[c] Coffee and Sketchbooks

"You should see Chai's lot. At least I only have the four, and two of them are perfectly normal pets."

Sort of. His cats were both pedigrees. They had both cost him a lot of money and he was very proud to be the owner of two gorgeous pedigree cats.

"I think the worst thing about having them, is the fact that between Cream and Sollew, I hardly ever get to sleep in my own bed. But, buy them a bed and they expect you to sleep in it."

He'd bought them a big dog bed to share - because there was no way a lump like Sollew would fit a cat bed - and it sat there completely unused unless Fleck was really tired and didn't want to slog to the livingroom to sleep.

Shaking his head he left out a short laugh.

"You are a lot kinder then me. I don't think I could ever give my bed up to cat. Then again I never owned a cat"

He gave it some thought and imagined a sweet sleeping cat curled up peacefully and wondered if he could really kick it off the bed? Probably could if he was tired, but he won't tell Fleck that.

"Why not just get a larger bed for yourself?"

"Oh, I have a king sized bed, but Sollew is the size of a horse, Solla the size of a dog, and Cream is cat-sized. Between the three of them, and whoever else decides my bed is the perfect place to nap, I don't get a look in sometimes."

Sollew was large even for a Maine Coon, and Solla and Cream were good at spreading themselves out so they took up as mcuh room as physically possible.

"When I do get to sleep in bed, I always have a fluffy heater close by, at least. Especially good this time of year."

The sun was blazing hot, as it was most times in the year in Italy, but it got cold at night, and winter was always bitterly cold to someone who had lived in Italy their entire life.

"I guess even if you got a queen size there will somehow still be no space."

From Dick experience with pets they could be assholes whole liked to cause discomfort to their owners.

"I would hate that so much, I like my space too much when I sleep. I would probably kick a cat off in my sleep."

He was a terrible sleeping, always tossing this way and right. It would drive anyone sleeping next to him up the wall unless they were deep sleepers.

"Usually it's them kicking me. Solla can't stay still even when he's asleep."

Solla had random bouts of running dreams, that ended up with her kicking Fleck in the arm, waking up because she was kicking something, then attacking Fleck because he was obviously to blame for her waking herself up with kicking him.

And he only ever found out about it when someone watched the experience, or in the morning when he woke up with his bloodied arm stuck to the bedsheets and hurting like a bitch when he had to peel the sheets from the cuts.

Fleck was a very laid back person and an extremely deep sleeper. If he could sleep through Sollew's snoring and Solla's aggressive dreaming, he could sleep through anything.

Solla sounded a lot like himself when sleeping.

Feeling that his coffee has cooled enough he finally started taking a few sips.

"So, back to your sculptors, do you have any more pictures? I would love to see what else you have done."

"Oh, sure, yeah."

Hand back to fiddling with his gauge.

His other hand reached out to bring his phone back to life and swipe.

This piece was a bronze sculpture; an eagle perched on a rock with his wings spread threateningly. "I have a love-hate relationship with this one. I love the final product, but wax sculpting was pretty difficult. I much prefer clay."

As Fleck fiddled with his gauge, Dick twisted the rings on his fingers.

"I have never used wax before, so I won't know the pleasure of using it. The final product is really lovely. You can tell you've put a lot of time and care into your sculptors. They are all really beautiful and unique."

Unique was a good word for any of Fleck's work. There was definitely something about them that was very 'Fleck'.

"Oh, don't. Just... don't. I'll never get over the trauma of trying to get things perfect for casting."

He shook his head slowly. "There's only so much yelling and exaggerated old man gesturing even I can take." He hadn't gotten angry back at the old metalsmith, but working with people yelling at him wasn't Fleck's ideal working conditions.

He preferred staying away from collaborative efforts nowadays.

"Oh, wait till you see..." He flicked past a few sculptures of different film scenes, until he came upon a bust of a woman with a bright smile on her face. The hair was unfinished, but the face held incredible detail.

"This is Chai; the sculpture I was working on yesterday while we were chatting on the phone."

"All that effort was defiantly worth it though."

As Fleck flicked through the photos, he beamed when he saw a photo of the sculptor that Fleck was working on during the phone call.

"So this is Chai."

He carefully lifted the phone to peer at the photo, to spot all the little details.

"It's gorgeous."

"Don't tell her that, her head will swell," he chuckled.

Despite all his good-natured teasing, he was proud of the piece and he was happy he could do something to make his sister happy.

"Y'know, I'd suggest coming down to my studio to actually see these in person, but I don't want to subjet you to the nut house. Though... I could..."

His fiddling with his gauge picked up.

"Would it be weird taking you to a graveyard to see one of my collaborative pieces in person?"

"No no, that would be nice!" Sky blue eyes looked up at Fleck with a smile, Dick's heart fluttering. "I would really like to."

