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Christopher called out to Nicholas as soon as his twin left the room. "Nicholas, what happened?" "Haven't you read the papers?" Nicholas asked. Chris shook his head. "Well, it's like this ..." he quickly narrated the story to him, including the part about his abduction. "Nykki," he finished, "should be absolutely pooped out. She told me that she hasn't really slept well the past few nights. She must have gone to take a shower and then to bed." "That girl is old enough to know how to take care of herself! Do you know how worried I was when she left last night without a single word? It nearly drove me out of my mind when I thought she had also been kidnapped." Christopher suddenly burst out. "Well, she's all right now. I suggest you let her have a few hours rest before chewing her out." "I'll wait. I'm going into the city to pick up something. I'll be back in an hour or two. Tell that stubborn twin of yours to stay put in her room until I see her. She isn't allowed to go off gallivanting anywhere until she has had a full twelve hours of sleep behind her." So saying, he walked off, leaving a very bemused Nicholas behind.
Nicholas opened the door slowly, expecting to find his twin asleep. Instead, she was sitting on her bed scribbling furiously. She looked up when he entered. "What are you doing? You should be resting." "I'm not a weak, fragile little girl who cannot go through a day without having my beauty sleep. Anyway, I'm writing the report to be handed up." "Why don't you get someone else to write it? Me, for example." "You, dear Nicholas, need rest, after going through the past few weeks. You'd better take my advice too, because I overheard the Director talking to the others about a quick training program for you, to let you graduate with us." "Look who's talking You should be the one who's resting. Anyhow, Chris Wilder gave me specific instructions to put you to bed and make sure you sleep for twelve hours. Afterwhich, he'll come and chew you out for leaving the academy without telling anyone." "Who does he think he is? My keeper?" she glared at her twin who was about to answer. "Do not answer that. Anyway, I've still got a lot more things to do, like making a trip to see Uncle Mal, and reading through the police report." "Have it your way. I, am going to get some sleep, because unlike you, I'm not a robot," he said, rather cattily, and retreated into the bathroom. Nykki sniffed disgustedly at his back.
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