Are you lost?

[Maira]

As Chester moved from rubbing her feet to rubbing her calves, and started trying to explain the actions of his kindle-mates she just sighed and shrugged. When he asked what she wanted to do the next day she had to think for a bit before answering. Given the options though, her decision was pretty easy.

Wiggling into the couch further and pulling the quilt she'd thrown over the back of it onto her she yawned and answered, "Running the mountains would probably be best, Zephyr is rather anxious to meet Pax too. I haven't had a chance to let her out in a while either. The woods around campus aren't exactly the best place for it you know."

[Demeter]

(I'm playing with the timeline again)

Chester parked his car, a late model jeep, in front of his parent's cabin and looked at Archer, perched in the passenger seat. "Well, we're hear. Sorry about the road. It's never been quite the same since the last round of wind and rain storms. But I do have a jeep, imagine what it would have been like in a sedan." Chester laughed, nevously and turned to look out the back window. The road behind him was rutted and littered with rocks, tree branchs and other bits of nature. "We don't really get up here a lot."

After getting out of the car, Chester opened up the cabin, hunting through his keys until he found the right one. "Welcome to the cabin. You can, ah, change in the master bedroom. I'll just be outside on the back porch." Chester blushed, as part of letting the cats run included getting undressed. Chester unlocked the back door of the cabin and stepped out onto deck. With a quick glance towards the deck doors of the master bedroom, Chester stripped out of his clothes and left them in a pile on one of the deck chairs and changed.

Pax stood in place of Chester and stretched. It had been far to long since he'd been let out for more then the moon based change. He padded over to the deck railing and stood on his hind legs, letting his massive front paws rest against the railing. He glanced around the area. It had been far to long since Chester had let him run all the way out here.

[Maira]

((playing with the timeline is fine dear, you know that =P))

The ride up the mountain was fun and when Chester tried apologizing for the condition of the road, Archer just glared at him playfully. When he climbed out of the jeep, Archer followed suit. Once in the fresh mountain air it was quite difficult to keep Zephyr from taking control right then and there. The wooded mountain slopes were calling to the cougar and she wanted nothing more than to take off and run aimlessly for hours.

Instead, Archer forced Zephyr down and followed Chester inside the cabin. Smiling at the typical cabin decor, Archer continued to follow Chester until he told her she could get changed in the master bedroom. Veering off she went in and closed the door behind her. When she saw that there was a set of doors onto the back deck, she walked over and unlocked them and opened them just enough she could get a claw in to pry them the rest of the way open once she no longer had opposable thumbs.

Her escape route onto the back porch all taken care of, Archer threw off her clothes in a hurry as Zephyr was tearing her way out. In less time than it normally took, the pale cougar was standing in place of the human. Purring with pleasure at finally being allowed out to run, Zephyr immediately headed for the back door that Archer had started to open for her. Using her claws to snag one of the doors, Zephyr pulled on it and the door swung open with only the slightest of squeaks.

Padding out onto the back deck, Zephyr took in not only the sights of her surroundings but also that of the large male cougar standing before her. She was not in the least dissappointed and the volume of her purring increased. In the way of all weres in their beast form, Zephyr spoke into Pax's mind, *Are we ready to run?* She knew she was but the way he was perched leaning against the deck railing he looked very contemplative and she didn't want to interrupt him, especially since he was the one that knew his way around up here.

[Demeter]

Pax swivled his head around and if cats could grin, he would have. Pax pulled himself up, balancing all four paws on the wide railing. "Catch me if you can." he said back to Zephyr before pushing him off the railing, dropping straight down from the elevated porch. After skidding to a stop, claws digging into soft earth, and looked back up at Zephyr.

Once she joined him on the rocky hillside, Pax bolted, eager to show his lady around the area. It didn't take long before they were in the upper mountians, Pax leaping from rock to rock while going up an incline. He didn't know the terrian from Zephyr's home territory but he imagined it was different from this batch of mountians.

He sat down on a wide ledge and waited for Zephyr to catch up. Once she sat beside him, he nuzzled her. "So, whatcha think? Different from the woods around the university?"

[Maira]

Zephyr quickly followed Pax up onto the deck railing and down to the rocky slope below. The drop was long but she landed gracefully all the same. Pax basically waited long enough to see her safely to the ground then he took off at top speed. Watching the large male cougar run made Zephyr's heart race and trying to keep pace with him didn't help either.

