"George please drive the bus to The Castle gates? Hadrian asks George and the big man shrugs yes. Toni tosses the keys to the bus to the huge bodyguard. She looks at me with the speed racer look in her eyes itching to drive the electric limo. So far every electric car we've been in hasn't been the new top of the line Heron Inc cars. But all of them have been very fast. Even the hauler style electric mobile office Heron provided us is pretty fast on the road. The all black Heron made Semi-trucks blew our bus out of the park and they were hauling. Oh, ya she's ready to shoot her tech load. I ran a little bit of wingman for her.

"Just so you know if you are driving us somewhere Toni's going to want to hot rod that electric car."

Hadrian barks in laughter, "Toni, if you can get Franky to give up one of her toys for a while you can have at it." Toni gives a fist pump and heads for the front of the limo instead of the door where she was about to get into. Franky opens the door to the limousine. A dark cave inside with way too much room. It could easily fit 10 people total. With bench seats at the side the dark leather expands out to seats in the very back. I could fit half the bluebird bus in this ride. A real party bus SUV, half of me wonder if a stripper pool would rise up from the middle. Geeze Hadrian, maybe a little overboard on the opulence? I was dumbstruck in front of the luxuriousness on display. Then before I could get into the limo, the seats on the side soundlessly folded in. If you didn't know better, you could mistake this motor vehicle for a private airplane cabin but more plush.

Hadrian leads me into the limo, and we get into the back of it. When in the back of the limo instead of the normal little box to see the driver it's completely open. Toni gets into the front and waves back to me. Her cat that's about to eat the canary smile is predatory. She takes her driving gloves out of the go back. Franky shuts the door to the limo next to me. And I jump at the sound of the door closing. Sometimes the limo makes sound and other times it doesn't, it's throwing me off. Franky goes up to the front with Toni for them to work out the horse trade for who gets to play with the toy. Quiet murmurs from the two women talking float from the front of the stretch limo to the back of the car.

Hadrian pulls me onto his lap and we sit in silence for a moment, waiting for the limo to go. He presses a button on the dark black console next to him. The divider window that extends from the ground floor all the way up to the top splits the limo in two. As the clear window slides up it makes no sound dividing us from the two women in front. We were insulated from the world, all sound gone just the two of us. Almost like we were back in my bluebird bus the first time again. And as sleek and high tech as any tech commercial the window changes colors from a clear window to a black one. I'm not even sure why it felt so comfortable for him to pull me onto his lap and wrap his arms around me. My head falls back and slightly to the side of his shoulder, my whole body relaxes in his arms.

Ke, you need to pump the breaks and get your seatbelt on. Coaching myself mentally through the process but it doesn't make my body move off Hadrian.

His hand skims up and down my side, and a sigh at the touch. A wave of heat spreads out from my center. My thighs rub together, and my butt moves in little circles. I take big breaths of that musky sandalwood and leather smell of him. Earthy, smooth, sophisticated but an unexplained edge of rustic to it. The thud thud of my heart quickening. I lick my lips as my mind follows that hand at my side going up now that it went down again.

Stop it Ke, a tiny voice in the back of my psyche.

The dark interiors of the limo in its own little world. All the stupid things like work, projects, and fears keep getting more distance. Background noise to the tip of his nose moving slowly up and down on the back of my neck. It could be sexual but it's so damn comforting. So, cozy, being in his world. Being with Hadrian, and that buzzing fizzy feeling working its way up into my belly. My breasts get heavy.

Ke stop, a whisper from my mind so distant, it's barely air.

My eyes close and his nose shifts so his rough beard rubs against the side of my cheek. Wonder if every day would be like this with him. Big arms wrapped around me worth spreading out from my center and days of forever and more to come in the distance.

KE! My brain yells.

Eyes snap open, I make a quick move to slide off his lap. But he holds me in place saying. "Akeisha, wait."

His chin rests on the top of my head. He sighs in this grumbling way. Deep deep down rumble to it. That's new. I open my mouth to say something. He cuts me off, "friends hug friends." Well, technically he's right. Wherever that hug was going it slipped back into that warm spot. Sitting on his lap time moved slowly. But it was the best kind of slow. A solid fifteen minutes later.

