[Fallen_Snow]

Kennedy dipped her toes into the water, shivering plesantly at the touch of it against her skin. She pressed her palms down against the rock she sat on as she slid farther into the water. Halfway up her shins, her knees, her thighs, and suddenly her shorts were under. She quickly hopped up, steadying herself, uncertainty creased in her frown as she tried to find the correct footing. She tossed her head about, looking for Rook.

Well, she wasn't exactly looking-- being blind and all, she couldn't really see him. She was mostly doing this because, according to Rook, everyone 'looked around' when you couldn't find someone. And it felt normal to her, so why not?

"Rook?" came the timid question; it was barely off her lips before she felt a touch on her shoulder alerting her to his being there. She knew his touch better than anyone else's.

"Yes?" he asked. He was standing in front of her, from what she could hear. "This place... what was it called again?"

"Idalani Falls."

"Oh."

"What?"

"There was another name you had given it. I was hoping you'd say that one."

"You mean... Lover's Triangle?"

There it was. Kennedy smiled, and Rook stared at it. He was glad she couldn't see, else she would know what he was thinking. So many of his thoughts could be seen on his face, it was even better than reading an open book. It was like reading a picture book to a three year old who stuck their sticky hands all over the pictures. "Yes, Lover's Triangle. It would suck to be in one of those, wouldn't it?" she asked, pulling on her shorts so that they would stop riding up.

"I suppose." Rook answered. She frowned. "I wish I had just one, you know?" she said, sitting down once more and picking at her toes. Rook sat next to her and took one of her hands. "You know, you at least have me, your guide."

"Yeah, but I need my Other. I know you're not my Other, but..."

Again, Rook's face portrayed the emotions he didn't dare to voice to the not-so-perceptive blind girl beside him. Sometimes he wondered if she could actually sense it, and because she wanted to be able to know without making him uncomfortable, she just pretended like she didn't notice it.

"I wish you were." she said. Rook stiffened. "You're much easier to find, for one." she said with a laugh. He laughed weakly back, relaxing.

[Fallen_Snow]

Rook let go of Kennedy's hand and pulled them in close to his chest. Pulling his knees to his chin, he wrapped his arms around them and hugged them close, as if afraid they would run away without the rest of him. His sharp blue eyes stared hard at the water, trying to pry at it's secrets. What was held below? What lived just below that deep blue-green surface?

Kennedy laughed once more and stuck her feet in the water, kicking gently. "I love the feeling of water," she commented idly, "because it's so clean, and refreshing, and pure, and just plain old happy, you know? It's like, I just got hit with a burst of endorphins. You know?"

Rook shook his head. "No, I don't. I guess I just don't appreciate water like you do."

Kennedy frowned.

"Hey, perk up, Jones, we still have a lot of ground to cover, and you said that you wanted to touch every tree in the forest. Well, I'm going to help you accomplish that." he said, kissing her on the cheek before helping her up. She blushed furiously, but said nothing. They both knew that she could not and would not accept Rook as anything more than a guide and friend. He was not her Other, who she desperately searched for constantly.

Taking her hand once more as she stood up, he tugged it gently to signal her to follow him. Keeping their connection, he guided her through the forest, brushing her hand up against every tree they passed. "The bark feels so interesting... what do they look like, Rook?"

Ooh, bad question. He was never good at describing things. "Um... it's tall. About sixty feet."

"Rook, lengths mean nothing to me," Kenny stated as-a-matter-of-factly, "I'm blind, 'member?" she asked sarcastically, waving a hand in front of her face. "Just... describe colors. And shapes. I can picture shapes. And if you can, find me a leaf." she said quietly.

Rook nodded, and began. "Well, the trunk is almost black, but if you look close enough, it's actually a chocolate brown color. And the leaves are huge... bigger than your head. Some of them are heart shaped, or football shaped, or--"

Rook cut off as he felt her hand let go of his.

"Kennedy?" he called, turning around and looking for her. She was barely an inch from a large, thick tree, staring intently at it. As if wishing for sight. Rook sighed. "Oh, Kennedy..."

[Fallen_Snow]

Kennedy wiped a tear off her cheek, smiling and turning in the general direction of Rook. "S'okay, Rookie." she sniffed, rubbing the base of her palm against her eye. "I just... I want to find my Other. It's so unfair... I'm made for an Other, but for some reason he continues to elude me."