When Pax finally came to a stop, Zephyr was breathing a little heavier than she liked but she was happy all the same. In response to his questions Zephyr answered truthfully, *This is nothing like what I'm used to. Not even back home is this rugged.*

[Demeter]

Pax nodded and glanced out over the surrounding area. He'd been raised in these mountians. On the night of his first change, His father had hauled him out here, basically living out of the cabin until that first change happened. Safer for everyone involved, he said.

Pax flopped over onto his side, waiting for Zephyr to catch her breath before he took off again. There was a lake just a few miles away, succluded from everyone but the most dedicated hikers. The water was clear, clean and cold. Pax nudged Zephyr with a paw. "Still alive?" he said

[Maira]

Her heart was still pounding but it wasn't quite as hard as it had been, and her breathing had calmed significantly by the time Pax nudged Zephyr with one of his huge paws. To answer his question she walked by him and flicked his nose with her tail. She stopped a short distance away and waited for Pax to get up and lead her where they were going next.

Once he did, and they were up and running again, Zephyr really concentrated on taking in the beauty of the area. Who knew when they would be able to escape to the mountains again after all.

It didn't take long before the cougar pair came out of the trees right up to the edge of a beautiful lake. There were no houses or buildings of any kind around. And truth be told, she couldn't smell a single human around either. When Pax stopped at the water's edge, Zephyr asked, "Is this where you were taking me?" She hoped it was, and so did Archer who wanted nothing more than to go for a swim. Swimsuit or no, the lake just looked too good to pass up.

[Demeter]

(And I'm playing with the timeline again..It's now around, for this thread, mid-december. I want snow. I also want to play with Romi...)

There was nothing like a warm fire, friends and a snuggly girlfriend, Chester thought as he lounged around his parent's converted basement. With his feet propped near the old fashioned wood burning stove, Chester laughed with his and Archer's college friends. There were other's but they had their own holiday plans.

He held Archer close, warming the girl up from the recent snowball fight they and their friends had had in his parent's two acre backyard. They listened to Romi, one of Archer's fellow theatre buffs, complain about some of the cast members from one of the fall quarter productions. When the older, red-haired man sat down on a pile of cushions with a huff, Chester chuckled. "College starletts are so much fun, aren't they?"

Romi glared at the cougar. "They have no clue how downright annoying some of those girls were. There were days when i just wanted to stick something in my eye. It's like the little freshman who annoy you. They touch your books, mess up the organization, talk too loud." Knowing Chester's aversion to freshman, he neddled the man and laughed when he hissed and cuddled closer to Archer.

The group of students collectively turned their heads when Chester's mother all but bounced down the stairs. Expecting more treats from the woman who lived to mother her only child...and his friends...they frowned when she didn't have a tray of coco or treats in her hands.

Heather chuckled. She knew what those kids wanted but the cookies were still in the oven. She grinned at the sight of her son with his girl. She liked the girl, as Archer was her only hope for grandchildren at the moment. "Archer, dear, you have company upstairs."

[Maira]

((ooc: wow, big jump lol! Oh well, it'll work out perfect for the things we have planned *cackles*))

Archer was still half frozen from the snowball fight and all she wanted to do was stay cuddled up with Chester near the woodstove. In fact, she almost wished that everybody would go home so they could have some nice quiet time together. Since their escape to his family's mountain cabin it had been very hard for the two of them to get any time alone together and cuddled up in front of a woodstove when it was snowing outside was a perfect setup for alone time.

Still, even though she wanted to be alone with Chester, she was thoroughly enjoying the company of their friends who had managed to sneak away from their families for a bit or hadn't gone home at all for the holidays. They were all taking turns griping about idiots in their majors, about how crappy finals were and how obnoxious their parents were being about finding jobs after college (since many of them were seniors). Romi had just flopped onto a pile of cushions (Archer's normal nest when visiting Chester at his parents' house) and was whining about some of their fellow drama students and the evil but knowing grin on her face declared that she felt the exact same way.

She was actually starting to doze a bit when she heard somebody coming down the stairs. Before the woman was even visible, Archer could smell it was Chester's mom and she looked up expectantly. While she knew the cookies weren't likely done yet she was still hoping for hot cocoa. Instead, she was informed she had company. Her? Company at Chester's house? What on Earth?

