Main Thread

[Mitheral]

Duncan Moran


Albuquerque, NM


I-40 (on the western end of town near the Rio Grande)


Aug 27, 2019


(The date assumes the Plague hit last year.)


Prologue


With his family dead - even before the Plague - Duncan had been more than fortunate to find himself in a decent foster family.  It had been an older couple who had actually doted on him, finding him to be a model son.  His grandparents wanted to take him in, but admittedly their health hadn’t been the best.  So they had met with the foster parents, researched them, and given their approval - and even some financial support for their eldest grandson. Duncan had gone from living in near poverty to upper middle income overnight.


His foster father had worked at Sandia Labs.  His mother was a doctor.  It had probably been the best months of his life before the plague hit.  As soon as his foster parents realized just how bad the situation was they overreacted - or thought they did.  The single best thing his father did was start teaching Duncan some technological survival basics - and help the boy convert his book collection to digital format, creating backups.  His foster father taught him how to convert a car to alcohol.  Duncan hated mechanics, but paid attention.  The man also left Duncan instructions on how to convert military diesel and expanded Duncan book collection.  He also made sure Duncan got his driver’s licence.


When it became apparent that Duncan wasn’t getting sick even as he watched his foster parents die, they sent him out in a small RV to the Jemez Mts where they had a cabin.  It was remote and well stocked to get the whole family through about 5 years of survival.  But Duncan only stayed the winter.  Finally heading out to see if anyone was alive.  In 6 months the Plague had wiped out over 7 billion people.  At least he assumed as much.


Duncan was the luckiest kid alive.


Duncan was the only kid alive.


That sucked.


He had imagined what it would be like to have a whole world to himself.  He had thought it would be great.  He didn’t like people.  Oh he had - once upon a time.  That was before his stepfather had beaten the empathy out of him.  That was before his brother’s gang had half beaten him to death in a hazing ritual expecting him to join them.  They hadn’t taken no for an answer.  That was before their rival gang had killed his brother and come after him out of revenge for his brother doing something.  Duncan still had no idea what.  That was before the gang had broken into his home and killed his mother.


It might very well have been a miracle that Duncan had been taken in by the sort of foster family he’d gotten.  He had taken to calling them Mom and Dad rather quickly.  With them he had even begun to reconnect with people.  Losing them had cost him more emotions that he had thought he had left.


Yeah, he was lucky.  Good luck, bad luck.  He had it all.


As winter drew to a close he packed up for a long trip and rolled out - well armed, well prepared.  He crossed the US via the south all the way to Florida, then up the east coast, across the north to Seattle, down to LA … and finally back home.  Along the way he monitored radio channels, looked for signs of people, fired off fireworks, guns, eventually even a small brass cannon.  But the entire way he never saw signs of people.


He stopped off at a place he had researched in McAlester, OK, and took as much Zeolite as he could haul.  He discovered a freezer half filled with boudin near New Orleans and ate so much he got sick.  In Florida he went crabbing and floundering at a bay he used to fish at.  He found a great catfishing place and smoked as much as he could.  He shot a deer at 300 yards in Virginia, smoked that and used some of the meat for a stew.  Instant rice took care of the rest. He went through the Smithsonian, White House (sat in the Oval Office - yes, THAT chair), saw a few other monuments, and moved on.  He raided MIT for books.  He stopped off at Punxsutawney, PA to see if he could find the Phil the gopher.  But he figured the animal had been let loose to the wild and become some predator’s meal by now.


He ran across a pride of lions in North Dakota of all places.  They were chowing down on a cow right there on the road.  The king of the jungle hardly seemed to notice Duncan.  Wisely Duncan made a detour.  It seemed that some of the zookeepers had let animals lose when they could no longer keep up with feeding them.  Joy.


Duncan raided the Shell Oil refinery in the area of Carson, CA for technical data on oil refining. Then he cut across to Arizona where he picked up as many solar panels and inverters as he could carry.  By this time he had ditched the RV in favor of a military heavy semi pulling a 53 foot dry van and a fuel tanker full of diesel.  While it slowed him down, it got the job done.  And he was able to carry enough fuel that he’d never have to stop again for a long time.


Today


Duncan had finally managed to convert his car to run on alcohol and was ready for a test run.  It was really pretty stupid.  He had picked a McLaren P1 for which to test his alcohol conversion.  The very notion of such an attempt with so little knowledge on the subject would have made any car enthusiast cringe.  There had been only 375 made.  But he had a Lamborghini Veneno he planned to work on once he had the bugs ironed out.  The P1 was at least a hybrid and could run even without fuel - though only a very short distance and nowhere near as fast.  Duncan was still trying to dream up a way to make the thing solar - and even had some ideas.  It really was a waste of time - time that he should be spending working on other things.  But he needed an outlet - a new way to have fun.  And while he had never been bitten by the car bug like most teenage boys, he did like go carts.  To him this was just the life sized version.  Once he was sure the car was running good he topped off with his new fuel mix.  His initial test runs were on the airport runways - the flattest, most open area around.  Then he took his show on the road…


He hopped on I 40 around at the exit closest to Kirtland AFB’s North east entrance and brought the car to a halt.  He had measured out a distance to I-25 - where there was a major truck stop.  He set his timer and hit the pedal on the right.  He hit 60 in about 4 seconds.  The P1 was rated at 0 to 100 km in 2.8 seconds, but he wasn’t the best driver around.  And as the needle climbed something caught his eye on the eastbound side of the interstate that made him come to an abrupt halt.  It was movement where there shouldn’t have been movement.

 

[WantYourSoul]

[SIZE=14.666666666666666px]Prologue[/SIZE]


[SIZE=14.666666666666666px]Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go in to Pharaoh and say to him, ‘Thus says the Lord, the God of the Hebrews, “Let my people go, that they may serve me. 2 For if you refuse to let them go and still hold them,3 behold, the hand of the Lord will fall with a very severe plague upon your livestock that are in the field, the horses, the donkeys, the camels, the herds, and the flocks. 4 But the Lord will make a distinction between the livestock of Israel and the livestock of Egypt, so that nothing of all that belongs to the people of Israel shall die.”’” 5 And the Lord set a time, saying, “Tomorrow the Lord will do this thing in the land.” 6 And the next day the Lord did this thing. All the livestock of the Egyptians died.[/SIZE]


[SIZE=14.666666666666666px]Eleanor was not a very religious person, there was irrefutable proof against some man in the sky creating the world. She discovered Darwin’s Theory at the tender age of six, and when she pointed this out to her Sunday school teacher, the church was very upset. Her discovery of the childhood lies began when she lost her second tooth, and was promptly given a loonie by her intoxicated mother.[/SIZE]


[SIZE=14.666666666666666px]But that was neither here nor there, and the negative thoughts did not belong in the hallowed place of worship.[/SIZE]
 


[SIZE=14.666666666666666px]Leaning her head back against the pews, Eleanor watches dust motes swirl in the rafters of the ancient cathedral as something loud crashes in the distance. She did not believe in God, but she wanted to believe that she were spared for [/SIZE][SIZE=14.666666666666666px]some[/SIZE][SIZE=14.666666666666666px] reason other than pure chance. She could understand how the plague began, even why it spread so fast. But why was she the only survivor in Prince Albert?[/SIZE][SIZE=14.666666666666666px]How had she seen only one human being since the sickness began to spread?[/SIZE][SIZE=14.666666666666666px]The human in question was a crazed Frenchman from Quebec, he had gotten awful frostbite through the colder months and was suffering from terrible gangrene. The man had lost his mind, wasting away in a farmhouse that had a large sign proclaiming that the occupant was alive.[/SIZE]


[SIZE=14.666666666666666px]It stunk, part of the house had caught fire, and the Frenchman was on death’s door.[/SIZE]


[SIZE=14.666666666666666px]Perhaps the reason she was in church was to atone for her sins?[/SIZE][SIZE=14.666666666666666px]She left a man to die, possibly the only living human left on the planet. Maybe she was truly alone now, that she had allowed a man to die.[/SIZE][SIZE=14.666666666666666px]“Miss DuMonte, sometimes inaction is the worst crime,” she murmurs thoughtfully to herself, collecting her thoughts. She had begun talking to herself a while back, keeping her vocal chords exercised by singing and recounting books she had read years before. The logical side of herself told her that that nameless man was already dead. Logistically speaking, the chances of him recovering were slim to none with the best care possible. [/SIZE][SIZE=14.666666666666666px]Standing abruptly, Eleanor moves quickly to vacate the premises. Her rear was sore from the uncomfortable wood, and she could not simply sit and wallow in pity like the late Mrs. DuMonte.[/SIZE]


[SIZE=14.666666666666666px]The road was comforting, it reminded her of her father. She watches the out of place church fade in her rearview mirror. But something that wasn’t comforting was the fact that there was a large cloud of smoke maybe 40 kilometres ahead of her. This was the only stretch of highway she could traverse without turning back. A large map sits on the dashboard, and she eases off the gas pedal to quickly mark the questionable area in red sharpie. She was keeping a tally of what roads were impassable. Eleanor wasn’t sure what she was expecting as she neared the smoke, but a woman dancing in front of a burning Mustang was not what she expected.[/SIZE]


[SIZE=14.666666666666666px]Her breath hitches, and she slams her foot on the brake and slows to a crawl. She had to make sure she didn’t finally snap. She could not believe her eyes, no matter how many times she shook her head or pinched her arm, the outlandish scene remained the same. There really was a blonde woman with her hands in the air and revelling in the chaos.[/SIZE]


[SIZE=14.666666666666666px]Blythe’s car broke down again, and it refused to start back up this time. She must not have had as much gas as she previously suspected. Still, it was frustrating and she was out in the middle of [/SIZE][SIZE=14.666666666666666px]freaking nowhere[/SIZE][SIZE=14.666666666666666px]![/SIZE][SIZE=14.666666666666666px]So what else was there to do other than light that stupid hunk of metal on fire and watch it burn. Sometimes, before the plague, Blythe would light things on fire for attention. Now, she would burn things just for fun. No law enforcement, so she could do whatever she wanted.[/SIZE][SIZE=14.666666666666666px]And right now, Blythe wants to watch this stupid sports car burn.[/SIZE]


[SIZE=14.666666666666666px]The rumbling of a car engine was at the back of her mind, the flames dancing in front of her warmed her skin. She had dealt with mild auditory hallucinations before, so she brushed it off. They usually clear up after a few seconds, and Blythe would not let a momentary slip of her psyche ruin her fun. Turning slowly to take the heat off of her face, she watches the road she was heading down. The flame left bright splotches in her vision, and by the time it cleared enough for her to make out an approaching vehicle, the driver was slamming on their brakes and leaping from the car.[/SIZE]


[SIZE=14.666666666666666px]“What the fuck…” She manages before realizing that this was real.[/SIZE]


[SIZE=14.666666666666666px]“You’re real!” Eleanor yells frantically, stumbling over her feet and falling to her knees on the asphalt. She could feel the tears coursing down her cheeks, but had made no conscious decision to allow them to fall.[/SIZE][SIZE=14.666666666666666px]“You’re real?” Blythe demands, equally as frantic. Pounding the rest of the way to the woman in bare feet, she grabs her by the hands and lets out a joyous laugh.[/SIZE][SIZE=14.666666666666666px]I’m not alone![/SIZE]
 





[SIZE=14.666666666666666px]Eleanor DuMonte & Blythe Bentzen[/SIZE]


[SIZE=14.666666666666666px]Albuquerque, NM[/SIZE]


[SIZE=14.666666666666666px]Somewhere along the I-40[/SIZE]


[SIZE=14.666666666666666px]08/27/19[/SIZE]


[SIZE=14.666666666666666px]They were uneasy friends, having caught up on their lives after a week. Blythe had two wicked looking axes strapped to her hips, and had decided she were the driver. Eleanor was, quite frankly, relieved to have someone make decisions for her for a change. Both blondes had gotten into a fairly easy pattern, Blythe would sing at the top of her lungs as they cruised down highways and freeways. Eleanor would catch on to the song and join in, before scouring her memory for a song they hadn’t sung yet. Her companion was amazed by the DuMonte’s memory, able to sing almost any song that had played on the radio perfectly. They had taken up singing together once they exhausted conversation topics. Blythe had no interest in facts about the ostrich, and Eleanor had no interest in listening to endless sex talk.[/SIZE]


