He quickly placed everything down upon the table and started heating the water. Once it was finished he glanced up at me with worry in his eyes. “This plan of yours is going to take a lot out of both of us. You know that, right?” Unwilling to trust my voice, I just nodded. “I’m going to go through with this because, if it works, you and every other forger around will be free from Dempsey’s meddling hands. I can see you’re replenishing your body heat. That’s good, keep it up. Now while you do that start thinking about what we can use for the base of your stand in. Honestly, I can’t think of anything that’ll be remotely close enough for the purpose, which means that we’re going to have to pour a lot of heat into that forgery.”
One of the words caught my attention, “You just said we’re. Does that mean two people can work on the same thing at the same time?” I had never thought about the possibility before as I had never known another forger.
With a hallow laugh and a slight shake of his head Alexis replied, “I keep forgetting that you’re about as knowledgeable as a newborn babe. It’s not an insult so don’t take it that way. It is just a statement of fact.” Pulling in a deep breathe he checked on the status of the tea before continuing. “We,” he halted for a second before emphasizing his next words with a back and forth hand gesture. “You and I, and others like us, are able to funnel our body heat into another’s body. Letting him use more heat than he could otherwise. This is definitely not a technique I would normally walk someone like you through; but, you should be able to do it with the correct guidance.”
“Which you feel you can give.” I suggested my voice lacking a certain amount of confidence.
“Mostly, but if your plan is going to work then it’s all we’ve got. Just don’t skimp with the heat sources. Right now both of us are better off running our bodies too hot then playing it safe. We’re going to need to ride ourselves as close to 108 as possible.” He switched off the electric kettle as it reached a rolling boil and dropped some Lipton tea bags in before closing the lid. “How strong do you like your tea?”
“I guess we’ll find out soon enough.” I said hoping to elicit a laugh from him.
And Alexis replied with a heartfelt chuckle. “Well in that case I hope you like it strong and sweetened with a just a little bit of honey. I’ll keep Dempsey unconscious in such a way that no one will be able to detect it.”
“You mean through forgery?” I asked hopefully.
With a small scowl crossing his lips Alexis looked more annoyed than angered. “You’ll learn everything I know about forging later. As far as I’m concerned you’re dabbling in way too much as it is, but I can’t help that now.” His scowl deepened just enough to let me know I better stop asking about all the forgery tricks he knew. “You will learn more than enough for now, okay? And every question you ask, you delay this plan of yours and time is not something we can afford to waste.”
“Okay, I’ll try to keep my inquisitive nature in check.”
“There is nothing wrong with asking questions, Francis. You just need to hold them in for now. Once this is over you’ll have plenty of time to ask all the questions you want. And eventually, I’ll answer them all.”
With that said there was nothing else for me to do but try and think of an appropriate substance to make a body out of. What would be similar enough to simulate a body? How often does that question come up in someone’s life? Whatever I thought of, it would probably help the transmutation if it was living. Would an animal’s body work as a substitute? It was a possibility, it could work, or rather, I hoped it would work. But catching an animal in such a short amount of time wouldn’t be easy. Unless we raided a zoo or a shelter and I had a feeling that wouldn’t go over too well with Alexis.
So what else would make a decent starting point for a body? What else was alive? Then an idea struck me. I was hesitant to mention it, but I was pulled out of my thoughts when Alexis handed me a rather large mug of tea. I silently accepted the mug and took a small sip of the hot liquid. I was pleasantly surprised at the sweet taste. There was a little bit of a bitter aftertaste but other than that, it was very good, and it did warm me up better than just the few hand warmers I had made.
Looking up from the mug, I saw Alexis huddling over Dempsey’s still unconscious body. I was about to ask what he was doing but I managed to corral my loose lipped tongue just as my mouth opened.
Alexis must have sensed my ever-present curiosity as he asked without looking back at me. “You had a question, Francis?”
“I did, but it’ll wait. But I was thinking...”
“Yes?”
“Would a tree work?” I asked a little sheepishly.
Still engrossed in whatever he was doing Alexis replied, “Would a tree work for what?”
“Sorry. Would a tree work as a starting point for my body?”
“A tree?” Alexis repeated to himself while he was still focusing upon Dempsey.
Hearing the disinterest in his voice I assumed it was a bad idea, so I started to backtrack, “Yeah, it’s a silly idea...”
“No, it’s not.” Alexis broke in as he finished doing whatever it was he was doing. “I’m sorry if I gave you that impression, I was concentrating on what I was doing.”
“And what was that?”
I was about to try and retract the question when Alexis halted me by placing both of his hands up in the universal motion for stop. “You can ask what I’m doing. I can tell that it will be impossible to stop yourself completely. Just don’t ask me to explain how I do it just yet. Will that be easier for you to accomplish?”
“A little.” I replied with a smile.
“I healed all of the little injuries that our guest had, and ensured that he wouldn’t be waking up any time soon, which of course benefits us.” He took a sip from his own mug before going on, “Now as to your suggestion, a tree, or at least a large enough part of a tree should be sufficient. Besides when the body reverts back it should only help ensure his guilt in the public eye.”
“How will it help ensure his guilt in the public eye?”
“Come now can’t you figure that one out?” When I shook my head he went on. “We are going to have him standing over a dead body with the gun in hand. After a couple of days when the body is swapped out for a tree trunk people will assume that Dempsey just tried to have the right people paid off to eliminate the body in an attempt to get rid of the case against him.”