Marcello flipped through the slides. Pictures of Eos’ underground Fabricatory beneath Caduceus Manor scrolled across the holoscreen, showcasing the illegal arms operation from various angles. Stockpiles of weaponry and outfitted vehicles for deployment were prominently displayed on the large-scale projection in front of a crowd of hundreds. Mug shots of Jersey Wilde, Dr. Jualian Belfourd, and Dr. Remi Brokowvski were displayed for all to see the Inkling hosts who had gone so far in their pit against their own kind as to flagrantly disregard the peace treaties of Earth. She painted them as what they were – extremists who aggressively pursued their views at the expense of everyone’s safety. Tucked into the corner of all these slides was a live feed of Tate Jacobs, the Eos conspirator who had attacked Marcello on the Ring. The mouse looked remorseful, saddened either at being caught or at his own actions. It didn’t matter which in the end, his conscience drove him for whatever reason to testify.
“I was paid in medicine I needed…” Tate explained, his voice amplified so the crowd gathered at Harbington’s Founder’s Monument could hear him loud and clear. Kids and adults alike looked at their PETs that displayed the same thing the projection did, just in case they felt more comfortable staring at their own personal screens. Tate continued, clearly speaking from a lone room with a table, dressed in a jumpsuit given to those unfortunate enough to land behind bars – figuratively speaking. “I didn’t know who was giving me my orders, but after what happened in Locksmouth, I… I didn’t see a reason why we shouldn’t fight them. I… I thought I was being brave.”
“I attacked Detective Paris Marcello on the Ring. My orders were to stall her, so that she and Arbitrator Kemberge couldn’t be present when the dome voted on a course of action regarding Eos.” Tate hung his head, taking a deep breath, “I’m sorry. I thought she was… some kind of Inkling sympathizer. Someone who wanted the Inklings to come in uncontested. After I attacked her I thought about it… I’d never hit anyone before in my life, and I hit her… really hard. I didn’t think I could…”
“I joined Eos a few months ago. Everything I did was done under their orders.”
Marcello turned from the projection to address the crowd, standing high above with the Arbitrators all gathered, including Eddie who sat nearby in his long duster. Marcello wore something fitting for being the center of attention – a formal bodysuit that clung to her form, decorated in officer’s trappings, and a pair of bicep-length dark gloves. Her purple skin shined, moisturized for the occasion, and her powder blue hair was combed to the side, nearly obscuring one side of her face entirely. She looked almost like a completely different person, even going so far as to wear boots with heels on them.
“These are your protectors, Harbington.” She said. “With the evidence I’ve collected, the proof is irrefutable. These men and women were led to believe that they were fighting for humanity, when in fact they had been swept up by a force who had long since disagreed with the path humanity had chosen. These weapons were being made long before Osoth ever invaded Locksmouth and the Inklings became public knowledge. If they hadn’t come up, there’s no telling just who or what Eos would have used their weaponry for. They’ve resorted to kidnapping and assault on minors who, while hosting Inklings themselves, were innocent and had done no wrong-doing to a single human with any malicious intent.”
“Working with the Locksmouth Police Department, we have made several arrests including the masterminds behind the operation. Mr. Jersey Wilde, Dr. Julian Belfourd, and Dr. Remi Brokowvski have all been placed under arrest and have been detained for further questioning and corrective action.” Marcello looked out over the crowd, seeing much fewer Eos soldiers than before… and the ones that were left over had attempted to leave, only to be stopped by the Harbington police. “Cyril Paige and many of the Eos soldiers have also been detained for their role in progressing the Eos agenda. Quincey Abram is set to return to Harbington, unharmed and well, as soon as Eos has been dealt with and we can assure her safety as an Inkling host.”
“You’re letting that thing back into our dome?!” Someone shouted.
“Yes.” Marcello answered. “Quincey is just one girl and her Inkling has been deemed harmless with evidence presented to both the Arbitrators and the HDPD. While we would always continue to monitor her situation, she is considered a non-risk. Secondly, she is a citizen of Harbington and will be welcomed back as any citizen should.”
“She should stay in Locksmouth where she belongs with the rest of those freaks!” Someone else shouted.
Marcello chose to ignore them. She turned to address Police Chief Reynolds as she approached. Much like Marcello, the muscular Rottweiler dressed formally, though her suit was more cloth and had a number of badges on the breast denoting her position on the force. She stepped up to Marcello and took her hand, giving it a shake. “Detective Paris Marcello, you’ve once again done Harbington a tremendous service.” She announced, “Thanks to you, a wide-spread chain of illegally manufactured weaponry and a group intent on their use has been taken off our streets. No longer do our citizens have to adhere to something like a martial law.”
“But what about the aliens!” Someone cried.
Reynolds paused, releasing Marcello’s hand to address the gathered crowd. “The Harbington Police swear to continue to uphold the peace of Harbington, and to protect you from all threats that would endanger you.”
Marcello’s PET went off. While Reynolds continued to assuage the crowd, she turned and covertly removed it from the barely-there butt pocket of her suit and answered the call, doing her best not to be disruptive of the release. The crowd couldn’t see what she was doing, or hear what she was saying, but she blinked in surprise at whatever was on the screen. Words were exchanged for a moment, and she gave her screen some wary looks, but eventually she swiped her finger across it and her call was bumped up onto the large-scale projection.
The population of Harbington dome was presented with the visage of a half-naked husky male, kept decent only by carefully draped bedsheets and the curtain of silky, steely blue hair that flowed down over his shoulders. The room he was in was fairly dark, but sunlight poured through the slats of the blinders that shaded the windows. The handsome husky peered curiously at his screen, giving it a few taps that thumped loudly through the air around the central monument. “Is this thing on?” He asked. Reynolds whipped around to stare at the projection, eyes wider than perhaps anyone else’s there.
“Ahem,” Kelvalde kept a pillow placed over his crotch, “If I could perhaps interrupt you for a moment, Justina. There’s a little more to this you’re not telling everyone.”
Marcello furrowed her brow and looked at the Chief curiously. Kelvalde went on without a response, throwing onto the screen the picture from the damaged surveillance footage that had been taken from the initial alien insurgence that had triggered Eos’ response in the first place. “It took sleeping with half of Harbington’s police force, but I discovered the remainder of this footage and what happens to be on it is something of a shock, I must say.”
“Stop!” Chief Reynolds demanded, “How did you…?!”
Kelvalde didn’t stop. Instead he played the footage on the big screen of the massive metal blast doors that guarded the emergency escape in Harbington. The door was pulled toward the outside suddenly, its shape deforming as it got sucked in, and soon ripped out of the extremely thick supports that kept it in place. The massive, tunnel-blocking doors were then thrown inward, landing on the ground where they had remained in the photograph shown to the people. In marched the aliens, herded by men and women in combat clothing, thick vests, helmets, and carrying APSR-20s. The aliens barreled inside – Shufflers, Crawlers, even tanks containing a Grabber or two were pulled in on grav-skiffs by yet more soldiers. It took some moments before the brunt of the Eos “rescue team” was on the heels of the alien creatures, forcing them through the tunnels.
A red Inkling with blue eyes stayed behind, observing the scene before turning and leaving the tunnels back toward the outside of the dome. The feed cut short not long after that.
Murmurs traveled throughout the crowd.
“A few things you’ll notice about that:” Kelvalde resumed, his image popping back up with even less covering as before, sitting at the side of the bed and completely discarding the bedsheets, but the small, circular pillow still covered his most intimate of areas. “For one, that was very clearly Eos directing the aliens into the dome themselves. Secondly, there were no guards posted there, despite presumably having two men knocked unconscious in the attack. Lastly, the feed cuts out. This is because it was retrieved and tampered with.”
“By who?” Marcello pried.
“The police are the only ones with access to the files,” Kelvalde said, “You must have figured that out by now.”
“The police? But… does that mean…?” Marcello slowly turned her head, staring at Chief Reynolds.
Kelvalde whipped the pillow away, making the crowd gasp – he was dressed, however, in some skimpy, lacy underwear with frills that contained his modesty… if one could call it that. “I went on a sweaty, passionate crusade throughout the Harbington PD to answer this very question! Through clever wiles and seduction, I worked my way from office to office until finally I discovered something concerning your superior, Paris.”
“My superior?” She questioned. “… Terry?”
Kelvalde chuckled at the tone in her voice. “Never you worry, Detective. Your kitten hasn’t got anything to do with this. Rather, I began to notice that everything from her, and everything involving your case, was set to be reported directly to the Chief herself. She knew where you were at all times, what you were doing, where you intended to be, and what you’d already found out. I believe you were once wondering just how Tate managed to cut you off on the Ring, far from any Eos activities?”
“And I believe that someone’s husband was present in Locksmouth during the initial Inkling invasion… and that he never came back home.” Kelvalde finished, staring somberly at his screen.
All eyes fell on Chief Reynolds, who stood stunned as she stared up at Kelvalde. Just that previous night she’d let that man into her house, just that morning he’d made her feel something she hadn’t felt in some time, not since her husband… went missing. He never came home when Echelon had defeated Osoth. She waited so long to hear from him, to see him again… but he never came. Her son lost a father, she had lost a lover. The way she had seen it, the Inklings took that from her. Justina Reynolds had been vehemently against the Inklings from day one, and who could blame her? And now, just as she was presenting to the very public she’d sworn to protect, she discovered the man she let in played her. He plucked her strings like an expert musician, and got exactly what he needed out of her.
