JUSTIN: * Shane doesn't take too long, as promised, getting the plates, bowls, and glasses cleaned with proficient speed, and letting the pots and pans soak for later scrubbing. He rinses and dries his hands, turns off the lamps in the kitchen, and finally heads off to the bedroom. "Still awake?"

JENNA: * Jo uncurls, sitting up lazily and scrubbing at her eyes with one hand. "I'm not that sleepy yet," she grins. "You going to manage to stay awake?" The grin turns impish, and she straightens, folding her legs to one side.

JUSTIN: * Shane closes the door quietly behind him -- nevermind that there's no need for the extra privacy -- and removes his boots, placing them beside Jo's before stepping to the bed. "No guarantees, but if I do fall asleep, consider it a compliment to you skills." He smiles tightly, dropping onto the bed beside her and lazily unbuttoning his shirt.

JENNA: * Jo grins, leaning over to kiss him, then leans back again, frowning a little, mockingly. "Yes, but if you fall asleep, I won't get my turn, will I?" She gives his sleeve a light tug and wrinkles her nose. "Though I suppose I could always wake you up if that happened."

JUSTIN: * Shane follows her as she leans back again, repaying her kiss with another. "Or, I could just give you your backrub first." He waggles his eyebrows at her and grins, slipping a hand beneath her to rub fingers at her back suggestively. "I'll give you three seconds to decide, before I take matters into my own hands."

JENNA: * Jo grins, reaching up to catch him in another kiss before pulling away and regarding him thoughtfully. "Hard to pass on an offer like that ... you sure you want to trade?" She makes a slight effort to push his shirt the rest of the way off, hands slipping under it to knead lightly at his shoulders.

JUSTIN: * Shane wiggles the rest of the way out of his shirt, and lifts his hands to gently remove Jo's from his shoulders with a coy grin. "Now, now. Don't tempt me -- just be glad I offered." He flicks his shirt onto the floor and tugs at her own, arching a brow. "Though we do seem to be a bit backwards, now, as far as preparations are concerned."

JENNA: "Mm.. I suppose you're right," Jo says with a slightly melodramatic sigh. "But I guess that's easy enough to take care of." Her mouth twitches in an amused smile, and she reaches back lazily to loosen the laces on her tunic, clearly going out of her way to take her sweet time about removing the shirt entirely. Particularly when she could just pull it off over her head without fiddling with the laces to begin with.

JUSTIN: * Shane leans back on his hands to watch this process, head tilting to the side as he arches an eyebrow. "If you take too long removing that shirt, I'm just going to have to do the job for you." He smirks, reaching a hand over to pluck at the fabric. "And I won't be quite so gentle about it, either."

JENNA: "Oh, will you now?" Jo says, arching an eyebrow. "Shall we put that theory to the test?" Rather than increasing the speed at which she works the laces, his words seem to have encouraged her to slow down even further, though it's clearly taking a great deal of effort to restrain her usually speedy hands.

JUSTIN: * Shane sits up straight, stretching as he lifts his arms up, and brings them back down again as he leans forward. "There are some things in life that I just can't be patient about," he says with a wry grin, continuing to lean forward until his hands connect with her legs, "and this would be near the top of the list." He walks his fingers quickly up her legs and around her waist, drawing himself in closer so they can reach the laces of her shirt. With much less restraint, they swat away Jo's lazy fingers and quickly unlace her tunic.

JENNA: * Jo laughs, leaning back on her hands and permitting him to do whatever he pleases with the laces of her tunic, not to mention the rest of it. "I'm just glad I don't have to turn my back anymore," she sniffs with a teasing grin, reaching one hand over to tug his hair before dropping it back behind her.

JUSTIN: * Shane finishes with the laces and scoots closer to her, reaching up a hand to stroke her chin. "Maybe I've just learned to mentally block the images out." He grins back at her, slipping his hands down to take her shirt and casually lift it up over her head. "Hm... then again, I guess I haven't quite perfected my technique."

JENNA: * Jo snorts, taking over the process of tossing the cloth aside once her tunic's lifted well above her head. She lets it fall, lifting one hand to place it delicately across his eyes and kissing him. She pulls away slightly, grinning. "Wouldn't want you getting distracted, now would we?"

