuries with gauze, following the route the Tangler's vine had marked on her skin. While all of this was going on, Tino organized what he had picked up from Costco and started storing things down in the cellar.

"Vow, you managed to get all of that?" Liechtenstein commented when she looked over her shoulder at him. She was sticking the last piece of bandage on Alice's leg at that moment. 

Finland glanced up at her and smiled. "Ah, kyllä. The two young men that were guarding the store were very generous, especially when I bent the truth a little bit..." (yes)

"Vhat did you tell them?" she inquired.

"That my plane crashed, my navigator broke her leg in the accident, and that we needed food and water, basically," he listed, smiling despite himself. 

"That's not a lie," Oregon piped up, one eyebrow raised in confusion. "Isn't that all true?"

"It was at one point," Finland agreed. "And if it gets us the things we really need, then I suppose it was worth the little white lie." He pulled out the two blankets pressed into the bottom of a backpack and pulled out the items he'd packed inside them: the ibuprofen, candles, matches, and the chocolate-fruity things Tino didn't have an official name for. 'Brookside? Alright, then.'

"What... are those?" Alice asked, her eyes focused on the bag like an owl would watch its prey. Yao was in a similar state of mind with his actions mimicking hers.

"I grabbed them because I thought you two would like them," he explained, turning the package over to read the ingredients listed on the back. "They aren't exactly healthy, but they would make a nice treat every once in a while."

"Can we have some now?" she asked eagerly, holding both hands out with the sides touching, palms cupped expectantly. "Please please please?"

Tino glanced very briefly at her leg and the white bandage that twisted up it like a piece of unfashionable ribbon. "Sure, but just a couple." The seal was broken and he reached in, pulling out a handful that was split into halves. When Yao and Alice received the candies, they immediately popped one in their mouths and savored the taste of the chocolate coating.

"Willow would let me have these sometimes," Alice explained delightedly, keeping the bite in place between her teeth. "They're sooo good!" She turned and looked at Yao hopefully and was pleased to see that he was enjoying the candies as much as she was.

"Hey, did you get more than me?" she asked suspiciously, pointing at the amount in his palm. 

China shook his head, making his ponytail swing from side to side.

"Nu-uh, I think you did."

"Did not," he replied, chewing another one.

"Did too."

"Did not."

"You each got the same amount, I promise! I checked," Finland said before an argument could break out. China and Oregon just grinned at each other like they were telepathically sharing an inside joke, and kept eating their newfound spoils.

~~

"Aaah! Zhīzhū! Zhīzhū! Shā ba!" 

These were the frantic words that roused everyone from sleep two mornings after Alice's run-in with the Tangler that had scratched her leg up. Both Liechtenstein and Finland shot straight up with a type of speed and alertness that only came with lots of practice. However, their worries were chased away upon seeing that it was only China clinging to Oregon for dear life while a quarter-sized spider, the dreaded "zhīzhū," crawled across the shack's horribly dirty wooden floor.