“I’ve all the evidence and you’ve the motive, Justina…” Kelvalde finished. “The reason Eos was able to get as far as they had was because it was you who had been using the police resources to grease the wheels. Your influence over the community helped get their foothold in your dome."
Chief Reynolds was silent, taking deep breaths as her body shook. She stared at the screen, the passion in her eyes blazing, her emotions overwhelming. Her teeth were bared in a hateful snarl, but tears began to stream down her strong features. Her composure crumbled away as she gasped and sobbed quietly. Marcello just turned to the Chief, staring at her in wonder at her betrayal. The way she was breaking down just proved it in the Detective’s mind. The police had spoken to Procsman’s mother before she had, Eos had been on her heels the whole time. Would that warehouse have even been so thoroughly cleaned out if not for the fact they knew Marcello was coming? Was all the red tape and the stalling deliberate? It started to make sense that someone had been trying to stop her…
… She just never thought it was her boss.
“Those… monsters… killed my husband.” Reynolds breathed.
“I’m sorry for your loss.” Kelvalde said.
“You bastard!” Reynolds snapped at the husky, “You heartless bastard! How dare you?! You son of a bitch!”
Kelvalde took a deep breath and closed his eyes, bowing his head politely just as the call on Marcello’s PET ended. The projection screen emptied, and Reynolds shook with anger as she held her tears back. She jerked her attention to Marcello, then to the Arbitrators who stared her down. She wanted to scream at them all, to justify herself and her actions… but instead she tried to run. She made a move to get off the platform only to have Marcello tackle her to the ground, wrestling with her as more officers, including Lieutenant Blackwell, rushed the stage. Reynolds fought, snapping and clawing at the officers. It took three of them just to pin her down, and Blackwell slapped the cuffs on her.
“You can’t do this!!” Reynolds screamed. “We can’t let those monsters into our lives!”
“Chief Reynolds, you have the right to remain silent.” Blackwell said as she activated the locks on the cuffs, releasing her pin on Reynold’s back when she was satisfied that the large canine was properly subdued. Even while she was cuffed and held by two officers, Reynolds snarled and attempted to wrest herself free of their grasp. They managed to haul her to her feet and drag her off the stage. Blackwell gave Marcello one apologetic frown before hurrying off after them, leaving the Detective alone on the stage.
She just stood there, watching as they took the Chief away. The Chief, the woman who ran and organized the entire police force. The one person above all others who represented what it meant to protect and serve the people of Harbington. She watched as they took her away a criminal – a criminal who had been aiding and abetting an extremist group of weapon-toting dictators to shove their way into Harbington because she had been hurt by the very thing those extremists had claimed to fight. It hit hard, and Marcello couldn’t hide the sadness on her face.
Eddie rose from his seat and took to the stage, stepping to Marcello and tilting his head to look at her face. “Detective?” He spoke, trying to get her attention.
Marcello took a deep breath, turning her head to look out over the crowd. They were confused and distressed. If Chief Reynolds thought the Inklings were bad news, they took her opinion to heart. She could only imagine what it must have looked like with her shutting down every single avenue these people thought could defend them. She wouldn’t have blamed them for that, but it felt like she was about to let a number of people down for just doing her job.
“When I was growing up, all I ever wanted to be was a police officer.” She said, turning to the crowd and standing firm. “Every day I’d beg my parents to buy me the latest mystery stories and games for my PET. In those stories I’d see a detective digging into some of the worst things that we thought humanity was capable of. Theft, arson, murder, extortion… I thought that these were the kinds of things that detectives faced all the time. I thought it was exciting. I loved unravelling the mysteries. I studied it as I grew up, went through school to become the best investigator I could be.”
“But when I got the job, it was different. It was boring. There weren’t any cases, because nobody did any of those things. I felt like I’d been lied to. I barely ever got to even do my job.” She went on, “I thought about quitting… but I kept going in every day and checking in with the officers there. Every day they were doing something. They helped community drives, they settled disputes, and they came running when anybody called. It was exhausting just to watch them run around, and at the end of the day it seemed like nothing ever changed… because they did their jobs. They kept everyone safe and happy.”
Her expression softened. “Being a police officer isn’t about the mysteries or the excitement. Being a police officer means making the hard choices. It means dedicating your life to others so that those people can get along happy and safe.” She paused, looking side-long at where they’d taken Chief Reynolds. “I can’t imagine what it’s like to lose someone you love. It’s probably the worst thing imaginable. Anyone would probably hate whoever was responsible for that…”
“But it doesn’t get in the way of being an officer. The hard choice is to continue acting in the best interests of the people you serve and protect even when things look their worst.” She stepped forward to the very edge of the steps, looking out over the crowd. “It doesn’t get in the way of being there for others. If anything, it should make us more determined to ensure that you continue to not have to go through those things. Chief Reynolds lost someone… I remember hearing about it. But that’s why we’re here… so that you don’t have to know that feeling.”
“Harbington,” She said, “We’re here for you. We don’t need to arm ourselves with weaponry, or exert some authoritarian reign over ourselves. We will however take whatever action is necessary to protect you from the dangers of the Inklings, whatever form that action might take. But in doing so we will not compromise our integrity to you, or put you in danger to fool you into believing you need to give anything up just to feel safe. If anything is going to happen to any of you, it will happen to us first. And you better believe that when it does, we’re going to fight tooth and nail to keep you safe.”
Marcello ended there and was met with silence. She imagined that in that silence was doubt, lots of doubt; in her, in the police, and in the future concerning the Inklings. She stepped down however and left the risen platform, leaving Eddie to clean up the Town Meet. He was bombarded by questions the moment Marcello took off, but she could only dwell on what Kelvalde had dug up.
In taking down Eos, she was sure she’d been doing the right thing. It was a career-making case! But in the end it really didn’t solve everyone’s problems.
Just how was she supposed to protect the people from those possibly deadly creatures? Especially when their own Police Chief went to such extreme measures? Way to throw a wrench into everything, Reynolds.
Well, she was just a detective… it really wasn’t in her hands to know the solution to that.
“This is going to be a long trip.” She sighed to herself.
-
--
-
The first thing Echelon did when everything was getting settled was take Vor back to Canvas. Given that he could literally eat anything, it was imperative that he not get anything near his mouth. She could have locked him into a regular cell next to Actima’s, but he likely would have eaten his way out if he were keen to. More drastic measures had to be taken, and with the help of her comrades she constructed some unique trappings just for him. Vor found himself in a large, empty room, where he had been strung up in the center. His arms and legs were held by tight bindings that stretched from either side of the room to keep his hands and legs as far apart as they could be. He even got himself a muzzle to keep his mouth literally shut, but his black saliva dripped from the creases in it constantly.
It was barbaric to lock him away like that, but he couldn’t be convinced to see things past his own narrow views. He saw Osoth in everything, right down to Castle Blackwolf, which Echelon had built herself. The only saving grace was that in Canvas, Vor was calm. His hunger subsided as he was instead sustained by the prana of the castle that Echelon shared with all its denizens, right down to the lowly prisoner. Vor didn’t act the animal in there, but instead he played the part of a conditioned psychopath. The only words he ever spoke were doom-say, constantly reminding Echelon that she was no better than Osoth as he gradually lost his shape.
Perhaps it was because Echelon took a little bit of him to have access to his powers, just like she had with Actima. She couldn’t imagine a situation where eating any matter would come in handy, especially if it hungered Natalie so as a result… but there was nothing wrong in being prepared. A little DNA from Jersey Wilde could sit in the compartment in Natalie’s shoe and just wait for the day where it could ever be useful… she just hoped that day was not soon.
Past cleaning up Vor, Echelon had one other Inkling to deal with. Polaris had played an integral part on Vor’s plans, and even if he had given up the ghost near the end he was still at fault. After juggling school and cleaning up the last of Eos from Locksmouth, Natalie made for the police station to confront the Inkling.
She’d been going there a lot recently, and had become familiar with almost every square inch of the place. If asked she could have probably pointed someone in the direction of any one officer’s desk with only a small margin of error. She never really imagined that she would ever need to know the police station that well, even when she used to daydream about being Captain Comet. The comic books never showed the nitty-gritty of working with the cops… but then, Jacent had always been just outside the arm of the law. Natalie’s situation was just that little bit different.
She made her way to the cells, of which there were few. Every one of them was only so big as to house one individual, and so Remi, Dr. Belfourd, and Jersey Wilde had all gotten one to themselves. Remi was doing alright for a guy who had his right hand taken off and eaten. With Mhend’s help it was a short, traumatic experience, but the result wasn’t intensely severe. With enough medication, which Locksmouth would supply him with, that hand would grow back eventually. The injury probably wasn’t what kept Remi in the dour mood he always seemed to be in, though. When he was questioned, he only showed remorse.
His Inkling had been torn away and consumed by Vor, and there was no way to get him back. Haze and Remi had become friends, in a way… Remi found the Inkling to be rather curious, and actually enjoyed the idea of being able to expel smoke like he had a super power. He had sympathized with Haze’s views regarding Inklings and Humanity. Remi thought he was helping Haze, and had been led to believe that the Inklings were a merciless, war-mongering race and that Haze was the exception. In the end, he and Haze were both misguided.
Jersey Wilde had very little to say. This was mostly because without Vor, the frail old man of one hundred and twenty-one years of age went right back to being just that: frail and old. He was a sickly sort of person, which was why no one was surprised when he prematurely had been announced dead three years before. Mr. Wilde was tended to day in and day out by doctors, and his cell had been alternated somewhat into something like a hospital room. Every day the old man just laid in his bed, monitors keeping track of his heart and brain. It was sad to see him there like that, and Natalie avoided thinking too hard on his situation.
