Zephyr contemplated finding something to throw through the window to shut the birds up for a moment, but decided it would cost too much to replace the window.  Instead, she pulled the pillow over head head and tried to go back to sleep.

Her efforts, however, were in vain.  As she reached the point of drifting back to sleep, she could hear her twin walking down the hallway.  From the one-sided sound of the conversation, Zephyr guessed he was on the phone.  As she listened to the door opening and Tempest’s footsteps stopping next to the bed, she concentrated on pretending to be asleep.

“No, she’s definitely awake,” Tempest said.  “She’s trying to fake it, though.  Hey, Zee, get the pillow off your head.  It’s Rick.”

Zephyr moved the pillow enough to glare at her twin, but made no move to take the phone.  “Why did he call your phone if he wants to talk to me?”

“Wow, you look like hell.”

“Gee, thanks.  I love you too, Tem.  Now answer my question.”  Zephyr was obviously not in a mood to tolerate being teased, even by Tempest.

“Because your phone’s still off, genius.  Come on.”  Tempest held the phone out to his sister.

Zephyr sighed and took the phone from him, muttering profanities as she put it to her ear.  “What do you want?”

“To talk to you, obviously.”  Rick sounded far too cheerful, and Zephyr had to resist the urge to hang up.  She did, however, growl.  Rick merely laughed.  “OK, I’m also calling because the new editor asked me to call you.”

“The main office did end up replacing that lazy jackass, then?”  The thought gave Zephyr that warm glow that only the feeling of being avenged could give.

“In a heartbeat,” Rick confirmed.  “Anyway, the new editor asked me to call you, since I know you.  She’d like you to come back, to the position you were promised when you started.”

Zephyr froze.  “You’re serious?”

“I’m serious.”

“I…” Zephyr looked at her brother.  “I’ll have to think about it.  I’m not sure if that’s what I want to do anymore, Rick.”

“I hear you,” Rick said.  “Think about it and give me a call later, alright?”

“Yeah, sure.”  Zephyr hung up the phone and handed it back to Tempest.

“What are you thinking?” Tempest said as he down on the bed next to his sister.

“He told you?”

“Yeah,” Tempest said.  “What would you like to do?”

“I hated sitting at a desk all day,” Zephyr admitted.  “It wasn’t just the bad atmosphere in the office.  It really wasn’t what I expected it to be.”

“It sounds to me like you already have your answer.”

“Maybe.”  Zephyr turned onto her back and stared up at the ceiling.  “Would I be stupid for throwing away an opportunity like that?”

“Not if it didn’t suit you to begin with,” Tempest gently reassured her.  “You’ve got time to think about it.”

“Yeah.  Speaking of time, what time is it, anyway?” Zephyr asked as she struggled to sit upright.

“About 10.  I was going to ask if you wanted to go do something, but you really do look like hell.  Do you want an icepack or a couple of teabags for your eyes?”

“I think I’ll be ok after I’m up for a bit,” Zephyr said as she pushed the blankets aside and stood up.  She yawned, stretched luxuriously, then rubbed at her face.  “What do you want to do?”

“Not sure,” Tempest said.  “If you’re really up to going out in a few hours, maybe I should go out and get some work done for a while.  I have breakfast in the fridge, why don’t you eat and then go through those cookbooks you left out?”

Zephyr nodded in agreement.  “Alright.  When you get back, we can go get my number changed if Leo hasn’t given up yet.  What’s the weather like outside?”

“It’s actually kind of chilly out,” Tempest said.  “Surprising, considering it’s summer.”

“How do you feel about going to the park later?  Maybe we could ride the carousel.”

“Sure.” Tempest smiled and dropped a kiss on his sister’s cheek.  “Go eat your breakfast.  I’m going to head out for a while.”

“Yes sir,” Zephyr said, heading for her own bedroom to get the stack of cookbooks off of her bed.  She held the books to her side with one arm, pausing at her desk to open the drawer and grab a notebook with her free hand.

Tempest had left by the time Zephyr managed to successfully maneuver the stack of books into the kitchen.  She was a bit grateful for that; She felt bad subjecting her twin to the lousy mood she’d woken up in.  Zephyr dropped the stack of books onto the kitchen table, sat down, and grabbed a book at random.

By the time Tempest got home, Zephyr had nearly the entire notebook filled with notes.  She was oblivious as Tempest walked up behind her and looked over her shoulder.

“Boo.”

Zephyr shrieked and spun around, her forehead colliding with her twin’s nose.

“Oh my god, I’m so sorry,” Zephyr exclaimed as she leaped out of her chair.  “Are you alright?”

“I’m fine, it’s not bleeding or anything.  Besides, it’s my own fault for scaring you.”  He opened the fridge and frowned.  “You didn’t eat breakfast.”

“Sorry, I kind of forget,” Zephyr said as Tempest pulled a bottle of water out of the fridge and held it against his nose.  “Now that you mention it, though, I’m starving.”

Still holding the bottle to his face, Tempest pulled out the plate and handed it to his sister.  “Here, go put it in the microwave.  Mind if I look at your notes?”

“Go ahead,” Zephyr replied as she started the microwave.  When it dinged, she sat at the table with her food and watched her twin’s face as he read the notebook in front of him.

Yeah, I know.  This has been written for a while, but things have come up, including my family’s reigning queen (my grandmother) passing away.  I still haven’t finished 4.5, but I’ve been understandably not up to it.  (When she was alive, my grandmother would’ve smacked me with her cane for using her as an excuse to not write.  Now I’m worried she’ll throw lightening bolts at me instead.)

I’ll do my best to finish 4.5 very soon, but I also have a lot of other projects that take priority over this little side story (including re-writing the god-awful were-creature romance I wrote a couple years ago, since I got a bolt of inspiration a few days ago that may make it suck less – if it sucks less, I’ll make it available as an ebook).

“Go take a shower,” Tempest suggested. “It might help you collect yourself. I’ll go reheat the food while you do.”

Zephyr shuffled down the hall towards the bathroom without responding. She left the water cold, shivering as she stood under it. The discomfort helped to bring her back to her senses a little, and tears she hadn’t been able to cry finally escaped. The last of Zephyr’s control left her, and she bawled under the running water until her eyes were swollen and her sobs were reduced to hiccups. She was shivering hard from cold she could no longer feel when she turned off the water, and was both surprised and gratified to find that Tempest had snuck in to leave some warm pajamas and a sweatshirt on the counter. She dressed quickly and opened the door.

As Zephyr stepped out of the bathroom, a hand grabbed her and pulled her aside. Before she could even shriek in surprise, she found herself being hugged tightly by her twin. The tension left her body, and she leaned against him. “Don’t scare me like that.”

“Sorry,” was Tempest’s only response. He made no move to let her go, and Zephyr looked up at him. “Your eyes are swollen,” Tempest noted.

“I’m not surprised,” Zephyr sighed.

“I hate it when you cry like that,” Tempest told her quietly. “It breaks my heart, and there’s nothing I can do to help you feel better.”

“Yeah there is. You’re doing it now.”

Tempest gave his twin an affectionate squeeze. “Having me feel like I’m hugging an ice cube makes you feel better?” Without waiting for Zephyr’s response, Tempest let go and nudged her towards the living room. “Go sit on the couch, I have dinner waiting in the living room.”

Zephyr did as directed. Once she was sitting down, Tempest tossed a blanket over her. “You’re going to make yourself sick if you aren’t careful. Warm up properly.”

