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The Gift

Richard's (FA) Storyline, Chapter 3.3

copyright comidacomida 2018

My empty brain quickly filled itself with a new jumble of thoughts and questions. Jack was kissing me. Why did he kiss me? It was definitely an expression of adoration, but it was also as 'proper' as anything I'd expect from him. Did he think of me 'that way' or was it just another difference between how Humans and Spirits interacted? He'd known me since I was born. Wasn't that like kissing a family member? I enjoyed it, though. Did I enjoy it? Why did I enjoy it so much? Did I enjoy it that much?

Yes, I realized, I really did, and I found myself melting in his grasp. The run-on list of thousands of thoughts came to a halt the moment Sabrina's voice broke the silence. "We have found the Jackal."

Phillip followed up with an irreverent "Should we come back later?"

Sabrina tittered, but she elbowed her brother regardless. Jack quickly disengaged, his feathers puffed up again as he cleared his throat, fidgeting. "Ah... well... I... um..."

Seeing as he was a loss for words and I felt more than a little embarrassed (and confused), I quickly set aside the plethora of mind-numbing questions and I reached out to give Jack's talon a light squeeze. "If they found Anapa then we should go check on him... but I want to talk later... okay?"

I could tell that he was embarrassed but whether it was due to his actions or the interruption I didn't know, but there was still an obvious hint of tempered eagerness. "Of course. T'would be an honor for me to get any amount of thy time, my boy."

It was Sabrina's time to mumble something under her breath and Phillip was blatant in his joy at finally getting a chance to elbow her back. Shortly thereafter we were out on the street and I was following the Cats along the sidewalk toward downtown. It was not a short walk and we actually went past the campus, continuing down toward Commercial Street near where most of the large bank offices were in town.

We passed city hall and were approaching the court house without having made a single turn and I was just about to ask about the clarity of their direction when both cats stopped and Phillip pointed to a crosswalk. "We'll cross here, and we'll find him just one block up."

Phillip and Sabrina both crossed the street, heedless of traffic. Cars continued their path and each Cat was hit at least once, but the vehicles passed right through them. Being slightly more tangible, and a lot more likely to suffer adverse effects of stepping into the road against traffic I waited fro the crosswalk. Jack waited for me. He looked out across the street and murmured quietly. "I pray that I did not overstep my bounds with thee, Richard."

Reaching my arm out to my side, I ran my fingers against his talon, interweaving them for just a moment before putting my hands in my pocket. "No. It's okay, Jack. I... I... you know... liked it."

I glanced his way for a moment when he didn't respond. He had a talon over his beak and all of his feathers were puffed up, but what I really noticed were his eyes, which blazed so visibly that it looked like they had a corona of light surrounding them. When he saw me looking he closed his eyes and his nares reddened even more, face feathers puffing up so much they almost looked like a lion's mane. He managed to stumble through a response. "Oh... well... good. I-- I am pleased."

Phillip called from across the street. "The path is clear, Warlock!"

Sure enough, as I looked back to the crosswalk I saw the WALK sign lit. I quickly shoved down my own embarrassment and willed the redness out of my cheeks and jogged across the street to meet back up with them. As soon as we were a group again the Cats continued down the street until we arrived at a large four story building. It was one of those brick buildings where the ground floor was leased out to businesses but everything higher up was filled with office space. The Cats didn't even slow down and, arriving at what looked like a coffee shop, turned to the right and walked right through the door.

Jack stayed closer to me and I opened the door, smiling. He bowed his head, as much in thanks as to avoid the door frame and I walked in after him, coming to a stop immediately behind my three spirits; they weren't the only ones in the coffe shop. Seated against the far wall was a young woman about my age. She was at a table with a laptop in front of her and a cup next to it but, more importantly, she was joined at the table by a Bear, a Rhino, and what looked like a gigantic Raven wearing a hoodie. And Anapa was there too, standing right next to her. I froze as surely as my companions, and it looked like the Jackal did too.

The barista behind the counter called to me "Good morning! Take your time and let me know when you're ready to order."

My focus went back to the girl sitting with the spirits but I kept up appearances by answering the lady behind the counter. "Oh... uh... sure. Thanks! I'll need a minute... it's my first time here."

