<div align="center"><span class="bbc_u"><strong>Sunday, January 10th – 5:00 AM</strong></span><br/><em>Garage</em></div><hr/><div class="floatleft">(https://i.imgur.com/4PKvtYC.jpg?1)</div><strong>WHO:</strong>CJ SANTORO (https://elliquiy.com/forums/index.php?topic=316749.msg15320931#msg15320931)<br/><strong>WEARING:</strong>White shirt (as shown) + ripped army green cargo pants, brown combat boots.<br/><strong>DOING:</strong>Doing a bit of exploring<br/><strong>NOTE:</strong>Reunion time!<br/><strong>TAGGING:</strong>Kaine Brooks<br/><hr/><br/>Eric had left her to her own devices eventually, allowing her a bit of time to collect herself, wash a bit of the road dust from her skin, and mentally prepare herself for the interview process. It sort of felt like she was getting ready for some job interview (she was the planner type in this scenario, the one who would have been sitting on her phone googling 'How to answer interview questions') to ensure that she could sit there and not sound like a complete and total schmuck.<br/><br/>Instead, she had put on the cleanest clothes in her duffle and gone for a stroll outside the mansion. It felt weird to wander the halls at the ass-crack of dawn while people slept, or maybe just started to wake (early birds and all that jazz) so, since she wasn't up for awkward encounters, CJ took her little self out the doors. Eric had mentioned something about a garage.<br/><br/>Maybe...?<br/><br/>With her hands stuffed into the pockets of her pants, she made her way over toward what she assumed was the garage, and the closer she got, the weirder she felt. Her stomach was all knots and snarls, while a curious little bubble of anticipation wrapped in hope rose up inside her. She figured he could be asleep right now, but could there be a chance he was awake, and there.<br/><br/>She had missed him. His presence, and his laugh, and the long conversations where they'd discuss everything and anything. A lot of the time, it'd felt like a way to not only grow closer but to help each other forget whatever hardship they'd endured that day. Who they might have lost during a mission or fight. Forget the faces they couldn't save.  Their bond was born from a need for a softer presence to bring comfort and a touch of sanity to those dark days, and it was strengthened by the shit they experienced together.<br/><br/>Before she entered the building, she took note of the oak tree with its little swing. The sight was strange enough it stopped her in her tracks. When was the last time she'd seen something so simple? Making a small detour, CJ just had to run the tips of her fingers across the swing's seat, following it up one of the ropes that held it in place.<br/><br/>A small piece from a time lost.<br/><br/>Shaking her head, she turned on her heel and went inside. Immediately, all she saw were vehicles and tools. Damn. The last car she'd been in had broken down and died a very sad but frankly, unsurprising death somewhere on her way in this direction. In awe, the young woman took it all in slowly, before finally, her attention landed on the biggest, baddest fracking vehicle on four damn wheels.<em>Oh holy hell, what was that?</em><strong>" Hot damn."</strong>Her voice was all kinds of impressed as she approached. It was then, and only then that she finally took note of the other living, breathing person inside with her.<br/><br/>Kaine.<br/><br/>Seeing him after all this time? It did funny things to her poor heart, and basically all of her. Her lips curved into a full-on grin, and she didn't know what to do with herself. Should she just tackle him and shower him in kisses? Find a little bit of decorum from somewhere, and greet him in a decidedly more dignified manner?<br/><br/>Yeah.... probably not that.<br/><br/><strong>"Kaine."</strong>His name was a sigh of pure fucking joy, and all she could do in the end was kinda stand there like a stupid and just stare at him, because he was a damn sight for sore eyes, and she finally fracking understood what that meant at that moment.<strong>" Surprise?" </strong>Gods, why was her heart hammering so hard?