Fuzzy Blue Lights

"Whoa, when did you get those?"

I stared at Cassie in the bathroom mirror as she peeked in. She watched me put in my two lip piercings, which I had neglected to put in that morning. Apparently, she hadn't noticed the holes on my bottom lip where the piercings usually were- snake-bites, most people called them. I had been contemplating for a while to get a bridge piercing instead, but I had decided against it. I was such a wimp when it came to anything close to my nose. That, and I didn't want to feel like I was copying Caspie's piercing style.

"About a year ago." I smiled at the familiar feeling of cool metal over my lips. I missed being able to wear these on a regular basis- the Agency never let me wear them to work, so I would constantly have to remember to make sure that they were out before I showed up. I don't think Bill would mind me having piercings without calling himself a hypocrite, right?

"Cool. Was it painful?" she questioned and watched as I began to put in my tongue piercing. She always grimaced when I put it in, just because she had watched me do a home-job with this one. I probably could have damaged myself severely, but I was one of the lucky ones that got away with a decent piercing.

"A little. You should get one," I teased. Her face paled at the thought as I went in to put my pincher gauges in my earlobes. They weren't very large because I didn't want really droopy earlobes when I was older, but I still liked them nonetheless.

"I'll have to pass on that."

"Your loss." I laughed as she looked as if she wanted to puke. Cassie really, really didn't like needles. As much as she wanted a piercing, she just didn't want to have a needle anywhere near her any time soon. I finished off by putting my lone right eyebrow piercing in and turned to face my sister.

"We should get going, now. Is your stuff all in Maja's car?" she questioned with that sort of look on her face. She didn't like talking about my piercings. I think some of them actually freaked her out.

"You know it!"

And, with that, we were headed on our way out of the house and to Maja's car, where Maja and Caspie waited for us. Caspie and I stuck our tongue out at each other at the same time, something that we had done for a long time in a sort of way to say 'My piercing is better than yours!' All in good fun, though. All in good fun.

We all just kind of chilled in Maja's car as we sat in a vacant parking lot, eating the crap fast-food that she had bought for us as Maja told the story of how we met Tokio Hotel. I had two six-packs of Fanta sitting right next to me on my seat, knowing that they wouldn't last past tomorrow. Still, there was no way I could go very long without at least one Fanta. It was like crack, quite honestly.

"Do you guys have pictures of the Sticky-Notes?" Cassie popped up from the backseat. Maja nodded and pulled out her camera and tossed it back to Cassie and Caspie. They both giggled as the looked through the pictures of last night.

...Had it really been just last night? That was kind of hard to believe, honestly.

I stuffed my hand into my pocket and pulled out the Key card that Tom had put in there earlier. I don't think he realized that I could probably ninja my sister, brother, and friend into his hotel room now while he wasn't paying attention, if I really wanted to. I wasn't going to do that, though. I would likely loose my job before I even actually started.

"Well you guys certainly had fun," Caspian stated as he handed Maja her camera back. I chuckled lightly and nodded. The car got a bit silent again until Maja decided it was high time to start playing some music. Rather than play one of her CDs, she had remembered to bring her iPod with her, so she plugged that in and started her playlist on random. 'Don't Jump' by, you guessed it, Tokio Hotel started to flow out of the speakers.

...Well, that just made the mood worse...

"Hey, Candy...?" Caspie piped up from the backseat. I turned around and stared at him.

"Yes Caspie?" I cooed, trying to keep my voice light. From Caspian's expression, I could tell that he was in a much more serious mood that I could have thought possible.

"Does this mean you'll not be able to see us for a while again?" his question was just over a whisper, but I still heard him. I smiled sorrowfully back at him.

"Yeah, it does." I watched Caspie chew on his bottom lip a bit before he continued.

"When... When are you going to come home?"

I felt Cassie and Caspie's eyes on me now. Maja was pretending she wasn't here, knowing that this was one of those sibling moments.

"I... Don't know. It all depends on when Bill needs me, now." Caspian nodded reluctantly at my statement. Silence had settled over us once again. When I looked over at the clock on the dashboard, I nudged Maja. It was currently seven thirty. If we left now, I would be back at the hotel just before eight, meaning that I would actually be on time for once. Without another word, she took off and out of the parking lot.

"Goodbye, guys! And remember to keep it... Frosty," I called out in what could be called a mock 'sexy' voice. They were still halfway up out of the sunroof and waving back at me as Maja drove off. I had called Bill several times, but each time I had only gotten his answering machine. I left a message, but I didn't bother with leaving another one after that. I didn't have many bags anyway. I would just carry them up there, knock on Bill's door just in case, and then go put them in Tom's room if he still wasn't there.

...Which was odd. For once in my life, I was early, yet Bill wasn't even answering. It was only seven fifty three. Quite honestly, I was a bit worried at that. Oh well. Too late now.

