Cause they say home is where your heart is set in stone. {Open}

[ofcatsandfate]

Fabrice calls work once he feels able to hold a conversation over the phone and the pain of his scars dull to a manageable roar. Of course, he gets his mother on the line, who worries instantly and, before granting him an excused leave from work, insists on bringing him back home. Her tone leaves little room for argument, and Fabrice finds himself too tired to even make an attempt. So he gathers the little he packed to begin with, gathering it around him as he waits for his mother to arrive.

She doesn't say anything when she arrives at his hotel door, just throws her arms around him and pulls him close. He clings back, shaking with more tears as the severity of the past couple of days continues to haunt through him, like a poltergeist. She brings him out to the car while whispering comforting words, the way she used to do when he was a child.

"The zoo will run just fine without me," she insists, when Fabrice attempts to protest at his mother staying with him at home. She brings him to his old room, still decorated as it was before he left for college, dinosaur comforter and all. She tells him she is making soup before she heads back downstairs.

He curls up on his bed from his youth, his phone next to him on the bedside table. He knows there are texts from multiple people wondering where he is; he'll look at them in a minute, he tells himself, as his eyes fall shut again.

OOC: I know Emily was looking for a way to get in contact with Fabrice, so if anyone knows him/asks around, they'll hear he's staying back with his mother and can get in contact with him that way. Fabrice seems to be my outlet for angst, lately.

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[callmeemily]

Raleigh's feeling a little bit like a detective these days. Her conversation with Hana reminded her that she wanted to check in with Fabrice - he'd had a hard time, it seemed like, and now-

Now, more than before, she could relate. She could relate, and she just wanted to do something, so she'd showed up to the zoo but he wasn't there - he wasn't there, and she'd been told he was staying with his mother, and that pretty much meant.... yeah. She went to his house.

Asking if Fabrice was home was awkward, but Raleigh was surprised when his mother introduced herself, and then actually lead her upstairs, knocking on his door before she pushes it open and then she's gone, and Raleigh's left standing in the doorway, looking a little bit lost, but somewhat worse for wear. Her face is covered with half-healed bruises and her wrists are bandaged, but she's made the choice to go without one of her crutches for this even though she'll regret it later. Right now, she's leaning on the one crutch she brought with her, a backpack over her other shoulder that's got fresh donuts inside - not made by her, because everything she bakes right now comes out burnt and horrible.

"Hey," she says quietly, "You up for a little company?"

[ofcatsandfate]

Fabrice really hasn't seen much of anyone besides his cousins since that, which he knows he ought to change; holing himself away from society isn't healthy, he knows this from his past experiences. As much as he loves his cats and animals in general, he also needs to connect with other people.

His scars still ache, but dully, well hidden beneath his ragged t-shirt and pajama pants he has yet to change out of; beside him, his three cats are floating through the air with a sense of whimsy.

He turns when he hears his mother talking with someone and soon enough, his door creaks open and he finds Raleigh, looking worse for wear herself as she clutches at a crutch and a backpack filled with something delicious smelling, and Fabrice realizes he hasn't eaten since last night.

"Of course," he says, looking at her in concern as his cats float over to her curiously. "Please, come in."

He makes room on his childhood bed, gesturing for her to sit.

[callmeemily]

She's grateful to sit, but Raleigh hesitates for just a second when she sees--

Yeah, she sees them.

And yeah, she's not hallucinating.

One of them butts his head into her fingers, and she finds herself scratching it's head reflexively, before she hobbles forward and levers herself down onto the edge of the bed because she's got to sit down, but she half turns so she's facing him, and she just sets her backpack on the floor. "I... sort of heard you were under the weather - I met Hana, and when I came to the zoo to see both of you... and I just sort of.. ended up here. I hope you don't mind, I just- Are you okay?"

She's concerned - she's concerned because she likes him, she likes him a lot and he's been nice and her eyes just sort of keep... sliding to the floating cats, and she asks, distractedly, "Don't they get into everything?"

[ofcatsandfate]

It's almost funny, her reaction to his cats. She bears the same expression most people do when they first happen upon his girls, Clotho, Atropos, and Lachesis, named for the Fates in Greek mythology, the disbelief that tries to ration what she's seeing with some logical explanation and failing. But she also doesn't flinch nor turn away from the sight either, even when Atropos approaches and butts against her hand.