"I thought that was the whole point?" asked Rook, staring at her face. He stepped forward and pushed the moisture from her eyes with a gentle thumb. "To find your Other, you have to work hard for it. You have to--"

"But I've been working hard!" Kennedy shouted. She felt for the tree, and then punched it. A sharp intake of breath cut the tension, and she nursed her fist, moving the fingers in and out. She couldn't feel it-- really, she couldn't feel anything. Without her Other, she was unwhole. Not all there.

A piece to a two piece puzzle.

"I've been working so hard..." she sobbed, and fell to the forest floor, crying. Rook couldn't take it-- he grabbed her under the arms and lifted her up. Taking her shoulders, he shook them. "Kenny, listen to me. You will find him. You will become a Whole. You will feel better." he said firmly. His sound words seemed to calm her, but she wasn't fully there yet.

"But when, Rook? When will my magical Other just appear?! Never, that's when! Never, never, never!" she screamed, shaking her head and closing her eyes in anger and fear. Rook growled, and barked, "Kennedy Jones!"

She froze, tears streaming down her face. "What? What could you possibly say to me to--"

"Look. I know I don't understand this, and I know that you're almost as bad off as I am." he said angrily. She grimaced. "But," he continued, "that means nothing if you act like this, like you never had a chance in the beginning."

[Fallen_Snow]

She smiled weakly. "I don't give myself much of a chance, do I?" she asked, laughing nervously. Rook let go, but instead of walking off once more, he hugged her. "That, and I'm not going to let you give up." he said, his tone reflecting his passion to help her. He was a true Guide, in every way. Kennedy was lucky she had come across him.

"Remember the day you found me? You let me tell you all about my Other, the man I imagined him to be-- perfect." she said, letting go of his embrace. Rook smiled. "You were barely seventeen." he commented. She laughed. "Yes, but I wasn't stupid. Being blind gives you certain learning advantages. For instance, you learn that listening is one of the most important skills to have, and that people tend to avoid blind people like it's a sickness. I'm not a sickness." she stated firmly.

"You were lucky you stumbled across a Guide, else whoever you had actually told wouldn't have believed you. That, or thought you were a nut." he said with a laugh. She laughed too, but frowned. "You know, on that day, I truly thought you were my Other. But when you shook my hand, I knew you weren't."

"How is that?"

"Because I was still blind."

[MillietheWarrior]

“Voices, I hear voices.”

“That’s a bad sign, you know. How long have we been walking? I think your going crazy.”

Choruk turned and glowered over his shoulder, giving his ‘cousin’ a look that clearly said she should quit while she was ahead. Oyala smiled benignly, blinking innocently up at him. With a snort, he turned back around to continue walking, hands shoved deep into his pockets. Oyala padded along silently behind him, eyes roving over the forest with a lazy curiosity as she took in her surroundings. Even though Choruk thought of Oyala as his cousin, neither one of them was actually related; their families, however, were quite close. The Skiratas and the Bikadinirs were practically related, and Choruk had grown up knowing Oyala as his ‘cousin.’ It led to some very interesting family outings, of which this was one. Oyala had insisted they go ‘exploring’ or, as Choruk liked to call it ‘dragging Choruk off into the forest to walk around aimlessly and waste half of his day.’ But the first one was just easier to say.

“Voices?” Oyala suddenly ventured at last, having said her peace earlier. She seemed to be curious about his apparent ‘insanity’, or at least curious as to what he actually heard. “You sure? ‘Cuz I think I can hear them too.” Choruk sighed through his nose, frustrated with his cousin’s apparent lack of faith in his hearing; like he’d lie about hearing something in the forest. That was just stupid. He could hear Oyala shifting uneasily behind him, and her hand fall to the butt of her rifle, the sound of skin against metal loud in the silent forest. “Let’s hope those voices are friendly. I wanted to go for a walk, not get into a brawl in the middle of the shabla forest.” Choruk rolled his eyes.

“Language, Oy’ika. A lady shouldn’t talk like that.”

