Full Circle (IC)

[Electra]

"The Night Bear, huh?" Erin repeated with a laugh. Very thematic, I like it." She regarded the key for a moment, letting it spin on the end of its silver cord. She knew what Trevor was doing, without putting words to it. It would be too strange for her to go live at his house, and it probably wouldn't be good for her in the long run, but having the key meant that she always had someplace safe to go. She carefully removed the key from the bear's wrist and attached it to her own keyring, letting it slide into place next to her dorm and truck keys. "Might come in handy for an emergency," she agreed with a smile. "Or I'll sneak in and stock your fridge someday. Thanks." She played with the bear a little more, adjusting the fedora and testing the squishy softness of his tummy before setting him on the picnic blanket to watch them eat. "Did you ever have a bear?"

[Gizmo]

"There, see, I can remember anniversaries and bank holidays, you can remember to buy actual food. Works out." Trevor nodded sagely, regarding the Night Bear contemplatively for a moment before Erin's question registered. "Oh, well. I was a pretty serious kid, even when I was little," he noted a little more quickly than normal. "So I didn't really... that is..." Trailing off, he mumbled something unintelligible and looked away, his cheeks darkening a little. Finally, with a sigh, he repeated more clearly, "Giraffe. Named Giraffe."

[Electra]

Erin grinned and picked up a piece of watermelon. "Giraffe the Giraffe," she mused aloud. "It's catchy. I like it. I got Bronwyn when I was really little, and I just called her something like 'bowr-bow" because I couldn't say bear yet. Then my folks couldn't pronounce that, so it became Bronwyn instead. Giraffe is sort of elegant compared to all that." She bit into the watermelon, grabbing a napkin hastily to keep juice from dripping all over her. "Do you still have him?"

[Gizmo]

"Yes, you're dating an engineer with the soul of a poet," Trevor deadpanned, twisting his torso with a light laugh as Erin lost some control over her food. "I do, he's tucked away in that chest at the foot of my bed," he explained. The ornate, wooden fixture was usually covered in one or more blanket, but the top was too rounded for it to be co-opted as shelving. "When I was old enough to start being curious about how things really went together, I started getting really worried about accidentally breaking his stitching or something. Eventually I felt better knowing he was safe."

[Electra]

Erin nodded understanding of that. "You know they have stuffed animal hospitals where you can send in your old toy and they'll clean it and restuff it and reinforce the stitching, make it all like new again?" she asked in between bites. Working out had given her an appetite, and Trevor had remembered a lot of her favorites. "I thought about doing that, once I got some money saved, but it seemed like, even if trying to clean her didn't disintegrate her on the spot, it would take some of the history out. This way you know he's there if you need him." She smiled at that and dug into a sandwich, watching the lights of a ferry as it made its way across the river.

[Gizmo]

Trevor looked thoughtfully into the evening sky, absently popping a grape into his mouth. "Hrm. Interesting idea. Mixed feelings." He grazed on a few different fruits, but as usual he was a light eater, having prepared considerably more food than they were likely to need. "Still, prefer not worrying about breaking something in my sleep. Hmm..." The dark haired young man tilted his head just enough to be exaggerated in comparison to his otherwise subtle body language. "Don't suppose you'd know what I mean."

[Electra]

Erin slanted him a look for that one. "At last someone understands my terrible burden," she deadpanned. "I figure at least we've got it easier than Mike and Alex, because if I do ever wind up having to haul you into the emergency room in the dead of night, they're going to think you're some kind of stud." Erin polished off her sandwich, then, formalities attended to, got into the compartment with the chocolate cake. She dished up a piece for him, then took one for herself. "Pie and coffee in a diner to cake on top of a bridge," she mused. "It's been quite a year."

[Gizmo]

"I am a stud," Trevor asserted with similar gravitas, letting his voice drop down in the graveling bottom of its natural register. Accepting the piece of cake, the young man make an annoyed clicking noise with his tongue. "Ah, should have gotten pie from the diner. Or would that have been trying too hard?" He looked contemplatively at the dessert for a moment before continuing, "Probably goes without saying, but... even with everything we've been through this year... it's been my happiest year in recent memory. Thank you."

