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Corvina picked up Zander and put on as motherly a face as she could. "Sorry honey but what your father says goes." Zander looked up at her and then Rayner. She laughed. "Well, that would definitely make for a strange family." She was glad he had agreed so easily. She wasn't really one for confrontation. Zander squirmed in her arms, ready to get going already. He jumped down and looked back up at them.

When Rayner pointed out a door that would lead them out she recognized it as one she couldn't get open earlier. "I think it's locked." She watched him pull out the gun and moved her hands over Zander's ears. She was surprised to see that the trick worked. "I have to admit, I wasn't expecting that to work." She smirked when he called her m'lady and did a little curtsy before walking through the door. This tunnel was thankfully shorter than the first. It seemed like no time at all before they found themselves outside again on a small trail. The sun had only just gone down.

Rayner pulled out their flashlights again and found a sign leading pointing the correct way home. Before no time, they were out of the woods and was walking into the downtown area of town. As usual, there were many people walking around and about - after all most of the nicer restaurants were in the downtown area. Compared to the rest of the citizens, Corvina and Rayner looked pretty dusty from their hike. But nothing too bad - thanks to having spent some time in the falls today.

Rayner's stomach grumbled as they walked through town and soon he spotted Danielle's Cafe - his second home. He looked over at Corvina and at Zander. "Hey, have you ever been to Danielle's?" he asked stopping in front of her so that she would stop walking as well and using his thumb to gesture towards the coffeehouse/diner. "Best coffee ever! And hot chocolate! They even have some pretty good food...you wanna grab a bite?" he asked. Even if Corvina said no Rayner would have went in anyways. He almost lived at Danielle's to the point where he considered the woman family.

Corvina was relieved to be back outside in the fresh air again. It seemed Zander was too. He was back to his continually moving and exploring self. She self consciously tried to brush off some of the dust as they were walking through the downtown area. As usual, most people stared at Zander curiously as he walked docilely beside them. It felt strange to watch friends, couples and families all laughing and enjoying themselves after all they'd found out earlier today.

She was startled out of this thinking when Rayner asked her if she wanted to grab a bite to eat. The scent coming from inside the diner was tempting and before she could say anything her stomach answered for her in the form of a loud growl. She blushed. "Yeah, that sounds really good actually. Would the owner mind Zander being in there?" That was usually her biggest problem with restaurants and other public places. Most weren't fox-friendly.

"I'm about 100% sure that Daneille wouldn't mind if you brought Zander in...in fact..." He picked up Zander and placed the fox top of the flat surface of his pack. "I'm sure she'll be thrilled to meet him, come on!" he said and already walked towards the diner. He held the door open for Corvina and allowed her to walk in first.

The diner/coffeehouse was somewhat empty - after all, most people in town don't opt for coffee for dinner - especially since they were so many nice restaurants around the area. There were a few people sitting in groups of two throughout the place, but it wasn't packed like how it would be for breakfast and lunch. Behind the counter was the very sweet woman herself, Danielle. She turned her curly head towards Rayner and Corvina. "Hi welcome! Oh! Hello Rayner and company!" she smiled, her light blue eyes lit up when she saw Rayner was not alone for once.

"Well, well, well..." Danielle said, placing her hands on her waist playfully. She looked at both Corvina and Rayner in front of her and soon placed her skinny fingers on her chin, tapping it a bit as though to indicate that she was thinking.

"If I didn't know better...I would say that Rayner's on a date!" she pointed out which caused Rayner to smirk and soon picked up Zander from behind him.

"Yes Dani, I'm on a date," He brought Zander up to his face and pushed his face against his furry friend's. "Zander and I are in love and we're going to run away together! Isn't that right Zander?" He held the normally passive fox away from him and stared into it's beady eyes before looking back at Danielle who only stood there with a smile on her face and laughing.

Rayner soon lowered Zander down on to the wooden flooring of the coffeehouse. "Oh and this is Corvina, she's the 3rd wheel...but...hey, don't tell her that..." he whispered but loud enough so that Corvina could hear. "Oh yeah, and Corvina, this is Danielle...the lovely owner of this place." Rayner introduced them. Danielle's warm mother face had a bright smile upon it as she reached out to shake Corvina's hand. "Nice to meet you," she said. "Looks like you kids have been out roughing it all day, hiking?" She asked. Rayner only nodded. "Yup, and I think we're going to need some food now..." he trailed off.

