ToT Ch 2: Bibbidi Babbidi Boo!

There was a rustling of branches and leaves in the woods, accompanied by the silent cursing of a Quilladin who struggled to climb up a tree. “Gotta be an exit around here somewhere…” He grumbled, heaving himself onto the next branch. He finally got to an open clearing and what he saw made him frown. 

Nothing but the woods that seemed to stretch on forever. He couldn’t even begin to tell where he had come from or where the nearest town was.

He was officially lost.

He pinched his brow as he let out a deep sigh. What else did he expect? He had a map at the beginning of the trip but it got lost and good luck finding that in a place like this. “… Crap…” He cursed as he glanced down. He did not expect this tree to be so tall.

His eyes gazed at the lower ground for a god few minutes, trying to decide whether it would be wise to jump or not. How he had even managed to climb up all the way up here? He couldn’t fathom. He eventually convinced himself that his shell was strong enough to take it and jumped down. He tucked and formed into a ball, bouncing for a moment when he reached the ground before he uncurled and landing without so much of his legs hurting.  

Keaton looked around once more before walking in a random direction. Well if he was lost so it didn’t matter that he was going in blind. This place was so weird to him, though not necessarily as exciting as he would have hoped. Don’t get him wrong, this place could be dangerous and there were traps oddly placed around the forest. Traps that were rather easy for him to get out of.

Snare trap? Saw it even in the dark and walked around them. Pitfall traps? His mother would be disappointed in how badly the leaves covered it. The log trap was impressive he’ll admit. But his shell had taken worse and two swift punch later it was nothing but splinters.

As the splinters rained down he let out a deep sigh. All these traps reminded him of his home in Glory’s Peak. Especially the training his mother made him endure. He supposed he should be thankful since it did save his hide from time to time. Though he wished she would have eased up sometimes as well.

Still, it was rather strange that there were traps here of all places. Most of them were nonlethal in nature he noticed. As if someone or something wanted to capture something. The deeper he walked the more spread out these traps were.

He paused when he heard voices. One was whimpering and the other was soft. They both sounded like… children? What the hell were children doing in a place like this? He frowned and pinched his brows. He started to make his way through the twisted forest before he found them. A Plusle and Minun pair. The Plusle seemed terrified and was huddled next to her brother for safety as he tried to reassure her that everything would be okay.

Their ears perked when they heard the sound of crunching leaves as Keaton stepped out of the shrubbery into the small clearing. “S-stay back!” The Minun gave a frightened yelp.

“Whoa whoa, easy there kid.” Keaton held up his hands up. “I’m not here to hurt you.”

“Y-you’re not a witch?” The Plusle asked cautiously. “N-no one else but witches live in the forest.”

“Witch?” Keaton rose a brow. If he had a black hat and flew in a broomstick perhaps, but he didn’t see how he looked like a witch. He took a step which made them press back against a tree. “Easy there, I’m not a witch. I’m just a lost traveler trying to get out of here. I’m not going to hurt you.” The pair looked at each other, neither certain what to do or say. Keaton gave a small smile as he lowered to their levels. “What’s your name?”

“H-Handle…” The Minun responded. “A-and this is my sister, Griddle…”

“Well, you’ve been pretty brave protecting your sister like that champ.” He said with a smile. “Now, what are you kids doing here?”

“We came here with Ms. Molly,” Handle answered him. “She said there would be sweets here. But we haven’t found any though.”

“You do realize how stupid that was right?” Keaton deadpanned. “If the witch didn’t get you two the bandits would have. Don’t know much about witches in general but bandits aren’t nice people to be around.” Didn’t their parents ever teach them not to wonder off into the woods like this?

“I know… We should have listened to mom and dad…” Handle said with a frown before looking back to his sister. “My sister is getting scared.” And so was he by the way he trembled a little. Brave kid, trying to put on a façade to mask his own terror.

“Yeah? I would be too if I was stuck in this place,” Keaton said as he looked around. He still had no idea where he was or where the exit was but he couldn’t let them know that. A panic child was more difficult to handle. “… Alright, I’m gonna get you two out of here.” Somehow, he thought to himself.

“But you two gotta listen to what I say alright?”

They both nodded together. Before they could begin moving the children’s ears suddenly perked up. He glanced at them with a raised brow before he heard it. Movement. There was someone nearby.

