Page 20 of Cassian
“You’re right.We should get together for dinner once a week, just the two of us.”He said he’d like that and agreed to meet up with him on Wednesday of next week for dinner.“Raven has late classes on that night, so we’ll have all evening to hang out too.”
After his brother left, he went to find himself a snack to hold him over until dinner.He’d heard from Raven once; she was getting things organized with the street fair and having a good time.He told her about all the work that he and Brenin had gotten done, and she was pleased with him.Cassian had already decided that the conversation with the couple would be better face-to-face.And alone in the house.He didn’t want her taking him to task in public.Not that he thought she would, but there wasno point in pushing her buttons when he didn’t have to.
It was nearly six when she got home.She looked exhausted but happy.He told her about the couple, then told her about the gun and what Brenin had done to save him.He told her three times that he was fine, but she had to check him over for herself.
“I expected you to be upset with me.”She asked him why he was all right and they’d got the people out of a bad situation.“True, but there was a gun involved.I just thought you’d be mad about that and the chances that I took.”
“You did take a chance on them, but it worked out.I’m not saying that tomorrow I might rethink being mad at you—besides, don’t look for trouble when there isn’t any.I’m not mad at you for doing what you did, but I’m a little upset with Brenin.He could have been hurt badly as his dragon had the building come down on him.That worries me.”
He didn’t know if he should be jealous or not that his brother had gotten more attention than he had when it came to what happened earlier today.Smiling to himself, he thought that he was going to be forever on his toes when it came to Raven and how to predict what she was going to react to.But it would be worth it daily if she just smiled at him the way that she was now.
“You look sappy.”He said that he felt sappy all of a sudden.“What are you thinking about that has you looking like you’ve just gotten laid?I’m sure it has nothing to do with me.”
“I was thinking about how much you’re going to keep me on my toes in the future.And I find that I love that idea more than anything else.”Raven rolled her eyes at him.“Seriously, I was worried all day about you being upset with me, and you’re more worried about my brother and him getting hurt than you were about me.If that doesn’t take your ego down, I don’t know what will.”
“He’s alone with no one to care for him.Oh, I know that you will when he needs you, but he needs a mate.I hope he gets one soon.”He told her how they were talking about that today and what Brenin had said about getting one.“Good for him.Sometimes love needs a little push in the right direction before things work out.”She looked thoughtful at him.“I believe that made more sense in my head.Anyway, I’m glad that he’s taking this seriously.He needs a woman in his life to pamper him.I don’t think he’s ever been pampered before.”
“I pamper him.”She just snorted at him.“I do.Of course, I make fun of him too and knock him around a bit, but I pamper his whiny ass.”
“See?That’s what I’m talking about.He needs someone in his life who is only for him.Like you and I are together.Someone that he can depend on and maybe even pamper her a bit, too.I can see him with a bunch of kids, too.All of them would want to be with Dad, and he’d be great at it.”
“How about us?Can you see us with kids?”She told him that she wanted some, but not right away.She really did want to get her education started right now.“I don’t blame you.And whenever you’re ready, I am as well.But we can still practice, can’t we?I mean, it’ll take an expert to create children between us.”
Again, she rolled her eyes at him, and he was fine with that.For the rest of the evening, they teased one another and had a good time.They might not spend a great deal of time together right now, but when they did, it was quality time.And he couldn’t have loved her any more than he would tomorrow.Christ, he really was sappy tonight.
Chapter 9
Brenin was enjoying his date with Megan.They’d gone to dinner, then a movie, and were now sipping their way through conversation at the local bar with a couple of beers.He usually didn’t care for the stuff, but tonight it had felt right to have.She asked him to dance, and he did so with a light in his step that he’d not felt in a long while.
“What do you know about some of the businesses that might be coming to town?I’ve heard that there is a car dealership that’s going to be huge and hire about fifty people.”He said that was right.They were going to hire mechanics, too.“That’ll be good for a lot of people.I mean, fifty jobs are better than what we have now.”
Had he not worked for his brother today, he wouldn’t have known anything about it.Another good reason to hang out with his brother, he thought.He could get information that he might not have been privy to.The second place he told her about was a manufacturing place that made bread.
