Story Title: The Decorator

Rating: PG

Characters: DG, Az, Jeb, Cain, & Glitch

Disclaimer: With a heavy heart I have to say I do not own the characters or the story of Tin Man or the Wizard of Oz.

Warnings: It might be beneficial to read The Makeover first.

Summary: DG and Az decide to do a little redecorating

To say it was unusual for both Princesses to be up at such an ungodly hour was an understatement. In all the time following the eclipse neither Princess would willingly get out of bed before the crack of noon (or the Ozian version of midday). And when the maids would drag them unwillingly from their slumber, it would be, at earliest, just after dawn.

Maids did not last long assigned to one of the Princesses, mainly due to verbal harassment. There were threats made on not only their life, but the lives of any living thing they cared for, and they often had to dodge shoes and other objects lying within reach of the pissed off girls. Soon the Queen became adept at assigning a different woman to wake her daughters on a daily basis, leaving a month long lull before one of them would be back at the mercy of the tired (and angry) royals. She even begrudgingly gave the wakeup call women hazard pay as an incentive since it was the only way to keep them employed at the palace.

So, for DG and Az to be awake hours before the suns rose, was completely out of character. Anyone who saw them would know something was amiss. And they would most certainly stay out of their way.

The sisters were huddled together on a window seat in the middle of the royal wing. The rooms of both girls' could be found down the length of this particular corridor, along with those of their parents, Glitch, Raw, Jeb and Wyatt Cain (after all, they were considered family). Barely a word was discernable from the hushed whispers leaving the lips of the young women, and only a giggle every once in awhile managed to echo down the marble expanse in both directions.

"So," DG whispered. "Do you think the bed should go across from the door, or along the right-hand wall?"

Az captured her chin between her finger and thumb, wearing the most pensive look possible. People would have thought she was debating on a life or death situation and not the location of a bed.

"Across," she said after a few moments. "That way it can be seen as soon as the doors are opened."

Looking down at her lap, DG rolled the pencil in her hand around her fingers a few times before touching the tip to the piece of paper covering her thighs. The outline of a room was already sketched onto the paper when DG added the block designating the bed.

Unthinkingly she placed the end of the pencil between her teeth, chewing lightly on the wood while she gazed at the drawing in her lap.

"Ok," she mumbled around the foreign object in her mouth. "I assume the night table will go next to the bed?" A nod from Az and she marked down its measurements. "What about the wardrobe?"

"Oh, that's easy," Az commented. "Right inside the door." She watched her sister go to pencil in the large movable closet. "No, on the left side," she corrected before DG could make any lines that would need to be erased (erasers were a surprisingly hot commodity in the OZ and, therefore, used sparingly). Quickly DG moved the pencil to the other side of the door, shading in the new location of the armoire.

Soon they had the layout completed and smiled at their handiwork. It would not be long before they could implement their new design.

Folding up the parchment, DG placed it under the belt of her skirt (since the tailors refused to put pockets in her clothing) and the girls parted for their own rooms.

At the rising of the suns the maids were flabbergasted to find it was only necessary to open the door for the girls to be up and functioning. In less than thirty minutes the Princesses were heading down the hall, bodyguards in tow. Swinging their combined hands between them, they trekked off to the gazebo for DG's lesson with Tutor.

Since they were rather early, due to the short time it took to rouse them, they made many a pit stop along the way. The gardens were lovely in the early morning light and they occupied themselves with picking a bloom or two, placing them tenderly behind their ears.

The whinnying of the horses caught their attention and they quickly scampered to the large red barn blocking the path between the palace and the gazebo. Their joined hands glowed vividly just before they threw open the doors. Running inside, they hurriedly scurried around objects and workers, the hay crunching loudly beneath their pounding feet.

Their bodyguards were just coming into the stables as girls were fleeing out the opposite end, giggling like mad. Both men froze, mid-step, at the sight before them.

In the space between the pens on either side was a fully furnished bedroom. The dark wood of the furniture was almost the same color as the wood of the stalls. An open wardrobe sat to the left of the door, an unmade bed cluttered with clothing and nightstand situated right in front of them. Bewildered stable hands were looking back and forth at both the furniture and the men, utterly slack jawed.

A groan reverberated off the wooden structure and Cain glanced oddly at his son. Jeb was pale, blinking repeatedly as if to make the seen return to normal. Hesitantly he stepped forward reaching out a hand as he lifted an article of clothing off the bed. The dark blue boxer shorts were suddenly crushed in the fist of the young, irate Cain.

"DG!" he bellowed as he raced toward the place where they disappeared, fabric dangling from his clenched fingers. "AZ!" His father visibly blanched at the tone of voice Jeb had taken and the stable workers were dashing out of his way as he barreled through the structure.

He saw them trucking along the path toward the gazebo, glancing warily over their shoulders as they went. Then the screaming truly began. "You two get back here this instant, and put my things back where they belong!" Jeb's face was red and his eyes blazed with fire at the two Princesses as they put on a burst of speed and were suddenly out of sight.

As if a switch had been struck, Jeb began gathering his discarded clothing, shoving it in the wardrobe and closing the door with a resounding click. Hands pressed against the cool surface of the door, Jeb took a moment to gather his thoughts, his embarrassment at the messiness was apparent in his body language. A snicker from the entrance to the stables startled Jeb out of his musings.

"Won't get you, eh?" Glitch stated through his giggles. "Do you know how long it'll take to get all this back to the palace and up three flights of stairs?"

"It won't take that long," Jeb ground out through clenched teeth, ignoring the tightlipped smile his fathers was using to contain his laughter. "If I have to drag one of them back here kicking and screaming they're going to undo this or die!" he stated with finality.

"Now, now, young Mr. Cain," Glitch said managing to put an end to his chortling for the time being. "I seem to remember being told that threatening one of the Princesses was a no- no!" Some of his amusement was starting to seep out again. "Can't have their own bodyguard out to get 'em, can we?"

Unexpectedly Cain roared with laughter only to have Jeb punch him in the arm, hard. The pain radiating through the appendage did nothing to stop the guffaws coming from his father.

"I'd stop if I were you," Jeb warned, his voice dangerously low. "I wouldn't be surprised if you're next."

Cain hastily ceased laughing, eyeing his son suspiciously. "DG knows better than to mess with me," he commented, completely serious and without a trace of amusement. Neither man present could say whether it was to convince them, or himself, of the validity of that statement.

"We'll see," Jeb added before he was stomping through the barn toward the gazebo. As he was turning the corner out of view he abruptly stopped, whirling around to face his father.

"You better watch your back," Jeb declared, Cain's brows knitting together with the remark, and then he was gone.

AN: Press that little button and give me a response.