If it weren’t for her having to take Vor away, he probably would have been pretty healthy after all.
The last was Dr. Julian Belfourd, who seemed very content with his lot in life. He was incredibly forthcoming when the police questioned him – he dished out details of some Eos stockpiles that had been stashed in the nearby dome cities, and wasn’t hesitant to recount the days that had led up to Eos’ downfall. His claims were that he was simply working for Mr. Wilde and got caught up with Polaris by accident. He agreed with Polaris’ views of the Inklings just like Remi had with Haze though, and so he acted to Polaris’ wishes in an attempt to capitalize on the aftermath of the Locksmouth Incident. He wasn’t too proud to admit that had gone awry, but he denied any formal association with House Caduceus, and indeed the police could find none.
Either way, Dr. Belfourd claimed to be quite happy to be in jail at any rate. He said he slept easier knowing it was all over.
Natalie stopped at the door to his cell to see him laid out on his comfortable cot in his jumpsuit reading something off a PDF he’d been allowed for the day. The police were taking good care of him – his brown hair was neatly brushed, his fur was clean, his clothes were fresh, and he really didn’t seem any worse for wear.
“Dr. Belfourd?” Natalie spoke.
The calico cat looked up from his reading and smiled at Natalie. He took a moment to admire her clothing, which were a tight pair of almost transparent leggings and a wide-necked red sweater with a big black heart knit into the chest. Her little tail lifted the shirt in the back, and she wore wedge shoes, the heels of which pumped up her posture by an inch. She had since unwound her dreadlocks so that her long chocolate tresses flowed freely and smooth. “Why, if it isn’t our old friend Natalie? Very cute outfit, I must say.” Dr. Belfourd said.
Natalie chose to ignore his comments on what she’d chosen to wear that afternoon and instead pressed forward with her task. “Dr. Belfourd, I’m here to take Polaris back to Canvas.”
“Oh? Oh…” Dr. Belfourd lowered the PDF to his chest, eyes shifting. “Mm, I see. Well, I feel that might not… be the most… possible thing in the world to do?”
Natalie didn’t expect him to say something so strange and it showed on her face. “What do you mean it’s not the most possible thing?” She asked, hands on her hips.
“Ah, well, you see…” Dr. Belfourd turned and sat up, placing his bare feet on the shockingly not-freezing floor of his cell. “… I don’t have Polaris with me, I’m afraid.”
“What?” Natalie furrowed her brow. She shook her head then and said, “Cut the crap, Dr. Belfourd.”
The man raised a hand in assurance. “You’ll find I’m quite serious, Natalie!” He said. Natalie wasn’t sure how comfortable she was with him using her name… though she figured that was why he seemed to insist on doing so. He went on to say, “Polaris is quite gone. I… dropped him off. Somewhere.”
Natalie ignored him and turned to signal a guard to let her in. An officer approached and clipped a disc to her shirt, powering it on so she could pass through the containment field unhindered. Stepping into Dr. Belfourd’s cell she approached him, staring him down. The cat made some faces of disbelief at her, but eventually shrugged and surrendered to her stubbornness. He set his PDF down and stood from his cot to stand still when Natalie approached and inked over so that Echelon could reach inside him and pluck Polaris out.
It was a rather involved process, but Echelon only had to graze her fingers against the side of Dr. Belfourd’s head before it was over. She jerked her hand back and stared bewildered at the man. “You really don’t have him,” She said. Her expression shifted to annoyance quickly and she added, “Where is he?!”
“Now Echelon, calm down…” Dr. Belfourd rose his hands to settle the girl, making elaborate calming gestures even when they were ineffective and she continued to glare at him. He smiled somewhat nervously and said, “Let me preface this by saying that I’ve heard you’re a very kind leader, very generous. All about second chances, I’m sure!”
“Belfourd…” Echelon glowered.
Since he was clearly testing her patience, he went on. “Alright, I passed him off to another host. But hear me out! It’s going to be just fine.”
“How is it going to be just fine?” Echelon asked.
“See, after the whole eating Remi’s arm thing, Polaris started to realize that perhaps he didn’t quite have all the answers when it came to the Inklings.” Dr. Belfourd began, “And what with you being so gosh darn intent on starting over with the humans, he thought maybe he’d had it all wrong, you know? He’d been made and was promised he was going to help make Inklings great again. Just, you know, they ended up like… well… you know.”
“Polaris wasn’t bad, Echelon. He simply was doing the wrong thing for what he thought were good reasons!” Dr. Belfourd reasoned, “So what he really wanted after all that mess was, for one, to keep me out of trouble - bless his heart. Secondly he wanted some time to figure things out, but we assumed that he wouldn’t have that opportunity if he were stuck with me behind bars. And so here we are!”
Echelon grabbed the man, startling him as she pulled him close. He got real tense and kind of scared, and the smirk on his face seemed wrought with worry. “Where is he, Belfourd?!” Echelon shouted at him.
“I’m not telling!” Dr. Belfourd answered, “Just rest assured that he’s going to stay out of trouble for a while. He just wanted a chance to make his own decisions; no following anyone else. Do you know what I mean?”
Echelon stared the man down, but released him. She sighed, retreating back into Natalie to let the wolf take control. Dr. Belfourd stepped back and brushed himself off, falling onto his butt on his cot. “I don’t have time to deal with you right now anyway…” The girl said, turning to step back outside the cell. “Quincey’s going home soon.”
The calico cat turned his palms up in a shrug. “Well, that’s good. All safe and sound to go home, is she?”
Natalie let out a frustrated breath and returned the passport disc to the officer attending. She started off down the corridor to leave, and Dr. Belfourd stood from his cot to stand at the field keeping him inside. “Natalie,” He called after her, “Trust me. I promise that Polaris is a good Inkling, he just needs a little time to get his head sorted.
“He better be.” Natalie glowered.
She looked in on the other cells for just a moment, confliction welling up inside her. The two other prisoners that were a result of that single night had their lives forever changed, and she could only feel somewhat responsible. That was likely Echelon talking, feeling some associated guilt for how other Inklings ran even more human beings into the ground, intentional or not. Natalie felt blamed, even if no one was accusing her of anything. There was the idea in her head, however, that people like Remi and Mr. Wilde and their Inklings Haze and Vor would just end up the way they ended up all on their own. She couldn’t be responsible for everyone’s actions, and that was part of what worried her about Polaris. Of course Belfourd would say that Polaris was a “good Inkling;” but how could Natalie even be so sure?
She could have tried to hunt Polaris down, but there were hundreds upon hundreds of people who Belfourd could have gotten in contact with to pass off the Inkling. The new host of Polaris could even have not known they were hosting the Inkling in the first place, and thus they never would have displayed any signs of having an Inkling. It was impractical to think she could check everybody – Belfourd could have passed Polaris to an officer or a prisoner or anyone else he’d actually come into physical contact with. The best she could hope to do was stay vigilant. One day Polaris would crop up again, and when he did she’d be on him.
When she stepped out into the reception area, she smiled when she saw Carrie there. The cat was just pacing around, hair all done up in her favourite corkscrew pigtails. She wore a completely lace green top, the flowery embroidery making a netting around her torso and hiding nothing beneath. Her heavy chest was all wrapped up in a midnight blue tube top with cups to support her, and her toned navel area was completely exposed. A matching green skirt covered barely anything at all, but a pair of shorts matching her under-top preserved some modesty. She and Natalie shared an aversion to heels, so Carrie had instead decided on some flat-soled boots. Natalie caught Carrie’s attention, who approached with a smile.
“That’s what you’re wearing to Shakers?” She commented.
Natalie looked down at herself. “What’s wrong with what I’m wearing?”
“Nothing,” Carrie grinned, “Surprised to see you in those shoes though.”
“Well, Samantha said I had to dress… special,” Natalie said, “For… Shakers. Maybe she overthought this.”
Carrie pulled Natalie to her as an officer passed by, and she kissed the wolf on the lips. “Is the Inkling stuff all done then? Can we actually go now?” She asked her question when she withdrew, and Natalie’s expression sunk. Noticing this, Carrie blinked. “What’s up?”
“Polaris is gone,” Natalie said, “Dr. Belfourd apparently transferred him.”
“Aw, what?!” Carrie groaned, “Do we have to hunt him down or something?”
“Ah, not right now…” Natalie sighed, “I don’t even know where we’d start. There’s just too many people, he could be anywhere.”
Carrie eased. “Ah, yeah, you’re probably right. So… Shakers then?”
“Yeah,” Natalie smiled half-heartedly, “Let’s go.”
-
--
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Shakers: The Dairy Bar had all the appeal of a classic malt shop as if it were set as a period piece for the 1950’s. However like most things that the people of 2541 looked back on, it wasn’t an exact replication of the stylings. It had the black and white checkered linoleum floor, the white walls, and the red cushioned booths creating aisles in the restaurant. Every table was set with condiments and menus and the booths varied in size from simple two-seaters to longer benches for larger parties. Similarly red-cushioned stools with small back rests sat fixed on the floor by metal supports and lined the food service bar, behind which the wait staff and cooks prepared food and drinks in clear view of the customers. The shelves behind the bar were stocked with various canned and bottled drinks that mostly sat there as decoration alongside various neon-lit signs advertising various popular products.
