Thanks to all reviewers!!!!!!!!!!! Here's Chapter three for you!!!!!!!!!!
Nearly two days after his chat with his mother and Amelia, Jim, with Morph close at hand, descended the stairs bright and early to find Nik sitting at a corner table, as was becoming her routine.
Before she could object, he slid into the opposite chair and gave her a ridiculous grin. "Hi!"
Nik peered over the edge of her book and raised a skeptical eyebrow. Then carefully closing and setting aside the book, she propped her elbows on the table and gave Jim a near perfect imitation of his own foolish grin. "Hi!" That being done, she resumed her reading.
Jim chuckled. "That was an odd greeting."
She raised her eyebrows but her eyes never left her book. "Yes, it was, and I'll tell you something else about; it wasn't original, I stole it from someone else."
"Was that a joke?" Jim grinned.
She shook her head, still not looking up. "No, just the facts."
Jim's smile faded and he leaned back in his chair. He glowered silently, staring at the tabletop and drumming his fingers to the beat of an old spacers tune.
The morning crowd bustled around them, greeting Jim with a friendly pat on the back or a wave, but still he remained silent and broodish.
After nearly a half hour of quiet Nik peered at him over the edge of her book. "Well?"
He straightened. "Well what?"
She rolled her eyes and closed her book. "There's obviously something you want to say, but you're waiting for me to ask you to say it - which I'm doing right now, so go ahead."
Jim looked astounded. "Am I that transparent?"
"Only on some occasions. Please, go on."
He rubbed his jaw for a moment, and then leaned back, trying to act casual. "I was just.." He flopped his arm over the back of his chair. "..wondering if you'd wanna come get some supplies at the market with Morph and I, you know..to get out." Morph punctuated his speech by chirping happily "Get out! Get out!"
Nik smiled at the little shape shifter, then turned her attention back to Jim with a questioning gaze. "You want me to go shopping with you? Isn't that kind of..boring?"
"Nah," He waved his hand and shook his head. "Not anymore than reading all day."
Nik sighed and rubbed the bridge of her nose. "I really don't want to.."
Morph floated over to her shoulder and made his eyes just a little bigger..gurgling sadly.
She held up her hand and let him settle onto it. "Oh alright..." She smiled at Morph as she tickled his side. "But just for the blob's sake. I can't resist cute things." She turned to Jim. "When are you leaving?"
He shrugged. "Now, if you're ready. I've got mom's list, so anytime works."
Nik gave Morph one last pat and stood. "Okay, let's get this over with, then."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The short cab ride to the market was uneventful with the exception of Morph's 'cab driver' impersonation nearly losing them their ride. When they arrived at the crowded bazaar, Jim motioned for Nik to follow him as he headed towards the quieter end of the chain of shops.
"Mom usually shops down here." He led her into a store filled with bustling customers and cheerful salespeople, stocked with rows and rows of every imaginable food.
"Lots of exotic stuff here.." Nik mumbled as she helped Jim choose purps.
"Yeah.." Jim rubbed his jaw thoughtfully, a slight gleam in his eye. "What kind of food did you eat back home? Wherever that was.."
She looked up at him suspiciously. "Ah hah, no the real reason for this trip comes to light."
"No!" Jim said quickly. "You don't have to answer if you don't want to, I was just.."
"Nosy?" She raised an eyebrow.
"Sorry."
"Forgiven." She returned to delicately squeezing the ripened purps. "Can I ask you a question now?"
Jim eyed her. "Only if you'll answer one of mine."
She frowned. "But - fine." She handed him the basket of fruit. "I'll go first. Why do you want to know about my past so badly?"
Jim eyed the meat case thoughtfully as he pondered her question. "Well....to be absolutely honest, I have this really weird idea that because I was helped by someone, I need to return the favor. And the day I decided that, you came waltzing through the door in the pouring rain, looking like someone who's had it rough and could use a bit of cheering."
Nik pointed to a slab of meat. "That one, I think."
Jim nodded and turned to the many tentacled creature behind the counter.
While Jim was conversing with the butcher, Nik glanced down at Sarah's list and headed towards the breads with Morph close behind, nibbling on something he probably wasn't supposed to have.
"MORPH!" She scolded quietly but firmly. "Get that out of your mouth right now, you're going to get me into trouble."
Morph chirped a response and gobbled the remainder of his treat in a single bite, zipping over and licking her face happily when he had finished.
