JENNA: * It isn't long afterward that Jo dozes off, sighing once more before she slips away completely into dreams. Her rest is fairly peaceful, and sunshine is streaming, pale, in through the glass doors before she wakes, shivering in apparent cold. She makes a muffled noise of discontent, burrowing against Shane for warmth and wishing vaguely she'd thought to bring some kind of blanket -- not that she had any reason at all to think of bringing a blanket the evening before.

JUSTIN: * Shane reacts in his usual, instinctive manner to her burrowing, by cuddling her into himself and holding on in a sleepy embrace. He wakes at the prompting, also feeling the crisp chill of an autumn morning in the air, but he doesn't show any signs of it, stubbornly defying both the light and the cold to gain another few minutes of peace.

JENNA: * Eventually, Jo decides this is probably not the most efficient way to keep warm, and she stirs against Shane, reluctantly attempting to pull them both into wakefulness. "Hey," she murmurs, nudging him. "We should get up.. catch a hot bath ..." She nips lightly at his neck in an effort to get his attention. "Warmer than staying here, right?"

JUSTIN: * Shane stretches a bit, letting out a quiet murmur. His arms wrap loosely around her waist, contrary to her suggestion, and he opens his eyes halfway to stare down at her. "But that would require getting up... and you know how I hate getting up." He tugs her closer against him, but sighs with dramatic flair and lets her go afterward. "All right, fine. It is chilly."

JENNA: * Jo grins at him, leaning in to give him a kiss before pulling away and getting to her feet, ambling around absently in search of her clothes. "Blanket, next time," she remarks, finding her tunic and tugging it over her head. In the process of finding the rest of her clothes, she crosses paths with some of Shane's, and amuses herself by tossing them in his direction. Not that it particularly matters, in the privacy of their home.

JUSTIN: * Shane pulls his shorts down off of his face and arches a brow at her with a smirk, feeling entirely too lazy to really be embarrassed about his nakedness -- not that this stops him from quickly getting himself clothed. "Remind me to stash a few of them up here for you." He rolls around in the pillows for a minute, refusing to stand up to get his pants and shirt on, and content to make the task all the more complicated because of it. Once he's finished he somehow manages to will himself to his feet, and he heaves a stretch. "Nngh. Tell me why we got dressed if we're only going to go take baths?"

JENNA: "Because if I hadn't gotten dressed, you would have made me get dressed," Jo remarks, starting for the stairs with a lazy grin. "Am I wrong?" She glances back at him before continuing down the stairs, pausing at the bottom to wait for him and leaning lazily on the railing.

JUSTIN: * Shane clears his throat, looking suitably guilty as charged as he trots down the staircase after her. "Well, you know... too much of a good thing..." He kisses her as he reaches her at the ground floor, running his fingers back through her hair. Smiling as he pulls back from her lips, he moves a hand to tweak her nose. "I don't want the novelty to wear off, do I?"

JENNA: * Jo utters a most unladylike snort, reaching up to tug his hair before she starts moving again, headed for the bedroom -- and the bath. "Novelty, huh?" She stretches lazily as she goes, ambling through the door and pausing to look at the bed, still relatively made up and neat from lack of use. She doesn't linger on it long, however, searching instead for her towels.

JUSTIN: "Well. Maybe a little more than a novelty -- but just a little." Shane grins as he follows after her, pausing just inside the doorway to look around the bedroom. Rubbing absently at his arm, he wanders over to the bed and sits down on the end of it, yawning quietly. "I suppose we should do things proper today, and have our breakfast /before/ we go work on the yard."

JENNA: "That's probably best ... yard work is hungry work," Jo remarks, retrieving her towels and snapping one absently in Shane's direction. "Dirty work, too." She folds the rough cloth over her arm, leaning against the wall next to the bathroom door and watching him inquisitively.

JUSTIN: * Shane waves a hand in defense, half-heartedly swatting the assaulting towel away from his face. "There's no limit on how many times a day you can take a bath, so I'm sure you don't mind the dirt." He turns her a sideways look as he gets to his feet, ambling over to the nearby shelf -- mostly barren, even after being stocked with everything from both their packs -- and snags a book. As he steps back toward the bed he looks at her with equal inquisitiveness, and arches a brow. "Is something wrong?"