“They ship all over the United States.And they make buns for quite a few restaurants.”She asked the name, and he told her he couldn’t tell her that, other than just a few hints.“That way, there aren’t any rumors going around if they decide not to come here.You understand, don’t you?”
“Oh yeah, I get it.I bet it has to do with the stock market, too.Something about a place expanding and then their profits might lower or rise for a bit.I understand completely.”They danced a couple of slow dances and something a little more jazzy.“My mom wants me to leave the pack for a larger one.I’m not sure that I want to do that.I like the hometown atmosphere right here.She said that I’d get better opportunities if I were to go to something larger.”
“There are advantages to them both, I suppose.I’ve lived in a much larger city than the town we live in now.And smaller ones.”She said she couldn’t believe there’d be something smaller than the town they both lived in.“You’d be surprised.Large towns have just as many problems as the smaller ones, but just bigger.And while I love living in the little town where everyone knows everyone, there is a lot to be said for living in one of the bigger cities, too.More nightlife for one thing.Better housing.There are opportunities, too, like your mom said.But plenty of disadvantages as well.Like here, people will help you if you need it because they know you.In the larger town, you’re not going to be getting that.Nor the friendships that you have here.You grew up here, didn’t you?”
“I did.And I love how you’re giving me the same stories as my mom did.Vague enough to want me to go and check it out, yet scary enough that I want to stay right where I’m at.”He laughed with her.“I’ll have to think about it.I did go away when I went to college, but I never liked it.It was too much, too fast all the time.”
“That’s what I thought too.And the noise?Christ, it was on all the time, even at night.”They sat down after the dance and ordered two more beers.It wouldn’t affect them like it did humans, but they still had to be careful with it.But he figured that two beers each wasn’t going to do that much to their systems.“Something that I did enjoy when I wanted it was the food.They have about every kind of food that you’d want anytime, too.I loved that.We don’t have much of a variety around here.If you don’t like pizza, you’re going to be out of luck when it comes to having food delivered.”
“I’m sick of pizza.It’s the one food that everyone thinks of when they have a crowd of people around.My mom has it at least once a week at home, and I try to avoid that night of the week.I’d rather have a salad than some of the food we have around here.”He said that he was about the same way, but he did enjoy a good sub.“The Dariy Mart has the best meatball subs if you ask me.With a bag of those kettle chips, and I’m set up.”
“Don’t get me started on the chips, too.”They talked about food for a while, just hitting on the things that they both liked and disliked.There was a lot to be said for dating someone from whereyou were.You had an idea about the same things that were going on.That could be boring too, he supposed, but they were having a wonderful time and he really hated to see it end.
“I have to work in the morning.”He told Megan that he did as well, but didn’t want to.“I’m working for your family starting in the morning.Your cousin-in-law has me going over the books for a couple of shops downtown to see why they’re struggling.I know why they’re struggling.The mister takes the cash when he comes into town and drinks it all up.Mom knows both women and she said what they need instead of a hand up is a fist to the face of their husbands is what they need.”
Brenin took her home, and he was home by ten.It had been a really good night, and he was hoping that they could get together soon.It wasn’t like either of them was going to want more out of the relationship other than good companionship, but it was nice to be able to dress up and go out with someone that you didn’t mind getting to know.
The next morning, when he got up, sleeping better than he had in a while, he decided that he was going to unpack some of the boxes that were still in his home.Mostly it was the library, and when he went into the room to start, he noticed that not only were his books on the shelf where he’d wanted them, but the boxes were broken down as well.The faeries had taken it upon themselves to do the job for him, and he couldn’t have been happier.That was when he noticed that a lot of projects he’d been putting off were finished up.
The house was cleaner than when he bought it.The dust that usually told him how long he’d not moved something was gone.Even the little cobwebs that would get into the corners of the room were gone.He loved it.Going up to the room that he’d given them to live in, he knocked before entering.
He didn’t know the protocol for having faeries in his home, but he thought that he could be polite.When they opened the door for him, they seemed surprised yet nice.He asked about the projects around the house and then told them what a great job they’d been doing.
“Oh, sir, it’s our pleasure.We’ve had so much fun keeping house for you.”He said he tried not to be too messy.“It wouldn’t matter to us.We love being able to help you out, and the books were so pretty to put on the shelves that we decided to keep that room extra tidy in the event that you needed one of them.”
