Sleep it Off

Why was he-

Tyler groaned as he rolled, finding himself falling into the crevice of the couch. He blinked his eyes open for a moment and then quickly closed them again.

Lord almighty his head was pounding again.

At least he could be thankful he had somehow managed to make it back to his house.

"Kaaarrmmmaaaa," he whined as he heard the sound of the TV, "Turn it off orr down will yeah?"

He still had his eyes closed.

Funny, he hadn't been out of practice at all for drinking - he'd knocked them back as quickly and easily as if he'd never stopped.

But this hangover...

Had they always felt like he was dying?

From her place in front of the couch, Karma blinked at the television. The cartoon ran from one end of the screen to the other, and her eyes followed, allowing her brain to numb. The movement on the couch did nothing to disturb her, nor did she move from where she was. She simply sat, knees to chest, with her arms around her knees and her chin resting on top.

At his order, she slowly picked up the remote and turned off the tv, dropping the small plastic tool to the carpeted floor.

Soundlessly, she stood, making her way out of the living room and into the kitchen, where she began to move around. She was used to the routine of making him pancakes by now; it was easy. Make the batter. Pour it into the pot. She'd cleaned the house the day before, waiting for him to arrive like he always did.

Only he hadn't.

Spraying PAM onto the frying pan, Karma set it onto the stove, waiting for it to heat before resuming cooking.

Another groan escaped the boys lips as he rolled over once more, and he squinted his eyes open for half a second to see her - silent - retreating from.

The light however, burned his eyes and he quickly shut them again.

As he heard her move about the kitchen, the rest of the room was silent; it had been what he wanted originonally, was it not?

Then why did it feel so...

He frowned.

Instead it just felt wrong.

Sighing, he opened up his eyes, and forced them to stay open. He had done this stupidity, he deserved the pain that followed.

It took him a long moment before he could find the desire, the energy to push himself off the couch and followed the girl into the kitchen.

He leaned against the doorframe, his eyes still squinting, his hair sticking up and odd angles, and his clothes ruffled from the night before. He looked like the mess he was.

At least he had slept on the couch. If Karma hadn't come pulled him off the ground he knew that wouldn't have happened.

"Karma," Tyler sighed, his eyes following her. He frowned for a moment, "Yeah ain't gunna talk to me are yeah?"

She continued moving, going through the motions of cooking the same pancake she'd always made. It was simple, flipping the thing into its other side so that it was browning there too. Grabbing a plate and glass, she set them on the table before the chair closest to him, going and getting orange juice to pour into it. She put a glass of water beside that one before returning to the pan to flip it again.

"What's there to talk about?" She asked, her voice staying neutral as she turned her back on him. She hadn't looked at him once during this whole thing, and she didn't feel like using that energy. She didn't think her emotions could handle much more of that.

Sighing again, the boy pushed himself off the wall - wincing slightly, but managing to keep back the groan this time - and made his way over to the seat, blunking down into it rather gracelessly.

"Oh nothin' I 'upose; just figured yeah'd find somethang ta talk 'bout. Yeah usually do."

He picked up the glass and took a long drink of water.


"Place too quite when I ain't hearin' yer voice fillin' it."

Karma picked up the pan, moving across the small space to slide the pancake onto his plate. "I have nothing I want to discuss with you." She said, turning away from him again as she began to wash the pan. She was done in seconds, unknowingly using Vampire speed to get the chore done faster.

She turned toward the doorway, pausing briefly. "I'll be in the livingroom." Then she was gone, and the TV was flickering back to life from a room away.

She'd only half cooked the pancake.

He sighed as she left again. She was just going to keep doing this wasn't she?

He knew that he had been the one to screw up, and that she had every right to be... whatever she was, but didn't she understand he was tired too?

His whole life had been tipped on end, not once but over and over again. First with his family, then Rhys, then the wolf, then Rebecca again. How was he supposed to keep up with everything? How much was one boy supposed to deal with?

