Log:Welcome Home

Welcome Home
You know what would have been a help? Picking me up from the bus station. Who knew Uber cost so much in the country!?
Participants Sara Fry, Raymond Rhodes	20 May, 2018 Raymond awaits Sara's arrival in town, and the two have a chat.
Location One of the Fry Family Homes
After several phone calls and likely coaxing by Sara the trip to Vermont was a relatively easy one. Raymond had gone out a few days earlier to get the twins settled in, and start setting up more of the shop he acquired. As of late, though, he's gotten to know his in-laws a bit more beyond phone calls. The home of Emily and Sara's parents was big enough to take everyone in for the time being, and that's where Raymond waited for the others when he wasn't working. This early into the evening the Fairest is out on the porch while messing around on the phone. The twins are nowhere in sight, likely passed out from one of the warmer days and too much time out in the sun. No one will ever say the Frys are rich but the family home /is/ rather spacious. Sitting on the edge of town - they are an outdoorsy group - there is some distance between the porch and the road that passes by it. A road where an Uber SUV has stopped. Emerging from inside is the slim form of Sara; boots, tight black jeans, t-shirt, open jacket, sunglasses, a backpack over one shoulder and a guitar case over the other. One more bag dragged out of the back of the vehicle before she waves goodbye to the driver and starts the long walk down the drive. Raymond hops up when he sees the car approaching, and when Sara exits he gives her a happy wave. He runs a hand over his short horns, and then stows his hands in his pockets. Upon their meeting again he smiles, and extends a hand. "You know I can help you with some of those?" "You know what would have been a help?" Sara deadpans, "Picking me up from the bus station. Who knew Uber cost so much in the country!?" An annoyed look at her brother-in-law before the frown cracks into a smile and she drops one bag to open up her arms. "Give me a hug, Ray-Ray, and I might forgive you. Where are the twins? "I had to help with some horses in the morning, and I would've come but-" He leaves out what caused his missing later in the day. "They're inside," he says when he takes in her for a hug. "They'd been having fun with one of the neighbor's dogs while I was away, and I thank God for that. I don't think I would've had much energy tonight anyway, and I needed the rest when I did get home." He reaches for the bag then. "It wasn't a bad ride at least. Right?" "Nah" Sara admits with a shrug. "I got the tour" she smiles. "I think the driver took me down every street there is. Didn't tell me anything about the street, just took me down every street there is. Probably added a few bucks to the trip." Her brow furrows as she reaches up to lower her sunglasses a little and peer over them at Raymond. "Horses? I bet grandma was surprised a city boy like you even knew what a horse was." A wink before she pushes her glasses back up and looks towards the house. "Christ...it's been ages since I've been here. They been treating you okay or do you have the feeling you're the star of 'Get Out 2'?" "I can talk to horses so it's not that big of a deal." Raymond chuckles, and rubs at the back of his neck. "One of your uncles may think I'm crazy, but that doesn't matter just yet. Your folks have been okay enough, but farm-life really isn't for me. It's a LOT harder than the crap I saw in all the movies and shows. They wake up at, like, 4 AM because they have to. It's almost insane. I know you guys told me, but Jesus." "4 A.M.? Shit...are they sleeping in these days? Tell you a secret, fam life isn't for me either" Sara smiles. "But it'll be nice to see the grandparents again. Wonder if they'll recognise me? And don't worry about the kids. I bet you the grandma won't let them out of her sight." Her smile flickers a little. "Not like they'll be getting any out of me." She hands over one of her bags and resumes her walk towards the house. "Elora here yet?" Raymond hefts up the bag, and then shakes his head. "No, she isn't here yet, but she might have a flipping ball. All the nature, animals, and plants." He chuckles, and adds, "I'm hoping there's no cicadas this far up, but I don't know. If there are except Clementine to bring you about five a day. Maybe even ten." "Oh...that's nice. Can't have enough cicadas" Sara sighs. "Now, Elora is a country girl. No doubting that. She'll probably want to move to a cabin in the woods. How would you handle that? You been to the store yet?" "If she wants a cabin in the woods I think it means I'm gonna have to practice my horse-riding in the real world, and maybe see how I can make that work asap." He scratches at his chin with his free hand, and hums in thought. Raymond eventually sinks back to reality to nod to her second question. "I've been out, and have set most of the stuff up. I guess the other part'll be seeing if we can hire some people around, or lean on family just a bit longer to help there with something in return." "Well...ummm...if you still need help at the store then..." Sara smiles brightly at him and wiggles her eyebrows. "I'd much prefer that then, you know, mucking out the hogs or whatever they do. Don't get me wrong. I love camping and getting out in the woods but farm work...involving shit...no thanks." A beat. "Gosh that makes me sound terrible. Not even sure where I'm going to stay yet. They'll let me live here of course but I want to pay my way if that happens. Or have my own place if I can." "I hope to get something close to the school asap, so I can completely understand you there," Raymond notes with a laugh. "But I'd be happy to have you, and without question, Sara. You don't even have to ask, but it'll mean being nice too the parents as much as you'll have to be with the kids. But..." His voice trails off before he says, "Maybe you can play something for them every now and then, too. God knows you're a good enough singer anyway." "I could do a lot of things to keep the customers happy" Sara purrs. "And I don't even mind dealing with the parents. Though I guess we can't really use every sales technique we have at our disposal." She playfully nudges him with her shoulder. "Damn right I'm a good singer." Appealing to a Fairest's ego will always work well. "At least I have a job now." She stops walking and looks at Raymond. "Everything okay? You happy to be here?" "Just singing, helping parents, and making kids happy is