Opposition for Profit

Merrilyn smiled nodding her head. “Less cleaning, both the house and the child”, she agreed. Melting chocolate in young child’s hands could cause surprisingly big mess. Her smile softened and it was easy to tell from her smile that she appreciated those words a lot. Although the ‘meaningful connection’ made her smile turn slightly amused. “This is the first time I hear someone describing friendship as a meaningful connection”, she teased a bit, but then patted Nick’s arm gently letting the smile soften again. “But we share that thought. You are dear to me.” Her smile was warm and you could see there was no lie in her words. She did consider Nicholas dear to her heart and she wanted him to know she thought like that. The talk about Justin and Kris made the smile fade a bit and her gaze moved down from Nick’s face and a small sigh came from her lips. “I guess I want to save him from sadness. I know it’s not possible, but..” She shrugged a bit. She knew she asked too much from herself, things that weren’t even possible and she knew that, but it didn’t mean she didn’t try to do them anyway. “And.. I guess in some level I’m scared to give my heart a try after such a long time. I know I talk about love and about loving to others, tell them to take the step and to reach for it, but then I won’t let myself do it. I mean.. The way me and John split up back in the day wasn’t the best breakup, especially when the aftermath was the fact he didn’t want to have anything to do with his son. Or well, him not wanting to have anything to do with his child was the exact reason why we did part ways. Of course I loved him in a way, as much as you could say you can love someone in the few month long relationship. And after him I haven’t dated anyone because I decided to concentrate on raising a child instead of thinking him not having a father.”

“Well,” he said, chuckling, a touch embarrassed, “I suppose I could have used different words.” His cheeks reddened slightly, but it wasn’t bad embarrassment. He felt comfortably enough with Merrilyn to make mistakes in her presence. “But it’s true, is it not?” he asked with a shy grin. His heart warmed in his chest, and he was suddenly very glad that he’d met Merrilyn. In another life, perhaps, he thought maybe they could have even given a relationship a go. Now the thought seemed funny, they were simply too good of friends. “You’re dear to me too,” he assured her, reaching over to cover her hand with his own. He remained quiet again as Merrilyn spoke, frowning slightly at the mention of saving Kris from sadness. He understood the urge, he really did, but he also knew that too much sheltering could easily do more harm than good. The world could be a cruel place and, unfortunately, everyone would get a taste of that sooner rather than later. It was good she knew she couldn’t protect him forever, though Nick still worried about the first time something less than savory happened. For both Merrilyn and Kris’s sakes. “No, I completely understand,” Nick said, reaching out and taking Merrilyn’s hand in his own. He gave it a brief squeeze, hoping to let her know that he was here for her. “I’m a lot like that too. I can preach about things all day, but when it comes to actually doing them myself? It’s...remarkably difficult. But...” He trailed off, giving her a soft smile. “I took a chance, followed your advice, and now I’m having a ton of fun with Trinity. It’s not serious yet, but I think it could be. And if it can happen for me, taking a chance might be just as good a thing for you.” Leading her to the living room, Nick took a seat on his couch, patting the spot beside him as an invitation. “It’s easy, I’d imagine, to lose yourself in being a parent, and to push the part wanting to date or get back out there down deep. But...well. Sometimes, I think, you just have to take a chance, take that jump. It’s up to you, of course, but I would encourage you to perhaps talk to Justin. Just to see where he’s at, if nothing else.” He offered her what he hoped was a comforting smile, eager to see her be happy.

“Even if they did care, I don’t. Besides, you seem to enjoy the outfit and if it gets a smile out of you, it’s all worth it.” Sliding her arm around his, she looked up at him with a beaming smile, ready to explore this ice bar and have a good time. “Oh, I’m sure. It is nice and cozy. Mix this with a few shots of whiskey and I won’t have to worry about being warm for a while. Locking up and walking out to his car, she thanked him for his gentlemanly ways of helping her inside. Buckling up, she got comfortable, enjoying how the seat seemed to hug her small frame. “Longer than it should have been, that’s for sure. But better late than never. This adulting stuff keeps getting in the way,” she sighed, making a face of disgust as she mentioned adulting. “Oh, you know. Same old stuff. I hired more people for the theater, so I had some time on my hands. You’d think I’d sit back and relax, but of course, I didn’t. I was offered to teach a continuing education class at the local college, so now I get to teach both the tiny tots and adults how to shine on stage. As for the animal onesies? Admit it, you love it.” Chuckling a bit, she glanced out of the window then turned her attention back to him. “What about you? Ready for this election?”

