open ✘ the bird you'd sworn you'd given up.

[thehighestwing]

Here's a face you haven't seen in a while, Chicago.

It may have only been months, but for Phoebe Donovan it's been a full year

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[ohshiny_tomatos]

Parker is wandering down the street away from the Kashtta tower when she sees Phoebe. She stops and her head tilts a bit at the sight of the girl. They hadn't had time to get especially close before Phoebe left, but they had talked several times and Parker didn't dislike her. Not that there are many people Parker dislikes in Chicago, but that is not the point here. The point is that she sees someone she knows, someone she knows shouldn't be here, and she doesn't know what to make of it.

She also doesn't like that Phoebe isn't the happy smiling girl she remembers. She's hesitant at first, but then she speaks up.

"Hi Phoebe."

[thehighestwing]

Phoebe whirls around, and the face is familiar, but she can't place the name at first. It's been a year, and the place she went to didn't have many good things at all. She stands there for a moment, lacking the usually bubbly reply that she'd have had under any other circumstance. Mostly because she's trying really, really hard to remember and she fears for a moment she can't.

It may have only been several times, but Phoebe always used to remember a face and a name. Not to mention, their several interactions were always memorable in their own way. She remembers. The woman running from thugs and guns.

"...Parker?"

[ohshiny_tomatos]

It hasn't been nearly that long for Parker. She doesn't know much about where Phoebe went, but she knows that she was sad that she left. She knows that other people were even more sad that she left. She also knows that Phoebe was very nice to her, and she wants to return that. It's what people do around here. She's people now, isn't she?

Parker nods. "Didn't you leave?" No, she's not one for beating around the bush.

[thehighestwing]

"Yeah," Phoebe answers once she can find her voice, her hand tugging at the long sleeve of her shirt. The fabric brushes just past her wrist. Something's missing. There's a hole somewhere that keeps scratching at her, and she's terrified that it's the ward link. It's gone. She knows it's gone and it has been gone for a year, but she hadn't been allowed to really know until now.

"Yeah, I did. I've heard of it happening to a lot of people, but I honestly... never thought it'd happen to me."

[ohshiny_tomatos]

There's something wrong. Parker can tell this much. Something is wrong with Phoebe and something is bothering her. She's not the right person to deal with this. This is something Sophie would deal with, or Lena, but not Parker.

She nods and crosses her arms, but then she drops them and rocks on her feet a bit. Her fingers tuck her hair back. She wants to say something right, but she doesn't know what will help.

She reaches out for Phoebe's hand, the one that's tugging on her shirt, and she holds it in her own. She knows some people find comfort in touch, and she thinks maybe this could help. And she looks at Phoebe with honest eyes, concern.

"That was stupid," she said bluntly. Not that she meant it in a harsh way.

[thehighestwing]

Phoebe breathes in and out, and looks down at their hands. She squeezes Parker's hand lightly, and the gestuer does seem to help. Phoebe's a tactile person by nature, and it helps to have something to hold onto now.

As ridiculous as it may be, she feels if she doesn't holding on, she'll go away again.

"I know," Phoebe says with a slight wince. Harsh or not, it's true, and Phoebe's had her less-than-brighter moments. She can't even blame it on blonde hair. It's just who she is and she rarely thinks anything too thoroughly. "I'm... back now, in any case. I have no idea how long it's been. What's the date?"

She's almost scared to know.

[ohshiny_tomatos]

Parker isn't going to make Phoebe let go, and she watches the girl carefully. She really does like Phoebe, and she wants to be happy that she's back, but she's really worried.

"It's June 14th," she says. "2011."

[thehighestwing]

"Holy..." Phoebe's voice trails off, and she never turns her phrase into an expletive. She'd thought she'd maybe miss a few months, give or take. She's grateful for Parker's presence, and that she's answering Phoebe's questions.

She doesn't know what she'd do without it.

"It was 2012 where I was from. I skipped a whole year."

[ohshiny_tomatos]

Parker knows what that expletive is, she doesn't need Phoebe to fill it in. Her eyes widen at that and she tilts her head, confused.

"How did you do that?"