JENNA: * Jo tilts her head at him curiously, eyes drifting momentarily to the floor before she looks up at him again, expression innocently inquisitive. "Aren't you coming?" she asks, shifting absently from one foot to the other and watching him almost warily.

JUSTIN: * Shane blinks his eyes, not understanding her question at first. He's about to answer with something along the lines of "you can take your turn first" when the true meaning of her inquiry sets in. His eyes turn to his book, which suddenly seems simultaneously insignificant and all-important. "Oh... I thought you wanted to--" He returns his attention to her, looking fairly embarrassed. "I mean--"

JENNA: * A faint smile twitches Jo's lips, and her shoulders lift in a faint shrug. "It's up to you," she adds, sort of as an afterthought, though she doesn't move from her stance near the doorway, waiting for him to say yes or no before she makes a move one way or the other.

JUSTIN: * Shane looks down at the book in his hands again, and gnaws at his lip in consideration. After a moment he lets It fall to the bed, and starts toward the bathroom with a mild blush in his cheeks, and a rather cowed look on his face. "All right, I'm coming..."

JENNA: * Jo grins at him, reaching out to catch and kiss him once when he approaches, then ambles in, waiting for him before shutting the door behind them both. The next several days pass in similar, lazy fashion. Though bit by bit they take care of the final trimmings the house lacks, they primarily seem to enjoy each other's presence -- and the fact that it makes the work go by faster.

JUSTIN: * It's just past noon on one such day, Shane and Jo engaged in putting down a fresh coat of paint on the entry room walls, when a man on pecoback comes trotting up the hill to their property from the direction of town. Because the door has been left open to keep the air circulating while they work, Shane happens to take notice of the approaching individual well before he reaches the house. "Looks like we have a vistor."

JENNA: "Good, I wanted a break," Jo says drily, putting her tools aside and stretching. "Paint smells." With that pronouncement, she angles for the door, stepping outside to lean near the frame as the man approaches. "He doesn't look like he's from around here," she remarks, sounding somewhat puzzled.

JUSTIN: * Shane follows after her, wiping his hands off on a spare rag before stepping out the front door. "You're right, he's not. He's from Juno. That's a Republic Courier uniform. I guess someone has a message for us." He tosses the rag over his shoulder (that's where he'll need it later anyway) and ambles down the steps, holding up a hand against the sun. The rider slips down from his saddle a few meters away and fetches a small package from his saddlebag, before marching up to meet the pair. He gives a quick bow and a tip of his hat, looking fairly exhausted, and then pulls a pad from his coat pocket to examine. "Package for Mr. and Mrs. Veribaent?" His eyes turn back to them again, inquisitive. Shane nods his head slightly and reaches out for the offered pad. "Just mister, so far." He turns Jo a teasing smirk over his shoulder. "Of course... I'll just need your signature." The man produces a pen, and Shane takes it, quickly scribbling out a signature and arching a brow at the other information on the form. Exchanging the pad for the package and a copy of the receipt, he turns back to Jo with surprise evident on his face.

JENNA: * Jo gives Shane a very dry look on the subject of "Mrs." but chooses to forego actually saying anything on the matter in favor of look idly at the package. The courier and his mistaken assumptions are only of passing interest, given his cargo -- and the fact that someone knew where to find them. "Well, open it," she says after a moment. Then, belatedly, "Who's it from?"

JUSTIN: * The courier is all too happy to mount up and return to town, leaving the pair to ponder their delivery in peace. Meanwhile, Shane runs his thumb over the plain, brown paper packaging, looking very openly curious about what it might contain. "I will -- let's get inside first." He reaches out and snags her hand, heading to the front door with quick steps.

JENNA: * Jo grimaces at the idea of returning to the house's currently smelly interior, but she lets Shane pull her along, past where they were working and into areas less inundated with the smell of paint. She works her way free once he stops, folding her hands and waiting for him to open the package -- and answer her question.

JUSTIN: * Shane seems rather ignorant of Jo's impatience, moving all the way to the bedroom and depositing her at the door before continuing to the bed. He pauses to look over the receipt again, making sure he read it correctly the first time, and then looks at the package again with the same curiousity. "I wonder how he knew where to find us..." He says quietly, once again passing on the chance to answer Jo's question, and he sits down to open the package. Inside is a hard-bound book with a number of bookmarks already present between the pages. Attached to the front cover is a hand-scrawled note.

