Oh man. I gotta go to the bathroom again. Gods, I hate getting out from under these nice warm covers into a house with no heat on. Maybe I should turn the heat on, but it feels so good when I get back here again. . .everso slowly while sipping on a bottle of ice cold ginger beer. . .when stark naked. Anyway, why waste the satin sheets on pajamas, or whatever?

Gods, it hurts getting up. I ought to get a real bed instead of a futon. I'm really feeling my age, and I'm still woozy from the pomegranate wine. Just three damn glasses. On the other hand, one glass wipes me out. I should have known better. I can be so damn stupid. Brrrrrrrrrrrrrr. Get this over with.

Blah! To my feet I get. To the door, down the hall; and I think I've got the runs now, of all things. Man, I doubt this house is fifty degrees. At least it has thick carpeting. . .which does not exist in the bathroom.

Oh, poo! Looks like I might be here for a while. Frostbite on the loo? Hypothermia whilst downloading the brownload? Almost as bad as what happened to Elvis.

Almost.

Oh man, how gross. And I just put on fresh sheets. I'm gonna take another shower. Nice and hot, and then I'll turn the hot water off right before I get out. See if I can stand it for about ten or fifteen seconds or so. Then to the fridge for that ginger beer, and back under my electric blanket. Yeaaaaaaaaaaah.

Oh yeah! Musk soap. I'll do my hair again, too. I'll use the soap. Then musk deodorant, musk spray, and too bad they don't have musk toothpaste. Or maybe not. I dunno. Gods, that feels good after freezing my noogies off like that. . .well. . .if I had noogies to freeze off, that is.

Can't get any cleaner. Time for the co. . ."AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA. . .BRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR. . .GODS WHY AM I SO DAMN STUPID?????!!!!!!!!"

OK, maybe three or four seconds. Sometimes I just aim too high, huh?

Dry off a little. Get most of the hair. Cotton swabs for the ears, musk deodorant. . .oh doo-doo, that spray is bloody freezing.

Oh, why must I be such a masochist?

Oh, I'm not; really. I just look forward to the end of this. It all just feels so much better when it all comes to conclusion.

Off to the kitchen. Think I'll use the bottle opener so I don't rip my hand up. Oh, yeah. Now, back to bed. . .or back to futon; technically.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHH, WHERE'S THE CARPET??????!!!!!! THE FLOOR IS BLEEDIN' STONE?! IN FACT THIS AIN'T MY HOUSE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

What the hell? The walls are stone, too. The hall is seven feet across, now. It feels even colder. Where's my. . .light. . .too light. . .my god!

That ain't my bedroom. This is huge! Fireplace, canopy bed, what the. . .huge canopy bed, and there's someone in it! And I'm stark naked, but I feel like I'm gonna die.

"Tara, get behind me before you freeze your noogies off." Oh, what a beautiful voice. He knew my name. I was too overwhelmed by the circumstances to be afraid, and too out of it to feel as self-conscious as I might if I'd been a hundred percent sober.

"I was thinking that same expression that you used about the noogies."

"I know. That's why I said it. Come join me, and take as long as you want to torture yourself."

"You know me," I said. "Who are you?" He was stark white, and very attractive. His eyes glowed red in the dark

"Half of eternity. Come on. Get in on the other side, and pull the curtain halfway up after you get on the bed. I have an electric blanket, too. I'm not opposed to all modern technology."

"You want me to get in bed with you in my state of undress?"

"Like I care?"

"Being the old and pudgy thing I am, I wonder you don't ask me to put on a burqa," I said, as I started following his instructions.

"What you look like is of no interest to me. It's your past, and your mind that matter. Nothing else." He just lay there. He never moved to look at me. In fact, he hadn't moved since I got here.

I sat on the bed, on top of the covers. I could feel the warmth radiating from underneath. I was shivering like crazy, and covered in goosebumps. I was also in a little bit of pain from old injuries. I had a sip of my ginger beer. With some degree of awkwardness, I moved the covers so I could get under them. Slowly. After another sip of my almost frozen soda. I kept the refrigerator as cold as I could, without ice actually forming.

I put my feet under the covers. Gods, it was heaven. Another sip, and my ankles went under. He also had satin sheets. Sweet. At least we had the same taste in bedding. He still hadn't moved. He wore no upper body covering. One more sip, I covered my knees; and asked, "Are you nekkid too?"

He chuckled. "On silk satin sheets? Hell, yeah."

Those sheets were perfumed. The smell of jasmine was powerful, and welcome. It was one of my favourite scents. I had to stifle a laugh, because again he mirrored my prior thoughts in words. "Are you a telepath or something?" My thighs went under the covers.

"You really ready for me to answer that, and yes; you can press yourself against me. I don't bite, despite the fangs."

"After I finish my soda, I'll take you up on that. Now, what shall I call you?"

"In this incarnation, I was named Keith; but you know of me by my true birthname. Let's wait a few moments before you get that information, shall we?"

I guzzled the remainder of the ginger beer, put the bottle on the nightstand, covered my butt, and wrapped myself around the gorgeous creature I just found myself sharing a bed with. Gods, he was so nice and warm. "Am I supposed to do anything with you?"

"Yeah. Get acclimated to us, and let us train you to fulfill your destiny."

"Us?" I asked.

Another voice behind me, said; "Yeah. Us. I'm Donn, his real name is Thanatos; you died of a shock induced cardiac with the silly games you played with the water temperature, and now you can fulfill your dream ambition of working with us."

I looked behind me. There stood a slighter, colourised version of what I was holding; minus the fangs. I smiled. "Gonna keep me warm from behind?"

"Oh, for a little while. You do realise you'll soon lose your taste for these superfluous sensations, right?"

"Oh, I suppose so. Is that an anti-pass?" I asked.

Donn smiled. "Yes. We don't do things like that."

I shrugged. For some reason, it didn't matter to me. "I don't hurt anymore. Just before I got here, where I broke my bo. . ."

"Dude! You're DEAD. You can't hurt anymore unless you really concentrate on wanting to hurt, and the only reason you feel temperature is that you expect to feel temperature; and you are also now a shapeshifter, and you can look like Rachel McLish if you want, not that it's relevent."

I smiled. "Understood."

Donn pressed himself against me, covered me up to my neck; and I would sleep for the last time in my life. . .I mean my death, in one last hedonistic moment; not that time was relevent any more.