[Electra]

She scooted a little bit closer, cuddling in despite the fact that her hands were busy with dessert. "Definitely goes without saying that it's been my best in a long time," she agreed. "Guess that works out pretty well. And I guess if we could take this year and make it be good, we can do the same thing with whatever's coming up next year. Sometimes I think it's funny how nervous I've been getting about graduation. I mean, you'd think after everything else..." She shrugged, chuckling ruefully. "Maybe it's nice to be normal enough to worry about all this stuff."

[Gizmo]

Trevor adjusted his reclining pose to accommodate Erin, leaning back a little further and putting his arm around her shoulders to pull her toward him. "Different kind of worry," he opined, his voice soft and relaxed. "Makes sense to be nervous. Just remember you have people to fall back on if you need." He closed his eyes briefly with a low, rumbling chuckle. "Might be nice when you have your own place, though. Dorms are starting to feel small." His expression turned a little more pensive as he continued, "Just about time to move on."

[Electra]

"I guess you're right," Erin agreed, though without much conviction. She leaned into his shoulder and looked up at the sky for a minute. "Having more privacy will definitely be nice," she decided, "and being able to decorate how I want. And it's good if I get a small place, because then I don't need as much stuff. Going to be kind of weird not to have Alex's color explosion all over the place," she added with a wry smile. "But if you're staying on campus at FCU during the week, won't you get a new roommate anyway? That might be kind of weird, especially if he likes to sleep and stuff."

[Gizmo]

Trevor shrugged his far shoulder slightly in response. "They have single rooms as well. Probably spend less time there than I do at Claremont, depending on class schedule." Securing a room on campus was more a matter of keeping his options open than anything; the Hunter Estate was close enough to make the commute manageable, but he and his grandfather maintained a handful of properties throughout the the city and around the globe just in case. Turning to Erin, he tried to gauge her expression. "It's going to be alright. Whatever happens."

[Electra]

From the look on her face, Erin seemed more resigned to her nerves than actually disturbed by them; they were just one more thing to deal with and set aside. "Yeah, I know. Doesn't even make sense to keep thinking about it right now," she agreed. Finishing up her cake, she tucked the container away in the picnic hamper with a satisfied sigh. "I'm not going to worry about anything more tonight. It would just mess with a really nice evening." Sliding a hand behind Trevor's neck, she gave him a thorough kiss that tasted of chocolate, then settled in to watch the ships in the bay.

[Gizmo]

Though silent, Trevor's emphatic response to the kiss made it perfectly clear that he was in agreement. The small devices he's placed atop the bridge kept the air about them warmer than it should have been, but the concrete underneath the thick blanket radiated enough of a chill that he retrieved a second, lighter fleece throw folded underneath the cooler and draped it about their laps before settling back down comfortably. Some of the beauty of the dimming light over the water was lost on his mutated vision, but he was more than content to quietly gaze out from their vantage point with his arm around Erin's shoulders.

[Electra]

Eventually the fog began rolling in off the bay, obscuring some of the lights and making the air a little damp even through Trevor's clever devices. They packed up the picnic hamper and secured it to the back of the Night Cycle, and Erin tucked her new buddy safely into her jacket for the trip down. Before they left the bridge, Erin stood next to Trevor for a moment and looked out over the misty sweep of the city that they both defended. And as much as it did occasionally bother her, right now she could understand why he loved it so much. Tilting his hat back just enough for comfort, she put her arms around him as they shared a long kiss above the city, then climbed onto the bike for a fast and thrilling trip back to earth.

[Gizmo]

Trevor took the descent at the same incredible speeds as their trip up, as much to encourage Erin's arms around his waist as to keep them balanced on the cable, lifting the Night Cycle's front wheel into the air to even out their weight. Reaching the road once again within moments, he pulled to a stop on the dirt shoulder. "Back to campus?" he asked through his helmet. The picnic had been the grand gesture of the evening, but given the hours the pair usually kept, there was certainly plenty of time left for anything else she felt like doing.