JENNA: "/Who/?" Jo demands irritably, resisting a strong impulse to smack him in the back of the head. "I can't read the damned thing myself, remember?" This does not stop her from peering over his shoulder at the book, however, and prodding it open to have a look at what's inside.

JUSTIN: * Shane is almost startled by Jo's sudden intrusion into his thoughts, having nearly forgotten about her. "Mister Malachi, that's who -- the one who bought the pages from us." He snatches the book away from Jo's exploring fingers and sets it beside him on the bed, turning her a mildly chastising look. "Don't go thumbing through that until I know what it's all about. There's a letter here." He lifts the note, waving it for effect. "It will probably tell us what this is all about. I doubt it's a house-warming gift."

JENNA: * Jo appears faintly indignant. "Don't see why he'd be bothering us," she mutters, settling next to him and continuing to peer. "I doubt he has it rigged to explode," she says sourly to his second remark. "Old goat wouldn't sacrifice a book for that." She does not persist, however, sighing and waiting for him to explain what's in the note.

JUSTIN: * Shane ignores most of Jo's spiteful banter anyway, concentrating instead on reading the fluid, inked script on the paper in his hands. It's fairly blunt, but he wasn't expecting anything less, considering. In addition to getting straight too the point, however, it is fairly detailed and makes a rather unexpected offer. "Well, that's... interesting. He's interested in hiring us for a job."

JENNA: "Really." Jo's tone is unsurprisingly doubtful, and she peers at the note again as if it will somehow illuminate the matter. "I thought he was under the impression that we were both clueless and incompetent." She glances at him sideways. "Why send the book...? Is it another map or something?"

JUSTIN: * Shane shrugs his shoulders, having no answer to her first comment. He reaches over and takes up the book, however, and opens it to the first page to have a look. "No, not a map. I mean, there might be some maps in it, but..." He puts down the letter and takes the book in both hands, flipping through it to the first bookmarked page. "It's a collection essays and studies he's done, about ancient Morrocan culture and artifacts. He's interested in hiring us as... treasure hunters."

JENNA: * Jo is somewhat more interested by this news, glancing at Shane with what might even be eagerness. "Does he say anything about what we're supposed to be looking for?" In spite of the client, it doesn't seem to have crossed her mind not to accept, though she does frown slightly after a moment. "Morroc, though ..."

JUSTIN: "Hm?" Shane looks up from the book and turns her a curious glance. It only takes a second for his memory to catch up with him, and his expression shifts quickly to understanding. "Oh..." He lays the book down again, rubbing at his arm absently afterward. "I'd have to give the book a more thorough read-through to know if there's anything specific. The letter requests a response, either way." He gives her a slightly concerned look. "If you'd rather stay away from Morroc, I can write a letter declining his offer right now."

JENNA: * Jo shakes her head sharply. "No -- it's fine. We may not have to go to the city anyway. And.. I know a few ways around." She shifts, looking at him again, this time much more warily. "We do want to do it, right?" she asks hopefully.

JUSTIN: * Shane smiles apologetically, reaching over to give her cheek a gentle brush with his thumb. "I'll read through the book and see just what he's intending to send us into. If it doesn't seem unreasonable..." He tilts his head, rolling his eyes off in the direction of the open doorway. "I suppose we can pay him a visit and talk business."

JENNA: * Jo tugs him into a hug, nuzzling contentedly against him for a moment before kissing his cheek. "Will you read it to me, too?" she asks curiously. "If it's not too boring." She peers at the book, wondering vaguely if it will be interesting at all, though this is admittedly only part of the reason she wants to hear it.

JUSTIN: * Shane returns the hug happily, giving Jo a soft, comfortable squeeze. "If you want me to, then certainly." He gives the leather-bound book a glance over his shoulder, and shrugs lightly. "I'm sure its not particularly exciting, but it should be enlightening from a scholarly perspective." His attention turns back to her again, face sporting a grin.

JENNA: * Jo nods, for the moment content to continue leaning against him. "I guess.. we should finish painting first, though." She wrinkles her nose, giving him another squeeze before getting to her feet and reaching over to tug at his hair. "At least then we can wash up."

JUSTIN: "Mhm." Shane gives her a skeptical look, thinking he likely knows what she means by "wash up", and smirks. "And then we can have some lunch." He gets to his feet and leads the way out of the bedroom, leaving the book on the bed for later consideration.

