Priestly and Jen's place, Santa Cruz, Tuesday morning
Priestly lay flopped across his bed as the sun made its way slowly across the room. Not sleeping, no, he still hadn't done any of that since waking up in Fandom, but just lying there, chin buried in his pillow, staring at the wall.
The talk with Tish . . . had not gone well. He'd known it wouldn't, but he couldn't help but hope. . . .
There was a knock at the door. It wouldn't be Tish, she'd gone home, so Priestly ignored it. The person knocked again.
"Priestly?" Jen called.
"I'm not home," Priestly muttered into the pillow.
Another knock. "You know I can hear you, right? I want to talk."
Priestly groaned, rolling over enough to glare at the door. "You talked to Tish." It wasn't a question.
"She's worried about you."
"She thinks I'm crazy."
"That's why she's worried about you."
Priestly groaned again and stuck his head under his pillow. Shutting out light and sound didn't shut down his brain, though, and it made it a little hard to breathe, which only encouraged memories of the things he didn't want to think about any more, so he finally rolled off the bed and went to open the door.
Jen stood on the other side, hand poised to knock again. She looked up at him, her face a perfect picture of thoughtful concern.
"Do you think I'm crazy?" Priestly asked.
"I don't know what to think."
Priestly rolled his eyes and went back to sit on his bed again. Jen followed him in.
"I've known you longer than just about anyone else in Santa Cruz," she said. "But I don't really know you better. You're not around that much. You were always off at school or running around Asia or. . . ." She sighed, sitting down next to him. "This wasn't the first time you mysteriously disappeared."
Priestly frowned, looking over. "What? Yes it was." She'd vanished before he had with the Nothing. There was no way she could remember --
"Are you Audrey?" she asked. Priestly's jaw dropped.
"Uh. Yes."
Jen nodded. "I thought so. You're not exactly good at hiding that stuff, you know. Especially not when you're five."
Priestly smiled softly, remembering Dinah's visit that happened to correspond with one of the more fun of "those weekends". "That's Dinah's fault. She's a bad influence when we're that age."
"Or when you forget you're supposed to be going by a different name," Jen pointed out.
"Yeah, that one would be all me, huh." Priestly shook his head. "I don't know what to do, Jen. Tish hates me."
Jen smacked his arm. "Don't be dense. She's scared. Give her time, and she'll put it together, too. Tish is a lot smarter than anyone gives her credit for."
Priestly studied her for a moment. She always did this, more than any of his other friends. Jen was always the first to be there to just talk, the first to point out the obvious that you were just refusing to see. He did his best to be that same thing for her. "You are, too, you know."
She blushed, looking down. "Come on. Everyone knows I'm a genius." She looked back up at him, face going serious again. "She said you thought you'd died."
Priestly swallowed, turning his eyes back to the wall.
"Oh Priestly."
"I, uh." He threaded his fingers together, staring down at his purple nails. They'd been his first indication everything was okay again. He had a feeling his nails would be purple for awhile. "I kinda had a whole porcupine imitation going on there, yeah." He gestured vaguely towards his back. "Arrows."
And then Jen was hugging him.
"I think that's what scared her the most. You're not actually allowed to die on us, you know."
"So I've been told." Priestly turned his head, pressing a soft kiss into Jen's hair, letting the hug linger for a moment before he pulled away. "Does Piper --"
"Think you're as crazy as Tish does?" Jen asked. "She's working on it. She kinda only just met you."
"But it explains Karla."
"From what I've heard, nothing actually explains Karla."
Priestly snorted. "Hey. I forgave her, you know. Momoko, too. Especially Momo."
"Do I want to know?"
"That I died because I was head over heels for Momoko and kissed her in public?"
Jen frowned. "You didn't tell Tish that part."
"I did," Priestly protested. "Sort of. I'm working up to it."
"Priestly --"
"I'll tell her. I will. I said I'd tell her everything, and I meant it. Just . . . not all at once. That's not fair to either of us. It's all a little too . . . real. Just now."
And Jen was hugging him again. "Don't wait too long, okay? It'll only make it worse."
Priestly nodded. "I know. I do. But how do you tell the girl you love that you spent a week in another universe, in love with another girl?"
"I'd start with the part where you love Tish."
Priestly blinked. "Shit."
"Just figured that bit out, huh?"
"Uh. Kinda."
