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The thing about sitting on the Board of Directors for a nonprofit, Plo often thought, was getting to see progress year-over-year both in numbers and in stories.He had been sitting on this particular Board for over a decade and involved with the nonprofit itself for nearly three times that length. He had watched it grow from a few small chapters to very nearly nation-wide. Some states even had multiple chapters now.Yes. He was proud to be a part of this.The most recent Board meeting had been virtual, everyone calling in from their own homes to save the main headquarters several expenses. Revenue was fine, yes, and those who benefitted from the ways in which the mission was acted upon were as thankful as ever, but there was a distant feeling about the good news that Plo could not quite put words to.The Director of the Board, however, had the same feeling and the ability to put it to words.
How could they steer the mission if they did not live it?
And so: if one or two of the Board members could visit the others, see how they were doing, see if they needed help or pointers or had anything they wanted to voice but not to everyone, that would ensure that next year’s Board meeting was the most productive one yet.It was a good idea. Truly, it was. The initial pushback was over who possibly had that much time on their hands.Plo had volunteered, mostly, because he was restless. He had retired early but he’d stopped traveling outside of summer breaks while he’d been raising his Niece. Now that she had graduated college and moved out he could be gone for long stretches again without having to take her out of school.His fellow Board members would make time on their schedules for Plo’s visit. It may be soon, may take months. That was fine; Plo did not have a job that demanded his time or anything that tied him to his home.He even offered to stop by some of their offices to see how they were doing and what support they needed. That, he figured, would fill time between visiting his fellow Board members.And, really, several months on the road, criss-crossing the states several times? It sounded like a dream.There was only one problem: fellow Board member Kit Fisto.Kit, who had been on the Board for about three years now, had a lease ending in a week and no plans for what he was doing after that. A bit of a self-admitted drifter at heart, Kit offered to keep Plo company for as long as Plo wanted his company.The problem was that Kit was a gorgeous man some twenty years his junior who Plo had had a quiet crush on for nearly all three of the years he had known him. Quiet because it had to be. Because it was probably inappropriate to try to hit on your fellow Board member. Because Kit lived nearly a thousand miles away. Because Kit was younger, far more outgoing.Despite all this, Plo decided he was going to take Kit up on his offer.He was a professional, after all. He could handle this.He packed a couple of suitcases full of clothing for all sorts of weather; an emergency tent and outdoor sleeping gear; emergency equipment he hoped he would never need; and a duffle bag full of branded tchotchkes just in case. Once everything was loaded into his trusty hybrid CR-V, it was time to hit the road.–Plo took Interstate 55 all the way from Chicago to St. Louis. He could have taken Old Route 66, and he may yet do that one day, but not today.Illinois was mostly farmland once you got out of the cities. Hundreds upon hundreds of miles of fields used either for livestock or for feeding livestock, mostly. It was beautiful but it was repetitive. Unfortunately prime space for the mind to wander if left unattended for too long.Perhaps it was a good thing Kit would be joining him. At least - Plo hoped that Kit was as talkative one-on-one as he was at Board meetings and events.The St. Louis office was a small suite of offices in a large building that had enough security that someone needed to come and get Plo from the lobby to use the elevator but not enough to extend the same security to the stairs.He was greeted by a young man named Nahdar. His accent placed him from somewhere further south - exactly where Plo was not sure - but he had clearly relocated to the city.“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Mister Koon,” Nadhar said with an outstretched hand.“As to you, Nahdar,” Plo replied, “And just Plo is fine.”“What brings you here today, Mister Plo?”Closer.“I am making rounds to most of our offices to see how they are doing,” Plo explained.“Ah, yes, the Board Director’s big push to get the Board more involved across the country,” Nahdar hummed, “We’ve heard about that. I did not realize you were starting so soon.”“Your office is the first stop,” Plo explained.“Did you fly in?”“I drove,” Plo replied.“Oh, wow,” Nadhar blinked.“I enjoy driving.” Plo was not entirely sure why he volunteered the information, but it seemed to put Nahdar slightly at ease.Right. Plo was a Board member. One of the handful of people who had control over the entire nonprofit. His visits were far more likely to be unnerving than reassuring.At least - until he managed to establish that he was here to offer help, not judgment.He had a long road ahead of him, literally and metaphorically.“If you don’t mind me asking, though, aren’t you afraid of it getting lonely?”“Not at all,” Plo replied, “Besides the number of stops I will be making, fellow Board member Kit Fisto will be joining me once I get to New Orleans.”“Kit?” Nahdar huffed, “He would volunteer for something like that.”“You know him?” Plo asked.“He was my mentor,” Nahdar explained, “He helped make sure I finished high school and helped me apply for scholarships so I could go to college. We keep in touch.”“He must be proud of you.”“I hope so,” Nahdar offered Plo a small smile.“Tell me, Nahdar, what are the main concerns your office has been facing down lately?”“A lot of schools are closing,” Nahdar frowned, “A lot more are under-performing. Then you get to the rich parts of the city and if you never left you’d think we were thriving.”Plo had a feeling he was going to hear a lot of the same variety of concerns for months to come.It turned out that not only were more schools closing year-over-year, the homeless population was facing ever-increasing hostility from governing bodies.“Where are they supposed to go?” Nahdar asked, entirely rhetorical.Were that Plo had an answer.For a nonprofit whose mission revolved around giving a platform to those most in need - a vague mission, if not intentionally so - there was a lot of need and not a lot of room on the platform.It would be a long time before the mission was over, if it ever was.Nadhar showed Plo around the office and then sat him in a room to wait for the head of the chapter to come talk with him. When offered a coffee, Plo accepted.It was hours of talk about numbers and budgets and fundraising. The sheer volume of information was very nearly mind-numbing, but important nonetheless.Plo was handed a small binder containing all the information he’d been given printed out and arranged in a way that was, allegedly, convenient.If he was getting one of these at every office, he was going to need to dedicate some space in his car.Plo stayed an extra day to join a few volunteers on an outreach mission handing out clean socks and underwear at one of the local homeless camps, the fruits of a recent goods drive held at one of the nearby corporate-type offices who wanted to be able to brag about being involved in a local charity.They needed more companies like that, really, and more types of donation drives. Food. School supplies. Clothing. Toys. Electronics. Glasses. Outdoor cooking gear. Blankets. Tarps. Shoes.You named it, someone needed it.It was a shame that odds were low they would find a corporate donor willing to sponsor safe consumption sites.Plo related this to a volunteer, who replied Bet! with a barked laugh.The hope, in all its gritty glory, was the brightest thing in the encampment.–Memphis came and went with minimal comment.It was a smaller office than St. Louis, but still large enough to have a personal assistant that didn’t double as a secretary.There were, largely, the same concerns. Futures that looked bleak. Lots of hands outstretched without a lot to fill them with. A need for more staff but not the budget to match and they could only task the intern with so much before the legality became blurred.He was, in fact, handed another binder of financial information. He stopped by the first office supply store for a permanent marker so he could start writing the office name on the spines.He decided he was going to stay in a hotel overnight so he could head to New Orleans - towards Kit - first thing in the morning.–Kit’s house wasn’t hard to find - or rather, his GPS didn’t take him to someone else’s place. Kit was waiting on the porch in a plastic chair, his trademark smile already on his face.Plo’s heart did something a little funny, but he ignored it.“Plo!” Kit called out to him.“Hello, Kit,” Plo called as he put his car in park, “It’s good to see you.”No sooner than Plo was out of his car, Kit was on his feet and headed towards Plo, arms outstretched.“Glad you made it safe,” Kit told him as he hugged him for a moment, “It’s sparse inside. I got everything I’m not taking in the car into storage yesterday.”“Did you want help getting anything in the car?” Plo offered.“Wouldn’t hurt,” Kit replied, “I don’t want to wind up blocking access to something you need.”Always a gentleman.Kit’s suitcases were just inside the door. The house looked completely empty from what little Plo could glance.He was not going to pry.“You’re finally leaving?” Kit’s neighbor called out.“I sure am!” Kit replied, “For a few months, at least.”“Get out of here!” she whooped, “It’s about time someone did.”“Yes, ma’am!” Kit laughed.Plo helped Kit stack his luggage alongside his own, made sure they could both access their main suitcase easily.“Is there anyone you need to say goodbye to?” Plo asked as he shut the trunk..“Took care of that already,” Kit replied, “I’m ready to go when you are.”Plo climbed back in the driver’s seat while Kit slid into the passenger side.“Feel free to adjust the seat,” Plo told him.Kit moved the entire seat back to make more room for his legs before he reclined the seat a bit.Plo wasn’t sure if asking about what his neighbor was talking about was appropriate.Kit explained anyway: “Most of us on this block and the few blocks surrounding us have been renting since Katrina. Always one promise or another. Our houses will be rebuilt. We’ll get money to relocate. I’ve moved every few years but stayed in the general area.”“Which are you waiting for?” Plo asked.“I’m not really sure,” Kit shook his head.“I’m sorry,” was all Plo knew to say.“Thanks,” Kit replied.Plo drove in silence, but not for long.“Did you want to grab lunch before we head for Atlanta?” Kit broke the silence.“Sure,” Plo replied, “Did you have anything in mind?”He hadn’t eaten since he’d left the hotel in Memphis, but he knew he was terrible at remembering to eat if food wasn’t directly in front of him.“Let me show you my favorite lunch spot,” Kit decided, “Turn left at the next stop sign.”Plo found he didn’t care what the place served. If it was Kit’s favorite, he wanted to know how it tasted.He’d survive the next several months. He was a professional, after all.
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By the time they arrived in Atlanta, it was well past dinner time. They opted to get checked into their hotel before they figured out food.Food, they decided, was going to be delivery. Plo had been driving all day and was rather done with being in a car until the morning. Kit had no objections and went as far as to offer to be the one to go down to the lobby to get it.While Plo waited, he stretched. He knew he was getting old; taking care of his body was more important day over day, especially when he would be spending so much time sitting.His health wasn’t perfect already. There was no sense in inviting worse--he told himself as Kit returned with a sack of burgers and fries.Never let it be said he was without flaws.“It smells delicious,” Kit announced as he let himself in Plo’s room, “You said you worked out a route?”Plo had mentioned that, hadn’t he?And he had. He’d planned the route out in detail, with plenty of room to be delayed between key stops, but what he hadn’t done was consult Kit.As they ate, Plo pulled out his paper maps where he’d penciled in the main routes of the trips, each one detailing office stops between Board member visits. There was more wiggle room on some routes than others, but none of them were exact.You never knew what was going to happen on the road.“You’ve really thought about this,” Kit said with his mouth full, “I’m impressed.”“Yes, well, I used to travel extensively,” Plo explained, “I appreciate digital maps and live turn-by-turn directions as much as the next person raised on giant paper atlases, but the paper ones still have their place.”“So they do,” Kit replied, “I take it the routes with multiple colors are ones we’re going to be driving more than once?”“Correct. There is going to be a decent amount of backtracking,” Plo confirmed.“We can always take back roads on some of the return trips,” Kit suggested, “Assuming time allows for it, of course.”“We could,” Plo granted, “There are plenty of things to see when you leave the highways.Plo lost track of time as they went over things, but it must have been hours given how Kit kept nodding off.They had different rooms, but when Kit passed out Plo found himself reluctant to move him.He reminded himself that he was a professional and, after successfully rousing Kit back to consciousness, suggested they meet in the lobby in the morning.“Sounds good,” Kit decided, “Sleep well, Plo.”“You, too,” Plo remembered his manners.This trip was going to be the death of him.–Their stop at the Atlanta office had been much like Plo’s first two office stops - plenty of functional numbers, a gap between need and capacity that could not be covered, and plenty of promises that goals would be met.Plo and Kit still had a lot of work to do in terms of convincing those who actually carried out the mission that they were here to see how the Board could better support them, not judge them.They stayed up late for a second night in a row, this time discussing how, exactly, they were going to do that. They didn’t come to any solid conclusions, but it was nice for Plo to see that Kit was just as serious about this as he was.More than that: there was this steady joy that Kit carried about the work they had set out to do. Kit enjoyed a challenge, that much was clear, but more than that he enjoyed helping.It only made him more attractive, quite frankly.Plo was in for a long next few months.–One of the realities of being on the road for so long was that they were going to become incredibly familiar with laundromats.When Plo was younger and traveling alone - or with large, equally young groups - he would do a few pieces of clothing at a time in hotel rooms and hand them to dry in any available place. Now, though, the ability to skip doing it by hand and the assurance that everything would be dry were worth the time and money.Kit, thankfully, shared the sentiment, which was why they both found themselves sitting on a bench in a laundromat somewhere between Atlanta and Raleigh, their day off spent waiting for the machines to give them back their clothes instead of sightseeing. Plo was reading the book he’d brought - and planned on donating once he’d finished before he picked up another to minimize space - while Kit tapped away at his phone.“Do you play chess?” Kit asked without preamble.“It’s been a while, but I still remember the mechanics,” Plo answered, “Why?”“Great!” Kit’s grin was infectious, “Be right back.”“Kit, where-” Plo started to ask, but Kit was already up and nearly out the door.Plo sighed and settled back into his book.At least - he did until his phone started ringing.“Yes, Kit,” Plo answered the call.“They don’t have chess sets,” Kit informed him, “They do have Backgammon, though. Do you play Backgammon?”“Where did you go?” Plo asked.“There’s a game store a few blocks away,” Kit explained.“I can learn,” Plo decided, “Can you pick up a pack of cards while you’re there?”“Sure thing!” Kit replied, “I’ll be back soon.”Not only was Kit back fairly quickly, he returned with more games than promised.“I figured we might want a few different ways to kill time,” Kit explained.Plo could always read later, he figured.He secured his bookmark, put his book on the bench next to him, and told Kit: “I am assuming you know how to play Backgammon?”“Nope!” Kit exclaimed, “It comes with instructions, though.”Plo had a feeling this was normal for Kit. Something new. Something active. Something less idle.He could try to keep up.–At the Raleigh office, they were greeted by the Assistant Development Coordinator.“Bultar,” Plo recalled her name, “How have you been?”She’d been working here since before the world shut down. It had been, what, seven years since her office was the one to host the annual Board meeting? She’d been an Intern, then, and had clearly risen through the ranks since Plo had last seen her.“Well enough,” Bultar replied before she realized, “You remember me.”“Two thousand and seventeen,” Plo replied, “You were halfway done with your internship.”He tried to remember everyone he met. Results varied, moreso year-over-year, but he tried.“Yes,” Bultar smiled, “Please, follow me.”She led them to a meeting room where they were joined by a few of Bultar’s higher-ranking coworkers, most of whom had started after her, to go over the things they assumed Board members wanted to know.When they were done, Kit asked outright: “What can we do to help?”There wasn’t an answer to that. The Raleigh office, at least, had no idea what the Board actually did beyond meet once a year to go over last year’s numbers.Plo and Kit had a lot of work to do, starting with getting the entire Board more involved.–Yoda - who seemed to only have the one name - lived just outside of Norfolk, Virginia, in a house at the end of a long dead-end road with few other houses nearby. Surrounded by woods, you could almost feel like you were the last person left alive if you closed your eyes.Well, provided nobody else was talking. That tended to break the illusion fairly quickly.Yoda went on at length about how “the digital age” was severing connections they should be making to the communities they served. This severance had, allegedly, been hastened by the pandemic and the seemingly global push to move every possible interaction online.He spoke in clipped sentences, the words often out of order but still easy enough to follow.The thing was: Plo did not entirely disagree. He remembered an age before the Internet. He knew all of his neighbors, once upon a time. Had it been truly safe for children to roam the streets unwatched? No, but it had certainly felt safer.The Internet and the interconnectivity it fostered certainly had its place. There had been social leaps enabled by its very existence. It certainly made fundraising more accessible.But face-to-face interactions not only still had their place, they were needed now more than ever.A Board willing to show up and help out was a Board that would be far more valued than one that met once or twice a year to look over numbers and listen to the higher-ups thank them for sitting on the Board of Directors, after all, and there was not a nonprofit in the world that wanted less help.Plo and Kit relayed their experiences with the offices they’d visited so far, relayed that the Board was, for all intents and purposes, thought of as something removed from the heart and soul of the mission.All three of them agreed that that needed to change.They spent the next several days confirming their schedule, informing the offices they’d be visiting as well as why they were visiting (with no small amount of embarrassment over not having done that initially), and confirming with the rest of the Board that their available dates would stay as such.They had a lot of work ahead of them, but Yoda seemed confident that Plo and Kit could handle the task if they tackled it together.
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The drive from Norfolk to Richmond was almost a joke.The under-five-hour stretches had already seemed like too-short stretches of highway; the hour and a half this trip took was nothing.They even went for dinner before they checked into their hotel this time.Plo’s main focus for the evening was a shave and steaming his suit. It was clean, but he preferred that it looked like it had just been retrieved from the dry cleaner when at all possible.Maybe he had a slightly vain side. Maybe part of him was self-conscious about how he presented himself. Maybe he cared. He’d spent his entire life not looking at the urge too closely.He certainly wasn’t going to start now.He and Kit met in the lobby for breakfast, Kit still in his pajamas and Plo in a set of lounge clothes, both of them not wanting to wind up spilling coffee on their freshly cleaned dress shirts.When they met back up an hour later, they were both looking far more like upstanding businessmen.“You clean up well,” Kit hummed.Maybe this was why Plo cared what his suit looked like.“Thank you,” Plo replied, and then, almost wrong-footed, added, “So do you.”It was different, somehow, seeing Kit in a suit after seeing him in his pajamas so close together. A more concrete before-and-after. Not quite private-Kit-versus-public-Kit. The hotel’s breakfast room was still public. More public than the office, technically.Plo was absolutely overthinking this.–Eeth Koth was the first Board member they visited. He had been sitting on the Board for some nine years now, somewhere nicely in the middle in terms of time served.He and his wife welcomed Plo and Kit into their home and sat them down for a chat over a lovely homemade lunch.“How is the trip going so far?” Eeth asked.“Informative,” Plo answered, “You are the first Board member we have visited, though.”“Am I?” Eeth asked.“Well, we have seen Yoda,” Kit corrected, “He has a lot of aspirations for Board involvement.”“I got that impression,” Eeth replied, “I’m not sure what it means on a practical level.”“What does being involved in the mission mean to you?” Plo asked, “And why did you decide to run for your seat?”
What made the mission matter to Eeth?
The conversation got easier from there, at least, and ended with Eeth realizing that donations and keeping track of the numbers only went so far. He, like the rest of the Board, needed to become more active with their local offices as well as more aware of what offices that were effectively on their own needed.This was another conversation Plo was prepared to have several times as the trip wore on.Whether they would all come with such well-made food remained to be seen.–The drive from Louisville to Topeka was all Plo had expected to do that day. If Plo was being honest - which he usually was - he’d opted to stop at the Topeka office tomorrow because the city was located at the upper end of his personal driving maximum.They needed to stop for lunch, though, and the highway route took them right through St. Louis. Before Plo could second-guess himself, he suggested seeing if Nadhar wanted to meet for lunch.That was the best idea Kit had heard in a long time, judging by his reaction, which was why Plo found himself in a tiny cafe a few blocks away from the St. Louis office, all three of them with subs in front of them and a fountain drink with cheap paper straws at two in the afternoon.Plo found it easy to listen to Nadhar catch Kit up on how life had been treating him, Kit’s excited responses over every little detail. It was clear that Kit cared a great deal about the young man; so too was it clear that Kit had filled a near-parental role for young Nadhar through his formative years.When they parted ways, they did so with a hug and a promise to do better at keeping in contact.When they were back on the highway, Kit reached out and squeezed Plo’s shoulder for a moment before thanking him for the afternoon.Plo swore the heat from Kit’s hand lingered for nearly ten minutes.–When they finally pulled into the hotel parking lot, Plo muttered: “I fear I will soon be too old to drive all day.”“Oh come on,” Kit laughed, “You have, what a decade on me? Maybe a little more?”“Wait, how old do you think I am?” Plo asked.“Somewhere in your fifties?” Kit shrugged, “I can’t say I’ve given it much thought.”“You flatter me,” Plo huffed, “I’m sixty-three.”“Okay, so a decade and a half,” Kit amended, “I was close.”“You are not forty-eight.” Plo refused to believe it.“Forty-seven,” Kit corrected, “How old did you think I was?”“Closer to forty than forty-five,” Plo admitted.“We’re both aging gracefully,” Kit decided, “Come on, let’s get checked in.”There was a small hiccup with getting checked in, however.A glitch in the system, the worker behind the desk told them with several apologies, but there was only one room reserved and there were no other open rooms.“That’s alright,” Kit assured her, “We’ll be fine.”There were, at least, two beds in the room. Plo wasn’t sure he could have survived having to choose between sharing a bed and sleeping on the floor in real time.Despite the late hour, Plo decided he was going to go for a swim in the hotel pool. He hadn’t had time for much exercise as of late, and the indoor, heated pool was too much of a draw to pass up.Kit, for his part, decided to soak in the adjacent hot tub while Plo swam.Plo wasn’t sure how long he swam before he decided it was time to see if he could sleep.“Plo,” Kit called from the hot tub, “Come, sit.”He didn’t even consider saying no.The pool had indeed been heated, but the hot tub was properly hot. Plo could feel the heat seep into his skin, his muscles, even his bones as he lowered himself into the water.“Lovely, isn’t it?” Kit asked.“Quite,” Plo hummed, “It’s been a long time since I’ve been in a hot tub.”“I love any body of water, but I will never pass up a hot tub,” Kit replied, “I’ve never had the desire to upkeep one myself, but someone else’s? I’m going in.”“I hike more than I swim,” Plo offered, “but I do rather enjoy swimming.”“Oh no shit,” Kit smiled, “Where have you hiked?”“All over the world,” Plo replied, “Domestically, I’ve done about half of the Pacific Crest Trail, cumulatively. Maybe a third of the Appalachian Trail. The entire C and O Trail. I have a list somewhere.”“I’d love to see it,” Kit told him, “Wow.”“It’s been about fifteen years since I’ve done much more than day hikes,” Plo noted.“It’s still impressive,” Kit insisted.Plo wasn’t quite sure what to say to that, but Thank you was what came out.–Shaak Ti was rumored to come from old money. The kind that predated oil fields and factories. Perhaps even the United States itself. An avid art collector, the few images Plo had seen of her house seemed to be a cross between a modern art gallery and a trophy hall.Actually being in her house only reinforced that notion.She took them on a tour of her one-story house and told them about some of the more impressive pieces of art before they sat down in her backyard. It overlooked a beautiful lake and, on a clear day like the one they were having, afforded plenty of sunshine.That it was winter and fairly cold seemed to be of no consequence to Shaak. It was warmer than Chicago, but far, far colder than New Orleans had been.“Yoda tells us that he wants us to be more involved with executing the mission,” Shaak said, “I suppose you two know what that means.”“We have a fairly good understanding,” Plo replied, “Mostly, he wants us to put more hours into helping the field offices in ways other than fundraising.”“I understand the sentiment, but I - in confidence?” she cut herself off.“In confidence,” Plo assured her.“I do not think he quite understands that fundraising, when done well, does more than putting in volunteer hours,” Shaak explained, “I can do unpaid work for a hundred hours, or I can fundraise for the same amount of time and raise enough money to enable an entire new position, or buy supplies that would enable thousands of volunteer hours. We do not need to be visible to be effective.”She wasn’t wrong.“I see where you’re coming from,” Kit replied, “Perhaps, in your case, more involved may look like seeing first-hand how nearby offices are handling how they carry out our mission.”“I see,” Shaak hummed, “Have you two been doing that?”“At a number of offices,” Kit answered, “With dozens more scheduled over the coming months.”“How would you describe what you have seen so far?” Shaak prompted.“A lot of dedicated people who all could use a deeper resource pool,” Plo replied, “Each office has different areas that are strongest and weakest, but there is always a deficit.”There would likely always be a deficit, but that didn’t mean it couldn’t be better.The conversation continued on in that vein well into the afternoon. What constituted involvement? How was value assigned to different kinds of effort? What did it mean to help carry out the mission, and why was so much emphasis put on appearances versus actuality?Kit and Plo were visiting the Denver office in the morning anyway; Shaak decided that she would come along.The visit went much the same as the other office visits - numbers, planned campaigns, an overview of which areas with the greatest need-to-resources discrepancies.There was an opportunity for all three of them to help sort food donations into boxes that evening, which they decided to partake in.
Partake in.
That was it, though, wasn’t it? They were here as Board members. Almost tourists in the very mission they had control over.While they sorted, they talked with the other volunteers about how many boxes they usually filled (upwards of a thousand a week), how many they wished they could fill (at least twice that), whether the numbers were increasing or decreasing (increasing steadily), and what drew them to the work (passion, previous clients, mandatory community service hours).Back at Shaak’s for a late dinner, Kit revealed that the city’s food insecurity rate had tripled in the past half-decade. Shaak had no idea.Yoda’s directive started to make more sense.–After two days of talking over how mission success needed to be measured locally and relatively year-over-year with Shaak - pages upon pages of notes taken by all three of them - it was time to hit the road again.“Does it ever strike you as weird that the offices are in such random locations?” Kit asked while Plo drove, “I mean - some are in capital cities, some are in the middle of nowhere, some are right on ports. It doesn’t make any sense.”“Given how many of the offices are two or three people doing the work of twenty?” Plo replied, “A budget like that requires setting up in the middle of nowhere and finding volunteers to drive to sites as needed.”There wasn’t a town in this country that didn’t have some sort of chronically unmet need and they both knew it. They’d both heard the stories: cardboard being used as housing insulation because repairs couldn’t be afforded, mold getting scraped off the bread because it was that or nothing, the free coffee at work being the only thing ingested all day so the kids could eat. The anecdotes went on and on, each one ultimately telling the same story: a gap wasn’t being covered, and not everyone could be helped.The head of the Omaha office had many of the same client stories to tell.“You get an hour, less, outside the city and you start getting these towns under a thousand and that’s where the needs really don’t get met,” he explained, “There’s just not enough people to donate, and if they can’t afford food they certainly can’t afford to drive to a bigger city where the food banks don’t run out as quick. Then forget getting the kids to school for a free meal on weekends or over break. There’s no buses for that.”Homelessness, at least, has been steadily decreasing year-over-year, though whether that was housing availability, job-related, or those facing chronic homelessness relocating was unclear.At the end of the day, they both had another binder full of printed information and a request for the Board meeting to be held there within the next few years.Come the next morning, they were on the road again.
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When Plo had planned out the trip, he had built in a few breaks. With how much time there was between visiting fellow Board members, he had had the choice between more office visits and giving himself a chance to rest for more than a night and well.He wasn’t nearly as young as he used to be and he was acutely aware of it.“I hope you do not mind that this break from the road is in my home,” he told Kit like an apology.“Not at all,” Kit replied, “It will be nice to stay somewhere someone actually lives for a bit.”Hotels and motels, as far as Plo was concerned, were meant to be transient spaces. You existed in them because you, yourself, were in transit. Always literally. Often metaphorically. Sometimes even spiritually, depending on the trip. He had never been the type who could call wherever he landed home.Home was something he needed to build, a rapport developed with a particular space over time and through experiences.Home was where he was headed with Kit.The closer they got, the more the realization set in that Kit Fisto, the man Plo had had a crush on for years and had only become more attractive the more Plo got to know him, was about to be in his home for a few days.They got in late; not so late that they could not still go out for dinner, but too late for anything else to get done efficiently. They opted to take any of their bags containing clothes inside to air them out for a few days even if they were clean.Whether Kit was just as well-traveled or if he simply defaulted to Plo’s judgment for anything relating to long-haul travel, Plo was not entirely sure. He’d ask eventually, but they still had plenty of time for Kit to volunteer the information on his own.“So this is where you live,” Kit whistled, “Nice place.”“Thanks,” Plo replied, wrong-footed in his own home all the sudden.Once they’d gotten all their bags inside, Kit asked if Plo had put any thoughts towards dinner.“You will find little in the cupboards,” Plo cautioned. He’d cleared out everything that was going to expire before the trip was set to end and either tossed it if it was open or donated it if it was unopened.He had planned on coming home a few times, yes, but given the nature of being on the road for so long he did not want to wind up missing a visit and wasting food for it.“I’m sure I can find enough to make dinner,” Kit replied, “If you don’t mind me taking over your kitchen, that is.”“Not at all,” Plo decided, “We can get a few days’ worth of groceries tomorrow.” It would be far cheaper - and more relaxing - than eating out every meal.“Sounds like a plan,” Kit grinned and started going through Plo’s cupboards, “I am assuming you eat all of these things.”“I do,” Plo confirmed.That was why they were in his cupboards.“Where do you keep…everything I would need to cook?” Kit asked belatedly.After being briefly shown around the kitchen, Kit was ready to make…Plo would see what Kit was going to throw together when it was done, he supposed.What they wound up having for dinner was well-spiced red lentils and white rice with some frozen mixed vegetables thrown in for good measure. The flavors alone were fantastic, but the amount of skill and care Kit put into making it shone even above the taste.The trip was looking longer every day, but every day Plo was more sure he didn’t mind.“Is there anything you would like to see while you’re here?” Plo asked while they ate.“What are the best spots for photography?” Kit answered with a question of his own.“Oh, uh,” Plo took a moment to consider, “What kind of photography?”“Scenery and architecture, ideally,” Kit elaborated, “But street photography also works just fine.”“The North Beach always offers something interesting to see,” Plo replied, “Lincoln Park. The water tower. There are plenty of older buildings all over the city.”“Lots of options, then,” Kit smiled, “Excellent.”“You’re a photographer?” Plo asked.“It’s a hobby,” Kit explained, “I picked it up maybe a decade ago, but I am by no means a professional or even an expert.”“Would you like to build in time to photograph more places?” Plo offered.“If it’s possible,” Kit replied.“We can make time,” Plo assured him, “In fact, we have the next few days to figure out where we’re going to make that time.”Kit’s entire body lit up, excited, thankful, and Plo’s heart did things it hadn’t done since college.(The traitorous little muscle.)When it came time to start heading towards sleep, Plo told Kit that the guest room was the second-to-last door on the right and the bathroom was the last door on the left.When Kit went to go to bed, he turned to the left instead of the right, a genuine mistake.“Ah, no, that’s my niece’s room,” Plo put his hand over the doorknob, “She prefers her space remain undisturbed.”“You live with your niece?” Kit asked.“I raised her for most of her life,” Plo explained, “She just finished college and is trying to find work near where she graduated, but she will always have a space with me.”A promise made years and years ago, before he had formally adopted her. It had been a long, uphill fight but he had won. Little Sha had been his to raise.Plo had long since made sure his own affairs were in order so Sha would never be left in limbo again.“That is both incredibly sweet and also I am sorry you had to raise her on your own,” Kit offered.“Thank you,” Plo replied, “I do miss my sister.”“Do you hug?” Kit asked.“I do,” Plo replied. At least - he was fairly sure he did. Besides his family - which was down to Sha - he could not remember the last time he had been hugged.Kit, as it turned out, was a damn good hugger. He used his entire body, embraced Plo like it could fix the sorrow that lingered even a decade and a half after the accident.It was over as quickly as it had been initiated.“Thank you,” Plo managed.“Of course,” Kit assured him, “Are you…are you alright?”“I am,” Plo replied, “It’s something I have learned to live with.”“Right, well,” Kit reached out to squeeze Plo’s shoulder for a moment, “Sleep well, Plo.”“You, too, Kit.”Plo slept better than he had in a long time.–They decided to go for breakfast at the first breakfast place they passed on the way to the lakeshore. Groceries would come after.Denver was cold, but Chicago right on the lake was colder. Plo was going to have to make sure Kit got a pair of gloves - and perhaps a thicker coat - but Kit seemed to be handling himself just fine.“It’s beautiful,” Kit marveled, “It almost looks like good swimming conditions.”“Do try to resist the urge,” Plo chuckled, “I fear it is far too cold for a swim right now.”“I had a feeling,” Kit laughed as he started taking pictures, “I thought we had big lakes back home, but this is…Great Lakes doesn’t paint a full picture.”“The Massive Lakes might have done a better job,” Plo granted, “I believe that would have been harder to fit on early maps.”“It’s almost like an ocean,” Kit marveled, “You can’t even see the other side.”Plo decided, then and there, that some of the places they were stopping for Kit to take pictures were similarly large lakes and expansive canyons. (Maybe even the Grand one.)He realized he should probably outright ask Kit where he’d been before and if any of those places were ones he wanted to revisit.He really needed to start acting like Kit had as much of a stake in this as he did.–It was easy to fall into a routine with Kit: Breakfast and coffee whenever they were both up and about, an outing that usually consisted of lunch out, then dinner back at Plo’s followed by an evening of catching up on emails and reading.It shocked Plo, how easy it was to get used to Kit’s company when they weren’t particularly doing anything. Kit himself was a strong presence, joy never far from his affect, but he was a polite guest who not only cleaned up after himself but was quite eager to help Plo around the house as well.Plo made sure he took care of the basic cleaning: dusting, sweeping, a quick scrub of the shower tiles. Just because he wasn’t going to be home again for a while was no excuse to leave the dust that had settled where it was. Kit noticed what he was cleaning fairly quickly, though, and even started cleaning surfaces he hadn’t touched before Plo had gotten to them.Plo’s heart wasn’t surviving to the end of this trip in the same condition as he’d started the trip in.–Ever since Kit has asked if Plo hugged, he had gotten more frequent with his touches. They were friendly, but they were constant. A grip on Plo’s shoulder like conversational punctuation. A hand on Plo’s back when Kit passed behind him. A shoulder-to-shoulder nudge because he could.Plo was at a loss of how to touch back while still keeping how much more he’d invite if Kit gave any hint to more being welcome at bay.He’d figure it out.He had the time.
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Their next stop was Pittsburgh.It was another all-day drive, but after a few days off the road it felt much easier this time around.“So do you play chess or was it the first board game you thought of?” Plo asked somewhere around halfway through the drive.“I played a lot in high school,” Kit replied, “It’s been a while since I’ve had anyone who wanted to play against me.”“We could still pick up a set somewhere,” Plo suggested.“You are terribly indulgent,” Kit laughed, “I would love that.”“Find a place and I’ll stop,” Plo promised, “Also, where would you like to pick up a heavier coat?”“Oh, I’m not picky,” Kit replied, “I get most of my clothes from Amazon these days, but I’m not sure I want to gamble with anything getting delivered to a hotel on time.”“Completely fair,” Plo assessed.“I think shipping and printers have a common ancestor,” Kit continued, “They smell a time limit and they slow to a crawl or fail completely.”“We’re endurance hunters, Kit,” Plo attempted to tease.“Then we made them in our image and they mock us,” Kit complained.“There are undoubtedly department stores or something similar in Pittsburgh,” Plo noted, “It’s plenty large enough.”“Undoubtedly,” Kit agreed, “Like I said, I’m not picky. What matters to me is that it fits and does what it’s supposed to.”Target, Kit decided, would have coats and games in the same place. He was correct, naturally. The nature of big-box stores had survived both the retail apocalypse and the pandemic, their promise to be able to do all your shopping in one building still hanging in there for those who could afford to avoid being critical of the price tags.Plo knew he was one of the lucky ones who could afford to do just that. Kit, he was starting to suspect, was as well. Plo certainly wasn’t going to ask. On top of being a guaranteed conversation killer, it just seemed rude.Kit picked out a coat first with the express desire of getting it over with. He truly did not care what it looked like, just that it was warm.He picked up a few more games as well, both board and card. Plo was under the impression that games were how Kit preferred to pass the time and that he was used to having others around to pass the time in such a fashion.Perhaps they should try to stop by Kit’s storage at some point. They were months away from planning to be anywhere near New Orleans, but Plo would make the detour if it’s what Kit wanted.He had it bad and was acutely aware of it.It may be the dead of winter, but Kit’s smile reminded Plo of the summer sun. He would bask in it by any means necessary.–The question of the visit was How do you appeal to college graduates without using SAT words in your marketing?Neither Plo or Kit were marketers. Fundraisers, yes, and while Plo had decades of speech crafting experience that was not marketing.Marketing, he was learning, was its own beast that invariably needed twice the dedicated staff members handling it. nevermind how many there were. Double that. Then you’re close.After much teasing out what the Pittsburgh office was actually aiming for, a more actionable question of How do you make potential donors feel smart without overshooting and alienating them?Kit’s suggestion was trivia.By the end of the day, the Pittsburgh office had plans for a trivia series on social media, via email, and even tentative plans to run a trivia night fundraiser at one of the local bars.The thing was: it may not work. They may well just be agreeing to this because a Board member suggested it. They’d have to see, and the waiting was always the worst part of anything.Plo and Kit, for their part, walked away with a note to see what, if anything, existed insofar as branding guidelines beyond colors and logo regulations. While the website was centralized, social media was up to each office and email was a mix of the two.What a headache. Plo found himself quite glad that his digital woes were limited to long email chains and the periodic technical issue that, when Sha wasn’t around, he had to contact tech support over.This was the other side of why they were doing this, Plo supposed. Board involvement was more than fundraising and volunteering, and if they were going to steer the mission well they needed to understand the complete depth and breadth of what those living the execution were up against on a day-to-day basis.–The drive from Pittsburgh to Philly would have been less than six hours if they’d driven straight through. They had taken a detour, though, to see more of the mountains. They’d also pulled over several times so Kit could take pictures, the bare trees and expansive valleys so different from what Kit was used to.Even if it was much colder than Kit had expected.“I looked at the expected weather and still didn’t appreciate just how cold it gets when every day is in this range,” Kit complained.“See, Chicago gets almost three feet of snow a year,” Plo replied, “Twice since I’ve moved there we’ve gotten over a foot and a half in a single storm.”“That sounds fucking awful,” Kit shivered.“It’s why I went for a condo that isn’t on the ground floor over a house or even a duplex,” Plo admitted, “I did not want to be stuck shoveling all that out. Getting my car out was bad enough both times.”“When did you move to Chicago?” Kit asked.“Ninety-five,” Plo answered, “So almost thirty years ago.”“What about the other thirty-four years?”“Let’s see,” Plo hummed, “I was born in Oregon. We moved to Iowa when I was twelve, then to Virginia when I was sixteen, then back to Iowa just before I turned eighteen. I went to college in Indiana. Interned in Kentucky of all places, then moved to New Hampshire for a good five years. Spent a few years in California before I finally moved to Chicago.”“Oh, wow,” Kit replied, “I’ve spent almost my entire life in the same city.”“New Orleans, I assume.”“Yeah. Never really saw a reason to move,” Kit shrugged, “Even after Katrina came through, the city was home.”“Where else did you live?” Plo asked.“Spent about two years in Texas,” Kit answered, “I wanted to see if I wanted to leave the city.”“I take it the answer was no,” Plo guessed.“I got lonely,” Kit admitted, “I’d spent my entire life around the same people until oh-four, and even after that those I lived nearby all had the same, shared trauma that lent itself to feeling like a community.”Plo couldn’t take his eyes off the road, but he could reach out blindly and see what part of Kit he offered what he hoped was a comforting squeeze.He managed to grab Kit’s forearm, which was probably one of the better places to land.“Thanks,” Kit managed as he put his hand over Plo’s and squeezed back.–“I don’t think I’m ever going to get used to how few cities have skylines,” Kit noted as the GPS announced they had entered Philadelphia, “Tourism bureaus need more credit for understanding which side of their cities they need to put on the promotional materials.”“Once upon a time the change between city and not-city was far more abrupt, at least,” Plo offered, “Then the suburbs kept growing.”“Tendrils of the American dream,” Kit shook his head, “Wonder what drove Depa to move here.”“We could ask her,” Plo suggested.Depa Billaba had been on the Board for seven years and lived in Philadelphia for three of those. She moved in the middle of the Pandemic because she could, it turned out; her day job could be done from anywhere and she’d put an offer on a house that had all the features she’d ever wanted and, when her offer was accepted, simply hired a moving company before driving halfway across the country with her young son, their dog, and their most essential belongings to get by until the rest of their stuff arrived.“I think it was easier to move before he started school,” she offered, “He has friends, now, that would be hard for me to take him away from for reasons like my ideal house layout and it already had half the yard hardscaped,” Depa offered.Plo understood the notion all too well; even if he had wanted to move - he didn’t - upending Sha’s life was out of the question.Could they truly carry out the mission they claimed to guide if they were not willing to set aside their own wants for those who depended on them?As far as fellow Board members went, Plo liked Depa. She was level-headed and genuinely open to new ideas. She listened for the sake of listening rather than to respond.They wound up staying in Philly for almost a week; there was plenty of outreach work to do, they had the time, and Depa was more than willing to stay up late to talk about the mission and what it meant to be involved after her son had gone to bed.Involvement, Depa believed, was more about why you were doing something than what you were doing. It took more roles than there were people to fill them to keep anything running; that some roles were fulfilled outside of the public eye did not make them less valuable.Fundraising, yes, but also analysts and coders and personal assistants and quality assurance folk. Countless jobs that happened in the cover of complete obscurity - millions of individuals across the globe who kept the world running and never got so much as a thank you who did their jobs because they needed to.While neither Plo or Kit disagreed with her, Kit did ask: “Why take a leadership role and expect it to happen in obscurity?”It took Depa until the next evening before she had an answer she was satisfied with enough to share.“Leadership is guidance,” Depa explained, “And guidance - effective guidance - outside of emergencies should be gentle. Subtle. Done alongside those being led, not as a performance.”“Consider,” Plo added, “which is more effective for garnering support: case studies or impassioned pleas from CEOs?”“A mix of the two,” Kit answered, “Supporters want to hear that not only is the support they’ve given working on a very real level, but the people doing the work are being led by someone who is passionate about the work, too.“All things ideal, we - the Board, senior leadership - would be able to work quietly and leave the results to speak for themselves. But we’re doing this work because the ideal is a long way from manifesting on every possible front. The reality is: leadership is expected to be a visible thing. That’s where the average person believes the results are manifested from.”“Which is a tragedy,” Plo complained.“Elaborate,” Kit prompted.“We showed up to marches by the thousands because we believed power belonged to the masses,” Plo explained, “That every last one of our voices needed to be there. The thing is: those marches were effective. The riots were effective. They drove change in ways that were not taken from us even as history was actively being altered even as we blocked Federal buildings and stormed highways. When erasing us didn’t work, something else happened: the power of the masses was distorted. Leaders were made from nothing and given power they neer wanted to wield. And that. That was effective. That took power away from numbers in ways we could not afford to lose. And, now, the average citizen asks themselves: Why should I show up? Why would my efforts matter? They need to be told. They need their hands held and their minds made up for them because they do not trust their own worth.”“There’s your leadership focus, then,” Depa informed him, “How do we give the power back to the masses?”It may be a lifetime before Plo had an answer to that one that he felt was sustainably, effectively actionable.–The backtracking was already beginning.Columbus, Ohio had not been terribly far off-track on the way to Pittsburgh. They could have hit Columbus, then Pittsburgh, and then Philadelphia right in a slightly bent line if they hadn’t stopped at Plo’s for more than a night, but then they would have had more time after Philly and had to stay somewhere that wasn’t home for the down time.Never let it be said that Plo didn’t put a lot of thought into the route planning.“You know what we need?” Kit asked.“To stop for gas within the next fifty miles,” Plo answered.“This thing really has great gas mileage,” Kit replied, “I was thinking road snacks, but gas is pertinent.”“There’s your SAT word.”That got an honest laugh from Kit, the sound free, like it wanted to coat the winter-dead fields with the joy it carried.–Somewhere between the middle of nowhere and the fringes of nowhere, Kit asked Plo: “Do you think we should exchange emergency contact information?”“Emergency contact information?” Plo asked.“Just in case,” Kit clarified, “I am not expecting anything to go wrong, but if it does…who would you want to know?”“My Niece is all the family I have,” Plo answered, “I can see how she would feel about it.”Silence, for several beats, and then:“Who would you want me to notify?”“I have a few family members who’d either tell the rest or be able to tell you any critical information like insurance,” Kit answered, “We’re scattered all over the country, but we’re close enough in an emergency.”“If they are okay with me having their contact information I can let them know in an emergency,” Plo granted, “I hope I do not have to.”“It was my sister’s idea, actually,” Kit replied.“Ah,” Plo managed, “We can take care of that when we stop for the night, then.”Silence, for a long time.“I received that call once.”“Shit, Plo,” Kit hissed, “I’m sorry.”“I lost my parents, sister, and brother-in-law in the same crash,” Plo continued, “They weren’t sure if Sha was going to make it. Have you ever done a hundred and ten in a blizzard?”“I hadn’t seen snow until a few weeks ago.”“It’s a terrible call to have to make,” Plo warned him.“If I have to make it, I will be gentle,” Kit promised.“Be honest,” Plo insisted, “Don’t give her any false hope. She’s had enough of that.”Kit reached out and covered Plo’s hand with his own, let their fingers slot together, squeezed gently, and didn’t let go.Plo squeezed back, eyes on the road.By the next morning, they both had each other’s family members’ contact information saved in their phones with a backup copy emailed to themselves just in case.Plo hadn’t prayed in a long time, but before he started he car that morning, he prayed neither of them had to use it.–The Columbus offices came and went with little fanfare.It was a good thing, Plo reasoned, that their visits were starting to be talked about enough about between offices that they were no longer seen as arbitrators of office success but instead as a pair of souls willing to help however help was needed and listen without an agenda.The more offices they visited, the more Plo was convinced that this trip would be meaningless without these stops. They could talk about success and involvement and mission adjustment between Board members as much as they wanted, but what did any of that chatter actually amount to without knowing first-hand how the causes they championed were playing out across the country.They might have the wheel, but the ones doing the work day in and day out were the ones excavating the road.Plo relayed as much to Kit, who replied: “Well thank fuck we’re well past the days of blast construction.”When Plo struggled to reply, Kit guessed: “We still do that, don’t we?”“As a species, I doubt we will ever stop using explosives,” Plo managed, “We tend to be more strategic about them, at least, now that we understand more about the long-term impacts.”“Tend to,” Kit shook his head, “I get that there are places where it’s necessary, but…”“Necessity versus ease is a tricky case to argue,” Plo sighed, “in blast construction as well as in regulation alteration.”“Well the good news for change but the bad news for everyone on the other side of that line is I am ready to argue,” Kit grinned.Plo was fairly certain that the sensation of one’s heart skipping beats was a serious medical condition. Strange, then, how moments in which one realized someone they were attracted to was worthy of that attraction could mimic the warning signs of a medical emergency.At least: that had better be what was currently happening to him.–Good news: there were no medical emergencies.News that likely should not have been news to Plo at all: He was very much continuing to fall for Kit.The trip from Columbus to Oklahoma City, while probably doable in one day, was easier - and more sane - when done in two, so they stopped overnight in St. Louis (again),“If we keep stopping here, I’m going to actually look up what there is to do in the city besides eat,” Kit decided.“They have to have museums,” Plo replied, “A city this size? It has to.”“So, what, we just wander around asking people where the nearest one is?” Kit laughed.“See if we get directions or robbed for being distracted tourists first,” Plo snorted.“...do we have a backup plan for if our phones go missing or get damaged?” Kit asked.“I have a backup of my most important contacts in my email,” Plo answered, “Sha set it up so my photos are backed up as well. She showed me how to do it but I doubt I could replicate the process.”“I should do that,” Kit decided.“I also have a physical address book at my condo,” Plo added.“I don’t think I noticed it,” Kit admitted.“It’s not out in the open,” Plo clarified, “I haven’t had a landline phone to have it next to in years.”“You don’t?” Kit asked.“It got to the point it was only telemarketers coming through on that line,” Plo explained, “Sha grew up with a cell phone and we exclusively use our cells to communicate when we aren’t face-to-face anyway. It was easy to get rid of it.”“I had a landline,” Kit informed him, “It came with the rental, but still.”“It wasn’t about cost cutting,” Plo clarified, “I try not to hold onto things I don’t use anymore.”“Makes sense,” Kit granted, “Mine was included with the rent.”“I do wonder, sometimes, if I should keep it up in the event the cell network goes down and I need to call in an emergency,” Plo admitted, “and then I remember every article I’ve ever read about cell networks going down locally and emergency lines being flooded with calls about the network being down to the extent actual emergencies were having trouble getting through.”“What goes through their heads?” Kit almost laughed, “I can only call nine-one-one, might as well?”“If I ever meet someone who called the police to report a cell outage, I will relay their answer,” Plo promised, “Did you want to go to the sandwich place for dinner again, or did you want to try something new?”“On the one hand, new experiences,” Kit considered, “On the other, those spicy peppers.”“You can make the peppers,” Plo informed him.“You can make just about everything you can buy,” Kit replied, “If I have an entire jar, I am eating the entire jar and the older I get the more of a problem that is.”“Is it just the peppers, or anything spicy?” Plo couldn’t help but ask.“Anything spicy,” Kit admitted, “Though it’s easier to eat the peppers by the forkful than hot sauce by the spoonful.”“If you and one of Sha’s high school friends are ever in the same room for long enough, she will challenge you on that one,” Plo cautioned.“She can challenge me on it when she’s in her forties,” Kit laughed, “High schoolers are immune to everything besides social pressure and embarrassment.”“Trust me, this kid is immune to embarrassment,” Plo replied.“I take it Sha had her friends over pretty regularly?” Kit guessed.“So long as she kept her grades up and had at least one extracurricular activity she attended regularly - school-sponsored or not - she could have friends over as often as she wanted for as long as she wanted,” Plo explained, “After her father passed and his side of the family was not granted custody, they pulled away from her almost entirely. Your friends can become your family, and I wanted to give her as much of a chance to do that as possible.”“Sha’s lucky to have you,” Kit informed him.“And I was lucky to be able to afford a damn good lawyer,” Plo replied, “Anyway. This friend was infamous throughout the school for taking shots of hot sauce like they were, well shots. I doubt he’s stopped now that he’s graduated college, granted, but hopefully he’s found something else for the part of his reputation that precedes him.”“There are worse things,” Kit shrugged.“There are,” Plo agreed, “I can’t say I’ve ever had the urge to drink hot sauce.”“I doubt it’s a common impulse,” Kit granted, “Anyway. We can try somewhere new. It’s a big city.”“You realize I live in Chicago, right?” Plo asked as he started looking up food options.“I would be terribly confused if it was somewhere else at this point?” Kit replied.“Giardiniera might as well be the official city condiment,” Plo told him.“That’s its name?” Kit blinked.Plo nodded.“You’re going to have to show me, then,” Kit decided.“Without question,” Plo agreed, “Next time we’re in the city, I’ll have Sha send a list of places.”“Sha?”“Sha is better at filtering search results than I have any hope of becoming,” Plo replied, “Speaking of which, I think I’ve found a few places that sound interesting.”“Oh, let me see!” Kit exclaimed as he moved to crowd Plo, radiant heat unignorable as Kit looked over what Plo had found.If Plo let himself lean into the contact, well. He never said he was perfect.
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The thing about sitting on the Board of a nonprofit - any nonprofit - was that in the name of not being the one who put the tax-exempt status by engaging in anything that could be considered taking part in a political campaign.The thing about non-campaign political activity was that, while it covered a wide range of political activities, even having to defend your actions risked reflecting poorly on the entire nonprofit.And so: it was fairly common to never mention political views to each other.As far as Plo was concerned, that was absolute bullshit. Everything they did had political roots. Everything they did was trying to influence one policy or another while acting as a stopgap for those in need. Knowing each other’s political views would be a boon in the long run.There were bigger things to take care of, though, and even reason gave way to Federal regulations.However, all this meant that when, somewhere between St. Louis and Oklahoma City, they passed a barn with SEND FAGS TO HELL, Plo had no idea where Kit placed the line between freedom of speech and the evocation of violence.Even as he felt his grip on the wheel tighten, he reminded himself: He’d been subjected to worse. He’d heard far worse. The barn itself could not inflict violence.“Plo?” Kit asked, voice too gentle to not be worried.“A lot of places aren’t safe for people like me,” Plo settled on explaining.Kit’s laugh was a cold one, completely out of sync with the Kit that Plo had come to know.“Us,” Kit corrected.“Us,” Plo repeated.“Louisiana is one of the states where you have to really research a company before you apply,” Kit added, “Federal protections have yet to trickle down.”“Common misconception,” Plo corrected, “There is no Federal law expressly protecting employment, housing, public accommodations, or credit.”“Seriously?” Kit asked, incredulous.“It’s up to the states,” Plo confirmed, “And even then, it tends to only apply to state employees. Private businesses are free to take a case to court.”“Why do I feel like it gets worse?”“Infinitely,” Plo replied, “It’s gotten better since I was first legally allowed to be employed, but there is still a caution that needs to be exercised.”“I thought it was a punishment when I was younger,” Kit admitted, “I was already a target for so much hate and discrimination for the color of my skin. Why did I need another reason to be targeted? Then the fucking hurricane came. People who look like me were called raiders and looters while people several shades lighter were just trying to survive despite how we were all doing the same thing,” Kit recalled, “I don’t think I’ve ever been on the safe side of any line.”“I am glad you’ve found your feet enough to sit on this Board,” Plo told him.“The Board’s diversity helped,” Kit admitted.“It’s changed a lot since my first year,” Plo replied, “Both in terms of backgrounds and in appearance.”“How much?” Kit asked, clearly looking for something brighter.“Well,” Plo considered his phrasing for a moment, “I was only the third one who wasn’t entirely white.”“The melanin distribution is much more representative now,” Kit recognized, “Seriously? Only the third?”“Somehow,” Plo confirmed, “The early-mid twenty-tens were still more worried about how the lowest ranks of a company appeared, not in merit of experience, both lived and learned."“That’s the kind way to put it,” Kit replied, “and yet still accurate.”“The more the Board - and the staff - makeup changes, the more we can actually carry out our mission,” Plo reasoned, “One of the things I like about this particular nonprofit is that everyone is eligible for help. Sexuality, gender, sober status, creed, family situation - none of that is grounds for rejection.”“The fact that there are nonprofits that do reject people for those reasons is one of the few anger-inducing things that stays somewhere within my mental focus,” Kit admitted.“Private businesses,” Plo replied like a swear.Bias was considered apolitical in the eyes of the law.Plo forced himself to relax his grip on the wheel. From the corner of his eye, he could see the worried look Kit was still giving him.They drove in silence for a while, let the weight of the entire interaction settle on their shoulders and in their bones.Eventually, they reached city limits.While the capital city was safer by virtue of being a large city, the barn side still hung in the back of both of their minds.–Oklahoma came and went without incident.Onto Utah.“I wonder what made Ki-Adi decide that Utah,” Kit mused.“Oh, uh,” Plo paused, “Look. Just…don’t ask him that.”“Oh dear.”“It turns out Utah’s laws do not live up to its reputation,” Plo explained, “Also don’t ask him which wife he’s actually married to.”“Who learned this the hard way?” Kit cringed.“A Board member who was not selected for another term,” Plo replied, “Not for the asking, but for the way he handled it afterwards. Not Ki-Adi.”Kit whistled, long and low.“Anything else I should know going in?” Kit asked, “He’s been incredibly private when I’ve met him.”“Because of the previous incident,” Plo replied, “Uh. Let me think. The family money comes from cattle ranching. Five wives, seven kids. Two have moved out. They live a few miles away from the ranch itself for reasons that have never quite been made clear despite the ranch having a homestead on it. If you mention any classical philosophy, he will go on about it for hours, though.”“Easy enough,” Kit replied, “How did this even come up?”“He mentioned he would be adding two more children to the family,” Plo explained, “One in September and one in January. The first question was How are you sure that’s when placement will be settled? The asker meant Adoption placement. Ki-Adi did not.”“I take it this was all at the annual Board meeting?” Kit guessed.“It very much was,” Plo confirmed, “There were certainly some internal reflections of just how far acceptance of others’ lifestyles went that day.”“What conclusion did you come to?” Kit asked.“As a gay man who survived Regan?” Plo almost laughed, “So long as it works for them and nobody’s harming anyone else, everyone’s relationships can take whatever shape they want to. I won’t tell anyone how to live their best lives, but I will tell anyone who tries to that they need to stop.”–Ki-Adi was nearly as reserved in his own home as he was at Board meetings.His wives, at least, offered Plo and Kit a warm welcome into their home.Plo had been wrong about the child count; there had been two more that Ki-Adi had not mentioned to the Board with another on the way. That he did not mention them, Plo feared, was a sign that he did not feel like it was safe for him to do so.The Board had work to do within itself as well as without.Utah, apparently, had one of the lowest poverty rates in the nation. While its food insecurity rates were higher than its poverty rates, those, too, were lower than the national average. The state did have a Task Force on Food Security that had a dedicated budget.Those numbers skewed much higher than the national average, however, when one looked at all non-white racial groups.“It is something most residents do not want to admit,” Ki-Adi explained, “which only exacerbates the problem.”An unaddressed problem was an unsolved one, after all.As the conversation wound its way forward, it became clear that Ki-Adi believed Utah, as a whole, needed a focus on education first. The overwhelmingly prevailing attitude across the state - moreso than others, he believed, was that if you worked hard and had large families so they could one day also work hard and make even more money, you would prosper; to leave your family in need was a personal failing.Some time well after dinner, Ki-Adi admitted that he used to think that way. He still did, for himself and his family, but he now understood that they had had a stable foundation to build on. He had inherited the ranch, after all. Not working hard to preserve the family legacy - in any generation - would be foolish.He explained, with great trepidation, that his third-eldest daughter had had to move back home after failing to secure a job after college. It took her years to mentally recover from the failure, and even then it had been one of her cousins suggesting finding a support group that had pulled her out of it, not anything he or his wives did for her.Plo, in turn, offered that he was supporting his Niece while she tried to find a job. She’d wanted to stay near the college she’d attended but when she graduated the dorm she’d spent four years in was - obviously - no longer an option, so she moved into a one-bedroom apartment whie she continued her search. Her high school friends had scattered to the winds, so being near her college friends who’d been local students was good for her.The upcoming generation was, truly, facing challenges unlike any their parents had.And so, the question became: How do we properly illustrate that just because something is going well for you and your family does not mean everyone can work their way into the same circumstances?The conversation eventually turned towards families.Ki-Adi’s children were all close with their cousins, even if they weren’t sure how they were related to all of them. His wives, too, were close with their families. His own father had passed when he was just shy of twenty, so he had been working on the ranch for over thirty years at this point.Kit told Ki-Adi - and Plo - that he had one brother and three sisters, all of whom were scattered around Louisiana. His mother was still alive, and they all tried to at least show up at her house for the major holidays. His brother never saw his kids. One sister had two and another had one; the third had decided that the other three siblings had had enough kids for the entire family. Kit described his own lack of children as a hangup in the biocompatibility department and Plo had nearly spat out his drink.As for Plo, Sha was the only family he had left. He had always had a small family, but not this small. Even then, for various reasons he had not been open to adding any more members - especially after he adopted Sha.“Will that change now that she has grown up?” Ki-Adi asked.“It may,” Plo granted and, oh, Kit’s smile was blinding.–Plo suspected he was going to become a fan of board games.It wasn’t that he didn’t like them. Quite the opposite: throughout his life, he’d enjoyed any chance he’d gotten to play them. The opportunity had simply been so infrequent that he played regularly that he had not given much thought to the level of enjoyment in the games themselves, choosing instead to focus on how he found the company.He’d played games with Sha, yes, but those had been children’s board games and then two-player video games and then sending each other screenshots of achievements in mobile games.Well. They’d tried Monopoly once, just after her twentieth birthday, but had had to stop when spring break was over and they were nowhere near done the game. They’d opted to not repeat the experience over the summer, and the box had been collecting dust ever since.The drive from Ki-Adi’s to Baltimore had been planned for four eight-hour driving days in a row with no stops being more than an overnight and a chance to stretch their legs. They weren’t taking the exact same route back east to try to break up the repetition.It seemed like a great idea until rain had removed their option to cross a bridge in a small town, so they had to turn around on a two lane road and find somewhere with a vacant room.They found one that had a Waffle House attached so they wouldn’t have to get rained on a third time - the first being to secure a room and the second being to grab a bag.Not that the Waffle House had been the deciding factor.When the young woman behind the desk had asked how many rooms they needed, Plo had answered one without thinking.Kit, the brilliant man that he was, had had the thought to quickly shove a few of the games into his backpack.“Waterproof,” Kit explained even as he took his shirt off to ring it out in the sink, “What a storm!”“Smart,” Plo complimented.“Yeah, well, there was a time where I was indifferent to the waterproofing status of my bags,” Kit replied, “How do you feel about Waffle House?”“I don’t think I’ve been to one since Sha convinced me to drive her and a few of her friends to one in the middle of the night,” Plo replied.“Chicago has a Waffle House?” Kit asked.“No,” Plo replied, “She put a lot of effort into the convincing.”“How far-” Kit started to ask.“It was an eight hour round trip,” Plo sighed, “I made her friends call their parents for permission so I wasn’t driving a bunch of fourteen year olds across state lines without their parents’ knowledge.”“That’s…” Kit laughed, “Wow.”“I figured I can make up for lost sleep,” Plo explained, “Memories can only be made once.”“What a memory,” Kit smiled.“They talked about it for years,” Plo replied, “Guess where they wanted to go for after-prom dinner three and a half years later?”“So you had a bunch of kids in prom outfits crammed into your car,” Kit guessed.“Absolutely not,” Po replied, “They were changing first if we were doing it again, and by the time they’d all gone home and changed they decided on a closer place.”“Teenagers can be mercurial,” Kit recognized.“While I am certain they would have had fun, there were enough of them that we needed at least one more driver,” Plo explained, “And two or three carfuls of outbound Seniors in their prom attire is going to make someone miserable. So instead of an outright no, they got enough time to think about it and talk among themselves.”“Mercurial,” Kit repeated, “Excellent thinking, though.”“I was seventeen-going-on-twenty-five once, too,” Plo replied, “Nobody could make a decision for me and every choice looked better than the last.”“Fortunate for them that you didn’t forget what that felt like,” Kit informed him, “Unrelated: Once we’re both in dry clothes we can decide if we’re eating first or getting a game out. Unless you plan on staying in those, of course.”“I probably shouldn’t,” Plo granted. They’d both been drenched by the storm; Plo was not looking forward to finding out just how waterproof the bag he brought was.It was still early for dinner, so they’d decided on games - a deck-building they hadn’t played yet but Kit had clearly played before.And, well.For the second time in his life, Plo found himself at a Waffle House at three in the morning.–The day after the water levels receded and the bridge was declared safe, they managed a ten-hour drive before they decided they needed to be off the road for the day. They had a seven-hour day ahead of them the next day barring they did not run into any more surprises.Those types of circumstances tended to be the ones where surprises were most likely to find you, and this one found Plo in the form of waking up with a migraine.He absolutely should not drive like this.What he wanted to tell Kit was: “I probably should have mentioned this earlier, but I occasionally get migraines. They are usually at night so I can sleep through them, if poorly, but this one showed up late and insists on staying. I’m terribly sorry, but we are going to need to stay here a little longer.”What actually came out was: “No moving yet.”“Plo?” Kit asked, worried.“Migraine,” Plo managed.“Ah,” Kit replied, “What do you need?”“Darkness,” Plo answered, “Sleep. Quiet.”“Alright,” Kit replied, “I, uh, I’m going to leave some water by the bed and then go get some food, if that’s alright?”“‘S fine,” Plo tried to assure him.Kit got ready for the day without turning the lights on and closed the door quietly behind him.–After much deliberation, Kit decided to text Sha with: Hi, Sha, it’s Kit. Not an emergency, but your uncle has a migraine and says sleep, dark, and quiet help. Is that all he does?Maybe a minute later, Sha texted back: Green tea. Salty snacks. A warm compress to his forehead. Excedrin migraine if you can convince him to take it. Black coffee once he’s done sleeping. Did he snap at you?Kit: Thank you. And, no, he did not.Sha: Thanks for telling me. He never does if I’m not there. Doesn’t want me to worry or whateverSha: He might snap. He’ll feel terrible about it afterwardsKit: I won’t hold it against him. Any green tea?Sha: The cheaper the better. I’ve tried to improve his tasteKit’s laugh startled him.Kit: And the salty snacks?Sha: Pretzels. Peanuts. Chicken or shrimp ramen, if you can convince him to eat it. Bonus if it’s the chili lime version of either, but he’ll never admit itKit: Easy enough.Sha: He usually sleeps through them and is just groggy the next daySha: Thanks for looking after himKit: Does anyone ever tell you that you type fast?Sha: Old.–Kit returned later - how much later Plo was unsure - and set something up as quietly as he could in the curtain-darkened room. He muttered something that sounded like an apology to Plo as he did, the room light still turned off.It wasn’t until Plo swore that he heard the sound of boiling water that he decided to try opening his eyes.“Sha says green tea helps,” Kit explained after Plo made some vague, confused sounds in Kit’s direction, “As well as - I couldn’t find the chili lime Ramen with any meat flavor, but she said chicken works?”“You called Sha?”“Texted,” Kit corrected, “She was incredibly helpful.”Likely more than she strictly needed to be.Plo was never going to hear the end of this.“Thank you,” Plo remembered his manners.“The plan was to make both and then try to see if you could get up long enough to get them in your system,” Kit explained, voice low and lights still off.“I can try,” Plo decided.He managed to sit up long enough to take the provided Excedrin and have maybe half the noodles and nearly the entire cup of tea before the fact the light that had made its way around the blackout curtains felt like a blow to the head.When the migraine had subsided enough that he could sit up and try to do more than stay in bed all day, Kit handed him a steaming cup of black coffee. It was bitter and closer to water than a proper brew courtesy of the hotel’s pre-measured coffee grounds packets, but in that moment it was perfect.Sha had, in fact, been more helpful than she strictly needed to be, and Kit, it turned out, had spared no effort in trying to make sure he could help.(Plo was thankful beyond measure for both of them.)He let himself take the remainder of the day slowly. This is how he would have handled things if he had been alone anyway, and Kit was far more concerned in making sure he was alright than he was in what there might be to do nearby.It wasn’t until it was time for the night’s sleep that Plo realized he didn’t even mind that Kit had taken his car.–When the alarm went off the next morning, Plo felt like himself again. The rest - and the care - had seen to that.He still grumbled as he turned off the alarm.“How are you feeling, Plo?” Kit asked even before he opened his eyes.“Much better,” Plo answered, “Thank you.”“Good,” Kit looked as relieved as he sounded.“Apologies if I scared you,” Plo added.“Sacred, no,” Kit replied, “Just…glad to be of help.”“You are extremely helpful, Kit,” Plo promised.Breakfast was what the hotel had on offer in the continental breakfast that had been included with the price of the room. It was the kind of meal that left you full but without the desire to seek out the flavors or textures again after you left.A perfectly forgettable meal, which was exactly what they had paid for.After breakfast, they backed up everything they’d brought in, gave the room a final check to ensure nothing had been left behind, and then went to check out.They were not the only guests who had decided to do the exact same thing at the exact same time and the hotel still checked everyone out manually, so they had a line to wait out.There were far worse things they could have been subjected to.Kit’s pinky brushed against Plo’s; Plo twined his around Kit’s with a small squeeze and a cautious smile.The line could take its time.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Three days later than expected, they arrived in Baltimore.The local chapter’s staff had been gracious enough to be flexible; the two of them would have tomorrow free followed by two days of volunteering with the local chapter before heading over to D.C. to meet with Anakin.Plo was thankful he had built in excessive buffer time; they were late to Baltimore, yes, but they were not currently looking at being late to anywhere else.THe hotel had been less flexible with rescheduling, which meant they'd opted to cancel the reservation entirely and see what was available when they got there.Which was how they ended up on a houseboat.“I’m a little surprised this was available,” Kit admitted as he set his bags down.“I imagine being literally on the water when it is still winter is less appealing than it will be in a few months,” Plo replied, “Even if the boat itself is heated.”“Shall we see the view from the top of the boat?” Kit asked.“Absolutely,” Plo replied.The top deck offered a stunning view of the harbor, the sheer volume of lights nearly taking the night away.“It is always easy for the lights and the excitement to blind you,” Plo knew all too well, “If this was all of the city, we wouldn’t be here.”“The class divide and the tourism initiative are wonderful partners in obscurification,” Kit agreed and complained at the same time, “Stay here, but only here. The rest of the city has nothing to offer you. People live here, though. It’s their city.”Echoes of his own city, Plo sensed.“Perhaps that is how we can fill any free time while we’re here,” Plo suggested, “See the rest of the city for ourselves.”“I like that plan,” Kit replied, “With one exception.”“Dinner tonight?” Plo guessed.“I want to shove food in my face from the first place we find,” Kit confirmed, “Come morning we can see about getting food to cook or something.”Which was how they wound up at a seafood restaurant that, if they had been granted the standard Board per diem for food, would have not been nearly covered.Plo’s text alert sound went off no fewer than ten times throughout the meal, but no calls came through.When they got back to the houseboat, Kit asked: “Is everything alright?”“Apparently there is a famous market in the city,” Plo told him once he’d read all of the messages, “There’s a spice and tea shop somewhere in there.”“Is there now?” Kit asked, “Was that all the messages?”“Sha wants me to pick some up,” Plo replied, “Would whatever market this is be alright to stop at?”“Tomorrow is currently wide open,” Kit hummed, “Patronizing local businesses seems like a good idea.”“And you call me terribly indulgent,” Plo smiled.“Says the man going to a market specifically for tea for his Niece,” Kit replied, teasing.“Do you mind if I call her?”“By all means,” Kit granted.“Thank you,” Plo replied before unlocking his phone.Sha picked up on the first ring.“Hey Sha. … Yes, we’re going to the market tomorrow. … Can you text me your list? … No, why would I have- … I am on a houseboat, Sha. … Sha, I am putting you on speaker,” Plo informed her before doing just that.“Hi Kit!” Sha chirped.“Hello, Sha,” Kit replied.Plo pulled up his notes app and told her: “Okay, now you can start giving me your list.”Sha started doing just that.“Hang on, how do you know what they have?” Plo asked when she was done.“They have a website,” Sha answered.“They have a-” Plo cut himself off, “And you want me to pick some up instead of ordering?”“You can smell them,” Sha replied, “They sound great, but what if the smell doesn’t match?”“You’re going to come get them from me,” Plo informed her.“Ugh, fine,” Sha sounded like she rolled her eyes, “How long are you two in Baltimore?”“Four days, but then we’re in D.C. for a week,” Plo told her.“I’ll take the train to D.C.,” Sha decided, “I’ll let you know when I have a ticket.”“I will retrieve you from the station,” Plo promised.“Or you can tell me where you’re staying and I can meet you there,” Sha replied, “D.C. has buses. And an entire train system.”“I’m not sure if the hotel room has the space for three,” Plo admitted, “Nor do I expect to be at any hotel late in the day.”“Just let me know,” Sha told him, “Thank you, Uncle.”“Of course, Sha,” Plo assured her, “We’ll keep each other updated.”“Always do,” Sha replied, “Love you.”“Love you, Sha,” Plo felt himself smile, “See you in a few days.”Sha ended the call.Kit’s text alert went off almost immediately.Plo only sighed.“A list of the best food stalls at the market,” Kit told him, “From your Niece.”“Oh so you get a list texted to you,” Plo shook his head.“Looks like there are some breakfast options,” Kit continued, “Or brunch, if we find ourselves inclined to sleep in. She included links.”“She included links,” Plo repeated, “I think she likes you better.”“I think she had the message waiting to send until she knew if we were going to the market,” Kit realized, “She’s a fast typist but I don’t think she’s that fast.”Right. Kit had texted her a few days ago. He would have already found out that Sha types faster than most people think.Plo’s text alert went off.“Apparently they also have sauces she wants me to pick up since she’s coming to retrieve them,” Plo read off, “I now have one list in two places.”“Send them both to me?” Kit suggested.Brilliant man, Kit.“I will,” Plo replied, “Thank you.”“You know, we have an electric kettle now,” Kit reminded him, “We could also get some teas if you wanted.”Again: Brilliant man, Kit.“We should pick some up,” Plo agreed. The ability to make tea on the road and feel secure that the thing making it was clean yet without cleaner residue sounded lovely.The rest of the evening was fairly short: Kit showered, they both went through their bags to see if there was anything they needed to retrieve from the car come morning, a round of Monopoly Deal - so much shorter than the board version despite having the same level of competition - was played, and then it was time to start thinking about sleep.Something Plo had noticed earlier but had not given as much consideration as it had needed: there was only one bed.There was a couch, yes, but a narrow one that would require very still side sleeping and Plo was fairly sure he was not capable of both at the same time.Even with recent developments, he could remain professional about this.“Come on,” Kit jerked his head towards the bed, “before the morning comes unreasonably early.”Or not.Against his better judgment, they were sharing the bed. At least for tonight, anyway.They’d re-evaluate in the morning if they needed to.–Plo had woken up first and he had woken up with one of Kit’s arms slung around him, warm. Comfortable.He had managed to extract himself without waking Kit and headed into the shower almost immediately. When he emerged, there was a cup of coffee waiting for him on the counter while Kit sipped at his own cup.They had a long day ahead of them, yes, but Plo found himself wanting to savor the morning.–It was easy to fall into a routine despite the short amount of time they would be here: spend all day doing, regroup at night with a notes exchange to take back to the rest of the Board, make dinner in the boat’s kitchen, collapse into bed before the couch accidentally became an option, repeat the following day.That Plo woke up with Kit’s arm around him every morning hadn’t changed, either; nor had the process of extracting himself to shower before Kit also woke up.They were set to leave today, though, and they weren’t expected in D.C. until closer to dinner. They had most of the day to kill.Which meant their budding routine was about to be pruned. Plo decided to let it go early, if with a bit of self-indulgence.He let himself lie there for a while, awake but lazing, Kit’s arm still over him.Kit woke up before he moved.“Morning,” Kit managed to get across despite half the letters being swallowed by the lingering effects of sleep.“Good morning,” Plo replied.Kit made a pleased noise and moved a little closer to Plo, close enough that Kit’s chest pressed against Plo’s upper back and his arm braced him properly instead of simply draped over him.Plo shifted so he could wrap a hand around Kit’s forearm to keep him there. He could feel his heart pick up the pace, but the rest of him felt…at peace.He did, eventually, need to get up to shower.Kit was still waiting for him with a cup of coffee.They decided to clean out the rental and get food on the road.“Even stopping for food, we are going to be extremely early,” Plo noted as he got the map pulled up, “but I fear if we find something to do here, we will be late.”“What if we avoid highways?” Kit suggested.“Less early,” Plo replied once he had an answer.A longer, more scenic route it was.–The scenic route was still more buildings and neighborhoods than it was trees, but it was indeed more scenic than the highways would have been.“While I imagine the highways are just as tree-lined as the last time I was here, it’s still a lot of concrete and tops of trees peeking over walls and not much else,” Plo told Kit, “The concrete here is at least distributed over a wider surface area.”“When was the last time you went to D.C.?” Kit asked.“The mid-eighties,” Plo answered.“That’s around the last time I was in D.C., actually,” Kit replied, “School trip.”“I was here for a protest,” Plo replied.“A protest,” Kit repeated.“I was young and angry once,” Plo replied, “Now I’m old and more content with indirect action.”“Which is why you were the first one to volunteer to take this trip,” Kit half-teased.“Some old habits die hard,” Plo supposed, “I survived Regan. A lot of my friends did not.”“Why do I feel like you would have been at the Vietnam War protests, too?” Kit asked.“The Vietnam War was over before I legally learned how to drive and I wasn’t bold enough to find out what happened if I tried to drive myself to the protests despite that,” Plo replied, “I like to think I would have been there if I’d had the means, though.”“I have no doubts about that,” Kit replied.Silence, for a bit; the type that settled into the lining of your skin and made itself at home there even as the scenery blurred by.Even still, having it shattered was a gentle happening.“Do you ever think about the difference between the life we live and the one we leave behind?”“I think that who we are is a culmination of all that we experience,” Plo tried put the words together carefully, “and I think that who we’re remembered as being is how that culmination interacts with those around us.”Their stories would be told long after they were gone and there wasn’t a thing anyone could do about that.What was in their control was the outline they left behind.–Despite the stops they made and the fact avoiding highways nearly doubled the travel time, they were still earlyBesides stopping for brunch, they’d stopped twice for photos and once because they made the mistake of noticing the same pastry shop at a particularly long red light and asking each other if they thought it was any good.(It was more than good, and a bit of a shame their backtracking would not see them returning.)They had time to kill, though, before Anakin said he would be off work. Not enough to leave the area entirely and get something done, but too much to simply wait outside the house.“It looks like there’s a hiking trail a block and a half away,” Kit told Plo.A hike, even a short one, sounded fantastic.Plo let Anakin know they were early but would be taking a walk so not to rush before he and Kit set off.It was a fairly flat, well-maintained trail - paved but with clear wear marks that were patched periodically. It was still far too early for the trees to bud, so the view of a small waterway that was too small to be the river. Plo would look it up later, though. He had scenery and company to enjoy for now.Anakin was home by the time they got back; so was his wife, Padme.They both apologized profusely for making them wait.“It’s alright, we were early,” Plo tried to assure them.The four of them sat in the living room to try to figure out what the next several days would look like.It was no small secret that Anakin was on the Board because his wife wanted him to be. It wasn’t that he didn’t care - he did, greatly - but that his wife cared more.As for why she did not try to serve on the Board for herself, well…“It’s been legal for Senators to be involved in nonprofits for over a decade,” Anakin reminded her.“Legal, yes, but still used to attack candidats during campaigns,” she Padme replied, “Which, while my political career could survive that, I refuse to risk the harm it could do to the nonprofit.”“I really need to familiarize myself with a number of domestic policies,” Kit realized.“Serving on a nonprofit Board as a Senator is more nuanced than it’s legal,” Padme replied, “But I could, legally, serve on the same Board as all three of you so long as I minded a number of stipulations.”“Agency liaisons within nonprofits are common, though,” Anakin argued.“When the mission of the nonprofit in question aligns with the Agency’s objectives and the appointee has appropriate experience,” Padme replied.This was clearly a discussion-fight they’d had before and would have again.The plans for the day - the few hours left of it, anyway - became: dinner out somewhere, finish exchanging notes while Padme picked the twins up from the sitter, and then call it a night. A late night, likely; Anakin and Padme both had to be up in time to drop the twins off at preschool so they had to be mindful of that, but they would be here for a while yet. There was plenty of time to finish if tonight was too short.(Of course Plo’s Niece was welcome to stop by. They could work around that, no problem. Especially if she came on a weekday.)They would figure out the rest of the days one and two at a time.–There had not been much time at all before dinner, but after dinner Anakin promised that he’d stay up as late as Kit and Plo needed him to. The gesture was a promising one, but they had over a week before they absolutely needed to be on the road again and the city had no shortage of things to do. If they needed to work around Anakin’s work schedule, they would.The twins - Luke and Leia - were a pair of four-year-olds who were an absolute delight, if united in a war against bedtime.Once they were in bed and the chances of getting interrupted dropped, the conversation turned much more serious.“This is supposed to be the heart of the nation, and yet the needs of its most vulnerable citizens remain unaddressed,” Anakin explained like a curse, “Not that we aren’t one of dozens of well-organized groups trying to do something about it, but it feels like all we’re doing is spitting on a house fire.”Plo immediately tucked that phrase away for later use.Exactly how long they went on like that, he couldn’t say. Anakin was passionate to the point of being willing to burn himself up from the inside to keep those around him warm. He understood the need to track statistics and pennies and hours, but as far as he was concerned focusing on those risked losing sight of the fact there were real people on the other side of those numbers.“Sorry, Anakin, two minutes?” Padme requested from the doorway.Anakin looked at Plo and Kit, apologetic.“Go,” Plo told him, “Is everything alright?”“Oh, yes, everything’s fine,” Padme assured him, “It’s just that the babysitter called out for tomorrow and it’s too late to find a new one tonight.”“Ah, shit. It’s well after eleven. We’re going to have to find one in the morning,” Anakin realized, “One of us is going to have to be late for work.”“Which is why I asked for two minutes,” Padme informed him.“We could watch them,” Plo offered.The couple exchanged a look before Anakin replied: “If you’re sure you don’t mind. They’re in school from eight to twelve-thirty.”“We don’t mind at all,” Kit assured them.It took some rearranging of things in the car, but they got both car seats secured and made sure that anything that was not attached to the car was out of reach.“If you can just keep them busy until one of us gets home,” Padme requested, “They’re four. What holds their attention changes by the hour.”“If you’re lucky,” Anakin laughed.“Where are you two staying?” Padme asked.“Uh,” Kit hesitated, “Plo?”The thing was: they had a hotel they were supposed to check into. Plo had booked it months ago. He’d just…forgotten about it.“We haven’t checked in yet, but we have a hotel downtown,” Plo answered.“This late?” Padme asked.Plo and Kit could only really shrug about that. This was well out of character for Plo and he knew it, but he’d been distracted.“We have a guest room,” Padme offered, “Just the one, I’m afraid, but it would save you from having to try to navigate D.C. at night.”Plo and Kit looked at each other, shrugged again, and Kit answered: “If you don’t mind.”The room had a single queen bed, just like the houseboat.This time, though, after they crawled into bed and settled, Kit put an arm around Plo almost immediately.–Since hotel check-in wasn’t until well after the twins’ school day ended, Plo and Kit opted for a late, leisurely brunch with a close eye on the time.“So,” Kit said as he picked at what was left of his hashbrowns, “I was thinking.”“Well that explains why you have food left,” Plo teased.“I never said I was a multitasker,” Kit reminded him, a smile playing at his features, “So we just have to keep the twins busy until - what, six?”“Thereabouts,” Ple confirmed, “What were you thinking?”“So we’re going to need to feed them at least once,” Kit reasoned, “Beyond that, it’s a nice day. The zoo is open.”“We can see how much time we can kill there,” Plo replied, “I’m starting a group chat with Padme and Anakin to make sure that’s alright.”“Good call,” Kit replied.Not only was it okay, they were assured the twins would love it.Before they picked them up, Kit dug his camera out of his bags.–The zoo was fun, if exhausting for all four of them. Leia had a meltdown about halfway through because she wasn’t allowed to pet the tigers and the toucans scared Luke badly enough there was a chance a lifelong fear had just been born.It was nothing a ride on the carousel and some chicken fingers with fries couldn’t fix, though.“I think this works for all ages,” Plo told Kit quietly as they watched the twins get more catsup on the table than their food, “Hot, fried meat and starch.”“Given that I went for a burger and you’re having a chicken sandwich, yes,” Kit replied.Plo chuckled and nudged Kit with his shoulder.“We are using so many napkins to clean this up,” Kit realized.“You might be surprised,” Plo replied, “Catsup tends to stay in a glob. It’s mustard that takes any attempt to clean it up as permission to spread itself as thin as possible.”“I take it this is hard-won knowledge.”“Would you believe this phase comes back during the teenage years?”“Why do I feel like the renaissance comes with deliberate shapes?” Kit laughed.“Presumably because you’ve taken at least one history class,” Plo answered.“In that case you’re thinking about art deco,” Kit informed him, “The Renaissance was more about entire figures.”“I like shapes!” Luke announced, “My favorite is a circle!”“Mine is a star!” Leia added.“Both very good shapes,” Plo replied.Children truly were sponges, ready to absorb anything and everything they experienced.–It was easy to see why Anakin was so frustrated by the state of things in the city he called home.The afternoon at the zoo with the twins had been charming. Quaint, almost. The streets had been lined with trees and the sidewalks were even enough to be considered accessible.That was not where the work they were there to do was.Plo and Kit did not ask why anyone needed help, just what kind of help they needed.Money. A tent patch kit. Socks. Something warm to eat. For the city to stop bulldozing encampments. Someone to replace the ceiling in their apartment. Their water turned back on. A safe injection site. Water filters to get the lead out of their drinking water. Their landlord held responsible for repairs. Work. A few asked for drugs, but that they could neither provide or point them towards.There was no judgment for trying to survive, though.One particularly memorable man asked for exactly three band-aids, an empty cup, and if they had any peanuts.“I wonder what the peanuts were for,” Kit said on their way back to the hotel.“I would presume eating,” Plo replied.“With three band-aids and an empty cup?”“See, it’s the three band-aids that I’m going to remember,” Plo told him, “What does he plan on doing that needs exactly three?”“Now I’m going to be asking myself that for a while,” Kit replied.“Exactly three,” Plo muttered.“There is never a dull day in this field,” Kit laughed as Plo parked the car.“There truly is something to be said for being in the field instead of attending meetings from the comfort of our living rooms,” Plo agreed.“Shower and then head over for dinner?” Kit asked with a particularly long stretch.“Sounds like a plan,” Plo replied.Showers were quick; the drive back to Anakin and Padme’s was stop-and-go in rush hour traffic.They decided to order food to avoid trying to find somewhere that had enough seating for four adults and two toddlers without reservations.While they waited, they made small talk. (Larger talk would wait until the kids had been put to bed.)“What are your plans for the rest of your stay here?” Padme asked.“Sha - my Niece - is visiting tomorrow for the day,” Plo answered, “Then two more days of volunteering, a day with nothing planned, and then we’re on the road again.”“What’s your next stop?” Anakin followed up.“Vegas,” Kit answered, “and the head of that chapter, Cin Drallig.”“I’ve heard of him and seen his name on email chains,” Anakin replied, “I have yet to actually interact with him.”“He’s good at what he does,” Plo replied, “Vegas has one of the lowest staff-to-client ratios and yet some of the highest ratings.”Cin had once been described as as hard as the desert that raised him. While Plo could see it, he wasn’t sure he entirely agreed with the sentiment. There had to be a genuine, very alive kindness there, too, for him to do the work he did for decades and still be revered for the way he did it.He would find out in a week, give or take.Until then, his focus was on the D.C. chapter and its needs.One city at a time.–Sha and Plo had, ultimately, opted to meet at the train station and decide where they were going from there. Sha told him that he had to bring Kit; this was, apparently, non-negotiable.Plo was nervous. Sha was, beyond question and beyond doubt, the most important person in his life. She would be until the day he died. That said: he wasn’t sure how he’d take it if she and Kit didn’t get along.He really needed to sort himself out over this.Later. He’d sort himself out…later.Really, he would.Sha saw him first, yelled for him, and all but tackled him with a hug.Plo returned the gesture, just held her for a minute; it had been far too long; they would have to meet up at least once more through the road trip.“Missed you, kid,” he told her.“Missed you, old man,” she replied.When they let go, Sha turned her attention to Kit almost immediately.“You must be Kit,” Sha held out a hand.“And you must be Sha,” Kit replied as he shook her hand, “It’s good to meet you.”“You, too,” Sha smiled, “So. Where are we going?”“You’re the list maker,” Plo replied.“One of the art galleries it is,” Sha decided.One art gallery became two, and then a late lunch, and then a play and by the time they realized Sha missed her train Kit offered to see if the hotel had a cot or something so none of them had to sleep on the floor and Sha smiled with far too many teeth showing before accepting the offer.The three of them had breakfast in the hotel lobby the next morning before seeing her off.Plo missed her already. Sending her to college had been the hardest good-bye and none of them since had felt so near to drowning, but they were still never easy.“You raised her well,” Kit told him.“I did my best,” Plo replied.His best had been enough, though, and Sha was going to be just fine.–Sha: Made it home just fine. Napped on the train. Didn’t miss my stop.Plo: Somehow I wasn’t worried about that last part until you said somethingSha: Your boyfriend’s nicePlo: We are on the same Board, Sha, not datingSha: Yet.Plo: Don’t start using proper punctuation with me, young ladySha: Okay, fineSha: Your fellow Board member you happen to be sharing a one-bed hotel room with is niceSha: Didn’t you book everything like three months before you started out?Plo: Yes, and a month and a half before Kit offered to accompany me. Most hotel rooms charge less for two bedsShe’d fill in the rest: that most reservations had a second bed already. That he hadn’t remembered that one several months in proved to be an exception.She would likely guess that he didn’t mind, though. The thing about raising someone was while, if you did it right, you knew them well, they tended to come to know you just as well.Sha: Well I certainly don’t hear either of you complainingPlo: Sha.She wasn’t wrong, but she was still being incredibly presumptuous.Sha: Alright, alright. No need to start using proper punctuation with me, eitherPlo: Love you, kidSha: Love you, old man–The next two days of volunteering did not see anyone as memorable as the three band-aids guy, but still came with plenty of stories of unmet needs and systems whose cracks were chasms in far, far too many cases.Plo and Kit were but visitors to their struggles and their city alike. There was only so much they could do, but that would not stop them from doing what they could everywhere they went.Kit spent his last day in the city seeking out its older stonework to photograph. Buildings with personality, he called it.Plo followed him around, perfectly content to watch Kit get lost in the process.They had one last dinner with Anakin and his family before spending one last night in the little hotel room.They left early in a bid to avoid the worst of rush hour traffic, a cup of coffee snagged from the lobby and the vague idea of stopping for real food once they were clear of the city. They had a long day of driving ahead of them and while Plo had no problem considering the GPS’ estimated arrival time as a challenge, getting caught in traffic was going to put him at a disadvantage in meeting said challenge.They were rewarded with getting to watch the sunrise over low-lying foothills that the four-lane highway cut through, a gentle bit of life shining over the winter’s dead.At least: they had about five minutes of that feeling until Plo had to put the visor down.Even then, he had the feeling that their next adventure was well underway.