Harbington didn’t have a Shakers or even anything like it. That was why Quincey insisted on going there during her last day in Locksmouth, alongside the fact that she couldn’t resist all their tasty treats. She arrived there with her pack who were greeted by one of the staff. The wait staff there wore very interesting uniforms: they were full-body suits that were very concealing in a manner, but they were tight. They clung to every curve of the boys and girls under their employ, and were white with cow spots. But they weren’t dressed as cows – because cow sub-species humans may have felt strangely targeted by the establishment. Instead, they were Cabbits, with bouncy bunny-ear headbands worn on their heads, printed with similar cow spots.
They were led to their table. Quincey let Daxton and Laila walk ahead while she held Kenny behind at the door. The little lemming boy, still dressed in his red and black apparel with the tight pants and the little jacket since he didn’t have a change of clothes, seemed nervous. He’d been very quiet and uncharacteristically reserved. Normally his aloofness was distanced, almost dramatic. He had instead been mingling among the group, but not speaking unless spoken to, and even then he’d react without his usual fiery spark.
“Kenny, if you start feeling uncomfortable, we can leave okay?” Quincey offered, gently placing her hand on the boy’s shoulder. She still wore the black top with the white trim, and the pants with the gaps at the sides and metal studs holding them together. Since her necktie had been eaten by an Inkling though, the cleavage presented by the cut-out in her top was completely exposed.
Kenny seemed uncomfortable with the treatment. “They don’t know, right?” He asked, “Nobody else knows what I did, right?”
Quincey shook her head. “Nobody but me and Natalie.” She answered, “And I won’t tell anybody. That’s for you to do when you’re ready.”
“Right. Natalie.” Kenny sighed, rubbing his face.
“She won’t tell anybody either,” Quincey insisted, “It’s fine. But, Kenny, you know that we’ll never stop loving you. You know that, right?”
“Okay, knock it off.” Kenny groused, not wanting to make a scene.
Quincey couldn’t help but smile at him. “Okay.”
Quincey followed Daxton and Laila, and Kenny lagged behind. They reached their table where the benches sat at least three people each, and some of the staff were moving another table to set next to theirs to create additional seating for the ten other guests they expected to receive. Quincey pushed into one side of the booth hard, squishing Daxton up against the dividing wall playfully. The boy laughed as he was pinned by Quincey’s weight, throwing an arm around her shoulders to give her an affectionate squeeze. Kenny shuffled in next to Laila, who kept her long arm resting on the back rest behind him. Like Quincey and Kenny, Laila and Daxton hadn’t a change of clothes either – Daxton still wore his long blue coat and white pants and black undershirt, and Laila still wore her turtleneck and leggings and long boots.
Laila took a deep breath and let it out in a sigh. “Hoo-wee! Last couple of days have been darn eventful, huh?” She spoke, crossing her legs.
Kenny lowered his gaze and stared at the table in thought. “How long were we even here? How long did that whole thing even take?”
The table thought it over. Quincey leaned into Daxton and scratched her cheek as she thought back. “Well… It was Double-Dics day when we left, I remember that much.” She said.
“Two weeks almost.” Daxton deduced. “We’ve been away from home for almost two weeks.”
“That’s sooooo loooong!” Laila groaned, “Our parents must not have any hair no more, what with it fallin’ out with all the worryin’ they must’ve been doin’.”
“I miss home.” Daxton sighed, “I miss when my biggest problem was math homework.”
“How’s Duplex doin’?” Laila asked.
Quincey looked down at herself. “Okay, I think.” She said, “It’s quiet, but it’s there. I still see it when I go to sleep.”
“Can’t you get rid of it?” Kenny asked.
Quincey just shrugged her shoulders. “Maybe, but… It’s better that it has a host. Inklings need them, and it’s better than just getting prana from Echelon and hanging out in her castle.”
“She has a castle?” Daxton asked.
“Didn’t I mention that?” Quincey blinked at him.
Daxton just shrugged his shoulder and gave her a confused look. Before she could explain, Kenny was overshadowed. The boy turned his head to see the massive underside of a big, gray boob. He recognized that as Shelly Iverson, who was wearing such a small and tight t-shirt that her under-cleavage was on bold display. Her loose overalls should have been sagging to the floor since she left the suspenders of them hanging down at her sides, yet somehow they stayed supported in a low-ride at her skinny hips. Odds were she couldn’t have worn them properly anyway. The elastic butterfly planted herself in the seat next to Kenny and waved her hand erratically.
“Hiya!” She said.
“Oh, Shelly!” Quincey smiled, “Hello!”
She got similarly casual greetings from the rest of the table. She looked at Kenny as he sat there pretty quiet. “Hey little guy, how you doing?” She asked, “No more freak-outs?”
“Uh, um…” Kenny swallowed, “Yeah. No more freak-outs.”
Shelly took her PET out of her pocket and activated a program. When she did, she blinked at her screen. “Oh, I’m sorry!” She said, “Touchy subject. Sorry, I didn’t know.”
Kenny eyed her PET, then her face, confused. “Uh, it’s okay?” He answered.
Shelly checked her screen again. “Oh, this is a super helpful program that picks up social cues for me! I’m bad at it.” She explained, turning the PET around to show Kenny. The boy studied the screen in interest, which seemed to be keeping track of everyone nearby. It said that Kenny looked uncomfortable, and somehow that pushed him to sit up straighter.
“Yup, so, if I say weird stuff? It’s not on purpose.” Shelly casually added, turning her PET back around and lifting it to practically block her face as she started to check her messages.
“Oh.” Daxton would have blinked if he were able.
“Fascinatin’.” Laila concurred, eying Shelly a little awkwardly.
Max came next and was heard before he was seen, running full-tilt at the table to leap up over the divider and land his butt in the seat next to Quincey. Max had a fair aversion to footwear, so his feet were bare, and he seemed to continuously fancy wearing shorts. His little folded-leg blue shorts rode pretty high on him, and the V-neck of his t-shirt was very low-cut as well. He planted down and wiggled into his seat comfortably, smiling big. “What up what up!”
“Man, it’s going to get crowded here soon.” Daxton chuckled. “What up, Max.”
“Oh, you know, slammin’ fools and getting milkshakes! Awwww yeah!” The boy grinned.
Kelvalde arrived next, with two familiar faces with him. The midnight husky was adorned in a brown leather jacket and some dark blue pants, a black shirt beneath. His long blue hair was braided, and he looked about as happy as could be. With him were Gren and Aren, the youngest of Natalie’s pack. The goat girl bounded to a seat in a pleated and frilly black dress with yellow accents and big black boots, her hair done up into two blonde pigtails, as always. The brunette tiger boy, Aren, hopped up into a seat next to Gren in a high-necked bodysuit, with cloth shorts down below and a single-piece vest above.
“You guys beat the bad guys!” Gren gushed, “You did, right? That’s why you can go home now.”
“I wish we saw it happen, it was probably so cool!” Aren added.
“Oh, it was Natalie mostly who…” Quincey started.
Kelvalde leaned back in his chair and grinned. “No it was so cool. You should have seen Quincey when she did her pirouette.”
Aren looked confused. “You can do a pirouette?”
“Ya’ll weren’t there neither ya goofus!” Laila chastised the smirking husky.
Erwin arrived soon after. He took to wearing his favourite plaid over shirt, a white undershirt, and a pair of comfy-fit jeans. Everything seemed to emphasize how slinky his body was. He sat in next to Kelvalde. Blushing when Laila insisted he sit on her lap and called him “big boy.” The freckle-faced ferret’s red-orange hair was all curled up and messy in some vaguely styled manner, as it always was. He arrived just before Samantha and Jacent did. Naturally the bat was over-dressed in a pair of stylish heels and a pink cocktail dress covered in glittering sequins. Her lips were glossed and her eyes were shadowed. Jacent had little concept of “dressing up,” and had put himself in a button-down long sleeve with a folded collar, a belt, and some slacks and plain shoes.
Natalie and Carrie were the last to arrive. “Okay, so, you know that little lemming kid?” Natalie prompted her girlfriend before they entered the establishment. “He’s kind of dealing with some major stuff. So don’t give him a hard time if he starts to act weird, okay? Quincey said she’d keep an eye on him.”
“I won’t, I won’t!” Carrie assured the wolf, “I know he has that whole dead mom thing, so don’t worry, I’ll be good.”
She leaned toward Natalie, putting on a particularly catty expression. “Aren’t I always?”
Natalie rolled her eyes and took Carrie’s hand to walk in with her. They joined the rest of the group and sat at the end of the conjoined tables. Finally they could start the going away party, and there was still a couple of hours before Quincey and her pack had to catch their train back to Harbington.
For the first time in a long time the Harbington teens got to hang out and just be regular teenagers. There was no worry about Eos or their ilk, no big adventures to go on, no massive hikes that would drag them through Hell and back; there was just them and a bunch of other teenagers enjoying milkshakes and ice cream and pies, like any other regular kid would. The concept almost felt foreign at that point, being able to look around and not be watching for danger or something like that. Instead they just got to enjoy one another’s company, and the only watching out they did was for their cute panda boy server who would come around and see how they were doing.
Even Kenny had to admit that he felt more at ease – maybe not completely at ease, but more so than he had in what felt like forever. He ogled the server, Wen, whenever he came by. He ogled a lot of people at the table, really, as he quietly sucked down the thick strawberry milkshake he’d ordered for himself. He could even pay for it thanks to Carrie, and his face flushed as he recalled needing to thank her for what she did. The entire group had really come through for him and his pack, and he kept reminding himself of that whenever he began to doubt them, or when he dwelled on the fact that a good many of them had alien creatures living somewhere under their skin.
