where'd all the time go / baptistes [88th homecoming]
Aug 24, 2021 22:21:05 GMT -5
Post by gamemaker kelsier on Aug 24, 2021 22:21:05 GMT -5
The train ride is the same but this time different–
everyone is looking at him.
Avriel stares out the window and pretends that they aren't. He rewinds time in his head and remembers passing that old empty red barn on the outskirts of Eight but it was different coming from the opposite way.
It's hard to remember leaving.
Fleur had been there too, this time she isn't.
He tries to think about what she'd say if she was but it's hard, he saw her briefly in the Bloodbath and then he never saw her again. He never even really knew her.
It's still easier to think about Fleur than about whether or not Duke and Billie will be happy to see him.
He knows it's a possibility that they won't be and he's trying to prepare for it, he knows he's been gone a lot longer than just three weeks, that the boy he was disappeared months ago.
But he loves them, he stayed for them, they have to know that, right?
The train starts to slow and Scout sits up on his lap and stretches. It's been interesting to study the kodama over the last few days and understand its patterns. He's noticed that Scout prefers naps to long sleeps, sort of like a cat. Sometimes Avriel wakes up in the night and the Kodama is sitting there watching him but in a sort of rest state, inner light pulsating slowly.
Like a therapy animal, Scout always seems to be able to tell when Avriel is anxious and the little creature has yet to leave him alone.
He reaches out and taps it on its head.
"Duke is gonna steal you away, I think," he says softly.
What if they don't even recognize him?
Avriel scoops Scout onto his shoulder and stands up, heart rate speeding as the train slows. Robbie glances up at him and Av waves a hand, "Bathroom," he mumbles.
This is all he's wanted since he left so why does he feel like throwing up? His feet take him down the train and into another seat facing the other side. Home looks like home as it approaches but Avriel is changed, not the same as when he left.
He might not even fit there anymore.