just lovers like we were supposed to be

ACT SIX: Part Four

Chapter Notes
okay, here we are. the last chapter.
warnings for this chapter includes: angst; a character dealing with the death of a parent (not effie and monty, because i can't handle that); genuine depictions of depression, as well as breakdowns and panic attacks, but only in one section, and it's resolved; references to childbirth, but NOTHING explicit, just mentioned; implied shagging, but again, nothing explicit; a few references to the general Queer Experience™ and how️ it's not glamorous, or easy, but there are no altercations or slurs or anything like that.
that makes this sound like it's going to be bad, but i promise you, it's mostly humor, fluff, family, and love. with that, enjoy <3
See the end of the chapter for more notes

June, 1979

"Do you have Zar?"

"No, do you?"

"No? Who has Zar?"

"Well, I didn't have Zar. Why would I have Zar?"

"Someone has to have Zar."

There's a long beat of silence.

Regulus closes his eyes, takes a deep breath, then slowly releases it. When he opens his eyes, he grits out, "Do you all mean to tell me that we have lost Zar?"

"Well, you know, if you really think about it," Pandora says lightly, "things we lose have a way of coming back to us in the end, if not always in the ways we expect."

"Lovely, Pandora, thank you for that uplifting message," Regulus replies flatly. "That doesn't change the fact that we've misplaced our bloody snake!"

"You were supposed to have him," Evan hisses at Barty, who looks stricken. "Didn't you have him last?"

"I—" Barty glances down at his lap helplessly, then starts patting the seat around him, and suddenly they're all up and moving about the compartment, shifting things around and looking for their beloved pet snake.

"He can't have gone far," Evan mutters under his breath as he steps up on the seat to examine the luggage rack. "It's not like he could have gotten out with the door shut, right?"

"Has it been shut the whole time?" Barty asks, audibly stressed, as if he's lost his child.

"I'm fairly sure it has," Regulus confirms.

Pandora gets down on the floor and starts peering under the seats. "He probably misses his tank, is all. Just looking for somewhere dark to hide and slither around."

"Why do I want to call his name like he'll come to me?" Barty mumbles, standing on his toes to swipe his fingers along the tiny ledge at the top of the door.

The train abruptly lurches to a halt with a screech, a whistle blowing to signal the final stop. They all freeze and stare at each other, no one moving a muscle. Outside the door, there's the muffled sounds of laughter and people moving through the aisle, gathering their things and leaving the train.

"We can't leave without Zar," Regulus states firmly, narrowing his eyes, practically daring anyone to argue with him.

No one does.

The next few minutes pass in a frantic scramble for Zar, the great search for the lost snake of 1979. Barty gets visibly more and more frazzled, and Pandora nearly tucks herself entirely under the seats. It's not a big compartment; it's not as if Zar has that many places to go, really, and yet it takes forever for them to find the fucking idiot.

They do nonetheless find their fucking idiot snake, located around the handle of Pandora's bag at the back of the luggage rack, coiled around it tight and blending in so well that he nearly manages to bite Evan when he shifts the bag.