The Truth Revealed
(Friz's Point of View)
I panicked and
hurried Regir into getting us back to our normal ages so we can talk to the
bartender, and Regir agreed, not wanting to absolutely ruin his fun. I let him
and the other six non-casino-wanted-guys-or-whatever play in the bedroom so
long as they were quiet. I cleaned up the mess that was made best I could,
scowling at the burn mark that wouldn't go away, then opened the door for the
husky.
"What took ya so
long?" he asked as he walked in.
I stuttered, "Oh,
you know. Compulsive cleaning." I was lying. I was only trying to hide any
evidence there might be. I glanced at the rug that now covered the burned
carpet, praying it would stay that way. Gary looked relatively jumpy, as did
Timler (but that was normal), and almost screamed when the husky asked who he
was.
"I'm the one
that...got a little over excited about gambling. I'm the reason suspicion was
raised, really." Gary admitted.
"His name's Gary,
by the way." I decided to say. I figured the truth would cause less
repercussions. "I'm Friz, that husky's real first name is Ghastillo, and that
bear is Timler."
"Least I ain't the
only one with a weird name. It's Jihil. Nice to meet the four o' ya." Jihil
said. "First question, if I may, why did...uh..." He snapped his fingers a couple
of times as he realized he already forgot Ghast's name.
"Just call him
Ghast." I suggested.
"Yeah, that. Why
did ye give me a fake name?" He asked.
Ghast chuckled,
"Gary has trust issues." I thought it was fairly smart boiling it down to that.
Mainly because it was mostly true, but also because it didn't hint at anything.
"Fair enough. I
also see all've showed your true ages, hell if I know how..." Jihil shook his
head. "This is so confusin'. I need an explanation, and now. Like, all of it."
His accent disappeared for those last two sentences, and I gave him a funny
look as I began explaining who we are and what all the racket that suddenly
came from the bedroom was. So far as I was concerned, Jihil was trustworthy.
Might be the accent, and I might me stereotyping, but he just sounds trusting.
I had told him about our powers, and he asked to see mine specifically, so I
summoned a typical short sword, except made from the frozen atmosphere, swung
it around a little before sheathing it in an invisible shield on my back. As
soon as I let go of the sword, it evaporated from tip to hilt. Quite frankly, I
liked that trick most. Jihil was obviously impressed, and then immediately
realized how much information I was trusting him with. I merely explained using
what I learned from his immunity to our disguises.
"I think you might
have a power too, Jihil." I offered. "You seem to be able to see things as they
really are, and I don't feel like lying to you is going to help any."
"I 'preciate that,
Friz. I wantcha to know, now, before I leave, that if there's anything you need
at all, just lemme know." He said, walking out the door. I called out my
thankfulness as he left, smiling for the first time tonight since the casino. I
flopped onto the couch face first with a sigh.
"Why does life have
to be so damn complicated?" I asked no one in particular, voice muffled by the
couch. The others came in when they heard the door open and shut, and I sat up.
They were asking what happened, and I explained plainly that I dealt with it
the right way. "That means without being dodgy about it. Seriously, it's like
shadiness is your go-to for getting people off your backs. Sometimes a good
truth or two can set things straight much more efficiently."
"That was just
lucky." Gary sighed, standing up. "By the way, I could smell your diaper from
across the room the whole time. You might wanna change."
"I think it can
wait. I need a minute." I sighed. If these kinds of things were to continue to
happen, eventually we would be too well known to be able to discreetly make a
difference. I just hope we can lay low. I decided after a minute to actually do
what I need to not to get a diaper rash, then came back into the living room.
"You know, I'm getting pretty hungry." I said.
"Then I say we
order in. We've got the money for sure, anyway." Timler suggested. For once, I
didn't disagree...