And then there was Natalie. She was the only other person at that table who knew his deepest, darkest secret. He couldn’t stop looking at her. He was quiet and small, but his almond-shaped blue eyes were glued to the wolf as she went on like she didn’t know and nothing was wrong. Their eyes met every now and then and Natalie’s would linger on his before she’d turn away and carry on a conversation elsewhere. She was clearly uncomfortable with Kenny’s staring, but she didn’t say anything or bring attention to it. Even so, Kenny couldn’t stop his heart from beating. Even if they were trustworthy, even if they were attractive, even if they were the nicest people around… it only made him feel more like an outsider who didn’t belong.
He felt almost lonely sitting there among them. They were all having such a good time swapping stories and telling jokes, and he was just there. Conversations went literally right over his head as he clutched his drink in both hands and slurped it down, trying not to give himself brain freeze. Laila flirted with anything on two legs, Daxton and Quincey shared the biggest banana split sundae they could get, and there were malts all around. It felt like everybody had somebody, and he just had himself and his own thoughts.
He considered Quincey once; as a girlfriend. It was a long time ago. The same thing that drove him away from any of his other prospective partners kept him away from her. Looking across the table as Daxton licked some vanilla ice cream off her nose, he couldn’t help but want that. He was always afraid though that getting that close meant he’d have to tell her his secret, and that compounded the idea that she’d hate or be afraid of him. In the end he dropped it, and it was probably for the better. He never knew the right time to tell anyone about being the cause of his mother’s death. It was the curse he had to live with, really, and the same one that kept him silent as everyone else had a good time.
“Are you eatin’ that mostly on your own, whole-hog?” Laila asked Quincey.
“Yes!” Quincey said, looking across the table at Carrie, “Because I need to keep my calorie intake up. Because I’m fat on purpose.”
Quincey blushed, and Kenny blinked his eyes. The straw for his milkshake popped out of his mouth as he lifted his head. “Really?” He asked, “You… you’re fat on purpose?”
At that point most of the group had been drawn into the discussion. Quincey was a little embarrassed, but she nodded all the same. “Yes. I… like it.” She said, “And Daxton likes it too.”
Daxton blushed as well and sat up straighter. “Well I always liked you just the way you were! You were always kind of, you know… big.”
“Haha! Hey, good for you!” Carrie said, “That’s right. She’s a gainer.”
“Well why didn’t you just say so?” Kenny squeaked.
Quincey looked at him curiously, kind of surprised. “Um… Well, it’s… weird. There aren’t many people who are fat, I just… it’s not… acceptable.”
“If you’d just said so in the first place I wouldn’t have said all that stuff!” Kenny squeaked, “I thought you had a problem or something!”
“O-Oh, well…” Quincey rubbed her neck, “No! I don’t. In fact, I take very good care of myself! I weigh myself all the time and when I start getting too overweight, I, um… exercise, alone, in my room.”
Aren sat forward, plonking his malt glass on the table. “What’s the big deal about that?” He asked.
Quincey tapped her cheek. “Well, it just seems… kind of silly that my biggest secret would be that I’m overweight when you can see it clear as day.” She said, “Especially when my bigger secret is going to be Duplex.”
“I guess in comparison, it does seem pretty minute.” Kelvalde said.
Natalie smiled at Quincey from the end of the tables. “Well, it’s good that you were honest.” She said, “Honestly, it didn’t change the way I saw you at all. You’re sweet and smart with history and stuff… your weight didn’t really matter to me!”
“It takes all kinds.” Samantha demurely added, “Big, small, short, tall, whatever the case may be. It would be so drab if everyone looked the same.”
Kenny sat forward, reaching across the table to take Quincey’s hand, getting her attention. “Well… I’m sorry then for saying all those crappy things.” He said, “I, uh… would rather you be happy, you know?”
Quincey went fairly red and she smiled. “Aww, Kenny… It’s fine. I… wasn’t being truthful, I kept making it seem like a problem when it wasn’t. You were just trying to help me in your own way.”
The group giggled and smiled at the sweet gesture.
“So that means I’m going to get a cinnamon roll milkshake to go with this ice cream.” Quincey beamed with joy. The teens applauded her decision and the next time their server came around they ordered one special just for her. She indulged in her love for cinnamon as the afternoon went on.
Quincey had done some growing up in her short time there. Everyone could tell by the way she smiled and the way she talked that she was different coming out than she had been going in. It all seemed for the better. Kenny felt a little emboldened by the display, and he leaned forward to peer past Shelly and the others to the other end of the table.
“Uh, hey, Carrie.” He said, getting the cat’s attention as she bit down on a forkful of strawberry cake.
“I’m sorry, for uh…” He wrung his fingers uncomfortably, “You know. For being a big jerk. And, Natalie, uh… I’m even more sorry for… you know. It’s my fault that you guys got caught by Eos and if it wasn’t for me…”
“I thought Quincey was the one that said sorry all the time.” Carrie cut him off.
“Kenny, it’s alright. Accidents happen. It’s not like you meant for us to get kidnapped.” Natalie added, “And you were going through a really tough time. Nobody can really blame you for it.”
Max grinned big and wide. “Yeah man, I got to chase you all over the Three Realms. It was fun! Where’d you learn to climb like that and stuff?”
Kenny sat back a little, taken back by the bold acceptance of him. “I was on the cheer squad last year.” He said, answering by instinct.
Carrie coughed, smacking the table and shaking plates, glasses, and silverware on it as she nearly choked on her cake. “You? You were a cheerleader? Oh my God.”
Kenny fixed her a glare. “Yeah I was a cheerleader, so what?”
“He was actually really good.” Daxton said.
Carrie leaned onto the table to prop her chin up on her hand. She stared at Kenny with a taunting smile. “I’m just trying to imagine you in the uniform. What’re Harbington’s colours? Orange and blue? Bet you had a little skirt that made your little bubble butt just pop.”
“S-So what if I did?!” Kenny challenged.
Samantha bounced in her seat, as she often did to get attention. “Oh, what sorts of moves could you do?” She asked, “I was on the cheer squad here before too.”
Kenny crossed his arms and turned up his nose with pride. “I was top of the pyramid.” He said.
“Top of the pyramid?” Samantha gawked, “Surely you jest!”
“Doin’ backflips all over the field and everythin’, too. He was the smallest and lightest on the squad so he got to be top!” Laila pushed down on Kenny’s head to mess his fur, tussling him much to his frustration.
“Oh I would have loved to be top of the pyramid!” Samantha groused as she leaned into Jacent for comfort, “I simply wasn’t cut out to hold someone else up! I’m much too delicate.”
“I don’t know about that.” Erwin said.
Sam sat up. “And just what is that supposed to mean?!”
“Nothing!” Erwin gasped, shoving a piece of pie into his mouth as he stared at Samantha.
The minutes ticked on in a similar manner as the Locksmouth kids got to know the Harbington kids as much as they could before their time was up. With everything they’d gone through they felt pretty connected already, but the meeting at Shakers was an exercise in making that relationship even better. They learned that Daxton played the drums in music class and had him rap out a little percussion using some cutlery as sticks on the table and glasses in various stages of emptiness. They relayed the story of when Jacent had last been to Shakers and had the unfortunate event of being given a double-dose of mood enhancers that his pre-splice body wasn’t able to cope with. Laila spoke rather casually of her criminal record for reckless driving – surprising no one at all – as well as several counts of indecency and mischief.
All in all, it was enlightening for everyone all around.
Eventually the sun began to set and the first train to Harbington was scheduled to leave in a little while. The group had to level off and say their goodbyes. Natalie and her pack went on saying that it was nice to meet them and that they were happy to help them when they needed it. Quincey and her pack were as humble as they could be, grateful for all the help and happy most of all for Quincey’s continued health. They settled their bills and were on their way to the trans station in short order.
“See, like, the reason the FC18 engine is actually better than the 20 is because of the way the capacitors regulate the energy between the core and the pistons. So, like, even if the 18 doesn’t get as much speed, it lasts longer! Because the 20 works too hard for it to handle, so the output of fusion power actually damages it more significantly and stuff over time.” Shelly discussed the finer points of fusion engines with Kenny, who seemed surprised by her knowledge of something like that.
“Yeah that’s what I keep saying, but some people just want their trucks to go fast – Laila.” Kenny responded, shooting the giraffe a look.
“Yeah, well, that’s stupid.” Shelly cut in.
Laila gave her a wide-eyed look. “Whoa now lil’ lady, watch who ya’ll are callin’ stupid!” Laila leaned in, pushing down on Shelly’s head to scrunch her up. “If ya’ll ain’t careful, I reckon I’ll hog-tie you with your own arms n’ legs!”
“What? I didn’t say you were stupid!” Shelly insisted, “Did I sound like I did? Omigawd I’m so sorry, please don’t hog tie me with my arms and legs!”
Kenny rubbed the back of his head as everyone carried on toward the station, and he trailed along behind as Laila took Shelly up further. That butterfly was deceptively smart, yet resoundingly dense at the same time… he just didn’t understand her, really. Pretty though, in her own scrawny, big-boobed sort of way.
“Hey.” Natalie stepped up at Kenny’s side and put her hand on his shoulder for a moment. She gently withdrew it when he looked her way. "You doing alright?”
Kenny’s expression sunk as he realized it was her, and she was the only other who knew what he’d done. “Yeah, I guess.” He said.
“Well you seem like you’re doing pretty good.” She said.
Kenny shrugged. “Thanks.”
“I’ve been there, sort of.” Natalie shrugged her shoulders back at him. “I lost my dad when I was little too. In an accident.”
“Really?” Kenny blinked at her.
