Entry tags:

30 seconds to mars, 30stm: cleopatra verse, 30stm: jared leto, 30stm: tim kelleher, 30stm: tim kelleher/oc

FIC: A River In Egypt--Cleopatra Verse 30stm. Tim/OC. Adult 3/8
full header & part one || part two




“I'm sorry,” Ange murmured as they pulled away from his oldest sister Lara's house in Oakland. The wedding itself had been nice. Mostly. Sort of. Ange had given away his niece. Mostly to prevent snide nastiness with her dad's family if her stepfather gave her away. Her dad showed up drunk and summarily hauled out and dumped on his ear by Ange and Tim.

Ange's middle sister Salma had decided to try to play matchmaker by bringing her friend from work down from Seattle for the weekend and he be Ange's date for the rehearsal and the wedding and the family get together Sunday. Whatever he was he was kind of...scary. And had been openly disappointed and kind of scathing about how Ange had let himself go compared to the pictures he'd seen. Ange had practically a crew cut, clean shaven, not yet as broad and bulky and in top playing shape in the picture that was probably ten years old or a bit more, high school or just after.

Tim had thought Ange had looked good enough to eat in the tux he'd worn for the wedding, beard trimmed and hair cut for the wedding. He was admittedly biased because it was Ange. Ange always looked just fine to him, and he'd looked damn good in that tux.

Unfortunately the jerk had thought Tim might do as a consolation prize since he had been supremely disappointed in Ange.

Salma...tried. And likely tried to make up for the youngest of Ange's three sisters Alejandra's husband declaring he, Alejandra and their three kids would not be going because Ange had been invited.

Ange hadn't said anything about the two of them kind of getting back together or even together to his mother and sisters, probably just as well. It kind of twinged a bit but probably just as well at least for now.

The whole fucking weekend had kind of turned into the stuff of bad romantic comedies. Tim's sense of the absurd was sent into overdrive and he could just laugh his ass off in all honesty if Ange wouldn't get more upset. He'd spent most of the weekend trying to avoid his lover's all to handsy surprise blind date. It couldn't have been more of a farce really. The only thing that would have made it more ridiculous was if Salma had tried to bring a date for both of them. Tim found himself almost disappointed he couldn't tell Jared, Shannon and Tomo about the whole disaster. Maybe Tomo. Maybe.

All three of them had deranged, warped and just plain absurd enough senses of humor to appreciate the type of you-can't-make-this-shit-up farce the weekend had turned into in general but in this case probably not. Jared had the sense of humor to really appreciate it, if it was anyone but him and Ange. It was too fucking absurdly ridiculous to get pissed over, well maybe at the asshole but not Salma. Ange's mom and sisters not fussing at the two of them together just now, hell no. Tim wasn't upset, not really, that Ange had just brought his buddy Tim from school who'd been around forever. Yeah it kind of twinged, but mostly, thank fucking god they didn't have Ange's mom and sisters fussing at them and Salma would have been way more upset.

“Yeah, you better be, gonna make you pay,” Tim teased with a smile. “My ass is black and blue from that grabby bastard.” He slid his hand off the wheel and reached for Ange petting his thigh and squeezing just a bit.

“Oh, going to make me kiss your owies all better?”

“There's a thought,” Tim grinned, his voice just a note huskier and a stir of interest in his jeans at that. Not a thought to dwell on with what was ideally a six hour drive ahead of them, though when the hell was traffic ever ideal? Ange had an early shift and even with good luck on traffic they weren't likely home until easily midnight.

Ange choked, his own warped sense of humor making a weak, slow return.

He squeezed Ange's thigh again. “It's okay, Ange. Almost feel sorry for the guy. He's got to ride back to Seattle with a pissed off Salma.”

Salma had apologized so many times and had been about ready to kill the guy once she caught Tim cornered at Lara's an hour before. Tim getting groped good and trying to extricate himself without causing a major scene. Yeah, that wasn't going to be a pleasant drive back to Seattle. Fourteen or so hours trapped in a small space with Salma Delgado was scary to contemplate even if you weren't the one she was pissed off at.

“I should have said-“

“Ange,” Tim sighed. “It's okay. It is. It's us-they'd either go off the deepend and your mom maybe have a heart attack guessing what we did in high school or they'd be moving us in together and I don't know, sending adoption agency shit every other week. I get it. Still new enough again that I'm not really up for them poking either.”

