Campfire

Carson shakes his head but grins, going into the room across the narrow hallway to make his phone call. A few minutes later he reappears in the kitchen. Turning his cap around backwards, he rubs his hands together in anticipation. "Okay... pizza. I can't believe you're not sick of it since I bring it home so often."

"Carson! Need a small pepperoni and mushroom," Dani calls.

Already on the way to the counter, he stops and sighs. "Alrighty." He looks over his shoulder and nods Misty to the counter with him. "Come help me throw ours together while I take care of this other order."

Grabbing the necessary ingredients, he sets to work with speed, proving this is what he did every day. "So I've been thinking about talking to Herb," he muses. "The majority of our customers, by far, order pizza. What do you think he'd say if I suggested we downsize our menu to just pizza and a couple subs? I mean, financially speaking, there are plenty of things that I've had to throw out lately because it's gotten old because people just aren't ordering things like lasagna and chicken parmesan anymore." Still keeping his eyes on cooking, he continues, rambling at an unusually fast pace for him. "People have gotten too busy -they want something quick and everybody loves pizza and subs. There are other pizza places around town, of course, but that hasn't hurt our own business so far, since we've got a different flavor and use more toppings, if I do say so myself."

He spreads sauce and cheese over the small pizza he was making, still not pausing his speech. "And on top of all that, if we minimize the menu and have a smaller selection, it would be easier to train help or have someone take over if I'm gonna be gone. And then if we did just go down to mainly pizza, we could expand our ingredients on that - like now we don't have Hawaiian pizza but I've got people asking out it every once in a while and it wouldn't be hard to keep those ingredients on hand. Or we could even come up with some of our own new combinations that other pizza places around here don't have. But anyway, I know Herb has always taken his menu quite personally and I know he's tried to keep this place like a little homey, nicer than fast food type Italian place - but at the same time, I think our clientele has changed and if we don't change with it, we may wind up losing customers. Personally, I think we'd do a better business if we were a little more targeted and didn't have such a broad menu. I've even thought about redecorating, but that's a whole other story."

Popping the pizza into the oven, he turns around, seeming to take his first breath. "Thoughts?"


"Neat freak? Neat freak?" Axel gives Jess a teasing look of shock before holding up his hands. "Would a neat freak walk around with hands that look like these?"

Liz smirks. "She and I both know that it's only because you can't get all that grease off. Otherwise, you'd walk around like a doctor. Like this." She puts up both hands like a surgeon who had just washed before a procedure."

Axel kicks her under the table, but his eyes dance. "I'm not that bad!"

Liz giggles and looks at Jess, having fun teasing Axel with her...

...All fun times had to end though, and Axel has to get back to work. Liz agrees to meet him back at his place later that evening, accepting his invite to stay with him for a night so Derek could have some time alone. It's a rather quiet evening until both bed down for the night...

...Liz's eyes pop open and she stares into the dark living room. What had woken her? She squints, trying to see the clock on the microwave in the kitchen but can't make it out. Judging by the darkness, it was the middle of the night. She settles back down into the couch only to hear a soft shuffling sound. Squinting again, this time she sees a figure heading to the door. "Axel?" she whispers. She receives no response, but she was able to make out Axel's form now. He appeared fully dressed except for being in his bare feet.

Sitting up, she watches, confused as he gets to the door. As he unlocks it, turns the knob and starts to open the door, his trusty alarm system of a string of bells comes crashing to the floor with a loud announcement. Glancing down at them, Axel pauses, then heads outside, leaving the door wide open.

Liz, now more concerned than confused, gets up from the couch and wanders to the door, shivering a little as the cool breeze goes through her thin pajama bottoms and t-shirt. Looking down the outside stairs, she spots Axel just getting to the ground level and starting across the parking lot, still in his bare feet. Noting his slow, steady walk, not to mention not having shoes on, Liz immediately knew what was happening. Without taking time to get her own shoes on, she pads down the stairs and goes after Axel.

"Hey, Axel?" she calls softly. She winces as she steps on a stone. Swinging wide around him, she tries to get within his line of sight without startling him. "Axel?" Smiling, she approaches a little more quickly, trying to get to him before he went into the street. "Hey, it's a little late for a walk, don't you think?"

