A House in Currant, Maine, Monday

[smilestopscars]

Anyone who hadn't expected Ezra to hightail it the hell away from Limbo City at his earliest convenience was a fool. Because he had. Immediately as soon as danger had been over, and straight back to Currant.

But not to his house.

Nope, to Ava and Cade's, where he'd made himself at home on Ava's bed until she figured out he wasn't leaving. (Even if he also wasn't saying what was wrong with him. But she knew something was wrong, and that was enough.) He'd slept restlessly, but with his nose buried in Ava's hair. The warmth of her against his chest.

Home wasn't a place, you see.

But he'd returned to his house, now. Scowling at the porch like it had betrayed him, somehow. He was a little more friendly to the fridge, though, now that he was standing in front of it: he was going to positively devour its contents.

Getting kidnapped and stripped of half his self was hungry work, clearly.

[ooc: NFB but open.]

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[spin_kick_snap]

Kathy woke up Monday morning in her own bed, still jittery as hell from the weekend.

Hey. Can I come over?

Shit. She'd meant to ask him if he was okay, check to see how he was doing, but apparently her thumbs had betrayed her.

[smilestopscars]

Ezra considered her message for a moment, a sandwich in one hand and his phone in the other. Idly, he checked his wrists.

Yeah, they'd healed. Not a mark from the cuffs left.

Sure. Bring cookies.

[spin_kick_snap]

You're lucky I stress-bake, she sent.

She checked portal times, saw one that would spit her out practically on his doorstep in forty minutes. Yeah, that was plenty of time for a batch of cookies. Or three.

They're not gonna be fancy.

[smilestopscars]

I don't mind.

You could've said he stress-ate. But really, it wasn't much of a change from his usual appetite.

[spin_kick_snap]

Good, cause the other option is no cookies.

And no Kathy, but she really wasn't sure that was a draw right now. Hell, she wasn't sure about a lot of things.

[smilestopscars]

Ezra didn't know much about what he felt about anything at all, right about now.

He finished his sandwich in two bites.

And that's a bad option.

[spin_kick_snap]

Cookies. Cookies were simple. Cookies were good, not having cookies was bad, that was about as far as Kathy had gotten on the 'knowing how she felt about things' train.

Glad we agree, she sent and then stopped texting to start baking.

Three batches of cookies and thirty-five minutes later, Kathy texted a picture of cooling chocolate chip cookies and These will be yours in 5 if the invite's still open.

[smilestopscars]

Of course it is, darling.

There was really no 'of course' about much anything right now, but at least over text, he could pretend.

He'd settled down by the table in the kitchen, listlessly eating things he'd hoarded from the fridge.

[spin_kick_snap]

Yeah, Kathy didn't buy that 'of course' for a second, if for no other reason than because she knew how tightly strung she was right now, but hey, it was agreement.

And so, five minutes later, she was walking up to his porch, holding a plate of still-warm cookies in her hand and a container of more in the bag at her side. Hey, he'd told her that he didn't share and Kathy wasn't in the mood for games.

Normally, she was at his door in several bounces and a handful of seconds. This time, it took a solid minute to traverse the distance, no speed or bouncing (or smiles) in evidence as she knocked on his door.

But hey. Cookies.

[smilestopscars]

Yeah, he noticed, as he came to the door.

He himself looked a little on the weary side, too, as much as he was trying to project something easy and light.

"Hello, Kathy. Come in."

[spin_kick_snap]

"Thanks," she said, shoving the plate of cookies at him in lieu of flinging herself.

It said a lot that Ezra, with as fucked up as everything was between them, was still the person she was most comfortable around right now. Things were strained with Dante, odd with Anders, Raven hadn't been there, and she and Eliot were fighting. Ezra was complicated and confusion, but he was safe.

Yeah, she was aware of the irony here.

"Chocolate chip, fresh from the oven."

[smilestopscars]

"Thank you," Ezra said, and even with all this abundant weirdness, nothing could stop him from snagging a cookie off the plate with his free hand and shoving it in his mouth.

That was what they were here for, right?

He chewed thoughtfully for a moment. "Tasty."

[spin_kick_snap]

"Good," Kathy said, sounding relieved. Her eyes crawled over him, checking for signs he wasn't okay. Well, outward signs. She knew better than to expect him to show anything about how he felt inwardly. "I nearly forgot the salt in the first batch."

She skirted around him, close enough to brush by unless he moved, and made her way to the couch. She wanted to sprawl out, done written over every line. Instead she sat, almost primly, posture rigid, afraid to relax.

[rebelseekspizza]

Dante hadn't seen or heard anything from Ez since everything went down.

So fuck yeah, he was calling.

[smilestopscars]

Ezra very seriously considered not answering. Very seriously.

But when he answered, he sounded chipper. "Hello, darling."

[rebelseekspizza]

"Thank fuck you're alive," Dante said, with feeling.

[smilestopscars]

"Please. It takes more to kill me."

He was thoroughly rattled, of course. But not dead, so, yay.

[rebelseekspizza]

"Can still be grateful," Dante argued lightly. "How're you feeling?"

[smilestopscars]

Ezra paused. It was pretty obvious that he was looking for the most palatable answer. He didn't mind that.

"Tired," he settled on.

[rebelseekspizza]

Dante considered any number of responses, including ones that pressed Ezra on that obvious moment of searching.

He didn't go for any of them.

"I'm sorry," he said.

[smilestopscars]

The shrug was practically audible. Ezra's tone stayed light.

"Not your fault."

[rebelseekspizza]

"Wouldn't have been there if it weren't for me," Dante countered, uncharacteristically subdued. "Are your people around today?"

[smilestopscars]

"Lock's supposed to come home later."

He was somewhere on a job. That was Ezra's best guess, anyway, because he hadn't asked. (Not beyond whether Lock was coming back soon.)

[rebelseekspizza]

Dante nodded, though Ezra couldn't see that much.

"Good," he said. "Get some rest, okay?"

[smilestopscars]

"Oh, you know me," Ezra replied, smoothly. "Lazying around is what I do."