“… Hide,” he told them. He noticed hesitation in their eyes before he smirked. “Don’t worry, nothing will get past me. So go.” He said to them before the scurried to hide behind a tree. He stood and turned to the direction of the sound. He suddenly flashed a wide grin, cupping one of his paws and balling the other into a fist, connecting them together with a smack.

~~

Something was wrong with Darkhowl woods. No, not quite right, Flora thought. Something being wrong with Darkhowl implied that there was some outside force causing its peculiarity. Flora was fairly certain, however, that there was something simply wrong about Darkhowl woods.

Theoretically, the eerie feeling of the place should have been lessened by the sun hanging high overhead. However, the trees grew tightly clustered and formed a thick canopy above, barely allowing any light whatsoever. It was like walking in through a pitch black night without a lantern. Flora could barely make out anything more than a few feet away.

As a child Flora heard many stories about this place. How it was haunted and was home to evil witches, ghosts and other nasty beings that thrived in the dark environment. Of course, most of them were just exaggerated stories to drive away children from this place. Not many people crossed these woods besides bandits so there was reason to be concerned for any children brave, or foolish, enough to try and walk these woods. Flora knew they were just stories but she still couldn’t stop help herself. This place creeped her out.

Flora yelped when she heard a loud snap behind her. “It’s just me! Sorry,” Soleil quickly apologized to her.

“I-it’s fine…” Flora said softly. This place wasn’t exactly helping her right now. If anything it was making her more nervous than usual.

“Are you sure you’re okay?” Soleil asked, concern written on her face.

Flora forced a small smile towards Soleil. “Y-Yeah… I’m just a l-little nervous. What if we encounter the witch after all?”

“I wouldn’t worry about it.” Soleil gave a confident smile. “If any witch tries to hurt you, they’ll have to deal with me. This Morgan doesn’t sound so tough anyways. All I have to do is dodge whatever she throws at me and hit her with a Quick Attack.” Soleil said, throwing an exaggerated kick.

Flora forced another smile but it quickly went away. Soleil noticed and frowned. “Hey, if this place is bothering you we can turn back you know. I can try and look for the kids on my own.”

Flora frowned before she shook her head. “N-no, I’m okay, really Soleil…” She said softly before growing quit.

“… Alright. Just stick close to me okay?” Soleil said.

Flora nodded before following close behind. She couldn’t deny that she was nervous, and more

importantly scared of this place. It scared her even when she was a child. Even though a part of her wanted to stay behind she couldn’t allow herself to do that. She couldn’t fail Soleil a third time. She didn’t help her with Xavier and she didn’t help with fending off the bandits. While there were good reasons why she couldn’t help out those times she couldn’t deny she felt some relief of being excluded due to the nature of said tasks.

Soleil had always been understanding sure, but this couldn’t go on. She couldn’t keep holding Soleil back like this. She deserved a more reliable partner. So she couldn’t back down this time.

I can do this… I have to be brave for her…

As she was lost in thought she accidentally bumped into Soleil. She quickly went to apologize before noticing the concentrated look on her face. Then she heard it. The sound of soft wingbeats over the distance. Flora and Soleil glanced at each other before moving closer to the sound. The soon approached a small clearing a spotted a small Woobat.

“Oh n-no no no…! W-where are they? They g-got to be here s-somewhere…” The Woobat kept flying and muttering to herself, panic in her voice. Her legs held onto a basket carrying potions. “Miss Morgan is going to clip my wings…” Molly squeaked, terrified of the idea.

When Flora first heard of someone kidnapping children she wasn’t expecting this. She seemed far too anxious to seem like a bad person. The way she spoke about Morgan made her realize she was terrified of her.

“Okay, I’m going in,” Soleil said as she crouched down, wings tucked tightly on her body.

“Soleil wait!”

Too late.

Soleil already had shot forward like a bullet by the time Flora reacted. Molly squeaked when she saw Soleil approaching. Her wings flapped furiously to fly back as a foot fumbled to try and grab something from her basket. Soleil wasn’t going to give her a chance to escape. She tucked her wings as she used Quick Attack before jumping in the air and tackling the Woobat, forcing her down.

What she failed to realize was the bottle that Molly had attempted to throw was launched in the air. It came down and spilled the contents on Soleil. “What the-”

Poomf.