Beep. I jump at the sound in Hadrian's lap.

"We are heading out and the second group of semis are coming up the road. We will lead them in," Franky notified us over the intercom. He releases me then slides me the rest of the way into my seat in the palatial limo. Hadrian's movements are careful with a quick, efficient click of the seatbelt. He verifies the buckles as if he has a hard hat and it's a real danger if everything isn't perfect. Hadrian makes sure it's tight and his hand slips under the belt following it to places. Double checks the straps by pulling it and he has this satisfied job well done expression. I've never seen someone take seat belts so seriously before.

The SUV limo pulls away and a long lead of vehicles in a caravan drive off again together to The Castle.

I watched Hadrian in his actions one big endless urbane enigmatic puzzle. And I hated that I didn't have the answers. Didn't know what to ask but wanted to know more. I wanted to understand the primal edge to him in his bespoke suit. The kind of suit that appears poured on his large muscular frame. All the pieces fit but don't. Tech guys don't look like they eat linebackers for breakfast and that's Hadrian vibe. A hint of danger, and excitement I always got around him. It's absolutely baffling. He centers himself and I wish for half a second that I turned around and watched him while he held me. Because it was like a wall came up when he took a breath and from one breath to another. Hadrian was gone and Mr. Valentine was in his place. He presses the display button on the consul as if he was an emperor sitting at court.

"Thank you, Franky. Please take us to The Castle," his voice was so closed off. It was a chill that passed through all the warmth that was there. The heat of the summer, the heat of our bodies just moments ago together but not combined. All of it was gone in seconds. Hard gem blue eyes staring out the window. I couldn't explain it but it was like being bereft of all that warmth. My arms wrap around myself and I cross my legs in the back of the limo leaning away from him. My eyes shift to stare out of the opposite window. I couldn't handle the withdrawal. Everything about it was too dramatic, like falling off an emotional cliff and I don't get the shutdown he's doing now. And why that shutdown hurts so much. The side panels light up in the limo, our cozy darkness recedes into bright light.

Beep.

A second beep from the front of the SUV Limo.

"Yes, Mr. Valentine, ETA forty minutes." Franky says from the intercom.

I thought we were already on the property at least. We'd been driving for two hours already. How far is it? Maybe we went the wrong way somewhere. The public land ended and we have places we custom graze a public land lease not too far from here. The Castle Resort also owns leases on that public land, and it was in the directions. I tried to distract myself as I rub my hands along my cold arms. I wish I wore sweats instead of jeans, just something warmer. Maybe It's not too late to get my windbreaker from the bus before we go?

A hand takes one of mine knocking me out of my head.

"Huh? Oh..." I say. Sapphire gems swallow my brown and I'm back in the Hadrian brain freeze game. Say something Ke, my thought process turns like a stalling engine. His thumb does that nerd geometry thing on my knuckle. It's kind of comforting. Say something Ke now! And finally, my brain turns back on. "I thought we were only ten minutes away from the main gate? There was a lot of development of the land. I'm a little confused." I probe for more answers from him.

"We are on the resort land," he replied. "The council finalized an additional 1000 acres. I imagine Antonia will enjoy billing us," a dry chuckle at the end of his statement. Another culture shock moment hanging around Mr. Valentine.

"Oh, shit. That's a lot more land." And in California, that must have cost a small nation.

***

Twenty minutes of driving later, I'm still dealing with withdrawn Hadrian. But the lifeline of his hand holding mine was enough. Withdrawn, cold, and commanding all combined was new from him. He'd been commanding, but not this cold before. I mean I work with the man. He gets what he wants. But he's never been this withdrawn. My covetous eyes watch him out of the corner of my vision. Brown grass and a mountain view whizzes past the window. Even though the grass wasn't to my liking the view was absolutely fantastic. Something about the way on each side the Cascade, Klamath, and the Coastal range all combine to create a vast mountain range. A breathing, living landscape always left me uplifted. The sky blossoms out from them and light hits it perfectly. It's the magentas that are splashes of color that are unexpected. When we work on urban gardens in LA, those magentas are smog. The prettiest most asthma inducing smog but it is what it is. Not a speck of smog for the Northern California mountains and hills. When you look up sometimes during the day, you can see Venus and the moon. And all of it is breathtaking, almost as breathtaking as the man holding my hand next to me.