enough," Raymond teases in turn. "If things get so bad that you gotta use your looks then I'll see about selling my sword to get by. I know Emily'd kill me if-" He shakes his head, and is quick to throw on a gentle, happy smile. "The place has been fairly good. The Freehold's a bit nicer than where we came from, and very welcoming. I was waiting for something terrible to come, but aside from the usual it's been pleasant here." He leaves out the mortal side of things as he continues on, "I haven't much looked at or peeked at the market, but who knows." "I'm not the little girl that Emily knew anymore" Sara says softly before smiling. "That wouldn't have stopped her looking after me though. And I appreciate your protection, Ray Ray. Let's face it. Without it, I wouldn't be here now." A nod about the Freehold as she resumes walking towards the house. "Nothing terrible will come. You have to look on the bright side. And the market, out here in the middle of nowhere's middle of nowhere, that will have some crazy shit." Her voice drops lower in volume. "Anyone like us in the family? There was always strange stories about this place." Raymond lets out a sigh that slips into a chuckkle. "I know you're not the little kid anymore, but I'll always look out for you. Motley or otherwise." He shifts the bag over to his other hand with a grunt, and reaches out to give her a one-harmed, brief hug. "And as far as I know your family is as normal as it can get. I haven't technically met that many farmers in my life and the early morning thing is beyond strange, but nothing like us as far as I can tell. That may be a good thing, depending." Sara happily returns the one armed hug with her own, leaning into Raymond for a few moments. "And here I was thinking I got away from my Dad checking on my boyfriends" she giggles. A more solemn expression greeting the lack of other Changelings in the family. "Yeah, it is for the best" she nods, "Though not sure if we're normal. Who wants to be normal? I suppose I have to pledge to the Freehold now I'm here." "Normal isn't so bad. It means you don't have to worry about walking around in your own dreams on purpose, or deal with the answer to every problem being four letters just to mess with you." Raymond laughs again, more sincer than the last few times. "And look on the brightside. If any of your boyfriends cause any trouble I'll cut off their arms." He jests, but he does belong to the Summer Court. "Oh...if you're only cutting of their arms then, yeah, there is definitely a bright side" Sara grins before reaching up to ruffle his hair...or scalp. She stops at the steps of the porch and takes a deep breath. "I guess now we see how much damage my fetch did. They didn't see her too much but...I know I've changed." She absently fondles the cross around her neck before glancing down at it. "I don't believe in this anymore for a start. But...hey...managed to convince my parents, right." Always look on the bright side - it's a Dawn thing. "It'll be fine." Raymond's gaze falls to the cross, and the lifts to meet Sara's. "You don't have to go in just yet. We can stay out here a while longer, and it wouldn't be a lie. Your driver really did take his sweet time before you got here. All I can say, really, is try to do it like I do with the kids. The white lies suck, but it means they get to believe things are normal. Mostly. Adults are usually easier for me. I don't feel so guilty about them later on." A smile at not having to go inside for now. Instead she makes her way up to the porch and onto the swinging double seat sitting up there. Sara sighs as she finally gets to put her bags down. "Lying to anyone is naughty" she teases. "But telling the truth is probably worse. What did you tell the twins about Emily? Anything? I mean...are they even old enough to know what death is? There was a time when I would have told them she was up with God and everything was fine." "They know an animal attacked, and that she won't be coming back. They get the general idea of it, but I think it'll really sink in later. The next birthday part'll be the worst." He sighs, and moves to sit along side her on the swing. "They won't really get a lot more than that because they don't need more. I'll explain things like murder some other day, but not any time soon." Another sigh comes as he stares off into the distance. "The lying gets easier after a while, but maybe I can run with yours. It sounds a lot better." He smiles to her for a beat before looking back out there. Sara reaches out to take Raymond's hand and gives it a consoling squeeze. "Emily made a good choice of father. I tried to warn her when she first dated you. Some street tough hudlum...the shame. But she ignored me and I'm glad she did. She saw something that I couldn't. The twins couldn't have a better dad" she smiles. Another squeeze of his hand before letting it go. "Speaking of birthdays, it's yours in a couple of months. We should do something extravagant. See if we can get Beyonce to sing." "Thanks," Raymond responds with a smile. "I think." He chuckles, and leans back as he starts to relax. "I'll try to keep that in mind if one of your boyfriends seems too rough around the edges." He leans to the side, nudging her shoulder with his. "Why would I want Beyonce when I got you? You can also play guitar, too, so that's a bonus." "Guitar. Mandolin. Ukelele. Okay...that last one was more a threat. No ukeleles unless torture is required" Sara smirks. "And aren't you the charmer. I'm as good as Beyonce? Please. I'm way better" she deadpans, "I don't have the ass to shake like she does though. And don't worry, I doubt there'll be many boyfriends in my future. Nothing lasting more than a few hours anyway." She purses her lips in thought. "They better last that long." A look over her shoulder at the scary front door before she gently slaps Raymond's thigh. "N point putting it off. C'mon." She gets to her feet and picks up her bags and guitar case, holding up the latter towards Raymond. "This has my bow in it" she whispers. "Don't tell gran." Raymond laughs as he rises to his feet, and gives a confident nod. "I won't tell a soul if you, obviously, promise not to tell anyone about the swords and shield I have stashed around the place. I need to get another armoire with a good lock. I don't wanna deal with anyone getting curious." Raymond moves to get the bag he had before and then moves to the door. As he opens it he shouts, "Sara's here," which is immediately responded to by a child yelling, "Aunty Sara!?"