Axel blinks and slows to a stop, jumping just a little at Liz's sudden appearance. "Late?"

"Mm-hmm." Liz wraps her arms around herself, shivering. "Come on back inside, okay?"

"Um..." Axel furrows his brow, starting forward again.

As gently as possible, Liz puts her hands on his chest to stop him. "Now, now, we don't want to walk into the street. It's much safer in bed."

Axel yawns, his eyes starting to droop. "Yeah. Bed is a good idea. Why are we in the freezer?"

Liz stifles a laugh. "Because you're sleepwalking. Come on, big guy, let's go back to bed."

It takes a little bit of prompting, but she finally gets Axel back up the stairs and into his apartment. Getting him back into his bed, she makes sure to tuck him in, then goes to the door, locking it and resetting the bells so in case he left again, at least she'd know. Snuggling back down under the blankets on the couch, she sighs deeply before drifting off to sleep again...

"Heeeey, sleepy head." Liz grins as she flips the sizzling bacon in the frying pan. "Figured some breakfast might get you out of bed."

"Uh-huh." Axel's eyes were only partially open as he trudges into the kitchen, going straight to the refrigerator for some orange juice. He was so glad he didn't have to work today - for some reason he felt utterly exhausted this morning. Chucking down a half a glass of juice, he finally nods at Liz. "Morning."

She laughs and divvies up the bacon onto two plates. "Have a seat. Still like your eggs scrambled?"

"Yeah sure." He manages a grin. "Thanks. You didn't have to fix breakfast."

"Aw well... when you weren't up early like usual I figured you probably hadn't slept well after your little midnight adventure. Thought a good breakfast might be nice."

Axel eases down at the kitchen table, running a hand through his matted hair. A shower would probably help wake him up too. "Well you're sweet." He pauses then frowns. "Wait... midnight adventure?"

Liz chuckles. "I didn't think you'd remember. You never did. Though I must admit I was surprised your bells didn't wake you."

Axel was growing more alert now. "Bells?" His eyes widen. "I was outside?"

"Yeah." Liz dishes out the eggs and butters as couple slices of toast. "You were headed somewhere in your bare feet. I caught you before you got to the street though."

"Wow." He tries to remember, but can't. He only knew he didn't feel like he'd slept well at all. "And... I knocked the bells off?"

"Mm-hmm." Liz comes to the table with their breakfast, setting a plate in front of him. "It's okay though. Reminded me of the time Dad found you halfway down the block."

Axel's cheeks flush.

Liz giggles. "You were pretty glad it was him finding you in your boxers and not me or Mom."

Axel smirks and tries to think of a way to divert the conversation before starting in on his eggs. But one thing really did bother him... a lot. "I slept through my alarm..."


Gunner soaks up Bree's attention, murmuring his pleasure. Holding her close, his fingers run through her hair. Grinning as they pause, he nods. "Yeah... I think you got it right." He doesn't let her comment though, simply returning for more.

Sitting under the tree for what felt like an eternity, there really was a sense of peace here. Tranquility. It was definitely a much needed break from everyday life. As the sun begins its descent, Gunner walks with Bree back to the campsite to find JT and Amanda back as well, JT already starting to build a fire to make supper.

It isn't long until supper is enjoyed and the stars are beginning to shine in the sky. Conversation between the four is accompanied often by laughter, everyone relaxing and simply enjoying the short time they had here.

As the evening grows on, Gunner's the first to break up the little group. "I'm thinking stargazing," he hits, glancing to his side at Bree. Standing up, he offers his hand. "How bout it? No clouds tonight."

JT looks up at them. "Just be careful.... chiggers... snakes... with the kind of day you've had, Gunner, it could be anything."

Gunner throws him a withering look. "Yeah, yeah... don't remind me."

JT laughs and watches as his niece and Gunner head to a darker spot in the clearing away from the crackling campfire. Sighing with content, JT slides down from his seat on the log so he's seated on the ground and can stretch out his legs. Staring into the fire, he enjoys its warmth. His peripheral vision sees Amanda close behind him where she'd been seated for supper and he pats the ground next to him. "It's a hard seat but at least the log can be a backrest," he offers.