The line rang, not sure who would pick up he practiced a few ‘hellos’ to the agent who held the cell phone. He wasn’t that chatty, despite his best efforts Carrick couldn’t get the guy to break the scowl that was plastered on his face. Maybe he was born with a resting ‘I’m not happy with my life’ face or maybe he just thought this was beneath his station.

”Right, you think it sounds too desperate or not sincere enough?” he asked grinning with his face up to the slot. ”I mean, I could through some tears in there. Drudge up some repressed memories n’ all that. Might make them want to get me quicker…” Carrick detected a small facial twitch. ”Awww we’re gonna be best mates.”

The line clicked, someone answered before anyone could say hello Carrick blurted out ”Hey, mate. It’s Carrick. In holding in a…. not jail?” he looked back into his cell and then shrugged to the guy holding the phone, ”Any chance ya can grab me a teacher? Or maybe an adult in a good mood? Please someone in a good mood.” he hoped it wasn’t Sam… or Liz. He was pretty sure he’d hang up if it was Liz.

"IT'S CARRCIK!"

The child's voice cut through the lobby of the Mansion. Someone really needed to man the phones better, so random students wouldn't pick the landline up before an adult could get to it. For some reason, instead of calling an office, SUPER connected to the central land line of the Mansion, the phone pizza people and random parents tended to use. In this case, a kid waiting for a phone call picked up, her antennae lighting up as she realized who was calling.

"CARRICK'S IN JAIL! HE NEEDS AN ADULT"

Amethyst, crossing the hallway in a somber mood, froze at the yell. She looked around; no teachers were hurrying to the lobby as of yet. Not even Sam. She hesitated for a moment, then walked over, picking the phone out of the hands for the excitable preteen.

"Carrick? Where are you calling from?"

>>>"Carrick? Where are you calling from?"

His initial fear of Liz answering despite the second he heard the princess’s voice. Okay maybe there were now two people he was willing to hang up on. While the princess hadn’t done anything wrong his stomach dropped when he heard her voice. She saw the face he would had preferred to keep hidden. He didn’t’ even warn her about it. It was the Liz situation all over again but worse because he knew about it.

Carrick took a step back and mouthed loudly ‘hang up!’ his arms shook and the officer for SUPER did no such thing but just rolled his eyes at the shifter. Maybe they weren’t going to be friends.

”P-P-rincess! Hey-o. How you doing, love?” His voice cracked and he tried to recover by adding a little more false confidence. ”Not a jail?” he asked the guy holding a phone who just stared at him. Clearly not a friend.

”Not exactly sure. Seeing as there’s no windows here. Somewhere in the city.” he wanted to ask if she was okay after everything that happened. He wanted to talk to her but Carrick was calling for a reason. ”I asked fer an adult… I only get one phone call.” Carrick said with a smirk hoping to get a reaction out of the princess.

There was a pause on the other end of the line. Amethyst wondered what was happening. Maybe the child had been wrong? Or maybe the line had been cut for some reason?

>>”P-P-rincess! Hey-o. How you doing, love?... Not a jail?”

"What's going on?" she demanded. She was relieved to hear his voice. Last time she'd seen him, he was being sedated to keep him from shifting again. She'd been wondering where he'd been taken to. Purely because she had nothing better to do, of course.

>>”Not exactly sure. Seeing as there’s no windows here. Somewhere in the city. I asked fer an adult… I only get one phone call.”

"I'm an adult by Atlantean standards" the princess pointed out with a sigh "Are they holding you hostage?"

>>>>"I'm an adult by Atlantean standards"

And he was adult by American standards, that still didn’t mean he could bail himself out. One required a lot of money to do that and… Carrick started to purr for a second realizing who he was talking to. She had money. She was a princess after all and what did they have? Bail money to bail out good friends. After all that’s what they were right?

>>>"Are they holding you hostage?"

”Kinda?” Carrick asked feeling the glare of the officer again. ”Guess you could call it that.” he paused thinking about it, ”I already gotcha in trouble I’m sure. No reason to make it worse, love.” he said his tail dropping a little the purring stopped.

”Trying ta see if any of the teacher’s there are willing to post bail so I can get the fek outta here.” he looked to the officer and shrugged, ”Kinda cramped here and frankly the wait staff aren’t up to me standards.” he flashed his pointed teeth at the guard.