“Oh, come on now,” he chuckled, gently nudging her shoulder with his hand, “Don’t do it just for me. Sure, I very much enjoy the outfit, but if you feel more comfortable in something else...” He trailed off, confident Reese would pick up on where he was going with that statement. Huffing out a laugh, Nick nodded his head. “No kidding, right? There’s something great about a good -- well, it’d be a scotch shot for me, but still. A good shot of alcohol generally tends to warm the blood in the best way.” It had been a long time since Nick had gotten well and truly drunk, but he remembered the warmth that alcohol afforded him well enough. Groaning, Nick nodded. “No kidding, right? Adulting really does tend to get in the way. Especially as of late.” He made a face, mirroring Reese’s own. He lit up as Reese talked about her success, a low, rumbling laugh emitting from his chest. “Good for you! I bet that extra cash from the teaching job doesn’t hurt. Are you enjoying it?” Teaching adults was a lot different than teaching kids, Nick assumed. “But of course I love it,” he laughed, giving her onesie a once over once more. His mouth ran dry at her next words though, and he gave a reflexive swallow. “Ah...well. As ready as one can be, I suppose,” he said, voice slightly weak.

“Yes, and it’s a bitch to deal with.” Continuing with her play on words. It was a lively game to be sure of. knocking into others but mostly the pair exchanged blows as she laughed all the while. Transported to a carefree sense of childishness as most people often did in such things– all flirtatious quips and glances aside. Almost wanting to just stay planted in her seat when the rides halted all too quickly. Just before she was going to ram into him once more, too. Sighing at the loss of the last blow, she got out and hooked their arms together once more. “It’s nice to know you can handle me without fear, at least.” The woman winked over to him. “Something you’ll soon regret, though. I think we need to go and thoroughly embarrass ourselves at that hammer bell hitting thing.” Gesturing over to the age old game that tested out your strength and where hardly anyone could pound the ball high enough to ding the bell at the top.

“Well, I would certainly hope I could,” he said, cheeks flushed from both her proximity and his own exhilaration. “I handle people quite regularly. Some disliking me even more than you did, I believe, when we originally met.” It wasn’t a secret, Nick thought, that she didn’t care overmuch for his ideas. Still though, they seemed to fit in an odd way. He laughed as he followed her gaze, a small groan being torn from his throat. “Goodness, excellent. It’s not like those things are set up to make us lose or anything.” Oddly though, Nick didn’t really recoil from the idea of embarrassing himself. It seemed bearable as long as Trinity was there with him. “You’re on though, of course, though I make no promises about my strength.” He halfheartedly flexed a bicep, snorting at himself a moment later.

A look of being rushed to open the door slowly turned into one of amusement, a wide smirk replacing the slightly opened jaw look she had once before. Seeing that her quick choice of clothing was quite comical for the man, she decided to play it up, even doing a small turn to show off the onesie. “Well, it was the first thing I grabbed. I wasn’t particularly planning to wear this out to the bar, but seeing as how you enjoy it so much, maybe I will,” she declared, opening the door wider for him to walk through while she grabbed a few last minute things, like her shoes, and an extra outfit to stuff into her purse. By wearing something out of the norm, it may even get Nick to stay on the track of opening him up more, which was always a good thing. Sliding her arm through the strap and letting her purse sit on her shoulder, she put the hood up over her head to give off the full animal look before looking up at him. “Ready when you are!”