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They made it as far as Nashville before Plo decided that was enough driving for one day.One of their fellow Board members - Stass, who fell somewhere towards the shorter end of the middle of in terms of time served - lived on the outskirts somewhere, but they weren’t meeting her in any official capacity for months yet.Plo mentioned as much to Kit as they settled in their hotel room.“Do you drink?” Kit replied to this information.“I do.”“We can see if she wants to meet for drinks or another form of social call,” Kit suggested, “It doesn’t all have to be business.”“It’s worth a shot,” Plo decided.They had been on the road for nearly twelve hours after all the stops they’d made but it was still within reasonable dinner hours, which meant reasonable drink hours would roll on for a while yet.While Kit sorted out whether or not they were meeting Stass somewhere, Plo took the opportunity to try to stretch out the aftereffects of sitting for so long.“Having fun over there?” Kit asked.“More trying to side-step the potential complications that come with doing what I did in my twenties some forty years later,” Plo huffed, “Despite the complications getting old tends to bring, I do recommend it.”“I don’t think I’ve seen you stretch before,” Kit realized.“Usually you’re in the shower almost as soon as we get in,” Plo pointed out, “Or we’re both too tired to do anything more than go to sleep.”“I don’t hear many people recommend getting old,” Kit informed him.“Which is a shame,” Plo replied, “There are complications and limitation that come with age, yes, but the alternative is dying young and that’s just a fucking waste.”“That is,” Kit paused, “not what I usually hear about the process.”“The whole die young and leave a beautiful corpse mentality overlooks the fact any beauty left behind is tarnished by the hideousness of the decades unlived,” Plo nearly snarled, “I understand that some cases cannot be helped for more reasons than I have time to list, but to treat your life as if its meaning has an expiration date because the fear of what the future will bring your body? Nothing about the future is guaranteed, for better and for worse.”Plo was quite suddenly done stretching, the muscles in his back and shoulders especially making an effort to tense up. He got to his feet again and tried to make them settle through will alone.“I didn’t mean to upset you,” Kit told him, apologetic.“It isn’t you,” Plo tried to assure him, “I’m sorry.”Kit’s smile vanished completely but he stepped forward to embrace Plo - more than a hug, a thing to comfort, to crush, to say I understand all at once.Plo let himself bury his face in Kit’s shoulder for a moment, returned the gesture with a heavy sigh that was meant to feel cleansing but only served to make the weight of everything more evident.“It’s refreshing to hear someone recommend getting old,” Kit told him, “I can’t say I’m much of a fan of the alternative.”If Plo wasn’t at least a little in love with him already, he would be by the time their trip was over.–Not only was Stass available for a social call, she was quite thankful for it.“Everything has been work lately,” she complained, “It was starting to feel like I’d never be able to step out from under it.”She’d picked the place - a little dive bar with live music and the type of bathrooms people took pictures of because they were interesting. Some of the tables appeared to predate Plo, which was both alarming and impressive.He’d been taken to a punk bar, once, back in eighty-seven and this…this wasn’t that but it was definitely a cousin, separated by time and distance but no less drawing from the same root system for it.This was very much where people came to shake who their daily lives expected them to be. A chance to reconnect with who they thought they’d become, for the more daring among the small crowd.True to the spirit of the place, they talked about everything besides work.Stass’ main complaint that wasn’t work was that it wasn’t worth going to see movies in theaters anymore; the tickets seemed to increase in price at least twice a year and if you just waited a little while they’d be on one of the streaming services anyway.The community aspect of it was gone, though. There was something about sharing an hour and a half with dozens if not hundreds of strangers and then all parting ways that didn’t feel like it was worth the price of a ticket anymore - especially with more and more people feeling like they could have their phones out in the purposely dark room.“I’m going to try some of those little, you know, indie film festivals,” she told them, “Sure, they’re more expensive than a movie ticket but there’s supposed to be an atmosphere there that’s worth the price.”So Stass was an experience chaser. Plo hadn’t known that about her. It had never come up.How much could the Board, as a whole, benefit from knowing each other as people instead of just as fellow Board members.“Hey,” Kit nudged Plo’s shoulder with his own.Right. No work tonight.Kit would just know.“I can’t say I’ve been to a film festival,” Plo offered.“What experiences are your favorites?” Stass asked, “Both of you.”“Alone? Hiking,” Plo answered, “With others?” he needed to consider for a moment, “Anything worth telling someone who wasn’t there for whatever happened about it.”“A storyteller, then,” she assessed, “What about you, Kit?”“Anything that lets me connect with who and what’s around me on more than a surface level,” Kit replied, “Photography. Board games. Deep discussions. Watching someone else get lost in what they’re doing.”“I love that,” Stass lit up, “You two match up well.”“Yeah,” Kit agreed with a smile, “We do.”–They were going to make it to Oklahoma City (again) before they needed to stop for the night.They both braced themselves for the fucking barn side; having been unwilling to memorize exactly where it was, they wound up bracing for miles and miles, the flat road offering them an even horizon to try to spot it at a decent distance.They nearly missed it entirely on account of someone having burned it down.It may have been an accident, sure, or even a lightning strike, but Plo doubted it.“I am thankful I don’t have to look at it again,” Kit was the first to say something.Plo agreed. Of course he did.But.After a few miles of silence, Kit asked: “Plo?”“I am afraid that the days where destroying something like that was a promise that we weren’t going away are behind us,” Plo tried to explain, “That it’s just a threat, now, that those who agreed with the message will take to mean their rights are under threat, not as a message to those who actually hold the power to change things that we won’t go quietly if we have to go at all.”“Blocking highways used to be understood as a sign that something needed to give,” Kit offered, “Now it’s seen as a nuisance at best.”Kit understood. Of course he did.They matched up well.–Kit had taken to touching Plo at every possible juncture. Not strictly friendly touching, no, but also not pushing Plo in one direction or another. A hand just above his hip as they passed each other in narrow points of the hotel room. A hand on his back as he reached around Plo to grab something. A grab of the hand or the forearm to get his attention.It wasn’t that Plo minded. Quite the opposite, really. It was just……just…No, not just. It was a lot of things: how long it had been since Plo had tried to sort something like this out; the fact this was still a prolonged work trip; the fact they lived in entirely different states; the fact if this didn’t work, they still had the rest of the trip to finish.Part of him screamed at him for his hypocrisy. The future held no guarantees. For better. For worse. For everything in-between, which tended to encompass the overwhelming majority of moments. There was no sense in leaving stretches of life unlived because of what may happen.So why was he unable to reciprocate despite how much he wanted to? Why, when Kit was giving every signal that he wanted something deeper than a working relationship, was Plo holding back?He really needed to figure this out.For both their sakes.–D.C. to Vegas by car in three days, while doable, was probably not the most advisable push, but breaking it up into four when they didn’t have to and hadn’t made time to do more than stop for the night seemed tedious.After three days straight of long haul driving, though, if Plo was relatively idle long enough to do something like check into the hotel or try to unpack part of the car, his momentum levels were going to try to cap themselves at that speed.Better to meet Cin first and see what work they could do before calling it a night.Cin met them outside of a church-run help center. Not one of theirs, then, but there were enough mission overlaps that Plo could take a guess as to why Cin was there.Cin was not a tall man. Not short, either, but certainly not of the height where one stood above a crowd. There was not really anything remarkable about his appearance, either, save for his long hair swept back in a way that stayed out of his face, and yet it was obvious that he’d earned his reputation of being a stern, hardened individual.“Terrible time to get a first impression, dinner,” Cin told them, “Or maybe the best time, if you’re willing to look at the sheer volume of need head-on.”“I would rather not shy away,” Plo replied.It must have been the right answer, because the hard lines on Cin’s face gave way to what may have been laugh lines years ago for a moment.“Come on, then,” Cin waved them in, “We have mouths to feed and not nearly enough volunteers behind the serving counters.”They were placed next to each other, Cin between Kit and Plo, told how much of the vat or large steam tray of food in front of them to put on each plate, and told to brace themselves for doors open.“Look at that line,” Cin kept his voice low as people began filing in, “Most of them have kids. Or grandkids. Or the neighbor’s kids that they’re trying to keep out of the system. Some of them have elderly parents they can’t afford proper care for and the state’s only got so many doctors they can send out in a timely fashion.”“What happens to those who aren’t here?” Kit asked.“Either whoever’s in line eats part of a meal and takes the rest home or they go hungry,” Cin answered, “If there’s any left we’ll take it to those we can, but that’s almost never.”There was something in Cin’s voice that told Plo there were nights where they had to turn people away because they had nothing left to give. That time and time alone separated those who ate from those who had to try to go to sleep hungry.They did not run out of food that night; those who were directly affiliated with the Church would distribute the rest.“Come on,” Cin jerked his head in the general direction of the exit door.Unsure of exactly where they were going, Plo and Kit followed anyway.“We’re at the tail end of the strip here,” Cin explained as they walked, “Every decadence you could possibly imagine and several you’ve never considered are to the south. Everyone who’s just trying to get by is concentrated within a reasonable distance of that. Hope you’re up for a bit of a walk.”“Walking is no problem,” Plo promised.“Similarly no problem,” Kit echoed, “Where are we going?”“Denny’s,” Cin answered, “I’ve been on my feet for fifteen hours and missed lunch. You’re here to talk numbers and I’m doing it over some of the most overdressed chain food in walking distance.”Denny’s it was, then.“I can’t say I expected anyone from the Board to be willing to get their hands dirty,” Cin admitted as they walked.“I know there are several who sit on the Board who prefer a more hands-off approach,” Plo admitted in kind, “Personally, I have always believed that the best way to understand what is and isn’t working is to get in the middle of it and see where you’re pointed first.”Cin stared at Plo, then, made direct eye contact with enough intensity that he may well have been trying to determine the shape of Plo’s very soul. Plo stared back, let Cin look for whatever it was he was hunting for.“Yeah, you’ve lived it,” Cin told him as broke eye contact and turned towards Kit, “What about you? Why are you here?”“Well, quite honestly my lease was up at the same time Plo was going to start on this trip and I offered to keep him company,” Kit answered, “It sounded like a noble but potentially lonely endeavor. There’s plenty left undone in New Orleans - my city - that I’m not going to get done in my lifetime. It hasn’t stopped me from trying. Sometimes you need to shake things up, though, you know?”“How long have you lived in New Orleans?” Cin asked.“My entire life.”“Ah so you,” Cin cut himself off, managed to hum under his breath, decided on, “You know, too, then.”“That we’re all one disaster away from being written off as a lost cause?” Kit’s laugh was a wry one, “I mean, yeah. It doesn’t even have to be a natural disaster. An accident, a lost job, a house fire.“You don’t sound like it,” Cin informed him.“Code switching,” Kit replied, “Most of the country isn’t ready to look at deeds over words and I got tired of it.”Kit has his own walls he’d built to survive because that’s how surviving worked; this was the first time Plo was seeing what they’d been built from.Cin made a noncommittal noise before he replied: “So long as the work’s authentic, you’re free to guard yourself to survive however you need to. There are worse ways to do it.”They walked in relative silence for a bit, the sound of the city acting as true silence’s proxy.The Denny’s was…unlike any Plo had either seen or heard of, and yet exactly how Cin had described it now that he’d seen it for himself.“Let me guess: What’s the Director of the Vegas chapter doing serving dinner for another nonprofit?” Cin asked as they sat down.“There are no restrictions on what you do outside of work,” Plo reminded him.“There haven’t been enough hands to reach back to those looking for a hand up for generations,” Cin explained anyway, “And all of us - the nonprofits, the churches, the random individuals with cash to burn and no desire to have any oversight about how they spend it but still have some altruism left - we’re all paddling up shit’s creek together. You lend an oar and you’re more likely to get one when yours breaks.”The Vegas chapter was far from the only chapter to have made a habit of networking with other area nonprofits. They were, as far as Plo knew, the only one with the Director doing so.“In some circumstances, a shared burden is a lighter burden,” Plo reasoned, “In others it’s in exercise in commiseration with no lasting weight distribution.”“Because there’s no change in the weight we all carry,” Cin replied, “For every recipient we get into emergency housing or rehab or on SNAP there are two more getting in line. But it’s not about how we carry the weight. It’s about what we can do in spite of it. Do you two know what you’re going to order?”Neither of them did, so relative silence settled again while they decided what was going to serve as dinner.Some small talk filtered in between the deciding and their orders being taken - where Plo and Kit were staying, how long they planned on being in town, where they were headed after this.After their orders were taken, Cin told them: “Look. I know the Vegas chapter has abysmal numbers.”“And yet some of the most positive feedback from those you help,” Plo replied, “It’s more than raw data, Cin.”Cin relaxed a little, the tension in his shoulders looking less likely to pull a muscle.“Everything I do is one less thing my staff have to find time for,” Cin told them, “There’s never enough of us, I know. But it’s been five years straight where we’ve been expected to do more for the community and while there have been cost of living adjustments we haven’t been able to add any more staff. There hasn’t been time to do more than the bare minimum fundraising, and even then: what do tourists care?”“Usually, far less than they believe they do,” Kit answered, “They’re sold an experience. They won’t buy into anything they didn’t pay for.”“It’s always about the numbers,” Cin complained, “On the strip. Wins. Acceptable losses. Calculated risks. Our work. Money in. Money out. People served.”A few more bites of food, followed by a caution:“You can’t rely on data alone to give you a complete picture. Data has its place, sure, but there are still going to be countless - literally - people who are as good as invisible to the system for one reason or another. Don’t even get me started on multi-generational homes where he combined incomes disqualifies them from any federal or state assistance but they can’t afford to put the kids in daycare and pay the bills so they let the oldest members of the family watch the kids knowing full well those kids are reliant on themselves until someone gets home for work.”Cin cut himself off with a muter growl, sighed, and tried again.“It’s the best they can do, and still better than a lot of the other options. It’s not the fault of anyone in that mess.”“It isn’t,” Plo agreed, “Nor is it a reflection on their worth.”“Most of the people in that line tonight are working,” Cin told them, “They’re working their asses off - often multiple jobs - and yet they’re struggling to put food on the table. Bunch of them got fucked over after accepting a promotion. Absolutely despicable, that giving one of your employees a different title and a few pennies more an hour makes them go hungry.”Plo wasn’t quite sure he followed the mechanics of that one and that was a knowledge gap that they needed to fix.“It’s a shitty dilemma and there’s no way to win regardless of what you choose,” Cin must have sensed his confusion, “Take the promotion, get another fifteen cents an hour pre-tax, get the better title. Maybe thirty cents. Fifty, if you’re really lucky. Or you refuse the promotion and keep your SNAP. The thing about the raise, post-tax, is even with the best-case one that’s, what, an extra thirty bucks a month if you’re getting scheduled for a full forty post-tax? SNAP for one is two hundred. The raise isn’t making up for that. And, what? You go hungry for who knows how long and try to find somewhere else that’ll hire you for a full three bucks more an hour to make up for what you lost? And that’s if you just have yourself to support. Some take that chance, though, and that adds more to the line.”“Even if they aren’t working, they are no less deserving of food,” Kit noted.“That is downright abysmal,” Plo felt his lips curl into a snarl for a moment, “And systemic.”“Can’t have a manager or a shift lead you pay so little that they require food stamps,” Cin’s face did the same thing, “And if it isn’t SNAP they lose, it’s some other form of assistance that the raise doesn’t make up for. Ever met someone who got evicted because they became a manager?”“Unfortunately,” Kit replied, “And then there are a few who prove to be the exception if for no other reason than to be able to point to them and say: No, no, look. It’s perfectly possible to thrive here. Everyone else is doing something wrong.”“And there isn’t a damned thing we can do to change it,” Cin agreed, “All we can do is, pardon the metaphor, but throw liferafts to the drowning and hope it’s enough to keep their heads above water while they reel themselves in.”Plo had made his money in stocks, but he’d taken all of the science classes required to graduate in a time where lab safety was a little less closely monitored throughout the lesson. It hadn’t been in his class, but this one student - he’d turned up his burner way too high and created a tall column of fire so white-hot through most of it that it was invisible if you weren’t looking closely. He’d put his arm right through it and only realized his mistake when the pain set it. It had been all the school talked about for weeks and in the decades since he had wondered off and on how it was possible to miss something that hot until it was too late to avoid getting burned.He was currently having dinner with the human version of the mishandled burner that changed how classes were run for his entire school.It wasn’t that Cin was hardened; it was that his passion for what he was doing burned so hot that it was all he was made of. A white-hot fire in the desert, unwilling to look away from the ugliest parts of trying to make a difference.Their food arrived, an emergency shutoff to the gas line. Despite how hungry all three of them were, it was a shame.The thing about shutoff valves, though, is that they can be reset.“We have our problems,” Cin acknowledged between bites, “Moreso than some cities, sure. But for every main problem we’re facing, we have ten, twenty, fifty opinion pieces by out-of-towners who’ve never experienced anything worse than someone cutting them off in traffic telling the rest of the world that Vegas is a dangerous city full of criminals and dropouts and whores. And people look at that and call it an unbiased review and those who need the help are pushed further to the side by this twisted romanticism of what they want to think of as depravity cultivating itself in the shadow of greed.”And there it was again.“This is a city built by laborers on top of stolen land,” Cin continued, very nearly spat, “So is the rest of the country. Vegas has the misfortune of being famous for the power that built it after the laborers laid the foundation, and I think that will always taint any efforts to illustrate why those who actually live here deserve to be treated like they’re still people.”“These are the things that aren’t covered in the required-for-five-oh-one-c-three status maintenance reports that help us understand where the support is most needed,” Plo told him in a way that he hoped sounded like thank you.”“You should stay on the strip for at least a night,” Cin told them, “Everyone should get to experience it, if for no other reason than to understand how hard it is to hold a mirror up to those who are just passing through. Also the hotel you booked has a bedbug problem that they try to keep quiet.”Plo was quite glad they hadn’t had time to check in yet.“Stay on the strip, after all that?” Kit asked, one eyebrow raised.“Go be tourists,” Cin told them, “You’re Board. You live and breathe the mission and its meaning. Even a filter crafted to look for the places people are slipping through the cracks is a filter. Go remind yourselves what apathy looks like when it has a powerful tourism board encouraging it.”–
Go be tourists.
Remind yourselves what apathy looks like when it has a powerful tourism board behind it.
They seemed like mutually exclusive instructions, but Plo could at least try.There had been a room directly on the strip available with no notice. Several, actually, and they all were priced like they were implementing a tax on the impulse booking alongside the room fees.They checked in, decided to get their bags out after they’d been tourists for a bit, checked that the room keys worked, and set out again.“I do enjoy a night under lights meant to dazzle,” Plo admitted, “The knowledge that several people are losing more money in a single bet than some of our offices see in a year, not as much.”“Seeing the world through the eyes of those who have yet to learn can be exhausting,” Kit agreed, “We can find a way to get out of our own heads for a night or two, though.”Plo didn’t doubt that.“There are so many choices,” Plo hummed as he skimmed the pile of brochures and call cards he’d been handed just trying to get from the elevator to the lobby.“What do you say to the ferris wheel?” Kit asked, “Really see the lights for a few minutes?”“Oh please,” Plo huffed, “if we’re doing one overpriced touristy thing, it’s the zip line.”“Both?” Kit suggested.“Both.”.“You are terribly indulgent,” Kit laughed, “Let’s see how we have to book tickets and then figure out timing.”They wound up doing the zipline first, a quick but genuinely thrilling journey across several blocks that all but dumped them on the ferris wheel.For a moment, the world had stripped itself from Plo’s mind. Everything he was dealing with - struggling with - gave way to the rush of wind on his face, the lights streaking past, the cacophony of the crowds below him.And then, all too soon, the wind was gone and the harness was being removed.Kit was next to him, though, laughing so hard he was breathless, downright exhilarated.“Ever done something like that before?” Plo asked.“Never,” Kit answered, still laughing, “Oh, man, I think I’d do it again.”“Few feelings compare to flying,” Plo agreed.As they made their way towards the ferris wheel’s line, Kit grabbed Plo’s hand, twined their fingers together, and Plo never wanted to let go.The line moved slowly, each cabin stopping in the loading zone long enough to ensure that riders were safe in their movements regardless of which way they were going. Somewhere in the middle of the waiting, Kit let go of Plo’s hand to start accompanying the story he was telling about one of his sisters and the neighbor’s rose bush with full-arm gestures and Plo was far too engrossed in the retelling to mourn the loss of contact.And then it was their turn.Despite the cabin being able to hold forty people, according to the website, Plo and Kit only rode with three other people, all of which scattered to their own little corner of the pod to stare out the glass barrier.Which meant the line was kept long on purpose, but that was neither here nor there for tonight.It went slowly, safely, relly let everyone drink in the view as it took them above the entire city.“It really is a beautiful view,” Kit marveled somewhere near the top.Plo was staring at Kit, though, at the way the lights danced on his face, the way his smile reached his eyes, the tiny scar just shy of his temple Plo hadn’t noticed before that caught the light differently.Plo must have been silent a little too long because Kit looked over and caught him staring.Kit’s smile turned a little smug, a little flustered, and he reached out to put a hand on the side of Plo’s face.Plo was, quite suddenly, rather done pretending there was any level of professionalism left once the visits were over.He shifted to kiss the heel of Kit’s palm, eyes locked on Kit’s. A shiver ran through Kit, broke the eye contact but resulted in Kit’s other hand on Plo’s hip.Kit pulled Plo closer to him, wrapped his arm around the back of Plo’s waist, and kissed him.It was somewhere between chaste and hungry, something Kit had clearly wanted just as long as Plo had but with the recognition that there were other people around them who had absolutely not just paid some forty dollars to watch a pair of strangers shatter the fragile space Plo had been trying to keep between them.It was over just as quickly as it had started, but Plo could feel himself smile, could feel facial muscles that hadn't moved like that in a long, long time crawling back to life.It did not all have to be business, indeed.
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One of the notable things about this patch of the United States was that there was no question as to which ethnic group had helped settle it. Sure, there were other places throughout the country where city and town names told stories of those who turned them into what they were today. New York’s Poughkeepsie came to mind, along with Pennsylvania’s Schuylkill and just about every Leesburg in the country.This was just a much larger swath of land, one that cut across multiple states; one that clearly tried to say: other people were here first.(And even then, there had been people before them.)They’d arrived safely in Los Angeles the day before their planned meeting with fellow Board member Agen Kolar. It was somewhere between lunch and dinner, too late for the former and yet too early for the later.And so: they checked into the hotel and decided to kill a few hours catching up on emails.Bags on one bed and the two of them on the other, they got to work. Plo sat with his back to the headrest and legs extended, laptop where it earned its namesake and wireless mouse on a book next to him.Kit opted to work on his back, phone held aloft, one knee up with the other leg crossed over it, stretched out across the foot of the bed.Well. So long as he was comfortable, Plo certainly wasn’t going to complain that Kit was right in his line of sight.“I’ve been thinking about what Cin said about not having the funds to fundraise and tourists not caring,” Kit said without preamble, phone still held aloft.“As have I,” Plo replied, “What direction are you headed?”“Shaak prefers fundraising on large scales,” Kit reminded him, “Denver is only a two hour flight from Vegas.”“She did say she can fundraise enough to create an entire new position,” Plo recalled, “Shall we put her and Cin in contact and see if she’s able to make good on her claims?”“After we ask both of them if they’re up for it,” Kit replied, “Shaak first, I think.”“Better plan,” Plo conceded.“Hey,” Kit’s smile bordered on mischievous, “move your laptop.”Plo did as requested.Kit tossed his phone in the general direction of the other bed, shifted so that he was on his knees, and crawled towards Plo, straddled him, knees bracing Plo’s hips.“Do I get to do this?” Kit asked.“Yeah,” Plo replied, a little breathless, and then, more sure of himself, “You do.”He reached up to put a hand on the side of Kit’s face and Kit leaned into the contact, closed his eyes, looked content just being there.Plo’s other hand made its way to Kit’s side, squeezed, let himself feel the way Kit’s body gave way under the pressure. Kit leaned forward to kiss Plo and Plo’s grip tightened as Kit licked his way into his mouth.His heartbeat went wild, reminded him why ribs are a cage - to contain the damned thing.One of them still needed to reach out to Shaak tonight to keep things running in a timely manner, but, uh.Not right now.–Come morning, Shaak and Cin were in contact. Kit and Plo were both on the email chain still, but their job right now wass to watch and, if they get bumped off at any point, reach out to make sure the conversation is still ongoing.Also come morning, Plo was woken up by the feeling of lips being pressed to the back of his neck, right at the base where it’s rich with nerves, every last one lit up by the sensation.Plo rolled over to face Kit, eyes still unfocused as the last tendrils of sleep let themselves slip away but - Plo knew he was smiling, knew Kit was smiling and blurry vision was not going to take that from him.“Good morning,” Kit told him, voice bright. Chipper, even, for all that Kit was not normally the earlier riser of the two of them.“Morning,” Plo managed through a poorly swallowed yawn. Kit chuckled and kissed the corner of Plo’s mouth, pulled him closer to kiss a line down Plo’s cheek, down his neck, to his collarbone and for a moment there was a war between the desire for more and the caution of how new this was and how much there was to lose scattered among the what-ifs and the could-yet-bes screaming that this was far enough.Kit stopped, though, ended the war with a final kiss to his neck before he pulled back and looked at Plo like he might admire a work of art.Plo was fairly sure he was doing the same.Eventually, though, Plo untangled himself to shower. They had plans for the day, and the majority of them did not involve being in the hotel room at all.If Plo took a little longer than usual, Kit did not say anything about it.Before they went down for breakfast, Plo hung the door tag requesting the linens be changed.–Agen Kolar. One of the few Board members who had served nearly as long as Plo despite being some twenty years his junior. A real estate loan officer by trade, he came to join the Board after one particular news article about the fundraising he was doing for the neighborhood he grew up in caught Yoda’s eye.Plo understood that it had taken convincing on all sides - Agen’s, the rest of the Board, the directors of the nonprofit - to bring him on, but Yoda tended to be correct about who was going to serve the Board - and in turn the entire mission - well, and Agen was no exception.Agen was also one of the only Board members who had to be extra deliberate about taking time away from any of his obligations. Anything he did, he did with all he had to offer behind it, but that seemed to be a delicate balancing act, a schedule set by minutes instead of hours.Even in the faded jeans and plain shirt he wore, it was clear this was a man who was fully aware of the power he wielded. What he was capable of. The type of individual who, when he told you to do something, you did it because he must know what he’s talking about.He did not have the voice to match, but Plo had long suspected that was by design.Agen had a habit of undertaking personal charity projects that frequently directly benefited the Los Angeles chapter. Something that was perfectly permissible by virtue of his career but had been exactly what Padme had been concerned about in regards to any discussion of her sitting on the Board.Today, they met at one of those projects: a formerly empty lot that had been turned into a community garden, complete with a food washing area and a place to sit and process your harvest if you were so inclined. They sat at one of those tables, late winter’s air far warmer than that which the Lake brought Chicago. Even still, Plo held his coffee in both hands, willed the warmth into his fingers.“You know, the hardest part about building this space once the plan had been approved was all the dirt,” Agen told them, “You think you have enough, but no. Double it. Then add a few more bags. You will probably be close at that point.”Plo would have guessed it was making sure the twelve-foot-high chain link fence was covered in all-weather tarps or setting up the solar panels that powered the electronic lock on the gate, but he had never hauled enough dirt to turn a concrete lot into fertile land.“It’s why rooftop gardens either require more permits or are done with the intent to ask forgiveness rather than permission,” Kit replied, “I take it this spring will be the second planting season?”“It will be,” Agen confirmed, “Do you garden?”“Ah, Kit paused, “Decades ago.”“I see,” Agen replied like he did not see at all, “The hope is that we’ve all learned enough from last year to have a more productive series of harvests this time.”“It’s a lot of trial and error,” Kit told him, “A lot of unexplainable failures. Even more perfectly explainable failures, if you’re really unlucky.”Plo was going to have to ask Kit more about this later.“Here’s to hoping we’re lucky,” Agen replied.“Cheers,” Kit raised his coffee almost absently. Agen did the same, then Plo, and then all three of them seemed to notice what they were doing and put them back on the table.What Agen knew of the Los Angeles chapter told Plo that he was not one of the Board members Yoda had in mind when this entire trip had been proposed. In fact, Agen was probably the most involved out of all of them.He knew the numbers that floated to the top of the dataset without having to pull out a reference sheet, too.At least he was a good conversationalist.–The drive from Los Angeles to Albuquerque could either be done in two short driving days or a single near-half-day one before stops were accounted for. The next stretch - Albuquerque to Little Rock - was even longer, so they were going to have to break up one of them for their own sake.Plo had opted to split up the second leg of the trip; the open desert roads had a better chance of allowing their arrival time to be more of the GPS’ suggestion than a prediction.But first-“How do you feel about speeding?” Plo asked.“On roads like this?” Kit asked in kind, “I think the worst that’ll happen is we hit a snake.”“There are pronghorn out here,” Plo pointed out, “They aren’t exactly safe to hit at any speed.”“Uh,” Kit hesitated, “What are the odds you can swerve in time?”“Depends on how the pronghorn feels about road crossing,” Plo answered, “We probably won’t see one.”“Let’s see how fast you can make this thing go, then,” Kit decided.As if Plo would turn down an invitation like that.The road was wide open. Flat. The sun was behind them. The manual said it could do one-fifteen at the absolute most.It was time to push the engine.They’d already been traveling just above the speed limit. Not enough that they’d get a ticket, but still over.In the absolute lowest parts of his field of vision, Plo watched the speedometer tick upward until a ticket, if caught, was the best-case scenario,He could do this for a little while longer.“Whoa,” Kit barely breathed.“I haven’t gone this fast since I had my pilot’s license,” Plo laughed.“You had a pilot’s license?” Kit asked.“For almost twenty years,” Plo replied, “They were considerably faster than we’re going.”Still.“Maintaining a plane and raising Sha at the same time became too much to do both well,” Plo explained, “and there was never a question as to which one it was going to be.”“Noble,” Kit informed him.“Some things - some people - are worth leaving a passion behind for,” Plo tried to explain, “It’s never easy, but knowing that you’re making room for something better is an effective balm.”“I can see it,” Kit replied.Plo very nearly slowed down so he could see the look on Kit’s face; his tone was a new one.They were flying, though. Plo would touch down later.–Most meetings that followed one with the likes of Agen were going to feel lackluster. That was not the fault of anyone at the second meetingThe Albuquerque office, though, only wanted to talk numbers, show them that their storage facility was compliant with any and all codes including DOL and OSHA posters being displayed prominently, and send them on their way.They both did, in fact, have binders full of printouts that documented everything from the last three years - much more information than they usually contained.“Did they ever have a problem with the posters not being displayed?” Kit asked.“Not to my knowledge,” Plo shook his head, “Their numbers are solid and their ladders aren’t looking like they’re going to have a step rust out entirely, but…”“That’s been a problem!?”“Not here,” Plo clarified, “But yes. I want to say…nine years ago? Ten? It was a We’ve been using it just fine, what’s the problem? situation. There was an entire section added to the company safety policy over it.”“That’s one of those things you would think you wouldn’t have to mention,” Kit replied.“Nor is covering basic needs,” Plo pointed out.“And yet, here we are,” Kit sighed, “In some chapter, the epoxy trying to put the rusty step back in place.”“Arguably, we are three band-aids trying to hold things together.”Kit snorted but then said: “I didn’t get the feeling they were trying to hide anything.”“Nor did I,” Plo agreed, “However, we are two Board members doing a first-of-its-kind, winding, nearly year-long tour of most of our offices. Some chapters are going to take longer than others to believe we are here to help and not judge.”All they could do was their best in the moment and then press forward.–Just as their stop in New Mexico had been routine, so was their visit to the lone chapter in the entirety of Arkansas.“I’m not sure how I feel about the fact some of our visits are just…visits,” Kit tried to explain as Plo pulled onto the highway towards their next destination, “We go in, we get the numbers, we listen to their concerns, we leave.”“The way I am trying to see it, we are fortunate that we have had so many who are willing to speak so openly with Board members,” Plo replied, “While I do wish it was every office we visited, I understand the hesitancy. We don’t normally visit with the intention or expressed desire to - as Cin said - get our hands dirty.”“Physically dirty, sure,” Kit granted, “Spiritually cleaner, though.”Plo gave the sentiment a moment of consideration, let it spread instead of settle, waited to see which of his rules and notions he kept close to the surface it touched.The only coherent reply the consideration offered was Absolution is found in the soil.He relayed as much to Kit and Kit replied: “That is where things have the best chance of growing. No priests required for this one, though.”–Somewhere between Little Rock and Nashville, they decided that since they have an extra day they can use however they please, they wanted to spend it in Memphis.They managed to get there too early to check into a hotel, so they spent the day wandering around. Well: Kit spent the day taking pictures and Plo spent the day watching Kit get lost in the process.A few passing strangers offered Plo knowing smiles; they saw someone in love and Plo wasn’t so sure they were wrong.“Hey,” Kit said somewhere between lunch and whatever time we should probably see about that hotel thing was set to occur, “you know that giant pyramid has guest rooms?”“The giant pyramid with the fish on it has overnight accommodations?” Plo asked.Kit’s grin widened.“This is the most absurd thing I have heard in years,” Plo informed him.“So we’re doing this?”“We’re staying in the fish triangle,” Plo nearly sighed.Assuming they had a room open with no notice, at least.–They were, in fact, staying at the fish triangle.It wasn’t that getting from the check-in desk to the room was particularly difficult or even confusing. The main floor was large and contained more activities and things to look at than could possibly have been reasonably expected by someone who had never heard of the place, nonetheless looked into anything about it, yes, but it was - first and foremost - a business, and businesses thrived on making things as easy as possible for those willing to leave some of their money behind.No, what made the journey from check-in to the room take over an hour was the fact Kit could not be removed from the edges of the indoor swamp. Or the catfish pond. Or the alligator area. Or…Plo was starting to suspect Kit’s natural habitat might have been swamplands, or at the very least somewhere with murky, deep waters that held more secrets than they did species.Belatedly, it occurred to Plo that this was Kit on vacation. He had clocked out entirely from the core of the trip so he could enjoy the time here.“Plo, are you seeing this?” Kit asked as he grabbed him by the forearm and dragged him to the water’s edge.“I forget how large freshwater fish can get,” Plo admitted, “and I know they get bigger than this.”“You live on a lake,” Kit replied like Plo could have forgotten.“I can’t say I’ve used it to gather my food,” Plo replied, “And they tend to stay away from the areas people swim.”“Fair,” Kit shrugged, “They always look so…ancient isn’t the word I’m looking for.”“Primordial?” Plo suggested.“Closer,” Kit replied, “Maybe not these, exactly, but they know that life begins and ends in the water. The truly ancient species, though. Those remember that they predate legs.”That was a notion that was going to stick with Plo for a while.They made it to the floor with their room when Kit got distracted again.There was another fish, just kind of floating in more of a pen than a tank by a burger joint that offered a jarring almost-neon experience in the middle of an artificial, well-paved wetlands.Plo followed, because of course he did.“It’s a gar,” Kit explained, “One of the ancient species. Time and God alike have decided this fish is fine as it is.”“Huh,” was all Plo could say to that.“I’ve always wanted to see one in person,” Kit continued, “Oh, this is an older one. I wonder what he feels like.”“Plan on going swimming with the gar?” Plo teased.“If it wouldn’t ruin our chances of actually sleeping here, I might,” Kit replied, “Well, that and I don’t want to be the first person in recorded history to find out what happens if they attack.”“That does not seem like a particularly memorable way to find yourself on a list of firsts,” Plo agreed.The fish lumbered in its tank as if it understood that its ancestors had been here since long before humanity and would be here long after. Even with the smell of fries and grilled meat managing to escape the confines of the restaurant, the step from watching the fish to witnessing something evolution forgot carry on anyway was a short one.They did, eventually, make it to the room.There were two taxidermy pieces on the walls, glass eyes unseeing. Everything else seemed to be made of wood and leather, any smell they had when they were new long since carried off by the comings and goings of guests.They put their bags on the lounge chair and set to seeing what else the room held.“The tub is even bigger than the pictures made it look!” Kit called from the bathroom.“Uh, Kit,” Plo finally checked his phone,” Emergency virtual Board meeting in ten minutes.”“Ah, fuck,” Kit spat, “Uh.”“I am about twenty seconds from having my laptop,” Plo told him, “We can join together.”“Sounds good,” Kit replied as he emerged into the main part of the room, “Where..?”“Uh,” Plo looked around the room, “Laptop on the desk, we can sit on the edge of the bed?”“That works,” Kit decided, “It’s not like they don’t know we’re living out of hotels and suitcases.”They were not the first to join the call by far, but nor were they the last.The emergency was that one of the smaller Florida chapters wanted to file for bankruptcy. Normally, this would have been something that would have waited until the morning and been noted in the meeting invite.What made this an exception was that they were filing for bankruptcy because the head of the chapter had outright drained their bank accounts and fled the country.“He at least fled to a country with an extradition agreement,” Mace Windu - perhaps the only member more publicly recognized than Yoda - was in the middle of explaining, “We are hoping that he can be caught when his flight lands, but even then it’s going to be a long legal fight until things are settled.”“Headquarters is drafting an official response to the news now,” Obi-Wan added, “They would like at least three of us to sign off on it before they release it tonight. Yoda and I have volunteered to stay up as long as it takes, so we just need one more.”“I can stay up,” Saesee offered, “I am three hours behind both of you.”“I understand the severity of the situation,” Depa prefaced, “but what are we expected to do about it?”“Besides sign off on the statement?” Mace replied, “Headquarters wanted to be sure everyone was told about it before anyone heard it on the news. It hasn’t broken yet because they also do not want him to hear about it before his plane lands in case he does something stupid mid-flight.”“Do we know anything about the motive?” Ki-Adi asked.“Not yet,” Obi-Wan replied, “but if we do, we will be sure to share it out.”“Absolutely despicable,” Luminara shook her head.“It is,” Mace agreed, “I am willing to bet that every chapter will be shaken by this, as well as a number of donors.”“This is both appalling and baffling,” Plo said to himself more than anyone else.“I can head out there in the morning,” Oppo offered, “It isn’t a short drive, but not so long that I can’t get up early enough to get there when they open. See what I can help them sort. Er - not a short drive to me.”“Most of us don’t cross the country more times in a year than there are months to keep it to a monthly occurrence,” Plo offered something akin to grace.“Speaking of which, you two have managed to get some of the more…historically numbers-forward…chapters to be more forthcoming with their day-to-day workings,” Oppo recognized, “Do you have any advice for walking into this shitshow?”That was the kindest way Plo had heard anyone say some of the chapters were known to be wary, at best, of Board visits.“Be willing to get your hands dirty,” Kit answered first, “Act like you’re there as a volunteer first and a Board member second.”“Let them lead the conversation,” Plo added, “Not every chapter is going to be willing to tell us, directly, what isn’t working or what’s going wrong, but this is a truly extraordinary circumstance.”Someone’s dogs started baying in the background. Judging by the fact it was Saesee who muted himself, likely his.Depa’s dog started barking back and she also turned her mic off.While Oppo, Yoda, Mace and Obi-Wan worked out the absolute bare minimum they needed to be on the same page over, everyone else sorted out who was monitoring what in the meeting chat.When there was nothing more that could be done until they knew more, Mace told everyone they were free to go.About half the Board left the call, then, either to try to help sort out the mess or because they - understandably - were not staying on an emergency call longer than absolutely necessary.“Plo and Kit, do you two mind staying on for a few minutes?” Stass requested.“Is it about the animal on the wall?” Eeth asked.“It is in fact about the animal on the wall,” Stass confirmed.“We can stay on,” Plo managed not to sigh.“Where are you two?” Shaak asked.“They’re at the Bass Pro Pyramid,” Stass answered before they could, “I am moving the location of tomorrow’s meeting. Stay there. I will reimburse both of you for the extra night.”The communal confusion, though silent, was tangible.Finally, Anakin asked: “Why?”“It is three hours away from me and I’ve never had a good enough excuse to go,” Stass explained, “This is my excuse.”Depa and Obi-Wan announced they were logging off. They’d both be keeping an eye towards the news, though, as well as any calls for more meetings.Stass announced that she was packing and similarly left the call.“I guess we aren’t staying on for a few minutes,” Kit blinked.“Oh, no, you absolutely are,” Anakin informed them with far too much glee, “Where on Earth did you two wind up?”Plo looked at Kit with a sigh; Kit grinned, unapologetic.“Is the hotel a big deal or something?” Anakin asked.“It’s a Bass Pro Shop,” Plo replied.There was some scattered laughter mixed with incredulity.“There is a miniature swamp downstairs,” Plo continued, “Indoor boat rides. Entire restaurants. Plural.”“A bowling alley,” Kit added, “I think we passed a general store towards the entrance?”“I was paying more attention to the lifesize trees,” Plo admitted.“You two have stepped out of reality and into some sort of outdoor enthusiast’s,” Depa cleared her throat, “dream world.”Professionalism was giving off its dying gasps all the way around.“You two were just in Los Angeles less than a week ago,” Eeth informed everyone else left on the call more than he reminded Kit and Plo.“And are due in Idaho in about two weeks,” Kit replied, “Less, actually, I believe.”“Are you two doing alright?” Depa checked.Kit and Plo looked to each other for a moment, made a few partial sounds, a few flickers of facial expressions.“We are,” Plo answered once they had both turned back to the webcam, “Breaks like this keep it from being all work and travel.”“What other breaks have you been taking?” Depa asked, ao clearly a mother - worried like one - despite being younger than both of them.“In no particular order,” Kit replied like he was trying to give himself time to think, “We had a few days in D.C. that weren’t work. One in Baltimore.”“Chicago,” Plo picked up, “A surprise two day waylay with the bridge that flooded.”“I’m not sure I would call all of the days you didn’t spend volunteering in D.C. a break,” Anakin informed them.“Your twins are a delight to watch,” Plo tried to assure him.“Has that been it?” Kit asked, “It feels like we’ve been taking more breaks than that.”“CIn highly encouraged that we spend a night on the Strip,” Plo reminded him, “I’m not sure I would count that as a break, though.”“I’m fifty-fifty on it,” Kit replied.There was some lighter conversation, a clear distraction from the horror of the rest of the call until, one by one, everyone else signed off for the night.“So uh,” Kit said once Plo shut his laptop down, “Are we telling her there’s only one room or are we declining the reimbursement?”“The money is no issue to me,” Plo replied, “but nor is the fact we’re sharing a room. Do you have a preference?”Kit goraned, scrubbed his hands over his face for a second, and then admitted: “I can’t think about anything besides how upsetting this is.”“It’s…” Plo trailed off where he meant to agree.Kit reached over to kind of grab Plo’s hand by the side, ran his thumb over his lowest knuckles like he was trying to soothe them both.“I know, objectively, that there is no shortage of people whose greed overtakes both their common decency and common sense,” Plo granted, “But when it happens so close to home there are always more questions that follow.”Home required rapport. Rapport required pouring some of yourself into it. It made sense that anything would strike deeper at home, for better and for worse.As Plo let the core of his being narrow down to the way Kit’s hand held his, he realized that home was trying to build itself here. Between himself and Kit.He was cursed with the knowledge that, when he looked back on whatever this became, there would always be a feeling of belonging tied to the damned fish triangle.
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While neither of them had doubted that Stass was on her way, the meeting location change email that came through at six in the morning was more than a little funny.“Somehow I doubt there’s been a Board meeting in the catfish pond before,” Kit chuckled.“Here’s your chance to go swimming with something,” Plo informed him.“If I didn’t want to be able to come back, I would quite gladly be the first Board member to host a meeting underwater,” Kit replied, “Of our Board, anyway.”“Do you think there’s a Board out there that’s already done it?” Plo asked.“Two and a half decades into the twenty-first century?” Kit replied, “At this point I’m more surprised when someone hasn’t done something before.”“That is a fair point,” Plo conceded, “What are you thinking for breakfast?”“I’m thinking room service,” Kit answered, “I slept like shit and the longer I can just rest, the more of a chance I have of being coherent for the meeting.”Room service worked for Plo, too; he wound up telling Kit his order so Kit could order while Plo showered.Last night’s news still clung to Plo’s skin, thick and sticky and like it wanted to stay there. He turned the water as hot as he could stand it as if it could melt the feeling away. The parts of himself he couldn’t reach were in sharp focus today and the impulse to call Kit in to help very nearly made itself manifest before he asked himself what he was even thinking lately for that to have made its way into an impulse.(The answer - Thinking of Kit while he showered. - was something he did not look too closely at.)He emerged feeling mostly clean and finally hungry.Food had arrived at some point; he smelled it before he saw it. Before he had a chance to sit down, Kit handed him a cup of coffee with a smile; Plo leaned forward to press a small kiss to Kit’s cheek, almost testing. A tiny gesture, but the first initiating he had done since Vegas. More domestic, this time, like this was something they’d just added to their routine-in-miniature.If it made Kit smile like that every time, it absolutely had.–The meeting with Stass did not happen in the catfish pond. It started just outside of it, though, and ended in the burger joint.They had, somehow, decided that the best option was to order an unreasonable number of appetizers and sides and then sharing them while they talked.They had not thought through the way ordering a single side salad would work. The answer had been by asking each other and then themselves if they were comfortable with whatever the utensil version of double-dipping was.Stass offered her vaccination record; Plo and Kit did not offer that they were not even a little bit concerned about saliva exchange between them.Stass was…younger than Kit but older than Sha, which offered a wide range of possible years of experience she had to her life. Plo figured she was somewhere in the middle: old enough to have made it onto the Board, but young enough that she had yet to find a need to not barrel into everything head-first.“How are things going with the Nashville chapter?” Kit asked.“It’s kind of a subtle zig-zag,” Stass answered, “Enough fluctuation to not be a straight line, and yet not enough of it for there to be any sort of trend.”“What about the people?” Plo followed up, “Both staff and clients.”“Staff is frustrated enough that they’re mostly seeing static,” Stass replied, “The existing clients, for the most part, don’t know that growth has stagnated. The potential new ones that have to be turned away due to lack of availability to take them on most certainly have, though.”“I take it there’s been no identified core cause of the flatline?” Kit guessed.“I’ve been trying not to think of it like that,” Stass admitted, “but no. There hasn’t. We haven’t lost any donors but we also haven’t gained any.”That was something Plo would keep in the back of his mind while they were volunteering in what was, effectively, Stass’ chapter. It was no secret that the rate of new donors had slowed year-over-year for the past several years, but stagnation was not a good sign for anyone.“It’s - I am right there!” Stass complained like a confession, “I am supposed to be part of the oversight team that guides the mission and yet nothing I’m doing is helping.”One of the main takeaways from their meeting with Yoda several months back had been that face-to-face interactions not only still had their place, they were needed now more than ever. The other had been that the budding impression was that, while the Board drove the mission, they did so with a disconnection from the heart of it.And here, right in front of them, a fellow Board member was struggling and they never would have known if they hadn’t been here, in-person, trying to have a conversation that never would have happened at a regular Board meeting.Plo wondered, idly, if the ancient fish lumbering in its tank outside the restaurant was untouched by evolution because it did not concern itself with things like Board meetings, systemic inequity, and embezzlement.“We’re here to help as much as we can,” Kit had the manners to try to assure her.No promise of effective help rendered, just the effort to try. Plo appreciated that; even one’s best often fell short and the letdown for all parties involved was greater when it had been buoyed by something like a promise.“Thank you,” Stass forced herself to relax a little, “I know it happens, it’s just never happened to Nashville.”“Have you reached out to other Board members who have pulled similar flatlines into better territory?” Plo asked, “If not someone on our Board, maybe an online forum of some sort?”“I haven’t,” Stass replied, “It’s worth a try. Thank you.”Silence settled, then, while they picked at their rapidly cooling food they probably should have started on before the salad.“So,” Kit said between bites, “last night.”Based on the lack of updates, either anything that had happened overnight was still not being released by any law enforcement or other agencies involved, or nothing had yet to happen that added any direction to this mess.“I want to talk about it, but,” Stass sighed, paused, “We have so little information. We’d either be repeating last night’s call or speculating and I don’t think either of those things would help right now.”“Fair,” Kit replied, “I guess I’m just…I don’t know.”“Betrayed,” Plo offered.“That, but…deeper, somehow,” Kit replied.“All of us - every Board member, every staff member, every volunteer, every client - we give some of ourselves to the mission,” Plo reasoned, “It isn’t just the nonprofit’s finances harmed by this.”There was no manual for how to deal with non-physical harm. There were guidebooks, sure, and plenty of people who studied those guides long enough under the guidance of those who’d studied them even longer that they’d made a career out of helping others navigate the process. There had been for generations now, each one improving on the last.Here and now, though, it was just the three of them, their near-room-temperature mostly fried foods, and the ancient fish just outside.There were the fish in the middle of the restaurant, too, sure, but they lacked whatever the gar had that enabled it to cast the weight of judgment on the human form itself.“We should do a joint Board statement,” Stass suggested, “I know Yoda, Obi-Wan, and Saesee signed off on one from the Director at some point early this morning, but maybe we could release one internally emphasizing that while we are deeply disturbed by what happened, no chapter is going to be punished for the actions of one person.”“I think that’s brilliant,” Kit replied.“One moment,” Plo requested while he went to see if he could secure a pen and a stack of clean napkins. He returned successful and ready to take notes.This was how he’d started: scraps of paper and half-used pens and partly formed ideas that needed other people to take a shape they could sustain without constant attention.Looking back, it had been such an undeniably real process. No deleting entire paragraphs. No trying to remember what equation he’d used three hours ago to get an entirely different solution than the one he had been staring at. No option to let the computer find a specific note for you.Today, this was how they would start, too.–They wound up working on the draft statement for so long that moving to one of their rooms had been the sane choice; Plo and Kit’s had been closest and, well, in theory they were all professionals.At least the bed had been made.Stass sat at the desk while Plo sat with his back to the headboard and Kit sprawled at the foot of the bed. At one point Stass moved with her laptop to lie on the floor for a while.Okay, so some levels of professionalism had been abandoned in the name of whatever made them the most comfortable to think clearly.When they felt like they had enough down to send the draft to the rest of the Board with a message that made it clear - they hoped - that this was an idea and a draft, not a mandate. It was sent from Stass’ email but signed by all three of them.Now all they had to do was wait for feedback to start coming in.“How is being away from home for so long?” Stass asked, “I’ll admit I nearly offered to be the one to do it but the thought of being away for long stopped me.”“This is the longest I’ve been away, but I have done multi-month trips before,” Plo answered first, “I live alone anyway, so this is more company than I’ve had in over a year.”“Someone moved out?” Stass guessed.“My Niece graduated college and decided to stay where she graduated,” Plo explained, “The four years before that I only saw her on the breaks because she didn’t have some sort of internship or study abroad program.”“I similarly lived alone and while I did visit family often enough, it’s been a long time since I’ve had constant company,” Kit answered in turn, “My lease was up anyway, so I figured: Why not offer as well?”“Did you ever consider breaking up the stops between you?” Stass asked.They had not. Plo knew why he hadn’t and he was starting to think that Kit might have had the same reasoning.Stass received a No, we did not, as an answer and nothing further.She smiled like she knew, though. Plo did not doubt that she did, that things between himself and Kit had been shifting around enough that the resulting changes were not confining themselves to private moments. Plus: if everyone on the call could see the taxidermy piece, they had also likely seen that there was only one bed.Someone would ask eventually. Whether or not they would receive an answer remained to be seen.“What do we want to do while we wait?” Kit asked, “I doubt we want to respond to every piece of feedback that comes in immediately.”“We should leave at least some room for discussion among everyone else,” Plo agreed, “but we do not want to go too far lest we find that we have inspired another emergency meeting.”“How does bowling sound?” Stass suggested“Sounds fun,” Kit answered first, “Plo?”“Bowling works,” Plo replied. He hadn’t bowled in - what, fifteen years? More? There was a chance he was going to embarrass himself over this, but it would be far from the worst thing to happen in the last twenty-four hours.–Bowling had proved to be a nice distraction, but had only lasted one game before enough feedback had come in that they decided they should be on their laptops instead of trying to keep up on their phones.A second emergency Board meeting was not called, but eventually everyone who could join a call was encouraged to do so. Plo, Kit, and Stass all join from Plo’s laptop. Stass has her laptop balanced precariously on her lap while Kit’s was next to Plo’s - in easy reach to type if he needed to but Plo did not need two sets of elbows knocking into him the entire call.Maybe two-thirds of them were able to join - an impressive amount for an optional midday meeting.“He has been arrested and is in custody,” Obi-Wan updated everyone, “We do not know how long it will be before he is back in the country. Unfortunately, all of his assets are frozen as part of the evidence gathering process, so there is no telling when we will be able to reclaim the funds.”“If at all,” Agen cautioned, “One would think that returning them all to us would be a given, but other agencies and individuals involved in the legal process may also require compensation.”“And that’s assuming none of it was made to disappear before he even boarded the flight,” Plo added.“Or during the flight,” Kit cringed.“There are a lot of unknowns right now,” Mace cut in, “Payroll, thankfully, is handled by headquarters. The stolen money was from the funds used to cover things like site and warehouse rent, mileage reimbursement, events, and outreach efforts.”Anything local, then, which meant the chapter was effectively dead in the water.“The finance team is working on redirecting funds so they can stay open,” Obi-Wan picked up, “They will be running incredibly lean, but they will be able to stay open.”“While we had been hoping to avoid going to press about it until we knew more about the extradition process,” Saesee added, “It seems the press had other ideas.”“Hence the statement from Headquarters being sent out,” Shaak knew.“Getting a statement out from all of us will be critical,” Obi-Wan told everyone, “Quite honestly, Mace and I had been working on one but you three were faster.”There were a few more admissions from other Board members that they, too, had been at least trying to brainstorm what one would look like.They clearly had to work on their group communication skills.Eventually, they got to the point where they weren’t going to find anything else to edit. They’d been staring at it for too long. They would give the Board members who weren’t present a deadline to review it and suggest any changes and, assuming they had not managed to miss anything egregious, have everyone sign off on a final version in the morning. It would, officially, come from Yoda but the attached PDF version of the statement would have all of their signatures.Nobody lingered after the call was officially over.“Somehow that was both less and more work than I expected,” Stass sighed as Plo shut his laptop, “And we still have four days in Nashville.”“We know the visit has been on the schedule for months now,” Kit added, “and while by no means do I want to suggest that we start publicizing our volunteer efforts, it’s better late than never in terms of helping show the work the chapters are going.”“It seems obvious now that you’ve said it,” Plo replied.“Maybe send any documentation to the chapter you’re with so they can decide if and how they want to use it?” Stass suggested.“That is a better application of the idea,” Kit replied, “Thank you.”“We’re all in this together,” Stass replied, “It’s well past time we acted like it.”–The meeting relocation had been a nice break in both routine and thought processes, but they still had a few days of volunteering in Nashville that they needed to show up for. Stass left before them on account of needing to stop by her house before she got to work, so Plo and Kit allowed themselves a leisurely breakfast at a little one-off coffee shop where they could pretend like things were normal for a little while.After about an hour on the road, Plo asked: “That was the most surreal place we’ve been to yet, right?”“That is the type of compact hyperreality that the Disney parks strive for,” Kit replied.Plo assumed it was a confirmation but, never having been to one of the parks or given any consideration to the word hyperreality, it would need to remain an assumption.As for the compactness of it, despite the fact they hadn’t been outside at all for a solid day and a half, there had been nothing lacking to their time there. (Well, perhaps fresh air but the room’s air was at least well-circulated enough that there were no traces of that damp, slightly muddy smell that was the water fixtures.)A retail store had turned itself into a resort and, true to its roots, had filled itself with opportunities to spend a little more to not have to go very far and, okay, that was exactly Kit’s point.“How did you come up with the online forum suggestion?” Kit changed the subject, “I hadn’t even considered it.”“I was thinking of Reddit, specifically,” Plo replied, “but then I would need to explain why I know enough about Reddit to know that’s an option.”“No, I meant: How did you think to reach out to such a wide, anonymous network?” Kit clarified, “Although now I want to know why you know that much about Reddit.”“I raised someone who grew up with the Internet,” Plo reminded him, “I try to at least be vaguely aware of what she has a chance of stumbling on.”“Fair,” Kit replied, “if not undoubtedly with some horrors.”“Sha assures me that there is no shortage of strangeness, depravity, and questionable content on the Internet,” Plo replied, “She invariably immediately follows that with There are also cats.”Whether or not cats outweighed the rest of the Internet was up for debate, but that was not the point. The point, to Plo, had always been that making sure not only that Sha felt comfortable asking him about something she came across but also that he had the minimal chances of being completely blindsided by whatever it was she’d found.“I can’t even imagine what you’ve both found over the years,” Kit replied, “I don’t know how I would have approached that.”“I have been making almost everything about raising Sha up as I go along,” Plo admitted.“You’ve done so well with her,” Kit told him.“I’ve tried my best,” Plo replied.Kit reached across the center console to put a hand on Plo’s thigh and squeeze; Plo took a hand off the wheel to cover Kit’s hand with his own.–The first day of volunteering in Nashville was overshadowed by the news of the theft in the Lynn Haven chapter officially breaking.The statements from the Director and the Board did as much as they could to ease public concerns of internal corruption. They were ultimately just statements displayed on screens, though. The public who cared demanded more - more of an explanation, more assurance that this was an isolated incident, more information.The Director did most of the heavy lifting. He was the public fact of the mission, after all, and as such shouldered the duty to offer as much assurance as he could that everyone involved with the nonprofit was as shocked as the general public while not managing to fuck up any part of the investigation by saying too much too soon.There were fears of funding being cut, of donations tanking and, really, there were completely understandable fears. This sort of thing didn’t happen, nonetheless to a nonprofit with such sprawling, comprehensive reach. Directors weren’t supposed to harm anyone like this.And yet, here they were, living this thing that didn’t happen.–On their third day in Nashville, a soundbite from none other than Cin Drallig went viral.
“None of this is business as usual and I’m not going to pretend like it is. One asshole put greed over giving a shit and now people all over the damned country are suffering for it.”
There was a longer clip behind the bite, one that involved more swearing than most news broadcasting companies were comfortable airing, but the sentiment remained the same: The Director of the Lynn Haven chapter’s choices had ripple effects that meant a very real possibility of the organization’s efforts needing to be scaled back in order to stay in operation.Cin was not a man built for public speaking. He was, however, the Director of the Las Vegas chapter. He was also the first Director of any local chapter to have been recorded making a direct statement about what had happened.It made sense to Plo: Cin had been the first staff member at any level who hadn’t shied away from admitting that the work was never over and never lighter and that was the nature of need as things stood. The promises of the future, as far as Cin was concerned, were something better left for the moments they became the present. He had enough to deal with moment to moment as it was. It was the bulk of what made him so good at his work.It was also, unfortunately, why he should not have been volunteered for a sound clip.As far as he could tell, Cin had not actually been aware that what he’d said was going to be aired. The entire clip certainly included enough about getting the camera and mic away from him.Someone needed media training, and Plo did not think it was Cin.But.The clip had been released to the masses whether or not Cin approved. It had become the point that all of the media coverage about the incident was now circling.The Board needed someone who knew how to work with Cin instead of parallel to him, and Plo and Kit were the closest thing they had.Which is to say: the request for Kit and Plo to fly out to join Cin and Shaak for a few days made sense. Shaak and Cin were already trying to work together for fundraising purposes, so she would have been the first-choice Board member to fly out there to try to help.Shaak’s arena, however, was private galas. She had no more media training than Cin.That was not to say that Plo or Kit had media training - they didn’t - but they had been the ones who first connected to Cin in a way that did not entirely line up with the man’s reputation.This was still a crisis. Of course they’d show up. Even if it was not their duty, it was the right thing to do.They were assured they would be done in Vegas with enough time to make a flight to Casper on time.The only problem was the car, which currently had their entire lives packed inside of it, would be in Nashville while they were halfway across the country.While they were trying to figure out what to do, Sha called.“Favorite Niece,” Plo answered the call.“Favorite Uncle,” Sha replied, “I saw the news.”“Shit, sorry-” Plo started saying.“For what?” Sha cut him off, “It sounds like you have an absolute shitshow going on over there.”“Beyond measure and with no shortage of complications,” Plo confirmed.“Run it by me,” she told him.And so, he did.“It’s not that we won’t be able to fly back to get the car, but that doing so - and then driving it to Boise - will put us several days behind schedule and that will mean a small cascade of rescheduling things and not nearly enough time to try to rest. I don’t know what we’re going to do to even this out, Sha.”“No,” Sha’s voice was firm, “There is always a solution. We don’t quit.”“I know, Sha,” Plo sighed, “The past few days have been a lot. That’s all.”“So you need to fly to Vegas for a few days but you need the car in Casper pretty much the same day you’re done in Vegas if you don’t want to reschedule anything?” Sha summarized.“Correct. The car is currently in Nashville,” Plo told her, “As are we.”“It’s like a three hour flight,” she told him, “From where I am to Nashville, I mean. I come out there tonight, you pick me up, I drive you two to the airport in the morning, and then I drive the car to Casper and fly home.”“I don’t like you driving that far alone,” Plo told her.“I’ll bring Maul, then,” Sha replied.Who? Kit mouthed. Plo held up a finger, hopefully interpreted as a promise to explain the newest potential player in this mess when the call was over.“Isn’t he in Croatia?”“He has some visa issues to sort out and he’s staying at Soka’s while he does it,” Sha replied, “Soka’s getting a little tired of him getting into her cabinets while she’s at work, so I think a few days away from each other would do them both some good.”“That’s,” Plo paused, “I mean, that’s better. Cabinets?”“You know how we think he has, like, the condiment version of pica?” she reminded him.“Which precludes whatever he has going on from being pica,” he reminded her in kind.“He’s been trying to see what spices he can bake with flour to make the flour palatable,” she continued.“Ask him if he’s available and then call me back,” he told her, “Thank you, Sha.”“We’re here for each other,” she promised, “Love you. Call you back in a minute.”Sha ended the call.Kit and Plo stared at each other for a moment, blank. Exhausted.“Well, if her friend is available, this winds up working out well, if haphazardly done,” Kit assessed.“His name is Liam but Sha’s friend circle started calling him Maul when they were about midway through high school,” Plo explained, “Soka - Ahsoka - is another from the same group. Soka and Sha went to the same school from the time Sha moved in with me through college. Maul…I remain unsure exactly why he decided to drop out of college to go to Croatia. He’s the one who takes hot sauce like shots.”“I inferred as much from the,” Kit paused, “Condiment pica?”“Something only a group of teenagers watching a hot sauce sampling frenzy unfold would come up with,” Plo chuckled, “I am almost certain it is not remotely the correct thing to say about it.”Plo’s phone started ringing again.“Favorite Niece,” he answered the call.“Favorite Uncle,” she replied, “He’s in. We’ll be taking shifts driving and stop for at least one overnight, if not two. Soka says hi and thank you.”“Please tell them both hello for me,” he told her, “Send me his full legal name and date of birth and I’ll send you the ticket information as soon as I have it.”“Can do,” she promised, “I assume you don’t need mine.”“You were born, what, some time in August?”“December seventeenth,” Sha laughed, “I’ll have his info to you soon. See you in a few hours.”“See you soon,” he told her, “Love you.”Plo ended the call this time.“Her birthday is May ninth,” he told Kit.“Somehow I got the feeling it was neither of those dates,” Kit replied with the first smile that managed to reach his eyes all day.Plo laughed, too, and kissed Kit like doing so would make everything else swirling around them more manageable.–Sha and Maul were waiting to be picked up exactly where they said they would be: on the edge of the sidewalk by the first JetBlue sign.Kit was back at Stass’, both of them still working, which meant Plo had nearly an hour to catch up with the two of them in private.Sha promised she was fine. They’d seen each other less than two weeks ago and nothing had changed since then. (She would have let him know if it had.) He could tell she was worried about him, but they trusted each other. Fine genuinely meant fine.Maul - who had never adjusted to going by his given name overseas even though it had been three years - had actually been deported from Austria over what he called a simple misunderstanding related to his visa. It sounded like there was much more to the story, but if he wasn’t going to offer Plo was not going to try to press when time was so limited.They both wanted to hear about the trip Plo had undertaken and what it was like to be in a car with someone you’d only met in-person maybe three times before committing to nearly a year of being in each other’s space all the time.The drive from the airport back to Stass’ was almost too short.Stass welcomed them in, told them to make themselves at home, and then returned the entirety of her focus to the work that seemed unending even after being split between all fifteen Board members.At some point, mugs of tea appeared beside all three of them, delivered by a pair of twenty-two year olds who looked entirely too pleased for having figured out where everything they needed to make it was.“Herbal,” Sha promised, “It won’t keep you up longer than you want to stay up.”Sha and Maul sat on opposite ends of the couch with their backs to the armrests and legs not quite tangling somewhere in the space between them, phones securely in their hands. They reminded Plo of poorly introduced cats who’d only made peace with each other because they kept getting locked in separate bathrooms otherwise.At some point the three of them hunched over Stass’ table blew past the point of diminishing returns and stumbled straight into a fog that made all words look like each other.“Does this look like a sentence?” Kit asked.“It looks like words that are probably in the correct order,” Plo replied.“Let me see,” Stass took Kit’s laptop in its entirety to look at it, “Okay, no, I keep turning readjust as read just and then the sentence doesn't make sense.”“What word should I use in its place?” Kit asked as he reclaimed the machine.“I think it’s a me problem,” Stass admitted.“This is what we get for making English our official language,” Kit complained.“Only at the Federal level,” Plo corrected, “Down here it is anarchy periodically pretending to be the mass consensus.”“I am going to tell you the same thing you told me every time I decided hitting my head on my textbook was an effective way to study for an exam,” Sha told Plo like a warning.“Go to bed, I know,” Plo sighed, “We aren’t going to get anything more done tonight.”“Where are we all even,” Kit started asking, “Shit. Going back to the hotel will mean an even earlier morning.”“I have a guest room, if you two don’t mind the implications,” Stass offered.“We still need to pack,” Plo reminded him.“Is your checkout date tomorrow or the day after?” Sha asked.“The day after,” Plo answered, “We expected to be here one more day.”“GIve me the keys and I’ll pack for you,” Sha told him, “Or do you need clothes for Vegas?”“The latter would be appreciated by all parties involved,” Plo answered.“If you’re sure,” Sha snorted, “Might I suggest we all crash here and get up early?”“THe guest room works,” Kit decided, “Thank you Stass.”“Up the stairs, take a left, second door on the right,” she told them, “Bathroom’s across the hall. Towels are…towels. Okay, yeah, sleep it is.”Before he headed upstairs, Plo went over to Sha, who stood up to meet him halfway.“I’m alright, Uncle,” Sha promised, “It’s good to finally be able to offer help.”“I went right somewhere,” Plo replied, “Sleep as well as you can, Sha.”“You went right more than you give yourself credit for,” Sha told him, “Try to at least sleep on the plane tomorrow.”She hugged him for a moment and he returned the gesture.“Bed, so the rest of us can sleep,” she chased him off.“We need to be at the hotel by seven if we want to get to the airport on time,” he told her as he headed for the stairs, “That means in the car by six thirty. Good night, Maul.”“Night Uncle Plo,” Maul actually looked up from his phone for a moment, “In the car at six-thirty, got it.”Kit followed Plo up the stairs, feet dragging.“I’m afraid I only have a couch and an air mattress left to offer,” Stass apologized to Sha and Maul.“You’ve opened your home to four strangers,” Sha replied, “Any relatively flat surface will do. Maul, you’re taking the couch.”“In theory it pulls out but I’ve never actually tried,” Stass frowned.“Oh, no, no, that’s,” Sha laughed.“It’s not like that,” Maul shook his head, “Separate sleeping surfaces are quite welcome.”“Ah,” Stass looked slightly relieved, “In that case, Maul, the couch is the one in the living room. Sha, let me get the air mattress out and inflated and you can try to get some sleep, too.”“I will also sleep on the floor,” Sha offered.“God I miss being in my early twenties,” Stass replied, “No, let me get that air mattress for you.”She disappeared for a few minutes before reappearing with the air mattress, a pump, and a small pile of blankets for them to sort between themselves.The mattress took a few minutes to blow up. The pump felt loud enough for the neighbors to hear, but it did its job without quitting and right now that was all Stass could ask of anything.“Some of the blankets are going to have to double as pillows,” Stass told them like an apology.“Easy enough,” Sha shrugged, “Thank you, Stass.”“Your Uncle and Kit. Are they, um,” Stass hesitated, “Actually, no. Sorry. Nevermind.”“Uncle swears they aren’t,” Sha answered anyway, her tone clearly indicating that she didn’t believe it. Maul snorted and then covered his mouth.“I’ve known Kit for less than five hours and somehow I doubt it,” Maul informed Sha.“I started doubting it before I met Kit,” Sha replied, “But if Uncle says they’re not, they’re not.”“He wouldn’t lie to you,” Maul knew.“You two must be close,” Stass guessed.“He did raise me,” Sha replied, “Getting him to share anything about himself before it becomes pertinent is akin to pulling teeth.”“Pulling teeth is easier,” Maul corrected.“Don’t,” Sha sighed, “Of course you know that. Go the fuck to sleep before I learn anything else about you.”“That’s sticking,” Stass decided, “If you two need anything my door is the first one to your left once you go up the stairs. Downstairs bathroom is in the back left corner of the house if your back’s towards the front door.”“We’ll try not to need anything,” She replied, “Thank you.”With that, Stass headed up the stairs to see how far into her nighttime routine she made it before she passed out.–Morning came entirely too soon.“We probably should have thought about packing earlier,” Kit admitted as he and Plo arranged the CR-V to fit four people and their luggage.“I would say we know for next time, but if there is a next time I am telling someone else it’s their turn,” Plo replied.“And you never wanted to try Tetris,” Sha teased.“Tetris would be easier if you could slot the pieces in the middle of the stack,” Kit replied, “Think you two have enough room in the back?”“For an hour and a half at most?” Sha asked, “Yeah, we’ll be fine.”With that, they all piled in the car.“Car doesn’t move until all seat belts are on,” Plo reminded them.“And the gas pedal stops working if we need to adjust it at any point,” Sha finished as she buckled herself in.“You know you saved some of my friends by impressing that rule on us,” Maul informed him as his belt clicked into place.“No,” Plo’s voice was all sorts of wrong for a moment, “I didn’t.”“I used it at college so all my friends started using it, too,” Maul explained, “I wasn’t in the car, but the paramedics told everyone involved that they wouldn’t have made it if they hadn’t been wearing their seat belts.”“Ah,” Plo sounded slightly more like himself, “Good, then.”With that, Plo pulled out of the hotel parking lot.–“Not dating,” Sha huffed as he looked in the rearview mirror to see Kit’s hand on the small of her Uncle’s back, “I am preeeeety sure coworkers don’t do that.”“Oh, wow, okay, coworkers definitely do not do that,” Maul decided after he checked his side view mirror.“Damnit, I need to pay attention to actually getting out of here,” Sha complained, “Tell me if they do anything else.”“I am not staring at your Uncle and his he-swears-it’s-not-like-that compatriot,” Maul informed her.“I hate getting out of airport drop-off zones,” Sha grumbled, “Over a hundred years since the first one opened and nobody’s figured out how to make leaving the dropoff area less of a pain in the ass.”“Over a hundred?” Maul asked.“Spy on my Uncle or shut up and let me focus,” Sha replied.Once they were well away from the airport, Maul asked: “What was that whole bit with his reaction to my friends living because of his habits?”“My entire family died in a car crash, Maul,” Sha answered.“Oh, shit.”“You didn’t know?” Sha realized.“Not the how!”“God, yeah, we lost everyone but each other in one crash,” she told him, “Everyone had their seat belts on, but it’s something he can control.”“Sha, that’s,” Maul faltered, “Fuck.”“Same reason he won’t let anyone else drive if he’s in the car,” Sha continued, “If he can control it about being on the road, he will.”“Is that…healthy?” Maul tried to pick his words carefully.“We all carry scars differently,” Sha reasoned, “Mental. Physical. Both. Nobody’s going to do it all perfectly.”“He’s doing all the driving the entire trip?” Maul asked, very nearly incredulous.“If he lets Kit drive his car while he’s in it, I am going to assume they eloped,” Sha answered, “In fact, that’s the only explanation I’ll accept.”“Oh come on,” Maul rolled his eyes, “He’d at least tell you.”“On the way to wherever they’re eloping to,” Sha granted, “I wouldn’t be mad.”“You wouldn’t be mad if your Uncle got married without you there?”“He gave up his entire life to raise me,” she reminded him, “If he’s finally letting himself figure out what makes him happy for the sake of it, I’ll take it.”“A healthier approach than I’d take if one of my parents did that,” Maul granted.“He never complained, you know?” Sha continued, “Even when I’d scream that I wanted to go home and lock myself in my room because he wasn’t my dad. He’d just wait it out and when I was ready to come out all he wanted to know was that I hadn’t managed to hurt myself.”“That sounds like him,” Maul replied.“I meant what I said last night,” she told him, “That it’s nice to be the one helping him for once.”“Your house was always the cool house,” Maul recalled.“Because Uncle didn’t forget what it was like to be young and curious,” Sha replied, “He’s always cared more about us being safe than that we followed everyone else’s rules.”“I’m still mad I missed that Waffle House trip,” Maul admitted.“We could see if there’s one on the way,” Sha offered.“That is not my point,” Maul complained.“We can skip it, then,” Sha shrugged.“Hey now, I didn’t say that!”Sha laughed, loud and free, as they sped down the Interstate.
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There had been several too-long days in a row and there were still at least two more too-long days ahead of them.Somewhere between the gate and baggage claim, Kit grabbed Plo’s hand and squeezed and things seemed like they might feel manageable in the near future.They took a shuttle from the airport to the Strip, and then a bus to the Denny’s they’d been to a few weeks ago, where Cin said he’d pick them up.“Shaak’s back at the chapter office,” Cin told them, “This is easier by bus.”“We appreciate the consideration,” Plo replied.“I’m glad I knew you two don’t have a problem getting your hands dirty before this whole mess exploded,” he continued, “I have a list of off-the-strip motels that won’t send you off with more tiny critters than you came with. Assuming you haven’t booked anything yet.”“We haven’t,” Plo admitted.“I figured. I’m a little surprised you managed to find your shoes to tie them. You both look like you haven’t slept in a week,” Cin replied, “Shaak’s staying on the Strip.”There was a judgment there. Shaak must have booked her hotel before Cin told her to go be a tourist. Plo could not blame Shaak for wanting something akin to the comfort she was used to; nor could he blame Cin for being less than thrilled that her default expectations of her own experiences were so far removed from those Cin saw day in and day out.No wonder they’d been called in to help.“Why’d they file for bankruptcy if they’d just been robbed from the inside, anyway?” Cin asked as he pulled into the parking lot.“Damned if I know,” Plo answered honestly, “I’m hoping it’s one of the things that comes out eventually.”“They shouldn’t have been able to do that without the Director signing off,” Cin told them, “I can’t do a damned thing with my budget without his approval.”Kit and Plo exchanged glances as they got out of the car.“What?” Cin asked without looking at them.“We have a paper trail to follow,” Plo answered.“Of course you do,” Cin huffed.Plo wasn’t sure exactly what Cin meant like that, but stepping into the building wasn’t the time to ask.Cin led them to a small meeting room where Shaak had papers scattered all over a long table and two laptops in front of her.“Shaak,” Kit greeted her first.“Kit, Plo,” She greeted both of them, “Thank you for coming.”“We’re here to help,” Plo promised, “What’s going on here?”“This mess is every email sent from someone outside that either actually offers something useful or contains some sort of threat,” Cin explained, “Left half is useful, right half is full of emails we need to see if we can track down the sender to file a police report. There’s a confluence somewhere in the middle.”“Threats?” Plo made sure he heard that right.“Extensive media coverage brings the worst of humanity out in force,” Shaak explained, “So far nothing has been credible, but that does not mean the threats should be taken any less seriously.”“How much help do you need with the tracking?” Kit asked.“You two are the last two we can afford to sequester for too long,” Shaak declined, “What we need you here for, right now, is figuring out what to do with the sheer volume of incoming emails.”“We’ve hit a point where new ideas just aren’t happening,” Cin admitted, “We’ve never dealt with something like this and, quite frankly, it isn’t fair to my staff to expect them to figure it out.”“I have also never experienced anything like this,” Shaak noted, “Coleman is coming up from Phoenix the day after you two leave and Agen is going to join us a few days after that to help with the tracking. But the thousands of emails they’ve gotten?”“We aren’t keeping up,” Cin shook his head, “Next time I’m shutting the fuck up after Get that fucking camera out of my face. We already can’t handle the incoming aid requests and now every newspaper and TV station in the country think it’s okay to send the poor intern an email.”“Your intern is handling media requests?” Kit asked.“The intern was in charge of fielding all the external emails sent to the general chapter account,” Cin corrected, “Between the volume and the fact the poor kid’s barely getting paid above minimum wage, I shifted the responsibility to someone higher up until the storm passes. Not me. I’d tell all of them to fuck off at this point.”“A press kit,” Plo realized, “We need a press kit that we can send out in response to inquiries.”“Where are we going to find the time and hours to get that together?” Cin asked.“If the Interns can haveother duties as assigned mean just about anything, so can the Board,” Plo answered, “One of us has to have contact that can help us build a press kit and present it to the Director.”“I’d hand it off to one of the media relations folk at headquarters and have them get him to sign off on it,” Cin suggested, “There’s two of them and I imagine they’re having an even worse time than my comms person right now.”“Noted,” Plo replied, “Alright, Kit, let’s get to it.”Kit and Plo set up in the far corner of the room, a small side table Cin produced from somewhere else in the office serving as their work table for the day.They lost track of time entirely when Cin pulled everyone out of their work-induced trances.“Alright, all three of you, quit. We missed lunch and it’s dinner time. I’m not going to be the first Director to have a Board member have a medical emergency in my office.”He wasn’t exaggerating.“I would like to have some water before we decide on food,” Plo requested.“Water first sounds like a good idea,” Kit agreed.“Alright, come on,” Cin told them and left, expecting them to follow.They could come back for their laptops in a few minutes.The kitchen was just down the hall. Tiny but functional, the single overhead light flickered almost violently.“Ignore it,” Cin told them, “It’s been doing that for months. Changing the bulb doesn’t do a damn thing.”“It’s a loose wire,” Plo told him.“Because that’s exactly what we need,” Cin grumbled, “another fucking expense.”“Where’s your breaker?” Plo asked, “It should be an easy fix if the wires aren’t corroded.”“You know what, go for it,” Cin decided, “I’ll show you where the breaker is.”Plo tripped the switch to the kitchen so he could check it out safely. He grabbed a stable chair from the break room and used it to stand on.“I take it you’ve done this before?” Cin asked.“I rebuilt my entire condo,” Plo confirmed, “Including about ninety-five percent of the wiring.”“Chicago lets you do that?” Kit asked.“I mean, technically they don’t,” Plo admitted, “I did have a professional plumber handle the piping, but lights? They’re easy.”“Huh,” was all Kit had to say to that.“This was the nineties,” Plo explained from inside the ceiling, “Neighbors were much more likely to look the other way - if not help you out - so long as you weren’t doing something that was going to burn the building down. Cin, it looks like you had something running around that knocked the connector cap off and the wires tried to free themselves.”“What do we do about it?” Cin asked.“I’ll need to remove some of the insulation and trim the edges, but there’s enough slack for that,” Plo answered, “Kit, in the trunk-”“We don’t have the car,” Kit cut him off.“Shit.”“What do you need?” Cin asked, “I’ll see if someone has it.”“Doing this the safe way, wire strippers and wire trimmers, which my car repair kit has,” Plo answered.“And if we’re willing to pretend it’s still the nineties?” Cin hedged.“A pocket knife and a pair of scissors,” Plo answered, “And maybe a Blockbuster card for good measure.”“Oh, shit, I’ve got those,” Cin told him, “Hang on.”Cin departed and returned in under a minute. He handed the scissors and pocket knife up to Plo, followed by an honest-to-God Blockbuster wallet card.Plo laughed so hard that Cin worried he was going to fall off the chair.“Have you just been waiting for someone to ask you for a Blockbuster card?” Plo asked when he’d regained control of himself.“Yes,” Cin answered, “Do you need a flashlight?”“I have my phone for that, but thank you,” Plo replied, “Alright. This shouldn’t take too long.”While he worked, Shaak asked: “You built your home?”“Gutted a condo down to the studs and rebuilt it to my liking,” Plo confirmed, “I redid the kitchen when Sha was in middle school because she started having friends over regularly and I needed to give them a space they could eat that wasn’t my living room carpet.”“What did it used to look like?” Kit asked.“The island wasn’t there and the counters were more narrow,” Plo answered, “They used to be tile but the granite means I don’t have to take care of the grout. I had a standalone dining table, but it did not hold up to a pack of preteens who taught themselves how to make pizza dough. If told Sha if she and her friends managed to take the island down I’d be impressed but not to take it as a challenge because we weren’t getting another one.”“There are a number of stories layered in there,” Cin decided.“More than Sha would probably want me telling. Wire’s fixed,” Plo informed Cin, “Well, it should be fixed. Before we restore the power, do you want me to make sure everything else is secure while I’m up here?”“I’d be an idiot to say no to that,” Cin replied, “I do want to hear more about what a kitchen needs to hold up to a pack of teenagers, though.”“DId you know that, if thrown with enough force, a piece of pepperoni can affix itself to your ceiling?” Plo asked.“I do now,” Cin very nearly laughed.“The worst part about it is I know the grease stain is still there,” Plo continued, “It’s small and you have to know what you’re looking for. All I need to do is go get the smallest possible container of matching paint. I know the name. I know the number. I have a paint roller and tray. But then if they’ve changed the formula I’ll have to redo the entire ceiling anyway and I haven’t made time for it.”“Paints change formula?” Shaak asked.“Sometimes,” Plo replied, “That is something else I learned the hard way.”“Which paint?” Kit asked.Plo answered and, by virtue of still having his head in the ceiling, missed that Kit wrote it down. Cin didn’t, though, and he stared at Kit for a few moments before he turned his attention to whatever it was Plo was still doing in his ceiling.“So you’ve got a pepperoni-stained ceiling, a kitchen island, and a hard lesson learned that grout needs more upkeep than the tile sales people tell you,” Cin summarized, “You probably have appliance opinions.”“The last thing I had to replace was the washer-dryer stack,” Plo answered, “The HVAC is on my shit list, though. What are you hoping breaks soon?”“The fucking dishwasher,” Cin replied almost immediately, “It works but it’s loud enough that if I had neighbors who shared walls with me, they’d file a noise complaint every time I decide I don’t want to wash things by hand.”Cin and Plo complained about appliances and home repair while Kit and Shaak listened, caught somewhere between confusion, admiration, and horror.“Alright, you should be good,” Plo announced as he stepped off the chair, ”I am going to go attempt to remove as much of the inner ceiling detritus off of me as I can.”As Plo left to try to wash himself off, Shaak took the chair.“Before he decides he missed a wire,” Shaak explained as she took it back where it belonged.“You should tell him,” Cin told Kit when it was just the two of them in the kitchen.Kit only frowned at him.“Well, if you’re going to surprise him by painting his kitchen ceiling, at least get a dropcloth,” Cin advised, “Life only comes around once, Kit.”“I am aware,” Kit replied.“I’m going to go throw the breaker,” Cin informed him, “Stay here and make sure those two don’t go wandering off in search of more wires to fix or chairs to relocate.”When the kitchen light came back on, it was perfectly steady.–Before they figured out dinner, Plo needed to make sure he did not have any fiberglass attached to him.From the hotel list Cin had provided them, they opted to go with the closest one that had a room available. Cin drove them and Plo was careful to brush up against as few things as possible.Cin would be back in half an hour and dinner was on him this time in exchange for fixing that damn light. He’d call them to come out when he got there so they wouldn’t be waiting around outside in the heat if they didn’t want to.“I may not have thought all of that through,” Plo admitted once they were in their room.“But you fixed the light and impressed the hell out of Cin,” Kit replied, “I can’t say I’ve ever had to worry about fiberglass.”“So long as I don’t touch my face until I shower, I’ll be fine,” Kit explained, “My shirt should probably go in its own bag - a grocery bag would be fine - until it can be washed on its own at least twice in a row.”“I’m sure we can secure one of those before we leave,” Kit replied, “Put it on the TV console for now?”“That works,” Plo replied as he began to shed the damned thing.Midway through the removal, he realized that he and Kit hadn’t seen each other without their shirts since the time Plo had gone swimming and that had been - shit - that had been at the beginning of the trip.Even with his back to Kit, Plo could feel him staring.“Would you-” Kit swallowed hard, “Did you need any help making sure you got everything?”There were few things in the world Plo needed more than that.“If you don’t mind,” Plo replied.“I wouldn’t offer if I minded,” Kit promise, “How-”“You do not want any fabric near this process if you want to wear it again without washing it thoroughly,” Plo half-explained, half-cautioned, “Especially since your current fiberglass embed risk is near-zero. The skin scrubbing process is easiest in running water.”Plo let himself stare as Kit stripped down, very nearly forgot that he still needed to finish the process himself.He remembered, though, and they stepped into the tiny bathroom together, naked, hungry.“How hot do you set the water?” Plo asked.“The water is not what I’m going to be paying attention to,” Kit didn’t quite answer.That, Plo figured, was completely fair.While he waited for the water to get hot enough for his liking, he let himself stare at Kit. Kit stared back with equal intensity, eyes sweeping the entirety of Plo’s body over and over like he, too, was trying to memorize everything he was seeing.“What do you need to take care of?” Kit asked as they finally stepped in the shower together..“A scrub with one washcloth for my back and chest and another one for my face, then a quick hair wash,” Plo rattled off.“I will let you take care of your face,” Kit told him, “I can get started on your back while you do that, though.”“Sounds perfect.”Kit grabbed two washcloths and handed one to Plo before he started scrubbing.“Harder than that,” Plo instructed.Kit huffed something like a laugh as he did just that.After Plo’s instruction Kit’s scrubbing was done with enough force to make Plo sway with each stroke. He was meticulous in his attentions, made sure he didn’t miss a spot.This was exactly what Plo needed.He scrubbed Plo’s back, his shoulders, his arms and Plo - shit - Plo wasn’t getting out of this one without Kit knowing how much this turned him on.Plo was done scrubbing his face well before Kit was done with his back; instead of moving on to get his own chest, he just…waited. Let himself enjoy what Kit was doing to - and for - him.As Kit stepped forward to scrub at Plo’s chest from behind, Plo felt Kit’s erection brush against the back of his thigh and he only barely swallowed a groan.“You can ignore that, if you’d like,” Kit’s voice was rough.“And if I don’t?” Plo tried to challenge but it came out closer to a plea.“I tested negative for everything you can possibly get tested for and haven’t had any partners since my last test,” Kit replied.“Same.”“In that case,” Kit moved a little closer, “I think we need to make sure you’re fiberglass free before we decide what we’re going to do about it.”Kit continued to scrub at chest from behind, but he shifted his other arm to brace it across Plo’s waist, pulled Plo against him.“Kit,” Plo groaned.“Plo,” Kit growled in his ear as he pressed his hips into Plo. He could feel Kit in his entirety, hard against his skin. The hand that wasn’t still trying to make sure they actually did what they needed to do moved downward to stroke Plo’s erection.Plo cried out when Kit grabbed him, bucked into Kit’s hand even as he bit the back of his own hand to keep quiet.“Let me hear you,” Kit told him, “Please.”“Okay,” Plo managed, “Alright. Yeah. Yeah.”Kit made a low, please sound and continued to stroke Plo’s erection, periodically ground his own erection against Plo’s thigh until even keeping both hands on the shower walls wasn’t enough to keep himself well away from the feeling of falling.Kit pulled back a little, then, finished scrubbing Plo’s chest because as much as it was looking like one or both of them may wind up orgasming in the shower that was not why they'd started this.When Kit was done with his chest, Plo grabbed the tiny bottle of hotel-provided shampoo almost blindly and tried to rush the process, but Kit’s hands were in his hair, his nails on his scalp as he massaged it. Plo groaned and his knees threatened to buckle once more.Kit removed his hands slowly and Plo could not rinse the shampoo out fast enough. Kit’s hands were all over him - his chest, his sides, his hips, his cock and Plo wanted his hands on Kit, too.They really needed to talk about this, but-“Somewhere flat?” Plo suggested as he shut off the water.“Absolutely,” Kit agreed.They didn’t bother to dry off as they made their way to the nearer of the two beds, all wandering hands and lips and teeth and sounds. Kit laid Plo out on the bed on his back and Plo went willingly. Kit climbed on top of him, straddled him, laid on him, their erections side-by-side and pressed between them.Plo canted his hips up, desperate, and Kit ground back, just as hungry.“We’re on a timer,” Plo reminded him.“I can make this quick,” Kit replied, “Can you?”“If you keep that up, yes.”Kit leaned down further to kiss him and Plo kissed back, open-mouthed and wet and like this was a point they’d both been hurtling towards for years, now, at least. Maybe longer. Maybe Plo was always supposed to wind up here, naked on a motel bed in the middle of the desert with one of the best men he’d ever met, trying to make him cum before dinner.Without breaking the kiss, Kit reached up and pulled Plo’s hair. Plo leaned into the pull with a groan, ground his hips against Kit’s and Kit’s chuckle turned into a moan of his own.“I can’t say I packed for any part of this trip with this in the realm of possible eventualities,” Plo admitted.“We’re going to have to make a stop somewhere,” Kit replied, “Later.”“Later is assumed,” Plo laughed, “How do you want-”“See what happens between now and when Cin calls saying he’s here to pick us up?” Kit suggested, “I want you, Plo. I want you so badly.”“I want you, Kit,” Plo echoed like a promise.Kit pulled Plo’s hair again, harder this time, hard enough that the side of Plo’s neck was on full display and Plo’s hands dug into Kit’s skin, fingertips curled so that his nails bit into Kit and it was Kit’s turn to cry out.As Kit kissed a line down Plo’s neck, Plo canted his hips towards Kit while Kit ground down against him, both of them seeking more without having to change positions.They found a rhythm like that, an ebb and a flow as they rutted against each other, the heat and the friction pulling Plo closer and closer to the edge with each movement. Kit kept pulling Plo’s hair while Plo nipped at every part of Kit he could reach when he wasn’t kissing him, desperate to keep tasting this absolutely stunning man on top of him..He was acutely aware of the small, wet sensation pooling where the tips of their cocks were pinned between them. Maybe his, maybe Kit’s, maybe both. He was aware, too, of how Kit’s cock had started to throb and fuck Plo was stuck with a near-need to know what that felt like iniside of him.“Kit, Kit, Kit,” Plo tried to warn him, “Kit, I’m going to-”“Cum for me, Plo,” Kit practically babbled, “I’ll be right behind you.”Plo came with a shout of Kit’s name, nails buried in Kit’s skin, head thrown back, spine arched while Kit came with a low groan, humped Plo with half-formed movements as he rode out his own orgasm.They lay there like that for a while, let the world come back to them in its own time. They kissed, lazy now, as the room slowly became less unbearably bright.Plo had no idea what to say. Thank you? That was wonderful? We need to do that again? As soon as we have the car back we’re stopping somewhere for what we need to get you inside of me, if that isn’t too presumptuous?Instead, he opted to let silence settle, hoped the way he traced his fingertips over Kit’s jaw said enough.They only got up to clean themselves off when they did because they had to, and even then it was a slow, intimate affair as they cleaned each other more than they did themselves.They checked themselves in the mirror to make sure they had the chance to emerge from the hotel room as professionals. Kit smoothed Plo’s hair. Plo made sure the buttons on Kit’s shirt were aligned. They did not need to be professionals just yet, though, so they kissed again and again as they got ready for dinner.(Plo was fairly certain he’d kissed more tonight than he had in the past several years put together.)Even dressed in a new, clean set of clothes, hair combed and face far less flushed for having splashed it with cold water, Plo was sure he smelled like sex, like Kit.By the time Cin called they were ready to go. They exchanged one final-for-now kiss just before they opened the motel room door.One appetite sated for now, it was time to take care of the other.–For their second day in Vegas, Shaak spent most of the morning sequestered in a private office fielding calls, leaving Plo, Kit, and Cin in the main conference room.“What do you, specifically, need the organizational director to sign off on?” Plo asked.“Besides anything financial?” Cin replied, “Any location changes that aren’t client residences. Building repairs, since this is one of the few we own. Officially I sign off on mileage reimbursements, per diems, those sorts of things but the finance department at headquarters still needs to approve them before I do.”“Interesting,” Plo hummed, “See, we know where the money is supposed to go, but the organization’s internal rules for its management has never been a Board matter.”“Seems wrong,” Cin replied.“It hasn’t been a Board member since I’ve been a part of it,” Plo clarified.“I think you’ve come to the same conclusion I - and undoubtedly most of the other Directors - have,” Cin informed him, “It’s doing a lot of damage in trust in each other but nobody wants to accuse the man in charge of deciding if a chapter stays open of what he has to be guilty of.”Silence did not settle over them so much as it presented itself in the form of an ambush.“The need isn’t going anywhere and neither am I,” Cin vowed, “Even if it means having to hand off the likely truth to someone else.”Plo and Kit weren’t afraid to get their hands dirty and Cin knew it.This, though, held the promise of winding up cleaner for it.
