"Flamecaller, I'm home!" Jack called out, closing the door of his house behind him. He felt a presence gather around his lower body; looking down, he saw his cat, Rapidash, trying to rub against his leg. He knelt down to stroke Rapidash, but noticed a lack of a response from Flamecaller.
So he called again.
Again, no answer.
Cautiously, Jack got up, and walked into the kitchen, looking for his sister.
When he entered, to his surprise, he saw his sister sitting at the table, wine glass in hand, and a pair of earphones in her ears. Relief flowing over him, he walked up to the table, and rested a hand on his sister, making her jump.
“Who goes...oh,” Flamecaller yelled quickly, more out of instinct. She removed an earphone from her ear before continuing. “It’s you. Next time, yell when you get in.”
“I did, and you didn’t reply. I was starting to worry.”
Jack then took a seat at the table. One of the three seats that were vacant. An awkward silence ran through the air save for the annoying ticking of the clock in the kitchen and the occasional slurp that was Flamecaller having a sip of wine. Neither spoke a word, so as Flamecaller continued to listen to her music, Jack let his mind wander, looking nowhere and everywhere. He didn’t look at the same space for long, nor did he look there again.
It wasn’t until after Jack ended up looking at his sister that he decided to speak again.
“So...how was work? Solve any cases?” he tried asking eagerly, but it ended up sounding a bit forced.
Taking her earphones out, Flamecaller put her glass down and replied, “It wasn’t too bad. Nothing to do, so I came home early.”
“So you took that as your cue to have some booze?”
Again, the room fell into silence, the ticking of the clock louder and clearer than before. With both of them trying to ignore it, Flamecaller had some more wine, while Jack allowed his mind to wander again. This time, he just stared out, thinking over the day’s events. Thinking about what he had learned. And thinking about Spitfire, and the trouble they ended up in, the detention that they had, and whether or not he would end up speaking to her again.
Finally, Flamecaller broke the silence. “Dinner is takeout tonight. Shall I order your usual pizza?” Jack nodded, when suddenly, his phone vibrated with a text. Looking at who sent it, Jack was a bit puzzled. There was no reason for her to be messaging him, especially now of all times.
You free to talk? It’s kinda urgent.
Jack quickly, but hesitantly, replied back.
Yeah, I’ll be 5 minutes!
After sending his reply, he got up and proceeded to leave. The sound of the chair squeaking against the floor made enough noise for Flamecaller to notice.
“Going anywhere?” she asked.
“Someone wants to talk. I was planning on not doing it here so as not to disturb you.”
“Fair enough. Enjoy!” Flamecaller’s tone told Jack that he could leave, yet as he got to the door out of the kitchen, she spoke again. “And if you get detention again, I’ll be removing all of your allowance, including the money mum and dad give you. I know this is your first time, but this is unacceptable, ok?”
Shit; she knows, Jack thought. All he could say was “Sure. It was a one-off. A slip up. Won’t happen again.” Making a hasty retreat to his room, Jack switched on his laptop, ready to do some work after the call.
Before he had the chance to log in, his phone rang. Even though it was the boring ring that he used for other contacts, he knew who it was before he even looked at his screen. Jack picked up his phone and answered. “Hello?”
“Hey Jack,” Spitfire replied. Her voice sounded scared, as if something was going on on the other line. “I know we only properly met earlier, but I need your help.”
Jack thought for a moment. Why was his help needed, and not Rainbow Dash’s? Or even her boyfriend, Rivet?
She didn’t give him a chance to respond. “Dad’s mad with me,” she continued. “I need you to come over and help smooth things out,.”
Jack was confused. “Smooth out what? Spitfire, what’s going on?”
“Smooth out why we were in detention,” she replied. As soon as she said ‘detention’, everything else made sense to Jack.
“Hold on.” Jack put a hand to where the mic on his phone was, and rushed downstairs. He nearly hit the wall as he leapt down the stairs, the noise he was making was enough for Flamecaller to take out her earphones, get up, and head to the kitchen door to ask Jack what was going on. As she opened the door, Jack rushed in, knocking them both to the ground, and sending Jack’s phone skidding across the floor to the table. After an awkward moment, and both of them getting up, Jack spoke again.
“Sis, are you sober enough to drive me to Spitfire’s place please? It’s urgent.”
“Yes,” Flamecaller replied, one hand to her head, and some kind of confused look on her face, “but the concussion you nearly gave me on the other hand...” She trailed off, expecting Jack to apologise. When Jack didn’t, she continued. “I’ll be fine. Tell her we’ll be over in 5 minutes.”
Jack, however, wasted no time looking for his phone. After a minute’s search, he found it near the oven, the call disconnected, and a message from Spitfire with her address. A quick “I’ll see you in the car” later, Jack left the house and got into Flamecaller’s car.
Flamecaller quickly followed, getting into the car, and started the engine. Try as she might, the car didn’t start, sputtering as if it was out of fuel. Swear words were quickly exchanged, before she decided to take Jack’s car instead. The drive wasn’t going to take long, but there was still enough time to talk.
“So,” Flamecaller started, looking at the satnav, and sitting in the passenger’s seat since Jack didn’t trust here at the wheel of his car. This fear was understandable, given Flamecaller was a bit of a speed demon. “Where are we going, why, and why am I tagging along?”
“Like I said,” Jack replied, concentrating more on the road than anything else, because he nearly ran over a stray cat that was in the way. “Spitfire’s house. I apparently need to help clear up what happened with us earlier. And I need you in case things get hairy.” As he finished, the satnav chimed in the female British accent that was set that they had arrived.
After finally finding a parking space, Jack and Flamecaller got out of the car. Careful as to not look stupid, and with some determination, Jack went up to the front door, and knocked.