The limo comes to a stop. Doors open in the front of the car and the sound of feet. The doors close.

Beep.

"Welcome to Antonia's rides. Vroom Vroom, but eclectic," she says with a super villainess arc laugh. The limo guns it and our 40 minute drive with 20 minutes left turned into a 10 minute drive. The kind of hell to leather, should have had fire on the wheels ride. Toni wasn't playing around and what kind of limo is this fucking fast?

I slam my hand on the button on my console, "Shit, Toni this isn't a race car."

"I'd like to drive one of those too," she says back to me. As the wheels of the limo squeal gravel flies with pings against the back of the ride. The tail keeps sliding and all I hear is crunch crunch crunch. Shit! The limo comes to a stop finally. The totally unnerved man next to me as calm as a big ass fucking English cucumber. Franky opens Hadrian's door first, he unbuckles and steps out of the car. And Franky comes to my side, opening the door for me. Hadrian's head comes through the door unbuckling me.

He extends his hand out for me as if he holds the entire world and is offering it. Then again, Mr. Urbane Valentine probably could buy and sell a few small nations causally if he wanted to. The big bad businessman is never far from his stoney expressions. At the same time gazing at his callus palm there's an innocence to it as well. Like when you take a friend to your favorite spot right before dawn. The dichotomy of the two expression on his face, this mix of command and hints of innocence is confusing as fuck. Who is the real Hadrian Valentine? The shut down stony face business man who's fucking my brains out friendly? Or a guy trying to become my friend because he saw something in me, in the same way I see something in him from time to time? I really don't know. And it's that doubt that leaves me always on an uneven footing with him. I spent my first relationship thinking it might go the distance. We worked but what I didn't realize is we didn't work. We simply inhabited the same zone well. And because we didn't fully communicate it was like we were both lying to each other. Although the breakup was amicable, the scars of it lasted. So, now that I'm in a friends who fuck with an expiration date that's unknown it makes me even more uneasy. But a part of me, a big stupid part of me really really likes Hadrian more than any friends who fuck should. And it's that part of me that takes his hand and grabs my bag to follow him.

So, we're holding hands in front of people? News to me.

The air is refreshing and the heat of the summer barely touches us this far into Northern California. Not in seeing distance but in smelling distance that ocean breeze races across the landscape. Fresh and briny wind tickles my nose.

Toni gets out of the driver seat and it's an x-rated affair. It wasn't anything indecent, but the smugness combined with the lascivious way her glove finger trailed across the limos paint job. I had to resist the urge to slap my forehead.

"I will not be judged Ke," Toni proclaims to me.

"I'm not T, really I'm not, I'm not even looking." And I wasn't as soon as she got out and walked three steps like that. Near instant look away. It reminds me when I caught her fucking her girlfriend in the back bedroom of the bus and the sex yurt three strikes rules were invented.

All four of us gathered in front of the gatehouse but there wasn't a gate. I caught Toni's eye but instead of what is up with the gate house her eyes were locked on Hadrian's hand holding mine. She takes off her glove in a lewd manor as if the glove was having sex with her hand. I shake my head. No, I did not have sex with him in the back of the limo. Her thinking was a little too wishful. Leave it to T to be team bang opposed to being team watch out for the horror movie. Instead, I make eye motions at T to ask what the hell is going on with the gatehouse. She doesn't get my cryptic expressions at all. A tall man in an odd uniform with a badge on his chest and a sword at his hip walks out of the gatehouse.

