Marlena (to Zoe): Morning, Zoe... I was sent over here by my mom with fresh baked goods. She thought you guys might need some comfort food.
Zoe (to Marlena): Oh, that was nice of her... and you for bringing it over.
Marlena (to Zoe): Heh. As if I had a choice.
Zoe (to Marlena): Heehee. Knowing your mom, probably not. Want some coffee or are you in a hurry to get home?
Marlena (to Zoe): Coffee would be great. Thanks.
A little while later:
Nathaniel (to Marlena & Zoe): Hey. Is there any coffee left?
Zoe (to Nathaniel): Yeah, help yourself... Mars brought over baked goods from her mom, too. They're in the basket.
Nathaniel (to Zoe): Oh yeah? I might in a bit. Can't eat first thing in the morning.
Zoe (to Nathaniel): Well, hopefully, they'll be some left. These muffins are soooo good.
Marlena (to Nathaniel & Zoe): Be careful, those maple bacon things will sneak up on you.
Nathaniel (to Marlena & Zoe): Wait. Maple bacon? I might have to make an exception and eat first thing in the morning… Holy shit. This is amazing. (to Marlena) How the hell are you and your dad so damn skinny?
Marlena (to Nathaniel): Genetics, mostly.
Nathaniel (to Marlena): Great. If that's the case, I can look forward to a paunch and a bald head.
Marlena (to Nathaniel): Nah, look at Vincent... You've at least got a chance to keep your hair.
Zoe (to Nathaniel): Heehee, I am now totally picturing you bald and fat.
Nathaniel (to Marlena & Zoe): Here. Hold on. Gimme a second to find it... There. Now you don't have to picture it. That's my dad on the end.
Marlena (to Nathaniel): Heh... Are you sure you're not adopted?
Zoe (to Nathaniel & Marlena): Heehee.
Nathaniel (to Marlena): Heh. Yeah. Fairly certain. Besides, if I were adopted, I think I'd have been returned as defective merchandise.
Marlena (to Nathaniel): Heh. It sounds like that's what your parents have been trying to do... Only, kids don't work like that. Poor them.
Zoe (to Marlena): Mars, don't say that kind of stuff!
Marlena (to Nathaniel): Shit... I'm sorry. (to Zoe) God, for a second you sounded just like my mom.
Nathaniel (to Marlena & Zoe): It's alright. It's true, isn't it?
Zoe (to Marlena & Nathaniel): Gee, I have no idea why that is... I'm going to go take a shower. Thanks for bringing over the muffins.
Marlena: Way to go, Mars. (to Zoe) Wait… Zoe, I'm sorry. (to Nathaniel) Damn, I didn't mean it like that.
Nathaniel (to Marlena): I know. It'll be alright. She and Victor are already on edge, and I think she got a little upset last night when we were digging through all of Aunt Poppy's files.
Marlena (to Nathaniel): They'll be okay. Poppy & Vincent have been in far worse situations... Victor's just upset because he's used to being taken with them. He's always hated being left out of things.
Nathaniel (to Marlena): Heh. Yeah. He said as much last night. I think he kinda feels responsible too. Wanna cigarette?
Marlena (to Nathaniel): Fuck yeah, I do... Why should he feel responsible? Should I go kick him out of his funk... Or get Yoyo to do it?
Nathaniel (to Marlena): Heh. I say let the girlfriend cheer him up. That's like part of her job description, isn't it? I'm guessing he feels like if that militia, or whatever, hadn't taken an interest in him, his folks wouldn't be involved. Somehow, I fucking doubt that.
Marlena (to Nathaniel): No, Hiiri was on the prowl for that island before he was even born.
Nathaniel (to Marlena): Plus, no offense to our wayward family members, but they are kinda nuts.
Marlena (to Nathaniel): Heh. You don't even know the half of it. My mom used to tell me stories about Vincent & Poppy. I was always a little jealous of the fact that Victor got to have these adventurous parents & mine stayed on this side being "normal". Not that I blame them for wanting that sort of thing after everything that happened. But, I would have loved to go pirating with them... when I was a kid.