“Not ashamed of you, Tim,” Ange said quietly.

“Oh god, Ange, babe, I know that.”

“Kinda like everything else with us. Damned if we do, damned if we don't, ” Ange sighed.

Tim snorted. “Yeah, that about sums it up. Love you, always have. Always will.”

“I love you too but we're not telling Salma just how bad she screwed up.”

Tim bit his lip. “I think you kinda did. Her eyes couldn't have gotten any bigger when you about wrung the asshole's neck. Actually, I think Lara too.” Salma had kind of made the scene Tim had tried to avoid with an eardrum injuring demand of what the hell the ass thought he was doing which brought Ange and Lara and Ange's glare enough to nearly make the ass almost piss his pants especially when Ange snarled “keep your hands off my Tim”.

Ange blushed as he groaned, “I'm hiding behind you at Thanksgiving. Told Mom I'd be up and probably be bringing you.”

“Just as long as Salma doesn't bring either of us a date,” Tim teased. “See how you are, throw me to the big sisters to save your own ass.”

“Lara and Salma are nicer to you than me,” Ange shot back.

~*~

Tim growled and reached for his phone on the nightstand, clipping his wrist on the corner in the process since the nightstand wasn't the height or size it should be.

Copper made a similar growl claws digging in Tim's chest in protest at his comfy spot moving.

“Kitty!”

“If you don't mean Copper I'm plucking you, Opie,” Tim grumbled “Fuck!” his phone fell to the floor. Copper clawed again with a disgruntled growl stretched and moved to Ange's pillow rather than Tim's chest.

“Bad Kitty! Bad Kitty!”

Tim growled wordlessly with a glare at the cockatiel. Opie squawked and flapped up to the mirror affixed on the back of the dresser, perching there. “Oh fuck no, you damn weasels!” He dove for the phone and the damned thieving ferrets trying to nose it off to one of their hideyholes. He got his phone, and Fred who was the one with the white on his left forepaw, and landed on the floor in a tangle of blankets banging his head on the nightstand. Copper raised his big orange head. Even as frail and thin as he was getting Copper was still a very big cat and easily over twelve pounds with long fur sticking out in clumps. The poor old boy really was getting to the point he didn't keep himself groomed so well which left his fur a little ratty and prone to the kitty version of bedhead. He kind of looked like a disgruntled miniature lion and a royal snot at the moment as he gave Tim a mocking glare that could only be You clumsy stupid human.

“Oh shut the fuck up you fell off the couch last night,” Tim muttered at Copper. He glanced at the ID and answered the renewed ringing with “I hate you. I hate your talking chicken and your klepto weasels and Copper is mocking me.”

Ange's laughter rang out. “Woke up hissing, eh, gatito?”

“Bad kitty!” Opie squawked.

“Why the fuck did you end up with a bird that says two words?”

“I didn't teach him bad kitty. He came knowing those...”

Tim looked at the clock on the nightstand. “Ange? What's up you-like only were supposed to be to work-five minutes ago.” Ange had slept most of the drive back from Oakland and Tim had merely crawled right into bed with Ange rather than going home.

“A raid over the weekend busted a drug and dog fighting ring on a ranch up in the foothills that had private zoo besides. We've got what the SPCA can't handle including a litter of jaguar kits that are in need of constant attention if we're going to save them. The mother was shot in the raid part of the small zoo of exotics, lot of fighting dogs and cocks that are going to end up put down. There were about fifty bitches and at least a couple hundred pups, some for fighting and some for bait and practice, dozen or so horses and god knows what all else. They're scrabbling to round up volunteers for the kits and hitting up everyone if they know someone that might be able to come in and be worth a shit at helping. Most of our usual volunteers are unavailable or all over at the SPCA with the pups and everything else there, sounds like several of the bitches had to be put down already. Want to come help with the kits this morning?”

“Yeah-yeah I can, 'til about two or so. My audition isn't until five. Let me get my clothes on, pen your weasels again and brush Copper-he's lookin' rough this morning.”

*

“There you are!”

“Yeah, here I am.”

“Where were you?”

“Bathroom, a drink and a smoke-told the little redhead that was here...” Tim tilted his head at the tall late forty-something woman with thirty extra pounds in all the wrong places and graying dishwater blond hair in a disheveled knot mostly held together by pencils by the look of it, who also seemed to be one of the head 'cat people'. Once it was determined he could manage they had basically left him with bottles and kits who were freaking newborn.