Zephyr snorted and unburied herself, wrapping the blanket around herself obediently. “It’ll take more than a cold shower to make me sick.”

“I’d rather not take that chance,” Tempest said as he lifted his hamburger to his mouth.

Zephyr picked up a french fry and stared at it.

“What is it?” Tempest asked around his mouthful of food.

“I was just thinking that I probably blew our chances of ever being allowed back into Joe’s again.”

Tempest swallowed. “Actually, that’s a funny story…”

Zephyr leveled a look at her brother that made it perfectly clear she thought he’d gone insane. “I dumped an entire pitcher of soda over a patron, likely ruining a booth and a huge section of carpeting in the process.”

“Yes, you did,” Tempest acknowledged, plucking the fry from Zephyr’s hand and popping it into her mouth. “And once you’d vacated the premises, your ex-scumbag’s friends promptly called over the manager and placed all blame on Leo’s shoulders. After that, they forced him to apologize, clean up the mess, and pay for any remaining damages. Once the manager had the entire story, he said he wished they’d had a second pitcher at their table for you to dump over Leo’s head.”

Zephyr blinked. “You’re serious?”

“Very,” Tempest confirmed as he held out another fry for his twin. “Oh, and before you ask, your float was melted, flat, and warm by the time I started reheating the food. I dumped it out. Sorry.”

“I have a pint of ice cream in the freezer that says there’s no need for you to apologize,” Zephyr said.

“Glad to hear it,” Tempest said, grinning.

Zephyr’s phone rang from inside her bag near the door. When she moved to unwrap the blanket so she could retrieve the ringing phone, Tempest held up a hand to stop her. “I’ll get it. You stay where you are.”

After he’d dug the phone out of Zephyr’s bag, he looked at the display and frowned darkly.

“It’s Leo, isn’t it?”

“Yeah.”

Zephyr held out her hand. “Toss it to me.”

“You don’t have to talk to him,” Tempest said reluctantly.

“Tem, toss it to me.”

Tempest sighed and tossed the still-ringing phone to Zephyr, who hit the speaker button on her phone. “Did you need something?”

A long string of profanities issued from the other end of the line, and Zephyr hung up. She grinned a wicked grin at Tempest. “I think I made him mad.”

“Gee, you think?”

Zephyr’s phone began ringing again, and she ignored the call. “I have a feeling I’m going to have to change my phone number.”

“It’s possible,” Tempest said. “We’ll see what happens.”

Zephyr’s phone buzzed, letting her know she had a message. She opened the phone and grinned.

“I’m assuming that’s not him this time,” Tempest said as he picked up his burger again.

“Nope. It’s Enzo. Word travels fast.” She held the phone up so her twin could see the message.

Chris told me what happened tonight. Says not to worry, Leo deserved it. Also says to call him sometime. I think Leo’s lost him as a friend. You ok?

Tempest grinned at her before settling in to finish his dinner.

Zephyr’s response to Enzo was short and to the point. You should have given him two black eyes instead of one.

Her phone buzzed almost immediately. I tried. He dodged my second punch.

Zephyr’s phone rang again, and she sighed. She hit the ignore button and wrote one more quick message to Enzo. I’m probably going to have to change my number, he won’t quit calling me. I’ll let you know what it is when I’ve got it.

With that, she turned off her phone, tossed it onto the coffee table, and looked at her twin. “You know what? I’m glad we’re moving.”

“Me too,” Tempest told her.

Zephyr sighed deeply and leaned against him. “Can I sleep in your room tonight?”

Tempest snorted. “Like you even have to ask… Eat your dinner before it gets cold. Again.

Author’s Note:

Oh look, it’s…September.  Not only did I not finish this in July like I’d hoped, I completely ditched in August.  Sorry, real life got the better of me.  Who knows, maybe I’ll get 4.4 up soon. :)

Zephyr stopped short, making Tempest bump into her. She looked over her shoulder. “I realize that real Italian food and the pizza I’d been eating over the weeks before Mo’s birthday are nothing alike, but…”

“But the thought of anything remotely like it makes you queasy?”

Zephyr gave Tempest an embarassed look, then nodded.

Tempest chuckled. “I guess that’s understandable. How about burgers, then? It’s relatively early, Joe’s shouldn’t be too packed.”

“That works,” Zephyr said as she picked up her messenger bag from its spot next to the door. “Will you let me eat greasy sweet potato fries without nagging me?”

“I’ll think about it.”

“Fair enough. You’re driving.”

Tempest’s guess had been correct, they discovered when they arrived at the small restaurant. Joe’s was almost completely empty, and they were quickly seated in a booth at the back corner. The half-walls separating the booths were high, providing a reassuring sense of privacy. Zephyr sighed luxuriously as she slid into the corner booth next to her brother and sank into the deep cushion.

“Comfortable?” Tempest asked, amused.

Zephyr didn’t answer. She leaned her head against her brother’s shoulder and closed her eyes.

“Still feeling down?”

“A little,” Zephyr admitted. “I’ll get over it.”

Tempest ruffled Zephyr’s hair. “Try not to let it get to you, Beautiful. There’s nothing to be done about it now. I’m just sorry you got dragged into the whole mess.”

“I waded into the middle of it, swinging, as I recall,” Zephyr said wryly. She sat up and looked at her twin. “Are you happy?”

Tempest smiled and took hold of Zephyr’s hand. “Of course I am,” he said fondly.

“Then that’s all that matters,” Zephyr said, squeezing her brother’s hand before letting go to pick up the menu a waitress had sat in front of her before strolling away.

“Your happiness matters too, you know.”

Zephyr looked up at Tempest and smiled. “I’m happy. I’m with you, aren’t I?”

Tempest grinned. “For that, I’ll even let you get a rootbeer float. You have to split the fries with me, though. And we’ll have to jog for an extra half hour or so.”

Zephyr made a face, and Tempest shook his finger at her. “What did I tell you?”

“Not to argue with you about it. That doesn’t mean I have to like it.”

“No, you don’t,” Tempest said as the waitress approached their table to take their order. “Just remember that you agreed that it would be for your own good.”

Zephyr stuck her tongue out at her brother and ordered her food. After the waitress had taken their orders and left, they settled into a comfortable silence. In the silence, they could hear the door to the diner open and more guests enter. Zephyr could tell that they were seated in the next booth, because the booth she was sitting in shook as the new guests flopped down. A scowl crossed her face and she was about to open her mouth and make a crass comment when a voice next to them stopped her.

“What the fuck, man! I still can’t see very well out of my right eye!”

Zephyr was stuck like a deer in headlights – the voice belonged to Leo. She could feel all the blood run from her face as she looked at Tempest.

“You must’ve really pissed Enzo off,” one of Leo’s friends replied before ordering a pitcher of soda. Zephyr recognized his voice, too. He’d been on the football team.

Tempest leaned over and whispered in Zephyr’s ear. “I’ll see if I can sneak us out.”

Zephyr swallowed hard and nodded as Tempest waved the waitress over and quietly asked that their order be packed to go, explaining the situation. The waitress, giving Zephyr a sympathetic look, quietly told them that she’d see what she could do about sneaking them out the back once their food was done.

“Why DID Enzo punch you, anyway?” another friend asked Leo. Zephyr strained to listen – she was curious, too.

“He doesn’t like the way I dumped Zee for my new girlfriend,” Leo said, sounding bored.

“You’ve already found someone else?” Leo’s friend sounded incredulous. “You’re a fast worker.”

“Not really. I started dating her three months ago.”

Leo sounded smug, and Zephyr felt her rage gathering.

