[ As punishment for his transgressions, his shirt shall be the receptacle for her tears she buries her face into his shoulder. What a relief that he's opaque and solid and warm. ]
You're here sooner than I expected... Welcome back.
[ She'd given up hope, shameful as that thought is. This is the longest he's been away; what could she assume but that he was gone for good?
A bit reluctantly, she lets go of him and straightens back up, taking his appearance in. Has he lost an ear again, aged up, changed colors somewhere? There's no telling what might happen to people around here after they've disappeared for a while. ]
[ Unfortunately for me but fortunately for everyone else, he looks about the same as he always does, if a bit more tired. No appendages missing, no sudden change in hair or eye color. Nothing at all out of place about him, which maybe is the strangest thing of all after a disappearance of multiple months.
Even his mannerisms have stayed largely the same, his mood quickly turning serious at that cautious question. ]
I don't know. I don't have any memory of what happened and neither did Johnny. [ Oh, right. ] Johnny's back too. I arrived alongside him.
[ Now Gray can have two whole friends back...three if Abel gets lumped into the group too. ]
[ She jumps to attention, her eyes going to the window as she immediately thinks of Slow Dancer. As soon as Gray is satisfied that Eustace isn't going to immediately vanish on her again, she'll hop right off with Slow Dancer to find Johnny. She wipes her eyes on her sleeve, mind turning with all these new developments. ]
[ Can't wait until their most troublesome animal is finally off the premises (sorry Johnny). ]
I spoke to him earlier.
[ Dokja, not Johnny, though he did also speak to Johnny for quite some time earlier. They hugged, cried it out, and then went immediately back to squabbling like a pair of children. The usual. He neglects to mention any of that, mostly because it's vaguely embarrassing and not really relevant to the conversation, and also because he has more pressing matters to address.
Though clearly he's a little uncomfortable talking about this too, the neutral frown on his face growing deeper with worry as he looks at Gray, a lengthy pause filling the air before he finally speaks up again. ]
[ Oh... right. Gray pauses, a frown buttoning her expression. With how much Dokja tried to conceal things from Gray, she wonders how much she should say. It sounds like he's hiding things from Eustace too. But keeping things from Eustace isn't in Gray's nature, so in the end she crumbles. ]
He tried not to make me worry by saying he'd be away for a while. He didn't say why, and when he came back he didn't explain why one of his eyes looked a little different.
[ It was a very slight change, but Gray's eyesight is sharp enough that she's noticed it since. ]
I found out from someone else that Aetos experimented on him. With the timing of things, he may have died too.
[ Rin died, after all. She and Dokja went through that together, and they returned at the same time. ]
[ Thanks Gray for being the only valid person in Kenos. It's just unfortunate that the information she's passing along is so serious in nature. This really wasn't the kind of news he wanted to get, even if it's exactly the kind he should have expected.
Experimented on? Possibly died? The more he hears, the stonier his expression becomes, his gaze turning unfocused as he rolls these new (and alarming) pieces of information around in his head. ]
That [ asshole, he's about to say, before cutting himself off with a sigh, one hand lifting up to rub tiredly at his face. He probably shouldn't swear so much in front of Gray. ] He always does this.
[ Always running off trying to bear everything by himself. Always shrugging off his problems and making them out to be less troubling than they actually are.
Belatedly his mind processes part of what she's said, and he turns his attention back to Gray. ]
Were you okay? While he was gone.
Edited (cries in mobile typos) Date: 2023-08-16 04:15 am (UTC)
[ Dokja doesn't want to be worried about, but he's worth worrying about... so in the end, Gray decides bringing Eustace into the loop is for Dokja's own good. ]
He isn't the only person who stays vague so that other people won't worry about him.
[ She is looking DIRECTLY AT Eustace. But she could also look directly at a lot of people around here.
The pivot from Dokja to herself is unexpected, but she smiles a little at his concern. ]
I ended up looking after someone else while Mr. Dokja was away, so I kept busy. His name is Dark... I, um, don't think he's the type of person you'd normally talk to.
[ She doesn't dislike Dark herself, and gets along with him in a way... But. ]
[ Birds of a secretive feather flock together....this is why he and Dokja are perfect for each other.
Eustace at least has the decency to look vaguely embarrassed at Gray's indirect call-out, even if he pointedly chooses not to say anything about it. He knows what he's done wrong and is doing his best to reflect and improve on his actions, but it's just so much easier to fuss over other people than it is to change his old (terrible) habits.
He breathes a silent sigh of relief at her reassurances, though it's short-lived at what comes after. Good to know that she had company, but what sort of company was she keeping that she has to hedge so much about it around him? ]
What do you mean by that? [ Wait. ] He didn't do anything to you, did he?
