“Pillows, hmm?…” Laughing at the idea of Pluto having a pillow fight with her, Jaxon gave the pot of almost-sauce a stir and tapped the spoon to clear it, setting it down on an angle so it wouldn’t drip or get sauce everywhere. Then he added the barefoot and pregnant comment, making her look down as well.

She had almost forgotten that her feet were bare and she laughed. “Good thing you clarified, because I have knife.” Her tone was teasing and the smile on her face was obviously not serious as she moved to continue chopping and cutting, this time doing the toppings. She would never stab Pluto, and even if she did, she wasn't sure if it would do any harm.

Blinking at the odd phrase he used, Jaxon was about to ask what it meant, but then he explained, making her raise her eyebrows. She hadn’t heard a shortening like that in years. “Pasta is fine with me.” She glanced up with a grin. “I don’t mind being your partner, though if pizza is a crime I might become a serial offender....”

She chuckled at her own joke, no matter how silly it was, setting aside the few vegetables she had finished and reaching for some more.

~~“Pillows, hmm?…”

“I dunno normally I would say water balloons, but we certainly cant indoors without having a mess to clean up and well, in less you are in the mood for some hypothermia then we cant outside.”

~~“Good thing you clarified, because I have knife.”

He put his hands up and smirked, “You aren’t pretending I am the vegetables are you?”

~~“Pasta is fine with me.” “I don’t mind being your partner, though if pizza is a crime I might become a serial offender....”

“You and me both lady, though I have some pull with the local Judge, she probably would let u off easy, so long as we shared the pie.” He smirked thinking about their version of Andy Griffith sheriff and judge around there community. She was much more peace maker then enforcer, though she was qualified for both. He bent over while his hands were free and got out a long flat pan that was mad just for this pupose.

“So we are staying up for the stars tonight or at least some of them, do you want to see the town tomorrow? Whenever we manage to wake up.”

Jaxon granted him with being right about the water balloons, nodding slightly while watching the knife and her fingers. “True. I suppose pillow will do for now, water balloons next time.” Jaxon grinned at her master plan for revenge. Water balloons? Nope, she was going to use one of those big water guns that kids used. That would win.

Pausing she looked him over for any resemblance to a vegetable. “Well, you do look a bit like a tomato, but I don’t think I have a bag big enough to squish you up in.” Turning back to her cutting, her eyes crinkled in amusement. It was a rare moment when she looked her age, the small lines around her eyes beginning to form, but as soon as her face relaxed, so did the signs of aging.

The idea of him having pull with the judge, and on the good side rather than the questionable side, made her smile. She was doing that a lot around him. She hadn’t realized how much she hadn’t been smiling before, and now it seemed like she couldn’t stop. There was no other word for it. “When ever you have time to show me around is fine with me. I would love to try those Ice slides you told me about.”

They were going to eat pizza, stay up late and look at stars, and then he would show her around tomorrow. So far it seemed like coming here with him was the best choice she had made since… since ever. She hadn’t done these sorts of things since she was a teenager and it made her feel younger and more alive.

~~ “True. I suppose pillow will do for now, water balloons next time.”

He laughed; he was the one that was usually illogical. But if she wanted Water balloons who was he to deny her, Tein would be around to save them though they would get reprimanded for stupidity.

“I won’t back down, I suppose we could settle for snowballs though if you really want to go that route, but if you really want water balloons we can do it.”


~~“Well, you do look a bit like a tomato, but I don’t think I have a bag big enough to squish you up in.”

“I guess, I won’t show you the economy zip locks in the shed then.” He had neither a shed nor a zip lock bag in it.

“When ever you have time to show me around is fine with me. I would love to try those Ice slides you told me about.”

“tomorrow we hit the Ice slides, later tonight I will see what we can get in the way of long johns and ski suits for ya, I have plenty of scarves, hmm I will go ahead and see about gloves and toboggans as well. We have plenty of time, so we can go the visit places and actually show you them route opposed to the skimpy general tour, we can fin the next place to visit on the way to and from the last one. Its better that way, I think.”

