darker_london | Bacon cures all

When Scarlett woke up on Monday morning it was far from home and where she had started out yesterday. She rolled over on the mattress on the floor and waited for her blurry eyes to join her in the land of the living.

Land of the living. Scarlett closed her eyes again and pushed her face into her pillow, the smell unfamiliar to her. She didn't want to think about living because that reminded her suddenly of all the people she knew who now weren't.

The whole family was at the house of her aunt Mary in Saint-Junien, a place of only a little over ten-thousand yet the largest city for miles. Scarlett hadn't seen much of it when they came in last night as she'd spent most of the hour and a half drive from the airport dozing in the back of Mary's old van. She felt exhausted, and she didn't think it was just because she'd changed last night. (She wanted to get it out of the way so it didn't force itself on her unexpected while they were in France.)

"Good morning," came a whisper from the doorway. Scarlett turned over, her hair a mess. It was Mary in the doorway, smiling warmly at Scarlett. Scarlett gave her the best smile back that she could manage. "Seems you're the only one awake."

Scarlett supposed that she wasn't getting back to sleep now and she pushed her blankets off quietly and followed Mary as she went out to the kitchen, leaving her siblings sleeping on their own floor mattresses.

In the kitchen Mary spoke a little louder. "So, what can I get you for breakfast?" she asked. "I've got some bacon in the fridge, but I don't suppose that does any of you much good."

Scarlett's stomach rumbled. "Bacon would be amazing actually," she said and then added, to assure Mary. "I'm not vegetarian any more."

Mary laughed throatily. "Always knew at least one of you kids would grow out of that!" Scarlett sat at the table and watched Mary as she cooked, her aunt chatting on about the city and the things she did here. Mary was a soft, round woman and fitted the image in Scarlett's head of every nursemaid in fiction ever. Except, of course, for the closely cropped black-dyed hair that didn't quite suit her. She looked quite the opposite of her only lightly curvy strawberry-blonde sister.

Mary brought the bacon over to the table and smiled as the smell drew Astrid out as well. (This was the first meeting of Astrid and her adopted aunt, but so far Mary adored the teenager.) "Aha," she said, gesturing to one of the chairs. "Another awakes. Do you eat meat as well, Astrid?"

Astrid nodded quickly and sat down with a yawn. "Thankyou," she said, still half asleep. The three of them ate their bacon, Mary keeping the conversation far away from death and horrors.