Late For Work

“What’s all of this?” Ari asked the crowd of people gathered around the front of the academic building. Normally her class was already in the room and ready to learn.

“Kat slept in. We sent someone to wake her up.” Robin explained to Ari, and she shook her head.

“Well, I’ll let you guys in, and then I’ll go see what’s up with Kat. Maybe she’s sick this morning and she didn’t get a chance to call Toby and tell him.”

“I heard Bernie barking a lot last night.” Robin explained. “That dog probably just kept her up all night.”

“Bernie is Kat’s dog?” Ari asked, and Robin nodded. Ari had known that Kat had a dog, but there were quite a few dogs in the apartments. It was part of what had made them so popular.

“There’s Jake, now. He’s coming back without her.” Robin said as everyone filed into the building. Ari had just unlocked it. “Maybe she got sick after all. Alright, I’ll be in there waiting.”

“Be in there in a minute.” Ari told her, leaning against the building and waiting for Jake. He came straight up to her.

“She’s not in there. I don’t think. Or she’s really hard to wake up.” He shook his head. “I knocked for a solid five minutes. The dog didn’t even bark at me.”

“Okay. I’ll go check it out. Thanks. Hey, can you tell everyone class is a private meditation session, for now?”

“No problem. Did she go somewhere last night? Maybe to her parents’ house or something?”

“Probably. Don’t worry about it.” Ari smiled and disappeared to cut off the rest of the conversation. Kat was an orphan – that much she remembered. She smelled trouble, and she did not like it one bit.

“Katrina? Are you in there?” Ari knocked on the door. She was attempting to remember mortal rules of etiquette. Silence was her only answer. “I’m coming in, hun. Do you have laryngitis or something?” She asked, opening the door easily, choosing that instead of walking through it. Walking through things tended to freak mortals out. Even those used to the spectacle.

“Kat?” Ari asked the empty space. “Are you here?” Ari asked. She wondered what had happened. Jake had been right – both the dog and Katrina were vanished. If Ari had had a mortal stomach, it would have turned at that point. This was not good.

Ari looked around the room she was standing in. She must have been out – with her dog – when something happened, because there weren’t any signs of a struggle inside the room. Ari vanished.

“Toby. Get your ass up!” Ari nearly shouted into the young man’s slumbering ear. “We have a bit of a problem.”

“Huh? What?”

“Katrina’s missing, and you need to scan the grounds for her. Where’s your master key?” Ari asked him, and he struggled out of his covers and pointed to the necklace he was wearing.

“Where did she go?”

“If I knew, wouldn’t I tell you?” Ari asked him, throwing a shirt from his dresser into his hands.

“But you’re a goddess.” Toby complained.

“And you should know by now, the gods have specific rules regarding mortals.”

“Well, yeah. But she’s not a mortal.”

“But she is not one of us. And neither are you. Come on. I’m driving.”

Ari grabbed his hand and pulled him back to Choice campus. Toby looked down at himself, clad only in boxers. He looked back up, and Ari burst out laughing. Toby wiped his eyes in resentment.

“I’m resigning.” He complained. “Can I have some pants, please?”

“Sure. Size?”

“Thirty. Ish. Not really sure. Just make them fit.” Toby held his hand out and seconds later, a fresh pair of jeans appeared for him. He looked around him, grateful that everyone else was in the academic building. He struggled into them.

“What about shoes?”

“Sandals work?” Ari asked him, calming down but still vastly amused.

“As long as they’re not stupid.” Toby looked up and squinted at the bright sun. It was too early for him to be up.

Ari pointed to the tan sandals lying on the ground. Toby stepped into them. Ari looked Toby over and pointed to the building.

“I’ll be in there. You look for Katrina. And her dog. I’ll be done as soon as I can.”

“Why can’t you find her again?” Toby asked as Ari was just about to disappear, and she disappeared.

“Because we immortals have rules!” The final words of Ari echoed seconds after she left. Toby’s stomach turned. She obviously was not in her room, or Ari wouldn’t have woken him up. What was her dog’s name? It had started with a B. Barney? Bob?

Something like that. Maybe Kat had just thought she had the day off and gone for a walk.

Toby headed towards the apartment complex. He would start there and see if he could find anything. Reaching the apartments, he turned and looked out. If he was going to go for a walk with his dog, where would he go? No, scratch that. If he was Kat, going for a walk, with her dog, where would he go?