“Wait, didn’t you JUST dump Zee?”

“And?”

There was a pause. “I get why Enzo punched you. Not cool, man. Not cool.”

Leo snorted. “What? It’s not like that fat cow is ever going to find out I was cheating on her. Hell, with the way she’s always with her twin, it’s more like she was cheating on me.”

Zephyr snapped. Before Tempest could stop her, she was up, out of the booth, and around the corner glaring Leo in the face. Leo’s eyes widened when he saw her, but he tried to pass off his nerves with a smug response. “Did you need something?”

“Just this,” Zephyr answered calmly before picking up the pitcher of soda from the table and dumping it over Leo’s head. “Go fuck yourself, Leonard.”

With that, she turned towards the front door and exited as calmly as she could with every patron in the restaurant watching the drama unfold. Once she’d reached the parking lot, she could feel her body begin to tremble. She forced her legs to keep moving until she was three doors down, at the local ice cream shop that labeled itself as “neuvo-gourmet”. The title irritated Zephyr, but the flavors were always unique (if a little bizarre).

It was in this shop that Tempest found her ten minutes later, as she watched the clerk scoop ice cream into a pint sized container. Zephyr didn’t look up when Tempest stood at her side.

“I thought you’d be here,” Tempest said. “What flavor are you getting?”

“Lavender coconut,” Zephyr said quietly.

“Interesting.” Tempest smiled at the clerk. “Make it two pints, will you?”

“I’m sorry.”

The whisper was so quiet that Tempest thought that he’d imagined it at first. When he looked at Zephyr, he could see that tears were threatening to spill from her eyes. “It’s fine,” he told her. He reached out and took her hand, ignoring the look of curiosity from the clerk. “Dinner’s in the car, I’ll heat it up for us when we get home, ok?”

Zephyr only nodded wordlessly.

Author’s Note:
I have two more parts written as of right now, and I’m hoping to finish at least one more tomorrow. I’m going to try to post 4.3 in the morning – it’s done, I just have to get time to post it. Hopefully I can still reach my goal of having Volume 1 finished by the end of the month!

In the end, Zephyr had wound up in stress-induced tears.  Tempest gently suggested that they ought to call a moving and storage company, then go back to go through their things; Zephyr gave in and agreed.

So, after a couple of days and sleepless nights later, Zephyr found herself sitting on the floor of her bedroom.  Half-filled boxes surrounded her, a sight she was in the process of avoiding by leaning against her bed, her eyes focused on the ceiling.  Even the gentle knock on her bedroom door failed to elicit a response.

The door opened slowly, and Tempest peeked in.  “You ok?”

“No.”

Tempest crossed the room and sat on the floor next to his sister, silently urging her to continue.

Zephyr sighed wearily.  “I started to go through my closet.”

“Oh?”

“I found something.”

“The bodies you’ve hidden over the years?”

Zephyr chuckled, though it sounded strained.  “No, I found Pandora’s Box.  I opened it without realizing what it was.”  She waved vaguely towards the closet.

Tempest gave his twin a look of confused concern before scooting over to the closet.  Inside was a large plastic storage crate, its lid resting against the side.  He picked up an envelope near the top, sighing deeply when he recognized the handwriting on it.  He chucked the envelope back into the bin, picked up the lid, and put it firmly into place.

“Well, you told me not to throw all that stuff out,” Zephyr said defensively.

“I know,” Tempest said as he sat back down next to her.  “You’d regret it if you did.”

“I’m not so sure about that,” Zephyr said darkly.

“Our grandparents did their best to raise us,” Tempest reminded her.  “Someday you might want to look back on those days.”

“But they were so awful when–”

Tempest put a hand over Zephyr’s mouth, stopping her.  “Don’t think about it, it’ll only upset you.”

Zephyr sighed and leaned her head against her brother’s shoulder.  “Too late.”

Tempest smiled gently, ruffling Zephyr’s hair.  “We’ll put it in storage so you don’t have to look at it unless you want to.”

“Good.  We can put the box of stuff from Leo with it.”  Zephyr went silent for a moment before glancing up at Tempest hesitantly.  “Should we tell them?”

“Tell who what?” Tempest asked, confused.

“Our grandparents.  That we’re moving.”

“Oh.”  Tempest brushed Zephyr’s hair out of her face as he considered her question.  “Do you WANT to tell them?”

“Well, no.  But what if…” Zephyr’s voice trailed off, and she sighed.

“What if there’s an emergency?” Tempest asked.

Zephyr sighed again and nodded.

“I’ll email Uncle Neil,” Tempest said reassuringly.  “We’re still on good terms with him, at least.”

“Nn,” Zephyr replied noncommittally.

“Want help packing your books?” Tempest asked.  “It’d take one person a good year to pack them without help.”

“I don’t have THAT many books,” Zephyr said, a hint of a smile crossing her face.

“Actually, yes, you do.  Do you want help?”

“It’s not so much the packing as it is deciding what should go into storage,” Zephyr admitted.  “There’s not enough room in that house for all of them.”

Tempest’s mouth twitched into a smile.  “You’re so stubborn sometimes, you know that?”  He pulled his phone from his pocket and tapped at the buttons rapidly.  There was barely a pause after he finished before his phone buzzed.  Tempest smiled at the screen before passing the phone to Zephyr.

Tell her to quit being so damn stubborn and just bring all of them.  I’ll put a couple more bookshelves in the library.

Zephyr glared halfheartedly at her brother as she gave him back his phone.  Turning her back to him, she picked a couple books up from the massive stacks on the floor and placed them in the box next to her.  As she turned, her knee hit a stack, and books cascaded over her lap.  She bit her lip, determined not to give in to the urge to scream obscenities, before turning to her twin.  “Not a WORD.”

“I didn’t say anything,” Tempest said, trying to hide a grin.

“You didn’t have to,” Zephyr said pointedly as she re-stacked the fallen books.

“We could just have the movers pack them, you know.  You’re letting them pack everything else.”

“The movers,” Zephyr said fiercely, “are not to even so much as look funny at the boxes my precious books are packed in.  I don’t trust them not to damage them.”

Tempest, still trying to hide a grin, leaned back against Zephyr’s bed and watched as she continued to pack her books.  “Are you packing the ones on your bed?”

“What, you mean the cookbooks?” Zephyr turned to look, once again toppling the stack nearest her knee.  She closed her eyes, looking like she was about to blow a fuse.  “No, the few cookbooks I kept out are for research.”  She turned, and once again re-stacked the fallen books.

“Do you want to go get some dinner?” Tempest asked as he watched his twin look more and more like she wanted to throw something through a window.

“I want to go get some dinner,” Zephyr answered.  “I want to do anything that will get me away from the enormity of this task.”  She stood, brushed herself off, and offered Tempest a hand up.

“Have you ever considered getting rid of some of these?” Tempest asked, teasing as he let his sister help him stand.  He knew the answer to that question, of course.  Zephyr was more likely to sell her figurative firstborn to Martians than get rid of any of her books.

“Don’t make me hurt you, twin.  I’d really hate to have to hurt you.”

“Then let’s discuss a contract,” Eddie said. “The best coffee in the world won’t save my place if I can’t think of something fast.  It’s nearing the peak of tourist season, and if I don’t do better this year than I did last year…” his voice trailed off, sounding crestfallen.

Zephyr opened her mouth, prepared to snarl something she’d regret later, when Tempest took her arm.  “You, come with me.”  He tugged Zephyr out of her chair before pointing at Morley.  “You, take care of her business negotiations.”