[SIZE=14.666666666666666px]Any other time, neither would have payed the other a second glance. But it was truly remarkable how the possible end of times could really bring two people together.[/SIZE][SIZE=14.666666666666666px]“Eye spy with my little eye, something that is… Hot,” Blythe’s voice drew her driving companion’s attention away from a battered nursing textbook.[/SIZE][SIZE=14.666666666666666px]“You’ve already done this four times in the last two days. The answer is you,” she says softly, smiling in spite of herself.[/SIZE][SIZE=14.666666666666666px]“You’re no fun. Eye spy with my little eye, something that is boring as hell.”[/SIZE][SIZE=14.666666666666666px]“It’s me. You’ve used that one nine times.”[/SIZE][SIZE=14.666666666666666px]Blythe laughs harshly, taking a rather frightening turn onto the I-40 and causing Eleanor to tighten her grip on the armrest.[/SIZE]


[SIZE=14.666666666666666px]The engine began coughing, as it had been doing for the past week with increasing severity. Both of them lapse into silence, not wanting to jinx their transportation. The Nord presses her foot harder against the gas as the vehicle begins to slow, frantically changing gears as they cruise to a stop at the shoulder of the highway. The smaller of the two sits there, looking stunned as the other tries turning the engine again and again with no luck. There was a thin ribbon of smoke ascending from the hood.[/SIZE][SIZE=14.666666666666666px]Blythe throws open the door, yelling something incomprehensible in Norwegian. Eleanor, of course, knew what it meant, and her cheeks go pink at what was being suggested. Leaning her head out the window to watch Blythe kick the car repeatedly, she didn’t bother to point out the uselessness of the gesture.[/SIZE][SIZE=14.666666666666666px]“Eye spy with my little eye a useless hunk of metal!”[/SIZE][SIZE=14.666666666666666px]Eleanor gets out to stand next to the woman, not wanting to risk accidentally getting caught on fire. That’s how they lost their last vehicle.[/SIZE][SIZE=14.666666666666666px]“It’s the car. Do you really want to keep playing this game?” She asks, moving to lift the hood and see if she could figure out what was wrong. Blythe lets loose one very mean sounding laugh and stalks away with her hands stuffed into the pockets of her daisy dukes.[/SIZE][SIZE=14.666666666666666px]“I’m using [/SIZE][SIZE=14.666666666666666px]sarcasm[/SIZE][SIZE=14.666666666666666px]! You would know if you weren’t-- Wait, shut up, do you hear something?” She demands suddenly, holding up a hand for silence as if she weren’t the one just speaking.[/SIZE][SIZE=14.666666666666666px]“I’ve already explained your mild--” Eleanor’s response was cut off by a loud [/SIZE][SIZE=14.666666666666666px]shh[/SIZE][SIZE=14.666666666666666px]-ing from Blythe, and she complies.[/SIZE]


[SIZE=14.666666666666666px]Both young women could see movement further down the interstate, and blue eyes meet grey ones to verify that it wasn’t a hallucination.[/SIZE][SIZE=14.666666666666666px]“I don’t think this is a case of folie à deux,” Eleanor whispers softly, moving to follow along with Blythe’s arm waving.[/SIZE][SIZE=14.666666666666666px]“Speak English, I don’t understand Frog-Talk.”[/SIZE][SIZE=14.666666666666666px]“Oh, uh, sorry, it’s basically when two people share--” She was cut off once again, but didn’t take offense. Blythe was excited. So was she.[/SIZE][SIZE=14.666666666666666px]“Stop spouting bullshit, there is something way better than French fries right now,” Blythe refused to learn French,”Now I’m either crazy or that looks like a car coming right towards us.”[/SIZE][SIZE=14.666666666666666px]Eleanor had nothing she could disagree with.[/SIZE]
 

 

[Mitheral]

Duncan Moran


The movement Duncan had seen came from a car stopped on the interstate in the opposing direction.  He knew every inch of the highway for about 20 miles in either direction by now and that car had not been there yesterday.  But it wasn’t the car that was moving.  It was … it was … a pair of … girls.  There was no mistaking the shapes even at this distance.  He brought up his binoculars just to be sure.  And despite himself a slow wolfish smile tugged at his lips.


Now Duncan had never really noticed girls much that way.  Truth to tell he had mostly  home schooled himself.  Then his parents had decided he needed to mainstream so he could be with kids his own age.  And even though he had technically graduated already, he had been forced to go back to school.  He had learned one thing from kids his own age.  They were complete idiots most of the time.  They usually drove him nuts.  There was one thing that he had failed to learn to deal with.


And he was looking at two right now.


Girls had been one mystery he hadn’t figured out.  Most of the girls who spoke to him wanted one thing - better grades.  Or rather someone to get the better grades for them.  There had been that cheerleader.  She’d been clueless.  But what geek in his right mind says no to sitting next to the prettiest damned girl in class?


Duncan realized he was busy reflecting on their hair colors and heights while the first living human beings he had seen in ages were stuck on the road, broke down.  He tried to fight down the hormones that even now were making it hard to think straight.  Instead he tapped his horn a couple times and revved the engine.  Then he gunned the engine and took off like a shot … westbound until he saw the a spot where state patrol cars often sat waiting for speeders … where he pulled a U turn.  If he had timed himself he might have realized that he had approached 0 -100kmh in just a little over 3 seconds.  He got to the girls and car in about 2 minutes flat and actually skidded - unintentionally to a halt when he arrived.


His face reddened a little.  He hadn’t meant to nearly overshoot their car or be so obvious in his excitement.  For nearly half a minute he just sat there trying to get up the nerve to get out. Finally he worked up the courage and opened the gull wing door and stepped out.


“Hi,” he said awkwardly.  “I’m .. uhm .. Duncan.  Uhm … broke down?”  He could have kicked himself.  Of course they were.  The stream of smoke going up into the sky was a dead giveaway.  “Uhm … gas?  I mean does it run on gas?  Gasoline is starting to go bad by now.”  He blinked as he realized he had a working car behind him.  “Mine is a hybrid.  And I figured out how to make pure ethanol and my own E85.  I was just testing out the new fuel mix.”


Part of him just wanted to offer them a ride - though how he was going to fit three people into the Mclaren P1 was a  good question.  Mostly he saw people to talk to - smoking hot people.  But the pragmatic side of him took over and he decided to see what they wanted first.  “If it is the fuel, I can’t really fix it with what I have on hand.  But I could convert it to run on alcohol.  Problem is you can’t use regular alcohol.  You have to purify if with a molecular sieve.  It isn’t that hard.  Just have to know what you are doing and how pure the alcohol is you are starting with.  Anything under 190 proof and you are wasting your time.  I heard there was a way to make 194 proof, but I don’t have the equipment for that.”

 

[WantYourSoul]

[SIZE=14.666666666666666px]Eleanor laughs headily at the sound of a horn, allowing herself to be pulled into Blythe’s crushing hug. She normally wouldn’t allow the physical contact, always having been strange around touching. But it was a cause for celebration, even if the car was sitting still.[/SIZE][SIZE=14.666666666666666px]Both girls felt the sensation of being watched, and the revving engine saved Blythe before any scientific explanation could be offered. They separated, however, as the car shot straight past them. Eleanor was grateful for the breath-stealing embrace to be over, but would have gladly allowed herself to be subjected to it once more if the third human they had ever seen would return.[/SIZE][SIZE=14.666666666666666px]Brows furrowed, Eleanor looks down the road that the vehicle had disappeared on. They could still hear the engine, and Blythe’s face started to go red. In the silence that followed, the taller of the two moves to give their ruined car a brutal kick. The thin but steady stream of blackish smoke shudders from the impact.[/SIZE][SIZE=14.666666666666666px]“My shoes aren’t supposed to be walked in,” she finally exclaims, leaning against the dented passenger side door sulkily. The DuMonte wouldn’t admit that she was also rather disappointed, trying to come up with possible reasons as to why someone would speed away from the very likely last people left alive.[/SIZE][SIZE=14.666666666666666px]Their disappointment was thankfully short-lived, no one wanted to deal with Blythe’s disappointed anger, when the sleek blue vehicle comes back into their line of sight. Eleanor had only gotten to 50 possibilities by the time she saw it’s reappearance. One of the young woman jumped with surprise at the sudden skidded stop, while the other was grinning wolfishly as she caught sight of its occupant-- Or more precisely, [/SIZE][SIZE=14.666666666666666px]his[/SIZE][SIZE=14.666666666666666px] gender.[/SIZE][SIZE=14.666666666666666px]“Dibs.”[/SIZE][SIZE=14.666666666666666px]“I don’t understand how you can call dibs on a person,” Eleanor offers carefully, watching the man inside, which earned her a playful smack. It hurt quite a bit. He couldn’t have been any older than she was, and it was admittedly odd to look at a real boy. He wasn’t dead or dying and both girls could agree he was easy on the eyes. [/SIZE]


[SIZE=14.666666666666666px]It was obviously Blythe who took initiative, reaching him in a few quick steps and seizing his hands. She had a sparkle in her eyes, and Eleanor had the presence of mind not to allow her companion to do anything distasteful within the first minute of their meeting. A moment of eye contact passes between the two, one was sharp and daring while the other was pleading. A silent conversation that passed, literally, in the blink of an eye.[/SIZE]


[SIZE=14.666666666666666px]“[/SIZE][SIZE=14.666666666666666px]Duncan,[/SIZE][SIZE=14.666666666666666px]”Eleanor whispers softly to herself with obvious amazement, as if the fact this survivor had a name was something amazing.[/SIZE][SIZE=14.666666666666666px]“Blythe. [/SIZE][SIZE=14.666666666666666px]That one[/SIZE][SIZE=14.666666666666666px] over there is Eleanor. Be careful with her because if you say anything nerdy around her she will not shut up,” was the best greeting that could be offered at the moment, as Eleanor could do no more than lift her hand. Blythe, however, suddenly threw her hands up in irritation when Duncan continued to speak. “[/SIZE][SIZE=14.666666666666666px]Great[/SIZE][SIZE=14.666666666666666px]! Another one. Am I the only normal human left in the world!?” She proceeds to let off a string of curse words so vile it makes the more timid of the two go red.[/SIZE]


[SIZE=14.666666666666666px]“Uh, yeah, autoxidation I’m pretty sure was one of the reasons,” she begins haltingly, looking towards the amused-looking Bentzen for help. She was painfully awkward,”The smoke means there’s something wrong with the wiring, too. Uhm, I think.” She breaks off to barely resist the urge to bury her face in her hands.[/SIZE][SIZE=14.666666666666666px]Blythe, the benevolent goddess she was, rescued the girl.[/SIZE][SIZE=14.666666666666666px]“This is painful to watch. Our car broke and it’s useless so be a gentleman and offer us a ride.” At least one of them was trying to get things done. Any protest from the girl-wonder was effectively shut down with her snipped afterthought,”you’ll sit on my lap. A bunny is heavier than you are. Plus, [/SIZE][SIZE=14.666666666666666px]Duncan[/SIZE][SIZE=14.666666666666666px] might enjoy the view.” She said all this while looking innocently unperturbed.[/SIZE]



[SIZE=14.666666666666666px]Eleanor, on the other hand, appeared mortified. Duncan’s words did not provide much comfort, but it would be a [/SIZE][SIZE=14.666666666666666px]sin[/SIZE][SIZE=14.666666666666666px] not to offer her own insight.”Corn grits,” she says suddenly,”they absorb the water and you can make more ethanol out of them. I--Uh-- I’m not too well-versed in distillation, um…” She trails off, gaze flitting from her feet to his face, then back to her feet. She felt like she [/SIZE][SIZE=14.666666666666666px]had[/SIZE][SIZE=14.666666666666666px] to verify that he were still there, but her ears had gone red and she could see Blythe was making some rather lewd hand gestures in her peripheral.[/SIZE]

 

[Mitheral]

“Zeolite.  I have half a truckload of it and know a place in Oklahoma to get more.  Yes,the same zeolite used by in health products, but an industrial grade suitable for a molecular sieve.  The corn grits … maybe.”  He sounded doubtful.  “They would only have a fraction of the absorbance.”  He looked at Blythe.  “And I’m not smart.  Really I’m not,so ignore everything I said.  I play soccer.  I was the local football star.  And I play the guitar.  At least I did until … you know.”


He looked back at their car. “Well, I don’t think that car is worth fixing unless it has sentimental value.  I have plenty of cars though.  We can pick you out one or even two in decent condition.  By decent I mean brand new.  I have plenty of fuel.  


“Diesel is even going to go bad.  Most fuels are mixtures.  The volatile parts evaporate.  Other parts autooxidize. I can check real quick to see if it is obviously the fuel. Just a minute.” He walked over and struggled with the gas cap before getting it off.  He then went into his trunk to pull out a hose and a baby food jar. Then he walked back over to her truck to draw a sample with the hose.