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They hadn’t stayed up late making sure they were satisfied the email they crafted regarding their concerns over why the Director signed off on Lynn Haven’s bankruptcy filing without at least putting in some effort to investigate why the claim was being filed, but they hadn’t entirely saved the work for the morning.“Sending this right before we go to catch our flight seems inadvisable,” Plo admitted, “Waiting until after we land seems worse.”“If there was a clear best way to do this someone else would have had to have gone through the same thing and written a manual about it,” Kit replied.“That’s my big project for next year,” Plo only half-joked, “What to do when you find yourself going from sitting on the Board to accusing the organization’s Director of enabling a local Director to bankrupt the chapter.”“Here’s to hoping it’s a memoir and not a manual,” Kit huffed, “I think we’re ready to send.”“I think we’ve been staring at it too long to know if it isn’t,” Plo replied, “Send it.”The message, addressed to the entire Board at the end of the chain of emails regarding questions and developments to the case, simply read: Has anyone looked into why the bankruptcy declaration was signed off on? -Kit/PloKit hit send and they grabbed their bags so they could check out before Cin arrived to pick them up.–The decision to have the stop after Nashville be in Wyoming had been a choice Plo had made when he had put thumb tacks in a paper map to mark all of the Chapters who had accepted the Board visit invitation, each fellow Board members’ location marked with their available date blocks on a piece of tape attached to their tacks, and some cooking twine to try to figure out how to spread out the office visits enough that none of them were rushed. It had seemed like a long drive, but all of the offices that were vaguely near the route he would be taking had already been accounted for.Steve Miller Band’s tour manager wished he could have been this redundant.Plo relayed as much to Kit and Kit responded by pulling the map of the entire United States up on his phone.“Not only did they effectively do a loop, the entire middle of the country was ignored,” Kit informed Plo after a few minutes.“Those stops probably came after Northern California,” Plo suggested, “You paid for the WiFi?”“I always pay for WiFi when I fly,” Kit replied, “Why?”“I don’t think I’ve ever used in-flight WiFi,” Plo offered, “I’ve used airport WiFi once, I think.”“They took in-flight movies away and I want the option to do something more than re-read the safety pamphlets,” Kit explained, “How do you usually pass time in the air?”“Reading,” Plo answered.Kit looked at the lack of books present, his skepticism over-exaggerated.“They’re all in the CR-V,” Plo told him, “And besides, I can’t say I’ve had much of a chance to read these past few months.”“Are you complaining?” Kit raised one eyebrow.“Not in the least,” Plo promised.Kit chuckled, the sound low, private as he reached down to squeeze just high enough above the inside of Plo’s kneecap that there was no denying that he was trying to tease.Plo shifted his leg so that the outside rubbed against Kit’s.Air travel had its perks.–Sha and Maul were waiting for them in the pickup lanes, both of them and the car in the same condition as they had been in Nashville.Sha hugged Plo as soon as she saw him and he hugged back.“You look like hell,” she informed him.“I feel about three steps from it,” Plo replied, “When’s your flight?”“The first we could find with two tickets available leaves at one in the morning,” Sha answered.“Why?”“Because I have a job interview at three tomorrow afternoon that I need to actually show up for,” Sha explained, “I’ll take a few naps. It’ll be fine.”“Sometimes I miss being your age,” Plo informed her before he turned to Kit and Maul, “Dinner?”“Dinner,” Maul agreed.“Food and a chance to sit sounds great,” Kit similarly agreed.They went to the first place they saw - a self-titled bar and grill whose menu wasn’t nearly as sure what type of establishment it wanted to be. Howerer: there was, in fact, a fully stocked bar and the definition of what qualified as a grill could be argued to be far more inclusive than a semi-enclosed heat source with a series of metal bars over it to prevent the food and the heat source from getting a little too familiar with each other, which meant there was - likely - something that counted as a grill in the kitchen.They sat at a table with four chairs and enough flat space for maybe three and a half plates. Their drink orders were taken before they were handed menus - Jack and Coke for Sha; rail gin and tonic for Maul; and a bottle of whatever beer was closest for Kit.“Nothing for you?” Kit asked.“When I’m driving?” Plo reminded him.“I can cancel the beer and drive,” Kit offered.(Sha stared at her Uncle, eyes wide, breath held. You didn’t - you weren’t supposed to offer that. If Plo was in his vehicle, he was driving. No exceptions. Shit, he’d wound up getting Sha a car before she had her full license because he could not make himself make an exception to teach her how to drive.)“Not tonight,” Plo declined.(Sha could breathe again.)“Alright,” Kit shrugged.Everything on the menu promised to show up with colors that pulled from the same two and a half color swatches grabbed from the more or less beige column of the paint sampler card rack at Home Depot with the periodic splash of canned pepper green and we have an abundance of fresh tomatoes and no other produce.Nobody came to a place like this for the fucking salad, though, and if was just himself and Kit Plo might consider getting enough drinks in him to stop asking himself why the slot machines were the only thing that had been updated in the past decade and then stay long enough to sober up and avoid having to find a fucking taxi at six in the morning to retrieve his car.It was exactly the type of place all four of them seemed to need to be right now.Once their food orders were in, Plo told Sha: “Tell me about this job interview.”“I’m not super pressed about actually making it,” Sha frowned, “I mean - I know I should be.”“What about it has you already writing it off?” Plo asked.“Between the fact I fumbled half the screening interview and the company’s put three new ads for the same position up in the last week?” Sha replied, “It feels like they asked me in to make a show of interviewing someone so they can say they’re trying.”“Three for the same position?”“The exact same ad, just taken down within two days and put back up again with the newer date posted stamp,” Sha confirmed, “They probably aren’t even hiring, just trying to appease workers or shareholders or both.”Who taught her to put those words in that order?Experience, most likely, Plo realized.“But you’re still taking the interview.”“Because what if they are hiring and I miss it?” Sha explained, “I’m so fucking tired of getting rejected after every single in-person interview but I can’t just stop trying to get places to interview me.”“Look, Sha,” Kit leaned forward, elbows on the table, “Feel free to discard my advice. It’s unsolicited. But. If this isn’t a job you actually want to take, use the interview as practice for whatever part of the interview process you are least confident about. The tell me about yourself when they really want to know why you’re a good fit for the company part or the What’s your greatest weakness question where they’re really looking to see how you go about self-improvement or whatever part it is. They may well be wasting their time, but you don’t have to waste yours.”“At this point I’m not convinced I’m doing any part of the process right,” Sha grumbled, “And then there are the things I can’t even help.”“Such as?” Kit asked.“Well, as you’ve probably noticed, my right eye doesn’t track for shit and while the paint job’s great they have yet to come up with a way to mimic pupil dilation,” Sha replied, “I know it’s illegal to use the fact I have a fake eye to not hire me, but it sure feels like it puts me at a disadvantage.”“Ah,” Kit replied.Sha was quiet for a moment before she told Kit: “I appreciate you not telling me to embrace being different or whatever.”“This has never been a good country to be different in,” Kit told her, “The target over what group or groups everyone’s trying to un-other is always moving, but it’s never disappeared.”“That is not as inspiring as you may have been intending it to be,” she replied.“It’s not,” Kit almost sighed, “The thing about being different is that you can empower yourself until you feel like you could take on God or Hell or Capitalism and win, but self-empowerment takes a lot longer to chip away at the judgment of others than it does for the same judgment to strip it away.”“So what do I do?” Sha asked, “How do I make it in a world like that?”“You reach out,” Kit answered, “Friends. Forums. People who have been through similar situations. You listen to what’s worked for them and adapt it for yourself. And you stop trying to make yourself fit in places that don’t want you. It may be a smaller world, for a while, but it’ll be a kinder world once you find your footing. Things open back up after that, at least.”Sha stared at Kit for a little while, then her Uncle, then Kit again before she replied: “And how the fuck do I take that back to job hunting?”“Look into the company before you reply,” Kit explained, “Not just the reviews on the hiring sites, but things like BBB complaints and if they have a history of discrimination lawsuits.”“They should teach us this in college,” Sha replied in a way that sounded like Thank you.–After dinner, Sha opted to get to the airport early and nap by the gate, which meant Maul was also going to have to try to do the same.After they were dropped back at the airport, Plo and Kit made it to their hotel, checked in, and immediately got out their laptops so they could take a better survey of any chaos they’d managed to spark with their earlier email than doing so on their phones allowed for.Mace had sent Plo and Kit a message saying to call him when they got to their hotel.Out of habit, they called him over a video call.All three of them looked, as Sha put it, like shit.“Mace,” Plo greeted him.“You two have managed to throw a grenade in the fire,” Mace informed them, “I am assuming you threw it on the behalf of someone else.”“You assume correctly,” Plo replied, “There are concerns of retaliatory actions.”“Which could be dealt with on both an organizational and legal level,” Mace pointed out.“Mace,” Kit replied, entirely unimpressed, “if legality and procedure did their job in totality, we wouldn’t be having this conversation.”Across the cameras’ connection, Mace stared for a moment. Kit was not usually the one to speak up with anything resembling dissent first. He would speak up, but usually only after someone else had at least expressed a similar feeling.It was just the three of them now, though, and Kit was just as tired and angry as the rest of them.Plo’s phone started ringing.“One moment,” he requested as he answered it, “Sha, yes, sorry, we got in about five minutes ago and started working. … Yes, we’re fine. … The roads are clear. … Let me know when you board your flight. … Are you two alright? … Good. … Good. … More information than I strictly needed to know. … Love you, kid. … Let me know when you board your flight.”Plo ended the call with a sigh and turned back towards Mace and told him, “Apologies.”Kit turned to Plo, concerned.“She picked up my tendency to worry,” Plo explained, “I should have texted her as soon as we got in.”“Your Niece, yes?” Mace recalled.“Correct,” Plo replied, “Sha and one of her friends drove my car from Nashville to Casper so Kit and I could go to Vegas and not have to worry about how we were still making everything else on time. Anyway - Kit has a point. While, yes, there are legal venues for retaliatory workplace actions, is more legal trouble really what we need right now?”“While I doubt this is what Yoda meant when he said he wanted up to see how the Board could become more involved in the mission, this is exactly what we’re winding up doing,” Kit added, “Even if we’re coming at it a little sideways and in the middle of a crisis we all missed before it hit that point.”“The fact anyone would do this is,” Mace paused.“Fucked up?” Plo offered.“Yes, that,” Mace granted, “but also distressing.”“I want to take everyone’s reactions to this at face value,” Kit said far more to Mace than to Plo, “But the fact the Director would have needed to sign off on the bankruptcy claim in the middle of the night brings that trust into question.”“And if he didn’t sign off on it, who has access to whatever’s required to do so,” Plo added.“Confidentially,” Mace warned, “That is part of the investigation. We’re trying not to alert the head Director that he is on our radar.”“Understood,” Plo and Kit replied in unison.Mace’s face twitched into something like a smile for a moment.“You can tell Director Drallig that his concerns have been passed on and are pending reply, if you want,” Mace granted.“I can tell you beyond a doubt that the only update Cin wants is the results of any investigation,” Plo replied, “but thank you.”“The fact you two have managed to open an ongoing conversation with Cin Drallig - of all the Directors - does show that the tour you two are on is well-merited,” Mace shifted the subject.“It isn’t that Cin is difficult to talk with,” Plo replied, “It’s that he is looking to be treated as an equal without being elevated from where he stands, and he stands with those we serve.”The truth and a jab at some of their fellow Board members in the same breath.“Both of you have an extensive history of community involvement,” Mace recognized, “and if that was all that a Board needed, ours would look incredibly different.”“High-level fundraising has its place,” Plo replied, “As do political outreach and financial expertise. A Board with one specialty is one driving the mission right off a cliff.”That, at least, seemed to lower Mace’s guard.“Just try not to turn outreach into lobbing grenades into the fire,” Mace cautioned, “Are you both alright?”Plo and Kit looked at each other and exchanged a series of half-formed words and facial expressions before turning back towards Mace.“We are,” Kit answered for both of them, “Exhausted from the last several days and probably in need of something like thirteen hours of sleep straight, but coffee will continue to suffice for at least a few more days.”“We can take an extra day in Idaho to rest before we go to meet with Luminara,” Plo added, “See if your half-day sleep manifests itself there.”“Alright,” Mace replied, “The next time you two manage to come across information that may be helpful to the investigation, managing to relay it in a single-sentence question again would be appreciated.”“We will continue to put the same level of care and craft into doing so if it happens again,” Plo promised.Mace did smile, then, and even laughed a little.“Get some rest, you two,” Mace told them, “And…thank you for being so willing to take initiative where deferrance may be the more popular thing to do.”“We are here to help,” Kit replied, “regardless of whether or not it’s the easy thing.”“Take care of yourself, Mace,” Plo told him, “Respectfully, I hope none of us hear from each other unless the official investigation makes progress.”“A sentiment we all share,” Mace agreed, “Good luck and good night.”With that, the call ended.“I can’t tell how that call went,” Kit admitted.“He’s less than pleased that we stumbled into part of the behind-the-scenes investigation but thankful we presented it as a stray thought rather than an accusation,” Plo translated, “He’s also worried we’re going to burn out.”He was also positive that there was something between Kit and Plo but wasn’t sure exactly what, but Plo left that part out.“It’s an understandable concern,” Kit granted, “especially for someone only getting glimpses of what we’re doing.”“Nevermind that those glimpses are in the middle of a crisis,” Plo sighed, “I know I am not going to be able to sleep until Sha has boarded her plane, but I’m not - work isn’t happening tonight.”“I need a shower, but after that what do you say to seeing what movies are on and just not thinking for a few hours?” Kit suggested.“I think you’re brilliant,” Plo replied as he shut his laptop.Kit got to his feet and began stripping down where he stood, two nights ago clearly having removed any inhibitions.Not that Plo minded at all.“Be out in a bit,” Kit promised with a quick kiss to Plo’s cheek before he disappeared into the bathroom.Plo could feel himself grinning.While Kit showered, Plo changed into sleep clothes and made sure everything both of them would need tonight and tomorrow was easy to find before making himself comfortable enough to sit through at least two movies, length depending.Despite it being months into their trip at this point, this was the first time they’d turned the television on. Board games usually took up their nights when work didn’t, but right now they were just…Maybe Mace’s concerns over burnout had more merit than Plo initially gave them credit for.Kit emerged from the shower wearing nothing but a towel and changed into sleep pants but forewent a shirt. Again, Plo wasn’t going to complain. He was, however, wondering if he had managed to be overdressed for the occasion.Kit settled in next to Plo and Plo rested his head on Kit’s shoulder. Kit snaked an arm around Plo’s waist and pressed a kiss to the top of his head.They scrolled through the channel guide until a documentary about the history of cinematic visual effects sounded like the correct blend of engaging and tune-out-able.Somewhere in the middle of the documentary, Plo told Kit: “That was solid advice you gave Sha.”Kit huffed but smiled and replied: “Thanks. It’s one of the things that comes up a lot in the kids I mentor when they hit the job hunting phase. Interviews, I mean.”“How long have you been mentoring?” Plo asked.“Off and on for somewhere around seventeen years?” Kit answered, “I started when I moved back to New Orleans because I needed to reconnect with my community and my community was wounded. And - all of us are going to spend the rest of our lives shaped by that, but the kids, Plo. The kids didn’t have deep roots like the rest of us. I had to do…something.”Plo squeezed Kit’s thigh and Kit squeezed Plo with a heavy sigh.“There are more things from them to have to navigate every year,” Kit continued, “Yoda undersold the value of technological progress, but it has changed how everything works. School. Social bonds. Work. I do my best to keep up with it, but I’m not the one living it.”“Keeping up with what Sha’s life and future look like has been the hardest part of raising her,” Plo admitted, “I was her age, once. I never expected her to not go through all of the key developmental milestones, including lying and doing incredibly stupid shit. But social media? Digital textbooks that mean if the power’s out she can’t study? Online submission portals? Some of her classmates hadn’t handwritten anything in years and they were teenagers. She was in one class where she and Ahsoka were the only ones who could read a paper map. And - I don’t blame any of them for it. You have to be taught those things. It’s more…why have so many parents and caregivers allowed technology to take over the teaching process to the point of an entire generation missing core competencies?”“If there was an easy answer, there would be an easy solution,” Kit sighed, “And the overwhelming majority of the time I don’t blame the parents, easier. I mean - think about it. We’re used to technological advances being genuinely helpful. Microwaves. SatNav. Moving from tapes to CDs to MP3s. The ability to make a phone call just about anywhere.”“I remember when my parents first bought a microwave,” Plo almost laughed, “Being able to cook food so quickly was fascinating. My sister and I learned fairly quickly that some things should not go in there.”“If only questionable experimenting with microwaves and questionable experimenting with the Internet held the same type of quick lessons learned,” Kit shook his head, “I know all we can do is our best.”Were that their best ever felt like enough.Plo shifted so that his head was on Kit’s chest; Kit shifted so he could card his fingers through Plo’s hair.Plo drifted in and out of consciousness, the way Kit was playing with his hair lulling him to sleep while the fact his neck was not going to be happy in the morning kept pulling him back towards waking.Eventually, Sha texted.Sha: Boarded. Napped at the gate. Secured food for when we land. Phone’s going off until we land. Try to be asleep when I get home. Love you, old manPlo: Good. Let me know when you land and when you get home. I’ll try to be asleep for it. Love you, kid“She’s on board and turning her phone off,” Plo relayed despite knowing Kit could see his screen.“Good,” Kit replied.“Trying to sleep sounds like a more viable option than actually sleeping,” Plo admitted.“Trying is supposed to be better than staying up and doing things,” Kit replied as he turned off the TV and then the light.Getting into a position more conducive to sleep took a great deal of rearranging bodies and blankets both. A few elbows and knees were taken to softer spots, but not hard enough to do any damage.Finally, they were under the blankets and Kit had Plo in his arms.The last fully coherent thought Plo had before sleep did, in fact, claim him was how much easier it was to fall asleep like this than it was to do alone.–Despite how small the Casper office was, Plo was almost immediately struck with the notion that each of the staff had enough personality and drive for ten.They tended to need to in small outfits, but this was.Well.The woman who ran the office itself - the paperwork, the coffee, the front desk, the parking passes - was named Fay. She looked like she was Sha’s age but carried herself like she’d been doing this longer than Plo had been alive.“Come on,” she waved them in, “Glad you could make it, what with…everything.”She led them to a small conference room that contained suggestions it was being used as an office most days and a coffee pot that had seen more than its fair share of use.She was joined by the fundraising manager - a man who looked more tired than Plo and Kit combined who went by Zao - and offered coffee before they sat down to talk about how the chapter was doing.It was…doing. The entire staff except for Fay had rolled over within the last year and while the rollover had been needed because the previous staff had been watching the funds-raised-to-funds-needed ratio spiral upward, there were growing pains that meant things weren’t improving as fast as they needed them to if they wanted any confidence that they were going to stay open.What happened to the Lynn Haven chapter had shaken everyone’s confidence to different degrees, but Fay had been here long enough to know that this was recoverable and she’d drag the entire chapter into better days by herself if she had to.“You don’t quit just because the first winter is hard,” Kit offered.“See, that’s what a lot of folks say,” Fay laughed, “but I think sometimes you gotta know when to call it quits. Great-great-grandpapa sure did.”“What?” Plo asked before anyone could stop him.“See, where my trailer is and where his ranch was is almost two hundred miles apart,” she explained, “Came out here to start a cattle ranch, but then the war came and all the jobs were working steel mills on the west coast. Asked a neighbor to watch the few cattle they had, paid them what they could, packed up the family, and headed west. Came back when the war was over only to find out the neighbors had pocketed the money and the property had been ransacked. Door was left open and one of the cows wandered in, fell through the living room floor, and died. Packed up the family and moved right back to the steel mill town. Some things you just don’t rebuild.”“What brought you back out here?” Plo asked.“I wanted to see if I could do it,” she answered, “Turns out cattle ranching is just not for my family, but I cut it as someone who manages databases just fine.”“We aren’t leaving the chapter to loose animals just because we’ve hit a slump,” Zao noted with a fairly well suppressed sigh, “I have seen chapters in far more dire straits than this turn around just fine.”It was deeper than that, if Plo’s memory served him correctly. He’d heard of Zao, but hadn’t met him in person before. He was known for bouncing between chapters specifically to help them pull out of a sustained downward trend. He would stay long enough to be sure they would continue recovering, train someone to take his place, and then move on again.He had been working for the nonprofit longer than Plo had been volunteering with it. Plo was fairly certain Zao had been one of the first employees, actually.Which explained why he was so good at what he did.“Of course not,” Fay agreed, “A couple chickens might liven things up, though.”Zao stared at her for a moment before he replied: “You know what? I think you’re right.”Fay lit up and Plo wondered if the coffee was strong enough to get him through whatever was about to happen.–“Did that just happen?” Kit asked once they were about half-way back to the hotel.“I am not sure we fostered a conversation so much as we watched a cow that’s been dead for a century turn into a fundraising campaign,” was the only answer Plo had.“Say, uh, before we get back and the fact we still need about three hours more sleep sets in, did you,” Kit hesitated, “Did you still want to see about those supplies?”Plo could not find a parking lot to pull into so they could find an appropriate store fast enough.There was an absolute zero chance that either of them were messaging anyone else for help in figuring out which stores they could go to that were also nearby, so maybe twenty minutes of Google searches later they settled on Target of all possible places.Somewhere between the weekly groceries, clothes for every member of the family including the pets, and a small selection of laptops and phones were all the supplies they needed to be sure that, the next time they found themselves tangled up in each other, Plo could find out exactly what Kit’s cock felt like inside of him.The company towns of pre-union America wished they had as much to offer as the modern department store.This was - this was normal. This was fine. This is what people did.The selection was small but effective. While they were there, they opted to pick up charge banks for their phones and some snacks for the road.Their need for sleep did, in fact, take over shortly after they checked in, but they were prepared, now, and that was more than enough.–Come morning, they decided to add a few hours to their journey to Boise to lay flowers on the Matthew Shepard Memorial Bench.They laid them in silence, hand in hand, strangers to the physical location but not to the sense of defiance in the face of loss the bench was meant to remind them of.The fact he and Kit should have been the same age was in particularly sharp focus.They walked back to the car in silence, too, still hand in hand.Plo needed a moment before he was sure that he was good to drive.Life was precious. Life was sacred.Sometimes, life was entirely too short.–The Idaho chapter, while not located in the capital, served far more people in Boise than it did where it was located. The building rent was cheaper here, they learned, and the approximately half-hour drive to most of the out-of-office activities was considered well worth it.After so many high-intensity meetings and wide open chapters in a row, having one that wanted to talk numbers and nothing else was almost refreshing.They were done by lunch time, their partial day to themselves they’d planned for tomorrow suddenly a full twenty-four hours.Back to Boise it was.–Plo had booked the room in Boise because it had been the closest hotel that had had booking options available when he was pre-booking everything. He hadn’t checked out much else about the location because he hadn’t been too concerned about the possibility of having to drive for food.Past him had no idea how thankful he was that there was a bar only a few blocks away, all bright and loud and with the smell of woodsmoke wafting onto the sidewalk so they’d decided that was where they were having dinner and, for the first time since the trip had started, more than one drink with the meal.Nobody knew them here, and even if they had - Plo was rather done pretending that Kit only meant something to him in private.They stood at the bar, leaned on the edge with their elbows, leaned their heads in close together so they could hear each other over the din of the rest of the place and - okay, that wasn’t the only reason they had leaned in so close.The bar itself was kept fairly cold to avoid the number of patrons from making the place too hot for anyone to bear, but this close to Kit it felt like the room was alight anyway.“You know, you’re cute when you’re tipsy,” Kit teased.“Just when I’m tipsy?” Plo returned the teasing, emboldened by drink and closeness.“Not just now,” Kit grinned, too many teeth showing but it took an edge of promise and Plo couldn’t close the tab fast enough.Plo was glad they’d picked a bar they could walk to; he wasn’t drunk by any stretch of the imagination, but nor was he sober. He did not want to wait to sober up to find out what promises that smile held.The edges of everything were softer, a soft blur where the unknown normally lurked, dark and towering, the boundaries between now and then and yet to come all trying to narrow down to this exact night, Plo’s hand in Kit’s and Kit’s in Plo’s as they laughed at something that probably wasn’t even that funny but the laughter had started and did not want to stop and neither did Plo.No sooner than the door closed, Kit’s mouth was on Plo’s, all teeth and passion and hunger. His hands joined the feeding frenzy, pulled at Plo’s clothes, his belt, his heart.Plo kissed back with equal intensity, let his hands make their way under Kit’s shirt to feel the heat of his skin.This was different from Vegas. Far less deliberate. Far more desperate - as if they were both trying to apologize to the men they’d been when they were actively spurning forming any sort of partnership.Or maybe it was just Plo who’d made those choices and this was how Kit made love. It - this was something else they hadn’t talked about, another thing they didn’t know about each other but again this was not the time.Plo - he wasn’t new at this, it had just been…well, it had been a long time and he wasn’t quite sure where, exactly, he’d put this exact type of bravado. Vegas had been the first domino tipped over after weeks and months of setup, had been hurried, wouldn’t have happened if Plo hadn’t crawled in the damned ceiling but this!If this was any indicator as to how Kit made love he was determined to find it again.He could feel, acutely, just how hard he was - the ache and the want and the way the fabric of his pants suddenly did not have nearly enough give.It wasn’t long until both their shirts had found their way to the floor and their hands had mapped each other, wandering so much that it bordered on roving and shit Kit was hard, too - Plo could feel it pressed against his own erection. He surprised himself with the noise that escaped him but Kit took it as encouragement.Plo went for Kit’s belt first, hands clumsy with drink and anticipation and the task made far more difficult by both of their unwillingness to offer any more room for the task. He managed it, though, and as soon as Kit’s belt was undone he moved on to his own while Kit undid his button and zipper.Shedding the rest of their clothes was a clumsy process, shoes somehow shed after pants and with a great deal of stumbling and catching each other and laughing, hands everywhere they could touch and lips not far behind.“Kit,” Plo gasped as Kit reached down to stroke his cock.“Plo,” Kit growled, “Oh, Plo, fuck.”“Ideally.”“How do you want to do this?”“I want you in me, Kit,” Plo told him as he stroked Kit’s cock, “Please.”“Fuck,” Kit repeated. This time, though, he sounded like he’d just had the wind knocked out of him.Kit recovered, though, and started guiding the both of them towards the closer bed. Plo went without resistance, excited, grabbed at Kit’s thighs, his hips, his ass and Kit growled right as the back of Plo’s legs hit the side of the bed.“How do you-” Plo started to ask.“It’ll be easier if you’re on your stomach,” Kit told him, “Fuck, Plo.”Plo hummed, deeply pleased, kissed Kit one more time before he turned around to position himself on the bed.Plo laid face down, let Kit guide him into whatever position this was going to work best in, gasped when Kit leaned forward to bite down on the meat of his shoulder.“God, fuck, one second,” Kit swore as he got up. Plo nearly asked what was wrong but the sound of bags rustling reminded him that, right, lube. A necessary part of this.Kit climbed back on the bed, settled between Plo’s legs once more, ran his hands from just above the back of Plo’s knees, up his thighs, grabbed at his ass before leaning forward to cover Plo’s body with his own for a moment, kissed the back of Plo’s neck, across his shoulders, periodically grazed skin with teeth. Plo could hear himself saying Kit’s name over and over, a litany, an evocation, an invocation bidding Kit inside of him.The lube was cold but Kit’s fingers as he worked him open were warm and Plo - Plo knew that he was making sounds, might have been saying words, but he - all he could focus on was the pleasure-pain burn and the way he could feel the intensity of Kit’s focus at the base of his spine.“If this is how you are for my fingers I am going to lose it with you on my cock,” Kit told him like a promise.After what felt like an eternity shoved into a mere few heartbeats, Kit withdrew his fingers so that he could start guiding his cock in of Plo.Kit was half-way inside him, at most, when his body tensed and refused to relax.“Easy,” Kit murmured, “Easy.”Plo tried to apologize. He - he wanted this, wanted Kit, he-Kit used the pads of his thumbs to massage the small of his back, deep, arching motions from right next to his spine outward over and over while assuring Plo that he was alright.It worked.“Are you alright?” Kit asked.“Yeah,” Plo managed, “Good. Thank you.”“Good,” Kit sounded both relieved and pleased and Plo wished he could see his face.Kit applied a little more lube before he buried himself any deeper inside Plo.Plo did his damnedest to keep his breathing even, keep his body relaxed, it was just - he was going to lose his mind. The stretch. The pleasure. The sting. The way Kit kept stretching him by pulling at the edges of his hole with the sides of his thumbs. It was all so much. A flood after a near-lifetime of drought.When Kit was as far into Plo as he could possibly be, he stayed there for a moment, letting Plo’s body adjust to the feeling and all that came with it. Plo wasn’t sure if it was Kit’s cock throbbing or his body or both but, yeah, fuck, he was going to cum on the sheets sooner rather than later and he wasn’t even going to need a hand on his cock to get there.“Good?” Kit checked.“More than,” Plo promised despite how the words blurred together.“Good,” Kit repeated, not a question this time, “Fuck, Plo, you feel divine.”Kit fucked him with long, slow strokes, held Plo by the hips, made Plo keen as he brushed against that spot.“There?” Kit asked, breathless.Plo managed something like uh-huh as his hands scrabbled for some sort of purchase on the fucking fitted sheet.Behind him, Kit shifted the angle of his hips so he could hit it on every thrust.“Kit!” Plo moaned, “Fuck, Kit, fuck.”“Oh Plo,” Kit sounded breathless, “Do you have any idea how good you feel?”He didn’t, no, but he was getting an idea.Kit fucked Plo like he wanted. Like he was breaking a fast and this was how - and who - he chose to sate his appetite. Like the entirety of history had narrowed itself down to this moment.Plo realized he was going to cum maybe a heartbeat before it happened - not nearly enough time to let Kit know it was happening, spilled on the sheets as Kit hit just the right angle to make him do that.Plo’s lungs heaved and he could feel his shoulders tremble, suspected the only reason his hips were still even remotely aloft was down to how Kit was holding them.A few thrusts later, Kit came with a long, low groan and shit Plo could feel the way Kit’s cock twitched after he’d emptied himself inside of him. Plo groaned, shivered, and Kit’s hands went to the bed to steady himself.Kit pulled out slowly, carefully, his cock starting to soften as he did. Plo mourned the loss, but as soon as Kit was out of Plo he laid down, completely covered Plo’s body with his own, grabbed Plo by the wrists and just held him there, breathing still wild, hips periodically twitching with aftershocks.Plo was pretty sure he managed something like wow to which Kit replied with an uh-huh that was far more breath than sound.Slowly, almost reluctantly, they cleaned themselves up and then cleaned up after themselves so they could sleep where they’d just fucked. Neither of them bothered to find their sleep clothes so while they settled into their now-normal sleeping arrangement there was nothing at all between them and it was new all over again.Sleep was not terribly far away, though, and every night lately felt a little more like home.–The morning alarm woke them both and Plo reached out to turn it off with a grunt. Kit, still mostly asleep, did not let go of Plo. Still, despite the iron-clad embrace, Plo managed to make the sound stop.“Much better,” Plo muttered as he put his phone back on the bedside table. Kit hummed, pleased, and pressed a kiss to the side of Plo’s neck that came with a gentle scraping of teeth. A shiver ran through Plo, slight but undeniable.“Good morning,” Plo wrapped his arms around Kit.“Good morning,” Kit echoed.They stayed like that for a while, Kit’s face nestled into the back of Plo’s neck, Plo’s arms over Kit’s, their bodies melded against each other. They had until check-out time to vacate the room, and today they were going to take nearly that entire time.Somewhere in the middle of the morning, Luminara asked if they minded moving their dinner meeting back a day on account of a personal schedule conflict; they did not mind at all.They decided they’d spend another night in Boise if the room was available, and if not there was undoubtedly plenty to do in Portland.There was an identical room available just two doors down, so Boise it was.They spent the day in the room, mostly - resting, stretching, reading, a particularly competitive game of Ticket To Ride. Plo went swimming and Kit soaked in the adjacent hot tub. Somewhere in there, enough food happened to keep hunger at bay.Sha texted to let Plo know that she hadn’t gotten the job, then called because she was more upset about it than she wanted to be. Instead of making Plo step into the hall to take the call, Kit turned the background movie off and took a picture of the board so that if something got bumped they could reset it.“Thank you,” Plo told Kit when the call ended.“Of course,” Kit assured him, “You’d stop the world for Sha if you needed to.”“I would,” Plo knew.He knew, too, that Kit had no context for how much it meant to him that Kit not only accepted this, but helped in the stopping process.One day. Not - no longer maybe - but not now. Not yet.Kit reached across the board to put his hand on the side of Plo’s face with a small, cautious smile. Plo kissed his palm and managed to return the smile.Kit managed to bump the board as he sat back up to take his turn.At least he’d taken a picture.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
When faced with the choice between getting to Portland in the middle of rush hour and leaving after an incredibly early breakfast so they would arrive in the middle of the afternoon, they chose the early option.They crossed a time zone line somewhere in there, so they wound up arriving at a time that would be considered okay for a quick lunch meeting.Which was why they were in a tiny cafe that closed its doors at two on weekdays, picking at breakfast wraps with Luminara.The thing about these smaller meetings with fellow Board members was that the pretense of professionalism needed to be maintained until someone else dropped it. Stass had dropped it the moment she decided she was more interested in spending the night at the fish pyramid, which was likely the only reason they wound up feeling comfortable enough to spend hours in one hotel room lying on various flat surfaces while trying to draft the joint statement. It would have taken longer if they had been doing it in a more formal meeting room, but it still would have gotten done.There was truly something to be said for what the physical walls you found yourself surrounded by did for your personal walls.Luminara had not dropped the pretense, which meant all three of them were carefully measuring everything they said and did, down to how any food in front of them was consumed.Which was a bit of a shame, because this place offered lavender mimosas that sounded like a fascinating concoction. Just…not in front of someone they had not shared so much as a meal with.Despite the stiffness of the meal, the fact that things continued to show signs of implosion behind the scenes did not find its way into conversation. Instead, Luminara offered them a brief overview of where the volunteer need was greatest, the areas where the food tended to be the most reliable quality, and a handful of things to do if they wanted to avoid tourists.They would meet again for a late dinner; lunch seemed to be her way of apologizing for rescheduling in the first place.Luminara had to return to her day job well before Plo and Kit’s hotel opened for check-in. which meant they had time.Time to talk. Time to rest. Time to plan.Time to ask each other if they wanted to cancel their existing reservation for something with a kitchen.“That sounds lovely,” Plo decided. And - it did. They were only here for a few days, but the chance to make coffee in private and let the mornings take longer with Kit was not something he was going to pass up.While they tried to find a suitable place, they started asking if they wanted to look for similar places in other destinations where they planned on staying more than two or three nights.The answer to that was also yes.It would be easier, Plo reasoned, to sort their Portland accommodations first and then the rest of them once they had the space to do so.Kit found a little cottage on the river that, while far more expensive, came with a full kitchen and a washer-dryer set. It was, ultimately, the option to not only wash what they needed to but also refresh everything that had been in suitcases since Chicago that made the decision for them.“I will admit that I had not considered that everything would need to be aired out regularly,” Kit half-complained as he set the washer to an empty cycle of hot water to rinse out any detergent residue, “We need detergent.”“That would be important, yes,” Plo blinked, “Uh. Nearest grocery store. That should be fine.”“Hang on,” Kit told him as he tapped at his phone, “Looks like there are a few in reasonable distance. Mid-level chain grocery or higher-end, do you think?”“Literally anything besides Tide,” Plo replied.“I can go get it if you want to continue unpacking,” Kit offered.“Alright,” Plo agreed, “If you want to get a few things for breakfast and the like, go ahead.”“Can do,” Kit replied, “Keys are..?”“Oh, here,” Plo fished them out of his pocket and tossed them to Kit, “Thank you.”“No problem,” Kit promised, “I will be back as soon as I’m done.”Kit went to Plo first to kiss him on the cheek before he left for the store.Once or twice a year, even fifteen years later, Plo was struck with the urge to call his sister and tell her something. This was one of those moments; she would have been delighted that he’d handed the keys over, that someone was in his life doing something like going out to get emergency laundry detergent.Instead, he looked to the ceiling for a moment like that would help cover the hole she’d left behind.–Dinner with Luminara was in a much different place than lunch.Lunch had been…quaint. Almost pedestrian. Accessible - not in a legally compliant way (although it likely was), but rather in a way where you felt like you could just walk in and be welcome.Dinner’s establishment came with a fixed tasting menu and optional wine pairing with each course. There were other drinks on offer, but Plo opted to skip them altogether; Kit and Luminara went with the pairings.They had not worn full suits since the very beginning of the trip, when they had still been making the - admittingly wrong - assumption that presenting themselves as Board members who knew what they were doing and wearing that authority and confidence in one outfit was going to be the best way to go about this.Kit still cleaned up incredibly well.“I understand you two have managed to get quite involved with recent events,” Luminara told them as the first course arrived.“By care and by stumbling alike,” Plo replied.It had been a while since Plo had been to anything resembling a high society dinner. This was nowhere near one, yes, but he knew the basic rules here, too. That a fellow Board member was putting them through the paces was off putting, but he hadn’t retired at thirty-seven as a stockbroker without being able to understand what social game was being laid out and by what rules he was expected to play.He could remember how to do this.It took the first two courses for him to understand what, exactly, the three of them were doing there. Luminara was worried that the call was coming from inside the house, and she wanted to be sure it was not Kit or Plo before they had a meaningful meeting.She had no idea that the organizational Director was being investigated, which did not help her suspicions. Plo and Kit would not be the one to tell her because they were not going to be the ones to compromise the investigation.Plo spent the third course carefully explaining to her that, no, they are just as appalled by what’s happened as everyone else is and that he doesn’t understand why any of the stolen funds haven’t been reverted by the banks.Because, seriously, they should be able to do that. It was a direct transfer. Unless they were funneled into offshore accounts, which would add an additional layer of problems to getting everything smoothed out.By the fourth course, Kit was keeping up with him. Of course he was; Kit was brilliant.Kit spent the course relaying that there was, in fact, a break in the organizational trust affecting how everything operated, and if something wasn’t done to repair it soon, they’d be fixing cracks for years to come.By the fifth course, all three of them were commiserating over the fact they - legally - could not be directly involved with the investigation.They did not use those words, of course. None of this was to be conveyed like they were interested in things like clarity or direct communication. This was a game where either all three of them won or nobody did.The dessert course, at least, was spent going over where and when Plo and Kit expected to be volunteering outside of the office visit.Game over.All three of them had won.–Dinner had not left either of them feeling particularly great about the entire thing.They parted ways with Luminara amicably and with the agreement that they would do dinner again - elsewhere - on their last night in Portland. She would try to join them for their visit to the Portland office, but she wasn’t making any promises. She had, after all, agreed to meet with them and no further.Plo was struck with the notion that she and Agen led similar lives, but Agen’s time budgeting skills were ahead of hers.Sometimes all that was separating you from the person above you was the ability to hire a personal assistant.“What just…happened?” Kit asked once they were out of the parking lot, “And how do I learn how to do that?”“Answering your second question first, you did just fine, Kit,” Plo replied, “As for what just happened: Luminara wanted to be sure we weren’t involved in everything going on with Lynn Haven.”“And that was how she did it?”“A lie is an easy thing to rehearse,” Plo explained, “Keeping up the lie when nothing is being directly addressed makes it easier to slip up. That’s the theory, at least.”“If I wasn’t sure we weren’t involved in it, I would have left that conversation thinking we were guilty,” Kit admitted, “Where did you learn to do that?”“Carefully avoiding insider trading in the eighties,” Plo answered, “among other things until I retired. Negotiations are sometimes best done when they aren’t being done at all.”“What if we had both just been really bad at…that..?”“I’m not sure,” Plo admitted.“We’ve had a few offices who are only open to the bare minimum cooperation, but a fellow Board member?” Kit complained, “Are we not all part of the same team? Or sitting on the same Board, even?”“If I were to give her the benefit of the doubt, I would consider that her isolation from the rest of the Board, the fact she has clearly made some inferences on her own, and the fact she clearly courts high society for donations and pledges would come together to mean that she feels she needs to be suspicious initially,” Plo replied. If he wasn’t giving her the benefit of the doubt, well.It was best to not go there.“I don’t like this,” Kit sat back in his seat a little, “I mean, I follow, but I don’t like it. THe experience or how disconnected we all are from each other.”“Not helping things is the fact that the closest Board member to her is Saesee Tiin, who isn’t exactly known to make social calls,” Plo recognized.“Yoda’s advice to take this trip makes more sense the more we get into it,” Kit granted, “It’s almost like he knew.”Plo damn near slammed on the breaks to tell Kit to repeat that.“Yep,” Kit said on a sharp inhale.“This is going to be the most carefully worded email of our lives,” Plo said in place of screaming.“What if it wasn’t an email?” Kit asked.“What would you rather it be?” Plo asked.“A social call?” Kit suggested, “If not someone we haven’t visited yet, then we find a reason to double back.”“And there is plenty of reason,” Plo knew his grip on the wheel was far too tight, “You asked how you learn to do that, but you’re playing this shitty game just fine.”“So I follow - now - about the doublespeak and the caution that borders on paranoia,” Kit granted, “but the fixed menu?”“Do you want to go find out if Portland has something that passes as a seven-eleven?” Plo suggested.“Oh fuck yes,” Kit breathed a sigh of relief.Not only did Portland have something that passed as a 7-11, there was one only a few minutes’ drive from their rental cottage.“It isn’t about whether or not it’s good for us or offering any sort of balanced food option,” Kit reasoned as their selections were rung up, “This is the other end of the pendulum swing from dinner and we’re eating at both ends.”“Not a phrase I’m forgetting any time soon,” Plo muttered.“I’m not workshopping that,” Kit snorted.“Would you like a bag?” the cashier asked, unphased.“Yes, please,” Plo answered.They took their food back to the cottage so they could remove their suits first. While dry cleaning was an option in the event of an unexpected food encounter, minimizing the chances it would be needed was preferable.“Whose idea was it to require the nice clothes to require special care?” Kit complained as he shed his jacket.“I want to blame the French,” Plo replied, “I’m not actually sure.”“What did the French do to you?” Kit asked.“Do you have a different country that sounds like they’d be responsible for fabric cleaning so specific you need to take it to a professional?” Plo asked.“The British,” Kit answered like it was obvious.“Fair point,” Plo decided.“Are either of us actually looking this up?” Kit asked.“Not while my food’s getting cold,” Plo replied, Jacket off and tie already undone..“Fair point to you,” Kit chuckled as he continued to shed the rest of his clothing.Despite the knowledge that the food was getting colder by the second, Plo let himself get distracted by the way Kit was getting undressed a few times during the process of shedding his own suit.Suits and ties hung up and well away from the kitchen and shirts in the washer to save themselves the effort later, Plo finally dug into the bag.“Hotdog?” Plo asked as he held one of them out to Kit.“Actually, hang on,” Kit said as he headed back towards the front of the cottage.“Kit?” Plo asked.“Making sure we locked the door,” Kit explained.“Good call,” Plo granted, “This is not the most dignified I’ve ever been.”“We’re having diet Coke and convenience store hotdogs at almost eleven at night in our underwear. Dignity has vacated the premises,” Kit replied, “I think I left mine with the wine pairings, actually.”“At least you know where to retrieve yours,” Plo teased.This was going to be one of those moments where, when his memory banks decided to let it float to the surface, he was going to view with a mixture of perplexion (What turn in our lives did we take that got us there?) and awe (There is an us, here, already. This is a life we share.).Before Kit took the offered food-ish item, he bracketed Plo with his arms, heels of his hands on the table behind Plo, and kissed him like he’d been waiting to do that for hours.Putting the food back down to return the affections took more coordination than Plo strictly wanted it to - he nearly missed the table - but soon enough his hands were on Kit.There was still a little bit of the sweet wine’s taste left in Kit’s mouth and Plo knew that, now. He drank in the way the saccharine was undercut by a hint of bitter, both of which were nearly eclipsed by Kit.Kit broke the kiss first but shifted to rest his forehead against Plo’s. They stayed like that for a moment, eyes closed, simply breathing each other in.“Much better,” Kit murmured.“Very,” Plo agreed.He really needed to start taking the initiative here.–Before they started volunteering, they wanted to formally introduce themselves to the people who actually ran the Portland chapter. The introductions would, naturally, come with a review of figures and an attempt to dig deeper than the numbers that floated to the surface, but the success of said efforts were something they would never have total control over.Breakfast had been coffee and some bite-sized fruit danishes Kit had gotten along with the detergent; they’d need to get tomorrow’s breakfast while they were out, but that was fine. More than fine, really - they would end today and begin tomorrow together. Domestic. A port in the storm found in each other.For now, though, they were in the process of shifting from a private breakfast to being Board members again.“This is my least favorite part of being on the Board,” Kit admitted.“How much we need to consider what we’re wearing says for us?” Plo clarified.“Yeah,” Kit grumbled, “I mean, I get it from a tradition standpoint, but it’s all just plant fibers and plastic with some hide thrown in. Why should someone’s willingness to spend hundreds if not thousands on an outfit inherently give them more power than someone else? And how do we, as Board members, start breaking down those expectations.”Plo considered the questions for a moment.“Actually, I have an idea,” Plo decided, “We’ll need to find somewhere that sells band t-shirts for groups that were active in the eighties, but I have an idea.”Kit tilted his head to the side.“It’s a personal preference, but I need to have seen a band in concert if I’m going to wear the t-shirt,” Plo explained.“When we aren’t trying to not be late for a meeting, I want to hear these stories,” Kit informed him, “I had no idea you’ve been to concerts.”“It’s been a long time,” Plo replied, “but I’m sure I can dig a few of the memories up beyond I was there.”“Sounds good,” Kit grinned, “Should we try to find a place tonight for the shirts?”“Oh, God, no, I’m telling Sha I need band shirts and would like to pick them in-person,” Plo laughed, “I’ll have a list by lunch time.”It wasn’t much, but swapping out the dress shirt and tie for something casual would - hopefully - be a good way to start pushing back on those expectations. Whether it made him more or less approachable remained to be seen.This entire thing was a series of experiments. What was one more added to the mix?–Luminara had been able to join them for the office visit, which helped things go smoothly, but not for the hands-on volunteering during the work week.Every city had its problems. That was unavoidable. Learning the shape of Portland’s problems and how the organization was trying to help mitigate them wasn’t something they could learn in a single visit and everybody involved knew that.They could, however, offer more hands to help for a few days and that was always in short supply.–Sha had, in fact, gotten Plo the list of possible locations he could go t-shirt hunting before lunch on the day he made the request. It was Saturday before they made the time to do any personal shopping that wasn’t food, though, and they decided to truly make a day of it.Before they went to any malls or shopping centers, they decided to see what the Saturday Market had to offer. No shirts, they were certain, but plenty to local artisans offering just about everything you could ask for.Kit found a pack of hand-illustrated playing cards to send to his mother. Plo found teas to send to Sha; they also realized that they could get tea for themselves and felt a little silly for it having taken this long to ask each other how they felt about tea outside of migraine management.They picked up tiny jars of jams made from berries they had never heard of which could easily be used within a few days when they had a refrigerator in their room and soaps that smelled as if they had been pulled directly from the mountainside and a set of leather cuff bracelets that were visually stunning but all Plo could think about their design was the fact they looked like something that could easily translate to being tied down and that was something he and Kit hadn’t even gotten close to discussing.And then they came to the stall filled with handmade leather journals.Plo stopped before he’d noticed he’d stopped; Kit stopped half a step after him, curiosity bright against Plo’s awe.“Did you want to look at them?” Kit nudged him back to himself.“Ah, no,” Plo shook his head, “They’re quite eye-catching, though.”“We have all day,” Kit reminded him, “It’s alright.”“I haven’t-” Plo started to say but changed his mind and instead went with, “I wouldn’t want to get skin oil on handmade leather goods that I don’t plan on buying.”For the first time, Kit looked at him like he was looking at a puzzle and Plo didn’t like the feeling at all.Despite this, Kit only shrugged and said, “Alright then,” before they kept walking.As they walked, though, Kit deliberately brushed his pinky against Plo’s - an offering, an anchor.Plo shifted to hold Kit’s entire hand and Kit’s smile reached his eyes again.–Mid-way through their last day in Portland, there was a request from Obi-Wan for any available Board members to join a video call in an hour.Plo and Kit were available, technically, so they returned to the little rental cottage to join.Mace, Ki-Adi, Depa, Shaak, Luminara, and Anakin were all able to join as well - not terrible for a mid-workday last-minute call.“The good news is that the press kit is ready to be sent for approval,” Obi-Wan told everyone present, “The additional news is that I suddenly have several additional fundraising events on my calendar which, while not a problem, means we can expect an uptick in large, anonymous donations.”“Which, while normally not a problem, is going to make our poor processing team nervous right now,” Depa recognized.“I understand the desire for any large amounts of money in or out right not to be openly traceable,” Obi-Wan recognized, “but I am more than reasonably confident that I can secure these donations without most of them being earmarked for limited use.”“How are you securing these donations?” Luminara asked.“There are perks to being part of New York City’s high society,” Obi-Wan replied, “While I understand the need for caution and the impulse to allow suspicion to dictate how we handle things, but the fact of the matter is that we cannot afford to allow the cracks in the foundation that is communal trust make policies - official or unwritten - for us.”“Obi-Wan is correct,” Ki-Adi agreed, “While it will be more work now to quell fears and explain why suspicions are not warranted on a case-by-case basis, that is greatly outweighed by the long-term benefits.”“Speaking of long-term benefits, Shaak, how are things going in Vegas?” Depa asked.“We are almost done here,” Shaak told everyone, “At least: we are almost done with the backlog. Since media attention has nearly dried up, the incoming requests - and threats - have dwindled greatly. The lighting continues to hold as well.”“The lighting?” Mace asked.Even though Shaak could have been staring at anyone as she stared into her camera, Plo knew she was staring at him.“There was a faulty light in the kitchen,” Plo explained, “It was an easy fix.”“You can’t just do that, Plo,” Mace pinched the bridge of his nose.“Have you been to the Vegas office, Mace?” Plo asked.“I can’t say that I have,” Mace admitted.“It is one of the only buildings we own,” Plo reminded everyone on the call, “We all know how thin their budget is. If I can make it easier for the entire chapter to make themselves food on-shift with five minutes and a wire trim, I am going to do it and save them the repair bill.”Agen and Cin joined Shaak.“Cin, Agen,” Plo greeted them first.“It’s good that you can join us,” Mace told them both.“We were finishing up a call of our own,” Agen explained, “Shaak joined this call so that one of us could be present for the entire thing.”“One of the newer threats turned out to be credible,” Cin explained, “There’s a SWAT raid happening somewhere in the middle of Montana right now. These bastards are really willing to travel.”Ki-Adi and Deepa both suppressed a flinch, unused to the course language. Next to Cin, Shaak looked unimpressed but Agen was unphased.“The safety of you and your staff are our main concern in this,” Mace tried to assure Cin.“Safety is relative,” Cin reminded everyone, “There is nothing we do in our day-to-day lives that doesn’t come with the chance of catastrophe. But we accept those risks as part of the price of living. But to threaten my staff? My community? To try to make my life’s work a part of your crusade against addicts? I don’t know how to hit back without making it worse for everyone else.”“Agen, you’re used to working to secure corporate sponsorships, correct?” Plo checked.“I am,” Agen confirmed, “What does that have to do with anything Cin just said?”“A corporate-sponsored safe consumption site,” Plo proposed, “It was something one of the Memphis volunteers said to me.”“Memphis?” Kit and Stass asked.“The first time I went,” Plo clarified, “Before I picked Kit up.”“I was going to say: we didn’t leave the building,” Stass half-laughed.“Weren’t you there for three days?” Anakin asked.“Usually, when you step outside of reality itself for several days, it’s a problem,” Plo replied, “In this case, it was a partial Board meeting.”“I will see what I can do,” Agen cut that conversation off entirely, “It’s unconventional, but not impossible.”“I wish I’d met you when we were both younger,” Cin shook his head, “You must have been a hell of a force when you didn’t have anyone to answer to.”“There is always someone to answer to,” Plo corrected, “The thing about steering that nearly everyone who learns it does so the hard way, though, is that when it’s too late to avoid disaster you need to keep the wheel steady, your body relaxed, and pray that you’re the bigger of the two colliding parties.”Cin’s phone began to ring.He checked it and informed Agen and Shaak: “I have a feeling we’re all three going to want to be on this one.“I will send you the meeting notes,” Obi-Wan promised.“Thank you,” Shaak replied before she disconnected.“We can’t promise Cin anything,” Luminara reminded Plo, “We can’t promise anyone anything right now.”“No, we can’t,” Plo agreed, “But we can start reacting to the emergencies that have cropped up in other ways than media control.”“We cannot guarantee that we can get the national Director to sign off on this,” Ki-Adi pointed out.“Who said it had to be attached to us?” Plo asked, “A corporate-sponsored safe consumption site within the Vegas Chapter’s service area would take some burden off the chapter and make a point that sobriety should not be conditional to having your basic needs met.”“The Vegas chapter - all chapters, really - can either be allocated more funds that, quite frankly, we don’t have right now, or they have some of the burden redistributed,” Kit added.“They have a point,” Depa admitted, “Cooperation with other local organizations is common enough in a number of chapters.”“We can see what other issues - if any - were linked to the threats made towards the Vegas chapter,” Mace conceded, “Just don’t do it again without consulting the rest of us, Plo.”“Understood,” Plo replied.Mace still looked skeptical.“So the press kit is done,” Ki-Adi returned to the root of the call, “What are the next steps?”“I would like it if all of us could at least look it over before I send it to Headquarters’ comms team,” Obi-Wan replied, “I recognize that there is an acute lack of media training among all of us, but we do know mission messaging.”“Are you worried it’s incomplete?” Luminara asked.“I have been staring at it for so long that I am not confident in my ability to catch everything,” Obi-Wan explained, “I recognize that I could have just sent it out to everyone for review, but every call lately tends to reveal something else we need to work on.”This meeting could have been an email, sure, but the work left undiscovered would come for them eventually. It was better to uncover as much as possible before it tried to take root and grow into something even less manageable.“Who has been taking meeting notes?” Ki-Adi asked belatedly.“I have,” Depa answered, “I will send them to Obi-Wan so he can send the notes and the press kit out together.”“That sounds like a plan,” Mace agreed, “Is there anything else that should or needs to be aired before we end this call?”“Plo and Kit, do you mind staying on the line?” Obi-Wan requested.“Not at all,” Kit answered for both of them.When it was just the three of them, Obi-Wan told them: “I was hoping you two would be available.”“What can we help you with?” Plo asked.“How much trouble would it be to add two days to each end of your trip to New York City?” Obi-Wan asked.“It should be doable, at least on the front end,” Plo hummed, “One moment.”“Where is it?” Kit asked.“In theory in the front pocket of the hiking pack, but it may be in the pile of emptied pockets on the table,” Plo answered, “I can get it.”“Already half-way up,” Kit replied, already up and headed towards the rest of the rental.“I have an analog copy of the itinerary so that everything is in one list,” Plo explained.“Very wise,” Obi-Wan replied.“Here,” Kit handed the notebook to Plo as he sat back down, “It was in the pile.”“Thank you,” Plo told Kit as he opened the notebook, “Okay, here. We actually have this stretch where nothing has been nailed down right before, so we can block off the last two days now.”“That’s easy, but what about the other end?” Kit asked.“Let’s see,” Plo considered, “We could turn this into a long single-day drive and forgo the rest day.”“That would give us eight days for New York City instead of four,” Kit granted, “You’re up for the long drive and no rest?”“That’s been most of our stops so far,” Plo pointed out, “Plus, the two weeks afterwards have enough buffer time that rest won’t be an issue.”“Alright,” Kit relented, “If you’re sure.”“I’m not worried, Kit,” Plo tried to assure him, “Are you alright with it?”“I am,” Kit replied. Well out of the camera’s view, Kit reached down to squeeze Plo’s leg to emphasize the assurance.“It’s doable, time-wise,” Plo turned back to Obi-Wan, “We will need to modify accommodations, but I do not expect that to be too much of a hassle.”“Cody and I have a loft apartment you two would be more than welcome to stay in,” Obi-Wan offered, “I’m afraid it’s a walk-up, but it has everything you would need to make yourselves comfortable.”Plo and Kit looked at each other again.“I mean,” Kit said something first, “Stairs aren’t a problem.”“No, they are not,” Plo agreed.Of course they weren’t; this rental was a walk-up.It was just - they hadn’t talked about how they felt about the rest of the Board knowing. It wasn’t like they were trying to keep the fact the spark between them had caught fire a secret but that was still a leap to spending seven nights in a fellow Board member’s loft together.“You don’t need to give me an answer right now,” Obi-Wan told them, “In fact, I encourage you to talk about it between yourselves first.”“We will,” Plo replied, “Thank you.”“You are quite welcome,” Obi-Wan replied, “Thank you both for being willing to rearrange your plans.”“We are here to serve,” Plo replied.He didn’t miss how Kit’s shoulders tensed for a moment.“Good luck, you two,” Obi-Wan told them, “If there is anything else I can do to assist, let me know.”“We will,” Kit assured him.With that, Obi-Wan ended the call.“Kit?” Plo asked as he shut his laptop.“Nothing even remotely appropriate for a work call,” Kit half-laughed, half-choked.It took Plo a moment, but-“It’s something we could talk about,” Plo offered.“Oh, you’re-” Kit started saying, “Not that I have reason to think you wouldn’t be familiar-”God, Kit was adorable when he was flustered.“I’m really going to have to explain the eighties to you at some point,” Plo replied, “That was missing a few words.”“I follow,” Kit assured him, “I mean - I’m the one who - service? You’re sure?”“With you, yes,” Plo assured him in kind.“Okay, year, we can,” Kit ran his hands through his dreadlocks, “When we aren’t in the middle of a volunteering shift taking a Board call in a closet, we can - I would love to talk about this.”Plo chuckled and kissed Kit on the cheek.“I would, too,” Plo could feel himself smiling.They had a shift to finish first and then a formal dinner to get through - at least - but they had another thing added to the list of things they needed to talk about that had just jumped the queue.–The second dinner with Luminara was better than the first by far.One, she actually invited them to her house.Like Shaak, Luminara lived alone in a house that seemed like three of four generations could live in and yet need to deliberately make plans to see each other even if none of them ever left the house. Unlike Shaak, there did not appear to be an art collection arranging itself into a meandering collection devoid of placards. Instead, the halls were almost bare - seemingly by choice - and the furniture was all the same color.Two, she cooked for them.It was an honest meal that was designed to sate instead of entertain. She made lentil curry over saffron rice. The flatbread on a communal plate between them was still warm. There would be kunefe for dessert if they were interested, she told them.(They were, in fact, interested.)Three, there were no games in place of decent conversation.There was no mention of having put either of them through their paces a few days before; Plo suspected there may never be. Whether it was because she considered any matters regarding trust closed or did not want to address that the mistrust had been unfounded was unclear. Plo was not going to be the one to ask.Instead, he would allow the friendly, if trip-focused, conversation to play out as it may.“I understand your next meeting is in New York City,” she noted.“Our next meeting with a fellow Board member, yes,” Plo confirmed, “However, there are four office visits between now and then.”“How did you plan the route?”“A paper map, a cork board, a box of push pins, a stack of sticky page flags, and some butcher’s twine,” Plo answered.“I see,” Luminara seemed more perplexed than before he’d answered, “I take it flying was ruled out with reason.”“Flying everywhere would have been more exhausting,” Plo reasoned, “At least by driving with a decent amount of margin or error factored in, we can arrive places in our own time and without having to factor in things like rebooking tickets over delays and cancellations.”“That I can understand,” Luminara granted, “The length of the tour is what I still do not understand.”“What about it?” Kit asked.“Well, if you are both available and able to drive, why did you not split the visits up?”Plo and Kit looked at each other like the other might be able to answer.“It never came up,” Plo answered like he wasn’t inviting more questions.“I see.”She did, in fact, see to the heart of the matter this time even if none of them said as much out loud.“Who do you still have left on the Board to visit?” she asked instead of pursuing that line of questioning.“After Obi-Wan, we’re seeing Coleman, then Mace, then Saesee, and finally Oppo,” Plo rattled off.Which meant it was Oregon to New York to Arizona to Washington and then to Alabama before they spent several more weeks finishing the office visits. And then……and then there was where Plo’s plans ended, he realized. He was, what, supposed to just go back home? Go back to the life he had? Tear Kit from his community if he wanted to stay at all?“That is a lot of,” Luminara paused for a moment before settling on, “backtracking.”“The trip was designed to work around the dates everyone was available,” Plo tried to explain, “The order of office visits was planned around that.”Finally, Luminara asked: “Is it worth it?”“Without question,” Plo replied at the same time Kit answered with: “Absolutely.”“Meeting officially as a Board is one thing,” Kit added, “Yoda was right, though. There’s a disconnect that’s taking direct, in-person efforts to start to right. Not just within the Board, but between chapters and the Board.”“I am seeing that,” Luminara granted, “It is quite a weight that you two have volunteered to shoulder.”“A shared burden is a lighter burden,” Kit replied, “Especially when you carry it together.”–“It isn’t just the mission advancement and communication repairs that are making this trip worth it,” Plo told Kit almost as soon as they were back in the car.“There are a number of other benefits,” Kit agreed as he reached over to place a hand on Plo’s leg.Plo wasn’t even sure if he could say he started on this trip intending to be professional the entire time. He had told himself as much, yes, but had there truly been no hope that his affections wouldn’t be returned. Had he not found himself noticing Kit was helping take care of his condo and wished - just a little bit - that things could stay like that.Exactly when unprompted domestic help, a natural sense of curiosity, the belief that the fate of humanity wasn’t written in stone, and casual affection became the cornerstones on which he was looking forward to building a foundation he wasn’t sure. It was a far cry from that which he had believed to be an ideal relationship when he was younger, but he’d changed. It made sense that what he wanted changed with him.(The way Kit drove him out of his mind didn’t hurt, either.)“So,” Kit nearly sighed once they were back at the cottage, “about that loft.”“On the one hand, the cost of accommodations is not a concern for me,” Plo replied, “On the other, a full week of having guaranteed access to a full kitchen sounds fantastic.”“It does,” Kit agreed.“I think they know,” Plo added.“I have no doubts they know,” Kit replied, “How do you feel about it?”“I had to hide for a long time,” Plo told him, “First for my safety, then for Sha’s. I do not have to worry about Sha’s safety anymore, though.”“What about yours?”“Some risks are worth taking,” Plo replied, “I feel safe with you.”Kit leaned over to kiss Plo on the cheek.“What about you, Kit?” Plo asked.“A part of me wishes we’d had more time to let things settle,” Kit admitted, “but I do not want to hide that we have…something.”Plo reached a hand out towards Kit and Kit grabbed it. Plo pulled Kit to him, wrapped his arms around Kit’s waist, kissed him. Kit laughed, pleased, and embraced Plo with enough force for the gesture to be accompanied by a gentle crushing feeling.“So we’re taking the loft?” Kit checked.“We are absolutely taking the loft,” Plo confirmed.They would take this one step at a time.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Portland was the type of city they could have spent weeks in and still felt like they had only scraped the surface of what it had to offer - both as tourists and as outreach opportunities. They had only had the few days, though, before they were headed to Montana.They’d stopped in Spokane overnight to avoid spending over half the day on the road if they didn’t hit traffic or any other delays. There would soon be a period where they had to push their limits; any chance to stay well inside the arena that was comfortable, they’d take it.Somewhere between Spokane and Billings, Kit told Plo: “I am going to be thinking about that dead cow for the rest of my life. Through the floor. I never wanted a place with a basement but I want one less now that I know cows falling through is an option.”“I am fairly certain you need a highly specific set of circumstances for it to be a cow that collapses your floor,” Plo pointed out.“It’s still a non-zero chance,” Kit argued, “Do you know how many places let you keep livestock in your backyard?”“I am fairly sure that’s smaller livestock,” Plo replied, “But, no, I don’t.”“I don’t either, but that doesn’t make me feel any more inclined towards ever having a basement,” Kit huffed.“You’ve never had a basement?” Plo asked.“In a city that’s sinking?” Kit reminded him, “No. Other people had basements, but we didn’t. Then none of my rentals have had basements. Have you?”“Oregon, no, Iowa yes, both times - though those were more of a tornado shelter than a functional basement - Virginia…I want to say we didn’t? We spent most of our time in the woods. College and then Kentucky were dorms and then a studio apartment. New Hampshire, yes. California, also yes. And then you’ve been to my place in Chicago,” Plo answered, “Why can I not remember if we had a basement in Virginia?”What other memories were slipping away?Silence, for a few miles, and then.“I can’t say I miss having a basement.”“You don’t?” Kit asked.“What would I really use it for?” Plo pointed out, “My entire life fits into my condo with space to spare.”Somewhere in the hollows of his chest, the suggestion that there was room for Kit kicked to life, almost cruel. First, there was no guarantee Kit would stay. They were less than a month into this. It was far too early to be looking that far ahead. Second, he had no idea if that was even true. Kit had already had all his stuff in storage when Plo had picked him up.He didn’t even know what Kit used to drive or where he was keeping it.“Do you have someone turning your car over?” Plo asked without preamble.“Motorcycle, and I made sure it was prepared to be in storage for a while,” Kit answered, “I do have a standard driver’s license, too.”Given that Kit has driven his car, this was probably something Plo should have asked earlier. Something he would have asked anyone else but, shit, he’d trusted Kit from square one.“Good,” felt like the correct reply.“My older sister checks on my storage unit every couple of weeks,” Kit added, “So far nothing’s happened and I don’t expect it to.”“That’s nice of her.”Kit laughed and told Plo: “I pay her to do it.”“You pay her?” Plo asked before he could stop himself.“She’s going out of her way to do me a favor,” Kit replied, “Also she asked.”Plo huffed, very near a laugh.“Is anyone checking on your place?” Kit asked.“The Tanos,” Plo replied, “Ahsoka’s parents. They live two floors down, so they’ll know if anything happens in the building. I can’t say I’m paying them.”“Already had enough payment back and forth with babysitting?” Kit asked.“See, we never called it babysitting,” Plo explained, “The girls had a playdate and whoever was making sure they didn’t manage to get into trouble with lasting consequences was usually determined by which one of the girls asked to go to the other one’s place first.”Plo could feel Kit staring at him.“I like how you build community,” Kit informed him.“The Tanos changed how I build community,” Plo replied, “For the better.”That was as far as he would go into that for now, though.“I’m glad you’ve had someone to help,” Kit told him.“Yeah,” Plo knew his voice wasn’t quite even, “I am, too.”Silence, for a moment. Heavy. Too heavy for the open roads.“I feel like we just drove through Montana last week,” Kit changed the subject, lifted the silence.“We missed Montana by half a state.”“When is our next scheduled break?” Kit asked.“I’d need to be looking at my calendar to give you an exact number, but about a week away,” Plo answered, “Chicago.”Home, again, at least for Plo. It would be different this time, though. An unprecedented type of different.Plo was saved from going too far down that road by Kit asking: “Could you even get a cow up the stairs?”“They can go up but not down,” Plo replied.“Maybe that’s why it stayed in the living room,” Kit offered, “Stairs.”“We could swing by and ask,” Plo offered.“I think I’m okay not knowing for sure,” Kit laughed.Plo could not be more thankful that Kit understood than he was in that moment.–Billings, Montana was a railroad town that grew up into a city and forgot to take the surrounding lands with it. The Wikipedia article on it mentioned that it had once been called Clark’s Fork Bottom and while that was once undoubtedly a helpful descriptor at one point it was probably a good thing it had changed names at one point.The Wikipedia article also mentioned cave paintings and artifacts dating back thousands of years but no mention of which tribe left them behind. All of the language surrounding that, in fact, swept over the violence required for the city’s timeline to only begin in 1887 with the arrival of the first Homesteaders.The first official cemetery came the year before the railroad. The railroad had been replaced but the cemetery was still there.Some things were immutable even by that which marched under the banner of progress.Maybe Wikipedia wasn’t the greatest guide to the area.“Hey you,” Kit nudged Plo as he stepped out of the motel’s bathroom, towel around his waist, “Everything alright?”“Overthinking,” Plo replied, “but I’m alright.”Plo pulled at the towel, teasing, not hard enough to make it fall but still with enough force to highly suggest to Kit that he should let it drop.Kit took the suggestion and Plo pawed at his hips, drew him closer until he could kiss Kit’s hip, then nip at it, then bite, open-mouthed. The sound Kit made was half-way between a hiss and a groan.Plo looked up at Kit and Kit looked back, hands on Plo’s shoulders, eyes wide, pupils wider still.Plo broke the eye contact so he could go to his knees to take Kit’s still-soft cock in his mouth.He probably should have better thought this one out. The rug was hard on his knees and the concrete under it harder still, but, God, the sounds Kit was making would more than make up for the rugburn.Everything Plo was doing to Kit was artless, far more desire to see Kit in the throes of pleasure than it was about any sort of skill demonstration but Kit - Kit didn’t seem to mind at all. It took time to coax him to hardness, but Kit’s hands were in Plo’s hair, on his shoulders, on his neck. The most words in a row Kit was managing were variations of Shit, Plo, yes, and the lack of coherency went to Plo’s head and then straight down to his own cock.When Kit came, it was right down Plo’s throat and neither of them were quite prepared for it.Kit tried to apologize while Plo remembered how to breathe again, coherency not quite there for either of them.Kit was on his knees, too, though, breathless, one hand on the back of Plo’s head and the other on his thigh. He touched his forehead to Plo’s for a moment before he kissed Plo deeply.Plo cupped Kit’s face with both hands, kissed back with equal intensity. It was sloppy. Uncoordinated. His knees were burning and his jaw did not appreciate the experience nearly the rest of him. But above all else, it was honest.The rug burn wound up being mild, but Plo’s knees still needed to be washed and the raw area covered for now. Kit apologized again and again; Plo assured him that it was well worth it.He may not be young anymore, but he was not yet too old for this.There would still be more thought to the configuration next time, though.–The Billings chapter could be best described as tired.They had enough staff to cover all of the necessary functions on paper, but they - like every other chapter - really could use more hands to help with the execution part of carrying out the mission.They met with the head of the chapter, a woman who was equal parts efficient, cunning, and passionate for the work she was doing.She had had time to prepare for the Board visit, so in turn she had had time to put the core of the issue into words.“Half the problem is that what counts as homeless and what counts as unhoused are different - as they should be - but only one of them gets federal funding,” she explained, “So we get people who, say, live on vouchers in a motel or in a camper that hasn’t gone anywhere in months who get by on what they can. We cover the gaps we can, but…”But there would always be gaps left uncovered.“It’s the same sort of thing across every area we serve,” she continued, “The counting’s done a specific way and the numbers wind up looking great for official statistics but mean either we cover the gaps or they slip through the cracks.”Just because a burden was noble did not make it any less of a burden, and the knowledge that you were doing the very best you could offered no salve for when you wound up watching someone slip through the cracks.Cin had said it during their first visit to Vegas: You can’t rely on data alone to give you a complete picture. Data has its place, but there are still going to be countless people who are as good as invisible to the system.They were aware that the Lynn Haven chapter was worse off than the rest of them by far, but also acutely aware that the comparison did nothing to ease the needs they had even with their coffers full and respected.As for new fundraising ideas they already had in the works…Well.“We’re thinking of setting up a booth at the next state fair,” she told them, “The Wyoming chapter did it and they had more than enough returns for the effort to make it something they’re currently planning to do next year as well. It’s worth a shot for us, too.”That cow was truly going to haunt them for a while.At least it was a benevolent spirit.By the end of the day, Plo had come to the conclusion that the Billings staff could second-best be described as tired.They could be best described as tireless.–The drive from Billings to Minneapolis was another one that they opted to divide into two days of driving. The overnight was in Bismarck this time and the hotel was a this will do situation. It had a place to sleep, a pool, and free breakfast come morning.They hadn’t heard anything from their fellow Board members beyond the fact there was nothing to report in a few days now. Nobody seemed inclined to stick a poker in the fire to see if the grenades Plo had been accused of throwing had finished exploding. At least - not yet. There would be cause eventually, and the rest of the Board had to be trusted that if they were the one to stumble on the cause, they would also be the one to pick up the poker.And so, it was in this perfectly serviceable hotel with a quiet night that Kit elected to pick up a conversation from a few days prior.“Hey, so, uh,” Kit gathered his nerves, “Service.”“Yes,” Plo replied, “What are your thoughts?”“I like the idea of it,” Kit replied, “It isn’t something I’ve ever felt like I could explore, though.”“What about it are you interested in?” Plo asked, “And what does service mean to you?”“Uh,” Kit hesitated, “I’m not sure, honestly. Again - it’s something I like the idea of. As for what it means? Uh. Shit. Give me a minute to try to find the words for it.”“Take all the time you need,” Plo told him, “And come, sit.”This would be easier if they were sitting next to each other.Probably.Hopefully.Kit sat next to Plo, shoulder to shoulder, elbows on his thighs, hands folded, back arched over to do so. Plo pressed into him and he pressed back.“It’s the dedication aspect I like most, I think,” Kit explained once he’d found the words, “To be or to have someone who is so eager to please that they’re willing to - not give up control entirely. I don’t think I could handle that on either end of the equation. More…in certain situations? A concentrated devotion?”“A distillation of devotion into a scene?” Plo offered.“I think that’s it,” Kit replied, “Wait, shit, Plo, how do you feel about it?”“It has been a long, long time since the last time I tried to submit to anyone,” Plo answered, “It wasn’t that I didn’t want to. I was still young and heavy enough on the fuck you and your policies attitude in every other area of my life at that point that it carried over.”“What about taking the dominant role?”Plo shrugged but then tried to better explain: “I think that being able to trust someone enough to give over control is something I have always struggled with. Not just sexually, but…everywhere else in my life. I’m not sure taking on more responsibility is the best option for me.”“What if you didn’t have to take the responsibility?” Kit asked, “I mean - if it was just something that happened”“Maybe that’s part of getting old,” Plo only partly joked, “One day someone doing the household chores or polishing your shoes without being prompted becomes the start of foreplay. But, no, Kit. I wouldn’t want you to feel like you need to earn my affections.”Kit unfolded his hands so he could hold Plo’s.“More than that, I would want the give-and-take to be explicitly understood,” Plo continued, “Assumptions can lead to misunderstandings, and in something like this misunderstanding can do lasting damage.”“It isn’t something I require,” Kit told him, “I mean - what we have now is more than enough for me.”“But experimenting is welcome,” Plo recognized.“Yeah, exactly,” Kit confirmed.“There’s a joke about old dogs and new tricks in there somewhere,” Plo huffed.“And a follow-up joke about you being a good boy,” Kit replied.The shiver that ran through Plo was anything but in jest.“Oh,” Kit breathed.“I need to sit with this one first,” Plo requested.“Of course,” Kit promised.Old dogs and new tricks, indeed. Plo found he was perfectly willing to examine this newly-awoken part of him, though.–The Minneapolis chapter was headed by a man named Tera Sinube. Plo had met him a number of times before, but it had been - maybe six years since they had last seen each other? Seven? It had been at a conference in London and there had been minimal talk of work that time.That he could forget exactly how long ago an international conference was either spoke volumes about how busy he kept or how much for show the conference was.They went over numbers first, because if Plo and Kit weren’t ending this trip with a binder full of data from everyone but the Vegas chapter, what were they doing with their visits, apparently.(Another reason Plo appreciated Cin: he’d handed them a single double-sided page on their second day there and told them that was all the line items that had numbers and they could do with it as they pleased. Not every chapter could get away with this, no, but Cin had.)“I understand your chapter has a unique internship program,” Plo noted once the numbers portion of the day was over.“We have three interns, all paid,” Tera confirmed, “They are here not only to learn how to turn everything they know in theory into practice, but also to make sure that those of us who have been out of college for a while are in touch with aren’t stuck in the ways we approach things.”Ah. That was what made it different. It was rare that two-way mentorship was considered across sectors, Plo understood, nevermind implemented.The second half of the meeting, at least, was much more lively. Tera was proud of the results of the internship program - so much that he trusted his managers and his interns to come in and talk about their experiences with it one at a time and without time to rehearse what they were going to say.Tera recommended that other chapters implement something similar, assuming they had the bandwidth. He - like Kit and Plo - thought unpaid internships were a thing of the past. The days where someone fresh out of college could intern three days a week and work at the nearest fast food joint three days and still rent part of an apartment and take Sundays off hadn’t been a reality for a long time.That was an actionable suggestion that could be taken back to the rest of the Board as something to be discussed at the next annual meeting. The earlier it was put on the agenda, the more likely it was to be given a decent amount of consideration.“Can you gather testimonies of current and past interns as well as your managers?” Kit asked.Tera already had them prepared and on a flash drive he quite cheerfully handed over.–Back at the hotel and with the email about the internship initiative sent with the testimonies attached, it was finally time to settle in for the night.“You mentioned you gardened,” Plo finally brought it up again.“Before the hurricane,” Kit answered, “My mom’s place had a beautiful garden. Took up her entire back yard. You couldn’t turn around without bumping into something growing. Even after we all moved out, most of us came back at least once a week to help take care of it.”Kit took a moment to collect himself and Plo knew it wasn’t a lack of interest that had led to Kit stopping.“The house survived well enough to be lived in while the repairs were going on, but the soil was just…gone,” Kit’s voice was empty for a moment, “Mama didn’t have it in her to rebuild that, too.”Kit sighed, shoulders dropped. Plo put a hand on his far shoulder, an offering, and Kit leaned against him, put his head on Plo’s chest with a heavy exhale.“What about your family?” Kit asked, “Were there any gardens?”“When I was little,” Plo replied, “Technically my parents did most of the gardening. My sister and I shoved seeds in the ground and had to be actively stopped from flooding the little square patch of dirt.”Kit laughed, bright again, and asked if his parents were actually into gardening or if it was an attempt at a family bonding activity.“My father came of age helping his family with their victory garden,” Plo explained, “He found it to be a formative part of how he lived his entire life - always having enough to sustain his family - and wanted to pass it down to his kids. Mom didn’t talk about where she came from very much, but I got the impression her family - perhaps her village - grew and raised most of their own food.”“She didn’t tell you?” Kit asked.“I get the impression that her family…changed a few key details about their history and country of origin so they had an actual chance of getting past immigration,” Plo tried to explain, “She would have been young when her parents came over. There were a few core memories that always sounded like she was trying to convince herself were dreams on the rare occasions she shared them with us.”“That’s…” Kit took a moment to try to find a better word and gave up before he failed, “sad.”“I get it, to a point,” Plo replied, “She wouldn’t talk about it, so my sister and I did our own patchwork assembly of a story as to why that was. We may have been completely off-base with what we landed on. I try not to put too much weight on it.”“So there was a little bit she’d tell you about,” Kit tried to understand.“It isn’t the stories she told that helped my sister and I try to piece together where our mother’s side came from so much as the stories she showed,” Plo tried to explain, “Habits. Not quite superstitions but not strong enough to quite be called faith that she held til the day she died despite refusing to explain them to us. But, yes. Both our parents tried and failed to get us to understand the value of a garden.”“Would you ever give it another try?” Kit asked, “Having a garden, I mean.”“I haven't given it much thought, honestly,” Plo replied, “It’s been over half a century at this point and I’ve had some five or six addresses since. Would you?”“I’ve tried,” Kit replied, “Well. More or less, at least. I haven’t stayed in one place long enough to start another one. I did try growing things in buckets for a few years. Moved them from rental to rental, if they weren’t one-harvest-and-done plants. I tried to keep it up, but I just…I don’t know.”“I think I would have enjoyed it more if it hadn’t been,” Plo paused, tried to find the right words, “Well, my father treated it like something we should do as Americans and my mother treated it like it was something that haunted her from somewhere across the ocean.”“I can see where that would have been a conflicting experience,” Kit granted, “Mama - she loved it so much that we loved it. It was her Earth, her little patch of life and nourishment and power. Even after dad died, she had her garden and her children to tend to. Flowers and squash vines and tomatoes and peas. Corn, a few times. Peppers, always. Five or six kinds, some years. So many leafy greens. She planted sunflowers for my youngest sister’s sixteenth birthday and then every year after. It - I don’t know, Plo, it was-”With his free hand, Plo reached down to grab one of Kit’s and raised it so that he could press a kiss to the back of Kit’s hand.“I wish there could be sunflowers in Mama’s yard again,” Kit managed, “but some things you just need to give up on for your own sake.”Plo very nearly told Kit that they could grow sunflowers. He managed to stop himself from deepening that wound, though.–Sha: Hey, meant to ask before now, but is everything going okay over there?Kit: Everything’s fine, Sha. Why?Sha: Because Uncle sounds more exhausted every time I talk to him and he never tells me these things because he doesn’t want me to worryKit: It’s been a long few weeks for both of us. It will even out.Kit: I’m glad Plo has you looking out for him.Sha: I’m glad I’m not the only one anymoreSha: Literally everyone else sees how you two look at each other while the other isn’t lookingSha: But this is my Uncle you’re staring atKit: I don’t know what to say to that, Sha.Sha: I’ve recently been informed that pulling teeth is easier than getting my Uncle to voluntarily divulge personal informationSha: But, look, I wouldn’t be so nosey if I didn’t know it’s reciprocatedKit: I’m really not sure what I should address first there.Sha: Please don’t make me ask Maul why he knows the teeth thingSha: Uncle Plo tends to rearrange his entire life as a love languageSha: Which is incredibly selfless but I imagine it would be easier if he went for like. Flowers or somethingKit: I’m going to ask about the teeth thing.A new group chat notification popped up on Kit’s phone.Sha: Maul. The teeth thing.[unknown number]: teeth can be removed with specialized pliers and a little force. you just need whoever’s getting their teeth pulled to remain very, very still[Unknown number]: most people consider extracting personal information in the same fashion to be a crime[Unknown number]: what the hell are you two talking about & who did i just explain that to?Sha: Kit[unknown number]: oh, god, yeah. get the pliers, kit–They spent three days in Detroit and they felt like one semi-long day. They passed together, the same thing, the eagerness of going home for even a little while pulling Plo through the days like one might reel in a fish.(Maybe Memphis had changed him a little bit.)It didn’t help that Kit had been…off. He insisted he was fine, but it was the type of insistence that screamed of denial that ran deeper than self-examination.Plo wouldn’t push, though. Not yet. Kit was allowed to have off days, and God knew that Kit had been more than patient with him, too.Still. Plo wanted to do something to help. Cases where the best thing to do were wait always made him restless, but he wasn’t going to fuck this up because he wanted better answers.Only time would tell if a few days’ rest helped or not.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Before they returned to Plo’s home, they needed to get food.Last time they’d gotten in too late to do it the same day they arrived, but this time they planned things much better. They had truly hit a rhythm in this trip and Plo wasn’t quite sure how closely he wanted to examine that.They opted to get enough food for the entire time they’d be here minus one day to allow for eating out or ordering in. If they needed to pick something up for a meal on the last day, the extra trip was better than wasting food.There was a part of Plo that ached as they wandered the aisles, that wanted and wanted and wanted - This, yes, at least once a week until I am too old to manage. He silenced it, though; this was what he had now and this is what he would be content with.Even if trying to figure out how long a whole chicken would last made the wanting try to roar for his attention.–Kit was determined to take his time with actually looking at Plo’s condo this time.Last time everything had been new - the trip; the constant, close proximity; the location - but he’d learned enough over the past few months to understand just how much of himself Plo had put into the place.“Your place was impressive last time I was here, but knowing you designed and rebuilt it makes it even more impressive,” Kit told him as they set their grocery haul down on the counters.“I guess?” Plo replied, “I suppose I’ve lived here long enough that it feels ordinary to me.”That made sense, Kit reasoned. Plo lived here day in and day out most of the time. Enough time in the same place and it became a part of you and most people, regardless of the truth of it, considered themselves ordinary.“Where do you usually put everything?” Kit asked.“Oh, uh,” Plo hesitated, “I do have a system, but I’m willing to forgo it if you have a way that you usually arrange your groceries.”
He tends to rearrange his life as a love language.
