Drac Ch16
#17 of Drac
Dienza woke up with a start and jerked suddenly to his left. The movement slammed his elbow into the bedhead and caused him to grunt in pain. At some point through the night he had clearly tossed and turned and ended up sideways across his bed. The brief time he had been awake and drained all that water had at least helped to quell his hangover. He rolled over and stood, now remembering the rattis he had rescued and looked towards his sock drawer. A few socks had been knocked to the floor and now the rodent was nowhere to be seen. Dienza rolled his eyes and stretched. Once his morning rituals were seen to and he'd changed into fresh clothes, he headed out towards the kitchen. Once he was in the hallway he became aware of a soft humming. His mother was awake and humming to herself. 'Ma, have you seen...?' He stopped short as he stepped into the living room. Nereen was sitting up, leaning on one of the arms of the couch and resting one hand on the back of the rattis girl, who had curled and nestled into the woman's neck while resting on the slant of one of her breasts. Nereen's hand held her gently while one of her fingers slowly rubbed through her hair. 'Shhh...' Nereen raised her other hand, her eyes were droopy and red but she was smiling. 'She's gone back to sleep, and I am really hungover.' 'I don't believe this.' Dienza rolled his eyes, but couldn't help a smile from creeping onto his own lips. He trod softly and went out to the kitchen to retrieve another glass of water and brought it to his mother. Nereen took it slowly and mouthed the words thank you before steadily draining the whole glass on one go. After this handed the glass back to Dienza before carefully shuffling herself back into a lying down position. Dienza quickly retrieved a spare blanket from the storage closet in the hallway, but by the time he had returned she was already asleep. He laid the blanket over her carefully before returning to the kitchen to make himself a coffee.
By the time noon had rolled around, Nereen and the rattis were both awake. Dienza had found time to walk to the shops and back for some fresh groceries and had also taken it on himself to cook a very late breakfast. The rattis kept to Nereen's side of the table, taking an instant liking to her just as Nate had. Unlike Nate however, the rattis did not need to be taught much in the ways of etiquette, patiently waiting for Nereen to offer food while occasionally sparing a glance towards Dienza. 'Can I ask what made you do this?' Nereen asked as they ate. 'Not many people would spare a thought for a rattis, let alone save one from an owl.' 'I dunno why.' Dienza shrugged. 'I guess I just felt like basking in her non-existent gratitude.' He punctuated the sentence with a few seconds of intently glaring at the rattis with an expectant expression. 'Oh... Right.' She sighed, setting down a piece of bacon she'd been eating and turning to him. 'I want to thank you for saving me, uhh...' 'Dienza.' He answered her. 'Or Drac. And you?' 'V-Valencia.' The rattis said. 'Too long.' Dienza shook his head. 'I'm gonna call you Val.' 'That's fine.' Val replied with a nod. For the next few minutes the pair seemed content to ignore each other while they finished eating until finally Nereen broke the silence. 'Dienza, there was something else I wanted to talk to you about, when you're ready.' Her eyes were serious, but still soft so it wasn't an urgent matter. She was still visibly hungover as well so probably not quite ready to focus on whatever was the matter.
The next few hours consisted of Dienza strumming rhythms on his guitar with the volume as low as he could tolerate for his mother's sake. Nereen took to her bed to try and get a more refreshing hour or two of sleep in and Val watched Dienza play from the archway of his bedroom door. He smiled and tried not to focus on her too much, she was becoming accustomed to him quickly enough but she was still visibly uncomfortable with being in the room with him alone. Clearly whatever magic charm Nereen had to make animals instantly like her had not been passed on to him. 'What is that you're doing?' She asked finally, after almost an hour of watching silently. 'I'm trying to compose a song.' Dienza explained. 'So I come up with the basics of a rhythm first, then I'll add bass lines and if I can manage it maybe some drums. Once the full rhythm is together I'll add a melody and then start writing lyrics.' 'I've never heard songs with all this extra noise in them before.' Val shrugged. 'Dad used to just... sing with his voice.' 'Well... I don't know if I have any music that you'd like.' Dienza paused, looking across his shelf and CD rack at his collection of almost entirely Metal and Hard Rock albums. 'But I guess you never know until you hear some. What do you think of what I was playing so far?' 'It's different to anything I've heard.' She replied. Dienza started playing again, this time making a much softer rhythm and trying to match an old lullaby he knew as best he could. Val's ears perked up at this and she looked directly at him with a curious expression. 'I know this one.' She said, fidgeting a little. 'A Sip of Moon?' Dienza asked. 'Yes!' She exclaimed, taking a few steps into the room. 'My dad used to sing it to me.' 'He must have heard it from someone.' Dienza nodded. 'Ma used to sing it to me when I was small. Some nights twice, just because it was the only way I could get to sleep.' 'It's a beautiful song...' Val closed her eyes and swayed a little in time to the leona's playing, only stopping when he did. 'I... I miss my dad.' She sank down to all fours and curled up slowly, before burying her head in her hands and beginning to sob. Dienza slowed his playing and after a few more seconds stopped. Setting his guitar back on its stand gently, he crept over towards Val and scooped her into his hand. She twitched and squeaked in surprise but before she could do anything she found herself held to the fur on the leona's chest. His hand wrapped under and around her in a protective fashion and once he had her he sat back on his bed. When she stopped shivering and settled, he lifted her slightly and met her gaze with his. 'I'll tell you what.' He began with a smile. 'Things have been... bad for me lately. Ma too, and it was my fault. I know things are bad for you too now, but if you wanna hang around, I think all three of us can start to put things back together.' 'Wait... Why do you need me?' Val asked. 'You need somewhere to live right?' Dienza shrugged. 'And I need a second chance. I need to prove to myself and Ma that I can be... better than I was. I think we could both use a friend right now too, huh?' Val perked up and her eyes widened before she calmed back down. 'Well... I dunno. You're awfully big and scary.' 'And you smell terrible.' Dienza replied. 'It's settled then. You're gonna have a bath and I'll try to be more cuddly.'