[ He may have just gotten back but he will turn right back around and walk out that door to shank someone if necessary. ]
[ Like what?? She really has to think about how to describe Dark and his intentions... in large part because she isn't completely sure herself.
But she does feel she has to warn Eustace about Dark so that he doesn't have a max-voltage shock experience like Dokja did. It says a bit that Gray has to consider a full warning about Dark when she hasn't had to do that about Gen, or Mordred, or really anyone else in the long line of rough personalities she's accepted into her orbit. ]
He can be... a bit startling to speak with.
[ To put it lightly. She pauses, struggling again with how to choose her words. ]
But he's very affectionate toward the people he likes. In a way that might seem overwhelming... but I don't think he means any harm.
[ On the one hand, good that this Dark character hasn't done anything weird to Gray (that he knows of). On the other hand, these warnings are all so vague that he still can't begin to form an image of what the guy might be like in his head.
He really is going to have to meet Dark for himself to find out, isn't he? ]
I see.
[ He doesn't see, not really, mild confusion plastered still on his face. But Gray doesn't seem perturbed by Dark's everything. If she says everything's fine with him, then he will simply have to trust her on that. ]
I'm glad you had company while Dokja was gone. [ Even if it was startling and overwhelming company. ] Everything else was fine? Nothing else happened?
[ There is so much she didn't mention about Dark, but she forgets about all that as Eustace moves the conversation along. One can only hope that Dark and Eustace will have a peaceful and fortuitous meeting and that Gray's worries will have been unjustified. ]
Um... We did get a paid vacation on a beach island.
[ She isn't sure how the ocean fits on a floating island, but she won't think too hard about it. ]
That's really all I know about. It's been quiet while you were away.
[ And things will surely stay quiet and not immediately descend into madness again now that Eustace is finally back. ]
[ thinks about gbf and their plentiful number of islands also with oceans
But it does sound like things have been nice and quiet otherwise while he's been gone, and his shoulders sag a little in relief. Unlike Dokja, Gray is not a well-practiced liar and secret-keeper with decades of practice under her belt, so if she says that things were fine he's inclined to trust her on that. ]
That's good to hear.
[ Now he doesn't have to spend the next week stressing out over both the people in the house. (He will only be stressing over one person.)
With all that taken care of, it's his turn for his gaze to go towards the window. ]
If you have somewhere you need to be, you can head over there. I'm not going anywhere.
[ Don't think he missed the way her eyes shot to the window when he mentioned Johnny. Be free, Gray....and also Boba for your pen show. ]
[ Gray hesitates, loathe to leave him so soon after reuniting with him. He probably won't vanish again so soon, but she can't be blamed for developing abandonment issues. She's eager to deliver Slow Dancer to Johnny, though...
She's gotta do what she's gotta do. She moves suddenly to give Eustace another quick hug, hardly a second long, before turning to hurry back out of the house. ]
I'll be back soon!
[ And then she'll make him some tea and otherwise pamper him into oblivion. Bye until then... ]
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no subject
Date: 2023-08-13 04:34 am (UTC)You're here sooner than I expected... Welcome back.
[ She'd given up hope, shameful as that thought is. This is the longest he's been away; what could she assume but that he was gone for good?
A bit reluctantly, she lets go of him and straightens back up, taking his appearance in. Has he lost an ear again, aged up, changed colors somewhere? There's no telling what might happen to people around here after they've disappeared for a while. ]
So, um... what happened?
[ If there's even an answer to that question. ]
no subject
Date: 2023-08-13 01:50 pm (UTC)Even his mannerisms have stayed largely the same, his mood quickly turning serious at that cautious question. ]
I don't know. I don't have any memory of what happened and neither did Johnny. [ Oh, right. ] Johnny's back too. I arrived alongside him.
[ Now Gray can have two whole friends back...three if Abel gets lumped into the group too. ]
no subject
Date: 2023-08-16 12:29 am (UTC)[ She jumps to attention, her eyes going to the window as she immediately thinks of Slow Dancer. As soon as Gray is satisfied that Eustace isn't going to immediately vanish on her again, she'll hop right off with Slow Dancer to find Johnny. She wipes her eyes on her sleeve, mind turning with all these new developments. ]
Does Mr. Dokja know you're back?
no subject
Date: 2023-08-16 01:15 am (UTC)I spoke to him earlier.
[ Dokja, not Johnny, though he did also speak to Johnny for quite some time earlier. They hugged, cried it out, and then went immediately back to squabbling like a pair of children. The usual. He neglects to mention any of that, mostly because it's vaguely embarrassing and not really relevant to the conversation, and also because he has more pressing matters to address.
Though clearly he's a little uncomfortable talking about this too, the neutral frown on his face growing deeper with worry as he looks at Gray, a lengthy pause filling the air before he finally speaks up again. ]
Did something happen to him while I was gone?
no subject
Date: 2023-08-16 02:42 am (UTC)He tried not to make me worry by saying he'd be away for a while. He didn't say why, and when he came back he didn't explain why one of his eyes looked a little different.