He took a look at the shredded veggies and meats that managed to get turned into toppings while they were distracted. A glance at the sauce said that they would have time to shred cheese and not much else before things were ready; he pulled out a large wheel of cheese and a couple of grates. He chopped a couple of wedges out of the wheel and handed her one, we are almost ready to put it together and start cooking. Then we have to bare the wait while the house feels with the aroma.” He swallowed at the last statement. “I will follow you around the house while we wait, you should go snooping and see if I have any secrets you can find.”

Realizing that she hadn’t completed the whole thought, ‘water balloons next time we are in New York,’ Jaxon played along with him. “Snowballs? No way!” She shrugged and made a joke, “It’s settled, snow-balloons it is.” She nodded as if finalizing it, finishing up the last of her veggies and setting her knife to the side, she turned to lean against the counter. Shaking her head at his economy size bags, she watched him.

Listening to his plan for tomorrow she took one of the graters and the wedge of cheese that he handed her, and started the back and forth movements. “Sounds like a good plan. I brought a bunch of sweaters and thick socks, so no worries there.” She had brought her silk pajamas too, though she wasn’t going to tell him that, because silk was supposed to be very warm.

With a silent laugh at his obvious hunger, Jaxon raised her eyebrows in surprise when he wanted to watch her go through his things. “You are giving me permission to snoop AND find secrets? I’m not sure that is wise, but no changies no take-backs.” With a fair pile of shredded cheese in front of her, which when added to his should cover the pizza nice and thick, Jaxon set aside the grater and handed him the now much smaller hunk of cheese. “Here. Eat so you don’t die while we wait.”

Rinsing her hands and wiping them on a towel, she looked around, her voice teasing. “Where to start…..” Clapping her hands together, inspiration struck and was visible on her face. “I know, My bedroom. That way we can clean it out at the same time.”

~~“Snowballs? No way!” “It’s settled, snow-balloons it is.”

“hmmmm, Well have to see how they work, if they don’t explode it might still be fun.” He said thoughtfully.

~~“Sounds like a good plan. I brought a bunch of sweaters and thick socks, so no worries there.”

“Oh, good, socks are definitely a must, how about water proof boots?”

~~“You are giving me permission to snoop AND find secrets? I’m not sure that is wise, but no changies no take-backs.”

“Psh, you are going to do it anyway at some point.”

~~“Here. Eat so you don’t die while we wait.”

He ate a bite of the cheese and nodded his thanks as he chewed.
“I know I would, it is fun.”

He tossed his pile of cheese on top of her’s, they would come put it all together in a minute.

~~“Where to start…..” “I know, My bedroom. That way we can clean it out at the same time.”

He held up a finger and smiled. “ lets go ahead and put this together really quick and then we don’t have to worry about it til it is done.” Was she listening or walking away on the hunt already?

He pulled out a heavy board that looked like a giant spatula, got the dough onto the board started press his thumb around the edges of the square creating a deep set for all of the ingredients they had, first he dumped the sauce into the pizza and then spread it with the spoon the stirred it with next came the huge pile of cheese, after that, handful after hand full of various toppings rained down on the top of it making it a heavy and delicious looking and soon to be irresistible smelling pizza pie. He hurried to get it into the now warmed oven. The woman seemed to like the Idea of snooping a little too much.

Wincing, Jaxon looked over at him sheepishly. “Oops. No, no water proof boots.” Then she scoffed. “I would never snoop without permission… It’s not my fault if people leave things where I can find them.” She watched him for a moment, she had already washed her hands so if she helped she would have to wash them again so instead she made him add a few more of the things she liked when he didn’t put enough on.

Pluto was still working on the pizza though, and she had permission to snoop… “Why am I still here? I have secrets to find!” She tossed him a smile and quickly vanished into the bedroom she had picked, hefting her bags with her.

Hearing him in the kitchen she shoved her things next to the bed and started in the bathroom… The keeper of all secrets was the bathroom. Jaxon might not have had to snoop for a few years, but she never lost her skills. She started with the medicine cabinet, opening it with a grin.

Nothing exciting in there though, the usual stuff: OTC meds like asprin, shaving kit, random pile of q-tips, a comb and some mouthwash, yadda-yadda… Boring. Peeking under the sink, she didn’t see much other than spare roll of toilet paper and some cleaning supplies. On a hunch, she looked in the toilet tank, but there wasn’t anything in there.