Eddie and Morley watched as Tempest dragged a clearly surprised Zephyr out of the room by her arm.

Morley sighed and looked across the kitchen table at the place Zephyr had been sitting.  “Geez, he could have at least let her finish her cake…”

Eddie looked at Morley, his eyes wide.  “Are they…”

“What, always like that?  Yeah, pretty much.”

“His first impression made him seem so quiet and laid-back…”

“He is,” Morley assured him, a smile twitching the corners of his mouth up, “except when it comes to his twin.  He’s the only one who can make her put away her claws.  It’s hilarious when you’re used to it.”

“What’s hilarious?” Tempest asked as he strolled back into the kitchen.

“You and your perpetual need to protect the world from Zee,” Morley answered, leaning back in his chair, a smirk on his face.  “She’s a touch tempermental.”

“She’s fine the way she is,” was Tem’s firm answer.  “Did you make arrangements?”

Mo snorted.  “You were gone for less than two minutes.  I’m good, but I’m not THAT good.  What did you do with Zee?”

Tempest shrugged sheepishly and rested his elbows on the back of Morley’s chair.  “I shoved her into your bathroom and ordered her to spend at least fifteen minutes in your whirlpool tub.  What do you want to do in the meantime?”

“The contract?” Eddie reminded them.

“I’ll look into it tomorrow,” Morley promised.  “Today, it’s my birthday.  I vote for playing video games.  Our perturbed princess can join us when she’s done.”

“It’s my turn to pick the game,” Tempest called, having already retreated to the living room.

“It’s MY birthday,” Morley complained,

“That particular guilt trip only works with Zee,” Tem said as Morley and Eddie joined him.

“It was worth a shot.” Mo flopped down onto the floor next to Tempest, using the front of an overstuffed leather couch as a backrest.  “Hand me a controller, will you?”

“You two are always like this, too?” Eddie asked, amused, as he took the controller that Tempest offered him.

“Mostly,” Tem answered.

“I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised that you’d have the same best friend as your sister, should I?”

“He is and he isn’t my best friend,” Tempest said smoothly as he popped a game into the console.

“My friendship with Tempest is completely different from the friendship Zee and I have,” Mo confirmed.  “Apples and oranges, et cetera.  Not that it’s any less.  Just different.  Now, do you mind if we play, already?”

Eddie let the question go without comment.  The only sounds in the room for several minutes were the sound effects of the video game as the three sank into comfortable silence.  The relaxed atmosphere was almost mesermizing.

And then Eddie had to go and open his mouth, completely destroying the emerging sense of peace.

“So if she’s not dating you, is Zephyr…seeing anyone?”

A grim tension seized the room for a heartbeat before Tempest turned away from the television to look at Eddie, his typical laid-back smile still on his face.  “Zee just got out of a very bad relationship with someone I despised.  I don’t know you well enough to have formed an opinion yet, so you can look all you want. If you even think about making a move on her, though, I will personally remove your face with my bare hands.”

“Wow, that’s not something you should say while looking so calm.  It’s eerie.  Protective much?” Eddie asked, looking unshaken.

“Always,” was Tem’s firm reply as his gaze went back to the game in progress.

“I’m starting to get the impression that you have a serious sister complex,” Eddie said, half-joking.

“He does,” came a voice from the hallway.  The three looked up as Zephyr entered the room in her pajamas, drying her hair with a towel.  Smudge followed behind her, begging for attention.  “I’ve been told I have quite a brother complex, though, so we’re even.”

“There shall be no twincest in my living room,” Morley said, grinning.

Zephyr threw her towel at Mo’s head, missing completely.  The towel landed harmlessly on the couch behind him.  “For even suggesting that, you are no longer my best friend,” Zephyr said, obviously joking.  “You are now furniture.”  She dropped herself onto Morley’s lap, picking up Smudge as she did so.

“I’m a chair, then?”

“If it makes you feel any better, you’re my favorite chair,” Zee answered, yawning widely.

“Go to bed if you’re that tired, Beautiful,” Tempest said gently.

“Nuh uh.  I want to stay out here.  Besides, I still have to put stuff away in the kitchen.”

“Let her stay,” Morley said.  “There are worse fates than spending the evening with Zee snoring in my lap.”

Eddie shook his head.  “Are you sure you two haven’t ever considered–”

Zephyr’s eyes flashed fire.  “Drop it,” she said, irritated.  “I don’t know why you can’t seem to grasp that we’re only friends.  We’ve never seen eachother like that.  To take that notion even further out of the picture, Mo’s been in a serious relationship for years now.  As I’m quite fond of his beloved, I seriously doubt I’m likely to develop a sudden desire to date him.”

“Besides, we’d kill eachother, and murder’s kind of bad for relationships,” Mo said.  “Lean over a bit, Zee.  I can’t see the screen well.”

“I didn’t know you had a girlfriend,” Eddie said simply.

“Something like that,” Morley answered evasively.  “My love life isn’t a matter of public record.  I’m not the type to kiss and tell.  Besides, living out here means I haven’t been seeing them near as often as I’d like, and talking about it just makes it lonelier.”

“Well, you have me to bitch at in person when you get lonely now,” Zephyr said, sounding as if she were near sleep.

“Yeah, I’m glad you decided to move.  DAMNIT!”

Zephyr startled at Mo’s exclamation, turning to glare at him.  He grinned sheepishly.  “Sorry.  I died.”

Zee’s only response was to place Smudge on the floor and take the controller from Morley, effectively usurping his character.

“You know there’s a fourth controller, right?” Morley asked her, amused.

“Go get it, then.”

“I can’t, you’re sitting on me.  Get the other controller if you want to join us.”

Zephyr turned, an eyebrow raised.  “Make me.”

Without hesitating, Morley’s hands shot to Zephyr’s sides, reducing her to a shrieking, giggling heap on the floor as he tickled her mercilessly.  When he stopped, Zephyr was panting for air, an occasional giggle still bubbling forth.  He picked up the fourth controller from its spot on the entertainment unit and handed it to Zee as he took his own controller back.  “Be careful what you wish for.”

“Well,” Eddie said as Zephyr, still giggling, made herself comfortable in between Morley and Tem, “at least I know things won’t be boring with you people around.”

“Feel free to insert cliche quotes about it being the start of a beautiful friendship here,” Zee said cheerfully.

“Mnn,” Eddie responded vaguely, finally turning his concentration to the game at hand.

***

Author’s Note:

And thus ends Chapter 3 – I’m so glad I finally got something done.  I have the end of 4.1 written, so I hope I can knock that out in a few days.  It’s funny, but I’d originally said I wasn’t going to worry about editing or revisions.  Yet, as I was reading through yesterday, I began to proofread out of habit.  SO MANY ERRORS.  I’d intended on going over everything before releasing Volume 1 as a PDF (and possibly hard copy, if there’s enough interest) anyway, but I was still amused.  Every time I say I’m not going to worry about proofing/editing, I do it anyway out of habit.  Old dog, new tricks, blah blah blah.

Of course, realizing that I’m working on 4.1 makes me realize that I don’t have Volume 2 mapped out yet, which in turn makes me say “OH S#!T.”

“Is it done yet?”

Zee turned to glare at Mo.  “You could help.”

“It’s my birthday.”

“Then you could shut up,” Tempest offered as he stepped into the kitchen from the patio.  He set down the tongs he was holding and looked at the thermometer.  “10 more degrees?” he asked Zephyr.