“I tried searching for people. Drove all over the US. But … nothing. You are the first person I have seen since … “ his voice dropped away for a minute before starting over. “I missed most of the Plague. My foster parents sent me to live in a cabin when they got sick. When I finally came out … the world was pretty much a void. Part of me is wondering if you are real or just some dream.” He glanced over and tried not to smile, but failed. His jaw worked but all that came out was a short laugh.


“Sorry … but this is like …,” he stopped. Then his voice jumped up an octave and in volume for an instant before settling down. “SO! How to recognize bad fuel 101.” He paused. “You know why guys like cars? Because it is easier to talk about them than people.” He shrugged. “Bad gasoline smells sour. And I hate to say this, but this car probably isn’t worth fixing - at least not with my skills. The bad fuel has probably damaged the fuel lines. And adding good fuel won’t help as the lines are going to be clogged. Think of all the fuel as food that is turning into bad cholesterol in a body. Plaque forms and you get clogged arteries. You can do more harm draining the tanks and lines than good.” He paused and drained some of the fuel into the baby jar. “Yep … see how the fuel is dark? That’s the result of what I was talking about.


“Tell you what, grab your vital supplies and I’ll give you a lift back to my …. place.” He grinned and flushed a little.  “I have a repair facility for a base of operations.  If I am weirding you out, I can probably fix you up some way to continue on your journey.  But I also have plenty of space.  I’ve stocked up a little over the past year.”


He ran over and moved his military assault rifle and spare clips out of the way. There was a hiker’s backpack in the back - probably his go bag. Even for a test run the guy took no chances of being stranded without supplies. He had covered the seats with plastic - probably trying to keep grease off them.


He adjusted his Ray Bans a grin breaking out on his face. Then he stopped, realizing he was being rude. Subconsciously his muscles flexed. He didn’t even realize he had any muscles. He still thought of himself as the 98 pound weakling. “Anything you need help with? Not much space. It isn’t likely that someone is going to steal anything. And if they do, we should count that as a good thing.  It means more people.”


Duncan seemed unaffected by solitude.  Perhaps he was a little overeager.  But then any average teenage boy might be.  Definitely a geek, and not shy about it or even defensive.  He clearly accepted that role.  But he also seemed a bit athletic. He showed signs of being accustomed to very strenuous work.  He walked with a slight limp in his right leg, suggesting an old injury, but even that didn’t slow him down much.


“Hmm … two of you.  I can either leave you two here and go get my SUV, or you two can share a seat.  Like I said we can come back for most of your stuff.”


And even after they had tossed their gear into the car, he stood there as if he could get the door for them. It was a gull wing door that he had already opened. He still seemed to insist on closing it for her. Perhaps he was just being polite. He did measure most of his words. He offered a warning to avoid bumping her on the head or side before closing the door. Then he jogged around and hopped in. There was a boyish smile on his face that was priceless.


Duncan had one of those faces that spent far too much time being serious. When he smiled his eyes would fill with energy. They practically blazed. They were doing that now as he looked over and practically leered. Then he paused, stiffened and slowed himself down becoming serious. He had been about to show off. Slowly he forced his body to relax a little.


Then he put the car in gear and started forward. The car went all of about 30 feet, sputtered and died. He looked confused. He shut the car down and tried to restart. Nothing. Again. Nothing. He made a growling noise. He looked over at the girls. Uhm …” He was clearly embarrassed. He cleared his throat and looked thoughtful. “I can’t be out of fuel. No way. Well … unless something popped loose and there was a leak. Excuse me.   Sorry.”


He got out, clearly looking frustrated. He fiddled with things, but mainly he just inspected for a leak. He was more than a little disappointed to find none. That meant he had no clue what was wrong. Well, that wasn’t entirely true. He had probably done something when he gunned the engine to get to the girls faster. He dropped the hood looking grim and got back in.


“Well, it’s a hybrid. Should have enough power to get back to my base - one of them. I sort of have one base - a place that I am starting to build up. But I will probably move closer to the Rio Grande. That won’t be until Spring though. I got back too late to start up any real crops. The place I have is stocked for getting me - us if you like - through the winter. And there is a garage there with a backup generator - one of those big military ones. I set up at the base motor pool. Whatever you do, do NOT try to gain access to the storage tanks. I rigged them to preserve the fuel longer. Hasn’t even started to turn bad. I don’t really know cars. I know chemistry.


“I actually have more than one ‘base’. I have a spot set up at the University - not the medical center. You don’t want to go anywhere near there. My Mom worked there. Foster Mom. My real mother died before the Plague.” His face hardened, he shook his head slightly as if it would make bad memories go away. “I also have a warehouse I am setting up - good reinforced concrete design, docks, offices, forklifts - propane and electric … and eventually a military generator. The truck stop where I-25 crosses had a backup diesel generator. I got it going and every now and then I run it to keep a walk in freezer cool. I plan to replace that eventually. But I cleaned it out and am keeping a couple deer in there. I am hoping they don’t thaw in between visits. I need to get a small freezer. I know where two are, but I haven’t figured out how to move them - and they are filled with spoiled meat and vegetables.


“Really I am too spread out. That is what the ranch by the river will replace next Spring. The downside will be the loss of the base Motor Pool. It will still be there, but again still a drive to get there.” He sighed. Just talking about his plans made him tired.


The McLaren had an electric backup. Its top speed under all pure electric was 78 mph. And had a 50 km range. He was already looking worried by the time they got to the motor pool base. He pulled the car over by a child’s playhouse. He got out and opened the door for the girls. Then he walked over to the playhouse and reached in, pulling out cables and stretching them to the car. Then he went back and cranked up the generator inside the playhouse. He was using the playhouse to suppress the noise. Then he hooked up the car to recharge.


“Well, I suppose I should give you the grand tour.”


For a 16 year old male, Duncan was almost obscenely organized. Oh his place was cluttered, but it was clearly organized. He started with the garage. Power was out - until he cranked up the main generator. But the playhouses he had filled with generators were hooked to LOTS of marine grade car batteries. So he had enough lighting to work with. He had a number of construction solar panels he had collected from the side of the road. They also offered light.


His kitchen and pantry were well stocked. He had multiple cabinets and book shelves filled with food, all organized with an OCD level of order. Canned hams, canned vegetables, canned fruit, fruit in plastic, sugar in tubes, honey, dry cereals, powdered milk, pet milk. He had a whole short truck filled with 20 gallon jugs of drinking water. Some of his supplies were still on pallets. He had Coleman stoves, a propane grill. There was a port-a-potty available - with a whole pallet of toilet paper.


Not merely organized, but industrious. He didn’t think small. He could take care of himself and maybe a dozen or more people through the winter.


Then he took them into the 5th wheel RV he had parked next to the garage. “This thing was designed for extreme cold weather - far worse than anything we’ll see around here. 5.5 kW LP generator. LP doesn’t go bad. Washer, dryer, stove, oven, full bath - and … the water is heated.” He blushed at that as the bathroom he was indicating was beyond the bedroom - in which there was a king sized bed - unmade. It was the first sign that Duncan didn’t manage perfect upkeep. In fact he had let the RV go a little. There were books here and there, DVD’s, CD’s near the big screen. There were stacks of notebooks and lab books near a few laptops on the dining room table. And there was a crate full of ammunition and a few assault rifles, plus a case of grenades and a dozen rocket launchers.


There were also guitars - electric and acoustic - and small amps, a soccer ball.


Duncan grinned at the mention of heated water.  Their reaction had been almost exactly what he expected.  And he hated to admit it it was exactly the reaction he had been nonchalantly provoking.  It was no mistake that he had mentioned it.  Not at all.  But he responded oddly very calmly and maturely.


“You’re absolutely welcome to use the shower.  In fact, you can use up the hot water.  I’ll be needing cold water anyways.”  He chuckled at that confession.  “Ice cold.  Really, really, REALLY, ice cold.”  He cleared his throat.  There could be no mistaking his meaning there.


THIS was Duncan’s base. This was where he called home.

 

[Mitheral]

Duncan had already sized up the dynamic between the two girls and figured out who the extrovert and flirt was and who ran the pair - until she got them into trouble she had no idea how to get out of.  Blythe.  She had that appeal that made it hard to think.  Eleanor was the one whose words were ones Duncan didn’t want to miss.


Normally he didn’t like blondes.  Blythe struck him as the sort of blonde he wouldn’t have given the time of day to before the Plague.  A cheerleader had tried to stake a claim on him when he became the new top scoring player. She was the sort that expected every guy to be there at her beck and call.  It hadn’t worked in the slightest, so she had finally decided he had to be gay.  He just thought she was a vacuous airhead.  He hoped he was wrong about Blythe.  If nothing else, she was great eye candy.


Duncan flushed a little.  The suggestion that he needed a cold shower didn’t help his case one bit.  He shrugged.  He wasn’t judging anyone.  He shook his head and did his best to sound modest. “I’m a workaholic.  Anyways, I have only had a couple weeks back. To be fair, some of these ideas were the result of a hobby before the Plague. I used to collect Used books about how to do just about everything to rebuild civilization from Stone Age tech and up. My foster father did a lot more. They took lessons from the Mormons and prepared for an apocalypse. As soon as they realized they were getting sick - and I wasn’t- they made the decision to send me away. The Millers were good people - closest thing I had to a family since I was 6.” He face turned a little serious, but he didn’t explain himself.


“My foster father had all sorts of stuff in digital format, backed up on external hard drives. It is MIT stuff. My mother worked at UNM Medical Center. She included a lot of basics about first aid - I had some already, but she and my foster father organized it better. And she taught me a little about cooking - like how to make a simple stew, gravy, and such. I have made butter before - and ice cream. Grandparents on every side of my family had farms. Mr Miller was an engineer. He showed me the stuff about converting a car to alcohol, recipes for making diesel substitutes, and more. A lot he just wrote down. Like where to get the Zeolite to make a molecular sieve. I know half a dozen ways to start a fire from scratch. I took a paleolithic anthropology seminar - think of a humanities class about stone age people. I learned primitive skills there. It is actually a standard part of 7th grade classes in New Mexico - but my seminar actually made us go through the motions.


“Now I did figure out how to do a lot of the stuff on my own. But I have always been good at that. I just made a list back before last winter. Mr Miller helped. But I spent the winter refining my list and planning. Then I came out and started my search. Along the way I picked up maps and phone books - the paper kind that have addresses. I learned to read maps in detail when I was 6 or 7. I collected maps starting at 8. I’m not some John Connor though. I was just thinking about running away from home.” He smiled. “I like to plan. I hate having to change plans though. Anyways, on my search I swapped up for an 18 wheeler. I found myself some working bobcats. To make a long story short … I stocked up.


“I have half a truck load of solar panels. And I can get more, but they were back in Arizona. I have plexiglass sheeting to build greenhouses. And seeds. And some hydroponics supplies. I tried to grab everything I could get, plus fertilizer. I still have a lot to collect up. I have only just got started. Problem is, it is really too late in the year to plant. So for the winter I am stuck with canned food again.” He finally paused.


“... and I am talking a lot. I ramble. But … well, I haven’t had anyone to talk to.” He stopped and laughed. “Still rambling.” He had begun to move into the bedroom. “Sorry about the mess. I wasn’t exactly expecting company. Uhm … I have more sheets. I can change these for you. I can use the couch. But .. if you don’t mind, I’ll grab a shower before you go to sleep so I don’t have to wake you.  I sort of cleaned up after working on the car, but I probably stink.


“Anyways, it is only mid afternoon. Uhm, I don’t know what you like to do. I have movies. My mom and stepfather never let me watch TV, or go to movies. I did go to a few movies. But I paid for all those myself. Most computer games worth playing were online.” He did a doubletake. “You hungry?! I didn’t even think to ask.  Anything you want.  If I can, I will make it so - well, I do have my limits.  But if there is anything I can do, just ask.”