"Mr. Valentine, the guests you've been waiting for?" He asked. Hadrian nodded at the man. Initiate was written on his colorful badge. The whole crest could have been an heirloom item. The brooch was a crest that clips to his shoulder on the upper side of the one shoulder guard. Flowing letter script on the metal was intricate bronze with hints of silver. The type of hand made artistic work worth buying. It reminded me of when I went to a Ren Faire. Had he not been wearing the longsword I'd not have connected it? He'd be another security guard with one shoulder guard and a bulletproof vest. Instead, it comes across as professional but a throwback to another time. The guard hands out gift boxes that have that luxury jewelry store box look. I had to turn the gift box in my hand and scan for Tiffany's signs even though it was the wrong color. Both Toni and I took our boxes. I really wanted to open it but it didn't feel like the right time for it.

"We need to get your bus into the system," Hadrian said. The slight breeze shifts his artfully messy hair making the curls he sometimes has move in the wind. It was utterly ridiculous how he can appear like he's in a random GQ photoshoot. Meanwhile, I'm over her disheveled as fuck like I was rubbing myself against the man in the back seat of the limo. I don't know why but a part of me is mad about how hot he looks randomly. The way the light hits his bespoke suit with the background of endless mountains. Yeah, it's kind of everything, and then dawn breaks over the skyline fully into the morning.

"Akeisha, did you just moan?" Hadrian asks. The half grin finally broke his stony expression since we drove into The Castle.

"No?" I answered.

"I think you did," he replies, not letting it go.

"No comment," I take my gift boxes with big white bows on top, walking away from him as fast as my little harlot gait can take me.

"Chicken," Toni says as soon as I walk up. She heard the conversation, great.

"Well, I wanted to talk to you, anyway." I say attempting to save face and not pulling it off.

"Right, right...?" T says. She leans against the limo as we wait for the Bus putting the first gift box in. My eyes glance at the security guard and her eyes follow it. I tried to get her attention about this earlier. "Yeah, I saw it."

"This feels like the start to one of those Jordan Peele horror movies." I lifted my eyebrows at the same time. "I'm not saying they're gonna kill us, I'm just saying the vibe."

A SUV drives up on the road on the other side of the guardhouse. T's eye tracks a self-driving electric SUV with no driver in either front seat. The front windows were tinted and completely black. But not completely dark it had that LED lighting up certain sections making it look more hi-tech in a weird way. I completely lost her attention. The chances of me beating another hot rod she wanted to whip around with her driving gloves was nil.

"Earth to T," I saw waving my hand in front of her face. She was deeply gone, and I gave up on the fact that we should watch out. The conversation just wasn't happening, maybe later. This whole thing was Toni's call, she pushed for the project and was handling a lot of the paperwork. If she saw something she would totally tell me. I have to trust her judgement here. T's half interested expression changes and she has that very interested face. Vice President Issa Gage from the gaming division, Mr. Midnight. If time had slowed down and he did the hot guy slow walk, I'd not have been shocked. Toni's eyes tracked him all the way to us. Hadrian gaze tracked the two sizzles together. I have to admit even back at the DEtalk event they had that between them. The flirting, the nerd stuff, and the cool people's stuff. They meshed well, but it didn't go anywhere. I should have asked her more questions about it. Leaning more into the limo I pull my fly on the wall no one notices me.

"Miss Carpenter," Issa says to T. Hadrian comes to stand by me and we both watch the show together.

"Mr. Gage, it's good to meet you again." How the fuck does she sound so smooth? "You're looking well."

"As are you Miss Carpenter, may I be the first to welcome you to The Castle," Issa said.

"Thank you," Toni said with a mysterious little smile. I felt like I was watching a tennis match and I should have been taking notes as they went back and forth. A little about work, a little about play. They even talked about Heron Gamings massively multiplayer games upcoming expansion due out next year. It was smooth, it was nerdy but flirty in a way I couldn't pull off. In a way, I could only dream of pulling off. I should have been taking notes. Being a fly on the wall instead of ruining their sparring match. It was like watching two beautiful cocks dance around each other. Back on the farm we have these two roosters with gorgeous multi-color feathers. The feathers are iridescent with reds, blues, oranges, and nearly glitter.

"You never showed up for the late night meeting about the project, Miss Carpenter." Gage said.

"I don't meet late at night during billable hours with a client, Mr. Gage." Toni's response. I give her the mental Touché. The two really were like two evenly matched cocks.