“Yeah,” Zee said, distractedly.  “You can probably throw the bread on soon.  Thanks for taking over the grilling.”

“No problem,” Tem said.  He turned to look at Morley.  “If you’re not helping, get out of the kitchen.”

“It’s my kitchen,” Morley pointed out, grinning.

“Then you can cook your own damned dinner,” Zee said dryly.

The doorbell rang.  “That’s Eddie,” Mo said as he stood up from his spot at the table and sauntered out of the room.

“Saved by the bell,” Tem said.  He picked up the washcloth from the sink and wiped at Zee’s face.  “Either you’re bleeding or you smeared strawberry juice on your face.  I vote for strawberry juice.”

“Damnit, why didn’t Mo tell me?”

“Because it was funny,” Mo said as he came back into the room, Eddie behind him.

“You’re an asshole,” Zee said, turning back to her strawberries.  She dumped them into the empty bowl next to her and tossed them with some sugar.

“I love you too, Zee.”

Zephyr plunked the bowl back onto the counter with a little more force than necessary, making Tem wince.  Zee turned and glared at Mo.  “If you love me, then set the damned table.”

Morley joined Zee at the counter and brushed her hair out of her face.  “I’m sorry, I pushed it a little far, didn’t I?”  He leaned forward and kissed her on the forehead.  “I’ll set the table.  I’m sorry.”

Zee looked at Mo in silence as if trying to decide whether to accept his apology or wring his neck.  Tem put a hand on Zephyr’s shoulder, and she visibly relaxed.  “Alright, I forgive you, so long as you set the table.”

“Wow,” was all Eddie could say.

“What?” Zephyr and Tempest asked in stereo.

“I was just thinking that I thought the whole redhead and temper thing was a myth.”

“In this case, it’s very specific to Zee,” Mo said as he pulled dishes out of a cabinet.  “Don’t ever make her truly mad if you can help it.  If you do, be sure Tem is around to keep her from tearing out your throat.”

“Mo,” Tempest said in a warning tone.

“It’s alright, Tem.  In this case, he’s being truthful, not an asshole.”  Zee looked at the thermometer display.  “I think it’s ready, could you take the bread out and throw it on the grill for a minute?”

“Of course,” Tem said, smiling, as he took a platter from Mo and picked up the tongs he’d set down earlier.  He motioned to a disected loaf of bread on the counter with his chin, looking at Eddie.  “Could you bring that out for me, please?”

“Hmm?  Oh, yeah, of course,” Eddie said, falling in step behind Tem.

When the two were safely out of the room, Mo stopped what he was doing.  “I really am sorry.”

“It’s fine,” Zee said.  “I overreacted again, so I should be the one apologizing.”

“Nah, I know better,” Mo said as he turned back to setting the table.  “We’re good?”

“Yeah,” Zee said.  “Of course.”

“Are you two done apologizing?” Tem said as he poked his head through the doorway.

“Are we that predictable?” Zee asked as she pulled a casserole dish from the oven and set it on the table.

“Only to me,” Tem assured her, stepping into the room with a heavily-laden platter.  He set it on the table and smiled at Zephyr.

“The bread?” she reminded him.

“It needs a plate,” Eddie answered her.

“On the counter,” Mo said.  “I’ll get it.”

“No sneaking pieces!” Zephyr said sternly, though she was smiling.

“It’s my birthday!” Mo reminded her, grinning as he headed outside.

“You apologized?” Tem asked, turning to his sister.

“Yeah,” Zee mummbled as she washed her hands.

“Good,” Tem said simply, ruffling Zephyr’s hair.

Eddie cleared his throat, and they both turned to look at them.  “Look, I’m sorry if this is rude, but I have to ask,” he said, looking at Zee.  “Are you and Morley…”

“Are Mo and I what?” Zee asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Dating?”

“Ew,” Zee said in sync with Mo, who came back into the kitchen holding a plate of bread.

“Seriously,” Zee said to Mo.  “This is the second time in a single day someone’s assumed we’re dating.  What the fuck?”

“I think I’ve lost my appetite,” Mo said, obviously amused.

“More for us, then,” Tem said as he took the plate Mo was holding and set it on the table.

“You just seem so close, that’s all,” Eddie said, looking slightly embarassed.

“A girl’s not allowed to have a guy for her best friend?” Zee asked.  “Sit.  Eat.  I didn’t slave away in the kitchen for nothing.”

Silence descended on the room, as tends to happen when people are faced with a really good meal.  When everyone had eaten their fill and plates had been removed from the table, Mo sighed a deeply contented sigh.  “You never fail to exceed my gluttenous expectations.”

“Thanks,” Zee said, pulling a cake out of the fridge.

“So was I right or what?” Mo asked, looking at Eddie.  “Isn’t she awesome?”

“It’s been a very, very long time since I’ve eaten that well,” Eddie acknowledged.

“The best is yet to come,” Tempest said.

“Flattery will get you nowhere,” Zephyr said as she set plates in front of Morley and Eddie, then went back for more.

“What kind of cake is it?” Eddie asked her.  “A shortcake?”

“Don’t let the strawberries fool you,” Morley told him.  “It’s not shortcake.”

“Mo calls it Summer Cake,” Zephyr said as she set a plate in front of Tempest and sat down with a plate of her own.  “It’s just a sponge cake with stabilized whipped cream frosting and sugared strawberries.”

“‘Just’, she says,” Mo snorted.

Zephyr watched as Eddie took a hesitant bite.  His eyes went wide, and then a confused look crept onto his face.  “This isn’t really sponge cake, is it?”

“It is,” Zee said.

“It tastes almost…floral.  In a good way.”

Tempest grinned.  “Tell him what you put in Summer Cake, Zee.”

Zephyr shrugged.  “Ground rose and ground lavender.  It’s not that unusual.  A lot of cultures use them in cooking.”

“Not everyone is as cultured as you,” Mo said before stuffing another bite of cake into his mouth.

“You make me sound like some bizarre form of yogurt when you say that,” Zee snorted, taking a bite of cake herself.

“I’m convinced,” Eddie said.  “Take some time to come up with some ideas and let me know what you could make for the shop.  You’re exactly what I need.”

***

Author’s Note:

Wow, has it really been 7 months since the last update?  I got overrun with projects (and some minor writer’s block) but I’m hoping I’m at a point where I can update once a week again.  I’ve changed the theme to something lighter and easier on the eyes.  I’ve also turned comments on, at least temporarily.  We’ll see how it goes.

“Have you had a productive meeting, or have you been glaring at each other all this time?”

Zee and Morley both jumped and looked in Tempest’s direction.

“He’s so stubborn,” Zephyr growled.

“I’m stubborn?” Mo stared at Zephyr with frank indignation.  “Hell, you’re Queen Stubborn of the sovereignty Unrelenting!”

Zephyr’s expression quickly cycled from outraged to confused, and finally settled into a delighted grin.  “I like that.  I think I need to get that printed onto a t-shirt.  Or I need to put it on a business card.”

“I thought that might please your majesty.”

Zephyr rolled her eyes.  She turned her attention to her twin.  “Did you get any good shots?”

“A few,” Tempest said as he leaned against Morley’s desk to look at the open manuscript.  “I’ll show them to you later.  Which part are you guys fighting to the death over?”

Mo tapped a page of the book with a finger.  “Right here,” he said.  “I still think taking it in the direction I noted makes more sense.”

Zee scowled.  “Except it completely changes a lot of the plot later.  I don’t want to rewrite the entire damn thing.”

