"Okay," Malos says, even though Lloyd's already gone. He follows after, trying to decide how much he believes Lloyd. Hard to guage.

Give it some time, Malos, give it some time. Lloyd's old enough to take care of himself. You don't gotta worry too much about him.

(Oh, but he's worrying.)

(If there's anything the Irvings are good at, it's being stubborn as hell, even when it comes to holding on to absolutely terrible ideas.)

Anyway, time to head back in and get breakfast ready for real. If someone's stolen one of his pancakes he swears to fuck--