Surprised that the bathroom held no secrets, she wandered out and looked in the nightstand drawer. “Ooooh, nice!” Jaxon pulled out the partially eaten jumbo bag of gummi-bears and tucked it under her am, eating a few as she looked deeper. Condoms. No surprise, Pluto was an attractive guy and it wasn’t exactly men only here. She shrugged and pushed the drawer closed.

Peeking in the closet, her jaw dropped. “Note to self, always start in the closet!” A long blond wig was hanging from what looked like a special hanger that was made for wigs. With a chuckle she plopped it on her head and strolled to the door, leaning against the jam.

Peeking out at him as he finished up the pizza, Jaxon shook her head in mock sorrow. “It is so disappointing that you don’t have any thing strange in here.” She grinned popping a bear in her mouth, her tone indicating that he was about to get teased mercilessly unless there was a good reason for this.

~ “Oops. No, no water proof boots.” “I would never snoop without permission… It’s not my fault if people leave things where I can find them.”

“I will see to it we get a good pair or two, I am glad I carried you here.” He paused for a moment and then responded to the rest.” you are better than me then, I snoop first. I can’t resist trying to find a juicy little secret.”

~~ “Why am I still here? I have secrets to find!”

Hmmmm, you know sometimes it paid to think about what you had where before you told someone they could go searching through your house. Was there anything he would mind her seeing?...no. he didn’t think so, I mean there was smut on the computer, but he was a bachelor, it was to be expected. Hmmm, nothing too odd, no embarrassing medical conditions. Hmmm. He got the Pizza and the oven and washed his hands, he was about to go and check what she was getting into. When he voice full of laughter came at him from the hallway and the living room.


~~“It is so disappointing that you don’t have any thing strange in here.”

“Well now,…” Stay on your toes,Pluto . “ as you can see, I don’t have a lot of hair on the sides and back, so I figured a wig would help out, even in the beanie?” the last was a statement wasn’t it? not a question. Should he tell her that he really just wanted to see how he would look as a blond with long hair? Should he tell her that he wanted to see how she would look like as a blond, that he preffered blonds? HE could saysomething insane and insensitive like he had cancer until tien healed him. Or the truth of the matter that he just liked owning weird stuff for weirder reasons…hmmm.

“ I don’t see anything strange about the gummy bears though.” He nodded to himself. “You look pretty good blond. Not everybody call pull off blond.”

Holding back a laugh, her disbelief written all over her face, she munched another gummi-bear happily. Jaxon couldn’t help but laugh as he tried to think of an explanation for something that have very little chance of having a good one. Glancing at his hair she rolled her eyes. “There is nothing wrong with your hair and you know it.” In fact, it covered what it was supposed to and looked thick and fluffy… in that manly fluffy way.

“Nope, the gummie-bears are normal.. I just wanted to eat some. The wig though…” She shook her head and tried to toss the hair that didn’t belong to her. It didn’t quite word, but she faked it anyway, acting like she had meant to make the darn thing go crooked. She chuckled at his flattery, pulling the wig off and advancing on him. “Well thank you Pluto, that is very nice of you to say. However, I think I want to see how it looks on your skin tone…” Jaxon held out the wig with a smile.

“There is nothing wrong with your hair and you know it.”

“I know?” he ran a few fingers tentatively through his hair and nodded satisfied with Jax’s assessment, sometimes all it took was someone else’s input.

“Nope, the gummie-bears are normal.. I just wanted to eat some. The wig though…”

“What wig?” he asked sounding truly puzzled.

“Well thank you Pluto, that is very nice of you to say. However, I think I want to see how it looks on your skin tone…”

“Oh, that one.” He smirked at her and then put the wig on with the back on the top and the top on the back giving him a mullet ish look. “ I think that I looked like a giant over cooked surfer with this thing on. “ You want to know the truth of it? I was thinking about dying my hair. And wanted to see what it might look like, I have always just had the black. I would say some sort of Red but I think I have too much of that as it is, but it would match what is left of my tail.” He grimaced at the touch on a touchy subject. And then rebounded quickly. “So are you done with this little find or are we continuing on? “

Jaxon broke out laughing. She couldn’t help it. He looked so….. Insane! Blond was definitely not his color, and she wasn’t sure if she believed him about dying his hair, but she definitely didn’t think he should change it. “Why in the world would you want to color your hair? The black a good color for you.” She shook her head laughing. “And the blond looks aweful!” She snorted in laughter again. If he really tried to go blond, she had a feeling the hair would become see through and he would look like a red ball-point pen. She would have to stop him if he tried.

