One or two nightmares

Wide-eyed, I looked down the barrel of the gun pointed at me, straight into Rick's face. Any kindness had given way to it. In their place I saw this one, very specific expression in his repertoire, which I could not interpret, but had seen before. "What will it be when it's done?" I asked angrily, trying to keep my voice calm and above all ignoring the spearhead that was putting a gentle, but not to be underestimated, pressure on my neck.
"I don't think much of people who are too cowardly to use their powers," he replied in a coldness that made the hair on the back of my neck stand on end. What suddenly happened to the boy? "Defend yourself ... if you can," he ordered, pulling the tip back, only to take two steps and rush at me again.
I saved myself by diving over the corpse and onto my bed. "Hello! Earth to Rick!" I shouted, while I rolled over on the other side of the bed, hoping to be able to hold this as a barrier between us, "Are you completely crazy ?!"With one jump he had also jumped over the corpse and was standing in the middle of the bed. In the next moment I had the opportunity to admire the fine engravings in the metal blade at the end of Rick's staff, because I had this as good as in my eye.
It had happened so quickly that I couldn't remember sensing movement, but something of mine seemed to have done just that. The rod with the deadly metal attached to its end was clamped between the palm of my hands. I owed it to this fact alone that my eyesight was retained for the time being. "Looks like you're a bit fitter physically than in your head," Rick praised me with an appreciative nod. He had gripped the spear rod tightly and was bracing it with all his strength against my grip. I never would have thought that the boy was so strong. I struggled to hold on to the spear.
I took a deep breath. "I'll ask you again: What is this?" I hissed out between my clenched teeth."You don't want to use your powers, so I don't need you. I'll find the lighter myself," he ground back. He jerked the gun, but that only led to a little dance that didn't give either of us an advantage. I, too, had clung to the staff by now and did not intend to give Rick his murder instrument again anytime soon.
"Stop fooling me and let this thing go back to where it came from!" I snapped at him instead, not without wondering if he noticed how full my pants were. I had never seen Rick fight before, but Ronga had certainly not failed to teach him how to do it.
"As you like," he replied with a smile on his face that was all but not friendly. In one second the spear was gone. I shouldn't have asked for that. Rick reached out and hurled something at me that glowed bright white."Remember Green!" he shouted incoherently as the white ball of light shot towards me.
My lips parted in a scream, like the last time I breathed fire in this apartment. And like last time, flames escaped my throat, devouring the light as if it were dry straw. They flickered a soothing green instead of a bright orange-red, however. Unlike last time.
Rick's spear was back as quickly as it was gone. The point attracted the fire like a magnet, bundled it and redirected it like a mirror the light. The girl on the bed went up in flames. Not so with the rest of my sleeping quarters. It seemed as if someone had ordered the fire to burn only the young woman. Everything around her was completely intact.
Fascinated, I watched the spectacle while Rick let his gun disappear again. Fortunately, with the spear, the enigmatic expression vanished from his face and gave way to a tentative smile."Sorry," he said quietly and got off my bedding.
It took me a while to realize that the little guy had screwed me all over the place. "At least you weren't wearing shoes when you got on my bed," I tried to joke. "Good bluff, I have to say. I almost took it from you."
He just pointed to the fire. "Youtook it from me. That much is certain," he stated correctly, "Ronga always attaches great importance to learning to surprise." The restrained pride in his voice had reassuringly a lot of Rick that I knew. I was also glad to hear Ronga's name out of his mouth again for the time being.
"You succeeded," I admitted. "Just don't think of that again. Otherwise there will be horse sausage at my next barbecue evening." In view of the fact that Rick, as an occasional centaur, went on four hooves from time to time, that was a threat to be taken seriously.
"Um, you definitely have to wait for it to burn.Maybe you should pick up the ashes, "he hurried to divert attention from the subject and pointed to the young woman, who was slowly turning into a glowing, indefinable heap. Thankfully, I noticed that it didn't stink as bestially of burnt meat as it actually did Another side effect of the green fire.
"I'd better sleep on the sofa then," I thought out loud, halfway into the living room.
"Okay, I'll take care of the wake."
I sighed loudly, turned around with a theatrical gesture, and pushed Rick into his room. "You have done enough for today," I said firmly. "You can save my neck if you want, but I'll just manage the dirty work myself. Go to sleep, please - and don't even think of making me breakfast this afternoon!" Before he could protest what he actually did as I knew him, I closed his door from the outside and retired to my room, where I sat on the free half of my bed and stared into the fire.It was now bright outside, but I was still dog-tired from the exertions of the past few hours. I had barely sat there for five minutes when I began to drift off into a light sleep.