“I tend to shove things in the appropriate temperature locations,” Kit admitted, “What’s your system?”Plo blinked at him but then showed him: Milk in one spot, eggs in another. Meat had its own container to prevent any leakage from spreading. Meat alternatives went next to it. There was one drawer for fruits and another for vegetables. There was a wide open spot that used to be full of Sha’s individual yogurt containers that Plo hadn’t found anything to fill the void. Leftovers had their own shelf. Condiments, alcohol, and juice went in the fridge door.The freezer was, in Plo’s own words, a place even God Himself has not set sights on to try to right in perhaps the past fifteen years. What God would have to say about being in charge of one man’s freezer organization wasn’t for Kit to try to guess at, but it reminded him that he had no idea how Plo felt on the subject - if he was a believer or if the divine was something he kept in cold storage to excuse the fact it was the only place in his life where he allowed anything to be out of place.As for the cupboards, canned vegetables had one shelf while fruits had another. Bags of dried beans and lentils went in a basket to minimize the chance that they wound up occupying the entire shelf in the event of a tear and didn’t that sound like a story in and of itself. The rest of the bean shelf normally had either boxes or reusable containers of grains - rice, millet, amaranth, winter wheat.Cereals went in the cabinet next to the dishwasher, oatmeal included. Snacks also went in that cabinet. It was more appropriate for a child’s reach, which Kit suspected was exactly why those things went there.A separate, smaller cupboard usually contained anything one might use to bake - flour, sugar, baking soda, and so on. It sounded like Plo said flours, plural, but if that was something Kit found out it wouldn’t be this trip. Plo had emptied that cupboard of everything but white sugar before he started the trip because - apparently - everything else would have spoiled by the time the trip was over. (Who knew that flour spoiled? Not Kit.)It was a sound system that clearly had been refined over the years. The next time Kit had his own place, he was absolutely getting a bin for meat.There was no way he was memorizing all of that during this visit.This visit. Kit was getting ahead of himself.When the food was all in its place, Kit turned to Plo and said: “You said you stripped everything down to the studs.”“This was initially a one bedroom with den and a much shorter hallway,” Plo replied, “The bedroom may as well have been its own studio apartment, though. Even if I hadn’t had a use for two additional bedrooms, I would have built something in their place. An office and a larger den, maybe.”Ah. So he’d had plans for the rooms that predated Sha.“What made you decide on three bedrooms?” Kit decided to ask directly.“One for my parents and the other for my sister - and later her husband - when they visited,” Plo answered, “Sure, a pull-out couch was an option, but I figured: what if I didn’t do that to them?”Plo loved deeply but quietly, Kit realized. From what he’d shared, it seemed that his life was mostly comprised of shaping himself around those around him.What was Kit supposed to say to that? I’m sure they appreciated it?Instead, he opted to ask: “How did you get plumbing for a second bathroom in?”“For some godforsaken reason, it was already there,” Plo replied, “I think that was half of why this place was so cheap. Whoever designed it was out of their mind and whoever signed off on it didn’t care that it made no sense.”“I am trying to imagine it and falling short,” Kit admitted.“I have actively tried to block out what it initially looked like beyond where the plumbing is,” Plo admitted in kind, “That said, I am taking the clawfoot tub in the master bath with me if I ever move. I’ll replace it with something before the condo goes on the market, of course.”“You’d move?” Kit asked.That hadn’t been what he’d meant to ask. That was supposed to be a question about where he found the tub. But the fact Plo would leave a place he built and raised Sha in? Voluntarily?“I don’t plan on it, but I’m not going to close myself off to the chance,” Plo clarified.Future life rearrangements left on his personal radar, then.“Even though you built this place?” Kit still couldn’t believe someone would do that.“I can build another,” Plo shrugged, “Or even buy one that’s already to my liking at this point. Maybe somewhere between the two extremes. I am fairly sure Sha is not moving back in at this point, and even if she did I no longer have to worry about making her switch schools.”“Was that why you’ve stayed here for so long?” Kit asked.“It’s…complicated,” Plo drew back a bit, “In part, though, yes.”Kit tilted his head to the side, curious but unsure what would keep Plo talking and what would make him withdraw again.“I never planned on kids,” Plo continued, “Certainly not my own. It was still another seven years from adoption actually being legal for people like us when Sha was orphaned. Before Sha, though, it was because I’d finally found a place where the loneliness was more than just survivable.”“How did you wind up with Sha?” Kit asked, “If that’s a story you tell.”The loneliness would be addressed later. Kit was already pushing and he knew it.“Her parents - mostly at my sister’s insistence - made me Sha’s Godfather and had all the God-forbid paperwork in order that Sha would be in my care if anything ever happened to them,” Plo replied, “Her father’s side still fought it. I absolutely believe that the case would not have been settled for much longer if Sha hadn’t been so insistent that she wanted to stay with me.”“I take it they weren’t local,” Kit tried to keep the conversation going. This was the most Plo had ever volunteered about himself at once. May whoever was watching forgive him for wanting more.“No, they weren’t. My sister and her husband stayed in Iowa to be closer to our parents,” Plo replied, “Before Sha was born, we’d all see each other twice a year - more, on a good year. After Sha was born I went down to see them much more frequently. I’d already retired, but I found myself trading in long international vacations in favor of staying at my sister’s long enough that she’d tell me to go home so she could have some privacy.”Despite himself, Kit laughed.“We’d talked about me moving down there a few times, actually,” Plo continued, “Sha is my sister’s child, but she’s been my favorite Niece since the first time I saw her. That she is my only Niece is beside the point. I’ve been her favorite Uncle since she could say the words, which always pissed off her father’s brothers.”“You two have a hell of a bond,” Kit informed him.“I always told my sister that if she had another kid she needed to present me with a Nephew because I didn’t want to downgrade Sha to First Niece,” Plo huffed, “She was only having the one but she’d still shove me about it anyway.”“You could have called them Number One and Number Two,” Kit suggested“Only if I really wanted to piss my sister off,” Plo laughed, “Not least of all because she hated Riker.”And there it was. The request for the conversation to either end or take a sharp turn away from its current most obvious end.“How does someone hate Riker?” Kit took the turn.“How has this not come up yet?” Plo asked, “That we’re both at least familiar with The Next Generation, not that my sister could only see Riker as a womanizer.”“I’ll watch just about anything SciFi I come across,” Kit offered, “There’s this…I don’t quite know how to describe it. Like the stars are calling and I’m either hundreds of lifetimes too late or too early to answer.”“Can you imagine doing this over an entire solar system?” Plo asked, “Or an entire galaxy?”“I like to think that if we can manage interstellar travel, interstellar aid will follow,” Kit replied, “We’d be there, I think. Rending aid across the stars.”“Is that not the dream that got most of us into activism in the first place?” Plo asked, “A galaxy where we either we’re accepted or had the option to carve out our own space if we weren’t? Where the power of one can make a difference?”“Where there is absolute good and absolute evil even if the execution’s a little flawed,” Kit agreed, “The chance to do absolute good? Of course I’d be there.”At least he had a little more direction as to what movies he should pick when they were acting as anything more than background noise.They still had so much to learn about each other.–It was some time between lunch and dinner and Kit was staring at all of the photos Plo had hung in the hallway. That was what they were there for, yes, but Plo didn’t have people over.“You know, I don’t think I noticed this photo last time,” Kit told him.“Hm?” Plo asked as he moved to stand next to Kit, “Ah. That one.”That was one he had kept hidden until after Sha had turned eighteen. Not because it was inappropriate by any means, but rather because CPS still visited at least once a year and one look at the picture left no question as to whether or not he was gay. He’d hid one of his most proud moments until Sha couldn’t be taken away from him.“Looks like a hell of a story.”“My first ACT UP protest,” Plo explained, “My last time in DC, before the other month.”There had been a photo in the same frame, covering the one Kit had zeroed in on. Leaving a gap in the picture coverage also risked raising questions. Sure, maybe he’d been overthinking things, but…“Why didn’t you return to DC?” Kit asked.“At first it was because another flight from California to DC seemed a little excessive when the same fight was happening closer to home,” Plo replied, “And then I moved here and I figured: This is my home now. There are people here fighting for the same thing. I can embed myself here.”“Noble,” Kit replied.“It never felt like it,” Plo sighed, “Change always came too late no matter what we did when it came at all.”“What do you mean?”“Most of my fellow activists died,” Plo answered, “And then, a little over a decade later, a college kid was found tied to a fence in Wyoming and the line between loud and proud and probably alive in the morning became too wide for me to cross for a long time.”He’d stepped away from the frontlines to save himself while damn near everyone he’d left to carry the banners and bricks of liberation had been picked off one by one.“I’m four months older than he should be,” Kit replied, “Sometimes it’s in sharper focus than others.”When was Kit’s birthday?“I got lucky at first, and then I was lonely by choice for a long time. I never got used to the fact there’s nothing that separates the lucky from the dead,” Plo continued, hoped he’d remember to ask later, “By the time Sha was orphaned, I had been single for so long that the court didn’t even ask about my sexuality. I don’t know if they would have let me keep her if they had.”Likely not, Plo knew, regardless of his sister’s will. Sha’s father’s family had been so determined to keep her for themselves despite Sha’s repeated, on-record protests that she didn’t want to stay with them.Plo had been a single man with no children of his own and that made it hard enough to convince the court that he could not only care for Sha but wasn’t a danger towards her. If they’d known it was technically illegal for him to adopt at all?He still couldn’t focus on that for too long without shattering.“What about this one?” Kit moved on to the picture above and to the left.“Ah, my sister and I at our first concert,” Plo answered, “One of our friends had just gotten a Polaroid. He must have gone through three or four packs of film in six hours. Found it while I was cleaning out her house.”They both looked so happy in that one. They’d been so young, too. Far too young for the bottle of beer he was holding to have been purchased legally. They hadn't cared. Their hearts were wild and the world was theirs for the taking.If only the world hadn’t taken so much in exchange.“Queen, before you ask,” Plo closed off that line of thought.The conversation turned to what other concerts Plo had been to, and he was quite thankful for the distraction.–“You mentioned loneliness,” Kit told Plo some time after they’d finished dinner.With a heavy sigh, Plo got off the couch and held a hand out to Kit.“There’s something I want to show you.”Well. It was not that he wanted to show Kit. He needed to, really, but he wasn’t quite ready to put that much weight behind anything. Statement kneecapped. Heart preserved.“Alright,” Kit replied, “Lead the way.”They didn’t go far - from one side of the living room to the other - but when Plo pulled out the address book he’d been keeping since the seventies out of one of the table drawers the couch felt half a world away.“The pages are old, so please be gentle,” he told Kit, “But go ahead and look through it.”Kit did, if a touch confused as to why Plo was showing him this. He actually took the time to read each page instead of scan them, though, so it didn’t take long for him to figure it out.“You said a lot of your friends didn’t survive Regan,” Kit recalled.“One after another after another,” Plo confirmed, “Everyone I’ve ever known is in there.”“What happens when you run out of pages?” Kit asked.“I don’t know,” Plo admitted before offering a more raw, “I don’t want to think about it.”For the second time this trip, Kit looked at Plo like he was a puzzle; Plo liked the sensation even less this time.Kit returned his attention to the address book and the feeling abated.Plo watched Kit read through the entire thing. Every name. Every address. Every birthday. Every date and cause of death. Every funeral date.There weren’t many blank pages left. Plo knew this, but watching Kit brought that fact into sharp focus.Every analog thing was meant to run out of room or uses one day. Pens ran out of ink. Address books ran out of pages. Journals were filled.That things were functioning in the way that the nature of their design dictated was not always a reassurance.–It was a good night to do exactly nothing, which was why they were on the couch half-watching a movie whose plot revolved around a pending volcanic eruption and an intrepid, if doomed, scientist.Plo sat on one end of the couch while Kit laid on his side, his head in Plo’s lap so he could see the screen. Plo’s eyes were on the screen but his attention was on how Kit’s face felt under his hand - the texture and the latent heat and the way the muscles shifted when Kit smiled or spoke.He kept running his thumb over the scar he’d first noticed in Vegas. It was old enough to be very nearly the same color as the rest of his face but had a distinct near-triangular shape in the middle with a thin line running vertically through it.“How did you get that scar?” Plo asked.“Hmn?” Kit blinked, “Oh, the one by your thumb? It isn’t even a good story.”“I’d still like to hear it.”“Hit my head on the laundry room shelf when I was eleven or twelve,” Kit told him, “Why?”“I first noticed it our first time in Vegas,” Plo tried to explain, “It caught the light in a different way than the rest of your face and I - there were a number of other things I was noticing, too, but the fact I hadn’t noticed the scar before…I wondered how many other things there are about you I’d notice if I took a little more time.”“So that’s what you were staring at,” Kit huffed.“In the moment you looked over, yes,” Plo confirmed, “The rest of the time it was, well, the rest of you.”“You’ll find I have plenty of scars but none with a good story behind them,” Kit replied. “Dumb shit, mostly.”“Between plane maintenance, car repairs, and home renovations I think my hands are about thirty percent tiny scars at this point,” Plo offered.“Do you have any that you’d call a good scar story?” Kit asked.“Most of mine that aren’t on my hands are also dumb shit,” Plo replied, “Caught on a fence, fell on a hike. Those sorts of things.”“Caught on a fence sounds awful,” Kit cringed.“I was seventeen and too proud to let it hurt as much as it should have,” Plo replied, “And maybe running from the cops.”“Okay, see, that’s a good scar story,” Kit informed him.“Four-foot chain link fence versus a pack of teenagers that got caught throwing a party in the woods,” Plo made a sound caught between a huff and a chuckle, “I thought I could clear it. My shin did not agree with my assessment. Thankfully it was dark and the ground was all dirt or leaves, otherwise the blood trail would have led them right to the porch a bunch of us were hiding under.”“How have I not seen this scar?” Kit asked.“It’s almost forty-eight years old,” Plo replied, “It’s almost faded to nothing at this point. It also has to catch the light at the right angle.”“See, my dumb shit was things like getting into a fight at school or taking a turn too fast on my bike,” Kit told him, “I only ever went to house parties.”“Iowa had three main types of parties: house, woods, and cornfield,” Plo explained, “House parties were okay but there weren’t a lot of options if it got busted. Corn fields? Good fucking luck. You were either in the middle of an empty expanse of dirt or one wrong turn away from finding out how much validity the ideas behind Children of the Corn have.”“So this was Iowa. What about Virginia?” Kit asked.“In Virginia you just crashed the nearest college party and lied when someone asked you what your major was,” Plo replied, “Nobody cards anyone at frat parties.”“How old were you when you started going to parties?”“Fourteen,” Plo answered, “I was in a rush to grow up for a while. Then being an adult hit me like a freight train and I spent something like five years asking myself why I’d been in a hurry for this.”“It all looks like freedom and then the first electric bill comes,” Kit laughed.“It was the first car repair bill for me,” Plo replied, “I was all of nineteen going What do you mean the radiator needs replacing?”“THAT was your first car repair bill??” Kit very nearly sat up to better study if Plo was kidding. He opted to roll onto his back instead so he could at least stare up at Plo.“Cracked the radiator trying to navigate Butte Valley Road,” Plo explained, “Managed to make it limp back to more drivable roads without overheating the engine, but between the repeated impact and the fact I then decided to drive it back to Indiana? In hindsight it’s a miracle the radiator was the only thing that needed replacing.”“Wow,” was all Kit could say to that.“My young heart was a wild one,” Plo recognized, “Self-preservation kicked in somewhere along the line.”“I am quite thankful for that,” Kit felt himself smile.Plo looked down at Kit with a smile of his own.“Yeah,” Plo agreed, “As am I.”–When sleep became a better idea than another background movie, they realized that they had brought the groceries in but not their bags.A few bags were brought up and left in the living room to be dealt with in the morning. They changed there, too, to save themselves the effort of relocation that didn’t end in collapsing on a soft horizontal surface..Dressed for bed and with the evening shower deferred til the morning, they both headed down the hall.Kit paused at the part of the hall where Plo’s bedroom and the guest bedroom were equidistant.This was different. Motels and hotels were one thing. They were meant for transience. Those walls forgave you for any inconsistencies in your actions and intentions because they didn’t know any better.This was home, though, and it wasn’t Kit’s home. The walls here may not yet be able to pass judgment on him, but he hoped one day that would change. He did not want to start that process by assuming anything.“Please?” Plo asked, hand outstretched.Kit took his hand and let Plo lead him straight to his bed.Nearly all of Kit’s newfound nerves evaporated as soon as he laid down. Not because Plo was there - though that certainly helped - but because the mattress was the most comfortable thing he had ever laid on.“I know you take mattresses with you when you move,” Kit very nearly groaned, “but this is the type of bed you’d miss if it was a fully furnished rental.”Plo chuckled and settled against Kit. Kit put an arm over him and held him tight, and just like that it was every other night they’d spent since Baltimore.“I’m actually due to replace it in the next two years or so.”“With the same brand, or..?”“The same brand,” Plo confirmed, “This is my first one from them, but I would need to come across something incredibly convincing to switch.”“I’ve been on it for maybe two minutes and I’m already sold,” Kit replied.Another soft chuckle followed by: “It took some convincing, actually. I was looking for something that would work regardless of what age does to me. There were a few other contenders, but this one won out.”“This is terrible, but I actually need to stop and think about the last time I replaced my mattress,” Kit admitted, “I know I’ve moved twice with it, but there’s actually some math in there.”“I replaced mine the year after Sha got her learner’s permit,” Plo offered, “It was one of those things that I could have paid for upfront, but I like what paying in installments does for my credit score.”“I thought those hurt your score.”“If you take out too many,” Plo explained, “I tend to do one a year or every other year, depending on my other payment activity.”“My credit’s solidly in the very good range,” Kit offered, “I know I should care about it more than I do, but I really only use it as part of the rental application process.”“Calling myself meticulous about my finances may be understating it,” there was a wince to Plo’s voice.“I would imagine you had to be to retire before forty.”“That, yes, and then it turns out finances are something people tend to get raked over the coals about in a custody dispute that’s otherwise looking like there’s no reason to deny custody,” Plo replied, “Thankfully I’d long made a habit of accounting for everything.”Kit kissed the back of Plo’s neck and Plo relaxed a little.“You’ve really made a home here,” Kit told him.It was more than that, Kit knew. He’d built this home, floorboard by floorboard. Wall by wall. Tile by tile.“Thank you,” Plo hummed, “Home has always taken my time to build. This place is definitely the one I have spent the most time with.”“I’m kind of like a tumbleweed,” he told Plo, “Able to go anywhere the wind takes me and still call it home.”“I think you’re more like an air plant,” Plo replied.“Oh?”“Able to thrive anywhere and very much alive,” Plo elaborated.“Fair,” Kit conceded, “They don’t tend to go anywhere on their own, though.”“With a strong enough wind, I’m sure they travel.”“Certainly took some strong winds to get me to relocate,” Kit replied.And there went the levity.Plo rolled over and put an arm around Kit, too. Kit sighed and rested their foreheads together.After a moment, Plo pulled back and really looked at Kit. Despite Sha’s assessment, he was acutely aware of how Plo looked at him. He could feel it, like a hook or a brand. Like it left a mark every time Plo looked away and yet there was still a disconnect. Something stuck at the threshold, maybe.Mama had always kept wards around their house. To keep you safe, she’d always told Kit and the rest of his siblings. They’d worked, too. Nothing bad ever happened at home. Everyone in the neighborhood knew you didn’t mess with Mama Fisto and her kids.Her home had been the only one for blocks still standing when September 2004 rolled around. It, too, had needed to be gutted to the studs, but the bones were still good. Kit hadn’t been there for that, though, and when he came finally home…home hadn’t been waiting for him.Excuses would always be easier than the truth, and Kit feared the truth of this wasn’t that Plo kept too much to himself, but that Kit couldn’t come home regardless of where he found himself. That he’d made do and called it home because it was as close as he’d ever get again.That part of him would be stuck at the threshold for the rest of his life. A harm kept at bay. An unwelcome guest despite the love his family still offered. Home had forgotten him, and the part of Kit that knew how to come home did, in fact, share more commonalities with a tumbleweed than an air plant.Plo broke the silence with: “Every time someone tells me that everything happens for a reason, I have the urge to chuck them off the nearest bridge and see if they find reason in that.”“Sometimes one’s quest for answers really just takes a plunge,” Kit tried to joke.The smile it earned from Plo was a sad one, though. Full of understanding.Just as Kit had forgotten how to come home, so too had he forgotten what it was to let himself be sad about what could have been. He couldn't change that. He could see where things could have been different in places nearly as well as he could remember what actually happened but that never offered any salve.Plo’s hand moved from his back to the side of his head, thumb rubbing the laundry shelf scar.Something home had left Kit.“I know that most of the time, the reason is It happened because that’s what happened,” Plo said after a moment.“Does it help you?” Kit asked.“It makes it more real,” Plo answered, “It happened. It’s done. For better and for worse, it’s anchored to a point in time I can’t touch. My focus is needed on what’s ahead. The thing about anchors, though, is that sometimes the cable runs out and they keep you there even as time moves forward.”“And you can either cut the cable or let it keep its hold on you,” Kit knew.“Some cables are worth finding a way to extend, if we’re sticking to this metaphor,” Plo replied, “We cannot un-live the years that have already passed. Nor can we pretend like we don’t take the shape of our experiences. Some weights are worth carrying. Some anchors are worth the extra cable slack.”Of all the beds to have an existential crisis on, this was the most comfortable one Kit had encountered yet.Plo had Kit shift until his forehead was on Plo’s chest and Plo’s hand was on the back of his head. Kit could break like this, but…But what, really? What did hiding help in this moment?(What did it hurt, though?)Kit took a deep breath that came out as a shuddering one instead. Plo held him a little closer. A little tighter.It was going to be a long night, but at least it wasn’t a darkness Kit would navigate alone. This was a different type of feeling seen in ways he had long thought lost, but he was being seen nonetheless.As far as anchors went, this was a good one.–Plo was taking much longer to emerge for morning coffee than expected. Kit thought he had the timing down, but apparently not.When it had been (what he thought was) too long, he decided to see what was holding Plo up.The answer was hair.“It’s long enough that you can see the different streaks of all the stages of gray going on,” Plo grumbled, “Aging is one thing. This is another.”Kit didn’t entirely buy it, but he wasn’t about to tell Plo how to feel about his appearance.“I mean,” Kit reached up to tug at Plo’s hair, “I can think of a few reasons to let it grow a bit.”Plo gasped and arched his back so he could follow the sensation.Both of their coffees were going to be cold this morning.–Plo needed to introduce Kit to the Tanos.This had been the Tanos’ decision; Plo wasn’t sure how he felt about it. Apparently Ahsoka had told them about Kit, though they had been rather vague on what she had told him. Whatever she’d relayed had been enough that they had gone ahead and made a reservation for four once Plo told them that, no, he didn’t have any plans that night.He knew what this was about. They were worried. They knew about Plo’s last attempt at a relationship, and in turn they knew he’d sworn off trying again.But Kit wasn’t - they weren’t -Plo wasn’t explaining this to them. He was barely explaining this to himself.This whole We’re going to judge this man your travel plans have turned into something more than a coworker part of being close friends with his downstairs neighbors was too early.He tried telling the Tanos as such, but they insisted. It could just be dinner, then, they said.And it wasn’t - there was nothing wrong with Kit. He and Sha got along. He hadn’t even blinked at Maul’s preferred name. Kit was quite genuinely a good man.It was just…everyone around them was putting more weight on whatever it was they had going on than they were.Kit, at least, was handling the evening with grace.It was mostly friendly conversation: what the Tanos had been up to since Plo had started on his trip (replaced their stove, took a long weekend to the upper peninsula, booked a two week cruise) and how the Board trip was going (quite lovely, thank you very much).Ahsoka and Sha took up most of the conversation. Neither Pav-Ti or Nak-il were thrilled that Maul was back in the States, nevermind at Ahsoka’s apartment. Pav-Ti was strongly debating paying her daughter a surprise visit just to make sure everything was alright.“Sha would help facilitate that,” Plo told her, “In fact, we picked up some tea for Sha that we planned on giving her the next time we see her.”We. It was so…natural. Plo hadn’t picked it out by himself. Kit had been there, right next to him, arm around his waist. They had picked out the tea for Sha.“We would be more than happy to deliver it for you,” Nak-il smiled, “Heaven knows that Ahsoka will drink half of it, at least.”“If you want to come upstairs after dinner, we can give it to you,” Plo offered.We, again.Okay. Perhaps literally everyone around them had a point.That did not mean Plo appreciated being pushed before he was ready to take the next step.After dinner, the Tanos not only came up to collect the gift tea, but also to have a cup of tea with Plo and Kit.It was a much more relaxed affair than dinner, aided by the familiar environment. Usually Sha and Ahsoka had sequestered themselves in Sha’s bedroom and the only signs of life were the occasional giggle fit followed by them telling each other to keep it down, but…things changed. That’s what they were meant to do.Somewhere around the time Plo was half-way through his mug of tea, he found himself pressing his shoulder against Kit’s. Kit put his arm around Plo, his hand resting on Plo’s side, thumb stroking his lowest ribs idly and - okay. Okay. Plo did need to figure out how to have this conversation with Kit.First he needed to figure out exactly what conversation he wanted it to be.–It was easy to understand why Pav-Ti and Nak-il had changed the way Plo built community. They were gentle people, yes, but they both had a fire that burned just under the lining of their skin. Not quite a Centralia situation - they did not leave that which they touched ruined - but comparable.“They’re a lovely couple,” Kit told Plo once it was just the two of them in the condo.“They are,” Plo agreed, “if overly protective of not just Sha, but me as well.”“You said they changed how you built community,” Kit nudged.“For the better,” Plo confirmed, “I would not say that my community building skills lacked before them, but they added a gentleness to it that I very sorely needed.”“Oh?”“Everything about my life was hard-won,” Plo explained, “It still is, but before the Tanos, there was a sharpness alongside the hardness. I cut my teeth on every loss and sunk my claws into every victory, so to speak. Gentleness meant being pushed further back at best and getting trampled at its almost-worst.”It was hard to imagine that there was ever a version of Plo that didn't take great care to blunt the edges he could and cover the ones he couldn’t with a pool noodle.Kit has been several different men over his lifetime, though. There was no reason to believe that Plo had not as well.The conversation meandered on as they changed out of their suits and into lounge clothes, wound itself as it pleased as they got a second cup of tea started for both of them, meandered as the tea steeped, and then slammed directly into:“You know, I never understood the whole what’s your body count? thing,” Plo admitted, “I just don’t care. The honest count isn’t going to go any lower if whoever you’re telling gets jealous and it isn’t going to get any hire if they’re looking for someone with more experience. Why not treat whoever you’re sleeping with as if they’re their own person with their own likes, dislikes, and experience?”“The closest thing to jealous I could be is of anyone else who’s known your mattress,” Kit replied.“I haven't brought anyone home since ninety-three,” Plo replied in turn, “This one’s only even known me.”He hadn’t - in over thirty years? Kit should have gone slower. Much slower. Shit.“I’ve gone to other houses since then,” Plo clarified upon clocking the look on Kit’s face.“That’s not what-” Kit tried to explain but stopped and decided on a more direct route, “There was a brief moment of concern that I should have gone slower.”“I have wanted everything that’s happened between us,” Plo replied like a promise.That was a weight Kit didn’t know had needed lifting until he felt the absence of it.Plo stepped across the kitchen to kiss him on the lips. Chaste, but lingering. Kit kissed back, pressed a little harder and Plo’s lips parted, inviting.There was something about the way Plo melted for him that did things to Kit. Plo’s presence had always been a kind one, but there was no missing the fact that this was a man who could make the world bend for him if that’s what he believed it needed to do.“Say, Kit,” Plo murmured against his lips, “how do you feel about being the first person to fuck me into that mattress?”“Like that’s the best idea I’ve heard all day,” Kit replied.The morning’s coffee had been cold and the evening’s second cup of tea was going to be over-steeped.Neither of them were going to complain.It was more of a series of minor crashes down the hallway than anything else, each kiss getting a little more rough, each touch with a little more force behind it until they were in the bedroom doorway, Plo’s back against the frame, Kit pressed against him, teeth bearing down on his shoulder as Plo cried out.“Go get comfortable,” Kit told him, “I’ll find the lube.”It should have been in the side pocket of the hiking pack but it had migrated to the front at some point - the perks and perils of using something regularly that tends to have you a little out of your own head when you go to put it back.Plo stripped the covers back so that it was just the sheet between them and the mattress itself.“How do you want me?” Plo asked.“How are you most comfortable?” Kit asked in kind.Plo hesitated.
Shit.
“How do you feel about being on your back?” Kit asked.“I can try,” Plo replied but, fuck, his eyes went wide, nostrils flared.They ultimately landed on Plo on his back with one leg over Kit’s shoulder and the other kind of doing its own thing to the side. What mattered to Kit - and clearly to Plo - was that they could see each other.While Kit worked Plo open with one hand, the other gripped Plo’s thigh. Plo arched his back and whined and gasped and fuck Kit’s dick twitched just listening the sounds Plo made, nevermind watching how Plo’s entire body reacted to Kit’s fingers.Tonight was going to be a quick one.Kit relayed as much to Plo, an apology, but Plo shared the sentiment.Kit was able to bury himself in Plo in one try this time, eye contact maintained between moments they both needed to close their eyes. Wholly unbroken and Kit wouldn’t have even lasted this long.Plo looked so beautiful around his dick.Kit started fucking Plo in long, slow strokes, but once he felt sure that Plo wasn’t going to tense up, he started fucking him like the directive had been to fuck him into the mattress.“Kit, Kit, Kit,” Plo began saying his name over and over, “Kit, I’m-”“Don’t hold back,” Kit encouraged.Kit knew what Plo’s face looked like when he came, now, and fuck if that isn’t what did it for Kit.“In?” Kit barely managed to ask.Plo nodded and managed a reedy uh-huh and Kit could have pulled out if that had been anything even remotely resembling a no. Emptying himself inside of Plo was a pleasure, though, and one Kit was going to be thankful to be granted every time.Kit’s free hand tried to grab at Plo - somewhere, anywhere - and Plo’s hand came up to grasp him by the elbow. They clung to each other like that through Kit’s orgasm, nails dug into skin and fingertips grasping hard enough to risk bruising but fuck if that didn’t add to everything going on in that moment.Kit leg Plo’s leg down slowly, carefully. There would be aftershocks, Kit knew, and he probably shouldn’t be in charge of making sure Plo’s hips stayed aligned for that.“There has to be something for my stamina,” Kit panted, “that isn’t sold in dime bags at gas stations.”“I am by no means complaining down here,” Plo replied.Kit smiled and leaned forward to let Plo take some of his weight; Plo wrapped his arms around Kit with a deeply pleased hum.“I want to give you more, Plo,” Kit tried to explain.God, even the way Plo shivered was beautiful.Plo pulled Kit closer to him and Kit went without resistance, let Plo take all of his weight as they both came down.“We can talk more about it when we’re both more…” Plo trailed off.“When words aren’t hard and neither are we?” Kit suggested.“Yes, that,” Plo agreed, “I think you’re perfect, Kit.”Kit buried his face in the side of Plo’s neck and breathed him in. That was a first. Nobody had ever - Kit wasn’t -“And I you, Plo,” Kit managed.Plo held Kit a little tighter and Kit managed to get his arms under Plo’s shoulder blades so he could hold Plo, too.–The third day passed much the same as the first two. Breakfast was ready for Plo by the time he was out of the shower. Laundry was done. Bags were emptied and repacked based on things they’d learned worked better over the past few months. They went out for lunch under the guise of getting some fresh air and then it was back to more packing and repacking and planning. Lists for things they both needed to replace or upgrade entered the picture. They made dinner together while one of the local radio stations provided background noise.Somewhere between dinner and tea, however, the day took a different shape.“You know, Kit, if you ever want one of our breaks to be in New Orleans, I’d rearrange things to make it happen,” Plo offered, “Or anywhere else, for that matter.”“What?” Kit very nearly startled.“I planned this trip when it was still just me doing it,” Plo reminded him, “I realize this is coming later than it probably should have, but I would be more than happy to figure out a new route if it meant you felt included in it.”
He tends to rearrange his life as a love language.
“We don’t have to rearrange the entire trip,” Kit replied, “but a few more days in New Orleans would be nice.”What was Kit’s love language? It certainly wasn’t flowers, either.“Absolutely,” Plo replied, “Come on, let’s figure it out.”Plo took Kit by the hand and they relocated to the kitchen island so they could spread everything they needed to shift Plo’s plans into their plans out in a way where it was all visible at the same time.Every shift of the papers seemed to scream: I love you, I love you, I love you.–Near lunch on the third day, Kit told Plo: “The next time we’re here, I could paint your ceiling.”“What?” Plo asked.“If you don’t mind,” Kit clarified, “I realize we don’t have enough time left this time to make sure it dries correctly.”“I will not stop you,” Plo replied, “At the same time, you by no means have to do that.”“I’m offering,” Kit tried to assure him, “Unless the pepperoni stain is part of the condo’s story, in which case disregard my offer.”“I cannot properly express how much it bothers me that I haven’t been able to paint my own ceiling,” Plo admitted, “I don’t know what’s wrong with me.”Kit’s most base-level reaction was to say nothing, but that wasn’t the truth. There was a lot wrong with both of them, lingering just out of sight of the day-to-day.Instead, Kit went with: “I’m certainly not keeping a list.”That earned a smile from Plo and things felt right again.–Their last day in Chicago was spent with their bags packed and the apartment cleaned out and then cleaned up. They rested, finally - truly rested.Any more than that and they would have drifted right into restless instead.On the dawn of the fifth day, they got their morning coffee at a shop down the street so they wouldn’t have to wash and dry the mugs by hand.They walked back to the car hand in-hand.Once they were both securely in the car, Plo turned the engine over.The roads were theirs once more.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
The Cleveland office was closed.Not permanently, but indefinitely. Structural issues with the building that meant the staff would all have to work remotely while they were being repaired.This, naturally, happened the same day they arrived in the city.The head of the chapter apologized profusely and requested that they reschedule the visit. Realistically, they wouldn’t be back in the area until late fall - some four or five months away at this point - but it was that or nothing so late fall it was.“So,” Plo half-sighed when he and Kit were back in the car, “What do we do with an extra two days?”“Uh,” Kit gave it half a thought, “How close is the groundhog city?”“Let me check,” Plo answered.“Plo, I was kidding!” Kit laughed.“Three hours,” Plo told him, “And it looks like it’s surrounded by some fairly heavily wooded areas. I am afraid we’re several months late for the groundhog, however.”“This is absurd,” Kit shook his head despite how he was smiling, “Alright. I’m the one who suggested this.”“No more absurd than the fish triangle,” Plo replied.Before Plo turned the engine over, he looked at Kit, caught his chin with a crooked finger, and guided him in for a quick kiss.“Ready?” Plo asked as he put his hand back on his keys.“Ready,” Kit confirmed.Just like that, they were off again.–After about an hour on the road, Kit offered: “Sometimes it’s nice to just…retreat to small towns for a bit. Sure, this one has a lot of tourist traps, but you go to the surrounding towns and it’s miles and miles of nothing but you, the wilderness, and whatever’s between you and the ground.”“Places whose stories are written in the river stones and the gnarled trees and wild grasses,” Plo recognized.“I love that you get me,” Kit replied and Plo’s heart learned yet another trick.“Are those your preferred destinations?” Plo asked before his heart could go for a third one..“I do tend to favor little places,” Kit answered, “Towns whose names are absent on most paper maps. Restaurants whose online presence is limited to having bought a too-long domain name and having paid someone ten dollars back in two thousand and three to put a picture of the outside of the building on the page because their cousin’s eldest child told them they had to do it. Farms whose idea of fancy television is running a cable from their neighbor’s DISH Network satellite.”“When we have more than two days to spend between destinations, we could do that,” Plo told him, “Get in the car and drive until we find somewhere we want to stop.”
Stay, Kit. Let’s continue to do this because we can.
Too early, perhaps. A risk, but one already taken.“I would love that,” Kit replied.His heart learned yet another trick anyway.–Their hotel wound up being outside the city despite carrying the city’s name as part of its address. It felt better that way for reasons well outside of words.The only room available with such short notice and a single bed also came with an oversized bathtub just steps away from the bed. Breakfast was included with the room, but why that and the existence of the tub seemed to be tied together was well beyond either of them.The room’s microwave was also one of the selling points according to the website, which raised some serious questions.They opted to only utilize the free breakfast, the bed, and the separate shower (which, oddly enough, also offered a bathtub but with a shower head on the wall).Maybe this was why his condo had two bathrooms worth of plumbing. The architect stayed in this exact room and decided: You know what aspiring condo owners need? A bathtub in their living room and a smaller one in their bathroom.It was a closer thing to an answer than anything else Plo had come across.After what wound up being closer to four hours on the road followed by dumping their bags in the hotel room, something that passed as pizza at a little shop that seemed to have been a local beer store that gave up on its dreams of making its fortunes in the alcohol market, and a few hours of sticking to the local trails despite how the uncharted wilderness sang to the very marrow of Plo’s bones, it was a good night to sit in bed and catch up on some reading at half his normal pace.“Question,” Kit shattered the silence.“Answer, presumably,” Plo replied.“Your address book,” Kit started saying.Plo could feel his heart try to stop beating for a moment. What about it? Why was it being brought up?Kit handed Plo his phone and asked: “These are the pages, right?”His old heart could, in fact, keep learning new tricks. He wasn’t sure what to make of the one it just managed.“Yes,” Plo managed when he felt like he could breathe again, “Can you - can you send me the link, or something?”“Yeah, sure,” Kit replied as he took his phone back, “I’m going with the or something.”“Kit?”“Ordered and will be delivered to Obi-Wan’s address,” Kit replied after a moment, “They should be there a day before us.”“Does Obi-Wan know?” Plo asked, “Is he okay with it?”“Forgiveness and permission and all that,” Kit waved the concern away, “We’re living on the road. We have to send packages ahead of us if we want to receive them.”“Kit, I-” Plo struggled, “I’m at a loss for words.”Kit locked his phone, tossed it on the other bed, and rolled over so he could crawl over to Plo.“How did you find them?”“I memorized the brand and size and then started searching that night,” Kit explained.“You’ve been looking for a week,” Plo realized.“Pretty much,” Kit confirmed, “Now you don’t have to think about handling running out of space for a little while longer.”“This is one of the kindest things that anyone has ever done for me,” Plo told him.Kit reached a hand up to place it on the side of Plo’s face. Plo closed his eyes for a moment and leaned into the touch.Plo was - he knew he was crying but there wasn’t a damn thing he could have done to stop it. Silent tears decades in the making, waiting and waiting and waiting just off-stage, kept in the wings by grit and need and shame and-And Kit wasn’t leaving.He could feel how badly Kit wanted to ask if Plo was okay. If placing the order was okay. Even with temporarily compromised vision, he could see that Kit was worried.“Thank you,” Plo remembered to tell him.Kit’s face softened as he leaned forward and up to kiss Plo’s forehead.He let Plo’s tears fall until the overflow had fixed itself. A support. A guard. A moment’s honesty Plo wouldn’t have allowed himself otherwise. A few more feet of slack for an anchor cast so far back that Plo knew that particular horizon he’d cast it at was well past the point of even catching glimpses of in his mind’s rearview mirror.Kit’s other hand came up to cradle the other side of his face and Plo could feel an entirely new anchor cast itself into the moment.–One day, Plo would trust that if someone needed his attention in an urgent sort of fashion, they would try his phone instead of his email, but this was not the day.And so: the second night in Punxsutawney and the last night of what was supposed to be a stretch where he was marked as unavailable was being spent going through his inbox.He was not going to respond to anything that wasn’t urgent, but if he could at least clear the ones he didn’t need to respond to at all and mark the ones he’d need to deal with eventually, turning his out of office reply off to limited availability come morning would be less stressful.Kit occupied himself on his phone while Plo didn’t quite work, laid on his back with one leg propped in an inverted V and the other crossed over the knee at mid-calf. It seemed to be Kit’s preferred lounging position, but Plo was sure he’d wind up with back pain if he tried.“Say, Plo?” Kit got his attention, a hesitance to his voice that wasn’t normally there at all.“Yes, Kit?” Plo shut his laptop so Kit could have his undivided attention.“Do you, uh, are you interruptible?”“For you, yes,” Plo replied, “Is everything alright?”“Everything’s fine,” Kit tried to reassure him but missed the mark, “It’s just. I was just wondering…”Plo waited for Kit to finish that sentence. While he was waiting, Kit rearranged himself so that he was sitting on the edge of the bed, facing Plo so they could actually look at each other.“What are we?” Kit finally asked, “Besides on the longest Board tour in history.”And there it was. No more assumptions. No more silent hopes they were both on the same page about this. No more wandering around without having some sort of banner over them.“I don’t know,” Plo answered honestly.Kit could not hide the way his face fell.Plo moved to sit next to Kit, hands folded in front of him.“What I mean is,” Plo faltered, sighed, tried again, “I have no idea how to categorize - nevermind label - what’s going on between us. I’ve been fond of you for years, Kit.”“Oh,” Kit replied, very near breathless.“A lot of things stopped me from letting it be any more than a private fondness,” Plo continued, “Uncertainty. Distance. Professionalism. My own insecurities. I told myself I would stay professional, but…”Plo wasn’t quite sure how to finish that. So many things clamored to come out that they got stuck somewhere in his chest, bottlenecked at his vocal cords.“It wasn’t just my duties as a Board member that made me want to volunteer for this,” Kit confessed in turn, “I mean - I had no idea if you were into men and I wasn’t going to ask. But you’re - you’ve always been so kind and steady. Everything lined up to give me the ability to just leave for months on end and I…it was equal parts altruism and selfish reasons that I offered to accompany you.”“It’s been a long time since I’ve been with anyone and even longer since it was a good relationship,” Plo confided, “I don’t know how to do…this…but I want to try, with you.”“Vegas was the first time I’ve felt like someone’s been looking at me in well over a decade,” Kit replied.Plo unfolded his hands and shifted so that one was between them, elbow on his thigh and palm up. Kit shifted, too, to twine their fingers together, palm to palm.They let the silence settle, hand in hand, fingers woven together like their futures aspired to be.They could do this so long as they did it together.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
“You would think there would be fewer cars given what a nightmare finding this spot was,” Plo muttered as he checked that all the doors and the trunk were locked before they started the walk to Obi-Wan’s place, “You know, my parents always left their car doors unlocked because they figured that if someone really wanted to steal something, they’d steal it regardless of any obstacles they encountered.”Kit made an elongated, uncertain sound.“You can probably spot the same flaws I did,” Plo told him.“Not the least of them being that it makes it easier for someone to hotwire the car?” Kit asked.“Exactly,” Plo confirmed, “Nevermind that there are people who go around checking for unlocked doors who wouldn’t steal from a locked car.”The next sound Kit made was one of being briefly but deeply unsettled.“I want to attribute it to different times, but they had car thieves in the thirties and forties,” Plo replied, “Ready?”“Ready,” Kit confirmed, “I wonder how long a New York City block is.”–A New York City block, as it turned out, was kind of miserable.When someone says we’re six and a half blocks from the long-term parking garage, nobody from outside the city expects to be walking over a mile while carrying their bags. Nobody.They were absolutely checking the distance for themselves next time. This was at least a little on them.Obi-Wan’s husband, Cody, greeted them at the condo building’s front door to let them in and get them temporary access fobs. Obi-Wan would be home in about an hour, but they were free to make themselves at home in the meantime.The loft was a walk-up, as expected, but it was a private loft. The bedroom had its own door but so did the rest of the space. Kit had been expecting it to be a situation where the main loft area had a half-wall that overlooked the rest of the place and a tiled space with a few cabinets, a mini-fridge, and maybe a toaster oven, but no - the wall was floor-to-ceiling. The kitchenette was u-shaped with a full-size fridge and over. No dishwasher, but that wouldn’t be a problem. The sink was plenty deep to wash things without getting the floor involved in the process. There was even an electric kettle.The main area was furnished with a couch, coffee table, TV, and two end tables. There was an assortment of art on the walls in as many styles as there were pieces of art. The floor was a different tile than the kitchen, but still tile.And then there was the bedroom.The bed was a queen mattress in a dark wood four-poster frame. It was covered by what Kit assumed was a faux fur comforter and matching decorative pillows. Behind those pillows were even more pillows, and it looked like there were still more behind the second row. A chest made to resemble an old-fashioned steamer trunk rested at the foot of the bed. There was another television - this one on a dresser across from the foot of the bed - as well as a plush high-backed chair, one of those oversized circular chairs that Kit had seen before but never asked what they were called, and a pair of nightstands flanking the bed that matched the dresser. The wall behind the bed was a deep green while the other three were a gentle cream-ish color. This floor was tile as well - yet again a different type - and the en suite bathroom contained a fourth type of tile.It also contained all the things one would expect the bathroom to have - shower with stonework walls, toilet, twin sinks. Something Kit hadn’t seen before but based on context clues appeared to be a fancy towel holder.Plo seemed transfixed on the floor.“Plo?” Kit nudged him.“I do not envy whoever scrubs this grout,” Plo replied.“Sometimes you transform into a Homeowner,” Kit informed him.That seemed to break Plo out of his tile-care-induced trance, at least.“To be fair,” Plo chuckled.“You are a homeowner and the tile sure is inescapable,” Kit finished for him.“You know, one of Sha’s friends once pointed out that homeowner contains the word meow and I have never been able to look at it the same since.”Kit had to pull out his phone to type it out.“Well now I’m never seeing it the same way,” he decided.“Ho-meow-ner,” Plo said it aloud, “One day I am going to say it like that in front of someone who did not get the preface.”“I hope I am there to hear it,” Kit replied.“Hopefully,” Plo agreed.This had to be what falling towards a stable sort of love felt like.They finally set their bags down on the chest. Plo rolled his shoulders while Kit popped something back into place.“How do you feel about suitcases with wheels?” Kit suggested.“Like I should have invested in at least one back in January,” Plo answered, “Next rest stretch?”“Next rest stretch,” Kit agreed, “That said: I am going to kind of rinse off.”It was only barely warm outside, but the weight of the bag and the density of the city itself meant he felt grimy. That was no way to start a week in a new city. Hell, it wasn’t even a way to start a day in your own home.“Brilliant idea,” Plo agreed.“Shower’s big enough for two,” Kit suggested.“Even more brilliant,” Plo grinned.The shower head was one of those fancy rainfall ones that was long enough to cover them both and - alright, absolutely designed to host couples. The twin end tables and nightstands probably should have at least been hints before hindsight kicked in, but no. It was the shower head.“It is both like standing out in the rain and also like washing all the soap off is going to take three times as long,” Plo decided.“I am starting to think they might be rich,” Kit couldn’t say it without laughing.Like it wasn’t common, unspoken knowledge Obi-Wan and Cody Kenobi could buy half the city if they wanted to. They were certainly more than rich enough to not be worried about something like how much time a shower took.Now, Kit - he was comfortable. He could sustain himself indefinitely. That had been half of why Mama had sued the hospital into oblivion following his father’s death - so the six of them could live like he’d wanted them to even though he’d lost the ability to provide for them when he’d lost his life.The other half had been the principle of it. He didn’t need to die. If anyone could teach them to give a shit about basic patient care, it was Mama Fisto.So, yeah. He was comfortable. He would always be comfortable. He took odd jobs to keep from getting too restless. Bills were paid. Housing was secure.But this? Standing under a warm artificial rain while the steam rose around you?Kit had to admit that there was a certain draw to it. The water stayed hot. The coverage was enough for both of them to stay under the water. They could be lazy about scrubbing themselves down to get rid of the worst of the grime before any additional cleaning became a purely leisure activity.It occurred to Kit, belatedly, that the master bath at Plo’s only had a bathtub. A beautiful, oversized one but only a tub nonetheless. Plo used the second bathroom when he showered and Kit had only ever seen him shower despite his claim of taking the tub with him if he moved.Something wasn’t lining up, but he’d figure it out eventually.Right now, Plo’s hands were on his back, working in some of the shower lotion (Lotion specifically for the shower? Who designed these things?) and Kit was melting.He’d gotten a massage, once, at his sister’s insistence that it would help him calm the fuck down. Those were the words she’d used. It’ll help you calm the fuck down. It hadn’t. He hadn’t expected it to, but he could at least tell his sister that paying someone close to what he spent in a week on groceries to rub scented oils into his skin wasn’t the cure to whatever she thought was wrong with him.Whatever Plo was doing…it wasn’t that. It was probably what his sister had been expecting the massage to do and he really didn’t want to be thinking about her right now, even if it was to concede that she had a misapplied point.So he focused on Plo.He very quickly went from focusing on what Plo was doing to him to absolutely losing his mind under Plo’s attentions.He hadn’t realized how much tension he had been carrying in his shoulders until it was on its way out.Plo worked at Kit’s shoulders, then down his back slowly. Around the time he was about halfway down Kit’s spine, Kit was sure he was either going to need to lie down before his legs decided they, too, wanted in on this tension release party or he was going to cause them both to show up downstairs well after Obi-Wan had gotten home.“Plo,” Kit managed, the sound more of a groan than actually his name.“Let me take care of you, Kit,” Plo murmured, “Please.”“Yeah,” Kit managed one word and then managed to add another one, “Please.”Erotic wasn’t the right word for this. Not (heh) deep enough for what was happening between them.
Intimate.
This was intimacy. Sensual intimacy, but intimacy nevertheless.(This was the sort of thing that happened on daytime soaps.)Plo continued to work his way down Kit’s back until he got to the nerve-rich area just above Kit’s hips and when he hit that nerve Kit’s legs decided that they did, in fact, want in on this prematurely.“Kit!”“Good, good,” Kit grumbled, “More effective than I realized.”Plo got Kit back to his feet, worried, but Kit was grinning. He kissed Plo and Plo relaxed a little bit.“You’re sure you’re alright?” Plo checked.“Positive,” Kit promised, “More relaxed than I have been in a long time.”“We will just have to make sure you’re laying down next time,” Plo decided.Kit shivered and Plo made a small, pleased-yet-amused sound before he kissed Kit’s cheek.“Shall we rinse off and start heading in the general direction of back downstairs?” Plo suggested.“Probably,” Kit granted.They still took their time. This was luxury and they were going to treat it as such.When Kit grabbed a towel, he realized that what he’d noticed earlier wasn’t just a decorative towel rack - it was a towel warmer.“Yet another thing I suddenly understand the appeal of,” Plo murmured as he dried himself off.“Oh?”“IInterior log walls, towel warmers, high-grain wood furniture,” Plo started listing, “I am still not sold on leather couches.”“This is truly a trip full of discovery,” Kit assessed.“Funny about that,” Plo teased.Kit made a hmph sound but paused drying himself long enough to kiss Plo on the first place he could reach - his forearm, this time. Plo chuckled and reached out to pull Kit towards him.It felt like the opposite of heading back downstairs, but Kit was certainly not complaining.–They made their way back downstairs before Obi-Wan had made it home, but just barely.Greetings exchanged, Obi-Wan excused himself to change and asked Cody to get a delivery order started for all four of them.Dinner wound up being an assortment of meat and cheese plates that all four of them picked at while they went over what to expect over the coming week.The reason behind Obi-Wan’s request to extend their stay was made far more clear: there was an upcoming, private gala that was word-of-mouth only. No pictures. No cell phones out of pockets. Likely standing room only. Obi-Wan was not nearly high enough in the social chain yet to invite anyone himself yet, but he was high enough to invite Kit and Plo to a dinner in public with those who decided if an invitation could be extended.Of course, the dinner that served as an interview could not be treated as such. It was one of those things: everybody knew that those brought to the first dinner had been told the stakes while they had also been told they could not act like they knew.“What is the dress code?” Plo asked.“For tonight, you will find most fellow attendees somewhere between smart casual and semi-formal,” Obi-Wan answered, “For later this week, creative black tie is expected if you aren’t going to go with a more traditional black tie.”They probably should have coordinated this sooner.“We have some shopping to do,” Plo replied.“Easy enough,” Kit shrugged, “What other things should we intentionally not be acting like we know?”“I will send you both the list,” Cody answered, “What are your emails you would like it sent to?”Kit and Plo both gave them over.Both of their phones chimed almost immediately.They took a few moments to read over what Cody had sent.“I did say I needed a haircut,” Plo said almost absently as he read over the list.“You are not required to change your appearance for this,” Obi-Wan was quick to say.“Would it help?” Plo asked, “Secure donations, I mean.”The look that flashed over Obi-Wan’s face answered the question.“Hair grows,” Plo shrugged, “I have done stranger for smaller donations.”“I have no doubts that there will be a number of stories from all of us over the coming week,” Obi-Wan mused, “I can get an appointment set up for you.”“If you don’t mind,” Plo replied.“Not at all,” Obi-Wan assured him, “I see you both have three days of volunteering currently on your schedules and one day of office visits.”“That is the current plan,” Kit confirmed, “And now one for shopping and hair.”“I recommend taking at least two of the other three to be tourists,” Obi-Wan told them, “You could spend lifetimes in Manhattan alone and still not see it all.”The rest of the evening passed much like that - some work talk, some sightseeing recommendations, Cody and Obi-wan’s favorite places to eat, plenty of questions about how the trip was going.They asked a lot of questions about things that weren’t work-related - favorite stops they’d made, which highways were best to drive on.Somewhere in that weird time of day that was neither evening or night, Plo was struck with the thought that they could become friends with Obi-Wan and Cody.(He was almost immediately struck by the realization that he had started actively assuming that Kit would be a part of his future.)–Come night time - early morning, actually - Plo found himself glad that they had already taken care of getting their bags in and Kit had showered, because he needed to become acquainted with one of the horizontal surfaces in the loft. The French had their own ideas about what constituted the little death, but sleep might as well be a free trial to the big one and he was quite looking forward to tonight’s trial version.“I enjoy community food,” Kit offered without preamble as they shuffled in the general direction of sleep.“Oh?” Plo needed a slightly wider frame of reference.“The appetizers with Stass, the boards tonight,” Kit clarified, “There’s something about sharing food with fellow adults who respect each other that I did not appreciate when I was younger.”“There is something nice about it,” Plo agreed, “There’s a story in that last sentence.”“I was the middle child of five and we all had to serve ourselves from whatever Mama put on the table,” Kit chuckled, “When we were all little, she’d carve the chicken because we shouldn’t have been using knives in the middle of a feeding frenzy.”“I take it she carved the chicken when you were older for the same reason,” Plo guessed.“She tried trusting us with the knife once and one of my little sisters went in with her bare hands for one of the legs instead. The rest of us similarly went in at the same time,” Kit laughed, “Never again.”“That sounds like absolute chaos,” Plo felt himself smile.“What about your family?” Kit asked, “How was food handled?”“Everyone had their own plate when I was growing up. Then I either ate alone, in dining halls, or with coworkers I wasn’t quite friends with for a long time,” Plo answered, “My sister and her husband also did individual plates. Sha and I usually served ourselves right from the pan. Any leftovers were her lunch for the next day.”“What happened if there were no leftovers?”“She went hungry,” Plo replied like a reflex before he amended, “Christ. Sorry.”Kit laughed and Plo felt a little better about the joke.“It depended on how we were both feeling,” Plo offered a real answer, “Sometimes one of us would make something else for her. Sometimes it was a sandwich and a fruit cup or something like that. Sometimes it was lunch money.”“I figured you wouldn’t let her go without,” Kit assured him.“She’s been an adult for four years and the shit CPS would get called over still bothers me,” Plo shook his head.Kit reached out to put a hand on the side of Plo’s face, the edge of his palm cradling the edge of his jaw. Plo closed his eyes and let himself find comfort in the gesture.“One day, Kit,” Plo promised.“In your own time,” Kit replied.“Thank you.”Kit stepped forward to press a kiss to Plo’s forehead and the moment passed.Still: the rest of the night’s attempt at a routine felt heavy.Getting to finally lie down felt like a victory.“This beats the hell out of a hotel mattress,” Plo told Kit as soon as he hit the bed.“Oh this is nice,” Kit groaned as he settled in, “I still like yours better, though.”Plo very nearly corrected ours, but that was getting far ahead of himself.Instead, he told Kit: “Sorry I ruined mattresses for you.”“Nah,” Kit rolled over to pull Plo towards him, “just improved my standards.”Plo settled against Kit and Kit settled against him and Plo reasoned that both their standards were being raised over more things than he could keep track of.–Obi-Wan had reserved a slot for Plo to get his haircut somewhere in the middle of the next morning. Plo and Kit had both slept in and then taken their time with breakfast, but they still wound up not needing to rush to get there on time.Obi-Wan had taken the day off to - in his words - make sure everything was taken care of.Plo was shepherded back to the barber shop floor and Kit and Obi-Wan were told to make themselves comfortable while they waited.“Are you okay, Kit?” Obi-Wan asked as they sat down.“I,” Kit hesitated, “favor it a bit longer.”“Don’t worry, we’ll take care of him,” the man behind the register winked at Kit as he started tapping on his phone.Obi-Wan didn’t laugh, but his entire face shifted in ways that made laughing the more preferable reaction in that particular moment.They made idle chitchat while they waited, the conversation roving all over the place without actually being about anything. Kit couldn’t help but wonder if this was just how Obi-Wan held non-professional conversations or if this was a preview of what tonight’s dinner would be like.Kit kept an eye on the haircut process - and progress - the entire time while Obi-Wan very carefully kept his facial expressions from giving away too much of what he was taking away from Kit’s split attention.Somehow both what felt like hours later and what barely felt like Kit had had time to blink, they were done.“Well, what do you think?” the barber asked Plo.Kit watched as Plo studied himself in the mirror before he answered: “It looks like I am aging much more gracefully than when I walked in here.”“And you, boyfriend, what do you think?” the barber addressed Kit.That…did not feel like the correct term for them, but Kit answered anyway.“You look fantastic,” he told Plo directly and - oh, God, Plo was adorable when he blushed.Kit managed to not remark on the fact that the top was still long enough for him to pull.But, oh, he knew exactly how openly was staring.He could behave himself until after dinner tonight. Truly, he could.–Dinner snuck up on the both of them.There may be another, far-more-important-to-the-organization dinner later in the week if Plo and Kit passed whatever test they were about to be put through over…Plo actually had no idea how long this was supposed to last.He’d read and re-read the document Cody had sent over. It seemed to be notes that he and Obi-Wan had taken over the years that they’d been a part of whatever this was.What Luminare had put them through over lunch had been tedious and a little rude around the edges, but Plo had at least known that game. He’d played it himself more times than he had kept track of. BUt this one?This was one in which the idea appeared to be to part as friends.That was…not the usual outcome of the social games that Plo had played throughout his lifetime.Everyone at the table was one variety of quiet wealth or another; Obi-Wan had said that he was confident that there would be incoming significant donations.Plo and Kit had rehearsed the questions they planned on asking until they sounded natural, and in turn had prepared themselves for anything they could expect to be brought up in case something accidentally hit a bit of a touchy subject matter.It was all going smoothly until-“So why a CR-V?” one of them asked.“Because of where it lies at the intersection of safety, gas mileage, and the ability to hold up to a small pack of teenagers on their way to college,” Plo answered.“You have kids?”“I raised my Niece,” Plo explained, “and somehow was the one volunteered to help her and three of her friends move into their dorms.”“Aww,” someone else chimed in, “It’s sweet that they all went to the same college.”“Ah, no,” Plo corrected, “There were three stops and one of them required a bit of a detour. You would be amazed what you can pack into a CR-V.”The first questioner then asked Kit: “And what about you? What do you normally drive?”“I have a Harley,” Kit answered, “CVO Pan America.”And just like that, attention was on Plo and Kit for the remainder of the evening regardless of how they tried to redirect it.–Back at Obi-Wan’s, they were assured that they handled everything well.“They don’t usually ask that many questions during the first meeting,” Obi-Wan told them like an apology.“I imagine we’re on a bit of an abbreviated schedule,” Plo granted.“I’ll say,” Obi-Wan replied with a small laugh, “What would you two say to another drink before we call it a night?”One more would be fine; two more might put them both to sleep before they made it back up to the loft.Cody went to pick out a bottle of wine while everyone else made themselves comfortable in the living room.“I recognize that Mace has cautioned you against throwing any more grenades in the fire,” Obi-Wan prefaced, “but is there any sign that someone else may be looking to do so?”Kit and Plo looked to each other, more a reflex than a call for a silent conference. In doing so, they gave their answer anyway.“The timing of this trip has been,” Plo paused, “incredibly fortuitous.”Obi-Wan considered for a moment before he replied: “I appreciate your willingness to rock the boat.”Good. He understood and if he did not share the concern he would at least take them seriously.Still, Plo could not understate just how dire things were on the ground.“The boat capsized in Lynn Haven,” Plo corrected, “What we’re doing is search and rescue.”Cody handed Kit and Plo each a glass of wine before ducking back into the kitchen.“Thank you, Cody,” Plo offered.“The Spirit of the Carpathia,” Obi-Wan mused, “I like that. We can run with it.”“The what?” Plo asked.“The Carpathia,” Obi-Wan repeated, “The ship that rescued most of the Titanic survivors?”“I can’t say I’m familiar,” Plo admitted.“She broke from her planned route - she was a passenger ship - to respond to the distress call that other closer, more capable ships did not. The speed she achieved to get there should not have been possible, but lives were on the line,” Obi-Wan explained, “Of the seven hundred and six survivors, she pulled seven hundred and five of them out of the water.”Cody re-entered the living room with his and Obi-Wan’s glasses and proceeded to make himself comfortable against Obi-Wan’s side.“I do like the sentiment,” Plo replied, “I just cannot wrap my head around how it happened?”“You know,” Kit spoke up, “Headquarters declined being one of the stops we make.”“In their declination email, they cited that they have hosted the annual meeting several times,” Plo offered.“Which have all been virtual for the past few years,” Obi-Wan frowned.“At the time it seemed like a flimsy cover for not wanting to deal with having at least one Board member show up for what, realistically, could have been an email or even a brief video call,” Plo tried to explain, “Hindsight does add another dimension to it.”There was, truly, always something new to be considered when conversations took place in real time rather than over a series of messages.They were going to leave New York City with far more questions than they arrived with, but they would at least be constructive questions.–“So what do you think of your haircut?” Kit asked once they were in the loft for the night.“It will take some getting used to,” Plo admitted, “And we will see how long I actually keep up with styling it. The last time I made any real change to what I do with it was in college. What do you think? Honestly, I mean.”“I quite like it,” Kit answered, “It’s…I mean. Wow. I am attracted to you in your entirety, and am therefore biased. On a purely selfish level, though, I am thankful they left the top that length.”“Oh?” Plo asked, the dare in his eyes unignorable.Kit reached up, grabbed a handful of Plo’s hair, and tugged backwards.The resulting gasp from Plo was intoxicating.“If I weren’t so exhausted,” Plo managed.“I know we’re letting any labels to this settle on their own,” Kit hedged.“But boyfriend didn’t quite feel right?” Plo guessed.“Same feeling?”“It didn’t feel wrong but it did not feel like the ideal description,” Plo replied.“It will settle,” Kit assured them both.“It will,” Plo agreed, “I am not going to rush it.”He would be overthinking it until then, he knew, but that was not a burden Kit needed to share with him.–Obi-Wan accompanied them for their visit to the office. He was highly involved in terms of volunteering and staying on top of project updates, they learned, and knew every single one of the staff members on sight.(His behavior felt like the exact opposite of Yoda’s concerns regarding Board effectiveness and involvement.)Despite being one of the largest chapters, New York City was having the same problems as everyone else: a spike in the needs-to-resource ratio four years prior that had never gone back down.The head of the chapter echoed Cin’s problems with facts and figures using language more expected of a chapter’s Director, but it lacked the bite behind the soundbite that had landed Cin in the spotlight.The NYC Director tried to express concern over what was going on in the Vegas chapter that led to its Director swearing on national television. Kit had to literally bite the inside of his cheek to keep from commenting on that one; Plo did not.“While the concern is understandable based on the soundbite alone, media training and the ability to handle a chapter’s wellbeing are separate arenas,” Plo replied.Which was why Obi-Wan would be formally bringing the request to mandate media training for all executive-level employees before the Board in the near future.“Sorry,” Plo apologized once they were a few blocks away.“I understand his concern as well,” Obi-Wan granted, “In Director Drallig’s case, however, I suspect no amount of training would kick in the moment he felt is necessary to tell someone to fuck off.”“And other things we can all be thankful he hasn’t been recorded saying,” Kit sighed.Volunteering, at least, ended without any additional training needing to be suggested.Kit was incredibly tempted to ask: We’re throwing out the media training suggestion, right? but the last thing anyone needed was any accusations of collusion, even over the smaller things.At least Kit knew where he stood on the issue.He was looking forward to getting back to the loft and stretching. He had absolutely over-estimated how heavy some of the boxes he’d moved from the delivery truck to the u-boat were and if he didn’t want to be sore in the morning, well.He was just starting to consider asking Plo to help him with stretching once it was just the two of them in earshot when the day decided it could, in fact, add more stress to things.Someone’s window air conditioning unit when whatever malfunction it was experiencing caused it to release more water than it had any right of being capable of holding, and Kit had the misfortune of being the one directly under it.“Well,” Kit sighed, “I guess I’m adding window units emptying themselves to my list of things I didn’t know I needed to worry about.”“Are you alright?” Plo asked.“Yes, but I am going to need a shower,” Kit grimaced, “It’s water but it’s water that’s clearly been sitting there for a while.”“I’ve heard of this happening on trains but not to people on sidewalks,” Obi-Wan told him.“Two things added to that list,” Kit said with a deep inhale, “At least this happened at the end of the day.”“It isn’t even seventy out,” Plo noted as he looked up at the guilty appliance.At least they were only a few blocks away from Obi-Wan’s place.Kit excused himself to go shower and Plo said something about having dinner ready by the time Kit was done.“It’ll be a while,” Kit cautioned.“That’s alright,” Plo promised.It was not the fact he needed to shower earlier than usual that was bothering Kit, but rather that he had not built in the time it took to wash and dry his dreadlocks into the day’s schedule.Well, that and he would much rather be stretching. Or whatever that could have wound up becoming.Showering without Plo wasn’t nearly as lovely of an experience and the gentleness of the waterfall showerhead meant that everything took even longer, but there really wasn’t anything Kit could do about that.He was the one who kept opting to keep his locs despite the upkeep. They were well worth it, though, so he would keep his complaining to a minimum.An air conditioning unit. Seriously. Who did that even happen to?When Kit emerged again, he did so to the smell of seared meat and herbs with an undercurrent of what he was fairly sure was lemon.“Whatever you made smells amazing,” he informed Plo.“Taste it first,” Plo replied, “but thank you.”There was a plate of chicken and pasta with capers and seared lemon slices, plus a bowl of roasted broccoli in the middle of the kitchenette counter that separated kitchen from living room and two smaller plates that were more for catching any stray sauce than for actually holding food.Kit had mentioned that he was realizing that he favors communal-style meals yesterday.
He tends to rearrange his life as a love language.
Where had Plo even gotten a lemon? Or the capers?Kit would ask later.It tasted just as fantastic as it smelled.He told Plo as much.“Good,” Plo replied, pleased.They stood on either side of the counter and ate directly out of the serving dishes.“I know we’d planned on sightseeing tomorrow, but how does getting a later start on that sound?” Plo suggested about halfway through the meal.“Like you’re brilliant,” Kit replied.Beyond brilliant, really.There was something starting to form just under the surface for Kit, though. A question, maybe. A concern? Probably.For now, though, he would content himself on knowing that they cared about each other to the point they cared for each other.–Plo never said he had impeccable timing. In fact, Plo never made any claims about his sense of timing, if for no other reason than to avoid aiding in misshaping others’ perceptions of him.And so, when finally a concrete answer to Kit’s question about what, exactly, they were struck him while Kit was brushing his teeth, he answered it then and there.“Partners,” Plo finally answered, “We’re partners.”Kit turned around to stare at Plo, toothbrush still in his mouth.“If you would like to use that term, of course,” Plo added.Kit spat into the sink and rinsed his toothbrush before he replied: “Let a man spit, Plo.”“Sorry,” Plo flinched.“Oh, God, no, there’s no reason to be sorry,” Kit tried to assure him, “Swallowing a mouthful of toothpaste doesn’t seem like something that needs to be added to this conversation. I would love to call you my partner, Plo.”Kit rinsed off his toothbrush and set it down on the sink before he moved to hug Plo.Plo nestled the side of his face into the side of Kit’s neck and returned the gesture.“I imagine there are very few situations where swallowing toothpaste is required to improve the moment,” Plo granted.Kit laughed and held him a little tighter.“I’m sure we could find one,” Kit replied.“Not this one, though.”“Not this one,” Kit agreedThey stood like that for a few moments, just holding each other in the doorway like they were trying to let the label settle in place.“Partners,” Kit said like he was trying out the word, and then: “I get to introduce you as my partner at the gala.”
“Oh.”
“Yeah,” Kit’s accompanying laugh was a breathless one.How long had it been since Plo had introduced someone as his partner using any label for it? Thirty years? Longer?He decided against doing the math in favor of letting the moment linger.–“I think we got off at the wrong stop,” Kit noted.“We may have,” Plo agreed, “And went the wrong way out of the station.”“Let me pull up a map,” Kit decided.They probably should have done that at the station.“Half a mile,” he told Plo after a moment.“Easy walk,” Plo replied. They had at least planned on doing a lot of walking today and had dressed accordingly.They set off in the correct direction this time, but were quickly distracted by a sex shop.“Shall we?” Kit asked.“I don’t see why not,” Plo replied.Upon stepping in, Plo realized that the sheer volume of choices may have been a why not, but you didn’t learn anything if you didn’t flounder a little first.“I know we haven’t really talked about,” Kit paused, “any of this.”“This is so much more than was available when I was still,” Plo cleared his throat, “I have no idea what most of this is supposed to do.”“We could do research,” Kit suggested, “See what’s what.”“Research sounds like a good place to start,” Plo replied.“Hi, sorry, did I hear you say research?” an entirely too excited employee asked as they seemed to materialize in the aisle.This kid - well, they had to be an adult, technically, to work here - looked even younger than Sha. Someone just barely stepping into their life and so clearly doing it with pride based on the buttons on their lanyard.What a beautiful thing to catch a glimpse of.The clerk was genuinely helpful. Patient. Familiar with the store’s offerings and their applications.They were also quite willing to barrel into asking if they wanted or needed anything age-related.“I’m not young anymore,” Plo granted, “I am by no means opposed to using things that will help negate that.”Things would start breaking down or not working as well as they used to eventually, as his knees were more than willing to testify.The clerk had a number of suggestions for negating those issues as well.“What is it like, getting old?” they asked, “I mean, I don’t mean to be - you know - weird or pry or anything, it’s just that I so rarely get to actually meet community elders!”“It is the greatest gift I could have been given,” Plo answered first, “There is so much beauty life has to offer, even through the worst of it, and the longer I’ve lived the more of it I have gotten to experience. Bodies change. Minds change. But to get to experience those changes is a privilege.”One that had been denied to so many of his friends over the decades.They left with a bag full of things to try and the feeling that the clerk wasn’t going to forget them any time soon.“And to think we were aiming for the High Line,” Kit chuckled.“We could still make it,” Plo pointed out.“We could,” Kit granted, “Oooorrrrr…”“Or,” Plo agreed.They could try to get to the High Line another day.–Any plans they had when they got back to Obi-Wan’s were derailed by the fact the refill pages had finally been delivered.Cody was home - Plo had begun to suspect that Cody spent most of his time there - and Obi-Wan had stopped by for a late lunch, so they went about their day in the background while Plo and Kit tried to figure out how they were going to keep the pages safe until the next time they were in Chicago.At least - that’s how things went until Cody asked what the issue was.“We’re trying to figure out how we’re going to keep them from getting damaged for the next several months,” Plo explained.“Let me see?” Obi-Wan requested.Plo handed him the pages.“A-five, alright,” Obi-Wan handed them back, “I will have a hard case for you before you leave.”“You’re sure?” Plo asked.“Darling, I could run this city if I wanted the responsibility,” Obi-Wan laughed, “I can find a case.”“Thank you.”“I take it these are what you let me know were coming, Kit?” Obi-Wan asked.“They are,” Kit confirmed.“They look vintage,” Obi-Wan assessed.“Every now and again exactly how much older I am comes into focus,” Plo replied.“What are they for?” Cody asked.“My address book,” Plo replied, and then, because that didn’t feel adequate, added, “I mean - tt’s my address book, but it’s…”All three of them waited for him to find the words.Instead, he asked: “Kit, how would you describe it?”“A piece of your personal history that, if digitized, would be something that really drove home how much of a national fight it’s been to get this far in terms of rights and safety,” Kit offered.“I have kept the same address book since college,” Plo added.He would let Obi-Wan and Cody fill in the blanks on their own.Kit had, quite literally, bought him more time.He had a feeling that the full weight of what, exactly, Kit had managed to do for him would set in later.For now, though, he would let the joy that this was real - that a problem decades in the making solved before it truly needed to - guide the moment.–Today’s volunteer shift had been fairly routine, all things considered, and had not come with being on the receiving end of a malfunctioning appliance.They made it back before Obi-Wan; Cody told them that they would be ordering dinner tonight and both of them were more than welcome to join them. They decided that, yes, a social evening sounded lovely. They just needed to shower first.Even without a repeat of their first walk back from volunteering, they needed to scrub the city from their skin.(Or, rather, from each other’s skin.)They still made it back downstairs before Obi-Wan was home.They settled on the couch opposite where Cody was seated. Cody put his phone down but in clear line of sight before he opened a conversation.“How many times have you two been asked what it’s like being on the road so long?”That, at least, was a new way of being asked.“I haven’t counted,” Kit answered first.“Nor have I,” Plo replied, “Nearly everyone, though.”“Who hasn’t asked?”“Stass,” Plo answered first this time.“She was far more focused on the fact we were at the Bass Pro hotel,” Kit added.“Obi-Wan mentioned that,” Cody told them, “I had to look it up. I can’t believe that’s a real place.”“Believe me, neither could I,” Plo replied, “Nevermind that Stass wanted to visit so badly that she moved our meeting location.”“Was that the most surreal part of your trip so far?”“For me,” Plo confirmed, “That, or Denny’s.”“For me it has either been Denny’s or that bar in Wyoming,” Kit offered.“See, Wyoming for me more or less happened,” Plo replied, “If Sha and Maul hadn’t been there I don’t know how much of the bar I would have actually remembered.”“Sha is your Niece, right?” Cody asked.“Yes,” Plo replied.How had Cody heard about Sha?“I thought so,” Cody replied, “Obi-Wan mentioned that she finished college last year.”Ah. Right. Husbands.“She did,” Obi-Wan confirmed.Cody had a few questions about Sha that wandered into all three of them talking about their own experiences with higher education. Kit did not have any; Cody had a Master’s degree but only used it for a few years. He danced around why, but neither Plo or Kit pressed.Obi-Wan came home around the time dinner would be a sensible thing, so Cody placed an order before Obi-Wan went to take his own shower.Obi-Wan’s shower, at least, was a quick one.He joined them, sat next to Cody and put his arm around him. Cody made himself comfortable against Obi-Wan’s side, a clear routine, a habit.One day. One Day.Cody’s phone rang.“Dinner’s downstairs,” he told everyone.“I can get it,” Obi-Wan told him.“You sit,” Cody was already on his feet, “You’ve had a long enough day.”“You work more than I do,” Obi-Wan replied.“Hardly,” Cody smiled and kissed Obi-Wan’s cheek, “I’ll be back up shortly.”“Volunteering went without incident, I trust?” Obi-Wan asked.“As did the walk back,” Kit confirmed.“Good,” Obi-Wan smiled, “I have never heard of that happening to someone.”“There are far worse things that could have fallen on me,” Kit tried to ease any anxieties, “Tangentially related, where do you get the shower lotion?”“Target.”“Huh,” Kit settled back a little more on the couch, “You really can get anything there.”“You see, the thing about this address is that anything the city offers can be delivered to the lobby whether or not where you’re ordering from normally delivers,” Obi-Wan explained, “I do try not to be too out of touch with average, though.”Which was both commendable and smart. It was almost too easy of what constituted things like reasonable and accessable when you could have the world brought to your doorstep.“How do you two feel about Target?” Cody asked.It didn’t sound like a test.“There actually aren’t any in New Orleans,” Kit replied, “We have WalMart, though.”“See, we don’t have any WalMarts in the city,” Obi-Wan told him, “We have a few Targets, though. Small ones, usually, but they're here."“Short of regional chains, I believe Chicago has just about every large chain store imaginable,” Plo answered, “Restaurants are more of a gamble.”“Why do I feel like there is a story behind that knowledge?” Obi-Wan asked.“Because there is no Waffle House in Chicago,” Plo sighed, “and the nearest one is - like all of them, apparently - open twenty-four-seven and - also like all of them - does not have seating that accommodates six fourteen-year-olds at the same table.”“Oh my God,” Cody laughed, “Six?”“This was before the CR-V so everyone had their own seat,” Plo explained, “But yes. Six teenagers were driven eight hours round-trip at two in the morning for Waffle House.”Obi-Wan and Cody stared at him for a moment.“Once,” Plo added.“Two in the morning, though?” Obi-Wan asked.“I never did get an explanation as to why they thought it was a good idea to wake me up and ask them to take them,” Plo chuckled, “Nor did anybody explain why there were three children in my house when I went to bed and twice that many when they woke me up. Memories can only be made once, though.”“We have Waffle House,” Kit told him, “Several, actually.”“I do not believe it’s made it this far north,” Obi-Wan noted.Cody picked up his phone and, a few seconds later, informed everyone: “It has not.”The conversation stayed solidly in regional store and food offerings for a while before it more or less tripped back into the fact that all four of them - Plo and Kit individually, Obi-Wan and Cody as a couple - had more than enough money to do something like buy a mansion in the middle of nowhere and never need to leave but chose not to.“I would get too restless,” Plo told them, “I have spent my entire life doing things alongside other people.”“At first - for me - it was more of a safety concern than anything else,” Kit offered, “We didn’t live in a part of the city where money was concentrated in any one neighborhood, nevermind one house. Then I watched my brother nearly blow through his share and one of my sisters blow through hers and decided I was living like I planned on staying in or near the income bracket we were raised in.”“I do enjoy the perks that come with living like this,” Obi-Wan admitted, “There is power to change things here if you are willing to put in the work at your own expense.”“I am familiar,” Plo granted, “That power seems to always lie in numbers. Whether those numbers are dollars or people depends on the change vehicle.”“You both have a sense of quiet wealth about you,” Obi-Wan told them, “Quiet enough that you have to know what you’re looking at.”Plo huffed and then explained: “I do not think Sha’s father’s family expected me to be able to fight them over custody as long and hard as I did.”Cody returned with their food and set the bags on the coffee table between the couches.“Thank you, my dear,” Obi-Wan kissed Cody on the cheek as Cody handed everyone their orders.“Of course,” Cody replied like a promise.
One day.
When they all had their food and drink, Obi-Wan resumed the conversation with: “I take it they put up quite a fight.”“How many single Uncles were getting custody of nine-year-olds in twenty-eleven?” Plo asked, entirely rhetorically.“Not many, I imagine,” Obi-Wan granted.At the same time, Cody answered: “At least one.”“There were things on my side besides money,” Plo added, “Money helped, though. Money helped considerably.”“You have mentioned that you have a Niece but not that you raised her,” Obi-Wan noted.“I can be,” Plo paused, “protective over her personal information, especially when she was still a minor.”“It does concern me how little many of us feel we can share,” Kit admitted, “A professional working relationship is paramount, but…”“I take it there are a number of things you two have learned that you would not have if you weren’t showing up at everybody’s homes,” Obi-Wan guessed.“It is interesting that meeting elsewhere is an option but so far everyone has asked us to come to their homes,” Kit offered, “Luminara wanted us to do dinner elsewhere first, but a few days later we did go to her home.”“I believe that is a first,” Obi-Wan told them, “One of many firsts between Board members that you two have managed, I’m sure.”“We now know what Ki-Adi sounds like when he laughs,” Plo offered.“Really?”“Thanks to Kit,” Plo nearly rolled his eyes.“We were talking about our families and I described my lack of children as a hangup in the biocompatibility department,” Kit explained.Plo was glad that he hadn’t been drinking this time. Cody had not been so fortunate.“Who else have we never heard laugh?” Plo asked.“I have yet to hear Saesee laugh,” Obi-Wan replied, “I do not think I have heard Oppo or Luminara, either.”“We have yet to visit Oppo or Saesee,” Kit replied, “Luminra. Hmn.”“I do not believe we did,” Plo said.“In absolute confidence, is there anything you two have seen or learned that you feel should be taken into consideration directly or indirectly in building future Board events?” Obi-Wan asked.Plo and Kit both glanced at Cody.“You couldn’t get me to divulge sensitive information if you tortured me for it,” Cody informed them with so much calm that it had to be something he learned from experience.“Ki-Adi has had two more children and has another on the way,” Plo answered, “It unsettles me that we did not know.”“All of those kids are so loved and all of the sides of the family seem to get along,” Kit sounded a little sad, “The fact that he feels he cannot share even a little bit of that…”“Depa’s son started Kindergarten this year,” Obi-Wan knew, “And I believe the Skywalker-Amidala twins started preschool.”“They did,” Plo confirmed, “How do you keep track of that?”“Oh, I take notes,” Obi-Wan explained, “Memory can be a fickle thing. My point is: I only know that because I take notes.”“So what about our Board culture excludes families?” Kit asked, “And what can we do to change that?”“The deeper question would be what has everyone faced, individually, that has made them feel as if we - the Board - is recreating a space where their families are not welcome,” Plo suggested.“Well?” Obi-Wan asked Plo.Plo faltered for a moment before he answered with: “I need time to consider that.”“Of course,” Obi-Wan granted.He would likely need more time than they had left in New York City, but he would put an actionable answer over one that let him stop thinking about it sooner.He owed as much to Sha, if nobody else.–Come morning, Plo and Kit were informed that they would, in fact, be welcome to the gala at the end of the week.They had planned on acting as if that was going to be the case - they had blocked off today to figure out their outfit situations and for Kit to get his dreadlocks retwisted - but hearing that it was a definite was still a relief.Kit wound up favoring the creative black tie dress code option with a dark green suit that came close enough to pass as a tuxedo while the individual elements could still be reused in less formal situations.Plo opted to play it safer with more traditional black tie attire, the burnt orange jacket lining and tie his concessions to a more trend-aware outfit choice.Cody offered to take their purchases back to the loft; Plo and Kit accepted with gratitude.When they got to Kit’s appointment, he told Plo: “You do not have to wait for me.”“I can wait,” Plo assured him.“It’s going to be hours.”“Would you like me to wait for you?” Plo tried a different angle.Kit took a moment before he answered: “I would.”While he waited, he listened to Kit and the woman who ran the salon talk - about family dynamics, about how Kit usually did this himself (Which was true - he’d done this several times throughout the trip) but every now and again it was nice to have someone else do it (which Plo did not know and had not asked about), about how long the salon had been open (going on twenty years), about how it was clear Kit knew how to take care of his hair (and the rest of his body, Plo knew, though that branch of the conversation blessedly stopped at the scalp), about…very nearly everything, like they’d known each other for years instead of minutes.Watching how Kit socialized when there was no work or pressure was fascinating. Plo had been active in a number of things that required social interaction his entire life, yes, but it had never been natural for him. There had been countless hours dedicated to making things look like they came naturally to him, but he had figured out fairly early on that the fact his ability to carry on a conversation was carefully curated could be easily guessed by just about anyone who knew anything about socialization.Kit, though, so clearly came by this naturally.Maybe an hour in, Kit corrected an assumption about Plo’s presence with my partner and Plo was immediately summoned to learn how to do this for Kit in the event Kit ever wanted - or needed - him to.“Have you ever done someone’s hair before?” the salon owner asked.“Yes, but it was very different,” Plo answered before he considered that no would have been a much more simple answer.“Sha?” Kit guessed.“Sha,” Plo confirmed.“In that case I imagine the biggest difference is going to be the texture,” Kit replied.“The biggest difference would be that she bit when you tried to brush her hair for her until she was just shy of six,” Plo corrected, “But, yes, the second would be the texture.”“Daughter?” the salon owner asked.“Niece,” Plo corrected, “but I raised her.”“She got hair like yours?”“Ah, no,” Plo paused to consider how to explain the difference, “Hers is thinner but there’s more of it and there is a more pronounced wave than when I let mine grow.”“So more white, then.”“Well, yes, and she’s more than a little upset about it, “Plo replied, “I encourage her to explain that genetics are a roulette when someone asks why she and I look so different.”“How does she describe it, then?” Kit asked.Plo sighed, slightly disbelieving he would ever have to say this out loud, before he answered: “That at least one person on her father’s side of the family tree fucked a jar of mayonnaise and her melanin levels are still paying for those sins.”It took almost twenty minutes before either the shop owner or Kit could stop laughing long enough to even start the lesson.–There had been another, surprise (to them), informal dinner-and-drinks with those who had decided Plo and Kit were welcome to attend the gala if they so chose.They’d gone home and changed beforehand; Plo did not miss the days of being expected to be so deliberate about showing his class and level of ambition, but he could still play the part.Photos were allowed tonight, and Kit took advantage of that allowance by snapping a single picture of Plo that he waited until they were back in the loft to show him.He was clearly in the middle of telling a story. He was smiling, his hands free of any motion-related blur but still quite obviously mid-gesture and the very corners of his eyes held his smile. He looked…younger.
Free.