“Are you serious?” Nick asked, genuinely gleeful expression settling over his face. “You should. It’s close enough to Halloween that no one should care.” He would find it hilarious if Reese was actually brave enough to go out in that. Nick himself would have never been so bold. It seemed she was ready for it though, and Nick stood aside, laughing once more as she came to stand beside him.Offering her his arm, Nick shook his head. “I’m ready right now. At least that will keep you warm in the bar.” Moving his way down to his car, he made sure to pop the car door for her, waiting until she was settled before crossing over to his side. “So, it’s been a little while since we’ve hung out. What’s been going on? Anything new? Aside from going out in animal onesies, I mean?”

“A blast, love.” She assured him. Hitting the first target right ahead only to get rammed from behind in a grunt that lurched her as much as the belt she wore would allow. Finding the culprit to be Nick himself, she narrowed her eyes but a laugh broke that facade quickly as she clunkily steered herself to turn, bumping into the messy pile of others along the way. “Oh, now you’re in for it, Nicholas. Now, prepare yourself for hurricane Trinity.” Wow, her smack talk needed an upgrade. It didn’t matter to her, though, she was have a blast in this competitive moment between them in such a place.

Laughing, Nick looked behind him, forgetting that you couldn’t really back up in these things. Instead, he maneuvered around the best he could, getting jostled in the process. “Hurricane Trinity, huh?” he asked, smile crinkling the corners of his eyes, “I think you can do better than that, come on now.” They were both stuck in the shuffle, but Nick lurched his weight forward in a lame attempt to cut them both loose. “Guess I wouldn’t mind getting caught up in it though,” he flirted, slightly surprised at his own boldness.

“I mean, some politicians have this harsh voice and they sound like they are yelling just to get your attention. Yours is nice and subtle without scaring the daylights out of me. Now I’m just sounding really creepy,” Cami made a face as she shook her head. “I’m so used to earthquakes over hurricanes. I used to sleep through earthquakes like it was nothing and my parents would be confused on how I slept through it. Heavy sleeper, I guess,” she shrugged as she nodded. “I’ve been really good, actually. Really good. How about you?”

“I don’t think that’s creepy,” Nick said with a chuckle, shaking his head. “I think that’s a nice compliment. At least I don’t shout.” He wrinkled his nose then, making a face. “I agree though. Some politicians just yell to get their point across and it’s so jarring.” Wincing, Nick shook his head. “Gosh, no thank you on earthquakes. I’ve never experienced one before. Wow though. You must be a heavy sleeper to sleep through all that.” With a smile, Nick shrugged a shoulder. “I’ve been good as well. My sister’s back in town which is...odd, but I’m happy to see her.”

Merrilyn laughed when Nick realised why raisins might have a hidden danger. His expression surely was worth telling that story. “Luckily nowadays he tends to like normal raisins more than the chocolate ones. We’ll see how long that’ll stay and when the chocolate raisins are the master race again.” That could take few weeks, or months or who knows, maybe even years. But definitely something you just had to wait and see when it’d happen. “Oh look at that, we are hand in hand here as well”, she laughed. “But just so you know, I really appreciate our friendship.” It was something that was 100% true. Surely their friendship had built up really quickly, but it didn’t mean it wasn’t really important to Merrilyn. They didn’t talk at daily basis, even weekly, but it didn’t mean their friendship wasn’t good. She grinned a bit at Nick and patted his arm. “Nothing wrong with the planning, just remember not to stress over it. Not every date needs to be fancier than the other. Sometimes bringing take-away is the perfect date.” And then she got a bit more serious again. It was clear she wasn’t sure how to word it out, and after a moment she just let out a sigh. It was better to go back in time a bit. “It’s just.. Well. Kris’s dad was never around, like you know. It has always been just me and him. And of course my sisters and my mom time to time as well. But mostly just us two. I haven’t dated anyone since his dad. And I’m not saying I’m scared of dating again, I’d love to have someone. But what I’m scared of is what if things don’t work out. That what if I just make a fool of myself. That what if Kris thinks he gets someone in his life just to have him walk away. He’s so young, he doesn’t understand things like that yet. He still hasn’t really even questioned how come his dad isn’t around while his friends do have their dad’s there. So I just.. I just want to keep him safe. Give him a bit better youth than mine was.”