Soleil was engulfed in a puff of smoke and once it cleared she was gone. “S-Soleil?” Flora took a step and looked around for her. “T-this isn't funny, where are you?” Flora sought desperately for signs of her friend. What she spotted instead was Molly trying to fly away.

“N-no you don't!” Molly squeaked as Flora used Vine Whip to prevent her from escaping. “T-tell me where Soleil is! P-please…” she said.

“I-I don't know,” Molly trembled in her hold. “L-look at the ground maybe?”

“Gah… my head…”

“Soleil?” Flora looked around when she heard Soleil's voice. Strangely enough enough was more high pitch than usual. “W-Where are you?”

“... You've gotta be kidding me…” Soleil groaned.

Flora heard her in front of her. And then she looked down and spotted her. “S-Soleil? You're-”

“Don't say it,” Soleil grumbled to herself. She was so small, well, smaller than usual. She was only about six inches tall now.

“H-how? Why?” Flora tried to wrap her head around what just happened.

“I-It's the potion,” Molly squeaked. “Miss Morgan said to use it to shrink anyone who attacked me.”

“Geez, stop shouting you two,” Soleil covered her ears. Neither of the two shouted however. Soleil glared at Molly when she mentioned the potion. “This better not be permanent!” Her feathers ruffled as she huffed. Despite acting agitated, her voice and size made it cute rather than anything else.

“I-It should wear off after a bit. I think,” Molly said, not entirely sure.

“You think! I can't be this short forever!” If people made fun of her size then she couldn't imagine how things would be now.

“Well there's no helping it then,” Flora sighed as she picked up Soleil. “I’m just glad you're okay.”

“I guess,” Soleil huffed. She wiggled out of Flora’s grasp and climbed up Flora until she was resting on her head. She muttered something that she she at least talk than a Joltick. It was clear that she hated this.

She glanced at Molly and huffed. “Don't think we’ve forgotten about you. We're gonna turn you over to the Trackers so don’t try and resist.”

And then Molly started crying.

“O-Oh crap um…” Soleil's glare quickly went away. “I uh… didn’t mean to hurt you?” Or was it something she said? The Woobat continued to cry softly, muttering words that Soleil couldn’t understand.

Flora immediately moved forward and put a hoof on the young Woobat’s, saying soothingly, “There there. It’s okay, just take a deep breath…” She’s… just a kid… She thought as she looked at her.

Molly quickly quieted down and whipped her face as she took a few deep breaths. Soleil had to admit she was impressed with how Flora handled that situation. The young Woobat had to take a minute or two to calm herself, taking big deep breaths. Even then she still seemed to practically vibrate with nervous energy as she looked up at the two.

“There. You’re not hurt are you?” Flora asked in a soft tone.

“N-no…” Molly squeaked quietly.

Soleil gave a soft sigh of relief. “I’m glad to hear that. I um… might have been a little hasty back there, heh…” She chuckled awkwardly. Flora gave her a look. “Okay, too hasty,” Soleil admitted. “But you’re still coming with us alright?”

“I-I can’t… I have to find them or Miss Morgan will be really, really mad and… and…” Molly whimpered softly. She seemed on the verge of crying again.

Flora gently rubbed her back and smiled gently at her. “Don’t worry, we’ll make sure you’re treated well if you come with us. I promise.” The young Woobat still looked like she was about to cry, but Flora came to the rescue and with a few whispered but firm assurance that yes they would make sure she would be okay, she was able to convince her and she nodded gently.

“Okay. But first we need your help. We’re looking for two children here. Do you think you can help us find them?”

“I-I don’t know… I don’t know w-where they are…” Molly sniffed softly.

“Then maybe you can guide us around here? Help us avoid traps or getting anywhere near Morgan.” Soleil offered to her.

“I-I can do that…” She sniffed. Flora made sure she was okay before they began to follow her. Soleil didn't have much of a choice but to hitch a ride on Flora for now.

True to her word, Molly didn’t know where the kids were. Just the general direction they ran off to. Nevertheless, it was better than running around blindly and this way they managed to avoid many of the traps placed around. As they continued they soon heard voices not far off. Seeing how Molly didn’t seem terrified that must be them.

“Found them!” Soleil said with a grin. “Hurry up Flora!”

“R-Right!” Flora quickly scurried forward to the opening. “Handle? Griddle? We’re with the guilds. We’re here to – w-whoa!” She barely dodged a fist that connected to a tree, showering splinters behind her.