He looked like he had earned the space he occupied.“I don’t hate it,” Plo decided.“I take it that’s not your usual assessment?” Kit guessed.“No,” Plo confirmed, “Not even remotely.”Kit huffed but gently knocked his head against Plo’s.“In that case I am honored,” Kit decided, “And, again, biased.”Plo chuckled and pawed at the other side of Kit’s waist until they were pressed against each other, front-to-front. Kit put his phone down so he could pay better attention to Plo.“The suit-and-t-shirt thing is a good look on you,” Kit informed him.“Why do I feel like you would say that regardless of what I have on?” Plo teased.“Once again,” Kit grinned, “I am rather biased.”“You look good on me,” Plo murmured.“Let’s get these off, then,” Kit suggested.Kit was, truly, a rather brilliant man.–Plo: recieved_05172024_204357.jpgSha: You are already the cool UncleSha: You don’t have to try so hardSha: I’m showing SokaPlo: How do you hit that many keys in under thirty seconds?Sha: autocorrect and a tiny bit of reading skillsSha: You learned to text with nine keys and it showsSha: Who convinced you to get the haircut?Plo: It’s for the gala. Also there were twelve keysSha: ok but the zero only did one thing so it doesn’t countPlo: The ones next to the zero were punctuationSha: Didn’t your first computer involve punch cards?Plo: What does that have to do with anything?Sha: You’d think you’d be fasterSha: You look HAPPY, Uncle. I’m glad–The evening before the gala, Cody made dinner for all four of them.The longer Kit and Plo had stayed, the more it became clear that Obi-Wan’s idea of a good life was having time for both advocacy work and to just be with Cody while not neglecting what he was paid to do while Cody’s idea of a good life was making sure Obi-Wan was able to come home and be home without having to worry about things such as what needed to be done for dinner or if anything needed cleaning or repair.They truly fit together well. A life built with each other at the core.One day. Maybe.(Hopefully.)They’d spent the day in Central Park and then in the New York Public Library before deciding to try to not keep Cody and Obi-Wan waiting to start dinner despite having a large window in which they’d been told the couple normally ate dinner.It was probably a good thing, too, as Cody was waiting for them to return before he started cooking.While he cooked, Obi-Wan asked them about their day.“I realized today that I could have been sending postcards this entire time,” Plo admitted, “I have a few in the mail now.”“Depending on how the pictures I took turned out, I may turn a few of them into postcards,” Kit replied, “Or prints.”“You sell your photographs?” Cody asked.“Passively,” Kit replied, “I certainly don’t put much effort into marketing, if any.”Only then did it occur to Kit that he hadn’t told Plo. He’d barely brushed up against his relationship with photography, nevermind the business of selling prints, and quite frankly his desire to turn it into an actual business that he took seriously was somewhere near zero.If Plo brought it up later, he would explain as much and trust that Plo would understand.The conversation wandered from hobbies to favorite vacations to bucket lists before it smacked right into the evolution of the gay community through their lifetimes.“It certainly is refreshing to see how many people are out across all ages,” Plo offered.“It certainly wasn’t nearly as common when I first came out,” Obi-Wan offered, “I was far from the only one I knew, but we were a small group and any safety nets we did have were of questionable integrity.”“They still are, I fear,” Plo replied, “More plentiful, but just as prone to give out.”“Yes, but in that more plentiful is a greater chance that the Swiss cheese theory wins out,” Obi-Wan countered.“First it was ships, now it’s cheese,” Kit blinked.“Even though there are holes, with enough layers or depth there are places where the holes stop,” Obi-Wan explained, “Like a block of Swiss cheese.”“I can’t say I’ve given much thought to how blocks of Swiss work,” Plo admitted, “That makes more sense.”“He does this,” Cody rolled his eyes, “Not everyone touches as much of the Internet as you do.”“Better to start at the top and work your way down,” Obi-Wan replied.Cody huffed but Obi-Wan reached over to squeeze his forearm and Cody smiled instead.“How did you two meet?” Kit asked.“We met at a Stonewall thirty-fifth anniversary celebration,” Cody replied.“So you’re coming up on twenty years,” Plo did the math.“Of knowing each other, yes,” Obi-Wan confirmed, “Some days it seems like yesterday. Others it feels like lifetimes ago.”“I hear time does that,” Kit offered.“Plo, you were alive when Stonewall happened, right?” Cody checked.“I was eight when Stonewall happened,” Plo replied, “If the news made it out to Oregon at the time - which, it probably did - I missed it entirely.”“Still,” Obi-Wan said around a bite of food, “It’s astounding to think about how much can happen in a lifetime.”“It is,” Plo agreed, “I wish it had all stuck as much as it felt like it would.”“What do you mean?” Cody asked.“The first pride was a riot,” Plo reminded everyone, “We all know the preferred narrative. We’ve progressed. There is no need for violence to address any ongoing grievances. That time passed a long time ago. But the thing is: violence still sparks conversation, and those conversations still enable change. Those who witness the desperate resorting to ‘the unthinkable’ and think they deserve fewer rights were always going to come to that conclusion. Do I advocate for violence? No. Do I understand? Absolutely. My fear for today is that violence has lost its meaning. That whatever the next Stonewall is will be remembered as a violation of common decency and not a rally cry.”Silence for a beat, and then a Keep going from Obi-Wan.“It isn’t just the gay community that’s still fighting,” Plo continued, “It’s racial. It’s environmental. It’s class. It’s access to basic needs. It’s water and air and the very soil in some places. Most of them overlap in at least one place. Most of them are a terrible Venn Diagram. And, yes, we do touch every area we can but how long can a network of nonprofits and not-for-profits really be that which fills in the cracks? Something needs to change and the push that is going to take needs to be recognized as the desperate against the violence inherent in the system.”“How long have you been involved in protests?” Cody asked.“You’re asking me to do more math,” Plo replied, “Give me a moment. Eighty-seven was D.C., but that wasn’t the first by far. The first was…I was nineteen, so that’s…elementary school math should require periodic refresher courses…forty-four years,” he figured and then relayed with more confidence: “My first protest was forty-four years ago.”“You have been on the frontlines of change longer than Cody or I have been alive,” Obi-Wan informed him.“I wouldn’t say I have been on the front lines for that long,” Plo corrected, “Part of it, yes, but not at the front the entire time.”Guilt, decades old but no less fresh for its age, hung heavy around the correction.“Understandably,” Cody replied, “Nobody fights at the frontlines for four and a half decades without stepping back and survives.”Plo nearly started arguing, but Cody continued: “A fight for what you stand for is still a fight. A war, even. All too often, regardless of the nature of the particular war, there is a pressure that’s framed as an ideal fighter that tells everyone if you don’t spend every second you breathe giving it everything you possibly can then you’ve failed. You’ve let your fellow fighters down.“And that’s bullshit.“You’re a good man, Plo. You would never tell someone else that the time they took to take care of themselves and their family made their fight mean less. You would never tell someone else that stepping back when they needed to was anything less than making room for someone else to step forward and take up the charge.“Don’t do that to yourself. Not while you’re still fighting.”Plo stared at Cody like he’d just been kicked in the chest.“Apologies,” Cody looked away, “I was out of line.”“No,” Plo tried to assure him, “Cody. Thank you.”Cody looked up again, a small smile drenched in sorrow trying to carve out a little real estate at the corners of his mouth.“We carry each other’s banners,” Obi-Wan explained like a promise, “More than that: we carry each other.”Perhaps that was a part of what the Board was missing: the trust that they weren’t alone in how they carried out not only their duties to their position but their duty of care to that which they would, one day, leave behind for someone else to step into.Under the table, Kit put his hand on Plo’s thigh, just above his knee, and squeezed and hoped that was enough.–Later that night, in the loft with all the doors shut for the night, Plo was…off.“Plo?” Kit nudged him, let his concern bleed through the way he called his partner’s name.“Sometimes it comes into focus just how old I am,” Plo tried to explain, “It isn’t my age that bothers me, though.”Kit waited.Plo sighed, heavy, but admitted: “It’s surviving when so many didn’t.”Kit waited some more.“It isn’t just those I marched alongside. In two and a half years, I will be older than my mother got to be,” Plo tried to explain, “In less than four I will have outlived my father. I won’t even be full retirement age at that point. They should both still be young enough that I can call them. That I can visit. We all should have been at Sha’s graduations. It wasn’t even something that had a process to it like cancer or AIDS or heart disease. It was someone else’s bad decisions that they paid for with their lives.”Kit gave pause before he offered: “Not in the same way, but I get it.”Plo reached out his hand towards Kit and - when Kit took it - pulled Kit to come sit next to him. Kit went without resistance, leaned against Plo’s side with a heavy sigh.“Hundreds and hundreds of people whose only sin was where they lived,” Kit shook his head, “People are so quick to blame them: Why didn’t you leave? Why didn’t you go to higher ground? Why didn’t you get on the damned bus? Like the Superdome was any better. It wasn’t flooded, sure, but there wasn’t much else. In a war it would have been decried as a crime against humanity but instead we were blamed.“After that, for me, it was the Astrodome and then a good luck, another one’s coming. I could have gone with everyone else to a third shelter but I just…”Plo put his arm around Kit’s shoulders and Kit leaned his head against Plo.“Hitched a ride,” Kit told him, “Told a trucker who was trying to get out that I was going as far as he was going. I probably should have picked a different phrase given just how far he was willing to go, but…I got well outside of Rita’s path. That’s all that counts because that’s all I can let count.”Silence crashed through the loft, left the two of them stranded between past and future.“I could let my anger destroy me or I could channel it into something less likely to kill me before I outlived my own father,” Kit continued when the strength to shatter the silence returned, “I know there’s a lot that isn’t quite right about me.”“I won’t keep a list,” Plo promised, “Surviving is heavy tonight.”“It is,” Kit agreed.Plo wondered, sometimes, if time bled. Not like a living thing, but like pen through paper. Things already over and done that left an imprint you’d discover later. The shape of it was rarely the exact same, but you always knew what it started as.He relayed as much to Kit.“I’m adopting that description,” Kit replied.“Sometimes it hurts,” Plo sighed, “but sometimes it’s just…nothing. It’s still there but it’s nothing at the same time.”“Yeah,” Kit’s voice was unsteady.Surviving was one of those burdensome privileges that, while Kit never wanted to put it down by choice, periodically felt too heavy to call living.Plo kissed the top of his head and held him a little tighter and Kit understood why a shared burden was a lighter one.–Neither of them had entirely shaken off the weight of survival come morning, but Plo seemed to have shaken less of it off than Kit. He had insisted he was still good for the day’s scheduled volunteer shift, though, and Kit wasn’t going to be the one to try to tell him that he should take his time and let things settle. Besides: who was to say that staying in and thinking would do more good than having something to do?Plo had said himself that he would get restless if he wasn’t actively involved in things, after all.Still: Obi-Wan pulled Kit aside under the guise of helping him organize the clothing donations maybe a third of the way through the shift.“I do not mean to pry,” he told Kit quietly, “but is he alright?”“He is,” Kit assured him, “Survival sneaks up on you sometimes. It evens out.”“Okay,” Obi-Wan backed off a little, “Good.”“A funny thing about spending so much time together is that a little more of the core gets exposed,” Kit replied, “whether you’re ready for it to or not.”“That makes sense,” Obi-Wan granted, “Especially in the beginning.”“I cannot understate how much newer this is than everyone seems to think,” Kit told him.“You’ve mentioned,” Obi-Wan replied, “It’s how well you work together.”“Thanks,” Kit managed a smile, “I do worry that I push a little too hard to get him to share.”“You trust him, yes?”“Of course.”“Then trust that if you hit a boundary, he will let you know,” Obi-Wan told him.“Thank you,” Kit managed, “Like I said, it’s…new. All of it. Yet…”There were too many sentiments clamoring to finish that thought for any of them to squeeze past the pinch point first.“I tend to think of my life as without Cody and with Cody,” Obi-Wan offered, “I thought of it as before and after for a while, but he pointed out that after seemed wrong given that he’s still here.”“Huh,” was all Kit could say to that in the moment.“There is very much a change that, one day, I will separate parts of my life by before Cody, with Cody, and after Cody,” Obi-Wan recognized, “And there is a chance he will one day do the same thing with me.”“But it’s something nobody wants to think too actively about,” Kit knew, “If I learned nothing else from my father’s death, it’s to make sure I have as much paperwork in order as possible.”“Cody has had his own hell,” Obi-Wan confided, “It doesn’t make loving him any more of a burden.”Obi-Wan had no idea how badly Kit needed to hear that in relation to himself.Obi-Wan continued: “It’s not a clear divide, though. There was - still is - a muddy part between without and with where we still had so much to learn about each other and about navigating what together looks like that the waves of joy and excitement came with an undercurrent of fear that we’d take different turns somewhere and not know how to find our way back to the same path, so to speak.”“How did you get past it?” Kit asked, “The muddiness, I mean.”“A lot of conversations, a few fights, a careful negotiation of the space where compromise means the same for us as a couple as it does to us as individuals,” Obi-Wan answered, “Therapy didn’t hurt, either.”Kit managed a smile and replied: “I imagine there is a wider pool to choose from up here.”“Most likely,” Obi-Wan granted.By the time Plo came to see where they had gotten to, they were in the middle of a debate on where the line between a service that helps and one that masks a larger problem lies, and if trying to draw that line undercut the good that could be done even while the systems that kept the underlying problems remained in place.At least the donations were well on their way to all being in the appropriate bins.–Plo: Fancy work event that may last into the morning. You know how to trigger the emergency ringSha: I’m not planning any emergencies, but thanksSha: Take picsPlo: Against the rules for this oneSha: This is why I thought you were a spy when I was little–No photos were permitted because the Gala was exclusively for people who fell somewhere outside of heterosexual and cisgender, many of whom were not out in their day-to-day lives. In fact: phones were expected to either be off or, ideally, left with the coat check.Plo had had to seek out an exception form to state that he did, in fact, have someone who he was an emergency contact for and if his phone went off, it was an emergency as well as explain how the emergency silence bypass worked for his phone.(All Sha had to do was call once, wait for it to go to voicemail, hang up, and call back immediately. She had never had to and at this point if it did go off he wasn’t sure how - or if - his nerves would handle it.)Plo was in the company of others who had put safety over authenticity but had managed to find a tiny corner of their city where their safety was taken care of for them.They were surrounded by their people and the realization was a hammer to one of Plo’s oldest walls. The wall held, but he knew now with certainty that it could, in fact, be damaged.The hyperawareness of how he needed to conduct himself throughout the evening led to a hyperawareness of just how much he and Kit were touching each other. A guiding hand on the small of each other’s backs through crowds. Gentle touches on shoulders and elbows to get each other’s attention. Knuckles resting against each other as they held onto their drinks.Over and over again, from both of them: This is my partner.The Gala may have been Obi-Wan’s most prominent chance to secure major donors in his home area, but it was Plo and Kit whose stories of how chapters across the country were faring despite the Lynn Haven scandal - the lives being changed, the dollar-to-impact ratio, the lives that could be changed with more funds - who wound up being the center of attention.They probably should have expected this.Kit may be a natural at conversation, but Plo hadn’t spent half his life figuring out how to fake it to leave the majority of the night’s work on Kit’s shoulders.Together - himself, Kit, and Obi-Wan - they may yet turn things towards better.–Mother of God did Plo need ten minutes to just sit face-down on the table and nothing else.So did everyone else.Cody set mugs of coffee down next to everyone and then a package next to Plo before he took his seat next to Obi-Wan and waited for everyone to get the need to just stop out of their systems.Kit sat up first with a groan and more slid his mug over to him to hold in both hands than he accepted the offering.Plo sat up next, then Obi-Wan.The package contained the protective case Obi-Wan had promised.“It finally showed up while you three were at the Gala,” Cody explained.Plo started to ask how much he owed for it, but Obi-Wan stopped him.“Plo,” Obi-Wan’s voice was far more serious than either of them had heard before, “even if money was an issue for me, you and Kit have voluntarily uprooted your lives at your own expense. Making sure that something that matters to you makes it home safely is the least I can do.”“Thank you,” was all Plo could say to that.He hoped Obi-Wan understood exactly how much he meant it, how deep the thanks ran.“Say, Obi-Wan, you are far more familiar with the fine print rules of the Board than I am,” Kit prefaced.“Couples are permitted to serve together,” Obi-Wan preempted.“I figured we would have gotten at least a warning,” Kit granted.“You two have not said anything explicitly - at least, to anyone but me,” Obi-Wan replied, “Warning on suspicions without due vetting of any concerns, especially right now, would make everyone wish that it was another grenade lobbed into the dumpster fire that internal politics have been.”“I hadn’t even thought about the chance it could have been a problem,” Plo admitted, “I should have.”Cody and Obi-Wan both looked at him like they thought he was far too hard on himself; he did not look over to see if Kit was wearing the same expression.“Thankfully, that is not a question either of you have to ask yourselves,” Obi-Wan assured them, “Or each other, for that matter.”“It wouldn’t have been a question,” Plo replied as he put a hand on Kit’s leg.So much for this being something with minimal certainty behind it.–Even downstairs and halfway across the penthouse, there was enough unintentional feedback to assure Kit and Plo that they didn’t need to worry about their hosts being disturbed by any noises they would be making.“Do you have any idea how hot you are in that?” Kit growled, “I would have taken you over one of the tables if it was that kind of party.”Plo shuddered and very nearly said please but Kit knew.Kit growled again and pinned Plo against the door before he started to kiss him, all teeth and tongue and hunger.All earlier feelings of exhaustion vanished as Kit ground against him.Hands were everywhere - touching, pulling, trying to decouple buttons and their holes without ripping them off. Neither of them dared break this kiss, dared put any more space between them than they absolutely had to.When they did finally break to catch their breath, they also took a moment to stare openly.Plo took in the sight of Kit - shirt unbuttoned and half-untucked, tie undone, so hard in his pants that it had to ache - and let the first thought that passed through his mind loose.“Maybe it is a shame you didn’t take me over one of the tables.”“Fuck, Plo,” Kit breathed, “Maybe I will one day.”Plo shivered as he reached down to palm Kit’s erection and Kit moaned so loud that it was very nearly a shout.“We may want to finish the undressing process before we scar some poor dry cleaning clerk for life,” Kit suggested.“Fair point,” Plo agreed, “I don’t think there are guides on how to tip for that.”Clothes were shed and left where they fell for now; the dry cleaner could deal with any resulting wrinkles.“We should put a towel down,” Plo suggested, “Mind the sheets.”“We should probably make a habit of that,” Kit granted, “At least this one will be warm.”“Somehow I doubt towel temperature is going to be what I’m most focused on.”“I’d hope so,” Kit chuckled, “Let me go get that towel.”An evening of gentle-yet-constant, PR-friendly touches was about to shake itself out and Plo quivered with anticipation.“Did you want to try anything new tonight?” Kit asked, “We do have a bag of toys we haven’t touched.”“We should probably figure those out when we aren’t dealing with some blood flow redirection,” Plo suggested, “Or at least start out that way.”“Fair point,” Kit chuckled, “Lube is..?”They really needed to start putting it somewhere reliable.“Day pack, side zip pocket,” Plo answered, “I think.”A moment and some rustling later, Kit announced: “Found it! How do you want me, Plo?”“In me,” Plo answered.Not the most helpful directive, but he had managed to offer a clear endgame, at least.Kit growled and crowded Plo enough to force him back, then back again, and again until the backs of his legs hit the bed and he sat down.Kit went to his knees and told him: “I’m going to suck you off, and then I’m going to fuck you.”“Kit,” Plo groaned.“Let me take control of your pleasure,” Kit told him, “Please.”Like Plo would say no when he asked so nicely.Plo braced himself with the heels of his hands on the edge of the bed as Kit licked a stripe from the root of Plo’s cock to the tip before swallowing him down as far as he could.Every nerve in Plo’s body seemed to relocate itself between his legs.He was vaguely aware that he was talking - babbling, really, even pleading - and that one of his hands had managed to affix itself to the back of Kit’s head. He was not aware of how his back arched, how his other hand gripped at the covers hard enough to turn his knuckles white, how his breathing had lost all rhythm and became more erratic the longer Kit - God, that tongue!Plo began saying Kit’s name over and over - a plea, then a litany, then a warning that Kit did not seem to want to heed.Plo came and Kit swallowed and fuck if Plo didn’t already want to do that again.Kit wiped his mouth with the back of his hand before rising to kiss Plo, to crowd him all over again until he was laying on his back.“Kit,” Plo groaned.“Oh my Plo,” Kit murmured, “Beautiful.”Plo whined.Kit popped open the lube.Maybe it was because Plo’s nerves were still trying to remember where they were supposed to feed, maybe it was because he already came, maybe it was because he trusted Kit with his body, but it felt like no time at all between the point where Kit stuck his first finger in him to the point where he was buried in Plo, leaned forward so his arms bracketed Plo’s head, fucked him in short thrusts that kept him as buried inside of Plo as possible.Plo grabbed at Kit’s back with enough intensity to scratch, cried out over and over - wordlessly, Kit’s name, pleas that may have been more appropriate for requesting mercy than begging for Kit to keep doing that.He was going to lose his mind. He was going to shake apart. He was going to-Kit came with a broken cry, buried inside Plo to the hilt, and Plo cried out, too.Kit’s breathing was labored where Plo’s was still closer to frantic, both of them shaking around the edges.When they’d both regained control over their breathing and most of their nerves, Kit suggested: “Shower?”“When I can stand,” Plo agreed and then promised: “Good thing.”“You’re good,” Kit murmured and Plo shivered with the smallest, near-inaudible whimper.“You’re good, Plo. So good,” Kit promised, and then over and over: “You’re good. So good for me,” until it felt like he may shatter over the praise.Kit let Plo take his weight, nestled his face in the side of Plo’s neck and breathed him in while Plo held Kit as tightly as he could, hands flat against Kit’s back and fingertips dug into his skin.This was good. This was good.This felt like home.–And just like that, it was time to leave New York City.“You two should come back for more than just business,” Obi-Wan told them.“We will,” Plo replied like he meant it.The walk back to the car felt shorter than their first one in the city.Bags rearranged in the back seat and trunk, seatbelts clicked into place, and mirrors checked, Plo put the car in reverse.Leaving actually felt a little bittersweet this time.At least they had each other, and that was enough.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
After nine hours on the road, stops included, it was time to rest for the day before they did a slightly shorter day tomorrow.Somewhere between dinner and bedtime, Plo told Kit: “I do want to tell Sha about us.”“I assumed you would,” Kit squeezed his hand, “I’m glad you are.”“Thank you.”“I’m waiting to tell my family because I need to pick who I tell in what order carefully,” Kit explained, “News travels fast and I need to weigh who’s going to want to find out what else has happened since the last time we spoke with who’s going to be pissed that one of my sisters sent them a text about us before I could call.”“I both do not envy that decision making process and wish I knew how my sister would react,” Plo offered, “All in your own time, too, Kit.”“Is there,” Kit stopped, made a frustrated sound, and tried again, “I don’t think I know how to ask this without sounding like there’s a hidden accusation and that isn’t my intention, but is there a reason you haven’t told Sha yet?”“Well,” Plo took a moment to gather his thoughts and put them in something resembling a sensible order, “because this is still new. I wanted - needed - to be sure this has staying power before I told her.”Kit offered him a small, gentle smile and Plo rested his forehead against Kit’s for a moment.“How are you going to tell her?” Kit asked.“The second text she sent me after she got home from D.C. was Your boyfriend’s nice,” Plo replied, “I am going to find it and reply to it telling her she was a few months early.”Kit laughed, delighted.A minute later, Plo muttered: “How much scrolling is there?”“You do text each other every day,” Kit replied, “At least twice.”“More time has passed since D.C. than I realized,” Plo admitted, “I will never complain that we confirm our status among the living every morning and evening.”“I love that you two do that.”“It’s more anxiety than anything else, but thank you,” Plo replied, “Searching would have probably been easier but I’m almost there.”Kit sat next to Plo and watched him scroll until he found the message in question and replied to it.“She’s going to call and she will probably be yelling,” Plo warned as he hit send, “She never yells when she’s actually mad.”Sure enough, Plo’s phone began ringing maybe twenty seconds later.“I’m putting her on speaker,” Plo told Kit before he answered it, “Favorite Niece.”“What the hell happened in New York City!?” Sha demanded, “Was it the party you couldn’t take pictures at? I bet it was that.”“Punxsutawney, actually,” he told her like that had any bearing on anything.“The groundhog city?”“The groundhog city,” Plo confirmed with a small sigh even as Kit laughed.“Hi Kit!” Sha addressed him, “Why the groundhog?”“It’s not like we picked the groundhog city to finally have that conversation!!”In the background on Sha’s end of the call, there was the distinct sound of Ahsoka’s laughter and a What do groundhogs have to do with anything??“That’s what I’m trying to figure out!” Sha answered.On Plo’s end of the call, Kit was laughing far too hard to be any help.“Soka’s parents are visiting because they heard Maul’s been staying here and I’m over because they’re over,” Sha explained to Plo, “Everyone heard me scream and came running. The response time was impressive, honestly. Oh! Thank you for the tea!”It sounded like Maul said something too far from the mic to pick anything up with clarity.“You have somehow wildly misunderstood both the plot of the movie and the purpose of a relationship,” Sha replied, “Positive on the first one, going from a crowd average on the second.”In the background, more clearly, Ahsoka asked: “So does the groundhog have anything to do with it?”“No,” Plo sighed, “No it does not. And you’re quite welcome. I hope it tastes as good as it smells.”“He says no,” Sha relayed. A pause, and then another relay, this time to Plo: “Was that before or after your last stop in Chicago?”“After,” Plo knew that one of Ahsoka’s parents had to have asked that one.“He says after. … I’m not asking that.”Kit finally got himself together enough to tell Sha: “You’re the first person we’ve actually told.”A slight lie, but one Plo would let slide. Obi-Wan and Cody had assumed and everyone else in the city were strangers they would never see again.Sha was the first person they told who mattered.“Aww,” Sha seemed placated by that, “Seriously, though, I think you two were the last ones to figure it out.”“Stop picking on your Uncle,” Pav-Ti told Sha.“Fine,” Sha huffed, “Seriously, though, Uncle, I’m glad. You’ve been happier these past few months than I’ve ever seen.”“Thank you, Sha.”“You keep at whatever you’re doing, Kit,” Sha told him.“That’s the plan,” Kit assured her.“Good.”
Good.
What a fitting word for everything in that moment.–The Bloominton, Indiana office was another one that felt like a meeting that could have been an email had it not been for the fact it was brought to their attention that goods distribution events were run once a week at most instead of at the very least.It was better that they found out now rather than when the annual report came out, but the fact that it took showing up to find that out rubbed them both the wrong way.“I am once again reminded that not every chapter believes we’re here to help and not judge,” Kit put it into words some time after breakfast the day they left the city.“It’s probably a good thing that we have chapters to visit after we’re done with the rest of our Board members,” Plo granted, “Even if we’re still missing a third of them, the show of this isn’t over until everyone who wanted to be included <is can’t hurt.”“It might even help,” Kit replied.“Ideally,” Plo agreed.The quiet background radio cut out only to be replaced by Plo’s phone ringing.Sha.Plo went to ask if Kit minded if he took the call but Kit hit the accept button.“Favorite Niece,” Plo answered the call, “You are on speaker and I am driving.”“Favorite Uncle!” Sha exclaimed, “And Kit.”“Hello, Sha,” Kit greeted her.“I can let you go,” Sha told them, “I’m just bored and can only apply for so many jobs before I start doing dumb shit like forgetting to change the name of the company in my cover letter.”“Did you-” Plo started asking.“Yep,” Sha confirmed like it was physically painful to do so, “I only need to learn that lesson once.”“Fair,” Plo replied, “Not a great mistake, but not the worst you could have made.”“No, that was having the last two digits of my phone number transposed on my resume for three weeks,” Sha grumbled, “That was in college, thankfully.”“So you need a break and all your friends are busy,” Plo teased.“Not all of them!” Sha protested, “Also it’s been like two weeks since I’ve called, so, sorry about that.”Had it been?“Always forgiven, Sha,” Plo assured her.“It’s extra frustrating because I know that most of these are being scanned by algorithms and AI first so it’s like - I’m putting all this work into trying to get it right and then it isn’t even a real person that rejects me,” Sha complained, “Anyway, where are you two?”“Somewhere between Bloomington, Indiana and Joplin, Missouri,” Plo told her, “We’ve already passed through Saint Louis so it’s mostly fields with the periodic Dollar General that’s managed to materialize between towns.”“Oh, so you’re where the Gods of the New Americana Slumber.”“Sorry, where?” Plo almost laughed.“You know, where all the things America was supposed to stand for like progress and faith and opportunity and a level playing field just kind of laid down for a nap and never quite got back up,” Sha elaborated.“No, I don’t know,” Plo told her.“Think about it,” Sha prompted, “When was the last time you saw the shell of a factory just off the road? Or even a farm with an establishment date that’s older than you are?“The American Dream was never meant to be for everybody, but there’s a splatter of missing manifestation right through the middle of the country and you two are driving right through it.”“What does the farm founding date have to do with any of that?”“There’s something like an average of seventy farms closing a day,” Sha explained, “Plenty of them get bought up and reopened, but that does that mean for the whole American Dream bullshit for the one who had to do the selling.”“Assuming they’re the ones who sold it,” Kit added.“Kit gets it!”“I am vaguely familiar with how narrow the margins most farms operate on are,” Kit half-corrected, “and how quick banks are to lay claim to anything.”“Legal protections only go so far,” Sha sounded like she grimaced, “What’s in Joplin?”“Another office visit,” Plo answered, “Then another office visit in Flagstaff, followed by a Board visit in Phoenix.”“Steve Miller Band’s tour manager wishes he could have been so redundant,” Sha laughed, “Can you really tell me nothing about this fancy work event that got you to do something new with your hair?”“Quite genuinely,” Plo answered like an apology, “Obi-Wan Kenobi operates in an entirely different world than the rest of us and we got to go along for the ride for a week.”“Oh so it’s the super rich one!” Sha exclaimed, “You could have just led with that.”“I told you who we were staying with!”“Apparently I need to hear their last names before it clicks,” Sha replied, “Except Stass. I am confident that I could pick her out of a lineup.”“Next time I’m in Nashville, I’m going to have Stass round up a few doppelgangers and put that to the test,” Plo informed her.Sha whined and Plo laughed.“That’s mean,” she informed him.“Was it?”“Yes.”“Then I’m sorry, Sha.”“Forgiven,” Sha sighed, “I might be a little sensitive right now.”“What’s going on, kid?”“I wish I had actual news,” Sha tried to explain, “It’s the same thing day after day. I wake up. I make tea and food. I do yoga. I apply for jobs. I go on a walk. I have lunch. I apply for more jobs. Go on a walk in the opposite direction. I see if anything looks interesting insofar as a quick class or topic overview. I make dinner. Sometimes Soka will drag me out for dinner. I cross another day off the countdown until the pool opens. I’m almost through my watch later lists on every platform. It’s just…I don’t know, Uncle. I want something different.”“You could come hang out with us during one of the stretches we’re in the same place for more than two days,” Kit offered.“Really!?”“We would love for you to visit,” Plo assured her with a glance at Kit.“Send me your dates and locations where you’re going to be there long enough for me to see you outside of dinner,” Sha told them before she added, “Please.”“I will do that while your Uncle drives,” Kit replied.“I believe you’re on the other side of the country for a while, so I’ll probably be flying,” Sha told them, “Two thousand miles give or take a couple hundred doesn’t sound nearly as fun or safe alone.”“It isn’t,” Plo confirmed.“Which reminds me, I wired a side view mirror camera for the right side so it displays more in my sight range,” she told him, “Nothing happened, I just wanted to make things a little easier on myself.”“Smart move,” Plo praised.“I try,” Sha replied, “Thank you.”“What made you think to wire a camera?”“I had Maul time the total amount of time I spent turning to look at my right side mirror versus my left,” Sha explained, “Total time from Nashville to Casper was over three times as long for looking right. And I know I am cleared to drive and have passed every road test and all, but seconds add up.”They both knew that all too well.“There was more math involved,” Sha continued, “But yeah. It’ll be safer. I’ll still check the mirror as well, but if there’s something I need to see sooner, I will.”“Which reminds me, you’re due for a defensive driving refresher course,” Plo told her.“In September,” Sha replied, “I’ll get it scheduled.”“Preferably for August so I have time to fight with the paperwork,” Plo requested.“Can do.”“I appreciate it.”“I’ll send you the confirmation email once I schedule it,” Sha promised, “Kit, I think I hear frustrated sounds. Is the calendar defeating you?”“This would be easier with two screens,” Kit half-complained.“Two screens?” Plo asked.“One to check the calendar and one to compose the message,” Kit clarified.“Use mine,” Plo told him, “The calendar is on the main screen, lower right section of icons.”“Thank you,” Kit replied, “Uh-”“Zero-seven-one-nine-six-four,” Sha told him.“How do you know my unlock code?” Plo asked.“It’s my mom’s birthday,” Sha sounded like she rolled her eyes, “Also you leave enough fingerprints on the screen. I thought you knew I know it.”“I do now.”“Sorry?”“It’s fine, Sha,” Plo told her, “I don’t put anything that I wouldn’t want on a billboard on my phone.”“Which is still a weird way to classify things,” Sha replied, “But I get your point.”“I have questions,” Kit admitted.“There is an inherent lack of privacy for cellphones,” Plo explained, “I operate under the assumption that anything on mine isn’t private.”“Okay, that makes sense,” Kit granted.“I can hear you reconsidering the files you have on yours,” Sha informed Kit.“Just a touch,” Kit admitted.“Having my Board email on my phone was a concession and one I only made when I realized I was going to be away from my laptop for a week and a half,” Plo offered.“Which we all quite deeply appreciated. Still appreciate,” Sha added, “Your ability to spend that much time making sure we were all moved in. I don’t think any of us have opinions on your Board email.”Kit tried and failed to cover a sputtering laugh.“Did he tell you about that?” Sha asked.“He’s mentioned it,” Kit answered.“Soka and I went to the same college, but two of our friends - well, one of our friends and one of our friend’s friend’s little sister - were left on their own to move all their stuff into their dorms.“Friend was calling around on behalf of his friend trying to see if anyone was willing to help the little sister - who’s my age - move her stuff into her dorm. Uncle heard and I don’t think it was even a question.”“It wasn’t,” Plo replied.“So we’ve got me, Soka, one of our friends who’d at least been to the condo a few times, and this complete stranger in a caravan,” Sha continued, “Soka’s parents had a conference they couldn’t miss and were pretty pissed about it. They felt a little better knowing that Plo would be there and they flew out to see us before they flew home. The other two were on their own.”“She may have been a legal adult, but legally she was a child three weeks prior,” Plo bristled, “The fact both of their parents weren’t even a little bit willing to help still upsets me.”“And then he showed up again at the end of the school year for all four of us to help get everything back home,” Sha added, “And did that for four years. Not a single complaint.”“Not about you four,” Plo corrected, “I still have plenty of complaints about the other two’s parents.”“I bet you’ve helped a lot of people move for like. A beer and a couple slices of pizza,” Sha told him, “At most.”“You would be correct,” Plo replied, “Moving is never a fun experience and it’s even worse when you’re doing it alone.”“Speaking of moving, I got a job offer in Ireland,” Sha noted.Plo nearly slammed on the brakes.“I rejected it,” Sha continued, “It would have been a great job, but the thought of moving across the ocean to a place where I know nobody sends me into a panic spiral. At the same time it’s just like - what am I doing so wrong that I can barely get an interview here and an overseas company offered a position to me?”Kit balanced Plo’s phone on his knee so he could reach over to squeeze Plo’s thigh.“Three and three, Sha.”“Ugh, fine,” Sha almost whined, “Negatives - That’s the only job offer I’ve gotten. What if I never get another one? Two, the job would have been really cool. Three. Uh. It would have looked great on my resume. Positives. Positives. Shit. What are the positives. Uhm. I’m not going to have to build a local support network from scratch. That’s one. I’m not going to have to worry about visa stuff when I want to see you. Oh! I’m not going to have to relearn how to adjust for my limited field of vision when driving on the other side of the road!”“How are the scales feeling?”“Still like I did the right thing,” Sha replied, “It’s still going to bother me for a while.”“Understandably,” Plo tried to assure her, “Just try to keep the scales in focus.”“I know.”“Love you, kid.”“Love you, old man.”“How many days until the pool opens?”“Just four,” Sha sounded like she perked up a little, “I don’t care how cold or crowded it is, I am going on the first day.”“I expect nothing less,” Plo chuckled, “Is it really Memorial Day weekend this weekend?”“Somehow,” Sha confirmed, “This year’s going faster than the rest.”A sure sign of getting older, but Plo decided against mentioning that this call.Instead, he told her: “You should see if there’s a community cookout or something.”“Not a terrible idea,” Sha replied, “If there isn’t I’m sure I can convince Soka and Maul to do one on Soka’s little patio.”“Check the grill guidelines.”“I made that mistake once!” she protested, “And nothing was damaged!”Plo waited.“Okay, fine, my pride,” Sha sounded like she rolled her eyes, “I know better now, though! Besides, if we can’t use an actual grill, we can use one of those little electric countertop ones. It won’t be the same, but it won’t involve any citations.”“Sha, do you want it texted or emailed?” Kit interrupted.“Texted,” Sha replied, “I’m terrible about remembering something’s in my email.”“Sent,” Kit told her.“Thank you!” Sha sounded much brighter, “I’ll definitely join you two at some point.”It wasn’t much for the conversation to wind itself up, Sha quite excited to be invited across the country and Plo’s reception starting to cut in and out.“I realize that I hit the accept call button and it isn’t my car or my phone,” Kit said like an apology.“I was about to ask if you minded if I took the call,” Plo replied, “Thank you.”“Also, I know that I just kind of assumed you wouldn’t mind her joining us,” Kit told him.“Not at all,” Plo managed, “You don’t mind?”“She’s a good Kid, Plo,” Kit replied, “and she’s important to you. I don’t want her to feel less welcome because I’m here.”“I do not have the words for how much that means to me.”Kit squeezed Plo’s thigh again.Words weren’t the only way to communicate.When they had maybe another twenty miles behind them, Kit asked: “Sha panics?”“Rarely,” Plo frowned, “but when she does her brain really goes for it. Distractions don’t help, but being nudged to weigh her options and letting the positives and negatives branch out until the scale tips tends to.”“What happens when it tips in the negative direction?” Kit asked.“It varies by incident,” Plo answered, “Sometimes we can have a conversation about what to do the next time a similar situation comes up. Sometimes she’ll call a friend, who are much more direct in their get back on your feet sort of thing. Sometimes she just needs to cry it out.”“I appreciate that all three of those are viable options.”“I will never tell someone to stop crying,” he told Kit, “The spiraling part, sure, if I’m able. But crying? I might as well tell them to be less human.”Kit squeezed Plo’s thigh and kept his hand there this time.–Somewhere in the fields where the Gods of the New America had been sleeping long enough that someone should probably check for signs of life, Plo and Kit found themselves trying to get tangled in each other on a nearly-too-cheap motel bed.“You’re thinking too much,” Kit informed Plo.“I don’t mean to,” Plo apologized.“That came out sharper than I meant it too,” Kit amended, “What’s wrong?”“I don’t know,” Plo let himself settle against the mattress, “I just don’t know.”“I’m here,” Kit promised.“I know,” Plo assured him, “It just feels like I hit a wall. I want to, Kit.”“Did you want to talk about it?” Kit offered.“I do, it’s just-” Plo made a frustrated sound, “I don’t know how. I’m sorry.”Kit laid on his side next to Plo; Plo more or less kept his face straight ahead.“Plo,” Kit said his name like he wanted to hold his attention, “I love you. Full stop.”That got Plo to look over.“Full stop,” Kit promised.Something like grief ghosted over Plo’s entire being before a not-quite-trifecta of disbelief, astonishment, and overwhelm took its place.“How does delivery and a movie sound?” Kit suggested.“I love you, Kit.”Kit smiled and put an arm over Plo like a grounding rod.“Full stop,” Plo promised, “Delivery sounds perfect.”Kit shifted so he could kiss Plo on the cheek and Plo leaned into the affection.They were alright.Full stop.–The Joplin chapter was struggling.It was the same thing they’d heard over and over again throughout the trip: the need is too great for the supplies and coffers to keep up. It didn’t help that, person-for-person, the likelihood of someone needing help was higher than most other chapters.It struck Plo, somewhere in the middle of the visit, that perhaps they were asking too much of their chapters. They - the Board and those who worked and volunteered for the organization - were all there because they wanted to do as much good as possible with the fewest dollars they could manage to spend, but it was becoming more and more clear that things had changed.The old model - the long-held, tried-and-true methodology - had formed cracks and their own chapters were at risk of falling through.It was a lot to digest and even more to put into words.Scaling back meant more needs would go unmet. Keeping things the way they were would make the raw data look even worse year-over-year. Putting the numbers too far back in terms of prioritization meant donors losing faith that their money was being used well. Appealing to donors before being realistic about what chapters could do would increase burnout rates.“It isn’t like this just happened,” Kit said when Plo was doing somewhere around twenty-five over the speed limit on an empty highway, “How long has the desperate reach to grasp outstretched hands been going on and we’ve been made blind to it because we aren’t there?”“And what about how we, the Board, conducts ourselves makes it so that there isn’t a request for help?” Plo asked.“Horrible thought,” Kit warned.Plo let up on the gas a little.“What if Lynn Haven isn’t all there is to it?” Kit asked.“Now that you’ve said it…” Plo trailed off, “While I have been cautioned about lobbing more grenades into the fire, I have not been told I cannot pass the grenade to Obi-Wan.”“What are you thinking?”“Given that he is, clearly, kept more in the loop than we are, perhaps emailing just him asking who has been signing off on the numbers for the annual report may be enough of a hand-off,” Plo replied, “Or perhaps asking if the financial reports that Headquarters sends us matches what chapters are actually getting.”“I both love and hate how quickly you were able to elaborate on that,” Kit informed him.“We should take some time to workshop it,” Plo advised, “I don’t want to pull the pin before we hand it off, so to speak.”“Good thinking,” Kit praised, “This year’s Board meeting is going to be a shitshow.”“At least it’s still virtual?” Plo offered.“Oh, God, can you imagine everyone in the same room with all the questions and anger that we aren’t allowed to address directly as a group?” Kit’s laugh was a dry one, “At least over Teams we can mute ourselves when we need a moment.”“You know, I managed to forget that the Board meeting uses Teams,” Plo grumbled.“It keeps getting worse,” Kit recognized.“At least we keep getting better.”“Yeah,” Kit’s smile made it into his voice, “we do.”–Once they got to Flagstaff, they checked into their hotel and then checked their work emails.“Well,” was all Plo had to say about it.“A retreat with just a few months’ notice?” Kit asked, “That isn’t going to go over well.”“I suspect not,” Plo agreed, “While it does coincide with the planned Board meeting, that is not enough time for everyone to arrange for a week’s worth of childcare, extra time off work, pet care…”“Anyone with kids who don’t start school after labor day can’t go,” Kit realized, “They truly did not think this through.”“Lucky for us it’s at the beginning of the lone, long empty block on this trip,” Plo relayed.“I wasn’t going to ask,” Kit admitted, “A two-week block seems like something you bring up on your own time.”“Ah, no,” Plo assured him, “Just habit.”“Habit?”“Four years in a row of helping multiple young adults move into three different colleges and the Board meeting right on top of each other,” Plo explained, “I don’t think I was even considering that I wouldn’t be doing it again this year when I was making plans.”“Ah, the thing Sha was explaining,” Kit recognized.“Exactly that,” Plo confirmed, “I wonder what has Yoda so jumpy that we’re being told this is how we’re doing things instead of it being put to a vote.”“It does say that virtual is still an option, but with the kind of tone that implies not being able to come is a bad look,” Kit grimaced, “I wish they’d at least put it to a vote.”“At least it isn’t coming out of Board or organizational coffers,” Plo muttered like it made anything better, “One week to send space requirements. It looks like there are several chapter Directors on the invitation list as well. You’d think this was an emergency.”“Say that again?” Kit requested.“You’d think it was-” Plo cut himself off, “Fuck.”“Something big’s going to be announced,” Kit felt almost completely certain about it, “Now we all get to spend the next week in a frenzy and the following several weeks worrying.”“We shall see what this does to the rest of our visits,” Plo sighed.“They seem pretty intent on making sure families feel welcome,” Kit noted, “I get that it’s probably mostly aimed at Ki-Adi, but do you think Sha would like to go?”“One of the last things I want is Sha let loose on a Board retreat,” Plo admitted, “Half because she is still learning the line between professionally friendly and actually friendly and a Board retreat is not a place to learn that, half because this place had ax throwing, entirely because I’m not going to take advantage of the seemingly open offer to book her a separate room.”“Were transparency not an issue I would suggest we each have one booked and then just stick Sha in the one we aren’t using,” Kit replied, “Ax throwing?”“Among a number of other things,” Plo confirmed, “I will absolutely be taking advantage of the hiking trails.”“I will join you on the easier ones but I do not have the experience for the harder ones,” Kit replied.“We can take it easy,” Plo promised, “It looks like there’s a soaking pool?”“Now that is more my speed,” Kit laughed.“We’re all going to need it,” Plo huffed, “Those minerals better be ready to work overtime.”“Not related to the emergency Board retreat, but do you think we could clear a few days in early August?” Kit asked.“Now you’re making it sound like a battle tactic instead of a team bonding activity,” Plo replied, “We could probably carve some time out. Why?”“The whole thought isn’t quite together yet, but what if we did actually take something like a vacation with Sha?” Kit asked.“You don’t mind?”“Hey, Plo,” Kit’s voice was gentle, “Come here.”Plo did as requested.“Do you mind getting eye level?”He knelt in front of where Kit was sitting and Kit shuttered.“God, you are stunning,” Kit told him as he put a hand on the side of Plo’s face, “Plo. I want to be a part of your life. All of it.”Plo closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and let himself lean into the touch. Kit moved his other hand to the spot where Plo’s neck and shoulder met so he could run his thumb up and down the line between tendon and windpipe.“I know we’re still…new,” Kit continued, “And if you and Sha aren’t comfortable with me being there, that’s okay, too.”“I would like you there,” Plo murmured.And just like that, the building stress of the Board retreat melted away.“You honor me, Plo.”“You have earned me, Kit.”Kit managed to slide off the bed and land in a way that, while perhaps too many limbs for the allotted space, let him embrace Plo with his entire body. Plo returned the gesture, buried his face in Kit’s chest, clutched to Kit’s back for a moment before settling into a more gentle grip.“One room?” Plo asked.“Oh, absolutely,” Kit replied, “We can look at the room offerings another night.”Tonight was for rest, allegedly, and they were going to stick to that.–Flagstaff was a repeat of Joplin but with more water scarcity.“I think we got a little spoiled with how many stable chapters we visited in a row,” Kit decided when they were on the road again.“Quite probably,” Plo agreed, “We have yet to visit a chapter that isn’t struggling in some capacity, but the last few outside of major cities have been,” he paused to try to find the best words for it, “Does it ever feel like visiting our fellow Board members was an excuse?”“More every time you ask something like that.”“I can’t quite let go of the idea that Yoda knew something was wrong and proposed the trip more to check on the chapters than each other.”“It does turn out nearly every Board member could be more involved in whatever capacity they best serve in,” Kit granted.“Could be both.”“Could be.”“Both is worse, I think,” Kit decided.“Keep going,” Plo prompted.“How much of the chapters’ struggles could be alleviated if more of us put more - time or effort or money or a mix of those three - into our duties?” Kit asked, “And then the other side of it is that there are so many people we don’t serve. And I get it - funds are already stretched so thin that they’re struggling to function. But the fact we can drive hundreds and hundreds of miles without hitting a chapter…it bothers me, Plo.“And don’t get me wrong. I know there are plenty of people whose standards of living are just fine the way they are despite it not looking that way from the outside. I don’t want to come in and tell them they should be living a different life.“But ones that have to drive an hour, more, to get food that isn’t a hundred and fifty percent of the suggested price but can only afford the gas for that once a month if it’s a good month? The ones dying in their own homes who could have made it if free Narcan had made it out that far in more than idea only? The home that’s been in the family for five generations but hasn’t had the roof redone in three?“What do we do, Plo? How do we ask our volunteers to make the drive when they’re living in the same area? We call ourselves a source of help for everyone but we…aren’t.”“This is, truly, going to be the most difficult Board meeting I have yet to attend,” was the first thing Plo had to say about that.“From lobbing grenades into the fire to bringing the fire to places it doesn’t usually get to touch,” Kit huffed.“Yes, well,” Plo reached over blindly to grab at Kit’s arm and landed on his wrist, “with fire comes light.”And Plo? Plo wasn’t afraid to be the one who brought that light.Not anymore.–The drive from Flagstaff to Phoenix was an absolute joke.Under three hours. When was the last time they’d made it from point A to point B in under three hours?They weren’t meeting Coleman until dinner, so they had some time to try to unwind in the hotel.It was Plo’s turn to be overthinking things that he couldn’t really address here and now.Specifically, he was worried that Sha wasn’t looking at the successes she did have for one reason or another.”“Between us, I think she’s playing it too safe in terms of the work she’s looking for,” Plo told Kit, “I understand why. She thinks that because she doesn’t have any experience she needs to build her career from the ground up. The thing is, though, that she does have three summer internships, a semester abroad that was half classes and half work, hundreds of volunteer hours, and three health-related certifications to her name already.”“Side tracking, but what are the three certifications?”“First Aid, CPR, and Mental Health First Aid,” Plo answered, “I pushed her to get the first two and a few years later she more or less informed me we were getting the last one together.”“I have a feeling you hold a few additional certifications,” Kit guessed.“If the American Red Cross offers it, I hold a certification in it,” Plo confirmed, “Among others, but yes. I developed a habit of running towards problems fairly young and decided I should probably be prepared to actually be of help when I get there. Now I just have to show that I still know the skills every few years to renew them.”“Admirable,” Kit replied, “So she doesn’t think her experience counts.”“She has yet to be able to articulate why,” Plo picked back up, “At least - not to her liking.”“Do you think she’d be open to meeting with a career coach?” Kit asked.“Maybe?”“But maybe not.”“How much help about your life’s path were you accepting from strangers at twenty-two?” Plo pointed out.“About zero unless they came with a considerable amount of accolades,” Kit granted.“She is solidly in that period of adulthood where the pressure to be an adult is tremendous and the fact that it was less than half a decade ago that they were children seems like it should have been long enough to feel confident about the path they’re on,” Plo recognized, “And are open to hearing maybe one percent of that the majority of the time.”“We can see what else she’s open to talking about when she comes to visit,” it suggested.“Face-to-face does tend to be better for those sorts of conversations,” Plo recognized.“But the waiting and the feeling of being out of viable options doesn’t make it any easier for you to watch her struggle,” Kit recognized in turn.“I am selfishly glad that Sha didn’t take the offer,” Plo admitted, “I don’t know how to help her. What do you tell the kids you mentor when they hit this point?”“To focus on their strengths and be patient with how long it takes other people to let them into the stream,” Kit answered, “I’ll try to assess how they can expand their horizons without expanding so far that it’s the same effect for the opposite reason. Some of them are open to being reminded that most job openings are at least half a decade above the level they’re currently at, which is why they’re having trouble finding ones to realistically apply to. Some of them aren’t. Depending on the kid - career coaches, work on interview skills, anxiety management. Every once in a rare while I’ll need to figure out how to tell them that they’re angling themselves the wrong way without making that worse. ”“Which are all sound steps. Stubborn independence is a family trait, however,” Plo sighed.“Come here, love,” Kit beckoned as he sat on one end of the room’s couch, "Rest for a bit. Breathe.”Plo did as requested, laid on his back with his head on Kit’s lap. Kit put one hand on Plo’s chest like an anchor and the other on the top of his head so he could card his fingers through his hair.“I think I miss couches,” Plo realized, “Or at least the ability to do this.”“Which is far less comfortable on a bed,” Kit granted, “I’m not saying you can’t worry over her.”“But going over the same thing without new information to consider is a breeding ground for anxiety,” Plo recognized.“Those aren’t the words I would have used, but the sentiment is the same,” Kit replied.Plo huffed and closed his eyes, let himself focus on how the moment felt, let the rest of the world melt away for a few minutes.“When the sun’s set, do you want to go for a walk and see what’s nearby?” Plo asked.“That sounds lovely,” Kit replied.One thing at a time and, for tonight at least, things could feel manageable.–Their first day with the Phoenix chapter had been predictable - numbers, a binder full of printouts for each of them, and more cups of slightly burnt coffee than was probably reasonable.Tomorrow was volunteer work for all three Board members present. Coleman seemed to be more than passingly familiar with the chapter’s staff and its inner workings, which was a good sign.They opted for a late lunch to have a more open talk about what it all meant without making the poor staff more anxious than they already were.Kit nearly lost it when Coleman suggested they go to Denny’s.His reasoning - It’s mid-range diner food with a high-end chain price tag, but you’ll thank yourselves for it about three-quarters of the way through the shift tomorrow - made sense, but that did not make it any easier to not ask if he and Cin had traded notes.“As I’m sure you noticed, both here and the Flagstaff chapter have a severely limited reach outside the city limits,” Coleman told both of them while they waited for their food.“As is true with most chapters,” Plo replied.“You two must have crossed the country at least three times by now,” Coleman told them, “What’s your solution?”“Our current focus is on figuring out how chapters can feel more confident in their ability to help their own communities before expanding their service radius,” Kit answered, “The need-to-available help ratio is universally lower than anyone wants it to be.”“The thing about safety nets is that they need enough give to absorb impact or else they will either break or not redistribute the shock, which has the same effect as if they weren’t there at all,” Plo added, “At this point - especially with information about the whole Lynn Haven thing being withheld for investigation integrity reasons - trying to get dollars and time to stretch any further would do more damage than good.”“That’s what I was afraid of,” Coleman admitted, “What we need around here is a way to incentivise volunteers - or even staff to volunteer - to drive long distances and with the price of gas these days nobody wants to. Or is able to. A little of both.”“Would mileage reimbursement for staff members help?” Plo asked.“Maybe,” Coleman replied, “But with the whole Lynn haven thing…”“Mileage reimbursement should be an existing practice, or at least an existing form,” Plo pointed out, “It’s possible the reimbursement isn’t enough of an incentive, but you know your chapter better than we do.”“I’ll have to check,” Coleman replied.“Maybe that’s something we can suggest at the Board meeting,” Kit offered, “Highlighting existing programs and policies to incentivise staff.”“What can we offer you,” Coleman mused, “I like it.”“It would help modernize things, too,” Kit noted, “As would seeing which positions could work a hybrid schedule.”“We did remote-only for everything except supply distribution for over a year across the country,” Coleman knew, “I don’t see why that couldn’t be at least considered.”“We’d need to get the chapter Directors to sign off on it this time,” Kit added, “but we’ll cross that bridge if we get that far.”“I imagine you two have quite a list to bring forward,” Coleman guessed, “Have you sent your room requirements yet?”“Not yet,” Plo admitted, “We haven’t even looked at the room offerings.”“We will get everything in before the deadline,” Kit vowed.“I also imagine you two take any downtime seriously,” Coleman sounded like he was trying not to laugh, “It’s quite a trip you’ve undertaken.”“It’s extensive and intensive, but it’s afforded us insights that we would not have gotten otherwise,” Plo replied, “Making everything actionable is going to be the trick.”“Makes sense that the meeting’s been moved to in-person, then,” Coleman reasoned, “Things come up face-to-face that don’t when things aren’t happening in real-time.”“We’ve been noticing that,” Kit told him.“Don’t get me wrong, virtual work and meetings have their place,” Coleman added, “but they’re metered. It’s easy to control a response when you can turn off your camera and microphone, and even easier over email and messaging. There’s a lot of honesty lost in the pursuit of trying to look like the most professional one in the conversation.”“That’s what we’re learning,” Kit replied, “It’s going to be an interesting Board meeting.”“Not the most interesting I’ve been to this year,” Coleman replied.“Oh?” Kit asked.“I sit on three Boards,” he told them, “Kids moved out. Wife died a few years later. Had to keep busy, you know? Suddenly had a lot of opinions about how the charities I’ve been donating to or volunteering with are run and even more time to make sure they’re heard. Anyway, one of them insists on having the annual meeting in early January, so you can imagine the nightmare that is for budget setting and goal review. Poor staff spent the busiest fundraising time of the year having to get all the materials together. A few of us dissent every year about the meeting date, but this year the Head of the Board really went off about the disrespect for his schedule.”“Charming,” Plo replied, dry.“We wound up voting him out as part of the meeting,” Coleman shook his head, “You start putting ego over functionality and the only guiding you’re going to do is right into a brick wall. We’ll see what happens next year.”Plo shuddered at the imagery.“This is going to be my first in-person meeting,” Kit offered.“Huh,” Coleman huffed, “Skywalker’s too.”“It’s strange to think that we haven’t all met each other,” Plo replied, “We may yet not all meet each other, depending on how everyone’s quest for time to be in upstate New York for a week goes.”“If Mundi’s taught his family how to run the ranch, he’ll be there,” Coleman sounded certain, “I’d assume he has. Not much sense in letting it leave the family if he doesn’t have to. It’s Tiin and his dogs that I’m least certain of.”“For Depa it will depend on when the school year starts,” Plo knew, “Luminara and Agen seem to operate on razor-thin time margins.”“Stass isn’t going to miss it,” Kit added, “Shaak…I don’t know. I have a feeling Obi-Wan and Cody will be there. Anakin I also don’t know. We’ll be there.”“We have yet to visit Saesee, Mace, and Oppo,” Plo told Coleman, “I imagine Mace won’t miss it, though.”“Oh you haven’t met the hounds yet, then,” Coleman realized, “Big beasts. Property guard dogs. They’ll let you know if they don’t think you’re safe to cross the property line. Hope neither of you mind dogs the size of wolves.”“I can’t say I have experience with dogs that large,” Kit admitted.“So long as they’re trained, I’m fine,” Plo offered, “It’s when they don’t come when called that problems start to arise.”“There’s a story behind that one,” Coleman guessed.“It involved being nineteen in the middle of nowhere, Indiana,” Plo replied, “and a misunderstanding of where public land ended and private land started.”“That would do it,” Coleman laughed, “Most of us around here have a similar story. Mine involves a cow.”“So long as it stayed out of houses,” Kit replied.“You’ve talked to Fay,” Coleman recognized.“Two chapters have now used their local ag fairs as fundraising and outreach opportunities as a result of her cow-through-the-floor story,” Plo replied, “We’re being haunted by that damned cow, but at least it’s a benevolent haunting.”“You go back enough generations and everyone whose family thinks they were the first people to settle here has a great-aunt who killed her husband or a great-great grandfather that went out hunting one day and never came back or someone who fell off a cliff or something like that,” Coleman told them, “Rarer are the herds of wild horses that tore up crops or wild pigs who did the same in half the time. But you don’t get a lot of livestock managing to ruin a property from the inside. That’s novel.”“And novel things can either be shunned or embraced as changemakers,” Plo couldn’t help but sigh, “I’m sorry, did you say every family has a murder in it?”“Sometimes two or three,” Coleman shrugged, “Aren’t you from Chicago?”“I’m from Oregon,” Plo corrected, “Or maybe Iowa, depending on how you want to classify it.”“That doesn’t help your case,” Coleman informed him, “You don’t know where you’re from?”“I’ve always used either the school I was attending at the time or place of employment as a designator,” Plo explained, “And then just where I lived at the time.”“Maybe that’s why you’re easy to uproot,” Coleman suggested, “You live where you are at the moment.”“I try to,” Plo replied, “I used to travel more than I was home.”“Why’d you stop?” Coleman asked.“My Niece was born,” Plo couldn’t help but smile a little, “All the sudden nothing in the world was more important than spending time with her.”“How are you both doing with you on the road for so long?”“She’s come out to meet us twice,” Plo answered, “Once as a tourist, once to get the car from Nashville to Casper so we could go back to Vegas for a few days.”“Good,” Coleman replied, “What about you, Kit? You got somewhere you’re from or are you one of those walking plants like this one?”“New Orleans,” Kit answered.“You probably get that you don’t sound like it a lot.”“It comes out when I’m exhausted or angry,” Kit explained, “Other than that it’s a lifelong quest to be taken more seriously that keeps the accent shoved to the side.”“Which is a shame,” Coleman told him, “Not just for you, but for everyone who feels like they can’t show where they’re from and how they learned to talk out of fear.”“I blame Ford,” Plo replied, “The car manufacturer, not the President.”“It goes further back than cars,” Coleman pointed out, “It’s everything this country was founded on. Freedom, but only when certain requirements are met.”“Without a doubt,” Plo agreed, “but Ford is the reason half of my family’s recipes were lost to time.”“Do you want to live with your roots planted, or do you want a chance to give those who come after you a better life than you have?” Coleman shook his head, “It’s a terrible choice with no answer that ever gives you peace.”“But you have to hold onto the hope that those who wind up on anything like your path after you will have a chance to find that peace,” Kit replied, “Ideally as a result of the choices you’ve made, but ultimately that they get there matters far more than the how.”Plo squeezed Kit’s thigh under the table. It earned him a small smile, but not one that reached anywhere near Kit’s eyes.–Coleman had been right about how sorely the hearty meal had been needed the night before the volunteering shift; the calories were still mostly there to burn, but it wasn’t sitting heavy in their stomachs while they worked in the heat.They were invited to Coleman’s for dinner, a place not terribly far outside the city with his house situated at the front end of an expansive, barren patch of land.“Used to be a ranch, if you can believe it. I know Mundi has his own,” Coleman told them, “I think he said it’s been in the family for something like four, five generations now. They had to have been one of the earlier families. And, really, good for them. There’s good money in it if you can keep it from going under.”Okay, so, Plo had misunderstood a few key things about what Ki-Adi was doing there and made some wildly incorrect assumptions based on the conversations - and fights - he had heard. He made a mental note to get to know Ki-Adi better, assuming the other was up for it.“All this used to be grass, believe it or not,” Coleman continued, “The kids and the newcomers, they’re used to it all being dry and the green patches by rivers and streams being the exception instead of the rule. And I think that’s dangerous. You can’t push for something to change effectively if you don’t know what needs to change. What it could look like.”“The last part I am familiar with,” Plo replied, “The environmental policy part of it is much more Sha’s area.”“Sha?” Coleman asked.“My Niece,” Plo clarified, “She has a degree in Environmental Science and Policy.”“Does she now?”“She graduated,” Plo paused, “almost exactly a year ago. But, yes. She also had three internships throughout her degree.”“Does she do consultant work?”“I can ask,” Plo offered.“If you don’t mind,” Coleman replied, “Getting someone young who’s willing and able to translate the data and stories of those of us who are getting too old to not worry about whether or not those who care that come after us have the understanding they need to make any changes they manage to push for stick.”Which was another thing they needed to address: were they, as an organization, reaching different generations in the right ways?“I get that the one we all sit on the Board for isn’t an environmental policy org,” Coleman continued, “but things are just going to get worse around here. Drier, which means when the floods come they’ll be even worse. And it’ll mean that more food has to be brought in, which’ll drive prices up. It’s not a cycle so much as it is a spiral.”“Your ranch dried up, my city’s sinking,” Kit sighed, “If there is something to be done about it, neither of us are living long enough to see it.”“I’d hoped my kids would have a ranch to inherit like I did,” Coleman confided, “Wound up telling them to go somewhere more urban. Get a degree and use it and all. And they did, but I know when I’m gone this little patch of dust isn’t even going to net them enough to retire early if they want to do that.”“Sha was saying that farms are failing regularly,” Plo offered.“It’s more than that,” Coleman shook his head, “The rich are eating the poor alive in every industry. It’s just harder to see it when there’s nobody else around for dozens of miles. If you stay out here for about another twenty minutes the sun goes from blinding to setting nicely.”That was the end of that conversation, then.“I do enjoy watching the sunset,” Plo replied.“Do you now?” Coleman asked, “Good. Sunsets got the shit end of the stick. Sure, the day’s coming to a close and it’s another day gone and all that nonsense. But the next sunrise means even more hours that you don’t get back have gone.”“It’s the dark, I think,” Kit replied, “People tend to be afraid of what they can’t see.”“Common fucking sense, honestly,” Coleman huffed, “Being afraid of what you can’t see, not blaming the sunset for it. A little fear never killed anyone. Probably, anyway.”Improper application of fear killed plenty of people, though.That was not a discussion for today, though.The sunset from Coleman’s porch was breathtaking. The mountains in the distance turned nearly black while the red of the earth seemed to glow faintly, the oranges and purples of the sky reflecting on it.The three of them let the darkness settle over the landscape in silence, Plo’s arm around Kit’s waist and Kit’s head on his shoulder.They truly needed to take time like this more often. Just the two of them, ideally, though Coleman was good company in silence. That was the mark of a good person, Plo figured - their company did not sour when there was nothing to distract everyone involved from their own heads.When the night had taken over, Coleman told them: “It’s been a long time since love’s found its way to this little patch of dirt.”“We took a wrong turn in Missouri, actually, and the GPS gave up,” Kit replied, “Not a terrible place to wind up, though.”Coleman laughed like he meant it for a moment before he told Kit, specifically: “I suppose it isn’t.”It may not have a lot of monetary value, but it was still his; he was proud of what he’d managed to keep despite everything.That he was willing to share even part of it with them was an honor.–After Coleman’s came two days of something resembling rest in Truth or Consequences in New Mexico. They still had that damned email to draft and send, and neither of them were resting well until they got that done.The problem was that they just felt…stuck. Like neither of them had ever written an email in their lives. Like words weren’t real and the concept of using symbols to communicate with other people was downright absurd.“Do you think we need a break?” Kit asked, “From chapter and Board visits, I mean.”“We may well,” Plo replied.They’d both been too quick to overthinking the past several days, spent too long ruminating on things that had no solution without more information or time or-“We’ll find some time,” Kit promised, “We’ll make it if we have to.”“We will,” Plo echoed the promise.“What if I just address the email to Mace and only include the question?” Kit asked, “He can decide if it’s a grenade or not.”“Better than any of our other ideas,” Plo replied.“I am doing that - I’ll copy you - and then I’m showering and turning my brain off for the night,” Kit decided.“Have I told you that you’re brilliant?” Plo asked.“Once or twice,” Kit hummed, “In this case I think it’s more of a thing where I’ve given up spending any more energy on this.”“Resource conservation is its own kind of brilliance,” Plo pointed out.“Minute and a half to type the thing out and then we can decide what other kinds of brilliance we’re up for tonight,” Kit told him.It would turn out that the only thing either of them were up for was sleep, but that felt like its own type of brilliance - a counterweight to their shared exhaustion.–To: Mace Windu; Plo KoonFrom: Kit FistoMace -Do you know who’s been signing off on the annual reports?-Kit–Yesterday had been the day for resting and catching up on emails; today had been for hiking despite the heat.Tonight was for soaking in the hot springs.“I am adding to my list of things you don’t fully appreciate until you’ve experienced them yourself,” Plo told Kit, “I’m starting to think I’m getting old.”“Oh?” Kit almost laughed.“It’s been warm things and logs,” Plo pointed out, “The towel warmer might be easier to get into the condo than a natural hot spring.”“No wonder this area was settled. And then it’s so beautiful out here,” Kit marveled, “You hear people talking about how it’s nothing but desert for hundreds of miles out here and you don’t think about…this.”“This is a place I would come back to,” Plo agreed, “Stay a week. Let the place seep into my skin.”“Well, I, personally, have quite a few weeks free after about mid-October,” Kit half-teased.“You should spend them with me,” Plo replied.A pause, and then: “All of them?”“If you’d like.”“I would.”Oh, Plo’s smile was blinding.Perhaps their love language had more overlaps than Kit realized.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
The visit to the El Paso office felt like watching an unsupervised youth league ping pong match between despair and hope.Nearly three-quarters of the county's residents qualify for SNAP. Somewhere around three out of every five did not live close to a grocery store of some sort.El Paso had won multiple awards for its residents’ efforts to foster community and tackle the problems they were facing.The past few years had seen more days with poor or worse air quality than the one before it.El Paso was one of the safest large cities in the country.It was also one of the poorest; nearly one in five of its residents lived in poverty.The city’s tourism agency had an entire section of its website dedicated to queer-specific things to do and see while visiting.It was mostly bars and, okay, that wasn’t something they or the nonprofit could do anything about but the fact there were no queer coffee shops or quieter places was probably a sign that Plo was getting old.They were here to focus on equity and community support networks, not Plo’s own gripes with what safe spaces looked like.As far as numbers went, the El Paso chapter appeared to be doing well. They were actively cooperating with other locally-operating nonprofits, which eased the burden they had to shoulder.That was another trend Plo had noticed: chapters that cooperated with others regardless of what it meant in donors’ eyes tended to be doing better than those who either were less open to collaboration or did not have the opportunities to do so.A shared burden was a lighter burden.The chapter was used to Mace being the Board member who visited, which Plo took as a good sign. Mace was an incredibly busy man, so knowing that he took a direct approach with nearby chapters was a good sign.But of course he did; Mace was quiet in his dedication, but that was no indicator as to the depth of it.They would be back in the morning to volunteer.The chapter’s Director pointed them at a few of the local restaurants and told them that she was looking forward to seeing them in the morning.They wound up having dinner in another country - a first for their trip.“Do you have a passport is not a question I thought to ask about a nine-month tour of the United States,” Plo admitted while they waited for their food.“I haven’t used this one,” Kit replied, “I used the first one a few times and decided I should keep renewing even if I didn’t plan any trips.”“Smart,” Plo told him, “Renewing is easier than restarting the process.”“That’s what I assumed,” Kit replied, “I take it you know from experience.”Plo shuddered and Kit couldn’t help the laugh that escaped him.“We should see the rest of it,” Kit told him, “The States, I mean. Not right away, but…together.”“We should,” Plo reached out to squeeze his hand, “Once we’ve made sure your bike is still storage-ready and my condo hasn’t decided to develop any problems.”“We can rest a little longer than that,” Kit granted, “But yes. I plan on checking on my bike while we’re in New Orleans.”“I’d love to see it,” Plo replied.Kit lit up and Plo squeezed his hand a little harder.–Their hotel room came with a couch, which meant they would be spending most of the night sprawled over the piece of furniture in ways that beds were simply not designed to enable.Plo laid on his back with his head in Kit’s lap, eyes closed, while Kit absently alternated between scratching at his scalp and playing with his hair.Both their phones made notification sounds.“I’ll check,” Kit told him, “You stay comfortable.”“Thank you.”“Room requirement reminder,” Kit told him, “We almost forgot.”“Has it really been a week already?” Plo replied through a yawn,“Somehow,” Kit confirmed.“One bed, either a queen or a king?” Plo asked.“I’m certainly not in a hurry to figure out how sharing a full rearranges our spines,” Kit replied, “I’ll reply to it and copy you.”“You are spoiling me with the email handling lately,” Plo informed him.“You deserve to be spoiled,” Kit replied, “And done.”“Thank you,” Plo repeated before he added, “Really.”“It’s no trouble,” Kit assured him, “Besides, getting your phone would mean you’d have to get out of my lap.”“True,” Plo conceded, “You are rather comfortable.”“Good,” Kit hummed as he put his phone on the side table so he could go back to playing with Plo’s hair.Plo closed his eyes, let himself get lost in the sensation.“What happened here?” Kit asked as he ran the pad of his thumb down the spot in question.“Hmn?” Plo blinked up at him, “Oh. Uh. Hang on.”Plo reached up to figure out what, exactly, Kit had found on his scalp.“Oh!” Plo remembered, “It’s just a scar.”“How’d you get it?”“Beer bottle to the head,” Plo answered, “It wasn’t even a fight. The guy who was trying to catch it missed or the guy throwing it overshot or both. I was facing the other direction.”Kit huffed and ran his thumb over the scar again.“You got lucky, then,” Kit told him.“Happens to all of us at least once,” Plo replied as he grabbed Kit’s hand and moved it so he could kiss his knuckles.This was the luckiest either of them had even been by far.–Neither of them spoke enough Spanish to be considered conversationally fluent, which meant their day of volunteering was spent getting emergency meals in bags.“We’re adding this to our list of things we’re doing once we have time again,” Plo decided, “Learning at least one more language.”“That’s spoken in more than a few cities, but yes,” Kit agreed and then preempted, “I speak Louisiana Creole. Poorly, but I speak it.”Plo stopped what he was doing to stare at Kit for a moment. Kit had never mentioned, but nor had Plo asked.“Mama speaks it,” Kit continued, “Her Mama spoke it. And her Mama. Their fathers, too, but Mama’s roots go right down her matrilineal line. THe problem is we all see each other less as the years go on, and it’s a dying language. My sisters and I don’t even use it with each other.”“I imagine that’s complicated at best,” Plo offered.“Mama’s disappointed that none of us followed in her footsteps,” Kit admitted, “She loves us anyway.”“Good,” Plo replied.“She’ll at least like you when you meet her,” Kit promised, “That’s as good as most people get.”“You want me to meet your Mama?” Plo asked.Kit paused what he was doing so he could look at Kit when he answered: “I would.”Kit was never going to get tired of how honest Plo’s smiles were.–The first scheduled meeting with Mace was preceded by a minor bout of anxiety from both of them followed by a good amount of reassuring each other that while Mace had a reputation of being one of the most hardline members, he had dedicated most of his life to the mission. Odds were that he was suffering in the wake of Lynn Haven.Besides, Plo had met Mace in-person before. Under the hard exterior was a man who cared deeply. Kit had not met him face-to-face before, which he recognized was likely part of his nerves.The rest of it was that they had not gotten an answer to who signs off on the Annual Board Report financials.Mace had invited them to his house first, though, which was a good sign. Probably.(Hopefully.)It was unspoken knowledge that, if Yoda ever stepped down or died, Mace was the next Board Chair. There would be a vote, of course, but those votes would be going to Mace. He was thought to be somewhere between Plo and Kit in age but tended to have a sense of wisdom about him that outpaced him by decades.Mace lived in a little town called Hondo that appeared to be a single main street that doubled as a US-Route plus a handful of streets branching off of it for a few blocks before you hit a whole lot of nothing pretty fast.His house was a few blocks off the main road and seemed to have a decent amount of land stretching behind it. They knocked on the door and Mace seemed to be right there, waiting.“Come in,” Mace told them, “I trust the drive from El Paso was uneventful.”“Incredibly,” Plo confirmed, “Thank you.”They sat around Mace’s dining table, a solid wood piece that matched the floor.“I know that you are going to meet with Yoda again once you’ve met with all of us,” Mace told them once they were all seated, “What have you learned so far?”“The second meeting with Yoda is news to us,” Plo admitted, “As for what we’ve learned? It’s going to be largely disjointed.”“Let’s start with what you’ve learned that isn’t particularly helpful,” Mace suggested.“Cows can fall through living room floors,” Kit answered first.Mace stared at Kit like he would rather be burying his face in his hands.“That has netted two fundraising events,” Plo added like it let Mace make any more sense of what he was being told.“This is why hearsay is inadmissible in court,” Kit told Plo.“Localization of fundraising and awareness raising efforts should be given priority is actually incredibly helpful,” Plo noted.“When did this cow fall through a floor?” Mace asked.“Some time near the end of The Great War,” Plo answered.Mace sighed before he requested: “Let’s start from the beginning.”Laying out their trip from start to their arrival at Mace’s wasn’t flawless; they had crossed the country so many times that the exact order was fuzzy. They knew where they had been, at least, and could relay which chapters were more trusting of the fact two Board members had shown up offering to help without judgment“I understand the increased reluctance after Lynn Haven,” Plo admitted, “To the chapters who do not know us, we seem to somehow be so involved that we are the arbitrators of their value to the organization and yet so unaware of what’s going on that we were also blindsided by Lynn Haven.”“And what is your assessment, Kit?” Mace asked.“That the Directors who have been here the longest understand that the steering we aim to do is meant to be with our own hands on the wheel through sun and storm alike, but the newer Directors and Executive-level staff have not seen that in action,” Kit answered, “Chapters whose Directors have seen those of us who currently serve take the on-the-ground-with-you approach are more likely to be open with us when we show up. There are exceptions in both directions, of course.”“You’ve thought about this,” Mace appraised.“Every Board meeting since I was voted into my seat has been virtual,” Kit pointed out, “At first out of need, but then out of convenience. Service is not meant to be an at-your-convenience deal.”Once they’d gotten the cow out of the way, it was easier to explain to Mace what, exactly, they had learned from the number of chapters struggling to carry out the mission that the Board had not been made aware of to the Board-leeriness a number of the chapters exhibited to the wide range of behavior and openness that meant there was no formula or set of expectations they could go into any meeting to help guide them. “Say, what’s in Hondo-” Kit started to ask.“Me,” Mace answered.“-as far as good dinner options?” Kit finished the question, “Good for Hondo, though, I suppose.”Mace gave them directions to the two best places that were still open this late and ignored Kit’s quip.Mace was just…tired. It was clear that everything involved in the Lynn Haven investigations were taking a toll on him.“Did you want to come with us?” Kit offered, “Alternatively, did you want us to bring you anything back?”“You two have been driving for months,” Mace replied.“And will be driving for months yet,” Plo replied.Somehow it was already going to turn into June over the weekend while simultaneously feeling like they’d been on the road for twice that.“I can drive,” Mace decided after taking a moment to think about it.Whatever Mace drove, it wasn’t packed with two lives’ worth of most essential belongings and a decent amount of luxuries. It was the wiser option and they all knew it.They wound up going to a BBQ joint where they ate outside and off of disposable plates. Mace almost looked like a functioning human after a little bit of fading sunlight and warm food.He actually started offering them little bits about himself as he ate: He moved here because it was a good balance between isolation and proximity to an airport. His day job, so to speak, was as a legal consultant to small businesses in regards to what they can and can’t do with their land that mostly consisted of explaining that just because they bought the land doesn’t mean they can start drilling and hope they hit water or build anything they want to without the proper permits. He’d been living in his house for almost twenty years now and it felt like a perpetual renovation project.Plo offered his own condo renovation woes, complete with his feelings on grout and the surprising destructibility of kitchen tables.Kit’s own renovation stories were different - they had never been in a place hw owned but he was quite familiar with cutting drywall and knocking walls down.Plo’s willingness to work with wiring without a license baffled Mace for a moment, but he could appreciate Plo’s willingness to do as much as he could for himself and by himself.Mace knew that Sha had been volunteering with the organization for almost a decade, and apparently he had been wanting to ask Plo about that ever since Sha had signed up but had never felt like it was the right time.“Mandatory volunteer hours for school,” Plo explained, “I told her that she did not need to volunteer with any of the same organizations I do, but she insisted.”“You didn’t encourage your own Niece to volunteer with the same organization whose Board you sit on?” Mace wasn’t quite teasing.“Teaching her to make decisions because she wants to make them instead of because she feels like it’s what other people want her to do was important to me,” Plo explained, “It still is. It’s a terrible world to be a young woman in. There’s minimal either of us can do to change that in Sha’s lifetime, but I can make sure she’s ready to take up whatever space she occupies like she deserves to be there. It starts small and it starts at home.”Mace looked at Plo - really looked at him - like he hadn’t learned a damned thing about him in the twelve years they’d sat on the same Board.–They parted ways after dinner with an agreement to meet at a coffee shop a few blocks from the San Antonio chapter’s rented partial floor of a much larger office building. From there, all three of them would be headed for San Antonio to meet with the chapter director and then a day and a half of volunteering before Mace went home while Plo and Kit headed for Austin.Plo and Kit opted to find a hotel in San Antonio - it was nowhere near late for either of them. While the last of the sun’s light still danced on the horizon, the opposite end of the sky was already as close to night-blacked as it got in cities.“One day our newfound habit of booking when we get to town will backfire,” Kit recognized, “but certainly not tonight.”“Unless there is an event going on, large cities will always have at least one room open,” Plo replied, “It may not be an ideal room, but it will be there. And since it’s a big city, somewhere that sells plastic mattress covers will be open.”“Should we be using those regardless?” Kit asked.“I greatly prefer sleeping on something that doesn’t crunch if you roll on it the wrong way,” Plo replied, “We could start bringing lysol or something, though.”“Somehow also doesn’t seem pleasant to sleep on,” Kit grimaced, “I am willing to count ourselves as lucky.”“I already do,” Plo replied almost absently as he set his bag down.Kit kissed him, his own bag still slung over his shoulder, both arms wrapped around Plo in an instant. Plo returned the affection, deepened the kiss. Kit managed to let his bag drop to the floor, shepherded Plo towards the bed, reveled in how eager Plo was to let Kit spread him out on the mattress.Kit grabbed Plo by the wrists and held his hands above his head while one knee found its way between Plo’s legs.“Kit, please,” Plo murmured.“Anything, love,” Kit told him as he nipped at the side of Plo’s neck, “What do you want?”“You,” Plo answered, “I want you.”“You have me,” Kit promised.He kissed Plo, licked into his mouth, let himself get lost in the way Plo ground his hips against him. Kit shifted so he could do the same, gasped when he felt how hard Plo was even through his slacks.They had a long say on their feet tomorrow. They needed to be gentle tonight. Careful.God. The next time they truly had a night where they were staring absolutely nothing down the next day, Kit was seeing just how far and long he could take Plo.He promised as much aloud as he let go of Plo’s wrists so he could reach down and grab at Plo’s crotch. Plo bucked into the pressure with a cut-off cry and reached up to claw at Kit’s back through his shirt.The growl that Kit made in response surprised both of them.“Please,” Plo whimpered.“Anything,” Kit promised again, “Anything you want, Plo.”Kit didn’t miss the flash of hesitancy behind Plo’s eyes. It left as quickly as it arrived, but it was undeniably there.“Plo?” Kit asked, suddenly hesitant himself despite how his hand is still full of Plo’s cock.“I want,” Plo struggled with the words, “I want to still feel you tomorrow.”Kit’s own cock twitched in anticipation.“Yeah,” Kit breathed, “We can do that.”Getting undressed while already in a good position to fuck was tricky. Neither of them particularly wanted to sacrifice any contact despite how the end goal was much more contact.Once their clothes were shed and their hands were free to roam. Kit’s hand found its way to Plo’s cock as Plo’s tangled themselves in Kit’s locs and - fuck - when he pulled Kit learned something about himself.They needed to untangle themselves for Kit to fetch the lube. He decided to also grab one of the tools they had bought in New York that promised to make him last longer and feel harder. They kept saying they were going to test the tools they’d bought and then kept getting so tangled in each other that even grabbing the lube was a Herculean task.He wanted to push Plo to his very limits, though, and Plo wanted to still feel him come morning. If there was ever a time to see if the sling did what it was supposed to, now was the time.It took Kit a few tries to get it to sit right but once he was sure it wasn’t going to slide off, he grabbed the lube and returned to the bed, to where Plo was waiting for him.Kit covered Plo’s body with his own so he could kiss him again. It was rougher this time. Hungrier. As much as Kit could kiss him like this forever and be content, he needed to stop kissing him if he was going to find his way inside of him.Kit gently bit Plo’s lower lip as he broke the kiss, let his teeth drag and Plo whimpered.If the sling did not work as promised and Plo kept reacting like that, Kit was not lasting long.The lube was always cold for the first few moments of contact, but heating it up was an easy enough process. Kit lubed himself up first, stroked himself as he did. He could feel the intensity of Plo’s stare as he did, the way Plo wanted.He worked Plo open slowly. They had all night to do this, after all, and if he was going to find just how far into a haze of pleasure and lust he could drive Plo he needed to take as much of that time as possible.Once Plo was as stretched as he was going to get on his fingers, he situated himself between Plo’s legs. He took a moment to be sure that his knees were in the correct place to fuck him without either entirely sliding out too easily or requiring Plo’s spine to compress every time he was buried to the hilt, he had Plo wrap his legs such that his ankles crossed behind Kit’s back.(Just how flexible Plo was would never be any less impressive to Kit than the first time he realized he could fuck Plo on his back so he could watch the faces Plo made when he came.)He applied lube to his own cock again for good measure before he began the process of getting his cock inside Plo and Plo - he’d gotten better about relaxing every time they’d done this. He was certainly no less tight around Kit’s cock, oh no, his body had simply stopped resisting.Still, Kit took his time in seating himself inside of Plo. They had all night, after all, and if he took his time now he was more likely to be able to go hard and fast later.Once he felt like he was as deep into Plo as he was able to get, Kit started fucking into him with deep strokes, faster than usual but still slow enough that he could get a sense of just how long those strokes could be with the sling in place.Plo arched his spine, head thrown back as his hands grasped at sheets, thighs squeezing Kit’s sides as started clawing at Kit’s back.It wasn’t long before Plo started warning him that he was getting close with half-formed words and the tell-tale tensing of his abdomen.“Cum for me, love,” Kit told him, “Let me see you.”Plo came with his nails in Kit’s skin, entire body tensing up, cum splattering over both of them. His breathing went ragged as he clung to Kit.“Stunning,” Kit murmured, “Absolutely stunning.”Plo didn’t manage words but the sounds he made were of the agreeing sort.“Do you need me to pull out?” Kit checked.“No. Stay,” Plo managed, “Stay, Kit. Please.”“I’m not going anywhere that you don’t want me to,” Kit promised, “Should I keep fucking you?”“Please,” Plo repeated, more desperate this time.As if Kit would say no.(Something dark flashed in the back of Kit’s mind: Maybe this has been conditional for him, some time before. Maybe Plo’s had partners who put his pleasure second, if it was considered at all. Worse: maybe Plo, too, had had his requests ignored while someone’s been buried inside of him.)(He banished the notion. He would address them later. Much later. Not…not now.)Instead, Kit promised: “Of course, love.”Kit went slowly at first, let Plo relax at his own pace until he could pick up the pace without hurting him.Plo’s hands eventually went to the sheets. His head settled back against the pillow. His spine still arched, still desperate to have Kit as deep inside of him as possible even as his own cock softened.God. Kit could do this all night. Just. Fuck Plo slowly and lose himself in the sounds Plo made, the stinging lines on his back from where Plo had scratched him, the sensation of burying himself inside such a wonderful man over and over.Plo had asked to feel him tomorrow, though, and Kit wanted so badly to do that for -and to - him.He picked up his pace slowly again, made sure he wasn’t going to wind up sliding out entirely. As rapidly approaching pleasure-drunk as he was, he stopped himself from fucking into Plo’s ass like he would his thighs. Plo to still feel him tomorrow; he did not want Plo to still be feeling him next week as a result of tonight's endeavors.He managed to lose himself in Plo, though, time blending into a single, long moment. The rest of the room dissolved, then the hotel, then the city, then the world.It was just them. Here. Now. Kit inside of Plo. Plo splayed out under him.This was all Kit had ever wanted.All he had ever needed.Kit shifted so he gripped closer to Plo’s hips, leaned forward to change the angle and Plo howled.“Okay?” Kit checked even as he did not change his pace.“Very,” Plo managed, breathless, his own hands gripping the cover, pupils wide.“Good,” Kit purred before he snapped his hips upward, sharp.Plo made a sound he had never heard him make, called Kit’s name like a plea.“Again?” Kit asked.Plo nodded, stare trained on Kit, lips parted.Kit did it again, then again and again and again until the way Plo had tightened around him, the way he clawed at every part of Kit he could reach, the way his neck was exposed as he used every part of him in contact with the mattress as leverage sent Kit over the edge.He came with a cry of his own, his grip on Plo’s thighs so tight he would, later, wonder if he had managed to accidentally leave bruises.Kit came back down slowly, breaths labored, his entire body very nearly trembling.When he has managed to lie on Plo, let Plo take his full weight for a moment because he just can’t, Plo holds him, his own breathing erratic, his face nestled in the side of Kit’s neck, arms around Kit’s back, clinging more than holding.When Kit could form entire thoughts again, the first one with any real meaning was that even if Plo did not physically still feel Kit inside him come morning, they would be feeling each other mentally for a long, long time,–The morning alarm would always go off too early.Plo reached backwards and fumbled around, managed to knock the room phone off the receiver before he found his own phone. He yanked it over him to turn off the alarm before he tossed it back in the general direction of the nightstand.The trio of thuds told him that he missed.Kit, still far more asleep than awake, pulled Plo against him with a grunt.“G’morning,” Kit mumbled.“Morning,” Plo replied through a yawn.“How are you feeling?” Kit sounded more human this time.“Fantastic,” Plo hummed as he nestled against Kit.Kit chuckled and held Plo a little closer. They would have to get moving sooner than later. They both knew that. Every moment like this one was precious, though, and damned if Kit wasn’t going to immerse himself in it.He pressed a kiss to the top of Plo’s head and Plo made a small, contented sound.The alarm may always go off too early, but at least that meant Kit could enjoy more moments like this.–Despite making it to the building that housed the administrative side of the San Antonio chapter well before they were expected, Mace was already waiting for them in front of the building.“They will give you coffee,” was the first thing Mace said to them, “If you finish your cup, another one will appear in front of you. Do not finish your cup unless you want the cycle to continue.”“Noted,” Plo replied, “Is there anything else we should know before going in?”“What’s the highest number of cups you’ve seen someone drink?” Kit asked.“The San Antonio chapter, like the El Paso chapter, tends to support other, more established nonprofits and non-for-profits,” Mace explained, “And eleven.”“As have many other - my God,” Plo replied, “Eleven?”Mace nodded.“How long was the meeting?” Kit asked like that might make it less horrifyingly impressive.“Don’t,” Mace cautioned, “Just don’t.”The problem with that warning, though, was that water was much slower in coming than coffee, so if any of them were thirsty and did not want to wait, well.
Well.