Looking at Chester curiously to see if he might know what his mother meant, and getting a shrug, Archer extricated herself from him and the blanket she'd wrapped up in. Tossing her blanket back at Chester she said, "I don't know who could be here for me but I'm sure it won't take long. Keep my spot warm." Then she smiled at him, and bounced up the stairs after his mother.

Once they had reached the top of the stairs, Archer turned to look at his mother and asked, "Why would anybody come here to find me rather than call me?" Chester's mom didn't have a chance to answer because just then Archer was tackled from behind and nearly choked by a bear-hug squeeze around her neck.

She was about to throw the person off when she got a whiff of just who it was and instead she squealed, turned around and threw her arms around her attacker. "Lindsay!! Oh my god! When did you get here?! Are Mom and Dad with you?!" Archer's younger sister just smirked and pointed backwards over her shoulder and into the living room saying, "They're in there."

That was all Archer needed to know and she was off like a shot to the livingroom. The person closes to her when she ran in was her father so she tackled him much like her sister had just done to her. Only difference was he saw her coming and opened his arms wide to recieve her. As she buried her head into his shoulder she mumbled, "I've missed you guys so much!"

((ooc: and you can play her parents =P))

[Demeter]

Chester and Romi, curious to who'd be visiting Archer, followed her up the stairs. Only to duck into the kitchen when she was tackled by a younger version of herself. Chester stepped out of the kitchen and followed the two girls into the sitting room; Romi had been distracted by the scent of peanut butter cookies and was trying to beg a dozen out of Heather.

Trisha noticed the male cougar in the doorway and narrowed her eyes. She liked and disliked the way he looked at her baby. She reached over and kicked Max in the ankle. When he glared at her, Trisha nodded towards the doorway. He looked and was brought up short. Did his little girl have a man? And this was defiantly a man, he thought, not the neighbor boy like Lucas had been. Of course, they'd known Lucas. This guy was an unknown entity.

"Archer," Trisha motioned to the young man standing in the doorway, "aren't you going to introduce us?"

Once the introductions had been made, Max sized up the man. Son of the kindle alpha, not bad for his little girl but was he good for her. He grinned at Chester. They were out go visit for a week so he'd get the time to grill him. Trisha was smiling a little silly smile and dreaming of orange blossems.

Chester scooted up next to Archer. He was rather unexpectedly meeting the parents. And then Romi, with a plateful of cookies, popped into the room. Max and Trisha just stared at the man. He was most defiantly a drama person.

[Maira]

Archer was happily taking in her father's scent when her mother asked if she was going to introduce them. It took her a moment to realize what her mother meant and looking over her shoulder she saw poor Chester hovering in the doorway. She gestured at him, indicating he should join them, and then she proudly introduced her parents and her boyfriend, and as a last minute thought her baby sister. Lindsay eyed Chester apprecitively and winked at Archer in approval, something she had never done with any other boy, and Archer's eyebrows raised in curiousity. Since when did Lindsay care who dated her older sister?

She was still contemplating her sister's strange behavior when Romi came in holding his plate of scavenged cookies and she couldn't help but smile. "Mom, Dad, this is Romi. He's a drama major like me." From the look on her father's face, Archer could tell he'd already guessed that much.

The look on her mother's face had absolutely nothing to do with Romi. She was picturing flowers and a pretty white (likely very frilly) dress and Chester in a tux. If it wouldn't draw attention to her, Archer would have kicked her mother in the ankle and told her to knock it off. After all, Archer hadn't even started thinking about a white dress in her future. Sure, she loved Chester and could see a future for them, she just hadn't thought quite -that- far down the road yet. Maybe after college but not sooner. And that was only if Chester decided to put up with her insanity that long.

In hopes of distracting her mother from her daydreams of her oldest daughter getting married, Archer asked, "So, are you guys in town for Kindle business or just to visit me?" She thought it was a little funny that her parents would come to the local Kindle leader's home just to see her if they didn't have some business with the Kindle leader as well.

[Demeter]

Max shrugged. "Just stopped by to see the Kindle leader. You're an unexpected bonus.