“That is probably a good thing,” Nick laughed. “Much less hassle, cleanup wise, especially considering chocolate likes very much to melt wherever it’s dropped.” Kris was a great kid, but he was still three years old. Nick imagined there were still some messes that were a pain to clean up. His expression softened, and Nick smiled down at her, giving a firm nod of his head. “I appreciate our friendship too, Merrilyn. Truly.” He knew it was easy to think all politicians lied, and Nick had to agree with it. He softened truths on the campaign trail plenty of times. But with this, he wanted to be emphatic, and he wanted Merrilyn to know he was telling the truth. “I’ll be honest...I haven’t had very many close friends throughout my life. I’ve always been...pressured to do well, which didn’t lend well to meaningful connections with people. So I just...I feel very thankful that you came into my life. Because I think this is a meaningful connection.” He’d been building more of those lately, friendships not solely for political gain, and he thought it was doing him well. “Right,” he sighed, “I do need to remember that. Maybe after a few dates I can invite her over for some takeout. I think that’s a good way to get to know each other. Just...in a relaxed atmosphere.” Plus, she’d never seen his home. Nodding silently, Nick bit the inside of his cheek. “Well, I understand that. I understand wanting to protect Kris and give him the best childhood. I really do. And if things don’t work out...I don’t think that will take away from his childhood. He knows you love him, he knows he’s got you no matter what. So if Justin comes and goes...well. I don’t think that will be bad for him. He’ll be upset, surely but...I certainly don’t think it will shake him up as much as you might think. I mean...I had two loving parents all throughout my childhood, but that wasn’t really what made it what it was. I guess all I’m saying is you shouldn’t be afraid to take a chance, even if it might mean Justin comes and goes. Becuase you never know...he could stay.”

@nicholasharrison

It had been longer than she would have liked since she hung out with Nicholas, so when he offered to pick her up for a night on the town, she was more than happy to accept. Now although they joked around with it being a ‘date’ she knew that it wasn’t - but it didn’t stop her from taking the time to put in some effort into her choice of clothing. She decided on a simple black dress with appropriate accessories before realizing that she hadn’t been to this place and the fact that its name was ‘icebar’ resulted in her actually looking the place up. Below freezing? she read aloud to herself, before looking down at her dress. Well, this isn’t going to work. So she went to change. Hearing the knock, she wasn’t dressed yet, so she grabbed the first thing she could get her hands on, which happened to be a red panda adult onesie, put it on, and opened the door with a bright smile. “Hey! So funny story…I was dressed! Swear! Then I realized that this bar is made out of ICE! and well, I didn’t want a frozen ass, so I went to change, and this happened.”

Nick had been wanting to put himself out of his comfort zone recently, and a local kind of unorthodox bar seemed the perfect way to do it. He hadn’t seen Reese in a while, so she seemed the perfect person to invite to go with him. Nick made himself presentable, being careful to bring some warm clothing for the atmosphere. Knocking on Reese’s door, he had to admit he was slightly surprised when it took her a minute to open up. He was even more surprised with what she opened the door wearing. Abruptly, he felt a laugh bubble up from his chest, and he clapped a hand over his mouth. “Oh my gosh,” he said after he’d caught his breath. “I -- do you just have those onesies completely on hand? Are you wearing that to the bar?” He kind of wanted her to, if he were being honest with himself. It would be rather funny. 

“Next time I’ll bring you raisins”, she said with a chuckle, “and after you’ve eaten half I’ll let you know they used to be chocolate raisins.” She grinned and waited few seconds before explaining why exactly that wouldn’t be a good thing. “When Kris was younger he used to just suck the chocolate from the chocolate raisins and leave the raisins behind.” At the time it definitely wasn’t fun, but now looking back it was rather hilarious. “No wonder we are friends – you are the salty and I’m the sweet.” Merrilyn definitely liked sweet things more than salty ones, she would always choose the sweet snacks instead of salty ones during movie nights. “It sounds like there definitely will be more dates for you two. And don’t over-plan the dates, sometimes the most simple and ordinary one can be even better than the extremely planned ones.” She just didn’t want Nick to take too much stress on planning the dates, because that way he only makes his own life complicated and stressful. When the topic returned back to Merrilyn and Justin, she listened Nick’s opinion and eventually hummed softly. “I haven’t said anything about it to him. I’m sort of waiting for any kind of sign from him, something that would tell what he truly thinks.” She sighed. “I wouldn’t hesitate even for a second if it would be just about me. But I have to think about Kris. Because everything I do always affects him as well, so I have to be more careful with my own decisions.”