Natalie nodded as she walked with him, lagging behind the others. “Yeah, I don’t really like talking about it much…” She explained, “And it’s not the exact same as what happened to you or anything… but I kinda know what it’s like. It really doesn’t just go away.”
“But hey,” She said, looking at him, “You’ve got a great pack. I’m sure if you be honest with them, they’ll do whatever they have to do.”
Kenny hung his head. “So… you don’t think I’m terrible?” He asked.
Natalie let her gaze wander as she searched her thoughts for just the right words. “No, not really.” She answered curtly, “I think you had a really terrible experience and you’re having a hard time dealing with it. I think everyone’s been there. But does my opinion really matter?”
Kenny tilted his head a little. “I guess it’s just nice to know from someone who isn’t my dad or one of my pack. It’s not really the same though…”
“Nah, probably not…” Natalie agreed, “But it’ll be alright. You just have to work at it.”
“Well, I’ll try.” Kenny concurred, nodding to himself. “I told Quincey I would.”
“Good!” Natalie said. “Well, good. I hope that works out for you then. Now c’mon, we don’t want to miss your train.”
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Finally the train had arrived. It would have been the point where on any normal trip the kids from Harbignton would have picked up their bags and loaded on to find a seat where they could settle in for the ride’s duration. There were no bags this time, no luggage, no extra shopping bags of odds and ends. There were only them, in clothes that weren’t theirs, having spent far longer in Locksmouth than most save for Daxton had ever spent there at one time. They weren’t just winding down from a fun beach day they’d decided to take, or some other special event they’d decided to attend in their sister dome. They were tired, freshly healed of bruises and injury, and uncertain of what the future would bring. It felt like they didn’t really know where they were headed.
Being that it was the first train to leave for Harbington in a few weeks, the underground platform at the trans station was bustling with activity under the bright white overhead lights. Even Laila felt small in the sheer number of people who were seeking to board the sleek train, regardless of the fact she stood head and shoulders over many of them. The hustle was real, since the trans system was known for being fast and efficient. The train wasn’t going to be at the station for long. Quincey, Daxton, Laila and Kenny were more than ready to board, but the stayed behind just a while to look out at the gaggle of Locksmouth teenagers they’d met and befriended standing only a handful of feet behind them.
“You sure you don’t want to play Skyships of Conquest again, Laila?” Erwin asked.
“Pff,” Laila rolled her eyes, “If I wanna go down on your breakfast sausage, lil’ fella, I’d hop on a train and be here in two shakes. I ain’t playin’ that again unless it actually becomes a game.”
The slinky ferret giggled and blushed at that. Samantha waved her hand and said, “You be safe! And remember to call, Quincey. It will do Duplex some good to visit Canvas once in a while. We’ll be sure to take you!”
“And if anything comes up, we’ll be there too.” Natalie said nodded once.
“Of course,” Quincey smiled, meekly bowing her head in gratitude. “I’ll call you maybe even if there’s nothing going on.”
“No she won’t.” Daxton cut in with a laugh.
Everyone laughed a little and Quincey blushed. “Ah, maybe I won’t… but I’d be thinking about it!”
Kenny kept his attention elsewhere, but Shelly practically shoved her waving hand into his face to get his attention. “Bye bye!” She said, forcing farewell out of him. “Yeah, seeya.” He said.
“Final boarding call for the late-night express to Harbington Dome at platform three. Final boarding call for Harbington Express, platform three.” An almost robotic voice droned over the PA, getting everyone’s attention. The crowds had all but funneled into the train, leaving almost nobody behind to congest the platforms.
“Well… Seeya!” Natalie waved. Her pack waved goodbye, their voices getting all mixed together as they tried to say their goodbyes all at once. Quincey’s pack waved their hands too, and then turned to board the train. They stepped in and moved their way through the cars where it wasn’t too difficult to find one with some space. Even at their peak, the trans system rarely saw anywhere near enough people to fill their trains completely. Quincey, Daxton, Laila and Kenny found a spot where they could look out the window to keep waving goodbye as the train’s doors closed and the shuttle began to leave the station. When Natalie and the others were out of sight, the kids turned and took their seats.
Quincey sighed as she planted her butt on her seat, only to squeak in surprise. Her big, soft butt found itself planted on Daxton’s hand, who sat beside her looking straight ahead toward the other end of the train, but he had a stupid grin plastered on his face that was telling. His fingers curled into a soft squeeze, and Quincey just kind of giggled. She leaned into him, finding support against his body as she relaxed, plenty happy to let him leave his hand there as long as he wanted. He’d eventually pull it back when it fell asleep anyway, like he always did.
Kenny sat at her other side and Laila remained standing, gripping the overhead bar as the train moved. It was a steady ride, the giraffe never really bounced or swayed like she would have on a bus, even when the train left the underground and started ascending into the sky, following a trail of coloured lights that indicated its path to Harbington. She looked past her friends’ heads to stare out the window as the train broke past the skyline of Locksmouth and exited the dome, well into the sky by then where there was nothing but stars, clouds, and the moon to see.
“Finally…” Quincey sighed.
“Yeah.” Daxton agreed.
Kenny crossed his arms, slouching in his seat. He still had his sword, though he kept it wrapped up in cloth. He left it on his lap, raising his knees to balance it whenever the train would turn or shift. “Feels kind of weird,” He said, “We have to go back to school and stuff after all that. Quincey’s still got an Inkling in her and some of those Eos guys just got away.”
“Aw, it’s fine!” Laila insisted, “All the really bad Eos jack-wagons are behind bars in Locksmouth now! Least we don’t have to worry about Quincey getting’ gobbled up like a Homeshare turkey.”
Quincey shivered. “Oh don’t remind me…”
“What about that Epheral thing?” Kenny asked.
Quincey shrugged. “I guess we wait and see. If something happens, we’ll call Natalie.” She said, “For now it’s just… business as usual!”
“You know, minus the differences…” Laila added with a little smirk.
“Well, we got this.” Daxton said, finally withdrawing his hand from under Quincey when it started to feel numb. He seemed confident in his resolve, as always. “For now, Quincey’s safe. That’s all that matters and that’s really what we set out to do in the first place. Pat yourselves on the back for now, and we can worry about whatever else comes up whenever it does.”
“Yeah, reckon ya’ll’re right.” Laila agreed.
The train ride carried on in momentary silence. Quincey yawned and rested her head on Daxton’s shoulder. Kenny looked around the train car where there weren’t very many people around – there were a couple, but they sat on completely opposite ends of the car and minded their own business. Kenny struggled with his own thoughts for a moment before sighing. “Hey,” He said, keeping his voice low. “So… I have something we need to talk about before we get back.”
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“Come on, Walter.” Edward gave the portly pig a gently pat on his upper arm, trying to assure him. “Your daughter is coming home after being away for so long, the least you could do is look happy.”
Walter stood there at the boarding platform in Harbington absorbed in thought. The trans station there that received the inter-dome trains was almost no different than Locksmouth’s: underground, lit by the bright artificial bulbs overhead, covered in advertisements wherever a billboard would fit or a poster could find room on a wall. For weeks it had been out of service, but that night the parents of the missing Harbington teenagers had all gathered to finally welcome home the children they had missed for so long. Eddie and Edward Kemberge, Gerald Baxter, Eden, Gunther and Valyrie Lavinia, and Paula and Walter Abram all gathered around the empty station to wait. The place was a mixed batch of emotions, where relief intermingled with doubt.
“I can’t stop thinking that the girl who’s coming back isn’t the same daughter I raised.” Walter confessed. Paula caressed his upper back in an effort to calm his nerves, but he couldn’t stop playing with his necktie as he worried. “They said that she still has that… what was it, Inkling? It’s still inside her.”
“It’ll be alright, Walter.” Edward insisted.
After thinking carefully, Eddie chimed in. “I imagine after this much has gone on, you sure won’t get the same girl that you had before.” Eddie said, “Even if she wasn’t hosting an Inkling, she’s been through a lot.”
“She was kidnapped.” Gerald gruffly added. “You try getting kidnapped and see how you turn out.”
“Besides, Walter, she chose this.” Paula consoled her husband. “We have to believe that she knows what’s best for herself.”
“But that’s our job,” Walter insisted. “We’re her parents!”
“Believe me when I say that I know what it’s like to have your daughter turn out different than you imagined.” Gunther crossed his arms, his toned musculature flexing with the motion. He stroked his goatee with his gloved fingers. “It’s hard to change them. They have to learn to do it themselves.”
“With a little guidance of course.” Eden added in her typical sweet, honeyed tone.
“But how? How am I supposed to guide that?” Walter exasperated.
Edward pat Walter on the back. “Welcome to being a parent, Wally.” He teased, “Don’t worry, Eddie and I will be around to pick up the slack.”
“We should just be happy she’s coming home at all.” Paula insisted.
Walter nodded, but kept his head hung. “Yes, you’re right, of course.”
“Now arriving, Locksmouth Express. Now arriving, Locksmouth Express at platform one.”
“They’re here!” Valyrie bounced in place, tugging on her mother’s hand.
All attention was drawn to the incoming train as it descended from the sky at just such an angle that it smoothly entered the underground expanse by way of an opening just slightly larger than itself. It followed the path of coloured lights perfectly, staying center between the lines they painted in the sky. The whole thing barely made a sound as it lurched into the station, righting itself over solid ground again and slowing to a stop at the platform. The families waited anxiously for the doors to open, and they kept their eyes peeled on every set once they did. Other passengers piled out to meet people on the platform or hurry out toward whatever destination they had next. The missing teens were some of the last to exit the train.
