Trooper Station, Friday

[firstofitskind]

Liam had to admit, the crew from the school had done a pretty good job; the Station’s exterior practically sparkled.

Also, the flowers were, dare he say it, cute. Something his visitor this weekend would probably rib him mercilessly for, but he didn’t really care, he was just excited to get to see her for the first time in nearly a year. And okay, he was also pretty thrilled about Verity’s guest; Sarah was one of his favorite people.

Anyway, this weekend would be great, not even the Bee Lady would be able to impact his mood this weekend.


(Not that anyone who didn’t know him reasonably well could tell, since his default expression was a bit of a scowl, but, well.)

Comments

[firstofitskind]

Liam's scoff was totally a loving one, Verity.

"Sarah," he shook his head. "You're the one who needs practice. I'm the one who's been playing 4D chess since the day after I was born."

[cryptidsandkinfolk]

Sarah paused a moment, eyes going distant. "You...are?" she asked, voice a little vague. "Not me? I thought for sure that I..."

[arboreal_priestess]

Verity placed a reassuring hand on her arm. Her look towards Liam suggested this wasn't the first time that this happened today.

"It's okay, Sarah," she said softly.

[firstofitskind]

Liam raised an eyebrow as his eyes met Verity's, and he found himself wondering if that's what he looked like when he got lost in someone else's memories.

And promptly resolved to do a better job of keeping his thoughts (and assorted thoughts that weren't his) to himself.

"You're almost ready for fu'vlaasha, though," he reminded her. "So that's definite progress."

Hopefully the idea of a completely alien game would bring her focus back to the here and now.

[arboreal_priestess]

They'd heard that Sarah wasn't well, that she was 'vague' and 'somewhat confused,' but neither of them had entirely known what that meant. What Sarah was really like.

"See, I haven't even heard of that one."

[cryptidsandkinfolk]

The mention of a new game had the desired effect. A little more presence entered into Sarah's ice-blue eyes. "Fu'vlaasha?" she asked, sounding more like herself. "What's that?"

[firstofitskind]

"A Taelon game," he told Sarah. "It takes a certain type of analytical mind to really be able to master."

By which he meant a non-human one, basically. Sorry, Verity.

[arboreal_priestess]

Rude. "Don't think I don't know what that's code for," Verity sniffed. "You're lucky I'm a jock and don't want to master your dumb game."

Now he was going to have both Alex and Antimony trying to learn it, just to prove they could. Verity was only going to watch him play - with narrowed eyes.

[cryptidsandkinfolk]

Sarah, however, was already grinning. "I have a very analytical mind," she noted. "I see the dance of mathematics in everything."

A bit of Verity slipping in there, yes.

[firstofitskind]

"I'll set the board up as soon as we get home," Liam promised. "Maybe we'll even stop by the diner and get some milkshakes to go."

Okay, that was mostly because he wanted to horrify the waitstaff with Sarah's ketchup-y monstrosity. But also... milkshakes!

[cryptidsandkinfolk]

"With curry powder?" Sarah asked, eager. "And chocolate?"

[arboreal_priestess]

Another quick glance at Liam. "No chocolate, love," Verity reminded. "You're allergic. Remember?"

[cryptidsandkinfolk]

"Oh yes," Sarah murmured. "You like chocolate. I like ketchup. And you like to complain the blender looks like a murder site when I'm done."

She frowned. "You feel worried." She looked at Liam, too. "Am I being worrisome?"

[firstofitskind]

"A little," Liam admitted, because he'd always found lying to Sarah pointless and wasn't about to start now, just because she was a little confused. Hell, he probably understood better than anyone else what it was like to not know where your own thoughts ended and others' began. "But we know you're not trying to be worrisome on purpose."

[cryptidsandkinfolk]

"But I know who you are," she assured them both. "You don't need to wear nametags and protective necklaces. And I get my bedtime equations right."

[arboreal_priestess]

Verity hugged her favorite cousin tightly. "You're fine," she said. "You're Sarah. And that's the most important thing."

[firstofitskind]

"What Verity said," Liam nodded. He would've gone in for a hug himself, but between Sarah's abilities and his own, with her right now it didn't seem like the best idea. "There's no one else quite like you."

Even if all the female members of her species did have basically the same face.

[cryptidsandkinfolk]

You didn't need facial variation when you had telepathy, dammit!

"You're still a little bleedy, too," Sarah informed him. "I think that's making it...harder." She frowned. "Were you injured?"

[firstofitskind]

Damnit, and he was trying so hard to not do that. His own expression was immediately apologetic, for all that Sarah couldn't really read it. "Yeah," he admitted. "There was a- thing. About a month ago. Creatures that fed on bad memories." Of which Liam had a lot, for someone who had only been alive eight years.

[cryptidsandkinfolk]

"Ohhhh," Sarah said with a nod. "You're full to the brim of those, forever and always and generations' worth. No wonder you're a leaky vessel."

She looked to Verity. "Let's go home so I can play with the mice and simplify my fractions down to me," she suggested. "So when Liam comes home, I can be less absorbent."

But she was giving Liam a smile. "Because I miss you, Liam, and want to see you more."

[arboreal_priestess]

Verity nodded, giving Liam a searching look, and then crossed over to give him a hug, too. "Not your fault," she murmured in his ear. "She's picking up from me, too. Wouldn't even go near the park. And you heard her. You may be extra-leaky, but she's more absorbent."

[firstofitskind]

"More absorbent," Liam huffed out a weak not-really-a-laugh laugh, because Verity had pretty much caught him out on the feeling-guilty front (unlike Sarah, she was perfectly capable of reading facial expressions, Liam's in particular). "Makes her sound like a paper towel," he muttered.

[arboreal_priestess]

"And you're one of mom's old Tupperware pitchers from the 80s," Verity teased lightly, giving him a kiss. "Still perfectly sound, occasionally leaky around the seal."

[cryptidsandkinfolk]

"I was thinking more of a sponge," Sarah announced. "They're reusable."

[firstofitskind]

"Thank? You?" Liam said to Verity, sounding extremely dubious about this comparison. "These metaphors are getting a little weird," he added, in response to Sarah's comment.