The steely winter sun shone down on McKinley Park's rose garden. The season meaning that the place looked far different than it had back on that day in October. It was still the same place though, with the same objects and the same memories. And once again Rick couldn't help but wonder about HAL's selection of this particular location to meet with Emma. Did he know what had happened here and chosen it for that? Perhaps it was because HAL knew the entrance to the hollow was nearby. There was no way to know, really. So he settled down on a bench, a different one from the one Terri had waited for him on, and waited for HAL's arrival with Emma alongside him.
Rick pondered the question for a few seconds. Describing one such as HAL was certainly not something he did with any regularity. "He can be a bit...unnerving. He's a lot like a computer, tends to view things from a very logical perspective. And that can be disconcerting if you're not used to it. But just remember; he means well, he knows what he's doing, and he's hear to help. It's hard to ask for anything more."
She seems to take this in and ponder it for a few minutes, taking in the surroundings and the rose garden. Her eyes even pass over the ramshackle tool shed nearby.
"Well, I just hope he doesn't crash on me," she jokes, trying to break the obvious nervousness welling up inside.
Rick lapsed into a brief silence at Emma's last statement. His mind drifting back to that Autumn day, one as important for him as any. Dwelling on Terri, a tree...and all that had resulted from it. "Yeah, it really is. You need to see it some day when the roses are in bloom."
"Sounds nice. I can't remember the last time I saw roses in bloom. Before I was taken, I guess."
Emma goes quiet again and decides to just wait for HAL. A stiff breeze blows through the garden and Rick can see the Autumn King enter wearing the midnight blue windbreaker he has taken to wearing these last couple of months.
"Hello, Legate, I am glad-stroke-happy you succeeded so quickly."
Rick rose to his feet as he he saw HAL coming. Offering a respectful nod, "Thank you Sir. I'm just glad you were able to meet with us so quickly." Because trying to explain to Terri why I had an 18-19 year old girl in the Hollow or Apartment would have been so much fun... He briefly considered introducing the two to each other...but to be honest it seemed to be a bit unnecessary at this point.
HAL doesn't respond, instead he is intent on Emma who is seemingly squirming under his red gaze much like many whom meet the Autumn King for the first time.
"You have nothing to fear here Emma," HAL starts by saying to the Blightbent as if nothing could be further from the truth. "You were simply in the wrong place at the wrong time. Do you have anything to add Legate?"
Rick nodded as HAL reassured Emma. "That's right, Bloodnose just inserted your name into his sob story so he could try to worm his way into the Freehold's trust. For all the good it did him." The Hunter of Longest Days was hunting him now, and Summer's Crown. And he was sure it hadn't just occurred to him that catching the Loyalist might well mean a package deal.
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