“Spit it out,” Diana said kindly but firmly. “This is no time for beating around the bush.”
“Well, there was some leftover batter from the waffles,” Brandon said, “and I was hungry, so I thought I might just, uh, fry it up.”
Calvin looked down at the mess on the floor, which he could now see contained a mix of both chocolate batter and cheesy batter.
Appalling,his wyvern said, aghast, and for once, Calvin was in complete agreement with it.
“And then?” Diana said.
“And then I burned myself, I guess,” Brandon said, clearly caught between teenaged stubborn defiance and an attempt at remorse.
“I guess that’s what happens when you’re not actually a cook,” Diana said in what Calvin was pretty sure was the no-nonsense voice she used to keep wayward kids in check, and Brandon shrank back a little.
“Keep your hand under the water,” Diana said.
“Sorry.” He pushed his hand under the water, giving Diana his best hangdog look. “Are you going to tell my gran?”
“I think she needs to know about this,” Diana said, but then her voice softened. “But don’t worry about it too much. She may have some harsh words for you, but it’s only because she caresand wants you to be safe. The important thing is knowing that you’ve learned your lesson.”
“Yeah. Sure, Miss Ramos. I won’t eat leftovers again.” He paused. “Unless they’rereallygood.”
Brandon kept his face expressionless for a moment, but then he broke into an impish grin.
“Don’t make me tattle to your gran about your mischief!” Diana exclaimed, but there was a laugh in her voice, and Calvin smiled as well. Teens would be teens, he supposed – and a teen with easy access to junk food was a force to be reckoned with. Going by what he’d heard about Brandon’s grandmother, he was sure she’d keep him in check if necessary.
“Let me see your hand,” he said, and Brandon turned his wrist slightly.
It was a lot better than he’d feared – while the skin was still an angry red and looked like it might take a while to heal, it clearly wasn’t nearly as bad as it could’ve been.
“You got lucky,” he said. “But you still need to keep your hand under that water for at least another ten minutes, and then take the rest of the day off.”
Brandon opened his mouth to protest, but Calvin shook his head. “No ifs, no buts. You still might need to get medical attention.”
Brandon turned in appeal to Diana, clearly hoping that she would be kinder to him, but she just shook her head. “Your gran would kill me if I let you keep working when you’d burned yourself. When you’re done cooling your hand, you’re going to go back to her house and she can decide whether to take you to the doctor. And Iwillbe checking in with her to make sure you go there.”
Clearly the bad cop/bad cop routine was working, because Brandon hung his head once more. “Yes, ma’am.”
The clatter of a door opening drew their attention, and they turned around to see a man coming in through the back entrance – Tom, Calvin assumed.
“What’s going on here?” he exclaimed – and, after a quick explanation, he shook his head.
“Thanks for looking after this idiot,” he said, giving Brandon a light knock over the head. “I can look after him from here – I’ve had more burns than I can count, so I know the drill.”
“Thanks,” Diana said appreciatively, and Calvin nodded his gratitude as well. “Can you make sure that he makes it back to Eula’s place, and that she’s made aware of the situation?”
“Of course,” said Tom. “It’s quiet enough right now that we can close for a few minutes while I drop him off, and there are always plenty of part-timers looking for extra hours at this time of year. We’ll find someone to replace him.” His eyes narrowed. “Permanently, if he keeps this kind of behavior up.”
“I won’t do it again!” yelped Brandon. “Seriously, I learned my lesson. Please.”
“We’ll let Eula be the judge of that,” Tom said sternly, but the wink he threw in Calvin and Diana’s direction was reassuring.
“Well, I guess that’s that,” said Diana. “Should we head out, so that these two can finish up treating Brandon and lock the place up?”
“Sounds good,” Calvin said, sagging back against the wall a little as his adrenaline levels started to fall back to normal. Not that it had been a major emergency in the grand scheme of things, but Brandon’s initial yellhadbeen pretty worrying.
Now, all he had to do was head out somewhere private with Diana – somewhere that didn’t have any electricity – and somehow find a way to let her know that he could turn into a giant mythical beast, and also they were fated – should she so choose – to spend the rest of their lives together.
It was only as the lights above him flickered and then sputtered into darkness that he realized he’d leaned back against a light switch.
