#bergen_county

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(Elsewhere/when..........)

Adam Thomas sweats in the backyard, practicing his kata and drills.

After a solid hour of work focusing hard on getting better at his combat skills (split about evenly between pole arms and his far-favorite practice sword), he stops to wipe down and recover.

He finishes up, goes inside to shower and dress, and then dinner with the family.

Afterwards, he heads up to his room to read; to study.

.... and eventually nods a bit over his laptop.

He wakes (wasn't sleeping!) and reads.

Downstairs "Well, that was an exciting adventure."

"I know, I never realized how exciting being a kithain could be."

"Should we have invited Adam?"

"no no, we promised we'd give him more space and respect his privacy more"

Adam rubs at his eyes, and turns the e-book page with a sigh. He looks frustrated.

A knock on the door

"Yeah?" He yawns in mid-invite.

"Hey, we're having a celebration take out. Anything you want us to order?"

His mom's voice

"Whatever everyone else wants, I guess. Just... a double order for me?"

"You've been working and training hard, guess that builds an appetite"

Adam sighs and kicks out of bed, going to and opening the door. "Yeah, guess so."

His mother has a bruise! on the side of her face

"Mom!?!?! What happened???"

"Oh it was fantastic..." His mom says then she sees WHERE he is staring "oh this? I fell on my face but it was worth it"

"You -fell-?!?!"

"Yeah... Lucky I didn't break my neck.. but what a ride. It was magical" she smiles

"So after an adventure, we're celebrating. So sure there's nothing specific you want? Now's the time to get a steak if you're craving or more sushi than is healthy"

"Mom, what the hell.... heck..... happened?"

"I rode a mastadon! Or.. was it a mammoth? Either way.."

"And fell off it?"

"Yeah" She nods "It's a tall chimera" She seems totally cool with it "Heck of a race"

"A race?" Adam sighs in exasperated teen "Mom, can you -please- tell me what the hell happened?"

"It was a bit of a blur... there were some hunters trying to kill these Chimerical mastadons...for the tusks! Well... Lily saw the Mastaodn in his 'I heart Snuffy' T shirt and asked us to do something about it and...well, I created a distraction and Kyle started to free them from their corral and... it worked, your dad and sister got them free.. BUt the hunters turned on me.. and I had to run! And then... One of them snared me with this bolo thing until the Mastadon your sister liked turned around and picked me up and I was on the back it was.. oh gooodness it was amazing and maybe you'd like something Italian?"

Adam stares at her. "You... you guys went to the Dreaming?"

'Oh no, not safe yet, we're not sained..." She says

"Then where did you find Mastadons?"

"Fields near the woods... amazing.. it was so exciting" His mom sighs "It was an adventure. "

"Oh. Well. Good. Glad you .... you know. Had a good time."

"Yes... I'm starting to see why you like having these whacky moments. Now.. really there must be SOMEHTING you want to eat more than others?"

"Nah, thanks. I grabbed something after practice. S'ok."

"Oh, I'll order something you can reheat..." She says "For later. "

"Sounds good."

"Don't worry about the bruise, honey, it'll heal up." His mom smiles... "I rode a mastadon.. wooo" And down she goes

"Yeah." Quietly at his door. "Woo." And he shuts it softly, returning to bed.

He crawls in, shuts the laptop and shoves it off to the side, and closes his eyes.

and sleep claims him

Zzzzzz

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