 

[WantYourSoul]

[SIZE=14.666666666666666px]Listening to his response, Eleanor can’t resist her grin.”You should have said that sooner. Could you show me?” Her eyes were sparkling, full of new potential and giddiness. She even laughed at Blythe’s response to Duncan. [/SIZE][SIZE=14.666666666666666px]“I was Vice President of the cheer squad, I had the best vertical splits on my squad,” Blythe demonstrated this, squashing down Eleanor’s laughter quite effectively.”Were you in a band? My ex boyfriend was lead guitarist in his band, ever heard of [/SIZE][SIZE=14.666666666666666px]Lascivious Urbans[/SIZE][SIZE=14.666666666666666px]?” [/SIZE][SIZE=14.666666666666666px]No one outside of Blythe’s high school knew anything about that band, and it seemed like the only other person in the world who had heard of them was desperately hoping that she wouldn’t start singing.[/SIZE][SIZE=14.666666666666666px]Thankfully, no musical numbers mostly because Blythe could not keep her disgust at the car unvoiced. “The only reason that car wasn’t lit on fire weeks ago is because we couldn’t get anything better.” It was obvious there were several burnt out husks of vehicles from getting on the wrong side of this woman’s temper.[/SIZE][SIZE=14.666666666666666px]“I would like to find myself a solar powered car,” Eleanor’s much softer voice cut in once it had quieted down again. A pair of incredulous blue eyes stared her down.[/SIZE][SIZE=14.666666666666666px]“Yeah? Well I want one of those Lamborghini Asterions, I was supposed to have gotten a car for my sweet 16.” It was obvious the two had [/SIZE][SIZE=14.666666666666666px]very[/SIZE][SIZE=14.666666666666666px] different tastes.[/SIZE]


[SIZE=14.666666666666666px]It was Eleanor who spoke first after Duncan’s voice dropped away. “I thought Blythe was a dream. She was standing in front of a burning car. She was the first person I had seen since…” She trails off, thinking of the dying man from Quebec,”since the Plague,” she finished quietly.[/SIZE][SIZE=14.666666666666666px]Blythe laughed as he quickly changed topics,”I know how boys are so interested in [/SIZE][SIZE=14.666666666666666px]parts[/SIZE][SIZE=14.666666666666666px],” she gives a painfully flirty wink,”you couldn’t expect us to just leave you. We can’t just leave the only man on earth, couldn’t we, Leo?”[/SIZE][SIZE=14.666666666666666px]She made it very hard for anyone who actually wanted to learn, but Eleanor couldn’t disagree.[/SIZE]
 


[SIZE=14.666666666666666px]Both women quickly ran over to their broken-down [/SIZE][SIZE=14.666666666666666px]Loser-Cruiser[/SIZE][SIZE=14.666666666666666px] (As Blythe called it) to grab whatever supplies necessary. The results were two suitcases of clothing and various other things for Blythe, and Eleanor had a duffel bag of her own clothing along with several armloads of scholarly literature.[/SIZE][SIZE=14.666666666666666px]Neither of them missed Duncan’s little flex, and while one of them grinned the other’s ears had grown red. They wound up bringing less than before, Eleanor leaving her own clothing behind so as to leave more room for her books and Blythe’s clothes.[/SIZE][SIZE=14.666666666666666px]“Can you put my suitcase in for me? I need help.” Blythe very obviously didn’t need help. The woman had lithe muscle tone, and it looked like she actually knew how to use the axes hung from her hips.[/SIZE][SIZE=14.666666666666666px]On the other hand, Eleanor didn’t bother to ask for help. She was always rather delicate-looking, and she appeared to have some difficulty with moving her books. She waved off any help, Blythe happily explaining that,”she’s weird about her books.”[/SIZE]


[SIZE=14.666666666666666px]Eleanor was obviously a geek as well, and was quite pleased that she had someone like her. She didn’t need to stay out of necessity or loneliness, but he was the kind of person she would want to be around even before most of the human population died off.[/SIZE][SIZE=14.666666666666666px]While one of them was more captivated by his brains, Blythe was obviously loving more of Duncan’s physical aspects.[/SIZE]


[SIZE=14.666666666666666px]It was decided that as neither girls wanted to be left alone, someone would be sitting on a lap. The obvious decision was for the much smaller of the two would sit on Blythe’s lap, after explaining why it would be dangerous to sit on the driver’s lap. She didn’t get the innuendo.[/SIZE]


[SIZE=14.666666666666666px]The hybrid car’s great falling out was a source of amusement to the girls, and their laughter was almost eerily in sync. It was obvious they had spent a lot of time together. The air had just begun to grow tense when Duncan slammed the hood down and rejoined them with the good news.[/SIZE][SIZE=14.666666666666666px]They both listened, one more eagerly than the other, to his explanation. It was actually quite surprising when it was Blythe who piped up first with something not dirty.[/SIZE][SIZE=14.666666666666666px]“You’re an idiot if you can’t start up any crops in the winter. My Mommo grew all our root vegetables during the winter-- Used to. Live in Norway for 14 years and you can learn a thing or two about the cold.”[/SIZE][SIZE=14.666666666666666px]Eleanor stayed mostly quiet during the drive, simply looking anywhere but at Duncan. It was easy to tell that her ears went red when she was flustered.[/SIZE]


[SIZE=14.666666666666666px]They were both amazed at his base for different reasons. One was admiring the efficiency, while the other could not get over the amount of [/SIZE][SIZE=14.666666666666666px]stuff[/SIZE][SIZE=14.666666666666666px] that was there. [/SIZE][SIZE=14.666666666666666px]The RV, on the other hand, somehow elicited the same reaction. They were excited.[/SIZE][SIZE=14.666666666666666px]Eleanor hung back as Duncan and Blythe continued further ahead, going through what books and CD’s he had. Let’s hope he didn’t leave anything out that he wouldn’t want anyone to find.[/SIZE]


[SIZE=14.666666666666666px]Blythe made a very loud, very excited noise at the news of hot water and immediately pushed past Duncan. As she was eagerly making her way towards the shower, shirt already discarded.[/SIZE][SIZE=14.666666666666666px]The door was slammed shut, but she didn’t lock it. “Feel free to join me,” she calls from behind the door.[/SIZE]
 


[SIZE=14.666666666666666px]Eleanor glances away from her casual snooping, giving Duncan a delicate shrug to apologize for  Blythe’s antics. She missed the meaning of his words entirely, shooting him a quizzical look. “Why would you need a cold shower? I can’t make any promises for Blythe, but I’ll make sure to leave enough hot water for you.” She smiles innocently at him.[/SIZE]

 

[Mitheral]

Duncan was a sucker for being asked for help by the girls.  He moved in quickly to help, not Blythe, but Eleanor who was clearly struggling.  One hand shot out and he curled the entire weight of her bag of books effortlessly.  There had to be well over 50 pounds there and he wasn’t even straining.  His left hand shot out and he tried to lift the suitcase with one hand and suddenly grimaced with pain and withdrew his hand.  Both cargos went down as he nursed the left hand.  “Owowow!  I forgot.  Hurt my hand just before the Plague.   Sorry, I used to be in better shape.”  He frowned.  “Going to need some aspirin soon.  Tell you what.  I have a bunch of stuff in the passenger seat - my Go Bag for emergencies in case something went wrong.  Let me more that to the trunk and we’ll just come back for all this with my SUV.  I have a State Patrol K9 unit.  And it runs great. But there is absolutely no space in this P1.”


When Blythe started chewing Duncan out about winter crops, Duncan was doubtful, but a little excited.  “I have a brown thumb.  But worse than that, the soil around here is horrible for growing anything but very hardy crops.  I’ve done some gardening here for a few years.  It snows in the winter …”  He stopped as he realized who he had just said that to.  “We are a mile up.  But if you think we can grow food here - enough to support a decent population.  I mean like … oh … 100,000.  Then it might be worth it in the long run.  But I am honestly considering a move to Florida.  The downside with that is having to clear the wildlife again.  And the soil is still not great, but winters are mild and there is more rain.  That’s the other problem here.  This is a desert.  Norway is a peninsula with plenty of water.  But if you can make things grow - not just plants, but farm animals too - you will become one of my new best friends.  I did a lot of research, but there is research … and then practical know how.”


++++++++


The brief sight of a topless Blythe left Duncan stunned.  He just stood there speechless until she was out of the room.  Then he let out a long slow breath and muttered.  “Cold shower.  Definitely.”  He turned to grab the sushi making supplies.  The deer stew was really leftovers.  All he had to do was make some minute rice and chill some for the sushi.  The rest he’d ladle over with heated deer stew.  As an afterthought he stepped over and hollered down the hallway.  “I WASN’T JOKING ABOUT THE HOT WATER.  USE IT.”  He smiled.  It would be hours before he took his shower.  By then there would be more hot water.


Duncan looked at Eleanor half expecting her to be teasing, then realized she was serious.  He looked at her, then decided to tease her.  “Or you and I could just share the hot water and shower together.”  He waited for the red face, then became more serious.  “That’s why the need for a cold shower.  Unless we all want to start increasing the population. And the real downside of that would be our children sleeping with siblings and half siblings.  That reminds me,Mom left some videos for you girls to watch - just you, not me or any other guy.  She was a medical doctor, so I suspect it is medical advice for … child bearing type stuff.  She taught me some basics about medicine before they sent me away.  I have videos to prove it.  She documented everything.”


While Blythe started her shower Duncan set up a professional looking microscope in the kitchen.  Duncan glanced at it, put on his poker face for Eleanor.  A slow smile quirked upwards.  “Health inspector came by.  Have to make a last minute check of the fish for salmonella and such.  If it were just me, I wouldn’t be so cautious.  But that fish wasn’t raised in a contained environment.  Wish I could find some eel.”


He moved over and quickly closed lab notebooks filled with scribbled advanced calculus.  There were some printed papers with the name Sabrina Gonzalez Pasterski.  The title of the papers were something about gravitational something and supersymmetry.  More of the same scribblings were on the laptop screen.  It was Duncan’s ‘homework.’  He gave another poker face.  “Light reading.  Dr Paterski.  She was touted as the world’s next Einstein.  She might have been if she wasn’t distracted from her work so much by dinners and cruises.  I read her early work.  Definitely not an Einstein level of work.  Math written for mathematicians.  No layman was ever going to understand it.  I call it a work in progress.”


He tried to ignore the look he got.  Then he sighed.  “I got my GED at 11.  Only reason it took me that long is I didn’t have internet or a laptop until I was 10.  Thank my grandparents.  And they couldn’t get just me one.  They had to get my older brother and sister one as well.  But they did just that - and covered the internet bill.  My mother covered for me when I went and got my GED.  You have to have the blessing of a parent.  The agreement was that I keep going to school and be around kids my own age.  By 13 I had three bachelors.  By 15 I had two PhD’s - chemistry and physics, plus bachelors in math, geology and astronomy - and a teaching certificate.  I was qualified to teach when we first met.  But could you imagine me - 5’3” 120 pounds and no older than a sophomore, trying to teach a class.  I would have been the first teacher stuffed into a locker.”  He laughed.


“There was a guy back in the 19th century, William James Sidis.  Estimated IQ of 275.  Touted as the smartest man in history.  Thing is, he really never amounted to much.  He never learned to be around people.  He treated everyone as an inferior - even his teachers and later fellow workers.  He ended up an outcast.  That is why I kept a low profile - chose to take courses other than science.  Instead I tried working on new stuff, stuff that people enjoy.  It is why I worked so hard at not talking science at school.  I almost regret tutoring.  But I liked helping people follow their dreams.  I actually tutored some English too.  I got my geek quota by working after school on generating a few patents and selling some.


“Anyways, if you like we can run grab the rest of your stuff while she uses up the hot water.”  He lowered his voice conspiratorially.  “It doesn’t take all that long to heat up more.  We COULD go and grab another 5th wheel RV so you two have some privacy.  Not so sure SHE cares.  But I’m not actually used to people.  I’m not really a people person.  I did fine at school.  I was starting to change things.  In a month I went from pissing off the whole football team, to being almost a leader.  I added electric guitar to the high school band and gave their school spirit a kick.  And that was less than a month after having my left hand split in half, and suffering multiple stab and gunshot wounds - and dying.  Can’t forget that.  I died.  Two weeks later I passed my sports physical - with limitations.  I could only play as a Kicker.”


Duncan decided for both of them.  He raised his voice.  “Blythe.  I am going to take the SUV and Eleanor and go back and get your stuff.  I saw the way you looked at the fireworks.  No playing with my toys in the RV.  If you want, we can go and shoot some stuff on the range.  It just so happens that one of my specialties is technically explosives - rocket fuels - but that’s just explosives by another name.  We can eat when we get back.  I was going to make some sushi, but I need to check the fish for salmonella first.”


Outside Duncan led Eleanor to the SUV and got the door for her.  Then he snapped his fingers.  “Just a quick moment.  Almost forgot about something.  Come on.”  He led her over to another children’s playhouse which undoubtedly had a very different use than was intended.  This one had a kennel type fence around it.


A bleating noise caught her attention.


Duncan rolled a soccer ball to to hit the side of the playhouse where it came perilously close to the source of the noise. The source was a tiny baby goat.

Pele


For a moment the goat scampered away as if the ball was attacking. Then it got all brazen and head butted it.


