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Thorne had a problem.

Which wasn't really an unsurprising turn of events. Thorne usually had a lot of problems. Problems inside and outside his head. Problems with his art. Problems with his neighbor. Oh god, his neighbor.

But usually he could ignore those problems. On a good day, he might even prod one. On a bad night, they made him sleepless. But always, always, they were things that didn't require (in his mind) assistance from anyone else.

This one did.

Thorne swore again, kicking a leaf out of his way. Millicent had escaped in the early hours of the morning, because she'd been insulted by his conspicuous absence the night before or the dry food switch over he'd implemented because cat health was important. She'd scaled the tallest tree she could find after that. Probably to spite Thorne. Because Thorne could usually jump down from trees in worst case scenarios but Jesus Christ this was a taller tree than he'd thought and he hadn't realized it while scaling it and a jump might just break a leg or two. Maybe.

He wasn't sure. Maybe he was just being a wuss.

But the branch that he'd used to scale the last few feet up had snapped under the weight of his foot, crashing and breaking others on its way down.

So there, from gods work and Millicent's spite, Thorne, ladies and gentlemen. Thorne, stuck in a tree. Millicent sat idly in the branch above his head, her long tail idling back and forth. Thorne hated her for it.

So he swallowed his pride and did the one thing he'd sworn he wouldn't do for the past two weeks.

He called Rylan.

"I am going to preface this by saying that if this ends up on the evening news, I am coming for you." Thorne was not particularly prone to threats, and this was half-hearted at best, but he didn't want anyone seeing "New man in town stuck in tree" as their evening headline. It was a miracle of sorts that no one had walked by this particular tree and looked up yet itself.

Suckling in a sharp breath, Thorne added, "and it's going fine. I just - "

He glanced up at Millicent, who was swaying her tail back and forth, either content to be stuck in a tree with him or content to watch him suffer. He wasn't all too sure there was a difference between the two.

"My cat got stuck in a tree."

Thorne winced at the pathetic statement. But before Rylan could respond, he said, "And I might or might not have done the same."

Oops.

Thorne wanted to die. Honestly, he could just throw himself from the tree if he really wanted to avoid the embarrassment of his second encounter with Rylan being MVPed by a cat and his stupidity. But he really didn't want to have to think about who would feed his cat if he was gone.

"I hate you," he said to Millie, "and I'm going to roast you on a spit when we're done here."

And then, to Rylan - "She's a stubborn cat, and this tree doesn't like me a whole lot, and I might or might not have broken the way back down." He paused. "You can tell me all of the ways I'm an idiot later, if you'd like. I probably deserve it."

And then he choked out a laugh, leaning back into the trunk and staring the many, many feet down to the ground below. He really had let himself go, climbing this far up without thinking first. "Considering you're one of the only Ashdown contacts in this phone at the moment, I'm glad." Thorne's voice was wry and he shook his head.

"I wouldn't dream of doing anything else, Rylan." He gave a helpless laugh, considering his last week had been on the up-side of <******** insane. "I'm - " he paused and then rattled off his location as best he could.

"Thank you," he added almost as an afterthought. "I swear to god this wasn't how I planned for us to meet a second time."

"Why did you bring a witness?" Thorne shot back from his perch looking down at them. They were - very far down. And he had to speak up to even be heard. "I have at least some degree of dignity to - to uphold here."

Thorne grimaced at the mention of how determined he had been and looked up. Millicent, at the same time, looked down. Both cat and owner stared at each other with enormous and somewhat rivaling degrees of distaste.

And yet. Here Thorne was.

An exasperated sigh blew from his lips and he glanced back down. And down. And down.

"She's a very important cat," he said, sounding resigned. "She just hates me right now. I should have invested in a dog. So - what's your plan, firefighter?"

"The carjacker?" Thorne's voice crackled in exasperation and amusement. "That's who you brought? You couldn't have introduced us in better circumstances? I would have rather she stole my car and said hi in the aftermath than this."

His eyes found Corra and flickered between brother and sister, feeling like he'd definitely made a mistake. So what if he starved to death in a tree or broke a foot on his way down? Anything would be better than two siblings judging him for his devotion to a cat.