Nik rolled her eyes. "I guess that's on way of doing it. No more snacking in the store, okay?"
Morph slurped her again and disappeared into a pocket of her dark brown, gently tailored pants.
She grinned and patted her pocket lightly, looking down at the selection of bread and carefully selecting a number of loaves. It was as she turned around to see Jim coming her way with a wrapped parcel of meat that she noticed the little boy peering at the bread with hunger in his eyes. He was of a trunked, typically chunky species, but he had become wiry with either too little food or none at all.
"Hey little guy," She dropped the loaves into Jim's already full arms, and knelt down in front of the boy. "What are you up to here?"
He looked up at her, his eyes huge orbs in his emaciated face. "I'm just lookin' at the food, Ma'am."
"Did your mother send you here to get something?" Nik asked him.
"Oh, no." The little boy shook his head, causing his thin trunk to sway. "We can't buy any food, we don't have any money."
"You don't?" Nik acted surprised. "How come?"
The boy shifted uncertainly from foot to foot. "Momma says not to talk to strangers."
Nik grinned and held out her hand. "I'm Nik Solo, what's your name?"
Jim raised his eyebrows slightly, then looked down at the boy, who giggled and shook her outstretched hand. "I'm Andy."
"There," Nik ruffled the small patch of hair on his head. "I'm not a stranger anymore, am I?"
Andy shifted from foot to foot, but then shook his head. "Nope, so I can tell you, right?"
"Right."
The little boy kicked the ground with his toes. "Daddy got hurt workin' in the mines so he lost his job. And Momma said we can't take him to a doctor or we won't get to eat at all, so he never gets better, but we still don't get to eat much."
Nik looked up at Jim, horrified.
Jim shrugged. "It happens all the time. Mines aren't exactly the safest place to work, and sometimes the machines break down...." his voice trailed off as he shrugged again.
Nik felt sickened. "Has your daddy seen a doctor at all?"
"Nope."
"And you don't have much money for food either?"
"Uh-huh."
Nik looked to Jim again as she stood and reached into her pocket, around the hidden Morph, and pulled out two gold coins; one solid and the other with a tiny hole in the middle.
Jim gave her a quizzical glance, but she shook her head slowly as she knelt back down and offered the money to the wide-eyed boy.
"Here, give this to your mommy and tell her it's for the doctor and food. Tell her if she needs more to come ask for Nik at the Benbow inn."
"But we can't pay you!" Worry clouded his eyes but couldn't completely cover the amazement.
Nik smiled down at the astonished little boy. "You don't have to, it's a present. Now go on, hurry home!"
"Thanks!" He said, and started to scurry off, but Nik stopped him just short of the door.
"Wait one second." She slipped over to the counter and spoke briefly with the shopkeeper, returning with a small brown bag full of sweets and candies. "These are for you, now go on." She smiled once more and waved goodbye as the child scurried out of the store with his precious bundle hugged close to his chest.
Nik stood back and crossed her arms, grinning happily as she watched him make his way down the street. Turning back to the shopping, she nearly collided head on with a beaming Jim.
"Sorry!" she jumped back quickly, nearly losing her balance. Jim reached out an arm to catch her, but succeeded only in dropping his groceries.
Nik tried in vain to cover a smile as the shopkeeper peered over the counter down at them. She picked up the fruit as Jim grabbed the breads and meat, and stood. Morph, startled by the fall, zipped from her pocket and whirled around Jim as the shop keeper totaled their purchase.
"Whoa, Morph! Take it easy there!" Jim snatched the little creature with one hand as he dropped coins on the counter with the other. Morph chortled happily at the sight of food and slipped from his hand as Jim lifted the goods.
"Morph, come here.." Nik crooned to the shape shifter, who looked between the food and Nik with a torn expression. At last, he zipped over to her hand, where he gurgled happily as she tickled him.
"Heh, heh." Jim chuckled as they left the store and headed out into the street, his arms full with the bundles of groceries. "Do you want to walk, or take a cab back?" He asked Nik.
She shrugged, all the openness he'd seen in the store gone from her attitude. "I'd like to walk, but if you want to ride it's fine with me."
"We'll walk." He smiled, and they did.
They were nearly halfway back to the Benbow before Jim broke the silence. "Nik, ah,...." He pursed his lips. "What you did back there..that was nice, you know?"
