Cause of Death: Desolation

Confrontation with the Psychological Void

Confrontation With the Psychological Void

"It's official!" River rubbed his hands together, satisfied. "I had Coach John fill out the final forms fer that charity event we're gonna host before Thanksgivin'!" River smiled big, his little Robin reaching out for her dad's attention.

Joshi raised a wary eyebrow. "Not the one with the church, right...?"

River shook his head. "Nah, the one with the flags team!"

"They got a flags team?" Joshi chuckled and shook her head. "Sports college..."

"They sure are! Them girls promised to put on the best show for Robin's elementary school."

"Why are they hosting at Hound Hole?"

"'Cause it's big enough and Mr. John's got a soft spot fer me!" He beamed.

Joshi rolled her eyes. "You mixed up your R's again. He's got a soft spot for little songbird over there." She nodded at Robin who was thrilled to be eating her sliced potatoes with a metal fork instead of a plastic one.

"It was annoying," Dakota started, pushing green beans around their plate. "He brought that idiot team with him..."

"Dakky." River pointed his forked green beans at them. "You know better than I do, it's better to keep them fools on a leash. And Coach just happens to be just what they need to behave."

"They're worse than Robin on a Pillsbury binge," Dakota hissed. "And they're not dogs. They should be able to handle themselves. Especially that ponytailed fu-"

Dakota shut it when they felt River's eyes dig into them. He barely tolerated swearing himself but around his little girl, it was practically a death sentence. Dakota cleared their throat and stuffed their face with potatoes and steamed carrots.

Joshi broke the silence. "Well, at least it's working out. Did you talk to Robin's teacher?"

"Not yet!" River lit up again at Joshi's voice. "The volleyball team actually wanted to do a whole assembly at the elementary school to spread the word."

"Oh, you'd love to get outta class, wouldn't you?" Joshi turned to her daughter with a smirk on her face.

"Yeah!" Robin cheered, raising her short little arms. Joshi stuck her tongue out at her then Robin did the same and covered her mouth, giggling.

Dakota grumbled into their plate. "Why doesn't the flag team do it at her school... it's their event."

River's voice dropped again. "'Cause its almost the end of volleyball season and flags is just startin'. Instead of the college havin' two events, they're just gonna combine the two! It's a lot more fun that way."

Dakota scratched the bottom of the table, teeth bared in defense. "They're not playing, are they?"

River shook his head and leaned back in his chair. "Nope. Not at this one. Too cold. But after the flags performance at Hound Hole, the girls are gonna lead the march out and head to the community center where the team'll play their final match against them, uh, D.C teams!"

"Why don't they just go to D.C?" Dakota grit their teeth to keep Fox Feet from saying that out loud. "You seen the way number 9 looks at me..."

"'Cause he likes you!" River didn't hesitate. "Din't you go to his apartment to dye yer hair?"

"No-!" Dakota gripped their fork, face turning red. "No...no...I went to Kenji's..."

"He's his friend, ain't he?"