“Mom! Dad!” Quincey called for her parents as she stepped off further toward the back of the train. Paula and Walter met the girl half-way as she ran to them, crashing into her father and throwing her arms around him in a big hug. Walter of course embraced her, holding her tight as all the feelings of anguish and dread over her disappearance seemed to wash away. Inkling or no, she still squeezed him in her hugs like she always did – too hard. Walter swayed left and right, shaking her around as he held her close. Paula got in as well, brushing her fingers through her daughter’s hair. Quincey had started to cry just moments into the hug, and her father wasn’t far behind.
“Oh my girl, my baby girl!” Walter gushed, “Thank goodness you’re okay!”
“We missed you very much, sweetie.” Paula added. Quincey released her dad to hug her mom next, happy to see that the cast and sling she’d once worn were done away with and her arm was healed.
Gunther held his arms out and entrapped Laila when she stepped close enough, pulling her roughly into a hug, smacking her back as he rested his chin on her shoulder. Laila breathed a little laugh, wrapping an arm around her dad and the other around her sister when the younger girl practically latched on to her hip.
“Don’t you ever scare us like that again, young lady.” Eden chastised her daughter, standing on her toes and pulling her into a kiss on the cheek. Laila fussed and pulled away from her parents.
“What were ya’ll scared for? We were fine!” The girl said.
“You know you’re grounded.” Gunther planted his hands authoritatively on his hips.
“Yeah, yeah.” Laila dismissed the punishment, trapping her parents in affectionate neck-locks.
Gerald gave his son a brief hug, but he wasn’t the kind of parent who went overboard on signs of affection. He withdrew and looked down at Kenny, seeming to study him for a while to ensure he was alright. He wasn’t. Kenny, happy as he was to be home, didn’t look very happy. Gerald picked up on this right away, and he tilted his head a little to try and look his boy in the face. “What’s wrong?” He asked.
Kenny kept his wrapped up weapon clutched in his hands and wasn’t as shy as to not stand tucked in against his father. “We need to talk about some stuff when we get home.” He said.
Seeming to understand, Gerald nodded. “Whatever you need, boy.” He said, patting Kenny on the shoulder, “You’re not hurt?”
Kenny shook his head. “No, I’m okay. We’re all okay.” He answered, “I just… it can wait.”
Gerald raised a brow, gesturing at the wrapped up bundle in Kenny’s hands. “What’s that you’ve got there?” he chuckled, “A souvenir?”
“This?” Kenny flushed, feeling a sudden sweat break out over his head, “It’s nothing!”
Gerald ignored the boy and reached out to unravel some of the cloth, only to see the hilt of a sword and its matching scabbard. He stared at it for a few seconds, and then lifted his attention back to his son. He put on his best dad voice. “Kenny…”
Kenny breathed a laugh. “Uh, I can explain this? You just have to give me a little time to think up what I want to say.”
“Uh huh.” Gerald crossed his arms.
Daxton was being lovingly assaulted by his father, Edward. The beaver practically carpet-bombed his face with kisses, his hands holding Daxton’s cheeks so he couldn’t get awa, try as he might. Edward’s glossy lips left behind a residue with every kiss that welt weird on Daxton’s fur, and by then it was all over his nose, forehead, and cheek bones. Edward’s flat tail whipped around when after a full several seconds of kissing he yanked his boy close into a hug, putting the corgi off balance.
“You had me so worried!” Edward cried, “I barely slept a wink the whole time you were gone, mister, I couldn’t stop thinking about where you were or if you were safe…!”
“Well he’s clearly safe now,” Eddie said as he stepped in close, threw an arm around his son, and hauled him into a one-armed hug. Daxton’s cheek mashed into his taller father’s chest where Eddie held him for a while, purposefully pinning him there and messing up the boy’s blonde mop and knit hat. Daxton just let them do whatever they wanted, figuring he wouldn’t have been able to get away from the love no matter how hard he tried.
“I bet you’ve got some stories to tell.” Eddie said, shaking the boy around a bit.
Daxton pushed away from his father. “We kicked some butt, did alien stuff, it was alright.” He summarized. Edward’s ears pricked up at that.
“You did what?” He gasped, placing one hand over his chest to calm his heart. “Were you involved with those Eos men? Tell me you didn’t! Daxton Kemberge, did you do something stupid again? Oh you best not have if you know what’s good for you.”
“Ed, please.” Eddie raised a hand to his husband to settle him down.
Edward shook his head. “Oh no, I know my boy. He ran in to play hero when Eos kidnapped Quincey, I know he did!” The beaver fumed, wagging a finger in Daxton’s face. “How many times do I have to tell you to just stay out of trouble and don’t pick fights? I don’t care if they’re a schoolyard bully or a supervillain, you are just a child!”
“I didn’t even tell you what happened yet!” Daxton fired back.
“I know what happened!” Edward said, “I think!”
“Ed. Ed, come on.” Eddie stepped in behind his husband, put his hands on his shoulders, and kneaded the beaver to relax him. Edward tried to look mad still, but couldn’t fight the relaxation that Eddie’s hands could make him feel. He eased up, but he still huffed out a sigh.
“Quincey’s my girlfriend now.” Daxton said.
“What?” Edward’s expression changed immediately to one of joy and shock, and he covered his mouth.
“What?!” Walter echoed the beaver’s response, his head snapping aside to stare at Daxton.
Quincey slipped away from her father and rushed into Daxton, and the two of them hugged and kissed right there in front of everybody.
Eddie spread a big smile across his face. “Well it’s about time! I’d long since lost the betting pool on that one. I figured you’d get with her years ago. I think I owe Mr. Rosling a few credits.”
Walter looked pale. “What the, but then, you did, how the…!” The man was flabbergasted, Paula clapped her hands together and then lifted them to cover her reddened cheeks and perhaps hide her terribly large smile from her husband.
“Yay!” Edward cried, tossing himself into Daxton and Quincey to hug them both. Quincey giggled, snorting and wiping her tears away, and Daxton awkwardly grinned at his father. “My boy has his very own girlfriend! And Quincey has a boyfriend! It’s two of the best things I ever wanted to happen, and they’re happening at the same time! Of course, I knew you two would seal the deal eventually. It was only a matter of time.”
“Aw! When do I get a partner?!” Valyrie pouted, the little giraffe puffing out her cheeks as she stared past Laila at Daxton and Quincey in tremendous jealousy.
“Kenny!” The young girl shouted at the lemming boy, bounding past Laila to move on him. Her brown pigtails bounced around as she rushed him, and Kenny just yanked away from his father to step away from Valyrie.
“Leave me alone!” Kenny yelled at the girl.
“Kenny, be my boyfriend too!” Valyrie insisted, trying to cut Kenny off when he ran behind his dad.
“Knock it off.” Gerald sighed.
“Valyrie, you leave that boy alone!” Eden called after her daughter.
Valyrie turned her ire on her parents. “But Daxton and Quincey get to be partners!” She whined.
“It’s not a race!” Gunther said, “Now get your butt over here. We have to get home and get to bed, you’ve got chores in the morning before school!”
“And you’re going to be working double the chores until you can pay off what we had to pay to get your truck fixed!” Gunther turned on Laila, who smiled at him.
“Ya’ll got my truck fixed?” She said, “Aw, thanks!”
“Don’t you ‘aw thanks’ me. You’re lucky I didn’t scrap it.” Gunther scolded the girl. “Your grounding includes no truck. I’ll be driving you to school myself.”
“What!” Laila gasped, “C’mon! Ya’ll’re flyin’ off the handle!”
Ignoring the complaints, Gunther turned and snapped his fingers. “Valyrie! Here now, little miss.”
Valyrie skipped off to join her parents and her sister as they departed from the station. Gerald said his goodbyes and left with Kenny. Daxton and Quincey got to go home together since they lived so close to one another. They all piled into Quincey’s parents’ car, with Daxton’s parents sharing a single seat to make room for the trip. Despite all the fuss, there was a certain comfort that washed over everyone now that the kids were home. A heinous weight had been lifted from their collective shoulders. Even so, they could find little they were comfortable talking about in front of mixed company, so the trip home was rather quiet.
Eddie sat with Edward in his lap, and he looked aside to Quincey, who sat between him and Daxton in the back seat of the vehicle. “Quincey, we’re going to have to discuss your status as an Inked Citizen.” Eddie said, “I’ve asked your parents to bring you into my office at your earliest convenience. I was thinking Sunday this weekend.”
“Huh?” Quincey blinked.
Eddie lowered his playful demeanour for just a moment. “Quincey, things have been a little rough here in your absence, and the investigation into Eos just cast more doubt onto the Inklings as a whole. The long and short of it is that Harbington… doesn’t like Inklings very much. And you’re the only one in the entire dome who has one.”
Quincey looked a little distressed. Daxton leaned forward to peer around the girl at his father. “So what?” He asked.
“So what, is that we aren’t sure exactly how things are going to proceed from here.” Eddie said, “But I’m looking to mimic the new Inkling Inclusion laws set forth by Locksmouth so that Quincey can feel a little more protected.”
“Protected?” Quincey reeled a little in surprise. “W-What do I need to be protected from?”
“Honey, it’s just in case.” Paula spoke from the driver’s seat. “I doubt anyone’s going to be able to lift a finger to put you in any danger.”
“But it’ll keep Mason from prodding at you like a lab experiment,” Eddie said, “And believe me, he’ll be eager to.”
“If I know my brother, yes.” Paula agreed, sounding none too pleased by the idea.
“… Oh.” Quincey slumped in her seat with a frown.