[Electra]

Erin chuckled, leaning forward to rest her chin on his shoulder. "Nah, I already decided to blow off my responsibilities tonight anyway. If I go back now I'll just start worrying about things again." She raised one arm up from his waist, splayed her fingers across his chest. "How likely is it that we'll get caught if we go back to your house instead?" she suggested. "KInd of a departure from last year at this time, but I can live with that." Thus far Erin had managed to avoid running into Travis on her visits to the mansion, and though she knew it couldn't go on indefinitely, it seemed like a streak to try and continue for tonight.

[Gizmo]

"Getting caught isn't really the issue," Trevor noted, squaring his shoulders unconsciously at Erin's touch. "Not much happen in the city Gramps doesn't know about, let alone the estate. We've been... discrete," he settled on after a slight pause, trying to convey the rationale behind his family's somewhat old fashioned sensibilities, "so he's being polite. Giving space." He knew that wasn't exactly what the young woman behind him was hoping to hear, but there was only so long his grandfather could be expected to make himself scarce in his own home.

[Electra]

He could feel Erin shift uncomfortably behind him as she took that in. "Yeah, I guess," she allowed, "but knowing he knows is still different from actually running right into him, you know? I mean, that probably wouldn't be that comfortable for anybody." She thought for a moment, cocked her head to one side. "You and your grandpa don't even, like, talk about that sort of thing, do you?" The image of the two Hunter men talking in more than monosyllables about anything was one that she couldn't quite make gel in her mind, much less on a topic like the one at hand.

[Gizmo]

Trevor covered a slight start with a small cough, clearing his throat softly. "Ah... not often, no," he agreed, finding the prospect rather off-putting. "Once, when I was twelve, very uncomfortable discussion. Ended up with a stack of medical texts from the library." The estate was well stocked with tomes on nearly every topic, but the young man recalled having been left with more questions than when he'd started. "How I learned to deliver a baby, though."

[Electra]

"Better than getting it from church," Erin countered dryly. "Way before I knew any of the specifics, I knew God didn't like it one bit. Some novels my friend Kathi found filled in... um, answered a lot of questions, and there were a couple discussions with my mom on how it was definitely better to wait, preferably a long time. But I was pretty young, though." She shrugged, a movement he could feel rather than see, and was quiet for a moment. "So," she finally asked, "have you ever actually had to deliver a baby?"

[Gizmo]

Finally kicking off and starting the artificially noisy motorcycle in the direction of the Hunter Estate, Trevor made a soft, noncommittal sound. "Not by myself. Assisted." Even on the surface of the bridge actually intended for use, the view of the river below reflecting the last of the evening sun was impressive. "Repaired ambulance that had broken down on the way to Lumins' wedding," he elaborated. "Pregnant woman in back. Delivered before making it to the hospital."

[Electra]

"Wow," Erin murmured. "I sort of remembered the ambulance part, but not the rest of it. That must have been something." She was suddenly very glad that Trevor had made that trip on his own. "But the Lumins are expecting a baby pretty soon now, aren't they? Maybe you can offer to help out if something unexpected happens," she teased. "Sounds like the sort of thing you'd get badges for if the Freedom League was more like Boy Scouts. Be some pretty weird badge tests, though." She relaxed again and enjoyed the ride, ready to let uncomfortable topics blow away with the wind that whipped around them. That wasn't going to be possible forever, but it worked for tonight.

[Gizmo]

Trevor quickly did the math in his head, taking into account how much Mrs. Lumins had been showing her pregnancy the last time they'd spoken. "Would have to be soon, yes," he agreed. "Guessing they have access to superior midwifing skills," he continued in a dry deadpan. "Mostly just held things last time. Bit surreal, running into all that at the side of the highway. Nobody else far as I could see. Different from the city."

[Electra]

"Much different," Erin agreed. "Nothing but cows for miles and miles. Air's a lot fresher, though." She decided not to continue on any further with that train of thought, even as the Night Cycle began to wend its way into the posh neighborhoods of North Bay. "I guess if you wanted to," she offered, "and your grandpa's still up, we could go, um, say hi to him or something. If you don't think that would be very weird." She was all but squirming with embarrassment already, but Mona's words did probably have some truth to them. She needed to fix things with Trevor's grandpa, and Trevor was the conduit there.