Some Little Princesses

The bitter smell of the coffee was far sweeter than tea that burned her palms through the glass cup in her hands. Her tongue flicked across her lips trying to taste the coffee in the air. She sighed knowing that she wasn't going to get any of it. The woman, Andrea, had already told her that very pointedly.

The door opened and slammed causing her to flinch as her head started pounding again. "Andrea! Where the hell is that kid of yours?" an English accented voice slurred as feet pounded towards the room she sat in. She glared at the entrance and then at the man who filled it eyeing her almost warily. "Well...you're not Andrea."

"And you're a fucking genius," she snapped back finally taking a drink of the tea in her hands. It soothed the aching in her head a little even more than the ability to snap at a stranger. It was rude at best, but rude was what she knew. Rude she could understand and fall back on without any worry about what would come from it.

The man shook his head and continued on down the hall beyond the doorway. She allowed her head to fall back on the pillow behind her. She was alone again. Though she probably should have told the jerk that Andrea had left. She had gone off with the man that she called Kellan, another stupid male.

"Do you....do you happen to know where Andrea ran off to?"

That same perfectly accented voice. This time there was uncertainty. There was hesitation. A human quality to the voice that made her cringe at the realization that not long before she had been a bitch. "You're not going to ask who I am? How the hell I got into the house?" She asked instead arching a dark eyebrow.

The man shrugged. "Why bother?" he asked leaning against the doorframe, his hands stuck into threadbare pockets. "Andrea brings in strays all the time." There was a look on his face like he should know, but he didn't want to admit it. She took that at that and simply nodded.

"She went to work. Her and Kellan." The man swore under his breath and pressed his head hard against the frame before looking at her again.

He seemed to chew on a question for a moment before he spoke again. "Do you know little Keaton then?" he asked reaching up and rubbing his thumb against his red nose.

She shook her head. The name was unfamiliar. She had never known anyone with the name before in her life.

"Godfuckingdammit," the man muttered actually hitting his forehead against the doorframe this time. "If you happen to see Andrea again, tell her I can't find Keaton and that I've got me cell on me," he said bringing the small, beaten black rectangle out of one of the pale coat pockets and wiggling it around. "Is there...mightt here be anything a lad could do for you...while he's about?"

Her dark eyebrows shot up clearly questioning the man before her and what he was saying.

"Aw, c'mon, give a man a break. I'm sober. That's got to count for something dammit," he growled his hand slamming into his pocket once again.

Chuckling softly, she actually managed a real smile for the first time in a long time. "No, no, I'm fine," she promised.

His frown deepened and she couldn't help but laugh even more at it. He didn't say anything but spun on his heel and left the house slamming the door shut behind him.

Izzy lay back on the couch, smiling.