“H-Hey watch it!” Soleil said as Flora dodged another punch sent her way. She had had enough. She jumped back on a tree before shooting forward with a Quick Attack. She forgot about her new size and her weak attack was met with something green, and more importantly hard. When she landed she held her head for a moment as she was disoriented a little. She shook her head before noticing the Quilladin in front of her.

“It’s you!” She pointed a wing at him.

“Huh? Oh it’s you!” Keaton pointed at her. “Huh… You're a lot shorter than I remember though…”

“S-shut up!” Soleil squeaked. She was probably shouting but it was hard to tell.

“Heh, what are you gonna do about it Thumbelina?” Keaton said with a smirk. Soleil huffed and kicked his foot with the force of a Lilipup trying to hit him.

“Do you two know each other?” Flora asked curiously.

“Kinda,” Soleil huffed. “I met him in Rivercross. I didn’t expect to meet him again here of all places.” Seeing the confused look in her eyes, Soleil climbed up on Flora before repeating what she said.

Seriously, what happened to her? Keaton didn’t expect to meet her again. In this state at least. Or was she always this small?

He his gaze turned towards Flora and stared longingly at her. “Well, hel-lo there lass,” he started with a smooth tone in his voice. “And who might you be?”

“Huh? O-oh, my name is Flora. And… who are you again?”

“How rude, I’ve introduced myself yet have I? The name is Keaton, wondering explorer extraordinaire. Though you can call me whatever you like love,” he winked at Flora.

“W-wha?” Flora stammered as a faint blush formed on her cheeks. She huffed and glared at Soleil when she heard her snickering. “H-Have you seen any kids around here? We thought we heard them.” Flora was quite to change the subject.

Keaton grinned as he glanced back. “Hey, you two can come out now.”

“I-Is it really okay to come out now?” Handle asked as he peaked from behind the tree.

“Yeah, it’s safe to come out now. They’re from the guilds, they’re here to help get us out.” Keaton said to them.

“Really? But that one’s so tiny,” Griddle pointed out as she looked at Soleil.

Keaton snickered as he heard Soleil mumbling something. “W-well um, they’re with the guilds so I’m sure they have a plan or something.” He chuckled as he tried to suppress his laughter.

Behind Soleil and Flora, Molly fluttered in awkwardly.

“That’s her! She’s the one who brought us here?” Griddle pointed at Molly. The Woobat squeaked and hid behind Flora

“That’s who tricked you to come here?” Keaton rose a brow. He imagined someone more intimidating. Then again, a child would probably make it easier to lure other children into this place.

“I-It's okay, she's with us.” Flora was quick to defend Molly. “She's sorry for tricking you but she was forced to by Morgan the witch. She helped us find you two.”

Keaton glanced back at Handle and Griddle. “She doesn't look too bad,” he admitted. She looked too anxious to seem like a bad person.

The two looked at each other before nodding okay. Though they would stick near him it seems. “So, any idea how to get out of here?” He asked the two.

“I know the way,” Flora said. “If we hurry we can get out of here before it gets dark.” Well, dark outside. It was almost like night time here. 

Keaton nodded. He couldn't exactly argue as he had no idea where to go. He glanced to the side as his eyes narrowed a little. “Get down!” He said as he pushed Flora as a stream of flames headed their way. He grunted as the flames hit his back.

“Flora! Are you okay?”

“Y-Yeah, I’m okay.” Flora said as she looked over as her eyes widened. No. Not her. Molly squeaked and the kids huddled together when they saw the Vulpix. “

“You stupid girl! First you lose my ingredient and then you bring these damn guild members here. I knew you couldn’t be trusted with such a simple task.” Morgan growled.

“N-no I didn’t mean too…” Molly squeaked softly.

“Quiet! I should clip your wings for this!” She hissed, making the Woobat cower in terror. “Well… One good thing did come from this. You brought new volunteers.” She crackled as she uncorked the screw to a potion. “You guild members have bothered me long enough! But you’ll make up for it by providing me plenty of ingredients for my potions.”

Keaton grabbed Handle and Griddle before tossing them on Flora’s back. “Take the kids and take them to safety.”

“W-What? W-what are you going to do?”

“Isn’t it obvious? I’m gonna hold her off,” he said with a confident grin.