Oyala’s footsteps accelerated, and she was suddenly walking beside him, her strides lengthening to match his own. “This ‘lady’ can cut off your arm and beat you over the head with it, so I’d be careful about what you say in the future, vod’ika,” she growled, but there was a playful light in her eyes that showed she was only joking. Choruk knew her words were completely true, but Oyala, like most Mandalorian women, had a strange sense of humor; it was a bit more rough and far more coarse than that of a normal, mannerly-raised girl. “Yeah, yeah,” Choruk waved her off as the voices began to grow louder. He straightened his arm on reflex, feeling the blade he carried in his jacket slip into his hand, just in case. One always had to be prepared in situations like this, and Choruk was never caught off his guard. He had his mother to thank for that; she trained him to be a real verd, a real warrior. “Guess your voices have bodies. Looks like a male and a female,” Oyala whispered beside him as they got close. “I don’t see any weapons. And they look like you could take them out with a flick of your wrist.”

She suddenly laughed, her braids swinging behind her back. “Oh man. Look at the guy; I bet I could take him with one hand behind my back.” Choruk reached over and covered her mouth out of reflex, sighing heavily. “Yes, let’s insult them before we even reach them; that’ll make a good first impression,” he muttered darkly as they neared. He slowed his pace, and Oyala did the same beside him as the two watched the scene before them quite carefully. How random to run into someone else out here in the middle of the forest; neither Mandalorian had anticipated meeting anyone, but apparently, the urge to explore was universal today. “Hey there,” Choruk called, putting on his best ‘I’m nice, but I will mess you up if you mess with me’ smile. With a black leather jacket and dark pants, the overall look was a bit overwhelming. Oyala snorted beside him, and folded her arms, though he saw her fingers twitch slightly in the direction of her blaster.

“Fancy meeting someone else out here, eh?” Choruk continued, ignoring his cousin. “Quite a surprise. You folks out for a walk as well?” He dipped his head, and motioned to the woman beside him. “This is my cousin, Oyala. And I’m Choruk. Nice to meet you. But we should probably be on our way; don’t want to hold you folks up or anything.” He turned to usher Oyala away, even though she looked somewhat reluctant to go; she seemed to want to have a bit of fun, and her idea of fun was getting into a bar room brawl and breaking someone’s nose. Choruk was a little concerned for the welfare of the two travelers in front of them.

[1/6   1/17]

[Fallen_Snow]

Kennedy perked instantly at the sound of voices. "Hm? Whassat?" she asked Rook, poking him in what she thought was his shoulder, but instead got him on the nose. He was already up and moving though, and she could hear his voice steady within his throat. He was holding her hand again, as he usually did-- it made him feel more responsible over her, and it let him know that she hadn't gone wandering off, as she tended to do in most situations.

"Hello, strangers! Yes, it's fairly odd to meet someone new in a forest so old, I suppose." Rook stated, examining the two figures. They both looked menacing, but the male was closest and most intimidating. Rook tugged gently on Kennedy's pointer finger; she moved behind him. "I wouldn't want any trouble either." he said flatly, worried that this man was trying to hurt them. For all he knew, there was some kind of Idalani gang, where innocent and blind people were robbed solely for fun and sport.

"We're trying to find my--" Kennedy began, but she felt Rook stiffen in front of her and she paused, but continued afterwards with, "locket. Lost it somewhere out here, silly blind old little me. Probably because I'm blind and all. Blind as a Batti, eh? Heh heh... heh..." Kenny trailed off, worried what Rook would make of this whole situation. If she put him in danger... she'd never forgive herself.

She pulled at the hairband holding her straight black hair up in a ponytail and redid it, fixing it so that no hair fell out of place. Rook tried to stay calm and assess the situation, but it was hopeless.

"I am Rook, and this is Kenny." he said, pointing out his counterpart. "We were just leaving."

[MillietheWarrior]

Oyala couldn’t help the smirk that passed over her features at the man’s behavior; such a typical guy. If she’d been raised a bit differently, she might find this situation too tempting to pass up. As it was, she was having a very hard time following Choruk’s silent orders to get going, and instead, weaseled her way around him. Maybe she’d burn for this, but she honestly didn’t care; she was bored, and she wanted something to entertain her.

Choruk sighed in frustration as Oyala scooted around him, and turned back with a self-suffering look on his face. “You lost something, huh?” Oyala ventured craftily, an innocent smile on her face. “Well, I’ve really got nothing better to do. I don’t know about Choruk here, but I’ll help you look for it. It can’t be easy, what with you being blind and all.” She said it with a fairly amused chuckle, her words not meant to hurt, but only to state the obvious. The girl had seemed to want to make her blindness a point, so obviously she had no problem with it being pointed out.

