Chapter Five
After spending most of the day outside taking care of not only Gail's sidewalk but his own as well, Rick decided to spend the night sleeping in front of the living room fireplace. His house had three fireplaces altogether: one in the living room, one in his bedroom and another in Vanessa's bedroom as well but that one had yet to be used since Rick bought the house. Rick would have slept in front of the fireplace in his bedroom but he was too tired to drag himself upstairs so he had curled up on the living room floor in nothing but his boxers. Vanessa was out and about with some friends so she would be coming home later on if she even came home before daybreak. If Rick wasn't expecting Vanessa to come in while he was still asleep he would not even have bothered with leaving the boxers one. Their relationship was one where they were both more comfortable with each other and could be relied on to make sure that they didn't look like they were desperately looking for a date elsewhere but neither of them had made the move to make the relationship official. Until that happened, if it happened, Rick would maintain some modesty in his house, at least while Vanessa still lived there.
When Rick bought his house his realtor thought he was crazy after hearing that his apartment had burned down a year and a half ago. Sadly enough, this had actually happened shortly after Rick had become Dragon, the Fire Guardian. Rick insisted on getting a house with fireplaces though, knowing that with his newfound ability to generate fire he had even more control over it and it would keep his heating costs down as well. It wasn't as though Rick didn't have the money to spend on a gas bill, his trust fund was paying his mortgage and then some. Rick was working just to have something to pass the time while he was on sabbatical from his artwork. Rick had been establishing himself as an artist and managed to sell a few pieces at the occasional showing but his current line of work was much more satisfying. It only made sense to become a Firefighter if he was able to control fire and even communicate with it to see if there were people or animals trapped by the fire. It would be like Eve becoming a lifeguard, which he had of course suggested to her but she had other ideas. Even though Rick couldn't explain why to his realtor, he had absolutely no fear of his house catching fire.
It didn't take long for Rick to fall asleep in front of the fire. It didn't take long for Rick to wake up either when he found himself in the middle of a sneezing fit. After the fourth sneeze Rick sat up and looked around to locate the nearest box of tissues. Before he could get to his feet Rick was surprised. A Fairy had flown into his face, pointing his finger at Rick, “Damn you Guardian. Where is Deshica? I know you moved her so there is no point in trying to hide her!”
Rick rubbed his eyes and opened them one at a time to make sure he was actually seeing this instead of dreaming it. Surely enough, there was a male Fairy fluttering in front of his face. If it wasn't for his newfound knowledge of exactly how dangerous Fairy magic was Rick would have found this scene amusing. Rick tried to identify the Fairy to see if it was one he had already met but that wasn't the case. Rick glared at the Fairy, “You might want to be careful where you point that finger.”
The Fairy was about to protest when it backed up, noticing that the flames from the fireplace were reaching out to cover Rick. The Fairy shook his fist at Rick, “You aren't allowed to harm me without reason and I gave you no reason!”
Rick rolled his eyes, “I'm not trying to hurt you. I'm actually trying to keep you from hurting me. You're pointing that finger at me like you intend to give me a reason to fight back. Why are you here? You know what? Never mind. You already said something about why you're here. Run that by me again.”
The Fairy repeated himself, “You moved Deshica. She was safely cocooned until you moved her. Where is she?”
Rick took a moment to change into something that covered him more, one of the perks of being a Guardian meant that he could change the clothes he was wearing with a thought or they would adjust themselves to fit the environment he was in. Once he was dressed, Rick addressed the Fairy's question, “The cocoon is still safe. Far as I know it is still intact. I did move it, but it's in the hands of two Guardians so I think it's pretty safe.”
The Fairy scoffed, “I don't find that reassuring. It's well known amongst the Nations that this particular lot of Guardians are inept. Your leader, the Air Guardian, was raped after she had become a Guardian. She should be the most powerful among you and able to defend herself with ease but that wasn't the case was it? Your Water Guardian is hot tempered and likely to be a threat to Deshica's cocoon. Your Earth Guardian? Has a single day gone by where he hasn't injured himself? Not just minor injuries, but if any other person accumulated the number of injuries that he has by this time they would have succumbed to them and would be buried in the ground now. And you? How does the Fire Guardian let his home burn down?”
Rick jumped to his feet and pointed at the Fairy but pulled back his hand and turned his back, “You know what? Doesn't matter. The cocoon is safe and I trust Eve and Chris. I wouldn't mess with Eve on one of her good days and Chris has had my back in a few fights and I wouldn't want anyone else with me. You worry about regular people breaking in and doing something? Not with a Troll in the backyard.”
The Fairy was beside himself, “A Troll? Trolls are natural enemies to anything that lives and breathes!”
Rick was getting frustrated but he tried to hide it, “You said it's a cocoon. Even with a Fairy inside it the Troll wouldn't think it is living and breathing. Even if Kefmak knew it was a Fairy cocoon he wouldn't touch it because he listens to what C.D. tells him to do.”
The Fairy wasn't convinced, “I am going to retrieve Deshica and take her home before any harm can come to her. You will take me to her immediately so that I can do this.”
Rick actually started laughing, “Listen up whatever your name is, there is no chance of that happening this very minute. There is no chance of that happening this night. You are in the human world and it is actually kind of late so there is very little chance of C.D. and Eve being awake. Not only that but Rose Draiman is very ill and needs all of the rest she can get. I am not going over there in the middle of the night and waking them up just to satisfy you.”
The Fairy was fuming, “My name is Gonder and you would do well to remember it!”
Rick thought about extending his hand, even if it wouldn't have been a sincere gesture. Thinking better of it because his hand was nearly the size of Gonder, Rick just laid back down, “Listen up Gonder, you're more than welcome to crash here for the night but we aren't doing anything until morning. Driving in the snow is dangerous enough already and it would be even worse at night. I can't guarantee that I would even get you there alive if we made the trip so we're better of waiting anyway. Get some sleep. I'm going to get some and I would appreciate it if you actually let me get some sleep. Do. Not. Wake. Me. Up.”