Chapter 12

Now that Drake was heading out on a hopeless date, Blake wanted to avoid the house for a little while. He didn’t want to be there when Drake came back early after being rejected. Yes, he was being rather pessimistic about his little brother’s chances, but he honestly believed Drake wouldn’t last any longer than an hour on a date. Crimson was smart, beautiful, and had Zarek practically fawning over her.

Billy was probably still working on his arm brace, but it had been a while since Blake had a chance to exercise on his own. Sure the thing helped, but he wanted to know if it was pretty much the only reason he still had strength in his arm or if his own muscles could manage. “Now, where’s the nearest gym anyway? Can’t be too far.”

Actually it was a very fair distance away. Their home was located closer to a business district, filled with shops and stores for all kinds of things. No real place for a gym there. It had been so long Blake actually called a friend of his from work to ask where a nice place to work out was. After a long flight, and across half the city, he finally found the gym.

“Mental note, convince Drake to start a fitness program or something and build more of these places. Half the workout I’m getting is just getting to and from the gym.” he muttered as he pushed open the doors and walked inside. All manner of weights and equipment could be found. No wonder there weren’t many gyms, this one place seemed to have enough stuff for half the island.

“New to the place? You had that glassy look in your eyes for a moment, like this place was totally foreign. Anyway, what kind of workout were you hoping for? I’ll show you to the proper area.”

An extremely burly young common dragon approached him. He almost reminded Blake of James, but about… half a meter shorter and his shoulders weren’t quite as broad. Well, that and this one already had a few nasty scars on his arms and face visible.

“I got injured a couple months ago and my arm’s normally got a brace on it. Figured it was about time to see if I’m recovering at all or if that thing’s gonna be stuck on my arm for the rest of my life. Besides, it’s being repaired after it took a bullet the other night. Yeah, complicated but, I’m here and I’m looking for a decent workout.”

“Hey, now I remember you. Thought your face was a little familiar. You’re that cop that survived a huge shooting. And not only that, you uh… you kinda arrested me once when I was a bit younger and had a lot less muscle on me.”

Normally something like that would make Blake nervous. Except this guy seemed pretty calm, almost happy. And it wasn’t often someone was happy about meeting the cop who arrested them. “So uh… that’s a good thing?”

“You kidding? Best thing that ever happened to me. Straightened me out, got me working out when I was in jail. Got me a few new scars too, but hey, it happens. Getting put behind bars I actually got to think about my life ya know? And now I’m here as assistant manager. No hard feelings at all, you were doing your job and I deserved to be put in jail. Besides, that was back before Protector came along. And I’d rather be arrested by someone like you than a big metal guy who could probably break me in half.”

Blake actually smiled at that. It was kinda strange when he got compliments from former criminals about how he arrested them. Although it did make him feel useful, like he was making a difference. “Alright. Well, I need someone to spot me when I go to the weight bench. And looking at those arms of yours I think you’re the kind of person I can count on if my injury causes me to slip.”

Every time he lifted the weights his arm felt like it was burning again. What was normally a dull ache was turning into pins and needles being jammed into his arm. Several times he almost lost his grip on the weights. Never one to give up, even though it was probably messing up his arm, Blake kept going until he absolutely had to stop. First thing he did when he was off the weight bench was run to the bathroom and run cold water over his arm. “Ow ow ow ow ow! If I ever get my hands on him for shooting me, he’ll pay. And when I get my hands on Zarek for making that stupid thing so it could overheat and BURN me…” Blake’s angry complaints stopped suddenly as the common dragon opened the bathroom door.

“You alright? I can call for an ambulance or something if you want.”

“No, I’m fine. I was just going to go and see my doctor anyway. Thanks for your help with the workout. I should come here more often.”

While Blake was practically making every attempt to injure himself further lifting weights, Drake was just being dropped off at Tiffany’s home. Heru would come back and pick him up when called. Other than that, the prime minister was now on his own for his first date in years. And walking up to the door, he was nearly bowled over by Pik dashing out the door and heading down the street.

“Sorry about my son. He figured it would be best for both our sakes if he went and saw his girlfriend. So I guess it’s just you and me now Mr. Drake.”

And Drake got his first real look at Tiffany. Rynn had described her as a little more plain, and the picture of her in that magazine hardly did her justice. Actually, as far as Drake was concerned, she was beautiful. And she wasn’t even really dressed up much. He suddenly felt silly for all his wardrobe concerns. What made him handsome or not wasn’t a suit or a tie, it was just himself. “Please, call me Drake. I… I guess he didn’t want it to be awkward. Oh, uh, I brought you something.”

He was blushing. Drake could hardly think as she stood in front of her home, looking beautiful. Nervously, his hands shaking so much he almost dropped the flowers, Drake handed them over to her. A dozen irises, all fresh picked by Rynn before he came here, but still. Tiffany smiled and gladly accepted them before he could drop the beautiful purple and white flowers. “Thank you, they’re wonderful. Why don’t we go inside and talk for a bit, and I can put these in some water.”

“Okay, sounds good.”

As he followed her in, Drake suddenly realized he didn’t have the box of chocolates. He glanced back at the spot where he had been standing, and where Pik ran into him. Nope, nothing on the ground. So either Tiffany’s son swiped them, or he had left them in the car. No use calling and asking now though, he’d look like a fool. As if he hadn’t already made himself seem like a total klutz or scatterbrain. Meanwhile, in the car, Heru was parked and leaning back, relaxing, and quietly munching away at the lost chocolates. “Sorry Drake, but I just couldn’t let them melt in the car. Besides, she’s got a heart condition. Don’t want to risk giving her something that could kill her, heh.” he mused, munching away at another chocolate. “Ooo, raspberry. My favorite.”