JENNA: * Jo ambles cheerfully after him, the prospect of a job cheering her more than she expected it to. It's some time later when they finish painting, and some time after that before they finish bathing, and then the animals need tending to -- the sheep, at least, now has its own pen. It's following this chore that Jo ambles back to the bedroom and sprawls lazily on the bed, scooping the book up from where it lies and thumbing boredly through the pages.

JUSTIN: * Shane enters the bedroom not long after Jo, tugging at his shirt and toying with the notion of removing it. For the time being he settles for undoing the top few buttons, and drops onto the bed beside Jo, giving her hip a good pat. "See anything you like?" He leans over to watch the pages as they turn.

JENNA: "Not enough pictures," she replies absently, folding it closed and glancing back at him with a faint grin. She relaxes against him for a moment before giving a slight stretch. "Do you want to go upstairs and read?" she asks curiously, unsure why the notion appeals to her.

JUSTIN: * Shane shrugs his shoulders casually, reaching over to take the book. "If you'd like. I can get a fire going, too, while we're up there." He straightens a few of the bookmarks as he returns to his feet, and offers her a hand up from the bed. "And, hopefully, you won't be bored to tears," he adds with a grin.

JENNA: "I'm sure I can manage," Jo says drily, taking his hand and letting him help her from the bed. "Though a fire would be nice," she says with a grin. She ambles closer to him as they walk, nestling an arm around him at least until they get to the stairs, at which point she trots up ahead of him and angles for the cushions.

JUSTIN: * Shane lets her go ahead, making his way up the stairs a more leisurely pace. He ambles over to where Jo's gotten herself comfortable, and hands her the book to browse for the time being. "You were in Morroc quite a bit when you were with that guild of yours. Do you know much about the history of the area?" Stepping away again, he moves to a corner of the room to retrieve some firewood he'd chopped a long time ago, and quickly gets started on arranging it in the fireplace.

JENNA: * Jo shakes her head, flipping absently through the book in search of images that might mean something to her. "I know of what ruins there are in the area ... and mostly which areas are the most profitable to hit." She finds a map and peers at it curiously for a moment. "This looks like it's in the pyramid area ... they're mostly looted already, though, so we didn't go there often."

JUSTIN: "There must be something left, if he's written papers about it." Shane doesn't turn to face her as he answers, concentrating instead on the fire he's trying to get going. "Though it's possible that whatever he wants isn't of monetary value... or is just very well hidden." Once he's gotten the wood to catch fire, he pauses to think, head tilting lazily to the side. "You have to wonder... if he has all this information, wouldn't that mean he's been there already, himself?"

JENNA: "Maybe he's getting lazy in his old age," Jo grunts, turning the page and peering at the scrawling without comprehension. "Could be he just asked around.. read records ... If he's been there himself, he wouldn't need us to go after it, would he?" She flips another page and spends a moment staring intently at the sketches there. "Well, whatever it is, /he'll/ probably pay money for it ... that's what really matters in the end."

JUSTIN: * Shane gets to his feet and stretches, letting out a long, exhaling breath before rejoining Jo at the pile of pillows. "I suppose so. Not that we need the money." He collapses into the cushions beside her, bouncing lightly before settling. "Though I suppose we've run through all the money we'd taken out of the account the last time we were in Juno. We should keep some spending money on hand, really."

JENNA: "Mm.. we'll probably have to go back there when he pays us anyway," she says, nestling against him and offering him the book with a faint smile. "I guess he has the important stuff marked." There was a great deal of writing on most of those pages, however, so she didn't give them a very close look. She relaxes, using him as much as a cushion as the ones they're lounging on.

JUSTIN: * Shane plucks the book from her hand and makes himself comfortable, giving her hair a brief stroke. "We can just go over the marked pages for now." He flips to the first bookmark and looks for the logical place to begin, easy to find due to marks on the page. "Of course, I plan to read the entire book when I have the chance... But under the circumstances, I suppose I should stick to what's relevant, hm?"

JENNA: "Just for now," she says with a grin. "He'll probably expect it back when we go to see him, though, so you probably need to read fast." She doesn't seem to mind one way or the other, however, resting her head against him and waiting for him to begin, gaze fixed on the pages.

