A Room at the Arms Hotel, Saturday Morning

[smilestopscars]

Ezra had had a pleasant NPC encounter or two, yesterday. But in the end, he'd gone to bed alone. Which meant that now he was also waking up alone. And, he was actually pretty okay with that. Especially now that the tug of the pollen had abated. He had a comfortable bed all to himself, and nowhere he really needed to be anytime soon.

So he wasn't in a rush to get up.

Yet.

[ooc: Oooopen for everything that these weekends usually entail!]

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[spin_kick_snap]

Kathy stood, awkward and hesitant. This, this desperate clinging, like it was the only thing holding you together, that she recognized. But this was between Zeke and his dad and the last thing she wanted was to interfere.

Instead she quirked her eyebrows at Ezra, watching the expressions shift in his face, since Zeke's was buried.

"Ez..." she murmured.

[smilestopscars]

Ezra just did his best at conveying a shrug with just his face. It was kind of a brief eyebrow-raise, above eyes that looked resigned.

It was what it was.

His arms were tight around Zeke.

[bouncy_foxkit]

And Zeke was quaking, his face buried against Ezra's shoulder. Tear-streaked against his best efforts, but his best efforts weren't any match for his dad being here. His scent, his warmth, his everything.

Zeke's knuckles were white with how he was gripping Ezra's shirt.

[spin_kick_snap]

Kathy pointed to herself and then to Zeke. Did he think it would be okay if she...?

She couldn't tell if this was a father-son moment or a family moment and she desperately, desperately didn't want to get it wrong.

[smilestopscars]

Ezra nodded, then just barely beckoned her closer with a few fingers.

He didn't think she could make this any worse. And his people tended to thrive with physical comfort - at least once they accepted it.

[spin_kick_snap]

Kathy slipped off the bed and padded over on silent feet, her arms coming up to wrap around both of them, offering all the love and comfort she could through touch alone.

She didn't speak though. Not yet. She didn't want to trample all over what Zeke might want to say, whenever he felt ready to say anything at all.

[bouncy_foxkit]

It didn't appear Zeke had inherited her tendency for word-walling. he trembled a little as he felt her join them, but he didn't say anything.

And once he did, all he said was, half in a wet gasp, "I'm sorry."

[smilestopscars]

Ezra's chest felt too tight. Too tight for breathing or speaking or anything, but he forced words out anyway. "Nothing to apologize for, cupcake."

It wasn't his fault that he was hurting.

[spin_kick_snap]

"He's right," Kathy soothed, rubbing her hand over his back. "We understand. This...this is a hard thing you have to deal with."

[bouncy_foxkit]

"It's just --"

It was so much. Too much?

He was at a complete loss for words. That did not happen often.

[smilestopscars]

And here was Ezra, not really knowing what to do except to hold on.

And press his lips against the side of Zeke's head.

[spin_kick_snap]

"It's big," Kathy murmured. "It's so big. And it claws at your guts and your throat. Makes it hard to talk or think or do anything but curl up."

This, at least, she knew. Too well, really.

She was hugging them - both of them - so tight.

[bouncy_foxkit]

"Mom," Zeke mumbled. "Don't."

He'd heard all of that so many times already, before. Here, it didn't come with the underlying guilt of knowing how much she was hurting too, but --

It still hurt, in its own way.

[spin_kick_snap]

"Okay," Kathy said. "Sorry."

And shut up, going back to quietly hugging.

[smilestopscars]

"I've already done this," Zeke said. Though it was barely audible, again. Words getting lost somewhere against Ezra's collarbone.

"We know," Ezra replied, almost as quietly.

[spin_kick_snap]

Kathy just rubbed his back in slow-moving circles.

Physical comfort was usually better anyway, when it came to these two.

[smilestopscars]

She wasn't wrong.

"I don't think there's anything we can say," Ezra noted quietly, after a moment. "So I'm just going to say one thing."

And he said, very very quietly. "I'm sorry." He wasn't sure Kathy could hear it, but it wasn't for her, anyway. Zeke's ears would pick it up.

And they did.

Zeke let out an uneven breath, his shoulders drooping some as a little bit of tension went out of them.

[spin_kick_snap]

Kathy eased back slightly, not wanting to crowd as Zeke seemed to relax just a hair. Her hands cupped her elbows, lips pressed together as a reminder to stay quiet. She was just going to...go get some water from the bathroom and a cool washcloth. Give them a few minutes alone, plus Zeke was going to need that to stop a headache. Probably?

She hoped that Zeke's mom was better at...well, pretty much all of this.