JUSTIN: * Shane smiles innocently, taking her hand away and turning his eyes up to the ceiling exaggeratedly. "It's a good thing you'll be lying on your stomach, then, isn't it?" He drops his gaze again, low enough to match hers, and then pats at her hip. "Speaking of which -- all hands, assume backrub positions."

JENNA: * Jo sighs again, rolling her eyes melodramatically, and slides lazily away from him, stretching once before she lies down to pillow her head on her arms. "Don't rush on my account," she suggests cheerfully, closing her eyes and nestling comfortably down to wait for him to begin. "Though I'm sure you want your turn."

JUSTIN: * Shane crawls his way over her, leaning down to place a kiss against her shoulder. "Never rush a good thing." He sits back with a smile and gives his arms a stretch, cracking his knuckles once before he sets to work. "You know, I hear they make oils for this sort of thing... They warm with friction, have soothing fragrances..." He watches the side of her face with a coy grin, working his fingers at her shoulders.

JENNA: "Is that so..?" She casts a glance back over her shoulder, arching a brow and grinning in return. "How intriguing ... perhaps we should look into that." She lets her eyes fall shut again as he works, however, content for the moment to let him ease the soreness of painting all day.

JUSTIN: "I'll keep it in mind while we're out and about." Shane smiles in a satisfied manner, and devotes the majority of his attention to Jo's back. Despite Jo's comment to the contrary, however, he allows himself a little bit of distraction, letting his hands stray from the general area of the backrub on more than one occasion. Not to mention his eyes.

JENNA: * Jo's eyes open in surprise at the first of these wanderings, and she represses a startled sound, though she raises no particular objection. She attempts to glance back at him once or twice as the treatment continues, but she is less than successful and finally has to settle for wiggling slightly to get his attention.

JUSTIN: * Shane arches an eyebrow, pausing in his massaging -- at this point, at least, in the proper place -- and leaning over to look at her face. "Have something to say, Jocasta?" He smiles innocently, moving a hand to brush her hair back from her cheek. "Or are you just in the mood to dance?"

JENNA: * Jo sniffs, levering herself up slightly and rolling over to look up at him, weight resting lazily back on her elbows. "I might ask the same of you," she retorts archly, reaching one hand up and around to catch the back of his head and draw him closer. "Is there something you want, Mr. Veribaent?" she asks mildly.

JUSTIN: * Shane looks around him, as if trying to find the reason for her question lying around somewhere. "Why, I don't know what you mean." He turns his eyes back to her with a smile, letting her hold him close. "I'm just trying to give you the best body massage I can." As if to emphasize his point, he begins to rub his hands at her sides, among other places.

JENNA: * Jo lets out a long breath, closing her eyes and letting her hand slip to cup his jaw, thumb rubbing lazily against his cheekbone. "I guess I can't very well argue with that, can I?" she murmurs, opening her eyes long enough to reach up for a long kiss. "But if you're not careful, I may just get the wrong idea." With that, she lets her hand slip, fingers trailing down his chest until they catch against his trousers and give a lazy tug.

JUSTIN: * Shane lets out a quiet sigh when they part from the kiss, and he leans over to place another against her chest. "Or the right idea... but like I said, never rush a good thing." He smiles again and returns to his work, regardless of the fact that Jo's back is no longer even in sight. He finds plenty of alternatives, from her chest and stomach, to her sides, her legs -- pretty much anything in reach.

JENNA: * Under this unrelenting assault, Jo finds her options -- at least, the ones she considers reasonable -- fairly limited. Though at first she manages to simply relax into the treatment, as time passes, she finds her body arching eagerly to meet his hands, once or twice shivering uncontrollably. Her own hands eventually find purchase on the cloth of his trousers, where they trace an unsteady and occasionally interrupted path up his legs and to the fastenings, where they take on the somewhat feverish task of unfastening.

JUSTIN: * Shane is a momentarily tempted to stop her hands and force her to endure his treatment a while longer -- in fact, it's a very appealing option, since he takes a certain amount of pleasure from watching her squirm with barely-contained yearning. Unfortunately for that plan, he's also worked himself into a bit of a corner, as well, and is just about losing patience with his own stalling. Thus, he lets her hands work, the only delay being that he continues to caress her waiting body instead of helping.