“I’ll make sure you’re as well taken care of as I can.” Eddie promised, “I’ll have to hold a small tribunal to try and get the other Arbitrators on board and run some massive PR to… well, that’s not important. What’s important now is that you know that you may be entering a sociopolitical climate that could be a little harsh for you.”
“Oh.” Quincey sighed.
“Hey, it’s alright.” Daxton rested his hand over Quincey’s, saying, “I’ll be right by your side.”
“And if your brother tries anything, Paula, I’ll… do… something!” Walter insisted to his wife.
“Believe me, if Jim tries anything he’ll have to worry a lot more about what I would do to him.” Paula sternly responded. “He’d be sorry.”
“Oh wow…” Quincey nervously wrung her hands together, lowering her head.
“Honey, it’s better we tell you what you’re going to have to be prepared for than for you to find out at school one day.” Edward said, gently caressing Quincey’s shoulder. “I’m sorry we have to dump this on you as soon as you get back, but you’ll be the center of attention for a little while.”
“We’re lucky the news wasn’t at the station waiting for you to get back.” Eddie added, puffing out his cheeks as he exhaled, “I guess we can thank Marcello for that.”
“The news? Nnh…” Quincey whimpered. She was terribly uncomfortable with the idea of not only having the spotlight on her, but of also being potentially discriminated on for hosting Duplex. She didn’t have the time to be worried for long as Paula pulled into the driveway of their modern home. That was when it was time for Daxton and his parents to get out of the car and walk the rest of the way back, which was just down the old dirt road from Quincey’s place.
She and Daxton said their goodbyes and goodnights, and soon enough her boyfriend was off to sleep at home in his own bed. Quincey’s parents ushered her inside the house, which she was truly happy to be back at… the welcome just didn’t feel as warm as she expected. Even when her parents took her inside and asked to hear about what happened, sitting her down at the kitchen table and getting her something to eat to calm her nerves. She was just a sixteen year old girl who hadn’t had a clue until just then what coming home would even be like. It felt strange before, but it was downright frightening now that she was there.
There would be students at school who hated her. She was never very popular before, but that was because she kept to herself and not because of something that would have turned people against her. Students would then no doubt assume something else was wrong with her, something scary and unknown. Duplex hadn’t made the best first impression when it assaulted her pack and broke her mother’s arm – Vor and his underlings didn’t help either, since they were the worst possible example of the Inkling race. So far as Quincey knew, nobody had any reason to imagine that Inklings were anything more than scary monsters from outer space. The whole idea made her peanut butter cookies taste worse than they actually were.
Her parents did everything they could to comfort her and assure her that everything would be fine. They said she’d go back to her normal life and that after a while everything would just blow over. If Locksmouth could live with as many Inklings as they had, they figured, then Harbington should have no problem living with just one. They asked Quincey a few questions about Duplex, but Quincey could only really give answers she could theorize from what she knew about the species as a whole. At the end of the day all she could do was insist that Duplex wasn’t going to hurt anyone, and she really believed that; but there was absolutely no way to convince everyone of that, and she knew it.
She was probably the most happy to see her room. That was her space and hers alone. She’d missed her bed while she was gone, and her desk and her chair, and even the table of elements she had posted on her wall. She didn’t realize just how much she missed it until she got there though, where she climbed into her bed in nothing more than her stickers after she had a shower. Her sheets had gotten cleaned, probably by her mother, and made neat. It felt constricting with how they were folded under her mattress, so she pulled it loose. She laid her head down and breathed out a sigh of mixed feelings. She was relieved to finally be home, but things felt off.
She laid there for a while, then reached aside for her PET. She grabbed the new sleek, black device and took it off her desk to stare at it. Even it wasn’t the same PET she was used to. It didn’t have all the files she used to have on it, not right then and there. Someday she’d have to pull the files from the cloud and get her stories back. She wanted to read up on some of the more popular tales she could remember wherein someone was pit against the societal norms. She could gloss over many examples: the abolishment of subjugation, rights movements, but none told any specific tale of one who would defy society on their own. So many of the old myths had to do with war and grudges that society as a whole was generally forgotten. So how was she supposed to know what to do?
She called Daxton. It didn’t take long for the boy to answer. He was also in bed, and Quincey had to give him a moment to find his hat.
“It’s not going to be the same, is it?” She asked.
Daxton shook his head. “You know, I don’t think so, now that I think about it.” He said.
“What am I going to do?” She asked, “What would you do?”
“Me?” Daxton thought about it for a moment. “I guess… I just wouldn’t worry about what other people thought. No matter what. I already don’t. You’re not going to hurt anybody, I know you’re not.”
“I guess…” Quincey sighed.
“We don’t even know how bad it is,” Daxton pointed out, “And besides, if anyone tries to do anything to you I’ll punch their lights out. I’ll protect you, like always.”
“Well I don’t want it to come to that.”
“Me neither. So hopefully it doesn’t.”
There was a moment of silence before Daxton pushed up onto his elbow to sit up in bed. “Are you not wearing anything?” He asked.
Quincey blushed. “Well, just my stickers… I guess I just felt more comfortable this way. I-I don’t know, I’m not feeling very good about going back to school after what your dad said…”
“Well, move your sheets out of the way.”
Quincey smiled, but her face went red like a tomato. In spite of all her worry, her heart always pounded when Daxton got insistent on seeing her like that. She hesitated a moment, bashful of her coming exposure, but she wouldn’t deny him. She held her PET out and lowered her sheets so more of her bare skin was revealed. She wore no glasses, and she exposed nearly everything: freckle-speckled shoulders, her fat, healthy breasts, her padded gut, and her juicy thighs. Daxton smiled in delight, but he blushed as well. He bit his lip and for a moment he just admired her.
“You’re so beautiful.” He said, “You’re the most beautiful girl in the whole world.”
The girl swallowed. “T-Thanks…”
“I don’t care what anybody thinks about Inklings, you’re still you.” The corgi insisted. “You couldn’t pry me off a body like yours with a welder either. I’m always going to be right there for you, right by your side, okay?”
Quincey sniffled, raising her hand to wipe her tears away from her face. “That makes me feel a little better.” She whimpered. Daxton smiled in understanding.
“Every inch my girl.” Daxton almost purred, “Duplex isn’t you. If people can’t tell the difference, then they’re crazy. Besides, it’s practically asleep whenever you’re awake, right?”
“Yes.” Quincey nodded to the affirmative. “I know Duplex isn’t going to do anything to put anyone in danger anymore… but I guess now that I’m home, I’ll have to see about… bonding with it more? I don’t really know. Natalie was such a good host to Echelon that Echelon could just walk around outside her body. All she said was that she and Echelon trusted each other a whole bunch, so I guess that’s important for a host? I trust Duplex, I think it was just scared at first, but what kind of relationship does someone need to have to be like that?”
“I dunno.” Daxton shrugged. “If I can help, I guess I’ll do whatever you need me to do.”
“Well, maybe if I get it involved in stuff…” Quincey pondered.
“… In what stuff?” Daxton questioned.
“Well, you know… stuff.” Quincey hummed.
The boy on the other end just sat back a little. “You don’t mean stuff like…”
“Can you imagine if there was two of me doing things to you?”
Daxton flushed with embarrassment. “Oh, man.”
“Three? Four?”
“Okay, settle down. I can only get so erect.” Daxton breathed, trying not to laugh.
“I need to keep Duplex involved in things,” Quincey said, “I could really use your help.”
“Well, yeah, but in OC? Can you even…?”
“Maybe if I try hard enough. If I can replicate the threadlink technology in the stickers, then maybe…”
“Jeez Quincey.”
“W-Well I mean I’d do other stuff with it too!”
“Look,” Daxton stopped the discussion by raising a hand, “Let’s just, uh, focus on getting back to normal first, okay? Then we can think about sexy group OCs where I bang four of your fat asses at once.”
Quincey giggled, but blushed. “Right. So…”
“I’m with you every step of the way,” Daxton nodded to her. “No matter what.”
“Thanks. I love you.” Quincey still blushed when she said that, even then.
“Love you too.”
“… Um, do you… want to wake up early tomorrow?” Quincey asked.
Daxton slowly smirked. “Alright, wake up at six?”
“Not enough time.” Quincey said.
Daxton gave her a look. “More? Alright, five thirty?”
“Five thirty and we go to the bathroom before class as soon as we get to school.” Quincey looked away from her screen timidly.
“Ditching Kenny and Laila.”
“Yes.”
Daxton would have squinted at her, if he could. “… Wanna come over after school, too?”
“It’s the weekend after that.” Quincey said.
“Spend the night?” Daxton suggested.
“Okay, but when we wake up…”
“Of course. We’ll do it again.”
Both of them were all red in the face and practically squirming under their covers.
“You always work so hard to make me feel good.” Quincey sighed happily.
Daxton grinned. “Hard being the operative term.”
Quincey couldn’t hold back her laughter, briefly indulging in a fit of giddy giggles. She sniffled afterward and wiped away her tears again. “Maybe things won’t be so bad…” She said.
“Things’ll work out, you’ll see.” Daxton assured her, “And if I have to put double-time in on the boyfriend duties to help out, you can bet your sweet ass that I’ll be there.”
“Alright, well… Goodnight… boyfriend.” Quincey smiled.
Daxton puckered up and used his other hand to blow her a kiss. Giddily she made a motion to snatch it through the screen and apply it to her face.
“Well now I just want you to come over now…” She admitted.
“… Your dad still keep that ladder in the shed out back?” Daxton asked.
Quincey took a deep breath. “I think so.”
“Give me ten minutes.”
