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“You still sulking?”
Balthasar stiffened, sitting up even straighter on his perch. “I do not sulk.”
“Sorry, course you don't, my mistake,” Ray replied, humor lacing the words. Balthasar scowled harder as he watched over the city.
“Sorry,” Ray repeated with a sigh as he sat on the ledge next to Balthasar's perch, legs dangling over the side of the building. “I'm not making fun, really. It's just, there's nothing personal about this, you know that.”
“If you have complaints about my work, I would like to hear them.”
He glanced over to see saw Ray roll his eyes as he answered. “It isn't about that. You and me, we've had to figure out a lot of stuff to make sure the District's taken care of. And we're a good team – nobody I'd rather have back me up than you, 'Sar.”
“And yet you're bringing another gargoyle into our territory,” he replied, voice flat.
“I'm not bringing in anything. Or anyone. I'm offering shelter to someone who doesn't have anywhere else to go. Isn't that what this place is all about?”
“There are other cities.” He tried to keep the hurt from his voice, but was certain Ray heard it anyway. The man was infuriatingly perceptive at times.
“Maybe. But he asked to come here, and he didn't have to do that. Ask, I mean. And he's just a kid. Of the big winged, fanged muscle-bound made of stone variety, yeah, but a kid.” Ray cocked his head. “Is that the problem, that he's young? You not like kids?”
“I don't have an opinion in either direction.”
Ray blew out a long breath. “Look, I promise you, he's not coming here to replace you, or because I don't think you can protect the District, or anything like that. Do I think he can help? Maybe. We'll have to see, both of us, make that decision. But he wants to help, and wants to be here, and I'm not gonna tell him no. So will you at least give him a chance?”
He stopped at that, and Balthasar mulled it over, taking a few minutes to look over the city he loved, the district he'd had sworn to himself to protect.
“If I must,” he finally relented.
“Great!” Ray replied, giving him a pat on the shoulder as he stood. “This is gonna work out fine. I can feel it.”
Balthasar's feelings were decidedly not as optimistic, but he kept them to himself.
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“You are lucky that Ray's the forgiving sort,” Balthasar said after the rooftop door had closed.
“What do you mean?”
Balthasar gave Nick a pointed look. “You tread on the line of insubordination too often. It's going to come back to haunt you at some point.”
Nick rolled his eyes. “And you'll be there, just ready to say 'I told you so' when it does, I'll bet.”
“I'm just trying to help.”
“You're just trying to tell me what to do, you mean,” Nick fired back. “Times have changed. People along with it. Boss doesn't mind my sassing him, as long as I do my job.”
“Perhaps.”
“No perhaps about it. You need to relax. You're going to crack something, uptight as you always are.”
Balthasar tried to bite back a reply, but couldn't stop himself from continuing to argue. “And he has a name, you know. Honestly, you say I'm out of touch, but you insist on calling him 'boss' like we're in some old gangster film. Just because we're in Chicago doesn't mean you have to act like you're part of some mob.”
“It's a sign of respect.”
“It's ridiculous.”
“I mean it in a good way, it's fun, and he doesn't mind,” Nick said, stretching a wing as he rebalanced himself on his pedestal. “Besides, we are kind of in the protection business, just not strong-arming folks into accepting it. Or you know, being the threat they need protecting from.”
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“You talking to me yet?” Nick asked. Balthasar didn't respond, not that Nick expected him to. Nothing more stubborn than a gargoyle. Luckily, being one himself, Nick was just as stubborn, if not more so. “Seriously, I don't see what the big deal was. Is. Whatever.”
More silence. Nick reigned in a sigh and shifted on his perch, looking out over the district he loved. “Not like it'd break your heart if I'd been taken out, anyhow,” he muttered to himself.
That, surprisingly, was what finally got a reaction.
“What did you say?” Balthasar's voice was smooth as glass, and cold as ice.
“I said it wasn't a big deal.”
“Not that,” Balthasar sneered. “That statement's ridiculous enough, but no, after that.” He glared at Nick. “Do you really think I want you dead?”
Nick hoped the look he shot Balthasar at that fully conveyed just how much he believed it. “Please. You've made it no secret just how much you don't want me here, how useless you think I am. Me being turned to rubble would solve that.”
Balthasar frowned, but didn't deny it. After a few moments of silence, Nick turned back to watch the slow fade of stars as night began its journey on to make room for a new day. He tried to pretend it was fine what the older gargoyle thought, that it didn't matter. He sighed deeply, then winced when the movement made the slash on his chest twinge. He'd almost forgotten the physical damage he'd taken, heartsore as he was.
A scrape of stone on stone was all the warning he got before Balthasar was in his space, landing by his side and placing one clawed hand on his shoulder.
“Let me see ,” he said in a tone that brooked no nonsense as he turned Nick to face him. He regarded the wound closely. “You were lucky it didn't go deeper, but some rest and you'll be fine. Might leave a scar, but you young idiots all seem to like that these days.” He sighed long-sufferingly. “I suppose I'll be taking patrols for the next week or so, to make sure you don't aggravate that.”
Nick just stared, wide-eyed with shock. Balthasar met his eyes, and Nick could see the remorse in them. “I find you reckless, undisciplined, impudent, and irritatingly cheerful, but I don't want you dead,” Balthasar told him matter-of-factly. “That I've made you think that is unforgivable, but I'll ask forgiveness nonetheless.”