JENNA: * Jo keeps stubbornly after the trousers even through the appealing and terribly distracting attention his hands continue to deliver. When she finally gets the last fastening undone, her actions are almost retaliatory, hands slipping beneath the cloth to caress what skin they find even as they tug the trousers rapidly down over his hips.

JUSTIN: * Shane is only too eager to move on to the next phase of this engagement, hands finally leaving her increasingly warm skin to work his trousers down. He wiggles excessively, but his patience is finally and completely shot, and with only one leg free, he gives up and throws himself at Jo lips-first. Kissing his way up from nearly below her waist, he crawls up over her and slides his arms beneath her in an embrace.

JENNA: * Jo makes some effort to help him with the second leg of his trousers, but the action is abandoned before it gets terribly far, and before long that minor detail is completely forgotten. It's some time later and well after the fact that the lingering cloth is remembered -- and dealt with by a couple of lazy kicks that don't even send it off the bed. Jo's mouth curves into an amused, sleepy smile, as she's barely awake, and she nestles against Shane comfortably. "Guess you forfeit your turn, then," she grins against him.

JUSTIN: * Shane makes a quiet, contented noise, moving his leg in a half-hearted attempt to push his pants away from himself, once freed. "Mmm... guess so." He nuzzles into her, cuddling up with a few lazy kisses. "There's always first thing in the morning." He grins a little, rubbing at her bare side. "That wouldn't be a bad way to wake up."

JENNA: "Definitely worse ways," Jo agrees drowsily, her own hand roaming lazily across his back. "We'll see how much waking up you need in the morning, hm..?" She wrinkles her nose at him, bending kiss him a few times before settling comfortably against his shoulder and smiling. "Maybe I'm the one who'll need waking up."

JUSTIN: "That worn out, are you? I guess I'm doing something right." Shane grins lazily, moving a hand to stroke at her hair for a moment. "I won't hesitate to give you a pleasant morning wake-up if you need one." He lets his eyes slip closed, hand drifting to rest against her, and settles with her into the blankets beneath -- all rumpled and askew as they are.

JENNA: * Jo thumps him lightly in the ribs with her fist, but that's her only act of retaliation before she settles as well, letting out a drowsy sigh before her eyes drift closed. It doesn't take her long at all to go to sleep entirely, and she's comfortable enough to let morning pass without stirring.

JUSTIN: * Shane reaches the point of slumber without much delay, and like the woman sleeping beside him (and a little bit on top of him, to be specific) he seems content to stay asleep even after the morning sun has risen. Thanks to strategic planning on his part, there are no windows facing east in the bedroom, so what little light that does come in is hardly enough to contend with the power of sleep.

JENNA: * Eventually, however, Jo utters a mumbling sigh, coming awake almost against her will and nuzzling a kiss or two against Shane before she's fully aware. When she does come awake, however, she settles against him with a low sigh instead of stirring, gaze drifting absently off into space. She only manages to stay still for another half-hour, however, before she nuzzles him again, a little more insistently, and lays a string of kisses against his throat.

JUSTIN: * At this insistent, though not unpleasant prompting, Shane's silent, slumbering form begins to move, letting out a quiet, rumbling murr of acknowledgement. He smiles before he's even fully out of his dreamscape, Jo's kisses a promise of something better than figments of his imagination, and he stirs. Eyes finally creep open, and he tugs the woman against himself, nuzzling into her hair. "Good morning to you, too."

JENNA: "Hi," she murmurs into his neck, tightening her arms on him. "We'd better get up," she says after another moment, prodding him delicately in the ribs. "Animals will be hungry, and we have reading to do." The prodding turns into something more ticklish as she speaks, and she grins against his skin.

JUSTIN: * Shane wiggles about, albeit sluggishly, and starts to tickle her back by way of defense. "Oh, and what about my backrub, hm? You'll owe me until I get it." He sits up abruptly, rolling onto his side to lean over her and kiss. With a slim grin, he nips at her chin and then leans back again with a stretch. "Now, I'll make you a deal... You feed the animals, and I'll make sure to have a nice, hot breakfast ready for you when you finish. What do you say?"

