Lanny & Others

No sooner was he in the driveway than was Lanny unbuckling the kid and swifting him into the apartment. Waiting again to make sure Cassidy was with him, Lanny held Raimi in his double-bundle of fabric, which left little but his head to peek through the top of the gray sweater, "Shery, open up. I've got someone who wants to meet you." He called, after pounding on the door with his foot. Waiting for the young woman to respond, Lanny turned smirkingly to Cassidy, We've got ourselves some leverage now. Conan can help in our cause to find his dad. He wouldn't dare do anything foolish and risk anything against Randy."

Raimi*Others

Perhaps unsurprisingly, what with the late hour and the drama of the day, Raimi had fallen asleep on the way to the apartment, forcing Lanny to be very delicate in his efforts to get the kid out of the seat. The poor little guy was tuckered out, and though he stirred briefly as Lanny pounded on the apartment door, he just as quickly settled again. Even Cassidy had to smile at that innocent face, though knowing how territorial Sheryl was of the toddler, she didn't dare touch him. "Better than that, Lanny - Raimi's the prize son in that family. Where he is, the father soon will be."

Lanny & Others

"Good, let him come, and I'll teach him what happens when he messes with my friends." Substituting his usual 'we' with 'I' was a subtle and entirely subconscious move on Lanny's part to show his growing defense over Cassidy. Unable to say much more than that, as muffled footsteps announced Sheryl's trip towards the door, the young man went quiet on that topic. It was between him and her, and he couldn't afford to let Sheryl in on it.

"Lanny, ju... Randy!" The woman's slightly paled face lit up in instant joy. With no greeting to Lanny or Cassidy, she reached forward to take the toddler from him, not bothering to ask yet how he was obtained, or why in the world he was wrapped up in a towel and bunnyhug, "My little Randy, I've missed you so much!" She cooed, kissing at his forehead as she rocked him gently back and forth, not being quite as careful as Lanny had about not waking him.

Raimi*Others

Cassidy exchanged a grim smile with Lanny, noting how he edited his sentence, and yet not seeming to mind. Between his determination and that of Johann in the realm of protecting her and keeping her out of the main line of gang warfare, she wasn't about to try to get herself involved; battling on two fronts, whether they be Conan and the Wallocks or Lanny and Johann, was more than she could do, particularly in the more emotional latter case.

She didn't mind that Sheryl ignored her - that was usually the best way they got along, was if they didn't acknowledge that the other one existed. Instead she turned her attention to keeping quiet as Raimi slowly stirred again and looked up at Sheryl with tiny, sleepy eyes. Not seeming to understand or remember the events of a few moments ago, he half-mumbled something and then closed his eyes again, beginning to drift again.

Lanny & Others

"You guys, he's half soaked! What'd you do, drag him from the river?" Sheryl half scolded when she realized the child still damp, and that they'd ran with him through the freezing winter air. Her voice turned back to Raimi, even though he was already drifting off again. "We need to get you into some clothes." Stalking off determinedly, the young woman marched into the room she shared with James, to dig through the drawers of kid's clothing she'd purchased the time before.

Once she was safely out of earshot, Lanny spoke quietly, "You can stay if you're brave enough." A low laughter arose, figuring Sheryl would more or less ignore Cassidy or continue to chastise the two, even though they brought Raimi back to her. "I'll deal with James when he gets home - it should be easy enough."

Cassidy*Others

The toddler had grown a little since his last stay with the Zelkoviis, enough that the legs of most of the pants were too short and the bottoms of the shirts showed his belly-button, but they were still decent enough for him to wear until morning, in any case. As Sheryl was searching through the clothes and dressing the only half-responsive child, Cassidy ventured quietly, "We'll have to explain ourselves eventually anyway... might as well do it now and save the trip upstairs and back down again."

Lanny & Others

"Good thinking." Admittedly, Lanny was sometimes a procrastinator, but this was one subject they couldn't afford to skip around with. James was sure to get suspicious if they did that. "Might as well take a seat - I'm not sure when he'll be back, but we can see what's on tv until then." Stepping into the apartment, Lanny waved to the couch as he himself headed for the kitchen to scrounge up a drink.

Cassidy

Cassidy was ill at ease as she set foot in the apartment - she'd been in it plenty of times before, of course, but always when she'd been summoned to report or some other such thing. She'd never spent much time here, mostly because of the tensions between her and Sheryl. There was no sign of her wariness, other than the delicate way she showed herself to the couch and perched on it - it was subtle, and went against the confident, pleasant smile she'd put on her face. As long as Sheryl was occupied with Raimi, this couldn't be too bad, right?

Lanny & Others

As it turned out, Sheryl's usual jealous tendencies were buffered by the return of Raimi. After getting him re-clothed, she'd joined the other two on the couch, all the while holding the sleeping boy and stroking at the top of his head. Lanny kept up small talk between the group where he could, distracting Sheryl from asking too many questions before James returned.

When he did eventually step through the door, Lanny quickly sized him up, and formed a mental sigh of relief to see that his brother didn't look to be in a bad mood. There was still a bit of tension as he waited for James' reaction at seeing Raimi, but Sheryl's instant joy and enthusiasm over his return deflected any negative reactions from him. Cautiously, Lanny started off before James could throw them questions, "We paid the Wallock's a visit."