The bluebird speeds up to the guardhouse interrupting the conversations. Hadrian takes my hand again. So, we really are holding hands now. Isn't this a bit backwards? Shouldn't hand holding be first not fucking? More black trucks follow the bus. Franky picks up the unopened gift boxes, putting them into the limo. Then she joins George at the guardhouse. Her eyes scanning out while George speaks with the gate guard. A sticker is added to the back of our bus. And then Hadrian leads me to the limo. Issa's SUV moves on its own to line up behind the long line of black semi-trucks. Self driving and with AI that isn't ominous, kind of like the wolf telling red riding hood he doesn't want to eat her. Every vehicle is a Heron Electric with features that I've never seen run at this mass before. I wonder if it'll be pushed out via an update to the public in a few years?

Hadrian opens the door for me then helps me in. He straps me back into the limo's back seats. The side seats come back up from the recess car wall. Hadrian belts himself and recaptures my hand to hold. I'm liking the hand holding it's beyond grown on me. His warm, calloused hand swallows mine up. Toni gets in next on the bench closest to me. She could have sat next to me but didn't. She sets her go bag next to her robbing Issa of the chance to sit next to her. Instead of following her to share the side bench he gives her a playful expression instead. She belts herself in then crosses her legs watching him as he sits on the bench seat opposite Toni. Ya, that's a win for her again. There's definitely something going on between them.

The limo pulls out and the divider wall comes down between the front cab and the cabin. Franky pulls out leading the bus and black semi trucks down the road. And finally to the Castle, now that doesn't sound ominous at all, I told my brain.

***

Within ten minutes the gates to The Castle come into view. The tall intricate wrought-iron gates in a stylist TC open by themselves. As we drive up the drive a modern take on a castle on the high hill in the distance. Various buildings and cottages below it. A kind of MainStreet with blacksmiths, grocery stores, and more. It is a modern take on the castle village except without a huge fortress wall. High-tech gyms, and salons. A mixed bag of medieval and not. The cottages don't have gardens; I remember from the museums they normally had food gardens. Instead, it has flower gardens. My eyes roam scanning everything, drinking it all in because it's like I stepped into a different world. A mix of the past and every single future amenity rolled together. When I got the project folder I was given overhead layouts but not any pictures. Runners in a castle uniform like the ones I tried out at my physical that didn't fit. Toni got Ava to tailor something out of them for both of us. She's a good seamstress and did something that kind of matched the uniforms but didn't out of what she was given. I guess we are going to need that after all. The group of runners in the neo-medieval uniforms reminds me of boot camps. Sacramento a long time ago had an airforce base, and that's what this place reminded me. An airforce base and something else.

On top of the hill the two concepts were split in half like Jekyll and Hyde. The past modern stuff gym and more like the gym resort like the brief. But the other side is completely medieval.

"Crafts or Gym?" Hadrian asked me. I wasn't sure which.

"Gym," Toni says. I guess the tour is on.

Hadrian opens up the gift box pulling the white ribbon bow and smoothly as he takes out a new dress and bra. More under clothes in the box along with a few other pieces of clothing and toiletries. Then at the bottom a badge like the man in the guardhouse. As pretty as a good piece of jewelry. Then he pulls it out of the fluffy satin and pins the badge to my top.

"Initiate?" I read out the badge. "What is that?"

"It means you can go everywhere but the castle manor. It will help with your job here. You're both important in helping us get the project done." He said. Why does it feel like he's pinning a star on my chest? Why did I feel 10 feet taller?

We walked to the warehouse-sized building. The windows of the gym have all the modern equipment like the first floor of Two Hibernia Heron. Only one or two of the workout equipment is empty. A famous NFL player does jumps for the one-handed catch.

"Oh my god, the way he jumped like one of those werewolves in twilight about to transform." Toni yells out as the man catches it in front of us. "Hmmm, so good. Team Jacob." T says it with her whole heart like when the last twilight movie came out. We binged watched the whole thing because we were too young when the twilight crazy started. But we were here for the hotness when it ended. She leans into me and whispers, "tell me this is an isekai magic in another world harem."

"T, aren't you supposed to ask if it's an isekai magic not simply tell the universe it is?" I say to her my head tilted to the side. "I mean, telling like that slightly defeats the point."

