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This is part of the little Okage mini-series I'll get around t o finishing.

***

Basically, it was the winter holidays and everyone was at Ari's manor for the time being. A boarded up door had been broken down, and revealed another room lined hallway. After a day of cleanup they were suitable for guests to stay in, so, naturally, Rosalyn was.

She was really tired from a day of helping the villagers of Tenel with a ghost infestation in someone's basement. She had been up half the night, and it was about 4:00 at night now. She felt like she was going to drop dead.

So, she was really puzzled as to why she had woken up, after only coming back from her job about twenty five minutes ago. She glanced around, lighting a candle, and saw what had caused her to wake up.

A flash of darkish light that had just slithered under her door, and was trying to hide in a dark corner. She didn't need to waste a single thought to know who it was.

"Stanley!" She said in a loud whisper, reaching for her rapier on the bedside table.

In a flash Stan emerged, in human form. He smirked, smoothing back his blonde hair, yellow eyes gleaming.

"Will you quiet down? It's four in the morning, and you have lungs like a train engine." He said.

"What are you doing here?" She hissed, rubbing her eyes and glaring at the smug Evil King.

"Well, I'm bored. I don't need to sleep unless I've used some energy, and breaking down a door hardly counts. I'm in the mood for a long argument, unless, you want me to wake Ari?"

"Why don't you bother Big Bull, or Kisling? I'm exhausted." Rosalyn complained, staring mutinously at the clock.

"I don't feel like it. You're much funner to argue with."

"Listen here you fake Evil being, I just got back a few minutes ago, I'm tired, and I'll argue with you in the morning. Now, go away!"

Rosalyn grinned as Stan seemed to develop a sudden love for life and vanished into the flooring. She placed her head back on the pillow.

She should have known he wouldn't have left that easily, but she had been too tired to care.

She felt someone running their fingers through her hair, (okay, maybe at first she liked it), then she remembered who that "someone" probably was. She leaped up and slapped Stan on his face, sending him wheeling into a corner and collapsing onto the floor. The covers collapsed in a heap on her floor.

"Hey," he complained. "What was that for?" He got to his feet, smoothing out his clothes.

"You-you-"

"You know more than two words at a time is dangerous, take it slow, Hero woman."

"You self obsessed, smug faced, idiotic, pathetic excuse for an Evil King!" She shouted, grabbing her rapier off the table. Her pink shadow danced underneath her, flashing black.

She paused, staring at the ground. Her shadow flashed pink, then black. Pink. Black. Pink.

Her eyes slowly trailed over to Stan, who was smirking.

"Fix. My. Shadow." She said dangerously, pointing her rapier at Stan, who shrugged.

"Oh. I don't know. Maybe." He grinned, turning his head to the side. That smug look he was giving her through narrowed eyes, that did it.

CRASH!
The door was almost knocked off its hinges as Stan flew bodily out of Rosalyn's room, slamming into Epros's door, which was directly across from her room. He hit the door with a loud bang, sliding down into a heap. He wasn't harmed in the slightest, just slightly stunned.

With a clatter the alarm clock bounced off of Stan's head, (it made a strange "thonk"), and then slammed into the ground.

Several heads were stuck out of doors, Epros being the first. He opened the door and kicked Stan's head out of the boundary of his room, staring around.

"Evil King, you overblown rat! What compelled you to become an Evil Door Mat?"

Linda piped up, "I agree Eppy,er, I mean Epros. But why are you face down on the ground, Coach?"
Stan mumbled something about stupid Hero women.

"Hey, will you folks kindly shut up? Trying to sleep here." Big Bull yawned hugely, closing his door.
"I agree, both of you! Quiet down!" Sniffed Kisling, also closing his door.

Linda gave Stan a sympathetic look, before closing her own door. Epros nudged Stan's head a little farther from his door then said in a tired voice,

"Try to refrain my disturbing my sleep. When one is in Dreamland, one likes to count sheep!"

Rosalyn sighed and offered Stan her hand, he batted it aside and stood up, smirking still.

"Well, what do you know?" He said in his usual loud tone. He cringed when every door in the hallway opened and chorused, "Shh!"

Then footsteps came down the hallway. The door to the main hall was opened and Marlene stuck her head in, glaring.

"I can hear you from my room! All of you, shush!" She commanded.

Rosalyn bowed hurriedly. "My apologies, Princess!"

Marlene shook her head and left.

Stan gave Rosalyn a strange look. "C'mon, don't make me go out there. Marlene is near Ari's room, I really don't want to go past it."

"Scared of Marlene?" Rosalyn teased.

"Of course not! I'm merely being considerate of Ari's own safety. A mad Marlene is trouble. An Evil King has to watch after his only decent slave."

"Whatever." Rosalyn stepped aside and let Stan in her room. She pointed to the couch, glaring at him suspiciously.

"I warn you, any funny business..."

Quiet footsteps. She recognized them immediately. Ari's footsteps.

They paused outside her door. A knock.

She opened the door instantly, and saw Ari's surprise. His fist was still in the air. He lowered it hastily, and looked puzzled.

His green eyes studied Stan's ruffled appearance, Rosalyn's expression, (still faintly red from her anger), and studied the ruffled covers on the bed, from where Rosalyn had leaped up and slapped Stan.

"Er...Stan, if you need to go back to your room, go ahead. Marlene is getting some late night tea."

Stan huffed, storming past Ari. Rosalyn grinned in an embarrassed way.

"I threw Stan out of my room, he came while I was sleeping."

Ari relaxed, smiling slightly. "Okay."

He turned and left, and Rosalyn slammed the door, cursing a certain smirking Evil King.

The chorus came again.

"Shh!"