His question brought her back to the conversation. Was she done? “I don’t know… Is there anything better than that around here?” When she said ‘that’ she indicated the wig, and then looked around. Jaxon couldn’t imagine finding anything more interesting, unless he had a secret shrine dedicated to some random popstar.

~~ “Why in the world would you want to color your hair? The black a good color for you.” “And the blond looks aweful!”

He nodded easily in agreement. but at the same time became determined to keep the terrible blond wig on his head as long as possible. “Curiosity, I have never had anything but black hair. But that is why I tried the wig first. I didn’t want to end up blond for a week until and then a different shade of black the next week.”


“I don’t know… Is there anything better than that around here?”

He shrugged again. “ Who knows, I have lived here for quite some time, I didn’t even think about that thing until you had it on your head. I guess for now we could always find something else to do and you can just bombard me with oddities until you run out of them.”

He then reached out and grabbed a few of the gummy bears. Tossing them into the air and catching them into his mouth.

Nodding, wondering why he hadn’t removed the wig yet, Jaxon agreed. “I think the wig is as good as it is going to get tonight, so I will continue to explore later. But we still have time before the pizza is ready. How about we pick out a movie for when it is done?” Jaxon watched his trick with the gummi-bears and took one from the bag to try it herself.

She missed of course. She had never been one to throw food and catch it, so the skill was bit lost on her as the candy bounced off her cheek. She caught it before it hit the floor and sighed, popping it in her mouth the old fashioned way. Suddenly her adult side, which had been silent for a while, reared it’s head. “I guess we should stop eating these if we want to leave room for pizza…”

With a sigh, she set the bag down on the counter and gave one of the blonde strands a tug.

~~“I think the wig is as good as it is going to get tonight, so I will continue to explore later. But we still have time before the pizza is ready. How about we pick out a movie for when it is done?”

“Fair enough, I will just have to keep you away from the basement and all my real deep dark secrets.”

He raised his eyebrows up and down having a nonsensical effect due mostly to the hay-colored hair that moved up and down with his forehead. There really was a basement in this on, a gigantic one actually, if a basement is an invincible fall out bunker big enough to contain the town’s population, with several entrances that are suited toward the home owner’s power and not nefarious at all.

“Um I have a bunch of classics, or we can watch any of the channels that I mentioned including the more recent stuff on paper view.”


~~“I guess we should stop eating these if we want to leave room for pizza…”

Pluto snatched up one last gummy bear and put in the center of his palm. “ Hold on a second there, one more. Open wide and say ah. Tilt your head not all the way back but mostly.” If she refused to or if she went along with it either way he was tossing it. he smacked his forearm with his other hand sending the little purple almost see through bear into the air and then it arch down falling for the center of Jax’s face.

Raising her eyebrows in interest at his mention of a basement, Jaxon logged that away fro when she was exploring. Watching him wiggle his forehead and the wig, she gave him a mock look of exasperation, rolling her eyes and laughing. When he mentioned movies, Jaxon thought for a moment. “Depending on what you mean by classic, I love Katherine Hepburn and Cary Grant. ‘Bringing up Baby’ is always funny…”

She wasn’t sure what he was interested or if he liked black and white movies, but they had always been one of Jaxon’s favorites. If by classic he meant ‘The Godfather’ that was okay too.

Surprised by his actions with the gummi-bear she blinked for a moment before following along, having a feeling about what he was going to do. Tilting her head in her best imitation of his instructions, she couldn’t help but chuckle as he performed the trick. The bear plopped on her cheek and she burst out in a grin. She spoke, trying not to move her face too much, “You missed!” before tilting her head and trying to roll the bear from her cheek to her mouth.