"I'm trying to will it into existence, do you see the view," she says. As Hadrian and Issa split up to gather people, I pull Toni further to the side. A person walks up the hill to the imposing modern take on a medieval castle in the distance. It was stark, imposing at the top of the hill. One by one at the end of their workouts, guests would climb the hill to go to the castle. We were seeing two different views. Toni's were all the hot people in the gym. Mine was what was staring down at us atop the hill in the distance. Maybe not bring her down but I was going to pump the cum breaks just a little.

"Yeah, I see the view. And the, it might be a horror movie vibe is strong with these ones. A bunch of mostly between 20 something through 30 something super hot people. Some of them are rich, known famous people by fast look. In the middle of North California. On a massive amount of exclusive land. Does that sound like the start of a horror movie?" I keep my eyes out for the two men to return.

"Well, no- ...kind of. No mostly," Toni says shifty as fuck.

"Well, what about the guys with swords? And the random group of people running around like a military boot camp." Toni, still shifty, doesn't make eye contact as I give her more of the rundown.

"Still mostly no, it could be that they really love renfairs." She says. I give her side eye at that one.

"And the massive amount of cameras spread out?" My eyes quickly shift to the multiple cameras.

"Maybe no..." answered T.

I take out my phone. And read out the message I peeped in the car when we were waiting for the bluebirds. In block letters on the front of my screen.

"All non authorized phones have been blocked. The emergency services numbers are all working. Any other type of outgoing or incoming call will be redirected to The Castle offices. You must be a full member to have more services available. Horror movie first fifteen minutes. Don't get me wrong I like Hadrian and Issa but you know the deal. We are black women. We've spent our whole life watching movies and seeing what happens in almost any natural disaster in the USA. And you know who dies first in the horror movie." I say.

"Black people," Toni replies in a monotone voice. It's a speech she's had with me more than once when I want to run off down a dark alley because there's a tree. And I want to get a cutting for the garden. She sighs and nods yes to me.

"I'm not saying we gotta do anything, I'm just asking you to be on the lookout just in case. This is awful but I want to be ready because the vibe feels like something is hidden. What's up with the castle? And that's probably something we should have been asking more about before we got here. But we've had jobs like this before. Landscaping jobs but not all this extra stuff. I don't want to die to a sexy death cult. And then get cut up dice and grilled in T, and Ke enchiladas served with kool-aid. I refuse to go down in the horror movie. We've survived crazies attacking the bus when we were custom grazing cattle in the middle of nowhere. Crazy people with bats when we were taking the sheep to graze the solar panels and the road rage guy. Or how about the leaf removal job to get mulch for the school gardens? When we were removing and trimming trees for free for the elderly and they called the cops on us." I list out the, this might turn into a horror movie moment for Toni.

"Well, ya, but to be fair most of those were group choices. And the leaf removal job was an elderly freebie job you thought of for Christmas." she replies. She was right, but we both called the fact that someone would call the cops on us.

"Remember when our normal hippy garden group got taken over by conspiracy theorists. Then the Garden group got shut down by the public library because crazies took it over. And we had to start a new Garden group" I say to Toni.

"Ok, true. And the fact we have had this much drama gardening related still tickles me pink. My brother thought this was just going to be oh so boring. If only he knew the drama, we go though. We should always be on the lookout. Plus, this was my big push. It's a good deal, but it's better safe and cautious. I saw what you were trying to say earlier with the hand signs. Ignoring you was missed. It's just... I want to be hopeful about all of this. We don't own the farm and this could be a chance to grab everything in one go. I want hope." One of the rare times that Toni, my wonderful confidence Toni, sounds shaky and I feel guilty for bringing it up.

"I'm sorry for stepping on your feelings. The vibe I couldn't ignore that something is off feeling. Even though I really do like mostly everyone, we met so far at both The Castle so far and at Heron Inc, except Martin. I'm nervous." I still felt guilty.

"Yeah, Martin is an asshole." Toni shakes her head in agreement. "I let my lust get the better of me."

