[attr="class","icon"]

bo had been taking care of those chores since shortly after the break of dawn, precisely when loud mouths demanded to be fed. a farm did not simply sleep through the morning. by now, it had been hours since a too-light breakfast and the sun looked like lunchtime.[break][break]

the voice that came around the corner was familiar enough, although it had been a while since he'd seen greyson for more than a few seconds. bo kept busy, almost avoidant of the league in his retirement.[break][break]

”nope. haven’t seen her all morning. must be at the flower shop or something.”

he stood with dirty hands on his hips and sweat slicking the edges of his hair against the creases of his forehead, squinting through the glare of high noon.[break][break]

”you doin’ beekeeper stuff?”

[attr="class","icon"]

bo noticed the change, even without glancing over. he could hear it in the notes of greyson’s voice. even when he was focused on the next job, and how long it might take and when his own day might start, he noticed because he was self-conscious as fuck.[break][break]

of course it didn’t have anything to do with his retirement.[break][break]

”sure. do what you do, man. it's bo, by the way.”[break][break]

thinking of willow, then, he realized that greyson had perhaps expected her to be there to help him. this was her job, and for whatever reason, she wasn’t there to do it.[break][break]

he turned, finally, hands sliding off his hips.[break][break]

”you want any help? i don’t know much about beekeeping, but… i got hands.”[break][break]

[attr="class","icon"]

”cool.”[break][break]

as he followed greyson to the hives, nacho, his vaporeon, came barreling towards them, set to run right past. bo swooped down and grabbed him up, twirling around in the process from the force.[break][break]

”no ya don’t!”[break][break]

while the vaporeon struggled against him, he reached down to grab a stick and throw it far as he could in the direction opposite of the hives. the vaporeon propelled off his chest and ran off again after it, but became distracted by something else in the grass a fair distance away, freeing them of hazardous antics for now.[break][break]

"nacho's trouble." surely, greyson was already aware, having been around plenty. the vaporeon was a mischief-maker ever on the prowl.[break][break]

”so, how do we do this?”[break][break]

[attr="class","icon"]

bo assumed everyone felt the way greyson did, so the sort of bitter air about him was not surprising–but it became more apparent simply by the contrast of his sudden amusement.[break][break]

huh.[break][break]

oh well. he figured the best he could do was pretend he didn’t notice and prove his good character moving forward.[break][break]

”easy. if you say so. i’ll be following your lead.”[break][break]

[attr="class","icon"]

”glad to help.”[break][break]

grass and weeds crunched beneath his boots, some burnt from the long summer, turned a muted gold.[break][break]

”just working on the farm, mainly,” he replied to greyson’s question. “but i’ve been thinkin’ about goin’ back at some point. lars was pretty cool about everything, after that interview my brother did.”[break][break]

[attr="class","icon"]

“oh... damn.”[break][break]

the disappointment was audible in his voice, enough to warrant the idea that he might have been thinking of returning to the rangers eventually. Laurence Anderson had offered him forgiveness and understanding when few others had.[break][break]

still, the stigma existed, as it always would. he was branded a villain, and honestly? it was fair. he deserved it, with more blood on his hands than he could ever admit to anyone around him. he did not belong in this world, but he would hold onto it until it was ripped away from him, gods forbid.[break][break]

what would greyson have said if he told him all of that blood had belonged to rocket’s own?[break][break]

“well, i’m sure ollie’s got it all under control. everybody seems to like him. i bet he’s a good leader.”[break][break]
though it could have been mistaken for jealousy, there was none. he liked ollie morales – enough to kiss him even, on one occasion. [break][break]