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For the past day or two, ever since he stopped by the Cooper farm and got his car fixed up, Neil has been driving aimlessly around Kansas and the surrounding area.

He's usually happy to stop for a chat. There really isn't that much to do around here except talk to strangers.

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"Sure thing."

Cute kid. He can't help smiling.

Bridgette beams! "Thanks! Y'hear that, Marie? Now you can finally stop bugging me."

"Careful," Bridge lectures, looping an arm around thin air in front of her. "Don't wanna fall off. Keep your hands on the saddle here...."

Oliver watches this with the embarrassment of seeing someone you know doing something bizarre - milder, in his case, since he doesn't know her that well. He glances at Neil and gives a small shrug. Kids be crazy.

"Who's Marie, Bridgette?"

"She's my sister. She's got the same blonde hair as me, it's just that our eyes are kinda different, 'cuz hers are brown and mine are blue."

Bridgette has given up explaining that Marie is invisible, since she's realized people assume that anyway.

"I'm ten." The ten year old who looks eight. "She's three. Which means," a faint roll of the eyes, her own version of 'kids be crazy', "That I gotta stop her fallin' off horses."

"Okay."

He tells himself it's just a kid with an invisible friend.

"Seems like you're doing a good job so far."

"Yep!" Bridgette replies, face breaking out into a big grin. People don't tend to appreciate how hard she works caring for her ghostly sister.

"So, riding lessons, huh?"

A glance to Oliver, assessing the relationship. It's obvious the kid's not his, but there's another connection and it's not exactly teacher to student. Uncle? Family friend? Or just one of those friendships the apocalypse seems to facilitate?

"Yeah," Bridgette replies, "I kept bugging him to let me ride his horse, and finally he said sure - though we don't get to go fast," she adds.

"You'll go faster when you've proven you can handle Beau at a walk, Miss Dubois," Oliver says, and he's said that a lot today. "She wore me down, I'm afraid," he says, with a small, tired smile.

The short story: student/teacher who have to see each other every day and have learned to tolerate each other.

The long story: After a rather disastrous attempt to lock up the weapons Bridgette received at her birthday party - Oliver was both scolded for it, then Bridgette stole the key to his chest and got her weapons back anyway - Oliver decided that he might as well see that the child learns some more feminine skills. Fortunately, Bridge has always wanted a pony. Thus, an alliance was born, though Bridge still thinks Oliver is a boring meanie-pants and Oliver still thinks Bridgette is an extremely troubled young girl who needs more supervision than she currently gets.

"I see," says Neil, and pretty much does.

He also sees that Oliver gets worn down quite a lot, either by Bridgette or by unknown forces.

Oliver's still working on the whole 'murderer of werecreatures who actually have souls' thing. He's tired in general lately.

"I've been walking with him this whole time!" Bridgette points out, scowling at the UNFAIRNESS OF IT ALL. "You've seen me, right?" she asks Neil.

"I have seen you walking, yes, although I haven't been here for very long so I'm not sure I count."

This is by way of being diplomatically neutral. Let's see how well it works out.

Oliver seizes on it. "We only just started our lesson." Thank God. "I assure you, Miss Dubois, no equestrian has ever gone past walking in their first lesson. You need time to get to know the horse, the horse needs time to get to know you--"

Bridgette interrupts. She has a low boredom threshold. "Well, if I gotta walk....Where're you from?"

Genial: "Who, me?"

"No." Eyeroll. "The car."

"Well, both of us do a lot of travelling, but I'm from the year 2307 and the car's from sometime in the 2100s."

Neil's deadpan needs work. It's the twinkle in his eye that gives it away.

"I bet you miss the robots." Beat. "Unless the robots have enslaved humanity."

It's the future - of course there're robots.

"There aren't that many real robots around. Machines, sure, but not ones that can think for themselves."

Bridgette gives a disappointed, "Aw."

Oliver comments, "We have a robot around the farm - or I believe so, I've not seen him lately - named Thrust. He's a transformer, and has both a motorcycle form and a robot form. Good fellow to have in a fight."

"That's good to know. Technology like that is... scarce, where I'm from."

"And the world outside the farm can be quite perilous. I'd avoid going to Jacksonville - last I checked, there were zombies there."

"Where's that?"

No skepticism for the news of zombies. Neil has seen enough of this world's bizarre quirks to err on the side of caution.

Oliver begins to point the directions, then fishes around the inner pocket of his grey suit and pulls out a travel map, which he'll hand to Neil and point out the way to Jacksonville.

The fishing around causes a few pamphlets to fall to the ground - Christ In Your Daily Life and 'He Died For Your Sins' - The Glory of the Gospel - which he gathers up, with a small frown at his carelessness.

Neil doesn't comment on the pamphlets. He notices, but he doesn't comment.

He does pay close attention to the directions. Jacksonville: place to avoid. Duly noted.

"How'd you lose your eye?" is Bridgette's next question.

Oliver looks up from stuffing his coat pocket full of pamphlets to frown sharply at her. "Miss Dubois, remember your manners," he lectures.

"What?" asks the oblivious Bridgette - who's not quite so oblivious as she appears, but she's learned that being a kid lets you get away with a lot.

Strangely, Neil grins.

It fades after a second or two.

"Got in a fight," he says neutrally.