Wanted Man

A final test run for the yoga lessons, with Tina and the Reeds... Tina was feeling well enough to participate, but afterwards she had to go back to bed already (she is not part of the household).

And maybe she should have stayed in bed in the first place, because while going over his lesson plan with Tina, Daniel, too, caught the disease. In a lesser form, thankfully. He was still able to parent Jin, give the yoga lessons and at the end of their stay had close to 3,000 dollar in his pocket.

All through this round Daniel kept getting disease moodlets, usually buried beneath the positive ones. It was random, but so fitting!

Because of the rash, Daniel had to take things slower. Instead of the energetic lifestyle he usually enjoyed, he now was found cloudgazing with Reed a lot.

Gavin: "Nothing like lying with your back on a swat-soaked exercise blanket..."

Daniel: "That better?"

Gavin: "A bear skin? Where'd you get...?"

Daniel: "I have money now. This is a trading outpost. You put the pieces together."

Gavin: "I know! You mauled a bear with your bare hands!"

They both laughed at the joke, but deep inside Gavin knew he'd actually believed Daniel, had he claimed to have fought a bear on his own. With a hotshot like him, one never knew.

They had just made themselves comfortable on the pelt, when from the corner of their eyes they spotted a visitor. Then they heard Emma shriek. The men raced over to the gate, but of the man that had stood there remained only a cloud of dark grey smoke.

Emma: "That was Dr. Straud! He follows... gasp..."

Daniel: "Yes, Emma. He follows ME for whatever reason."

If Dr. Straud was harboring an interest in the drifter, then he might be receptive to an invitation, Daniel thought.  Their relationship not being the best, it actually being severely strained, it took a few tries before Straud agreed to talk face to face. They met in the deep of night, but Daniel kept the conversation going until the sun was up.

Both Gavin and Straud were utterly bored. But Daniel kept aggressively chatting. There was a hypnotic quality to his words (something he had learned from Tina, maybe?), so even though the human was tired and the vampire's skin itching, they just didn't find it in them to break away from the conversation.

Daniel (whispering): "Trust me. I have a plan and that plan will make up for everything that happened in Magnolia Blossom City to both of us. We'll see this through together!"

Gavin: "Hrmpf."

Daniel: "There. Scratch one vampire. Let me sweep up the ashes, then you can return home."

Gavin: "While carrying the urn full of praerie sand and the remains of an unknown person I refused to bury in consecrated soil? Lots of good will that do my reputation."

Daniel's reputation, however, was on the rise. From this morning on he was no longer a vagrant with a horse, but an accomplished travelling hunter of the occult. A vampire slayer. Ghost whisperer. Teacher of the spiritual. Daniel knew he had arrived where he belonged. Not in a place, but in a position. He had found his calling.

Daniel: "Gav...?"

Gavin: "I can't return home. Ever. Whatever hope I have for a fulfilled life lies in front of me, not in my back."

The words cut Daniel like a sword strike, because in the exact moment they got spoken, he was standing in Gavin Reed's back.

Gavin: After all those years he's still doing my job better than I ever did... Why'd you have to do that to my face, Danny? We could have been friends, closer than friends, maybe. But you HAD to rub it in that you're BETTER. Well, I'm going to get RICHER than you.