JohnHKnight

So someone told me that the easiest way to get on trending as a new author is to post several time a given day, so testing this hipothesys today there will be three chapters.

‘Are you sure about this?’ asked Jenna. She took off her sneakers and put her feet on Robert’s bed as she sat in the usual armchair. 

This was Robert's last night in hospital. He was going to be dismissed in the morning when the paperwork was done. Rose already left days ago and Robert couldn't stay put anymore knowing that his brother might be in danger. 

It was early evening, five days after he came back from his coma. By now he could walk medium-length distances and thanks to the medical sorcerers, he didn't have any physical reminder of his brain surgery. Even his red hair looked the same as before, only a little longer. 

‘No, of course I'm not,' answered Robert with a sigh. 'But I cannot stay here any longer,'  

He was in his bed, with a book in his lap. Even though Dr Kim found him fit enough to leave the hospital, Robert still couldn't cast the simplest spells. He made it look like it wasn't a big deal because he didn't want Jenna to feel bad for him, but if it wasn't for his missing brother and the fact he wanted to look strong in front of the woman, he would have freaked out very badly.

'Up to you,' said the girl now with a little shrug. 'But I'm gonna go with you, you know that right?

Robert closed his book and put it on the nightstand, next to a box of grapes. There were always grapes around. Jenna made a point of having them and every time a box emptied she was already on her feet to run and get more. Robert suspected that it was some kind of act of compensation, the illusion that there was something she can do, hence she kept some things under control. The man had the courtesy not to tell her that he didn't like grapes.  

'You were here with me all along, Jenna. You have your own life, I'm sure you have better things to do than babysitting an old man. You have a job, for instance.'

'Yeah, about that… ' Jenna put her feet onto the ground and leaned forward a little. She looked in thoughts as if she wasn't sure how to say what she wanted to say. 'There is something I wanted to talk about. It's kinda… Complicated?'

Robert nodded although he didn't know what was complicated. He just figured it's better if he let the girl talk. 

'Remember when I kissed you and then I said it meant nothing?'

'Vividly,' said Robert. 

'That wasn't exactly true…'

'I'm shocked.'

'Shut up and let me talk, moron!' she burst out. Robert nodded again, fought off a smile and Jenna continued: 'So I was scared. I never felt like this before… Or at all for that matter… And I chickened out.'

Robert wasn't sure whether he was allowed to answer or not, and Jenna was staring at her knees, so he couldn't read her face. He stayed quiet but reached out and took her hand. That turned out to be the right thing to do because the woman looked at their touching hands surprised for a moment, but then she caught Robert's eyes and continued.

'Then you almost died. And I was scared before, yeah, but when I thought you gonna die, well that was fucking terrifying. So I promised myself that if you ever going to wake up, I'm not gonna be playing stupid games. So what I'm trying to say is that I think I kinda like you. So you know, if you ever have some spare time, we could have a coffee, or I don't know, go to the cinema, find your brother, whatever sounds good for you. You know, like a date.'    

Jenna's face was nervous as she was waiting for the answer. Robert didn't say anything for so long the girl started to talk again.

'I mean, I know it's probably not a good idea, there is this whole family war thing and…' 

She couldn't finish because Robert pulled her out of her chair, into the bed, where he hugged and kissed her. They kissed for a very long time, then Jenna put her head onto Robert's chest. 

'So I take it as a yes for dating,' she said, and Robert laughed quietly then kissed her again.

They talked about the next day, what they were going to do and how, then they kissed a little more and some time later Jenna fell asleep. Robert put the blanket over her and kissed her forehead. He couldn't sleep that easily, so he just laid there, listened to the girl's quiet huffing and watched the light fading into night. 

The next morning a nurse woke them up with her outraged complaining about how young people thought they could do anything. Robert tried to explain that she was misunderstanding the situation, and they were only sleeping, nothing else happened, but the old lady wasn't willing to listen to him. The fact that Jenna sometime during the night got up, took off her jeans and now only wore her panties and a tank top, didn't help. 

The nurse left, still mumbling about disrespectful young people and their sinful lifestyle after Jenna asked her if she wanted to join the next round. 

'C'mon, nobody has to know!' said the girl loudly after the old woman and closed the door. 

Robert got up, stretched, then went to the wardrobe and checked out the clothes Jenna brought him yesterday from his apartment. He tried very hard not to glimpse at the girl's naked legs, and failed spectacularly on at least three different occasions. 

'I was hoping for my navy blue suit…' he mentioned, looking at the clothes now. 

'And I always wanted to be a pilot. You can't have everything you want, Montgomery,' said Jenna, putting on her pants.

Robert picked up the clothes and visited the tiny bathroom. There he looked into the mirror in thought. His face looked narrower and a little too pale and he had an impressive brownish-reddish beard.

'Jenna…?

'Yes?'

'What do you think about my beard?'

'Keep it!' said the girl a little too quickly. Robert put his head out of the opened door and looked at her with an eyebrow lifted.

'I always thought that you would look good with a beard,' she explained.

'Always? How long were you measuring my appearance, Miss Carano? 