Nathaniel (to Marlena): So, not any more?
Marlena (to Nathaniel): Heh. Maybe, a little... That's probably why I let Seph talk me into her crazy schemes from time to time.
Nathaniel (to Marlena): Heh. Thought so. It's kinda like every adventure story you read as a kid, isn't it? Personally, I'd like to be able to do that thing Victor and Zoe do. Open a door anywhere you want, whenever you want. Heh. That trick would've come in DAMN handy at more than a couple of points in my life.
Marlena (to Nathaniel): Well, why don't you, then? You have the ability. It's like a muscle, you've just got to exercise it. You should get Zoe or Victor to show you how.
Nathaniel (to Marlena): Have you ever tried to talk to either of those two about that shit? It's like they're speaking shorthand. Maybe I could get Aunt Poppy to show me how to do it... Heh. Next time I wanna go to New York, I won't have to make nice with lonely men to do it.
Marlena (to Nathaniel): Yeah... or I could make you a miniature portal generator. Until you can do it on your own... That shouldn't be too hard. I made something similar for Victor once. Only it was a tether, so he could jump back to the exact moment he left.
Nathaniel (to Marlena): Yeah. It might not be too hard for *you*. I was befuddled watching Victor and his dad working on the car. The way my grades run, I'll be lucky if I can get hired as a door greeter at a big box store.
Marlena (to Nathaniel): Nate, you don't give yourself enough credit. I know, you're not an idiot. I can make you a generator to help you generate the energy needed to open a portal & you just think where you want to go. It'll be very easy... Unless, you'd rather not?
Nathaniel (to Marlena): Goddamn. What is it with everyone on this fucking family? Y'all should join the CIA as interrogators. I've got a lot of stuff screwy in my head right now, you know? It needs straightening out someplace people aren't gonna freak or lock me up, or tell me I'm crazy, or a sinner, or whatever. It's gonna get messy. I know that. And, I dunno. I feel like if I CAN run, I will. Heh. I've got a history of it. I told Zoe I wouldn't, so I'm trying not to.
Marlena (to Nathaniel): Nate, I'm not interrogating you.
Nathaniel (to Marlena): I know, but y'all have this way of... I don't know. Asking a question, and giving me this *look*.
Marlena (to Nathaniel): I have no fucking clue what you're talking about... As far as I know this is just my face and I haven't asked you a single thing about your dark and sordid past. Honestly, I'm not interested in hearing about it. Everyone's got demons. I was just offering to help you with your ability, that's all. Or do you actually want to talk to me about this stuff? Because, if that's the case I'm going to need another pack of smokes & to steal a beer from the fridge.
Nathaniel (to Marlena): No, no. I'm sorry. Heh. I didn't mean to verbally throw up all over you. Don't worry. I'm done.
Marlena (to Nathaniel): It's okay... This is really the safest and best place for you, you know? Poppy & Vincent may be weirdos but they'd give you the shirt off their back if they thought it was the right thing to do. Of course, they'd probably say something really inappropriate while they did it... So, maybe here isn't the best place.
Nathaniel (to Marlena): I'm the gay, crazy, minister's son from a small town in the deep south. I've had worse shouted at me from a moving vehicle. Heh. I think I can handle it.
Marlena (to Nathaniel): Heh. I'm sure you can... I need to head back to the house. I'll see you later.
Nathaniel (to Marlena): Later, stretch. Thanks for the food this morning. I promise I'll keep my mouth shut around you from this point forward.
Marlena (to Nathaniel): You don't have to. It's just... I'm not all that good with people, but I'm working on it. Bye.
An hour or so later:
Zoe (to Nathaniel): Oh, did Mars leave already?
Nathaniel (to Zoe): Yeah. Between upsetting you, and then me blabbing all over her, I think we scared her off. She didn't mean to upset you, by the way.
