"Are you sure it's this way?"

"Of course I'm sure."

"Through this laboratory?"

"Darnit, Blip, I'm not asking directions."

"Who would you ask, anyway?

These were the sounds of the productive ramblings of Karr and Blip. Although neither would admit to the other that they honestly had no idea where they were going, they both felt it their duty to argue with each other.

"Look," Kass insisted, "we were told to go through the laboratories. We are going through the laboratories, therefore..." she stopped short here. Something had grabbed her by the shoulder, and scared the snot out of her. Turning around, she discovered a norn of the old horse norn variety behind her. "Karl.." She gasped, and pulled away quickly.

"You remember me?" he smiled.

"Very much, you..." Kass snarled, stopping herself before she said something horrible.

"And who are your friends here?" Karl waltzed slowly behind Kass, and looked Karr & Blip over.

"My name's Karr, a-and this is Blip.." Karr replied, trying very hard not to sound scared. Karl's sly demeanor and cold, frosty voice did intimidate him a bit. "And you?"

"I'm sure Kass can tell you about everything." Karl answered slyly. "Can't you?"

"I don't want too." Scowled Kass. "I'd rather just go."

"Why?"

"You tried to rape me, you idiot!"

Kass, realizing what she just revealed, turned toward Karr and Blip. They just so happened to be awestruck.

"He did what?" gasped Blip.

"He was especially drunk one day, and I appeared to be a good source of free kisspoping." Kass glared at Karl as she spoke.

Karl laughed, and slipped behind a bookcase. He managed to produce two Tantris Berries (Which were a highly alcoholic fruit). Karl put one fruit on the bookshelf, took another in his hands, and broke it in two. The sweet flesh produced a wonderful smell, but was quickly soured by the alcohol in the pit. Karl stuck his finger in the sweet, syrupy alcohol, and licked it. Holding the berry out to Kass, he asked, "Care for some?"

Kass almost stuck out her finger, slave to habit, before drawing it back. "I don't drink."

"Kass? Not drink? I literally raised you! You used to love..."

"I don't now; get over it." Kass pushed the berry away. "So," she tried to change the subject, "why are you here?"

Karl shrugged. "Grendels put me here. I'm guarding some kind of rock.. Arlington or something."

Blip hovered closer. "Arlington Stone?"

"Yeah, that's it."

"Oh!" exclaimed Blip. "Can you show us where it is?"

Karl winced. "The Grendels swore I'd be killed if I let anyone see."

Kass laughed a little toward herself. "Karl, do you remember how I used to persuade you to do things when I was little?"

"You'd beat the tar out of me."

Kass peeked around the bookcase, to find an iron poker. Picking it up, she shook it at him. "Do I need to do that now?"

"Aww.." Karl started to wrap his arms around Kass, forcing her to drop the poker. She wriggled hard, but couldn't break free. "You wouldn't.."

All of a sudden, there was a loud crash, and Karl fell flat. Kass whizzed around to find Karr holding the poker she dropped.

"Get'm, quick." Karr motioned.

Kass pinned him hard to the ground. "Now, Karl, show us the stone." He got up, and Kass took the poker and pointed it directly to his back.

"Oh, for crying out..." Karl sighed. "I'll show you."

------------------------------------

Karl led them down through the laboratories, under the ocean, and up to the underwater terrain bubble, Kass sticking the poker in his back all the way.

"Now," Kass started, and gave Karl another small nudge, just to get her point across, "Where in this bubble is it?"

Karl pointed to the Albian-norn trap in the corner. "It's down that throat."

Blip floated carefully over to the plant, and gave it a good. look over. He finally gave it a good hit upside the head, knocking out the Arlington Stone. Karr picked it up, and gave it a look over. "This thing caused all this trouble?" he asked. And, frankly, there was not a lot to be impressed by. The stone was a sort of a tan, with four pits carved into it, all surrounding a kind of knot in the middle. It was rather small, and didn't at all fit the expectations of a mystical stone that had held Grendels at bay for hundreds of hours.

Kass took the poker from Karl's back. "Thank you." She coolly scowled. "I suppose we'll be going back now." And with that, they left.

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'Twas late. The trio had decided that there was no way that they were going to get back to Hand's End before nightfall, so they decided to sleep in the laboratory they crossed through. Blip had shut himself down for the night, and Kass and Karr were sitting awake.

"Kass?"

"Yes?"

"Who was Karl?"

Kass laid her head in her hands. Coming up, she replied, "I was raised in the cellars, because that's where I just so happened to wind up when I was a baby. My parents had died, so there was no one to tell me not to go there. Karl sort of took me in, and was a caregiver for me. Sometimes he'd get horribly drunk and violent - that's how I learned to fight so well, by battling him. There was one norn there, I'm pretty sure her name was Kelly, who sort of protected me and gave me actual love. That's probobly what keeps me from being just like him. But I really don't like to talk about this.." She leaned on Karr, and he put an arm around her shoulder.

Karr thought for a minute, then drew her closer. "I'm sorry.." He whispered.

"Don't be, it's not your fault."

After a few more minutes, Karr quietly began, "Remember your first time on Earth?"

Kass giggled. "Oh, golly, yes. I thought you were such a klutz at first."

"I honestly don't blame you. I was. I'll never really understand what made you actually like me."

"Oh, there's plenty of reasons." Kass replied. "Being so sweet and gentile is a big part of it."

"Aww.. thank you. I really don't deserve you." Karr started. "Anyway.. the first night.. did you want to be kisspoped?"

"What?"

"Did you want to be kisspopped? I was just thinking about that.. and I'm starting to think that I.." Karr stopped himself short.

"I certainly wasn't planning on it. But, I did enjoy it very much." Kass paused, in remembrance of that night. "Even the part afterwards." She grinned.

Karr shook his head. "I always just felt guilty that the male is the one who decides when, where and who, and not the female."

"But Katherine says there's no scripts on Earth controlling that. Who's to say I didn't intinate it, not you?" Kass smiled at Karr. He didn't know what to say, so he just kissed her. But mind you, it wasn't a kisspoping. They knew how to control that now.