D A Y 9

[founds]

CHAPTER 2

NOV 08TH | 47℉☂

▸ --*CHSKSSS--*-Breaking News! In the light of yesterday's hunt on Black Rock Lake, a body has been found. It has not ye--*CHSKSSS--*-n identified, but has been confirmed to not be either of the missing children.

▸ Another fall storm is roaming through today,--*CHSKSSS--*ed to pick up after dark so stay safe or stay insi--*CHSKSSS--*-

▸ Blackwell's First Methodist Church is holding its annual Thanksgiving food drive from now until Thanksgiving. Donate now! Anything but turkey,--*CHSKSSS--*-pped over on the interstate the other day and donated hundred--*CHSKSSS--*-urkeys to feed people for the holidays. What luck!

▸ Back to our regular--*CHSKSSS--*-uled programming

HIGH WIND WARNING IN EFFECT

Comments

[inheritable]

[it's not about religion. well, it's not really about religion. the people here are pretty nice, and everyone seems calm and like they know what they're doing and why. she'd go work at the barn, but she's not scheduled for saturdays and she'd only be underfoot. so this is second best to helping the horses.

stops halfway down the church steps, swinging her car keys.]

Hey Dad.

[embroil]

Hey, daughter.

[ he smiles at her, but doesn't move from his seat. instead he nods to some dude passing by, probably some colleague from work, before turning back to hailey ]

Helping out?

[inheritable]

That's the idea, yeah.

[smiles back at dad and drops down on the bench next to him.]

What about you? You come to help feed the less fortunate of Blackwell?

[that's pretty much everybody around here.]

[embroil]

Your mother called, asked me to keep an eye on you. [ and let's be honest, after bela's death, he is more than willing to go the extra mile. he's always been protective and watchful, but now it's a little bit more.

he watches the people go by, before turning his head to her ]

Are you going back to Elkins? [ do u wanna spend the weekend ]

[inheritable]

Oh.

[looks down and picks at the fraying cuffs of her hoodie. on the bright side, that means dad's here for her, and not by accident, which means more dad time. however, it also means that mom has decided to take up the overbearing and intrusive torch, and for some reason it's way less fun when mom does it.

glances back up at dad's question.]

Not right now? I was hoping to stay here for a few days at least. With you. If that's okay.

[embroil]

[ in this instance, and it's quite rare, he agrees with alison about hovering around hailey. they don't really get along but when it comes to hailey, both try to do best so at least there is that ]

Of course. [ there's always room for her ] Soon your dad's getting his own place. You can spend your time decorating your room.

[ he looks over his shoulder to the church ] So, how's the charity going?

[inheritable]

[it's always nice to know you not having fun is the one thing your parents seem able to agree on, ever.]

It'll be nice to have four more walls to pin stuff to.

[what with her 16-year-old's amateur nature photography taking up most of the walls of her bedroom in elkins. and notes and other trinkets from bela.]

Good, I guess. There was that truck that overturned on the Interstate, so there's lots of turkeys.

[embroil]

[ such is the way of parenting. for all their mismatched personality, at least they have the overprotective papa bear and mama bear spot on. enjoy that hailey ]

Just be careful to not to make it fall over. [ heh. dad joke. ]

Maybe we should get one and have a big dinner. Invite uncle Ben. He finally got out of the resort.

[inheritable]

Dad.

[i acknowledge but refuse to appreciate your dad joke.]

I can ask the girl organizing it. She's a little intense, but they've got more than they know what to do with, so I don't see why not. Where'd Ben move?

[embroil]

[ too bad, it's a great dad joke ]

Sure. [ he knows it's cypress who is organizing it and he's sure she won't mind dispensing one to alexis' big brother. ]

Near West Parker. But it's a secret. [ a shrug and an eyeroll. your uncle is an idiot. ] He hasn't told me yet, but unfortunately for him, I know the real estate agent from the gym.

[inheritable]

He probably just hadn't got around to it yet.

[shrugs back. she knows ben's sorta not the sharpest crayon in the box, but he's her favorite uncle anyway. uncle phil is boring.]

I think I remember him mentioning something about a place he was looking at. Said it needed paint.