Toby looked. There was a very nice pissing tree to the right of him, but the rest was all campus and grass. If she was on the campus part, she would have been seen by now. Toby sighed and headed for the woods. Maybe they took a morning jog and got lost. In this case, his wings would be more useful than anything else.

Toby reached behind him and took off his shirt easily. He was getting used to the entire process. With no place left to put it, Toby tied the shirt around his waist and sighed. She better pay him for this. Toby closed his eyes and imagined his wings emerging. Seconds later, he felt the now-familiar itching. Had he even told his dad where he was going? Left a note?

With his wings fully spread, Toby leapt off of the ground and gracefully hit a nice wind blowing towards the woods. He took the up draft and seconds later was high enough to be above and scanning the trees. He didn’t even get to the woods before he spotted a form laid out on the ground at the edge of the woods. He landed, turning his flight into a run. It wasn’t Kat, but it was her dog. And he didn’t look too hot.

Toby crouched over the dog, who was lying there, still clearly alive, but whimpering. Toby looked around the dog and didn’t see signs of a struggle, or even blood. That was a good sign. He reached out to it, touching the name tag. Knowing its name would be a good step. Bernie, it read. Well, it was a start.

“Hey Bernie. What’s wrong, buddy?” Toby took a closer look at the dog, and realized that its front, left leg, looked broken.

“Ouch buddy. The only way that’s going to get fixed is if you let me help you. Alright?”

Toby tentatively reached for the dog, and not even getting a glare or a growl, gently picked him up, cradling him in his arms and trying to avoid touching the leg. Poor thing. But what had happened to Kat? Toby would look for her, later.

“Hermes! Get your lazy winged ass down here and help me!” Toby yelled into the sky, calling for his friend – and inherent grandfather. Toby looked at the dog in pity. He doubted that he would have to be put down, but it had to have hurt, a lot. Why had he been laying there? How long had he been laying there? Where was Kat?

“Hermes!” Toby yelled at the sky once more. Seconds later, Hermes’ winged feet appeared seconds before the rest of him did.

“Ouch. What happened?”

“This is our secretary’s dog. She’s gone and disappeared. Can you take him to get fixed?”

“That’s a little rough. He just has a broken leg.” Hermes pointed out. “You don’t have to take away his manhood.”

“Hermes... ” Toby sighed and rolled his eyes. “Thank you very much, please take him?”

“Sure kiddo. No problem. And did you want him brought to a human or a god?”

“If you can find a god that can heal him, go for that.”

“Um, you doubt my powers.” Hermes told him, growing feathers and puffing them up like a great big, threatened and angry bird. Toby laughed.

“If you can heal him, please do. But either way, he needs to go back to Ari. And I need to find Kat.”

“Is that her name?” Hermes asked, and Toby nodded.

“It’s the one that you always flirt with. I hear stories.” Toby told him, and Hermes returned to his normal shape.

“She’s a sweet young woman.” Hermes admitted. “Here, you take puppy here back to Ari. And I will search for Kat. She couldn’t have gotten too far.”

“Is that concern I hear? From you?” Toby asked incredulous, and Hermes snorted.

“Of course. Like I said, she’s a sweet girl. Alright, I think the puppy wants down.” Hermes pointed, and Toby realized that Hermes had fixed the dog’s leg without even missing a heart beat. If he had one, that is.

“Here ya go, buddy.” Toby set the dog down. He must have gotten stronger, because the dog didn’t feel heavy to him, but in all actuality, he was probably close to forty pounds.

Toby stepped on the leash to hold the dog still. “Are you sure you want me to go back to Ari? Its quicker if you do it.”

“I’m going to see if I can’t find Kat my way. I am the messenger god.”

“Can you find her?” Toby asked, bending down to pick the leash up.

“It depends. If she is conscious, then yes, I can find her.” Hermes told him. “And I could find her if I knew where she was, obviously.”

“But if she’s unconscious? Dead?”

“If she was dead, we could find out from Hades. Unconscious, no. No one but her true love or someone who has married her can find her.” Hermes explained.

“I’m sure she’s in there somewhere.” Toby motioned to the big expanse of woods in front of him.

“Probably.” Hermes agreed. “Go talk to Ari.”

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