Company

Jason lets a bit of silence linger, not sure he can offer anything more about Carson. It was between those two now, and he could just hope they worked things out. He knew Carson was probably clueless that Misty even felt this way, but he was unsure how he'd react if Misty told him.

Giving a little smile of encouragement, Jason starts to leave, but then stops as Misty keeps him there with her own question.

Glancing back at her, something strange flickers in his eyes, and he just looks at her for several moments. No one, other than Katie, ever really asked him how he was. He was invincible Hotshot, able to handle anything. No one ever took the time to look past that outer layer. It wasn't bad that they didn't, and he certainly wasn't offended when they didn't, but it just created a brief feeling of almost confusion when someone like Misty actually did take note that there was more going on than his cocky air.

He offers a slightly crooked grin and shrugs. "I'm... alright. Take the Austin factor out, and I'd probably say I'm doing right well." Though there's sadness there, he covers it up - there was no need to go digging around on that subject now.

"And as far as I know, Katie's alright. We've both been under a lot of stress lately. Spent time together but not really... know what I mean?" He shakes his head. "I just want this whole thing to be over so we can get back to normal again. But... I have my doubts that will be any time soon."

"Jason?" Susanne sticks her head into the infirmary. "There you are. Austin's looking for you."

Jason rolls his eyes. "I'll be there... soon." He turns back to Misty with a smirk. "I suppose I better not push my luck and at least go see what he wants. If you hear an explosion though, it wasn't me."

Tossing her a wink, he heads for the door. "Let me know about Carson," he throws over his shoulder.

Exiting, he slings an arm around Susanne to drag her along with him. "Now what's all this about..."


Luke straddles a chair backward and looks out the window, the phone to his ear. He smiles. "Yeah, I was kinda wondering if you were ever gonna call. Thought maybe you'd forgot," he teases. "I miss you too. Mick offered me the dog to keep me warm at night, but I politely turned him down."

Still grinning, he sees people out and about outside, and wishes he had the strength in his legs this morning to join them. "You sound tired," he muses. "Take care of yourself, alright?"


Axel grins as he unbuckles his seatbelt. "Either that, or everybody heard a storm was coming."

Getting inside, the aromas make one's mouth water. Axel finds a table with Jess, and it doesn't take them long to be settled and waiting for their food. Conversation is light and sparse as always, but it's not uncomfortable, and rather fairly relaxing.

Waiting for their food, Axel runs a finger around the top of his water glass. "Um... you know we got that concert tomorrow evening at a fundraiser. I was gonna ask if you wanted to come along. Hang out with the band, and you won't have to pay to get in either."

He shrugs. "Lot of people, but... stick around us and it's not a bad bunch." He lifts his eyes to look at Jess across the table, wondering if she felt up to a social event like that.

"Well, look who the cat dragged in."

Axel turns quickly to look up at his friend. "Rocky. I thought you had to work today."

Rocky smirks. "That's a fine welcome. Hi to you too."

Axel offers a wry grin. "You alone?"

"No." Rocky shakes his head and thumbs over his shoulder. "I got some weird blonde tagging along. Said her cousin was borrowing her car and she had no way to get to work."

"And... she twisted your arm to buy her lunch too?"

"Nope. I told her I was penniless. I only stopped because she said she'd share one of her french fries with me."

Axel shakes his head, still grinning. "She's as dangerous one."

"You're telling me." Rocky chuckles, then shifts his attention to Jess. "You must be Jess. Think I've seen you a time or two, but this knucklehead has never introduced us."

Axel's face grows slightly warm. "Jess, this is Rocky. He's the keyboard player for Cryptic. Rocky, this is Jess."

Rocky smiles and extends his hand for a warm handshake. "Nice to finally meet you."

Taylor catches up to him, coming up from behind and waving to Axel, a smile on her face. "Hey, Ax. What are you doing here?"

Axel looks down at the table, then around the restaurant. "Fishing?"

Taylor rolls her eyes and gives his arm a whack. "Nice try. I see somebody finally got you out of your hole." She grins over at Jess. "Don't let this guy fool you. He's not exactly a social butterfly."

Few would notice the muscles in Axel's jaw tightening. "So - you two got a table?"

Taylor shakes her head. "Rocky wanted to sit across the room from me, but I told him he was being ridiculous."

Rocky gets a crooked grin on his face. "I wouldn't want people to talk." He tosses Jess a wink. "Taylor here is the baby sister of the band."

"Baby?" Taylor smirks at him. "Thanks a heap." She turns back to Axel. "Mind if we share a table?"

Axel lifts his eyebrows slightly, then glances at Jess. He'd been enjoying the quiet, but he didn't want to be rude to his friends either. "Um... okay." But instead of putting Jess in an awkward position of sitting next to someone she didn't know, Axel slides from his seat to make a simple turn and share Jess' booth with her, leaving the opposite side for Rocky and Taylor.

Rocky scoots in across from Jess and puts a leg up on the booth to keep Taylor from sitting down. All it does is serve to get another whack from her though, so he relents and straightens, the teasing twinkle in his eye remaining. Scanning a menu briefly, Rocky looks over the top of it to see Jess. "If you haven't heard Cryptic, tomorrow night is a prime opportunity."

"I... was just asking her about that," Axel intervenes. His eyes study his water glass again, his demeanor having changed slightly to be just a bit cooler than before.