"Yup, a bit. Normally your 100% business with clients. Suck em dry and give them pretty flowers." That was a direct T quote as well she told me that many times when I didn't want to bill. If it isn't some single mom or nice old people. Toni gets paid, she even has a habit on the last day of a job of playing either the explicit version of Rihanna's Bitch Better Have My Money, or the censored version depending on the job. "I always want you to have your unicorns T. Truly, black girl magic. I never want to get in your way of having those sparkles." A hiccup in my voice sneaks in when I tell her that. My eyes get water and I give them a fan so as not to ruin my makeup.

"Hug it out?" I offer.

"I want you to have all the fruit and flowers to Ke. Hug it out," Toni replies. First do our super secret best friends forever and one day live next to each other in old age handshake. Then pulled me into a hug. It was warm and had that sweet smell of honey, cocoa butter, and summer. A lot of my loose nerves left me. "Better?" T ask me.

"Better," I reply.

The guys walk back up to us leading a large group of people with them. And Hadrian stands by me again taking my hand.

"Going to be straight up. Watching people in the gym makes me feel lazy, please," I say to him. Hadrian chuckles at my joke as he introduces us to a few members. Names, and faces blur together. Some of the people have badges like our initiate silver and bronze ones. With the colorful designs and pretty layouts but although they said the same thing. It didn't use the same design fully. Some people stood in groups with one or two people of the same style of badges while some had them custom. So custom that the solos were completely their own unique thing but still said initiate. Some had badges that read prospects and everyone of those were exactly the same. Still beautiful as any heirloom broach. Detail ornate designs but plain at the same time. A shiny copper and bronze badge with a stark picture of a black castle on the hill.

I turned to Hadrian the first chance I got as he walked us through the facilities. Along our hands intertwine down the pathway through the cottages. "What are the gold badges some people had?" I ask him.

"Members' badges are gold and platinum, initiates are silver and bronze, prospects are copper and bronze."

"Oh..," I try to make it a leading oh, but more information doesn't come forth from Hadrian. Toni, and Issa are in their own little world behind us. One or two people had member badges that were gold custom designs on every single one. No member badge was ever the same. "What about the people without badges?" For example, you who aren't wearing one Hadrian. The thought ding in my head like a game sound telling you a clue. Hadrian though had an enigmatic grinning frown. It was a new expression I didn't like adding to the catalog.

"Members sometimes don't wear badges, and council members don't wear badges." Franky, George, Issa, and Hadrian weren't all wearing badges. My mind was quickly moving.

"Everyone on the grounds has to fall into either prospect, member, initiate, or council members?" I asked.

"Yes, except one property manager who came with the property when we bought it. But he had a number of NDA's he signed. Everyone came after the property manager," Hadrian said. I was breaking down the information he gave me as my eyes drank in everything that was here. It was for the most part a fully functioning compound. A full enclave with more people than a high school. We kept walking down the path enough to look inside some of the unused fully luxury cottages. "Other than that everyone calls themselves castle guests."

"This is your cottage," Issa said. It was on the other side of the property as we were doing a full circle around the places. Pretty far away from the main castle on the hill but close to the garden that was unfinished. But on second look it wasn't unfinished they simply planted a lot less square inch than we do. We plant 3 to 4 crops very close together harvesting each one. It means we get more per inch than an average farm does. Even when we went large scale, we kept farming like a gardener.

"Is this the only option?" Toni asked.

"No," Issa answered.

"Then is that one open?" she pointed at the one closer to the drive. And I got her idea so that the bus would be able to get in easily. Plus, an open field and a stable was close by with the garden on the other side of that.

"It's all yours," Issa answered. A particular expression on his face I couldn't completely place. A mix between what the fuck and a hard math class. Yeah, they were into each other for sure, very much two cats sniffing each other out. But I don't think either understood what when and where.

"Great!" Toni answered her smug smile. This is a third win for T. We all kept walking until we caught up with the bus on the other side of our cottage. A long open area next to the crafting sign. Black smith and a full renfaire complete with so many different little shops. It was like Harry Potter Diagon Alley except nerdy adults in medieval outfits and swords instead of Harry Potter gear and wand. I guess swords instead of wands. And a bunch of black semi's going out to the parking area. Then backed up sitting comfortably on the side of the road.