Choruk mentally smacked his head, cursing Oyala’s annoyingly persistent personality. He finally sighed in resignation, shaking his head slightly and running a hand through his cropped, dark purple hair. “Well, since Oyala seems committed to helping you out, I might as well too.” He had a feeling the two strangers were more afraid of them than anything, and he could tell they wanted to get going. Maybe if he found that stupid locket, this would all be over, and he could go home and sleep.

“What does it look like?” Oyala’s face morphed into a triumphant smile, and her orange eyes briefly flickered to her cousin, before they landed on the couple. Rook and Kenny. Weird names, but whatever. You couldn’t choose your name, right? Well, unless you were a Mando, and you happened to dislike whatever name your parents gave you. But from the looks of these two, they were about as far from being Mando as you could get.

[2/7  2/18]

[Fallen_Snow]

Kennedy was happy that Oyala was giving her some attention. It was different to talk to a girl-- she barely ever hung out with anyone other than Rook, so a slight change in perspective would be interesting. She smiled at the blind comment. "You're okay with it, I hope?" she asked, reaching out a hand and hoping the woman would take it.

Rook stepped next to her and was very tempted to make Kennedy lower her hand. But they were in the mess now, there was no point in acting like they didn't need their help. Rook knew that a denial following a lie will make it twice as detectable. "Her locket is... oval. Bronze. K engraved on the front. Chain is thin, gold. No pictures inside."

It was as if the locket was real-- Rook had pictured it in his head, and there it was, perfectly detailed, just waiting for his words to make it final. Kennedy had perked up at the mention of it, too. "Uh, yeah, that's it. Thanks, Rook." she said, but Rook saw the puzzled look that flashed in those unseeing eyes. It creeped him out, but it proved just how much more human she was feeling at the moment. Rook looked to Choruk, who looked just about as happy as he was. "Do you two have names?" asked Rook.

[MillietheWarrior]

Oyala chuckled, amused by the girl’s reaction. Oh man, today was definitely going to be one heck of an interesting day. She scrutinized Kennedy closely, shaking her head ever so slightly, before she reached out to take her hand, fingers meshing around the girl’s in a firm handshake. Oyala shook her hand, and then let it drop lightly. “Not a problem. Just ‘cause you can’t see doesn’t mean you aren’t still a person, am I right? We've all got our quirks.” Choruk eyed Rook closely, as though waiting for him to make some kind of move towards Oyala.

He tensed momentarily, his gaze boring into the other man’s, before he glanced quickly at Kennedy. He didn’t know if he should shake her hand as well; she hadn’t exactly offered it to him, just to Oyala. “I’m sure we’ll find it,” he said gruffly, half-shrugging one shoulder and looking faintly irritated. “Where’d you…er…” See it last? That would have been a terrible way to finish that question. “Where did you have it last?” Oyala was practically giggling with enjoyment at the situation she’d thrown Choruk into.

She turned to Rook, a smirk crossing her face for a brief moment. “Oyala,” she said, pointing to herself. “Choruk,” she finished, saying it as though speaking to a very small child. Hadn’t Choruk told them their names earlier? They probably just thought they were speaking some weird language or something. Their names weren’t exactly normal. “Where to start, hm?” she questioned idly, fingers tapping against her blaster.

[3/7 3/19]

[Fallen_Snow]

Rook couldn't help but be a little terrified of Oyala's blaster. Apparently those words were their names. Interesting things, but no need to treat him like a child in the matter. He was a bit more concerned about keeping Kennedy safe. It was more important to him than any other (except, well, maybe her Other) because a Guide was also meant as a sort of protector to their people. If someone's Other was killed before they had a chance to unite...

Well, Rook didn't know what would happen, exactly. It hadn't happened yet. All the united Couples he knew of had either died together or are still living, happily united.

He didn't like how the two were staring at Kennedy and him. They didn't seem too friendly, but at the same time they gave no hint of wanting to kill them. This made Rook even more confused and upset, mostly because he couldn't tell what they were going to do. Why couldn't they be more like him and have an openly expressive face? He tapped Kennedy on the shoulder and took her hand.

