A Fox in the Hen House

When Brooklynn left the room to attend the all house meeting, Oliver went to check to see how securely she had blocked the gap under the door. Unlike Melody, the blonde’s efforts were much more diligent, preventing him from exiting her room.

He knew the substance of the meeting the girls were having, him, and he knew they were coming, and soon. Which meant he needed a good place to hide, somewhere they wouldn’t think to look. But where? Again, his first thought was too get up high, thinking they would dedicate most of their time searching down low. Desk or the vanity? Looking from one to the other, his gut pushed him toward the vanity. Jogging over, there was an electrical cord dangling down, not on the floor but close enough for him to grab. Shinnying up, he pulled himself onto the surface of the vanity. The cord belonged to a fancy mirror, the reflective glass bracketed by a bank of lights to either side. The surface of the vanity contained a broad spectrum of beauty products, lotions, creams, powders, a veritable rainbow of nail polishes, and all sorts of other things. A slow smile spread over his face.

Walking over to a jar of Belle Vie face cream, he examined it. Made out of transparent blue glass with glass screw down lid, the jar appeared about two thirds full. This would make the ultimate place to hide, at least in the short term. Looking at his meager possessions, he knew it would probably be best keeping only his blade. Hastily eating the half a peanut heart, he tucked the other full piece in an innocuous spot thinking it would be easy to overlook, same with his floss before he returned to the jar of cream.

Bracing his feet, he tested the lid to see how securely it was fashioned. Finding it moving easily, he unscrewed it and pushed it back a bit, careful to keep it from falling off the top of the jar. He tossed his razor blade knife into the jar before pulling himself up and over the lip and lowering himself into the cool white colored cream, the sleek consistency and silky texture reminding him very much of the mud lining the bottom of Hiller’s Pond back home. Up to his waist in the cream, he reached overhead and pulled the glass lid back into place, using his hands to turn it until it caught the glass threads and started to tighten. Confined inside the jar, the perfume in the cream tickled his nose hairs, making him sneeze thrice in rapid succession. After a few more moments of teetering on the brink, he seemed to acclimatize to the scent and the urge passed. Wrinkling his nose, he glanced out through the colored glass and although slightly distorted by the curve, he was able to see out quite clearly. Dropping to his knees, he submerged the upper portion of his body in the cream, pulling more up to cover his face and head careful not to get any of it in his eyes. Now it was just a matter of waiting.

And wait he did. His initial fear of Brooklynn bursting into the room at any time was misplaced. After the first hour, he needed to stretch his muscles and the cream was pruning his flesh. After the second hour, he opened the lid for a few minutes to replenish the air before tightening it partially back.

When the door to the room finally opened, it was not Brooklynn, but Sersei who stepped into the room, the features of her too pretty face set in a determined cast. On her heels appeared Teagan and Harmony. Once the door was closed, the latter bent at the waist to jam the towel under the door.

Clicking on the overhead light, “You in here Oliver?” Sersei inquired stepping into the center of the room before turning slowly in circular fashion. “No?” she said with a chuckle. This was their fourth room, though in truth, the trio had only half-assed Maeve and Melody’s rooms. Teagan’s room had taken almost two whole hours. She had posed the same question in each, hoping Oliver might surrender himself and save them the trouble of have to look for him. No such luck.

Peering through the glass, Oliver involuntarily held his breath, mentally willing the girls not to see him. They were all so huge it was mindboggling. Hopefully his hidey hole was clever enough to foil their efforts.

Directing traffic, Sersei instructed Harmony to begin sifting through Brooklynn’s dresser drawers while she herself began pulling a bunch of boxes out from under the bed and diligently going through each. Teagan headed for the closet.

After searching the dresser, Harmony turned her attention to the vanity.

Oliver got the impression from the downcast look on her face she didn’t really appear to be quite as enthusiastic in her efforts as Sersei or Teagan. Engaged or not, she was however diligent, shuffling and sifting through the plethora of beauty products atop the vanity, including sliding his jar to the side.

“Eww, I think I just found used dental floss,” Harmony said, lifting the length by one end and holding it up.

“As nasty as that may be at least she flosses, I’m on dirty laundry detail,” Teagan countered. “Trade?”

Shaking her head, Harmony took a few steps toward the wastebasket and deposited the floss inside before returning to the vanity.

While she moved things around looking for him, she didn’t look inside things.

Getting back to her feet, Teagan looked toward Harmony, eyes lighting up. “Oh!” she chirped excitedly, bouncing over to the vanity and curling her fingers around a fancy bottle of emerald colored nail polish. “Pretty,” she cooed, lifting it up.

Oliver remained completely still.

“Belle Vie!” Teagan remarked, setting down the bottle of nail polish and scooping up the jar of face cream in her left hand, fingers of her right around the perimeter of the lid.

“Come on,” Sersei urged, the look of disproval on her face not marring her attractive features.

Letting out a sigh, Teagan put the jar back on the vanity.

“I didn’t find him over here,” Harmony said, shrugging.

Sersei shook her head. The very thorough search had taken almost an entire hour with np results or possible indication he might have secreted himself in the room. “Alright, let’s move onto to your room before Cerys gets there,” she said, glancing to ward Harmony.

The brunette nodded shyly, “Okay.” With that, the girls exited the room, carefully, replacing the towel under the door.

Letting out a long breath, Oliver relaxed, smiling triumphantly.