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[playingtheenemy]

The weather, suffice to say, had taken a turn for the very, very strange.

Ainsley still wasn't used to the oppressive heat, the way it sank down her neck and caused little droplets of sweat to happen. Yes, of course she was used to it being as home was a frightening shade of warm and her office at the White House had probably been a sauna in some

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[goingtodorking]

Karen's standing at the foot of the tree with Hippo trailing from one hand looking up. She's got one eyebrow raised. She hasn't entirely processed what she's seeing.

"Did Shadow put you up there?"

Behind her, ShorHor is eating grass. Which is what horses do.

[playingtheenemy]

Ainsley glanced over her shoulder carefully, keeping her balance as she steadied herself in a crouch, peering down at Karen. "What?" she asked curiously. "No, no, I climbed up myself," she promised, slowly making her way gently back down the tree. "Although, Shadow sure could easily get me to the very top, couldn't he!"

[goingtodorking]

"I bet he could," says Karen, a bit dreamily. "Like a giant."

[playingtheenemy]

Ainsley watched Karen with a bemused grin as she crouched down and extended a peach to Karen. "You should ask him to carry you. I'm sure he'd love carrying a Princess around."

[goingtodorking]

Karen takes the peach and turns it over in her hand. She's always a little dubious of fruit.

"He carries me sometimes," she says. "So I can see things. Better."

[playingtheenemy]

"That would be really nice. But I bet you're going to grow up really, really tall," Ainsley said. "Most people don't stop so short, like me."

[goingtodorking]

"My mommy's not that tall," reasons Karen. "But daddy is."

[playingtheenemy]

"Then you might just grow up like your Daddy, really tall," Ainsley enthused as she reached on her very tiptoes to grasp a peach and take a long moment to smell just how fresh it was. She could live off them, really. Well, peaches and a good can of Fresca and possibly some croissants every now and then.

[goingtodorking]

Karen bites into her peach enthusiastically. It tastes really good and she makes an appreciative noise.

"This is really good." She shoots Ainsley a suspicious look. "S'fruit?"

[playingtheenemy]

"It is, in fact, a fruit," Ainsley agreed, cheerful as any summer day. "Because, Karen, not all fruits are bad for you and some are, in fact, incredibly delicious and sweet. Strawberries are delicious too."

[goingtodorking]

"Rollie's always tryin' to get me to eat vegetables," she said. "Shadow too. Vegetables are icky, but this is really nice."

[playingtheenemy]

"They're just doing that because they know that veggies help you grow up big and strong," Ainsley said, not exactly the stern aunt, but definitely a grown-up about it. "So maybe once in a while, you have to eat them."