"I believe the last place she had it was in this area, but we're having a lot of trouble trying to find it. See, Kennedy sometimes wanders off, annnndddd she tends to get lost, and since she's blind and all and I worry about her because she doesn't wear shoes, I have to find her quick as possible... would you believe I found her up in a tree once? A seventeen year old blind girl, can barely keep her balance alone, made it all the way up a tree in Tengel." he said with a nervous laugh.

"Well. The locket. Erm..." he looked about, trying to 'find' the location from where they had started. "We came from around there-ish..." he commented, pointing to an undisturbed path leading towards a small clearing, "and we were just heading towards the water. We had went swimming, and figured that she might have lost it in the water, where it would have been hardest to realize the absence of the... locket..."

He was so good at babbling. Kennedy laughed at him, smiling gently. "Sorry if he's a little... yeah. He tends to feel nervous when he doesn't know people." Kennedy realized again that it would be best to leave her sentences short. If she said any more, they'd have a lot of explaining to do, and Kenny really didn't feel like explaining the whole Lost Soul thing to them. If anything, they'd just call her a glorified Bleeder, like most others did. Maybe she should get one of her own to prove to people that she was not a Bleeder, merely a Half of a Whole, trying to find her Other. It was like her blindness-- people were so distracted by it that they saw little else. It's why she had greeted them in such a way-- depending on how they responded, she'd know how to deal with them. Usually if they changed the subject, she would walk away. If they managed to get past the blindness without using awkward pauses or stuttering, "Uhh... ah... um...", then Kennedy would usually stick around to hear what they had to say.

[MillietheWarrior]

Oyala rolled her eyes, not bothering to hide her annoyance at the mans’ rambling. Rook, he was called, right? She’d make it a point to remember his name. “Yeah, shoes are a pain,” she said absently, waving her hand. She folded her arms over her chest, following Rook’s gaze as it landed on her blaster. “Don’t worry, pretty boy. As showy as it might be, I ain’t gonna shoot you. Not yet, at least.” She smirked, winking boldly at him as Choruk openly smacked his forehead in exasperation.

“She doesn’t mean that,” he amended quickly, shaking his head and holding up his hands. The last thing they really needed was two people running screaming from the forest that they were going to get shot. “She’s just got a…different sense of humor, yeah.” He chuckled nervously, hoping they’d just believe him and ignore Oyala’s comments. Oyala rolled her eyes again, but this time it was aimed at Choruk.

“Blah, blah, blah. Let’s just help them find this locket, okay?” She quickly reached forward and took Kennedy’s hand in her own, not seeming bothered by the fact that it was probably not a smart thing to do. She tugged on her hand very lightly in the direction of the path. “Let’s get to lookin’. I’ll be your eyes for a while. We’ll find that locket of yours. Can’t be too hard, right?” Choruk pinched the bridge of his nose, and glanced at Rook and Kennedy.

“Er, sorry. We’ll help you find your locket and then get out of your hair. That’s probably for the best.” He reached forward and gently grabbed Kennedy’s hand, separating it from Oyala’s as softly as he could. “No touching,” he chided, wagging his finger in Oyala’s face as though she were just a kid. Oyala growled, and folded her arms, sounding like a petulant child when she spoke; “Fine, no touching.”

[4/8  4/20]

[Fallen_Snow]

Rook rubbed the back of his neck nervously and directed his attention away from the blaster. "Oh, right." he said with a worried smile. As Choruk dismissed Oyala's rough humor, Rook shrugged. "I'm used to it, I suppose. When you're stuck with the blind kid over here, you tend to get people everyone on the spectrum when it comes to dealing with her blindness. Those jokes are usually more hurtful. Plus, I don't believe you intend harm on us. At least, not yet I don't." he said with a small smile in Oyala's direction.

"Oh, it's alright." Kennedy said, smiling in what she thought was Choruk's direction. "I'm used to being lead around. I'm not always steady on my feet, and the rest of my body has no way of sensing trees before I run into them, seeing as I practically don't have eyes." she laughed, taking back Oyala's hand. "That is, if you don't mind." said Kennedy.

Rook frowned. "Kennedy!"

"What?"

"You can't just ask people to lead you around!"

"Why not?"

"Well-- uh... well, for one thing... err..." Rook frowned, his finger in mid-point, unsure why she couldn't just ask people to lead her around. "While you ponder that..." she said, she tugged gently back on Oyala's hand. "Let's go swimming!"