JUSTIN: "I suppose I'll have all the time I need on the way there." Shane places a finger to the page to mark his place (more for Jo's benefit than his), and pauses only once more. "/If/ we decide to take the job, mind you." That said, he doesn't wait for a reply before he clears his throat and begins reading. As expected, the text is very wordy and academic, and within mere paragraphs he's already come across a few words even he's not sure of the definition for. Despite this, he presses on, never having met a book he couldn't master.

JENNA: * If Shane has difficutly with the words, Jo is, for the larger part, completely lost. She doesn't appear to mind this either, however, content to listen Shane's voice, however high the words fly over her head. She keeps her eyes on the page for any correlation between his words and the few images there.

JUSTIN: * Shane's reading goes on for some time, the bookmarked sections themselves being fairly lengthy -- made even more so by the constant barrage of unnecessarily exotic vocabulary. Despite his best efforts, he finally has to lie back and rest his battered tongue, brain starting to hurt from the sheer volume of information that he only barely grasps. "I think I need a glass of water..."

JENNA: * Jo turns and leans over him to drop a kiss on his mouth, then pushes lazily to her feet with a smile. "I suppose I can go get you some," she says with a grin and starts for the stairs. "Is it making any more sense to you than it is to me?"

JUSTIN: * Shane lets the book fall to the side, moving his hands to rub at his eyes. "Maybe it will after I've slept on it... it's a bit much to digest." He grins wearily, wondering if he's even willing to give it another go tonight. He's rather torn on that decision. After a second, he climbs to his feet to follow her. "Hold on, I'll come with you. I need to stretch my legs, anyway."

JENNA: "Mm, if you like." She starts down the stairs and then toward the kitchen. She pauses when she reaches the door, glancing back to wait for him. "Maybe we should eat before we do anything else," she suggests, ambling over to snag a glass once he's caught up with her. "Might help your headache."

JUSTIN: * Shane deposits himself at the table, crossing his arms on the smooth surface and resting his head thereon. "My headache, likely not. But at least it will keep me from going hungry." He smiles slimly, forcing back a yawn. "Mmm... anything you're in the mood for? Or maybe I should just let you cook tonight."

JENNA: "I'm not hungry for anything in particular," Jo says with a shrug. "Caught a couple of rabbits the other day -- should be good for soup, if you want." She gives a weary stretch, getting some water and pausing to drink the lot while she's standing there. "Though they could be fine roasted, too."

JUSTIN: * Shane sits up with a languid stretch, leaning back in his chair and sighing. "Mm. Rabbit, haven't had that in a couple months." He doesn't sound too excited, but at least he doesn't sound like he's being sarcastic. "We could mix it up a bit. Roast rabbit with rabbit soup on the side." He pulls his lips back in a lazy smile, finally getting to his feet.

JENNA: * Jo gives him a long, level stare, then shrugs. "We might have enough for that. It's up to you. We can always have something else." She finishes off her drink with a faint, comfortable sigh, then turns to wash her hands. "I'm sure it can be better prepared in a kitchen than over a campfire, anyway ..."

JUSTIN: "Campfires have their charms, but--" Shane draws her hair back and gives it a gentle tug, leaning in to place a light kiss at the side of her neck. "I prefer having complete control of my art." He tickles her sides before moving away again, going to retrieve the rabbits that are supposedly buried away with the rest of the meat. "Of course, I'll be making vegetables, too."

JENNA: * Jo rolls her eyes heavenward for a moment. "Suit yourself ... just let me know if there's anything you want me to do." She ambles back away from the kitchen, leaning lazily against a counter and settling in to watch him. "Probably better enjoy it while you can, anyway," she muses with a grin, apparently anticipating being back on the road.

JUSTIN: * Shane returns to the sink with the food in tow, running the water and getting himself cleaned up. "I fully intend to. And you'd better, too, or I'll nag you until you do." He turns her a bright smile over his shoulder, then goes back to work, rinsing off the veggies. "If you want to help, you can get the meat chopped for the soup while I prepare the others for roasting."

JENNA: * Jo nods, retrieving a fair portion of the meat and setting about cutting it into portions. She isn't entirely sure what she enjoys more at any given time, though she is worried about how soft she's gotten in the time since they've had the house. It's some consolation, she considers, that the job at least shouldn't put them at odds with the law or any guilds in the area. Apart from her own.

JUSTIN: * Shane doesn't have any such worries about being soft, though whether that's because he's confident or because it just hasn't ocurred to him yet, who knows. At the moment he's concentrating on getting the meat arranged and seasoned for cooking, and hiking across the continent isn't bound to be on his mind until the day they leave.