Zoe (to Nathaniel): I know. It's sometimes weird to look at her, you know? I see myself in there & I see Eep in her face. I know it's not me. And then, she made that mom comment... I'm just a bit of an emotional basket case, at the moment.
Nathaniel (to Zoe): Heh. Yeah. I know the feeling. You'll be alright.
Zoe (to Nathaniel): So, why were you blabbing all over Mars?
Nathaniel (to Zoe): I don't know. There's just something about the way her and her dad look at me that makes me start blubbering all over myself. She offered to make me some kind of device that would up my, uh, you know, juice so that I could open a portal. I said no.
Zoe (to Nathaniel): Why would she offer to do that? Why would you say no? ... I'm confused. Do you want to open portals?
Nathaniel (to Zoe): She offered to be nice, I think. She said she made Victor some kind of tethering thingie so he can return to the same time and place he left. And, I do want to open portals, just not yet. I figured I need some time to get myself together, and I don't know. I guess I just don't want the temptation of being able to skip out in a heartbeat if I get messy.
Zoe (to Nathaniel): I've seen the state of your room, Nate... You're already pretty damn messy. :-P Don't make that face! I was just kidding. Are you okay?
Nathaniel (to Zoe): I'm fine. Just a embarrassed, I guess. I'm not used to spilling my guts at people who don't wanna hear it. How are you doing?
Zoe (to Nathaniel): I think I'm finally doing better. I slept through the night. No dreams, just sleep.
Nathaniel (to Zoe): Oh. That's awesome. Do you think Hiiri's finally gone?
Zoe (to Nathaniel): I certainly hope so... But, I don't want to get my hopes up too much, just yet.
Nathaniel (to Zoe): Yeah. We'll take what we can get while we can, huh? Is Victor up yet? He was still looking through files when I went to bed.
Zoe (to Nathaniel): Not that I'm aware of... We should probably go check on him.
Nathaniel (to Zoe): Um, it doesn't look like he's in his room.
Zoe (to Nathaniel): God damn it! Go check the practice room, I'll call Yoyo & see if he's over there.
Nathaniel (to Zoe): Calm down. He seems like a pretty responsible guy. I'll bet he's around here somewhere.
Zoe (to Nathaniel): He is normally pretty responsible but not when he thinks something is his fault... He takes after his father in that respect. (to Yukiko) Yoyo, is Victor over there with you?
Nathaniel (to Zoe): It's always the quiet ones.
Yukiko (to Zoe): Hey Zoe... No, I haven't seen him since Christmas. Is something wrong?
Zoe (to Yukiko): Oh... No, nothing's wrong. I just had to ask him something. He must have just stepped out. Sorry to bug you.
Yukiko (to Zoe): Oh... okay.
Zoe (to Nathaniel): Help me find the aetheric communicator... It looks a bit like a weird walkie talkie.
A couple hours later:
Zoe (to Victor): Victor? Can you hear me? Where the hell are you?
Victor (to Zoe): Zoe... -at you? Can you rea...
Zoe (to Victor): Victor, you're breaking up... Where are you?
Victor (to Zoe): Jus-... -old on. I'm...right.... Oh Jesus... God damn is that bloody hard...
Zoe (to Victor): Fat Christ! Victor, are you okay?
Victor (to Zoe): Yeah. I'm... yeah. Oh shit... OK, maybe not so OK. Sorry. Opened a door through a inhibitor. It--It gets rough...
Zoe (to Victor): I'll say it gets rough. Why were you portaging through an inhibitor? Where the hell have you been? I've been worried sick. Here, let me help you... Sit down.
Victor (to Zoe): Sorry.... It's been 24 hours. I went to see Seph... Got through the inhibitor before, so I thought...
Zoe (to Victor): Let me get you some juice & aspirin. You look like you're going to need it. Why on earth did you go see Seph without telling me or Nate, Victor?