Since he really was just a boy. He never grew up, he never had the chance. Everytime he thought he might move on, grow up, be someone new - his life toppled forward, smashing around him, giving him a whole knew wave to deal with.

Sometimes he had to just... forget, or he'd explode.

Sighing, he looked into the direction he could hear the TV from and poked the half cooked pancake with his fork.

If she didn't have anything to say... he didn't eitehr. She knew it all, all ready. He'd just... give her space.

And hopefully she'd come around.

From her place on one end of the couch, Karma stared at the screen, unable to take the frown off her face. It had really been a let down, coming here and waiting all day for him. He wouldn't have showed up at all, had she not gotten worried and gone to look for him. Curling into a ball, she waited for him to finish eating and come back, so she could snuggle into him and use him as her favorite teddybear.

She never really could stay mad at him.

Ty tapped his fork against his plate as he glanced over at the opening into the living room. He frowned. He could hear the Television again, but she didn't seem to be moving.

His head throbbed, only heightening his darker mood. What did he have to do? He was sorry, of course he was, he was sorry for a lot of things, but that never seemed to matter to anyone. He was just Tyler Frank Marks, the screw up who some how managed to not stay dead.

Grabbing the pancake off the table, dumping the inediable thing into the trash he dropped the dish in the sink and paused to hover at the door, watching her for a moment, a slight frown on his face.

"I'm gunna go for a walk, so yeah don't have ta worry 'bout my mug botherin' yeah," he shrugged his shoulders and pushed away from the wall, not bothering to push back the strain of hair that had flopped into his face. "I'm just goin' round the block, promise."

With another nod that she wouldn't see anyways cause he had already disappeared towards the front hall, he opened the door and made his way down the street.

Perking up at the sound of his footsteps, Karma looked up at him, her eyes flickering away from the television as she took in his displeased posture. "Tyt- Wai-" She was moving after him in an instant, at the door of the house as her eyes flashed from side to side. He had barely gotten to the sidewalk before she was beside him, wrapping her arms around his waist and hugging him tightly. "I'm sorry, okay? I'm just- I-"

She nuzzled her face into his chest, her hold tightening around him. "I worry about you." She frowned at this admittance, wishing there was less things to worry about. She rested her chin against his chest and looked up at him, blinking twice before she pulled away, holding her arms behind her back and keeping her gaze on her bare feet. Toes curling against the sidewalk she looked away, trying to keep her expression neutral.

Sighing, she rose to her toes and pressed a kiss against his cheek, turning and walking back toward the house. "Hurry back, okay? I wanna watch a movie. You owe me a day."

Although he heard her approach, she was far too fast for his hungover mind to process the coming attack, and she almost knocked him over, however he did manage to keep his balance, in the end.

He sighed. He wasn't entirely passified, but he could at least stop most of his pouting.

"Yeah ain't gotta worry 'bout me - no matter how much a screw up I ain't seem to be able ta make it final."

He nodded his head slightly, and watched her disappear back into his house. He supposed, since she had apologized he should just...

But he still felt the need to walk. He needed to stretch, clear his head. It was almost an hour before he found himself back at the house, his head slightly clearer, and although he didn't quite have a smile on his face, the dark gleam from his eye was gone.

"What movie are we watching today Karmzy?"

Jolting up from where she'd been dozing, the girl patted the couch beside her, holding up her latest DVD buy - The Hunger Games. "We could watch this." She said, a small smile tugging at her lips, a bit hesitantly, as she offered it to him. "The store said it had action and romance and thrill and overthrowing the government. Which is cool in any movie, I suppose." Shrugging, she brought her knees to her chest, holding the case out to him. "Put it in, won't you?"

"Well all that, and I get to spend time with yeah too? What are we waitin' for?"

He flashed the girl an impish grin, before removing the video from her possesion, and plopping it in the machine before flopping beside her.

"I'd say we need popcorn, but I ain't gettin' up, and I ain't too sure I trust yeah with my microwave," the boy teased easily.