Chaos

Painting

Daryl

"You still owe me a beer." Oscar muttered to him, though he was grinning when Daryl glanced his way.

"Let me know if you need more help tomorrow, Oz." Daryl nodded before striding after the vampire who was halfway across the yard already.

As he caught up, he tried to remember the last time he had seen Carbry wear jeans... or hiking boots, for that matter. The outfit should look weird on Car, off in some way, but as with everything else, the other man was as capable of owning any look he wanted to.

"My car." Carbry nodded to the '67 GT-500 fastback, painted dark red with two white stripes down the centre of the car.

Daryl paused, looking at the vehicle for a long moment before sighing and turning toward his truck and walking nearer to it. "What's the occasion?"

"Daryl." Carbry growled, though there wasn't any violence in the sound, and the vampire didn't follow him as Daryl moved to the small storage compartment in the side of the truck and pulled out a cooler, grabbing a couple bottles of water, a protein bar and holding up a bottle of blood without turning around. "Please. With me?"

Daryl grinned and closed the cooler compartment then turned back to look at Carbry, who was leaning a hip against the car, arms crossed over his chest. "C'mon, you rarely take that out, and I've never seen you drive it on a dirt road before. Of course I'm riding with you."

"You also are a sucker for the car, and don't argue to drive your truck. I brought it for you..." Carbry grinned at him. "One of the team members will drive your Rivian home."

"So you're just bribing me to come home with you?" Daryl laughed softly and walked to the car, slipping into the passenger seat and handing Carbry his bottle of blood when the man slipped in and started the vehicle.

Carbry shook his head slowly. "No. Meriwa has decided she wants a horse and has picked one out based solely on looks. I wanted you to take a look at him first. It's been a while since I've paid any attention to the creatures."

"What type of horse?" Daryl guzzled the first bottle of water as Carbry pulled out of the driveway, chuckling when he noticed the slow roll that the vampire was using on the gravel road.

"'It's spotted like a pretty cow.' Is what Meriwa describes it as." Carbry rolled his eyes, similarly guzzling the blood with one hand before raising a brow. "I figured it would be a good surprise for her, though I don't know how we're going to keep her off of it while she's pregnant."

"Alright, a paint. They're not bad horses. We could tell her that I'm training it, so she can't ride?" Daryl ate the protein bar next, his ever constant hunger grumbling now that he was no longer distracted by work.

Daryl grinned as he noticed Carbry watching him, most likely making sure he didn't spill crumbs in the vehicle that Daryl was sure was loved more than he was.

"That could work." Carbry nodded, the engine of his vehicle roaring as they got back onto paved roads and started down a familiar highway.

Daryl frowned as they sped past a crumbling, abandoned farm, seeing the for sale sign plastered with the red declarations of "sold" along the fences. He supposed that he wasn't the only person who knew what a great deal the place would have been. And it had lands that bordered the Centre, making it a dual purpose property. "Why is she suddenly interested in horses?"

"Because you're interested in horses, probably. Though we still haven't established if Ryker can ride." Carbry answered absently.

Daryl forced himself to look away, laughing softly, "He can. I've started teaching him. He was always a city boy though." He paused, seeing Carbry grin ever so slightly. "How much experience with horses do you have, Carbry?"

"A bit." The vampire offered a shrug before turning off into a dirt laneway that was lined with trees. Daryl frowned at the change in direction as he took the place in, distracted from the conversation as he recognized the property.

"This place was up for sale too, you know. It was about four times the amount of the other place. Was a working ranch, a spa retreat thing for rich people, but the family wanted to retire and make as much money as possible. This one had half the land of that other property. I'm surprised it went so quickly." Daryl was rambling as his eyes wandered, taking in the sight of the property, seeing the signs having been removed but not replaced. The farm itself looked dead, with none of the expected activity for a place of it's kind being started up by the new owners.

"You really researched the whole area, didn't you?" Carbry murmured as they pulled up to the house, though the vampire didn't move to get out of the car yet.

Daryl shrugged noncommittally. "I talk to people. Then people gossip. I figured it's good to know what's going on in the neighbourhood. I guess whomever bought this place might have bought both properties, though it ruins the investment value. Anything they'd make back, they would have thrown away on this ranch. You don't think it's some kind of criminal organization buying all this land as a hideout or something?"

"The mob?" Carbry raised a brow, the smile sliding from his lips as he glanced around. "I can have my people do an in-depth look into who bought it. Why would that be your first assumption?"

"It's a lot of money." Daryl laughed softly and shook his head. "It's close to the border. Charlie used to talk about how the cartels, some of them loved horses and things, anything that... looked rich. And farms are good places to do things, bury bodies and stuff."

Carbry watched him for a long moment, before shaking his head and reaching over to ruffle Daryl's hair. "You've been watching too many crime shows with your brother. Put your shirt on. Cartels love sex slaves too."

"Are you sure you aren't part of a cartel?" Daryl flashed the man a grin and climbed out of the car, pulling on his t-shirt and then putting on his hat as Carbry stood up out of the car and strode toward the woman who was walking out of a large building to meet them.

Dark skin and eyes, brown hair pulled back from her face under a trucker hat, the woman didn't look like she was part of the mob as she grinned and shook Carbry's hand, then his. Her skin was warm, her grip strong and she turned and waved them to follow her. "So he's a seven year old gelding. Been ridden. Doesn't spook at much, but he's just not fitting in here. We thought it would be better after the move, but he's not bonding with the herd or any of our riders."