exeggutorhead | IC Contact

Oh. Uh.

We haven't gotten into any real fights...

He's not even here right now, though. None of us've heard from him since the weekend, but nobody's got any of his Pokemon so he's probably just teleported into the woods somewhere.

[He may have checked for Pokemon.]

_{[Well THAT shoots her into 'concerned mode' real fast.]}

--what?

Really?

No one's heard from him?

Has anyone tried his 'Gear?

_{[She hadn't meant for this conversation to be about Alphonse so much as how ENVY was dealing with Alphonse, but DISAPPEARING IS A BIG DEAL.]}

[Envy just has to shrug because ahaha nope.]

I don't think so...maybe Lust tried. But getting stuck places isn't that unusual after those weekends, and without any of us getting Pokemon, it's probably just that.

_{[... SHE DOESN'T LOOK SO SURE.]

[But while she's still very much dedicated to not letting Envy make that poor kid's life any harder than it needs to be, she's also aware that asking Envy to GIVE a shit is kind of futile.]

[So she just makes a mental note to try and call Al in the morning. If he's still here, he's probably asleep at this time of night.]}

All right...

[OH NO HE DIDN'T MEAN TO MAKE HER WORRIED...]

Hey, it'll be fine. He'll stumble out of a cave or something in a few days, just like I did that one time.

_{[SORRY ENVY SHE CARES ABOUT BOTH OF YOU]

[She nods, a little absently.]}

Yeah, I... I'll try and give him a call in the morning. I just kind of figured the radio silence was him being busy with that kid you guys have been dealing with.

_{[Yep. Henry told her about the goblin.]}

Oh, you've heard about Wrath? Did Henry tell you?

[Prob...ably. Although after that fiasco, Envy was intending to tell her before she got home at least. He's also latching right onto the potential subject change. He doesn't want to talk about Al maybe vanishing either, and if they keep talking about it she'll probably get even more worried.]

He's a handful, yeah, but not as much as he was before. And he isn't always in the house.

You might get to meet him when you get back. If he's not hiding under the couch.

_{[She manages a smile at that, at least.]}

He called me a few weeks ago and screamed "GUESS WHAT" straight into my ear-- I think it was the first time he'd actually talked to me since the whole camping fiasco.

_{[Obviously they'd spoken through text, but Henry had somewhat been giving her the cold shoulder apart from that. She didn't entirely blame him.]}

But uh, yeah. Kinda surprising.

I'm glad you guys decided to help him, though. Based on the last time I heard you all talking about it, it didn't sound like the kid was in a very good situation.

_{[Envy do not tell her you kept him locked in the basement for two months]}

[Envy lets out a half-laugh at that, because he can picture it. Except...]

Yeah, he's. Not too happy with me for not telling him. We really did just forget.

[He is absolutely not going to tell her about the basement.]

He's still with the Rockets, but...he's got people looking out for him in there. But he was still loyal to her, and we were trying to help him turn into just as much of a dirty traitor as the rest of us.

I think it worked, at least mostly. He's listening to us now.

[There's an undeniable, if a bit awkward, note of fondness in his voice, mingled in with relief and a little pride.]

Heh, you can join me in the doghouse, then...

_{[She'd be lying if she tried to claim that she didn't still feel bad about that whole disaster in August. Bad about how things had gone with Lust, bad about how things had gone with Henry, bad about the fact that the last thing Phoenix had been doing during his time in Johto was sitting through all that drama...]

[Even if things had been worked out, she still cringed to think about it all.]

[Listening to Envy talk about his progress with this Homunculus kid is much nicer, and she smiles as he goes. It's a PROUD smile. Not a BIG proud smile, but definitely a proud smile.]}

Good.

That's good.

Guess I can. I'll have to get him something really good for Christmas.

[And...hopefully that will help make up for it. He's a bit worried, and even more now that he's found out about Henry only just NOW talking to Heather again.]

[But yeah, he'd much rather talk about Wrath. Especially with that look she gives him, it makes him sit up a little straighter.]

It really is, we weren't sure we'd get through to him at first. But...yeah, now he's in and out. Hah, he's kind of feral, really.

[...]

A lot feral. But one thing at a time.

You do that. We can compare notes. I've already ordered shit for him, I don't DARE show up back home without a gift of astronomical quality.

But yeah, I'm glad to hear that.

Glad to know about it at ALL, actually-- it made those bags under your eyes make a little more sense.