"It's hard to tell -- she's way more closed off about this stuff than you are -- but I'm pretty sure it's mutual." Jen tilted her head. "If it wasn't, she'd've just dumped you."
"I'm . . . not dumped?"
"Sometimes needing space just means needing a day. She's not giving up on you yet." Another smack in the arm. "So don't screw it up, okay? And as for the crazy. . . . Trucker knows, doesn't he? About the universes and stuff?"
"Sort of. It was kind of hard to miss the magic at my graduation. That's why he helped cover for me with the Audrey thing."
"Then he can help. And so can Zo, and I'm going to go out on a limb here and guess that Dinah's already volunteered, too."
Priestly smiled softly. "Yeah. She has."
Jen nodded, then started pushing on Priestly's arm, nudging him over towards his pillow. "So get some sleep. Let us take care of things for a little bit, and then you can try talking to Tish again when you wake up."
Priestly had been leaning pillow-ward, but then jerked back upright when Jen mentioned sleep. "No. No, I can't, Jen, I can't, I'm going to dream and it'll be bad and --"
"Shut it." Jen gave him her best stern look -- which wasn't actually that stern -- and pushed him towards the pillow again. "You're wiped, Priestly. And yeah, it sounds like things were really, really bad, so nightmares are kind of a gimme, but that doesn't mean you can just skip sleeping forever."
"Being horizontal is nice," Priestly admitted grudgingly.
"Do you want me to stay here? Keep an eye on you?"
"You don't have to." Mostly because he had no intention of sleeping. He wasn't sure just when she'd managed to get him actually sideways, head on the pillow, blanket over top of him. He might have skipped a minute or two in there. She rubbed his back like he was a toddler in a preschool.
"Shush. I want to. Maybe it's dumb, but I don't want you disappearing, again."
"Usually can't help it," Priestly muttered. He'd forgotten how nice his pillows could be. "'Snot like we get warning signs."
"Stop talking," Jen said, her hand still rubbing circles from his shoulder blades to his lower back and back up again. "I'll be here when you wake up."
"There's a song about that," Priestly said.
"Don't make me gag you."
Priestly slowly, grudgingly allowed his eyes to close. He smiled faintly. "Love you, Jen."
"Yeah, Priestly. Shut up and go to sleep."
[ooc: Establishy again, though Priestly will be available for phone calls later in his day.]
The talk with Tish . . . had not gone well. He'd known it wouldn't, but he couldn't help but hope. . . .
There was a knock at the door. It wouldn't be Tish, she'd gone home, so Priestly ignored it. The person knocked again.
"Priestly?" Jen called.
"I'm not home," Priestly muttered into the pillow.
Another knock. "You know I can hear you, right? I want to talk."
Priestly groaned, rolling over enough to glare at the door. "You talked to Tish." It wasn't a question.
"She's worried about you."
"She thinks I'm crazy."
"That's why she's worried about you."
Priestly groaned again and stuck his head under his pillow. Shutting out light and sound didn't shut down his brain, though, and it made it a little hard to breathe, which only encouraged memories of the things he didn't want to think about any more, so he finally rolled off the bed and went to open the door.
Jen stood on the other side, hand poised to knock again. She looked up at him, her face a perfect picture of thoughtful concern.
"Do you think I'm crazy?" Priestly asked.
"I don't know what to think."
Priestly rolled his eyes and went back to sit on his bed again. Jen followed him in.
"I've known you longer than just about anyone else in Santa Cruz," she said. "But I don't really know you better. You're not around that much. You were always off at school or running around Asia or. . . ." She sighed, sitting down next to him. "This wasn't the first time you mysteriously disappeared."
Priestly frowned, looking over. "What? Yes it was." She'd vanished before he had with the Nothing. There was no way she could remember --
"Are you Audrey?" she asked. Priestly's jaw dropped.
"Uh. Yes."
Jen nodded. "I thought so. You're not exactly good at hiding that stuff, you know. Especially not when you're five."
Priestly smiled softly, remembering Dinah's visit that happened to correspond with one of the more fun of "those weekends". "That's Dinah's fault. She's a bad influence when we're that age."
"Or when you forget you're supposed to be going by a different name," Jen pointed out.
"Yeah, that one would be all me, huh." Priestly shook his head. "I don't know what to do, Jen. Tish hates me."