JENNA: * When Jo has the meat chopped and ready to go, she sets it aside and washes her hands again, ambling out to the table to sit down and await orders -- or, alternately, sit down and wait for him to finish cooking. She doesn't much mind either way, mind still occupied with preparations for what will doubtless be a several-month journey.

JUSTIN: * With his mind set on the process, Shane doesn't think to call Jo back for more assistance, moving immediately to take what she's done and get to work with it. It isn't too long before he's gotten both the soup going on the stove, and the seasoned meat roasting in the oven. The veggies mostly go to help flavor the other dishes, but he gets some more in a pot of their own before he joins Jo at the table for the wait. "Shouldn't take too long. Rabbit roasts quicker than most."

JENNA: * Jo nods lazily, glancing at him sideways. "Do you want to just go to bed after we eat?" she asks, though she wouldn't mind going back upstairs, herself. Of course, reading the text is a lot less work for her than it is for him. "We can always work on it some more tomorrow."

JUSTIN: "I think that would be best." Shane rubs at his eyes, the very mention of it making them sore again -- and that an odd thing for him. "It might be easier to understand with a fresh start. Guess I'll have my work cut out for me, if I want to read the whole book by the time we reach Juno." He smiles a tired smile and leans heavily against the table, watching her absently. "Unless there's something else you want to do before we sleep."

JENNA: * Jo shakes her head, then leans it lazily against her fist and grins at him. "Not in particular. I guess we can just get an early start tomorrow." She arches a brow at him, doubting he'll be getting an early start without her help, either way. "I can give you a backrub, if that would help ..." Though she also doubts the problem is in his muscles as much as his eyes.

JUSTIN: "Help? Well, I highly doubt that..." Shane grins a little bit, crookedly. "Not that it would be unwelcome." He drums his fingers on the table once, then leans back, turning a look over his shoulder to make sure nothing's burning or boiling over. "And what about you?" His attention turns back to her, and he arches an eyebrow in similar fashion.

JENNA: "How could I possibly argue with an offer like that?" Her mouth quirks in a grin, and she reaches over to give his hair a tug. "That'd make it a fair trade, after all, wouldn't it?" She glances at the kitchen after a moment and finds nothing amiss, though she does feel a slight twinge of hunger.

JUSTIN: * Shane snags her hand and gives it a squeeze, smirking at her comment. "I've always considered myself a fair man." Noting her glance at the kitchen, he decides to go check on things, even if it is still too early for anything to be finished. He gets to his feet and ambles over to the stove, giving the soup a good stir, and then the vegetables as well. After a quick check inside the over, he leans against the counter and turns his eyes back toward Jo. "The vegetables will be done well before anything else, if you'd like to get started on those while you wait for the rest."

JENNA: * Jo shrugs slightly, pulling herself upright with a faint smile. "Whatever works best. I can wait for you." She turns her gaze to watch the steam rise off the soup, smiling absently. "I wonder why he sent for us," she muses aloud, mind wandering back, as it seems to be in the habit of doing, to their mission, should they choose to accept it.

JUSTIN: * Shane lifts a hand to stir the soup again, absently, while he continues to watch Jo at the table. "If I only had one guess, I would have to say... how many other people stumble upon pages written in the language of the gods, guarded by a Valkyrie, and without hardly trying?" He smiles briefly. "I suppose it was more luck than anything, since we had that book. Maybe this time will be the same way, if we give it a shot." He steps away from the counter, grabbing the steaming pot of vegetables and moving it from the hot burner to cool down.

JENNA: "Heh, he doesn't seem like the type to hire on dumb luck alone ..." She leans down again, frowning. "Not to imply he thinks we're any good, or something like that." She grins, straightening again and scratching her cheek. "Maybe he's testing us to see if we are any good, then." She shrugs. "Not that it matters, I suppose."

JUSTIN: * Shane chuckles quietly, fetching a couple plates and a pair of matching bowls. He dishes the vegetables out, then checks on their rabbit dishes again before carrying the veggies over to the table. "Something to chew on while you wait." He says, placing a plate in front of her, then seating himself. "And whether it was luck or skill, I can't imagine there are many people in the world who can claim what we can on our resume."

