//------------------------------// // Chapter 4 - Breakfast // Story: The Addams Family Sirens // by Universal Librarian //------------------------------// Gentle sunlight streamed in through the window, accompanied by the soft trilling of morning birdsong, making even the grim décor of the bedroom seem almost charming. It was clearly going to be a beautiful day. Unfortunately, beautiful or not, Adagio doubted that she was going to enjoy it much. For a start, both Aria and Sonata were wrapped around her as if she was an oversized plushie. At least Sonata wasn't drooling this time, and Aria was sucking her thumb quietly for a change, so silver linings. Sighing heavily, Adagio rolled her eyes and settled in to wait for one or other of the idiots to wake up. Or for her bladder to get particularly insistent, whichever came first. Salvation arrived in the form of a low boom from downstairs that shook dust from the ceiling. "Wuzzat?" Aria muttered sleepily, pulling her thumb from her mouth. Sonata moaned and shifted, opening one bleary eye. "Is it breakfast time?" "It will be when you get up," Adagio growled. "Mmm, 'kay." Sonata sat up and stretched, yawning widely.  Aria cracked her eyes open, throwing Sonata a barely conscious glare, then rolled over and wrapped the blanket tightly around herself. Adagio shrugged and threw the blanket off herself, clambered off the edge of the bed and stood tall as she stretched, remembering a second too late to check for potential perverts at the door. She covered herself with her arms and hurried to the door, peeking through the keyhole. It was clear. "If you wore pajamas you wouldn't have to worry about that," Aria spat. "Just get out of bed and get dressed," Adagio shot back. With a groan and a mumbled stream of profanities that would make a sailor blush, Aria hauled herself out of bed and slowly swapped pajamas for proper clothes. Adagio jabbed a pen through the keyhole again for good measure, relaxing when no squawk of pain followed, and started getting dressed herself. Sonata, despite her usual predilection for flaunting herself, was dressed before either of the others. Breakfast was a more powerful lure than anything for the blue twit. When the three were finally ready, Adagio opened the bedroom door, only to yelp and leap back in fright at the sight of Lurch standing motionless in front of it. "What are you doing?!" Lurch just groaned and bowed, then gestured for the girls to follow. "I think he's taking us to breakfast," Sonata said eagerly. Adagio and Aria both stared as Sonata followed cheerfully in Lurch's wake. "Should we follow her, or what?" Aria asked. "You can, I'm going to freshen up, first," Adagio replied. Without looking back, she sauntered off to the nearest bathroom. After dealing with her morning ablutions, Adagio slowly made her way down to the kitchen. Gomez, Pugsley, Aria and Sonata were already there, sitting at the table while Lurch served breakfast to the Sirens.  "Adagio! Good morning!" Gomez called out cheerfully. "How did you sleep?"  "Well enough," Adagio replied. "The only problems I had were the two I brought with me." Aria glared, but kept her mouth shut. Sonata was too busy shoveling food into her mouth to say anything, if she had even caught the veiled barb. Gomez patted the chair next to him, which Adagio accepted gracefully. As Lurch dished up breakfast for Adagio; a mouth-watering selection of bacon, eggs, toast, fried tomatoes, beans, and kippers, Gomez took a sip of coffee and smiled at her. "So, I was wondering if our esteemed guests would be interested in a tour of the grounds this morning, unless you have any other plans?" "We don't have any plans, so a tour would be nice," Adagio replied. "Where are the others?" "Morticia is in the greenhouses, Grandmama is downstairs, Thing is in the music room, and Wednesday…" Gomez glanced around. "I'm sure she's around somewhere." Sonata swallowed a huge mouthful and glanced at Gomez. "What kinda stuff do you have in the grounds?" "You shall soon see," Gomez replied cryptically. "Is it true that you used to kill people?" Pugsley asked suddenly. "Only the annoying ones," Aria replied with a grunt. Adagio hoped that was the end of the conversation, but Pugsley kept staring at her with such an innocently curious expression that she found herself explaining, "Our job, before Seaquestria was abandoned, was to protect it from invaders and thieves. The magic we were given allowed us to effectively hypnotise other beings. We used that magic to… persuade land-dwelling interlopers to enter the water." "It's too bad most of them couldn't breath underwater," Sonata piped up. "Some of them were cute until they turned all bloaty and smelly." "Cool," Pugsley said with a mildly interested smile, as if they were discussing the weather instead of drowned corpses. "What did you do with the ones that could breath water?" Aria shrugged. "Most of the other water-breathers were friendly to us. The ones that weren't were usually made to bleed." "Ah, exsanguination! Delightful!" Gomez said brightly. "Not quite," Aria said with a smirk. "We'd just make sure they bled a little bit, then let our pets do the rest." She grinned maliciously. "Shark food isn't cheap, y'know." Gomez tilted his head. "In this world, it's not too hard to get hold of. Housing a shark, on the other hand, is much more difficult here. Finding a tank large enough for the shark to exercise and explore in a healthy manner is prohibitively expensive, both in terms of currency and physical space." "Otherwise we'd have one of our own," Pugsley said with a nod. Adagio shrugged. "They're not actually that great as guard beasts. They're a lot more friendly than people realise. If they hurt someone, nine times out of ten it's either accidental, or they're curious and don't have any real way of physically interacting other than using their teeth. The ones raised by the Sea Wall were just very well trained, and very protective." "Especially Fifi," Sonata added. "Fifi was awesome," Aria agreed with a grin. Silence fell as the group returned to their breakfast. Adagio was a little annoyed. She had anticipated that this family reunion would dredge up certain aspects of the Sirens' past, but she hadn't expected talking about it to be so… easy. Or nostalgic. Something had changed over the years. "What's up, Adagio?" Sonata asked curiously. Adagio scowled. "Nothing. When are we getting this tour?" "As soon as you have finished breakfast, if you'd like," Gomez replied. "Good." Adagio ate as quickly as she could without dropping her manners, then stood and brushed non-existent crumbs off her clothes. "Let's get going." Sonata looked up in shock. "I haven't finished yet!" "Yeah, what's the rush, Dagi?" Aria added. "I just don't want to be cooped up," Adagio deflected. "I've spent enough time stuck in a tiny space with you two. I want some fresh air." "I'll take you to the greenhouses," a deadpan voice called out. Everyone turned to see Wednesday standing in the doorway. "Mother would like to speak with you."