Duncan gave a soft laugh. “Nono. bad goat,” he said gently still half laughing. “Ba-a-a-a-d goat. No cute animal stuff. Good moves though.” The ball came rolling back. He rolled it back and the goat went into another series of head butts. Duncan growled in exasperation. He looked back at Eleanor, stepped back to her side and grinned.  Then he made a sudden move and and wrapped an arm around her waist.  “Look dear, we have a kid!  He mockingly tried to lay his head on her shoulder, but the difference in height made that tough from the side.  He backed off instantly.  He was clearly not a hugger.  His own move seemed to make him uncomfortable.


His tone more serious he continued.  “Last goat that had a name that I knew got me in a peck of trouble. Wasn’t even my fault. His name was Henry. My big sister’s pet goat. We went to a pit barbecue and my brother started teasing her saying that they were cooking Henry. She was almost on the verge of tears. Then about an hour later when they served the food, I mumbled that Henry tasted good. She started bawling. Hey … I was only 7 at the time.”


He made a fist and pressed against the goat’s head, then backed off and reared his fist up. The baby goat raised back in hind legs to butt Duncan’s fist.” Duncan made a soft explosion noise. The goat looked utterly confused and bleated.


Duncan looked at Eleanor with what he assumed was a disarming grin. “Watch this.” He rolled the ball toward Pele. Pele simply hopped out of the way. It took another attempt before the tiny thing butted the ball a little. Then it bleated hungrily. Duncan sighed. “I think he’s losing interest. Probably hungry. If not, he soon will be. Not sure how old he is, but I am guessing pretty young.  He just showed up while I was playing soccer - basketball. I’m a little surprised. My farm is several miles west and it is the nearest.  I’ll need to feed him when we get back.”

 

[WantYourSoul]

[SIZE=14.666666666666666px]Eleanor easily grew flustered when Duncan tried taking her books, but she was having difficulty. She wouldn’t deny that she was impressed, having always been a bit of a weakling. The dropping of things startled her, along with his sudden exclamation of pain.[/SIZE][SIZE=14.666666666666666px]She quickly moves over to Duncan’s side, awkwardly reaching for his hand.”I, uh, went through this phase in middle school, I need to get my license renewed but I’m technically a physical therapist. I can run you through some exercises later that could help.” She seemed unsure how to further proceed, and simply backed off with her hands raised slightly.[/SIZE][SIZE=14.666666666666666px]Blythe burst out laughing at this display, sputtering something about someone being a loser. The “loser” in question went bright red.[/SIZE]


[SIZE=14.666666666666666px]In the P1,[/SIZE][SIZE=14.666666666666666px]“Don’t make excuses, Boy-Wonder,” Blythe teases, already having a new nickname for Duncan. “I might not look it, but I was a grandma’s girl, she taught me everything she knows.” She flashes him a winning smile, it was her [/SIZE][SIZE=14.666666666666666px]I Know I’m Pretty[/SIZE][SIZE=14.666666666666666px] smile. She winks,”sure thing, I know how to make [/SIZE][SIZE=14.666666666666666px]plenty[/SIZE][SIZE=14.666666666666666px] of things grow.” By Eleanor’s oblivious smile, she obviously didn’t get it.[/SIZE]


[SIZE=14.666666666666666px]In the RV,[/SIZE]


[SIZE=14.666666666666666px]Eleanor smiles,”I collected used books too. I could never afford my own or anything new, but some of my colleagues-- Er, tutors I’m supposed to call them-- they would sell me their books for dirt cheap, or pretend they weren’t the ones who put it in my bags. I think they were my only friends,” she suddenly pauses and sputters on a laugh,”I guess that’s kind of weird, that my only friends were all between their mid 30’s and late 50’s.”[/SIZE][SIZE=14.666666666666666px]She didn’t quite get why he had explained it before remembering that Blythe wasn’t like them. It was rather strange, that the girl who was the center of attention was an outsider to something. It felt like a secret she and Duncan had together.[/SIZE]


[SIZE=14.666666666666666px]Blythe didn’t catch a full look at his reaction, but she laughs brightly before hiding herself behind the bathroom door,”Nothing you haven’t seen before. Every teenager has watched porn at least once,” she was inadvertently teasing Eleanor as well, as her face and ears bloomed a bright red. The rest of what she says is muffled as she started the water for her shower. “I WASN’T JOKING ABOUT YOU JOINING ME!” She shouts from behind the door, snorting on a bout of laughter.[/SIZE]


[SIZE=14.666666666666666px]Right on cue, Eleanor’s face went red. She begins to wave her hands, stammering,”I-I, uh, Duncan… Why wait for me to go in? Uh-- um, Blythe is showering right now?” She quite abruptly buries her colourful face in her hands. Face still hidden, she cracks her fingers apart to level her intense grey stare at him. Her face was still red, and she wanted to hide it. “What makes you think that we’d be… Uh… Sleeping together?”[/SIZE][SIZE=14.666666666666666px]“And no thanks on the video, no one’s pregnant. And unless you and Blythe have made arrangements, I don’t think we should be getting ahead of ourselves, I think.”[/SIZE]


[SIZE=14.666666666666666px]She follows him over to his work table, glancing at the contents of his books as he closes them. Her face seemed to have returned to normal colour.”I bet we’d make great partners,” she pauses, thinking about how her words had gotten her into trouble the last time,”not like sex partners, academic partners.”[/SIZE][SIZE=14.666666666666666px]She smiles ruefully as she listens to him talk.”I have no impressive bonafides. My mother didn’t want me to be [/SIZE][SIZE=14.666666666666666px]weird[/SIZE][SIZE=14.666666666666666px],” she says this with a surprising amount of both bitterness and sadness.[/SIZE]


[SIZE=14.666666666666666px]She leans in, catching onto his conspiratorial drift.”I think I need a door with a lock and to be alone for a few hours. I’ve barely had time by myself for nearly two months. Blythe is a people person, not me. I have a few serious concerns about her psyche. She’s not like us, she doesn’t do well alone.” Upon hearing of his past injuries, she straightens slightly. “Oh, yeah, I said I was going to help you out with that. Have you completely ignored your injuries this whole time?” She asks, offering him her hands.[/SIZE]


[SIZE=14.666666666666666px]From the shower, Blythe could barely make out Duncan’s words, but she yells back all the same,”I’ll be a while still! This hot shower is [/SIZE][SIZE=14.666666666666666px]divine[/SIZE][SIZE=14.666666666666666px]. Just what I needed. And don’t worry, Boy-Wonder, the only toys I’ll be playing with are my own. I won’t refuse shooting things off.” Something crude was added onto the end, in Norwegian.[/SIZE][SIZE=14.666666666666666px]Eleanor shoots him an alarmed look, but follows him outside without bothering to offer a translation. She held an intermediate understanding of the language, simply by constantly being around her for the months since they had met.[/SIZE]


[SIZE=14.666666666666666px]She was just about to hoist herself into his SUV when his sudden snap of the fingers startled her. She’s never been great with sudden noises.”What is it?” She asks curiously, sticking along behind him until she catches sight of the culprit. She can’t resist a gentle laugh, crouching slightly to get a better look at the baby goat.”How cute,” she states this as if it were a scientific observation.[/SIZE]


[SIZE=14.666666666666666px]Eleanor straightens, pausing on her ascent to make sure her pants remained clean. She glances over at Duncan when he growls, a quizzical expression on her face. She was even more surprised when he suddenly wrapped his arm around her waist. She had never dealt with something like this before, and was struck with the strange sensation of stiffening up while also leaning into his touch.[/SIZE]


[SIZE=14.666666666666666px]When they parted, she stared up at him with her ears that had turned pink. Neither of them were really huggers.[/SIZE]



[SIZE=14.666666666666666px]She laughs at his story, shrugging off the awkward yet tender moment as best she could.”I just got that pun. Nice one.” She laughs.[/SIZE]

 

[Mitheral]

Pele


Duncan popped a couple aspirin and asked Eleanor to remind him to feed Pele when they got back.  He grinned.  “Maybe you should wait on that and tell me when Blythe is present.  “Tell her we need to feed our kid.  I have a feeling she will love the joke.  Or maybe suggest that we have to cook for 4 now.  Or and tell her that we are going to need a lot of formula.  I get the impression she is always messing with you about stuff like that.  Maybe shoe on the other foot wouldn’t be such a bad idea.”


“And I think we’d make great partners … either way.”  He cleared his throat, blushing.  “Sorry, but I am a teenage boy.  And  you … “  He gave a thin lipped smile.  “I normally never liked blondes.  But that was because most were … pageant queens … queen bees … thought they were better than everyone else.  But that was what bothered me most.  They were the ones who led the cliques that went around making everyone else feel like they were less.  You don’t strike me as that sort.  Plus you have one other quality that is about as irresistible as it gets for me.  You can hold a conversation.


“Still, I may hate myself for this later.  But unless you two plan to share me, we should wait until you girls have a choice before going after the sexual partner thing.  In fact you two should both wait until you are 18 according to my mother.  That’s part of what the videos are about.  She said - and I quote - ‘quote me on this.  These won’t be just a bunch of sex ed videos.’  She was a very, VERY pragmatic lady.  I only knew her for a scant few months.  But we managed to bond.”


Old Car


Duncan made it a point to holler through the door to the shower to let Blythe know he and Eleanor would be back in a couple hours or less.  He also told her that the hot water heater only needed about 15 minutes to reheat new water.  He also pointed out that it was a full bath if she wanted to bathe rather than shower.  He had her wait for him to go and get her some bubble bath, got conned into actually handing it to her, which meant opening the door enough to risk Blythe giving a show.  He just stared for a moment and told her to hold that thought.  “We need a jacuzzi.”


It didn’t take long to grab the girls’ stuff from their dead car.  “If you girls really don’t want this car anymore I have a great use for it.  You know how I saw Blythe eyeing the LAW rockets?  I have a tow truck.  I could come back and get this and we could use it for target practice.  Tomorrow we can pick out another car.  Or, if you two want you can have the other Lamborghini.  Problem with it is there is no space in it for your stuff.  I have a whole warehouse full of cars that I mothballed.  So we’ll have to reflush them with good fuel.  I wish one of you were a mechanic.”


He still helped with muscle work.  He was stronger with one arm than either of the girls with two.  He smiled.  “I’m used to hard work.  My stepfather was a bit of a slave driver.  I made a lot of my money chopping firewood.  At 13 I was richer than most young adults on full time minimum wage.  And that was with me working maybe 20 hours a week max.  I could swing a 15 pound sledge hammer one handed.  Back then I was 5’3” 120 lbs. My left hand is getting better.  I still do exercises with it.  I just grabbed that bag wrong.  Can you imagine what it was like taking advanced guitar one month after my hand was hurt.”  He looked Eleanor.  “I caught a large hunting knife with my hand.  Split my hand between the 3rd and 4th finger all the way from about two inches from my wrist.  I used to tape my gloves with duct tape to make sure I wouldn’t overspread them.


“Anyways let’s get back before Blythe starts to feel abandoned.”  He smiled, but was half serious.  Eleanor’s warning had not gone unheeded.


Back at the RV


“Blythe, we’re back!  Stay here.  I’ll bring your stuff in.  But don’t unpack.  I am going to get you guys your own RV - each if you like.  I have several.  Might do that tomorrow though as it takes some hook ups for you to have water.  Just a warning guys, the water is not unlimited.  But I thought hot baths would be a nice change of pace.


“I had an idea for the rockets.  How would you guys like to give your old car a Viking funeral?”  He laughed.  “I can use the tow truck and haul it over to the range.  Though, not today, maybe tomorrow evening.  Tomorrow I want to get you guys a new RV - or two.  


Duncan finally removed the left glove he normally wore.  That glove had gotten him teased early on in the school year at the Academy.  He had been nicknamed Duncan Jackson.  The rumor was that he had a bad scar there.  Now, for the first time, the girls allowed to see the scar.  It was about 2 inches long and had clearly been a blade punched through his hand.  He had played guitar like that using biker’s gloves.


He had been heaping a plate with a thick layer of white rice which he stuck in a small microwave. The lighting dimmed a little while he heated it. When he was done he added a heavy layer of deer stew. He pulled that out, then tossed in another smaller plate of rice while pulled out a couple small slabs of unidentified meat, and some very sharp Ginsu styled knives. It didn’t take long to realize they were for the … Sushi … heavy on the meat.


By the time the deer stew had finished he’d already made his sushi. He frowned, glanced up at the girls. “No avocado. I miss avocado.” He smiled and held up a finger, smiling again. “I’m working on that. Not so spicy imitation salmon that should be tuna with sriracha mayo. The Millers made the mistake of taking me out for Japanese. I distinctly recall them laughing over the ‘mistake’ of taking a teenage boy out for sushi. I guess the stuff was expensive. I watched a video on how to make this stuff … but it is a work in progress. Mostly I make a mess.  If you don’t like it, leave the rest for me.  I am a human garbage disposal.”