“Not alone you’re not,” Soleil said. She suddenly yelped in protest as Keaton picked her up and plopped her on Flora’s head. “Yeah, don’t think so. You’re too short to be helpful right now.”

Soleil growled at him but Flora placed a hoof to stop her. “W-wait, he has a point. You can’t fight right now.” Flora told her firmly. “O-okay, we’re getting out of here so follow me,” she told Molly.

“As if I’d let you.” Morgan scoffed as she loosened the cork on a bottle she carried. She aimed at Flora before she threw the bottle. Keaton intercepted it as the green goop landed on his arm. “Run!” He told them before they ran off.

“Now… was that supposed to do something?” Keaton questioned. Besides feeling sticky it hadn’t done much to him.

Morgan crackled as she produced a ball of fire. “It will now,” she growled as she tossed the flame at him.

~~

“A-Are we really going to leave him there?” Griddle asked as they were carried away.

“D-Don’t worry, he’ll be alright.” Flora assured them. At least she hoped so. “Do you think he’ll be alright?” She whispered to Soleil.

“I’m not sure. He seemed tough when I saw him fight those bandits but Morgan’s a fire type. Plus who knows what kind of tricks she has up her sleeve.” It absolutely frustrated Soleil that she couldn’t do anything right now. If only she weren’t so damn short.

Wait… that’s it!

“Flora stop! The potions!” Soleil said as she hopped over to the basket they confiscated from Molly. “If one of these shrunk me than one should make me grow right?” She said as she examined the bottles.

“R-Right. Miss Morgan said one would do that…” Molly said as she overheard. “I-it’s that one right there.”

“Awesome!” Soleil quickly started to pull at the cork on the bottle. However her tiny wings and beak proved ineffective getting it opened. “Flora, can you give me a hand?”

“O-Okay…” Flora said as she took the bottle. She tugged at the cork but found it difficult to remove. “I-it’s stuck tight… h-hold on, let me try this…” She said as she grabbed the bottle with her teeth and began to pull. There was the sound of a pop as the cork was pulled out, but Flora lost her balance in the action. “Gah!”

Poomf.

Everyone blinked at the sound, and turned to look upwards once the puff of smoke had cleared. Except for Flora. The Chikorita, having grown to be more than thirty feet tall, looked down instead of the others. She blinked a few times before looking at her hooves and surroundings. “W-What happened?” She boomed, everyone else covering their ears at the sound of her voice, which had dropped several octaves and was loud enough to be felt as much as it was heard. “S-Sorry…” she whispered, as she backed away from them gingerly – her hoof-steps shaking the ground slightly – and sat down as best as she could. “I didn’t mean to do that…” She apologized to Soleil.

“It’s… fine…” Soleil sighed. Well so much for that plan. She looked down before she had a thought. “Wait… this is perfect!” She suddenly beamed at an idea. Flora gulped as Soleil looked up at her like that. What was she up to?

~~

“Geez lady, you really don’t pull any punches do yah?” Keaton said as he held his arm which had a burn. He was weak to fire to begin with but he’s never taken attacks as intense as those before. Whatever that green goop he threw at her made the burns and flames feel more intense.

“You cost me my ingredients and my assistant!” Morgan growled as she threw another Flame Burst at him. He barely managed to dodge but sparks of flames managed to hit him. “You’re durable I’ll admit, but soon enough you’ll fall. Your kind isn’t easy to come by. You’ll make a fine invulnerability potion. Or maybe I’ll just use your shell to grind my other ingredients.”

“Like hell you will,” Keaton grunted. He suddenly tucked into a ball and began to roll around to avoid her attacks. He couldn’t run quite yet. He had to stall her long enough to give the others time to escape. With any luck he’d get out with only a few minor burns himself.

“Like I’d let you escape so easily…” She reached into a bag and grabbed what looked like seeds. She threw them in his path before they grew into pretty flowers strangely enough. The surrounding plants grew around him and stopped him in his tracks.

“What the hell!?” What was this stuff? He tried his best to get out of these plants hold but they held onto him firmly.

“Gotcha!” Morgan crackled as she fired a flame burst at him. He had only a moment to turn so his shell took most of the attack. Still hurt like hell however. Though it did burn the plants and weakened them enough to pull himself out.