By the time the break that was intended to serve as a lunch break before seeing the state of the volunteer and outreach sides of the chapter came around, what Kit wanted more than food was water.And something to do with his hands. And his feet. And his head. And-Mace had tried to warn him.Mace left them to get lunch on their own with a promise of meeting up with them again in an hour and a half.“Wonder what the half an hour’s for,” Kit told Plo when it was just the two of them again.“You probably feel like you could get about three days’ worth of work done in ninety minutes right now,” Plo assessed.“What gave it away?” Kit laughed, “It seemed like a good idea when it was happening.”“We are getting you a water bottle,” Plo told him, “And some sort of exercise enclosure.”“What, get one of those hamster balls for me?” Kit laughed, “Actually-”“I’m going to lock you and Sha in a room with three pots of coffee, some crayons, and a ream of printer paper for three hours and see what happens,” Plo informed him.“The printer paper feels unnecessary,” Kit grumbled.“The-” Plo cut himself off, “Really?”Kit laughed and squeezed Plo's hand.“We would have the entire room,” Kit pointed out, “Why waste paper?”And to think Plo had been anxious about them getting along.Now they could offer him a whole new type of anxiety.–Volunteering was interrupted.It was a near-welcome interruption, save for how little time it gave everyone to get themselves in order.Yoda sent an email to the entire organization announcing that there was news regarding the Lynn Haven investigation going live in just under an hour. He apologized for the short notice and attached the email he had gotten about the live segment as proof that he had only gotten the notice himself a few minutes ago.Mace, Plo, and Kit all opted to watch the segment from Mace's living room.Half the Board would still be at work or otherwise well away from their computers. Plo offered to call the ones they knew with certainty would not be paying attention to their emails while Kit and Mace waited for the segment to air.Plo finished the calls less than a minute before the segment was set to air. Nearly as soon as he sat down, his phone started ringing.“It’s Sha,” Plo told them.“I’ll catch you up,” Kit promised.“Thank you,” Plo replied as he left the room.Plo returned a moment later; he only missed the first few words of the broadcast.“Apparently several online outlets broke the news ahead of the segment,” Plo warned, “Sha wanted to make sure I found out before everyone I know starts messaging me.”“Shit,” Mace spat.“I asked her to send me a list of the links,” Plo continued, “She said she’ll email them to me. I will forward them to the Board.”“When the segment is over,” Mace told him, “How many of those you called picked up?”“Everyone but Luminara and Ki-Adi,” Plo answered, “I left them both voicemails.”He did not expect either of them to call back.The news segment opened by announcing that the Director himself had been arrested for embezzlement. Charges of self-dealing and fraud were expected to be levied as well.“Have our lawyers been contacted?” Plo asked.“I sure hope so,” Mace muttered.Someone had gotten ahead of themselves. Exactly who would be revealed later; the speed at which it was revealed to Plo remained to be seen.No wonder Mace had been so snippy about the question regarding who signed off on the numbers in the annual reports handed to the Board. The man who signed off on them had just been arrested and now everything the Board thought it knew about the very organization they oversaw needed to be called into question.Kit had a feeling there were more arrests coming soon.The autumn retreat in upstate New York was starting to feel like an apology for what everyone would be going through for at least the next several months, nevermind quite possibly the entire year following the alleged retreat.The reporter on-screen added charges relating to the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act and all three of them needed to take a moment to be sure they had heard that correctly.It was starting to feel like an organization-wide revamp was coming. The risk of any changes discussed - nevermind implemented - were reactive instead of longsighted was incredibly high.“This is about what we expected,” Mace told them, “We being Yoda and myself. Obi-Wan had similar suspicions but was only related to the investigation insofar as being the one to hire our investigation team and having the best press relations out of all of us.”“Really?” Kit asked before he could stop himself, “He felt like he knew far beyond what he would share.”“I have no doubts that he does,” Mace replied, “However, anything he knows would be information he gathered on his own and then turned over to our lawyers.”“I wish this felt like the beginning of the end of this mess instead of the beginning of the worst of it,” Kit sighed.“Everyone will know as much as we’re told about the investigation in the coming days,” Mace scrubbed his hands over his face, “I fear there is much that will come out once the investigation results are released that will look as terrible as it is and the fact we will not be told everything yet won’t help the image it lends.”“I would rather any secrecy necessary for court be upheld,” Plo replied.“This is unprecedented,” Mace looked to the ceiling for a moment, “Any official calls to action will come through Yoda, but I would suggest starting to think about any nominations you have for an interim President.”“Cin,” Plo and Kit said together.Mace could only sigh.“We haven’t talked about it,” Kit promised.“You two did not even glance at each other before you said that,” Mace replied, “Nor do I think you two will be the only members of our Board who put him forward as your suggestion.”Silence tried to creep in; Plo refused to grant it entry just yet.“The overwhelming majority of me is thankful that an arrest has been made,” Plo sounded like he was trying to pick his words carefully, “There is a part of me, though, that’s just like: That’s it? Weeks and weeks of waiting and…that’s it? Don't get me wrong: I know it isn’t over yet. I do. The work we still have to do will likely outlive the case. But…that’s it?”“If there is anyone among us who isn’t feeling that way, I will have to question their dedication to the organization,” Mace replied, “We are not law enforcement. That doesn’t make the fact that those who aren’t working directly with our lawyers can’t be told what we know if we still want to have a case any easier.”“Maybe everyone needs to be told that explicitly,” Kit knew the suggestion sounded more like a criticism, “It’s something we all know as a byproduct of living in America, but having it explicitly spelled out that it isn’t that we don’t trust them but that our hands are legally tied insofar as information distribution would go a long way.”“Our legal team will have to approve it,” Mace replied.Which meant that not only was it not over yet, there were likely more arrests coming. The news segment would already have spooked anyone with a guilty conscious and a number of others whose innocence did not matter to their anxiety.The road to this moment had already been a trying one; the road to whatever they could call the end of this would be longer yet.No wonder Mace had likened Plo's hitting reply all to throwing a grenade in the fire.–Back at the hotel, somewhere between dinner and bedtime with a movie on in the background while they did everything they could to not think too much on anything, Plo and Kit's phones both chimed at the same time.“I've got it,” Plo sighed as he hauled himself off the couch.Kit made a noise of complaint at the loss of contact but did not try to keep Plo on the couch. After the news today, it may well be important.“Dallas wants to know if we can reschedule to start one day later,” Plo summarized, “I want to say yes, but the end date is the same. I know we have some wiggle room, but I do not particularly want to condense the drive to western Washington State into even fewer days.”“Between Saesee, Tholme, and Quinlan we are in for a memorable week and not nearly enough time to do all of what they want us to do without running ourselves into the ground,” Kit agreed, “Breaks are as close to sacred as we have.”“Arguably, Communion has entered the scene at least once,” Plo replied almost absently as he tapped at his screen, “I should probably be doing this on my laptop.”“Hang on, mine's within my reach,” Kit told him, “What do you have so far?”“Just the greeting and We can move the start of our visit,” Plo replied.“Easy enough,” Kit hummed as he grabbed his laptop from his backpack, “I'll finish it with However, the end date cannot be moved at present. We are open to rescheduling meetings and site visits to fit them within the condensed schedule.”“Sounds perfect,” Plo replied as he sat back down with his phone in hand.Typing would always be easier for both of them on a full keyboard, and Kit was a faster typist than Plo.Being able to go back to not thinking for a few hours as soon as possible was ideal.“We should start keeping a phone and a laptop in reach,” Plo suggested.“I love that idea,” Kit replied as he shut the laptop, “If they're mine, we're going to have to take outlets into consideration given how fast my phone's been draining its battery.”“We'll see what evolves,” Plo decided.No more thinking until morning if it could be avoided.Kit put his laptop back near his bag and settled back into the couch. Plo sat next to him and Kit moved again, this time to arrange himself so he could rest his head on Plo's chest. Plo put an arm around Kit's back, rested his hand on Kit's side, his thumb stroking his lower ribs absently as the movie played on.“I want to make it clear that I am neither doubting or complaining when I ask this,” Kit prefaced as he shifted once again to manage something akin to eye contact, “but why do you think we’ve managed to fit together so well so quickly.”Some things were more than worth thinking about.“You’re dependable,” Plo answered.Kit could only blink up at him.“My entire life has been one damned thing after another,” Plo reminded him, “Moving from state to state, waking up on a plane between meeting not even sure what time zone I was going to land in, finding myself on the front lines of major protests all over the country, raising a kid I had previously only spent three or four months out of the year with, this entire trip,” he took a steadying breath, “It’s never been predictable, but I have been able to thrive despite that. You haven’t complained once when plans have changed or things have gone sideways.”“I am fairly certain I’ve complained a number of times,” Kit replied, “but thank you, Plo.”“What about you?” Plo asked, “Why do you think we fit together like we do?”“You’re kind,” Kit told him, “Life has been downright cruel to you and around you more times than you’ll ever tell me about - and I am not asking you to tell me - and yet time and time again you have chosen kindness.”“Sometimes the kind thing is the ugly thing,” Plo warned.“I know,” Kit squeezed his hand, “And sometimes it’s the worst thing, emotionally. But that doesn’t change its base nature. Or yours, as I know you.”They had both been different people throughout their lives. That was how life worked.Who they were now, though, fit together quite nicely.–With their sudden free day, they opted to try something that they had not done yet.Why it had not occurred to them to turn any of their meals into an intentional date was beyond both of them, but at least they could start now.They decided to spend the day – and subsequent night – in Austin. They had not planned on stopping there, but, well.Why not?In the interest of both time and morbid curiosity, they decided to see what happened if they asked Sha for a list of potential dinner spots.Kit messaged her while Plo droveKit: We have about a day and a half in Austin.He hit enter too early and was maybe six words into the rest of the text when-Sha: Date places or city experience places?Sha: Wait no you’re getting places that function as bothKit: Thanks?Sha: Look at the man you are currently sitting next to. Does he look like he would know how to plan a date if he had a manual?Kit: How do you know I’m sitting next to him?Sha: You’re still on the road. I’m assuming he didn’t leave you at a gas station somewhereSha: Five minutes and you’ll have a list“She says we’ll have a list in five minutes,” Kit relayed, “And also that she assumes you didn’t leave me at a gas station somewhere.”“You should start a timer,” Plo suggested.“That seems a little mean.”“You can only take so many trips to WalMart at one in the morning thanks to a project due in six hours before heckling becomes part of your love language,” Plo replied.“I am fairly sure that doesn't fall under words of affirmation,” Kit informed him.“I haven't given it any thought behind teasing Sha, honestly,” Plo chuckled, “She really got into personality tests for about seven or eight months stretched over junior and senior year. I blame college applications.”“Not a fan?” Kit guessed.“I think they're limiting,” Plo explained, “I mean there's, what, five love languages? Sixteen MBTI types? I thing sixteen is the highest number of possible results. And I get it to a point: designing a test that could actually tell someone exactly who they are would defeat the purpose of self-discovery. But they're highly conditional snapshots. You aren't going to know anything about anyone based on how they click on little bubbles on leading questions that actually helps you know them as an individual.”A pause, and then.“What about you?”“I think I took one in high school?” Kit huffed, “The popular ones seem to be regarded as viable ways to get the rough shape of someone's character, but in the context of work or school? I feel like you could study to get the results that are going to make you look the best.”“As far as love languages, though, I think the idea that there are five main types did more damage to how people who subscribe to the idea than it helps,” Plo offered.“Oh?”“Think of how many connections are lost in trying to fit positive behavior into five buckets,” Plo explained, “Beyond that: it's going to be situational. How you love family, partners, coworkers, friends – each type of relationship is going to have its own set of behaviors that only get more diverse the more you drill down.”“That's fair,” Kit decided, “It's interesting that they came into play well before the Internet became inescapable.”“One break I am taking you somewhere cell phone service hasn't even considered creeping into,” Plo told him but rushed to add: “If you would like to.”“I would love that,” Kit felt himself smile.Plo may love in general by rearranging his life, but he was finally letting Kit into the life he had already built and that felt......it felt like how Kit wanted to be loved.–Sha took four minutes and twenty-seven seconds to text Kit with a list – with links – to four different places she categorized as whimsical, fancy, fun, and fusion.Only the last three options offered food – Kit realized he hadn't told her what they were looking for – and of those fancy was knocked off the list immediately. This week was too heavy on Board duties to put more energy into anything formal.They landed on the fusion place – the menu seeming somewhere between pan-Asian, Mexican-American, and brunch but there was outside seating and an option to dine early enough for the sun to still be out.It had been...a long time...since Plo had been on a date. It had been even longer since he'd been on one with someone he knew well.He and Kit had been in each other's space nonstop for months. There was still plenty he had not told Kit, yes, and he had no doubts that the same was true in reverse, but those were not things shared over a dinner date regardless of how long you'd known someone.So how was he supposed to show Kit that, yes, this was different? That this was special?The answer, as it turned out, was to make a list of things they wanted to do together once the trip was over.It was a heady discussion, the future of them. This was still new, technically, but at the same time there was little they hadn't watched the other experience or express, and those were down to things that could not be planned and authentic in the same breath.They'd only started using the word partner to describe each other, what, less than three weeks ago? And yet it was maybe three weeks into that that they stood in the hall of Plo's condo and hugged for the first time.It was the months in-between the two moments where Plo moved from viewing this as a professional endeavor, if one that tested his ability to remain professional, to......what were they doing?The shortest possible answer was everything they could. Austin was new. A break in their routine that wasn't for rest or cleaning but was a little bit planned. (The fish triangle, as Plo would forever call it, was unplanned but a delightful detour.)Plo wanted to show Kit his favorite trails and campsites. He wanted to show Kit all the little places around his neighborhood that he'd only been able to come to love over the years of living in the same place.Kit wanted to be able to pack for a few days and just...see where they wound up. He wanted to be able to wander into little restaurants and have to use the menu to figure out what town they were in.National and State parks came up, too – the chance to see what was left of the wild while they still could.They both wanted to go to more museums. Maybe a show, or a pop-up exhibit or...they were really going to have to ask Sha for the best terms to search for to be pointed towards what they were looking for.“I am thankful she's helpful,” Kit told him.“Almost too helpful,” Plo huffed, fond.Kit was the first partner Sha had ever seen him with. She'd asked after a few of his friends, especially on the cusp between middle and high school, but they had only ever been her friends' parents that happened to have enough conversational overlaps that they made for pleasant company while the kids ran around whatever birthday party or school event after-party was going on in the background.Plo knew so little about Kit's family beyond the fact that he loved them but things were complicated. One day, Plo trusted, he would learn more.Some things you did not force regardless of how badly you wanted to know. Family was often tricky, and he suspected he would learn more about Kit by being patient.It wasn't like Kit knew everything about his family, either, and it was just himself and Sha left.Plo may be approaching old, but he still had time left.He would give as much to Kit as Kit wanted to take.–Somewhere in the middle of their visit to the Dallas chapter, an email was sent from Yoda himself explaining the most recent developments in the legal proceedings surrounding what started in Lynn Haven. He explained, too, that the silence from the Board has been due to legal ramifications.There was an apology for not explaining this earlier somewhere in the middle.Plo and Kit wound up explaining to the Dallas chapter that the two of them were just as in the dark as they were. They chose their words as carefully as they could while trying to make sure it didn’t sound like they were withholding information before Kit landed on: “We have no fucking clue what's going on.”So much for carefully.The honesty of it, at least, let those who had been tasked with showing the two longhaul touring Board members lower their guard.The rest of the visit was rushed by necessity, some volunteering hours sacrificed in the name of taking them to new initiative sites that several local and national charities had a hand in maintaining – canvassing for support for harm reduction items.“The idea came out of Vegas,” the volunteer who they'd been handed off to told them, proud, “They seem to be moving faster than we are, but we're trying.”Of course the idea came out of Vegas.Cin would not want to be the Interim Director, but he would be a fantastic Interim Director. More than that: right now, they all needed someone who wasn't afraid to tell someone else to fuck off.He would have the option to turn down the role, of course. There would be someone with the second-most nominations. And the third, and so on.The Board retreat was going to be utter, intense chaos and now they were all going to experience it face-to-face. The options to turn off a camera or mute a microphone weren't going to be there for those who could make it in-person.Plo promised himself that, if the need arose, he would defend those who could not rearrange their lives with the absolutely mockery of a heads up they all received about the change of plans.These were unprecedented times, yes, but this was not the way to go about dealing with them. If Sha had been in school, the answer would have been absolutely not. In grade school they would have been trying to get everything situated for the upcoming year; in college he would have been in the middle of moving four young adults into their dorms and had to take a few hours in a coffee shop or diner for half of the day while those he hadn't finished moving in kept themselves occupied and then made apologies for not being able to attend any of the post-meeting breakout meetings.He was never the only one, and he made a point to make other non-required meetings throughout the year but still.What were they going to do for an entire week?Kit said it.They had no fucking clue.There were still another seven weeks to go before the Board meeting and the what-ifs were already clawing at his nerves.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Their time with the Dallas office was over in what it felt like had barely been enough time to blink.It was, once again, time to spend most of their waking hours on the road for a few days.“Does Texas ever end?” Kit only half-joked.“No,” Plo deadpanned, “The entirety of Earth's surface has been replaced with Texas.”“Those poor ocean fish,” Kit shook his head with a small chuckle, “I wonder what the farming equivalent of whale fall is.”“Of what?” Plo asked.“Whale fall,” Kit repeated, “When a whale carcass falls to the ocean floor and creates a miniature ecosystem for years.”“Huh,” was all Plo had to say to that, “Keep going.”“I can’t say I know too much more beyond that,” Kit admitted, “I can try to find the documentary, if you’re interested. Or…podcast, or wherever I first heard it.”“I can’t say I’ve given much thought to what happens when a whale dies in a way that lets it make it to the bottom of the ocean,” Plo replied, “If you find it, I would be interested.”“The ocean has always fascinated me,” Kit told Plo like he wasn’t entirely sure why he was sharing this, “I think I would have been a marine biologist if I’d had any inclination for more school once I finished high school.”“Next time we’re in Chicago, I can take you to the aquarium,” Plo offered, “I know it isn’t the same, but we have an acute lack of ocean shore in Illinois.”“You do have a massive lake to make up for it,” Kit replied, “One that is nearly as compelling.”“I’ll have to introduce you to the other lakes at some point,” Plo replied, “And you’ll have to introduce me to the ocean that started your fascination.”“Soon,” Kit promised.Just under a month until they were set to spend a week in New Orleans.Just under a month until Kit got to introduce Plo to his family.He knew how his family worked; he might get to introduce Plo to Mama privately. Might. Depending on how his older sister was feeling about it.But after that?The only quiet or privacy they were getting was when they were working and maybe when they were sleeping.Kit loved his family. Truly, he did. They were just a lot when you weren’t used to them. (And even then, often when you were used to them.)Kit had been a stranger in his own family for so long that he wasn’t sure if he’d need to re-introduce himself first. He tried not to let it bother him. Really, he did. There wasn’t a damned thing he could do about it now.He was also trying not to think too hard on the fact he still hadn’t told his family he was seeing someone. He should. He knew he should. Especially since he was bringing someone home for the first time…ever.Plo hadn’t pushed him to tell his family; Plo hadn’t hesitated in telling Sha.(Kit tried not to think about it.)“I’d love to,” Kit replied a few beats later than he’d meant to.“Did you get lost in your own head for a moment?” Plo asked.“Plenty of empty space to wander through,” Kit replied at his own expense.“Nonsense,” Plo huffed, “You’re brilliant, Kit.”Kit could feel his face flush. It was something he’d known he was capable of as long as he could remember, but it wasn’t something he’d done in. Well.
Well.
Being with Plo was reminding him of a lot of things lately.“So you wake up and there’s a whale in your yard-” Kit started saying, “-or on the sidewalk outside your building-”“Is this Texas’ fault or a Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy situation?” Plo interrupted.“Texas, but now I’m imagining an American version of Hitchhiker’s Guide,” Kit laughed.“The latter would wind up being something more akin to Don’t Look Up,” Plo replied.“My turn: like what?”“It’s a made-for-Netflix movie that was released a few years ago,” Plo replied, “It’s a dark comedy that isn’t at all about the pandemic or global warming.”“That…might require a few drinks,” Kit didn’t quite grimace.“I’m not sure I’d watch it twice,” Plo replied, “I’m not entirely sure why I watched it once. So, there’s a whale on the sidewalk.”“There’s a whale on the sidewalk,” Kit confirmed, “What do you even do about it?”“In a city of two and a half million people, if I wasn’t on the sidewalk next to it when it landed, all I’m going to get to do is smell it,” Plo replied, “I am fairly certain my building pulls air from outside periodically as well as recycles it throughout the building, so the entire condo is going to wind up smelling like dead whale.”Kit shuddered“That would be the final nail in its coffin,” Plo decided, “Whale smell.”“You could turn your HVAC off,” Kit pointed out.“True,” Plo granted, “I’d have to seal the windows and doors regardless, though, and that would mean no air circulation in the condo.”“Slow suffocation or dead whale smell,” Kit shook his head.“Assuming we were allowed to leave the building, I think I’d just pack the things I couldn’t replace and leave,” Plo decided, “Everything else can be sorted through after the whale is removed. It would be hard but it would be the safest thing.”He was fortunate that doing so would be an option. He had the money. He did not need a reliable source of electricity to power things like medical equipment. He did not have to worry about food, or being able to buy enough gas to get as far away as he needed to go.He relayed as much to Kit, who replied with: “I’m glad you’re aware of what it takes to evacuate.”“Far too much for what the necessity carries with it,” Plo recognized, any and all mirth gone from his voice.“This is a terrible state to have to evacuate from,” Kit told him, “I hear they’ve gotten better.”“I would imagine trying to move entire cities worth of people is a logistical nightmare that nobody accounts for and none of it works like the models,” Plo replied, “We can push across the state line today, if you want.”“I’m alright, Plo,” Kit promised, “We’ve been in Texas for almost a week.”If he was going to have flashbacks, they would have happened by now.“Alright,” Plo replied in a way that sounded like if you’re sure.”“I do enjoy having more time in the evenings,” Kit hummed. His hand found its way to the top of Plo's thigh for a moment before retreating back to the other side of the car.“Yes, well,” Plo's leg didn't quite jump but it didn't stay still, either, “I am remarkably unworried about any unscheduled time being dull.”Kit replied with a laugh so bright that it nearly burned.–Rumors of Texas' overreach proved to be wildly overstated; they made it to their intended destination in Colorado well before dinner time the next day.It was not too early to check into their hotel, though, so they opted to spend their surplus down time there.“It's a shame rooms don't come with clotheslines or something similar,” Plo half-complained, “We're overdue to air out our...everything.”“Are the Seattle accommodations up for rebooking?” Kit asked, “We're supposed to be there for five days.”“In theory,” Plo replied, “Saesee wants the first evening to brief us on the two chapters, then we have two days confirmed in Olympia, then three confirmed in Seattle, then two that are up for debate, then an informal day that I have no idea what that means...and then I want to say a day of nothing planned?”“What if we made those two days our days?” Kit suggested.“If by our days you mean maintenance days, yes,” Plo agreed, “Have I told you lately that you're brilliant?”“Regularly,” Kit replied, “You can say it again, though.”“Brilliant,” Plo repeated as he put a hand on Kit's hip. Kit went to Plo easily, leaned against him as he held him close. Plo kissed Kit's cheek and Kit pressed into the gesture.It wasn't much from there for them to start kissing each other properly, hands wandering as they did.“We keep this up and we aren't making dinner before sunset,” Plo managed between kisses.“Would that be such a bad thing?” Kit half-teased.“Not in the least,” Plo replied.Kit chuckled, the sound low, before his hands started to drift under Plo's shirt.Before his hands could find their way under the fabric, though, Plo's phone began to ring.They both muttered curses as they broke away from each other.“I should at least see who's calling,” Plo recognized.It was Shaak.He should probably answer that.It was a quick call – she knew they were less than two hours away from her and wanted to know if they wanted to meet closer to her city for a late breakfast in the morning.They could do that; it was unexpected but sounded like it was going to be more of a social call than a work call.“That was weird, right?” Plo asked once the call was over.“A bit,” Kit replied, “I wonder what's going on.”“If she's passing the grenade I am just lobbing it blindly away,” Plo vowed, “Where it lands is a problem for future me.”Kit could only give Plo a mildly unimpressed look for a moment; they both knew he cared far more than that.The look Plo gave him in return was a tired one.Kit beckoned to him, held him close, pressed a few quick kisses to the side of his neck that earned him a quiet, pleased sound from his partner.Rest has moved itself up several places in the order of importance for the night, though, so strictly rest between now and dinner it was.–They made it to dinner while it was still light out, the invitation from Shaak sitting uneasily in both their minds.There was a riverwalk area practically next to their hotel with wide, brick-paved sidewalks and plenty of places to pick from to eat.They opted to eat outside, the night air not quite cold and the views of the water too good to pass on.The food was good; the walk after dinner was even better.There was something about feeling the day's warmth shift into the night's chill that always felt like life. Even muted as the feeling tended to be with so many people around, it was undeniably there.Plo relayed as much to Kit, who asked where the feeling first took root for Plo.“When I used to hike for days if not weeks at a time,” Plo answered, “You always wanted to have your tent pitched and your meal not only done but cleaned up before the sun finished going down.”“Just you and the wild?” Kit asked.“Rarely just me,” Plo replied, “I usually either went with a group or would spend at least a few days with a group I ran into.”“The idea of meeting a bunch of strangers and deciding to spend the next several days with them is wild to me,” Kit replied, “What if you wind up being opposite people?”“You either speed up or slow your pace greatly and try again with the next group,” Plo replied, “There's something about the trails that tends to bring out the best in people, though.”“Sounds like quite an experience,” Kit managed.Plo took Kit's hand in his and didn't let go.“The fact that everyone is out there by choice helps,” Plo granted, “And – hopefully – everyone has done their research, which means they're aware of the risks of the trail you're on and able to sustain themselves.”There was, truly, something to be said for a gathering of individuals with similar goals who were not only there by choice but secure in their ability to meet their basic needs.Plo relayed as much to Kit, who replied: “That's also why volunteering tends to be a positive experience regardless of the physical demands.”“I enjoy movement,” Plo tried to explain. Kit only just barely managed not to laugh and Plo added: “Well, yes, of many kinds.”Kit squeezed Plo's hand and Plo squeezed back.“We should do this more often,” Plo told him.“We should,” Kit agreed.More time together – without work lingering at the edges of what they were doing – was always going to be welcome.–While dinner and the night's subsequent activities had been blessedly devoid of feelings of pending work, the same could not be said for breakfast.(Could it even be called breakfast if it was happening just after eleven in the morning?)They had eaten before they left Pueblo; this was getting closer to lunch time and they still had upwards of six hours on the road today before stops were taken into consideration; doing the first leg of the day on empty stomachs had seemed inadvisable.The brunch spot Shaak had told them to show up billed itself as a wine cafe and had a wall covered in well-used roller skates. A few months ago it would have been an interesting decor choice, but after an entire swamp in Nashville it was going to be a challenge to find anything that gave them pause as far as how someone else's space was decorated.They opted to get a few things that all three of them could share but enjoyable at room temperature so that conversation could be had as it happened.(They'd learned something at the fish triangle, and it certainly wasn't about how to be a better Board member.)“I wanted to make sure you are both holding up,” Shaak told them once their food arrived, “It has been a rather eventful several months and Vegas was not a good reflection of anything,” she paused, “Your home repair skills aside.”“How did Vegas go after we left?” Plo opted to ask a question of his own rather than answer Shaak's.“It,” Shaak frowned, “It happened. None of us were the right choice to balance the need for law enforcement's presence with the fact many of those we serve – regardless of location – have good reason to not want police involved in their ability to have their basic needs met.”“A threat credible enough to have SWAT called several states away,” Kit shook his head, “I imagine all three of you are still processing that.”“Cin seems to have recovered,” Shaak replied, “Agen...I do not know.”“What about you, Shaak?” Kit asked.“Most days it's just something that happened,” she answered honestly, “Some days the fact that someone would do that – nevermind enough someones to require what should have been at least twice as many of us fielding things – to a charity bothers me beyond my understanding of how to handle it.”“The depth of unreasonable harm people are willing to go to over things that really could have been a discussion seems to get a little deeper year-over-year,” Kit offered.“I cannot tell if they get deeper or if the hyper-connectivity of today's world means that we're more aware of it,” Plo replied, “I want to write it off as everyone having global news in their pocket.”He could not be too certain, though.“The fact that the entire Vegas chapter still wanted to be working not only in the office but at project sites was humbling,” Shaak told them like she was making a confession, “I know that death threats are not a normal part of the work, but still...”“We are fortunate to have so many dedicated workers and volunteers,” Plo recognized, “We should probably develop a formal set of procedures in the event this happens again.”“Or even if there's an incident that requires additional caution,” Kit added, “There's no telling what may happen near a project site.”“There is so much we need to address,” Shaak didn't quite complain, “I understand why the meeting was changed to in-person, but I wish we had had more warning or it had been held separately from the annual meeting.”“That being one of the things that needs to be addressed,” Plo agreed, “Several of our fellow Board members have obligations that they cannot arrange long-term care for in a week.”“It worries me that families are welcome,” Shaak told them, “Not because I do not want to meet anyone's family, but because how those extra slots are being paid for opens us up to fraud charges if they even come close to coming from the Board fund.”“We need to start keeping a list,” Plo realized, “By we I mean the entire Board, because I am not adding collusion to the things that might be brought up.”“I will email Mace and Yoda about starting a collaborative list,” Shaak offered.“That would be deeply appreciated,” Plo replied.No blind grenade lobbing required.“The fact we – as a Board – were blindsided by this does not speak highly of just how involved we actually have been,” Kit grimaced, “Even in the best-case scenario – that this is a recent plan and there is no evidence suggesting it's been ongoing – tells everyone that we pay attention to the reports and not the people.”“I want to tell you that you are being too hard on yourself,” Shaak frowned.“But?” Plo hedged.“But I have been telling myself much the same,” she admitted as she sat back in her chair, “A crisis plan needs to be started before the meeting.”“I am preemptively drafting an apology email to Obi-Wan,” Plo replied, “I understand that the diversity of our Board is nearly unparalleled, but I think at least one more of us needs to be able to help with communications development.”“Or at the very least be able to help with delegation in the comms arena,” Kit agreed.Shaak only stared at them.“I mean,” Kit said after a moment, “if we're in an area with reception.”“The last thing either of you needs to be doing right now is taking on more work if someone else is capable,” Shaak replied, “but your readiness to help is admirable.”“We need to be careful that there isn't a paid position that should be doing this,” Plo reminded them, “And we should make sure that everything thus far has been done pro bono.”“We really need that shared concern document,” Kit grimaced.“How did we get this far without having these key procedures in place?” Shaak asked rhetorically.“Most regulations are written in blood,” Plo answered anyway.They didn't have them because they hadn't needed them.Shaak raised her glass and proposed: “To being better.”That much they could drink to.–Breakfast with Shaak saw them getting to their hotel much later than initially planned, but they would adjust.“Delivery for dinner?” Kit suggested as he put his bag down so he could start pulling essentials out of it.“Delivery for dinner,” Plo agreed, “I fear I am not going to feel rested come morning.”“I can drive if you need me to,” Kit offered, “Or want me to.”“No,” Plo refused.“Or not,” Kit replied as effortlessly as he could manage, “Just know that it's on offer.” He refused to let the blanket rejection sting. This was Plo’s trip before his, and it was his car. Plo was well within his rights to refuse the offer.He missed the way Plo's entire body tensed by virtue of having his back turned and his main focus still on his bag.“Whose phone are we using to order?” Plo changed the subject.“Mine's in my pocket,” Kit answered.“Mine is also in my pocket,” Plo replied.“Dinner can be on me tonight, love,” Kit turned back around, “Are you hungry for anything in particular?”“Something that's going to take less than forty-five minutes to get here,” Plo answered.“Easy enough,” Kit replied, “and about where I am. Tacos or Indian?”“Do you mind picking for me?” Plo requested, “The entire thing, I mean.”Kit stared at him for a few moments before he answered: “I can, love. Are you alright?”“I don't know,” Plo admitted.“Did you want to talk about it?”“We need to get an order in before we can't get an order in,” Plo replied.“Fair,” Kit relented.Once he placed the order, he called the front desk to let them know they were expecting a food delivery before he turned his attention back to Plo.“You don't have to talk about it,” Kit clarified.Plo exhaled, heavy, very nearly sighed.“Sit, love,” Kit implored.Plo listened. He sat on the edge of the bed and leaned forward so he could rest his forearms on his thighs. He let his head drop forward, his entire form radiating tension.Kit moved to stand in front of Plo and encouraged him to sit up a little so he could rest his forehead against Kit's diaphragm and Kit, in turn, could just kind of drape one arm over Plo's back while he embraced the nape of Plo's neck with the other.They stayed like that for a while, tension slowly leaving Plo's form while Kit stood between him and the rest of the world.“I might be closer to burnout than I realized,” Plo eventually murmured.“How about this,” Kit tried to tread lightly, “We get through the Seattle area and after that we take the time off for a break? It'll have to be near there to make the most of it, but we can just rest for a few days. Or hike or sightsee or whatever – but it'll be to our schedule.”“It sounds nice,” Plo replied, “I don't know if I want to put that much effort into it, though.”“I can take care of planning,” Kit assured him.Plo tensed again, only for a moment but Kit did not miss it this time.“Only if you want me to,” Kit tried to assure him, “I want to help, Plo, whatever that looks like.”“I know,” Plo sighed, “I know. I just...”“Take some time to think about it,” Kit encouraged, “We have time.”Not much of it, but Kit was willing to take as much of it as he could for Plo.–Washington state was set to be a week and a half of nonstop things are happening. For all that Saesee had a reputation for being the quietest member of the Board, he has built in not one but three points for them to regroup and review during their visit.
More than that: Saesee was certain the duration of the visit would not be enough to truly grasp just how much the two chapters closest to him were doing. Exactly how involved Saesee was with the local-to-him chapters was the subject of more than its fair share of speculation, but Plo suspected it was far more than he was given credit for.Just because Saesee was not a particularly vocal man had no bearing on how much he did.Plo had built in a few days of rest before the stretch before Kit had offered to accompany him, and he was quite thankful for the foresight. Even though all but one of those days had been eaten up by delays and rescheduling at this point, they had one day of rest and Plo had refused to lose it to the rescheduling request in Dallas.Even still, the previous night's confession hung heavy between the two of them as they settled in for two nights in a row in the same hotel.There was still no answer to how much Plo wanted to be involved in making room for a few days of rest in a row; they still had time.“We drove through Billings to get here,” Plo nearly complained, “I really should have pushed back on at least some of the dates.”“We can see if any of the visits yet to come are willing to move things around,” Kit suggested.“So long as it doesn't make the trip longer,” Plo half-agreed.“Love?” Kit hesitated.“I,” Plo hesitated in turn, “I think I am burning out.”
“Okay,” Kit replied, “Okay. We can work with that.”
“Can we?” Plo asked, “I mean – realistically, can we?”
“We will figure it out,” Kit tried to promise, “You've realized it.”
That was more than Kit had confirmed a minute ago. He'd had his suspicions, yes, but hearing it from Plo felt monumental. He had not known Plo long enough to understand the depths of exactly how much it took before he admitted he was at wit’s end, but he had a feeling it was something that usually happened well past the point he had managed to find himself tonight.
More than that: the longer the trip wore on, the more it was clear that Plo greatly preferred to be the one doing the caring, not the one being cared for.
That he’d asked Kit to order dinner in its entirety the night before probably should have been recognized as a cry for help and Kit had erred on the side of caution that he could only hope did not look like a lack of desire to care for Plo.
Kit had several questions, but he wasn't going to ask them now. While the answers may help him understand and subsequently plan, the asking would not help Plo right now and that was far more important.
It was better to leave room to breathe, even in any attempts to offer care and support.
Again: Kit had time.
They had time; they’d be okay.
Kit would make sure of it.
–
The older one got, the more things proved to be a source of joy that had gone under-appreciated (or altogether unappreciated) by the folly inherent to youth. One day, things like sturdy over-sink dish drying racks, vacuum cleaners with lifetime warranties, and managing to show up at the local Post Office at a time where there was no line started being the highlight of the week and you were okay with that.
Anything that made life easier was worth celebrating.
The fact there was a laundromat and a place to get the CR-V's oil changed was an arrangement of businesses that sparked joy was one of those things.
They'd brought their cribbage set to pass the time; the oil change would be done well before their laundry, but neither of them wanted to leave the machines containing their clothes entirely unattended.
“Laundry is an unending cycle that nobody asked to be caught in,” Plo half-complained as they reset the board.
“I mean,” Kit couldn't help but grin a little, “We could probably cut back on it a little bit. No shirt, no shoes, no service, sure, but...”
It took Plo a moment to arrive at-
“Those signs never mandate pants.”
“I have never tried to see if pants are expected or a non-requirement,” Kit admitted, “I feel like we could find someone who has, though.”
“While I do know a number of people in their early twenties, I'm not explaining any resulting charges to their parents,” Plo managed a small laugh, “The next time we air everything out, we should rearrange for the summer.”
No shirt, no shoes, no service. No pants, depending on the location at this time of year, was just the sane option when shorts were a thing people wore.
“Summer is going to be in full swing soon,” Kit agreed, “Does it actually reach summer temperatures in Washington state?”
“Okay, we should check that first,” Plo amended.
“You know, I think we have enough suitcases and bags to pack by expected temperatures,” Kit realized, “If you don't mind mixing our stuff.”
“Mind?” Plo replied, “No, not at all.”
Their lives were already entwined. What was one more way where one of them began and the other ended blurred together?
Faith that this will turn out well, something in the back of Plo's mind supplied.
–
By the time the oil change was complete and they'd gotten their laundry folded and put away, most of the afternoon was already gone.
Plo seemed restless despite his insistence that he was fine. Kit was less than convinced, though.
The main evidence he currently had to point to was the way he’d thought they'd been in the middle of a conversation about what they were going to do for the rest of the day, but based on how Plo had just turned around it felt like maybe it was just Kit who was trying to figure that out.
“Love,” Kit grabbed his hand as if to turn him around but let go before he actually tried to move him.
When Plo did turn around, Kit looked extremely apologetic.
“You can,” Plo hesitated, “You can do that.”
“I don't want to corner you,” Kit tried to explain, “Or force you to do anything.”
Which was the exact opposite sentiment that grabbing someone who was walking away tended to convey.
“I trust you,” Plo promised.
“You honor me,” Kit reached out his hand. Plo took it and Kit pulled him in to just hold him. Plo nestled his face in Kit's shoulder before he embraced Kit in kind.
“I'm sorry,” Plo told him.
“For what, love?” Kit tried to understand. If anything, he should be the one apologizing here.
“I've been off these last few days,” Plo replied like he was reminding Kit.
“You're allowed to be human, Plo.”
Anything less than perfect was more than enough for Kit and Plo loved him even more for the sentiment.
“So are you, Kit.”
“Trust me, not all my days are good ones,” Kit replied.
“That's part of being human,” Plo recognized, “It doesn't make it any easier when it's your turn for the less-than-stellar day. Days.”
Kit knew that Plo held himself to high standards. You couldn’t retire as young as he had without holding your standards so high that they’d cause anyone made of anything less than the human spirit’s equivalent of steel rebar to crumble under the weight of their own expectations.
“It doesn't,” Kit agreed, “but I'm not going anywhere.”
Far heavier than the light tread he’d been trying to maintain, but he meant it.
He knew, too, that Plo had been alone for most of his life. He’d flitted in and out of communities and never truly stopped fighting, but he’d become quiet - bordering on isolated - in how he went about it.
That he’d let Kit in as much as he had was an honor, and it would take far, far more than a few bad days to make Kit question where he wanted to be.
“Thank you,” Plo managed, the words muffled by Kit's shoulder.
“Any time,” Kit promised, “Any time.”
The fact they'd made it this far into the trip without either of them – nevermind both of them – having a bad day was nothing short of astounding. Kit could attribute to his lack of bad days on the company and the lack of anything that set him off.
He relayed as much even as he continued to hold Plo close.
“I don't think anything in particular set me off,” Plo replied, “but otherwise I agree.”
“It isn't always an instant cause-effect,” Kit tried to correct gently.
“Everything has been nonstop since I left my condo for the first time,” Plo sighed, “If there was a single cause, I couldn't tell you what beyond the fact that it feels like I'm starting to lose track of everything that isn't work and I don't like it.”
There were a number of things that had been nagging at Plo off and on, and they chose this week to come into focus all at once – that he hadn't seen Sha on or near her birthday; the fact he had no control over how the washing machines at laundromats were cleaned; not having enough time anywhere to get used to the bed. He missed cooking. He missed having even the slightest chance he'd run into someone he knew while out running errands.
He did not want to stop what they were doing. Nevermind the fact this was important, Plo had been enjoying himself up until the last maybe two or three days and he had no idea why that changed beyond burnout.
While Plo spoke, Kit listened.
He let silence settle when Plo needed a moment to try to find better words than the first ones his mind supplied. He held any questions or comments; now was not the time for them.
When he was sure that Plo was done speaking, he considered for a moment before he asked: “If I may?”
“You may?” Plo granted, though it sounded more like a question than an assention.
Kit went ahead anyway: “Do you think it has anything to do with the fact the Director was arrested?”
“Maybe?” Plo pulled back enough to look at Kit, “It certainly isn't helping.”
Plo just looked tired in ways Kit hadn’t seen before.
A few days to rest were now critical, and they were still a solid week away from being able to do that long enough to have a real chance for them to feel like rest instead of crashing.
And then it was less than three months until the Board meeting.
This was going to be the most difficult Board meeting Kit had attended yet. There was so much they had to answer despite how they were just as in the dark as the general public. The format change wasn’t going to help the underlying tension. The fact most of the Board had kids and work and other obligations they’d been asked to set aside and just how the payments were being handled hadn’t been disclosed also didn’t help.
Any rest managed over the coming weeks was going to be undone at a mountain retreat.
The irony was not lost on Kit.
“How many resignations do you think we'll see within the next year?” Plo asked, “Both from the Board and from executive positions throughout chapters.”
“I try not to think about it,” Kit replied, “I, at least, plan on sticking this out as long as I'm voted to keep my seat regardless of how ugly it gets.”
“As do I,” Plo replied like a vow.
“I have no doubts,” Kit assured him.
Plo was tired, not resigned.
Needing to rest was nowhere near the same as quitting. In fact, resting often ensured that needing to quit later down the line was less of a probability.
Taking care of themselves was even more important than seeing this through. If they fell apart, so did their plans.
He wasn't sure how he would do it – yet – but he would figure out how to get Plo to rest instead of stop.
He needed to keep telling himself that he had time.
-
Somewhere between Great Falls, Montana and Spokane, Washington, with the radio shut off because all they could find was static, Plo told Kit without preamble: “I trust you to take control.”
Had Kit been driving, he may well have slammed on the breaks.
“You've been considering,” Kit managed to keep his voice fairly even despite his surprise.
“I have,” Plo confirmed, “I...know that I have issues with needing to control as much as I can, but...”
Kit waited for Plo to gather whatever words he needed to finish that thought.
“I trust you, Kit,” Plo told him, “I enjoy trusting you with. Well. With me. It's just...incredibly novel.”
Kit reached over to rest his hand on the top of Plo's thigh. He was careful to keep his fingertips away from the inside of his thigh – mindful that the intended reassurance didn't become a distraction – and squeezed a little bit.
Kit would do everything within his capabilities to keep that trust.
–
Just as they had settled into their hotel for the night, their phones made notification sounds at the same time.
It had to be work related.
Plo fished his phone out of his pocket to see what it was about.
“Reno wants to cancel,” he told Kit, “Internal issues of some sort.”
Reno was their first stop after the two chapters Saesee was most connected to; they'd already had a day or two to themselves. Now they had more.
“While I appreciate the sudden extra few days, the reason is concerning,” Kit replied.
“I am already sending Cin a message to make sure everything is alright,” Plo told him, “but I will not complain about the extra time.”
Plo had told Kit he could take control more often.
Taking control over relaxation seemed almost counter-intuitive, but he'd at least try. Not all at once, no; this was new for both of them.
“We should take it to ourselves,” Kit replied, “Somewhere work hasn't touched. Somewhere wild.”
“I do not tell you how brilliant you are nearly often enough,” Plo informed him.
“I'll find somewhere within an easy day's drive from Saesee's,” Kit promised, “Somewhere we can air everything out on day one and then not think about it until we repack on the last day.”
Exactly what constituted an easy day’s drive was likely skewed for both of them at this point, but that was a different point altogether.
“Brilliant,” Plo replied as he put his phone down, “Thank you.”
“Always,” Kit promised.
Plo stared at him.
“So long as you don't vote me out of my current position,” Kit tried to joke.
“If anyone's voting on that, it's Sha,” Plo replied with a small, guarded smile.
“Does Sha know she holds the power of an autocracy?”
“She has to have at least some clue,” Plo almost laughed, “And even then I have veto power.”
“Would you?” Kit asked before he could stop himself.
“You would have to be keeping a horrible secret at this point for either Sha or myself to doubt that you're a good man, Kit,” Plo answered, “I quite like you where you are.”
Moments like these made it hard to believe this trip had only started about four months ago.
It truly felt like he'd always been here, or at least always been headed here.
He'd stay beside Plo as long as he was welcome. The city was secondary.
There may yet be a home to be built outside of the city he was born in.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
They'd taken their time in getting from Spokane to Saesee's property; there were plenty of stunning views for Kit to take pictures, and in turn there were plenty of chances for Plo to watch as Kit got lost doing something he loves.They'd left early to compensate, though, so when they were in the correct town nearly a half-hour early despite all the stops they'd made, they decided to have coffee to kill some time.The only place in town that seemed to explicitly serve coffee without the hopeful expectation that you were there for a meal was a drive-through espresso shop with a tiny porch out front with a few seats.“Outside?” Kit asked.“Outside,” Plo confirmed.They were still sitting, yes, but at least they weren't sitting in the car as they sipped at their drinks and talked about everything except work.“New Orleans is flat, Plo,” Kit was in the middle of trying to explain, “I'm pretty sure at least half of the trails are boardwalks over swamps.”“So that's a solid no, you've never considered mountain climbing,” Plo half-teased.“What possesses someone to spend a few days where the only emergency help is available by helicopter?” Kit asked.“That's any number of emergencies,” Plo argued, “Mountaineering, a bad fall from a horse, some car wrecks...”Kit could only stare.“You train for it,” Plo told him, “You don't just go summit a mountain.”“Somehow I didn't think you did,” Kit almost laughed, “Wait, have you summited anything?”“Summited, no,” Plo answered, “Been at elevations higher than some states' highest points, yes. But it's hardly comparable.”“So you could have summited something,” Kit pointed out.“Could have,” Plo shrugged, “I prefer focusing on distance over elevation.”“I know you've mentioned that being on the trail is a social experience you don't get anywhere else,” Kit recalled.“Well,” Plo took a sip of his coffee to buy himself a second, “you'll find something similar in a good protest. The caliber is different, but the overwhelming confidence that someone will help given half a chance is there.”“I mean,” Kit didn't quite hesitate, “did you want to go for a hike while we're here?”“I'd need to work back up to anything too far beyond a flat hike,” Plo admitted, “But would I like to go for a hike? Yes. Preferably with you, though.”There were few times where the answer would be a no, honestly.Kit smiled like he was already planning something and Plo felt like the luckiest man on the planet.–Their afternoon was set to be about an hour with just Saesee to make sure they knew what he thought they needed to know about the two chapters they'd be visiting followed by up to another hour on a call with the chapter heads to finalize their schedule.Saesee's property was concealed by high, wooden fences. The gate was no different, save for the lock that was clearly meant to keep anyone from entering without explicit permission. There was a sign warning them that the property was monitored by CCTV.“Do we -” Kit started to ask if they were supposed to call Saesee or what, but he was cut off by the baying of dogs.“Effective,” Plo assessed once his initial startle reflex had calmed itself down.A single, sharp whistle from further back on the property silenced the dogs.The dogs sounded like they ran away from the gate before they started heading back towards where Plo and Kit were waiting. A more human-footfall-like sound accompanied them. Their collars jingled as (it sounded like) Saesee unlocked the gate.“Sit,” Saesee said with enough force that Plo and Kit both wondered for a fraction of a heartbeat just where they were going to sit before realizing he was undoubtedly talking to the dogs.One of the gates rolled open to reveal Saesee, a pair of massive dogs sitting on either side of him.“Saesee,” Plo greeted him first.“Plo. Kit,” Saesee greeted them in turn.“You have them well trained,” Kit complimented.“Friends,” Saesee told his dogs as he unlocked the gate, “They're meant to guard. Biting someone I actually want inside the gate is out of the question. Let them sniff your hands.”Kit and Plo did. Saesee repeated friends as the dogs sniffed and that seemed to be that.The reason for the pair of guard dogs was clear as soon as they were on the property proper: the sheer amount of vintage cars dotting the landscape. It looked like he had a few that were ongoing restoration projects, half-rusted, half-restored with parts on the ground. Each car had its own covered space, some spaces large enough for multiple cars.Once the dogs had finished sniffing them, Saesee gestured for all four of them to follow him towards the house.“Cameras are mounted here,” Saesee indicated the gate, “on the edge of the carport, on the other side of the house, and two pointed at the back of the property. None are inside. I am the only one with footage access.”The heads up was appreciated, as was the fact he took safety and security seriously.The dogs stayed outside.“Property guards,” Saesee explained, “I have to all but drag them inside in extreme weather. Can I get either of you anything to drink?”“I will pass,” Plo declined.“I will similarly pass for now,” Kit replied, “What are their names?”“Spiral and Dorado,” Saesee answered, “Their breeders named them and I've never been inclined to rename any of my dogs.”Not the first two he's had as property guards, then.The living room consisted of an electric fireplace, a couch, two single seats, and four end tables – one for each end of the couch and one for each seat. It was otherwise open – plenty of space for two large dogs to tussle in the event they were inside.A pile of folded blankets near the electric fireplace spoke to the room regularly being cold, but not enough to turn on any central heating. The floors were well-worn wood and there were few decorations visible.Saesee picked one of the single seats; Kit and Plo sat on the couch – Plo on the left end and Kit on the middle seat.A smile flickered across Saesee's face for a moment before his usual, unreadable expression settled back into place.“So,” Plo opened the conversation, “Olympia and Seattle need introductions.”“It will make things easier,” Saesee replied, “Neither of them are ran like other chapters, and their operations differ greatly from each other.”It was only a mild surprise; chapters were encouraged to run themselves in ways that best served their people, but most of them stuck to a template. There was paperwork involved in altering expected operational guidelines and the template had been designed to work regardless of where any given chapter was opened.“Olympia serves the entire county,” Saesee began explaining, “Sometimes beyond, but that's dependent on volunteer availability.”“we've had that conversation a few times,” Plo offered and then clarified: “The need for volunteers willing to make dedicated, longer-distance trips.”“Tacoma is looking to start a chapter. That would expand coverage for this little piece of the state,” Saesee told them, “There is still a long way to go before one opens, though – not least of all the application process. The lack of interest from the rest of the state worries me. I have not been able to tell if it's indifference or fear that one more charity isn't going to do any good.”“There's your Board Retreat question to bring to the table,” Plo told him, “How do we ignite a feeling of hope?”“That is work better done by more personable members,” Saesee replied like an admission.“We all have our specialties,” Kit assured him, “I wish I knew more about how things were pre-Pandemic outside of New Orleans first-hand.”“I can only speak to the data outside of my two chapters,” Saesee replied, “Around here, though, the need has gotten quieter over the last half-decade. Tent cities dispersed. Unemployment going on for so long that it's no longer counted in official numbers. An increase in overdose deaths every year without a proportionate increase in support. Millionaires skewing the average income enough to truly affect those who need the most help.”Saesee sighed, heavy, and added: “You'll see it more in Seattle than Olympia.”“I know we're set to visit the Olympia first,” Kit tried to keep the conversation going, “but we're set to spend more time in Seattle on account of that chapter having more volunteer events scheduled.”“The need is greater,” Saesee replied, “For as chaotic as Quinlan can be, he keeps things going.”“I've heard about him,” Plo granted, “I have yet to interact with him.”“Understanding why Quinlan regularly comes with a warning is something better understood through experience,” Saesee cautioned, “I suspect he would not work out at any level in any other branch, but he works well enough for the Seattle chapter that he has not been asked to step down.”“Well,” Kit didn't quite hesitate, “at least we'll come away with stories.”“The Olympia chapter is headed by Tholme and T'ra Saa,” Saesee told them, “I can never remember their titles, but the work like business partners with an equal share in things. That said: they prefer to work with all of their employees and senior volunteers as if they were a committee when it comes to decisions that will impact them. Tholme will tell you the chapter runs itself and they only make sure the i's and dotted and the t's are crossed. T'ra will tell you that Tholme only tells you that because he isn't the one checking the forms.”“I have exchanged a few emails with them but have yet to meet them,” Plo replied, “They seem dedicated to the mission.”“They are,” Saesee confirmed, “That isn't to say that Quinlan isn't dedicated. Unconventional. Chaotic to the point of not leading frequently enough that it can be a problem. But he would not have come to head the chapter if he was not dedicated.”This was a new attitude towards Quinlan from Saesee; Plo had only ever heard the man be carefully reserved in his assessments of the young director – careful not to let how little he could stand Quinlan as a person bleed into his duties to the greater good.Lynn Haven had changed everyone.“Quinlan's latest chapter-specific project is private dumpsters,” Saesee suppressed a sigh, “He – personally, not through work – will buy dumpster spaces near food establishments so the employees can throw food in those specific dumpsters instead of the general use ones.”“I hate that that's necessary,” Kit bristled, “I imagine it hasn't been an entirely smooth project.”“Trust me, he will tell you all about it,” Saesee grimaced, “He is much more hands-on than T'ra or Tholme.”Given...everything...that had been happening just out of reach the past several weeks, being hands-on felt like a good thing. Kit had not had much in the way of interacting with Quinlan, though, so there might be something he was missing.He'd find out in a few days.Most of the rest of what Saesee wanted to make sure they knew going into the visits was predictable: both chapters were stretched thin and both were dealing with it in different ways; they'd both been cagey about talking about anything related to Lynn Haven; their public-facing operations were so different that they may as well be different organizations entirely; there had recently been talks about setting up a booth at the state fair next year based on some successes other chapters had had, but Saesee was less than convinced it was the correct avenue.They, truly, could not escape the ripple effects of that fucking cow.The lone surprise came in the form of a warning not to mention Director Drallig to Tholme if it could be avoided. There was some history between them that Saesee did not understand and while they were civil enough to each other, it struck him as a good thing that Olympia and Las Vegas were so far apart.They wound up with some time to kill before the call, but not enough to do anything besides talk or let silence settle.“Have either of you been to either before?” Saesee asked.“I have not,” Kit answered first.“It's been a quarter of a century since I've been to Seattle,” Plo replied, “I cannot say that I saw much of the city at the time.”Kit only blinked at him. Saesee, though, kind of covered his mouth, kind of rested his chin on his hand for a moment before he lowered his hand and and leaned forward a bit, shoulders and neck tense.“I am missing something,” Kit realized.“Which side of the line were you on?” Saesee asked.“The one getting pepper sprayed.”Saesee relaxed a little. That it had been a concern made sense. Plo had been a stockbroker and he'd made no efforts to conceal what he'd done before retiring from his fellow Board members. He’d relied on exactly what the protests had been against to make his fortunes.He should probably explain himself a little better.“I had retired the year before and wanted to see what the people who had been protesting a lot of the things I’d been working adjacent to had built their platform on,” he continued, “Nobody comes together like that unless there is a point that does need addressing, and living it - even as a bit of a tourist in that particular thought arena - is generally the best way to see what that is.”“And?” Saesee asked.“And the arenas in which I found myself participating in to one degree or another expanded greatly,” Plo replied, “Brick throwing was nothing new.”Nobody on the Board had ever heard Saesee laugh before. It was a brief, sharp sound, but it was quite unmistakably a laugh.“I was there over environmental concerns,” Saesee offered, “I recognize that that’s rich coming from someone who restores and resells classic cars.”“If there comes a day where classic car collectors come near the level of emissions as manufacturing and shipping, I will be impressed,” Plo replied, “Either because someone finally figured out future-friendly manufacturing or someone really fucked up with their car collection.”Saesee made a sound that was very nearly a laugh and sat a little further back against his couch.“Why is it every time I learn you haven't been to a city in decades, you were there for a protest?” Kit asked.“Because I haven't really talked about my recreational travel,” Plo pointed out, “and even then it tends not to be to cities when I travel alone.”“You should,” Kit informed him, “Talk about it, I mean.”“I will,” Plo promised.There was still so much they had to learn about each other.“Where are you two staying?” Saesee asked.“We haven't booked any accommodations yet,” Plo replied.“You haven't?” Saesee sounded like he had very nearly started.“We hit enough schedule changes that canceling as many as we could get refunded was the most reasonable thing to do,” Plo explained, “Plus we aren't sure how many days we're going to be where while we're here yet.”“I cannot imagine the underlying stress of not having concrete plans,” Saesee shook his head but Kit and Plo only shrugged.“I never book accommodations when I travel alone,” Kit offered.“I usually do,” Plo told Saesee, specifically, “This trip has simply had so many changes that canceling all of the pre-booked places made the most sense.”“There is exactly one motel in this town,” Saesee told them both in turn, “While the drive from here to either city is nothing compared to the trip you're doing, both Olympia and Seattle have more options.”“We have yet to be unable to find a place,” Kit replied. It was true – they had yet to even need to stay outside the city they were visiting. Sometimes they could even score a cheaper price because a hotel was eager to fill rooms and they'd arrived well past check-in time.(Maybe they were lucky in a number of ways.)“My inability to be gone for long stretches aside, simply showing up at everyone's homes with a vague mission of getting every last one of us to rethink how we work is a truly monumental undertaking,” Saesee told them, “Nevermind without being certain that you have somewhere to rest.”They always had the CR-V itself in a true pinch, but Kit decided to keep that to himself.“In the beginning I felt a little wrong-footed simply showing up in everyone's lives with the expectation that they let me in because they'd been told to,” Plo admitted, “The longer the trip wears on, the more natural it feels.”“What changed?”Kit and Plo looked at each other for a moment.“Depa's?” Kit suggested.“It started at Depa's,” Plo agreed, “It solidified when we were effectively handed a pair of toddlers for the afternoon.”“Anakin's kids,” Kit told Saesee, “Is four toddler age?”Plo shrugged.“Any age where they need to be carried instead of want to be carried is toddler to me,” he offered words for his thought process anyway.“You hike for weeks,” Kit argued.“Do you now?” Saesee asked.“It's been a while,” Plo replied like a caution, “But I used to go for days or weeks at a time, yes.”“I did before I started keeping dogs,” Saesee offered, “I'm down to just day hikes.”“About the only thing I am looking forward to regarding the Board meeting is the amount of trails,” Plo admitted.“I share the sentiment,” Saesee sighed, “Assuming I can find someone to mind the dogs, at least.”“I imagine they don't travel well,” Kit granted.“They would do well enough, but no resort is going to have enough land for them to burn energy in the way they need to,” Saesee explained, “And they don't enjoy being too far from their territory.”As far as Kit – and anyone in the Board – knew, Saesee rarely left home for more than errands and absolutely required meetings; if he was planning on going to the retreat, he had likely put together more pieces than“You think going in-person is going to be worth the hassle?” Kit asked.“I fear I will miss much without getting to see all of the nonverbal conversations happening,” Saesee replied.“I take it you don't have a dedicated sitter,” Kit guessed.“I haven't been away overnight since I got Spiral,” Saesee replied, “She's younger and more headstrong. So far everyone I've interviewed doesn't have the personality to make her listen.”Even if they weren't going to the same meeting-retreat, Kit doubted that he had the personality to offer to help.“But yes,” Saesee redirected the conversation, “what you two are doing is beyond the abilities and will of everyone else who has been voted into the seats we occupy.”The three minute warning alarm went off.“How are we doing this?” Plo asked.“Phone,” Saesee answered, “There's no need to get cameras involved to set a schedule.”Kit didn't miss how relieved Plo was.Tholme called Saesee with Quinlan already on the line. T'ra had other business to tend to, but trusted Tholme to handle scheduling on her behalf.Quinlan was open to Plo and Kit participating in as many of the coming weekend's volunteer events as they wanted to; many hands made light work, after all. They had planned on visiting Olympia first anyway, so that kept their current plans in place.Saesee suggested taking a day between multi-day office visits and nobody objected.Tholme suggested an unofficial meeting – perhaps over lunch – the following weekend if everyone was available. As it happened (and only thanks to Reno canceling), Plo and Kit could make it. That also gave them a few days to set their own schedule, which was more sorely needed than either of them would say out loud.They still had a few days to figure out what to do with between then and Eugene, but that was Kit and Plo's time now, and Kit fully intended to spend them with Plo.When the schedule was set and the rest of the day was staring them down, their new priorities were food and a place to sleep.Saesee left them to that with an offer to point them at some of the restaurants with better reputations if they wanted. (They did, in fact, want some direction from some who actually lived there.) His descriptions all included how loud and crowded they tended to get as well as how reliable the food quality was.(Kit added how people described their favorite places to the list of how he could gather information about someone quickly without being invasive; Saesee clearly preferred quieter places that didn't depend on who was working in the kitchen to produce the same food visit-to-visit.)(Saesee also preferred to be alone, that much was evident.)They would show up at Saesee's again early enough to miss rush hour and all take one vehicle there and back; not only was it more practical, there were concerns over leaving everything they had in the CR-V out in the open for two days in a major city. Saesee would be driving back to his place late at night and then leaving early the next morning so he could feed his dogs, but then all three of them would return for a day of something akin to rest before visiting the Seattle chapter.There was no need to take chances if they didn't need to, so with some well-concealed reluctance Plo agreed to leave it on Saesee's property while they were in Olympia. (Plo was tired but seemed unwilling to admit it to himself.)They'd get a room for two nights in Olympia and then go directly to Seattle for almost a week, which meant Kit and Plo would have to repack before they went to bed for the night.They did drive themselves to the motel, though, rather than repack at Saesee's. They also made several trips to bring nearly all of their stuff in to evaluate once they could look at the expected weather and take their confirmed itinerary into consideration. Saesee had highly recommended casual clothes for the Seattle chapter visit; no suggestions were given for Olympia.First, though, Kit had the overwhelming desire to just touch Plo for at least a few moments. He crowded him to nestle his face in the crook of his neck, arms wrapped around his back.“How are you feeling, love?” Kit murmured.Plo just kind of grumbled but leaned into Kit, let him take some of his weight for a moment.After another moment, Plo held Kit, too, arms firmly around his waist.“I was thinking,” Kit told him.“Hmn?” Plo hummed more than he asked“Since it looks like we're going to have a few extra days here and aren't going to need to go from here to Reno to Eugene-”“Which was some of my poorest planning,” Plo grumbled.“What if Sha joined us for a few days?” Kit would circle back to the self-depreciation later.Plo felt lighter just for the suggestion.“Ask her,” Kit encouraged.Plo texted her and she called almost immediately.“You want me out there?” Sha asked.“Absolutely,” Plo answered before giving her a rundown of their current schedule.“I can volunteer,” Sha replied, “Can you sign off on everything before I get there?”It sounded like she wanted to spend as many days as possible with her uncle regardless of what they were doing.“Sha,” Plo sighed.“What?” Sha asked.“Sha,” Plo repeated.After a moment, Sha replied with: “...I no longer need you to sign off on my participation because I am an adult.”“I will make sure whoever is in charge of volunteer sign-up knows you plan on coming,” Plo promised, “I'll send you your flight information when I have it. Rooming-”“Separate,” Sha interrupted, “Preferably. No offense. Unless you've already booked something.”She knew that Plo knew she'd say yes to joining them.“None taken,” Plo promised her, “We haven't booked anything yet.”“Tell you what, you handle the flights and I will handle the booking,” Sha suggested, “Or at least let me send you a list.”With a small sigh, Plo asked: “How badly do you want to handle the hotel, Sha?”Sha made an elongated, high-pitched noise in reply.Plo looked at Kit, who shrugged.“You can handle the booking,” Plo told her.At least the next sound Sha made was a happy one.“Amenities or proximity?” Sha asked.Kit offered Plo a puzzled look.“Are things like having a pool or free breakfast more important, or is the ability to get to where we're supposed to be quickly more important,” Plo clarified for Kit's benefit.“Hi Kit!” Sha greeted him belatedly.“Hello, Sha,” Kit replied, “I can't say I've given it any thought.”“Uncle?” Sha prompted.“I trust you, Sha,” Plo answered.“I am assuming we're mostly looking for a place to sleep?” Sha checked.“Correct,” Plo confirmed.It was all details from there - they eventually worked out that Plo would get Sha a ticket first, and then she'd figure out the hotel situation. Plo cautioned her that he was leaving the CR-V at Saesee's so they'd have to figure what they were doing about at least airport pickup later. Sha seemed unbothered, but she did add proximity to public transit to the things to consider in her hotel selection.That was rather enough scheduling for one day, though; the call ended with Sha excited and Plo slightly less exhausted-looking.Kit probably could have suggested this sooner.Except then they would have short-changed Sha with how long she could have stayed given the last-minute changes.“Thank you,” Plo pulled Kit away from his own thoughts.“Of course,” Kit promised.There was something about Plo's expression that Kit didn't quite understand, but he wasn't going to press right now. Instead, he pressed a kiss to Plo's forehead and grabbed both his hands so he could squeeze them.They had a lot of packing and repacking to do, food to find, probably countless other things to contend with, but for now...this was good.This was enough.–Morning very nearly came too early.They were not up earlier than breakfast had been put out, at least.It was about what they'd eaten at every other included-with-room assortment except for the way the juice came in the same containers usually served at hospitals instead of from a fountain dispenser and there was no fresh fruit on offer.“The next time we pass a grocery store, we're getting a bag of fruit,” he informed Kit, “Any fruit.”“They have to have a grocery store here,” Kit replied.“I think I saw one,” Plo replied, “I have a feeling it isn't open this early.”Kit checked and Plo was correct; it didn't open until well past when they'd be leaving. It also wasn't open every day. More than that: as far as Kit could tell, the second-closest grocery store that wasn't attached to a gas station was nearly twenty miles away.Saesee – one of their fellow Board members – technically lived in a food desert five out of seven days of the week.Neither of them were quite sure how that settled with them; it wasn't their business...and yet it was.They'd need to have a conversation about this later: about if it was their business, if it was their place, what they were actually trying to do – express care or just make themselves feel better for asking.They didn't have time this morning.Time was something they never seemed to have enough of.Plo didn't miss the way Kit pocketed two of the green tea bags.He didn't feel like a migraine was pending, but he hadn't been feeling entirely like himself as of late. They had plenty of tea, but the green tea the motel's breakfast bar offered was the type Sha had told him to get months ago and he clearly remembered.Saesee's place was less than ten minutes down the road and the streets were empty.The dogs let half the neighborhood know that they'd arrived until Saesee called them to heel and then rolled the gates open for them.Plo parked on the side of the house, well away from Saesee's work area and on a paved slab. It wasn't that he minded taking someone else's vehicle......okay, it was. He did mind giving up that much control for an entire week and a half. He may wind up renting a car in Seattle, at least for a few days. It wasn't like they expected to go off anywhere besides where they'd already planned, but the what-ifs were already wearing at him and he hadn't even gotten any of the bags out of the back yet.Kit pressed a quick kiss to his cheek before they started unloading; Plo felt himself smile despite the overall apprehension.They'd managed to get everything they expected to need into one suitcase, two day packs, and one laptop bag; the less they had to keep track of, the better.Saesee seemed similarly less-than-thrilled about being up so early, but apparently rush hour traffic here involved coming to a complete stop close to major cities, so given the choice between that and stopping somewhere for coffee, all three of them had opted for coffee.Saesee, thankfully, was a skilled driver who believed that the turn signal was a tool rather than a side of weakness.Kit asked if rush hour had always been as bad as described and Saesee explained that yes, it had been – there was a draw to being closer to the mountains that countless people were willing to pay for in the form of longer drives to everything those who live in cities tended to take for granted.That answered most of the questions they could have asked about his chosen town, at least.And...Plo could understand that. He'd stayed where he was because he spent so little time home, but if he made a living in his own yard he would have chosen somewhere less populated. Ideally still with enough people that he could know his neighbors and be involved in community events, but...not a large city.He, truly, needed to go for a hike soon. Or stay in the mountains for a few days. Or...something.
Anything.
But...with Kit. He didn't want to just leave Kit somewhere while he went out in the wild and-Oh.Maybe that was what had been off lately.
(He thought he was past this.)
Saesee greatly preferred silence and nearly as greatly preferred not having to participate in a conversation; after months of constant chatter, the silence was...weird. Even more weird considering that while he had some sort of sound on low when he was alone in the condo maybe half the time, but he'd never really felt the need to seek out conversation.He'd changed over the past few months, and he'd changed because of Kit.He wasn't going to complain, no, but...change needed time to settle. To breathe. They hadn't had time for that.Conveying this to Kit was a puzzle for...not later, but not now, either.Now was for Board work.Tonight was for sleeping.Somewhere in there he had to figure out how they were picking up Sha.“Saesee,” Plo cut through the silence and both other men in the car startled a little, “my Niece will be joining us in Seattle.”“I take it she's flying,” Saesee guessed.“She is,” Plo confirmed, “Her flight lands mid-morning the day before we're going to be in Seattle. She can find things to do, but does want to volunteer while she's here.”He'd booked the tickets before they went to bed; there had been many other things they'd needed to take care of, but he wanted to be sure of exactly when she was flying before he moved onto anything else; Kit had assured him – over and over – that he didn't mind waiting.“Does she have paperwork?” Saesee asked.“For Illinois.”“Should be fine,” Saesee replied.“I need to email Quinlan about it,” Plo realized, “Unless you know who coordinates volunteer efforts for Seattle.”“Quinlan will get involved regardless,” Saesee huffed, “It will save some time if you message him directly.”Which was exactly what Plo did.It took fewer than ten minutes for Quinlan to reply; Sha was more than welcome to join in any volunteering efforts. They could work out anything else she wanted to be involved with when they all got there.Quinlan was certainly up and working early.He did ask if Sha wanted to be included on the email chain so she knew what was going on, too.Plo asked Sha and Sha's reply was: yes but not if it makes anything weird which...it shouldn't, so long as she remained professional. She'd had internships. She knew the difference between professional and casual communication.
He trusted her.
He added Sha to the email chain with a brief introduction between Quinlan and Sha. He made a note that Sha had been volunteering for over a decade between Chicago and Delaware so while she was familiar with overall volunteer expectations, anything specific to the Seattle chapter would be appreciated.That was easy enough.“I take it you and your Niece are close?” Saesee asked once Plo put his phone down.“I raised her,” Plo answered before he could second-guess if that was too much personal information to offer.“Ah,” was all Saesee said for a while.Plo let the silence settle, uncomfortable, and Kit met his eyes through the rearview mirror. Kind. Soft. Gentle.Saesee eventually offered: “T'ra is Quinlan's aunt. She and Tholme raised him, from what I understand.”“I had no idea,” was the first sentiment that Plo managed.“They're quiet about it,” Saesee replied, “I'm not sure of any of the details. Quinlan will be more likely to speak to your Niece about it, though.”A warning, then, so Plo could tell Sha that it might be something that's more than simply mentioned and then dropped. A bit of a clumsy one, but one that Plo appreciated greatly.“Thank you,” Plo remembered to tell Saesee.“Of course,” Saesee replied.At least when the silence settled this time, it was closer to comfortable.–Despite having had coffee with breakfast and then having just finished another coffee while they were waiting for the point where they were supposed to show up at the office, when offered one at the Olympia office, Plo accepted.Kit did not yet. Spacing out his caffeine consumption seemed like a good idea, at least for now.He'd see what the rest of the day brought.The first part of the meeting was no different from any other chapter: Tholme and T'ra more formally introduced themselves – they were both volunteers before the position Tholme occupied opened and he decided to apply. He came from a management background and had a strong history of both volunteering and philanthropy, and he was quite thankful to get the job. He'd stayed for two decades now and had no plans of leaving unless he was given strong cause.T'ra was a volunteer for much longer before a position she could apply for opened up. Given that they were married and Tholme wanted to minimize the chances of T'ra's work being attributed to their relationship, he'd done the unconventional thing and left the hiring process for the position up to the rest of his staff to handle.It had only been a small handful of decisions from there before the chapter's general setup became one in where Tholme handled the paperwork and signed what he needed to and left the decision-making to those who lived and breathed the day-to-day.How things were supposed to work in theory and what worked in practice were often grossly mismatched.They both promised to show their main project site and explain it better tomorrow – while they were actually in the second building – but for today they could at least provide the numbers and a handful of stories from those they'd helped. They were told that the secondary site was ran like a miniature community center, but its main purpose was to connect those in need to resources in whatever manner was the best possible fit.What was new was that they wanted to talk about the Lynn Haven mess directly.“Whose idea was it to send the email about not being able to talk about the legal aspects of Lynn Haven?” T'ra asked.“Kit's,” Plo answered.“Thank you, Kit,” T'ra told him directly, “The lack of communication was disquieting.”“We are just as in the dark as the rest of you,” Kit replied, “At least speaking for Plo and myself – we know as much as the press knows. We don't even know who on the Board is involved with the legal proceedings and who isn't.”A slight stretch – they knew Mace was involved but to what degree was a mystery. Obi-Wan was, too, but his contacts seemed to be doing most of the heavy lifting. But beyond that?They'd likely never know the full extent of anything, even if the case files were unsealed.“I similarly have been excluded from any details shared,” Saesee confirmed.“That tends to be the nature of large-scale, interstate legal issues,” T'ra granted, “Is there anything you can share about what it means for the rest of us?”“We don't know anything that hasn't been shared out already,” Kit shook his head, “I'm sorry.”“If the in-person, week-long Board meeting isn't already planned to be about what it means, practically, for the entire organization, I will change that,” Plo vowed.Kit was used to the way Plo was always ready to be the hand that forced change; Saesee, T'ra, and Tholme were not.“Make a list of your most prominent concerns and questions,” Saesee suggested, “We can see what we can do about getting a form out to staff, too, so that there is a coherent, comprehensive list going into the meeting.”Far more controlled than the Board's concern list that Shaak had gotten started for them, but that was a much better idea when there would be – potentially – hundreds of people trying to make sure they were heard rather than the fifteen of them on the Board.“Or one of us could get it started,” Tholme replied.“It may be received better with the backing of at least one Board member,” Saesee pointed out.“Are you offering?” Tholme asked.If Saesee wasn't, it meant either Plo or Kit was.“I am,” Saesee replied.Kit managed to hide most of his relief with a long drink of his now-cold coffee.The rest of the day was taken up by Tholme and T'ra taking switching off between explaining the mechanics behind the raw data they'd presented at the start of the meeting and actually running the chapter.Tomorrow would be a lot of standing and talking. Maybe some hands-on work, depending on how the secondary site's stores were looking. All three of them were advised to at least wear the appropriate footwear for that and maybe something they didn't mind getting dirty, just in case.Thankfully, they'd packed for that.–Kit had been quick to take permission to take control to heart.It was not that Plo minded; he had faith that, once he adjusted, the trust and the care behind it was going to be one of the best things about the them that emerged more week-over-week. It was just...a touch surprising that Kit had been so quick to take him up on the permission.It was even more surprising that he'd been so quick to let Kit have that control.Once they were checked into the hotel and left to their own devices for the evening, he picked a dinner place that was about a ten minute walk away from the hotel...and only two blocks from a gravel lakeside path that eventually meandered to about two blocks away from their hotel.More notably, there were plenty of benches to pick from to sit and watch the sun set.Plo put his arm around Kit's waist and Kit put his head on Plo's shoulder and his hand on Plo's knee, thumb rubbing just above his kneecap absently.Sometimes it felt like he was trying to make up for a lifetime of lonely. Others...it felt like maybe he hadn't been lonely so much as he'd been waiting.Tonight was somewhere between the two sentiments.“One of these nights you should bring your camera,” Plo suggested.“I will,” Kit decided and then added, quieter, “Thank you.”Plo tightened his grip on Kit's waist a little bit, fingertips sinking into skin even through his shirt and Kit squeezed the inside of the lowest part of Plo's thigh.They stayed like that, the pressure Plo had against Kit's side constant and Kit's hand on the inside of his thigh rather than above Plo's kneecap until the sun had finished setting, only the final, defiant tendrils of orange and yellow that refused to give way to the night's inevitable darkness offering any natural light.The path was well-lit, at least, and there were still enough other people out and walking around despite how late the sun set in June lending the moment a feeling of safety that may or may not hold up under pressure.When they stood up, Kit pulled Plo towards him to kiss him like he was hungry for a moment before pulling away just enough to rest their foreheads together.The two blocks and change back to the hotel felt much too far.Once they were back in their room, Plo wasted no time crowding Kit, kissing him like he was the one who hungered because he did. He hungered for Kit. He needed Kit.
He wanted. He wanted. He wanted.
The sound Kit made was more of a growl as he returned the rough affections that bordered on demands.Without a word, Kit took control here, too, guided Plo until he was on his back on the bed, knee between Plo's legs to offer him some friction if he couldn't find it in him to be patient.And – he couldn't. Not tonight. Not right now. Not with how much he wanted.And Kit – Kit clearly wanted just as desperately. He covered Plo's body with his own before there had been any effort to remove any of their clothes, resumed kissing him, held Plo's wrists down, pinned above his head as they began grinding against each other.Plo was pretty sure they'd nearly done this in Boise, not drunk but also not sober enough that belt buckles felt like complex machines. That had not been the part of that night that stuck out most in memory, though.“Fuck,” Kit managed as he pulled back to pull his shirt off before he urged Plo to sit up enough to do the same.They were a tussle of limbs and fabric and need for a long moment before all they were was skin teeth and hunger.“Can I-” Kit started to ask.“Yes,” Plo answered because whatever Kit wanted, Plo would give him.“Fuck,” Kit repeated, more breathless this time, “Next hotel. Lube's going on the nightstand before we need it.”“Brilliant,” Plo managed.“So you keep saying.”“You are,” Plo told him like a promise. And – he was. Brilliant, that is. Kit was absolutely, breathtakingly brilliant and Plo would tell him as many times as it took until he believed it and then some.Kit smiled, at least, the look in his eyes taking on an edge of gratitude alongside the desire they both radiated at this point.Then Kit got up because that particular moment of brilliance didn't do them any favors right now, returned as quickly as he could, lube in one hand and a pair of cock rings in the other.Plo heard a whimper before he realized it came from him.“Are you okay with this?” Kit managed an entire sentence.“Yeah,” Plo remember to answer with more than a nod.Kit put one of them on Plo first before putting one on himself.Plo stared, openly, gave himself permission to enjoy the sight of Kit making his own cock slick.He knew that, once Kit's fingers were in him, it wouldn't be long at all until the room was too bright and the effort of keeping his head up was too much. He would stare while he could, and Kit would stare back, pupils wide, nostrils flare, and Plo felt so wanted that the notion stretched well beyond words.“How do you want me?” Kit asked even as he began to work Plo open.“Please,” was all Plo could manage at first.Kit crooked his finger and Plo keened while Kit shuddered.He was tense in all the wrong ways and he knew it. He knew that Kit had to know it, too.Kit, though...Kit was patient. Understanding. Forgiving. If it took half the night for Plo to get his body to relax enough for Kit to fuck him, Kit not only never complained but found ways to enjoy the process.He was so fucking lucky.Above him, Kit babbled, told Plo over and over how good he felt and how much he loved doing this, and Plo let himself lose track of everything that wasn't Kit long enough for Kit to bury himself inside him.Kit flipped him over before he started to bury himself inside of him and the friction the covers provided felt like a gift.Kit went slowly. He always did. This was, beyond question and beyond doubt, for Plo's pleasure as much as it was for Kit's and he loved him all the more for it.Once Kit was fully buried inside him, just...stayed there for a moment. Let Plo adjust. Let them both breathe for a little.He ran the fingertips of one of his hands up Plo's spine and then down again as the other grabbed onto the side of his hip. The shiver Plo offered in kind was involuntary. He closed his eyes because light was suddenly too much.“Good?” Kit asked.“Good,” Plo promised.As if Kit had ever been anything but.Plo thought, often, that Kit fucked like he wanted to see how much Plo was willing to give. The answer, Plo was increasingly finding, was everything.Tonight was no different.Except-Except the point at which Plo thought he was about to cum wasn't followed immediately by the expected occurrence.The moment kept going, kept him on the edge longer and longer until it felt like every nerve in his body was alight with blinding pleasure.And then Kit...stopped.He just stopped.Plo was pretty sure the whine came from him.“Plo,” Kit's voice was gentle, “are you alright?”He managed what he hoped was an affirmative - he was more than alright, even if words and thoughts failed him.“Good,” Kit purred.There were a few more moments of stillness where Kit squeezed some more lube out and worked it over his cock and then inside Plo, never pulled out all the way and then – when things were slick once more – damn near immediately brought Plo to the point where everything was too much, too much, and yet he wanted more, more, more, more more more moremoremoremoremore-His orgasm blindsided him.He was, quite vaguely, aware of a strangled sound above him before Kit came, too - also without warning.When anything like coherency found Plo again, the first thing he said was: “We're doing that again.”“Uh-huh,” Kit agreed.Kit was pressed against Plo's back, both of them at the mercy of the mattress until they could remember how limbs worked.Kit kind of gnawed at the top of Plo's shoulder for a moment before he pressed a kiss there and then rolled off of him.The room air was always too cold for a moment when he did that.“We're going to have to make a Target run soon,” Kit told him, “Or...wherever.”“Remind me in the morning,” Plo requested.Errands – even ones for his literal pleasure – weren't making it past his short-term memory tonight.“I will try,” Kit replied, “Come here.”Kit pulled Plo against him, both of their movements still not quite coordinated.There would, eventually, be a cleanup effort, a shower, a final check that tomorrow's plans still held – their lives that involved the rest of the world would come back to them.For now, though, it could continue to be just the two of them for a little while longer.–One day they'd have a late night – for any reason – where they wouldn't have to get up early the next day.Today was not that day.Two cups of cheap hotel coffee and one much better cup of cafe coffee into the morning, Plo and Kit found themselves waiting outside for Tholme, T'ra, and/or Saesee to show up.“Are we sure we're meeting here instead of the office?” Kit checked.“As sure as you are,” Plo answered.It turned out they were in the correct, place, just earlier than they were supposed to be.
Whoops.
Saesee arrived first, then Tholme, T'ra, and someone they hadn't met yet.“Plo, Kit, this is Kai. They're in charge of opening the second site,” Tholme introduced the newcomer, “Kai, Plo Koon and Kit Fisto are the Board members who are doing the road trip.”Saesee and Kai must have been previously introduced, then.Plo and Kit both said hello to Kai, who greeted them in turn and then explained that they stop by the office first to make sure any and all relevant overnight information has been conveyed to all parties in all directions before biking here.Today was clearly an exception on account of one-fifth of the Board having come to check out what, exactly, Kai did for a living.The site officially opened to the public at ten in the morning and stayed open until eight. Kai unlocked everything at nine to get everything set up five days a week; someone named Alice joined Kai around noon and then they were both joined by one of two other workers who ran the site all weekend to keep their hours at full-time; Kai left around six while everyone else left by nine at the latest.Kit was not doing all that math.Kai gave them the official quick-look-around-the-place that passed as a tour of the front of the place. (They had both managed to forget that the space they were touring had coffee as well. After last night, though, more coffee was welcome.) Kai also offered them an apology for not being able to give them a complete tour until the door was open so they could open on time.“It's alright, Kai,” T'ra assured him, “We're here so you can do your job."That was a leadership style that Kit could appreciate.“Come on,” Tholme beckoned to all three of them, “There's more in the back and then upstairs.”The back room of the downstairs was where anything set to be picked up for that day were stored on industrial wire shelving units – food and clothes, mostly, but apparently around the winter holidays toys were also among the items assigned to the liminal space that was neither the storage room or their new home.The storage room was upstairs.It had a distinctive miniature warehouse feel to it despite the walls being plain drywall with the periodic scuff or dent from where someone had applied more force than the non-warehouse-approved material could handle.Signs indicating what was supposed to go where were taped to the shelves, but it seemed like some of the signs were more suggestions than expectations.Plo relayed that the center was something they hadn't seen in any of the other chapters, but it seemed like a sound idea.“We have people who think there isn’t a problem because they don’t see it and people who don’t want any evidence of unmet needs in their neighborhood to be visible,” Tholme explained, “Unfortunately, that Venn diagram is nearly a perfect circle.”The fact this was the first time NIMBYism had come up directly in the entire trip was a surprise now that Tholme had described it.“The solution – at present – is, well, this,” Tholme continued, “We got the city's permission to add some shit like free coffee and a lending library and that made them happy enough to let us operate out of the space.”If the data held and the success stories continued to look like the ones they were handed yesterday, this was a perfect example of why chapters were encouraged to figure out what worked best for the communities they served.(If only every chapter could secure enough funds for a dedicated second site.)They made their way back downstairs to see for themselves what, exactly, happened in a place like this.People came and went all morning – some for a cup of free coffee, some just to have a conversation, some to pick up a box of food, others because they needed help navigating one of the state's websites that promised to link them to aid but proceeded to send them in a navigational loop if they misclicked or read too quickly.Kai – and, later, Alice – clearly knew what they were doing and had practiced not only how to do things correctly but explaining the same process several different ways to make sure whoever they were helping understood what they were doing and, in turn, had a better chance of doing it themselves if there was a next time.During a lull, Alice told everyone: “You probably noticed when you went upstairs, but most yesterday's donations still need sorting. They have all been logged and are off the floor, but that's about all I can say for them.”“You'll let one of us know if you need extra hands?” Tholme checked.“We will,” Alice promised, “And we will do the same if getting back to our cars seems a little sketchy.”“Good,” Tholme replied.This was, quite clearly, a conversation they had had before, if not one they had regularly.Coupled with Saesee's concerns about the CR-V being broken into, Kit couldn't help but wonder just how much this city with a small-town feel managed to hide from those who did not know how to look.Not in their backyard indeed.There was something more to the fact they'd gotten permission from the city to operate like this that Kit couldn't quite put to words. It wasn't – it was not quite a stepping stone to a greater acceptance, but it wasn't holding a line, either.Perhaps putting it to words was not as important as seeing it for what it was: a refusal to quit because other people said no to helping their neighbors.He'd figure it out eventually.Despite everything, the Olympia chapter was doing better than expected and that was what mattered.–Plo, Kit, and Saesee wound up working out the final details for their plans for the Seattle chapter visit between small tasks in the pseudo community center.Sha had wound up going with a motel and while that was fine, Saesee's concerns about car break-ins still lingered.“What if we rented a car for the week?” Kit suggested, “I mean – it's not exactly ideal when nothing's wrong with yours, but it would be one less thing to worry about at the same time.”It was more than a fair suggestion; this was going to be the longest they'd stayed anywhere besides Depa's, and there they had had the luxury of crashing in her house and parking out of sight of the roadway. (If they'd canceled or rescheduled anything to stay there that long, Plo couldn't remember anymore. He felt like a different person, now, despite how the year had not even managed to be half-way over yet.)That didn't mean Plo had to be thrilled about it.Saesee didn't mind keeping the CR-V on his property until Kit and Plo were ready to move onto their next destination. It was likely safer there than in a garage, really – well away from prying eyes and the property already with a reputation for being well-protected.Besides: there wasn't going to be space in the motel room to air everything out and proximity to a laundromat wasn't one of the things that Sha had taken into consideration when the motel had a laundry service available. At least – Plo hadn't asked if there was a laundromat nearby and while he could have, Sha was a mater of hours away from leaving for the airport and he wasn't going to make her reconsider her choices because he had forgotten something.Saesee also didn't mind dropping them off somewhere if they found a rental car they liked better outside of the city, which opened up their options greatly.Finding something that fit three people – two of who were over six feet tall – and their week's-plus worth of luggage proved to be a bit of an endurance hunt that involved calling the rental places to see exactly what vehicles were available despite knowing the hold may well not be honored, but they eventually settled on one that was about half-way between where they were and the airport.Ultimately, T'ra offered to drive them so that Saesee didn't have to make the trip and – once he was certain Plo and Kit didn't mind – Saesee accepted her offer.Saesee did ask if Plo wanted anything on the CR-V checked or repaired and while Plo was fairly certain the vehicle was fine given how recently it had been in the shop, a second set of eyes wouldn't be a bad thing.(It was oddly nice to have someone worried about the CR-V.)Rental reservations made and timetables for the morning set, Plo messaged Sha to let her know they would be in a rental car and wouldn't have confirmation as to what it looked like until they picked it up.She messaged back nearly immediately to ask if the CR-V was okay.He assured her that it was fine; they were just keeping it at Saesee's to avoid having it out in the open for a week, to which she responded with Maybe this will feel like a vacation for both of us, then.Plo...had not considered that.He was stumbling on a lot of things he had not previously considered lately.Perhaps the world was opening itself to him.That much he could be open to in turn.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Rental car secured and the airport's pick-up area set as their destination, Plo and Kit were on the road once more.“Thank you,” Plo told Kit, “for inviting Sha.”“Any time,” Kit promised, “She's the most important person in your life. I don't want to take away from that.”Plo reached out to put a hand on Kit's arm and kept it there until Kit shifted to hold his hand.They could actually do that in this car without holding their shoulders at angles that would cause pain most of the night if they kept them there too long.(Yet another thing Plo would never have found out if he had stuck with the familiar and the familiar alone.)“She sounds excited,” Kit noted.“She is,” Plo confirmed, “She's also getting restless with the job hunt.”“I know the fact she is far from alone as far as struggling to find employment – of any type – is no comfort,” Kit recognized, “You can't just walk into a potential place of employment and hand them your resume anymore.”He'd mentored kids who'd tried that on their parents' insistence only for their effort to be met with threats of calling the cops.“Sha - and her entire generation - is trying to make their way in a world so different from the one waiting for me when I graduated,” Plo knew, “I worry that it wasn’t built with their futures in mind.”“One of the things that I’ve always found compelling about you is that you do not need to understand something in totality to accept that it is something to be accounted for,” Kit replied even as he winced and proceeded to sort-of apologize with: “That…came out less graceful than I intended.”“There are countless things I will never experience,” Plo explained, “That does not make them any less real for those who live them.”Kit squeezed Plo's hand and Plo squeezed back.Eventually, Plo told Kit: “I think I'm starting to feel a little more like myself.”“Good,” Kit's smile was in his voice, “I love you regardless of how you're feeling.”
(Full stop.)