That evening following Val's bath in the sink, Dienza had decided to cook again. He put on lamb chops and boiling vegetables. While they ate, Nereen was amused and happy to see the rapport between Dienza and Val had come along nicely while she was asleep. Nereen was the first to offer the rattis food, slicing off a small piece of lamb and setting it on the edge of her plate. As soon as she turned away, Dienza grinned and flicked a pea at the back of her head. 'Hey!' Val protested, picking the pea up with her free hand and hurling it back at him. Dienza grinned before opening his mouth and catching it easily. This caught Val by surprise and she blinked nervously. 'Was I supposed to do that...?' 'No, I was just being an ass.' He replied. 'You should have tried it though.' 'Then throw another.' She retorted. She turned to face him and readied herself to try and catch the next throw. Dienza picked up another, but instead of tossing it straight at her, he flicked it up into the air. Val followed it through mid-air, opening her mouth as it came down to try and catch it. She missed, the pea instead bouncing off her nose and landing on the table beside her. Nereen and Dienza both laughed as Val fell onto her back. She rolled instantly and snared the pea in one hand, doing her best not to blush. 'That was so cute.' Nereen said. She reached over and ran her finger through Val's hair. 'So do you feel better after that bath?' 'Yes...' Val nodded, still lying down. 'Dienza dope kept trying to make me feel nervous while he was getting the pots out to cook.' 'Get used to it.' Dienza retorted with a smirk, finishing his last piece of lamb and standing to carry his plate to the sink. 'You won't scare me.' Val shot back, standing and stepping to the edge of the table boldly. 'I'll make you scared of me!' 'Oh this should be fun.' Dienza grinned. 'You honestly think I have any reason to be scared of a little rat like you?' 'Well, I'll-!!' Val's words were cut off as Dienza dashed back to the table and lowered his open mouth down over her. Her startled shriek echoed before his lips sealed around her waist and he lifted her into the air. After a moment of feeling her squirm, he pulled her out by her legs and licked his lips. 'You're a little bigger than a micen but I'm sure I could get you down.' He giggled as her eyes stared back at him in shock and... something else? Surprisingly she wasn't angry, nor as scared as he expected. 'D-Don't do that to me.' She protested, clinging to Dienza's wrist and trying to hold herself upright. 'Your... breath is horrible! You're supposed to be cuddly now, remember?' 'Right.' He nodded. 'And... I'm sure that's all that bothers you.' He carried Val into the living room and set her on the arm of the couch before seating himself behind Spiika's drums. 'What's all that?' Val asked. 'A drum set.' Dienza replied. 'It belongs to... another friend. But she's leaving it here for now. I'm not as good at this one, but I figure a bit of practice couldn't hurt.' As Dienza slowly worked out a few basic drum rhythms to practice, Nereen entered and sat herself down on the couch. Almost instantly Val sprinted the length of it and dived into her lap affectionately. Nereen lifted the rattis girl up to her face and gave her a quick nuzzle and kiss before letting Val climb onto her shoulder. 'She's a cute one.' Nereen said to Dienza. 'Yea, but they all like you.' He replied. 'Happens when you don't eat them. It's almost as if she could sense it in you.' 'Well, not really.' Nereen answered. She lowered her voice a little, prompting Dienza to stop tapping the drums as they noticed Val was beginning to doze. 'Remember Teo? Val was the same. I found her in the hallway on my way back from the bathroom last night. She told me all about what happened, but she was still scared of me at first.' 'Teo never warmed up to you, I remember.' Dienza nodded, deciding not to mention that Teo had died between his teeth the day before. 'So what, Val decided to trust you then?' 'I may have persuaded her a bit more... forcibly.' Nereen responded. 'It took an hour of hugging and humming for her to settle down. Just like... just like a child that misses their mother.' She looked down uneasily. But Val had already fallen asleep curled up on Nereen's shoulder.