Cassidy*Others

Raimi had settled right back into firm sleep after Sheryl had managed to get him dressed. Leaned against her in the way that he would have leaned against Conan if it had been the teen holding him, the toddler did not seem to notice that he was actually leaned upright against her - he slept in that deep, still way that is given to the young. "Sleep without dreams is given to children for their innocence, and old men for their wisdom," Cass had quipped at one point, quietly so as not to wake the child.

And Jame's interest did not stir him either, though Cass' eyes turned to the elder Zelkovii. She also analyzed his demeanor, making sure to note any minor facial movement that would indicate what the older brother was feeling as Lanny explained where they'd been tonight. But she didn't offer any words at first - she let Lanny take the lead in explanation, retiring to the less direct position of answering any question that were asked of her.

Lanny & Others

Lanny was watching his brother's face just as Cassidy was, looking for any suggestion of emotion that would help him edit what he needed to say, in order to keep out of trouble. James' anger came second, however, to keeping their true motives secret - using Conan to get at his father. "How'd it go?" The older brother's reply was even, cool, and... testing. He was judging the duo just the same, and not hiding the fact at all.

"I'd say..." Lanny showed a flash of teeth, and nodded to Raimi, trying to weasel the conversation into a positive light, "...it went pretty good."

"How much attention did you attract?" Jame's demeanor grew a little firmer, showing he wasn't going to buy his little brother's attempts at appeasement so easily. Being the leader of the gang, he had to keep things under control, and that could be a very hard thing to do when your members were out stirring up trouble on their own.

"Besides upsetting the Wallocks? They managed to call the cops is all; we were gone before they ever showed up. We weren't there for more than a couple of minutes - I gave Conan a good bruise, and sent him through some glass. No one got shot." Now Lanny shrugged a bit, trying to play down the incident, while James turned his eyes sharply to Cassidy next, looking for confirmations on Lanny's story, and her side of the event.

Cassidy*Others

Cassidy's eyes switched frequently between the brothers as they exchanged basic information, judging each one as James was so obviously judging them. And she noticed it - the way that Lanny was playing down the incident and striving to keep from inciting anger in his brother, and the way James was not letting Lanny's charming personality sway him any. The elder Zelkovii might not be the most perceptive person in the world, but Cass had always respected his intelligence, and his capacity for good instincts that helped him rule over the gang effectively. So when the eyes turned to her, she offered out, "The Wallocks are pretty easy to take care of - they scare easy. She's not really too clever; tried to duck past me and head after Lanny. It was easy to trip her up, and the only mark that got left was Collin's arm; happy boy made me slice it up for calling the cops. It'll bother 'im for a while, but no real damage done." She offered this in a casual way that also downplayed much of the drama that had occurred, her tone light and a little flippant as if to suggest this was not a heavy topic, but still respectful so as to avoid irritating James.

Lanny & Others

For a few seconds, Lanny erroneously thought the mini-interrogation was through, but James was not yet pleased that he'd heard everything from them. His main task was to make sure their unannounced venture had made more work for him, and that it didn't strain their relation with the ACPD any. "What about the other kid? You said you took on Conan?"

Lanny had to force back the start of a grin at the nickname Cass had adopted for Collin, and that was made easy when James narrowed his eyes ever so slightly. Apparently, he wasn't in a mood for fun and games right now. Hastily putting up a more casual facade, Lanny proceeded, "Just as Cass said, not much damage. I doubt they'll even head to the hospital, so there's nothing to worry about on that end. And you know Conan doesn't have any allies, unless you count that Indian."

Cassidy*Others

Sensing the troublesome emotions in the room in a way that often seemed to have no physical root to it, Raimi shifted a little uneasily and whined in his sleep, cuddling against Sheryl with such suddenness that his shirt rode halfway up his back and settled there. Cassidy pretended to pay this no mind as she listened to Lanny explain everything else. She could have pointed out that Conan would never consent to go to a hospital, but then there would be the inevitable questions as to how she knew that. So she kept quiet again until Lanny was finished, when she offered softly, "The kid's got a good aim, and he's bright enough to know that heading into the hospital'll only draw attention over there, which is the last thing they want. Sohmers has been staying over there for months, and they'd gotten comfortable and he wasn't there tonight. He'll be keeping a closer eye on them for a while - but otherwise, I see no long term effects of this."

Lanny & Others

James again took his time to digest what he was hearing, looking for any possible problem that could unfold from their attack. When at last he was partially satisfied with it all, he laid out a fair warning to the duo, "The next time you two plan on assaulting our enemies, I'd better be the first you get in contact with. We can't afford to be playing around when we've got so many enemies moved in on our turf."

Resisting the urge to sigh in relief, Lanny turned his eyes up at his darker-haired brother, holding his unnerving gaze as a show of loyalty and confidence, and to silently vow he would seek James' approval in the future, "It was a little brash, I know. Won't happen again."

Cassidy

"Will do," Cassidy promised, though as with her usual promises, it would only be followed if it was convenient for her. There was no way she was going to let James in on any plans she had for Conan, or the boy's father. She let her gaze rest firmly on the elder brother to convince him of the verity of her word, while at the same time working over how to continue what she was doing and not get caught. "We'll keep you in the loop."