[i]
"What is that?" I want to know.
"A brush and a glass of black paint, I would say," she replies soberly, searching my face for the slightest emotion, as always. I'm not doing her a favor of fretting over the short answer. As always.
"And what do you want to paint?" I simply keep asking and smile in a flattering way. “With so little light it will certainly not be an art masterpiece.” I nod in the direction of the candle she brought with her and placed it on the floor. Like almost always. Sometimes she prefers to visit me in the dark. The flame throws a warm glow into the circular tower made of cold stone.
“I don't know yet.” She almost whispers as she continues, knowing full well that I will soak up each of the following words one way or another."But I found it so inspiring that your brother was still sitting over a drawing when I showed up. So I thought it was time for some art." Again her gaze gets something searching and this time it's damn hard, to show no movement. I can't stop my eyes from narrowing for a moment and the right corner of my mouth twitching. Each of these movements feels to me like I've shouted my anger and grief for the loss in her face. "You have no paper," I object. Maybe if I cling to the obvious, I can hold out against it for a while.
She pretends to be surprised. "Oh, now that you say it ..." she muses with a smug smile. I could have imagined that it would be "tight" again.
"You won't get my sheet, just to make it clear," I flirted back to her whispering and point to the scraps of fabric around my hips, which may once have deserved the name sheet.She laughs. How I hate it when she laughs. And how exactly she knows that, this snake. "But I thought I was going to sign your back."
"What do you want to write? I was here ... and here ... and here, drawn Lavande?" I grin and turn my back to her. At least that way she doesn't see my face and I can close my eyes for a while. In this way I might find the mask behind which I hide my emotions.
"Let's see what I can think of," she mumbles and begins to scribble on my right shoulder blade. The color feels like thick, cold water. To distract myself from the uncomfortable intimacy, I try to guess what she is writing.

"Ka", I write on the piece of paper and laugh. A tanned hand takes it away, makes a note of something on it, and hands it back to me over my shoulder. "It never works like that with talking in the dark," I read, a little frustrated.
He tries again. His index finger describes two arcs on top of each other on my shoulder, both arched in opposite directions.Excited, I grab the piece of paper and write the syllable "Ko" on it. The sheet goes back to the boy behind me. As soon as I hear him pick it up, I get his delighted pat on the back. This time it was right. He smooths the fabric of my T-shirt and pats my back with the palm of his hand. So enough for today.
I turn to him so he can read my lips. For the fact that my pronunciation is still quite modest, he does it astonishingly well. "Have something planned for tomorrow? I got the job and want to celebrate it. After all, you wrote the application."
He shines on both cheeks. "Sure," he writes, whereupon I leave the address of my new apartment on the piece of paper. "There, tomorrow at three. We'll be listening to a little music. It's time you did some more education." His hands go up to his neck and ears, he shakes his head and looks at me as if I were stumped ."I know, I know. Just trust me. I'm not as stupid as I look."

"You are not?"
Startled, I opened my eyes. No sooner had I focused the face that went with the voice than I closed it again. I just had a nightmare behind me and woke up the next. "How did you get in here?" I grumbled.
"Rick let me in."
"The good soul. Curse the villain."
"Did you sleep badly?"
"Woke up even worse. Gary, who told you the fairy tale that I was interested in your company? We saved each other's lives, I used your villa and that was it. Leave me alone."
"Why don't you have a stupid middle name? I think it's really unfair that you keep messing with it."
"My last name is Virgin. That is probably enough punishment," I replied and watched me come into the kitchen. The green fire was out anyway and when I was shocked to have been woken up by Nick from a bad dream, I needed a coffee first."Oh yes!" he was