Nick laughed, brows furrowing slightly as she spoke. He was about to ask how they’d only used to be chocolate raisins, when Merrilyn explained. “Oh gross,” he groaned, making a face as he chuckled, “Okay, that might be a bad choice to bring to a party, even I can admit that. I don’t blame Kris though. The chocolate is very obviously the best part.” Nick didn’t mind regular raisins, but as a kid, he probably would have done something similar. “Isn’t that the truth,” he said warmly, reaching out and patting Merrilyn’s shoulder. “They do say those two often go hand in hand.” Her advice was well taken, and Nick nodded his head, heaving a sigh. “I know. I know overplanning can come across as me trying too hard. I suppose it’s just -- well. She’s such a cultured lady. I want to impress.” Nick didn’t really know how not to give it his all. He just also wasn’t quite sure how to balance it appropriately. Folding his hands, Nick weighed her statement, finally nodding his head. “I understand that. Kris always comes first. Why are you afraid of bringing it up with Justin for Kris though, if I may ask?” Nick didn’t see the issue of her asking where he stood, even with Kris involved but...well. Nick also wasn’t a parent. He’d need some perspective before he could offer any advice.

“That’s why we’re on this date. So I can learn more.” As his cart was positioned behind her, she looked over her shoulder at him. Tossing in a wink and playful grin. Letting him know she was ready for the challenge before turning back in her seat. Gripping the wheel, she waited for the ding and ‘rev’ of the carts for her to be able to steer her way into a couple of other players that happened to be in their round of play.

“Well, I certainly hope you’re learning more,” he said with a brief nod of his head. He was interested to see if Trinity would stick around after learning the more nuanced parts of him. “And I certainly hope you’re having fun, as well.” Sitting comfortably within the bumper car, Nick tightened his fingers around the wheel, laughing as the ding sounded. He steered around a few different people, one goal in mind. He had to ram Trinity, there was no other option. Coming up behind her green car, Nick hit the back end of it, smooshing her up against a few other cars in the process. Laughing, he gave her a two fingered salute, tipping her a wink. “Told you I’m good,” he called out, cheeks flushed with the excitement.

“You just have that voice. You don’t need a voiceover if you do any of those ads. You just have to talk,” she let out a small laugh as she nodded. “It’s sad, really. And in some areas, people are still affected from Irma and Harvey, and those were over a year ago. I have a feeling Michael might be the same way.” She gave a small sigh in thought for a moment as she looked at him. “I might take you up on that after my coffee.”

“I...suppose that’s a good thing,” he said with a brief chuckle. “Having a good voice has its perks, I suppose.” He’d never thought much about it, but maybe if being a politician didn’t pan out, he could do books on tape. “I have no doubt it will,” he said with a sigh, “I’ve heard that this is the strongest storm to hit that area...ever, really.” It was rapidly nearing a Category 5, and it was making Nick nervous. “Oh, no rush of course,” he assured her. “How have you been though?”

“I appreciate it.” She grinned while allowing for their eye contact to linger a few beats. Breaking the gaze when she pushed up a breathy laugh. “Blue bear it is. You can even name it ‘Blue Berry’ to have a perfect fit or is there another title you have in mind?As for me, green.” Trinity didn’t even need to think. “Green has always been my favorite and given the options, I’ll always pick green.” Sizing the man up whom she was linked with as she let forth a contemplative hum. “I would’ve taken you for a man to at least wait on the fifth date.” Cutting right to the point as she wondered if Nick’s skin could create another shade even deeper than the one he sported. “Like getting beat in the game of tag on wheels?” Almost skipping her way into the rink once they were passed into the next group of people, she went and made a beeline for one of the green bumpers, true to her word.