She went back to doing whatever baristas did whenever they weren't filling orders. "Sure. Take your time, hon."

The girl at the computer was watching me like a hawk, as if she were caught doing something she shouldn't, or maybe as if I was and she was the one to catch me. Realizing there would be no way out of it, I readied myself for what I hoped would be a peaceful confrontation; I remembered hoping that she wouldn't call any attention to us. Phillip certainly didn't help. "Look at that, Sabrina-- another Seer!"

Although his statement was accompanied by obvious excitement, Sabrina took a slightly calmer approach. "Two in one city? It is as if we were back east in Salem once again."

Despite the conversation going on between the two Cats my eyes remained focused on the girl with the spirits; the Bear was obviously not happy to have additional spirits nearby and I didn't like the disapproving scowl on his muzzle; the Rhino was just as stoic, but at least he didn't have huge, sharp teeth. The Raven, out of all of them, seemed the most neutral about it and, if I'm being honest, I think he looked like he was getting a kick out of it.

Jack rested a talon on my shoulder and pointed. "There he is, my boy... with the lady."

Leave it to my Gryphon to focus on the task at hand; I'd seen Anapa, but he was certainly eager to help. Realizing there would be absolutely zero chance to resolve the mystery of the disappearing Jackal without some kind of interaction I played through different ways to engage her in discussion without coming across as weird to those who didn't know what was going on-- which was to say, everyone except the two of us. In the end I walked up to her with what I hoped would be a relaxed smile. "Hi... is this seat taken?"

I'd indicated the two chairs at the table not occupied by a spirit; with any luck it'd remove any doubt in her mind that I knew she had company. Looking up out of the top of her eyes with her face still pointed toward the screen she offered a half-shrug. "Um... no. It isn't."

I pulled out two chairs and gave a faint motion of my head to Jack; he got the picture. The two of us sat down while I pulled out a small notebook I kept in my front shirt pocket for my shopping list and a pen I kept with it. The first meet-up with the Cats in the cafeteria had taught me a lot about getting away with spirit discussions in public and I began writing a question I really wanted to say while I spoke small-talk aloud. "I like your laptop... you must be a writer, huh? Journalism student or something?"

Jack spoke what I'd really wanted to say. "My Seer greets thee on equal ground and wishes to know how thou hast come by Anapa."

I watched as she slid her chair a little closer to the Bear, who seemed to pick up on the technique as quickly as she. Verbally she spoke "Just writing... I hope to get a novel published one day."

As she was typing I continued the verbal discussion. "That's cool. What kind of stories do you write?"

She spoke, still typing; I had a feeling not all of it was for him to read to me. Was she giving him directions? I remember wondering if I should have been worried. She spoke again as she finished typing. "Fantasy mostly. Do you like fantasy?"

The Bear stood and placed his paws on the table. When he spoke he had a deep voice with an obvious Russian accent in the same way Jack had a British one. "The real question is, how do YOU know him... boy?"

Jack stood up to match the Bear's posture, wings spread at the ready but, to quickly forestall any threat of violence I slid my pad in his direction after hastily writing something down. He scowled but nodded to me and sat. The Gryphon motioned to me then himself then the Jackal. "The both of us first met Anapa... ah... due, let us say, to a life interrupted."

I remember Jack mentioning something about eye color of Spirits being important and I noticed that the Bear's eyes were the same golden color as the Gryphon's. The big ursine took a seat and turned to the girl. "This Gryphon is a Guardian Spirit, Lapushka... I do not believe he is a threat unless the man is."

The Rhino narrowed his eyes at me and let out a snort, lowering his horned nose in my direction as he demanded in a voice that was somehow impossibly lower than the Bear's. "Are you a threat, stranger?"

Having paused in our verbal discussion for a lengthy period of time I answered the Rhino's question and the girl's question at the same time. "No... not really. I'm more into non-fiction myself."

The Raven spoke up for the first time since my arrival. "What are you doing here?"

Sabrina answered for me, pointing at Anapa. "Our Warlock asked us to help him find the Jackal."

Forestalling any implications or insinuations, I started much more simply, holding out my hand. "My name's Richard. Richard Ford."

She took my hand in hers and gave it a shake. "Stephanie Brenner."

Looking around at the large group of spirits at the table I looked down at my pad of paper and I--