"Hey," came Derek's voice sternly. Nell sat up in his bed with a start.
The girl immediately donned the facade of someone more awake than she was, and tried her best to appear attentive.
"Nell, you were fucking screaming in your sleep," he said, deep voice more quiet than normal. "You even said my name."
Had she been more awake, The Fixer would have caught the nuance in his phrasing at once, the careful emphasis on 'fucking' just subtle enough to have slipped unnoticed if she hadn't only just woken up.
"Sorry, Derek," she said, and no sooner had she finished the last syllable than she realized what he'd said. He'd already left the door frame from which he'd woken her. She sat perfectly still and tried to recall the dream. It had been scary and all-around bad, and there had indeed been sex. Beyond that she could not recall.
She checked the door again, as if there was a chance Derek was there. He was absent, probably for the best. She climbed out of bed and tiptoed to go take a shower. She was sweaty, among other things.
When she remembered her dream, she became embarrassed and understood what The Afterdark had meant by "fucking screaming." She wondered what kind of noises she'd made, and how Derek had known what had been going on in her dream--maybe he just knew the sounds people made when they had sex. Nell didn't, not really.
----------
Derek had heard the girl's yelps and moans from his kitchen and had recognized them at once. He'd never heard those particular sounds from Nell before, but he had heard them from quite a few other women in his time, including the now deceased Platform, Rebecca Armstrong. Despite the fact that he'd snapped that woman's neck in a fit of rage, he still recalled their fling fondly.
Hearing Nell make those sounds, on the other hand, had been strange to him and he'd pulled her from her sleep specifically so he would not have to listen to her noises.
The girl immediately donned the facade of someone more awake than she was, and tried her best to appear attentive.
"Nell, you were fucking screaming in your sleep," he said, deep voice more quiet than normal. "You even said my name."
Had she been more awake, The Fixer would have caught the nuance in his phrasing at once, the careful emphasis on 'fucking' just subtle enough to have slipped unnoticed if she hadn't only just woken up.
"Sorry, Derek," she said, and no sooner had she finished the last syllable than she realized what he'd said. He'd already left the door frame from which he'd woken her. She sat perfectly still and tried to recall the dream. It had been scary and all-around bad, and there had indeed been sex. Beyond that she could not recall.
She checked the door again, as if there was a chance Derek was there. He was absent, probably for the best. She climbed out of bed and tiptoed to go take a shower. She was sweaty, among other things.
When she remembered her dream, she became embarrassed and understood what The Afterdark had meant by "fucking screaming." She wondered what kind of noises she'd made, and how Derek had known what had been going on in her dream--maybe he just knew the sounds people made when they had sex. Nell didn't, not really.
----------
Derek had heard the girl's yelps and moans from his kitchen and had recognized them at once. He'd never heard those particular sounds from Nell before, but he had heard them from quite a few other women in his time, including the now deceased Platform, Rebecca Armstrong. Despite the fact that he'd snapped that woman's neck in a fit of rage, he still recalled their fling fondly.
Hearing Nell make those sounds, on the other hand, had been strange to him and he'd pulled her from her sleep specifically so he would not have to listen to her noises.