Carrick was probably in a world of trouble. He had shifted into a monster and killed someone in broad daylight. Amethyst wondered what they were going to do to him. If a gorgon had done that in Atlantis... the retaliation would have been ruthless. America was not much better in that regard, she thought.

"Are you...?" was he... purring?

>>”Kinda?... Guess you could call it that. I already gotcha in trouble I’m sure. No reason to make it worse, love.”

"You are not wrong." she agreed. She had been in the whole mess, and even though she was innocent on the killing front, people were still looking at her differently.

>>”Trying ta see if any of the teacher’s there are willing to post bail so I can get the fek outta here. Kinda cramped here and frankly the wait staff aren’t up to me standards.”

"To... post bail?" she ventured. American rules wre weird, and she was not up to date on the language, but she had a vague recollection from all the teachers discussing what Carrick's options were. "Like... they want money?"

>>>"To... post bail?" "Like... they want money?"

”Aye.” he said looking back to the phone and leaning on the wall. Part of him was relieved she was still talking to him but he knew it probably wouldn’t last. She’d remember what he had done and probably stop talking to him. His tail dropped again and he let out a sigh, ”Quite a bit more than I can manage. Got some saved up but pretty sure I couldn’t even afford a replacement guitar let alone bailing me tail out of… not a jail?” it was important he used the right words. He didn’t want anything negative about this phone call getting back to Pippa.

”Figured the mansion might send someone to pick me up till I figure out what the hell is going on.” he paused for a second trying to think of something to cheer him up.

”Whatcha think of them hotdogs?”

Amethyst had a vague idea of how bail worked. Someone would hold someone else in... prison, until someone else would pay money for their freedom. It was a strange way to do justice, but at least it was a problem she felt equipped to deal with.

>>”Aye. Quite a bit more than I can manage. Got some saved up but pretty sure I couldn’t even afford a replacement guitar let alone bailing me tail out of… not a jail?... Figured the mansion might send someone to pick me up till I figure out what the hell is going on.”

Carrick had no money. Not enough, anyway. Amethyst was not surprise. He had not been living the kind of life that would result in wealth. She sighed.

>>”Whatcha think of them hotdogs?”

"I don't really care about the hot dogs" she noted with a wave of her hand. They could discuss their differences in taste later. Besides, she barely remembered the taste, after all that happened while they ate. "So... how much are they asking for you? Does in have to be in American dollars?"

”Hmmm… what a shame.” his tail drooped a bit more and he leaned on the door. ”Grand question though. American yes.” he said assuming. ”As to how much I’m not sure. Just told them what I had and they just had a laugh about it. Never a good sign is it?” he looked at the walls of his cell and they stared to mess with him again looking like they were closing in on him. He closed his eyes in response and imagined he was flying.

”Was told the school could contact SUPER headquarters and get this **** sorted.” his eyes were still shut so he couldn’t see the look he was getting through the door but the tapping of the foot was a good indicator he was getting the wrap it up sign.

”Right.” he looked out the sliding door window and smirked, ”Yeah, yeah, yeah. They tell ya get a phone call when ya get locked up. Never specify on how long the phone call can be. Glad yer all right, Princess not for accounting taste. Mind passing the message along to one of the staff members? Sooner the better. Not made to be in a cell this small. Can’t even open me wings. Can ya believe it?” the line disconnected before he could say anything else.

“I got somewhere I got to be.” The guard said hanging up glad the kid actually got to talk to someone. His scowl softened when he put the phone away. “Be back to check on you in a bit.” ”Not sure where I’ll be mate but me body is staying here.” he slid down the wall and put his head between his knees already humming himself a little tune. He was anywhere but in a cell.

American dollars. Probably a lot of them. That was going to be more difficult than she'd expected, and the school probably did not budget for large expenses to get a student out of jail. Or did they?... Either way, one thing the princess could easily access was money. She just needed to find a trustworthy jewelry business, and find something reasonably clean and sharp. It wasn't that time of the month.

>> ”Yeah, yeah, yeah. They tell ya get a phone call when ya get locked up. Never specify on how long the phone call can be. Glad yer all right, Princess not for accounting taste. Mind passing the message along to one of the staff members? Sooner the better. Not made to be in a cell this small. Can’t even open me wings. Can ya believe it?”

The line went dead. The princess sighed. She entertained the idea of leaving it at that. Wouldn't it be better if the gorgon was locked away? For the safety of others. That monster... had been terrifying.
But it had protected her.

