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For the first time since she purified, she felt apprehension. The small white sedan that Nadia had let her borrow came to a stop in front of a ranch house on sprawling ranch grounds. Briefly, Solas' hands tightened on the wheel before she shut the car off.

It was a fear of rejection.

This man had been one of the closest she ever had to a family unit---one that she had chosen. One that she had also chosen to up and leave with nothing more than a letter. If he was still furious at the person she had been---he was well more than justified. He had every right to turn her away. She'd never be Knot again, or to take her place but even it could be a slither of what it used to be...

Solas got out of the car, closing the door behind her.

She looked around, and it didn't take long to spot a ranch hand. She waved the young man down, and asked for Dallas. The lad said he'd go get him, and then it left Solas with the dreaded task of waiting.

She was not put off by the ten minute wait. She knew it for what it was...part of the game. When the man finally made his appearance though...

Well, it felt like only yesterday since she had last seen him. It felt like a lifetime ago. It had been another life for her.

Solas pushed off of leaning against the car, and held out her hand to the man. "Yes, you can. I'm Solas. Knot's cousin---I was told to come talk to you when I arrived in Destiny City because you'd be a good person to know here. My cousin---she spoke very highly of you."

Here it went. She paused after that initial start to try and see if she could get a feel for his mood and reception towards her.

Oh.

Was he calling Sergei p***y whipped or Knot, by extension her, p***y whipped? If it was Sergei well...that was hilarious, but if it was her...wouldn't it be better if she was c**k whipped?

Solas shelved that to ponder later, but she couldn't say she was surprised by the reaction. She had been anticipating it to a degree, honestly. Actually, the part that stung most about his words was the scraps comment, if only because of how accurate it was.

The woman followed after him. It took a moment to catch up with his longer legs, but she fell into stride with him. "If you're short on help around the ranch, I would be happy to step up and help." Solas said as she looked up at him. "To make amends for her departure."

Damn. He was riddling her with bullet holes. Women's Shelter? Ouch.

Ouch but also damn, because that was clever.

"I didn't come here because I need your protection or your support. Besides, at this rate you're making an actual women's shelter look like a vacation getaway. I came here because I wanted a solid connection to someone my cousin trusted with her life." Solas pulled ahead to put herself firmly in front of the man.

"And I am more than willing to put in the time and effort to prove that I am worth your time and effort."

She couldn't tell him right in this moment what she wanted. What she really wanted. Just possible sliver of how things used to be. A far off shot of a chance for that sliver.

"Yes. I told you already. A good connection and to help out on the ranch."

As the man stepped around her and moved, Solas immediately fell back into step with him. "I also used to own horses---a long time ago---and I'd like to get one, possibly, bit down the road and board it here if you have the space and are amenable to it. I'd pay you, of course."

She looked up at him.

"I know the rules." Solas answered. Thank you, journal. "And I'm not going anywhere." Not willingly again, anyways. Upon returning to Order, she knew that the window to have a chance at a life somewhere else had closed. In all honesty, that window had closed a long time ago.

Oh.

Oh, this was a sad day. She couldn't find an angle to work and the scoundrel was forcing a kiss on her. Solas' nose wrinkled as he set her down, the kiss tasting like the cigar he just had. The woman continued to follow after him though, climbing up the steps to the porch. She couldn't manage to get a word in though again, not before the door slammed shut and clicked.

Solas stared, and her hand lowered to her side.

She didn't know how it was possible to feel both humbled yet devastated at the same time.

Humbled because she didn't have an answer to fix this problem. Didn't have a solution, and it was a good reminder to have that here than somewhere else where a life was at stake. Devastated because well...she had wanted that chance. For a moment, the woman's expression pained as she closed her eyes. She could, maybe, entice him with a game of poker. But if she lost, then she probably really could kiss goodbye any possible chance. She wasn't a pro player.

She could also tell him the truth. She had meant what she had said to Nadia. That she didn't doubt he'd figure it out given enough time...that she was a scrap of Knot. That'd only be good though, she thought, if he was willing to be receptive to her from the start. She wasn't sure, at the moment, if it was in her best interest to tell him the truth.

He'd actually have to listen first.

The third option...well. That was to accept that this chance was no longer available to her. That it was gone, and she would never get this piece of her life back.

Her heart hurt.

Solas opened her eyes and turned, moving off of the porch. She was about to head back to the sedan, when she paused, and looked over to see the boys hard at work with the chores. She watched them for a moment, and then a thought came to mind. Solas veered off from her course to the car to head in the direction of the barn.

She'd just...work. She'd work, and she wouldn't let Dallas or anyone else tell her otherwise. She'd work and try to make a place for herself. It wasn't hard to find the horse stalls, or the tools, or the wheel barrows. It also wasn't hard to muck horse stalls. Just effort consuming, but she did it, and she didn't let anyone tell her otherwise.

Huh.

That didn't take that long.

After dumping a scoop full of waste into the wheel barrow, Solas paused in her work. She rested the pitchfork on its end at her side as she looked at the man. "I'm trying." She answered, and her expression was impassive, even at the dead seriousness of his words. "I'm not leaving until you give me a chance. If that's not going to happen, then shoot me. If you're not going to shoot me, then go call the police."

For a very brief moment, a part of her just said: <******** it.

Let it happen. Let her be an annoyance a bit longer, when she was pumped full of holes like the barn wall and Dallas had to drag her body out and dispose of it. Dying was easy.

That brief moment of fool hardy stubbornness quickly gave way though to common sense.

If she died, Nadia wouldn't get her car back, and that would be very rude.

Sergei would be pissed off.

Nora would continue her reign of glitter anarchy.

Noel would miss her.

People. Stuff. Things.

The only thing Solas had to her credit in that time span was that she didn't flinch or bat an eye lash as he cocked the shot gun and fired. She sighed softly, and leaned the pitchfork against the stall wall. The woman then moved out, ducking under the barrel of the shotgun and out of the barn. She did not say anything else, and she did not stray from her course this time. She got in the car and left.