“It was one time!”
“You put all my necklaces around your ducks’ necks.”
“It was Mrs. Waddlesworth’s birthday and the flock needed to be dressed for the occasion. She has expensive tastes. And I gave them back!”
Midas’s silent glare defied words.
“Capitalism has taken your soul,” Wren said.
“As it should.”
“You’re a slave to the machine.”
“And you’re a rebel without a cause.”
“I have a cause,” Wren signed before stroking Noodle’s silky head.
“Animals taking over the world, burning Nexus to the ground, and subjugating the human race is a little farfetched,” Midas managed to drawl with lazy, sarcastic hand movements.
“Hmph. You’ll see.”
Midas gave a disinterested shrug. “As long as you let me keep my jewelry when the time comes, do what you want.”
Wren rolled his eyes. “You can keep your hoard, dragon skinwalker.”
Midas snapped his teeth at him and Wren broke into quiet laughter that was interrupted by the buzz of his phone.
He frowned, searching around for the stupid device. This was about his thirtieth one, its predecessors either broken or left in various wildernesses without any care.
He pulled it from where it had slid under a pillow.
Stop deleting my fucking number and pick upflashed across the screen.
“Hello,” he mumbled.
“Why do you always take that tone with me? You’re going to hurt my feelings one of these days, pipsqueak,” Taylor said, voice groggy with sleep but sharp as ever with sass.
“I don’t think that’s possible.”
“Look, just because I don’t give a fuck what anybody says because I’m perfect doesn’t mean I don’t have feelings too, okay?” she said brazenly. “Now, listen up. I’m pinging you over the details for a case that just came in. Some woman swears there’s a rabid, cursed raccoon in her yard and won’t hear anything else even though it’s probably, most definitely, just a regular raccoon again. So have fun with that. I’m getting my ass back to being spooned instead of putting up with this bullshit in the middle of the night.”
She hung up and Wren sighed, rubbing his burning eyes.
“How long has it been since you slept?” Midas asked.
“I caught an hour or two…yesterday? Today?” Sometimes the days just blurred together. He began scooting off the bed, cradling Noodle and nudging a sleepy Blu to hop up on his finger. “I’ll be fine.”
“I won’t heckle you like Fix about driving while tired or show you a PSA like Hart, but I will mention it.”
Wren laughed it off. “When aren’t I tired? I think it would be more dangerous for me to drive when I was well rested.”
Midas pursed his lips. “Wren.”
Wren lifted Blu up so he could nestle into his hair and sleep some more. “I’m good, Midas. Worrying will give you wrinkles.”
“Good. Then people will leave me alone.”
“It’s going to take more than that to disband your fan club, my friend. You’d have to start by cutting off those luscious locks,” he teased.
