Santa Cruz, California, Monday night
The portal had dropped Priestly off without any detours or layovers, for once, and he couldn't decide if he was pleased or disappointed. While it was definitely a good idea to get the hell out of Fandom -- now that he was pretty sure the people who needed confirmation of him not being dead had all gotten it -- that didn't mean he really quite wanted to deal with being home just yet.
He was seriously tempted to just go find some place to hide. But if Tish and the others found out that he'd come back and hadn't come immediately to find them, they'd be even more pissed than they probably already were. He was going to have to man up and face the music.
He just hadn't expected them all to still be there at this hour, that was all.
He didn't make his usual show as he came in. There was no slamming the door open and shouting, no bursting into song, no dance steps. Just the soft tinkle of the bell over the door, and the faint squeak of his boots on the tile floor.
Still, no one missed his entrance.
"Priestly!" Jen was out from behind the counter in a microsecond, followed closely by Piper. "Oh my god where have you been we've been calling and emailing and worried and we thought you were dead or something!" And then Jen was hugging him and Piper was giving him dirty looks for disappearing on them and that was really hard to look at, considering whose face she wore, but Priestly forced himself to meet her eyes and smile anyway.
"You guys know me," he said. "I never stay dead for long."
Piper smacked him hard on the arm, glared again, then joined Jen in the hugging. Priestly looked up at Tish, who was still behind the counter.
She looked even more pissed than Piper did.
"So what happened, then?" she asked.
Priestly opened his mouth to answer, but it was as if the moment she spoke, all the glib lines and short hand explanations went flying out of his head, replaced only by empty air. He shut his mouth again and swallowed, and Trucker took pity on him and filled in the silence.
"Zo said to tell you to head on over when you got in," he said. "She promised not to feed you tea."
And thank god for Zo. Priestly didn't even blink at her mysterious ways any more. He nodded to Trucker and swallowed again. "Thanks." He broke away from Jen and Piper, shoving his hands into his pockets as he backed towards the door. He met Tish's eye.
"I'm going to tell you everything," he promised. "I will. I swear. I just --" He hadn't had to actually explain what had happened to anyone yet, and though he'd come up with all sorts of ways to do it while waiting for his portal, none of them came close to really even touching it. "I can't yet." Please, Tish. I don't do this stuff, you know that. Just give me time.
Tish stared back at him, her arms folded over her chest. Jen and Piper looked like they were holding their breath. Trucker was giving him just as considering a look as Tish, though with considerably less anger involved. Then Tish nodded, and Priestly felt like he could breathe again.
"Tonight," he promised. "After Zo's."
Tish nodded again, then looked away towards her shoes. Jen reached up to rub Priestly's arm.
"I'll give you guys the house," she said. "Piper? Can I crash with you, tonight?"
"Yeah," Piper said. "Of course. But you're going to tell us later too, right, Priestly? Tomorrow?"
Priestly wondered when he'd ended up with some many people who worried when he didn't come home. At least there wouldn't be anyone else who -- shit. "You guys didn't call my mom, did you?"
"Uh, duh," Jen said. "We thought you might be dead."
Scratch that, he was going to have to try to explain it all to his mom, too.
"Zo's at her shop?" he asked Trucker.
"Waiting for you."
Priestly bolted back out the door.
*
Priestly wondered how he'd ever managed to deal with Fandom intruding into his Santa Cruz life before Zo became fully part of the group. He was pretty sure the answer was "not well".
She'd been an absolute god-send. He hadn't had to tell her a damn thing, she'd just opened up the shop, invited him into the back, fed him lentil soup and homemade wine and told him everything would be okay until he stopped trying to deny it or pretend it already was and really started to actually believe her.
"You can talk to us, you know," she said, leaning in to take his hand. "Trucker and I are always going to be there for you. And you can not-talk as much as you want, too."
"But you already know," Priestly said. "I mean, I don't really get how you know, since you're not psionic or anything, but -- I guess Trucker does if you told him?"
Zo smiled and shrugged. "I didn't have to, Priestly. Trucker knew what was wrong the minute he saw you."
"But he's not --"
She shook her head. "He doesn't need to be. All he did was recognize a road he's already walked down. And I think you'll find your other friends will forgive you, too, even if they never completely understand."
Priestly stared down at the dregs of his wine. "They thought I was dead or something."
"They were worried about you, yes."
"I was dead."
"Oh Priestly." Zo put her hand under his chin, lifting it up so he'd look at her again. "You never were, not really. Not as long as there were people out there in the worlds who loved you."
And, well, maybe it was the wine, but that crazy new age hippie logic even started to make sense.
But he still had to try to explain it to Tish.
*
By the time he got home, it was closer to sunrise than midnight. His head spun faintly from Zo's wine and just the weight of everything, but he knew he couldn't get to bed just yet. Not for awhile. He'd slept when he was dead. That was how it worked, right? He figured he had at least another several hours before he'd been up any longer than he'd been -- gone.
"Hey," Tish greeted. She'd waited up for him on the couch, watching some crappy infomercial about a miracle juice maker. He could see the overly groomed reps on the television, grinning out like there was anyone watching who wasn't wrecked or hungover or just plain screwed.
"Hey," he said back. She had her arms folded again. Already on the defensive. He'd thought he'd broken through that side of her, already.
He didn't want to worry about breaking through things in his girlfriends any more.