JENNA: "I suppose not ... it still doesn't feel like we did much, though." She scoops some vegetables boredly over to her plate and starts munching on them boredly. "Not that I'd share that tidbit of information with him or anything ..." She swallows, then takes a long drink of water and starts eating again.

JUSTIN: * Shane takes a bite of his veggies, then grabs the salt shaker and dashes a bit on top. "Mm, I think he'd be happier if you didn't share anything with him at all." He grins a little, biting down another bit of food before continuing. "He would no doubt prefer you wait outside and not make a sound."

JENNA: "Too bad for him he doesn't get a choice," Jo says sourly, biting down a little harder than necessary on an unoffending vegetable. "I'll be polite if he is," she mutters almost defensively, and continues eating with a faint scowl. She seems to think the likelihood of a polite exchange is slim to nil.

JUSTIN: * Shane snorts, setting his fork down and getting to his feet. "I'm not so sure even that would keep you at bay." He heads back to the kitchen to retrieve the rest of their dinner, returning shortly with two roasted rabbits and a pot of hot soup. "You certainly never let politeness get in the way of snapping at me, as I recall." He arches a brow at her, baring a teasing grin.

JENNA: "I never let politeness get in the way of snapping at people who deserve it," she returns with a smile, reaching for one of the rabbits to transfer it to her plate. "Not that they think they deserve it, in most cases," she adds thoughtfully, then takes a bite of her rabbit.

JUSTIN: * Shane shakes his head with a slight smile, ladeling some soup into his bowl and retrieving one of the rabbits for himself. "I don't think most people understand your logic, Jo, that's all." He reaches across the table and gives her cheek a gentle pinch, grinning terribly.

JENNA: * Jo serves herself some soup shortly, shrugging, and glances at him, wrinkling her nose. "Their problem, I suppose." With that, she turns to her meal, eating in her usual, ravenous way. It appears no amount of domestication will cure her of this particular habit.

JUSTIN: * Shane shakes his head again, and gets to his meal with his usual pacing, making it last quite a bit longer than Jo's. Once he's about halfway through, he gets up and goes to fetch himself a glass of milk, returning to the table again and dropping into his seat with a sigh. "I do hope the birds won't complain too much about getting on the road again, after so long. They've got the whole field out there to run around and exercise, but the gods know they probably don't."

JENNA: "They'll think they've woken up into a terrible nightmare," Jo remarks, finishing off the last of her vegetables (the rabbit is long since gone) and turning to make an end of her soup. "They'll survive.. might have to pace 'em a bit, though." She frowns, wondering if they'll lose money if their job takes longer than anticipated. Then she reasons losing money doesn't much matter anyway.

JUSTIN: "Pace them, hold their hands, and sing them lullabies at night." Shane snorts, eating a few spoonfuls of his soup before resting on his elbow. "It's almost tempting to buy a new pair, and just let those two grow fat and lazy like they so obviously want. But that's probably what they're hoping for, and I certainly don't intend to do them any favors." He smirks, then sets to work on finishing up his food, having some catching up to do with Jo.

JENNA: "Mm." Jo taps her spoon in her empty bowl and shrugs. "We should definitely see how they hold up before making any kind of decision, anyway. If they're no good for travel, we need a new pair." She looks thoughtful for a moment. "Maybe a breeder would have some use for them ... if he wants to breed laziness."

JUSTIN: "I'm sure it's an admirable quality in some circles." Shane grins a little, taking a small sip of his drink. He sets the glass down and gives a light stretch, scratching at his cheek. "And of course, there are always pecoburgers." He smiles at the thought, then finishes up the last of his food in one last, fell swoop.

JENNA: "That would be an awful lot of meat to preserve." She does, however, find herself picturing a logical way to do so. She abandons the pursuit shortly, gathering up her dishes and ambling back into the kitchen to clean them.

JUSTIN: * Shane follows behind her, bringing the rest of the dishes along with him. "I can always get an addition on the house." He grins, placing the dirty load into the sink and getting the water running. "I'll clean up -- you go relax." He nudges her with his elbow, apparently intent on shooing her. "I'll be along shortly."

JENNA: * Jo lets him shoo her away, ruffling his hair as she goes. "Don't be too long," she warns, then ambles off to the bedroom, kicking her boots off at the door and shoving them out of the way. She relieves herself of her trousers shortly afterward and flops drowsily on her half of the bed, resting her head on the pillow and yawning.