[c] Coffee and Sketchbooks

"I'd say about thirty seconds. We're just up this street and to the right."

Fleck's family lived in one of the big houses just off the beach. You could see the beach from Fleck's studio.

And true to his word, as they turned a corner, Fleck opened up the gate of a large house and gestured for Dick to step through into the moderate front garden.

Fleck strolled up the path easily and bound up the ramp to the front door, pushing the door open for Dick to step through just like he had the gate.

"Thirty seconds?!"

He really didn't have any time to mentally prepare himself for meeting Fleck's family. He was hoping for at least a few minutes to sort himself out.

He gulped as the came up to Fleck's house.

"Thanks."

Chewing his lip, his stomach knotted uncomfortably. He was a lot slower then Fleck. It was too late to leave and go home, as much as he debated doing.

Taking in a deep breath he entered Fleck's house.

"Which way to your room?"

His fingers weaved through Dick's and pulled the man along with him as he made his way to the closest bathroom.

"HEY JAY!" he yelled out, cupping one hand around his mouth to make his yell even louder.

A moment later another bleached head popped out from behind a door half way down the hall. His brown eyes sparked as they set upon Dick, and a wicked grin stretched over his face. "First date and you're bringing him home? You're such a ho."

Fleck rolled his eyes. "And you're such a child. Get him some clean clothes, will you? He's gonna use mama's shower, so just set them on her bed."

With a fuid, teasing salute, Jay disappeared back into his room. "I'm not giving him anything good!"

The older brother shook his head and rolled his eyes. "Well, that's Jay for you. Come on, mama's room is just down here."

Dick jumped as Fleck yelled. He thought they weren't going to draw any attention to themselves?

Before he could run off anywhere Fleck's brother popped out behind a door. He pinked as Jay grinned and the implications he left.

Dick was going to politely decline the clothes bit he couldn't get a word in.

As quick as Jay appeared he disappeared.

"Your Mama's room? Would she be fine with that? I don't want to over welcome myself."

Dick was already borrowing Fleck's brothers clothes.

In a family as big as Flecks, yelling was an everyday occurrence. It was ignored unless they heard their name.

He could blunder up and down the hallways singing at the top of his lungs and still wouldnt draw any attention to the fact Dick was here. It was the beauty of a big family.

Dick would find out quickly that if there were two or more of Flecks family together, he wouldnt get a word in edgeways unless he learned to shout.

"You're kidding right? She'd have my skin if I didnt offer you the best shower in the house."

He pushed open a door and stepped in, moving around a large bed to open the door to the wet room. "Everything you need is in here. Jay'll leave clothes for you at the end of the bed for when you're done. I'll be back in say... Fifteen minutes? Will that give you enough time to shower and get dressed?"

He smiled gratefully up at Fleck.

"Yeah, that should be enough time."

He would of liked to spent longer in the shower. His hair needed a couple of washes to get all the sand and salt out of it. As he said earlier, he didn't want to over welcome himself. He could always have another back at the mansion.

"So I can use this towel and the shower gel?"

He just wanted to double check. He didn't want to use something the Fleck's mama would hate him for using.

"Yeah, use anything that's in there. Pap's stuff is on the higher shelf."

His hand brushed against Dicks as he passed the man and disappeared from the room.

His shower was quick. He was a man that took military showers. The less time he spent in thet water, the better. He waas out the shower and dressed in five minutes flat.

Jay, as promised, left a plain red tshirt and a pair of skinny jeans on the end of his mothers bed for Dick.

Ten minutes after Fleck had dressed, in a pair of sweat pants and a black tshirt, he made his way down the stairs and hall to get to his mothers room, with Margie sat on his shoulder almost like a scaled parrot.

He knocked on the door. "You dressed?"

Dick thanked the taller blond as he passed.

The shower felt so good. He scrubbed himself with lemon shower gel (his favourite, it always smelt so clean and fresh) and washed his hair. Running his fingers through his hair he found there were still knots and the ends felt dry. He conditioned his hair once more.

He was jumped when Fleck called for him. That was a very fast ten minutes.

"One second! Just washing my hair" He called back.

He rinsed out the rest of the conditioner before turning the shower off with a wistful sigh. He could of spent a lot longer in there. A lot longer.

He was sure he was the main culprit of why the mansions water bill was so high.

Opening the door just wide enough to squeeze his arm through he called for Fleck.

