A Fallen HomeKin

PART XLVIII

"Fralith, bud, we're here."

Fralith peeled his eyes opened, rousing his limbs from sleep. Here...where? Blinking, he glanced around him at the interior of the MetalEater, gaze landing on the darkness hovering outside the ClearStone parts. It was...still night? How long had he been asleep?

RuthMom leaned over him, blocking out his view as she fiddled with the vine pulled across his chest. "We're going to have to be quiet, okay? Everyone's sleeping."

"Mmmph." The vine clicked and pulled away. He sat up more and rubbed his eyes with his good hand, thoughts stuck in slush. Chilly midnight air wafted in from the MetalEater's open side flap, sending shivers down his spine. Were they back at the house now? Why did they have to travel at night? He was...so sleepy.

Wincing as he moved his shoulder, he stumbled out and away from the MetalEater into the night. It'd been a few weeks since he was shot, but his shoulder still ached fiercely if he moved it or jogged it too much. By now, it was more annoying than it hurt. He huffed and glared at PainBird, who ignored him. Pesky bird.

Inwardly shaking his shoulders, he rubbed his elbow and surveyed his surroundings. Houses lined a BlackStrip, tall and thinner than usual. Large trees stood in front of some of the houses, branches casting spindly shadows in the light of the LightTrees. Bushes guarded the foot of the house across from him, squat and unadorned with flowers.

His hand froze on his elbow. This...this wasn't where the house was. But where— why were they here and not at the house? Weren't they going back to the house? Wasn't he going to his room to his bed? He turned to RuthMom, a beep forming on his lips.

She stood at the MetalEater's rear, gathering up his bag full of all the things he'd gotten and used in the big building and a few other crinkly bags. Straightening, she closed the MetalEater's rear flap with a thud that was far too loud in the still night air. Motioning for him to follow, she headed for the house's front door.

He trotted after her, taking care not to jog his shoulder too much. "Beep?" he whispered as he came up to RuthMom's side at the door. "Beep...no?"

RuthMom looked at him, eyes glinting in the low light. "I know, it's not home, but we're staying here until...the police sort everything out. It won't be long, don't worry." She patted his shoulder and unlocked the door, pushing it open, bags crinkling on her arm.

Words wallowed in slush, unwilling to give up their meanings. He squinted, letting a puff of air leave his mouth. Well...if RuthMom had taken him here, he guessed it was okay. As long as it was a nice and warm place to sleep in; the air nipped at his nose and seeped in through his thin clothes, cackling about frost and coming winter.

Following RuthMom into the house and wiggling off the stuffy shoes she'd wrestled onto his feet earlier that night, he scampered off into the dark home, quickly marking down the available escape routes—like windows—and entry points bad men might come through. Thankfully, there were not a lot of places for bad men to get in, but the spaces were much smaller and more divided, making it much easier to get cornered. He'd have to be careful where he went.

The stairs, situated almost directly in front of the entryway, creaked as RuthMom went up them. Not wanting to be left alone, he wound his way back to the stairs and started to pad up them. FloorMoss covered each step, softening his footsteps as much as it could while covering very creaky boards.

Upstairs looked much the same to BlueShirt's house, with its small landing leading into a hall lined with three doors on either side and one at the very end, except it was narrower and there was no glowing thing tucked at the bottom of the wall. One of the doors in the wall opened as he and RuthMom creaked down the hall.

"Ezekiel? What are you doing up?" RuthMom murmured, stopping at the door.

"Heard you guys come in and...I just wanted to check."

"Oh, Eze, It's safe here. They've made sure of it."

"I know. I just— It's hard to forget."

Fralith padded around RuthMom and cocked his head at Zee. His voice sounded...tense and a little shaken. Was something wrong?

Zee shifted, the pitch of his voice lifting. "Za—Fralith! You're finally back!"

He rocked on his heels, warming up a little by the movement. "Hi! You beep?"

"I'm fine. Just glad you're okay." Zee opened his door a little more, his form silhouetted by faint light filtering through behind him. "Just glad we're all okay."

All okay. Was Zee okay? Did his shadows bother him? Was Ray-chel okay? Zee said they were. And...maybe they were and a little not, like he was. Nodding, he bumped Zee's arm with his own and beeped.

"Thank the Lord for that," RuthMom said. A soft hand rested on his good shoulder. "It's late, and both of you need your sleep. We can continue in the morning."

"Right. Goodnight, Fralith, Mom."

"Goodnight."

Zee closed his door and RuthMom started to lead him towards the door at the end of the hall.

He looked up at her, blinking in the darkness. "Good...n-ight?"

RuthMom squeezed his shoulder as she pushed open the door. "Yes, dear, goodnight. It's what we say at bedtime."

Good-night. So it was like...the nighttime blessing Davith and Mother used to say to him. Good-night. It was simple. Soft. Just...perfect. Davith would like it. He was always fond of packing as much meaning into just a few words as possible. His stomach squeezed, strings pulling taut and mixing with shadows.

That was the Davith Before, anyway. Maybe he didn't like it as much anymore. Maybe he wouldn't want to hear it from him. A fragment of a dream flickered past his lungs. He peered into the oval's depths. Far away, on a mossy rock, Davith sat with his head in his hands, shoulders shaking. An extinguished torch lay at his feet.

He paused, hanging over the pillow on the bed he was about to lie down on, something twisting and opening in his heart. Maybe...Davith still liked meaningful words and...would want to hear good-night from him. Maybe Davith missed him. A lot.

RuthMom patted his back and helped him settle down, tucking the blanket over him. "Goodnight, my precious boy. Sleep well." She leaned down and kissed his forehead.

Half closing his eyes, he soaked up her gentle warmth, the thing inside of him opening wider. "Good-night," he whispered.

She padded away, softly closing the door and leaving him to the empty darkness of the room. The thought resonated around in his ribs, hitting tender places and making him shiver. Davith could still miss him, like he did, right? Davith could want to see him again. He could. He really...could.

And if he did...he maybe would like to see the family Fralith had found here? Just...see all the good food and interesting words and the laughter they shared for a bit. Make things better between them. Make things...okay.

As he slowly drifted back to sleep, memories of Davith Before's smile and care rolled around in his mind, teasing open the thing inside of him until it settled into a small, tentative, lump of hope.