Romi would be no help in this unexpected meeting. He was protecting his cookies from the Mini-Archer. Chester swallowed the very strong urge to hide behind something and introduced himself to Archer's parents. He was sure that he and Archer were an unexpected bonus for the pair. Show up to greet an old college buddy and meeting the daughter's boyfriend in one swoop.

Chester didn't like the way Trisha was looking at him. She had the same look his mother wore when she started talking about grandbabies. The desire to escape made him twitch. "Well, it was nice to meet you but we have to get going. We're, uh, helping Romi move. Roommate issues. Bye!"

Chester grabbed Archer and Romi and yanked the out of the house. Romi scowled at him. "Dude, I'm not moving."

Chester sighed. "Of course you're not. I just had to get out of there. My place now." They piled into his Jeep. After dropping Romi off, he steered through the snow to his building. Once they were snug in his apartment, Chester groaned in relief. "I don't like the way your mother looks at me. We shouldn't let her hang out with my mother."

[Maira]

As soon as the door to Chester's apartment closed behind them and he started talking about their mothers and how they shouldn't be allowed to hang out made Archer giggle. She'd had the same feeling. One woman thinking grandbabies, the other thinking marriage, if they got together Chester and Archer would be doomed. Not necessarily in a bad way, just in a way that neither of the pair were ready for just yet. And yet they had just left them together in their rush to escape. That thought brought her giggle up short.

"Oh shit..." Archer said quietly, then with a confused, slightly scared look on her face, Archer told Chester, "We just left them together with only our dads around who are likely going to start reminiscing before they crack their first beer..." The deer-in-the-headlights look that flashed onto Chester's face, Archer was pretty sure, mirrored the one on her own. What in the world had they been thinking?

Once the pair had gotten over their initial shock of what was likely going on at Chester's parents' house, they had settled in for a nice long evening of snuggling on his couch watching movies and sipping on hot cocoa. The cocoa wasn't as good as Heather's but it was warm and sweet.

*****

(ooc: big jump to the start of summer break)

Winter hadn't been bad, only a couple spells of snow. Spring had been long and wet and just wouldn't get warm. Now, it was only a couple days before the summer solstice and the sun was -finally- out long enough to be warm and enjoyable! Not to mention that classes had been out for about a week. Archer still hadn't decided if she was going to go home for the summer or not, and while she sprawled in the grass next to the stone rings, she tried to figure out what would be best.

She had only just finished up her first year, Chester was planning on graduate school, and while they were totally committed she just wasn't sure where they stood relationship wise. Their mothers both had it in their heads that the two of them should get married before summer was over but Archer was almost 100% sure that she was not ready for that. But she did feel like she was ready for something, she just didn't know what.

She didn't really want to leave for the summer, but her time in the dorm was up in 2 days unless she wanted to come up with the money for summer quarter too. She needed a place to stay and at the moment the only place she had was back home with her parents and little sister...

Her mind kept going around in circles over her dilema and, luckily, the warm sun eventually put her to sleep. The next thing she knew, Archer was being nudged in the side by a foot. "You alive?" a familiar voice asked and Archer looked up to see Chester staring down at her more than slightly amused. "I've been trying to call you for an hour, but when I got no answer and realized it was finally sunny out I thought I'd come see if you'd fallen asleep out here again," he explained. Before the weather had turned cold, Archer had fallen asleep either next to the stone rings like she was now, or on top of them on more than one occasion.

[Demeter]

It didn't take a genius to figure out where Archer was. Whenever she could, the girl would hang out by the stone rings so when he couldn't find her, that's where Chester headed. Sure enough, she was sprawled out asleep with her head pillowed on her back. He lightly tapped her foot until she woke up. When she did, he gave her a bright smile. "How do you feel about Eastern Washington, camping, all the sunshine you can handle and a chance to learn about native american culture?"

When she just blinked at him, Chester explained. "I've been offered an summer internship as a archeological and anthropological dig site outside of a tourist town on the other side of mountains. I want you to come with me."

He continued on. "There's work in the town or you could help out at the dig site. It would be hard work, either way. So, Archer, will you at least think about coming with me?"

