Room 402; Early Friday Evening.

[by137]

There may have been a muffin or two stashed away from this morning for A.J. to bring out and nibble on later. What? They were good muffins! And they were good to give him something to do as he flipped through some of his unfinished work, trying to decide what to do tonight. Maybe go out and do something, or just crash in the room again and try

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[by137]

After a slight hesitation, A.J. bit his lip before pointing out, "Well, I do still need to give that riding thing a try. It's kind of late, though..."

[comelyhonour]

"Not too late for Greatheart!" Beauty exclaimed, her face lighting up. "If we stay out of the woods, and just go at a walk, we'll be fine. Do you have a pair of boots, or sturdy shoes? We'll have to stop at my room and get mine."

The words tumbled out in an excited rush. No way was A.J. going to be able to back out of his suggestion now.

[by137]

"You room is on the way, anyway, so that works," A.J. said. "I think I've got a pair or two, hold on." He rolled off the bed and hopped a little bit over to the closet. The hopping was not excitement like Beauty's so much as it was working out some nervousness. Yeah, A.J., suggest riding a big horse when it's getting dark out. Brilliant. He might have taken his time rooting through the closet for his own well worn, heavy duty boots. Needed those for heavy duty projects and welding.

[comelyhonour]

"Those are perfect," Beauty announced happily, bouncing off the bed and grabbing her shoes from the floor. "And this works perfectly because I've yet to put him up for the night anyway. So I'd have had to go down and take care of him."

She could sense some of A.J.'s hesitation, and grabbed his hand once he was finished rooting in the closet, giving him a reassuring grin.

[by137]

A.J. slid his eyes toward Beauty as she took his hand, as if reluctant to her reassure him that easily, but a smile eased onto his face to show that he was being won over pretty easily. "Hold on a second," he said, giving her hand a little squeeze. "I want to write Troy a note before I leave so that he knows that if I don't come back, I've been trampled to death or something."

He was mostly teasing.

Mostly.

[comelyhonour]

"You're not going to get trampled to death," Beauty pouted teasingly, but she let A.J. go long enough to write the note.

Then she snagged his hand again and dragged him off before he could lodge a protest.

[by137]

And A.J.'s note was very simple:

Troy,
Beauty is taking me riding on her giant, evil horse.
Avenge my untimely death!!!!
--A.J.