54 - Roscoe Reagan Original

*Don’t think I’ve ever made a bike for a dog before. – Roscoe*
The last few days that they were in Massachusetts, Camille and Darkness split their time between her parents’ house, the Shack and a daytrip for them to go hunting with the musketeers and Priscilla. The late season hunting was limited to primitive firearms, which was something that Darkness had never done before.
Taking him out to the gun range that was behind the Shack, the three other men had taught Darkness how to load, aim and shoot a musket. He very quickly learned that you did not aim the same way with a musket as you did with a modern long gun. Unsurprisingly, he did not hit anything.
At the range or in the wild.
Both girls and Porthos each bagged a deer. Athos and Aramis grumbled good naturedly. Priscilla let it slip that Athos had already reached his limit for the year, but this was only the second time that Aramis had been able to get out.
Neither could go during the football season. But it had ended early with a perfect season… of losses. They accepted some good-natured ribbing about their season. All three were on an athletic scholarship to Worcester State University. Priscilla insisted that the upcoming softball season could only be better than the winless football season.
Camille pointed out that last year, the LSU swim and dive team finished in 10th place for the SEC. Porthos got in on it and told them that the Army had five more wins than Worcester State. Unable to help himself, Darkness asked who won the Army Navy game and promptly received a middle finger.
With a 31-7 win over the Knights, the Midshipmen claimed the bragging rights for another year. And a spot in the Autozone Liberty Bowl in Memphis on the last day of the year. They all gathered in the Shack to watch the Navy beat Kansas State by three points.
Camille was relaxed here with her closest friends. She opened up, smiled and laughed in ways that he did not see often down in Louisiana. Her friends accepted her as she was and did not judge her for her quirks. They teased her for her voyeurism in the back hallway, but there was no heat or judgement.
As Darkness watched her, he decided that he had made the right decision in speaking with Cookie the day after Christmas. His little light deserved to be somewhere that she was loved and accepted. Although she enjoyed being in Louisiana and had a few friends with the brothers and a couple of the Cajun’s club girls, it was nothing like what she had here.
Just a few days after the new year, they flew back home and to Camille’s confusion they landed in Austin. When she asked, Darkness simply smiled. The morning after they arrived, they headed out on a new custom bike with Roscoe Reagan Original flashing.
It was painted flat black with silver chrome accents. The gas tank was wide set, and the body tapered in. Over the back tire was a custom padded dog seat. They also had new helmets, goggles and a harness for Tink. Darknesses helmet was flat black with a small Virgo constellation at the back. Camille’s was a glossy cosmos with stars and constellations encircling it.
The specialized helmet for Tink had a certain fairy with pixie dust all over it.
Camille had only gone from Austin to Baton Rouge once. But she was certain that they did not go through Shreveport. Houston and Lake Charles, yes. Shreveport, no.
Darkness pulled into a parking lot for a restaurant and parked off to the side. There was a high-end SUV with Arkansas plates that looked familiar and Camille looked up at Darkness. The smile he gave her was tight and she was certain that he was questioning this decision.
Stretching up on her toes, she wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him down for a kiss. When they broke apart, he rested his forehead on hers.
“If they say anything, or make you uncomfortable, we’re out,” he assured her quietly.
“Okay,” she agreed and smiled at him.
Walking inside, Darkness helped Camille remove her jacket. Smiling, he looked at her exposed tattoo. He loved that new tattoo, almost as much as he loved the woman it was on. The one thing that they had done while they were in Austin was to go shopping for halter tops.
Reed’s wife, Kristen, took Camille’s measurements and promised to send them some custom tops and dresses through her clothing line, Lyme. Although she specialized in lingerie and corsets, she also had started a new line, Lymon, that could be worn in public.
The bright blue silk halter top had black trim, buttons and laces for the corset style back at the lower half of her back. The top corner of the D on her DS tattoo peeked above the material. The entire property patch was exposed.
When Trigg saw it, Darkness was surprised that her father insisted that the other man receive a property patch tattoo also. Even Camille was surprised by her father’s anger.
“You get a property tat, or that one gets covered up,” Trigg had insisted. “You earned your patch, if you’re going to be property, then so is he.”
Absently, Darkness reached up and touched his chest where his new ink was. White ink stars formed a heart that declared *I belong among the stars* on the label of a Mezcal bottle with the worm at the bottom of the bottle.
Jasper stood up and smiled as they made their way over to the table. Although she was expecting them, seeing Jasper and Keisha caused Camille to pause. Leaning down, Darkness murmured in her ear just before kissing her neck.
“We can leave if you want.”
His quiet words reassured her, and she smiled as she started to move forward again.
Stepping around the table, Jasper hugged Camille. “I’m sorry. I didn’t realize how much you meant to him.”
At first, she was shocked, but she returned the hug and nodded. She didn’t trust her voice. Even if she could speak, she wasn’t sure what she would say.
They sat down and enjoyed a friendly lunch. Camille was surprised to learn that they had looked up her diving record. Even more surprising, they asked if they could attend her next meet at LSU.
“That would be great.” Camille said, excited that they wanted to see her dive.
“You’ll have to forgive us.” Keisha said as she laid her hand over the small pale one on the table.
“All that we saw was a young woman going after Amos. We thought that you were just trying to get his money. Or that you were just another slut wanting a patch.”
Camille looked from their hands to the large man next to her. Smiling, she shook her head.
“No. He could be a poor beggar for all I care. He is the darkness in which I can shine.”
The waitress came around to their table and offered desert. Camille looked at the pecan pie in the display case with a dreamy look of longing. Darkness chuckled at her and ordered two slices of the pie, warmed with ice cream.
“I really shouldn’t,” she told him.
“Coach will have you in the gym and pool working it all off before classes even start,” he pointed out and she nodded with a grin.
“Might as well,” Keisha said and ordered a slice for herself.
The waitress looked at Jasper with an expectant smile.
“No, thank you,” he shook his head. “But I will take a large slice of the crunch cake, no ice cream.”
She walked away and one of the regular patrons who was seated at the counter asked her to turn the TV up. They all turned to see the press conference concerning the new super flu that was taking over China.
“What have you heard about this?” Camille asked Jasper. “They say it’s a respiratory disease.”
“From what I’ve heard, it’s a version of SARS,” he said. "But there’s not a lot known.”
“Think it’ll get bad?” Darkness asked as the waitress brought over coffees.
“Decaf, please,” Camille said, and the waitress nodded.
A moment later, she returned with a black cup with a thick band of orange around the top near the rim. “Cream or sugar?”
Darkness and Camille both declined, and the two doctors accepted the offer.
“Honestly,” Keisha said as she poured as much creamer into her cup as she could, “I think I’ve seen a few cases.”
“Really?” Camille asked as the waitress brought the deserts to the table.
Keisha nodded as she ate a spoonful of the melting ice cream. “We’ve had a few patients come into the ER with flu symptoms. But it doesn’t test like flu.”
“We’ve had some like that in pulmonary, too,” Jasper agreed.