bakerstreet | PILLOW FORT MEME

You're never too old for a pillow fort, not even at nearly five hundred years old. Connor sits humming tunelessly in his, legs stretched out before him, and his deerhound Sorcha sprawled across them. He's busy carving something with a tiny blade, on a chunk of antler. It's cozy in here...

Through the opening comes a hand. It is a very pale hand, holding a bottle of Glenmorangie Signet and two glasses. The owner of this hand is still outside, hidden by the pillows and blankets, though she makes no secret of who she is. "Permission ta come in, teach?"

"That's 'come aboard', and permission granted." Connor cracks a smirk, gaze focusing in on that bottle. He wouldn't have been so quick to let her in if she wasn't waving that around in front of him.

Sorcha lifts her head and her tongue lolls out, and her tail makes soft 'whump whump' noises against the pillows.

In pokes the head of someone he hasn't seen in nearly a year. "Hiya. Long time no see." She hands over the whisky first of all, then crawls in and busies herself with saying hi to the dog. Because, dog.

"Where have you been hiding?" His accent has only gotten stronger, and he really can't talk since he's been hiding away in his forge for the past year. The knife blade folds up and he puts the carving aside to pour a healthy glassful for them both.

Sorcha has definitely grown since he got her at the Nexus pound, but she's still all limbs and hair, and tongue. Either she remembers Jelani from her puppyhood, or she's just a friendly dog. She starts offering a paw right away, just in case the trick will get her something good.

Alas, the paw only gets Sorcha a happy laugh and ear-scratches as Jelani only brought goodies of the alcoholic variety.

"Right where I've always been," she says as she turns to Connor. "In the Nexus. Just sorta... I dunno, got caught up in my own stuff and lost touch with a lot o' people." It just sort of happened that way. "So how've ya been?"

Ear scratches are good, anyway. The deerhound slurps all over Jelani's hands and arms and beats the pillows with her tail.

"I've been... busy. In the forge." He looks a little sheepish at that, because he really has dropped out of the Nexus for a while. Connor falls into being a hermit all too easily, and he knows it. "Sorcha, lay down." He offers Jelani her glass over the dog's back once she's settled a little. "Sorry, I guess I haven't been around. But you're always welcome to visit, you know. Kai likes you fine."

"If i come over, it'll end up with me ignorin' you and just talkin' fashion with Kai. Ya know that, right?" She grins and takes the glass. "But yeah. I shoulda come over way sooner. Just got a bit weird an' much at home fer a while." She scratches teh back of her head, smiling sheepishly.

"So what've ya been makin' in th' forge?"

Connor rolls his eyes at the bad joke, and takes a mouthful from the glass, letting it burn slow down his throat. His eyes slide shut for a moment, and he's clearly going to take his time answering because appreciating the whiskey first takes precedence over anything else. Jelani should be used to him taking his sweet time to answer anything, by now. In the right mood, a conversation with Connor could take days.

Even when he's swallowed and come down from his cloud, Connor hands her the carving he's been working on to have a look at, instead. The way he's shaped the antler, it looks right for a knife handle, and what he's been carving with that itty-bitty blade is a scrimshaw design, a tiny image of a ship at sea. He's pretty good.

Once her gaze is on that, he answers, "You should. I've got something there for you." It is an answer to her question, in its way.

She is used to it, even thought it's been a long time since they last saw each other. She remembers. And so she simply enjoys her own glass of scotch while he takes his time answering.

She runs her thumb over the small lines carved into the horn, studying it. Knife or some other tool. Probably a knife. "Well, heck, now ya got me curious," she says with a loopsided little grin and hands the piece of antler back. "Guess I'll just hafta come over."

"I could always teach you that, too, you know." He eyes his carving thoughtfully. It's not quite finished, but it's getting there. It'll be a pretty knife when he puts this together with the blade he's made for it.

"I'm there most days." It's warm, and it's familiar, and it's just possible that between his forge and Kai he's trying to relive his early days with Heather, back before he knew what he was and could pretend to be a simple blacksmith. Or maybe he's just happy to use his skills again. "Less in the spring, but it overlooks the garden and I'll be there then, instead." It's way too early to do much there.