_{[Her tone turned slightly teasing with that last observation.]}

[He lets out a sheepish chuckle, scratching at the back of his neck.]

Was it really that obvious? Yeah, it made it tough for anyone to get a whole lot of rest.

You were all already dealing with enough, and we were trying not to tell many people anyway until we were sure it was working.

[And she definitely didn't need to know about the basement.]

_{[She snorts.]}

I have been living with you guys for over a year at this point-- well, give or take a few, since I've been away-- and I had NEVER seen you look that tired before.

_{[Except maybe when France had gone missing, but she's not about to bring that up.]

[Instead, she waves a hand, still laughing softly.]}

Anyway, I'm not mad or anything... you've probably been in enough trouble with everybody else already.

[He shakes his head, groaning.]

Have I ever been.

Did you know that Henry woke everyone up in the middle of the night, banging pots and pans and trying to burn every herb in the house?

You're lucky you weren't here for it, really.

Oh my god.

I knew he was doing all that ghost-hunting stuff but I didn't know about the pots and pans thing.

Lust must have been pissed.

She was. She even called downstairs and told him to be quiet and I think he yelled.

[With as many gestures as he can make with one hand, he gives Heather a full dramatic retelling of how Henry'd been Sung to sleep and the Family Meeting that followed. He tries to make it more funny and 'oh, this crazy house and its japes and capers' than anything; he's still not sure about why she'd had to call in the middle of the night but he figures she could probably use something funny.]

And then I was in trouble with everyone for the rest of my life and everyone knows about the zombie kid, the end.

Oh my god.

_{[At first she'd been cringing (that is her brother they're talking about, and it's maybe a LITTLE embarrassing that he's gotten himself into trouble with their SURPRISINGLY-GRACIOUS MONSTER HOSTS while she's been gone), but by the time he's done with the dramatic retelling, she's literally SHAKING trying to unsuccessfully hold the laughter in.]}

I can't-- holy SHIT. I cannot believe I missed all this.

_{[THERE ARE TEARS.]

[... Oh. Oh wait, shit, these might be actual tears. Fuck.]

[She lifts a hand to scrub at her eyes in hopes that he won't notice that her amused grin has turned into an 'I'm trying not to cry' grimace.]}

[Yes! Laughter! What he was going for!]

[...oh. Oh no.]

[Of course he notices when her expression abruptly changes, and his own grin immediately shifts almost comically into concerned with a little bit of panic thrown in. This was exactly the opposite of what he'd wanted to do.]

Shit--hey, are you okay? What's wrong?

Sorry-- sorry, I just--

_{[God dammit.]

[Now she's kind of wishing they'd stuck to text. THEN HE'D NEVER HAVE KNOWN.]}

I just... _{[Her voice breaks.]} I just really miss you guys...

[He swallows; it's been a while since he's seen her upset like this, and it's never easy. But for some reason, this time is particularly difficult. His voice takes on that awkward sort of tone it gets when he's trying to be reassuring.]

Hey, you're almost done, you'll be home soon.

[Because her home is with them, in the house.]

We all miss you too, it's...quieter, with you gone.

[He's quiet before adding in a mutter.] I really miss you being around. It's funny, isn't it, we were almost never in the same place for years.

_{[She tries NOT to be upset like this in front of other people. But, well, she supposes if she HAS to be... Envy's not a terrible candidate.]

[She mumbles, still scrubbing at her eyes.]}

Not even once.

There were places I visited... but never people that I just.

Lived with, in one place, for months.

Hell, I don't even pay rent, it's just...

God, I don't know.

What am I even doing out here?

[He nods quietly, in agreement. The world had become a home, but there hadn't been one single place in it--aside from the obvious 'wherever my people are'--that he'd have actually called home until they'd all moved into the house. They'd moved from place to place without ever really thinking of somewhere to return to.]

You're getting your badges, you're...I don't know, working things out, right?

And we'll be here when you get back.

[He doesn't think about the what ifs that are unavoidable, saying something like that.]

Ha, we won't give you a moment's peace.

_{[She listens, nodding absently even as she sniffs and tries to get the waterworks back under control.]}

Yeah, I... I guess.

I guess I'm working stuff out.

I don't even really know WHAT I'm working out, though.

_{[She knows there's a certain emptiness to his promise-- not through any fault or intent of his, but just... the nature of this place. Of this life. She doesn't bring it up, either, but it still hangs over the conversation like an ugly raincloud.]}

I never thought going back to being by myself would be so hard. I used to travel like this all the time, without even thinking about it.

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