[ It was a very slight change, but Gray's eyesight is sharp enough that she's noticed it since. ]
I found out from someone else that Aetos experimented on him. With the timing of things, he may have died too.
[ Rin died, after all. She and Dokja went through that together, and they returned at the same time. ]
no subject
Date: 2023-08-16 04:10 am (UTC)Experimented on? Possibly died? The more he hears, the stonier his expression becomes, his gaze turning unfocused as he rolls these new (and alarming) pieces of information around in his head. ]
That [ asshole, he's about to say, before cutting himself off with a sigh, one hand lifting up to rub tiredly at his face. He probably shouldn't swear so much in front of Gray. ] He always does this.
[ Always running off trying to bear everything by himself. Always shrugging off his problems and making them out to be less troubling than they actually are.
Belatedly his mind processes part of what she's said, and he turns his attention back to Gray. ]
Were you okay? While he was gone.
no subject
Date: 2023-08-16 06:54 am (UTC)He isn't the only person who stays vague so that other people won't worry about him.
[ She is looking DIRECTLY AT Eustace. But she could also look directly at a lot of people around here.
The pivot from Dokja to herself is unexpected, but she smiles a little at his concern. ]
I ended up looking after someone else while Mr. Dokja was away, so I kept busy. His name is Dark... I, um, don't think he's the type of person you'd normally talk to.
[ She doesn't dislike Dark herself, and gets along with him in a way... But. ]
no subject
Date: 2023-08-16 01:24 pm (UTC)Eustace at least has the decency to look vaguely embarrassed at Gray's indirect call-out, even if he pointedly chooses not to say anything about it. He knows what he's done wrong and is doing his best to reflect and improve on his actions, but it's just so much easier to fuss over other people than it is to change his old (terrible) habits.
He breathes a silent sigh of relief at her reassurances, though it's short-lived at what comes after. Good to know that she had company, but what sort of company was she keeping that she has to hedge so much about it around him? ]
What do you mean by that? [ Wait. ] He didn't do anything to you, did he?
[ He may have just gotten back but he will turn right back around and walk out that door to shank someone if necessary. ]
no subject
Date: 2023-08-18 05:07 am (UTC)[ Like what?? She really has to think about how to describe Dark and his intentions... in large part because she isn't completely sure herself.
But she does feel she has to warn Eustace about Dark so that he doesn't have a max-voltage shock experience like Dokja did. It says a bit that Gray has to consider a full warning about Dark when she hasn't had to do that about Gen, or Mordred, or really anyone else in the long line of rough personalities she's accepted into her orbit. ]
He can be... a bit startling to speak with.
[ To put it lightly. She pauses, struggling again with how to choose her words. ]
But he's very affectionate toward the people he likes. In a way that might seem overwhelming... but I don't think he means any harm.
no subject
Date: 2023-08-18 12:22 pm (UTC)He really is going to have to meet Dark for himself to find out, isn't he? ]
I see.
[ He doesn't see, not really, mild confusion plastered still on his face. But Gray doesn't seem perturbed by Dark's everything. If she says everything's fine with him, then he will simply have to trust her on that. ]
I'm glad you had company while Dokja was gone. [ Even if it was startling and overwhelming company. ] Everything else was fine? Nothing else happened?
no subject
Date: 2023-08-20 03:50 am (UTC)Um... We did get a paid vacation on a beach island.
[ She isn't sure how the ocean fits on a floating island, but she won't think too hard about it. ]
That's really all I know about. It's been quiet while you were away.
[ And things will surely stay quiet and not immediately descend into madness again now that Eustace is finally back. ]
no subject
Date: 2023-08-20 02:35 pm (UTC)But it does sound like things have been nice and quiet otherwise while he's been gone, and his shoulders sag a little in relief. Unlike Dokja, Gray is not a well-practiced liar and secret-keeper with decades of practice under her belt, so if she says that things were fine he's inclined to trust her on that. ]
That's good to hear.
[ Now he doesn't have to spend the next week stressing out over both the people in the house. (He will only be stressing over one person.)
With all that taken care of, it's his turn for his gaze to go towards the window. ]
If you have somewhere you need to be, you can head over there. I'm not going anywhere.
[ Don't think he missed the way her eyes shot to the window when he mentioned Johnny. Be free, Gray....and also Boba for your pen show. ]
no subject
Date: 2023-08-24 02:34 am (UTC)She's gotta do what she's gotta do. She moves suddenly to give Eustace another quick hug, hardly a second long, before turning to hurry back out of the house. ]
I'll be back soon!
[ And then she'll make him some tea and otherwise pamper him into oblivion. Bye until then... ]