A Traveling Carnival Currently Set Up Somewhere In Virginia, Wednesday Afternoon

[firstofitskind]

The other day, Liam had offhandedly mentioned to Verity that he'd tried funnel cake, and been unimpressed with it. He had not been prepared for the outraged grumbling that had followed that pronouncement. Or the vaguely ominous declaration that this needed to be 'fixed'.

Come Wednesday afternoon, she'd told him that they had a portal booked to the mainland and to bring cash. Actual physical cash, not just a credit card. Curious, he'd pressed her for details, but all she'd say was just "You'll see when we get there."

'There' was apparently a traveling carnival, complete with rides, midway games... and, of course, food stands.

"Is this the one you threatened to ground Hayley from for the summer?" he asked, curious.

[ooc: for the wife!]

Comments

[arboreal_priestess]

"Especially since?" Verity prompted, brows contracting together at this change.

[firstofitskind]

"Well. Who knows when one of those 'innocent minds' might be around to stay?" Liam said softly.

Adoption in and of itself wasn't all that unusual a process of becoming a parent. But he was pretty sure that searching for a specific child in particular was.

[arboreal_priestess]

Happened more often than he might think, especially in the cryptid world. "Any news?" Verity asked, sounding more hopeful than even she'd expected.

[firstofitskind]

"Nothing yet," Liam shook his head. "A medical DNA search is probably our best bet, but even that relies on a few factors- one, that he's had a DNA sample taken at some point, and two, that Street's got something to run it against."

The first wasn't that much of an issue- chances were, if William had been to a doctor's office or a hospital at some point in his young life, they'd have a DNA profile. It was the second thing that provided the real stumbling block. Using Sandoval's DNA would raise too many red flags, even with the man long-dead, and using Liam's...

Well, Street was an excellent hacker, but she wasn't a geneticist. Constructing a DNA profile that removed the Kimera markers and left the human ones was a bit beyond her scope.

"If we're going to use mine, there's certain things that have to be filtered out first."

[arboreal_priestess]

"Hmm. I wonder if Alex knows anything about that," Verity said. "Or knows someone who does. Though that may involve telling the family things."

Which they were going to have to do anyway. And which also might help with the whole 'fully trusting' thing.

[firstofitskind]

Liam did actually have Dr. Curzon on it; it was just that resequencing a triple-helix into a double-helix that looked like it belonged to, you know, a functional human being and not a horrible mess of this-shouldn't-exist was a delicate process that took time.

Verity did have a point about the telling family things part, though.

"Maybe it's time I did that, anyway."

[arboreal_priestess]

Verity gave him a small smile. "I wouldn't argue against it," she said. "They know you're hiding something, they're just not sure what. Artie's told me that most of the money is on you being ex-Covenant, with the rest across verious forms of cryptid."

[firstofitskind]

"... Ex-Covenant, really?" Liam couldn’t help but snicker.

[arboreal_priestess]

"You're not Thirty-Six and you're not really a cop, that kinda limits their options," Verity said, snickering.

[firstofitskind]

“I am ex-military, though. And I’m from a different reality entirely,” Liam pointed out. Which he’d told her siblings about, at least, that time they’d visited Fandom.

That information not making the rounds was surprising, unless they were holding on to it specifically for the purpose of having an edge in the betting pool.

[arboreal_priestess]

Antimony absolutely was. She also had her money on neither 'cryptid' nor 'ex-Covenant.'

"Sure, but you don't seem military in the way we think of it," Verity said. "You don't act like a soldier."

[firstofitskind]

Suppose it depended on whether aliens counted as a form of cryptid or not!

"What does your Uncle Mike think, do you know?" he wondered. He'd been witness to what Liam had done in the warehouse, after all, and given the (wildly inaccurate) conclusion Dominic had jumped to...

[arboreal_priestess]

"Oh, I didn't ask," Verity said. "I just know that he and Aunt Lea have entered in separate bets, so whatever it is, either he didn't tell her or she didn't agree after meeting you in the hotel."

[firstofitskind]

"Huh," Liam said thoughtfully. "Anyone tried running any of their guesses past you?" Not that she would have said anything, but if someone thought they could get some information out of a reaction...

[arboreal_priestess]

"Nope," Verity said, all mischievous grins. "Because they know I'd cheat."

[firstofitskind]

“And that’s just one of the many things I love about you,” Liam said cheerfully, leaning down to press a kiss to her cheek.

[arboreal_priestess]

"Hey, if I'm not getting a cut, I have no reason to make sure anyone else is, either," Verity said, beaming up at him.

[firstofitskind]

“Oh, so this is purely financial motivation?” Liam asked, eyebrow arched.

[arboreal_priestess]

"They certainly think so," Verity said, looking like the cat that found the cream. "Which is why they're not looking for any other motivations."

[firstofitskind]

"Good answer," Liam decided. "So, should I, uh. Should this be a video call thing? Or can I send an email? Maybe a carrier pigeon?"

[arboreal_priestess]

"You wanna send a telegram?" Verity teased. "It's your secret to share."

[firstofitskind]

"One of those singing ones?" Liam replied. "... Not that they'd make it to your parents' doorstep."

[arboreal_priestess]

"They'll be lucky if they get stopped by the outer gate," Verity groused. "Otherwise, it just mean that Timmy's feeling playful. And that means pit traps."

[firstofitskind]

“And there’s nobody in any service industry that gets paid enough to deal with her pit traps,” Liam agreed.

[arboreal_priestess]

"Exactly," Verity agreed, not that Antimony would ever actually trap a civilian.

But being a big sister meant that you didn't always need to be accurate in your bitching.