"So, uh." He let out a breath, feeling his shoulders shake. "What, uh. What do you know about alternate universes?"
[ooc: MWAHAHAHA. Establishy.]
He was seriously tempted to just go find some place to hide. But if Tish and the others found out that he'd come back and hadn't come immediately to find them, they'd be even more pissed than they probably already were. He was going to have to man up and face the music.
He just hadn't expected them all to still be there at this hour, that was all.
He didn't make his usual show as he came in. There was no slamming the door open and shouting, no bursting into song, no dance steps. Just the soft tinkle of the bell over the door, and the faint squeak of his boots on the tile floor.
Still, no one missed his entrance.
"Priestly!" Jen was out from behind the counter in a microsecond, followed closely by Piper. "Oh my god where have you been we've been calling and emailing and worried and we thought you were dead or something!" And then Jen was hugging him and Piper was giving him dirty looks for disappearing on them and that was really hard to look at, considering whose face she wore, but Priestly forced himself to meet her eyes and smile anyway.
"You guys know me," he said. "I never stay dead for long."
Piper smacked him hard on the arm, glared again, then joined Jen in the hugging. Priestly looked up at Tish, who was still behind the counter.
She looked even more pissed than Piper did.
"So what happened, then?" she asked.
Priestly opened his mouth to answer, but it was as if the moment she spoke, all the glib lines and short hand explanations went flying out of his head, replaced only by empty air. He shut his mouth again and swallowed, and Trucker took pity on him and filled in the silence.
"Zo said to tell you to head on over when you got in," he said. "She promised not to feed you tea."
And thank god for Zo. Priestly didn't even blink at her mysterious ways any more. He nodded to Trucker and swallowed again. "Thanks." He broke away from Jen and Piper, shoving his hands into his pockets as he backed towards the door. He met Tish's eye.
"I'm going to tell you everything," he promised. "I will. I swear. I just --" He hadn't had to actually explain what had happened to anyone yet, and though he'd come up with all sorts of ways to do it while waiting for his portal, none of them came close to really even touching it. "I can't yet." Please, Tish. I don't do this stuff, you know that. Just give me time.
Tish stared back at him, her arms folded over her chest. Jen and Piper looked like they were holding their breath. Trucker was giving him just as considering a look as Tish, though with considerably less anger involved. Then Tish nodded, and Priestly felt like he could breathe again.
"Tonight," he promised. "After Zo's."
Tish nodded again, then looked away towards her shoes. Jen reached up to rub Priestly's arm.
"I'll give you guys the house," she said. "Piper? Can I crash with you, tonight?"
"Yeah," Piper said. "Of course. But you're going to tell us later too, right, Priestly? Tomorrow?"
Priestly wondered when he'd ended up with some many people who worried when he didn't come home. At least there wouldn't be anyone else who -- shit. "You guys didn't call my mom, did you?"
"Uh, duh," Jen said. "We thought you might be dead."
Scratch that, he was going to have to try to explain it all to his mom, too.
"Zo's at her shop?" he asked Trucker.
"Waiting for you."
Priestly bolted back out the door.
*
Priestly wondered how he'd ever managed to deal with Fandom intruding into his Santa Cruz life before Zo became fully part of the group. He was pretty sure the answer was "not well".
She'd been an absolute god-send. He hadn't had to tell her a damn thing, she'd just opened up the shop, invited him into the back, fed him lentil soup and homemade wine and told him everything would be okay until he stopped trying to deny it or pretend it already was and really started to actually believe her.
"You can talk to us, you know," she said, leaning in to take his hand. "Trucker and I are always going to be there for you. And you can not-talk as much as you want, too."
"But you already know," Priestly said. "I mean, I don't really get how you know, since you're not psionic or anything, but -- I guess Trucker does if you told him?"
Zo smiled and shrugged. "I didn't have to, Priestly. Trucker knew what was wrong the minute he saw you."
"But he's not --"
She shook her head. "He doesn't need to be. All he did was recognize a road he's already walked down. And I think you'll find your other friends will forgive you, too, even if they never completely understand."
Priestly stared down at the dregs of his wine. "They thought I was dead or something."
"They were worried about you, yes."
"I was dead."
"Oh Priestly." Zo put her hand under his chin, lifting it up so he'd look at her again. "You never were, not really. Not as long as there were people out there in the worlds who loved you."
And, well, maybe it was the wine, but that crazy new age hippie logic even started to make sense.
But he still had to try to explain it to Tish.
*
By the time he got home, it was closer to sunrise than midnight. His head spun faintly from Zo's wine and just the weight of everything, but he knew he couldn't get to bed just yet. Not for awhile. He'd slept when he was dead. That was how it worked, right? He figured he had at least another several hours before he'd been up any longer than he'd been -- gone.
"Hey," Tish greeted. She'd waited up for him on the couch, watching some crappy infomercial about a miracle juice maker. He could see the overly groomed reps on the television, grinning out like there was anyone watching who wasn't wrecked or hungover or just plain screwed.
"Hey," he said back. She had her arms folded again. Already on the defensive. He'd thought he'd broken through that side of her, already.
He didn't want to worry about breaking through things in his girlfriends any more.
"So, uh." He let out a breath, feeling his shoulders shake. "What, uh. What do you know about alternate universes?"
[ooc: MWAHAHAHA. Establishy.]