Anubis' Family

***Anubis***

Zoe was avoiding me. I couldn't figure it out - I couldn't remember doing anything to annoy her. Any more than usual, that is. But usually when she was angry with me, she didn't hide - she let me know. Loudly.

I went to see her parents, only to be met with walls. They were both on the defensive, clearly telling me to mind my own business. I tried to explain that Zoe was my business, but they would have none of it. Chris mentioned that I should be more patient, and that Zoe would tell me what was going on in due time. I just glared and turned, phasing to the Rickman's house. Perhaps I'd find out there.

No such luck. Nat has a talent for looking completely innocent, even when she's guilty as can be. Peter, on the other hand, was in his studio painting. Not even I was game to interrupt that. Nat tried to calm me down, saying that Zoe wasn't annoyed, she was just busy. I turned and left, heading back to the Old Kingdom. Looks like I wasn't getting any answers, so I decided to torment Paul for a while, my favourite hobby when I was annoyed.

When I opened the door to the tank room, however, I saw Zoe in there as well. There was paper strewn all over the floor, as if they were planning something, and they were sitting in the middle, facing each other, with a larger piece of paper between them. Apparently they had been painting and fighting, as both were covered in paint.

Zoe turned to see me in the door, and after the initial surprise, she got that twinkle in her eye that means she's up to something. She ran and jumped on me, successfully pushing me out of the room so I couldn't see what they were up to.

***Zoe***

I was starting to regret recruiting Paul to help me. That was probably his goal, but I needed help, and he was the one I usually bugged. I think he actually enjoys it when I pester him - I'm the only person other than Anubis who isn't afraid of him.

We were working out decorations for the party I was planning, and he was being his usual snarky self.

"Why can't we have pastel pink and lime green?" He asked, on the verge of pouting.

"Because they don't go together. Besides, it's for Anubis' birthday. For some reason I don't think he'd appreciate pastels." I was trying to stifle the image of my boyfriend wearing pastel colours... without much success. "Oh, I really hate you sometimes, Paul."

Paul just flashed me one of his evil grins - he knew what I was thinking about, and found it highly amusing. I did too, but I wasn't going to let him know that.

He was mixing up the paints that I'd brought, making all sorts of new colours. Most looked like they belonged inside people. Come to think of it, that's probably where he got them from. "Uh, Paul... this is supposed to be a fun party." I rethought that statement. "Fun for everyone, not just you."

This time he did pout. "Damn it." He flicked his paintbrush at me, splattering me with an icky green paint.

"Paul!" I exclaimed angrily. He looked surprised, as if he hadn't realised I'd get messy. I picked up my own paintbrush and dipped it in the red, then grinned at Paul, who grinned back.

"Paintfight!" We both shouted, then started trying to cover each other in as much paint as we could. Why is it that every time I'm with Paul, we end up playfighting? Or at the least, throwing things at each other?

By the time we ran out of paint, we were both covered. I was definately worse off - Paul's stronger than me, so he often wins. We calmed down a bit, though we kept spontaneously laughing. I pulled a large piece of paper towards me, and started making hand-prints. Paul then added his footprints, which set us off again.

Just then, Anubis walked in, obviously mad about something. Paul and I froze, momentarily unsure of what was going to happen, then I realised we had all the party stuff with us. Anubis hadn't realised what it was yet, but I had to distract him.

So I launched myself at him, hugging him and propelling him out of the room at the same time.

***Paul***

As soon as Ant-boy walked in, I thought I was done for. He looked really pissed, and usually he's only pissed at me or the doc. Thankfully Zoe's fond of me, for some strange reason, and is good at distracting him.

I half-listened as she distracted him, grinning to myself. I then sighed as I realised she was just talking to him. When was she going to realise the only way to keep his interest completely focussed on her was to take her top off?

After a minute, I realised he hadn't come in to splat me yet. Hmm. Maybe Zoe was more persuasive than I thought.

I quickly pushed all the papers into a pile, then shoved them and what was left of the paints under my tank. I wasn't fond of Anubis, but Zoe was, and she wanted it to be a surpise. So I'd play along for now.

She poked her head back into the room to tell me she'd be back later, then wandered off somewhere with Ant-boy. I growled, and went to torment a few people. What else was there to do?

***Anubis***

"Zoe, what's going on?"

"What's going on with what?"

"Don't try that. I know all your tricks for dodging questions." The look on her face said it all. I'd learned to read her thoughts through her face years ago, and right now she was thinking, 'Damn!'. "You've been avoiding me. Why? Did I do something wrong?"

She looked shocked. "No! No, you didn't do anything wrong. I've just been busy." My heart sank. What could she have been busy with? It was summer holidays, so not school. She didn't have a job. The few friends she had at school had gone away for the summer. The only thing I could think of was that she'd met someone else. We hadn't even been dating a month, and she'd already fallen for someone else. That thought led to another... what exactly had she been doing with Paul?

Before that thought could fully establish itself, Zoe hugged me. "Trust me. You'll find out about everything next Monday. It'll be worth it, I promise." I looked down at her, still unsure. She looked up at me and pulled a face. I laughed - she wasn't going anywhere until I hugged her back. So I wrapped my arms around her and buried my face in her hair. For some reason, being like this always made me feel safe, even though there was nothing that could harm me at any time.

After a moment, Zoe pulled away, smiling. "Let's go for a walk." When I nodded, she stuck her head through the doors of the tank room and told Paul she'd be back later. She then turned back to me, and we started walking.

"On Monday, huh?"

"Yep. But you've gotta stop trying to find out what's going on." I made a pained expression. I was naturally curious. Telling me something was going to happen, then forbidding me from trying to find out... Zoe was mean. I knew better than to cross her, though. She'd set her mum onto me, and Chris was a very scary lady.

***Paul***

As I stepped out of the tank room, I saw Anubis and Zoe walking off arm-in-arm, and couldn't help myself.

"I'll come to your room tonight, Hook!" I shouted after Zoe. The pair turned, Anubis looking like he wanted to zap me, Zoe looking exasperated. I mock-saluted, then turned and vanished. That would take a lot of explaining from Zoe.