She looked at him, her face expressionless, but her cat-like eyes just slightly wider. "It was necessary." She looked down at her feet. "No kid should have to live like that."
Jim opened his mouth to speak, but the though his words over again and furrowed his brows. "Yeah, you're right. Uh...back there..I don't know if you realized it but..." He shifted the bundles slightly. "Well..so you're names Nik Solo, huh?"
Her face clouded over as she realized her mistake, but then she sighed, seemingly deflated. "No point in trying to cover it up now, I guess. Yes, that's my name."
"Any relation to Admiral Hezekiah Solo, the explorer from the Naval Academy?"
Nik's eyes shifted oddly, but she nodded. "Yeah..he was my father."
Jim stopped and turned to face her. "Well why'd you try to hide it? There's no shame in a name like Solo, that's for sure. Your father was a great man! Everyone was sad when he died."
"No.." She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "Not everyone." She looked up at him with a fire he'd never seen before in her eyes. "Not me."
Jim frowned slightly as they resumed their walk. "But he was a wonderful man."
"Hah!" Nik scoffed. "To you he was wonderful, a hero some say...but did you ever hear him speak of his family? Of my mother... of me?"
"No..." Jim shook his head slowly, causing a stray lock of hair to fall across his forehead. "I can't say I ever did. He never mentioned anything but his work..."
"Exactly!" she cried. "All he cared about was his work! He hated us, and even when mother died he didn't.." He voice trailed off, and they stopped as they reached the garden like lawn of the Benbow.
She plopped down on a bench in the gazebo while Jim set down his parcels and took the seat across from her.
She looked up at him, her catty Blue eyes brimming with tears. "He didn't care, Jim. He was never there for us, and once mother was gone, he got even worse. I - I saw him once after that, and only once. I was thirteen.and he sent for me to come to the Academy. But when he saw me - he saw my eyes, and in them he saw the wife he never cared about, the child he had neglected, and a little voice inside his head screamed 'Guilty!', and he knew he was. He became angry.very angry." She pounded her first on the hard wood of the bench, but Jim remained silent. "He - he sent me away, far away, to a planet with extremely low gravity. I think he was trying to make my body look even less like my mothers. Curse him!" She ran her hands through her hair angrily. "Ugh!" she leaned back against the bench and sighed, a lone tear running down her cheek. "But he couldn't change my eyes...You've noticed them, haven't you Jim?"
He nodded. "Yeah, they're really pretty I think."
"You think." She looked up at him, and he could see the tears had spilled over. "But he didn't. I lived with a maid and a service robot until last year when he died, then I didn't know what to do. I headed off for a spaceport and sat there, staring blankly at the wall until this...guy...just walked up and started talking to me, and wow was he odd looking.......an old spacer I figure. But, he recommended the Benbow to me, and told me to ask for a Sarah Hawkins, so even though it took me a while, I came here." She shrugged. "That's all really."
She stood, and Jim followed suite, trying not to stare at the tearstains on her cheeks. "Hezekiah Solo.." Jim muttered softly. "Nik, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to upset you so badly."
She turned her face away, her eyes hardening. "There are worse things in my past, Jim Hawkins, Believe me, there are worse things." She tuned on her heels and hurried away, leaving Jim standing with an armload of groceries.
Morph gurgled and flitted about him head, not comprehending the situation. Jim sighed. "I wasn't careful like you told me to be Mom..." he whispered to the empty air. "But hey," He tickled the little shape shifter. "At least she called me 'Jim'" Morph zipped in a quick little circle and turned into a tiny replica of Nik.
"Jim Hawkins!" he echoed happily, and Jim waved him away with a grin. "Watch yourself, Morph, someday that's gonna get you into trouble."
Morph resumed his original shape and wiggled his tiny eyebrows mischievously. In an instant, he had a hold of one of the purps and was zooming towards the Benbow.
"MORPH!" Jim took off after him, slowed by the groceries. "Just like old times, you little squid..." The chase was on.
~~~~~
Like it? Well, let me know! Reviews, criticism, etc is appreciated.
To '.' Romance? Well..I hadn't really planned on it.
To 'Reviewer # whatever' You'll see :- )
To 'angie' I hope this straightens the confusion out a bit, but there's more explanation to come!!