[MillietheWarrior]

Oyala allowed Kennedy to once more take her hand, slightly confused as to how the blind girl knew where it was. Well, they said that when you lost your sight, your other senses were heightened to help you along. Maybe she heard the rustle of fabric or something? Oyala shrugged, allowing the girl to tug her along lightly. “Having a disability isn’t any reason to treat someone different,” Oyala called to Rook, her braids swinging over her shoulder. “Trust me; I know all too well.”

She thought of her father, and the fact that he no longer had real arms. When he was in the army, he’d been a bomb disposal expert who’d gotten a wire wrong. Of course, that hadn’t ended well for either of his arms, and he now had two metallic arms in place of his real ones. She turned back to Kennedy, chuckling. “Don’t mind at all. Better than us looking and you getting bored on the sidelines.” She tilted her head slightly, and frowned. “Swimming? Oh, oh right. It fell in the water.”

Choruk sighed in exasperation, nodding his head to Rook as he followed along behind the two women. “It’s all right,” he said, as if trying to make the other man feel better. “If it’s any consolation, Oyala is the same way. She’s got this thing about personal space; she doesn’t think is exists.” He snorted, shoving his hands into his pockets. “It gets a bit frustrating sometimes, because you can’t just walk up to strangers and stick your face in theirs.” He paused thoughtfully. “’Course, Oyala usually sticks her blaster and her face in theirs, so I suppose she’s ten times worse than a normal person.”

[5/9  5/21]

[Fallen_Snow]

"It's not a disability-- I consider it a pleasure to have it, seeing as my Other probably has worse." she said, but then realized what she had revealed. "I mean... uh..." for the first time, Kennedy was at a loss for words. That didn't happen often; she always had things to say, relevant or not. That was it! Get onto a different track, yeah. "Other people have it worse, probably. Yeah. Like this guy that me and Rook met at Nu'san, he was a monk, and he had lost his nose and he was deaf in one ear. He also told us he would have lost his lips, too, had it not been for the man attacking him being blind with fury." she whispered, turning her head to 'look back' at Rook, another thing he had taught her as being natural. "He doesn't like to talk about our adventures. We haven't had too many, but enough to make our lives interesting." she said with a smile.

"And it won't be much longer until Rook finally... finally..."

She was going to blab something again. Maybe she had too much to say, mostly about herself and what Rook was doing to help her. "Finally admits he's... in love!" she sputtered, but then regretted letting it out. Oh, dear. If she had been looking to open that can of worms, she had instead cut it in half and dumped its contents all over.

Rook nodded at Choruk, following the girls idly. "Yes, well, Kennedy tends to be the same way, though a little less... accurate? Like, she'll hear a voice and try to follow it, and then stare them in the face, but she's usually a little off-- she never gets used to it, I suppose. It's not that big of a deal, but it makes me all the more nervous to put her in public, populated areas. So easy to lose..." he muttered, keeping an eye on her while trying to keep the conversation with Choruk.

[MillietheWarrior]

Oyala peered at Kennedy closely, her eyes narrowed in confusion. She had certainly just said ‘My Other.’ But what did that mean, exactly? Kennedy had amended her statement as quickly as possible, but Oyala didn’t miss the flustered way she spoke. It was faintly amusing, but even more intriguing. What was an Other, exactly? And why was Kennedy talking about one? Maybe she should wait it out and ask when Kennedy’s guard was down. She imagined that might be a good way to get some info out of the girl. She chuckled, smiling to herself and quickly pushing the thought to the back of her mind.

Kennedy’s next statement startled Oyala so much she stumbled, but managed to catch herself before she did a face-plant. “In-in love?” she stammered, as if it was some sort of big shock. A cat-like smile curled up over her features, and she glanced quickly over her shoulder, before she looked back at Kennedy. “Oh, do tell. He seems like such a nice guy. I guess if he’s in love, my chance has gone right out the window, eh?” Her voice was mischievous, and amused.

Choruk, meanwhile, was trying very hard not to catch a glimpse of Oyala’s face; he knew she was up to something when she turned and looked back at them. That was a bad, bad sign. “Maybe get her a beeper or something?” Choruk suggested, turning to smirk at the man beside him. He trudged along dutifully after his cousin and her new ‘friend’, though he’d really rather be home, and in bed right now. “So uh…what were you guys doing out here? Just going for a walk?” He drawled conversationally, forming the question so it sounded more innocent than suspicious.

[6/11  6/22]