"You won't mind just passing the clothes?"

"Sure."

Fleck opened up the bedroom door and stepped inside. As he passed the bed, he picked up th pile of clothes.

"Here." He pressed the pile into Dicks hand. "I'm just gonna be sat on the bed."

As he said, he lifted Margie from his shoulder then lad on the bed, placing his baby down on his stomach. She flopped down on his stomach.

"Thanks."

Fresh trousers and a fresh shirt, but no fresh pants. Fantastic. He wouldn't expect Fleck's brother to give him some, but he didn't really think of this dilemma until now. He could wear the ones from earlier but the pile of salty and sandy clothes did not look appealing. Looks like he was going commando.

Before going out to Fleck he quickly checked himself over in the mirror. He wanted to make sure he looked presentable. Wet curls framed his face but he will let them air dry before pushing them back into a ponytail. While the clothes he was given wasn't his style, they didn't look bad on him. He would even go as far to say they looked flattering.

Picking up his wet clothes at arms length he walked into the bedroom, opening the door with his hip.

"Do you have a bag at all I could borrow at all?"

"Just throw it into that basket."

He gestured out towards the wicker basket sat at the end of the bed. "We'll clean it all up and I'll give it back to you next time we see each other."

His hand returned to his stomach, stroking over Margie's head gently.

"Are you sure? I don't want to be too mush of a hassle."

Using there shower, borrowing there clothes - and now letting wash his clothes? He couldn't.

"It will probably be easier if I take it beck with me - so I won't have to lug it around - oh you have a lizard."

To be honest he shouldn't be surprised, he knew Fleck's family had a lot of pets. He just didn't expect to be introduced so quickly.

"Don't fuss about it. We really don't mind."

What was three more items of clothing in the wash? Nothing to worry about for Fleck's family. It wasn't like they were going out of their way to clean anything.

He smiled when Dick bought up Margie and stroked along the back of her head slowly and gently. "Yeah, this is Margie."

The dragon blinked slowly and tilted her head so she was staring at Dick.

"If you insist."

He dumped them into the washing basket with a little bit of guilt. He hoped he could somehow return the favour in the future.

"Margie? Isn't that the name of one of your statues?"

Having coffee together in the little coffee shop felt so long ago, but it was only a few hours ago.

He gently sat himself on the side of the bed, careful not to move it around too much.

Dick hadn't been up close to this species before - he couldn't quite remember the name. He knew they were popular pets, but there was always a bit of glass between them if he ever saw one.

They weren't as ugly as he previously thought - but he wouldn't categorize her as cute or beautiful or anything else that you would call a cat or a dog. Oddly endearing is what he would call her, with the way she was peering up at him.

"Yeah. I sculpted her a few years back. Didn't I, precious?" he crooned, scratching under the dragon's chin gently. She preened, tilting her head into the scratching, while keeping her eye on Dick.

Margie didn't stay still for long, though. As soon as dick sat down, she moved with a frightening speed, throwing herself across Fleck's lap and scurrying into Dick's.

Fleck didn't even twitch as he watched her dart across the bed. He was beyond used to Margie's demanding nature.

"Well, she likes you."

Whole Fleck didn't twitch, Dick did. He almost jumped up, taken by surprise when she scurried into his lap, but he managed to keep his composure. He would of thought she would of ran away from him not run over to him.

"I am glad I impressed one of the family members already. Also, since I am here maybe I could see the sculpture in person."

It would be amazing to see another piece of work that Fleck was so proud of.

Gently and cautiously get ran his hand down he body. She was a lot softer then expected. He would of thought her body would be rough and dry.

"She's one of the most important people in my family to impress. The other three are curled together on my bed."

His pets were the most important people in his life. As important as family was to him, it didn't matter half as much if his mother didn't like Dick as his pets not liking the Vampire. His animals meant everything to him.

Fleck pushed himself up and pitched a low whistle. "Polly want a cracker, Margie?" The dragon, who had melted into Dick's lap when he stroked her, perked up and scurried back across the bed, into Fleck's lap and up over his stomach and chest. Over one shoulder she climbed, aross the back of his neck, to rest on his other shoulder comfortably like a scaled parrot. "Good girl," he crooned, scratching under her chin gently.

"My studio's just across the hall. C'mon."

A bemused smile crossed his face as he watched Margie scurry back to Fleck eagerly. She must trust and love Fleck very much - and the feeling was obviously mutual.