Victor (to Zoe): I think they turned it on high. I--I'm sorry you worried. I... Not used to having anyone else here. I didn't think... Thank you. God... At least I didn't lose consciousness this time. I'm sorry I didn't tell you guys what I was doing. I'm ... Fuck. There's no excuse. I'm sorry. I was going to tell you that I was worried and thought I was being paranoid... but honestly, in case there was something seriously wrong, I didn't want to put you and Nate in danger.
Zoe (to Victor): What were you worried about? Is your cousin and her family alright?
Victor (to Zoe): I was pretty sure CLANNG was watching our Aunt and Uncle's inn, for one. And for two, it's been 24 hours. We haven't heard anything from Mom and Dad. That's always been our cut off date. If we haven't heard anything in 24 hours...
Zoe (to Victor): But, Victor, they're going to an island of portals. Time may move differently there. They may not realize how long it's been… And, you don't really care about all that... What did you find out?
Victor (to Zoe): Huh? Oh. God. I'm sorry, Zoe. I'm still a bit... I found Gallagher on the pirate registry. He sailed on the Most Holy Trinity under a Captain Sharp. It sounds like there was some sort of mutiny... the records aren't really clear. But, I couldn't find anything else on Sharp, the Most Holy Trinity OR Gallagher. And I do mean, ANYTHING. I went to talk to Aiden. He's going to do some digging for us, and I wanted to talk to Seph, to make sure she's OK, and... Um... Maybe say goodbye. No one has seen or heard from Mom and Dad for a while. If something happened to them... I wouldn't be opposed to closing the portals. For good.
Zoe (to Victor): So, that's it... We just give up & close the portals? No going to look for them, no nothing. But, I just got a family. This totally sucks. There's got to be something else we can do.
Victor (to Zoe): What? You thought... Fuck no! Finding Mom and Dad is priority one. After that. Shit... I'm leaving whole chunks out of the conversation aren't I? I'm sorry. My head hurts so badly, I'm not thinking straight. What was I saying?
Zoe (to Victor): You were trying to tell me what you discovered & what we were going to do... You need to rest. Let's get you into bed.
Nathaniel (to Zoe): Holy shit, you found him! Expect Yoyo over here in, like, 2 minutes. She was... Is he OK? (to Victor) Are you OK?
Victor (to Zoe & Nathaniel): No, it's alright. I'll be fine in a--in a little while. I just need some... um, I need...
Zoe (to Nathaniel): The idiot jumped through an inhibitor field set on high... I think. I didn't think that was even possible. He's fried his brain a little. He needs rest but he's being stubborn. (to Victor) You better lay down & look helpless or your girlfriend is going to kick your ass when she gets here.
Nathaniel (to Zoe): Yeah. I'll say he's fried. (to Victor) Alright, Sir Fancy Pants. Up you go. Come on. Let's get you on the couch at least.
Victor (to Zoe & Nathaniel): Be nice, little sister o' mine... or I won't show you how to--to do it. Heh. I always wanted siblings...
Zoe (to Victor): I am being nice... I haven't slapped you silly or yelled yet.
Nathaniel (to Zoe): I think he's out. Jesus! He's heavier than he fucking looks.
Zoe (to Nathaniel): I'll grab a pillow & blankets… Is Yoyo really on her way over?
Nathaniel (to Zoe): Thanks. Yeah. Probably. When we weren't having any luck finding him, I stopped by to ask if she knew where he might be hiding. Honestly, I thought he had just gone for a walk or something. I didn't think it would freak her out like it did. I'm a fucking idiot.
Zoe (to Nathaniel): No, you're not. It's my fault for not telling her what was going on earlier... Speak of the devil, that's probably her, now. (to Yukiko) Hi Yoyo... It's okay. We found him.
Yukiko (to Zoe): Thank goodness! Where is he? Oh!?! Is he alright?
Zoe (to Yukiko): Calm down. He just passed out. He'll get some rest & be right as rain.
Yukiko (to Zoe): Don't condescend to me, Zoe. (to Nathaniel & Zoe) What the hell is going on?
