Drake jumped slightly when he heard a bang next door. That zombie guy was up for some odd reason and decided to be a little inconsiderate slamming his window. Drake huffed and tried to pull his covers over his head, but he found them tangled in his dark, leathery wings on his back. Deeming it not worth the effort, he gave up and hugged into his pillow again to get some shut eye.<br/><br/>Two hours later, he was deep in a dream, when it happened. A thunderous bellow erupted from the bottom of his door and he snapped awake in a panic, falling out of bed and tangling further in the sheet now wrapped around his face. His claws easily ripped a hole in it to breathe, but what came out was not air....<br/><br/>A thin stream of fire shot across the room and violently impacted the alarm clock on the floor, which was cleverly wedged in the door. Clearing himself of the sheet he finally realized what he had done and reached for one of the many fire extinguishers lined up against the wall near the door and sprayed the carpet and door frame to douse the smoldering embers.<br/><br/>"Dammit, Clay! That's not funny!" He roared down the stairs after leaning into the hall, "I almost burned down the house again!" Muttering to himself he returned to his room and got dressed, a simple undershirt and cargo pants, making sure to button them in the back over the hole where his tail went through. Heading down stairs he busied himself making coffee, giving Clayton the evil eye while passing the lounge. He stopped, pointed two claws at his own eyes then jabbed his index claw at Clayton, "I'm watching you. I'll have to get you back for that."<br/><br/>-----------------------------------<br/><br/>Jayce woke with a start, his face still imprinted with the keys of his keyboard. He wiped his mouth and groggily looked up to find his character now dead on the screen.<br/><br/>"Oh crap." he muttered, then logged out. What woke him? A bang of some kind? There was  a dull roar outside he finally was aware of and he pulled back the curtain to see roadwork outside. Stretching, he swiveled in his chair and decided to actually use it for once and simply flopped on top of the sheets to quickly doze off.<br/><br/>He woke slowly to the sound of someone's alarm going off upstairs. It suddenly stopped, then as clear as day he heard ""Dammit, Clay! That's not funny! I almost burned down the house again!"<br/><br/>Again? They're at it again? Never a dull moment around here lately. Always something going on. Now that the curtain he had moved two hours ago was now allowing the sun to shine through directly on his face, he decided to get out of bed and lumber into the bathroom. Half in a daze he  brushed his teeth, not realizing his surroundings. He heard a rustle behind him then the sound of clomping on tile.<br/><br/>"Um," he heard a squeak of a voice. He finally realized and his eyes widened, "Caretaker, is that you?"<br/><br/>"Um, yes." Jayce replied, feeling guilty for walking in on someone.<br/><br/>"Can you come in here? The inside waterfall stopped flowing. I do not understand how to make the water come."<br/><br/>"Kala, you just pull out on the knob." he said. Jayce glanced in the mirror and saw her peeking around the curtain, not remembering to cover herself. He could see her green hair and the twigs entwined in it, her confused face and shoulders, but the mirror cut off anything below that.<br/><br/>"Please, sir. I do not understand." she said.<br/><br/>"Remember what we discussed about clothing?" he asked, "It's not decent to go without."<br/><br/>"Aye, but I can not bathe while wearing those coverings." she said, "Are you embarrassed to see me?" She pulled the curtain open further. Jayce directed his eyes downward towards her deer like legs and hooves while walking up to the massive shower to reach inside. He centered the dial and pulled, turning on the water making Kala jump slightly.<br/><br/>"Oh how wonderous! It's like a warm summer's rainfall!" she exclaimed, "Oh thank you, Caregiver."<br/><br/>"Just remember that shirt when you come out." he reminded her.<br/><br/>"Oh yes, the coverings. I shall remember."<br/><br/>Jayce paused before leaving the bathroom, "Kala, will you be joining us in the lounge today?"<br/><br/>"T-Today? I do not know. I do not think the others would take to me as you have." she said, "Maybe some other time."<br/><br/>"You do know the others are different like you, right?"<br/><br/>"They are Dryads?" she asked, poking her head out from behind the shower curtain, this time holding it to cover her body.<br/><br/>"No, but they aren't human." he said, "I'm the only Human living here."<br/><br/>"Then you are 'different' as well." she said, returning to her shower, "I will think upon it."<br/><br/>Jayce left the bathroom and entered the kitchen where he found Drake making coffee, looking his usual grumpy self. Jayce always found it interesting to watch him down a full pot sometimes in one gulp, as if he were drinking water. He was lucky today to get a cup before he started making a fruit salad for Kala. Next came the cereal from the cupboard for him. Drake simply grunted at his appearance in an attempt to show recognition of his arrival, sort of a good morning from him. It was the best he got from him on most mornings. It took a while for Drake to wake, so to speak...