January 1st, 1891 — Paris
Nemo Fisk

Waking happened in a series of disjointed moments for Penny, like a mirage of photos that seemingly connected but the link wasn't yet obvious. First was the bright morning light streaming through thw windows, the curtains still wide open from where they'd left them after the fireworks. Then came the realization of how awful her headache was, every minuscule sound within the room causing it to expand until the entirety of her skull felt as though it would explode from the pressure. And, lastly, though it really ought to have been the first given her inexperience in this regard, was the warm, firm body she was pressed up against.

She was on her side, one hand resting on the junction of Nemo's — Nemo's?! — neck and shoulder, her leg thrown haphazardly across his.  They were surrounded by pillows, the wall more akin to an egg shell than the stone she envisioned it to be. And, oh Merlin, she was in her chemise!

Penny's breath hitched, further influencing her worsening headache, as her body tensed in realization. Oh, no. No, no, no, no, no. She began to pull her leg back from his body, the top of her knee brushing against something even firmer than his body. And ... what ... ? What in Merlin's underpants had taken root in Nemo's?!

She withdrew from him fully then, her eyes wide in both embarrassment and fear (for the state of their friendship, not that anything wrong had transpired between them. Surely, if it had, she would feel different, right? ) Pulling the blanket up to her shoulders, Penny laid besides Nemo on the bed, too stunned (and, admittedly a tad still drunk) to speak.

  

The Pillow Wall and be constructed and obliterated in the course of the night. Nemo was still pretty much fully dressed, as uncomfortable as it was, between the soft glow of the street lamps, the steady breathing of Penny beside him and the wine still coursing through his veins, Nemo had fallen asleep pretty quickly and rather soundly at the conclusion of the night's excitement. Fortunately Penny didn't seem any worse for the wear before convincing him to share the the bed with her.

Big mistake.

He should have slept on the couch.

At some point he realized that they had demolished the pillows separating them and snuggled, which only pushed him into a deeper level of comfort and truthfully he thought himself dreaming. What a delightful dream it had been.

The sunlight streaming in the windows was his first call to waking, but truthfully it was Penny withdrawing from him and the cold that replaced her body heat that forced him to resign to consciousness and boy did he wish he hadn't. Her slow calculated movements did not go unnoticed, especially when her leg grazed somewhere particularly sensitive and make him flinch. mostly because... oh shit.

Nemo rolled over as slowly as he could away from her and wondered if he could feign sleep for a few more minutes, until things... calmed down. Maybe they could pretend nothing happened? Ugh. This was exactly what he'd been afraid of. Well not that but something that could potentially ruin their friendship!

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He rolled away, taking that ... creature with him. Was it attached, then? But how? Penny peeked towards him with morbid curiosity, her embarrassment the only reign on her long list of questioms. She really ought to stand and dress before he turned back towards her, save them both from further mortification. However, Penny wouldn't be able to slip from the bed without wrapping the shared blanket around herself and, well, she wasn't quite prepared to face the monster beneath the sheets.

(Was it a creature with its own brain? A parasitic type being that attached to men sometime after birth? Penny had too many questions and not enough answers.)

Realizing there was no escape, Penny kept her focus on the ceiling as she quietly asked, "Nemo? Are you awake?"

  

Sheer panic and embarrassment were clearly enough to deflate any remaining blood flow from the source of the problem and Nemo could only hope and pray that Penny hadn't noticed anything amiss.

He should have slept on the couch.

Her question had an obvious answer, but maybe he could feign sleep for a few more minutes, let her get dressed or sneak into the washroom. Anything to avoid adding to the panic he was starting to feel. He needed to figure out how to handle the situation and that needed time, so he gave a little pretend snore and remained absolutely still.

Avoidance at its best.