[embroil]

[ he probably forgot. knowing ben, it isn't a stretch of the imagination. he loves him anyway. ]

Maybe you should go help him out. He might eat some paint by mistake. [ gives her a friendly shoulder bump. ]

[ex_vacuous481]

[ totally in the background. listening in. a little. :} ]

[inheritable]

[speak of the devil

no hailey doesn't dislike cypress. she doesn't know cypress.]

Yeah, that kid takes a lot of looking after. There's only so much paint the human body can handle, he's gotta be near his limit.

[shoulder bumps dad back. uncle ben is maria von trapp.]

[embroil]

[ you can listen all u want. it's just a regular father/daughter moment, hey ]

That kid, uh? [ he looks over to her with a laugh and gives her "i guess" sort of nod; uncle ben is truly a kid wearing an adult's body. not that his face can be mistaken, though. ]

[inheritable]

What I said.

[not that she doesn't love uncle ben, he just seems more like a teenager than a police officer most of the time.]

You don't have to work through the storm tonight, do you?

[after the tree went down in the last storm...]

[embroil]

[ which is a plus, considering papa's shady past. ]

Supposedly there is no danger right now, so I'm scheduled tonight, but not tomorrow. [ he sounds almost bored; it's not a tree that would scare him off work, he has worked in tougher, less safe jobs. ]

Hey, you know what you should do? You should pick up your boxing lessons again.

[ just in case. you had a good right hook. ]

[inheritable]

[yeah. of you've got to be related to a detective at least it's one with permanent blinders on.

starts frowning at 'supposedly' and doesn't let up even through dad's change of subject.]

Really? I heard this storm was supposed to be bigger than the last one.

[so stay the hell indoors.]

I'd like to pick boxing back up, I just dunno when, between the barn and school.

[embroil]

[ he cradles the back of her head, like he does to tell her to not to be worried. it's just a storm, and he is going to be inside a dam that's possibly more fortified than any place in this town. he's more likely to be one of the safer people. he's security, not an electrician. those are the guys that probably have it worse. ]

How about the weekends? I can make a schedule for you. [ after all, he helps out with the juniors practice, he has his Ways ]

[inheritable]

[hesitates for a second, since she doesn't have that much free time and committing to something regular on the weekends will pretty much mean the last of it, but... well, what else is she going to do? it's not like she's going to be spending time at the gages' anymore.

well, there's colby. she should probably text him sometime.]

Yeah, there's weekends. I'd like that. I feel like I've barely seen you since school started.

[embroil]

[ he wouldn't want to overload her nor force her to do something she didn't want, but there is some pride in him to see his daughter beat up the boys. a talent should always be worked on and, of course for him, hailey is riddled with talents, boxing being only one of many.

and no she shouldn't. ]

Good. [ he drops his hand away from her and pats her leg ] You still have your gear?

[inheritable]

[you've got to be the only dad disappointed that his daughter doesn't get into more fistfights.]

Yeah, of course. It's all at Mom's, but I guess if you're getting your own place in Blackwell I can keep it here.

[the boxing gloves will go really well with her up-close photographs of pinecones. she hasn't had a space to put those up yet.]

You still teaching at the gym, right?

[embroil]

It's a deal, then. [ he smiles, obviously both proud and happy that hailey took up his challenge. he'll probably line up new gear for her eventually anyway. a little cupboard for her to put her future trophies. shh. let him dream ]

Helping out, yeah. But you don't want your old man to train you. [ another nudge ] I'd be too tough.

[ no u know he wants to ]

[inheritable]

Deal.

[mom was never too fond of hailey's boxing, which is a major reason she hasn't really kept it up since fall and staying in elkins most of the time.

elbows dad back. but gently. with love.]

You're just scared you're gonna get beat up by a girl.

[embroil]

[ mom will have to suck it up because hailey is a great boxeur. she could be champion! win trophies! medals! just kidding. but he does think she's talented enough to maybe, after some training, go around and beat up other boys.

her words make him smirk and he puts on a pensive face, like he's giving thought to it ]

Hm, maybe. [ he chuckles, crossing his arms. ]