The ethics of getting Carrick back to the school could be sorted out later. For now, she had some errands to run.

It wasn’t long after the call with the princess when someone from the mansion had come to pick him up. An tracking device was latched onto his ankle before he left the SUPER building or whatever building he was being held in. He wanted to check in with Pippa before he left to see if there was anything else he could do but she wasn’t available.

Don’t leave the mansion grounds and don’t fly to high from the grounds otherwise they’d send someone to pick him up. It was pretty simple, and while he had agreed to it he knew he was just changing one cell for another though this one he could actually fly in and have a guitar, which meant the world to him.

It had been two days since he had been back in the mansion. He didn’t attend classes, or interact with anyone really. People were giving him strange looks and frankly he’d be better without them. It made him anxious and when he was anxious he wanted to shift but knew it probably wasn’t the best idea so he did his best to keep to himself occasionally hopping out of the nearest window when he saw someone familiar. Multiple times it might have been the princess.

The school didn’t bail him out she did and while he knew he wouldn’t be able to return the money in full right away he might have just recently dropped off a envelope with as much money he had and a note. ‘Sorry, I’ll pay you back when I can. – Carrick P.S. you need to try falafels’ there was a little under two thousand in the envelope but he knew it would only be the first payment.

Unfortunately being stuck to mansion arrest meant he couldn’t go out and make money, meaning he was stuck avoiding the princess until he could pay her back. Then again she could have been avoiding him as well the shifter didn’t’ know but knew whatever friendship they had was probably gone now.

Carrick’s tail flicked under him while the small patches of sunlight radiated his wings with light the apple tree he was sitting in was a familiar one. The chords of his guitar started playing the sad song without a name. It wasn’t that he was moping he just didn’t feel like playing anything happy there was too much on his mind and the only way to clear his mind was to play.

Carrick had been acting strange since his return. Not like Amethyst had planned a welcome celebration for him or anything; she did what she owed him by making money off of the rubies (enough for bail, and for her to spend), and the rest was really not her problem. But the usually obnoxious griffin boy was now unusually scarce. People whispered all kinds of things about him, and while none of the teachers had been treating him any differently, something was decidedly... off.

And then there was the envelope.

It didn't take the princess much time to find him. He was outside (a safe bet), and the sound of the guitar was a giveaway, even with him hidden in the tree. The princess stood under the tree, her turquoise dress billowing around her, and she glared up at him, waving the envelope in one hand.

"What in Poseidon's name is this?"

Could he fly away now? Maybe he could just relocate to the roof of the mansion. He’d at least have some time to himself. ”First installment.” he said as he continued to string his cords. Though they played a little quieter when the princess started glaring.

”Don’t want you to think I was just gonna take money from the throne and not pay it back.” he said chewing his lip a little not sure what else to add. The wind or her movement made her dress flare out around her. He was tempted to purr again but didn’t. She was going to stop talking to him soon anyways. It was the outcome he was the most familiar with.

”I’m good fer it, princess.” he said flicking his fingers to the particularly whiney strings. He didn’t’ like being in debt to anyone his father had made sure he was good at that at least.

His tail flicked towards the princess and his vision shifted from her trying not to look at her. ”Might take some time but I can pay ya in full.”

>>”First installment. Don’t want you to think I was just gonna take money from the throne and not pay it back.”

Amethyst's eyes narrowed. She was not sure what to make of all this. Was that part of the rules? The person bailed out had to pay back the person who gave the money? If it was, she had not been informed. And she was not really supposed to follow American rules anyway.

>>”I’m good fer it, princess. Might take some time but I can pay ya in full.”

"I didn't ask you to" she clarified, folding her arms "It wasn't the throne's money, it was mine. And I make gemstones, remember?"

The shifter’s eyes narrowed when he heard her voice. He still didn’t look at her but was guessing she was glaring at him still or folding her arms at him. He turned his head slightly, she was.

”Right? And what am I supposed to just take it from ya?” he scoffed. ”I don’t need any handouts.” he did. It was the bail money. He intended to pay it back in full but he didn’t exactly have any more funds than what she was so carelessly waving around.

”I… fek… I didn’t ask ya to do that.” his attitude turned almost instantly thrown off by her comment. ”Why would ya. Scared ya half to death. Killed someone…” he stopped playing and cursed to the flashback of her legs bleeding before his shift. His eyes turned to slits as he glared down at her.

”Why would ya eh? School might have taken care of it?”