Without taking his eyes off the road, Plo lifted Kit's hand to his mouth to press a quick kiss to his knuckles.They were going to be more than fine.–Sha was waiting on the edge of the sidewalk, oversized hiking bag on its frame strapped to her back and a laptop bag slung across her chest.She removed them in record time – nearly dropped them both – when Plo got out of the car.“I'm so glad you're here,” he told her as she damn near tackled him.“Me, too,” she told him, “Oh I have missed you so much and all of the pics Kit keeps sending are stunning.”Plo looked back at Kit, who grinned.“I take a lot of photos while you're driving,” Kit reminded him.“I do love seeing them,” Sha added as she let go of Plo, “Kit, I cannot remember if you hug?”“I hug,” Kit confirmed but let her come to him.Sha didn't offer Kit nearly the same intensity, but she was still clearly glad that he was there, too.Plo would never tire of feeling like the luckiest man in the world.–The motel Sha had picked was reasonable walking distance to where the Seattle chapter was headquartered. There was a bus shelter right outside of the motel as well as a number of additional stops nearby.The room itself was...rather nice, actually. The shower was spotless despite containing grout and the bedding was white.This was a place that valued cleanliness.There was also a single-serve coffee maker that would be seeing plenty of use and a mini fridge that may well not see any. The TV was smaller than expected but if the coming week was as busy as it was promising to be, odds were neither of them would so much as turn it on for background noise before Kit showered and they both passed out more than they settled in for sleep.“Sha picked well,” Kit assessed.“She does like picking apart online reviews,” Plo told him, “We're going to be comfortable.”“Very,” Kit agreed.There was a knock on the door.Kit opened it.“Thirty minute nap and then what do you two say to finding lunch somewhere?” Sha asked as her greeting.“Go nap,” Plo told her.“Sweet,” Sha flashed them a thumbs-up, “Please call me if you don't hear from me in forty-five.”“I will,” Plo promised.With that, Sha departed.“She's been up since three this morning – Eastern Time – if she slept at all,” Plo told Kit.“I was not one of the lucky twenty-somethings who could nap and then go the rest of the day,” Kit admitted, “I feel like you were, though.”“Well into my thirties,” Plo confirmed, “I'd fall asleep on a plane and wake up in another time zone to finish whatever I'd been working on when boarding started and then go for another sixteen hours until the next time I saw a bed.”“No wonder driving for thirteen hours in a day is nothing to you,” Kit shook his head, “That's the easy option compared to...that.”“I am also nearly twice as old,” Plo pointed out, “I actually prefer a slower pace.”“Lucky for me,” Kit offered him a small smile.Plo hummed and reached out a hand towards Kit; Kit grabbed it and pulled Plo towards him, kissed Plo gently and let his hand wander for a moment before settling on his hips.Plo wrapped his arms around Kit and returned the kiss before he nestled his face in Kit's shoulder.“I've done the go fast and break things,” he told Kit, “I got out of that before it broke me. I retired so I could see what life had to offer on my time while time was still on my side.”“And?” Kit asked.“I have largely found that time doesn't pick sides,” Plo answered, “It simply ticks by. The meaning it has is what we give it. The side is the one we choose to stand on.”These moments – Kit in his arms, Sha safely just two doors down, the future mere months away from being wide open – could carry as much weight as they could handle.An anchor cast in a calm sea.“I love you, Kit.”“I love you, Plo. Full stop.”“Full stop,” Plo echoed like a promise.A lot of things may have been in flux at that exact point, but Plo had no doubts that they stood together–All three of them had decided to take the rest of the day at a slow pace. Lunch was at a record store with a cafe attached just half a mile from the motel and then most of the rest of the afternoon had been spent sifting through records – Sha found several to take home with her, Plo found a few Sha promised to have Ahsoka drop at the condo when she visited her parents in a few weeks, and Kit learned they both had incredibly strong feelings about how to store records.Dinner had been late but at a Hawaiian place on the water where they got to watch the sunset over the Seattle skyline.And so: when it came time for them to meet the head of the Seattle chapter and be shown around the city, all three of them felt as close to rested as they were going to get.Sha had been explicitly invited to join them if she wanted; there was nothing Quinlan would show a Board member than he wouldn't want a volunteer to see. Sha, for her part, was always curious and wanted to spend more time with Plo so she'd accepted the invitation.Quinlan met them – plus Saesee – outside of the building where they rented half of the third floor so he could get them past the elevators' security.For all of the warnings the man came with, none of them seemed warranted based on the all-but-required sitdown overview of how the chapter was doing.At least – until he mentioned that he was acutely aware that the resources he could offer those in need through the organization would never make be enough, making outside-of-work efforts a need.“What do you mean?” Kit asked.“I am so glad you asked,” Quinlan replied, “Come, meet my pilot dumpster.”His assistant, Aayla – who seemed to be around Sha's age – seemed to fight the urge to bury her face in her hands while Saesee only sighed.Unconventional indeed.“Alright,” Plo agreed first.“Stairs or elevator?” Quinlan asked.They took the stairs.“This one's the first one I bought outright,” Quinlan explained as they descended, “It's marked as food-only. Usually the sign is honored. I've got three surrounded by retail stores that regularly toss inventory that they didn't sell. We pulled an entire dining set out once.”That was...actually impressive.“Dumpster diving is illegal in Seattle,” Quinlan continued, “It's considered property theft. However, the owner of the dumpster has to be the one to press charges. Actually buying the space for a dumpster involves a lot of paperwork and even more pestering the people who need to sign off on it, but it can be done. As for the dumpsters themselves, it turns out you can just buy one and the manufacturer doesn't ask why you need an entire dumpster.”He knew because he'd clearly done it. Not just once but multiple times.“The food is a little tricky,” Quinlan admitted, “We can't actually give any of it away officially, but we CAN leave it unlocked and if a few bags manage to get left just outside of it for easier grabbing, well...”Malicious compliance was one of those tools one kept in the toolbox just in case it was ever needed.The pilot dumpster in question was only about two blocks from the office and surrounded by small restaurants. There were also several grocery stores within a block and a half, but those were likely harder to convince to let you purchase part of their parking lot.“Do I like that this covers a gap?” Quinlan asked as he crawled in the dumpster, “No. Absolutely not. People shouldn't have to pick from digging through the trash and starving. But that's part of what we're working for – basic human dignity for all. Until then, though, even one safer way to do it is one more than there was before I put this thing here.”“You don’t have to-” Aayla started saying as Kit climbed in after him, “Ah. Alright.”Plo was right behind Kit.Sha pulled out her phone and started filming.“You aren’t going to post that anywhere, are you?” Aayla asked.“No,” Sha replied, “When the paramedics arrive, I want to be able to show them the video.”“I appreciate your faith in me!” Plo called from inside the dumpster.“The one time I didn’t film was the one time I needed to explain things to the medics!” Sha reminded him.“You aren’t fourteen anymore and you have fellow witnesses this time!” Plo reminded her in turn.“You know as well as I do that witness testimony may vary!” Sha reminded him.“Try to only toss lighter bags,” Quinlan warned Plo and Kit, “We don't want anything going through someone's windshield after a bad toss.”That sounded like something he'd learned from experience.“You are incredibly calm about this,” Saesee informed her.“Eh,” Sha shrugged, “You can’t control most of what happens to you, but you can control how weird you make it for everyone else. When in doubt, double down when someone else is trying to make your day weirder.”“Where do you learn these things!?” Plo called to her.“You are asking me that question from the inside of a dumpster!” Sha called back, “Why are you in there, anyway?”“If we aren’t willing to do something, why should anyone else?” Plo asked, “Does this count as light?”“My God, man, no,” Quinlan answered, “There is an entire ham in there.”“It's still frozen,” Plo pointed out.“Aayla!” Quinlan called to her, “Get ready to catch!”“This has to be some sort of OSHA violation,” she informed him even as she tried to gauge where she was most likely going to need to intercept a frozen meat projectile.“I can just set it down gently,” Plo tried to stop him but the sound of a bag being wound up for a long-distance toss persisted.“Hey!” Quinlan protested.“Save your workplace safety violations for when nobody's filming them,” Plo told him.“Oh no,” Saesee muttered.Kit's laughter rang throughout the parking lot as a bag was more carefully tossed just over the top of the dumpster wall.“One day you’re going to be too old to climb into dumpsters, Uncle,” Sha informed him.“That’s where you take up my stead,” Plo replied, “You’ve seen how it’s done. You'll even have a video in case you missed a step.”“True,” Sha agreed, “but with any amount of luck by the time I’m your age your mission will be completely different.”“Luck has nothing to do with it,” Quinlan corrected as he hefted another, much lighter bag out of the dumpster, “Change comes down to just about everything but luck.”“Cosmic probability at play is too long to say in place of luck,” Sha replied, “I’m not saying you all aren’t working harder than is sustainable, but there are uncontrollable and barely-controllable factors that come into who gets what resources. Genetics. Freak accidents. A rogue line of code that wipes the entire database despite acting fine in testing. Fire. Flood. A job treated as a line item. Countless things that only take seconds to happen that create suffering for years, if not generations.“More than that: there are things that maliciously go so much deeper than probability. There are generations upon generations of systems that won't be dismantled in his lifetime. Or mine. Or that of my friends' children. Nobody chooses how we were born, or why. If people can call themselves lucky for how cosmic probability plays out, then attributing suffering to luck, too, makes surviving an even greater act of self-empowerment.”Silence very nearly settled over them.“That said, not everyone needs to be in the dumpster,” Plo kept the silence at bay, “There are roles to affecting change. Not everyone can be on the frontlines. There is only so much room. The relay operators are one of the most important roles in a protest and yet you’ll rarely ever see them if you’re on the streets yourself.”“Not every day can be a protest, though,” Quinlan pointed out, “Not if we want to make it through the year, nevermind out entire lives.“No,” Plo agreed, “But every day is a fight. Different for all of us – even here, just between the six of us – but still a fight. We do not leave our faith that our actions, our senses of justice and equity and hope that one day the parents and caregivers of that day will be the ones whose children do not have to spend their lives choosing between trying to be comfortable and sacrificing their comfort for a future they will never see.”Another bag came soaring over the dumpster wall.“Most days I'm just angry about how long the road ahead is despite how many of those who have come before me have sacrificed their entire lives – often too-short lives – for...what?” Sha admitted.“For a future than never belonged to them,” Kit answered, “Just as we fight for one that does not belong to us. We want better now, yes, and will do everything in our power to affect change as quickly as we can, but the best way to avoid anger at what has yet to change turning into a fear – or worse, despair – that things won't change is to believe that we're fighting for something that will endure long after our bodies have worn out.”“Anger is perfectly acceptable so long as it’s actionable,” Plo added, “Anger. Fear. Sorrow. Grief. All the other perfectly human experiences that we are too often taught to shy away from. They’re protecting something much deeper. Once you understand what that something is, they move from destructive to actionable. And action takes many forms. Like I said: we can't all be in the dumpster at the same time.”Silence, save for the rustling of trash bags, did settle this time.“That's enough for now,” Quinlan eventually called it, “I'm going to grab these two and then we can let the next one to come through who feels inclined to leave some out for those who can't jump in to decide on what they're leaving behind.”That was, truly, a perfect summary of the notion they had been trying to get across.Kit jumped out first and then turned around to give Plo and then Quinlan a hand down. Quinlan handed one bag to Kit and the other to Plo before he jumped down on his own.Sha put her phone away.“Alright you three,” Aayla pulled a can of aerosolized disinfectant out of her bag, “The bags are sealedd but the dumpster is not. Let's spray you down. Saesee, Sha, you two may want to to stand back.”“I should have kept the video rolling,” Sha muttered as she took a few steps away and then moved upwind.Saesee did the same.Aayla proceeded spray Plo, Kit, and Quin with enough of the disinfectant to probably make them a fire hazard if anyone struck a match.“None of you smoke, do you?” Sha checked.“I quit about five years ago,” Quinlan sighed, “Though not because my personal assistant keeps dousing me with a fine mist of rubbing alcohol and who knows what else.”Aayla only shook her head.“Remind me to add personal disinfectant wipes to the donations list,” Quinlan said to Aayla more than anyone else.“Right next to the shower wipes,” Aayla replied like an assurance she wouldn't forget.“The mobile showers never have time or water to offer a proper wash to everyone,” Quinlan explained, “A lot of what we're doing is packing wounds and hoping someone else comes along with more help to offer than the shirt off our backs, but the other option is not doing anything.”Something over nothing.A will to try over a desire to get it perfect.The preservation of dignity over should.Quinlan may be unconventional, but he had the exact spirit the mission needed to do more than survive.As they walked back towards the office, the upcoming week shifted from looking exhausting to looking like something that may yet make this trip feel as if the roads were still wide open.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
There were a few hours to kill between dinner and bed that did not have anything assigned to them, so the trio decided to spend them figuring out how long they could play Settlers of Catan before one of them realized they had a competitive side that exceeded the bounds of a fun evening in.They made it almost two hours before both Kit and Plo's phones started making noise at least once a minute.“Is something about to rile every news outlet with half an eye on nonprofits up again?” Sha asked.“Hopefully not,” Plo mumbled as he reached for his phone.Sha and Kit both waited for him to let them know if hope paid off this time.“Half the Board wants a quick call and the other half is demanding to know why they weren't told Yoda was being investigated,” Plo relayed, “You didn't hear that, Sha.”“Already forgotten,” Sha promised, “Is the game over for the night?”“It's on pause until we know if we need to join a call,” Plo corrected, “If we do need to-”“Sensitive information, I know,” Sha interrupted, “I am two doors down and both of you have the ability to summon me without going outside.”“How bad is it?” Kit asked.“Lively,” Plo answered, “I have a feeling someone's going to – ah, there it is.”“Call me when you're off your call,” Sha said as she got up, “I'm trusting you both not to touch the game.”“I'm taking a picture in case the game gets bumped,” Kit told her.“Smart,” she complimented, “I do not envy either of you. Want me to grab anything from one of the nearby stores?Snacks? Drinks?”“Surprise me,” Plo told her.“For that I'm finding someone willing to cover an onion in chocolate,” she replied, “Kit?”“Uh,” Kit hesitated, “Not that.”Sha laughed and promised she'd wait a few years before she did that to him before departing with a reminder to call her when she could return. She did take one of their room cards so she could let herself in.“Has she-” Kit started to ask.“Long story,” Plo chuckled, “but no. Not yet.”Kit's laptop was more accessible, so they got it out and waited for someone else to send an official meeting link.Mace wound up being the one to send it; nearly the entire Board joined within three minutes of it going out; Yoda, Anakin, Ki-Adi, and Agen were the only three who did not.Yoda, it turned out, would be joining later – once he was finished with the external legal team. The news of his confirmed uninvolvement in anything connected to Lynn Haven was so fresh that even Yoda was not completely debriefed.(How the news was relayed so early, then, remained a mystery.)Having the news dissemination be an early, open call instead of a comprehensive email relaying what the investigation entailed and what was – and was not – discovered with a meeting invite attached was, in Plo's opinion, a reactionary move instead of one that demonstrated any understanding of why those on the Board who were not being kept up to date had their own, semi-cohesive concerns.Anakin did join them eventually with an apology and a vague mentioning of children and bed time.Agen hit reply all to apologize for not being able to join the call and requested that if someone could send him a recap to please do (and thank you in advance).Shaak called for an official note taker. Kit volunteered first; Stass offered to help if he shared the document link.Plo got to watch the two of them taking notes with the tiny window of whoever was speaking at any given moment rotating at least once every ninety seconds.Yoda did join them – and nearly immediately became the target of several questions at once. It felt like everyone else was calling for those who wanted their questions answered first to stop shouting.Plo, in one of his least thought out gestures in a long time, pulled out his phone.Plo: Favorite Niece. If you're in your room, I need you to stick your head in and whistle like you do at the horses when they're being assholes.He swore she could hear her laughing even two doors down.Sha: I am your only Niece.Sha: Be right over.“Cover your ears, love,” he told Kit as quietly as he could.Sha's horse whistle was just as shrill as Plo remembered.It was more effective on people than it was on the beasts of burden she'd developed it for.“One at a time and one question per person per round,” Plo told everyone, “Alphabetically.”“What was that!?” Anakin threw his first question away.“My Niece,” Plo answered, “I had her stick her head in long enough to do that.”Oppo put everyone's names in the call's chat in alphabetical order.Whether the adherence to Plo's instructions was due to everyone realizing they were acting like children or a communal unwillingness to have Sha called back for an encore did not really matter. The discussion became coherent and civil, if more tense than before Yoda had joined.Absolutely nothing new was learned.The call ended, eventually. Of course it did. It had to. There were only so many ways a lack of information could be relayed, and there were only so many ways thirteen people could ask What the fuck? before it became pointless.Plo and Kit both needed a few moments before they let Sha know she could rejoin them.“That...happened,” Kit finally said.Plo could only make a vague noise of agreement.It happened, yes, but it was showing signs that it would keep happening for the foreseeable future and they wouldn't always have Sha to bring things back under control.Suddenly, the Board Meeting could not happen soon enough.–Come morning, the three of them made their way to the volunteer site they'd be spending all morning and most of the afternoon. They would see an unknown amount of people coming to pick up boxes of shelf-stable food and – in the case of a lucky few whose requests overlapped with ability to fulfill them – things like can openers and paring knives so they could use everything they were given.The pickup site was a middle school cafeteria. The sorting and the general structure would be relayed once they could see it in action; Quinlan clearly favored showing over telling.Saesee would not be joining them toady on account of needing to get work done so he could join them tomorrow and for the pending lunch.Quinlan and Aayla were already there and working, though, along with a woman they hadn't met yet.“You're early,” Quinlan informed them, “Come on, we're getting everything in rough alphabetical sections. Oh, Asajj, these three are Kit Fisto and Plo Koon – Board members – and Sha Koon, usually an Illinois or Delaware volunteer. Kit, Plo, Sha, this is Asajj, one of my partners.”“Good to meet you,” Sha replied first, “What's the system here?”“Boxes are all in the food prep area,” Quinlan replied, “We'll need to move the tables around so that those of us handling sign-in can face the rest of the cafeteria – so one table right were the little corral area of line barriers is. One of us will handle sign-ins, two will run boxes back and forth, two will be mingling with everyone who's waiting to try to see if anyone needs referrals for anything or to be pointed at a different service, one will be on standby to sort out any issues with missing items and such, and then everyone else will be actually finding the boxes.”Asajj must have noticed all three of them trying to do the math because she clarified: “There are other volunteers.”That...made more sense.“You three are early,” Quinlan repeated, “Are all three of you cleared to lift up to twenty-five pounds?”(They were.)Their job for the next hour became sifting the boxes that had been unloaded from the rental truck without ceremony in the name of getting it back within the hour into groups by letter and, when that was done, tracking down enough paper and a marker of some sort to indicate which pile corresponded with which letter.There were boxes without names on them – only allergy warnings and an approximate family size that the box would be appropriate for – that would be first-come, first-serve. Anyone who showed up requesting them needed to be run through the system to ensure that they weren't taking boxes more often than was allowed.Quinlan had cursed the fact he needed to keep the monthly box cap in place as the chapter Director the entire time they'd been setting up.“Sure, there will always be people who take more than what's considered their fair share,” he'd told them, “Seattle has something like a dozen billionaires and nobody tells them to wait to take more until everyone else has gotten enough to not starve for the next few days.”The cap on how many times the same family could receive a box of food per month had, ultimately, been kept in place because when he'd weighed enabling some of those they served being less hungry overall against avoiding creating a situation where more people went hungry, point blank, the latter had won out.There were never enough funds, goods, or time to not have to rely on other aid organization to cover the rest of the gaps and there was never going to be enough of anything one might use to absolve the guilt of not being able to do enough for the job to get done.It was an all-too-common refrain across the country.Three more volunteers show up to make nine of them in total – a lot for an event but still not enough to not be stretching everything they had to offer dangerously thin.No wonder people were expected to sit and wait for their name to be called instead of waiting in line while one or two boxes were brought out at a time.As far as they could tell, things went as expected for most of the morning. The setup wasn't ideal and even with the sign-in list there were accusations of line cutting and some clients being served out of turn.That much was understandable, at least. Time was the one thing none of them could make more of, and every single one of them waiting their turn had places they needed to be. Things they needed to take care of. Shifts they couldn't be late for.Everyone could only do so much and just how thin things were stretched behind the scenes echoed in each complaint.And then someone screamed.A quick glance up from where they sat handling sign-ins revealed that, on the other side of the cafeteria, someone had a knife out.Plo and Sha were both vaulting over the table and running towards the incident before anyone could even try to start giving directions.Quinlan ran after them.“Oh God no,” Kit barely breathed, frozen where he stood looking over the sign-in sheet.There was no safe way for any of this to unfold.“I’m filming this,” Aayla said under her breath.A cue from Sha the day before - at least emergency services would not have to rely on witness testimony alone.Plo grabbed the one with the knife from behind, one arm pinning the arm the guy wasn’t using to his side while he grabbed the knife-wielding hand by the wrist. Plo had size advantage and – blessedly – strength advantage. He was able to hold the knife-wielder still enough for nobody to get hurt – the hand with the knife in it gripped most securely, just below the wrist, practiced - while Quinlan caught up so they could do a (much safer) two-person restraint.Sha pushed the one the knife had been pulled on back and started yelling for everyone to take three steps back so this could be dealt with.“Good, Uncle?” Sha asked quietly.“Good,” Plo promised, “Not done yet though.”As if anyone could have missed that.The person he'd drawn the knife on tried to start shouting at Sha, but Sha wasn't having any of that.“You are a victim in this,” Sha turned around to face them, her trust in her Uncle's hold absolute, “Sit the fuck down before you become guilty of something, too.”There was some hesitation, a moment of who the fuck are you? flickering through the cafeteria before the crowd staring at the unfolding scene decided that it didn't matter who she was – she should be listened to – with enough conviction that there was no further yelling.Everyone sat down, unwilling to create a second guilty party in this.Someone did step out, though, likely to call the police.The last thing they needed was police presence.Sha turned back around and shifted every ounce of her focus to the guy holding the knife.“Drop it!” Sha commanded.The knife was not dropped.“Drop it!” Sha repeated.Again, the command was not followed.“I’m going to count to five,” Sha warned.“Or what?”Finally, an understanding that he understood what was happening – and in turn what he was doing.“One,” Sha started counting.“Or what!?” he demanded this time.
“Two.”
“You can’t make-”
“Three.”
“Or-”
“Four.”
The knife was dropped.“Come on,” Plo told the man they had restrained, “We’re cooling down outside.”Plo and Quinlan led the man outside while Sha started making sure everyone else was alright. Once she was sure there were no physical injuries, she called for Aayla or Asajj to bring her the witness statement forms.There were very few witnesses who were willing to sign their names to their statements. Nobody wanted the cops to have their names, but some were willing to trust that the statements were for internal use.The rest of the event passed in near-silence. Quinlan and Plo returned eventually, no knife wielder in sight. Quinlan did collect the knife, though, and handed it to Aayla for safe keeping.The police would be back later and likely ask for it; why they had not had someone collected it was an oversight that they would likely want to remedy even if nobody pressed charges.The next small handful of hours were subdued; even those who arrived after the incident were quieter than usual, the weight of it hanging heavy in the air.When everyone had left and it was just the volunteers and the small numbed of unclaimed boxes, Quinlan waved everyone to one of the tables so they could regroup for a quick debrief.Everyone was unharmed physically; Asajj complimented Plo and Sha's reaction time and one of the other volunteers was impressed with how well Sha kept control over the situation.The debrief part was short enough: the police had been called but the guy who'd pulled he knife was not arrested. He was, however, informed that if he did anything even remotely close to that again, he would be barred from requesting aid again, from any chapter.(It was clear that Quinlan hated having to issue the warning.)To keep to policy and procedure, he had to talk with Plo and Sha about their role in the physical intervention.“Technically you both followed protocol to a T,” Quinlan scrubbed his hands over his face, “I take it this was not your first time doing that.”“No,” Sha said as Plo answered: “It was not.”“It was the first time we’ve done it together, though,” Sha clarified, “Does this happen often?”“Something happens about every other month, but it usually doesn't escalate to weapons drawn,” Quinlan answered, “You two have fantastic reaction time.”“Horses,” Sha replied, “Years and years of working with horses.”“I have a list,” Plo shrugged, “I know Sha and I both have to sign off on our copies of the incident report.”“How did you both do that so quickly and without adding to the incident?” Quinlan asked, “We've only ever had two knife wounds in the chapter's entire history, but there is usually a lot more shouting involved in keeping it that way.”“Uncle is both tall and strong enough to restrain most people,” Sha answered, “I’m good at yelling at things much larger than I am and getting them to listen. And then between Uncle Plo and my defensive driving courses, I know how to act in the middle of a reaction. Panic comes after things have settled down.”“If either of you had missed a step or breached protocol, I would have to send everyone else out while we went over that, but, uh,” Quinlan blinked a few times, “I've never had anyone do it perfectly, actually.”“I probably could have left the fuck out of my instructions,” Sha granted, “It felt like the situation where not swearing would have escalated things, though.”“Protocol does not specify language use,” Quinlan replied, “I imagine that's to avoid having someone fall back on a script that does make the situation worse.”“I recorded the incident,” Aayla told them, “With your permission, I would like to see if we can include it in our de-escalation training.”“I would like to see the recording first,” Plo requested.“Same, though I'm not expecting to have any issues with it,” Sha replied.“Maybe when we're all slightly more removed from the incident,” Kit suggested.“Good idea,” Quinlan agreed, “Although, Aayla, if you can send me the video-”“Done,” Aayla replied.“Thank you,” Quinlan replied like he wanted to bury his face in his hands for a moment.“Who debriefs you?” Sha asked.“As the most senior employee here, I debrief myself,” Quinlan replied, “We can wrap up on the debriefing. Counseling is available if any of you need it. I'll get you the email with the numbers and emails here in a minute. I know you three planned on doing another day and a half of volunteering-”“Plan,” Plo cut him off, “We still plan on volunteering.”Quinlan's relief was tangible.“Debriefing yourself seems like an oversight,” Sha noted.“It does,” Quinlan agreed.Yet another thing for the ever-growing list of oversights to address.At the rate things were going, this year's Board meeting needed the entire week it was going to span.“Say, Sha,” Aayla turned to her, “What would have happened if you had gotten to five?”Sha and Plo both laughed before Sha answered: “I have no clue.”“Nobody ever gets to five,” Plo added.“He used to do it to me when I was younger,” Sha explained, “It wasn't until maybe last year that I asked the same question.”“What was the answer?” Kit asked.“The same thing,” Sha replied.“We never got to five,” Plo shrugged, “It wasn't about being in trouble. It was about learning to apply the brakes.”It was easy, from there, for the conversation to drift into more calm waters.“Do you three plan on being tourists while you’re here?” Quin asked.“For at least a day,” Kit replied.“You'll want to go down to Pike’s Place and you need to check out the fish stall,” Quin told them, “You also need to check out the bookstore. You’ll know the one.”“I hear there is also a tea shop,” Sha added, “I will be in the tea shop.”“There is a tea shop,” Quinlan confirmed.“I hear there's a selfie museum,” Sha added, “I am not expecting these two to join me.”“Are you looking for company?” Aayla asked.“I am open to company,” Sha answered, “Have you been yet?”“No. I don't want to go alone and my fiance will not go,” Aayla laughed, “I've tried.”“We can go,” Sha told her.Aayla looked downright pleased with this development.“What should we do if we aren't looking to entirely be tourists on our days off?” Kit asked.“I will get you a list,” Quinlan promised, “I'm sure you could spend your entire life here and still not experience everything,” Quinlan replied, “In the mean time, I do have incident reports to file and an email to draft letting the other Chapter Directors know that we've had another incident and that we have a name to add to the caution list.”Quinlan sounded like the only reason he wasn't running his hands over his face was some remaining sense of decorum and/or sense of needing to keep it together. The dismissal was clear, though; go home. Recuperate. Reach out to the available help if you need it. (Another list Quinlan had to send out).They'd get up and do it again come morning with a small prayer for a quieter day.–When they were back in Plo and Kit's hotel room, Kit asked them both where they learned to do that.“My sister and I were the only mixed-race kids in the county and I was gay in the seventies,” Plo told him, “We both learned to fight young, and Sha has her mother's spirit. Sometimes, you grow up just enough to turn that fight into something more productive. More protective.”“I don't actually like punching anyone, but the ability to do so without breaking my hand has come in handy a few times,” Sha added, “But yeah. Though I'm not sure I've quite grown up that much yet.”Kit and Plo both stared at her.“Horses,” Sha reminded Kit, “I learned to be loud and stubborn working with horses.”“Horses,” Kit repeated.“Oh, man, he hasn't told you about that?” Sha laughed, “He told me I had to take up some sort of extracurricular physical activity for at least a year and I picked horses. I was...ten? Eleven? I never stopped.”More stories they hadn't shared yet.“Huh,” was all Kit could think to say to that.“I am going to go scrub the day off before we go to dinner,” Sha decided, “Have we picked a place?”“I don't believe so,” Plo answered.“You can if you want, Sha,” Kit told her.“I will see where I am after I shower,” she decided, “I'll text before I come back over.”“You'll call someone if you need to?” Plo checked.“Always,” Sha assured him.Sha left them alone for a bit, rather unwittingly to let the full weight of the day finish coming down on them.“She has a point,” Kit decided, “A shower might help.”“Kit,” Plo very nearly sighed even as he reached up to cup both sides of Kit's face, “are you alright?”He wasn't.“I watched you running towards it and I couldn't react fast enough and I-” Kit closed his eyes, “I'm sorry.”“Forgiven,” Plo promised, “Always forgiven.”Plo guided Kit closer to him, took some of Kit's weight even as Kit put up a small resistance before letting him take even more of it.“I'm sorry,” Kit repeated.“I won't apologize for acting-” Plo started to say.“I wouldn't ask you to,” Kit interjected.“-but I am sorry I scared you,” Plo finished.That wasn't – well, he had scared Kit, but that wasn't why Kit was upset. He didn't have the right words for it yet.Maybe he never would.But...Plo had kept a bad situation from getting worse even at risk to his own safety.Plo had acted and Kit hadn't and that was the core of it, but not nearly enough of it to mean a damn thing to relay it alone.And so: Kit let Plo take a little more of his weight and clung to him like it could absolve him of not being a better man.–The third day of volunteering had been suspiciously uneventful.No dumpsters. No surprise knives. No tables to jump over. Just...several hours of canvassing homeless encampments to see who needed what and trying to get those willing to accept aid wither signed up for an intake interview or in contact with a different organization that was a better fit for their needs.Dinner, too, had come and gone without anything going even slightly wrong.And so: when Plo awoke with a migraine on what was supposed to be their final day of volunteering in Seattle, it felt like a pendulum swing.Kit texted Sha to let her know and Sha came over almost immediately.She shook two Excedrin into her palm and held them out in Plo’s direction. Plo took them from her with a grumble. She produced a small water bottle from her bag and handed that to him, too.While Plo took them, she filled the kettle and got two of the disposable cups the hotel provided out. Both cups were unwrapped and had a tea bag dropped into them. Once the water had boiled, only one was filled. The rest of the water was left in the kettle.While the tea steeped, Sha had Kit fish out one of the ramen cups and a bag of pretzels.“Tea,” Sha told Plo quietly as she set the prepared cup on the nightstand, “Second cup and ramen’s ready to be made when you’re ready for it. Snacks are next to you. Coffee’s where it’s been the entire stay. You aren’t going to remember any of that so I’m going to text it to you.”Once again, Plo managed something like an affirmative noise.“Love you,” Sha told him quietly.“Love you,” Plo echoed, “Now quiet.”Sha chuckled but headed out of the room. Kit pressed a gentle kiss to Plo’s forehead before he followed Sha out.When they were in the car – Sha took the driver's seat – Kit told her that she was impressed with how efficiently she handled that.“One of the first things I did in college was catch a stomach flu,” she told him as she reversed out of the parking spot, “'Soka called him - not her parents - to ask what she needed to do to help and I am confident that his advice cut the duration in half because he knows exactly what I need when I’m sick versus generic advice.”One day, Kit may yet become as efficient in helping as they were with each other.He relayed as much to Sha, who only huffed at first.“The amount of pics you sent making sure you were getting the right things made me feel better about the fact I wasn’t there and he wasn’t at home with the things he needs,” she added words to it, “He is the worst about actually keeping Excedrin that’s in-date, though. You’re going to have to watch for that one.”“He doesn't talk about them,” Kit admitted, “Not beyond the fact he has them after the first one happened.”“They're usually further apart,” Sha frowned.Stress, Kit suspected, though he had a feeling the teeth-pulling analogy was going to be brought up again if he offered that theory.“Like I said, usually he sleeps through them,” Sha continued, unaware of Kit's momentary inner conflict, “Nobody can figure out what causes them. He gets retested about once a decade to see if any advancements in the field can offer answers.”“Do you have any theories?” he asked.“A few,” she replied like an admission.“What are they?”“Given that the Excedrin, the tea, and the coffee all help and salt is a water retainer, it’s the intersection of stress, overwork, and not having enough fucking water,” Sha offered, “We’re both terrible about that last one, actually.”Kit paused to ask himself when the last time he saw Plo drink water and came up short. He'd mentioned getting Kit a water bottle back in Texas, but that was...probably the last time he'd seen Plo drink water, too.Neither of them had gotten dedicated water containers.“Flavor enhancers but none with aspartame because that’s worse,” Sha started listing, “Juice but like twice a day at most. Unsweet tea of just about all types. He isn’t a fan of ones with actual vanilla in them but I’m determined to find one that proves to be an exception. I’ll just drop fruit chunks in my water at this point. Sometimes cucumbers.”“Fruit?”“I started with one of those where you put the fruit in kind of a rod that goes in the middle of the water bottle but quickly discovered that fruit water is also a portable snack and getting them out of the rod during class was distracting for everyone else,” Sha replied as she changed lanes, “I don’t know if he actually knows I do that because I started about two months into college and reliably have time to make tea when I’m home.”Chicago was still home to her, then. It made sense – even though she'd moved to the east coast and her best friend was at least living in the same city, they'd both formed the overwhelming majority of their memories there.Home took a long time to relocate.“I am also questioning how much water I drink,” Kit admitted, “Or things that work well enough as a substitute.”“I imagine it’s easy to lose track of what you’re consuming on the road,” Sha granted, “Neither of us grabbed breakfast.”“Shit.”“We can get something to eat before our shift,” Sha suggested, “I have a feeling there's no shortage of options in a city like this.”“We should,” Kit agreed, “Plo taught you how to drive, didn't he?”“What gave it away?” Sha laughed.“You keep glancing at the speedometer every time you see a speed limit sign,” Kit answered.“Oh, man, I picked that up?” Sha only half-complained, “Out-of-state tickets are more expensive.”“The rental has Washington plates,” Kit pointed out like he was encouraging her to speed.“It's a good habit to stay in,” Sha reasoned, “In cities, at least. I imagine long stretches don't have a lot of speed limit signs.”She was right, but Kit wasn't going to confirm as much; he'd leave that one to Plo.“Can you drive?” Sha asked.“I have my license, yes,” Kit answered.“Okay but can you drive?” Sha asked.“Yes,” Kit tried to assure her, “I don't have any points on my license, at least.”That seemed to put her at ease, at least.“It's almost funny,” Sha's voice wavered for a second before it evened out again, “In that way where it can't possibly be anything else, you know? It wasn't speed that caused the wreck. Not on my Grandfather's part, at least. He did everything right.”It wasn't funny at all; it could never have been anything else if it was going to be survivable for Sha. It made far too much sense to Kit, so he informed her as such.“You don't look away when it gets ugly,” she told him, “That's half of why you and Uncle Plo got on so quickly.”He nearly asked what the other half was. Instead, he replied: “You can't look away if you want to make it better.”Sha's huff was more fond this time, at least.Before words were added this time, though, she rounded a corner and the sun blinded them both for a moment. She hit the brakes slowly, at least.“Do me a favor,” Sha told him as she pulled the visor down, “My purse, front pocket, glasses case. Dig them out for me?”Sha's purse was on the console between them; Kit did not mind getting them out at all.“Thank you,” she said as she put them on, “I thought the sun was a little higher in the sky.”“It feels like it should be,” Kit complained, “You keep your sunglasses in easy reach, at least.”“I only have one eye,” she reminded him, “I cannot afford to let anything damage it. I have a dedicated pair of car sunglasses in my own car.”Kit had never given much consideration to how much sun his eyes got. He likely should, but...it wasn't something that had been on his personal radar. He had never seen Plo with a pair of sunglasses, either, and they'd driven directly into plenty of sun over the past several months.“I don't worry about either kidney because I have both,” Sha offered, “Probably not the best comparison.”Kit couldn't offer a better one.Today would be interesting, at least, if nothing else.–This volunteer shift was set to be spent organizing the Seattle chapter's warehouse. There were hints that this was going to be more than just a physically heavy lift: Tholme had come up to help and Saesee had made the trip into the city to pitch in.There were some questions about where Plo was, but Sha explained Migraine before Kit could decide how he wanted to answer and that seemed to be that.There were a handful of other volunteers – including one from the particularly eventful shift – but not nearly enough to cover inventorying and sorting the entire warehouse.Quinlan had everyone, Tholme included, sign forms saying that they could safely lift up to thirty-five pounds unassisted (among other, more routine safety waiver notices).Everyone was told to get into groups based on personal strengths – sorting, following an inventory list, lifting – and then pointed at the highest priority areas based on their strengths.Kit found himself with a clipboard and a high schooler looking to fill his service learning hours in his care.Sha assigned herself to the heavy lift team. Quinlan, Saesee, and Aayla had as well – plus a few other volunteers whose names escaped her.“You're sure you're alright?” Aayla checked.“Hmn?” Sha blinked, “Oh, from the other day? Yeah, I'm fine.”“You missed the most exciting volunteer shift we've had in a while,” Quinlan told Saesee.“Somehow I doubt I would use the same word for it,” Saesee replied, “Was this what the email was about?”Sha answered first with: “Someone brought a knife.”“Unfortunately that isn't-” Saesee started saying.“I have the video,” Aayla interrupted, “It's different.”As Saesee watched, his attitude shifted from A knife is unfortunately nothing new here to Mother of fuck why would you do that? before Sha-on-the-video had even started counting down.When the video was over, Saesee told Quinlan: “That still is not the phrase I would use to describe it.”“What word would you use, then?” Quinlan asked.“Where did you two learn to do that?” Saesee asked Sha instead of answering.“Uncle is always the first to run towards the problem,” Sha shrugged, “I've at least picked up some of it over the years. I get the impression Quinlan is used to running towards a crisis.”The laugh that cracked halfway across the warehouse – later identified as Tholme's – was a strangled one.“That's one way of putting it,” Quinlan confirmed, “Probably not how Tholme would put it. Now – two of us need to move the crates of pancake mix that got dropped off somewhere around three this morning in place while two of us need to consolidate the canned food racks.”
Three A.M. pancake mix.
There never was a predictable day in the charity sector.–By the time Quinlan called it a day and told everyone to go home, Plo had messaged both Sha and Kit to let them know that his migraine had passed.“I am willing to bet he sent you something more coherent,” Sha huffed, “I give him an hour, at most, until he starts implying that he wants to join us.”“Is-” Kit started to ask.“We have the only car,” Sha cut him off, “but also, no, he should rest for most of the day, ideally.”The way she said it left Kit with the impression that Plo rarely rested as long as he should rest. That tracked, though – Plo was an ever forward sort of soul, eyes trained on the horizon with only a periodic glance at what was behind him.“Should we head back to the motel?” Kit asked.“We should probably eat first,” Sha answered.That was more than fair; they'd left Plo with enough things that passed as food and the two of them had barely eaten breakfast before the warehouse shift. If Kit was hungry, Sha was probably hungrier on account of how much heavy lifting she'd done.They picked a barbecue place that seemed to be between lunch and dinner rushes – quiet, but not completely empty.“Usually I like to make sure somewhere I'm only going to have a reasonable chance of going to once is a favorite among locals,” Sha told him once they were seated, “but I am so tired at this point that I am going to be impressed if bad food is bad enough for me to notice.”“You are a quick list maker,” Kit informed her.“Practice,” Sha replied, “and also being raised on the Internet, I think. How was Austin?”“Austin was,” Kit considered the right word for it, “lovely.”Sha smiled, almost too knowing.“I'm glad,” she offered, “He's happy, with you.”Kit was almost too quick to assure Sha that Plo wasn't unhappy; Sha was similarly nearly too quick to explain that it was a different type of happy, now. A deeper one.One that he had never seemed to be open to while she had been living with him.It occurred to Kit, then, that Sha may not know that she wasn't the reason Plo had chosen not to pursue a relationship with anyone for so long. It...it wasn't his place to tell her, but...Kit leaned forward with both elbows on the table and asked: “How’s your math?”“I have a science degree,” Sha replied.“How old were you in twenty seventeen?”“I turned sixteen,” Sha answered, “Why?”“And how old were you when the adoption papers were signed?”“Nine,” Sha furrowed her brows, “I feel like you’re starting to get a little mean, Kit.”“Seventeen was when it became legal in a protected way for gay people to adopt,” Kit told her, “and even then some states still have workarounds.”Sha paused to do the math and said: “There were two years of fighting to sign the papers and then six more where he couldn’t tell anyone why he stayed single if he didn't want to...oh. Oh. God...”She hadn't known, then.Kit hoped he hadn't done any damage.To Sha.To Plo.To the still-fragile parts of their relationship.“He told me, months ago, that some things are worth leaving behind for the sake of letting something better in,” he offered, “You will never stop being that something better to him.”“He sacrificed so much for me,” Sha told him, “And I know that. I've always known that.”The older one got – assuming they were fortunate enough to have a caregiver who truly knew how to care – the more one tended to realize just how much had been set aside or given up outright to ensure they grew up well.That did not mean it was any less meaningful every time a new level of understanding was stumbled into.“I don’t think he’d call it that,” Kit managed a small smile.“What do you think he’d call it, then?” Sha asked with a small sigh.“Making sure his Favorite Niece would have a good life,” Kit answered.“He would,” Sha managed something like a smile in return, “He and my mom were best friends, you know? I don't think there was anything she could have asked him for that he wouldn't have found a way to do.”
My sister were the only mixed-race kids in the county.
Plo's phone's unlock was his sister's birthday.And yet...Kit knew almost nothing about her beyond the fact she was dead and that Plo loved her dearly.Months of constant contact and there was still so much they didn't know about each other.“He has quite a few pictures of her up in the condo,” felt like the safest thing to say in kind.“I'm glad he does,” Sha replied, “I do wish I could remember what my mom looked like more clearly without having to look at a picture.”That, at least, Kit knew the shape of.He got out his wallet, flipped through the card protector slots until he got to the one he was looking for, and put it on the table for Sha to see.“Is that your dad?” Sha guessed.“It was,” Kit confirmed, “I don’t remember what he looked like without the picture in front of me.”“I have a lot of pictures of mom at my apartment, too,” Sha told him, “I don’t have one that’s wallet-sized and I don’t think any of them would crop well.”“What about shrinking one down?” Kit suggested.Sha blinked at him a few times before she told him: “I'll have to figure out how to do that. It would be nice to carry her with me.”Buried, then. Not cremated.Before Kit could keep the conversation going, Sha asked: “Who else do you carry with you?”It was easy enough to show her.“I only have pictures of my Nieces and Nephews because I actually check their mothers’ Facebook pages every now and again,” Kit explained as he flipped through the pictures he kept with them, “My sisters are the worst at actually sending pictures and I think the rest of us see my brother's kids more than he does.”“I hear family can get messy,” Sha offered. “Has Uncle seen? The pictures, I mean.”“He hasn’t actually,” Kit realized, “We’ve talked about my family a little bit, but…”“I also hear that family is often a shitshow,” Sha told him, “Every time I find myself wishing I had a bigger family, I remind myself that I am damned lucky that the single family member I do have loves me unconditionally and we don’t have to deal with family drama.”“I imagine there are moments the self-reminding is harder than others,” Kit offered.“It’s just,” Sha made a quiet, frustrated sound, “I know Uncle Plo gave me everything I could have needed and many of the things I wanted. It’s still frustrating when everyone around me had, you know, extended family and I couldn’t remember enough about mine to even try to relate. And that isn’t his fault. It isn’t mine, either, and I know that. I still feel guilty for sometimes wanting to know what it feels like to have cousins I can tell stories about.”They were interrupted by their waitress dropping off the check; Kit grabbed it before Sha had the chance to.Sha tried to take it from him and he kicked her under the table before he realized what he did. She laughed, though, and kicked him back but didn't try to grab the check again.“Do you make a habit of that?” she asked.“Kicking people or taking the check?”“Both?”“Trying to take the check, yes,” he clarified, “Kicking people...not so much.”“There is a story there I'm getting later,” Sha's smile was an honest one, “Anyway. I debate reaching out to my cousins, sometimes,” she confided, “They're about my age. It isn't their fault their parents put Uncle Plo and I through hell for so long. But then it's just like: what if they tell their parents about how I'm doing? If I wanted someone who's dead to me to know I'm doing okay, it would be my parents.”Not just her mother – both parents. Her dad hadn't been mentioned by either her or Plo more than in passing, and even then it was in relation to his surviving family members.“What was your dad like?” Kit asked.“I remember even less of him,” Sha frowned, “He worked long hours. He'd take me to the park sometimes but...that's about all I remember of him. Mom worked, too, but part-time so I saw her a lot more. My grandparents watched me when Uncle Plo wasn't in town. When he was in town, though, I was pretty much glued to him. I think it hurt my dad's feelings, but...” she shook her head, “God, sorry, you’re his partner and I’m just dumping all this on you.”“I asked,” he reminded her, “I love your Uncle. I don’t expect him to be perfect.”The smile Sha offered Kit was a sad one.The waitress had picked the check back up at some point because they were interrupted when she quite deliberately handed the tray with Kit's card and dual copies of the check back to him.“Thank you, Christopher,” she said with a wink, “Hope you come back soon.”When she left again, Kit chuckled.“Some people,” he shook his head.
“Christopher?”
“Kit’s a nickname.”“I mean, so is Sha,” Sha shook off her shock, “Christopher?”“I didn’t pick it.”“Fair,” she granted, “I didn’t pick Shannon. You don’t look like a Christopher.”“That’s why the nicknames started,” Kit replied and then teased, “You don’t look like a Shannon.”“Trust me, the makeup comes off and the hair goes up in the right way and you can start to see it,” Sha laughed, “That said: I’ve been called Shannon once since Plo signed the adoption papers and it was on my twenty-first birthday.”“I keep my given name on everything I need to legally exist so I don’t have to fight every time I try to change my address or take a flight,” Kit told her, “It does take a second for me to recognize when I’m the one being called in those instances, though.”“It took until 'Soka remarked that poor Shannon’s drink is just waiting there for me to go Oh shit!” Sha laughed again, “She had no idea. She’d never heard me called anything but Sha.”“I was called Kitty for nine years,” Kit managed to offer and complain at the same time.“What happened when you turned nine?” Sha asked.“Oh, it wasn’t the first nine,” Kit clarified.Sha's laugh let him hope that he hadn't done any damage by stepping over the safer conversational lines.–When they got back to the motel, Plo was up and moving about the room but with the lights still off.While Sha made to check for signs of tea and food consumption, Kit checked on Plo more directly.He put an arm around Plo's waist and the other across his back and simply held him for a moment; Plo buried his face in the crook of Kit's neck with a tired, frustrated sound.“Hello love,” Kit murmured, “How are you feeling?”“Better,” Plo answered.Sha cleared her throat.“But still could be better,” Plo admitted, reluctant, “They usually don’t happen this close together.”“I think it's been since my junior year in high school since you've gone less than three and a half months between them,” Sha offered, “Unless that's changed since I've started college.”“It hasn't,” Plo assured her, “How was volunteering?”“Exhausting,” Sha answered first, “Who delivers a literal truckload of pancake mix at three in the morning?”“The poor employee who got volunteered to clear out excess inventory before the delivery truck came in,” Kit answered, “A truckload?”“Thereabouts,” Sha grumbled, “Three entire pallets of it. Saesee did the math after we finished moving everything. There was over a ton of pancake mix. No water was delivered with it, so the four hundred-plus families who wind up getting it are going to need to have water access.”There was so much to consider about aid distribution beyond get things to people who need them that was too often overlooked. Sha had learned how to look at everything at least twice, though, to see what she'd missed the first time and she'd learned that from Plo.“Lighter than horse feed,” Plo pointed out.“Per box,” Sha agreed, “I've yet to ride at a barn that gets three pallets dropped off half a warehouse away from where they need to be, though. I'm okay. Just tired. I swear four people can get things done five times as fast.”“How'd the heavy lifting treat you, Kit?”“I did manual inventory checks,” Kit answered, “The heaviest thing I lifted today was a clipboard.”“I'd do it again,” Sha shrugged.“Of that I have no doubts,” Plo informed her.“How's your head?” Sha asked directly.When Plo only grumbled in response and failed to add words, Sha's expression turned downright worried.The three of them sat down – Plo and Kit next to each other on the edge of one bed and Sha on the edge of the other, facing them.They all waited for someone else to start the conversation.“It isn't that you get migraines,” Sha took one for the team, “it's the fact this is two so close together.”“Most people with migraines have them more frequently,” Plo replied.Sha only stared at him, downright unimpressed.She had a point.“I may have under-estimated how much constant travel would take out of me,” Plo admitted like doing so was akin to taking a physical blow.He'd told Kit that he was closer to burnout than he realized just a few days ago, but he though he had more time before he rounded clearly into the break has scheduled itself for me territory.“Perhaps we should rest more,” Kit suggested for far from the first time. His tone, though, conveyed a clear worry that Plo felt guilty for being the cause of.“I would like to see this through,” Plo sighed, “It’s more than duty to the Board, Kit.”“I know, Plo,” Kit assured him, “That’s why I said rest, not quit.”“Yoda was right,” Plo continued, “The mission is important on paper, but seeing it in action - and where the work still needs to be done - adds a level of urgency that handling everything from the comfort of our own homes cannot.”They both sat on the Board because they believed in the mission and wanted to see it furthered.Once upon a time, when Plo was younger, he believed that every nonprofit’s goal should be to put itself out of business. Mission complete. Everyone pack up, go home. Job well done. The humility required in knowing that your work was, ultimately, to put yourself out of work was admirable.He wasn’t so sure anymore, though.He relayed as much to Sha and Kit.“Maybe that’s the point,” Kit offered, “The work will never be done because better is always an option. The mission can shift as needs shift, for better and for worse.”And they would be among those who saw that the mission - and those carrying it out - changed with the times, not after them.“And if the mission can shift, so can how you approach seeing for yourselves what needs to be shorn up,” Sha added, “The who point of the mission if to affect change. What chance does it have if the execution is static?”Plo made a soft, fond sound and reached across the gap to squeeze Sha's shoulder. Sha put her cheek against his hand for a moment. She closed her eyes as she did and for a moment all Plo saw was the little girl she'd been for most of her life.“You two think alike,” Kit informed them.“I'd hope so,” Sha replied.“Is this the longest you two haven't seen each other for?” Kit asked.“It's close,” Plo answered first, “The longest was during semester abroad.”“Semester and a summer abroad due to travel restrictions,” Sha corrected before she explained to Kit: “I was supposed to spend a semester working at OSPAR sites across Ireland. This started in January twenty-twenty.”“Oh,” Kit flinched, “Ouch.”“My entire exchange group made the mistake of assuming it would be over soon,” she continued, “We wound up renting a cottage in the middle of nowhere. This one walked us through running a cable through a wall so we could set up satellite Internet over one of the poorest quality calls I have ever experienced.”“I've ran enough cables through things,” Plo picked up, “I had never assembled a transceiver, nevermind walked someone else through it over the phone.”“We got Internet,” Sha shrugged, “Terrible Internet, but it was better than the nothing we had before that.”Plo learned into the topic change for as long as Sha and Kit let the conversation be not about him or his migraines. It didn't last long, though, because Sha was worried and when Sha was worried she had the tendency to be an active participant – for better and for worse – in figuring out how to fix things until the worry started to subside.“Are you two going to be able to rest?” Sha asked.“We are,” Kit promised first, “After this stretch, actually.”“Good,” Sha looked as relieved as she sounded but was too quick to add: “How?”“We have a few days of nothing since Reno canceled,” Plo explained.“How?” Sha repeated.“Ideally finding a cabin in the middle of nowhere,” Kit answered. “There's a lot of nowhere between here and northern California to choose from.”Kit had said he would do as much in a way where Plo didn't have to think about it, but to hear he was taking his time in picking a place when he had no real previous experience with long stays in the middle of forests...Plo, despite the exhaustion he couldn't shake, was probably the luckiest man alive.“Oh, so you both like to escape,” Sha paused, “everything, periodically.”“This level of it is new to me,” Kit admitted, “Nor do I usually look up places before I leave home.”“We do have a list maker on hand,” Plo told him.“You know, I think Kit can manage this one just fine,” Sha informed him.Whatever Plo had missed today had involved Kit earning Sha's trust.(And he had been worried they wouldn't get along.)Lucky.Plo was, deeply and truly, lucky.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
After three days of managing to just be tourists, Plo, Kit, and Sha found themselves staring down their last night in Seattle.Sha had opted to sprawl across the unused bed in Kit and Plo's room while Plo made sure everything was packed and Kit caught up on emails. It was a fairly halfhearted effort on Kit's part; everything felt like the same message with slightly different words and replying would add nothing to the conversation beyond showing that he was actually checking his email.Phone calls were so much more efficient for things like this. Video calls even moreso.This was why the annual Board meeting was in-person, if hastily scheduled with poor consideration for everyone who was supposed to attend.That wasn't to say Kit was looking forward to it. He wasn't not looking forward to it, but hosting it so far away not only from any of their offices but hours away from any project site just felt...It felt antithetical to the entire trip.He was going to have to workshop that before he tried sharing the sentiment with anyone. It was a sentiment that could stand on its own, sure, but he wanted to strike as close to the root of it as he could manage.So, instead, he opted to start a conversation that ultimately had no lasting consequences for the future of equity itself but still felt like it mattered.“Say. Sha. Do you think you're getting past the TSA with your tea haul?” Kit teased Sha.“I am bringing it in my carry-on,” Sha answered, “If they're going to go through it, I want to bear witness.”“You did get probably half a carry-on's worth of tea and spices,” Plo remarked.“With the full intent of using them all,” Sha defended herself, “They have things I've never even heard of and I thought we had everything.”“We very nearly did,” Plo sighed.“Oh, no,” Sha breathed, “What happened to the collection?”“I very nearly completely cleared the cupboards out,” Plo explained, “If there was less than a pinky's width left of a spice, I tossed it because coming home after nearly a year to near-empty jars sounded miserable.”“Fair,” Sha frowned, “Coming home to nothing also sounds kind of miserable, though. I take it most of the collection was nearly out.”“Just about,” Plo admitted, “Apparently when it's just me I go through most things at about the same rate.”“I dump garlic and onion powder into everything I can get away with,” Sha told Kit, “Though recently Maul's gotten me on a crushed red pepper kick and I'm a little afraid of asking where he got started on that.”“This is the same kid that drank hot sauce,” Plo reminded her.“More on a dare and then for the shock factor,” Sha informed him, “This is...not that.”“You mentioned something about him and flour,” Plo recalled.“I think he's stopped baking seasoned flour,” Sha scrubbed her hands over her face, “I do not understand him or why Soka is giving him another chance.”“Was he food insecure at any point?” Kit asked.“Probably,” Sha answered, “Why?”“Because people who are hungry enough will do just about anything to get something in their stomachs,” Kit explained.“Well,” Sha blinked, “Fuck.”Kit and Plo both waited to see if she had anything else to say about that.“I doubt he would have told us,” she sighed, “We all know his home life wasn't great and that he would eat anything we gave him. We...I've never put it together.”“Sounds like pulling teeth would be easier,” Kit suggested.Sha looked like she couldn't have stopped the full-body cringe if she'd tried.“I am so sorry we both know that.”“Know what?”“That pulling teeth is often easier and more ethical than trying to get someone to divulge parts of their past before they're ready, willing, and able to do so,” Sha answered first.“When-” Plo started to ask.“Just before my second time in Chicago,” Kit answered, “I've been trying not to think too hard about it.”“Huh.”“I have also been trying not to think about it too hard,” Sha echoed, “Whatever he got up to overseas sure was something.”Everybody had the things they didn't talk about. Everybody had the questions they didn't ask. There were, regularly, overlaps in the topics at hand between the two categories of things left unsaid regardless of how close all parties involved were.Some things you just let lie as they were. They weren't always the right things, but the rightness and wrongness could only be measured with hindsight.Look back long enough to learn what you needed and then fix your eyes back on the horizon. Look back too long and your past was all you'd ever live.“How do you tactfully tell someone they need a therapist?” Sha asked.“It depends on the person,” Kit answered first, “but it's about as well-received as telling them they need a tooth pulled the first time you tell them.”Sha made a frustrated sound as she hurled the nearest pillow at Kit and proceeded to start apologizing while it was still in the air.Kit caught it and threw it back.He barely heard Plo's oh, no, before Sha caught it and threw it back harder before grabbing the second pillow and launching herself at Kit.“Close the laptop first!” Plo cautioned them.That was, likely, a hard-won caution.Kit closed his laptop with one hand and indulged Sha in a quick pillow fight that had them both laughing too hard to continue well before any victory could be claimed.Kit needed the laugh, honestly.Sha took the pillow back, tossed them in the general direction of the bed she'd been sprawling on, and sat on the edge of the bed, beyond pleased with herself.Plo shook his head but he, too, seemed glad for the moment of levity in the form of well-controlled violence.“What do you plan on doing with the spices?” Kit asked.“Using them,” Sha answered like there could not have been another response.“How do you plan on using them?” Plo asked a different question.“Cooking,” she responded in the same tone, “Though I supposed I could make some infused oils and then cook with those.”“What are you most looking forward to making with them?” Plo asked slightly more directly.“Oh!” Sha's eyes went wide for a moment, “Uh. They have two different salmon rubs that I want to see how many fish it pairs with. A spice made for rice that sounds pretty neat? I'm more excited to see what the ones I've never had before taste like. I think I got enough one-ounce bags that I would have felt bad not leaving a tip. The teas, though. I think I got fourteen tea flavors and there were still so many I didn't get.”“Fourteen?” Kit repeated.“Only,” Plo chuckled“Hang on, I wrote everything down,” Sha replied as she retrieved her phone from where she'd left it when the pillow launching started, “Or texted the entire list to Soka. Whatever. Let's see. Spices...chervil. Savory. There were five types of paprika. Marjoram. They also had ground shiitake mushrooms, which I know what those are but I've never seen granulated before. An Italian cocoa that I can't wait to turn into hot chocolate. Some flavored sugars – I think I'm most excited about the mint sugar. Can you imagine adding that to a cup of gunpowder green?”Silence, for a beat longer than there usually was when all three of them were talking, before Plo told Kit: “I think we should have gone to the tea shop.”“They have an online store,” Sha informed them.Plo offered Sha an utterly unimpressed look.“I'll let you know what I think of them as I use them,” Sha rolled her eye.“You're cooking regularly now?” Plo asked.Another full story Kit hadn't been told. Another story he wouldn't ask after unless it came up on its own again. He had a few guesses, sure, but...he'd already overstepped once n the last week. It had turned out well in the end, sure, but he was not gong to press his luck over finding out if Sha had stopped cooking at one point.“I cook often enough lately,” Sha replied.“Good.”“It's harder to want to cook every meal when it's just you and you don't have anything that you have to do but like...I've been trying to try a little harder,” Sha frowned, “Hopefully the sheer volume of spices I'm bringing home will serve as incentive.”Some questions were answered even if they weren't asked.“If for no other reason than you want the cupboard space back,” Plo heckled.“That, and I want as few things as possible to pack in the event I move.”“Move?” Plo echoed.“I might expand my job search out here,” Sha told them both, “Might.”“You like it out here that much?” Plo asked.“I do,” Sha confirmed, “I realize it's almost as far away as Ireland, but...”“It is?” Kit blinked.Because that was the most pressing part of this conversation.“Ireland is about five hundred miles further from where I live than Seattle,” Sha answered, “If you're measuring from Chicago then Ireland is considerably further.”Kit and Plo both pulled out their phones to check, as if Sha wouldn't know how far away she'd been when the pandemic shut the world down.While they were checking, Plo's phone started ringing. With a sound caught between a grunt and a sigh, he got up to check it.“It's Luminara,” he announced, “I should answer this.”“Should I-” Sha started to ask.“Just be very, very quiet and you can stay here,” Plo told her, “No sneezing.”Sha wasn't leaving the room until she wanted to. If there was a reason that Uncle and Niece had less time together, it was going to be well outside of their control.“Once!” Sha defended herself, “Quiet. Got it. Super quiet.”Plo took a deep, centering breath before he accepted the call.“Luminara,” Plo opened the conversation.“Plo,” Luminara replied, “I hope I did not call at a bad time.”“You didn't,” Plo assured her, “Is something going on?”It turned out that it wasn't so much something was going on as it was the fact Luminara wanted to do more. And so: she offered to take over their stop in Eugene as the Board member who got to handle the meetings, volunteer shifts, and information gathering.Plo and Kit weren't going to tell her not to do her job; nor were they going to say that aloud.They now had a full week with nothing planned.“I am going to change our reservations now,” Kit announced when the call was over, “An entire week, Plo.”How wonderful. How genuinely, absolutely, wonderful.“You said you were going to take an honest break,” Sha reminded her Uncle, “The universe listened.”Now they just had to make the most of it, starting with Kit rebooking the accommodations.Everything required work. Everything.Kit was beyond lucky that he enjoyed the work he did.–Plo and Kit woke up to an email from the Elizabethtown chapter saying that they would have to cancel or reschedule on account of having just been told by building management that they would be renovating the emergency stairwells (all of them at once) and therefore requiring all businesses that were not confined to the first floor to close for three days.This was, of course, going to be happening at the same time Plo and Kit were scheduled to be there.“We can see if Stass would be up for handling a rescheduled visit,” Kit suggested, “It's a bit of a hike for her, but it's also right before the Board retreat so she'll have some fresh experience with a chapter that she doesn't live on top of.”“It's worth a shot,” Plo agreed.They had not considered handing off the visits before; they had built this trip on the notion that having the same Board member – or members, as it worked out – reporting their findings would lead to fewer differences in judgment that affected summarizing the final findings.That was months ago, though, and at this point Plo was exhausted and Kit – if he was being honest with himself – wasn't far behind.They needed to trust the rest of the Board to carry out the same duties as they had been. They also needed to trust that their fellow Board members would be willing to do exactly as they had been encouraged to do: be more involved in the execution of the mission rather than steering it from the Boardroom.“I'll message her, and if she says yes I will add her to the reply chain,” Plo told Kit, “and then not checking my email until after breakfast.”“Thank you,” Kit replied with a half-asleep kiss to Plo's temple. Plo hummed, pleased, leaned into the gesture as he pawed at Kit's hips. Kit responded by wrapping one arm around Plo's waist while he grabbed one of Plo's wrists and squeezed just a little.“Damned timetables,” Plo complained.“Fair,” Kit replied as he let go of Plo's wrist, keeping his other arm where it was for the moment.They had a schedule to keep, after all.They also had an entire week of lazy mornings starting tomorrow. Mornings where they were beholden only to themselves and each other.Mornings Kit planned on letting seep into the lining of his skin. They may well rewrite the very marrow of his bones and Kit had every intention of letting them.He'd changed, these last few months. He liked to think the changes were for the better.Time would tell, for better or for simply different. For now, Kit would enjoy what he had.He would love what he had, and it was more than enough.–After breakfast – beyond Plo's brief email check – called for all three of them putting a little more effort into their appearances before loading everything into the rental car and hitting the road once again.Their last day in Washington state would be spent primarily in Olympia for what was pitched as a casual lunch with both chapters' heads and their families. Aayla and her fiance would be there, too, which made the atmospheric needle tip closer to a work event with plus-ones than an informal event, but this entire trip had been balancing expectations with reality in real time.What was one more lunch of doing so, really?It was...about as expected. It was not a purely social lunch; professional boundaries were mostly still in place. They did learn more about each other than they would have if it had been strictly business (Quinlan's partners – Asajj and Khaleen – were legally married to each other; Plo was fairly certain his parents' decision process in naming him involved scrabble tiles and a hat; T'ra had still been a volunteer when Tholme became chapter head) but...nothing deeply personal. Nothing that could be considered protected information.With lunch over and there still several hours before Sha needed to be dropped at the airport, Plo wanted to take at least some of that time to go get his car.Which was why all three of them – plus Saesee – were sitting in Saesee's living room in the middle of the afternoon, a comfortable silence settling between them.Sha had been told where the cameras were and introduced to the dogs, so all there was really left to do was...wait until it was time to say goodbye to Sha.At least: until it was Sha's turn to interrupt things with an incoming phone call.She excused herself to take the call outside; she returned a few minutes later and informed Plo without preamble: "Apparently I'll be in Arizona in a week and a half.”“Coleman?” Plo guessed.“Coleman?” Saesee nearly echoed, the question too sharp to be something so muted.“Long story short I am going to be helping install Starlink in a number of places,” Sha explained, “As well as handling some video recording and transcribing other recordings.”“Sha,” Plo sighed, “come here.”Sha got up again, went to her Uncle, and crouched down so they were closer to eye level.Plo grabbed her gently by either side of her face and told her: “Don't over-promise.”“My best is all I've promised,” she assured him, “What that winds up looking like...we'll see.”“Good,” Plo squeezed her cheeks before he let her go, “So you took him up on the consultancy offer.”“I did,” Sha confirmed, “He got me in touch with a few people on his end of things and well. junior consultant policy advisor turned into So you said you installed Starlink? pretty quickly. Which, no, it wasn't Starlink but it was close enough and Arizona is supposed to not be permanently gray overhead.”“A few more days of gray would do the region some good,” Plo replied.“Get me started on that and I won't stop,” Sha reminded him.Plo chuckled but didn't try to get her going.“You're in the policy field?” Saesee asked.“Science and environmental policy, in theory,” Sha confirmed, “I can't tell if the job market is too competitive or abysmal, though. The consultant work is my first job.”“I hear the job market is ruthless,” Saesee offered.“More than anyone could have prepared me for,” Sha complained.“It's something I hear a lot in the teens I mentor,” Kit offered, “Between how few jobs they actually hear back from to being ghosted after an interview, the impulse becomes to give up and settle for anything.”“I know I could have asked Uncle to put a word in for me just about anywhere in Chicago,” Sha recognized, “But that's not...I want to do it myself, you know?”“How much does Coleman have you doing?” Kit asked.“It's irregular but it's work,” Sha didn't quite answer, “It's been over a year since graduation. Settling for anything's starting to look like a less-than-terrible deal.”Plo only stared, unimpressed.“I have mom's spirit, I know,” Sha huffed, “Settling's not something I think I can do, but...”But you had to survive.“I have some work,” Sha sighed, “and it means something.”“That's important,” Plo tried to assure her.“It is,” she agreed, “Traveling will be fun, too. I don't think I'd like to travel non-stop like you two have been, but seeing more places and getting paid to do so...it's not something many people get to do.”“I will say that how much you both have been doing without letting up is admirable,” Saesee told them, “if not intimidating.”“The key is good company and resting before rest finds you,” Plo replied.That he was still working on the second half of that went unsaid.“When was your last break?” Saesee asked.“You might want to specify a length,” Sha cautioned.She didn't miss how unimpressed both Plo and Kit looked for a moment.“Enough to feel like a break,” Saesee added.Kit and Plo looked at each other for several beats before Kit suggested: “Chicago?”“Chicago,” Plo agreed.“April?” Sha sounded as unimpressed as she looked.“We have a week to ourselves starting tomorrow,” Plo reminded her, “Then again in a few weeks. And a few weeks after that.”“I bet most of the chapter heads have kids,” Sha replied.“Why?” Kit asked so nobody else had to.“Summer break,” Sha pointed out.“That would make sense,” Plo granted.Kit and Saesee were both, clearly, missing something.“It's always harder to schedule something without the kids during the week during summer breaks and on weekends when school is in session,” Plo explained, “Moreso when the children are under eighteen, but those who can afford to take time off with their college-aged kids will.”“Okay, that does make sense,” Kit granted, “I can't say that I had considered it.”“You tend not to until you raise one,” Plo granted.“You still have two weeks in August blocked off, don't you?” Sha teased.“One of which has been absorbed by the Board meeting,” Plo answered.“But one's one of your upcoming free weeks.”She was already planning something. Everyone in the room could feel it.“What are you thinking?” Plo managed not to sigh.“Something with a little more planning behind it,” Sha shrugged, “Maybe camping.”“We'll see,” Plo did not promise anything, “It won't be an entire week on account of travel time.”“All I know about the Board meeting is that it wasn't supposed to happen like it is,” Sha shifted the subject.“Which is all you are going to know about it,” Plo informed her, “At least until it's over.”“Fair,” Sha reasoned, “Are you going in-person, Saesee?”“That is still undecided,” Saesee replied.“How is the search for someone to watch the dogs going?” Kit asked.Saesee's only response to that question was a grimace.“I can watch them,” Sha offered, “If that isn’t weird, I mean.”“I will need to be certain that they will listen to you,” Saesee replied, “They are property guards first and stubborn second, but it is an incredibly close second.”“Which means if I can't recall them, there are issues,” Sha recognized, “I don't mind making sure.”The test was simple enough. There were three parts.Step one: go outside, get the dogs' attention, and get them both sit directly in front of her – and have both dogs stay in the sit position for at least twenty seconds.Step two: show them a treat and then not let them knock her over for it – especially the younger one. (Sha asked if she could use her knee to keep some distance between them; Saesee said yes.)Step three: get them to come inside long enough to shut the door behind them.Saesee would watch and listen via his CCTV system; it was imperative that they both listened to her without checking with him.Plo and Kit watched, too.She opted to leave the side door open, which wasn't something Plo had ever seen her do. He hoped she hadn't forgotten.She stood a few feet away from the open door and let out a single-note, long, sharp whistle before calling both dogs by name. Dorado came first; Spiral took a second call but she eventually showed up.“You're lucky you came,” Sha told her, “Much longer and I might have considered giving Dorado both treats.”Both dogs' attention sharpened, every ounce of their giant frames pointed directly at her.“Oh you know that word,” Sha laughed, “But first, sit.”Both dogs listened. Dorado sat, patient, but Spiral kept licking her lips and shifting around. At one point it looked like she might get up but Sha gave her the same correction she gave the horses when they wouldn't stand still on the ties and she – well, she didn't settle, but she squirmed less.Sha counted to twenty under her breath before she told the dogs: “Alright, you want your treat?”She held the treats up long enough for both dogs to start inching forward before she told them: “Go get it!” and hurled them into the house.Both dogs ran after the morsels; Sha shut the door behind them.She looked incredibly proud of herself for a moment before the look faded.She looked towards the camera and asked: “Was I supposed to be on the same side of the door as them?”Saesee considered a moment before he told Plo and Kit: “I did not specify.”He could not answer her over the surveillance system; either she would have to come inside or they would have to go to her.Halfway across the house, one of the dogs whined.Saesee got up to let them back out.“Was I supposed to be on that side of the door?” Sha asked again as the dogs ran past her.“I did not specify,” Saesee answered, “Although: if you want to stay outside in inclement weather, that is your decision.”“Same side of the door,” Sha decided.Plo couldn't help the laugh that escaped.Sha and Saesee would work out the details later; this evening was for not thinking for the three of them. Saesee, at least, seemed to understand as much.The man may have been quiet, but in that silence he clearly watched. He noticed more than he let on, too, and while Plo suspected that Saesee was never going to be much of a conversationalist, he could appreciate the proactive application of rest periods in such a high-impact environment.(It felt, sometimes, like Plo was the only one who under-estimated just how much this would require of him.)Rest was coming, though, and he would try to avoid putting so much emphasis on needing to rest that actually relaxing became an improbability.–Getting moving again with any sort of coordination had felt like an entirely too-conscious effort.Staying somewhere near the airport – or even a little further south – would be the most gentle option. They could finish the drive to their retreat come morning.They decided that Plo would drop Sha at the airport while Kit returned the rental car. Saesee would follow Kit before they both returned to his place to go over numbers and projections. Plo would join them as traffic allowed and, when it was time to leave, it was time to leave.They both knew what it was really about, though: giving Sha and Plo some truly private time to catch up with each other.Their lives were always going to take separate paths one day. That was how growing up worked. It's how things had worked, overall, for generations.Living it was turning out to be much harder than anticipated.Sha's mother would have been so proud of her.Most of the ride was...normal. Routine. Like hundreds of trips they'd taken over the years.“I'm glad you invited me,” she told him.“I am glad you decided to join us,” Plo meant it, “Are you going to be alright?”“Going home? Yes,” she huffed, “I always miss you.”He would have to invite her more often. He was not sure when but...more often.“And I miss you, kid,” he told her in kind, “I'm glad you have things to do besides look for work.”
“Same.”
“Do you need anything, Sha?” he asked, “Besides more stable employment.”“I do need to get my eye replaced next year,” she reminded him, “Can you be there?”“Absolutely,” Plo promised, “So long as I'm still breathing.”“Well I don't plan on pulling a Weekend at Bernie's about it,” Sha snorted, “Actually. That might depend on how I feel about that particular doctor's office.”He (mostly) raised her. That was her mother's humor, though.Some moments were harder than others to not see his Niece and his sister in the same body.“We’re still on for December twenty-third, right?” she checked.As if he'd be anywhere else on the worst day in either of their lives.“Every year that I’m alive,” Plo promised.She would never have to struggle through that day alone so long as he was around.“Does Kit know about the twenty-third?”“Not yet,” Plo shook his head.“Why not?”“It's,” Plo made a sharp, frustrated sound, “I don't know, Sha.”“You'd think months of unbroken contact would have brought everything up at least once.”There was a near-accusation buried in the statement.
Why haven't you told your boyfriend that there's a specific day you shatter?
Plo didn't have an answer to that.He did, however, have something akin to an assurance that he was letting Kit in further than he would if he wasn't serious about...whatever they were becoming.“He’s seen the address book.”“Oh shit,” Sha sat up straighter in her seat, “And?”“Skipping over about two hours of detail, he asked what happens when I run out of pages,” Plo replied, “I told him I didn’t want to think about it. There’s too much in there to even think about transferring any of the entries, and having things in two separate books sounds like a fast way to lose one of them. A week and a half later, he told me he found refill pages.”“When you had that first daytime migraine with him, he must have sent me twenty pictures asking what was the right thing to get,” she informed him, “He had never seen an electric kettle before.”“And neither of you mentioned this?”“I’m mentioning it now,” he pointed out.“Tell me you got the refill pages.”“He, apparently, already had them a tap away from completing the purchase and just wanted to make sure it was something I was open to,” he told her, “So, yes, I have the pages. He had them shipped to where we were staying in New York City.”“Wow,” Sha breathed.“Yeah,” Plo agreed.“He's a good man,” she assessed, “Rather self-muted in ways I think he's forgotten he did to himself, but a good man.”That was not how Plo would have put it, but he didn't disagree with the assessment, either.“Live long enough and you put a lot of yourself away, I know,” she continued, “Is it really...does everyone do that to themselves?”“Not everyone,” he tried to assure her.“Name someone who hasn't,” she told him, “That you know, I mean.”“Does it count if they died young?”“Did they live their entire lives with their entire selves intact?”“As intact as they were able to.”“Did mom?”“Your mother never compromised on anything in her life,” Plo knew his accompanying laugh was a sad one, “You have her spirit, Sha.”“You keep saying that,” Sha replied, “I wish I remembered more about her. At least I'll have plenty of photos and videos of you.”“Even if one of them is in a dumpster,” he huffed.“We're making it into a training video,” she reminded him.“There's the Koon legacy,” he nearly snorted, “Accidental training video revisions.”“There are worse ways to be remembered,” she reasoned, “Besides, at least the dumpster video isn’t becoming part of a training module.”“Module,” Plo repeated, “Who taught you that word?”“Well certainly not the same person who taught me the proper application of go fuck yourself if he’s asking me that question,” Sha heckled, “What, I can’t use Corporate Words as a contractor?”Plo sighed before he answered and Sha took the opportunity to keep talking.“Or do you not have modules? Just mandatory little videos that the volunteers aren’t shown as part of our training?”“Volunteer training,” Plo muttered, “That’s another thing for the list.”“You mean having everyone sign forms saying they read the policies and procedures isn’t sustainable?” Sha replied, not entirely impressed, “I’m lucky. I’ve had you. Most volunteers are not ready for a fight.”“As they shouldn’t be,” he reminded her.“Well, sure,” she granted, “But at the same time, is it better to trust that most people will never see an emergency and therefore most people will not need training, or is it better to make sure everyone has a chance to have something they learned once, at a volunteer training session years ago, rattling around when the statistically low odds find them?”She had a damned good point.“I’ll bring it up,” he promised, “The Board doesn’t get the final say on everything.”“And from the sounds of it there’s enough upheaval that more change is likely to start a riot,” she noted.“Or cause someone to call for a complete overhaul of everything,” he granted.A pause, and then.“Would that be so bad?”“It might be what we need,” Plo granted, “I need to be careful to avoid anything that might remotely be considered collusion.”“So open the Board retreat by suggesting a complete overhaul,” she told him, “It wouldn’t be the first time you’ve done that.”“The PTA is different from the Board,” he told her.“Is it?”He would have to consider that one, actually.“Walk into the retreat with the same energy you had over the prom ticket price hike and you’ll get your overhaul,” she informed him.“An extra sixty dollars a student on top of the already absurd price,” Plo muttered, “I’m pretty sure the work would land solidly on me over this one, though.”“I mean,” Sha nearly hesitated, “do you really have plans for next year?”He didn’t and they both knew it.“Kit might.”“Uh-huh,” she huffed, “And those would be different from your plans?”“Sha.”“Too soon, fine,” she held up her hands, “Is he actually okay with you being gone for a few hours?”“He is,” Plo answered, “Why?”“As far as I can tell, this is the first time you two haven't been in the same room for non-migraine reasons since the trip started,” she explained.She wasn't wrong.“He'll be fine,” he repeated.“He is a good conversationalist,” she granted, “I can see why you haven't gotten bored yet.”Kit was far more than a great conversationalist, but he wasn't going to tell Sha that.“How was lunch?” he finally asked.“Lunch was shoving food in my face after hours of hauling pancake mix across a warehouse one case at a time,” she granted him the conversational shift, “He's a good tipper, at least.”“I'm a little surprised you let him pay,” he admitted, “You're usually faster.”“We both reached for the check and he pulled a Soka,” she laughed, “I'm going to start wearing bell bottoms and shin guards when I get to lunch with either of them.”“You are your mother's child.”“She would have worn shin guards?”“With modified spikes,” he sighed, “Don't.”“You can't tell me that and then tell me not to!” she protested, “How would mom have modified the spikes?”“Sha.”“I'm sure I can find something on Amazon,” she decided, “I have the time.”“That's what I'm afraid of,” he grumbled; he knew the way he was smiling destroyed any hope of dissuading her from doing exactly what her mother would have done and, really, this one was entirely his fault.“Have you figured out tap-to-pay yet?”“Do you think Kit has?”“The place we had lunch brought the check to your table,” Sha shrugged, “but if he has you might want to consider arm guards with spikes to keep him away from the register.”“I will not,” Plo couldn't help but laugh, “You'd have to drill holes in the shin guards and that would compromise their structural integrity.”“Second layer,” Sha countered, “Or build the spikes onto the plastic.”He may have to warn Kit to invest in sturdy footwear if he planned on taking Sha out to lunch again.“You have yet to meet a problem you couldn't solve,” Plo had to admit, “Even if it's not how most people would do it.”“Being most people sounds boring,” Sha complained, “What are you two doing for your week off?”“I don't know,” he answered honestly, “Kit said he'd take care of it.”“Wow.”“Sha.”“You never let someone else handle everything,” she recognized, “Must be serious.”He...wasn't quite sure what to say to that.“I'm glad,” Sha continued, “That you found someone, I mean.”“I am thankful that you two get along so well,” he told her, “I was nervous when you came down to D.C..”“I could tell,” she admitted, “That’s half of why I figured you’d already started dating.”“I kept thinking: How do I tell him that he needs to go home if they don’t get along?” he told her.“You would have done that?”“In a heartbeat.”“Why?” Sha asked.Plo pulled over to the side of the highway and put his four-ways on.“Can you look at me, Sha?”She could.Tears were forming in the corners of her eyes.“Nobody is ever going to be more important than you, Sha,” he promised.“I don’t want to be the thing that keeps you from being happy,” she mumbled.“Oh, Sha,” Plo managed, “Sha, no. No. I could never be happy with someone who expected you to be any less important to me.”He put the car in park and shut off the engine so he could undo his seat belt to hug Sha, the angle awkward but the intensity of the way she sobbed into his shoulder no less heartbreaking for the partial contact.He knew he was crying, too. How long had she been trying not to feel like this? How long had she mistaken his contentment with the life he had for something she blamed herself for? Could he have kept this moment from happening if he'd been better?“You gave up your entire life for me,” she managed.“On the day you were born,” he reminded her, “Nothing in the world has been more important to me than making sure you are safe and happy since the day you were born.”“I had no idea it was bothering me so much,” Sha sniffed, “You deserve to be this kind of happy longer, though.”“There are different types of happiness,” he reminded her, “The type I have with Kit couldn’t exist if he didn’t understand that you are my first priority.”No act of man nor God would keep him from being there when she needed him. Nature herself had kept him from being there once and it had cost them both dearly.Never again.“I don’t think I’ve seen you cry since I made you watch Coco with me,” she realized.“I still don’t understand why you did that to me,” he replied.“I was grossly undersold on how hard it would rip old scars open!” Sha tried to defend herself, “It was almost as painful as Lilo and Stitch.”“No,” Plo warned, “Not right now.”“I don't think I could handle much more than that right now,” she admitted, “I love you.”“I love you, Sha. Always,” he promised, “I need a few moments before I start driving again.”“I’d much rather miss my flight.”They both knew all too well what rushing to and from airports could do to a family.“Tell me a story mom would be pissed at you for sharing,” she requested.“Our parents never found out that she was the one who broke the living room window,” he told her.“Grandma and Grandpa would still bring that up,” she managed a small laugh, “Mom broke it? Seriously?”“Lawn dart went right through it,” Plo confirmed, “I don’t remember why we were throwing them indoors.”“A lawn dart broke it!?”“This was when they still had sharp metal tips,” Plo explained, “Your mother and I were prone to getting into everything and our shared concept of personal safety was a little shaky as kids.”“Lawn darts,” Sha huffed.“You should look up vintage kids' home chemistry kits at some point,” he suggested.“Why do I have a feeling you were given, like, uranium?”“Because we were,” Plo confirmed, “Well. I was never given uranium as a toy. Your grandfather was, though.”“Oh my God.”“There are probably tens of thousands of orphan sources in American landfills, now that I'm thinking about it,” he realized.“Huh.”
“No.”
“I'm not going hunting for orphan sources,” she promised, “However, I might have a paper to write.”“If you have to pick a dangerous hobby, do try to pick one that doesn't come with dangerous, lifelong side effects,” he requested, “You're still writing papers?”“I'm toying with the idea,” she admitted, “I'm starting to feel like I need a Graduate degree to get into the field properly, or at least something more solid than finishing undergrad.”This was the first time she'd mentioned as such. It was normal to reach a point of young adulthood where you just kind of started announcing things like they had some sort of discussion behind them but...he wasn't quite ready for Sha to hit that point.(He didn't know if he'd ever be.)“I need something that shows I know how to apply my degree,” she sighed, “Grad school or half a decade of internship-like jobs?”“I wish I had any advice for that,” he replied.“The eighties and nineties were different, I know,” she half-complained, “You certainly can't just show up and ask for a job anymore. What you'll get is the cops called.”It was almost easy, from there, to try to point her in a direction where she felt like she was making choices because she wanted to rather than because she felt trapped where she was with her life.Eventually, he was ready to start driving again.(Even if he could have stayed on the side of the road all night just talking.)As they neared the airport, Sha asked: “What happens when the trip is over?”“I don’t know, Sha,” Plo admitted, “I just don’t know.”“Whatever it is, I hope it’s happy.”Even after the rest of the last hour, her focus was still on his happiness.“It will be.”It had to be.“Good.”“Do you need anything?” he checked again.“No,” she shook her head, “I’m alright, I promise.”“Do you want anything?” he amended.“Stable employment,” she answered, “My apartment is safe, I am well-fed, and I have friends nearby. I’m alright, Uncle. Really.”“I worry.”“I'd be worried if you didn't worry,” she informed him.Maybe that was his love language: perpetual worry about those he loved.“How are you getting home from the airport?”“I drove myself,” Sha replied, “I’ll be fine driving myself back.”“Keep me updated,” he meant to request despite how it came out as an instruction.“I will, Uncle,” she promised, “I’ll be fine.”“You always are,” Plo sighed, “Behave yourself.”“Not on your life,” Sha laughed as she hugged him tight.“I am glad you’re doing well, Sha,” he told her as he returned the hug.Watching her disappear into the airport hurt in ways almost similar to dropping her off at college the first time. When she was completely out of sight, Plo circled back around to the cell phone lot and texted Kit to let him know he was going to be back a little later than expected.He just...he needed a moment. That was all.Just a moment and he'd be good to go back to Kit. It was as good as going home, really, and that meant...It meant damned near everything.–Plo would be longer than expected.He'd texted Kit to give him a heads up, which was appreciated, but...there was no reason given. No explanation.Something about it didn't quite sit right over it.Kit had the urge to call to see what was wrong, but...But he needed to trust that Plo would tell him if something was wrong.That Plo was safe.That, if Plo needed help, he would ask.“Is everything alright?” Saesee checked after Kit had been staring at his phone a little too long.“He's going to be later than expected,” Kit explained.“It happens,” Saesee was unbothered, “Did he say why?”“No,” Kit shook his head, “I know you said traffic can be bad by the airport.”He sent Plo back a quick Alright. Let me know if anything changes and circumvented the urge to check if it was traffic by putting his phone back in his pocket.
He needed to trust Plo.
