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The Preserve: Thursday lunch time

The Preserve was cool and shady, and Karal was smiling as Trenor picked his way into a very familiar clearing. Six months ago, he never would have thought Trenor's saddlebags would hold Chinese food, but then he never would have thought he'd be riding through the woods with his arms around Molly, or that such a place as Fandom even existed.

In the grand scheme of things, Chinese-laden saddlebags weren't that remarkable.

He drew Trenor to a halt and rested his chin on Molly's shoulder, maybe closing his arms around her a little tighter. "Do you think that this will do?"

[ooc: for Molly, of course, who was modded with permission, and up early for time zones and SP.]

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Molly leaned back against Karal and pressed her cheek to his as she looked around the clearing. "Yeah, this will do nicely," she said.

He smiled more and kissed her cheek before reining Trenor in and sliding off. "For some reason I seem to find myself in this clearing fairly often," he reached up to offer her a hand dismounting, "so I am glad you like it."

Molly grinned at the offered hand and got a glint in her eye that should warn Karal she was up to something.

The grin turned into a small pout as she looked at Karal. "I think I may need more help than that, Karal" she said and held out her arms to him. "I'm so out of practice, I might fall." She blinked innocently at him.

His first reaction was concern, stepping forward with a worried frown...until he met her eyes. "You have been gone a very long time," he said solemnly, hiding a grin of his own, and Trenor flicked an ear at him as he stepped closer and held out his arms. "I will not let you fall."

Molly put her arms around Karal's neck and slid awkwardly off of Trenor's back, forcing Karal to catch her around the waist. Letting him support her weight, she looked up at him, unable to keep the smirk off her face now. "My legs are all wobbly," she insisted. "You may have to hold me like this for a while."

"And that would be a terrible hardship," he told her, bending his head to kiss the tip of her nose. Trenor heaved a deep, patient, horsie sigh and Karal smiled as he let the reins fall, knowing he would not go far, so he could latch his fingers together behind Molly's back. "But a Priest helps any who needs it."

"Awww," she said with a small pout. "And here I was hoping it was just me." Quickly, before he could respond, she stretched up and kissed him so that he would know she was just teasing him.

He'd been about to say...actually, he hadn't been sure what he was going to say, but then Molly was kissing him and he forgot completely. The lingering shyness he'd felt whenever they'd kissed - even in Los Angeles - had been pretty much obliterated by last night, and he happily kissed her in return.

If it had been almost any other day, Molly would have happily stood there and kissed Karal for hours. But, it had been a very busy morning and she was starving and didn't really have that much time for lunch anyway. So, before she forgot herself too much, Molly ended the kiss and smiled up at Karal.

"We should probably remember to eat."

Karal gave her a quick hug before letting go. "You must be hungry after this morning." Trenor hadn't gone far, was nosing the grass, and he lifted his head as Karal caught the reins. "Good boy," he murmured, then unrolled the blanket from behind the saddle, laying it out on the grass, before unpacking the saddlebags and holding up the containers. "Lunch!"

Molly went over to stand by Trenor's head to pet him while Karal got the picnic ready. "Thank you so much for lunch. I'm starving!" she said.

With a few last hard pats for Trenor, she went to join Karal on the blanket. "Karal?" she asked as she sat down. "Where's Altra?"

He didn't answer right away, busied himself setting out the food, then hopped up to untack Trenor and slip his bridle off, clipping the long line to his halter.

Trenor started to graze and Karal sat next to Molly. "Altra has returned to Valdemar, to try and discover why the journey between there and here was so difficult," he answered quietly, trying to keep the worry out of his voice. "He has been gone for some time."

"That was a week and a half ago," Molly said, remembering the phone call after Karal recovered from his last jump. "He still hasn't come back?"

"There has been no sign of him. Molly, that last Jump? It was severely difficult, for him and for me." He turned so he was facing her, clasped hands resting on his knee and tried to smile. "But I am sure he is fine."

Molly put her hand over his clasped ones. "I'm sure he is too," she said.

She really wasn't worried about Altra at all. The concern she felt was all for Karal.

"Yes." He unclasped his hands so he could hold hers, and his smile became genuine. "Vkandis will watch over him, and send him safely back when it is time," he said determinedly. "And I think that we should have lunch, as I have to return you all too soon."

"Right." Molly grinned and gave his hand a squeeze before turning to the food. "It smells really good. What did you get?"

"Well," he admitted, blushing. "I have only had this type of food once before, and I am still not sure what everything is, so I mostly pointed at things." There were chopsticks and forks, and napkins, and he divided them between Molly and himself, before reaching for one of the cartons. "This one is a sweet and sour...chicken, I believe. It is one I haven't tried, but it sounded intriguing."

"Sweet and Sour chicken is really good," Molly said. "It's one of my favorites so if you don't like it, there'll be more for me!" She gave him a big grin.

He grinned back, very pleased. "And there are egg rolls, even if they do not look much like eggs, and rice, and," he opened the last carton and peered inside. "Chow mein? The woman who served me said it was good."

Molly opened her mouth to explain the why it was called an egg roll and blinked as she realized she didn't know why. "I have no clue why it's called an egg roll," she admitted with a grin. "They are yummy though.so is chow mein."

Karal pulled one out and offered it to her. "It all smells very good," he said, then blinked in surprise as Trenor suddenly stuck his nose out to try and grab the egg roll. "Trenor! It is for Molly, not you."

Molly giggled at Trenor. "I think he's feeling left out," she said. "I didn't think to bring an apple for him today."

"Nor did I, but I think he will survive." Karal pushed Trenor's nose away. The horse sighed, ears drooping, and lipped sadly at the grass. "He is a ham, and here is your egg roll. We will have to share the rest, as I did not think to get plates."

Molly accepted the roll and picked up the sweet and sour chicken. "You'd better eat quick then, because I really am starving." She took a big bite of her egg roll.

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