He spent the next 15 minutes trying to interspace talking to the girls while inhaling his food. But the brief time in which he wasn’t talking was enough for him to come up with an alternate plan.


“I have a better idea. Why don’t I drop you off at a Tanger Outlet Mall while I go and get the RV tomorrow. I can come back and get you in about an hour. That should be plenty of ti-- … uhm .. time … All you need to get today is a couple outfits. We can always come back for more. Or maybe a few hours?”  He smiled slightly.  “I’ll need a good time estimate and stick to it.  It’s kinda important.  Personal stuff.”  Duncan’s speech always shortened to cutting off words like ‘a’ and ‘the’ when he was being evasive or was embarrassed.  “You are going to want to see the peaches. I am not exaggerating their size. They aren’t the tiny, bitter things you see in grocery stores. And we can grab more strawberries. Oh yeah, there should be some fresh strawberries, whipped cream and Hershey’s Chocolate syrup in the fridge. Eat it all.  Probably be able to pick some more fresh asparagus too, and tomatoes. Spinach may be ready too. I wanted to do broccoli and cauliflower, but that takes a lot of time and water. It is the single biggest reason I am planning a move to the Southeast. I am close to a decision point - Stay the winter and suffer another couple years without broccoli, having to start over with asparagus, and such. But if we were to move now, we have to start very, very soon. But we can think on that tomorrow. I almost hate to leave this place.”


OOC:  I will have a description of the house when the group gets there.  It is where he lived with his mother and stepfather - until he was attacked by the gang.  IE it became a crime scene.

 

[WantYourSoul]

[SIZE=14.666666666666666px]Eleanor laughed a beat too late, betraying that she didn’t actually get  the joke. Sure, she understood the puns, and could even agree that it was  funny. “You have no idea how much she likes to tease me,” she says lightly, tucking a stray piece of hair behind her ear as she peers up at him.”I don’t think I can say it how you would expect, I’m pretty, uh, well, I’m bad with jokes.” As Duncan continues, her face and ears bloom with red and she quickly looks down as an attempt to hide her blush. She gently scuffs the toe of her battered flats against the dirt.[/SIZE][SIZE=14.666666666666666px]She shoots him a half-hearted glare as he mentions her and Blythe’s blonde-ness.”I never liked jocks, as they’re called. Or the queen-bee cheerleader type,” she pauses, shoving her hands into her pockets,”I tried out for cheer squad once, but I wasn’t [/SIZE][SIZE=14.666666666666666px]pretty enough[/SIZE][SIZE=14.666666666666666px]. They cut my hair, I think it’s called hazing.” [/SIZE][SIZE=14.666666666666666px]She blushes at the unexpected compliment, and angles her whole body away from him as if that would hide the colour of her cheeks.”I think we should stick to purely scholarly partners,” she says quickly,”science is best performed objectively.”[/SIZE]


[SIZE=14.666666666666666px]She laughs suddenly, turning back so she was facing him full-on.”I’ve waited 16 years, I don’t think two more years will really change anything for me. Blythe doesn’t need any sex ed videos, I’ve listened to enough of her sexual escapades to last a lifetime.” Despite the topic, Eleanor still found it endearing that him and his birth mother had managed to bond before she passed away. She only wished that she could have said the same for her own mother.[/SIZE]


[SIZE=14.666666666666666px]Blythe was enthralled with the thought of having a bubble bath, and had demanded that Duncan get the best bubbles he could find for her enjoyment. When he returned, she was already kneeling in the tub. She had leaned out of the tub to grab the bottle from Duncan’s hand, shooting him a wink. She huffs and sits back in the water as he closes the door, calling out her response after him,”I would love a jacuzzi. We need a hot tub, too.” She laughs brightly, the sound of water being displaced could be heard clearly from behind the door. Eleanor had been standing off to the side, a curious expression on her face as she had watched the whole ordeal.[/SIZE][SIZE=14.666666666666666px]“You know, I’m surprised she’s been being so modest. She went an entire week in July wearing nothing but a pair of swim trunks because she [/SIZE][SIZE=14.666666666666666px]wanted to have an even tan[/SIZE][SIZE=14.666666666666666px].” Blythe’s snorted laughter could be heard from the bathroom, signalling that she had heard what had been said.[/SIZE]


[SIZE=14.666666666666666px]Broken Down Car[/SIZE]


[SIZE=14.666666666666666px]Eleanor had helped as best she could with unloading their things, humming the Narnia theme as she worked. It was one of her favourite movies as a child. The two of them made quick work, and she shrugs delicately after wiping her palms on her tank top.”I’m sorry, I don’t think either of us are mechanics. My dad tried teaching me, but I was much more interested with radio waves at the time. I think Blythe would love blowing up the car with more than a molotov cocktail.” She laughs lightly, tucking stray hairs behind her ears.[/SIZE][SIZE=14.666666666666666px]“I’m not 5’3” [/SIZE][SIZE=14.666666666666666px]or[/SIZE][SIZE=14.666666666666666px] 120 pounds, but I could just imagine how great it would be to have all that money to yourself,” she says almost thoughtfully, gaze drawn down to his hand.”I’m glad you didn’t lose any of your hand at least. My home town was full of hunters, but I could never go with them-- Never got a hang of using guns. I do like archery, though, but no one wanted to hunt with anything quite so… Primitive.” She didn’t appear upset in any way by this memory, she stated it all as casually as if she were talking about her daily commute.[/SIZE][SIZE=14.666666666666666px]Silently, she was grateful to be heading back to see Blythe. This was the longest they had been separated since they found one another, and she wanted to make sure they got back before anything exploded.[/SIZE]


[SIZE=14.666666666666666px]Back At The RV[/SIZE][SIZE=14.666666666666666px]Blythe had finished her rather luxurious bubble bath, and had preoccupied herself with building a campfire. Without having any clean clothes, she was left wearing only a towel as she brushed through the tangles in her hair. The fire was fairly small, just big enough that it would dry her hair faster. Her heart leapt in her chest as she heard them pulling up, but forced herself to sit still and brush her hair as if she hadn’t noticed they were gone.[/SIZE]


[SIZE=14.666666666666666px]Eleanor appeared unphased to see the other young woman in her state of undress, she must be used to it by now. She did, however, try to gently turn Duncan away as to preserve whatever modicum of modesty Blythe had left.[/SIZE]
 


[SIZE=14.666666666666666px]In a rather humorous moment, both girls had responded in sync to Duncan’s question,”I don’t mind sharing.” [/SIZE]


[SIZE=14.666666666666666px]Blythe stands up quickly at the mention of a viking funeral, both eyebrows raised.”Just because I’m Norwegian doesn’t mean I’m a viking,” she shoots back at him indignantly, arms folded,”but yes, I do want to play with your rockets.” She gives him a very meaningful downward glance before snorting on a bout of laughter. The other young woman had placed her face in her hands with about as much ceremony as one would expect.[/SIZE]


[SIZE=14.666666666666666px]The sight of the scar caused two slightly different reactions, neither one were disgust. Blythe appeared intrigued, while Eleanor was covertly watching how well his fingers functioned. At least Blythe had been convinced to wear more than a towel for their meal.[/SIZE][SIZE=14.666666666666666px]“Can I just have rice? Plain white rice?” Eleanor asks, watching Duncan work.[/SIZE][SIZE=14.666666666666666px]“Just give me whatever meat she won’t eat,” Blythe adds wryly, not bothering to hide the fact that she was very hungry indeed.[/SIZE]



[SIZE=14.666666666666666px]As they ate, it was fairly quiet, one was busy picking at her rice while the other was displaying her voracious appetite. As they finished Blythe was first to the punch to voice her opinion on the mall idea.[/SIZE][SIZE=14.666666666666666px]“I think that’s a great idea, Boy-Wonder! Give us at least 3 hours and you’ll see that we aren’t actually swamp monsters.” She laughs, pushing her cleaned plate away from her.[/SIZE][SIZE=14.666666666666666px]Eleanor’s quiet, “One hour is good for me,” was completely overridden by the more outgoing of the pair, but she didn’t appear frustrated by it. She was still picking at her rice, nearly finished but still not quite. “My mother used to make strawberries and cream for breakfast, she would cut up strawberries and put them in milk and sugar. I don’t know if we have any good milk, but I think I could make some for everyone sometime,” she wasn’t cut off this time, and by Blythe’s expression, she had already tried them before and very much enjoyed it.[/SIZE]

 

[Mitheral]

”I think we should stick to purely scholarly partners,” Eleanor said quickly,”science is best performed objectively.”


Duncan’s eyes danced as he refused to stop staring.  He couldn’t help it.  He had never met a girl like Eleanor that was shyer than him.  “I disagree.  But .. we can debate that later.”  He stared at her attentively.  “Those cheerleaders must have been cross-eyed.”


“I said medical videos, not porn for girls.  If you want that...,” he turned beet red as he embarrassed himself chuckling.  “No, I think it is more about healthcare.  I am sure the sex ed stuff is there.  I know her filing system - how she thinks.  She will have stuff like how to do girl stuff medical check ups - probably based on equipment I can build.  She was big on nutrition.  My Dad complained all the time about the diet she made him stay on.  Oh, and she made videos of the training she put me through.  I swear, I may be traumatized for life.”  He laughed.  “You will probably love the ones where she was teaching me how to stick up a wound.  She got a little annoyed at me for making her use so much smelling salts.  I’m a little squeamish.  Nobody’s perfect.  You know, she even arranged to get me hands on experience with delivering a baby.”  He looked rather serious, even a little pained at that memory.   His voice lowered an octave and became husky.  “The mother and child had the Plague.  The mother volunteered and made a recording for me with her blessings.  She wanted her death to mean something.  By mother took sonograms of the procedure for training.  THAT is the sort of mother she was.  You’d have like her.  And … I think she would have liked you.”


Duncan looked distinctly uncomfortable at Blythe’s forwardness.  That isn’t to say he wasn’t sorely tempted to stare - just a little.  But he did his best to avoid it.  He was almost grateful when Eleanor spoke up about Blythe’s modesty.  His head snapped around as the context registered.  Then he looked her up and down.  “Do YOU have an even tan?”  The question came out a little louder than he intended.


“I can get us a jacuzzi.  I’m just not sure if I want to bother setting one up here.  But that is something we need to talk about later.  I had thoughts about moving to northern Florida.


Back at the RV


“Don’t tell me you are a vegetarian!”  He sighed.  “I have oatmeal, grits, and cream of wheat.  Yes, I have evaporated milk.  We need to use it up.  Most is expiring.  I had to throw a bunch out already.  I do have powdered though.  Oh yeah,speaking of milk,” he looked at Eleanor dreamily.  “Dear, we need to remember to feed the kid.  My turn next time.  Maybe we could let Blythe burp him?” He fought to stifle a laugh.  “If you want, you can take over the shower.  I’ll enlist the Viking chick’s help.  By now the water should be hot again.  Use it up.  Don’t be shy about it.  And, you know, if you need any help with anything …” his voice took the tone of hinting as he sucked in air.  Then he exhaled, knowing her response was going to be a disappointment.”


He looked at Blythe.  “Come on.  Might want to slip on some flip flops or something.  I need to make formula first though.  I have it in a 3 ring binder.”


Feeding the Goat


Duncan introduced Pele.  He tried to get the goat to play, but it was far more interested in food.