JENNA: * Jo sits up with a muffled yawn, prodding him in the ribs again. "You'll get your backrub, don't you worry about that ... but /I'll/ decide the when and where." She stretches lazily and slides out of the bed, going in search of her clothes. "I suppose that's a fair enough exchange ..." she says with a grin. "And you can get your backrub while you're reading that book some more, hm?"

JUSTIN: * Shane follows her after a moment more of lying around, quickly finding his pants and slipping into them. "I think that sounds like a fine idea, in fact." He fastens the button on his trousers and ignores his shirt, then makes for the door, stopping to lean against the frame and watch her go about the business of dressing. "A book and a backrub from a beautiful woman. I wonder why the idea hadn't occurred to me..."

JENNA: "I doubt it was an option for a very long time," Jo suggests drily, pulling her trousers on and then her tunic, which she makes very little effort at lacing up before starting for the door. "But if that's agreeable to you, I'll be happy to give it a try."

JUSTIN: "Agreeable would be putting it lightly. I would be /thrilled/." Shane grins, catching her as she passes to properly lace the back of her shirt for her as they head down the hall. Once they've reached the front of the house, he parts from her to steer his way into the kitchen and get things in order, peering back at her as he sets a couple pans on the stove. "Don't take too long. But don't go too quick, either, or I won't be done before you get back."

JENNA: "Not to worry," Jo says, pulling her boots on before she starts out the door. "Feeding the pecos is never a task that goes smoothly." With this comment, she makes her way out to the yard and then to the stable, tending to a pair of grouchy birds and a very young sheep, which seems marginally happier to see her than its compatriots.

JUSTIN: * Shane offers little more than a grunt of agreement, setting immediately to work once she's out the door. It doesn't take him long to prepare two portions of eggs and bacon, and so he spends a little extra time preparing some pancakes to accompany them, complete with blueberries picked from bushes near their property.

JENNA: * Jo takes care of the animals with her usual efficiency, dodging a few unfriendly pecks from the pecos and making her way back to the house with a brief stop to wash her face and hands. She slips into her place at the table with a sigh, reflecting that if feeding them is that bad, convincing them to go on a trip is going to be far, far worse.

JUSTIN: * Shane doesn't keep Jo waiting, ferrying over the eggs and bacon for her to get started on while he finishes up the pancakes. "And how were our animal friends this fine, autumn morning?" He arches an eyebrow at her as he returns to the kitchen, only turning away from her to check on the cooking food.

JENNA: "Cranky." Jo picks at the bacon for a moment, frowning. "Maybe we should get a fresh pair before we do any traveling. Damn things nearly took my head off." She falls silent after this assessment, attempting to eat slowly so that she won't get too far ahead of her companion -- even though this may be pretty much a lost cause.

JUSTIN: * Shane shakes his head, snorting quietly. "So much for not doing them any favors. I wonder what Mr. Malachi would have to say if we left them on his property?" He flips the pancakes onto a plate and carries them over, a jar of maple syrup in his other hand. "We could pick up a fresh pair in Juno before we head south. For a floating rock, they do a fair amount of peco breeding."

JENNA: "That makes no sense," Jo mutters absently, but she shrugs. "Maybe we should just walk to Juno and pick up a pair once we're there ..." She glances at him sideways and grins, popping a piece of bacon into her mouth. "Leaving them on his property would probably guarantee he never hires us for anything again."

JUSTIN: "Good thing or bad thing, I wonder?" Shane arches an eyebrow, smirking. "I suppose if we want to break into the treasure hunting and grave robbing business, we have to start somewhere." He piles a few bites of food into his mouth, eating with an unusual lack of restraint this morning. He swallows it down with a drink of water, and scratches at his cheek in thought. "And if we die during our first job, at least we'll know we weren't meant for the biz."

JENNA: "True enough," Jo says agreeably, though personally she thinks they won't be any worse off than they were protecting caravans. She continues eating quickly, expression thoughtful. "I wonder if he will have us robbing graves ... he doesn't seem much interested in treasure so much ..." Particularly, she reasons, since he's already filthy, stinking rich.

JUSTIN: * Shane shakes his head, then shrugs and swallows another bit of food. "More interested in artifacts of academic and scholarly importance, no doubt." He leans on his elbow, watching Jo idly while he takes a brief break from his food. "Though I'm sure half of those 'scholarly artifacts' are still what the common man would consider glittering riches. And anything that valuable is definately long since buried, if they aren't being guarded by the spokeswoman for Valhalla."