Danielle playfully sighed and pointed at the table near by. "That's the only reason why you ever come in here, Rayner..." she said, sounding somewhat disappointed. But Rayner knew better. She was teasing him again. "No...it's mostly for the free Wi-fi...really." He responded causing Danielle to laugh. "Alright, well why don't you kids settle down over there and we'll get you fed." she said and soon turned around to tend to the other guests leaving Rayner, Corvina, and Zander alone to do as they please.

Rayner looked over at Corvina and smiled. "Shall we?" He asked and walked over to the table in the corner. He took off the heavy pack from his shoulders and sat down. "Oh man...what a day, wouldn't you say?" He asked. "Here, they have some pretty good stuff here. Zeke, the cook makes a mean burger too if you are into that." he smiled pointing out some stuff on the menu.

((Wow! Skilled in making amazing coffee and killing people. Was not expecting that!))

Corvina laughed as Rayner picked Zander right up and carried him into the diner. Leave it to him to do something like that. She followed them through the door, Zander looking back on her from his perch. She was glad to see there weren't many people in the diner. It was always nice when restaurants didn't have many people in them, and this one was so warm and welcoming. Just as much as the owner.

She blushed when Danielle suggested they were on a date and thankfully Rayner saved her from stammering something. Corvina laughed at Zander's surprised expression when he found himself face to face with Rayner and started licking his nose. "Awww he's giving you kisses!" When Rayner set Zander down, he started licking his paws of the dust that had gotten there.

Corvina rolled her eyes at his 3rd wheel comment. "I'm not a 3rd wheel; I'm a perfectly operational unicycle, thank you very much." She smiled and shook Danielle's hand. "It's nice to meet you." Zander perked up and lifted his nose up into the air, apparently having smelled something that appealed to his foxy senses. At the mention of food, Corvina's stomach growled again. She watched Danielle and Rayner talk as they walked to a table. It was obvious to see that they had known each other a while and she found it sweet the way they teased each other.

Corvina followed him over to the corner table and Zander hopped up onto a seat all his own. He curled up on it and watched the rest of the room with bright eyes from under the table. Corvina smiled and scratched his ear before sitting in her own seat. "You can say that again. Today was definitely interesting." She avoided thinking about the darker aspects of the day and instead looked at the menu and at the food Rayner was pointing out. "Mmmm, a burger sounds great right now." She picked something out for Zander too.

After deciding, Corvina leaned back in her chair and fiddled with her necklace. It felt so safe in this place, unlike in the cave lab. "I've never been here before. Dad says it used to be my mom's favorite place to eat or just hang out."

((She'll kill you with coffee, lol!))

Rayner observed Corvina's necklace as she fiddled with it. He made a note about the golden necklace and leaned back against the wall, his arm rested on the back of the chair. "Oh yeah?" He asked. He turned around to face her and leaned forward with his arms crossed inward on the table. "Well, it's great." he said with his kind smile. "It's...homey and comfortable..." he said his eyes glaceing around the room. Rayner leaned back against his chair . "You ever...miss her?" He asked softly.

((Noooo!!! Well...at least it would be delicious!))

Zander hid his face under his tail like he was sleeping but Corvina doubted he actually was. She nodded her head, agreeing with Rayner. It was easy to see why her mother had liked this place so much. She was a bit surprised by Rayner's question and she shifted a little uncomfortably. "No...she died when I was too young to remember her... My dad misses her a lot. He talks about her all the time." A small smile came to her face as she remembered something. "I used to get jealous of her when I was little. She wasn't even there and she seemed to take up Dad's attention. I know it sounds terrible..."

Rayner's face became a more expressionless one as he listened to Corvina. He let a small smile quickly appear on his face and soon disappeared when she spoke of being jealous with her mother. "It makes sense though..." he said calmly and quietly. "I mean, I used to get jealous of my dad picking his work over me all of the time..." he said softly, trying to make her feel better. Even though his father spent a lot of time with him, at the same time it never felt like enough.

The server soon came out and placed the drinks on the table and went away again. Rayner picked up the warm cup of coffee and brought it to his lips. He drank his coffee black which had made Danielle tease him before - calling him an old man trapped in a boy's body. "So what is your dad up to tonight?" he asked, trying to lighten up the topic. "Is he out on a date or riding around on a unicycle?" he smirked and sipped his coffee.

Corvina smiled gratefully at him. Though they weren't really the same things, she did feel a little better knowing he'd felt the same thing. She'd always felt guilty of being jealous of her own dead mother. Zander's head came up when the server came with their coffees. He took one sniff of it and promptly put his head back down. He'd tried it once out of curiosity at Corvina's house and had instantly disliked the taste of it.