"Hello," he says, voice quiet. "Yes, under the weather, I guess, is one way of putting it." He moves to make room for her on the bed. "It's a long story, if you want to hear it."

"They do," he says, cracking a small grin. "But I love them anyway."

[callmeemily]

"If you want to tell it, I want to hear it." She smiles, mostly because she understands - she understands, because she's got the same thing. The last time she saw Fabrice, she was all in one piece. No bruises, no crutches, and she's a mess now. She's a mess, but more than that, she's jumpy. She's jumpy and worried and hurt, all at the same time, and oddly, the cats help. She scritches the cat nearest to her, and she smiles. "I would, too. They're special." She paused, and then ventured a question. "Did they just... come this way? Floating, I mean."

[ofcatsandfate]

"Well, it begans about two months ago," he begins, his gaze settling onto the window beside his bed. Merely talking about the incident shouldn't prove this difficult, but then, Fabrice has always struggled coping with the curve balls life has seen fit to toss his way. "I was...attacked, by magic. I was in a coma for a bit. When I woke up, I had two, clawlike scars, still have, actually, and I couldn't remember much beyond a flash of silver light."

He pauses to take a breath, unsure of how much he ought to reveal to Emily. He doesn't want to put her at risk by telling her too much.

"The other night, I finally remembered," he admits, running a hand through his hair. "My scars have been hurting ever since. It...caught me off-guard."

[callmeemily]

"You said a little, before. When you helped me with the cat under the pier." She chewed on her lip for a second. "Are you.... I mean, do they still hurt? Are you okay?" Her eyes flick up to his, and she's honestly concerned - she's really concerned. She likes Fabrice, and all of it-- especially that he was in a coma, that's.... It's horrible, and she can't imagine what it would be like to just have something happen but then you wake up in a hospital room.

"I'm sorry," she says without even quite knowing why she was apologizing.

[ofcatsandfate]

"Yes, I did, that's right," he says, recalling that night with a wisp of a smile before it fades back into a frown. He focuses on her concern, appreciative of the comfort her presence provides for the moment. "They ache, more than anything, but I have herbs and stuff to help with that, at least." He shakes his head sadly, weighed down by the fact of the betrayal of his own family still on his mind.

"It's...not okay, but I hope it will be, eventually," he tells her. If knowing how much blood rests on his aunt's hands could ever eventually leave his thoughts.

[callmeemily]

Raleigh leans forward, and she hesitates for just a second, but then she takes one of his hands and squeezes it. "It will be. Eventually, yeah, but it will be." She doesn't know his circumstances, especially not the magic thing, but- but she's got to be positive, and sometimes, just having somebody really believe that things are going to get better - sometimes that's enough. Sometimes that makes the difference.

One of the cats butts up against her back, purring, and she lets go of his hand with a surprised sort of laugh before she shakes her head at the cat and looks back at Fabrice. "You'll be okay, eventually. Not right now, but... it'll get better."

[ofcatsandfate]

"I..." he looks down at the hand she holds in her own before looking back at her with a grateful smile. "I hope so, thank you." He wants to believe things will get back to normal soon. He doesn't like to consider himself either an optimist or a pessimist, just someone that attempts to keep things in perspective.

"She really likes you," he tells her with a grin. "I think you have a new friend."

ooc: That icon is adorable!

[callmeemily]

"It will." She's just so incredibly definitive about it; there's one way this is going to end, and it's with him feeling better, according to her. It's a thing. If you don't believe something, it'll never ever happen, and... that's sad, mostly. It's really sad.

So they're not doing that - or, at least, she's not, even though she totally knows that the power of suggestion can only get you so far.

"Good, I'm glad," she says as she scritches the cat fondly. "I can use all the friends I can get, to be honest." Especially given the changing circumstances that now have her on crutches, her face full of still-healing bruises.

[ofcatsandfate]

"Thank you," he says again, because he appreciates how openly she reaches out to him. He cannot help but latch on to the hope she gives out with her words; it inspires him to want to move on from such a pitfall in his life.

"Well, you can count me as a friend, too," he assures her.