Damn. More than half my allotted time was gone already, and I was no closer to locating Mei. In fact, my enemies were closer to their goal, and I was over here wallowing on someone’s couch.
At least, I was pretty sure it was a couch. It was plush and velvet, but it didn’t feel like a bed.
“Ugh, my head,” I said out loud, putting my free hand over my eyes.
“Damian?” someone asked. They walked over to where I was laying.
“Rick, old buddy?” I asked. “Is that you?”
“Uh huh.” He nodded and knelt down next to me. “How you feeling, Damian?”
I flashed Rick a big smile. He was being unusually nice to me. Was it the whole saving his life twice thing? Must have been. I couldn’t imagine another reason why he’d be so nice to me all of a sudden.
Well, whatever it was, I’d take it. “You know me,” I said. “Never better.”
Rick chuckled. It sounded good coming from him. “Oh, Damian, you’re such an idiot.” He got up and walked back over to his chair. “Get up, already. You’ve slept half the day away, you big lout.”
That was more like my Rick. I instantly felt better now that things were going back to normal. I groaned a little and sat upright. My head swirled for a moment, but it settled itself quick enough.
“Sure thing, buddy. Not like I got attacked by five people last night while you ran off like a scared little chicken or anything.”
I hadn’t meant it to sound harsh, but Rick winced a little and I knew it had hit a mark. And I had told him to do it.
“I’m… I’m sorry,” I said. “That was a little much.”
Rick seemed slightly mollified. “Yeah, about that,” he said slowly, “I suppose I should thank you or something.”
“Heck yeah, you should,” I fired back. “That’s twice now I’ve saved your stupid neck!”
Rick’s cheeks flushed, and he reared his head backward. “Yeah? Well I saved you back!” He folded his hands over his chest. “I’m the one who got Sheila to come and rescue you.”
“You did that? For me?” A small tear was starting to form in my eye. It looked like Rick cared about me, after all. Even if he didn’t want to admit it. “You shouldn’t have.”
“Pfft,” he replied. “You got that right. You’re more trouble than it’s worth. Even for five-thousand dollars.”
“Hey, I never said the job would be easy,” I muttered back at him.
Rick rolled his eyes and then glared at me. “There’s easy, and then there’s almost getting killed twice in two days!”
Looked like it was my turn to wince. He had a point. Of course, I hadn’t known he was going to get involved like this, either. Originally, I’d imagined he’d just feed me the translation and go back to his day job. Never in a million years did I think he’d get caught up in this mess.
“I couldn’t have known they were going to go after you, too!” I said, feeling a bit hurt. “Besides, I still saved your sorry hide!”
“Now, now, children,” Sheila’s soft voice came lilting into the room. She walked in a moment later, holding a tray with something that smelled heavenly on it, though I couldn’t quite see what it was. “There’s no need to argue like that. Everyone’s alive. That’s what really matters.”
I hung my head low, as did Rick, feeling thoroughly reprimanded.
“Yes, Sheila,” we both said at near the same time.
“Sorry,” I added. I looked straight at Rick. “I can’t imagine any of this has been easy for you, and yet you put your neck on the line for me.”
Rick stared at me for a moment and his features softened. “And I’m sorry for yelling at you. You’re a… halfway decent swordsman.”
It wasn’t much of a compliment, but coming from Rick, it meant the world to me. My face beamed back at him.
“Aww. Come here, you,” I said, holding my arms wide for a hug.
Rick didn’t budge, and I dropped the arms a moment later, feeling deflated.
“Your friend here was brave last night, too,” Sheila said a moment later, setting down the tray. “He gave me his blood so I could work the magic to save you, eh?”
I side-eyed Rick. “You did that? But I thought you didn’t believe in magic?”
Now Rick’s cheeks were burning even fiercer than before, and he turned his head a little to hide his eyes. “It was nothing, okay. Just like a blood drive.”
“Oh, you’re not getting away that easy!” I insisted. I got up from the couch, noting as I did so that it didn’t hurt anywhere near as much as I’d expected it to, and ran over and threw my arms around him.
“You’re the best, buddy!” I patted him on the back a few times while I held him.
“You’re… good… too,” Rick said through a pained expression.
It was only then that I realized he looked pretty shaken by the whole hug thing and was withdrawing in on himself. I let go of him and gave him one more light pat on the back, then took a step back. Apparently, Rick wasn’t the touchy type. I could adjust to that. Okay, not really, but I’d try not to hug him again without permission.
“Sorry, Rick, I was overcome with emotion,” I said, flashing him another grin.
Rick turned his head just a little until he was just barely looking at me. “Yeah, well, it was nothing,” he grunted.
“Well,” I said, clapping my hands together and changing the subject, “Sheila, what’s on that wonderful tray of yours? It smells just heavenly.”
Sheila’s face brightened. “Oh, nothing special, just some green tea and a few cookies fresh from the oven. Feel free to enjoy, eh?”
I didn’t need any more nudging than that. I grabbed two of the cookies and stuffed them in my face. The sugar hit me almost immediately, quelling my growling stomach.
“My favorite,” I mumbled, mouth still half-full of cookie. “White chocolate macadamia.”
Sheila nodded. “I know, Damian. That’s why