They pretty much did need constant attention, bottles every hour on the hour and brushings and washings that would take the place of mama's grooming. Mama Jaguar had just popped the third out when the raid went down, really little wonder she was so drastically aggressive they'd shot first and questioned later. Endangered species be damned when several of the fighting dogs and guard dogs had been turned loose and there'd been shots fired from the ones running the place at the police by what the babbling redhead who'd annoyed him most of the morning had said. “Gonna have to be going in about an hour, hour and a half at the very most.”

“This is Mal. Show him how to take care of the kits.”

“Uh huh.”

“You get your so much as a vet assistant certificate, I want you.”

Tim laughed. “I don't see that happening.” And fuck, please God don't ever let Ange hear that. He'd think that was the best idea in the fucking world and harp on it for years. Something nice and stable and...fuck.

“That's a waste. You should at least foster rescue animals, you've really got the touch.”

“I've got insane hours and no set schedule for any extended period of time. A lot of traveling at times too. Where the hell did the redhead go?”

“I'll be finding out. Teach Mal how to take care of the kits he's all we've got until five or six depending on the traffic. And make him quit moping.”

Tim tilted his head at her wondering how that was part of the volunteer to take care of kits for the day but...

“Becky, you're aggravating. Go away,” Mal grumbled.

Tim mixed and warmed the next round of bottles. Not that complicated two scoops and some water-the complicated part was figuring out which formula or whatever would work and would be most beneficial, which so wasn't his problem. He gave the kits what they gave him to feed them. Mal watched with the intensity of someone who basically lived and breathed for animals. “Nothin to it.” he smiled at the blond who had to easily be six-three, sun streaked slightly shaggy hair and a fairly decent tan he looked more like a beach bum than anything else right down to the rubber soled mesh slip on shoes and extra long cargo shorts that stopped just below his knees. Really all the guy was missing was a surfboard.

“You've done this before,” Mal decided.

“My best friend growing up thought he was freaking Dr. Doolittle or something. I was roped into bottle feeding at least five litters of kittens and six or seven of pups by the time I got out of school.”

He picked up one of the kits and handed it to Mal, the other two ended up in his lap, one soon enough taken by the slightly ditzy redhead who was back and subdued for the first time that day, undoubtedly had gotten her ass ripped by Becky the Cat Boss. One of the kits was given over to her to feed.

“You're guys, you want to help me shut up my sister. She's been sending my phone pictures of ninety different outfits trying to decide what she's going to wear on Friday. What looks hot but not desperate slut?”

Tim stared at the redhead and shook his head. “Not one to ask that.”

“Please, I mean you at least know what you like...”

“Mmm hmm eyes, brains and hands are usually what grab me first, voices and music. Nice ass doesn't hurt either.” Tim snorted. He shifted the kit in his hands and glanced at the clock wondering if he could escape early. He could gladly stay to the last possible second if the kits didn't mean putting up with the redhead.

“Hands?” the red head blinked.

Tim decided Jared and Tomo's Shannon Bimbo Designation System would work for her. Dingbat. That really suited. Persistent Dingbat. He really wished he could bring Jared and Tomo. They'd love the kits.

Shannon probably not so much-”uh huh yeah it's cute it better not piss on me or something, take it back before I break it” was more likely Shannon's attitude. If the kits were a few weeks older, mobile and eyes open and being kitten-like Shannon would love them then, but a completely helpless, still mostly immobile and blind trembling mewling little ball of fur was likely to make Shannon just stare in vague terror at handling them and make smart assed comments along the line of this is supposed to be fun how?

He lowered his head and nuzzled the top of the kit's mostly to avoid her gaping and trying to figure out his list of what really caught and held his attention. Shit he wished he could bring Jared along and Jared could see and hold these guys? Girls? Whatever. They were still so new that a tail lift to check wasn't quite sure. He thought they'd said two females and a male. Didn't matter, they were really kind of incredible and so soft like holding a little living stuffed animal. Jared would like that, and the fact that they'd grow up now. Who knew if they'd been left in the private zoo in the middle of a drug running/dog fighting operation especially born in the fall, it got fucking cold enough up in the foothills depending how far out and how far up the place had been. Though they easily could have been, probably were, in season. It was early spring in the southern hemisphere. Mama might have not been in the north that long.