“Quiet, both of you,” Tem said absently as he glanced over the page.  Morley and Zephyr obeyed, staying silent as Tempest read.  A minute later, he held out his hand, his eyes still focused on the page.  “Pencil.”

Mo obediently handed Tem a pencil, and Tempest promptly erased Morley’s notations.

“Hey!”

“I said to be quiet,” Tempest reminded them as he wrote a note where Morley’s had been.  “There, how’s that?”

Mo and Zee looked at what Tempest had written, looked at each other over the page, and then, as one, looked at Tem.  Zephyr laughed and stood up, kissing her brother on the cheek.  “You’re an angel.”

“No, I’m just hungry and don’t want to listen to you two start screaming at each other in foreign languages, despite how amusing that can be.  Are you ready for lunch?”

Morley stood and stretched luxuriously.  “I am.  There’s a coffee shop on the boardwalk that a friend of mine runs, we can get sandwiches there.  It should be safe.”

Zephyr raised an eyebrow.  “Should be?  That sounds ominous.”

Mo shrugged.  “He makes good sandwiches, but anything that involves actual cooking is beyond him.  It’s summer, though, so he has his little brother helping him while school’s out.  Besides, I didn’t get a chance to introduce him last time you guys were out here, so this is a good opportunity.”

“The last time we were out here was for our graduation trip,” Tempest pointed out, “and we were too busy having way too much fun to socialize.”

“Up until your grandfather showed up to hand you the reigns, anyway,” Zee said, grinning.  “After that we were too busy trying to avoid your grandfather so we could keep having too much fun.”

“Exactly,” Morley said.  “So I’ll introduce you to Eddie now, while things are relatively calm.  Are you driving, Tem, or can I have my keys back?”

“Hmm?  Oh, sorry, I forgot.”  Tempest dug into his pocket and tossed Mo the set of keys he produced.  “I filled the tank on my way back.”

“You didn’t have to do that.”

“Shut up and say thank you, Mo.”

“Thank you, Mo.”

“That’s been overdone,” Tem said, rolling his eyes.  “Can we go now, please?”

It was, thankfully, a very short drive to the boardwalk.  After securing a parking spot, Morley motioned to a small but clean and modern building across the street.  The sign in the window of the shop proclaimed it to be Full Moon Coffee.  “There it is.”

The shop was relatively empty – surprising, given the time of day.  A brown-haired man behind the counter looked up and smiled when he saw Morley.  “Hey man, where’ve you been?”

“Hiding from your cooking,” Morley replied.  “Is Erick working today?”

The man gave a wry smile and gestured at the room.  “Does it look like it?”

“Yeah, well, thought I’d check.  Zee, Tem, this is Eddie.  Eddie, these are my friends Zephyr and Tempest.”

Eddie’s eyebrows raised as he got a good look at Zee and Tem.  “That’s a hell of a shade of red.  Did you two mix a pitcher of fruit punch with your heads or something?”

“No, we had a box of red permanent markers and way too much free time,” Zephyr said tartly.

Eddie’s face lit up in a delighted smile.  “I like her,” he said to Mo.

“Yeah, well, don’t like her too much,” Mo cautioned.  “She bites.  There’s a reason she’s my best friend, after all.”

Eddie ignored Mo and offered his hand to Zee.  “Eddie Kozlov.”

“Gesundheit,” Zephyr said as she shook his hand.  “Zephyr Rhodami.”

“French?” Eddie guessed as he offered his hand to Tempest.

“What, Rhodami?  No idea.”

“We think it’s a combination of family names,” Tempest explained, “but we’re not horribly close to a lot of our family, so we’re not sure.  Feel free to call me Tem, since everyone else does, but Zee can be a little prickly about people she doesn’t know well calling her anything but Zephyr.”

“Noted,” Eddie said.  “You’re all right on time, I have something I want you to try.”

Mo groaned.  “I hate it when you say that.”

“You’ll live.  Go have a seat and I’ll bring it to you.”

“I’ve had your cooking, and you can’t necessarily guarantee our survival.”

Eddie ignored Morley’s comment, and Zephyr was a bit envious of his ability to do so.  “He’s an interesting person,” Zee admitted when Eddie had gone into the back room.

“Before he gets back out, I’m apologizing in advance,” Mo said.

“For what?” Tem asked.

“You’ll find out,” was all Morley said as Eddie stepped back into the room, balancing three plates.

“Here, I tried a different coffee cake recipe, let me know what you think.”

The three took a bite and stopped mid-chew to look at each other.  Zephyr swallowed hard and sat down her fork.  “You were wronged by a coffee cake in a past life, weren’t you?”

Eddie sighed.  “Still no good, huh?”

“It’s better,” Mo said weakly, “but it’s still pretty bad.”

Tem nodded, looking vaguely green.

Eddie pulled up a chair and sat down at their table, looking forlorn.  “See, every coffee shop I know of has some form of decent baked goods for sale, too.  I don’t want to sell pre-packaged crap, and there’s no real bakery on the island, so I keep trying.  Unfortunately, if it involves more than a microwave or coffee equipment, I can never produce anything edible.”

“Get Erick to do it,” Mo said.

“That won’t work when school starts back up.”  Eddie looked at Tem and Zee.  “Erick’s my 16-year-old brother,” he explained.

“You should get Zee to do it,” Tem said.  “She doesn’t have anything to do for a while.”

“Tempest,” Zephyr said in a warning tone.

“That’s not a bad idea,” Mo admitted.  “She’s got decently awesome culinary skills.”

Eddie stared at Zephyr contemplatively.  Zephyr glowered at Tempest and Morley.

“In fact,” Mo continued, “she’s making dinner tonight for my birthday.  You ought to join us.”

“Oh, hey, I forgot.  Happy birthday.”

Morley nodded.  “Thanks.  How’s 6 for you?”

“I can close up early,” Eddie said.  “You guys are probably looking for lunch, huh?  Turkey and swiss ok?”

“I can do that,” Morley told her.  “You’re a guest.”

“Technically, at this point, I’m a tenant,” Zephyr pointed out.  “If Tempest is really set on taking his equipment out, why don’t you help him load up the car?”

“It’s not like I’ll be taking that much,” Tem protested.

Zephyr glared at him.  “Think, twin.”  She pointed towards the doorway.  “Both of you, out!”

“Yes ma’am,” Mo answered, bowing in an exagerated manner.  “C’mon, Tem.  Let’s get out from underfoot.”

When they’d left, Zephyr filled the sink and began to scrub at the dirty dishes.  She stared out the window as she did, so deep into her own thoughts that she almost dropped the plate she was holding when her phone rang.  She wiped her hands off on her jeans and pulled the phone out of her pocket to see who was calling, and set it on the counter.  She hit the button for the speaker and went back to the dishes.  “Hey, Dani.”

“Hey yourself,” came the voice on the other end of the line.  “I was just checking to make sure you made it in one piece.”

“More or less,” Zee said.

“What are you doing?  Sitting on the beach, sipping a drink that requires a cocktail umbrella?”

Zephyr smiled.  “I’m doing dishes.”

There was a long pause.  “You’re on the island, and you’re doing dishes?”

“I am.”

“Seriously?”

“Well yeah,” Zee said, amused.  “Someone else was nice enough to make breakfast, the least I can do is wash the dishes.  What about you, what are you up to?”

“Not much, I just wanted to make sure you made it.  I stopped by night before last after I’d been out with a friend, but you were already asleep.  I knocked quietly, so I wouldn’t wake you if you were.”