"I would never expect a lizard to respond to commands... Or sit on someone's shoulder like that."

You learn and see something new everyday.

Standing up, dusting himself off, he followed Fleck to his studio.

"It took a while, and a lot of worms for her to learn it. Didn't it, flower?"

There was no verbal response, but if you looked at the dragon, you could swear she was wearing a smug little grin. She had certainly enjoyed the learning process.

He led Dick out into the hallway and, as he passed Jay's door, he pounded on it. "Music down, kid!" His brother's taste in music was, unfortunately, a terrible mix of English and Mexican rap. Not something that Fleck enjoyed listening to.

An unpleasant name was hurled at him through the door in Spanish, but the music was turned down a moment later.

"You'd think he'd learn that his music taste is bad after so many years," Fleck sighed with a little smile. "Right, we're here. Sorry for the mess. I'm still working on Chai."

He pushed open the door and gestured for Dick to step into the room.

Said room was taken over by work surfaces, that ranged from cabinets, to tool boxes, to fold-out tables.

On the left side of the room was Fleck's painting station, with easels set up and a desk, next to a bookcase with stacks of sketchboks, used and unused. Sat on the des was the soaked through sketchbook that Dick had returned to him earlier.

The right side of the room was dedicated to his scuplting. Many tables were set up to display sculptures of all kinds, in neat rows. His current workspace was a collection of two fold-out tables set up in an L shape, with a chair on either side of the bend. Tools were splayed out on one table, while the work in progress, sketches aplenty and a few photographs was laid out on the other table.

"I'm glad you don't have the same taste as him."

Music was rapidly changing and it was difficult to keep up with. Rap was the one most difficult for him to understand. Someone at work pointed out that rap was like poetry, and showed him a de-constructed version of a rap, but he still didn't quite get it. Maybe it was his age showing.

"Honestly, don't worry, it is a studio."

He braced himself for chaos and preparing his restraint not to start cleaning the place but he was pleasantly surprise. Well a surface could be wiped down there and the tool box could be put away, but other then that it was pretty tidy. Or his version of messy if he was in Fleck's shoes.

"Oh wow."

He walked closer to the completed statues, marvelling at the details. He refrained himself from picking them up to get a better look, he wouldn't dare want to damage them.

"They are amazing, Fleck."

Thoroughly embarrassed by the state of the room, Fleck did flit around, shifting a few things; putting a tool away here, moving a toolbox to its right place there.

When he was done with his attempts at tidying up a little, he leant against his drawing desk, and watched Dick look at his scuptures.

"Theyre...nothing special, really. Just the stuff I do in my spare time." It was his commission pieces that Fleck believed were his crowning achievements. Those and his reptile pieces.

Dick would probably notice a lot of reptilian sculptures, from geckos, to snakes, to dragons, lined up on bookcases and the tables, between the occasional superhero, grotesque and bird.

Nothing special?

"They are still amazing. Oh, I like this one especially."

He pointed to one of the few dragon's the Fleck had that stood out to him. The the details carved into the sculptor were done with obvious care and consideration. How Fleck managed to capture movement what looked so effortlessly Lord only knew.

"You can tell you have worked hard. Where is Margie version 2 then?"

He turned to look at the duo, a smile plastered on his face.

"Alfie put in a request for that one."

His family put in a lot of requests for paintings, sketches and little sculptures when he was in his down time between commissions.

"Dragons and superheroes are the best way to keep Alfie happy." His nephew was obsessed with them.

"Margie's over there by Chai." His tilted his head. Behins his set up was a bookcase. Mostly it was empty, but there were two figures on it. The Iguana that had been dubbed Nello and Margie mark two.

"That is sweet. Is he another brother?"

He headed over to the book case. It was easy to see that Margie was more impressive then the ones he just saw. The detail was outstanding, it was easy to see why he brushed off his other work when he produced a sculptures like this.

He glanced back and forth between the real Margie and sculpture Margie. Even with his sharper vision it was difficult to see the difference.

"If I didn't know better I would of thought you would of cloned her."

"Not this time. Alfie's my nephew." Along with his many siblings, he had a miriad of neices and nephews to his name. Alfie was one of many neice and nephews.

Fleck laughed and petted Margie gently.

"Cloning perfection is dangerous," he crooned at his pet, nuzzling against her gently.

Fleck was clearly beyond love for this animal. Margie was Fleck's world.