She put some sugar and creamer into her coffee, smiling and wrinkling her nose when she saw Rayner just drinking his black. She froze when he asked about what her dad was doing. Though he was trying to lighten the mood, it seemed to do the exact opposite for her. She tried to smile at his unicycle reference but it was wavery and didn't stick. Suddenly her view of the restaurant was blurred and she was somewhat unsuccessfully holding back tears. "Oh gosh, I'm sorry." Mortified, she lifted her hand and rubbed the tears away. She hated crying in front of other people

Rayner was surprised that Corvina started to cry. He did not know what to do, or even say. For some odd reason, he couldn't move. He suddenly felt bad and placed his coffee cup down. "Hey, wait, whoa..." he said calmly. "It's okay, sorry, I'm so sorry..." he started to apologize. He grabbed a napkin from the napkin dispenser on the table and handed it to her. "What's wrong?" He asked. "I'm so sorry..." he apologized again - though he was completely unsure of what just happened or if it was even his fault.

He scooted his chair so that they would be sitting next to each other as oppose to across from one another. "Sorry, was it something I said?" He asked her calmly. His mind began to analyze everything and was coming of all sort of scenarios of what might be wrong - from her father possibly being out with another woman that Corvina might not like, to maybe her family is not doing so well, and many other scenarios.

He calmly sat right next to her, the side of their bodies brushing up against each other. He waited for her to speak, all of his attention on her.

Corvina shook her head silently, not able to bring herself to speak. She took the napkins he handed her gratefully and wiped her face, willing herself to stop crying. Zander crawled over to her and curled up in her lap, nuzzling her. "He...he..." She could barely speak. She felt Rayner beside her and leaned against him, hiding her face in his shoulder like a little kid. "He's going to die very soon." She said the words so quietly and her voice broke over that terrible word. Die. She'd said it so quietly as if to say it any louder would be to make it happen faster. She couldn't be sure that he'd heard her.

Rayner was shocked. Her father was going to die? How? When? All of his scenarios left his head and now he was thinking of new ones. Is he sick? Is he injured right now? What are we doing here? the thoughts were rushing through his mind. Rayner put his arm around her and pulled her close to comfort her.

"Hey..." he said very softly. "It's okay...shhh..." he said and grabbed another napkin to hand to her. "Let it out...and tell me what's happening, when you're ready..." he said calmly. He gently rubbed the side of her shoulder with the arm that was wrapped around her. "It's okay..." he continued to comfort her.

Her hands were trembling as she took the napkins from him. Even with those, she was getting his shirt all wet. In that same quiet voice she told him how she found the file from the doctor and her father's incurable terminal illness. She told him about that morning. A little bit of a laugh managed to make itself through the tears. "He didn't want me moping around the house all day or going with him while he handled...business." She didn't even really know exactly what he was doing, but it was still terrible to her. "He wanted me to spend time with the friend that had been making me happy. You."

Rayner felt bad for Corvina. He really did. He held her closer just to comfort her but other than that, he wasn't sure what to say. He only sat there, listened, and comforted her. It didn't really shock him when she said that he helped make her happy. She made him feel not so alone in this weird and small town. Soon enough the server came back with their food. Rayner motioned for him to place it down on the table and after he saw what was happening he nodded and left.

After a brief moment of silence, Rayner loosen up his hold on her and shifted. "Hey, I'm here for you," he said. "We haven't known each other for that long, but I'm here for you..." he said and let go of her. "But you know who else is here for you?" he said and looked at her. "This delicious food...now come on, eat. I promise it'll help make you feel better...if not, that growling stomach of yours." he had a soft smile upon his face.

Corvina returned his smile and nodded. She managed to stop crying, though she knew her face was red and puffy. She rubbed her eyes. "I'm sorry. I really tried not to do this." Zander whined slightly and stayed curled in her lap. He nibbled at the food she gave him and cast her a worried glance every few seconds. She felt better for having talked and letting everything out though. "Thank you for everything Rayner." She took a bite out of the burger she'd ordered. "And I guess I'll have to thank the cook for making such delicious food that's there for me too." She smiled.

"Hey, it's fine. Seriously, let it all out," he said and folded up his arms within him again. "I don't mind being used as a napkin." He teased her and gently bumped her with the side of his body. He really didn't mind seeing her cry or in a state of vulnerability. To him, it was normal in human nature. And after what they've gone through, he would be more surprised if she didn't cry. Then he would possibly suspect her of being some sort of psychopath - this thought amused him, but he did not voice it.

When she began to eat, he began to eat as well. He came to Danielle's everyday and yet the food is always just as good as the first day he had it. It always amazes why this place doesn't get more traffic than it does. "I'm glad you like it." Rayner said calmly and enjoyed his food. he reached over and fed Zander a piece of meat from his burger and pet the fox on his head.