“I appreciate that,” Zephyr said.  I appreciate the effort, anyway, since you still woke me up, she thought to herself, wryly.

“So do you have any plans for the day that are more exciting than doing the dishes?”

“That depends on how long she’s intending on avoiding the inevitable,” Morley said from behind Zephyr, making her jump.

“I see,” Dani said.  “You’re going to have more fun than I’d guessed,” she said in an amused tone that made it quite plain just what she thought Mo had been suggesting.

“Ew,” Zee said firmly.  “Don’t even go there.  We’re not eachother’s type.”

“Uh huh,” Dani said, sounding unconvinced.  “I’ll let you get back to it, then,” she said.  “I’ll call you tomorrow and you can tell me how your day went.”

Zephyr could hear Dani’s giggles as she hung up.  Zee rolled her eyes and shook her head before scrubbing at another dish.  Morley draped his arms across her shoulders.  “I told Tempest to be back by noon so we could go get lunch.”

“Sounds good.”

Mo looked at the sink over Zee’s shoulder.  “Want me to dry?”

“That would be helpful.”

Morley didn’t move, but continued to lean on Zephyr’s shoulders.  “Hey, guess what?”

“What?”

“I love you.”

Zephyr smiled and moved an elbow back to nudge Mo in the side.  “I love you, too.  What brought that on?”

“You looked like you needed it,” Morley answered, letting go of Zee’s shoulders to pick up a dish towel and a wet plate.

“It’s always appreciated,” Zephyr said as she rinsed the final plate and drained the sink.  She lifted herself up to sit on the edge of the kitchen counter and watched as Morley dried dishes.

“So, who was that on the phone?”

“Dani.  I worked with her at the paper.  She’s a friend.”

“Just a friend?” Mo asked, glancing up at Zephyr.

“At the moment,” she answered.  “I’m still pretty hurt over Leo.  Even if I wasn’t, I’m better off not dating for at least a few months.  I could use some time to focus on myself for a while.”

“Good answer.  Speaking of focusing on yourself…”

Zephyr sighed.  “Here it comes.”

“…I read your manuscript,” Morley finished.  “I’d really like you to edit it and let me publish it.”

“It’s CRAP,” Zee said.  “You’d lose money on it.”

“It’s not a masterpiece,” Mo admitted as he put away the dishes.  “It was a lot of fun to read, though.  I honestly enjoyed reading it, and I think other people would, too.  Even if you never write another book again, I’d like you to let me have this one.”

Zephyr sighed again.  “Mo…”

“Please?”

Zee groaned as Morley turned wide, pleading eyes towards her.  “You’d make sure it was a nice, quiet thing?  No marketing campaigns that I’d have to be involved in?  No trying to make me famous?”

Morley beamed at her.  “Agreed.”

“And you’ll make any rewrites I have to do easy on me?”

“I have a copy of your manuscript marked up in my office.  We can bicker over it until Tempest gets back.”

“And you promise that you’ll never try to coerce me into writing another book?”

Mo laughed.  “You’re so cute.”

“I mean it, Mo,” Zee said, scowling.  “If you push, I’ll never cook for you again.”

Mo paused, looking as if he were weighing his options.  “How about if I promise to try not to push?  I can’t promise I won’t do it without thinking about it.”

“I suppose that’s acceptable.”

“Deal, then,” Mo said.  “Any other conditions?”

“I’m sure I’ll think of some,” Zephyr said as she slid off the counter.  “In the meantime, we can argue over your suggestions.  I haven’t had a good arguement yet this morning.”

“Oh, well then, let me oblige you.  I’m happy to let you snarl at me if it makes your day better.  It’s not as if I haven’t been putting up with you longer than I can remember.”  He ducked as Zephyr swung playfully at him.  “You missed.”

“If I was trying to hit you, you wouldn’t have had time to duck,” Zephyr pointed out.

“True,” Morley admitted.  “Come on,” he said, taking Zephyr’s hand.  “Let’s go sit in my office and pretend to be adults for a while.  Maybe it’ll give us some perspective.”

“Either that, or an ulcer,” Zee snorted.

Mo only laughed and dragged her out of the kitchen.

There was another clicking.  Zephyr was beginning to get annoyed.

“Mo, she’s going to kill you if you wake her up.”  Tempest’s voice rumbled from the heat source Zephyr was clinging to, and Zephyr’s eyes opened.  She found herself snuggled up to her twin’s back, Smooch snuggled up to her feet, and Morley, still in his pajamas, pointing a camera at them.

Morley merely grinned as Zee leveled a glare on him.  “Best birthday gift EVER,” he said, turning the display so Zephyr and Tempest could see.

“I want a copy,” the two said in unison, then laughed.

Morley set the camera on the dresser behind him, then flopped down on the bed, squishing Zephyr between him and Tem.  Mo ruffled Zephyr’s hair.  “I didn’t mean to wake you up.  Are you still tired?”

“Yes,” Zephyr admitted, “but not as bad as yesterday.  I’m sorry I held Tem captive while you were in the middle of a game.”

“I probably passed out about the same time you did,” Tempest admitted.

“What time is it, anyway?” Zephyr asked.

Morley turned to look at the clock behind him.  “About 8.  Do you want to go back to sleep, or do you want to have breakfast?  You could probably get a couple more hours of sleep in.”

“Mmn.  My bladder says I have to get up regardless.”  Zephyr crawled over Morley and got off the bed.  She paused to lean down and kiss Morley on the cheek.  “Happy birthday, by the way.”

“Thanks,” Mo replied.  “Take a shower and get dressed, I’ll go make breakfast.  How do you want your eggs?”

“Scrambled, like your head,” Zephyr said with a wicked grin, making Tempest laugh.

“Real cute,” Mo said, giving Tem a sour look as Tempest made an effort to hold back his laughter and look apologetic.  “However, since it’s my birthday and I’m feeling generous, I’ll let that comment go, provided you’re still making dinner tonight.”

“Of course,” Zephyr said, digging through her luggage for clothes.  “Oh, here.”  She pulled out a brightly wrapped package and tossed it at Morley before pulling Smooch out of her suitcase.  The cat rubbed her head against Zee’s hand and purred enthusiastically.

Morley took the gift and stood, smacking Tempest’s shoulder as he did.  “Come on, let’s let your twin shower in peace.  God knows it’s the only peace we’ll give her all day.”

Zee smiled as she watched them leave the room, then picked up her clothes and headed to the attached bathroom.  She was amused to find the cat following her.  “I’m about to go stand under running water, you might not want to join me.”

In answer, Smooch jumped up on the bathroom counter and sat on the edge, watching her.  Zephyr sat her clothes on the counter next to the cat.  “Watch these, will you?”

Ten minutes into her shower, Zee heard footsteps in her bedroom.  “What the hell, Beautiful?  Since when do I finish getting ready before you do?”

“It’s only because I’m less awake than you are,” Zephyr called to Tempest.

“Excuses, excuses,” he replied cheerfully as he sauntered into the bathroom.  “However, in an effort to wake you up, I made chai.”

Zephyr turned off the water and reached out her hand around the shower curtain.  Tem dropped her towel into it.  “You’re a godsend.”

“I know.”

Zephyr grinned and stopped drying herself to peek around the shower curtain.  Tempest was leaning against her counter, petting the cat, his damp red hair falling over his eyes.  He wore jeans that were almost as scruffy as the ones on Zephyr’s counter and a t-shirt that she’d given him before he’d left on his last assignment.  She looked at his feet and smiled when she saw that he was still barefoot.  Like her, he hated wearing shoes.