“I hadn’t much thought about a name,” he admitted with a brief chuckle. “But blueberry does seem rather apt.” It was a good play on words, even though Nick probably wouldn’t do much with the bear should it be won. “Green,” he said, nodding once, “I can see that. It suits you.” Immediately, his mind went to seeing her in something green. He could only imagine how it would make her eyes pop. Breathing out a laugh, Nick resisted the urge to roll his eyes. His skin didn’t flush a deeper red, but rather stayed at the same shade. “Well, I suppose there’s a lot you don’t know about me,” he teased. Huffing, he did roll his eyes this time, making his way to a purple car that seemed appropriate. No matter the color, he was confident he’d win.

Audrey raised both her thumbs at Nick’s words, completly agreeing with him, she herself had to move from her comfort zone to this new one where she couldn’t communicate as she did before and while it took her while, everything ended quite good for her. Placing the sprayer back on the counter she grabbed a comb and began running it through the wild long curls and she wondered how, with that rebeli-ish hairstyle did the man manage to do his work when he had to look neat. Whatever the reason was and no matter how good this style suited him, Audrey had to make it look smart. Once combed, she moved to the coutner and wrte on her pad. “We do. We do all kinds of things here, artistic makeup gives us a lot of freedome on the creative side. We love The Walking Dead fans, for example.” She smiled as she wrote that part. “I’m right there with you on the choices. Halloween is my top one because I get to do a lot of makeup I can’t usually do, please dressing up it’s always been mt kind of thing. And then Thanksgiving because I get to go home with the family. Extra officially, my favorite celebration is Mardi Gras. Ever had the chance to go?” As Nicholas read, she grabbed her scissors and the real job began, she already had a clear thing of what to do with it and what kind of style Nick might want to go by.

With a chuckle, Nick resisted the urge to nod his head. He knew he had to remain still to let Audrey work. “The Walking Dead surely does have a fantastic makeup department. I can see why people are wanting makeup similar.” She seemed to like it a ton, so Nick threw out another question. “Have you ever thought of doing something like that? You seem to be very passionate about beauty, whether it be makeup or hair. Have you ever thought of taking your talents to the small screen, big screen, celebrities...that sort of thing?” It seemed like it would make her more money than a shop, but Nick didn’t know for sure. “Mm,” he hummed out, conveniently not commenting on loving being with family. “I have to admit, I’ll be spending Thanksgiving with just my sister this year. Probably anyway. Unless she has other plans.” He refused to go home with their parents at this point. Nick just refused. “Mardi Gras?” he repeated, a wry grin upon his lips. “I’ve had chances to go, but I regret to say I’ve never been myself. I hear it’s one big party.” It didn’t seem like his scene, but he’d been proven wrong before.

Maddie: I do. I feel a lot better.

Maddie: I promise I'll tell you - I just felt like I was annoying you. I thought you needed space as much as I did..

Maddie: I .. I felt alone. So so alone. I .. The guy who I am blood related too doesn't want me. I've never had a boyfriend. I hardly have friends.. I just.. I've been feeling lonely.. You know?

Nick: Annoying me? No. No more than any little sister annoys her big brother :P

Nick: That's...Maddie, that's absurd. Of course I want you around! You're my sister. And honestly, if you felt this way, you should have spoken to me. Running from something like this just breeds more confusion.

Nick: As for boyfriends. I'd say you hardly need one of those to feel good about yourself. I do understand feeling lonely though.

The touch was far from intrusive, merely, mildly surprising given the man’s need to be so restrictive. Trinity found herself ever so slightly leaning into it before she gave another small shake that tumbled the strand lose again. “Oops. It seems that stubborn hair needs your assistance one more time.” She replied with her flirtatious smile. Her means of showing she rather liked the thoughtful gesture as she waited for a repeat of it. Laughing out next with his reluctance to her idea. “Okay, no pink bear. Perhaps blue or purple? Yellow? Orange? You have an entire rainbow to pick from.” Keeping their arms connected, she leaned more upon him to look over to the railed arena then shot him a challenging look. “Wanting to ram into me over and over, huh? Just prepare to get a lot of whiplash. I play hard, Sir Nicholas.”