JENNA: "Well, hopefully this trip won't involve any digging." Jo finishes off the eggs and bacon, turning next to the pancakes and syrup. "I was never a big fan of it, particularly the kind I had to do for the guild ..." She muses on this for a moment, then shrugs, eating her meal in silence for several minutes.

JUSTIN: * Shane smiles slimly, sitting up straight again and cutting into his food. "If there was much excavating to do, I'm sure he wouldn't be sending us. At least, one can hope. I certainly don't know the first thing about it." He keeps pace with Jo, already working at the pancakes on his plate between words.

JENNA: * Jo nods, turning her attention to finishing her meal, which she does fairly shortly, following it with a drink of water. She then turns to watch Shane finish, smiling faintly. "If it's in the pyramids, there won't be much digging. And probably not much hunting ... there are a few places in Morroc that claim to sell maps."

JUSTIN: * Shane turns her a stare, slowly arching an eyebrow. "That /would/ mean going into the city, you realize..." He quickly polishes off his meal and pushes the plate away, leaning on the edge of the table. "That's a little close for comfort. Someone would likely recognize us, if we just walk around Morroc like that."

JENNA: * Jo looks faintly alarmed. "No! I wasn't saying /we/ should buy a map -- the pyramids are well-traveled, that's all." She shakes her head, getting to her feet and gathering her dishes. "We'll probably have a good idea where we're going anyway, with the information he's giving us."

JUSTIN: * Shane swallows back on a startled retort, and supposes that he should just be glad he misunderstood her -- since the alternative is far less pleasant. "Well... ah, I suppose we'll see, when we read the book... and talk to him in person." He collects his own dishes and gets to his feet, carrying them to the kitchen to be cleaned. "If someone knows enough about the pyramids to write an entire book, one would hope they were inside them at some point. And if they were, it only makes sense they would map the layouts."

JENNA: "Then the maps ought to be in that book, right?" Jo looks over her shoulder at him doubtfully, setting her dishes near the sink. "I didn't see any ... so maybe he just gives directions." It seems like a tedious alternative, but also one that's entirely possible, as far as she's concerned.

JUSTIN: * Shane sets his dirty dishes down on the counter, sneaking one under the water for a scrub in between Jo's own cleaning. "Possibly..." He sniffs, rubbing at his nose with the dry part of his forearm. "That, or he didn't trust us enough to send us every part of the puzzle at once." He turns her a sideways glance, and a smirking grin.

JENNA: "I wouldn't put it past him, the old goat," Jo growls, flicking some water at him and continuing to scrub. "He'd better give us something to go on when we take the job," she says, setting a clean dish aside and working on the next. "I'm not going to tromp around the damned pyramids without some sort of guide. People get lost in there. Never do find their way out." Even if some of the horror stories she's heard are exaggerations, she has no doubt there's some truth in them.

JUSTIN: * Shane chuckles quietly, shaking his head and continuing to work the residue from the plate in his hand. "Well, it wouldn't profit him to send us to our graves, either. He'll give us what we need. He'll likely just ask for some sort of collateral." He starts to scratch at his head in thought, but stops when he remembers the water coating his hand. Flicking the wet from his fingertips, he leans against the counter and shrugs lightly. "No use speculating, I suppose. We can ask him ourselves when we get there."

JENNA: "If he wants collateral, he can have the pecos," Jo grumbles, finishing her last dish and finding a towel to dry her hands with. "Nothing to do but read, for now," she agrees, however, even though she'd just as soon get on the road and ask him herself once they get there. She ambles out of Shane's way and leans against the counter, waiting for him to finish.

JUSTIN: * Shane doesn't take long to finish, working faster now that he's alone at the sink. "Reading is better than wondering, anyway." He turns off the sink and grabs the towel, drying off his hands. As he turns to head upstairs, he slips his arm around hers and tugs her along. "Don't worry. I won't keep us knee-deep in paper and ink for too long."

JENNA: * Jo lets him pull her up the stairs, grinning faintly. "I wonder if you can resist," she remarks, pausing at the top to release him and wait for him to settle down first. "You just let me know when you're ready," she says, patting his back absently.

