Occams Razor

After wandering around the town for a couple hours, Eden decided to swing by the AAA diner for a snack. She had found a seat where she could lean her back up against the wall and prop her feet up on an empty stool.

She watched the antics (shenanigans? escapades? hijinks?) of Sally, Kelsey, et al. as she sipped her lemonade. After they left, she sighed and said with a smile "Oh, to be young and have that much energy. Must be nice."

JD wanders into the AAA diner, grabs a cup of coffee and smiles at the relative calm of the place. He approaches Eden and with a warm smile greats her.

“Hey there, how goes it?” He sips he coffee and reaches for a fresh cigarette, realizes were he is and drinks more coffee.

Eden grins broadly, "Hey there, JD! It's going pretty well - a nice, slow day for a change. No one's on fire, possessed, or gnawing on other people." She laughs, "Yet."

"How are things with you? How's the family doing? I saw Sally race of with a group of people chasing after Blue. Anything else happening in this sleepy little town?"

JD pulls up a chair and sits down with a groan.

“The family is doing well, getting a little restless, been a long while we had to go without our bikes. I imagine we will move along here before to long.” He says hopefully, but not terrible convincing.

“This town is mighty nice. I actually attempted to fish the other day, not for me as it turns out. Seems to be a real lack of work though, at least for a guy like me. AAA seems to have all the dish washers they need, Binary aint really … my thing…” He downs the rest of his cup

“What about you ? How have you been keeping busy?”

Eden listens attentively and nods as JD talks, smiling sympathetically at his lack of fishing skills. "I can understand the urge to keep moving, but I'll miss you guys when you go. Any idea where you're thinking of heading next, or do you just go where whimsy takes you?"

"As for me, I'm helping out Nick, Billy and Mason with their investigations. Also, people-watching, testing my grandma's recipes for the Doyon company picnic and pretending that someday I'll get caught up on sleep. It's not as exciting as what some people in this town get up to, but it keeps me out of trouble." She grins, "Or gets me into it, hard to say."

"I can see that it would be hard for you to find work here. I can't imagine your particular skill set is easily marketed, especially in a small town, and you're probably not interested in hiring on at the various corporations that are seeping into this place." She thinks for a moment or two, then continues, "My recommendation - which is likely worth exactly what you've paid for it - is to get to know the locals. Not only might they know of employment opportunities that could be more your style, it's a good way to learn more about what's really going on here. I think it would behoove us to work with the folks whose home this actually is instead of being stuck in an adversarial relationship that would do no one good."

“Yea, I can’t say I will miss this place much, but the people on the other hand, they I will miss. If I was a betting man still, I would say we will see you, Gus and the rest of the gang around. People like us tend to show up in the same places once we have made introductions.”

I don’t really know were we will take off to. It would be nice to see the grandkids, been almost a year since I got down that way. After that I would love to see the west coast again, got a cousin that could hook me up with some quick work out of his tattoo joint down there. But that’s a long way off, still got some … baggage … that will keep me around here for a bit longer.”

JD shakes his head at the word “corporation.”

“I am more of a self starter, would rather be my own boss than work for some stranger. But small town like this aint exactly the city I am used to. More help than people looking for it so why would they give it to some outsider when the rest of your kin are looking as well. But it aint a bad idea, maybe at this local party there will be some honest local folks looking for some handy man or something.” He chuckles, then the smile vanishes from his face “but you got the right of it, I aint no company man.”

“So them kids, Sally and the like, they off … playing tag or something?”

"Yeah, we do tend to find ourselves in some interesting spots occasionally," Eden grinned, "and it would be nice to run into some friends I could trust while dealing with the, ah, interestingness. Still, I'm glad you and your family will be sticking around for a while, although I'm sorry that it's sad business that keeps you here. Please don't hesitate to let me know if I can do anything to help, okay?"

Shifting to a less serious tone, she continues, "As for Sally and the gang, the best I can gather is that there playing some kind of hide and seek where they're all looking for Liberty Blue as she runs around the town, trying to keep them off her tail. They're calling it a training exercise, but I suspect it's mostly to stave off boredom. Hopefully none of them will tumble through poison ivy or get sprayed by a skunk."

Eden looks around the tavern, seeing who's there. "I wonder how everyone else is keeping busy these days."

Nick wanders into the diner. He is, unusually, dressed for the heat, in a short sleeved dress shirt and lacking the signature jacket. The sunglasses, of course, remain.

He goes to the counter and grabs a coffee and a slice of pie, then looks around. Spying Eden and JD, he waves a hand and wanders over.

"How's the peaceful life treating y'all?" He says, sliding into a seat with it's back to the wall. "I have to say, I'm enjoying this spate of peace and quiet; It's a lot easier to conduct business and ask people questions without amorous moths all over the place."

He takes a bite of pie, smiling at the deliciousness. The observant watcher may note that his eyes flicker around the room; the even more sharp-eyed may see the bottom of a "hunting knife" in a sheath underneath the shirt.

JD comes back from being lost in his own thoughts for a moment

“Thanks for the offer, I know Mel has been spending a bit of time with you as of late. Investigating all the … unhappiness. If there is anything further me and mine can do to help, let us know as well. I suspect our business may be similar.”

“Training for.. “ JD stops mid sentence, shacks his head and thinks better of it “Well glad they are staying out of trouble… you seen any of the other, well … new comers around?”

JD smiles as Nick waves and walks over on cue “Hey there, the quiet is nice, I can see why folks like to visit small towns like this… It been all work for you lately Nick? Or have you been able to get a little R and R in?”

"There's somewhat of a glut of investigators in town at the moment." Nick says, wiping his mouth and leaning back in the chair. "I've done a couple of odd jobs, but currently I'm reviewing documents for some of my contacts. It's grunt work, but it pays the bills. And of course I've been doing some work with Eden."

He sips his coffee and smiles. "I've had some relaxation though. I've been trying out meditation, and that seems to help.The guys outside seem to be having fun, but I'm still limping after that tussle with the eco-nuts. Hopefully this picnic will be a nice change of pace."

He turns slightly towards Eden, picking up the fork again. "How about you? Had a chance to relax?"