I tried to rub the eye crust from my eyelids. Man, it felt like I hadn’t slept at all.

The aroma of coffee brewing hit my nostrils and I sighed. Mmmmm I love that smell. “You made coffee for me?” I asked him.

“Yep.”

“Mmmeeeehhh.” I sat up and rubbed my eyes again. I got up slowly. I wore an A-shirt and boxer briefs (which are the best of both worlds if you didn’t know). I hit the shower. Not a full blown shower, but a nice rinse off. I was so tired from last night I didn’t remember until it was too late that I had bandages on.

After getting dressed and applying a new bandage I sat down at the small kitchen table. Rob had made a plate of scrambled eggs and toast with jam. Bless his hobgoblin heart. I kicked myself for not having bacon, but eggs and toast were fine. And coffee. Rob’s muppet jaw cranked up and down as he ate breakfast with me.

I took huge bites realizing that I was famished.

“I made more eggs. Help yourself.”

I did. I had a second and third helping. After I cleared my plate I sat there and nursed the cup of coffee.

“Is this how things will be? You live here for free and in exchange make me meals and stuff?”

“And protect your hearth,” he said with a wink.

I nodded. “I don’t know what to think. Was any of last night even real? It was all so crazy.” I couldn’t find words to explain myself.

“Sleep good?”

“Not really,” I said. “Too much on my mind.”

“You’ll be okay now,” he said. “Today’s a new day. Speaking of, what’s on your agenda today?”

I sat back and pondered “What day is it? Friday?” Oh yeah, a week since everything happened. “I need to formulate a simple game plan to destroy the demon-bird. I’m also volunteering at the dojo today, and at some point I have to pick Tain up from my mom’s.”

“Who’s Tain?”

“The family dog.”

He said something else but my phone vibrated.

The screen read Sensei.

It was a short text.

Sensei: Everything alright Sean?

Why’d he text me that? I glared at Rob. “What time is it?”

Rob shrugged. “I don’t know. Time’s not relevant to an immortal. Also I unplugged that beeping numbers-thing. It kept going off.”

My alarm clock lay across the room, the digital display completely black.

“Ah crap!” I yelled. Jumping up I looked out the window. It was afternoon. I swiped open my phone. The time read 12:55pm. “I slept through my alarm. Thanks a lot Rob.”

“Sorry,” he said. “It kept beeping and I didn’t want it to wake you.”

“That is its only function,” I exclaimed as I frantically changed into my black gi and gathered my wallet and keys.

“I’ve got to go,” I told Rob.

“What about formulating a plan?”

“I’ll have to do it later.” I started heading out the door then halted. “If I try to leave without you, won’t you zip towards me?”

Rob shook his head. “No. I was just messing with you to illustrate a point. What do I do if Eddy comes back?”

“You suck,” I said. “He’s out of town for the week. Don’t break anything. Don’t touch Eddy’s stuff. Just clean or watch movies.”

Rob gave me a thumbs up.

---

The dojo was across town, which meant if I hit all green lights it would be a ten minute drive.

My phone vibrated again. I figured it was Sensei trying to get ahold of me.

The screen read Charice instead.

Charice: Hey Sean, are we still on for tonight?

Holy crow, how had I forgotten? Between the Sluagh, the hobgoblin, and the injury I forgot about my date tonight with Charice. My second date. It was more important than the first date. The second date would solidify her impression of me. This one had to count.

And would you believe I was considering it? I had a Keening curse on my chest, known for a fact to attract monsters and yet taking the risk to hang out with Charice tonight was almost worth it. I was ridiculously infatuated. Stupid emotions.

No, there’s no way I could take her out tonight. It would be irresponsible. As much as I wanted to, I needed to handle the bird monster first.

Me: Yeah… Sorry for not following up.

Charice: Way to leave me hanging jerk. JK :-)

Me: All part of the plan. It’s unspoken guy code. I’m not supposed to act too interested. Might seem desperate.

Charice: Are you that interested?

My stomach fluttered with butterflies.

Me: Again, I can’t talk about it. Guy code

Charice: Sigh, guys and their silly codes

Me: Really wanted to go out tonight but something important came up

After a few agonizing moments she texted me back.

Charice: That sucks. Everything cool?

Me: Not sure, TBH. Just some things I gotta do

Charice: Okay... that’s not cryptic

Me: Can we rain check for another night?

Charice: We’ll see.

Me: That girl code for yes?

Charice: ;-)

Me: K. TTYL

This girl was giving me another chance. Warm fuzzy feelings filled my stomach and I smiled.

That didn’t last too long when I remembered I was still late to martial arts practice. How was I going to explain this to Sensei?