They were making good time with the stretch of Matt's stride that didn't quite reach as far as Cassidy, making the smaller man look more like he was hurrying, while Cassidy got to amble along.

Matt hoped Cassidy was regaining sense of himself, even as a restless nervousness settled under his skin, caused no doubt by the pollen in the air. He, of course, didn't think a thing towards it, to far stuck in his own experience to keep an eye out for something new.

"Previous experience?" he asked up at the man as they came up on the town. They were in the mist of a misunderstanding. "If I've helped clean up another mess and forgotten about it, I might have to accept jokes about my age. Can't have that.

Either way - because it's He Ming, we might be fine. Let's not test that theory on anyone else's neck."