Fucking jaguars. Even if he was much more a dog than a cat person, Jared would just love this.

And fuck knew what would happen if Tim even suggested Jared and Tomo come along and the three of them take a couple hours with the kittens. Tomo would just fucking pout, possibly for eternity, if he was left out. Jared would fucking love the kittens and being able to hold them...it was everything else.

He shifted fishing his phone from his pocket as it started to vibrate, thankful for the distraction from the Dingbat.

”You got a schedule for this week yet?” Tomo's voice wanted to know.

“Uh, not really nope. I've got an audition at five. House cover band at a club Sunday, Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday nights. If I get it there'll be some practices and shit too but still up in the air as far as anything. Gotta cover the rent ya know.” And it was nice to know he still kinda had a job because he hadn't heard boo from any of the three of them since the morning he'd blown up and told Jared to get over the fact he got laid.

”Yeah, you busy tomorrow night? And I'm supposed to be sneaky and find out what's up for your birthday because someone wants to do something”

“Nope, not busy tomorrow or tomorrow night that I know of, and my birthday I'm planning on a nice quiet evening at home, preferably in bed. Point any thoughts in that direction to like the weekend after.”

“You're unemployed?”

Tim looked up toward the doorway of the room and Becky the Cat Boss standing there looking eager as hell at the thought of him unemployed. “Not exactly, I've got a great job. Just not paying until December or January when we hit studio time. Been getting enough pickup work to skate by on rent and everything til then.”

”Who's that?”

“Just a second 'kay, man?” Tim murmured into the phone.

“Can you come back tomorrow?” Becky wanted to know.

“What's up for tomorrow?” Tim asked into his phone.

”Just hanging out pretty much. You haven't been around.”

“Yeah, well, considering...” Tim snorted. “What time does Vicky get up for work in the morning?”

”About fucking five. If she's not out of the house at ten after six she's screwed for getting to work on time.”

“Want to get your butt out of bed when Vicky gets up in the morning?”

”No, but there a reason to?”

“Bottle feeding kittens at the zoo, they're short volunteers at the moment.”

”Kittens. At the zoo?”

“Whoever that is-they have experience?” Becky demanded.

“Nope, but I wouldn't have asked if he wouldn't be good. I'd be pouted at, lectured forever and not get any for ages if I ever did anything stupid when it came to animals,” Tim answered her. She laughed.

”Bottle feeding kittens,” Tomo repeated dubiously.

“You'll love it trust me,” Tim insisted to Tomo.

”Fuck why not? Pick me up at six? I'll do anything once.”

“Which is why you get in trouble with Vicky, especially when you're with the other two,” Tim laughed and looked at Becky. “Two of us tomorrow morning probably by eight.”

“How long can you stay?”

”Noon?” Tomo said uncertainly hearing Becky's question.

“Noon for him. And he can take my car if you need me longer. Probably have to take off by four at the latest though, boss says I'm to show up tomorrow night,” Tim shrugged. Other than the dingbat, the quiet and soft little babies was calming, easy just to shut off his head and relax. And the thought he'd love, just fucking love Jared to be able to see and hold the kits popped up again. Maybe. His stupid mouth got the better of him with asking Tomo.

”You're going to pay if this totally sucks, you know that right? What the hell did I just agree to exactly?”

“Newborn jaguars like two days old that lost their mama.”

”Fuck.” Tomo murmured.



~*~


“Hey, Becky said you were abandoned on your own.”

Tim looked up and smiled at Mal, “Hey, just about time for another feeding.”

“You haven't been here by yourself all morning, have you?”

“Nah, my friend Tomo was here until just a bit ago and an older guy was here til about ten, retired vet or something. Becky's been in and out,” Dingbat thankfully had classes or whatever. Becky had said she was a biology or ecology major or something that took a helluva lot more brains than Tim would have thought she had. He'd also been apologized to a few times that he would have been hired at least temporarily and paid for his time but there wasn't anything to even give him minimum wage to spare in the budget that already had them skimpy on staff.

“I think Becky wants to keep you and just might adopt you if she can't hire you.”

Tim laughed and moved to mix up the next batch of bottles. “Really got no clue why,” he shrugged. “They're relaxing.”

“You seriously never thought of vet school or something?”

“Way too much studying involved,” Tim shook his head. “And no guitars.”

“How-couldn't help but over hear-uhm, how did your audition go?”

