Chapter Text
“…so I’m thinking I need to give them a budget to work with.”
“Uh.” Lucy was struggling to keep up with Jane’s rapidfire discussion of her plan for this Model Free Cities plan. The teacher had nervously stopped her as she was making morning deliveries to see if they could chat after school was out. With nothing else on the docket that day, Lucy had cheerfully agreed. Jane was still new in town, despite having grown up here, and Lucy was sympathetic to the way the other woman had started out being bombarded by the locals the moment she said hello.
Once you got her less nervous, though, Jane could really talk your ear off with her thinking aloud. She’d been chattering away about Model Free Cities from the moment Lucy agreed to help her talk to the parents and now they were nearly down the hill.
“Though maybe that’s too restrictive. Pebbles is really young, though he’s learning really fast. Andy and Jasmine are such big dreamers, it would be a shame to start off crushing that.”
“Try to focus that, I think,” Lucy said, “That’s a good start. Andy certainly can focus when he’s motivated.” The kid’s hobby of making diagrams was a getting little intimidating as he integrated pointers from both her and Qi. So far only the Super Shock Sheild Mark II had been viable, but he was getting close to making something actually buildable on a regular basis. “Give them the restrictions once they’re past the initial stages, maybe.”
They turned the corner to see that Rambo was in front of Logan’s house. Lucy hadn’t been sure. She knew he tried to get Andy from school more often. It bothered him how often he was gone, enough that he’d talked a lot about it on their riding date out in the desert last week, and Logan was not a talker.
He certainly hadn’t been talkative once they reached that little watering hole. She felt her face flush as she thought about it.
“Are you okay, Lucy?” Jane asked, “Make sure you’re drinking water, it’s getting hotter out.”
“Er, I’m fine, it’s just a long walk down the hill.”
Jane nodded, adjusting her hat. “Oh, trust me, I know. Do you know the kids like to just go running down it at the end of the day? I’d love to have that kind of energy!”
Rambo bleated a greeting as they approached. Jane dropped back a step, eyeing the animal cautiously. The goat was geared up still, which probably meant Logan was headed out again. Lucy pulled one of her homemade granola bars and gave it to him. It was a belated thanks for initiating events the other week, but Jane took it as a way to calm him down. “I didn’t know goats could be this big,” she said, gently reaching out to touch Rambo’s shoulder. The goat flicked an ear towards her and back, but kept munching happily on the granola bar.
“They’re a Eufala breed,” Lucy sad, reciting what Logan had told her as she scratched Rambo at the base of the horns, “Howlett bought him and Merle at a village way far out in the desert for Logan and Haru when they were just starting to really hunt on their own. Logan thinks the village was lost to the sands.”
“So many things have been.” Jane patted the goat with tentative fondness. “Well, if he’s here, Mr. Logan should be, so let’s go see if we can talk?”
Lucy nodded and patted Merle on the nose. Jane stood at the door, looking nervous again. Lucy gave her a reassuring smile and knocked. It was tempting to use her key- Logan would know it was her, Logan always knew it was her- but they were still trying to keep quiet about things.
The door flew open, making both women jump back. Logan was holding it open, sparing them only a glance and small nod, keeping his attention on Andy. “I gotta run, bounty to take care of,” he told the boy, who was standing on the stairs, “Stay home an’ do yer homework, alright?”
“You got it! Ain’t no problem, my homework is history!” Andy said, gung-ho as ever. Lucy could smell food, they must have managed to have an early dinner together. “Well, it’s math, but…”
“Oh, sorry, is this a bad time?” Jane asked, “We can come back.”
Logan shook his head and gestured for them to come in, his eyes meeting Lucy’s for a brief heated glance. She thought she saw a little flush on his sun-kissed cheeks. He’d missed her, too. “Nah, ain’t a problem. I can make some time for Andy’s future. C’mon in.”
Lucy looked over at Andy to see him roll his eyes and silently mimic Logan. She glowered at him dramatically and he shrugged.
“Well, thank you!” Jane told Logan brightly, “Actually, we’re here to talk about a “Model Free Cities” after-school activity.”
“After school?” Andy muttered, “We’re gonna have after school, too?” Lucy and Logan both shot him a look to tell him to shut it.
“It’s, uh, well it’s a way for the children to learn about how to run a city,” Jane said, her nervousness fighting with her enthusiasm, “The idea is that they can each come up with a development plan and present it to our judges, who will then vote one of them in as mayor. Over the next month, we’ll work together to simulate putting that plan into action.”
“Well that sounds like a heck of an idea,” Logan said, “If it helps Andy learn, I’m all for it.”
“Thank you so much!” She turned toward Andy. “Andy, do you have any ideas for something to present?”
The kid was all into the idea now he’d heard it. “That’s crazy! I was jus’ thinkin’ the other day, dang, if I were mayor, I’d turn this whole town into a theme park! Why ain’t there a big slide goin’ from my house to the Blue Moon?”
Logan chuckled. “Sounds like you better write it down an’ tell everyone all about it, kid.” He turned back to Jane. “Oh, I been meaning’ to ask ya, we owe any fees lately? Andy said he needed a hundred Gols for textbooks an’ the like; I wanted to know when we gotta pay again.”
“Gols?” Lucy asked, her expression as confused as Jane’s. She’d been dragged into a lot of planning meetings about the school as it was being built, and after Mi-an’s big donation any talk of fees had been happily tossed out.
Andy’s excitement turned into a hurry to be anywhere else. “Wouldya look at the time? I ain’t done the dishes yet, an’ there’s all that homework…” He started up the stairs.
Logan reached over and grabbed him by the back of the shirt, halting his progress upstairs. “Hold one, you ain’t goin’ nowhere.”
”We, uh, never asked for any fees,” Jane said, clutching her hands in front of her as Logan’s intense gaze fixed on her, “The school is free for every student.”
Andy stood frozen with one foot each on separate steps. He refused to meet the glower Logan turned on him. “I can explain.”
”You little-“ Logan cut himself out, closing his eyes for a second, then looked at his guests. He kept hold of Andy and cleared his throat. “Jane, Luce, I reckon it’s best you two head off now, Andy here’s got ‘bout a million years of chores to get through now.”
Jane’s adjusted her glasses and her eyes went to the clock on the nearby wall. “Oh, would you look at the time. I think it’d be best if we go then.”
Logan gave them a tight smile. “Be seein’ ya,” he said, the words mostly directed to Lucy, his face flashing an apologetic expression before he turned toward his charge.
Lucy touched her lips for a second as she and Jane bustled out the door.
“Whew,” Jane said, “I’ve always found Logan a tad intimidating but I didn’t expect him to be so… caring.”
Lucy smiled fondly, listening for any argument to come out of the house, but Andy seemed to be quietly accepting his fate. Not really a way to argue his way out of this one. “Logan’s a sweetheart, really. I know you heard all those stories before coming out here, but he’s…he’s really a good man.”
“You can tell he really cares about Andy's future. It's touching, really. Just glad I’m not in Andy’s shoes right now. We should head to Pebbles house. I’ve got so much to do now we’re really going to do this!”
Lucy nodded, looking back at Logan’s house one more time before they headed to Rock and Krystal’s place, wondering just how long Andy thought he could get away with that scam.