JUSTIN: * Shane turns her a cheery smile, leaning in for a quick peck. "As soon as I'm down." He grins and ambles toward the pile of cushions, bending to scoop up the book from where they last left it. Giving it an unnecessary blow of air to remove imaginary dust. "Now. Whenever /you're/ ready," he plops down on his butt and pats the pillows next to him, "we can get started."

JENNA: * Jo sniffs and settles next to him and slightly behind him, where she has better access to his shoulders. "Don't bother trying to explain the big words," she remarks, getting on her knees to knead at his shoulders for a moment. "I'll just pretend I know what they mean. It'll go faster that way."

JUSTIN: * Shane chuckles quietly, turning her a brief glance over the shoulder she's working at. "I'll do my best. You know how my mouth tends to run." He flips open the book to where they last left off, and settles in for the job ahead. Only momentarily pausing to enjoy her fingers on his bare skin, he sniffs and crosses his legs in front of himself, placing a finger to the page. "Now, where were we..."

JENNA: * Jo snorts, continuing her work lazily. "Somewhere dark and smelly, if I remember the pyramids correctly ..." She puffs a breath at his hair, then returns her attention to his neck and shoulders. "Dusty, too, more than likely. I don't guess he's said anything specific about how deep we'll have to go in."

JUSTIN: "Not just yet, no." Shane smirks, tilting his head to favor her with another glance. "Too busy prattling on about scholarly things. Which would be fascinating, if I understood at least half of it." He grins, shifting to stare down at the pages again. "I'm sure the practical information we need is in here somewhere, though. Only one way to get to it." It isn't like he minds the reading, but even he wants to cut to the chase, considering. Huffing a light sigh, he clears his throat and begins to read, the event far less inspiring than his usual story-telling, what with the lack of drama or characters to portray. He does his best to keep it from sounding utterly dry, but it isn't an easy task.

JENNA: * Jo doesn't appear to mind one way or the other, his muscles giving her something to distract herself with during the otherwise dull recitation. Once she's finished, however, and gone over his back twice more just in case, she settles for curling around him and propping her head up on her elbow to watch him read.

JUSTIN: * The comforting treatment of Jo's hands keep Shane quite content during his chore, and he slouches down to half-recline against her curled body while he continues. Moving a hand to stroke at her hair, he reads on until his voice begins to break from the effort. He lowers the book and tilts his head back, making a hoarse-sounding attempt to clear his throat. "I think it's time for an intermission."

JENNA: "Need a drink?" Jo asks, sitting up slightly and ruffling his hair. "I can go get some water." She seems somewhat determined to see the book through to the bitter end, even if it just means supporting or pestering Shane into reading the entire thing.

JUSTIN: "I think that would do the trick." Shane gives a large stretch, turning to give Jo a very dry kiss. "Don't be long." He smirks, winking, and falls onto his back in the cushions to rub at his eyes and stretch again. After a second he glances at her and sits quickly upright again, looking somewhat ashamed. "I... I mean, I can go with you."

JENNA: * Jo, scooting off the cushions, turns long enough to give him a mild shove. "Just stay put. I'll be quick." She bends to kiss him lightly, then gets to her feet and trots down the stairs. It takes her very little time to retrieve a glass of water for Shane and one for herself, and she returns to nudge him with her foot so that she can take her place again.

JUSTIN: * Shane moves his butt over to the side to allow her room, and quickly takes a long series of gulps from his glass, nearly draining it. "Ah... this is good, did you make it yourself?" He grins, leaning over to smooch her cheek with newly remoisturized lips. After taking another, smaller sip, he leans far over to place his glass on a nearby endtable, then collapses back into the cushions. Producing the book from beneath him, he wiggles himself into a comfortable position and turns Jo a slim smile. "Ready for round two?"

JENNA: "If you are," Jo replies mildly, setting her own glass on the floor nearby. She settles herself comfortably around him again and relaxes after a long stretch. "I wonder if he really expected us to read it all ..." She smiles briefly, then shrugs. "Guess it doesn't matter."

JUSTIN: * Shane nestles himself against her, smiling vaguely. "Mm, I'm sure he questions our ability to read at all. Maybe it's part of his screening process." He grins, flipping the book upright again. "If we comprehend enough of it to show up on his doorstep, he'll know we're at least slightly above 'dimwitted', and might possibly succeed in fetching his trinket for him."