 

[WantYourSoul]

[SIZE=14.666666666666666px]Eleanor scuffs the toe of her sneakers into the ground, gazing away with a bashful expression painting  her features pink. “Please don’t hold high hopes when it comes to my debate skills,” she says softly, counteracting his stare with her own lack of eye contact. She gives him an unceremonious shrug of her shoulders when he brings up the aforementioned cheerleaders.[/SIZE]


[SIZE=14.666666666666666px]She stammers awkwardly at the mention of porn, throwing her hands up to wave almost frantically,”N-no! I wasn’t asking for that! I don’t need stuff like that, and Blythe knows plenty already.” It seemed like Duncan’s embarrassment was feeding into her own. She calms herself down enough so that her face was almost a normal colour by the time she speaks again. “I know the basics of stitching and sewing, they are remarkably similar. I helped the local butcher with his financials a year before the plague, and he gave my family a pig. This is kind of embarrassing to admit, but I practiced my technique on it. Fabric and flesh are really different, I think it will be even more different when there is actual blood pumping from it.” She smiles awkwardly up at him, allowing him to finish speaking so as not to say anything else that could be called weird or creepy. Her expression softens when she hears of his mother, “I wish I had a mother like that. She sounds like an amazing woman, one I would have liked to meet.”[/SIZE]


[SIZE=14.666666666666666px]The RV[/SIZE][SIZE=14.666666666666666px]Blythe had burst out laughing at Duncan’s question [/SIZE] [SIZE=14.666666666666666px]and Eleanor’s reaction. The smaller girl’s pale face flushes with colour and she tips her head forwards slightly, enough to hide behind a curtain of hair. “Well… No… I don’t really have a tan… At all. I usually wear sweaters or just stay inside.” She appeared mildly embarrassed, especially with Blythe’s laughter and Duncan’s pointed look.[/SIZE][SIZE=14.666666666666666px]“She’s white as a ghost under all those layers,” the Norwegian girl hoots, finding this whole situation rather hilarious. Eleanor’s face only gains more pigmentation.[/SIZE]


[SIZE=14.666666666666666px]As they were seated at the table, Eleanor had tied her hair out of her face so as to get nothing in that long mane of hair she has. “I’m not a vegetarian. I have a sensitive stomach. Plus, white rice is my favourite. I don’t like when it gets mixed with other things.” She scratches her forearm awkwardly, she angles her head slightly to regard Blythe as she snickers to herself over something that was just said. It’s hard to tell what she found funny, her sense of humour being as twisted as it is. Her demeanour, however, changes drastically as she drops her fork to gawk at Duncan and Eleanor.[/SIZE][SIZE=14.666666666666666px]“Kid!?” She demands, fairly certain that one cannot have a child within the first few hours of being around the only man they had seen in a year. “You know I hate being left out of things,” this was angled towards her companion, who was currently hiding her mouth behind her hands.[/SIZE]


[SIZE=14.666666666666666px]“A shower would be nice, especially after our playdate with the kid. I don’t think I need anything.” She began to eat again before pausing and voicing her second thought,”actually… I think I would like some fruity body wash. I don’t need it, but if you have anything that smells like apples I’d really like it.” She offers Duncan a small, sheepish smile. Sights immediately snapping back to her plate as Blythe snorts derisively at her request.[/SIZE][SIZE=14.666666666666666px]“Apples and lavender honeysuckle are her favourite smells in the world. We went to Bath & Body Works once and that was pretty much all she wanted. I smelled like rich champagne parties for three weeks before I lost the perfume.”[/SIZE]


[SIZE=14.666666666666666px]Pele,[/SIZE]


[SIZE=14.666666666666666px]Blythe had shoved her flip flops back on her feet, having braided her hair while she waited for Duncan to accommodate Eleanor’s request. The petite young woman had excused herself almost immediately after finishing her meal and disappearing into the bathroom. She wasn’t expecting to have the requested soaps delivered, so she had already stripped down and started the shower, waiting for the water to heat up.[/SIZE]



[SIZE=14.666666666666666px]At the sight of the baby goat, the Nordic’s face lights up and she crouches down to pet the animal. “Where did you get him? What about his parents?” She was showing a remarkable amount of concern for the wellbeing of this goat, more concern than she had ever provided for anyone else.[/SIZE]

 

[Mitheral]

The RV


Duncan stood a little inside Eleanor’s personal space.  For him it was a bold move.  “If you ever want to get a full tan I could help.”  He flushed a little smiling.  “Tanning bed,” he explained matter-of-factly.  “We ought to be able to find one and power it up.”  He looked her up and down.  “Heck, I am pretty white under these clothes myself.  I even wear a shirt to swim.  It’s the looks I get.  Pity.  Never liked that one.


“Don’t have any scented stuff.  Like I said, wasn’t expecting company.  But we can look for that sort of stuff tomorrow.  All I have is Dial and Lava soap.”


Pele


“Pele found me.  I am guessing some lions got his nanny.  I decided a goat was better company than none at all.  So … now I have a goat for a pet.  We could always just cook him later.  Somehow though, I have a feeling that isn’t going to happen.” Duncan shrugged.  He had no idea what to talk about around Blythe.  He brainstormed for a long minute, then started up again.


“You know, Eleanor is easy for me to talk to. You, not so easy.”  He shook his head shamefully amused.  “You may have figured out I am kinda smart. But the one thing I never figured out was girls.  And I bet you never had a guy admit that right to your face.  But I don’t embarrass so easily anymore.  Sure I get embarrassed, but I roll with it.  That’s how I learn - by making mistakes.  To be very honest, I like her - Eleanor.  But she thinks she and I ought to be - oh how did she put it? - scholarly partners.  I told her I thought that was debatable.”  He gave a broad grin.


“Thing of it is, you are both damnably cute - distracting.”  His grin broadened as he grew redder.  “And don’t think for an instant that I was tempted to join you in the shower.  But I don’t want to hurt either of your feelings.  And I have a feeling that if I wasn’t really careful things would get carried away way too easily.  Before I chance that both of you need to watch some videos my mother left for you - for any girls.  She was a medical doctor.  I am sure there is some sex ed stuff in there.”  He laughed.  “Somehow I doubt you need much education there.  But there is also likely to be some non sex based medical advice for females.  Probably How to for various medical exams and such.



“Anyways, let’s give Eleanor some time to finish her shower, then we can head back in.”  He grinned. then laughed.  “I’m not sure if she caught my hint about helping to scrub her back.  Did we ever work out who is sleeping where?  Or did I need to go look for another RV tonight?  I was thinking I could take a break and watch a movie with you guys.”

 

[WantYourSoul]

The RV


Eleanor's ears went pink as she notices how close he is, mostly because of how far she had to strain her head back to look him in the eye. "I don't need a tanning bed," she states matter-of-factly,"if I had wanted a tan, I could have spent my time out with Blythe. But I don't think I need any more freckles than I already have. I haven't gone swimming in ages, maybe... We could..?" Her voice trails off on the tail end of her hesitant question.


"You don't have a bathing suit, genius. What, you planning on skinny dipping?" Blythe's voice held a teasing edge,"you gonna blind our boy-wonder when you expose your true whiteness." She cackles as the point of her teasing goes red and hides her face to mask her own embarrassment. 


Eleanor ducks her head momentarily, but she seems otherwise unphased by the fact she won't get the soap she wants. "That's alright, thank you for letting me use your shower, Duncan!" She says as brightly as she can muster before  disappearing off to shower. 


Pele


Blythe appeared somewhat saddened to hear Duncan's theory for Pele's parents."Guess he's an orphan, too, just like us," she makes this remark as she casually scratches behind the kid's ears. "Can you milk boy goats?" She used this question as a way to fill in for the minute of silence while he thought. 


She cocks her head to the side, finding his words confusing. "You do know who you're talking about, yeah? That girl is so awkward I'm surprised she's even managed to kiss anyone," her words were spoken with an almost breezy way to them, waving her hand,"What's smart got to do with anything? I'm plenty smart, maybe not like you two but still. Don't get ahead of yourself, though. You're the fourth boy to ever say something like that so tuck your ego back under your belt."


She didn't appear upset in the least when he confessed his thoughts about Eleanor, a Cheshire-esque grin graces her features and she tosses her head back to laugh.


"You think I couldn't tell? You look at her like she's the moon. Bad description. But y'know what I mean, your eyes get all big and round when you look at her. Too bad she's clueless. You have to be specific with her. You should hear her tell the story of her first kiss.  It's hilarious." She deadpans It's hilarious, hinting that it was in no way hilarious. Her expression made it seem like the story was actually painful to listen to. She makes a lewd hand gesture, grinning,"I say you should just go for it. Trust my judgement, because unless I've got the wrong impression of you, I'm the resident expert at getting lucky. You can do some experimenting." She winks and tosses her hair, mentally patting herself on the back for her cleverness. 


She quite suddenly rounds on Duncan, getting in his personal space."I'm more than just cute. Don't kid yourself, Boy-Wonder, I caught you eyes wandering." She laughs brightly, not growing serious for even a moment as he continues. She talks a lot more than Eleanor."Please, Eleanor is like a pg movie, you don't need to worry about her. And me? Don't you worry your pretty little head, I'm pretty smart. I can teach Leo more than your mom's sex Ed videos ever could, hell, I can teach you a few things as well. Just ask me and I'll show either of you what to do." The way she said it without any flirtation was rather admirable, meaning she was actually serious. Duncan better give her some credit. 


The flirtation had returned just as quickly as it had disappeared. She laughs along with him."Obviously not, her face would have gotten hot enough to set of a fire alarm if she understood." She finally steps back out of his personal space to preoccupy herself with Pele." Don't worry, I'll take  couch, I can convince Eleanor to hop in bed with you for the night. I for one need some peace and quiet for once without that damn insomniac chatting my ear off all night. So be my guest. By the way, Narnia is her favourite movie."

 

[Mitheral]

Narnia it was.  He had read the books.  He had never watched the movie.  He had decided to take Blythe at her word - half fearing the Viking had misled him.   Sitting around watching a movie felt like a horrible waste of time.  But he figured he needed the break.  The second Narnia movie became the evening’s entertainment.  Personally he thought neither movie was as good as the books.  As evening approached he excused himself to go and take his own shower - returning wearing the same color scheme - blue jeans and a black T shirt - but smelling much nicer.  


Then it came time to settle the argument of who would sleep where.  He had offered the bed to the girls.  “You two should take the bed.  It’s a King sized.  That’s good for two people.”  He looked off to the side.  “Or … “ he looked at Eleanor, “you could give Blythe a little privacy for a change and take one side.”  His eyes twinkled.  “We could debate that partner question.  Or … you’ll just end up debating that with Blythe, I suspect.”


(Hate doing such a short post, but ... it is a plot point)

 

[WantYourSoul]

Blythe was quite pleased with how her meddling appeared to be working. It was true that Eleanor’s favourite movie was Narnia, at least. And when the news of what movie they were to be watching was announced, a slow smile breaks out on her face. The only thing that appeared to have changed on her wardrobe was that she was now wearing a large grey hoodie. The meddler, however, didn’t make eye contact with either of them and made a big show over not wanting to watch it for the millionth time, which earned a very polite correction of, “You’ve only watched it eight times with me.”
The film night was indeed an event, and it would be a surprise to hear that one of the girls had never seen the second film. She had read the books, however. They were her first chapter books, read at the age of nearly four. It was surprising that she could watch or read a book more than once, considering her eidetic memory. Blythe’s meddling did not stop at just her innocent suggestion, she had perched herself on the back of the couch, long tanned legs taking up a surprising amount of room and leaving the two with enough space left between them to get in trouble at bible camp.


 


“Thank you for watching movies with us,” Eleanor thanks him politely, obviously in a good mood. As Duncan stood, Blythe slid down the couch so she was sprawled dramatically over its surface.
“Screw off, I’m not sharing a bed with her for another night. I need my beauty rest, I don’t care for having someone talking in my ear all night.” She shot a pointed look at the offender, whose ears went red and she looked away. Eleanor obviously didn’t have the heart to argue with the Viking, and offers a slight shrug of her shoulders and a muttered apology.
“I have insomnia. I can’t help it,” she offers, daring a sideways glance at Duncan to catch his reaction. She didn’t appear opposed to the offer of sleeping in an actual bed for once.

 

[Mitheral]

Blythe did NOT have to be a mind reader to know that Duncan’s mind was in the gutter.  Hell he was scraping the bottom.  But he also seemed inexperienced.  Sure he was a genius.  So was Eleanor.  That didn’t mean that had any clue about the opposite sex beyond what they read in books.


They’d figure it out.


Duncan surprised them by making homemade ice cream to go with the steaks.  He even had peach preserves, strawberry preserves and Hershey chocolate syrup (a whole pallet of the stuff!) to use as toppings.  


He picked a third movie, IQ. It was corny, more of a family movie.  But it was full of innuendo.  And it was more than a little funny to see how much Eleanor picked up on.  But eventually it was time to turn in.  And that was when the evening got really interesting - for Duncan at least.  First he had to figure how much clothing was appropriate to wear to his own bed.  In the long run he opted for boxer briefs.


The funny thing was that he still was a gentleman.  That didn’t mean he wasn’t very sorely tempted.  And if he were being honest, he doubted he could have stopped himself if Eleanor had encouraged him.  He would settle for being a warm blanket for her.  And he was bound to end up as one by morning one way or another.