To 'Chef13' Thanks so much! I'll R&R your story ASAP
To 'Happylittlemorph' Sorry about the Jim plushie.didn't know you already had one :-)
Nearly two days after his chat with his mother and Amelia, Jim, with Morph close at hand, descended the stairs bright and early to find Nik sitting at a corner table, as was becoming her routine.
Before she could object, he slid into the opposite chair and gave her a ridiculous grin. "Hi!"
Nik peered over the edge of her book and raised a skeptical eyebrow. Then carefully closing and setting aside the book, she propped her elbows on the table and gave Jim a near perfect imitation of his own foolish grin. "Hi!" That being done, she resumed her reading.
Jim chuckled. "That was an odd greeting."
She raised her eyebrows but her eyes never left her book. "Yes, it was, and I'll tell you something else about; it wasn't original, I stole it from someone else."
"Was that a joke?" Jim grinned.
She shook her head, still not looking up. "No, just the facts."
Jim's smile faded and he leaned back in his chair. He glowered silently, staring at the tabletop and drumming his fingers to the beat of an old spacers tune.
The morning crowd bustled around them, greeting Jim with a friendly pat on the back or a wave, but still he remained silent and broodish.
After nearly a half hour of quiet Nik peered at him over the edge of her book. "Well?"
He straightened. "Well what?"
She rolled her eyes and closed her book. "There's obviously something you want to say, but you're waiting for me to ask you to say it - which I'm doing right now, so go ahead."
Jim looked astounded. "Am I that transparent?"
"Only on some occasions. Please, go on."
He rubbed his jaw for a moment, and then leaned back, trying to act casual. "I was just.." He flopped his arm over the back of his chair. "..wondering if you'd wanna come get some supplies at the market with Morph and I, you know..to get out." Morph punctuated his speech by chirping happily "Get out! Get out!"
Nik smiled at the little shape shifter, then turned her attention back to Jim with a questioning gaze. "You want me to go shopping with you? Isn't that kind of..boring?"
"Nah," He waved his hand and shook his head. "Not anymore than reading all day."
Nik sighed and rubbed the bridge of her nose. "I really don't want to.."
Morph floated over to her shoulder and made his eyes just a little bigger..gurgling sadly.
She held up her hand and let him settle onto it. "Oh alright..." She smiled at Morph as she tickled his side. "But just for the blob's sake. I can't resist cute things." She turned to Jim. "When are you leaving?"
He shrugged. "Now, if you're ready. I've got mom's list, so anytime works."
Nik gave Morph one last pat and stood. "Okay, let's get this over with, then."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The short cab ride to the market was uneventful with the exception of Morph's 'cab driver' impersonation nearly losing them their ride. When they arrived at the crowded bazaar, Jim motioned for Nik to follow him as he headed towards the quieter end of the chain of shops.
"Mom usually shops down here." He led her into a store filled with bustling customers and cheerful salespeople, stocked with rows and rows of every imaginable food.
"Lots of exotic stuff here.." Nik mumbled as she helped Jim choose purps.
"Yeah.." Jim rubbed his jaw thoughtfully, a slight gleam in his eye. "What kind of food did you eat back home? Wherever that was.."
She looked up at him suspiciously. "Ah hah, no the real reason for this trip comes to light."
"No!" Jim said quickly. "You don't have to answer if you don't want to, I was just.."
"Nosy?" She raised an eyebrow.
"Sorry."
"Forgiven." She returned to delicately squeezing the ripened purps. "Can I ask you a question now?"
Jim eyed her. "Only if you'll answer one of mine."
She frowned. "But - fine." She handed him the basket of fruit. "I'll go first. Why do you want to know about my past so badly?"
Jim eyed the meat case thoughtfully as he pondered her question. "Well....to be absolutely honest, I have this really weird idea that because I was helped by someone, I need to return the favor. And the day I decided that, you came waltzing through the door in the pouring rain, looking like someone who's had it rough and could use a bit of cheering."
Nik pointed to a slab of meat. "That one, I think."
Jim nodded and turned to the many tentacled creature behind the counter.
While Jim was conversing with the butcher, Nik glanced down at Sarah's list and headed towards the breads with Morph close behind, nibbling on something he probably wasn't supposed to have.
"MORPH!" She scolded quietly but firmly. "Get that out of your mouth right now, you're going to get me into trouble."
Morph chirped a response and gobbled the remainder of his treat in a single bite, zipping over and licking her face happily when he had finished.