I carried my things inside and ignored the stares from various people as I lugged everything into an elevator quite easily. It vaguely occurred to me that I still had on my Tripp pants and everything. I was kinda curious what other people thought of me at first glance with my Tripp pants, baggy hoodie, and various piercings. All I needed were tattoos and I would be set, huh? Not like that was going to happen.

I pulled the key card out of my pocket again and looked at it so that I could tell what floor they were on. Pressing the button, I waited patiently as the elevator made it up there and then proceeded to move my things down the hall. I stopped at Bill's room and knocked a few times, then waited. When I received no reply, I tried his cell one more. When I heard the familiar German ramble that was his answering machine, I hung up rather than wait and leave a message.

"So... I wonder which room is Tom's?" I cooed out loud and picked up my things and moved them further down the hall. I stopped at the door that I suspected to be Tom's, according to the number on the key card, at least, and knocked a few times. Like before, there was no reply. I shrugged my shoulder and opened the door with the key card. If he didn't want anyone in there, he would have done the bolt lock like any sensible person would.

Man, for someone who would be leaving early tomorrow, his room sure was messy. I grimaced as I moved all of my stuff into one corner of the room and freed a spot on the couch for myself. I flung myself onto the rather comfortable couch and pulled my cellphone out. I contemplated on waiting until Bill called or something, but I called him again in stead.

...No answer, again. Oh well. I left a message basically saying that I was here at the hotel and that I had 'broken' into Tom's room. He'd wonder how I got in, but if he asked I would use my magical ability to switch the conversation if it came up.

"...I wonder where Tom hides his hats...?" I pondered out loud to myself. I hopped up from my seat and looked around the room. Just as I was about to start looking around, it occurred to me that I probably did not want to look through the Man slut's things.

...After all, for all I knew, I could find something atrocious like abandoned condoms or a dead hooker, or something. Not my idea of an interesting discovery.

'Shut Me Up' by Mindless Self Indulgence began to sound from my pocket, so I pulled out my cellphone and raised an eyebrow at it. Why the hell was he calling me? I plopped back down onto the couch, tossed my feet up onto one arm rest, and rested my head on the other.

"Well, hi there Nikita." I answered as I pulled my cellphone to my ear. I heard a dark chuckle in reply come from the other end of the line.

"Very funny, Candice. Where are the other two idiots?"

"It's just me, myself, and I right now. I would assume that the other two are out with Maja," I informed as I looked at my nails. I heard Nikita make an irritated noise.

"Why the hell is that? They traveled to Germany to visit with you," he complained. I just snorted out a laugh. He probably only wanted them home so that he could go out partying while they watched his kid...

AGAIN.

"I'm sorry, I have stuff with work to do. By the way, say hi to little Tobias for me!" I raised my voice in hopes that, perhaps, little Tobias could hear my voice and would want to take the phone away from his daddy.

...And, of course, my plan worked. I smiled as I heard Nikita start talking to little Tobias in Russian, which was what he reverted to whenever talking to his kid, and occasionally when talking casually about the house with us. We all did that, with the exception of Tyler.

"Say hello to Aunt Candice, Tobias," I heard Nikita say in Russian.

"Hi Aunt Candy!" Tobias' little voice got me smiling. Though, really, I was happy that Nikita taught him Russian, but he should probably get the little guy into speaking English. I mean, if only to at least be able to talk to Tyler and his grandmother, not to mention the rest of the entire area he lived in.

"How has my little nephew been?" I cooed and grinned. Tobias began to tell me about his day in his small-child like manor. You know, chopped up words and adorable little phrases that could only make sense to him. I would laugh when appropriate, and I could hear Nikita give a chuckle every now and then in the background.

I had to have talked on that phone with little Tobias for at least an hour before Nikita decided to take the phone back. I used to not get along well with Nikita, even if he is my brother, or at least that's how it was until Tobias came along. Nikita loved his son, and I loved my nephew. A mutual interest in Tobias' health, happiness, and over-all well being actually patched up the relationship between me and my eldest brother.

"I thought you had stuff with work to do?" he teased. I rolled my eyes at this.

"I do. I just have to wait for my boss to call me back. Now that I think of it, I should probably get off of the phone now. For all I know, he's been trying to get a hold of me for the past hour."

Which was actually very likely, now that I thought about it. I wouldn't have bothered to pay attention to any incoming calls while I was talking to Tobias. I never do. Nikita made a sound of recognition.

"Ah, alright then. Goodbye, for now, Candice."

"Na'night Nikita." And then we both hung up, at the same time. I gave a content sigh and leaned back a bit on the couch. I checked my phone and, to my surprise, Bill still hadn't called. I puffed my cheeks out and thought over calling him again.

...Nah. I'd wait a bit longer before I called him. If he didn't call me by nine thirty, then I would definitely would give him a call. Until then, I would just take a quick nap on Tom's couch...

Sleep was always nice.