'Not as long as you would like to think, Professor. Now get busy, Marcus is gonna be here any minute.'

Robert realised that he didn't have a razor or ability to use magic, so shaving was off the table anyway. He put on the clothes Jenna chose for him: a simple pair of blue jeans, a white shirt and a black knitted jumper. Instead of a decent pair of shoes, he only had sneakers, but he had to admit, the general impression wasn't half bad. 

'It's nice to see you in something other than pyjamas,' said Jenna when he stepped out of the bathroom. 'That reminds me…'

She took out something from behind the armchair. It was a bigger, flat box wrapped in blue paper.

'Here. It's not really a gift, but I thought you might gonna like it.'

Robert teared up the paper and opened the box. In it, there was his coat, neatly folded, its colour like the sky right before a thunderstorm. He took it out and put it on. It felt good, almost like getting back a piece of himself. He needed that badly, he already lost so much from what he considered to be Robert Montgomery.

'I thought it was ruined,' he said, admiring his reflection in the mirror.

'It was,' answered Jenna. 'I had it fixed. I also had them put more defensive magic in it because it looks like as you are getting older, you aren't as fast to avoid curses as you used to be…'

Robert didn't know what to say. He was actually touched. Fortunately, he had another way to show his gratitude, so he grabbed Jenna, pulled her in a hug and kissed her. The girl's hand found their way into his hair, and his palm touched bare skin under Jenna's top at her waist. Robert felt Jenna's breast pressed up against his chest. Things were getting out of hand quickly, and Robert was about to take off the woman's tank top, they slowly walked towards the bed... Then the old nurse returned.

'It's not… We are just…'

'Save it,' she said grumpily. 'Here is your final report, signed by Dr Kim. Now get the hell out of my hospital, and for the love of God, get a room!'

She left, shaking her head. Jenna grinned at Robert.

'In all fairness, that is not the worst idea…' pointed out Robert.

Jenna laughed. 

'We have a lot of things to do, and I mean, besides each other.'

'I could be very quick…' negotiated Robert.

'That's reassuring. How about we find your brother first? I mean, not like I want him to join, you know, but let's prioritise here.'

'Right,' Robert nodded. 'I'm sure he is fine, mind you. If any of the crime lords would have killed him, they would be bragging about it all over the city. It's hard to kill a Montgomery.'

Robert considered all the possibilities again and again, and the most likely was that Benjamin got caught by someone and was held captured. They only had to find out by whom, and bring Benjamin home. Easy.  

'Amen to that,' nodded Jenna. 'Still, Benjamin first, room later. Plus, you didn't even take me out for a date yet.'

Jenna put on her leather jacket, while Robert shoved the papers into a backpack. 

'Does ghoul killing count? It was romantic, sort of. Up until the rotten moving corpses.'

'It does count,' nodded Jenna. 'But it was my thing. You need to figure out your own date.'

'Did I hear "date"?' asked Marcus from the doorway. He looked stunning, as always, in a dark blue suit with a white shirt and no tie. 'Gosh, I haven't had any in like… Days! Why are you two talking about dates, by the way? Did he finally confess his undying love to you, Jenna?'

'Shut up,' replied Robert. 'What's that for?'

Marcus held a walking stick, identical to the one Robert used on Trafalgar Square. That one was destroyed by the gigantic amount of magic that went through it (much like its owner, Robert thought sourly).

Marcus threw the cane to him, and he caught it. This one was slightly heavier than the others he had before.

'What do you mean, "what's that for?",' asked back Marcus. 'You cannot go to fight without weapons, mate.'

'I still cannot use magic, Marcus,' said Robert in an empty voice.

'I know, I know,' he nodded, and walked into the room. 'That's why I asked the girls and boys at the MAGE lab to make some adjustments.'

He took the cane back, whirled it between his fingers then knocked the end of it to the floor. 

'First of all, it has a sword in it, like your old one, because apparently you are a very old man in your soul, and you think swords still should be a thing.'

Jenna laughed. Robert just waved impatiently and Marcus continued.

'Also, if you look at it closely, you will find a little panel, right about… Here,' he opened up a tiny door on the cane. There were two little buttons under it, one blue and one red. He pushed the blue ones, and the air was filled with electric crackling.

'It's a taser, strong enough to take out a vampire if needed. Just touch the ball top thingy to the guy you want to knock out, and be careful not to tase yourself. Don't overuse it on humans though. Also…' Marcus turned the cane upside down and showed them the other end, the one supposed to touch the ground. It looked normal until he pushed the red button. A little window right on the top of the cane opened with a quiet clink, and a Signum jumped out, covered in ink, ready to use. 

'That's clever,' admitted Robert and he was moved again. 'Thank you, my friend.'

'If you wanna kiss him too, I can go get a coffee or something,' said Jenna with an evil little smile.

Marcus looked at them confused. 

'You guys are kissed? So you did talk about dates!' he said triumphantly. 'When, where, can I come? No, it would be weird, right?'

'Can I tase him?' asked Jenna. Robert laughed but kept the cane out of Jenna's reach, just in case.