“Good,” Tim grinned. “Got the job and don't have to worry about rent for now.” When Jared, Shannon and Tomo were ready to start laying down tracks, he should have no trouble with his schedule, it would be set enough that, if he still had a job with them, working around practice and playing at the club wouldn't be hard and there'd be plenty of time to give notice if he was lucky enough to go out on tour with the guys again. He also had a fairly set schedule he could put to the guys and they could work around when or if they needed him for working on the new material.

Tomo had fallen just a little in love with the kittens. Tim couldn't shake the thought how much he'd love to share the kittens with Jared, and even Shannon when the kits were a bit older if they still were letting him volunteer when they had more qualified available. College kids with bio-sciences majors, former SPCA workers and retired zoo workers and vets tended to be the volunteer baby animal sitters unless desperation hit for whatever reason like the timing with the kittens. His only real qualifications were Ange knew him and Becky decided she liked him. They really were kind of scraping the bottom of the barrel with him but Becky seemed thrilled with him and he didn't mind spending the time with the kittens.

Things actually kind of might be really, really going good. Steady enough work, guaranteed steady enough work for the time being to cover the bills. Still apparently had his job with the guys, and Ange was good. Almost good enough to wonder if they'd both changed enough, or maybe just grown up enough that...maybe, maybe it just might honestly work. Ange had been happy about the club job and hadn't made one bit of noise about him maybe growing up and doing something more stable. Which, to be fair he hadn't for a good two years since Tim bit off his head that this was what he wanted to do and life was too fucking short, hadn't Cody proven that?

“I heard you were still here, came to help with feeding time and feed you,” Ange said coming in the room with a sack from the zoo's food court.

The soft kiss was kind of a surprise but Tim wasn't protesting at all. The cool “Hello, Malcolm.” kind of sat in Tim's stomach like lead though.

“Angelo,” Mal nodded. “I-didn't realize -I.”

Tim hoped it was the tension he was probably radiating that had the kitten he fed seemingly trembling a little more than what had been normal. Ange sat almost hoveringly close, stealing little touches when he could. Ange knew what a sucker he was for touch, any physical affection. The asshole had fixated that much more on the kitten crap teasing Tim would just rub and purr like a cat when he was petted. Ange wasn't usually one to touch much, not when they weren't alone. Mostly because it was a habit he'd never picked up, staying pretty damned far in the closet through school and college and honestly Robert always was such a cold bastard. Tim had given him the benefit of the doubt, maybe uncomfortable around Tim the few times they'd met but not after picking up the pieces of Ange Robert had left.

With Tim Ange had always touched when they were alone. Even when it wasn't sexual, just friends, it wasn't odd to curl up against Ange on the couch and have him rub his arm all through a movie or an evening of stupid tv when they were just hanging out and catching up. They'd been so much to each other for so long it was stranger not to. Ange was just affectionate and Tim loved to be touched, but this, the way Ange was acting just now was fucking wrong. Territorial well beyond his usual protective streak when he decided Tim was upset and just fucking weird.

Tim accepted the kiss goodbye without hesitation and easily agreed that he'd go over to Ange's for supper the next evening, and swing by and check the animals before he headed to Jared and Shannon's that night since Ange thought it looked like they were going to be doing surgery on the stupid goat kid from the petting zoo that had eaten god only knew what and that was going to have him late since he'd stay until the goat was out from under the anesthesia and see how he was doing.

Tim settled the kit back in the basket with her brother and sister and headed for the sink to quick wash his hands before digging his own lunch, more for something to do than having any sort of actual appetite left. His good mood gone along with his appetite.

“I'm not going to-get asshole or anything,” Mal offered hesitantly.

Tim snorted. “Yeah, I'm sorry. I'm really not sure what the fuck that was besides unnecessary. You don't really seem like an asshole, even if you kinda were a royal one to Ange.”

Mal blinked and almost squirmed. “Uncomfortable...”

“Yeah. Par for the course these days,” Tim said a bit bitterly. The food was sitting like lead in his stomach. Ange had never pulled that shit on him. Acting like that, almost just to fucking prove a point or some goddamn thing. Not fucking once. Ever. Damn it, it fucking hurt.

“So...you...are the one who sent him pictures from Europe and uh, Malaysia was it?”

“Yeah. Yeah, that was me,” Tim took a drink from the Diet Coke Ange had brought him and turned his attention on the kittens. “Ange and I've been friends since we were kids.”

