She could feel his steady breathing next to her and before long. She too succumbed to the peace of sleep, letting it pull her down into the depths of ever lasting darkness.

~~~

Warmth caressed her face, gentle and soft almost like a feather, and Jurie's eyes popped opened, as she took in her surroundings. Once the familiar room settled into her mind she pushed herself onto her elbows, only to find herself being weighed down by a particularly heavy arm. The little shadow princess, looked to her left, to find a half-naked Rami, beside her, arms splayed out to the sides, on her stomach. Slowly she eased her way from under the arm and slipped off the bed. Reaching over she dusted the pillows that her foot had been resting on and, lightly lifted up Rami's head, before propping the pillows underneath it. Then she limped over to the bathroom and cleaned herself.

The living room was alive with quiet whispers, between Ñusta and Derek.

"Good morning!" She greeted the two softly, with a smile.

"Oh Good morning Jurie!" Ñusta and Derek both replied simultaneously. "Did you have a good sleep?" Ñusta asked?

"Yes I had a very nice sleep, thank you very much. The bed was very comfortable."

"I bet it was." Coughed Derek. Then his eyes fell onto Jurie swollen foot. "Your foot!" He burst out.

"Uh...yes I do have a foot. You'll find that most humans have foot Derek." Jurie said cooly.

"Oh dear!" Ñusta cried out. "Let me get you some bandages. I also have a cream that will help ease the pain. And it will stop it from swelling."

"Thank you so much Ñusta." Jurie smiled gratefully.

Ñusta made her way down the corridor quickly, acknowledging Jurie's response, with a wave of her hand.

Jurie turned towards Derek. "What was that you said before Derek?" She narrowed her eyes at him.

Derek instead looked around casually, refusing to meet her eye. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Sure." She drawled. "Sure you don't."

"Whatever."

Jurie arched an eyebrow. "So have you guys had breakfast yet?" She asked, deciding to let the topic go.

"Nothing as of yet." Derek answered. "Mother wanted to wait for both of you before we had any."

"That's nice of her."

Nodding his head Derek walked over to the kettle, pouring some sweet smelling tea from it and into a majestically decorated porcelain cup and handed it to Jurie.

Jurie inspected the cup in awe. Her eyes shining. "This is such a beautiful cup. The images are so detailed."

"Yeah. Mum made it. Just like she made the tea blend in the cup. It tastes amazing."

Taking a sip of the tea, Jurie attacked by an array of flavours. Peach and mango essence, mixed with coconut and mint. A surprisingly pleasurable fuze. She moaned and took another sip. And another and another. She closed her eyes and felt her tastebuds heighten. A very faint floral flavour was added. "This is soo good."

"Why thank you my dear!" Ñusta's voice came flowing back.

Julie's eyes flew open. "This cup is amazing Ñusta I really really love it! It is so artistic! And tea! Oh my gosh it tastes so delicious, the flavours are so harmonious!"

Ñusta beamed and clasped her hands together. "Thank you so much dear! You don't know how much it means to me for you to say that to me." She then pushed Jurie towards an ottoman, sitting her down. "Take a seat darling. Let me dress up your ankle."

"Thank you." Jurie replied, still sipping the tea.

Ñusta propped Jurie's ankle onto her lap and proceeded to squeeze it at different spots before seemingly finding the spot that had taken the hardest beating, by the loud hiss that came out of Jurie's lips.

Taking out a capped cylindrical tin, Ñusta opened it and dabbed some white ointment onto her finger. "This is tree sap mixed with a cooling agency that will help numb the pain and lower the swelling of you ankle dear." She told Jurie before gently rubbing it around Jurie's ankle. Then she took out a roll of crepe bandage and expertly wrapped it around her patient's ankle.

Jurie sighed contently, enjoying the feel of being treated by an almost professional. "Thank you so very much Ñusta!!!"

~~~~~

He reached out to touch the other side of the bed but found it was cold. Jurie must have woken up maybe an hour before him. He found his movements sluggish and slow as he got up. He must have slept longer than he was supposed to.

Quickly he did his morning stretches which quite frankly he had neglected for the past few days. He had quite a good reason for it though. After all how is one supposed to stretch when their are hanging from a pole by their wrists?

Slipping on his shirt he hastily walked outside. His groggy mind completely forgot where he was for the moment resulting in him searching around the cottage for a while before he found where everyone was.

"Good morning!" Ñusta greeted him cheerily.

"Morning," he mumbled.

"Would you like some tea?" She asked.

A smile broke out on his face "Of course." he loved tea. When it was winter and the morning were cold his mother would wake him up and let him have tea in bed. Well it wasn't exactly a bed, more of a sleeping bag. Well actually it wasn't even a sleeping bag, it was more a like worn out blanket and mat. It wasn't that the Montagues were poor, the owned five percent of the world economy at that time. It was more of a guise than anything. They couldn't reveal themselves. But for Rami it was a reminder that there were people out there who weren't as fortunate as him.

Yes there were times when arrogant Rami Montague had streaks of humility.

He shook away the trance that was overcoming him and took his place next to Derek.

"How was last night?" Asked Derek grinning like a Cheshire cat. Obviously suggesting something other than sleep happened last night.

Rami gave Jurie a quick glance. She was staring daggers at them both, obviously her sharp hearing had picked up their conversation.

"Slept like a baby." Announced Rami smiling.

"Sure you weren't making any?" Whispered Derek in Rami's ear, so soft that Rami had trouble understanding him. Well at least Jurie couldn't hear them.

"I'm quite sure." Announced Jurie. Apparently she could hear them. "We're just friends..."

"...with benefits" chimed in Rami. Clearly he was reverting back to his old self.

Jurie gave him a scowl as if she was saying  I can't believe you aren't on my side.

At that moment Ñusta came in with tea for Rami.  He took the cup and instantly was drawn to the beautiful painting.

"Did you make this? The paintings on the cups and walls?"

"Yes I did."

"They're beautiful...I..."

Ñusta chuckled then gesturing to both Rami and Jurie she said. "Looks like I have two artists in the room."

"I can't paint." Mumbled Rami.

"No but writing is also an art." She said leaving Rami open mouthed in shock. How did she know? Slowly recovering he turned to Jurie. "You can paint? You never told me!"

"You never asked. And you can write I want to read it."

"I want to see your paintings."

"The tea is going to get cold." Announced Ñusta. "Besides you all have a big day ahead of you."

Jurie and Derek continued sipping their while Rami took the first sip and almost spat it back in the cup. He was expecting rich Ceylon style tea with hints of sweetness and spice. The type that was strong and could wake you up in an instant. Just like how his mother made it. But this had a bland taste for him. Sure it smelt nice, but he couldn't understand why people would like such tea? Especially since for him the flavor was hardly there. Maybe it was an acquired taste or something.

"Don't you like it?" Asked Jurie.

"I...um...no...I mean...it's fine...I..."

Shit Rami stop mumbling like an idiot. He told himself.

He smiled. He didn't like the tea one bit but he didn't want to admit it to Ñusta. So he kept drinking. Hiding his pained expression.

~~~~~

Hey guys we know we haven't updated in a week and we're so sorry. We both had a geography presentation to do so we didn't have time to update! Don't worry we'll make it up to you! So let us know what you think in the comments box! Thank you! The image above is a little like what the cup looks like!