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Casey's spirit was weakened in more ways than one when RJ told him to stay behind. It was his tiger spirit that Whiger had stolen and it was him who Whiger had called out, but he was the one who was washing the counter at JKP instead of fighting. Staying behind was not something he was used to, and his physically weakened state only made him more frustrated.
When he looked up from the counter, he was surprised to notice that Fran was staring at him. Instantly flustered, she fumbled with the spray bottle and rag in her hand.
Casey resumed losing himself in his thoughts and contemplated the counter's multi-colored tile. He was brought back to reality a second time when a moist cloth landed in front of him. Casey glanced up at Fran, who shrugged and offered a smile. "This place isn't going to finish cleaning itself," she said.
He knew she was trying to distract him, so he did his best to smile back at her as he picked up the cloth and began wiping down the countertop.
"How much is left to do?" he asked.
Fran looked up at the ceiling while she thought about the answer. "Besides the counter, tables four and five need to be cleaned. Theo and Dominic took care of the kitchen before you got back, though we still need to put up the chairs so we can mop the floor."
Casey nodded, wiping the last of the counter as Fran took care of the tables. They moved on to lifting the chairs in silence. When Casey knocked one over, he let out an agitated growl. At the quarry, his friends were fighting Whiger and who-knows-what-else while he was having trouble putting chairs onto tables.
Fran prevented him from picking it up, placing one of her hands over his.
"It'll be alright," she told him. "They'll be alright."
Clutching his temples, Casey spun around. "I can't take this," he admitted. "They could be hurt. They could be--" He pulled at his hair. "I didn't want to be left behind!" he snapped.
Fran carefully picked up the chair between them, turned it upside down, and set it on the table's surface. Then she leaned against the edge of the table and considered the restaurant. "Nobody wants to be left behind," she told him. Her voice was almost eerily calm, and he realized that she wasn't necessarily talking about him. He caught her eye, and she continued.
"It's hard not knowing what's going on, especially when the people you care about could be hurt. But you have to have hope that they will come back at the end of the day. You have to have faith in them." She attempted to smile, but she ended up pursing her lips and looking away.
"Fran..." Casey began. His frustration was quickly being replaced with guilt. He had momentarily forgotten that Fran was always "left behind". He immediately regretted his earlier outburst.
Fran brushed him off with a small smile. "It's okay, Casey," she said, standing up straight.
He tried again. "I didn't mean it like that. I mean... I know you're..." He wasn't sure how to phrase what he was thinking, so he trusted what he felt. "You're important, Fran. To us."
She looked up at him when he took two steps towards her. "You really are," he added. "Without you, we wouldn't be able to do what we do. You keep everything under control when we can't be here." She did, too. He had no idea how she managed to take care of JKP by herself, especially when she knew they were off risking their lives fighting Dai Shi. He wouldn't be able to handle it -- the constant waiting, the not knowing. "You might not fight monsters, but you're an important member of our team. We'd fall apart without you."
She flushed and the edges of her lips quirked upwards. "Well, I don't know..." she stammered modestly, and a moment later her face broke into a big grin. Casey found himself grinning back.
"You're a good guy, Casey," she told him, patting him on the arm. Then she looked around the room awkwardly, and moved towards one of the remaining chairs. She changed the subject as she lifted it. "How was your class?" she asked.
Casey moved to help her, grabbing a chair of his own. "Good. One of my students is still being bullied, but I think he'll be alright." He smiled to himself. "He choose the tiger projection, after all."
Fran paused. "Can you tell?" she asked, her brow furrowing.
Casey didn't follow. "Tell what?"
"That he choose the tiger projection. Or did he tell you?" she wanted to know.
Casey paused. "Ever since I joined Pai Zhua and learned what animal projections were, I figured out how to tell what someone's chosen animal projection was just by spending time with them."
Fran's head shot up, and she looked at the far wall for a long moment. Casey wasn't expecting it when, in small voice, she asked, "Can you tell what mine is?"
He was taken aback by the question. He had known when she had chosen one two weeks ago, but he realized now that she had never mentioned it before now.
Fran fidgeted nervously, and Casey considered her. When she reached for another chair, he spoke. "You choose the projection of the dog."
She paused, and then turned to look at him. He offered her a smile. "Well, the collie to be specific. A loyal animal that watches out for others, and whose presence alone has the power to warm the heart."
For a moment she was speechless. Then she smiled, her expression radiating a joy that could only come from Fran. "You can sense all of that?" she asked as she grabbed the last chair. Although she turned away from him, Casey knew she was still grinning ear to ear.
"Yeah," he replied, feeling lighter, buoyed by her happiness.
It was then that Casey remembered that at the quarry his friends were risking their lives, but unlike earlier, he felt more at ease. It was his tiger projection that Whiger had stolen and it was him who Whiger had called out, but it was in his friends that Casey had faith. They would make it through the battle.
Watching Fran, Casey decided he had a lot to learn from someone who always made it through their battles.