With a brief smile, Nick reached out and tucked the piece of hair away again. He could read signals well enough, and it made his heart do an odd flopping motion in his chest that she seemed to like his touch. “That should do it,” he said confidently, giving her a dimpled smile. “Hm, well that just brings up a whole list of options, doesn’t it?” he chuckled, shooting her a wink. “I think my choice is blue this time. What’s your favorite color?” It was perhaps a silly question to ask, but he was curious nonetheless. With a snort, Nick felt his cheeks flare with heat again. Still though, he was growing used to the flirtatious banter. “Oh, you know me. I’m all about that rough and tumble on the first date,” he teased. “But you’re on. I play hard as well. Plus, there’s something just so fun about bumper cars.” He was sure it had to do with his love of competition.

Merrilyn chuckled. “I honestly wasn’t sure what to bring and would wine be a stupid choice in general, and as I was staring at the bottle shelves and well, since everyone says rosé is the one everyone likes, I thought it’d be a safe choice. But really, if it tastes horribly, we really don’t have to drink it.” Merrilyn definitely wouldn’t be upset if they would just empty the bottle in the sink. After all, Nick surely had way better wines than the one Merrilyn brought. Merrilyn looked at Nicholas and raised her brow a bit before she started to grin. “Oh but that’s just because you’re a bit dry yourself”, she teased, mostly meaning the fact he was a politician and everyone always said politicians had really dry things to say. “And maybe a bit salty and tart”, she added, now clearly only saying those things to tease him more. “A carnival sounds wonderful.” It almost made Merri think how nice it would be to go to a carnival with someone and not having to worry what time it was and what Kris wanted to do there. She missed those moments of doing things with people of her age without the worry of what a three year old wanted to do. ”But it sounds like things are going well between you two. Are you already planning for future dates, maybe?” To her it did sound like there definitely would be more dates coming up for the two. “Oh, well. Sort of, yes. We have seen each other couple of times and spent some time together. But it’s still sort of hard to tell are we just hanging out as friends or is there possibly something else going on as well.” In a way Merrilyn felt sort of a relief she could talk to Nick about this situation, because every time she talked about this with her sisters their opinion of course was said through the sister-glasses, so Merri didn’t really get an opinion of an outsider. So maybe if she’d get to talk about this with Nick things would show a bit clearer to herself as well.

“Oh goodness, nothing you bring would be a stupid choice, Merri,” Nick chuckled, shaking his head. “And if anyone said that it was...well. They’d have to deal with me.” It was kind of an empty threat, Nick wasn’t one for violence, but he’d definitely stand up for Merrilyn any way he knew how. “Deal though. If it ends up tasting less than savory...well. We’ll just sneakily store it away,’ he said with a snort. “Oh hah hah,” Nick said, emphasizing the dry tone of voice with a twinkle in his eye, “I can’t possibly imagine what you mean.” Normally, a statement like that might put him on the defensive, but he knew Merrilyn, and he knew she was just teasing him. “Salty and tart though, I think I can handle,” he said with a teasing wink. Humming, Nick shrugged one shoulder. “I certainly hope there will be more. We seemed to hit it off and while I can’t speak for her, I certainly had a nice time. I’ll definitely ask her out again. I just have to figure out somewhere fun to go.” Steepling his fingers, Nick listened carefully to Merrilyn’s explanation, pushing his lips to the side as he thought. “Hm. Well have you asked him at all? Maybe he’s thinking the same thing. I suppose you won’t know for sure unless...well. Unless you make a move, or if you ask him if he’d like to take it anywhere beyond friendship.” Justin was a standup guy, and Nick certainly hoped he wanted more than friendship. Merrilyn deserved that. “It’s a lot easier said than done, I know, but I think you might feel better if you just ask him about it. I’m happy to help you read into it, of course, but you won’t know for sure until it’s...well. Clarified once and for all.”