Woods Outside Camelot, Wednesday Morning

[bitch_prince]

It had gotten increasingly harder to escape the castle now that spring approached. There were preparations to be done, last rations to be distributed carefully so that everyone would have enough, farmers to protect. It was exhausting, was what it was, and Arthur relished the chance to get out for a ride

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[thatsamilkshake]

Francine had a lawn almost empty of students, since summer classes let out at noon, a break in the clouds for a couple of hours, a (one-piece, thank you) swimsuit, a hat, an Angelica Demesnes novel, and a towel.

Also a phone, which was ringing, but really it was the towel that was most essential today. (There might be ants!)

"Arthur!"

[bitch_prince]

"Francine," Arthur replied, wincing and holding the phone... a little further away. "How are you?"

[thatsamilkshake]

"Warrrrm. It's sunny out today. At least until it starts raining again, so, you know. Another five minutes or so."

Would it be a conversation between Arthur and Francine if they didn't awkwardly and pointlessly talk about the weather?

[bitch_prince]

"It's been raining a fair bit here as well," Arthur said, in unconscious recognition of the narrative. "But that's a blessing - it certainly isn't snow."

[thatsamilkshake]

"Is it spring there too?" Francine asked, frowning up at a cloudbank that was already trying to move in on her little spot of sun. "We don't always match up."

[bitch_prince]

"Spring is... approaching," Arthur said, glancing up through the canopy. "The trees will sprout green soon enough."

[thatsamilkshake]

"It's late May here; we've got plenty of green, when the windstorms aren't blowing it away." Francine's forbidding look must have cowed the clouds; they stayed put, not moving into the path of her sunshine.

Okay, so she liked to pretend she could control the weather with a look.

"Anyway. Did I tell-- no, that was Casey." Sorry for the comparison, Arthur. You...were both blond? "I got a job! It's just part-time, but it's something to do for the summer."

[bitch_prince]

Arthur gave the phone a brief squint, as if trying to determine whether he was being insulted. The jury was still out, though, having not met Casey, nor any idea whether it was a man or a woman (though he'd settle on man for the moment). "And what may you be laboring at this summer, then?"

[thatsamilkshake]

You just go right on thinking that, Arthur. Until you meet her.

"I'm helping out at the on-campus day-care center, where the professors and some of the older students leave their kids while they're in class."

[bitch_prince]

"Taking care of children seems right up your alley," Arthur said, in a stunning display of the obvious. "Do try and keep Katina away, though."

[thatsamilkshake]

"Actually, I was thinking about asking her to come in and help with their art projects!"

Because that would go well.

[bitch_prince]

"...Don't be ridiculous." A beat. Then he laughed. "Good one, Francine."

[thatsamilkshake]

"I'm serious! I think they'd have a lot of fun fingerpainting with her. And she could count it as a summer extra credit project, maybe."

[bitch_prince]

"But it's Katina," Arthur asid, incredulously. "Are you trying to get them killed?"

[thatsamilkshake]

"Katchoo wouldn't put kids in danger!"

Probably not, but she'd teach them words, Francine.

[bitch_prince]

"Depends on what you'd call 'danger', doesn't it?"