To hitchhike was a dangerous practice, to do so this late at night and so far from civilization a riskier prospect still - but the drivers who'd been picking him up on and off on his long walk out to Boring had found themselves lucky enough to be harmless themselves, or wise enough not to push it if they weren't; now, Rose was on the approach to the farmhouse proper.

Initially his plan had been to arrive a few hours early and stake the place out, see if he couldn't get eyes on whoever it was he'd been more or less instructed to meet out here before they could get eyes on him - but on reflection it seemed a tad hostile, especially considering that he'd at least met [I]somebody[/I] in person this time around. In fairness, even when he hadn't, these sorts of meetings had a way of working out for him - sure, there had been mishaps in the past, but more often than not he'd walked away with a new job. For once, there was no need for excess caution.

He still watched for an hour. When he saw others arrive - a woman and a man, each carrying themselves with a similar kind of nondescript weight, as if it were a secret rather than something physical they were wearing. Rose had felt and seen the same weight in himself at times - when he caught snatches of his own face, reflected in windows as he passed them by, or when he thought back to that night, and that [I]indestructible[/I] woman; some posh bitch who didn't see staff as people, who took them to bed for sustenance rather than company, whose skin bore strong against not only blade and bullet but bomb as well.

Normally that weight meant nothing. Everybody had secrets. Everybody would feel them on some days more than others - everyone knew what it was like to have that guilt-fear burning a hole in their stomach, the idea that they'd done something or found something out that could get them into serious trouble. 

Normally it was normal - and normal meant nothing.

Not tonight. Coincidence is a mask worn by conspiracy, and this conspiracy involved him.

His plan had been to watch from concealment in a surrounding field, then move around the house to gain access from the rear, and either join the meeting in progress or avoid an ambush before it happened. But this felt right.

Right enough.

Rose worked his way from cover in the field back to the main road, and started to walk up the path towards the house - and his suspected-colleagues - much more openly. He held up a hand in greeting and beamed a grin at them.

"I was beginning to think I was on my own out here, you know." 


[hr]
[hr]

[Center][color=008B8B]𝚂𝚞𝚖𝚖𝚊𝚛𝚢, 𝙻𝚘𝚛𝚎, 𝙿𝚎𝚛𝚔𝚜 [/color]

Ever paranoid, Rose decides to break his stakeout and approaches both Ximena and Fr. Stone at the front end of the house.

Perks: None.[/center]