It took Nick a few tries to get his voice to work, and when he finally could speak, it was still even more gravelly than usual. “You serious about that?”
“Completely. I've perhaps been more territorial than I should be, but I've been the only gargoyle here for years. And even before I came here, I preferred to work alone.”
“So you don't want me dead, but you don't want me here.”
Balthasar looked past Nick, face contorting as he tried to get his next words out. “I'll admit that I felt that way when you first arrived. But you've proved your usefulness, and more importantly, your loyalty to the District.” He nodded toward Nick's chest. “You were willing to die tonight in service of those below. That's not something that should be turned away.”
Nick felt a smile forming as hope bloomed in his chest. “So you're not gonna tell the Boss I should go?”
Balthasar rolled his eyes. “His name is Ray, and no, I won't tell him anything of the sort.” Nick's smile widened; Balthasar shot him a quelling look. “But I am going to tell him that you need more training, so you can avoid getting killed when you try another stunt like tonight.” His look turned sly. “Or maybe a leash would be better.”
“A joke?” Nick gasped. “You told a joke! There's hope for you yet!” he exclaimed with a laugh, feeling light as a feather with relief.
“Funny, I was just thinking the same about you,” Balthasar replied with a hint of a smile.
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“Nice to see you found your way home.”
Nick ignored Balthasar as he landed on his perch in a mostly-neat way. Wasn't like he'd been out carousing or anything. He'd been legitimately on city sweep, and the other gargoyle knew it.
“Are you just going to ignore me? Or did you need to concentrate to land safely?”
“Give it a rest, old timer,” Nick huffed. “Patrols take as long as they take. Not my fault you had to do yours in the rain last night.”
“And yet, I was still back well before dawn. You've cut it a bit close.”
“Found something,” Nick replied, then amended, uncertainly, “Well found a maybe-something.”
“Really? And was this mysterious something a party?”
Nick rolled his eyes. “One time. I blew off early one time. Give it a rest.”
“We have a job to do here, Nicholas. You know that, and yet you won't take it seriously.”
“I'm not the one deciding harassment is more important that what's going on out there.”
Balthasar let out a deep, long-suffering sigh. “All right, I'll ask. What did you find tonight?”
“I'm not sure,” Nick admitted, going on before the older gargoyle could respond. “Best I can say is that there's a weird energy in the air, and it's got folks spooked.”
Balthasar closed his eyes, stone brow furrowing a moment. “I don't sense anything,” he replied as he opened his eyes again.
“Yeah, no, you wouldn't, not from here. It's farther out, just past the edge of the district. But whatever it is, it's powerful.”
“And you think it's coming here.”
Nick shrugged. “I think it's worth telling the boss about. Not for me to decide what to do beyond that.”
Balthasar thought a moment. “How far out was it?”
Nick shrugged again, wings and shoulders slumping. “I couldn't tell. Probably would have been better if you'd been out tonight, I guess.”
Balthasar hid his surprise as that. “Well, if it hasn't gotten to the district yet, I'd say we have a bit of time before we need to let Ray know. We'll both go out tonight as soon as the sun sets, see what we can find, and then we'll tell him.”
“Yeah?” Nick asked, hope clear in his gravelly voice.
“You know I want our reports to be as complete as possible.”
“You know, for an old geezer, you're all right, 'Sar.”
Balthasar sighed at the nickname, hiding the fact that he actually didn't mind it. But he made sure his tone wasn't too serious when he replied, “And for a disrepectful whippersnapper, I suppose you aren't too bad yourself, Nick.”
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“I never thought I'd see the day,” Balthasar said, shaking his head.
“What day is that?”
“When we work with a vampire.”
“Boss doesn't seem to have a problem with him.” Nick narrowed his eyes at Balthasar, sitting back on his haunches as he realized, “You think he should, though.”
“I think that I've never heard of anything good coming from working with their kind.”
“What, you think he's going to try and bite you?” Nick exclaimed with a laugh. “He'd chip a tooth!”
“This isn't funny, Nick. Ray doesn't know what he's gotten himself into.”
“Maybe, maybe not,” he shrugged. “But it isn't our call. Boss's always followed his own drummer, you know that. And if Gramps is okay with him, which Fraser would never have made it up here if he wasn't, I think we should at least give the guy a chance, bloodsucker or no.”
“I think you're biased. You've taken a liking to his companion.”
“Dief does seem pretty cool,” Nick grinned. “Which is another point in his favor.”
“Perhaps,” Balthasar allowed.
“Listen, 'Sar, if you're really worried, we'll just keep a closer eye on things, okay? Because you and I both know that once the boss has made up his mind, anything we say is just gonna go in one ear and out the other.”
Balthasar sighed. “You're right about that. I just... there's something going on, and whatever it is, it's big. I can feel it, grating against my nerves. And I am convinced this Fraser is involved.”
“So we start with figuring him out,” Nick said. “Just, not in a way that'll piss anybody off. If you're right, we'll be ahead of the game. If not, we'll just keep our snooping to ourselves, no harm, no foul.”
“You think I'm wrong, don't you?”
“Yeah, but that doesn't matter. You got a hunch, we're going to follow up on it. I'll back your play, as long as it's not you flying off half-cocked, which isn't your m.o.”
Balthasar looked genuinely surprised, but pleased. “Thank you.”
Nick gave him a cocky grin. “Hey, what are partners for?”