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Despite the nagging feeling that Nemo was in fact awake, Penny was determined not to address whatever the creature beneath the sheets was until she was fully dressed — and safe — from it. As softly as she could, Penny rolled towards the edge of the bed, wrapping the blanket around herself as she did, and made to stand. So cocooned was she that when Penny's bare feet touched the ground the sheet pulled taut behind her, toppling her back onto the bed and her knee banging sharply into the bed frame. "Bloody hell," she muttered in quiet frustration.

At least the cocoon hadn't come undone, though behind her Nemo was certainly exposed to the cold air of the room.

  

Well, that was clearly the end of his ability to pretend to be asleep. Between her pulling the blanket away, the thump and her cursing, there was no way even he'd sleep through that. Fortunately everything was far less obvious than it had been a few moments ago and he was able to roll over without further embarrassing himself.

He chuckled at the sight of her all wrapped up in the blankets, sitting up to stretch out stiff limbs, instantly regretting the motion as it ignited the throbbing in his head. "You alright?" He asked cautiously, waiting to see what she wanted him to do next. The right choice was duck out, either the washroom or the room altogether to get himself together while she dressed, but he really wasn't going to be moving all that fast until after they found something for breakfast to soak up the remaining wine and some coffee to help with the headache.

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"Yeah, I'm alright," she answered. Between her head and her knee she wasn't, not really, but she refused to draw more attention to the awkwardness that had enveloped the room. Penny was also too afraid he might mention the creature in his underpants, and she really wasn't prepared for that conversation. Especially not with Nemo.

She struggled to her feet again, wrapping her blanket around her even tighter. "Do you mind, erm .. would you leave my clothes outside the washroom door? I'm sorry, I don't know what I was thinking last night..."

  

Ah shit.

"Let me just get my shoes, I'll step out." He rolled out of the bed, clothes rumpled and hair ruffled. Yawning, he stretched quickly and ran a hand through his hair in a fruitless attempt to neaten the mess. He could fortunately use his wand to make himself a little more presentable, even after sleeping in his clothes.

Quickly and quietly, with only one glance in her direction, Nemo collected his coat and shoes, slipping them on as he snatched his wand from the table beside the bed. "I'll go find something for breakfast." He offered as he paused near the door, but didn't really wait for an answer.

Once outside he breathed out a sigh of frustration. This was fucked up. It was all his fault. Shit. Though he felt the dull ache of a hangover headache, Nemo managed to straighten himself up with the help of magic and set off down the hall to ask about the best place to find some pastries or something.

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She felt incredibly guilty for forcing Nemo to leave the room so soon after waking up. Presumably, whatever it was that her leg touched wasn't necessarily his fault. But, there was no stopping him, not in her current state. She could hardly follow him down the hall wrapped in the blanket!

Penny dressed quickly, using magic to assist her where she wasn't quite able to lace herself in. She left her corset off, though, for she was certain any attempts to shrink her frame would result in her heaving relentlessly into the nearest bin. Once properly dressed, Penny made the bed and straightened whatever mess they made entering the room last night, all while ignoring the steady pounding of her head.

When Nemo reentered, she was sitting on the same uncomfortable sofa she insisted he not sleep on. "I ... thank you for going to get breakfast," she said a bit awkwardly.

  

After making himself look presentable, Nemo went to the front desk and asked them for a nearby bakery and if they could have tea sent up to the room for when he returned. Both were accomplished easy enough and the proprietor even had an owl ready to acquire a portkey for them. What customer service indeed.

Once outside Nemo soaked up the cold air in a deep breath. It did wonders for his headache already as likely would some food and water. Following the directions of the concierge, Nemo found the delightful little bakery easily enough. The queue was a little long, but he didn't mind the wait. He had a lot of thoughts to sort out before he got back to the room, but even the twenty minutes or so his littl adventure took wasn't going to be enough. Everything was all out of whack. He should have just slept on the couch and ignored her protests. Now everything was fucked up and he wasn't sure how to put it back the way it was.

