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It was rare for the kitsune to be out of the house. But since his guardian had made the library inaccessable only hours before because of a screwed up experiment, he had decided to talk a walk.

Okay, he'd honestly just wanted to go to the bookstore and pick up some books, but that wasn't really the point. Aylee had been complaining about him not getting enough air recently. Solo had grudgingly left the house (knowing full well he got enough air, and wishing she'd added the word 'fresh' before it), and left his guardian to clean up, or at least attempt to contain, the disaster she had created.

Knowing full well that he wouldn't get a chance to buy new books for a while, the kitsune had taken along his guardian's credit card and was on his way home with two dozen different books, another ten on back order.

He was also taking a shortcut home, wanting to get out of the hot sun as soon as possible. Cold weather suited him much better, leaving his guardian to wonder how anyone could even enter his room, what with two air conditioners going on high.

It was along this shortcut, that Solo had ended up going through a field that really needed to be mowed. Hell, he could barely see the street on the other side, let alone if he was going to step on or trip over anythin--

"What the HELL." The kitsune hissed between gritted teeth, pulling himself up to find whatever, or whomever (as he was suspecting. Rocks weren't that soft) he had tripped over.

Solo looked over at the person, narrowing his eyes. It took him a moment to comprehend who he was talking to, but the claw and tail gave it away, "Lucien...?"

After a second of realization, the kitsune hastily pulled himself off of the scorpion boy, and brushed himself off. He looked back at Lucien again, slightly disoriented, "First, when the hell did you grow? Second... What in hell's name are you doing out here?!"

He glanced around at the ground around the two of them, "...Third, help me pick up these books. There should be twentythree of them." He stooped and started to put the scattered books into a pile. One of the bags had broken during Solo's fall, and its contents had spilled all over the ground.

Solo raised an eyebrow, and considered asking why the kid would be swimming in the middle of the night, but decided against it. Some things were better off not knowing, and he doubted Lucien wanted to talk about it anyway. False laughs like that usually implied an unwillingness.

However, the comment about sneaking from his guardian made him smirk. 'Good at' was an understatement. Solo had perfected the art back when he was a toddler. The only time it had failed him was during that damn blasted halloween party. Solo had long since made up his mind never to go to anything even remotely resembling it ever again.

Taking the books from Lucien, he said, "Why did you have to run away from Rayne, though? Wasn't she willing to let you go by yourself?" He'd been allowed to go where ever he liked as soon as he became a kid. Or maybe Aylee was just a bad guardian. Probably the latter, since she always showed bad parenting skills.

Solo rolled his eyes. Aylee tended to be extremely underprotective of him, yet more than a little over protective of Chaco. But it wasn't his concern. If it got her out of his hair more often than not, then he was perfectly happy with the arrangement.

Something Lucien said piqued the kitsune's intrest however, and he turned towards the other boy, "Masque? What do you mean?" It was obvious just from the question that he hadn't heard of it. He'd secluded himself in the house after his second wing had appeared, as much for the pain that it had initially caused him, as for the worry the dream he'd had was causing him. But he hadn't mentioned the dream to anyone, and didn't plan to any time soon.

Solo took the books from Lucien as the scorpion boy talked. Picking up one last book, Solo counted them, then nodded, "Twenty-three. All there." He glanced up at Lucien again, and stood. "Masque, hmmm? Sounds a lot like..." He twitched slightly. It was another god damn dance.

But... Well, he understood the need to get away from their guardians. Aylee was simply insane, and he wasn't all that sure about Rayne half the time.

And... Well, okay, the chances of there being a repeat of last October's horrible event were probably pretty close to nil. Especially since he'd heard Keir was a teen.

But it was a damn SOCIAL event. It meant he had to go and TALK to people. Bloody hell. Maybe he could keep Aylee away from this one, so he could sneak in a book or two. There often tended to be a good corner or two he could hide out in.

He glanced a Lucien again, "I... Suppose... But what do you mean 'After what you've been told'?"

Solo was staring straight ahead now, seemingly focused on a plant or piece of grass. God he hated remembering that day. Well, at least Aylee wouldn't have to worry about him ever touching alcohol. The stuff was horrible tasting, and it caused people to do really stupid stuff.

Finally he said, "The correct tense is 'kissed'." Always with the grammar lessens. Well, they made him feel a bit better, anyway.

It took him a moment to work himself into a mood to speak again, and he finally looked back at Lucien, "I suppose I'll go. Besides, the chances of that happening again are next to nothing." The kitsune gave a half hearted shrug, and started putting some of the books back into the bag that hadn't broken, "And it'll give me at least a few hours away from my incredibly dysfunctional family, which is always a plus."

Solo raised an eyebrow and slightly pursed his lips. While he preferred the more grown-up Lucien, the kid needed to learn it was a lot harder to get the kitsune to do what he wanted than he apparantly thought. Had he tried to do the aformentioned throwing him over his shoulder, he probably would find a dagger at his throat and a really foul look. Not to mention Solo probably wouldn't speak to him for weeks.

But... Well, that idea hadn't come to pass. And now it was up to Solo to create a costume while trying to keep Aylee from knowing about it. God damn. It was going to be tough.

Sighing, the kitsune stooped and picked up the bag of books, and looped it around his wrist, then proceeded to pick up the rest of the books that hadn't fit in. He looked back at Lucien once this was done and said, "Yes, I'll go. When is it, exactly?"