The smallest of the kittens sneezed twice.

“Oh no you don't, baby girl, you better stop that,” Tim frowned looking at the kitten worriedly. “You better not be getting sick.” Becky had said to watch close, the mother had been malnourished and had a pretty nasty skin infection, bad enough the kittens probably would have been taken from her to preserve for their own health if she hadn't been shot in the chaos. A good number of the “bait” and “practice” animals that had basically been kept to be tossed to the fighting dogs to tear apart had been in sorry condition; fleas, worms, mange, skin and respiratory infections. While he might know exactly jack shit about jaguars, he knew damn well how easily and how fast something this little and new could go from just fine to dying.

Mal gave a concerned look at the kittens. “Beck's tied up for another good hour, they were doing an MRI on one of the older lions.”

“I dunno what to think, you're the one that works here. You've got to have a better clue than I do even if your degree is marine biology. I just got handed doll-sized bottles and told to feed kittens and puppies since we were kids, nothin' more than the extra pair of hands.”

“I know shit about the cats even if Beck's my sister-in-law,” Mal frowned.

The kitten sneezed again.

Tim got up and grabbed a couple more of the receiving blankets from the laundry basket in the corner and carefully plucked the kitten out of the basket with the other two. Probably pointless but getting her away from the other two if she was sick was best theoretically until they knew what was what. All three mewled, the two left in the basket snuggled a little closer together and were almost as upset as the littlest kit cradled against his chest in the little nest of blankets, “There any stuffed animals or something like that around she could snuggle against so she settles and isn't lonely? And I don't know, maybe just find someone to take a look at her anyway. Rather look stupid and have whoever annoyed over dust in the air than have her get bad before Becky can get back here.”

*

Tim looked up as Becky appeared in the doorway of the room.

“We're going to keep her isolated for the night, and these two are getting an antibiotic shot each now and a course of them to be on the safe side, she's the smallest and weakest of the three but all three were exposed to the same contagions at birth. I should have started all three on a course of antibiotics anyway when they finally got the report on the mother's condition over here. They were doing so well though. She was caught well enough in time, I think. She should be back with these two by tomorrow night, Thursday sometime at the latest. And they've got one of the sock critters with a little box inside that sounds like a heartbeat. Not as fuzzy as her brother and sister but she's settled with it well enough.”

Tim smiled and scritched the little male he was feeding on the head. “Good,” he glanced at the clock and then looked back at Becky worriedly. “I really got to get going when this fella's done.”

“Hot date with Dr. Delgado?”

Tim shook his head with a smile. “Nope that's tomorrow night. He's got big plans with a goat with a gutache tonight. And I'm supposed to be over at some friends once I get done checking and watering Ange's damn talking chicken, klepto weasels, Iago and Copper. Repen the chicken and the weasels for all the good that does.”

Becky laughed. “Talking chicken and klepto weasels?”

“Ange has a macaw, an obnoxious cockatiel, a pair of ferrets, a cat and four freaking snakes, but the snakes I'm not going near.”

“So, what can I bribe you with to get you back tomorrow?” Becky wanted to know.

“Probably could make it by noon and stay til about five or six, whenever Ange gets done for the day. Got practice Thursday and Friday morning and every morning next week. Really need to spend a lot of next week getting the songs down and start up the new job week after that. Could probably swing noon to three Thursday and Friday and most of next week. I don't know what's going on this weekend yet.”

“Damn, why do you have to be all ambitious and working? You can't be pretty, let Delgado support you and come be my slave boy?” Becky teased.

Tim laughed. “Nope. I'd go insane not playing.” Becky's instant liking to him was mutual. She was really kind of scary about her cats, Tim had seen that just in the last two days but once she decided you were good with her cats and could take a little bit of ribbing she was really cool. He had no clue exactly why she decided he was so great but he wasn't going to argue with being able to enjoy the quiet with the kittens.

“Yesterday you said Boss-”

Tim shrugged. “Kinda both. The band I toured with this last year and the way things seem set, I'll going to be in the studio and touring with them again next year sometime. The one with me earlier, Tomo, is one of the three in the band. They've been picking at getting new material worked out, yell for me to show up when they need my bass too. Sounds like just hanging out and bs'ing tonight, no serious work on any of the new material.”

“Well you best get. I'll see you at noon.”

Tim nodded and handed the little male over to her.


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