Not long ago she would have made some comment about her not being a very creative person, but now she halts herself, looking from Connor to the carving and back again, head tilted to the side. "I could give it a go. Try something new."

Another sip of whisky. "I'll come by once we've gotten settled." She smiled, looking almost embarrassed. "Wylie an' I bought a house. We're just about ta move in."

Connor's eyebrows lift, not because he doesn't recognize the name, but because he does. "Wasn't he... the couch-crasher?" Obviously he's a hell of a lot more than that, but Connor and tact don't really go together.

"Yeeeah." Now she seriously looks sheepish. "He was. An', yeah, he was the guy I was randing about, who walked out on me an' all. But we worked things and an'... I dunno, it just really works."

"If he walks out on you again, you let me know." The 'because I'll kick his ass' is implied, even though he knows Jelani is perfectly capable of doing the ass-kicking herself. She's his student. Connor is nothing if not protective.

It's always entertaining seeing her look sheepish, though, so he's tempted to milk that. "Does that mean he'll be the one hauling your furniture?" He sips his scotch with a little grin, and rubs Sorcha's ears absently.

"I think I'd better let him. Let him feel all manly and shit while li'l ol' me carries all the lighter stuff." She bats her eyelashes at him, smiling her most innocent and angelic smile. Then she breaks out laughing, obviously not meaning a word of what she just said. "Naah. We'll do an equal share of it, I reckon."

"Heheh. Better not let him get comfortable with the wrong idea." Connor knows her too well to think she's about to let anyone out-macho her.

Sorcha's ears perk and she tilts her head at the laughing, then lays her head in Connor's lap again.

Another swallow, and Connor's glass is almost empty. "Let me know if you want any help, though. More hands make things go faster." He's not sure how much stuff she has, but it seems rude not to offer to help her move. He's feeling stronger after a year working the forge, anyway. He'll never be musclebound, but he's in a lot better shape now than when he first came to the Nexus, half-starved and too depressed to bother taking care of himself.

There is a huge difference between the Connor sitting in front of her and the Connor she first met. Happiness suits him, she thinks. I probably suits her, too. She's different now as well, in so many ways.

"I think we've got it covered," she says in regards to the move. "Thanks, though. I'll call ya if we need an extra pair o' hands. In any case, ya hafta come by once we're settled."

Happiness has been rare in his long life, and it's hard won, but he looks content these days. Domesticity and Kai suit him. He's noticing a difference in her today, too.

"Sure, I'll bring you a housewarming bottle. Can Kai come, too?" He's already thinking of making her some sort of housewarming gift, too. There's so many useful things he can produce out of his forge.

"Absolutely. Bring her." She likes Kai, even if they haven't exactly spent a lot of time together. "If ya give me a heads up in advance, I'll even cook dinner. Or make Wylie cook. Put him in his place in the kitchen." She flashes a grin at her own joke. Wylie and her are pretty good at splitting the house work evenly.

Kai is hard not to like.

"I'll call first. Does he need cooking lessons?" Connor is actually a pretty capable cook, having raised a picky little girl as a single parent. He and Kai split cooking, although she's more inclined to bake goodies.

"He's actually pretty good, believe it or not. Way more creative with it than me, definitely. If I'm at th' stove there tends to be a lot of big, rare steaks an' such." She had gotten used to cooking while still living with her parents, and with Lobo around the food tended to focus a lot on meat.

"There's nothing wrong with a big, rare steak." Connor flashes a brief grin, finishes off his glass, and refills it from the bottle. "But it is nice to have something else to go with it."

"Yeah, well. Beer is like liquid bread, ain't it? Won't that do?" No, the diet Wylie and her keeps isn't that bad. It's actually quite good. And now that they have a lot of land with their house, she might give growing veggies a go and make it even better. Her, thinking about growing things. It must be a sign of the oncoming apocalypse. "But sure, if ya insist I'm sure we can throw in a potato or two."

"I remember when those were just food for the livestock... but I have learned to like them. I might even have some left from last year's garden..." And now he's planning tonight's dinner at home in his mind.

She should get gardening tips from him. They can trade seed and tools.

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