We sat in silence for a moment, and I noticed hat Aden had moved slightly closer to me. I suspected for body heat, since there were goosebumps on her arms. So Malake ha-Mawet did get cold.

Finally she said in a small voice, "Lucas?"

"Hm?"

"I'm glad it's you." She faltered, looking embarrassed. "I mean, I was sort of expecting you to be a jerk, that's why I was kind of standoffish at first."

"Kind of! Hah!" I elbowed her, and she slapped at my arm. When I poked her back she laughed and retaliated by punching me in the arm, hard.

"Ow!" I cried. "Alright, now you did it! I'm an asshole now!" I tickled her, and she flailed at me, shrieking, then to my horror she overbalanced, her eyes going wide as she snatched for my arm, missed and toppled backwards into the fountain. 

I leapt up at the same time Aden scrambled to her feet. She'd fallen on her back, soaking herself from head to toe. Her hair clung wetly to her neck and her eyes were huge with shock.

"Oh shit, that's cold" she gasped.

 I tore off my jacket as fast as I could and climbed awkwardly over the rim of the fountain, not caring that I had to wade through ankle deep water to get to her.

"Oh my God, I'm so sorry. I can't believe that just happened." I quickly draped my jacket over her shoulders and pulled it tight around her. Relief was evident on her face.

"Oh my gosh," she chattered out. "It's freezing."

I stood in shock for a moment as she took a step forward, pressing herself into me, instincts overcame surprise and I wrapped my arms around her. I could feel her hair, freezing cold against my neck, dripping water down onto my chest and shoulders. It was bizarre, but as I stood there ankle deep in freezing fountain water, my shirt and pants growing more sodden by the second, I was unequivocally, fiercely happy.

The smell of coffee lured me out of bed and down the dim hallway into the kitchen the next morning. Aden was standing in front of the coffee maker, eyes fixed on the glass pot.

"You know that makes it brew slower, don't you?" I said, and she turned and stared at me narrowly. 

"Yes, thank you for that age old pearl of wisdom." She turned back as the coffee began to gurgle noisily into the pot. "Hah! You're wrong. I made it faster."

"Sure you did." I reached over her shoulder and opened the cupboard to retrieve a couple of mugs.

"Am I sharing?" She dug her elbow into my side.

"Ow." I put the mugs on the counter top. "Yes, you are. There's no way you can drink all that by yourself."

"You clearly know nothing of my caffeine addiction," Aden said, but she filled both mugs to the brim and pushed one across to me. I noticed she was wearing a warm looking black sweater this morning, and it made me grin, thinking about out little fountain episode last night.

"How are you feeling," I asked. "Didn't catch cold?"

"Nope," she rolled her eyes. "No thanks to you."

"Hey," I protested. "I gave you my jacket."

"Only after dunking me." She wrinkled her nose at me. "And just think, I still give up some of my precious coffee to you. I'm such a nice person."

I made a face back at her. "Yeah, thanks." I turned for the common room as Aden began to add cream and sugar to her coffee.

Morgan was sitting on one side of the sofa when I walked in. I looked away from her welcoming grin, mumbled hello and chose one of the old armchairs, holding the coffee in front of my chest like it could shield me from her blue-eyed stare. Just being in the same room was enough to make me feel defensive and pissed off all over again. She was staring at me, I could tell. My face was heating up, and I stared hard at the liquid surface of the mug in my hands, forcing myself not to look over at her.

The red sweater drew my eyes like a magnet as she stood up, and I froze in disbelief as she made her way over to where I sat and perched herself on the arm of my chair. 

"You know, Lucas," she said, "I find a man who refuses to acknowledge me, to be a challenge."

My eyes snapped to her face, angry surprise running through me and Morgan laughed, bringing one hand up to twine a lock of blonde hair through her fingers. "You should see the look on your face right now."

I tensed body rigid as she placed one hand on my shoulder, kneading her thumb into the back of my neck. "You look like you could use a massage."

"You've got to be kidding me!" Aden was standing in the kitchen doorway, her hands cupped around her coffee mug. Her expression was disgusted and angry, and my stomach sank. My chances with her were dying a quick and painful death.

Aden marched forward and set her mug down on the side table with a forceful crack. "Seriously?" she spat. "I thought we'd talked about this, Morgan."

"Did we?" Morgan's smile was coy. "Don't worry, it wasn't serious." she shot me a look I couldn't interpret, shrugged and turned back to Aden. "I was just messing around."

Aden's cheeks had colored, and she held her hands down by her sides, fists clenched. I remembered my earlier fantasy, about the two girls fighting in a pool of jello. That idea seemed foolish now. There would be no shrieking or hair pulling. I could practically see the electricity crackling around Aden, and Morgan was grinning with almost maniacal enjoyment. This wouldn't be sexy or fun, it would be disastrous, a clash of the titans with me in the middle. 

I opened my mouth to say something, but Aden hissed, "You said..." she trailed off, darting a look in my direction.

"Did I?" Morgan raised her eyebrows. "I can't seem to remember that. What did I say again?"

Aden frowned, crossing her arms over her chest. "I don't understand you."

"No one does, darling." Morgan paced forward and reached out to brush Aden's arm with her fingertips. "That's the fun part."

My mouth dropped open. Was she flirting with Aden now? Aden looked shocked as Morgan stepped closer and touched her cheek, running her fingers down the side of her neck, stopping just at the hemline of her shirt. 

"Morgan, what the hell!" Aden stumbled backwards, horrified, and Morgan threw back her head and laughed.

"You two are priceless," she leveled her gaze on both of us, still chuckling. "Too much fun." Then she sighed. "Well, you two love birds enjoy yourselves now."

We were both silent as she left the room, humming happily to herself as if nothing had happened.

"What..." I stammered. Aden shook her head, she still had both hands clenched into fists. "Sometimes it's like she's bipolar."

My jaw dropped. It felt like the one strangely shaped puzzle piece had just clicked into place. 

"That would make so much sense." I sat up straighter in the saggy armchair. "That's why she acts like that! That's why..." I stopped myself from saying 'that's why she throws herself at me one second and denies it ever happened the next'. Aden was looking at me curiously, so I finished with, "...she's..like she is."

Super lame save, Lucas.

She frowned, "Well, it's a good theory, but as far as I know, Malake aren't subject to the same mental illnesses as humans, at least, Malake ha-mawet aren't. I assume it's the same."

"Oh." So much for that theory.

"More likely it's just the madness." Aden looked thoughtful. "Some of us get it from living too long. I wonder how old she is. I never asked."

"So you think she's just plain old nuts?" I paused to consider this. "Wait, so any of you could go mad at anytime?"

"I guess so," Aden shrugged. "It doesn't happen often, but it would explain Morgan's strange behavior. It does sort of sound like the first stages of it."

"Weird personality changes being stage one?" I made mental note to watch everyone around me for any weird behavior. Apparently they were all capable of snapping. Awesome.

"So," I said hopefully. "What did you and Morgan talk about before?"

Aden's face was a study in embarrassment. She quickly looked down at her battered sneakers and muttered, "Nothing."

"It can't have been nothing," I persisted, and stopped when she glared at me. 

"None of your business, Lucas."

"Sorry, sorry." I held up my palms in surrender. "I didn't mean to pry." 

I took a huge swig of coffee and grimaced. It was cold and bitter tasting now. I watched out of the corner of my eye as Aden pretended to enjoy her coffee and ignore me. I pretended to enjoy mine, and pretended that intense curiosity wasn't burning me up now. Judging by her reaction, the conversation had been about me.

More soon! Check out the E. Latimer fan page in the meantime and come chat with me! =)

x0x0 - E.