Jason grinned, folding his arms on the table in front of him.“Over pizza, which you can’t have now.More for me.I’ll get fat.”
Jason turned to his left, and Raven followed his gaze.Heath was speed-walking toward their table.He and Maxim are almost the same height.They move sort of similarly, but Maxim is quieter, more restrained.He’s like a whisper, and Heath is a whistle.
Heath looked left and right as he approached them, then picked the chair next to Raven.
When he sat, he frowned.“Is that dog for real?”
Raven ran a hand through Ume’s fur.“He’s warm.Fluffy too.”
“Also shameless.Anyway—” He glanced at Jason.“—do I need to NDA you, or can you keep quiet?”
Jason straightened.“Hunter business?”
“No.”Heath fixed his gaze on Raven.“This is more…sensitive.Tell me about all the trash he keeps up there.”
“Huh?”
Heath tapped his fingers on the table.“I can’t sneak to that floor, because Bryan won’t let me.He did let me see it from the elevator that one time when I pinky promised I wouldn’t go in, but… Well.Look, I just want to know how bad it is and what I can help you do about it.”Heath brightened.“I’m here to help.”
Jason clinked his ice cubes again.“When did this turn into some kind of conspiracy?I thought Raven and I were going to temp and nothing more.”
Heath coughed, then cleared his throat.“There’s no conspiracy.It’s just that the old bat is very…old.He has issues.It’s like…have you ever kept stuff because you thought you might be able to use it later, but really if you give it some rational thought, you know you won’t?Like those complimentary chopsticks they have when you grab Chinese takeout?You take them even if you have perfectly good chopsticks at home, and then they just sit there.”
Jason shrugged.“We’ve all done that sometimes.Plus, those chopsticks are great.”
Heath’s tapping on the table grew faster in rhythm.“But if you never used your chopsticks, and you kept collecting them for a couple of decades, you’d have a lot of chopsticks that no one ever uses.Basically a lot of trash overflowing your kitchen drawer.No one wants that.”
Jason sighed.“You sound like someone who owns a dishwasher, you know.I don’t, and let me tell you, I like those chopsticks.”
Heath groaned.“I think you’re missing the point.”
“And I think your dishwasher privilege is showing.”
A server brought Jason his food, something with all the rainbow colors and whole wheat bread.Raven sniffed the air but found that all he could pick out was the scent of the blood he had in front of him.He took another sip, enjoying the flavor.
“Huh, that looks…very rich in fiber.”Heath straightened his tie.“Blood is so much easier to digest.Not if you’re human, of course.But it’s really one of my most favorite things about it.How easy it is to just…digest.”
“Well, I will say it tastes nothing like I thought it’d taste like,” Jason said, then bit into his food.
Heath watched him intently before taking a deep breath and turning back to Raven.“I’d set a fire, but that would upset Bryan.Do you think you can accidentally set a fire?At least to a few things?”
“Dude,” Jason said, his mouth full.“Ahh-son.”
Heath shrugged.“Barely.Raven?”
“It’s…probably not as much stuff as you think.I definitely didn’t see any chopsticks.”Although Maxim had shown him Heath’s baby spoon, the silver having gone all tarnished with age.It would need to be polished to a shine.
Heath looked at him with wide eyes.“Oh, no.No, no, no.Did he promise you anything?I’ll double it.”
Raven continued to pet Umeboshi, feeling the dog’s chest rise and fall with his slow breaths.I guess Heath’s close with his dad.I wonder what that’s like.If you take the arson out of it.
“He didn’t offer me anything.”
Heath sagged back in his chair.“Well, something fucking happened.Raven, no one needs the stuff he keeps, no one.Please.If he somehow convinced you not to aid and abet me in getting rid of it in the most efficient manner, at least tell him it… I don’t know.Maybe tell him hoarding all this stuff makes him look old.You know, you’d think he isn’t vain, but he totally is.”
Jason swallowed a bite of his sandwich.“Hey, when I first met your dad, I thought he was really good-looking.I mean, I was pretty upset at the time, but you’d have to be blind not to see him in that black outfit and not realize he’s pretty damn attractive.”
Heath slow-blinked at Jason.“Thank you for that very informative evaluation.Hearing about how hot my dad is always makes me feel that special kind of weird I can’t get anywhere else.”