“I am surprised that Sha will not be at the Board retreat as part of the seemingly open invitation to family members,” Saesee told him.“I don't think Plo wants to set her loose at a Board meeting,” Kit laughed, “I'm not sure I want to find out how she feels about ax throwing.”Saesee considered for a moment before he decided: “I suppose that should be an experience reserved for...a less formal backdrop.”“She thrived in Seattle, at least,” Kit very nearly sighed.“Quinlan runs nothing the way it's meant to be run,” Saesee replied, “It works, though, in a world where function rose above form when very few of us were paying attention to the shift.”That was as close to a compliment Kit had heard anyone offer Quinlan.“How did he become chapter head?” Kit asked, “I missed the internal politics of it.”Saesee sighed, a heavy thing, and scrubbed his hands over his face before he answered: “He was one of five Seattle employees who didn't quit when the org was deemed essential at the beginning of the pandemic. The details are muddy at best, but he emerged as the leader and when Headquarters tried to install a new director the other four employees threatened to quit if Quinlan wasn't given the position.”“I take it he was not working in management,” Kit guessed.“Seattle iss run by the janitor and the intern,” Saesee said plainly, “They have both put forth tremendous effort in understanding the roles they've been given, but I suspect Seattle will never act like the rest of the chapters again.”“Perhaps that's where the future is,” Kit suggested, “Not in the titles people hold, but the work they're capable of.”“The future could do with fewer dumpsters,” Saesee muttered.“Let's get more food banks open, then,” Kit bordered on challenging, “What laws need to change? What attitudes? What space needs to be secured?”What hallmarks of the way things have always been needed to be shattered before change could grow deeper roots?(Was that question not part of the core of what they were doing here?)It was well past time to find out.–Plo returned to the property to an unlocked gate so he could let himself in; both dogs stalked the car and bayed until he got out, at which point they sniffed him and realized he was a friend.Satisfied their territory was safe, they wandered off.Plo let himself inside to find Kit and Saesee at Saesee's dining table, laptops out, notebooks open, and paper scattered over the table.There was an honest-to-God phone book out but unopened.“I missed something,” Plo guessed.“Have you ever turned a dumpster into a food bank?” Kit asked.“I don't think anyone has turned a dumpster into a food bank,” Plo answered, “Either hyperbolically or in a TLC special kind of way. I take it that's what's going on here.”“More or less,” Saesee confirmed, “Who on the Board do you think has both the ability and knowledge to act as – Kit, how did you describe it?”“I described it as lobbyists but instead of buying politicians we're sourcing donations for basic human rights,” Kit answered with a barely-swallowed sigh, “I'm still not sure that's the correct way to describe it.”“I'm not sure it's wrong,” Plo noted as he sat down next to Kit, “You two have had a productive last few hours.”“Rather unexpectedly,” Saesee granted.“Drop-off went well?” Kit asked.“She has plenty of time to spare before her flight,” Plo replied. Not a yes, because he wasn’t going to lie to Kit, but not a no because he still knew next to nothing about Saesee and certainly wasn’t going to have the miniature breakdown he knew he was putting off having here.“Good,” Kit squeezed Plo's thigh.“So what is,” Plo looked at everything spread across the table, “this?”Kit explained that they were trying to assess what laws – nevermind attitudes – needed to change before things like Quinlan's unofficial dumpster program could turn into sustainable, safe programs.That neither of them did down time well tended to make itself known.This, though, was something they would have to entrust to Saesee. They would be on the road again in a week, over a state away, and Saesee would be the one who had to finish the work.As things were meant to be in the end.Plo could do a few more hours of work tonight for something like this.–Back at the motel room, Kit waited until Plo had set everything down to hug him from behind where he stood, one arm slung around his waist and the other pinned across his chest, face buried in the back of Plo’s neck.Plo covered Kit’s arms with his own and damn near let Kit take all of his weight.“What happened?” Kit murmured.Plo told him.“Oh, love,” Kit held him a little tighter and repeated, “Oh, love.”“I wish I knew it was bothering her,” he admitted.There was always more he could have done. Places where he could have done better.Home was not a place anyone could escape that.“What would you have don't different?” Kit asked.Plo had no idea.“She loves you,” Kit assured him, “She worries because she loves you.”“I haven't been unhappy for a long time,” Plo replied, “I wish she believed that.”“We all care the best we know how,” Kit reasoned, “This is as new for you as it is for her.”It would take time to settle for both of them, in vastly different ways.“I tried, once, when she was in high school,” Plo admitted, “It...it didn't last very long.”“Sounds like something happened,” Kit guessed.“Things seemed like they were going well enough, but I was reluctant to bring anyone around Sha who wasn’t going to stay,” he tried to explain.“What happened?” Kit asked in a way that sounded like Are you alright?“He never said it explicitly, but it was fairly clear that he expected me to put him before Sha,” Plo answered, “I called it off after he got mad to the point of yelling when I wouldn’t skip one of Sha’s events because he didn’t want to wait a day to see each other.”“Well fuck him,” Kit replied, bitter.“That would have only encouraged his behavior,” Plo's reply was automatic.Kit snorted and shifted to press a gentle kiss to Plo's temple and then shifted again to take Plo by the hand and lead him towards the bed.Kit sat on the edge of the bed and implored: “Kneel, love. Please.”Plo looked confused for a moment but did as Kit requested at his feet and looked up, eyes wide, expectant.Kit leaned forward so that he could put his hands on either side of Plo's head, the edges of his palms cupping the very back of his head and fingers bracing the back of his skull. He leaned Plo's head forward until his forehead came to rest on his knee.“Breathe,” he told him, “Just breathe, Plo.”Plo's breaths were shallow at first, only unsteady at the very edges.He could not bear to let silence settle.And so: he told Kit...everything.How he'd long feared that he hadn't been enough for Sha. How better was a moving target he never felt like he'd hit – in school, at work, with family, on the Board. Better was always an option and he suspected he would be chasing that until he couldn't anymore.And – he's known that he has control issues. He's had them most of his life. He had them under control, once, and his desire to control the situation had been half of what enabled him to retire when he did.And then he'd lost...everything except his money and Sha.Money...money was one thing. He knew how to control that. But Sha? He hadn't wanted to control her so much as he'd wanted to keep her safe in the exact ways he hadn't been there to offer the rest of his family.That Sha survived had been almost a fluke. She'd been tiny as a child so she'd still been in a high-backed booster seat in the middle seat. She'd taken extensive damage but...she'd survived.She'd survived and he hadn't been there.He'd long told Sha that he'd traded his life for one with her in it the day she was born, but in truth it had been months before that. His sister knew Sha would be her only child despite her best efforts otherwise and he'd wanted nothing else than to be sure the kid knew he'd be there. All they ever had to do was call and he'd be there.There would always be things he could not control. He knew that. Truly, he did.The knowledge had done little to stop him from trying over the decades; it was wearing on him and the wear was showing lately.He had no idea how to make any of it stop and so he kept going. That had sustained him his entire life and now he was failing to keep that up, too.He had no idea what to do.He was all out of words.He did manage to look up at Kit, though, despite the acute awareness that he had to look as lost and fragile as he felt.Kit looked back, steady, kind as he always was.“You don't have to be perfect,” Kit tried to assure him, “You best has been enough for a long time.”“It hasn't felt like it.”“Because we aren't capable of measuring our own lives without bias,” Kit replied like it was something he struggled with, too.Of course it was. They had too much in common for him to have escaped...this.Kit squeezed the nape of Plo's neck and promised: “I love you.”“I love you.”That, at least, Plo knew beyond doubt.“What was her name?” Kit asked, “Your sister, I mean.”“Ane,” Plo answered despite how her name stuck to the back of his throat and dragged itself over his teeth, “A-N-E.”Pronounced Ann despite how it was spelled and despite how the overwhelming majority of her teachers had pronounced it during roll call.“Ane,” Kit repeated, “Sha mentioned that she has some photos of Ane in her apartment.”“This is terrible, but I have never actually seen Sha's current apartment,” Plo admitted, “She's always come back to Chicago.”“We could change that,” Kit suggested, “If that's something you're both open to, of course.”“I'd have to ask,” Plo frowned.“We have time.”They had better have time.If they didn't...“Hey,” Kit said gently as he slid off the bed to kneel effectively on Plo's thighs, “That was probably too early. I'm sorry.”Plo made a noise that was supposed to be Forgiven but came out more like he was trying to see what happened when you ran letters over a poorly maintained gravel road.Kit made a small, relieved sound and nestled the side of his face against the side of Plo's; Plo reached up to cling to Kit by the back of his shirt.“I've got you,” Kit murmured, his arms around Plo once more, “I've got you.”“I trust you.”“You honor me.”“You've earned my trust, Kit,” Plo tried to assure him, “You have.”“You honor me,” Kit repeated.There was...something else there. Something Plo was missing. But he...he didn't know how to ask. Not right now.There was an awful lot of not right now happening lately.Kit shifted slowly, got to his feet only to sit on the edge of the bed again before guiding Plo's cheek back to his knee.Plo did as requested, gave himself – grief and fear and all – to Kit for safekeeping for the time being. He was rewarded with a steady hand on the back of his neck and the other one carding through his hair.“I'm sorry,” Plo muttered.“You're human,” Kit reminded him, “I want all of you.”Plo reached out to kind of claw at Kit's ankle, words beyond him for the moment.“Come on,” Kit coaxed Plo to his feet, “Let's get you a little more comfortable.”Plo let Kit help him and then let him nudge him into laying face-down on the bed. Kit was quick to lie on top of him, buried his face in the back of Plo's neck with a heavy inhale.“Good?” Kit asked.“Yeah,” Plo managed, “Thank you.”“I will be here as long as you'll have me,” Kit promised.Forever, Plo nearly replied.This...this newness, this urgency with which the past seemed to have flared back to life would shake itself out over time; Plo just needed to give it that time. The work that needed to go into it would take shape in turn. And Kit?Kit would be there.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
What Kit had said was: We have a few days where we don’t need to do anything. Let’s take them to ourselves. I can take care of the arrangements, if you’d like.What Kit had apparently meant was: I booked a room with a large enough kitchenette to do some honest cooking in. The surrounding land is wild. Come watch the sunset with me.The room was small but the wild outside was...endless.Plo knew, objectively, that it ended somewhere. Miles and miles away, someone had drawn a line across the mountains and said: this is where nature ends and human progress begins. Here is where we replace the topsoil with concrete, the roots with building foundations. Further away still, the winding rivers were made into straight lines or redirected away from the places where people wanted to be further away from the shape of natural things.That was not here, though; the road was paved and there seemed to have been some sort of attempt at building a town at half of the crossroads, sure, but the road followed the way the river cut through the mountains. A hard enough flood or a too-fast spring thaw would see the road washed away and the handful of people who'd chosen to make it this far away from the clean lines of human engineering would see just how much they could rely on themselves and their neighbors.It was exactly what he needed.“There are a few small food shops not terribly far,” Kit told him as they dragged everything from the car to the room, “They're all attached to something else, but they should have enough to get us through the week.”“That tends to be the nature this far away from a city,” Plo granted, “The air is fresh and the river is breathtaking.”That was what mattered right now.Kit made a pleased sound and nuzzled against Plo's cheek for a moment before he unlocked the room door so they could set the first round of suitcases down.The week wouldn't be entirely relaxation. There was no getting around that they needed to figure out a better system for their luggage and also do some laundry. Airing everything out would be a good idea, too.(As Plo had mentioned a number of times during long stretches of uneventful highway: there is a reason long distance hikers mail things to themselves along the trail.)They'd talked about mixing their things to minimize the number of bags they needed to bring into any given hotel room and that was fine. It was more than fine, really. Their lives were already incredibly intertwined. What was one more way?Actually doing it...there was some anxiety starting to gnaw at Plo as if this was the point of no return: start mixing bags and there's never going to be a life without Kit in it.They were nowhere near that particular conversation.They here, and Plo would let himself enjoy that.–Kit: We are securely in the middle of nowhere and your Uncle has zero reception in the room.Sha: Of course it doesn'tSha: Tell him to select the right networkSha: Or to enjoy his distraction-free weekKit: I think not having a working phone is a bit of a distraction.Sha: Tell him I'll call you if I need anythingKit: It is a less major concern.Sha, after sending half a screen of crying-laughing face emojis: Glad you two made it safe!–The first day had been spent unpacking, draping clothes over every available non-bed service, and gathering some ingredients that would come together to form meals.It had also been spent gathering hiking supplies so they could spend their second day on an honest hike.It would not be as long as Plo was craving; both of them still had to break in their hiking shoes and if they stayed out past dinner Plo might keep going and that...that wasn't what he was here to do.Kit brought his camera, though, so the lack of length was more than made up for by watching Kit get lost in the process.And get lost in the process Kit truly did.It seemed as if Kit could, through the lens of his camera, root himself in everything for miles around. Like he was lending parts of himself to the wilds and the wilds were lending him a new sense of sight.Kit had told him, once, that he preferred to vacation in places he couldn't find on a map. That he preferred to just drive until he found somewhere and stay for a few days.They should try that one day.Plo minded the map and made sure Kit didn't come too close to the edges of the trail in pursuit of any given picture while Kit made Plo slow down and notice things he normally would have overlooked: a mushroom cluster on the side of a stump; the entrance to someone's underground den; a young deer hiding in the foliage.So, too, was Plo able to show Kit things he would have missed on his own: signs of someone having recently camped just off the trail; how the right-of-way worked when a pedestrian and a bike needed the same trail space; the branches off the main trail that lead to places one may be wiser to canoe or kayak to than attempt to reach on foot. The waters would still be too cold for swimming, but in about a month's time there were a number of places that would be perfect for a quick dip.“They're almost too perfect to want to swim in,” Kit informed him, “They look like they feel different from a pool or the ocean.”“They do,” Plo confirmed, “One day, when it's warmer.”He didn't finish the sentiment, but instead opted to let Kit choose how it ended.“That sounds lovely,” Kit told him, his smile reaching his eyes.“Yes,” Plo agreed.The future, and Kit, both sounded lovely.–An easy routine emerged between them: rise when their bodies woke them up and then Kit would make coffee while Plo showered. They would make breakfast together, get some repacking done, try not to reply to any emails that weren't urgent, and then they'd pick something to do for the day. There had been a number of hikes, a long drive for a different, short hike, and – perhaps less than memorably – a day of actually doing laundry.Not that Kit would ever complain about laundry; the presence of clean, running water and bandwidth to get it done was something he had not taken for granted in a long time.Plo seemed to feeling better on more than a surface level. He was still being far too hard on himself for not taking better care of himself, though, and Kit wasn't sure how to impress upon Plo that he by no means minded taking care of him. Quite the opposite, really: being given the chance to help such a good man ensure he can stay on his chosen path was an honor.At least, he wasn't sure how to impress as much upon Plo in a way that stuck without being invasive.He was determined to figure it out, though – by himself, thank you very much – even if it felt like the first few steps were stumbling ones.Proverbially, at least. Literal stumbling from his current position, well..he'd be impressed if it happened to anyone else.Sprawled out on his back on the bed, the sun long since having risen but neither of them having made any move to get the day started, Plo's head on his chest and one of his hands running through Plo's hair almost absently.“Every place is so different,” Kit mused as he glanced out the window, “The weather. The scenery. We’re staring out at the mountains now. In a week we’ll be back in Vegas. A week after that we’ll be in New Orleans.”“There is so much to see,” Plo agreed, “It would take lifetimes to see all of it.”“Likely,” Kit hummed, “This is nice.”“Incredibly,” Plo kissed the spot where Kit's jaw met his neck, “You are consistent, though.”“I try to be.”God, did he try to be.“You are,” Plo insisted.Kit moved the hand in Plo's hair to the side of his ribs so he could squeeze him for a moment.The moment turned into several, something hanging heavier in the air than the previously easy morning had presented to them.“I do wonder what it would be like to do this forever,” Plo nearly sighed, “Live on the road. Get an RV or one of those converted buses. See everything while there’s still time.”“There’s your next to-the-studs project,” Kit half-teased, “Turning an oversized van or a small bus into an RV.”“I don't think that's the way I want to find out whether or not I'm too old for that anymore,” Plo grumbled.“We could also stick to the CR-V,” Kit pointed out, “We'd need to get – I don't know what gear we'd need for a comfortable camping experience, but I'm sure it's out there.”“It undoubtedly is,” Plo replied, “I'd want to do research first.”“Naturally.”“You'd go camping?” Plo asked.“With you,” Kit answered.He'd never been camping before. Not voluntarily, at least, and the idea of sleeping outside when there were rooms available nearby never struck him as something he'd add to his bucket list, but there were a number of other long-held beliefs he'd reexamined on this trip so far.One more was just one more.His answer pleased Plo, at least, who pressed his head against Kit's chest a little harder for a moment before he reached across and then down to hook his hand on the other side of Kit's waist. He dug his fingers into the space between ribs and hip and squeezed hard enough that Kit wanted more.“Our next trip we're planning together,” Plo vowed, “and with a number of questions considered before I decide visiting three different offices in a week is reasonable after forty.”Kit wasn't sure if it was ever reasonable, but Plo had high levels of sustained energy even now; he was likely unstoppable well into his thirties, if not longer.But that...that certainly was more. Next trip. Together.It wasn't the first time either of them had said something like that, but the further they got into the trip the more real it felt. There was a them that existed after the trip was over and the people they had yet to become were already making promises to each other.“I think we at least cross part of all of the connected states,” Kit offered.“You know, I'll have to check,” Plo realized, “When the trip is over.”“When it's over?”“Detours,” Plo explained, “You never know when a detour is going to take you to a different state. Or country.”There were several stories in there that Kit hadn't heard yet.“Fair,” Kit conceded.Silence settled, neither easy or uneasy, but neither of them showed any inclination to get up and start the day.It was Plo who broke the silence with a quiet, almost timid: “It doesn't have to all be travel.”Plo had to feel the way Kit swore his heart had just skipped a beat.What was Kit supposed to say to that?“Technically we've been living together for almost six months,” was...not the sentiment Kit had meant to convey, but it wasn't incorrect, either. It skipped a number of key thoughts and sentiments, but...somehow they'd been doing this for six months, sharing rooms for most of them, and sharing beds over half of those months.“So we have,” Plo replied.“More time in the same place will do us both good,” Kit added.“The where we can figure out later,” Plo told him.
He tends to rearrange his life as a love language.
Plo had said, once, that he didn't plan on moving but wouldn't close himself off to the chance. Kit, though...he'd moved every few years for twenty years now. He had never made a place his and...he hadn't – well, he likely did want to but he just...Home was complicated.And yet, there was a selfish part of him telling him: yes, great, start building your argument for Plo moving to the city you've always called home.“Later,” Kit agreed.They would have to figure it out later, if not for Plo's sake then for Kit's.But...they'd said it. The idea that their future together had the option to grow roots in a place and not just between each other was still shapeless, but...
They'd said it.
–
The exact nature of time was, by Plo's understanding, up for much debate by philosophers and physicists alike. It was measured, officially, in the passage of seconds that added up.It was experienced in pieces, though, and the future tended to take shape in chunks rather than anything more eloquent or cohesive like puzzle pieces.The current chunk taking shape was what he and Kit were going to do with their free week before the Board retreat.Sha had suggested camping and it wasn't a bad idea. Kit had never been camping before – as Plo had learned a few hours prior – and while Plo, Sha, and Ahsoka had all spent days on end in tents, it was probably a better idea to have their first planned family vacation in a cabin or something.Plo kept circling the family vacation part, the other key details harder to keep a hold on at the moment.They – the two of them – would need to decide on dates before they brought Sha and Ahsoka in on figuring out the rest of the details.Kit was, quite thankfully, more than willing to take charge.Again.Plo, for his part, found himself willing to let Kit do just that.August fifteenth through the twenty-first meant that two of the days were weekend days – two fewer leave days that Ahsoka would need to use if could and wanted to join them – and still gave them plenty of time to drive to the retreat.The details would shake themselves out in the coming days; Sha wanted to handle actually booking where they were staying.“I may have passed my control issues onto her,” Plo admitted.“Well, if she does half the job she did for Seattle, we'll all be more than comfortable,” Kit replied, “I'm excited.”“Good,” was all Plo could think to say to that despite how many other things it was, too.Six months wasn't a long time. Not when compared to the sixty-three years that proceeded them. At the same time, they were so much more than Plo had expected them to be and they still had about a month and a half until the Board retreat plus another two months left after the Board retreat.That would be over three-quarters of a year together, excepting a rare handful of hours at a time apart. Sha had been right: they'd only had the one stretch apart since they started rooming together.He hadn't enjoyed leaving Sha at the airport; he had wanted to go directly to Kit to anchor himself to something better than that feeling.Better kept coming as of late.This, too, Plo could do indefinitely.–On the morning of the fifth day, Plo and Kit woke to find they had both been included on an email chain announcing that the current chapter Directors had voted on an Interim Director and Cin Drallig had won by a large enough margin that it wasn't a real competition.There was also an invitation of an informal Board call that had been sent just after the initial announcement.“Informal,” Plo grumbled, “I should have recorded Sha's whistle.”“It isn't too late to ask her to send a recording,” Kit pointed out, “Really find out how Coleman feels about his hearing.”Plo wasn't going to do that, but he wasn't going to not consider texting Sha in the middle of the call if the need arose.Hopefully once had been enough and the idea that Sha might be around the corner, willing to startle everyone into remembering that they are professionals in charge of steering a common mission instead of angry individuals whose personal concerns outweigh group cohesiveness.Time would tell.When the call started, the loudest question was: Why weren't we told about this?The answer was...far more complicated than it had any right to be.The results of the vote were supposed to go to the Board first so they could weigh in – and that WAS still the plan – but they had under-estimated how quickly talk would spread behind the scenes.There was a new anger simmering over the fact the majority of the Board was being kept out of key matters until they were already out of control.Nobody outright called for anyone else to step down, but there was no denying that the Board could not run things as they were.What remained to be seen was who among them was willing to not only stay through the worst of it but also who among them would be willing to rebuild when the dust settled enough to see what was truly left.Rebuilding was always the hardest part.Well outside the webcam's field, Kit grabbed Plo's hand, squeezed, and didn't let go.–Despite plans to make the entire break one of rest, the fact that rewriting their upcoming schedule in the analog itinerary kept nagging at Plo eventually compelled him to get it done so he could get back to resting.There was not too much to change as far as destinations and expected times went: They had some more free time, now; Stass was able to visit the Elizabethtown chapter at a later date so that stop was removed; the retreat needed to be more solidly factored in; enshrining the extra days in New Orleans instead of keeping the changes scribbled in the margins felt important.Kit watched him write. He stared, really, eyes trained on where Plo had pen to paper.When he'd finished, Kit informed him: “You have incredible handwriting.”“Thank you?” Plo blinked, “I can't say I write as much as I used to by far.”He was out of practice but the quality had not suffered too badly.“You used to journal.”It wasn't a question; Kit had started putting it together back in Portland and whether this was the moment he'd finished slotting the pieces into enough places to feel certain about it or if he'd been waiting until the moment felt appropriate likely did not matter.Plo opted to forego a more direct answer as well as a number of details to tell Kit: “I burned them.”“You-” Kit drew back, “Why?”“Because I had just been dragged into a custody battle that was increasingly looking like it might drag itself into everything I had ever done,” Plo answered, “I've done things that cannot be brought into custodial fitness.”Kit leaned forward again and covered one of Plo's hands – the one that wasn't still holding the pen – with both of his own.“There were dark days,” Plo closed his eyes like it made anything lighter, “A lot of them, especially before I moved to Chicago. Things have been better for a while, but...I wanted to remind myself that no matter how much I lose, there will always be more reasons to press on than there will to stay in the dark.”It was something he had been telling himself since well before Sha was even born, but he had never needed it more than when he'd decided burning the tangible evidence that light always found its way back was the only way he could ensure that one of his most hard-won lessons held true.“I hope I never meet the rest of Sha's blood,” Kit decided.“Trust me, she will beat both of us to violence,” Plo opened his eyes again, “Some things aren't worth letting go of until the people who depend on us need us more than we need to hold our memories.”The way Kit's heart so clearly broke for Plo damned near broke Plo all over again.Kit moved to hold him and Plo let himself cling to Kit.It would always be better to hold someone else than a possession.
Always.
–It seemed that the thing about being in one place for an entire week – even though the week was not quite over – was that both of them seemed to be finding the room to give voice to heavy the things they hadn't yet.“I haven't told my family about us yet,” Kit confessed in the middle of a hike.The family he would be introducing Plo to in less than two weeks.Plo's instinctual reaction was hurt but it was quickly replaced by concern.“Will it be safe to do so?” Plo asked, “Because, Kit, if it isn't-”“Safe enough,” Kit cut him off, “I doubt my brother will be coming around anyway. Everyone else...”They walked in silence for a number of paces while Kit tried to find a better way to explain things.“We love each other,” Kit said like he was trying to convince himself as much, “We really do. It’s just…fractured in a lot of places. I try to put as little weight on it as I can in case something breaks.”“In your own time,” Plo told him, “I am here.”He was here. He would be here.Neither of them were perfect.Plo stopped walking and so did Kit.“You are,” Kit agreed.“Kit,” Plo shifted to better face him, “I love all of you. Easy and complicated.”Despite the worry in Kit's eyes, he managed an honest smile.They'd be alright.–Plo was developing an irregular habit of saying things that damned near made Kit swallow his toothpaste.Tonight's culprit came in the form of You know, those cuffs we bought in Portland have tie loops.“They have what?” Kit tried to ask. It came out more like a warble before he spit and tried again with much greater success.“Tie loops,” Plo repeated like it helped.It took Kit longer than he cared to admit, but-
“Oh.”
He stuck his head back into the bedroom, not quite done his evening routine, but seeing Plo right now was far more pertinent.“If you want to,” Plo added.“I,” Kit hesitated, “I don't think I could be tied down so literally.”He knew he couldn't, actually, but this was the first thing Plo had suggested that he couldn't – he just–“That was not the configuration I had in mind.”
Oh.
“That,” Kit's head felt empty, “Okay. Yeah. Alright.”That blood was trying to go to his head and his cock at the same time at speed despite the uncertainty going in even more directions certainly wasn't affording him much thought coherency.“You do not have to,” Plo told him.Honesty was going to be the best way to go about this, even if it was...muddy.“I want to try if it's something you want,” Kit was fairly sure that was accurate, “It's not – there is an unfamiliarity.”Not with everything about it, but if he could avoid that particular disclosure...It wasn't that Plo didn't deserve to know just how deep some of the damage Kit's past had done still ran. It was just – well, no, it wasn't just any one thing. It was a lot of things.One day. Maybe. Hopefully, even.Kit wasn't there yet.Plo got up from where he was reading on the bed to stand in front of Kit for a fraction of a moment before he rested their foreheads together. Kit grabbed Plo's hand with the one of his own that wasn't still holding the damned toothbrush.“You trust me that much,” Kit managed.“I do,” Plo murmured.The notion would be going to his cock first if his nerves hadn't superseded everything.“You'd let me take that much control?”“Yes,” Plo moved to kiss the tip of his nose, “You, yes.”Kit couldn't have suppressed the full-body shiver that brought about if he'd wanted to try.“You have no idea how much you honor me,” Kit managed, “I...I need to work up to the idea.”“All the time you need,” Plo assured him, “Nothing changes if you do not want to, Kit.”Silence, for a few too-quick heartbeats.“I promise.”“I believe you,” Kit ducked his head to nestle his face in the hollow of Plo's neck.T was Plo's turn to shift again, this time to drape his arms over Kit's shoulders and down his back, a sort-of loose hold.The weight helped.That it was Plo helped so much more.It took Plo telling him Breathe before he realized he hadn't been doing with that.Kit gave himself a few moments before he asked himself how sure he was that this was something Plo would enjoy in practice rather than in theory.How many times had he held Plo's wrists while they fucked? How many times had he otherwise pinned him down with more force than strictly needed?How many times had Kit told Plo to do something and Plo listened without hesitation?Kit kissed Plo's throat once, twice, then bit down gently and didn't miss the way Plo stopped a whine from escaping.He tossed his toothbrush in the general direction of the sink, damn the thing, and grabbed the space just above Plo's hips and squeezed.“I don't think I'm up for much tonight,” Kit told Plo like an apology.“You don't have to be,” Plo told him in kind, “You will always be enough for me.”It was a hell of a promise, but Kit had never known Plo to be anything short of a man of his word.–It was, once again, time to move on to their next destination.They combed over the little rental room twice to make sure they hadn't left anything behind before they dragged everything back into the CR-V, the suitcase of warm weather clothes loaded last so that it was the easiest to grab.Their lives were tangibly more intertwined than when they'd checked in.They would focus on that later, though. For now, their focus was back on their mission.“Once more into the breach?” Plo asked as he turned the engine over.“Maybe thirty years ago I could have replied with at least a third of the speech,” Kit huffed, “At this point I can tell you with relative certainty that it's Shakespearean.”“I only know with certainty that you're correct because Sha finished high school within the last half-decade,” Plo offered.“It's one of more loose things than I care to count that I still remember from high school,” Kit explained, “I am ready to go, though.”Plo put the car in reverse.Wheels engaged.Parking spot vacated.Gear shifter put into drive.And just like that, the highways were their home-for-now once more.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
The thing about any map-based app estimating travel time was that the estimate was based on the road conditions at the given moment. For shorter trips, this was usually a safe estimate. When things happened on the road, they tended to happen all at once within, say, a five or ten mile radius of whatever incident was unfolding. Usually far closer than that, really.On long trips, though, localized incidents added up. Five extra minutes for a car stopped on the side of the road here. An extra eighteen minutes because everyone kept stopping to stare at a wreck on the other side of the highway there. A construction and rush hour combining to add a full hour a hundred miles later.The longer one stayed on the road, the wider the margin of error became. It was just how things worked.Which was all to say: instead of seeing just how long the estimated nine-hour drive to San Francisco actually took with stops and traffic, they stopped in Redding for the night in an attempt to maximize the time between leaving the middle of nowhere and the rest they did get wearing off.Once they had gotten checked into a motel for the night and made themselves comfortable, Kit opened a fresh conversation with: “You said you spent the first twelve years of your life in Oregon.”“I did,” Plo confirmed, “We haven't come anywhere near reasonably close to it.”“Would you like to at some point?”“No,” Plo shook his head, “I cannot say I remember much of it and what little I do remember has likely changed beyond recognition anyway.”“That is more than fair,” Kit granted.“Now, if we're ever close to where I lived in Iowa, we will have to see if the pizza shop is still there,” Plo offered.Kit smiled with a small, fond sound before he realized: “I don't think we've had pizza yet.”“Did you want pizza?”“Eh,” Kit shrugged, “Not if there's a standard it's being held to.”Plo laughed and knocked his shoulder against Kits before he told him: “It wasn't even good pizza, but the owners knew they were making the majority of their money on teenagers so they really leaned into it. Small arcade. Neon strip lights that did absolutely nothing thanks to the overhead lights. That sort of place.”Odds were that it, too, had changed beyond recognition in over the decades. He had more concrete memories of it, at least, and would have been able to tell what used to be where.There was, of course, a small chance he'd wind up taking Kit to an empty lot and an even greater chance that the entire area had been redeveloped.“I take it you went regularly,” Kit guessed.“Regularly enough,” Plo confirmed, “I wanted to be everywhere at once. Ane wanted to keep up with me.”“I can't say I would have let either of my little sisters tag along,” Kit admitted, “Nor did either of my older siblings want any of us following them to their friends' places.”“We were protective of each other,” he told Kit as he sat on the edge of the bed they'd be calling theirs for the night, “A lot of my friends didn't want their little siblings anywhere near them, but it was more or less a rule that any time before nine at night, if I was there, so was Ane.”“And after nine?” Kit hedged as he sat next to him.“After nine there was a strong chance alcohol was involved and I didn't want to try to split my attention between drinking and keeping an eye on her,” he opted for complete honesty, “Concerts were different. Concerts had more eyes on everyone. But house parties?”They were protective of each other.“Ane was my best friend,” he offered Kit a small, sad smile, “She knew before I did just how different I was and was more than willing to fight our parents when it all came out before I meant it to.”Kit grabbed Plo's hand, squeezed, and didn't let go.“If she and Sha have as many overlaps as I suspect they did, Ane would have won the fight regardless of the cost,” Kit guessed.“And she did,” Plo confirmed, “Mom was...she wasn't upset so much as confused. Dad was furious but Ane was more stubborn.”“Yikes.”“That's an apt summary,” Plo sighed, “Dad eventually stopped trying to...” he trailed off, “It didn't get better, but it stopped getting worse. Then I started flying Ane out to me during college breaks and he eventually did start behaving better, if for no other reason than he realized both of his kids would leave him. I think Ane had him convinced she was going tot ake mom with her one day and he'd never see any of us again.”“Hell of a force,” Kit whistled, “I'm glad you had each other.”“Yeah,” Plo squeezed Kit's hand, “You would have loved her.”“She sounds like she was easy to love,” Kit replied.“God, no,” Plo laughed, “Not for most people. She was worth it, though.”Kit, clearly, wasn't sure what to say to that.“Neither of us were perfect,” Plo tried to explain, “I never will be. The rough parts were always overshadowed by the rest of her, though, and there were so many times where all we had was each other.”And they'd made it. They'd both made it, in their own ways. Their paths diverged sharply once they hit adulthood, but they were never anyone else's best friend or confidant.Plo certainly had never planned on making it here and he certainly was not going to take everything Kit was willing to add to his life for granted.If his father's faith had anything right about it, he hoped Ane knew he was starting to make a life as rich as she had always believed he would.–Their next office visit was San Francisco. They arrived late the night before the scheduled visit and had no plans beyond go flat and let sleep claim them for a few hoursThose plans, naturally, had a few steps that needed to be complete before them: check into the hotel; drag the relevant bags inside; shove something resembling food into their systems to tide them over until the morning.Change of clothes optional but highly recommended.They'd picked a hotel not too far from where Plo had lived when he'd called this city home. He didn't recognize a damned thing, though, and it didn't bother him like he'd worried it would.What good would the worry have done if it had bothered him, anyway?He relayed as much to Kit, who winced before he offered a dry: “With any luck the city doesn't recognize you either.”“There would be worse things than if it did,” Plo reasoned, “We have a day between the office and volunteering.”“Do you have any plans?” Kit asked.“If you're asking if I want to see if any pizza parlors are still open, no,” Plo chuckled, “Nor do I want to visit any graveyards.”“Graveyards?”“This is where most of my friends died,” Plo finally told him.That was part of why he left. Not all of it; it would take far more than the ghosts of those whose only fight had ever been to try to live in peace and whose only sin grave enough to be denied basic compassion had been which illness they'd contracted.Ghosts, it turns out, know neither time nor space and grief does not respect the distance you put between yourself and your past.Kit did his damnedest not to hesitate when he replied with: “Well. If you change your mind for any reason – at any point – you don't have to follow through alone.”Plo suspected that he would never have to do anything alone so long as he let Kit have a say in it.Whatever cosmic odds had been at play as of late continued to fall in his favor.God, he was lucky.–Morning found them in the form of Plo's alarm going off.The reminder that they were back to work came in the form of Agen informing them that he was also in the city and available to join them if they wished.“I mean,” Kit's voice was still thick with sleep, “do we?”“Saying no seems counter to what we're doing here,” Plo replied.“So that's a yes.”“That's a yes.”Which was why all three of them were standing in the building's lobby waiting for someone to retrieve them, Kit and Plo with their disposable coffee cups and Agen with reusable one.Water bottles. They were going to get water bottles.It felt more like he was checking on them than he was checking on the chapter, but neither of them were going to say as much in front of him.They couldn't really blame him, either. Board presence on the ground had started as strange and escalated to needed, but as help and not as judges without warning and, in turn, without any plans to be what they needed to be. Plo and Kit had been the accidental change leaders and, odds were, at least whispers of how thin they had been running themselves had started making rounds just out of sight.The first half of the near-whole-day meeting went as expected: plenty of numbers, even more anecdotes, far too many gaps that were emerging.The San Francisco chapter had been one of the ones who had supported Cin's selection as Interim President. Not just the chapter's Director: very nearly the entire chapter.With minimal digging around for answers, all three of them learned that after Cin's soundbite went viral several chapters started looking at how, exactly, the Vegas chapter had been faring and what its budget was behind its numbers and a general consensus emerged – and spread – fairly quickly from the review.Cin Drallig knew how to make change happen, and he knew how to do it regardless of if the money was there. There wasn't a single chapter that didn't need that kind of skill and grit behind it. In the absence of the time needed to cultivate it, putting Cin in charge was the next best thing.And when the Director was arrested, well.It was no small wonder that things had been taken out of the Board's hands so quickly.They took a quick break – ten minutes, far too quick to process anything meaningfully – and the second thing all three of them was check their phones.(The first was refill their coffee cups.)Which was how all three of them learned that Cin Drallig had accepted the Interim Director position at the same time.“So much for putting it in front of us long enough to do anything about it,” Plo hummed.A lot of promises were not being kept by the one Board member who had the promise to keep them and the organization's opinion of the rest of the Board was cast in the light they had lost control over.“I believe,” Agen said slowly, “that the three of us should have dinner together tonight.”“Certainly one of the better ideas that will be coming out of this,” Plo granted.“Kit?” Agen looked to him.“Plo said it better than I could have,” Kit deferred.“I will handle reservations,” Agen told them, “This will either be the longest or the shortest ten minute break we have ever experienced.”So long as Agen was more direct in what he was seeking than Luminara had been, dinner would remain one of the better ideas that came out of the evening.–All three of them arrived to dinner earlier than they needed to; they were seated just ahead of their reservations.Agen had picked a small, upscale place that Plo was quite genuinely surprised had space for three available at such short notice.(There was, of course, the chance that Agen's name had cleared space for them. Plo's had, once, at dozens of places around the globe. That wasn't something you asked after, though, and if that was the case whatever Agen was after was far more pressing than had been assumed.)Immediately after they were seated, Agen proposed: “If someone can cover your upcoming visit to the San Diego office, will you two be able to see if our new Interim Director is more open to disclosing anything he needs in-person?”“You're available to cover San Diego?” Kit asked.“Me, no,” Agen clarified, “Eeth will be able to.”There was no doubt in Agen's voice; there were several questions etched into both Plo's and Kit's faces.Agen did not offer any further information.He did, however have information he was seeking, and he opted to do so quite directly.“Plo. You have much more to say about recent events.”“Nothing that does not risk amounting to colluding,” Plo replied, “However, if my more divisive statements are not first put forward by Coleman and Obi-Wan, I will be quite surprised.”Agen was sharp. He had to be to command space like he did so effortlessly. Before the Board retreat started, he'd put together that Coleman had already been part of voting one Board Director out of his position and that Obi-Wan had more influence over the legal team behind the organization than both Yoda and Mace.The retreat had just turned into a miniature insurrection and all three of them knew it.–They had a full day to themselves before they needed to leave for Vegas and Kit had exactly two things he wanted to do.First: someone else was retwisting his dreads. He needed it done and he needed to just sit for a few hours and he suspected Plo did, too.As for the second, well.The second he'd arrived at because he'd been thinking. A lot.“So, uh,” the words felt like they were sticking in Kit's throat, “There's a, uh, there's a shop that sells restraints a few miles from the hotel.”Plo's attention sharpened on him in an instant.“You're sure?”“I want to,” Kit knew the accompanying sigh was a heavy one, “I still need time, but...I want to, and that starts somewhere.”“If you're sure, Kit,” Plo insisted.“I am.”And, oh, Plo's smile was blinding.Yeah. He wanted to try.He wants a lot of things, really, but trying was absolutely among them.–Somewhere in the middle of the day, Cin accepted their offer to stop by. That was the phrase Cin had used: stop by.Some time after that, Plo had suggested they have dinner somewhere intentionally. Not the first place that smelled good. Not the first place one of the delivery apps offered. Not even the second.They hadn't had an intentional date since Texas, and it was time to remedy that.And so: with the awareness that they needed to be on the road come morning stalking the edges of their awareness, they picked a sushi bar that had an open reservation for two and an extensive menu that didn't manage to tip into overwhelming. “You know,” Plo was acutely aware of how nervous he sounded, “I meant it. Back in Truth or Consequences.”
You can spend the rest of your weeks with me, if you'd like.
Despite how unsteady everything had felt then – still felt, sometimes, when he looked too closely – his hope that they'd wind up here had won out.“As did I,” Kit replied, “And last week.”“And Texas,” Plo felt himself smile.“Some time in one place before we start our next adventure sounds better by the day,” Kit returned the smile, “You are the one who currently. You know. Has an address.”“There is plenty of space you you, Kit,” Plo promised, “I'll need to figure out the motorcycle parking situation.”“And I will need more cold weather clothes,” Kit recognized, before he added a quiet murmur of Not that I have any doubts you'll keep me warm with an accompanying wink and blinding smile.“You know,” Plo managed not to choke on air,” one day these conversations will be over what type of bread to get and whether or not we want to renew some subscription or another. And it's not...I never expected to be here, with anyone, Kit. But I cannot wait until the only uncertainties that we have to worry over are choices we'll forget in a month.”“You are greatly over-estimating how long I remember the last thing I ate,” Kit informed him, “what matters is the company.”The two of them, yes, but in that was the invitation for the rest of Plo's life to become part of Kit's.“There is space of all of you, too, Kit,” Plo tried to promise.“I have no doubts,” Kit's smile was a sad one this time.Plo reached across the table to squeeze Kit's hand a little harder than he needed to.“I have,” Kit paused, “a complicated relationship with home.”And they would be in New Orleans in just under a week.“I am here. I will be here,” Plo could promise that much.“It'll take a lot more than strong winds yo get me to move again,” Kit promised in turn.Forward together, through as much as life saw fit to bring them.They'd make it just fine.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
What was supposed to be around nine hours on the road had turned into just over thirteen. By the time they checked into their Vegas hotel Plo was both too exhausted to do anything more than get his shoes off before he found the bed and so restless that the only thing stopping him from going on a hike was how dark it was outside.Well. And the exhaustion, but the way the lining of his skin itched seemed convinced that if he just kept moving, the exhaustion would subside.He at least remembered to let Cin know that they'd made it safe, if late, and confirmed that they would meet him at the office in the morning before he tossed his phone one one bed. He proceeded to sit on the other to take his shoes off but sat down with so much finality to it that he debated lying back and seeing if he could sleep like that.Kit, naturally, picked on how off he felt almost immediately and asked what he could do to help.“We just had a week to rest,” Plo complained, “This week is for work. Then we have another week of rest with your family. Then another week of work and our last Board visit. Then another week of rest. Then a week – allegedly – of Board nonsense at some upstate New York retreat. Then another week of rest.”Still. He should have been able to stand the wear and tear a little longer.“I can't promise the week with my family is going to be rest,” Kit cautioned.“I have a feeling it won't be work,” Plo argued.Kit grimaced and Plo reached out towards him. Kit took it and let Plo pull him towards where he sat.“I'm here,” Plo promised as he rested the entire side of his face against Kit's stomach, “Exhausted. But here.”“You're good to me,” Kit murmured as he began running his hands through Plo's hair, “It's just one damned thing after another lately.”
I have a complicated relationship with home.
“And you to me, Kit,” Plo tried to assure him.They were good to – and for – each other.There was something about accepting that it was a mutual goodness that was jarring; there was something that rode alongside the notion that whispered: You, in all that you have ever been which brought you into this moment, have been exactly who you needed to be. You may not have been who you wanted to be, but you were what you needed to be for this moment to be the one you are having right now. You have always been a complete person, and in that completeness you have allowed someone else to enrich your life, not close the gaps of imperfection.The notion barely made it past skin deep, but it would take that success for all it was worth with the faith that, one day, it could scream: See? Your hope that the future would be better because you kept trying was always enough.–You never got to choose the burdens you were handed. Only how you shouldered them, if you did at all.Cin had just been handed the second-heaviest burden of his life and two Board members were stopping by about it. Two of the more tolerable and most genuine Board members, but given how little control the Board had on the steering part of things as of late they were only welcome so long as they didn't try to wrestle the controls away from him.If it had been any of the other Board members, Cin would have said no. He'd see them in a month, give or take, and he had more work than he had hours in a day before he was nominated for the Interim Director position.He'd messaged them before he'd left for the office that morning to let them know to let themselves into the building when they got there; he was well one his way to finding out if one could drown in the desert if the submersion method was paperwork.He'd also had to try to arrange the delivery and installation of a new hot water heater. Because that's what he needed: a broken major appliance.He understood the urge to clone yourself now, at least.“You know,” Kit said as he and Plo entered his office, “I'm pretty sure the amount of bodies they're pulling out of Lake Mead is a pretty good indicator that you can drown in the desert.”“They were dead well before they got shoved into barrels and tossed in the lake,” Cin replied without looking up, “I am fairly certain it could be filled with these forms if I printed them all out, though.”“Well,” Plo paused, “if you have the paper to spare.”Those two had no right to be a quick-witted as they were.Cin finally looked up from what he was doing to take stock of the pair.They'd come dressed like it was a day off – jeans, t-shirts, scuffed shoes – and wore expressions that told everyone who so much as glanced over at them that they were most qualified, at present, to go the fuck back to bed and stay there for a couple of days. See if it made them feel more human.Instead, they were in his office with no real agenda.“Well don’t you two look like you’ve somehow been through hell and yet like you’re ready to go do it again,” Cin informed them when he finally looked up, “Wiring’s held.”“Good,” Plo replied, “So you've taken on quite a burden.”“That there was any consensus to emerge from that half-written email was enough of an improbability,” Cin complained, “How'd that get past the Board anyway?”Both Board members stared at him like they had no idea what he was talking about.That didn't make the honest state of things look any better.“Shaak says she wants to get me a personal assistant,” he offered, “Well, she wants to raise the funds to do so. What am I going to do with a fucking PA?”“Have them wait by the printer,” Plo's immediate answer was nearly eclipsed by Kit's, “Fill barrels with forms.”Seriously. No right to be that quick-witted.“Why are you here?” Cin aimed at the heart of the matter. Time was not something he had to waste.“Because we weren't told a damned thing about the vote until after it happened,” Plo told him, “We would rather see how you are doing in the immediate aftermath.“How nothing went under when the paperwork stopped getting filed, well, I'd classify it as a miracle if those were something in my purview,” the corners of Cin's mouth curled into a snarl, “I will not let the greed of two men take away my ability to make a difference.”“What do you need to keep them from sinking the entire operation?” Kit asked.It was more than a bit fucking late for that question, now, wasn't it?He needed time. He needed funds. He needed someone who could run calculations without needing to look up every formula seven and eight times. He needed them to understand that all anyone was doing right now was trying to survive. There was no room for progress in the way things were being run. There was barely room for static and now that was Cin's problem.Time to figure out just how far away from that understanding this pair was.“The common belief is that it only takes one person, one choice to sink the fucking boat,” Cin sighed as he locked his computer, “It takes zero. Inaction will see the damned thing eroded until the structure fails. And that's where most chapters seem to think they're headed: sinking because nobody said a damned thing about how nothing was working as expected. They all blamed something besides mismanagement. The pandemic. The economy. Avian flu, in one case? I don't get it either. We've always been an under-funded chapter and the fact we own the building has always been cited as the reason.”They both waited to see if he had anything more to say.Of course he did. There would never be enough words to get across just how properly fucked this entire situation was.He wasn't usually the one being asked to say them.“My first order of business as Interim Director is figuring out what the fuck went so wrong that I won an election nobody ran in,” Cin informed them, “The legal team, however, insists that it should be sorting through the things that haven't been touched since – well, they keep saying since Lynn Haven but I'd be a damned fool if I wasn't going back through everything I have access to from before then.”“Things tend to be easier to process when there is a clear line between before and after,” Kit replied.“Not that the simplification makes actually processing things easier,” Plo added.The reply was so tired-sounding that it nearly hid something else. Something...different. Something difficult.Cin, truly, did not have time to waste here.“Something’s changed,” Cin recognized, “I take it things are looking worse than official emails and shit are letting on?”Plo and Kit exchanged glances.So things had changed between them, too, but no shit. It was in how they moved. They'd learned each other since the last time they were here, though Cin had more than just suspicions that they'd been well underway in that particular process.This wasn't about interpersonal lessons, though, and all three of them knew it.“How bad?” Cin asked.“We have not brought this up to the Board yet,” Plo hedged.“Or to anyone besides each other,” Kit grimaced.“It can’t be half as bad as the burden I passed to you two,” Cin told them.“There is a growing sense that too much is being asked of the chapters,” Plo sighed, “How do we balance reasonable expectations in a world where everything is becoming more expensive by the month and incoming donations have been downright gutted without coming across as saying You need to scale back because you’re struggling to meet our expectations?”“You get each chapter to identify their most successful projects and the area where the need is most struggling to be met,” Cin answered, “Those are their ends of the scale. Every other project falls where it falls. That alone doesn't solve a damned thing, but it gets all the cards on the table.“From there you start matching them with other organizations, corporations - whatever it takes to push the ends of the scale closer together. Closing a program is an absolute last resort. We don't have to do it all alone, but we will not let needs to unmet if there's even a scrap of difference we can make.“If I'm really going to the the one in charge of making sure everyone makes it while also ensuring that you – the Board – is happy, I need to know everything that everyone is working with whether or not they're proud of it.”There was always a sustainable solution. It wasn't always going to be the pretty one and it almost certainly was never going to be the fast one, but it was out there.Sometimes, though, the sustainable solution was to cut around the wound to keep the rest of the limb, and that was exactly what most of the Chapters were afraid of.“That is the overall impression we've been getting of what needs to be done,” Kit replied, “I don't want it done because the Board, as an entity, views some numbers as more favorable than others.”Right. These were the two Board members who'd lived one hell or another. Maybe some of the others had, too, but if they had Cin hadn't met them. He certainly hadn't seen them work.“Kit's right,” Plo agreed, “Any goal driven by numbers alone is always going to fail. The need to involve numbers as a part of evaluation is unavoidable, but they cannot stand alone.”It was more words for the same things they'd both been gentler about the first time they'd been here. The second visit barely counted; the shock was still far too real for everyone.Even Shaak Ti and Agen Kolar had waded right into shit's creek to try to keep everyone safe, and they came from the kind of money that bought towns. Cities, possibly. People weren't required to post their taxes every year to prove their money was going where they said it was going.(So who the fuck had been signing off on their 990s?)Hearing Plo and Kit keep the same attitudes despite how it was the numbers that could most easily prove nothing further was being embezzled was...it wasn't a relief. No. There was no room for such luxuries. Not yet. Cin wasn't sure there would ever be room for relief in this line of work.It wasn't a bad thing, at least.He'd take it.Except-“Didn't you trade stocks?”If memory served, Plo had not only traded stocks before he retired, he'd traded them internationally. Numbers – money – had been Plo's entire life for an unclear string of years.“If stocks traded themselves they would mean nothing,” Plo replied, “It is always the human element that drives things. The success therein will always lie somewhere between exerting control and flexibility in responsiveness.”Cin could only stare, mostly unimpressed despite how valid the underlying point was.“Money has had power since its invention,” Plo added, “but only because people gave it power. Still give it power,” he amended, “The money is – and has generally always been – a standard by which the value of time is set.”“Time,” Cin repeated.“All things take time,” Plo explained, “Growing. Making. Cooking. Planning. Nothing is instant, and different applications of time are assigned different values but nothing is truly instant. Time is the base. Money is the manifestation. It isn't a kind or even an effective system, but a system needs to be worked with before it can be disrupted in ways that mean anything after we're gone, though, as slow and ineffective as it feels.”“The other option is a coup,” Kit noted.Cin couldn't help himself: “Did you mean to add that or was that a filter failure?”“I'm not entirely sure,” Kit admitted.It would have been fun to see what else these two were willing to disclose given enough time if time was a resource Cin had a surplus of.“Riot,” Plo added, “Although those rarely affect lasting change.”Or they could keep volunteering information.“They certainly don't feed anyone,” Kit agreed, “None that I've heard of, at least.”God. Okay. Yeah, these two needed another week off their tour. Maybe two.“I am fairly certain only the government can write riot gear off on their taxes anyway,” Plo shrugged.Had...had he checked at some point?What the hell had Plo actually done in his years traversing the globe?“No, but we can-” Kit paused, “Wait. This is probably part of the investigation.”“If the correct things have been written off?” Plo grimaced.It sounded like they hadn't stopped stumbling into things that were supposed to be kept behind a legal gag order.If only the rest of the ongoing incompetence kept tripping into progress.“I'm not sure what good knowing would do beyond offering something akin to peace of mind,” Kit hummed, “Or what we could do about it.”None of the three of them were legal experts, nevermind licensed to practice law.“Amended nine-nineties,” Cin answered anyway, “Especially if we missed out on claiming things.”It hadn't been on his list of possibilities, but he'd barely been at this for an entire day and a half. He was a few forms away from losing half his personality to predetermined fields. He still had to make a plan on how he was going to-Actually.“Are you two up for work?”They didn't even look at each other before they both answered: “Tell us what you need.”“A general plan for contacting all the chapters,” Cin answered, “I have the bare minimum that I need to know and the bare minimum's going to finish what the bastard started.”It was coming down to time, again. He still had the Vegas chapter to run, too, and no real options to shift responsibilities within the chapter.“Tell us what you have,” Plo told him, “We'll figure it out.”Cin would hold him to that promise.–They made it almost half-way through the next day before life threw another round of absolute bullshit at them.Well, at Cin, but Plo and Kit were being dragged along on this one. He wasn't leaving two Board members at the mercy of his tired, borderline angry staff for a few hours.Not because he doubted they could handle it, but because his staff would try to write off riot gear as personal protective equipment. The Board, by no means, needed to know that that was the kind of ideas Cin was wrangling into something more feasible on the regular.“You aren’t going to believe this but my fucking hot water heater is getting replaced before the dishwasher,” Cin informed the pair, “The delivery people are expecting me to be happy about the fact they’re arriving half a day early when I scheduled everything around them being on time or late.”“Such is the nature of both appliances and delivery schedules,” Plo granted.“I live in the middle of a desert,” Cin complained, “Why is the water not hot already?”Because the pipes were underground. He wasn't daft.Just already over this particular mess.“We still have too much to talk about and not enough time to talk,” he recognized, “Come on. Let's go to the shitty little house I call mine.”The pair only packed up their laptops and notebooks while Cin told his staff he had to go wait for delivery people whose idea of between six and eight seemed to be attached to a different time zone.The pair followed him outside in silence.They took their own vehicle but followed Cin close enough that he wasn't worried about getting lost.Not that it was a long or particularly difficult route, but still. Lost two Board members on caravanning while they were on a road trip wasn't a problem he needed to add to things.“It’s in need of almost a complete overhaul,” Cin told them as they entered the house, “Make yourselves comfortable. The delivery folk are supposed to install it but I don’t trust them for shit.”It had been overhauled once already, but the last part of that process was completed over a decade and a half ago already. Moving was unnecessary and the structure itself was still strong.Again, the cloning thing made sense now. Moreso by the day.Give things a full week and they were likely to“You get a professional or you get someone whose idea of an install makes it your problem when the thing floods,” Plo recognized.“What-” Kit started to ask.“Dishwasher,” Plo interrupted, “Downstairs neighbors nearly got a free ceiling waterfall fixture. The condo association now allows residents having appliances installed to do it themselves if they're willing to sign a form accepting responsibility for any damage to neighboring units, but only for water-bearing appliances.”“So that leaves...” Kit trailed off.“Dryers. HVACs, though I'm willing to argue that the amount of condensation makes them water-bearing,” Plo started lifting, “Refrigerators, for some reason. Ovens, including wall-mounted microwaves.”“People still do that?” Cin asked.“Install over the range microwaves?” Plo clarified, “Not uncommonly, from my understanding.”“I like my range not going through an appliance,” Cin shuddered, “And that's with kitchen windows. Hang on. Refrigerators?”“The condo association got a little power-happy and decided we need to declare extra fridges,” Plo sighed, “Not freezers, though.”“That seems,” Cin chewed on his lip for a second to try to find the right word faster, “What the fuck?”Word. Words. Either-or.“If they add anything else to the list, I am going to suggest they add all appliances to the regulatory list,” Plo's upper lip twitched like a snarl for a moment, “I want to see what happens when they have to send someone to sign off on powering things on every time someone gets a new toaster or blender.”God, what a headache Plo must have been thirty years ago.“I am trying to imagine the - black market isn't the right word,” Kit paused, “appliance smuggling ring that would invariably emerge.”Cin should probably steer the conversation in a different direction before actual crimes came up.And yet...“I would more expect residents to start using generators to get around plugging things in,” Plo replied.“Because that's safer,” Kit snorted.“I cannot say I expect the majority of building residents to know better than to run a diesel generator indoors,” Plo granted, “Nor would I expect them to know how much you have to spend on a solar generator to get one that lasts long enough to be worth getting to power multiple appliances.”That sounded like a from-experience statement. Hopefully not direct experience, but experience anyway.But a condo association rule like that would make the news. Local, then national. Get it picked up by the wrong people and suddenly you have that rule going up all over the nation.In place of sharing the thought, Cin asked: “Can you imagine if hotels did that?”The cringe that the question got from both of them was worth the thought that led to it.“What was your last stop?” Cin asked. He refrained from tacking and should they have been testing their outlets, but only barely.“San Francisco,” Plo answered first, “Before that were the Seattle and Olympia chapters.”“Tholme mentioned you two had stopped by,” he told them, “He says you two have a much different approach than Tiin.”That was putting how Tholme had summarized things mildly. Tholme liked Tiin well enough. He'd been the one to suggest Tiin run for the Board, after all. How little Tiin seemed to like Quinlan had made it harder for Tholme to maintain the same favorable opinion, but they were all – allegedly – professionals and Tiin was good at what he did. Quiet. Awkward. But good at what he did.If the skill was despite of or in spite of the rest of his personality was up for debate.“If we have the same approach as any of the rest of the Board at this point, they're going to have to sit in the back of the car,” Kit replied, deadpan.And, okay, Cin had to smile a little at the idea of a third Board member being dragged into this without splitting the work.If it made them happy...“Tiin's good enough,” Cin opted to say as much aloud, “He does the literal heavy lifting without a complaint. From my understanding you have to point him at an action but once he had the end goal he doesn't stop until he gets there. Answers his phone when you call him. I've only seen him in-person a couple times and he's said maybe a dozen words across those times.”He'd be absolute shit at what Plo and Kit were doing, though.“He has a remarkable ability to get a list together,” Kit added, “I asked what it would take to get more businesses donating to food banks and he had a list of laws that made the process difficult if not impossible and people who needed to be contacted to try to recruit in maybe half an hour.”Cin hadn't heard of that particular ability to Tiin's before. Tholme likely didn't know about it, though. He was too proud for a lot of things that would make life easier, and asking important questions before someone beat him to it tended to be one of those things.And hadn't that been a third of the problem the last time they'd actually seen each other?The conversation was interrupted by his office manager called to tell him that she was locking up for the day; he knew it was time for everyone to go home but he didn't like being the first one out of the office. Locking up should fall on him.Should was only going to make him feel worse about plans needing to be thrown out, though.It was easy enough to drift between small talk and work talk while they waited.The actual installation took just under an hour. The installers hit the wall on thee way out and left a gash that they promised they'd send someone to repair, but Cin just wanted them gone.Seeing the full extent of the damage would be easiest if he checked from the space between the washer-dryer stack and the water heater. He'd never quite figured what to do with that space beyond hang a shelf from the ceiling to make the detergent bottles easier to reach than they were on the top of the washer.The wall damage went clean through but hadn't come near the studs. Easy fix. He'd...he'd find the time, and soon. Before the damage managed to make itself worse.He managed to scrape his back on the shelf corner backing out, though.“Fuck,” Cin hissed as he drew back.He was, truly, never going to fully adjust to where he'd put the damned thing.That was going to leave a scar.“Cin?” Plo's voice filtered through first. Both the pair were right there, ready to help.Damn their compassion. Only in this exact moment, but damn their compassion.“It's fine,” Cin tried to insist, “Just a scrape.”Neither of them seemed convinced.He tried again: “It's not like either of you are first aid certified.”“I am, actually,” Plo corrected, “I am not going to make you let me help you, Cin.”Plo was too honest to be anything else. People like him normally didn't make it to where he was standing, literally or proverbially.More than that, though, was the thought that if he had cut something open, he'd managed it where he couldn't reach. He now had the choice between letting someone already in his house clean it and waiting until later when it had scabbed over to let someone else clean it at the clinic.There hadn't been a doctor within an hour that was open after standard working hours and accepting new patients that also took his insurance in years. It wasn't usually a problem. Not for Cin, at least; he hadn't been sick in probably eight years and the rare emergency wasn't for general practitioners anyway.Damn their compassion.“Fine,” Cin relented, “Fine.”He tugged his shirt and undershirt off in one motion and a with an involuntary hiss.Okay, maybe it was worse than he realized.Still.He was acutely aware of the pair of deep, faded scars about a third of the way down his chest that told the stories he wouldn't.He didn't need to see their faces to know they were staring.It was too fucking late now to decide that being a stubborn bastard was the safer option.“You can say something,” Cin granted permission through gritted teeth.“You have a fantastic tattoo artist,” Kit said something first, “Artists?”“That isn’t what I was talking about,” Cin might have laughed if he'd known them any better, “but thank you.”“We all have our things we don’t tell each other,” Plo replied, “Your reasons are not ours to seek.”Damn his compassion.“You’ve spent a lot of your life hiding in plain sight, too, I take it,” Cin guessed.“I have,” Plo confirmed as he started to examine the injury, “It doesn't need stitches.”“How bad?”“It doesn't need stitches,” Plo repeated, “I have liquid bandages. Can you use that?”“No allergies,” Cin replied, “That bad?”“I wouldn't leave it exposed,” Plo confirmed, “About four inches long, more than seeping but not running down your back.”It would leave a scar, then. He'd have to get the ink fixed eventually. Scars took a solid year to set, though, and he had plenty of other things to worry about between now and then.“First aid kit's in the day pack, right?” Kit checked.“Yes,” Plo confirmed, “Though if you can grab the one in the trunk that's kind of tucked into the side netting, it will have larger bottles of cleaning supplies.”Of course they traveled with more than the bare minimum preparation behind it. You had to, to do something like they were doing.It was more than a little strange to see the details in action, though.“On it,” Kit replied before heading outside.“You're first aid certified?” Cin asked despite having already been told the answer.“If the Red Cross offers it for individuals, I hold the certification,” Plo answered, “I can't say I've ever needed to use the lifeguard one.”“You specified for individuals,” keep the conversation on anything but himself was preferable.“The offer certifications for organizations,” Plo explained, “I can't say I have any first responder training.”Fascinating. Quite genuinely fascinating.Kit returned with the case as requested and handed it to Plo. Plo closed the washer, set the case down, pulled out what he needed, and got to work.It didn't matter how gentle someone was; cleaning a would was always going to sting like hell.Cin hissed again but managed not to flinch. He did appreciate the part where neither Plo or Kit was trying to tell him he was doing a good job.“There,” Plo murmured, “Cleaned and dried. One moment.”He traded the cleaning supplies for a bottle of liquid bandages so he could seal up the mark of Cin's own carelessness.“You've done this before,” Cin told him as the seal dried.“More times than I remember the specifics of,” Plo replied, “Likely more times than I remember, but that's half the point of forgetting.”Cin was content to leave the other half of that particular point a mystery.“I used to hike,” Plo offered, “There are plenty of injuries on every difficulty level.”Of course he'd stop to help strangers.Honest men didn't last in the worlds either of them had landed. Compassionate ones rarely did. Plo was increasingly proving to be both.So what was Cin missing?What let Plo survive, and what did it require to get him to leave a little bit of that fire behind at however many chapters he had left to visit?Kit...Cin still couldn't tell. Kit seemed content to wait for instruction, but he hadn't been put in a position where he needed to take the lead. Not a bad thing; not everyone could be at the front of every situation.Something in Kit let the better parts of him survive running headlong into some of the worst humanity had to offer, too.Cin was missing a lot of somethings here.“Lucky hikers,” Cin decided to tell him as he put his shirt back on, “You two still up for drafting those plans tonight?”They looked at each other for a moment before Kit answered: “Yes. We are.”“Right then,” Cin sighed, “Laptop.”He still had work to do, too, and it was probably going to be less of a hassle to keep the two of them at least in shouting range until one of the three of them decided sleep needed to happen.At least: they'd better not be driving on no sleep.Plo and Kit worked well together professionally, too; they set up at one end of Cin's dining table, both of their laptops on and a few scattered pieces of scrap paper between them. They'd ask Cin something periodically and then return to what they were working on.Eventually, curiosity got the better of Cin.“Have you two visited the epicenter yet?”“Lynn Haven, no,” Kit replied, “We're due there in...two weeks? Headquarters declined.”What a deeply curious answer.“Almost exactly,” Plo confirmed, “The visit was scheduled before the trip began.”Interesting that neither end of that equation had rescheduled, but for all Cin knew the chapter had been a such hotbed for legal investigations that everyone who did hold the power to make the pair of them change their plans knew them well enough to know better than to encourage them to sit at the center of the shitstorm for a few days.“Shit,” Cin scrubbed his hands over his face, “I should visit Lynn Haven before the retreat.”“One of us can send you our travel plans for Lynn Haven,” Plo offered.Cin could decide if he wanted to go at the same time to minimize disruption or if those who'd stuck things out at ground fucking zero didn't need two Board members and the Interim President showing up at the same time looking for information they couldn't find in the news.He didn't have much time to decide, but he had some. He needed to make the decision before the sheer volume of work left made it for him, though.Cin wound up chasing them out. He needed to eat. He needed sleep. A shower wouldn't hurt. He was doing all of that alone, thank you very much.Today had been weird enough as things stood.Plo and Kit packed up like, well, like they'd been packing over and over for months now before they started to make their way out.Cin very nearly had one more question.He shouldn't.It was late. Things had nearly gotten too honest for Cin's tastes.And yet.What if there was never another chance?“Plo,” Cin called after him, specifically.“Yes?” Plo stopped walking and turned towards him.“What got you to stop hiding?”“Well,” Plo paused far longer than he would have needed to to breathe. Longer than Cin had ever heard him pause, actually.Shit.Plo did answer eventually, though.“It wasn't one thing or one moment or anything like that,” Plo explained, “More...a lot of small circumstances that added up to let me start asking myself if the risks of stepping back into the open were outweighed by what doing so could give me.”“Was it worth it?”“Beyond measure,” Plo smiled, “I am fortunate. I know that. I recognize that. It does not go so well for everyone who takes that step.”No reward ever meant something without a risk preceding it, but the risk invariably meant that there were other outcomes. Some also good. Some better. Some neutral.Many worse, though, and that was where Cin had long expected to land if he took this particular risk.He certainly had a lot to think about.–They wound up more shoving food in their faces and finding the closest hotel with an open room and no reported bed bug problems than they made plans for the night.This room was...bright. Clean. Literally on top of a tower. The views nearly rivaled the Ferris wheel, but only nearly.
What got you to stop hiding?
Kit had other things on his mind, though. It cut through the exhaustion and the just-under-the-skin feeling of how much work there was left to do.
Was it worth it?
Plo was sitting against the bed's headboard, ostensibly reading but Kit hadn't heard him turn the page in at least ten minutes.
Beyond measure.
At least he was most likely interruptible.And Kit?“Say, love?” Kit asked without looking away from his phone, “Can you do me a favor and start a timer?”Well.“Sure?” Plo replied, “What's going on?” He closed his book without placing his bookmark in it and placed it on the nightstand.It was time to stop hiding.“I am going to tell my family before we show up in three days,” Kit answered, “I am going to start by not telling my older sister and see how long it takes before someone calls demanding an explanation.”Plo didn't not pause before he told Kit: “Let me know when to start it.”Kit finished composing the text before he told Plo: “Now.”Two minutes and eighteen seconds later, Kit's phone started ringing.“And there it is,” Kit couldn't suppress the accompanying grimace before he answered the call, “Tiff.”“I owe Robbie thirty bucks!” she sounded pissed.“What does that have to do with-” Kit started to ask.“You could have just told us you were moving in with someone!” she informed him, “Year-long road trip my ass!”“I am on a road trip,” Kit sighed, “I am currently in Vegas, actually.”“Vegas. Of course you're in Vegas,” she scoffed, “So do I owe Robbie thirty bucks or not?”What did that mean?“That depends on what the bet is?”“Ugh, nevermind, A wants to call you,” she said before she hung up.“You could just hand the phone-and she's gone,” Kit lowered his phone, “Youngest sister. Apparently there's a family bet as to if I moved in with someone.”Before he could add anything else or Plo could respond, Kit's phone started ringing again.“A,” Kit answered.“So does she owe Robbie thirty bucks?” she asked.“What was the bet?” Kit tried to clarify.“That you've been seeing someone and didn't renew your lease because you moved in with him instead,” she explained.“No, she does not owe Robbie anything,” Kit sighed, “Least of all money.”“But you're seeing someone,” she didn't let up.“I am,” Kit confirmed, “I told you to be cool about it.”“You told me,” she reminded him, “You didn't tell baby Tiff shit.”A protest of Not a baby! filtered across the line.“Less than three minutes,” Kit informed her, “That was not being cool about it.”“He's the one you're on the trip with, though,” she said like she already knew.“Yes,” Kit confirmed, “he is.”“It's about damned time you brought someone home,” she informed him, “Also, your bike's fine but I think it needs gas.”“I'll fill it up,” Kit promised, “About damned time?”“We aren't stupid, Kit,” she scolded, “He's good?”“Mama won't hate him.”“He's good, then,” she recognized, “Don't do anything too stupid between now and when you get here like get rid of him.”“Believe me, I don't plan on it,” he promised.She only laughed.“Call Mama,” she told him, “Now, before Tiff does.”With that, she hung up on him.“Call Mama before Tiff does,” Kit repeated, mumbled, “I am...so sorry.”“It's alright, Kit,” Plo tried to assure him.“Hopefully,” Kit sighed as he tapped at his phone, “We'll see if she picks up.”Mama picked up.Of course she did.“He's the pretty one, right?” Mama asked.Kit has very nearly forgotten that he'd confided as much to her after his first Board meeting.“He is,” Kit confirmed.“I figured he was,” she replied, “It must be serious if you're telling everyone.”His first instinct was to try to tell her that he wasn't telling everyone so much as everyone was telling him that a bet had been going on, but that wasn't the entire truth. This had started because he was trying to tell everyone.“It is, Mama,” he told her.“Let me hear him.”“Speaker,” Kit told Plo before he put Mama on speaker.He probably should have told Plo more about Mama before...right now. Given him a heads up that her standards for her children were high and even higher for their partners. First impressions mattered to Mama and he hadn't even told Plo how to address her.“Hello, Mama,” Plo said with a glance towards Kit asking if that had been the right thing to say.It had been the perfect thing to say.Kit listened far more than he talked; Mama had questions for Plo and Plo was content to answer as long as she kept asking them. At some point, Kit moved so that he was resting his head against Plo's thigh, let the steady rhythm of the conversation that had no right to be this easy wash over him.Mama eventually told them both that she needed to go to bed, but told Kit to call more than he had been. Not just her: his siblings, too.Kit would...try.He would try.Truth was, talking on the phone had never been his favorite thing. Sha and Plo made it look easy, but he'd never been close enough with...anyone...to keep a conversation going without actually seeing them.He wasn't sure how long he laid there, phone resting in his unsteady hand, before Plo asked him softly: “Kit?”“I don't,” Kit's voice was as unsteady as his hands, “I don't know.”It wasn't until Plo put a hand on the side of Kit's face and swiped his thumb and Kit felt something wet that he realized he was crying.“I don't know,” Kit repeated.“You don't have to,” Plo promised.Except...he knew. He knew but he didn't have the words for it.Everything was so much right now but everything was good and that...that made it too much yet Kit would not have wanted anything about the last twenty minutes to go any other way.(How had it only been twenty minutes?)When his hands were steady again and the moment didn't feel like it was reaching out to every anchor he'd ever cast – for better and for worse – Kit tried to explain what had just happened.“That could have gone much worse.”That...that wasn't explaining a damned thing, but it was a start.Probably.“Could it have gone better?” Plo asked. It was the first hint of nervousness Kit had heard from him.“I doubt it,” he tried to assure him, “We love each other. Really, we do. We just...have a hard time showing it without being hard on each other from time to time.”“Love doesn't have a unified expression,” Plo reminded him.“Well thank fuck for that,” Kit's laugh was a downright stressed one.“Your Mama is lovely,” Plo told him.“She's usually harder on partners,” Kit replied, “Well. On my siblings' partners. I...haven't brought anyone home before.”Plo waited to see if Kit would offer any more information on that one.It would have been easier if he'd pried, but Plo didn't do that.“The most of my family is okay enough with it,” Kit fumbled, “Oldest sister thinks it’s weird that I have never brought anyone home. Youngest sister has told me enough times that she'll believe I'm gay when I do bring someone home, which is...well, it's what she keeps telling me. Second-youngest sister has never wanted to know any of our romantic lives. As for my brother...I haven’t spoken with him in years. He,” Kit couldn't stop the sigh that escaped, “He would much rather I be into women.”Plo made a deeply unhappy sound but shifted his hand to squeeze the back of Kit's neck. Kit let himself feel a little grounded as he relaxed into the pressure.“Ah, shit, Jazz,” Kit realized.“Jazz?”“Second-youngest sister,” Kit explained, “Shit. Someone's probably already told her.”“Call her,” Plo encouraged.Kit wasn't proud of how he hesitated before he pulled up her contact, but he did.“Kitty,” Jazz answered, “I'm on the phone with Robbie. He says he owes Tiff thirty bucks.”Oh come on. Kitty? After years of getting everyone to stop?“That sounds like a Robbie problem,” Kit opted to address instead.“I'm merging calls.”“Are you-” Kit tried to ask her if she was sure it was a good idea if she did that, but it was too late.As the calls merged, he heard Robbie saying: “Well if I'd'a known I was wrong I wouldn't have bet anything!”“Kit's on the call,” Jazz informed Robbie.Robbie hung up.“I should have expected that,” Jazz complained.That was far better than Kit had been expecting.“I told him not to make the bet when he made it,” she informed him, “but no. He wanted thirty bucks and he was so sure you'd move without telling us again.”He hadn't meant to do it the first time.“So, what's he like?” Jazz asked, “You're bringing him, right?”“He's driving, so yes,” Kit replied a little harsher than he meant to.“Oh come on,” Jazz sounded downright disappointed, “Don't tell me that's the only reason.”“Of course not,” Kit huffed.“Good,” she laughed, “It'd be a shame if the only reason he's meeting the whole family is because he's driving.”“The-” Kit cut himself off, “What?”“Nobody told you?”“Told me what?”“Family reunion's happening,” she explained, “It's been a few years and you're in town, so Mama and A figured: why not?”“Ah.”“You better still come.”“I will,” Kit promised, “We will be there in four days.”“Good,” she sounded far too relieved for Kit to not feel a little guilty, “Next time you decide you have a major life update can you try not to do it so damned late?”Right. Time zones.“We just finished work, Jazz,” he told her.“Ew.”“Work,” Kit repeated, “Actual work. Jesus.”A pause before she replied: “That might be worse.”That, at least, got a small, honest laugh from Kit.“The overwhelming majority of the entire trip has been either work or driving, Jazz,” he told her, “The company's been fantastic at least.”“More than I strictly needed to know!” she protested.“You asked!”Above him, Plo muffled a laugh.“Earlier, next time,” she told him again, “Or don't have any more major life events.”“That would be boring,” Kit informed her, “I'll wait until the morning next time.”“Good,” she managed to complain, “See you in a few days, Kitty.”“See you in a few-and she's hung up,” Kit sighed as he locked his phone, “That could have gone worse.”Plo hummed and squeezed the back of Kit's neck again.“Was that everyone?” Plo asked.“Everyone I need to tell tonight,” Kit confirmed.He needed to just take a moment to breathe before he told Plo...anything.Plo didn't push, didn't ask anything. He just...waited.(How was he so perfect?)First things first: the most important information.“So, one, I may have told Mama you're pretty after my first Board meeting,” Kit managed to resist the urge to bury his face in his hands, “And two, apparently there's a family reunion happening.”“Pretty?” was the first thing out of Plo's mouth.“It wasn't want I was aiming for,” Kit flinched, “It's true, but not what I was aiming for.”“If anyone has called me pretty before, it hasn't bee to my face,” Plo replied.“Well,” Kit hesitated, “is it something you're...okay with?”“I believe so,” Plo answered, “I can't say I've given it much thought.”“You are so many things,” Kit reached to grab Plo's other hand so he could kiss his knuckles, “Pretty is one of them.”This time, the sound Plo made was a pleased one.“Four days,” Kit breathed.“Four days,” Plo echoed, “How are you feeling about it?”“It's been a long time since I was anxious about coming home,” Kit admitted, “At least it's over something good this time.”“Hang on,” Plo told him as he squeezed Kit's neck a third time but then got off the bed.Kit trusted him, though, so he stayed put; that trust was rewarded when Plo laid down next to him and rested their foreheads together.“Better?” Plo asked.“Better,” Kit felt like he could breathe again.Better would be harder to feel for the next few days, but...But he was here.Plo was here.Telling his family had gone much weirder than expected, but still much better than he'd been expecting.Kit could more than deal with better.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Despite not being able to shake his nerves entirely, Kit still had work to do come morning.More specifically, he and Plo had work to finalize before they left again and not a lot of time to do it.At least they worked well together.They were able to not only present Cin with a list of steps for contacting the rest of the chapters, but also with individual office considerations based on what they had seen, which offices they had not visited yet, and which offices had declined a visit.They also left him with a list of office managers who seemed to be in charge.“See, this is what I need,” Cin told them, “Director's a nice enough sounding title, but it's rarely where the actual power's held.”“Power is never the force announcing itself,” Plo agreed, “It does, however, tend to show up over and over willing to do the same thing every day.”Cin made an almost-amused sound and looked at Plo as if to say You would know.Cin dropped his shoulders, as close to relaxed as he'd been since they'd gotten there, and told them: “Thank you.”“We're here to work and we're here to help,” Kit replied.“A lot of people say that,” Cin replied, “Not a lot follow through to the extent you two do.”It sounded like Cin had also had a hell of a night after they'd parted ways, though undoubtedly of an incredibly different kind.They had a little time for – not for small talk, they doubted any of them would have time for that awkward luxury for a while. They hoped they wouldn't find themselves in a situation where it was the only option other than silence for even longer.Not terribly long before they absolutely needed to be on the road if they wanted to get a sane amount of sleep, part of a conversation Cin's office manager was having with someone else filtered in: she'd been pulled over for having a tail light out and while she was 'only' given a citation and a time limit of a week to fix it, she wasn't thrilled about having to pay for it.“One moment,” Plo told both Kit and Cin before he inserted himself into the conversation with: “Do you have a replacement bulb already?”“No?”“You shouldn't have to pay for the installation,” he told her.“How?” she asked.“What you're going to so is - what's closer, a WalMart or an auto parts store?”“From here?” she blinked, “Probably an auto parts store.”“You're going to go to an auto parts store and you're going to have them tell you which one you need,” he instructed, “Once you have the receipt in hand, ask them if they install them for free. If they don't, either find a local Democratic Socialist hub or Resist group that does it for free. Hold onto that citation. Make a copy and then keep it in your glove box so that if you get stopped again you don't get another one. But you absolutely do not have to pay to get someone to replace it.”She stared at him for a moment before she asked: “Do you mind writing all that down?”“Not at all,” Plo replied, “Where-”“I'll get you some,” she told him before disappearing.Plo followed her.“Is he always like this?” Cin asked Kit after a few beats.“Ready with a practical solution for everyone else's problem?” Kit couldn't help but laugh, “Yeah. Yeah he is. A Blockbuster card?”Cin's laugh was an honest one, at least.“It started as a joke, actually,” he explained, “It lives in my drawer in case it needs to be made again.”“Brilliant,” Kit felt himself smile, “I told him, by the way.”Cin's expression softened before he told Kit: “Good.”Silence took a lap around the room before Cin added: “I mean, what were you going to do otherwise? Just get up on day, disappear for however long it took you to get the paint and a dropcloth, and start painting until he asked what you were doing?”“Hopefully I'd remember to pick up paint rollers,” Kit replied, “Though it would not surprise me if he had some somewhere.”“That would have been a better way to tell him than silently,” Cin granted.“One day, not disclosing where the paint brushes are will be the heaviest thing people living under the same acronym will regularly decline to disclose for one reason or another,” Kit tried to pick his words carefully, “Until then, I will be thankful that the knowledge with no real consequences is still allowed to remain hidden.”“What do you mean?” Cin asked like he meant What the fuck do you mean by that?“Nothing about either of our lives changes if an extra pack of roller brushes gets involved,” Kit explained.The realization that he could have picked a different phrase – literally any different phrase – occurred to him as soon as he said it.Nevertheless, he continued his attempt at an explanation: “It leaves more room for the things that do need to be mentioned sooner rather than later.”Kit sighed and added: “It's more of a feeling than a complete thought.”“No, no, it makes sense,” Cin replied, “If you don't fill up the space with things you don't strictly need to know, the things you do need to know have a better chance of making it out at all.”“Exactly,” Kit nodded once.Especially in the beginning.Silence, again, just long enough for a thought to crystallize for both of them.“What I need is for the rest of the chapter Directors to shut up long enough to let the things they need to be talking about have a chance to make themselves known,” Cin told Kit, “If you figure that out before I do, let me know.”It had been a vastly different though for Cin, it it still took shape in the silence.Kit kept his to himself, though, and silence fell again while they waited for Plo to return.“Was it worth it for you?” Cin asked.“We're a few days away from finding out,” Kit replied.“Hmn.”“Yeah.”Cin had asked in the singular; Kit had answered in the plural. That probably wasn't what the sound was over, but it had been so automatic that it took Kit a moment to realize the discrepancy.It was going to be a long few days.–The handful of days of driving and Kit's mounting nerves and little else were wearing on both of them.Pulling up in front of Mama's – where Kit had promised they'd stop first – did nothing to help his nerves and everything to make them worse when not Mama but all four of his siblings were sitting on the front porch.Kit offered Plo a look that he hoped said I'm sorry.“It's okay, Kit,” Plo assured him as he turned the car off, “Ready?”“Not remotely,” Kit answered even as he took his seat belt off, “Come meet the family.”“Kitty!” A exclaimed.“Oh come on,” Kit complained, “Good to see you, too.”She was the first off the porch to greet them – a hug for Kit and a handshake for Plo – his other sisters following her lead and just about tackling Kit with a laugh and that was enough to break most of the tension.“Missed you, too,” Kit told them with a heavy inhale.“Come on you two,” A started guiding them inside, “before we're eaten alive.”Plo, in possibly the boldest, most overt power play Kit had seen from him yet, turned to introduce himself to Robbie before he went in the house.“Plo,” he introduced himself, hand extended.The entire family froze to watch just how poorly this was going to go.“Plo,” Robbie didn't move, “Short for anything?”“Unfortunately, no,” Plo let his hand fall back to his side, “I am fairly sure my parents drew Scrabble tiles from a hat and nobody was able to talk them out of it.”Robbie made a noncommittal sound but dropped most of his defensiveness and Plo made a similar sound that Kit could not mistake for anything but relief.He didn't follow them inside, but he was there and he hadn't gone off on Plo and that was...fine.It was fine.“Who's watching the kids?” Kit asked as the five of them stepped inside the house.“Their father,” A answered with a pointed look in Robbie's general direction.“A's ex-boyfriend,” Tiff answered.“I need you to stop calling my husband that.”“We weren't sure how it would go,” Tiff ignored A, “With. You know.”With Robbie there.Yeah.Kit knew.“He knows if he starts anything on my porch he's not coming back for a month,” Mama said as she joined everyone from upstairs, “If he starts it inside, it's going to be at least two.”She had raised them better than that.“Mama!” Kit felt much lighter.“There you two are,” she half-complained even as she hugged Kit, “Did you hit traffic for three hours?”“Actually, yes,” Plo didn't quite bristle, “Between exits, at that.”Conversation happened easily from there, at least, Kit's sisters content to do most of the talking while Kit tried to let go of his nerves and Plo let himself do something besides drive.There had been some key changes nobody had warned Kit about. Namely – for this visit – that Robbie had moved back in with Mama, much to everyone's periodic frustration. This wouldn't have been a big deal to Kit if it wasn't for the fact Mama wanted him and Plo to stay with her 'while she had them.'Other than that, conversation was easy.At least: it was easy until it slammed into Plo's family situation when Jazz asked who Plo was closest to in his family.“It's just my Neice,” Plo replied.“Just one family member that you're close to?” Mama asked.“Just one family member,” Plo corrected, “Car wreck.”Sha wasn't even here and yet she was about to find herself the center of the conversation.Hearing Plo talk about her, it was clear he was so incredibly proud of the young woman she'd become. It was also clear that his sister was his favorite family member that he'd lost, which led to Kit realizing that he had no idea what kind of relationship Plo had with his parents when they'd died. He barely knew what type of relationship they'd had throughout Plo's life.Plo normally ducked away from questions, though, or gave half-answers which was the majority of why Kit hadn't asked about it. Then he realized: his family hadn't asked Plo much at all about himself.You could tell far more about a person by paying attention to how they talked about others than by how they talked about themselves.And Plo?Plo loved.Full stop.Robbie eventually came inside and quickly made his way back to his room without saying anything besides a quick goodnight to Mama as he passed her.“He'll come around,” Mama huffed.Kit was less than convinced given, you know, the past few decades but he wasn't going to start an argument. Not yet, at least. Hopefully not at all.It turned out he didn't have to, because A chased after him to yell at him about at least giving Mama the respect she deserves even if he can't give it to the rest of them.“Alicia Mary!” Mama called after A, “It's not respect if it's forced! Leave him be and get back here!”Kit, Jazz, and Tiff all cringed on A's behalf.“How often did you get middle named?” Jazz asked.“I don't have one,” Plo replied, “We knew we were in trouble when both of our names were called at the same time.”“Oh, so your middle names were each other's names,” Tiff laughed.“I can't say I've thought of it like that, but effectively, yes,” Plo chuckled, “We knew exactly what we did.”“Does Sha ever get middle named?” Kit asked.“Oh, no,” Plo replied, “Sha gets a disappointed sigh and she starts asking herself anything she might have done even slightly wrong in the list six weeks.”“You seem like the type that doesn't get mad,” A assessed.“Oh, I get angry,” Plo corrected, “but I try to save it for the things I can actually change.”“Mad, though?” A asked.“Eh,” Plo shrugged, “Mad was more Ane's thing.”Kit could tell that there were stories in there. One Plo would change the subject if he was asked about, but they were still in there.One day.“What was her husband like?” Jazz asked, “And did he have a name?”“James,” Plo answered, “He loved her enough that he never asked her to change, and he gave the world Sha. That's about all I have to say about him.”Plo was not a fan of his brother-in-law, then. That was the first time Kit had heard his name. He had a feeling that it would also be one of the last times.Conversation eased up until Tiff needed to get her kids home for bed and A needed to be on the increasingly poorly faring side of the nightly war against bed time. Jazz left eventually; tomorrow was a work day and she already wouldn't be getting nearly enough sleep.Sleep didn't sound like a terrible idea. Exactly how the two of them would configure themselves over the coming days remained to be seen. Kit assumed that Robbie had taken over the guest room, which did not leave a lot of options, nevermind for two people.Mama had had rules when Kit still lived here, but he'd never brought anyone home anyway. More than that: he hadn't lived here in twenty years. He wasn't bringing someone home so much as he was visiting with his partner.And there it was.Why Mama kept saying 'while I have you.' Why all of his siblings, Robbie included, had decided they needed to meet Plo as soon as they'd arrived.They knew exactly where Kit was ending this trip even if Kit wasn't entirely sure himself.–They would have stopped in New Orleans eventually regardless of if Kit had requested it; Plo knew his family was important to him regardless of how the relations could be strained for long stretches.Officially, however, they were here now to visit the New Orleans chapter. That Plo had been able to carve more days away on either side at Kit's it would be appreciated spoke to Sha's assessment about how he rearranged his life as his love language.Kit had been missed in his absence. Everyone understood – and was genuinely happy for him – but he had still been missed. Kit carried guilt about this that sharpened the edges of his smiles even as it dulled his eyes a bit.The office visit itself was brief – no printed sheets of numbers, but plenty of updates on ongoing projects. Two that were supposed to have gotten off the ground by now had been stalled on account of 'everything going on.'That was...new. At least: that was the first they'd heard of planned projects being delayed in the aftermath of Lynn Haven. It could not possibly be just one office experience this. They'd visited more offices after the Lynn Haven incident than before it. So why was this a new thing?More than that: what could they do about it? Realistically, what could they – two Board members on a Board with downright poor coherency as of late – do to try to figure out what information about things that never happened they hadn't been given? More than that: what good did it do to anything but their peace of mind?The numbers never told the entire story, but this was a whole new arena that they didn't quite belong in. Not as things were. Eventually, yes, but there was a difference between unmet needs that could benefit from having a project behind them and planned projects postponed without updates that left them both with far more questions than they have answered.“You know,” Kit told Plo while they were solidly in the volunteering part of the day, “as much as it might give the staff left at Lynn Haven a heart attack, I hope Cin decides to visit them when we're there.”That would be a discreet way to bring up this surprise, tertiary arena they'd found themselves in, at least.“If not we have a retreat that isn't going to be relaxing at all,” Plo replied.“Well thank God we have an actual vacation before that,” Kit snorted.They would be driving directly from their mountain retreat with Sha, Ahsoka, and Maul to the Board retreat in New York. Sha would be leaving for Washington directly from Tennessee, which meant they would be making most of the trip caravanning with Maul and Ahsoka.It also meant that Sha would be rediscovering the feeling of relying on other people's machines to do her own laundry, but there were exchanges made in all choices regardless of who made them and why.That was coming, though. All they could do now was work, take notes, and make plans that they hoped held up to time.–It took three nights before A offered to cook dinner for them, which meant they were spending their fourth night in New Orleans trading her home cooking for a few hours of periodically invasive questions. While Plo didn't seem to mind the idea, Kit's nerves hadn't settled enough to watch his partner try to pass whatever tests his older sister had for him.She started strong with: “What did your coworkers say when you told them you’d be taking this trip?”“Oh, I haven’t been employed for over twenty years,” Plo replied.”So you don’t work?” she asked.“I don't work, A,” Kit cut in.“Believe me, none of us missed that,” A replied before she turned back to Plo and said: “I know his deal. What's yours?”“I retired early,” Plo clarified.“So how do you fill your time?” A pressed.“I raised Sha for a while, but she just graduated college and stayed close to her alma mater,” he elaborated, “Before then, travel. Hiking. Flying. Since then: volunteering, mostly.”“Flying?”“I had a pilot's license-”That was the kids' cue to start asking question after question about flying, then about hiking, then about all the places Plo had traveled. They asked so many questions that Kit started learning things, too.Questions about flying led to questions about driving, which managed to lead to questions about math from A's eldest.Plo was so patient. He showed no signs annoyance, or tiring despite how long the day had been.By the time dinner was ready, Plo was helping not only A's kids with their homework, but Jazz's kid as well.“You're keeping him, right?” A asked, “Because if you aren't, I will.”“If you ain't, I am,” Harold – A's husband – announced.“Hands off,” Kit muttered.He was, beyond doubt, keeping Plo around.(Exactly how much Harold was joking and how much he'd just made a new-to-Kit announcement was something Kit was willing to leave a mystery.)“Did you teach before you retired?” A asked while everyone ate.“Stock trading,” Plo answered, “Sha had friends over all the time, though, and they often needed homework help as well.”He'd not only done this before, but he'd done it for more children than he had mentioned to Kit. From the stories he and Sha had told, Kit wondered if either of them knew exactly how many kids had come through the condo doors over the years.There were plenty of other questions: where he lived (Chicago), why Chicago (it was the most appealing major financial hub to live in when he moved), where he learned to do home renovation (trial and error and a bunch of books), what kind of things Sha did when she still lived with him (and, man, that list would never not impress Kit).Eventually, though, they managed to extract themselves to go back to Mama's for the night. The family reunion was already tomorrow and there was no chance of either of them feeling properly rested for it.News that Plo did home renovations beat them back to Mama's, which now meant the day after the party was going to be spent fixing some things around the house.Plo didn't object, though. Of course he didn't. He just asked what needed to be done and made a list of the tools he'd need to pick up to get the work done.Kit had found out the first night that Robbie had been relegated to the space that had been approximated back into his childhood bedroom when the house had been gutted as Mama's way of attempting to get him to get himself sorted out as quickly as possible.“You know,” Kit murmured as he and Plo both sat on the edge of the guest bed to finally untie their shoes for the day, “I appreciate that you haven't even hinted at getting a hotel or something.”“Why would I?” Plo replied like it was nothing.“Privacy?”“Kit,” Plo stopped mid-untying process to look at him, “this is your family. I love all of you. Relations included.”“I'm not sure where I went right,” Kit replied as he leaned over to put his head one Plo's shoulder, “but I'm glad it was with you.”“There have been lots of rights on this trip,” Plo more-or-less joked, “I'm fairly sure the first one was out of your neighborhood and the most recent one was the last turn we made coming back from your sister's.”Kit huffed but replied: “We haven't made very many wrongs on this trip.”“Maps are getting more accurate by the year,” Plo reasoned, “Give it a few more trips across the middle of nowhere on back roads. We'll lose reception and get properly lost.”“Maybe. But not alone.”“No,” Plo rested his cheek on top of Kit's head, “not alone.”“Ready to meet the entire family tomorrow?” Kit asked.“As ready as I am for anything,” Plo answered, “Are you?”“No,” Kit almost laughed, “Not in the least.”He wasn't alone, at least.