Fair Maiden

As the group jogs around the park on their last lap, Kyle spots Alice at the far end. "Later guys." He breaks off from the others, heading in her direction.

"Hey, not so fast." Hunter goes after him.

Kyle looks over his shoulder and grins. "Last one there has to ride on top of the bus!"

Within a moment, both men had gone from a slow jog to an all-out sprint across the park, cutting through the grass instead of staying on the path. Halfway there, both start to tire, but they remain side-by-side, neither letting the other gain ground. Getting closer though, Kyle takes the lead.

Racing to Alice, he skids to a stop right as he gets to the bench, sliding in next to her, totally out of breath. "Good morning!"

But as he speaks, Hunter has reached them as well, and slides down on his stomach behind the bench, reaching under it to grab Kyle's ankles and pull.

Giving a wail, Kyle is yanked off his seat, falling forward, then pulled backward under the bench.

With his adversary out of the way, Hunter vaults over the bench to plop down next to Alice instead. "Hey babe!"

"Not fair!" Kyle hollers from the ground. Picking himself up, he scoots in on the other side of Alice, slinging an arm around her shoulders to claim her as his triumph, not Hunter's. "Don't let him scare you, my fairest maiden. I shall protect you!"


Con chuckles and shakes his head at Aerith. "Well, I think I remember a thing or two Herb's shown me. We'll get things shut down without burning the place up."

He puts his car keys in his pocket and comes all the way into the kitchen, ready to help. It doesn't take long, and the task of shutting everything off is complete. Con helps clean off the counter, then gives everything a glance again to make sure it looks okay. Leaning back against the sink, he cocks his head at Aerith. "How are things with you anyway? I haven't been around here much lately."


A slight smile forms on Carson's lips. "Thanks, Nate. I appreciate it. I'm just going around in so many circles right now, I don't know which way is up. I got Herb giving me a restaurant, I got Ryder who hates me for killing his brother, I got a brother in the TJY brig, and now this whole thing with a daughter showing up out of the blue..." He takes a deep breath. "Right now all I want to do is stay out of trouble."

Getting to TJY, Carson is able to see Angelica, and tells her the whole story, giving her all the details he could remember, and ending on asking her for help. He couldn't afford much, but he'd pay her when he could if they could work something out.

Pacing back and forth, Carson finally stops and looks at Angelica lamely. "So that's it. I gotta appear in court and I don't know what they're going to try. I'm just glad they didn't hold me."