Unfortunately Morgan was too quick and threw another Flame Burst at him. He was lasting longer than most that had taken this punishment but he was slowly beginning to feel his strength getting weaker and weaker.

“You’re mine now,” Morgan crackled as she moved closer to him. “You shouldn’t have gotten involved. 

“That’s the problem with me… heh… I don’t know when not to stick my nose in other people’s business…” he quipped.

Morgan huffed as she prepared another Flame Burst to finish him. She was momentarily distracted before she noticed, and felt, something getting closer. A yell was heard before something huge came rushing at her. “What the-!” Morgan didn’t have time to react as something tackled her and sent her flying.

“D-Did I get her?” Flora asked, eyes still closed.

“Yeah! You got her! I knew you could do it!” Soleil pumped a wing.

“O-oh thank goodness,” Flora let out a sigh of relief. “D-do you think she’ll be okay?”

“Eh, she’ll be okay,” Soleil shrugged a little. Not really caring to be honest. “Actually, we should probably get away. She seemed tough so I doubt that’ll keep her down.”

“R-Right…” Flora said softly before frowning as she glanced at Keaton.

“Heh… when did you get so big…?” Keaton asked weakly as he saw the giant Chikorita in front of him. The pain was starting to set in once more. Before she knew it, his sight began to fade as he drifted into unconsciousness

~~

The first thing Keaton started to become aware of was a dull pounding in his head. Afterwards were a series of aches and sores that assaulted his senses, as if waiting for the perfect opportunity to strike. He didn’t remember the ground being this soft however. He opened his eyes, only to immediately shut them when the sun’s bright rays hit his eyes. “Where am I?” He groaned softly.

“Oh, he’s awake now!”

He heard a familiar voice. He turned to notice a Chikorita, who was back to normal size, approaching with an Emboar. “Are you okay? Are you hurt?”

“I feel like I was left in the sun too long after being smacked on like a pinata.” Keaton groaned softly. His body ached all over. One would think they’d get used to this feeling but he hadn’t. Yet at least.

“Yeah, sounds about right.” Fellin said with a nod. “I heard what happened. That was brave, but rather stupid of you. Not many Grass-Types can escape that many fire attacks with only a few burns as you did.”

“What can I say, I’m stubborn,” He chuckled weakly, only to regret when he felt a sharp pain.

“Are you okay? Should we get you anything?” Flora asked him, concern written on her face.

“Oh I’m more than okay. Now that you’re here lass,” he gave Flora a wink.

“Yeah, he’s alright,” Flora deadpanned. Fellin chuckled softly at that. Seeing how things seemed to be alright she decided to leave him be to rest.

“Hey, what happened to the kids?” Keaton asked Flora before she could leave.

“Hm? Oh they’re okay. We got them home safely. Their parents were very worried about them. Though I doubt they didn’t reseave a scolding once they got home,” she said and smiled a little. Well they did run off when they shouldn’t have. “Molly has also been taken the Trackers custody. We told them how she cooperated so hopefully they’ll treat her well.”

“That’s good,” Keaton sighed in relief.

“That was brave you know. Staying behind to let us escape.” Though she imagined Soleil would have done something similar. Though she doubted she’d get hurt as much.

“Well, I couldn’t let a pretty thing like you get hurt now could I?” He chuckled a little, wincing when he felt the pain come back.

“I’m trying to be serious you know,” Flora huffed a little. “Still, you did help us so thank you. And thank you for helping my friend with those bandits. Even though that would have risked you getting caught for stealing from the farms.”

Keaton winced a little, though not from pain this time. “Yeah, I figured she’d notice,” He said softly. ”Hey um, you mind not ratting me out to anyone from the guilds?” He asked all of a sudden. “I’ve been trying to join for a while now and you have no idea how long it took me to get here.” He chuckled softly. He could blame his lack of sense of direction for that. “I really don’t want to make a bad impression on them…”

Flora paused all of a sudden as she looked at him. “Don’t worry, we won’t tell anyone. If Soleil trusts you than so do I.” Besides, he seemed like a good person. He rushed into help twice even though he didn’t know anyone there and had nothing to gain. Except bragging rights maybe. Still, she was usually a good judge of character, though she could do without the flirting. “Actually … Soleil and I talked for a bit after we came back.”

Keaton rose a brow at that. “About what now?”

“Well… We were wondering if you’d like to be part of our team…”