[Maira]

The explanation to his unexpected question made sense, but she couldn't help but continue to blink at him. Finally, after rubbing her hands over her face and then looking back at him, Archer answered, "I'd love to come with you, I'm just not sure how much help I'll be at a dig site. And what happens if I can't find a job? My parents will pay for me to stay in the dorms over the summer if I wanted to get a job here but I doubt they'll pay for me to have an apartment somewhere else, especially if I don't have a job lined up, since that'll cost more."

She really did like the idea of not having to go home for the summer, being separated from Chester right now would be awful, but she couldn't really see her parents approving to pay for an apartment for her unless she had a job first. They weren't poor, but they also didn't just give their daughters everything they wanted. Archer's parents fully believed that working for something made it more valuable in the end and that meant a place to live as well as anything else.

Frustrated with her undecided living situation, she finally sat up and tilted her head back to look at her boyfriend and muttered, "Why does this have to be so complicated? I want to go with you. I don't want to go home, but I can't stay because I'm out of the dorm in two days. Without a place to stay I can't look for a job, and without a job I can't afford a place to stay."

[Demeter]

Chester fought the need to roll his eyes at Archer's ramblings. He knelt down, took hold of her arms and gave his girlfriend a little shake. "Silly feline. All this worrying over nothing," he said. Chester sat down on the grass and hauled Archer into his lap.

"One, even if you don't get a job, you don't have to go home. You can stay at my place. And, if you do come with me, we'd be lucky to get a corner in the house the main team has leased. We'd probably be in some tent, cold and miserable. Working at the dig would probably be an unpaid position but you wouldn't be charged anything. If you want a job, the nearby town is a tourist trap - there is work for college students.

"Come with me, Archer. Can you just imagine it. The two of us alone. No Romi to lure me into compromising positions. No nosy Mothers to barge in unannounced. No fellow students who can't figure out a microwave. You, me and a tent. I can see the two us snuggled in front of a bonfire. Or running together under the stars."

Chester nuzzled Archer's neck. "Come away with me, Archer. Come play under the stars and the summer sun. Come and get lost with me."

[Maira]

What Chester was proposing sounded heavenly, and if he was right about her not having to worry about a place to stay then she really didn't have an argument against going. Him nuzzling at her neck made Archer shiver and she couldn't help the purr that started rumbling in her chest. "Okay, you win. When do we leave?"

*****

"No Mom, you guys don't need to pay for my dorm for the summer," Archer tried explaining to her mother again. Followed by the repetition of, "I'm going to be doing an internship for the summer and room and board is included." She tried really hard not to sigh as her mother handed off the phone to her father. Now she'd have to explain things for a third time...

Looking to Chester she growled silently at the phone, the smirk on her boyfriend's face at her obvious frustration lifted Archer's mood and when her dad got on the line she was able to tell him the same things she'd already told her mother. At least he seemed to understand what she was saying and moved onto other questions. "And just who will you be staying with during this internship, what does it involve, and will it count toward your major?" he rattled off without giving her a chance to answer between each question."

Not wanting to answer the first question, Archer answered the other two first, "The internship is in the eastern part of the state at a dig site so no, it won't count toward my major. It will help round out my resume though and if nothing else it'll give me extra skills that I wouldn't get working a normal summer job."

The silence on the other end of the phone as her dad mulled over her answers gave Archer hope that maybe he would let the lack of answer to the first question slide. When he finally said something though, her hope was shattered. "This sounds like a good way to spend your summer, but this also sounds like something Chester would do, not you. Are you going to be staying with him?"

Archer swallowed, trying to get the lump in her throat to go away, before answering, "Yeah Dad, I'll be staying with Chester but there will be lots of other students and teachers there too."

Her dad was silent again and Archer couldn't help chewing on her bottom lip waiting for him to say something.

"If it was any boy besides Chester, I would tell you to find somebody else to stay with. I'm not okay with you staying with any boy, Archer, but he is my best friend's son so I know how he was raised. I know you're not going to want to hear this from me but I'm sure your mother didn't ever talk to you about it, but if you two wind up doing more than snuggling please just be safe about it okay?"

Archer's face flamed hotly and she muttered, "Of course Dad..."

"Okay then, kiddo, have fun and give us a call once a week or so to tell us how things are going alright?" His business-like tone eased Archer's embarassment and she was able to finish up talking to him without much trouble.