Jen smacked his arm. "Don't be dense. She's scared. Give her time, and she'll put it together, too. Tish is a lot smarter than anyone gives her credit for."
Priestly studied her for a moment. She always did this, more than any of his other friends. Jen was always the first to be there to just talk, the first to point out the obvious that you were just refusing to see. He did his best to be that same thing for her. "You are, too, you know."
She blushed, looking down. "Come on. Everyone knows I'm a genius." She looked back up at him, face going serious again. "She said you thought you'd died."
Priestly swallowed, turning his eyes back to the wall.
"Oh Priestly."
"I, uh." He threaded his fingers together, staring down at his purple nails. They'd been his first indication everything was okay again. He had a feeling his nails would be purple for awhile. "I kinda had a whole porcupine imitation going on there, yeah." He gestured vaguely towards his back. "Arrows."
And then Jen was hugging him.
"I think that's what scared her the most. You're not actually allowed to die on us, you know."
"So I've been told." Priestly turned his head, pressing a soft kiss into Jen's hair, letting the hug linger for a moment before he pulled away. "Does Piper --"
"Think you're as crazy as Tish does?" Jen asked. "She's working on it. She kinda only just met you."
"But it explains Karla."
"From what I've heard, nothing actually explains Karla."
Priestly snorted. "Hey. I forgave her, you know. Momoko, too. Especially Momo."
"Do I want to know?"
"That I died because I was head over heels for Momoko and kissed her in public?"
Jen frowned. "You didn't tell Tish that part."
"I did," Priestly protested. "Sort of. I'm working up to it."
"Priestly --"
"I'll tell her. I will. I said I'd tell her everything, and I meant it. Just . . . not all at once. That's not fair to either of us. It's all a little too . . . real. Just now."
And Jen was hugging him again. "Don't wait too long, okay? It'll only make it worse."
Priestly nodded. "I know. I do. But how do you tell the girl you love that you spent a week in another universe, in love with another girl?"
"I'd start with the part where you love Tish."
Priestly blinked. "Shit."
"Just figured that bit out, huh?"
"Uh. Kinda."
"It's hard to tell -- she's way more closed off about this stuff than you are -- but I'm pretty sure it's mutual." Jen tilted her head. "If it wasn't, she'd've just dumped you."
"I'm . . . not dumped?"
"Sometimes needing space just means needing a day. She's not giving up on you yet." Another smack in the arm. "So don't screw it up, okay? And as for the crazy. . . . Trucker knows, doesn't he? About the universes and stuff?"
"Sort of. It was kind of hard to miss the magic at my graduation. That's why he helped cover for me with the Audrey thing."
"Then he can help. And so can Zo, and I'm going to go out on a limb here and guess that Dinah's already volunteered, too."
Priestly smiled softly. "Yeah. She has."
Jen nodded, then started pushing on Priestly's arm, nudging him over towards his pillow. "So get some sleep. Let us take care of things for a little bit, and then you can try talking to Tish again when you wake up."
Priestly had been leaning pillow-ward, but then jerked back upright when Jen mentioned sleep. "No. No, I can't, Jen, I can't, I'm going to dream and it'll be bad and --"
"Shut it." Jen gave him her best stern look -- which wasn't actually that stern -- and pushed him towards the pillow again. "You're wiped, Priestly. And yeah, it sounds like things were really, really bad, so nightmares are kind of a gimme, but that doesn't mean you can just skip sleeping forever."
"Being horizontal is nice," Priestly admitted grudgingly.
"Do you want me to stay here? Keep an eye on you?"
"You don't have to." Mostly because he had no intention of sleeping. He wasn't sure just when she'd managed to get him actually sideways, head on the pillow, blanket over top of him. He might have skipped a minute or two in there. She rubbed his back like he was a toddler in a preschool.
"Shush. I want to. Maybe it's dumb, but I don't want you disappearing, again."
"Usually can't help it," Priestly muttered. He'd forgotten how nice his pillows could be. "'Snot like we get warning signs."
"Stop talking," Jen said, her hand still rubbing circles from his shoulder blades to his lower back and back up again. "I'll be here when you wake up."
"There's a song about that," Priestly said.
"Don't make me gag you."
Priestly slowly, grudgingly allowed his eyes to close. He smiled faintly. "Love you, Jen."
"Yeah, Priestly. Shut up and go to sleep."
[ooc: Establishy again, though Priestly will be available for phone calls later in his day.]