Nathaniel (to Yukiko): Calm down. No one is trying to condescend you. Fancy Pants there scared the shit out of us all. Sit down. I'm gonna... I don't know. Start boiling water for tea or some shit.
Yukiko (to Nathaniel): Fine... Tea would be lovely.
Zoe (to Yukiko & Nathaniel): I'll be right back. I need to go look at something. I want to see what files Victor was looking at last. Maybe, that can give us a hint as to what got him in such a tizzy.
Nathaniel (to Zoe): Alright. Good idea. (to Yukiko) Um, Yoyo, can you... I have no idea how to make this tea. None of it is in tea bags.
Yukiko (to Nathaniel): Heh... It's easy. I'll show you how.
Nathaniel (to Yukiko): Thanks. If it's not in bags and being brewed in gallons by the sun, I'm kinda fucking lost.
Yukiko (to Nathaniel): I have no idea what you mean... Why would you use the sun to heat tea? You might as well use lukewarm tap water.
Nathaniel (to Yukiko): Iced tea. In my family, you brew it weak in big jugs, add a shit ton of sugar and drink it on hot days.
Yukiko (to Nathaniel): No offense, but that sounds terrible. Water's on the stove... Can you tell me what's going on, please? Why is Victor comatose on the couch?
Nathaniel (to Yukiko): It can be. What did Zoe say he did... He jumped through an inhibitor on high? Does that make sense?
Yukiko (to Nathaniel): Oh... He's never done that before.
Nathaniel (to Yukiko): Yeah. From the way Zoe was talking about it, it sounded weird. I'm sure he'll be alright. He was up & talking & everything.
Yukiko (to Nathaniel): Here, try this... If you two don't mind, I'd like to stay here tonight just to be sure he's okay.
Nathaniel (to Yukiko): What is this? It smells like incense or something. You can stay if you wanna. Do you want me to deposit Victor in his room? I mean, there might be enough room for the two of you on the couch. You're tiny enough.
Yukiko (to Nathaniel): It's Honey Jasmine tea... You drink it. The couch is fine. I should go check on him. Thanks, Nate.
Nathaniel (to Yukiko): Yeah. It's no problem. ... Holy shit! This tea is really fucking good. Fuck... I have been making really shitty tea down at the coffeehouse.
Yukiko (to Nathaniel): Don't sound so surprised... My parents owned a teahouse. I've been making tea since I was little.
Nathaniel (to Yukiko): Yeah. I've definitely been making really shitty tea down at the coffeehouse.
Yukiko (to Nathaniel): One of the secrets to good tea is to not use boiling water. The other secret is less is more. Don't use a tablespoon when a teaspoon of tea will do. It's okay. I never have a good cup of tea unless I make it myself. Victor's family always makes it British style.
Nathaniel (to Yukiko): Huh. I'll keep that in mind. Thanks.
Yukiko (to Nathaniel): You're welcome... I'm going to go check on Victor. (to Victor) Victor, are you okay? ... Please, be okay.
Victor (to Yukiko): Hmm? Huh? Yoyo? Is that...? Where am I? What... Christ my head hurts... What's wrong?
Yukiko (to Victor): You're home. And, you were worrying me.
Victor (to Yukiko): Oh. Right. Of course. I'm sorry I worried you. I meant to be back before anyone missed me. It doesn't look like I quite managed that.
Yukiko (to Victor): That's not the only reason why you were worrying me, you big idiot. You were practically comatose when I got here. Nate said something about you going through an inhibitor field set on high. Can you sit up?
Victor (to Yukiko): I think so, yes. There was an inhibitor field set up at the inn. It was much stronger than last time...
Yukiko (to Victor): Oh... Get some rest. I'll be right here if you need anything.
Victor (to Yukiko): Huh? Sorry. I keep... I keep nodding off. I love you...
Yukiko (to Victor): Shhh, get some sleep. I love you, too.