"Welcome to Diagon Alley?" I ask. Toni chuckles following my weird logic.

"No, welcome to castle road. It circles," Hadrian said. His expression in the full, I'm learning your trick's skeptical eye. He gives my hand a tug and I follow him.

The colors from the people are striking. Most people expect medieval times to be like the movies, everything grey. But it wasn't grey at all. As a high school prom dress making project, we searched the world for natural dyes from ancient times. We found many examplesmost were vibrant colors. In the old books it was a people in well tailored clothing in a tapestry of colors. Nothing at all like the grey stylists medieval movies. So, I could see how others would see the many shops and people and wonder why it was so colorful.

And the guest made everything work. It still caught me off guard calling the people who were in front of me guests. It came across as culty to me but I went with it. If that's the term for it. Not all of them were dressed in a larping way. When both Toni and I interned at the tech company during college together we had people who larped after work. live-action role-playing larping was a nicely big thing. People on lunch break would dress up in Lord of the rings gear and cosplay. They did things that were medieval as well so it wasn't that unfamiliar but never with such a big budget? I'm more accustomed to seeing people in public parks do this.

The guest of the castle though took it a different direction a mix between modern and larp. Some only wore high grade period piece clothes that should have been on some expensive historical movie. Others wore normal street clothes but all of it was extremely colorful. The same mix of unbadge people, member badges, initiate badges and finally space in like sprinkles prospects. I have admitted in just a quick glance these craft nerds were my people. I had 100s of questions about the ways they do things. A man hammers a sword, then plunges it oil only to turn and keep the hammer. A woman sits inside one of the shops working the loom. If I spun in circles and then ran up and down the various shops, I'd probably not run out of things I'd want to see. I've always liked sewing, and we had a prom making dress club in high school. It's still going at my old high school. Years later I still tend to sew extra pockets on my jeans and gardening dresses. Nothing even fits my body shape correctly. If you have too much in the booty, you get jeans that don't fit correctly ever. And if you can't sew, you can't fix the awful. Toni has been pushing to start another micro business to do with clothing. We already make a lot of our own uniforms, and aprons for gardening employees. But then again Toni's love has always been clothes. My mind was racing with ideas and wanting to try things out. I was almost skipping next to Hadrian. And as he gazed down at me I kept making smiling eye contact back. It was everything I was into, arts, crafts and gardening.

The colorful people wrapped around the street and the castle in the distance at the top of the hill. A dark castle that was stark and imposing in contrast to the people down on the street. I don't think they felt like my people, the few figures in the distance up the hill. The vibe was different and the tone was different for those who climbed the hill after their workout. Creative, excited to show more, and very into what crafts they enjoyed. Compared to the GQ people in slick workout clothes climbing the hill to the Castle, the people in the village looked a lot different . But it wasn't something I had to worry about. I didn't work in the manor or need to be around it. And I set the thought to the back of my mind. The more I thought about it, the crafters from the shops we met from the candle stick maker to the leatherworker was a real joy for me. I was so excited to find out more. These types of people were my Hufflepuff people. And I was happy to meet them.

We had a goal, people I think we both liked. All I had to do was teach these urbane people how to farm. And how to ranch in a crash course. And learn to be self-sufficient as possible. And look at this village they were well on the way to more than halfway there. It was one hell of a larp. Maybe Toni and I could do this job.

A/n: This is the first post of the year. I'm thankful, filled with immense humility over your patience. For you finding me for you caring about what I write. For you enjoy my characters. All of it. Just complete bowing to yall for your grace. Thank you. This is two post in one because I felt like this shouldn't be split up too much. And I like the jokes they work together better. tyty As always comment, share, all of it. TY

About last year --this is how I was feeling for most of it. My computer over here looking at me like...

Oh and ty for rereading Noah. I've been seeing a lot of you do that. I only have 8 chapters in free write. Last year as basically a bust for me. I'll try and keep yall update on the free write on Noah. Yall, been waiting too long and it was suppose to be a Noah year this year before it got hijacked in free writes last year.