Nik rolled her eyes. "I guess that's on way of doing it. No more snacking in the store, okay?"
Morph slurped her again and disappeared into a pocket of her dark brown, gently tailored pants.
She grinned and patted her pocket lightly, looking down at the selection of bread and carefully selecting a number of loaves. It was as she turned around to see Jim coming her way with a wrapped parcel of meat that she noticed the little boy peering at the bread with hunger in his eyes. He was of a trunked, typically chunky species, but he had become wiry with either too little food or none at all.
"Hey little guy," She dropped the loaves into Jim's already full arms, and knelt down in front of the boy. "What are you up to here?"
He looked up at her, his eyes huge orbs in his emaciated face. "I'm just lookin' at the food, Ma'am."
"Did your mother send you here to get something?" Nik asked him.
"Oh, no." The little boy shook his head, causing his thin trunk to sway. "We can't buy any food, we don't have any money."
"You don't?" Nik acted surprised. "How come?"
The boy shifted uncertainly from foot to foot. "Momma says not to talk to strangers."
Nik grinned and held out her hand. "I'm Nik Solo, what's your name?"
Jim raised his eyebrows slightly, then looked down at the boy, who giggled and shook her outstretched hand. "I'm Andy."
"There," Nik ruffled the small patch of hair on his head. "I'm not a stranger anymore, am I?"
Andy shifted from foot to foot, but then shook his head. "Nope, so I can tell you, right?"
"Right."
The little boy kicked the ground with his toes. "Daddy got hurt workin' in the mines so he lost his job. And Momma said we can't take him to a doctor or we won't get to eat at all, so he never gets better, but we still don't get to eat much."
Nik looked up at Jim, horrified.
Jim shrugged. "It happens all the time. Mines aren't exactly the safest place to work, and sometimes the machines break down...." his voice trailed off as he shrugged again.
Nik felt sickened. "Has your daddy seen a doctor at all?"
"Nope."
"And you don't have much money for food either?"
"Uh-huh."
Nik looked to Jim again as she stood and reached into her pocket, around the hidden Morph, and pulled out two gold coins; one solid and the other with a tiny hole in the middle.
Jim gave her a quizzical glance, but she shook her head slowly as she knelt back down and offered the money to the wide-eyed boy.
"Here, give this to your mommy and tell her it's for the doctor and food. Tell her if she needs more to come ask for Nik at the Benbow inn."
"But we can't pay you!" Worry clouded his eyes but couldn't completely cover the amazement.
Nik smiled down at the astonished little boy. "You don't have to, it's a present. Now go on, hurry home!"
"Thanks!" He said, and started to scurry off, but Nik stopped him just short of the door.
"Wait one second." She slipped over to the counter and spoke briefly with the shopkeeper, returning with a small brown bag full of sweets and candies. "These are for you, now go on." She smiled once more and waved goodbye as the child scurried out of the store with his precious bundle hugged close to his chest.
Nik stood back and crossed her arms, grinning happily as she watched him make his way down the street. Turning back to the shopping, she nearly collided head on with a beaming Jim.
"Sorry!" she jumped back quickly, nearly losing her balance. Jim reached out an arm to catch her, but succeeded only in dropping his groceries.
Nik tried in vain to cover a smile as the shopkeeper peered over the counter down at them. She picked up the fruit as Jim grabbed the breads and meat, and stood. Morph, startled by the fall, zipped from her pocket and whirled around Jim as the shop keeper totaled their purchase.
"Whoa, Morph! Take it easy there!" Jim snatched the little creature with one hand as he dropped coins on the counter with the other. Morph chortled happily at the sight of food and slipped from his hand as Jim lifted the goods.
"Morph, come here.." Nik crooned to the shape shifter, who looked between the food and Nik with a torn expression. At last, he zipped over to her hand, where he gurgled happily as she tickled him.
"Heh, heh." Jim chuckled as they left the store and headed out into the street, his arms full with the bundles of groceries. "Do you want to walk, or take a cab back?" He asked Nik.
She shrugged, all the openness he'd seen in the store gone from her attitude. "I'd like to walk, but if you want to ride it's fine with me."
"We'll walk." He smiled, and they did.
They were nearly halfway back to the Benbow before Jim broke the silence. "Nik, ah,...." He pursed his lips. "What you did back there..that was nice, you know?"