As soon as she hung up the phone, Archer looked at Chester and he was smirking. She growled at him playfully, "Shut up you." He just laughed at her and she glared back at him. Leave it to her boyfriend to find enjoyment in teasing her about getting 'the talk' from her dad.

[Demeter]

Chester paced a circle around his living room while he waited for Archer to return from her doctor's office. She'd insisted on going alone and had left him to his pacing. He supposed that if the results were negative, that would be great and he wouldn't be killed by Archer's dad. And his own father. And both mothers. Chester sighed, dropped into a chair and ran his hands through his hair as he about the events that led up to now.

Archer had come with him to the dig in Eastern Washington. For the first couple of weeks she'd worked part time in town and pitched in with some site work. Eventually, some of the others had utilized her set building experience to help determine hoe things had been built and arranged. She's spent the last six weeks happily playing in the dirt with him.

And he'd been right, they'd been assigned a tent a few yards away from the site. As cozy as their tent and cots had been, they'd spent many nights under the stars as Pax and Zephyr. They'd fooled around plenty during the school year but it was during the first few weeks at the dig that they'd tumbled together and went all the way.

They'd been careful, of course, as Archer still had years of school ahead of her. But accidents did happen and one night the condom had broken. They'd fretted and worried for a while but it had seemed that their fears were unfounded.

Things had gotten a little wild after that and, well, Cougars didn't exactly use birth control and this time it seemed that something had indeed taken root. Which was why he was pacing and waiting for Archer to come back.

When Archer returned home, Chester popped off the chair. "Well?"

[Maira]

At first, Archer had some reservations about going with Chester to the dig in eastern Washington but once she got more involved in the project she had really enjoyed it. And of course, she had more than enjoyed the nearly unlimited alone time with Chester. Yes they were living out of a tend for the whole summer, but that just added to the fun and the charm of their time away from the rest of the world.

Sitting in her doctor's office waiting for results of her blood test to confirm what the home pregnancy test had told her a few days ago, Archer once again was brewing over the fact that their time away from the real world had seemingly thrown her and Chester right into it. When the door to the exam room opened, both the nurse and the doctor walked in. She was pretty sure she knew what that meant because if the tests had been negative it probably would have just been the nurse giving her the news. The doctor pulled up the stool and delivered a speech he had probably given to hundreds of women and Archer nodded understanding. He wanted to do a quick exam and an ultrasound to make sure everything was as it should be and then Archer could be on her way.

*****

The drive home to Chester's apartment, Archer was in a bit of a fog. She probably should have brought him with her but she had been sure that the results were going to be negative because she didn't -feel- pregnant. She hadn't even closed the front door behind her when Chester was popping out of his chair and asking after the results. Trying to break her brain out of the shock of it all, Archer smiled nervously at him and informed him, "Its gonna be a close thing on whether we'll finish out the school year or not before babies "A" and "B" come for a permanent visit." With that, she handed him the small stack of ultrasound pictures she'd been holding in her hand. They weren't obviously babies yet, too small for good details, but it was very clear that there were to vaguely baby shaped black spots in Archer's uterus.

After he'd looked at the ultrasound pictures, Chester looked back up at her and Archer asked him, "Now what do we do?" She was thinking about so many things when she asked that but at the top of the list was telling their parents. Her dad had given her "the talk" before they left and she was sure he was going to be disappointed in her when she told him the news.

[Demeter]

Chester's head spun when Archer mentioned babies A and B. He had to sit back down and stick his head betweens his knees for a minute or five. When Archer asked about what they did now all Chester could say was have a serious talk.

And they did. They talked for days, making plans and backup plans for the backup plans, before going to see Chester's parents. After rounding up his parents, they broke the news and waited.

Neither of them were expecting his mother to giggle or his father to groan and thump his head against the kitchen counter. Eventually Richard lifted his head to stare at them. "Christ, its like history is repeating itself. Now I know how my father felt when we told my parents about Aaron and Simon."

Heather just giggled. "Like father, like son."

Richard scowled at his wife. "Not helping, Dear."

"You obviously recall the end result of that night in the back of your daddy's chevy. How is this any different?"

***
Hours later, after talks about plans, lectures about being responsible adults, he and Archer stumbled into the apartment. They'd cleared the first hurdle. His parents may have been disappointed but they weren't mad about the whole deal. Now, they just had to tell her parents.