exeggutorhead | IC Contact

[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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