emily malice

A minute later of coyly staring at her dads naked back, he pushed the steaming mug in front of her face. He gave her a quick smile and then went about his morning prep, getting meals ready and putting the dishes away from the dishwasher. Not under his scrutiny anymore, Sarah picked up her mug and give it a sniff. Her nose wrinkled as she made a face, but she took a big sip anyway. It was going to be a long day.

Alexis finally turned to him. “I know. Cyrilo told me every time we had to move the damn things. That big spinning X-shaped one with the restraints was such a pain for me and Lucius to carry up and down the stairs. Cyrilo never seemed satisfied with where we put those things. “No, maybe over there,” she’d kept saying. “Hmmm, maybe we should put it in Lisa’s room.” It was awful.”

The fight continued in that fashion. Over and over again, Abner charged Reiss, only to be soundly beaten and hurled back. He’d hit the ground and slowly get to his feet, often while reciting some motivational quip that made Noah roll his eyes. The young man’s tenacity was admirable, but Noah wished he would stop screaming about the merits of determination and friendship. He had a rule against taking pleasure in the suffering of others, but was letting this fight continue for his amusement in seeing Abner getting knocked around. Even for an ancient spirit like Noah, the young man’s unrelenting “put me in, coach!” energy was aggravating, and he wanted to see his spirit break.