 

[WantYourSoul]

[SIZE=14.666666666666666px]Blythe was much more enchanted than Eleanor when surprised with the novelty of icecream. Not to say that Eleanor was not pleasantly surprised and fairly excited to drown her ice cream with fruit. She picked out a chunk of peach with her bare fingers, an uncharacteristic move that left Blythe startled. The aforementioned blonde was pleased with her chocolate syrup and making sure she didn’t accidentally smear anything across her face. Eleanor didn’t succeed at keeping clean, and wound up staining her light grey hoodie. She got laughed at and was resigned to sitting with her knees hugged to her chest after discarding the stained article of clothing onto the floor. She appeared mildly frustrated that she had to sit there in only her tank top and leggings, she didn’t voice that she was actually a bit cold without her sweater.[/SIZE]


[SIZE=14.666666666666666px]Blythe picked up on every single innuendo throughout the film, her laughter signalling the more clueless of the two to look between Duncan and Blythe for a hint at what was so funny. She would occasionally understand or have it explained, and without fail her ears would go pink and she would laugh awkwardly.[/SIZE]



[SIZE=14.666666666666666px]As the end credits rolled, the night suddenly took a far more interesting turn as Blythe began to strip and kicked both of them out of the room. Eleanor had disappeared into the bathroom to slip into a baby blue nightie, keeping her gaze politely averted when she came back into the room.”Uhm…” She starts out helpfully,”I don’t know how well I’ll be able to sleep just yet, if you would like the bed to yourself. I normally get an average of four or five hours of sleep a night. I’m just so excited-- I mean, another person! That expands the possibility of how many could have survived!” Her eyes were sparkling, and she clapped her hands.[/SIZE][SIZE=14.666666666666666px]“Shut up and go to bed,” Blythe shouts from her position on the couch, having stripped down to a sports bra and some cotton shorts to avoid the August heat pressing against the air.[/SIZE][SIZE=14.666666666666666px]Eleanor appeared embarrassed, and quickly sits down on the corner of the mattress. [/SIZE][SIZE=14.666666666666666px]“Is this side okay? I don’t take up much room, so I’ll try not to be a hassle.” She wasn't quite sure what she wanted, nor was she certain of how to achieve anything. She wasn't so naive as to expect there to be a polite border between the two as they slept, and she was open to the thought of him helping keep her warm. She couldn't help it, she gets cold easily.[/SIZE]

 

[Mitheral]

Duncan tried not to stare.  He gestured nervously to the bed.  “You can sleep anywhere you want.”  In addition to the boxer briefs he wore a black T shirt. He never turned his back on her at all.  He let Eleanor slide into bed first.  Then he approached and removed the shirt and folded it military style and set it near the bed.  He did the same with his glove.


 

For the first time Eleanor saw the scars that ravaged the front left side of his body.   Just barely she could see that both side of his back bore when could only be whiplash marks.  It explained exactly why he kept his back turned away and why he wore the T shirt - a dark one.  No tattoos at all.  At least, none on his front side.


 

Duncan gave a grim smile.  “They don’t hurt much anymore.  At least you can see I wasn’t lying.  I never lie.  I always keep my promises - short of serious emergencies.”  He slid into bed facing her (backside?).


 

They hadn’t been lying there long before he spoke again.  “I’ll be honest.  I have never done anything like this … you know.  I didn’t make time for girls in school.  I was always too busy.  There was this cheerleader who started a rumor that I was gay.  For the record I’m not.  But she annoyed the heck out of me.”


 

He paused, then laughed a little.  “And now it’s me keeping us awake.”


(I know, these are short.  But Duncan is walking on eggshells.)

 

[WantYourSoul]

Eleanor didn't mean to, but she had stared openly once she caught sight of all of his scars. There was no trace of pity in her studious grey gaze. Her freckled cheeks were pink as she suddenly remembers it's impolite to stare, and focuses herself with a flyaway strand of hair. There was a curious downward twist to her mouth as she spares another glance towards Duncan's scars.


"They may not hurt now, but some look like they would have hurt for a long time," she says softly, cushioning her head under one arm so she could continue looking at him. She couldn't imagine what ever could have happened in his youth. Well, she could. But she couldn't make the link between the boy laying in front of her and the boy who received those scars.


"I guess we both cover up for different reasons, eh?" She asks, her attempt at witty humour. 


She he had been about to break the silence, punctuated occasionally by the sounds of a sleeping Blythe. She had been nowhere near falling asleep quite yet, and she couldn't help but laugh. She covered her mouth with a hand to stifle the sound and avoid waking up the other sleeping occupant of the RV. "Me either, I've shared beds with Blythe, but that's different I would think. I held the same opinion on boys, too. But none were ever interested in me, especially not after they had met and had a conversation with me." There was no hint of bitterness in her voice, suggesting that she truly hadn't cared."It's alright, I'm not feeling tired just yet anyway."


(That's ok! I don't  complain about response length!! I mean, my response is super short and I feel real bad about that!)

 

[Mitheral]

Duncan shook his head.  “Nah!  I was playing football a few weeks later.  I actually challenged the whole team to try to tackle me and and put me off my feet - after making them all mad.”  He laughed a little.  “I designed some extra body armor to protect my cracked ribs and the long cut in my stomach.  That one sliced all the way through my back.  Made a mess of my intestines.  I had just been reopened to find a stitch that had popped loose a week before.  Okay yeah, it hurt a little.  But I hate vicodin, so all I took was aspirin.  Anyways, have you ever heard of Alon?  Aluminum Oxynitride.  It’s the stuff that gave the producers of Star Trek … the one about saving the whales … the idea for transparent aluminum.  You know the Light 50?  A little over an inch and a half of Alon will stop a Light 50.  Well, I made reinforcements for my football padding and covered it with ballistic gelatin that I gave a flesh tone.  I 3D printed it.  Basically it was an Alon chainmail backed with ribs of Alon.  I was literally bulletproof.  The reason for the gelatin was so the other players wouldn’t hurt themselves.


 

“The rules of the high school football only stated minimums. Nothing there about extra padding.”  Duncan was laughing quietly, but so hard he shook the bed.”


 

When Eleanor confessed her own level of experience Duncan seemed amazed.  “I love talking to you …” his voice trailed off.  “Is that Blythe snoring?  No wonder you can’t sleep.  How does she not wake herself up?”  He shook his head and was already tuning Blythe out.  “You know, in one day …” he looked at Eleanor and balked not finishing his statement.  “I really do like talking to you.  I like you … period.  You could pretty much ask anything of me and I’d say yes.  Well, so long as it didn’t violate the three I’s.  Illegal, Immoral, Indecent.  And the weird thing is, I have only known you less than a day.  Before the Plague you’d have to have known me forever.  And I have no idea how to take a hint - or read one for that matter.  I guess I’m so scared of misreading a hint, I’ll always err on the side of caution.  Having you upset at me is my idea of Hell.”


 

 

[WantYourSoul]

Eleanor looked at once distressed and impressed by Duncan's words."I once fractured my ankle and went to ballet practice later that day, if that counts for anything?" She wasn't the most skilled when it came to relating to people. Her eyebrows shot up,"did the get you off your feet? Were you okay?" There was an instantaneous little shot of worry creasing her eyebrows and she gives him a long look, as if trying to see through his skin and verify that his internal organs were still properly functioning. She assumed so, how else had he achieved all this?


 She hadn't watched much television growing up, so the reference was lost on her. Her lips twitch in a smile before she speaks again,"I was at a conference once where they were showing off alon once. They shot up a ballistic dummy and the professor in charge ended up having to lose the privilege of holding seminars that involved any hands on training. He wasn't supposed to actually test it out in front of his students and coworkers." She laughs softly at the memory, shaking her head a bit. Duncan's laughter only served to amplify her own, and she was giggling hopelessly with both hands covering her mouth so as not to wake the softly snoring Blythe in the other room. 


As as their laughter died off, Duncan's partial confession caused Eleanor's eyes to go wide and her ears to go red. She was quietly thankful that it was dark enough that she hoped it wasn't noticeable."She's done that before, especially when it's really humid. And Duncan, I..." She trails off, giving her head a brisk shake to clear anything else she was going to say from her mind. She wasn't going to say anything stupid, she didn't want him to laugh at her. She suddenly half props herself up on her elbows, giving him a very serious look."There are technically no laws, with no one to enforce them. Should we devise knew laws? Base them on our moral code? And... I'm not quite sure I get what you mean by me asking you to do anything indecent. As partners--scholarly-- we should both have a say on things. This situation could be considered indecent, it reminds me a bit of relativity. An observation can be different depending on your position." She stops to think over what he had said, missing the underlying meaning of what he had meant by indecent. She also hadn't considered that what she had just said about position could be taken in a completely different way than she had intended.


she heaves out a slow, measured exhale, thinking about something. A long moment passed before she said anything further. "Maybe it's because we've been without real connection for so long. There's only three people that we are certain are still alive. I think its biological, the need to continue on as a species is kicking in to hyperdrive. Along with the hormonal imbalances of being a teenager. I think it's why I'm glad that I have particularly good skills when it comes to self control. Blythe, on the other hand... She probably doesn't know what to do or what to think. She's what you'd call an extrovert... A social butterfly. You and I could handle this a lot better, in my opinion. But humans are undoubtedly social creatures."

 

[Mitheral]

“Off my feet?”  Duncan had almost forgot to say.  “Not a chance.  Not even the linemen, guys twice my size.  In those days I was a lot smaller.  I was the smallest guy on the team in fact.  They were mad because a day earlier I put one of their receivers in the hospital.  Gave him a concussion.  I wasn’t even wearing my armor at the time.  It was after school and they were doing practice.  I was working on some school work on the bleachers.  The quarterback had been intentionally overthrowing the football out of bounds to give the receiver an excuse to run freshmen over.  I stepped in to keep some kid from getting hurt, caught the ball with one hand  and braced myself.  The receiver just bounced off.  I was smaller.  Lower center of gravity.  I never could abide bullies.


 

“I only had one broken rib. My stepfather did that.  The rest, I’ll tell you about tomorrow.  I really planned not to let anyone see these scars until after tomorrow.  I think I have a really high bone density.  Probably explains why it took so much to break a bone.  Even the gunshots were deflected.  I think I got pretty lucky there.  It was the rib that got my stepfather sent to prison.  Well, that and my back.”  Duncan seemed to hesitate.  Then he turned over so Eleanor could see the crisscross of scars that were still fading.  Then he rolled back over.  “For what it is worth I fought back.  I broke his kneecap so he couldn’t catch me.  Probably the only reason I survived as it was getting hard to breathe with a punctured lung.  He also dropped my sister off on the Las Vegas strip and drove off - never went back.  That was last summer.  She was a month and a half older than me.”


 

He stopped and scowled.  “Gah … bad subject to talk about in bed with a girl.  Where was I going with all this?  There is a lot more, but I’ll save it for tomorrow.  I guess you could say that it explains a little of why I am so bad with people.  No emotions.  All these social skills I show off now?  That came from the Millers.  They did in a few months what a team of shrinks could never have managed.  I was actually able to hug my foster parents - both arms.  The only other person able to get me to do that was a shrink.  And I hated that - and told her.”  He shook his head.  “She asked me why I did.  I told her it was because it was probably good for me to at least try and not keep distancing myself.  But I also told her I was able to hug my Mom - with a grin.  I even admitted I hugged my Dad - but told her it was a guy thing that I still wasn’t thrilled doing that.


 

“Anyways, I suppose we should get some sleep.  Sorry about talking your ears off.  You are the first person I have really spoken to about this stuff besides shrink or parents.”  He started to roll over to get some sleep.  “I guess we are going to find out who the blanket hog is.’


 

 

[WantYourSoul]

Eleanor appeared thoroughly impressed with his story, not even doubting him for a second. It was obvious that while she may be smart, she could also be very naïve.  She stares at him, a dreamy smile gracing her lips."I don't know much about sports, I must admit. But I admire anyone who would take charge like that, I could never of done that to anyone who was hurting me," she pauses, laughing softly at herself,"I'm sorry, it must be pathetic to near something like that coming from me." She unceremoniously allows herself to drop heavily down back onto the pillow. 


With his back bared to her, she feels a wash of cold sadness at the sight. Without consciously meaning to, she reaches out to gently trace the scarred flesh on his back with chilled fingers. She immediately pulls her hands back, looking embarrassed and apologizing hurriedly for doing something as odd as that. 


While Duncan was scowling, Eleanor couldn't help but smile."I don't think we should follow the traditional rules of male-female conversational guidelines for when bed partners. And, I mean, you hugged me-- sort of." She flushed deeply, rolling so she had her back to him.  She listens to his parting words, thinking over them for a while before rolling over to face him/his back."Maybe we should remember another blanket next time?" She halts abruptly, realizing what she had said, and stumbles over her words to correct herself,"not that I was implying we would be sharing a bed after this occasion. Ignore me, I'm tired."


(Aaand, I'm off to bed. Sorry about length, I'm having pain issues.)