Just then a group of teenagers came in - a mixture of boys and girls all wearing shirts that said Scottdale High: Swim Team on it. They were laughing and joking around as they took seats at one of the larger tables in the corner. "Hey Rayner!" one of the girls yelled, seeing him from across the way. Rayner turned around, offered a smile, and waved back. Then everyone else waved at him. "Are you on a date?! WOOO! GO R-MAN!" one the boys cheered. "Haha, with this burger I am!" Rayner laughed and held up the burger. They laughed before sitting down at their table, leaving Rayner alone. The whole team knew that Rayner didn't talk to them much and has gotten to the point where they respected his privacy - most of the time.

"I swear, this town is all about dating, isn't it?" Rayner laughed a bit. "Don't worry Zander, they won't find out about our love affair." he said and pet the fox again. "Or the fact that you're a unicycle, Corvina." He smirked.

Zander dug in happily when he was convinced that Corvina was alright. He even licked the grease off Rayner fingers when he handed him a piece of burger. She bumped him back and smiled. "Yes, you make a wonderful napkin. They should sell you along with sad movies." She laughed, glad that he didn't make a big deal out of it or anything. He was just there for her like she needed him to be.

When Corvina glanced up to see what all the ruckus was about she recognized several of the kids from her high school's swim team. At first she'd thought they were yelling at someone else but after looking at them she realized they were yelling at her and Rayner! She felt her face go red and she looked down at her hands. Which were gone at the fingertips. Her eyes widened slightly and she brought them back into sight, glancing quickly up at Rayner. When most shy people wanted to simply disappear, they couldn't, but she could. It had been a hard habit for her dad to break her of. It would be disastrous if that happened here.

She laughed hoping Rayner hadn't noticed. "I'm quite proud of my unicycle abilities. And I get to be the god mother to any little Zanners that come up." She tilted her head thoughtfully. "Or would they be Rayders? It definitely sounds cooler." Corvina grinned.

Rayner almost choked on the combination of his name and Zander's. He had heard people do this with celebrities and fictional characters but never to himself. He laughed, "Either way, they'd be super handsome, like the both of us of course. Ain't that right Zander?" he smirked and took another bite out of his burger.

After chowing down on the burger and his coffee, Rayner leaned back in his chair. He had noticed how busy the place was getting. This spot became popular after diner for people to hang out and unfortunately for Rayner, a lot of them were students from his school. When the server came back with the check, Rayner pulled out his card and handed it to him - not giving Corvina the chance to pay for her's. She has had a long day, it was the least he could do.

"Well, that really hit the spot. I'll walk you home, if you don't mind." Rayner said as he signed off on the check that the server has brought back. "Ready whenever you are, lead the way." He smiled.

Corvina laughed at his reaction. "Yes I'm sure they'd all be popular with the ladies." She tickled Zander's stomach and he stretched out. If he was a cat, he'd be purring. As it was, he let out a sigh of contentment and closed his eyes. She looked down at him lovingly. "At least as much as this one is."

She finished up her burger and coffee, watching all the people coming in. She knew most of them from school or just around town. When the check came, she cleared her throat, about to say something. Before she could though, Rayner handed the man a card and paid for the whole bill himself. She rolled her eyes and smiled. "Always such a gentleman. You won't even let your date pay for their part of the meal." She paused and realized how this sounded. "Not that Zander really has any money on him." She said hurriedly. Zander perked his head up when he heard his name.

Corvina stood up and picked up Zander, who was refusing to move. "Come on you lazy bum." She held him in her arms and he quickly fell asleep. His tiny body was bulging slightly from the full stomach. She smiled at Rayner. "Of course I don't mind." She walked outside the diner and started walking down the sidewalk in the direction of her house. As they walked, she gently ran her finger over the soft fur of Zander's nose.

Rayner shifted the pack on his back. They won't be needing this much stuff when they return back to that odd laboratory. He continued to walk next to Corvina and glanced at her in the moonlight. It got more quiet as they slowly left the downtown area and into the neighborhood.

If Rayner was honest with himself, he was extremely exhausted. After a day of hiking through the woods, climbing falls, wandering through caves and finding weird corpses and a hidden laboratory - his body and brain just wanted to sleep. But getting Corvina and Zander home first was his priority, then sleep. He reached over to Corvina's arms and gently pet Zander a bit as they walked before removing his hand and sliding it into his shorts pocket.

"He's like a freakin' baby or something." Rayner said. "I still can't believe you have a freakin' fox for a pet." He said.