8/1 Issue: Domestic Tranquility

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Slarti
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8/1 Issue: Domestic Tranquility

Post by Slarti »

Timelined after Rescue Reunion.

Paige: Sometimes, Paige could swear putting her own child to sleep was more stressful than a 12 hour surgery. Or at least it felt that way. He fought and fought and fought... and then finally. Finally. He was asleep. Paige carefully laid him down and backed away slowly. Free at last! She moved back to the living room and sighed heavily. How did these toys just... explode? Wordlessly, she got to work picking up the place.

Bobby: The truck pulled to a stop outside and Bobby just sat there for a moment, watching the lights on in the living room. The rescue mission had helped him burn off a little frustration, but most of the last week was still a blank. Ugh.

Paige: Dropping to her hands and knees, Paige dug under the couch to pull out toys and socks... and.... mystery substances. Ew. Ew. Ew.

Bobby: Bobby dragged his ass out of the truck and up the steps, fumbling with his keys. Of course, his phone had gone missing during his toddler phase.

Paige: Yoda alerted Paige to the fact that someone was home immediately. "Shhhhh, Yoda! Don't wake the baby," she half scolded.

Bobby: Shit, Yoda was barking. He scrambled to get the door open and caught the dog when he launched himself at him. "Shit! Buddy! Chill out!"

Paige: Paige froze as she heard his voice. He'd been gone for days... with no contact whatsoever. Fury had called to let her know he was a toddler, then not a toddler... and nothing. And now he was home. She didn't know how to feel about all that. So instead she quickly got back to cleaning up rather than think about that.

Bobby: "I know, I know," he told the dog, shushing his yappy barking and trying to avoid the licks. "You been taking care of everyone?" He closed the door and restrained the dog enough to move into the living room, searching for Paige.

Paige: "Decided to come home?" she asked, tossing the toys into the toy box, not looking over at him.

Bobby: Bobby stopped walking, but Yoda kept licking, swiping him across the mouth before he reacted with a flail and put the dog down. "I... did as soon as I could..."

Paige: "Wouldn't know," she slammed the lid down on the toybox.

Bobby: "Wouldn't-" He frowned. "Fury told me he called you when we... grew up? We had to go on the rescue mission and I came home as soon as we got back." As soon as he'd found some spare clothes anyway.

Paige: "Well? How'd it go?" she forced out, glancing up at him finally.

Bobby: "We got everyone back... mostly in one piece." They'd been lucky there was a healer there. "The Xerox guy got killed like ten times again." Bobby took a tentative step toward her. "I... don't know what happened to my phone..."

Paige: "That's good... Nobody else has one?" she questioned him, but didn't back away.

Bobby: "I... don't know? I-I came home as s-soon as we got back." Bobby frowned at her, shaking his head a little. "I... I know you got stuck on your own but it's not like I wanted to be a toddler for a week."

Paige: "Right..." A week of no responsibilities. She tucked a bit of blonde hair behind her ear. She'd have to make up these hours she missed this week. She couldn't afford to slack off this close to finishing her program. "Well. Um... glad you're home."

Bobby: Right. She seemed thrilled. Bobby shuffled his feet, watching her fuss with her hair. "Are... things okay? The kids?"

Paige: Now he was concerned with that? She blinked a little. "Things are fine."

Bobby: Yeahuh. "Babe... don't tell me things are fine if they're not."

Paige: She glanced over at him, struggling with her thoughts and feelings. How did she feel? "The kids are asleep." Hopefully still asleep. The monitor hadn't alerted to any crying at least. She was reminded of the mystery substance under the couch though and sighed, moving to the kitchen. "Are you hungry?"

Bobby: Bobby ran his hand through his hair and stared at the sofa for a minute at her non-answer. "Yeah," he finally said. "Starving." He moved to follow her, but glanced at the stairs. He wanted to see the kids, but if they were asleep that'd just piss her off. More. Piss her off more.

Paige: Paige used next to scalding water to clean her hand. Ew ew ew. The surgical scrub on her hands and arms eased her mind a bit. Whatever it was, it was gone now. She glanced over at him as she scrubbed. "What sounds good?"

Bobby: "Anything." He watched her do some OCD scrubbing and leaned against the counter. "I don't remember eating since... well, before everything." Although he had to have, right?

Paige: Protein. He'd need protein. She looked up at him as she dried her hands, running through a list of ingredients in the fridge. "Chicken quesadillas?" she suggested. She tried to shove her emotions into a box in the corner of her brain. She didn't want to open that box.

Bobby: "Sure..." She was absolutely avoiding him, even when she looked at him. It hurt. "Paige..." Bobby swallowed and moved closer to her to take her hand when she put up the towel.

Paige: His touch. Everything came crashing down in her brain all at once. The stress of overworking herself. Being a new mom. The guilt of not seeing her family as much as she wanted. The stress of single parenting while he was gone... and the absolute terror she felt the entire time he was away. It all came out as tears as she melted against him, clinging to him, face buried into him.

Bobby: "Babe..." He pulled her against his chest and slid his arms around her, closing his eyes to hold her. "I'm sorry. The guy was... crazy. And apparently could change reality."

Paige: "What if you didn't come home? What if you stayed a toddler forever? What if he changed things worse than that!?" She buried her face into him, though relaxed slightly.

Bobby: "I know..." And he didn't know the answers to any of that. "But, I'm back... and this guy's gone. Jamie killed him." Somehow. He knew there was a story to that from the guy's haunted expression, but she didn't need to know that.

Paige: Sniffling, Paige looked up at him, studying his face. "But you're okay?"

Bobby: "I'm fi-" He stopped himself and shook his head. "I'm okay. I'll be okay." Bobby was still feeling kind of weird, and the trip through the black hole with Ty hadn't done him any wonders either. He sighed. "We'll be okay?"

Paige: Paige leaned up on her toes to brush her nose against his. "We'll be okay," she echoed his question with her assurance. "You have to come home...." she whispered.

Bobby: He smiled and brushed back, tilting his head to give her a soft kiss. "I'm hard to kill, remember?"

Paige: "Better be..." she muttered, kissing him softly. "I... can't...." She swallowed, shaking her head, trying to smile a bit. "I'm just glad you're home."

Bobby: Bobby gave her a squeeze. "I'm glad I'm home, too." Okay, so maybe she was just freaked out? Either way, he was relieved, kissing her again. "I'll try not to get turned into a toddler again?"

Paige: Paige laughed a little, kissing him again. "Please. One in the house is enough." She kissed his nose before pulling away to move to the fridge to begin cooking him that quesadilla.

Bobby: "I'm sure..." he laughed. Bobby watched her rummage through the fridge and glanced toward the stairs again. "So I know Zach is too young to get it, but... uh, did Rip see anything on the news? W-what... what'd you tell her?"

Paige: "I try not to draw attention to it. But I just tell her you are doing your job like a police officer or a soldier." She grabbed the chicken, cheese, and butter from the fridge and set it down on the counter.

Bobby: "We live in a weird, weird world," he laughed, shaking his head and idly rubbing his hand over the counter. "Want me to help?"

Paige: With a smile, Paige passed him a knife. "Always."
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Re: 8/1 Instance: Domestic Tranquility

Post by Esynthia »

Ehh, Ripley's fiiiiine. Her mom died, but didn't die really because her aunt has been her mom so many times that she could still pretend. And then there's her new mom who can just shed her skin when she gets too gross. And of course, her unkillable father who dissolves into vapor on occasion. She's fiiiiiiiine!
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