(no subject)

[not_his_pa]

William has had two baths and is currently smelling vaguely of cedarwood, cloves and eucalyptus, he thinks he finally got all of the sap off of him. Under his shirt, he has bandages for the worst of the splinters but he's mainly unhurt.

After the Australian adventure, he feels that a rest is in order so he has a root beer float and a stack of books about a boy named Peter Jenkins, which are fun. He knows he'll never get to live in a boarding school with ghosts and mysteries but he likes reading about them.

As he came down early enough, he's sprawled over one of the comfortable couches with his boots near the fire and no inclination to move.

Comments

[katyafeline.livejournal.com]

There's a girl scowling at him.

Fiercely.

Silly boy.

She's also perched on the arm of the couch by his feet, looking perfectly comfortable there.

[not_his_pa]

Her scowls are powerful and he looks up over his book, "I ain't hurt."

[katyafeline.livejournal.com]

That doesn't do much of anything at all to make the scowls better. If anything, they become worse. And more pointed.

Look, she learned from her partner, who sometimes made a point of going through an entire patrol without speaking. She's good at this.

[not_his_pa]

"Worst bit was the tree explodin' and maybe the tentacles or the matin' of the houndeyes, but only some splinters and too much fuckin' sap,"

Adrian Shephard expanded William's vocabulary in some useful ways.

[katyafeline.livejournal.com]

One eyebrow rises, elegantly.

Eloquently.

Does he kiss his momma with that mouth? Mmmm?

His explanation isn't gaining him points in Katya's estimation, either.

[not_his_pa]

He shifts down into the couch and winces,

"It was to help out Adrian Shephard out."

[katyafeline.livejournal.com]

She rolls her eyes at him, and shifts over to make herself comfortable on the couch proper. And if this involves sitting on his feet, so be it.

[not_his_pa]

When she moves, he pulls his legs up so she has more space,

"The explodin' tree was the worst and there are goin' to be puppies if you want one."

[katyafeline.livejournal.com]

"Puppies?" She tries to be aloof, and still stern... but her tone is deeply wistful. She misses her dogs ridiculously.

[not_his_pa]

"Houndeye puppies, they sort of look like hams with lots of legs but they're nice enough. I can introduce you to Shephard if you want one. I know he's lookin' for good homes for them."

[katyafeline.livejournal.com]

Er.

She tries to be fair to the houndeye puppies, but she's about as successful she was in trying to be aloof - that is to say, not successful at all.

"Nyet, silly boy. And who said you could be around exploding trees?" She pokes him, mock-scowling at her crazy human.

[not_his_pa]

"I mean lots of eyes, Shephard's always got Mrs. Wilson with him. We didn't know the tree was goin' to explode, it just did. Australia don't make a lot of sense."

[katyafeline.livejournal.com]

She eyes him, and for good measure, pokes him again.

"I have been there - last time I checked, the ants are evil, the spiders will hunt you, and I believe the jellyfish are plotting against humanity... but I saw no exploding trees."

[scots_wolf]

Franz comes by, and sniffs at William because he smells strange.

[not_his_pa]

William reaches out a hand to pet him without stopping his reading.

[scots_wolf]

The dog licks William's fingers. He likes this human.

[not_his_pa]

"You can sit up here if you want, there's space,"

He pats the couch next to him.

[scots_wolf]

Franz jumps up, wagging his tail before settling down.

[not_his_pa]

William shifts so he's comfortable too before returning to his book while scritching Franz with his free hand.

[scots_wolf]

The dog snuggles beside him and, after a while, starts snoring quietly.

[not_his_pa]

The snoring is oddly relaxing but the boys in the book are in the midst of trying to unmask a conspiracy so William yawns and keeps on reading.

[scots_wolf]

"Good book?" asks the voice of Urquhart from far up.

At the moment, he is sitting in the rafters, relaxing in an almost cattishly impossible position.

[not_his_pa]

William jumps slightly before he looks up,

"Oh yeah, sorry, they're just about to unravel it all out."

[scots_wolf]

"Oh, it's a story about catching criminals?" Urquhart asks.

Franz is fast asleep and gives a little grunt.

[not_his_pa]

"Sort of, its about these boys at a school but there's always all sorts of trouble. This time there's a bunch of smugglers who are usin' their school as a base and they're tryin' to catch them."