Zephyr threw her towel at him.  “Get out of my bathroom so I can get out and get dressed, you pervert.”

“Takes one to know one,” Tempest shot back to her.  “Breakfast is ready when you are,” he said as he left the room.  Smooch followed him, and Tem shut the door behind them.  Zee shook her head, still smiling.

When Zephyr was dressed and had her hair relatively dry, she headed for the kitchen.  Tempest, with the cat perched on his shoulder, handed her a mug.  Zephyr sat at the kitchen table and sipped cautiously, watching as Morley dropped a plate of toast on the table and sat down next to her.  She was gratified to see that he was wearing the shirt she’d bought him for his birthday.

“So,” Mo said abruptly as he squirted ketchup onto his eggs, “this morning, there’s something I very much want to do for my birthday.”  He handed Zephyr the ketchup.

“Why do I get the feeling I’m not going to like it?” Zee asked, handing the bottle to Tempest when she was done with it.

“Because you’re not,” Morley said.  “After breakfast, you and I are going to have a nice little meeting in my office while your brother goes out with his camera.  We’re going to have a long discussion about the manuscript you didn’t want to send to me.  Before then, however, we’re going to talk about you.”

Zephyr groaned and put down her fork.  “I already said I don’t want to talk about it.”

Morley took her hand and sighed.  “Zee, look at me.”

Zephyr stared stubbornly at the table.

“Zephyr,” Tempest said, his voice serious.  “Just let us have this talk with you and we’ll let it go after that.”

Zee sighed and looked up at Morley.  “I don’t like people saying or thinking bad things about my best friend,” he told her.  “That includes you.  What needs to be done to make you feel better about yourself again?  What do you want to happen?”

“Losing the twenty pounds I’ve gained over the past year and getting back into shape might help,” Zephyr admitted, staring at the table again as her face went red with embarrassment.  Morley squeezed her hand.

“Well then,” Tempest told her, “you and I can start by going running at 4 in the morning like we used to do in high school.  Your problem has mostly been a lack of exercise, right?”

“That and living off of pizza because I’ve been feeling too beaten to bother with cooking for myself,” Zephyr said quietly.

“It’ll be a while before Tem goes on another shoot, so you get to cook for three of us until then,” Mo told her.  “Even when he does, you’ll still have me to cook for, so you shouldn’t feel too lonely.”

“He told you?” Zephyr asked him, looking up from the table, glad to find a way to change the subject.

“Yeah, while you were in the shower,” Mo said, his perpetual grin once again on his face.  “I’m glad you let yourself be talked into staying.”

“Me too,” Zee admitted as she picked up her fork.  “I think.”  She winked at a slightly disgruntled Morley as she ate her breakfast.

The door to the room creaked open slowly, and Zephyr looked up.  Tempest was peeking in.  “Sorry, did I wake you up?” he asked.

“That would imply that I’ve been asleep at some point tonight,” Zephyr remarked.  “So, no, you didn’t.”

Tem entered the room, shutting the door behind him.  “What’s wrong?  I know you’re tired.”

“It’s the strange bed, I think.  I’ll get to sleep eventually.”

“Want me to stay until you fall asleep?”

“We’re supposed to be adults now, twin.”

Tem snorted.  “Do you want me to stay?”

Zephyr turned her face away from Tem, though she knew it was too dark for Tempest to see that her face had gone red with embarrassment.  “Yeah.”

There was a thud on the empty side of the bed as Tempest flopped onto it.  “You aren’t stressing out over Mo’s request, are you?”

“Maybe,” Zephyr said hesitantly.  “What’s your opinion?”

“Me?  I’m sure you’ve already guessed my opinion, but I think it’s a great idea, personally.  We’d see a lot more of Mo, there would always be someone nearby for you when I’m out of town, we’d be a decent distance from the nearest large city, and you could start fresh.  Mo already said that he’d set up a darkroom for me in the basement here, so any of my work that wouldn’t involve traveling is already taken care of.”

“But what about the condo?  We just bought it, what are we going to do with it?  And what about me being able to find a job?  Sure, I could find a job in the city, but that’s an hour and a half one way.”

Tempest laughed.  “First, take a deep breath.  Nothing’s been decided until we both come to an agreement.  Without bringing the condo or a job or anything else into this, do you like the idea of living on the island?”

Zephyr sighed deeply and hid her head under her pillow.  Tem took the pillow from her and used it to smack her on the leg.  “Answer the question, Zee.”

“Argh!  Yes, ok?  I like the idea of living on Costa Luna, but if I say yes and we can’t sell the condo and I can’t find a job, I’m not going to be able to pay in my fair share and it’s going to give me a damn ulcer.  Just thinking about it is making me queasy.”

Tempest poked Zephyr in the side.  “I have a compromise to suggest.”

“Will it give me an ulcer?”

“Maybe.  How much do you have in savings?”

Zephyr raised herself onto her elbows and glared at Tempest in the dark.  “I already don’t like where this is going.”

“Have I ever failed you before?”

“No,” Zephyr said firmly.  “Alright, fine.  I have four months worth of bills and mortgage, maybe.  What does this have to do with compromising?”

“Well, what if we just do a three-month trial?  One of the guys I worked with during the last shoot was talking about needing a place to rent for a few months. If we rented out the condo, that would pay our mortgage and most of the bills.  We could go back, get what we need, put some stuff in storage, and even put a lock on your bedroom door if it made you more comfortable.  At the end of three months, if you decided you wanted to stay on the island, we could consider just renting out the condo instead of selling.”

“Mm,” Zephyr replied, noncommittally.  She rolled over to stare at the ceiling.  “I suppose a complete change might be good.”

“You like the idea, then?” Tempest didn’t bother to hide the excitement in his response.

“Only if you find someone to rent the place in the next couple of days.  You knew I’d agree to it eventually, anyway, since I know it’s what you want to do.”

Tempest made an indignant sound and poked Zephyr in the side again.  “You make it sound like I bullied you into it.”

“Of course not,” Zephyr snapped.  “Don’t even joke about it.”

Tempest ruffled her hair, and Zephyr relaxed.  “Sorry,” Tem said.  “I didn’t mean it.”

“It’s fine,” Zephyr said.  “I didn’t mean to take it out on you.  Sorry.”

Tempest tugged gently at Zephyr’s hair.  “Close your eyes and quit staring at the ceiling.  You need to get some sleep.  I promise I won’t leave the room until I hear you snoring.”

“I don’t snore,” Zephyr said sourly, though she obediently shut her eyes.

“You do and you know it.  Now sleep.” Tempest’s amusement was obvious.

“Hey, Tem?”

“What is it, Zee?”

“Tell me a story?”  Tempest chuckled, and Zephyr could feel her face go red.  “Never mind,” she said quickly, rolling onto her side so she faced away from Tem.

“Don’t sulk, I wasn’t laughing at you,” Tempest reassured her.  “I just thought it was cute, that’s all.  Would you like me to tell you about the place we were at for the last shoot?”

“Yeah,” Zephyr said as she pulled the blanket securely under her chin.

“Alright, then.  We were in the middle of this forest the seemed to go on forever.  You almost couldn’t see the sky because the trees were so tall, and there were so many birds that it was like a constant symphony…”

As Zephyr listened to her twin’s soft voice describe the vibrant, green world he’d recently been immersed in, she could feel herself begin to doze off.  It wasn’t long until she was, at long last, lulled into the first deep, peaceful slumber she’d had in what felt like a very long time.