JENNA: "Oh, I doubt that. We'll always be dim-witted to him, I bet." She leans her head against Shane and sighs. "Nothing for it but to keep going, anyway." It takes another couple of days to plod through the book, and half a day beyond that to prepare for the journey. With the sheep to attend to and the peco to saddle and pack, it's nearly afternoon by the time Jo and Shane make it out of Hugel, heading west for Mack's opulent hideaway.

JUSTIN: * Shane lets out a long yawn, giving himself a sharp shake. "Mm. Why do trips always have to start at the crack of dawn, anyway?" He rubs at his eyes and lets out an audible exhalation. After a moment looking fairly blank, he turns Jo a sudden look, smiling lazily. "Bet you're looking forward to seeing Juno again. Even if it's only from a distance." His eyes turn forward again, and he sits up as straight as he can in his saddle. On a clear day, from a high enough elevation with no trees in the way, you can barely make out Juno as a small blot against the horizon. No such luck now.

JENNA: "I'm looking forward to not having to go inside it," Jo retorts, kicking her peco into a faster trot -- it appears most disgruntled with the treatment -- and glances over her shoulder in the direction of the house. "Just hope I haven't gotten too soft," she mutters, mostly for her own benefit.

JUSTIN: * Shane snorts, steering his peco right up alongside hers and reaching out to give her leg a good pat. "Soft? I've never known a woman in better shape than you." His head tilts to the side, and he gives a slight shrug. "Then again, you're the only woman I've ever given a close inspection."

JENNA: * Jo gives him a doubtful look and shrugs. "We'll see how sore I get after a day's hard riding, won't we?" She glances at her peco, which is grousing conversationally with its companion. "We'll also see if these two collapse and die from exertion." She gives them a sour look.

JUSTIN: * Shane scratches his cheek and looks down at the bird he's riding on. "Well I certainly hope not. It's a long enough trip as it is, without having to walk." He pats its head warily, and it (expectedly) ignores him. "I think it'll take more than a few months off the trail to soften us up, anyway. I don't know about you, but I can't shake off ten years of grueling training that easily. Try as I might." He turns her a wan smile.

JENNA: "You'd be surprised," Jo mutters, but she shakes her head. "Either way ..." Her doubts, however few there are, she keeps to herself, fairly certain that they'll be well able to complete this mission, even if they are a little out of shape. Given her prospective employer, she's willing to complete it out of sheer stubbornness.

JUSTIN: "Either way, we certainly can't change our minds now." Shane says quietly, rubbing at his eyes again and settling into his saddle. "Especially not after you made me promise we'll still travel." He turns his eyes to look at her, smirking. "If we are a bit rusty, we might as well use the job to polish up again."

JENNA: * Jo smiles gamely. "We'll survive." Her eyes go momentarily distant, and the smile becomes a little more cheerful. "There's somewhere I want to stop, though, as long as we're going down to the desert." She doesn't say anything more than that, however, but her mood remains suspiciously perky after that.

JUSTIN: * Shane arches a brow, watching her with some suspicion for a moment before turning his attention forward again. "As long as we're in the area... and as long as it's nowhere likely to get us killed, I don't see why we can't stop." He turns her a brief glance again, waiting to see if she'll offer more details of her own accord.

JENNA: * Jo does not elaborate, and clearly doesn't intend to, no matter what the prodding. It takes them no longer than it did before to reach Juno, and past it, Mackenzie's homestead. She pauses as she reaches the gates, frowning and swinging down from her peco. "Here goes nothing, hm?" She leads her peco over to the fence and ties it there, shaking her head.

JUSTIN: * Shane parks his peco right beside her's, slipping from the saddle and getting the reigns roped about the fence. "I'm hoping we'll get more than nothing out of it." He turns her a half-hearted smile, and throws some food down for the birds before moving to open the unlocked gates. "Let's just hope he remembers that he invited us here."

JENNA: "He's not getting his book back if he forgets," Jo says drily, starting up the walk once the gates are open. She pauses to wait for Shane, then keeps walking, pausing at the door and smiling briefly before reaching out to yank what she recalls to be the doorbell. "And now we get to see how long it takes for him to answer the door this time."