Penguin and Shachi lounged over the bench at the security office, dozing loudly, with Nana still agitated by her surroundings. Lexi had called them back and let them know that Brittany was on her way to get them, but it had already been awhile and there was no sign of her.
"I wonder what Brittany-chan looks like." Penguin muttered, half asleep. Shachi shrugged, but tried squirming around to find a better position to rest.
"I hope she's pretty." He agreed.
"Well, you two are in luck." A female voice proclaimed, and they snapped their eyes open from surprise.
Standing in front of them was a woman, with dark black hair and an extremely pretty face. Her clothes, of course, looked foreign to the two pirates, but they could both agree the shirt that didn't reach her belly button and the jean shorts which ended well above her knees suited her style.
The two stared in appreciation and pleasure, and Brittany laughed, playing with her hair seductively.
"It's nice to know my physique is enjoyed every once in awhile." She said coyly, and the two seemed to snap out of their speechlessness and jumped up from their seats. Nana stood as well, recognizing Lexi's friend.
"Those commies got you too, huh Brittany?" She asked, glancing back and forth for anyone that might be listening to their conversation. The black-haired beauty turned to the old woman and sighed with a small smile.
She knew full well about how bad Nana could get, and she always did her best to try to play along. Lexi had told her before that even though the psychiatrist thought playing along would only make things worse, she had just lost the energy to continue fighting with her. So, good-naturedly, Brittany pretended to look around secretly too.
"Yeah, but I've found an escape route out of here." She whispered. Nana piqued at this information, and she smiled.
"Those bastards won't know what hit 'em." She agreed.
"Follow me. And don't get lost." The last part was directed at the two pirates, emphasized by Brittany pointing specifically in their direction so they got the message. They nodded and followed behind the two women.
Lexi and Law had taken down the fort, since it was taking up much of the space in the living room. Lexi had done most of it, too distracted by Nana's episode to really complain. She just wished they didn't happen so much, or at all. They seemed to be getting more frequent and severe, and it just occurred to her now how much of a problem they could actually cause.
Now they both lay on the couches, feeling rather nauseous. The doorbell rang, the sound reaching the deepest parts of the house.
"You get it." Lexi said, her voice muffled from underneath the blanket covering her face. Law glared over at her, his head pounding against itself. The very last thing he wanted to do was get up from his comfy position on the other couch, but it seemed Lexi was as stubborn as she was sick, and so he knew he'd have no other choice. Slowly rising with a low groan, he made his way to the front door.
Unlocking it, he stepped back as Brittany shoved her way inside, completely bypassing Law and moving over to where Lexi was in the living room.
"Lex, you alright? Where are you?" She called, searching up the stairs and in the kitchen.
"Here." She called from under the blanket. Law raised a brow, but watched as Nana and his two engineers slowly made their way into the house. Nana looked pretty tired, and a little shaken up from all that had happened that day. He didn't blame her all that much. He was exhausted too.
"Get up, lazy." Brittany demanded, grabbing a corner of the blanket and pulling.
"Noooo…" Lexi moaned underneath, grabbing on as hard as her weakened state could to keep the blanket on top of her. But her friend was having none of it. Brittany sighed, yanking the thing free in one hard tug.
"Come on, you gotta take your medicine and then go get your truck with me. Let's get moving!"
"You're a sucky friend." Lexi begrudged, and Brittany only laughed.
"No, I'm your best friend, which is why you hate me so much. Now, come on lazy. Into the kitchen." She pulled on the brunette's arm until she slowly rose to her feet.
Law followed them into the kitchen, wanting to take whatever medicine it was that the others had gone to get. For all this trouble, it better be worth it.
"Alright, here's the stuff." Brittany took out the bottle and started pouring it out into the measuring cup attached to the packaging. Pouring the liquid in, she filled it to the line and handed it to Lexi.
She picked it up and tipped it back, downing the contents in one go. After it was all gone, she set the cup back on the counter and grimaced at the taste, coughing a few times from the feeling in the back of her throat.
Brittany washed the cup and repeated the process, handing it to Law this time. He eyed it warily, wondering what exactly was in this medication. He'd never heard of the name before. In his hesitation, Brittany pushed it forward again, giving him a pointed look.
"Take it or I'll make you." She threatened. Raising a brow, he finally picked up the plastic little cup and swallowed its contents, grimacing just like Lexi as the taste caught up to him.
"Good." Brittany said, washing the cup again before capping the bottle and putting it in the cupboard. "Now you can all stop being a bunch of pansies and feel better." She said brightly.
Rolling her eyes, Lexi started walking out of the kitchen. "Let me go get dressed and we'll get the truck."
"If you need assistance, let me know!" Brittany called teasingly with a grin. Lexi called back from the stairs.
"I'm not disabled, I'm just sick!"
"Alright, you three keep an eye on Nana, make sure she doesn't get worse. If she does, call me or Lex." Brittany took charge, grabbing her keys from her purse and flipping on her wide sunglasses. She opened the front door and ushered a still-groggy Lexi outside. Law wandered over to watch them leave, and she stopped halfway out the door.
"If Lex wasn't sick, I'd totally stay and flirt with you, hun. You'll be seeing me again soon." She waggled her fingers with an attempt at a mysterious smile before disappearing behind the closed door. He could faintly hear Lexi's shout of admonishment at Brittany's behavior, but their voices quickly faded away, replaced only by her vehicle starting outside. Law's eyebrows rose at her words and he only shook his head in amusement.
"Even when he's sick, he's totally attractive." Brittany mused as she drove back to the Walmart. Lexi glanced at her from the passenger seat, squirming around in the luxury style leather they were made of for a better position.
"You're not gonna give up on him, are you?"
"Nope, not until I convince him to stay in the country to marry me and we have cute little children named Susie and Tyler." She nodded resolutely, and Lexi punched her arm gently, as she couldn't muster up the strength to really hit her hard.
"You're hopeless." With a shake of her head and an unavoidable smile, she continued watching the scenery go by as Brittany drove. For once, there wasn't any rain in sight. No clouds in the sky, and the sun shining above them. It was ridiculous how quickly the weather could change on them.
"About what I said before." Brittany started, sparing her friend a glance. "About you staking a claim. I mean it. You seriously need a boyfriend and there is perfectly viable guy living with you. When are you gonna make a move?"
"Never." Lexi said.
"Now you're the hopeless one. Are you gonna just die alone then?" Lexi pretended to look shocked and hurt, placing a hand over her chest delicately.
"Of course not! My 37 cats will keep me company." Her friend laughed at that.
"So, you're going the crazy cat lady route? Whatever your heart desires, I guess." Brittany focused back on the road, giving her a minute of peace and quiet for once. Much as she knew Brittany was kidding around, her words still rang in her head. Was she gonna die alone?
Nana wouldn't last much longer. Lexi wasn't stupid. The signs were getting worse and sooner than later there would be some unfortunate accident or her heart would give out from constantly being in a mental state of war. There wasn't much hope for long term survival with Nana, and after that happened…
…then what?
Besides a single ex-boyfriend from a few years before, Lexi had no experience with dating, having to spend all her time focusing on school and helping Nana at home. She didn't regret it, but ultimately, and realistically, she'd probably be married to her job 30 years from now.
'Is that even a life worth living?' She internally questioned, and then she sighed because she was only 23 and she didn't have any idea what those answers might be, so she decided to forget about it for now.
ns 15.158.61.48da2