"What's life without a little adrenaline?" He retorted at the mention of a plan. His mouth curved into a wild half-smile. "So. If I die today, promise that my obituary says something better than 'death by cat and fireman-carjacker brigade.'"

He snorted at the supposed support, rolling his eyes. "If you insist," he called down. Above him, Millicent dozed. "After this, I swear I'll take you out for a beer or something. You're going to let me owe you one, mister fireman."

"Yes, and very much a sight for sore eyes. I'm just sorry I can't say the same," Thorne retorted from his perch. "Both of you are," he added, in case Rylan had a case of vanity to be taken advantage of.

"Ha," Thorne laughed at the rebuttal, leaning just enough to catch better sight of Rylan, "Live fast, die young. Isn't that what they say now?" His eyes sparked at the mention of a bungee-jumping trip. DIY? "If we survive today, I'll have to ask you to tell me more about that." Thorne grinned.

He resisted rolling his eyes at the remark Rylan left him, glancing up at the cat and back down. "Says the man that once didn't know any limits at all," he rumbled, kicking up one foot onto the branch and waiting for Corra to begin her work, "Well, at least if something terrible happens, you'll have a great story to tell the fire department. And Fidget."

And then he sat back to wait, wondering just how this rescue was going to go.

"I'm - " Thorne stuttered, " - What?"

He had a sibling. A brother. But he couldn't say he'd ever known what it was like to be that close to them. Something about the glances and the laughs shared between Corra and Rylan made him grin slightly, not jealous but - wondering. What it might have been like.

"Who says it isn't the best idea in the world?" Thorne retorted down at the two of them, his lips curling into a mild grin. When Corra started her climb, he watched and looked up at Millicent, hissing again for her to come down.

He responded thoughtlessly to her inquiry with a laugh. "Millicent is a fixed point in my life. If I wasn't afraid of killing us both, I would have climbed higher."

He smiled when he reached her, reaching out to take the harness and wondering just how safe putting this on so far up and with so little purchase was. And then he realized that he didn't really care. The adrenaline rush was good enough to get him through.

It was a struggle. More than once he had to stop to reacquaint himself with the right way up. By the time he was done, Millicent had decided either that she was done moping or that they were leaving and she had only one of two choices left. The cat crawled down and Thorne caught her with one of his arms and tucked her against him with a low utterance of curses and promises for roasting later on.

"I learned," he retorted. "Once. We'll find out how good that knowledge stayed."

His fingers worked deftly, almost all muscle memory. When he was done, he glanced at Corra.

"Now we tempt fate?" He teased, his voice low and wry. "If I die, make sure someone feeds my cat. You heard that, Rylan? Tell my neighbor he has to feed my ******** cat if I die."

"Crazy is only one way of looking at it," Thorne called down. His expression was hard to tell from the height, but there was a certain expression of mirth and deviousness to it. A side of him that sparked easier before his time in the military and came back now in slow, small bursts.

"Look," Thorne said, "my cat is the best cat. Sometimes." He shrugged and glanced at Corra when she mentioned fixed points and brothers and - and tried not to turn red. "I - " he started, his voice suddenly tangling, his expression wild. "You shouldn't say things like that. I'm a selfish creature and I would make him the goddamn sun." His smile was slow and darker and there was something hungry about it. "I wouldn't want to push that on anyone. Except my cat. And sometimes I think it happens in reverse too."

There was a lighter strain to the words, but he still had a look that said something else.

"I let go of the tree," Thorne responded, sounding deadpan. Well, at least he had his cat. "Alright. Safe as life, right?" He laughed and pressed his heel to the branch before doing exactly what Corra told him to do. Letting go.

"You're a true friend, Rylan," he called down as he did so, swallowing adrenaline like a drug, "And don't worry. I won't blame you. But if I die, can you also tell my neighbor sorry for me? A general 'hi, your neighbor is dead. He says sorry for everything and also possibly breaking and entering and getting you involved,' would work."

He tried to imagine Lucas getting such a message and his laugh was genuine and full of adrenaline. Well, here was hoping he didn't die then. He had a lot to do once he got down.