He let out a soft chuckle at the suggestion. Out of all the weird things that happened in his life, going to a graveyard to see a sculptor really wasn't one of them.

"No, it is not weird. Again, I would really like to. We could go as soon as I finish my coffee."

He had been drinking it as they were chatting so there was only a few sips left.

He gave a bubbly laugh, full of relief.

"God, I'm so glad you don't think that's weird." He was certain that there would be someone that would have reacted strangely to that suggestion.

He was super relieved that Dick wasn't one of those people. He liked Dick. He would have been upset if Dick thought he was weird and didn't want to talk to him again.

Fleck had a pleasant laugh.

"I think it takes quite a bit to weird me out now. My friend's probably hold the record for anything weird."

'Friend's' have dwindled down to 'friend' but he won't tell Fleck that. Besides, he had a good feeling that will change soon.

"That sounds scary. Do I want to know or should I hold onto my blissful ignorance for a bit longer?"

He couldn't judge Dick too well, so it could go either way, really. It would either be something hilarious, or something scarring, he bet. And he wasn't so sure he wanted to know which one it is.

"I do believe that's you done." Fleck drew himself to his feet and took a moment to shove his phone and sketchbook into his pockets. Then, like a gentleman, held his hand out to Dick. "Care to take a stroll to the graveyard with me?"

"I don't think you will have a choice in the matter."

Honestly, Gia liked to make herself known at the most awkward times. He was sure she planned it for when he would suffer the most.

With a pleased smile on his flushed face he took Fleck's hand.

"It would be my pleasure."

He stood up and followed Fleck out of the door. His hold on Fleck's hand was loose so if he wanted to to let go he could.

Fleck was perfectly happy holding Dick's hand.

"So I have to prepare myself to be corrupted by your friends. Got it." Again, he didn't know whether to be amused or worried. For now he stuck with amused.

"So this piece we're going to see is something I did with my moms childhood friend back when I was eighteen. My grandad died, and we all wanted something to honour how important he is to us all."

A funny little grin curled his lips. "Spose I'm being a bit forward, taking you to meet my grandad already."

It sounded like a bitter sweet piece - but what was he going to expect seeing something Fleck's did at a graveyard.

"That is a lovely way to honour him. He must of been pretty special to you all."

He matched the grin on Fleck's face.

"Better make sure I make a good impression then."

"Oh, he was. That man could make you lugh and cry in the most beautiful ways."

Fleck was a very family orientated person. To lose a member of the family was the most upsetting things that could possibly happen to him; whether that family member was one of their zoo, or his grandfather.

"I just hope he likes what we did for him."

He gently squeezed Fleck's hand in what he hoped was reassurance.

"I don't know him but if he meant that much to you I am sure he would of felt the same way and would love what you done for him."

It was easy to tell that Fleck was family orientated just by the way he talked about them. Dick liked that in Fleck.

"Yeah." A toothy, crooked smile spread over Fleck's expression. "Yeah, you're right."

He gave Dick's hand a little tug. "We should take about less upsetting things. You're not gonna want to go on another date with me if I make you sad all the time."

He wanted Dick to be happy enough in his presence that he wanted to go out on another date with him. Talking about his grandfather wasn't going to do that.

"You know, I never really though that old men were that scary until I did this piece. having an old man yell at you is surprisingly scary."

"Old people are the scariest. I you want to avoid pissing off anyone, it was them."

It was weird. He was centuries older in the presence of old people, yet they always seem so much older and so much wiser. There was definitely an air about them that gave him his utmost respect.

"How did you piss him off?"

"Oh, I learned that quickly."

Fleck shook his head and rolled his broad shoulders in a shrug. "What didn't I do? The leg is wrong! It's too detailed for casting. Not detailed enough! The wings aren't right. Must be open! No, that looks wrong. Closed wings."

Despite his grousing, he smiled.

"I got it right eventually, though."

Dick softly chuckled at Fleck's little rant. Personally, he could never collaborate with someone - especially someone that knew better then him. It was admirable that Fleck could work with other people.

"That must of been pretty relieving. It sounds that a lot of hard work and time went into it. How long were you working on it?"

"About ten months. I had to redo the thing five times before it was right, and I worked on each of the models for weeks. Sometimes even months each."

It was a long process, but he managed it eventually.

"Ah, here." He turned into big metal gates, pulling Dick along with him. He was working on muscle memory now as he navigated through the tombstones.

It wasn't long before he got to two small stones, and between them a cast bronze figure with incredible detail.

It was of a cat and dog curled together - a small house cat and a muh larger Italian shepherd. Both animals had wings. The cats wings were folded against tit's back. One of the dogs wings was also folded against its back whole the other one was half spread, curled almost protectively around the cat's body.

"This is it." He crouched down in front of the statue, his hand slipping from Dick's. "Nonno e nonna."