She looked at him, her face expressionless, but her cat-like eyes just slightly wider. "It was necessary." She looked down at her feet. "No kid should have to live like that."
Jim opened his mouth to speak, but the though his words over again and furrowed his brows. "Yeah, you're right. Uh...back there..I don't know if you realized it but..." He shifted the bundles slightly. "Well..so you're names Nik Solo, huh?"
Her face clouded over as she realized her mistake, but then she sighed, seemingly deflated. "No point in trying to cover it up now, I guess. Yes, that's my name."
"Any relation to Admiral Hezekiah Solo, the explorer from the Naval Academy?"
Nik's eyes shifted oddly, but she nodded. "Yeah..he was my father."
Jim stopped and turned to face her. "Well why'd you try to hide it? There's no shame in a name like Solo, that's for sure. Your father was a great man! Everyone was sad when he died."
"No.." She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "Not everyone." She looked up at him with a fire he'd never seen before in her eyes. "Not me."
Jim frowned slightly as they resumed their walk. "But he was a wonderful man."
"Hah!" Nik scoffed. "To you he was wonderful, a hero some say...but did you ever hear him speak of his family? Of my mother... of me?"
"No..." Jim shook his head slowly, causing a stray lock of hair to fall across his forehead. "I can't say I ever did. He never mentioned anything but his work..."
"Exactly!" she cried. "All he cared about was his work! He hated us, and even when mother died he didn't.." He voice trailed off, and they stopped as they reached the garden like lawn of the Benbow.
She plopped down on a bench in the gazebo while Jim set down his parcels and took the seat across from her.
She looked up at him, her catty Blue eyes brimming with tears. "He didn't care, Jim. He was never there for us, and once mother was gone, he got even worse. I - I saw him once after that, and only once. I was thirteen.and he sent for me to come to the Academy. But when he saw me - he saw my eyes, and in them he saw the wife he never cared about, the child he had neglected, and a little voice inside his head screamed 'Guilty!', and he knew he was. He became angry.very angry." She pounded her first on the hard wood of the bench, but Jim remained silent. "He - he sent me away, far away, to a planet with extremely low gravity. I think he was trying to make my body look even less like my mothers. Curse him!" She ran her hands through her hair angrily. "Ugh!" she leaned back against the bench and sighed, a lone tear running down her cheek. "But he couldn't change my eyes...You've noticed them, haven't you Jim?"
He nodded. "Yeah, they're really pretty I think."
"You think." She looked up at him, and he could see the tears had spilled over. "But he didn't. I lived with a maid and a service robot until last year when he died, then I didn't know what to do. I headed off for a spaceport and sat there, staring blankly at the wall until this...guy...just walked up and started talking to me, and wow was he odd looking.......an old spacer I figure. But, he recommended the Benbow to me, and told me to ask for a Sarah Hawkins, so even though it took me a while, I came here." She shrugged. "That's all really."
She stood, and Jim followed suite, trying not to stare at the tearstains on her cheeks. "Hezekiah Solo.." Jim muttered softly. "Nik, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to upset you so badly."
She turned her face away, her eyes hardening. "There are worse things in my past, Jim Hawkins, Believe me, there are worse things." She tuned on her heels and hurried away, leaving Jim standing with an armload of groceries.
Morph gurgled and flitted about him head, not comprehending the situation. Jim sighed. "I wasn't careful like you told me to be Mom..." he whispered to the empty air. "But hey," He tickled the little shape shifter. "At least she called me 'Jim'" Morph zipped in a quick little circle and turned into a tiny replica of Nik.
"Jim Hawkins!" he echoed happily, and Jim waved him away with a grin. "Watch yourself, Morph, someday that's gonna get you into trouble."
Morph resumed his original shape and wiggled his tiny eyebrows mischievously. In an instant, he had a hold of one of the purps and was zooming towards the Benbow.
"MORPH!" Jim took off after him, slowed by the groceries. "Just like old times, you little squid..." The chase was on.
~~~~~
Like it? Well, let me know! Reviews, criticism, etc is appreciated.
To '.' Romance? Well..I hadn't really planned on it.
To 'Reviewer # whatever' You'll see :- )
To 'angie' I hope this straightens the confusion out a bit, but there's more explanation to come!!
To 'Chef13' Thanks so much! I'll R&R your story ASAP
To 'Happylittlemorph' Sorry about the Jim plushie.didn't know you already had one :-)