With a small bag of a few of their favorites in hand, Nemo walked slowly back to the inn. He wondered if he'd given her enough time, but couldn't figure out another way to delay going back. Knocking softly, he waited until she answered before entering.

The awkwardness was going to kill him. Never, in their entire friendship had they been quite so askew, he hated it. "Not a problem, tea will be up in a few minutes, how are you feeling?" He meant physically at the forefront of the question, but was curious about emotionally as well.

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How was she feeling, indeed. Mortified, unsure, full to the brim with questions were her immediate thoughts. Was that what he was asking or did he mean physically? Her hangover wasn't particularly awful, she didn't think. A headache and some sluggishness in her movements, but it could've been far worse had she not vomited before turning in. And, besides, she wasn't vomiting now, so that had to speak for something.

None of which left her with an easily spoken answer for Nemo. Penny did her best to keep her focus either on his face or the bag of pastries in his hand, but she couldn't help the single quick glance towards where the creature resided. Did it make noise? How had she never known it was there before? Was he uncomfortable?

"Okay, I think," she said a beat too late. Awkward tension rippled through the room still, likely to exist for all time now. "Head hurts a bit, far better than I was expecting after how much I had to drink."

  

Well at least there weren't any lingering physical effects. "Same here," Just a tinge of a headache, and he just generally felt off, but that could have been for a few reasons at this point. Nemo had sobered up rather quickly last night when Penny had gotten ill. "Hopefully a little food will help, there's an assortment in here." He knew what she preferred, and had obviously gotten things she would like, but a variety the morning after was not a bad idea. Who knew what would make the stomach turn with a hangover.

He placed the bag of food on the coffee table and moved to take off his coat again. He still felt a little disheveled too, despite his best intentions to clean himself up, but he rather thought that was to be expected as well. "The concierge is arranging for a portkey home early this afternoon."

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Penny reached for the bag if only for something to occupy her hands. Fidgeting and pacing would only alert Nemo to how uncomfortable she was. Or, not uncomfortable necessarily, but awkward. Terribly and uncomfortably awkward.

"What time is it anyway?" She asked with a hint of embarrassment. It wasn't like her to be so out of sorts to not know roughly what time it was. All she knew was that the sun was up.

  

"Almost eleven," He responded after a quick look at his pocket watch. Later than he'd slept in in what felt like forever.

He so badly wanted to apologise, but he wasn't even sure where to begin. He shouldn't have let them get that bad last night and he really should have slept in the couch or the floor, anywhere but the bed. The awkward air between them was physically painful to him and he desperately wanted it to go away, but he didn't know how to banish it.

"Portkey should take about an hour to get squared away." He added. It would be a long hour if it was going to be like this.

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She nodded and pulled a still warm croissant from the bag. A small smile flashed across her lips at the flaky pastry, for she had always wanted to try a true French croissant. It was, perhaps, predictable of her, but Penny would argue that anyone in their right mind would share a similar aspiration.

Then, Nemo mentioned it would take an hour for the portkey to be requisitioned and any happiness over the pastry died. They would have to exist for an hour like this. Shrouded in awkwardness and dancing around the cuddling like it hadn't changed the very foundation of their friendship. "Sure," she said. "Shame it wasn't longer. We could have gone for a walk near the river." They could have escaped the close confines of their room, rather. However, Penny wasn't about to risk their second portkey home.

  

Nemo knew he should eat, but his stomach turned at the idea, so he let Penny have the pastries, easing back to sit on the edge of the bed, unsure as to what was happening, but thinking some space might help? He honestly didn't know.

He faltered at her suggestion, but wasn't sure what to do about it. He could ask to have it changed? Somehow he didn't think that was a good choice. "Another time." The fresh air would probably do him some good, he had felt better on his jaunt down the street, but changing the time now would likely result in a longer duration for this awkwardness. "By the time we eat and get everything packed up, I'm sure it'll go by quickly."

What else could he even saaay?

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