[drp] kindling (ezra + moms)

[cibarium]

call

The rules of engagement for newly-obtained phone numbers was old hat for Leila. Fetching dates was a breeze. Professional calls were no sweat. But her first time dialing her magically estranged son who'd recently recovered from thousands of years on fire? Understandably, she was clueless. How soon was too soon? How long was too late? Which end of either extreme would bring to light the worst fears Ezra had about her?

"Hi, it..." what should she call herself "It's Leila. How're you a bad time?"

She was trying to say a couple of different questions and they'd blended together into just the one.

shibrogane

 

[shibrogane]

call

"I used to call you Mom," said Ezra. There are a few strange thunks in the background, a low hum that might be a guitar clumsily set down. "It's not a bad time." His voice faded a moment, and then he seemed to be settled. "I'm alright. How're you?"

cibarium

 

[cibarium]

call

Just the allusion to being called Mom sent an intense rush of emotion through Leila that Ezra would be privy to, courtesy of the effort she had to put into steadying her breath. "Um... fine. Eve says hi." She's not mad at you for upsetting her the other day. "I got... I have something for you. Do you want to meet somewhere? Just for a few minutes."

shibrgane

 

[shibrogane]

call

There was a momentary pause as Ezra probably checked the time. Some clunks and a short, considering sound later, he said, "I have class in two hours." That could really go either way. Except then he said, "Sure. Where?"

cibarium

 

[cibarium]

call

"I still have an office on campus." She was already used to telling it that way. Her building was, thankfully, reasonably nearby.

shibrogane

 

[shibrogane]

call

"Okay," said Ezra. "That makes things easier. Give me half an hour?"

cibarium

 

[cibarium]

call

"Yeah. Sure."

Leila hung up, and stared nervously at the thing she'd picked up for her son. It was a very long half hour, with each minute leaving her feeling more and more ridiculous.

shibrogane

 

[shibrogane]

call

Thirty-two minutes later, there was a knock on Leila's office door. Ezra did not let himself in, but instead waited to be invited. She could sort of vaguely see his silhouette shifting from one foot to the other.

cibarium

 

[cibarium]

call

When Leila answered, there was a silent moment or two of them both fidgeting and shuffling in a similar fashion on either side of the door. At least that's something they had in common: extreme mutual awkwardness. She and Eve had gone through a similar stumbling block when they'd first met, though that one had been orders of magnitude less terrifying.

"Sit down, go ahead..."

The full reality of Ezra's past and relation to Eve and Leila had hit the redhead in the produce section of the supermarket the day after they had exchanged phone numbers. She was a bit hungry, which got her to thinking about sharing the basket of french fries with him, and how they invariably became burnt to a crisp by the time they reached his lips. That meant he probably had barely eaten or tasted anything that wasn't ashen, charred, blackened or desiccated in thousands of years. She thought about this while trying to pick out some oranges for the house, and ended up spending eight minutes sobbing in the middle produce section over how if he'd ever eaten them they way they were meant to before, Ezra probably didn't even remember what an orange tasted like.

So she'd gotten him a bag of clementines. That was what he had been called all the way out to her office to see. A ******** bag of clementines.

"Thought you might like one," she sheepishly continued.

She was so ******** obvious. He'd probably gotten out and eaten some fruit at some point since the reset anyway.

shibroane

 

[shibrogane]

call

Ezra didn't laugh, or look irritated, or anything. He looked like he was about two seconds and a sharp word away from crying himself. He took a clementine and peeled it, carefully. "Used to be able to do it in one long strip," he said. (He wasn't doing it like that now.) "Before the burns." The clementine was apparently fascinating; he didn't look up from it as he spoke. "So, um... thank you," he said.

cibarium

 

[cibarium]

idle

Ezra was in the other Ashdown and there was a fox.

Again.

shibrogane

 

[shibrogane]

idle

Ezra knew it was Eve. This was obvious, because he didn't keep going past her. He stopped and settled in place. In the otherworld, he looked strange--out of the corner of your eye, he still seemed to be aflame. It was only when you looked directly at him that he looked normal again.

"Hello," he said. "Fancy meeting you here."

cibarium

 

[cibarium]

idle

It was the warmest greeting since they'd first met like this. Eve responded in kind, signing Hello and trotting up closer. She had no real business on this side besides simply wanting to be there -- it was how she spent quiet hours to herself sometimes.

The fox settled down in the grass next to Ezra while giving him a relaxed but intent look. She wanted him to sit with her.

shibrogane

 

[shibrogane]

idle

Ezra sat down next to Eve, but didn't reach out to touch her. His burns looked a little better than they had, though he kept half-reaching up to scratch them, as if they itched. (They did itch. He just knew it'd hurt more to touch them.)

cibarium

 

[cibarium]

idle

The fox stretched out an alarmingly long neck to sniff at Ezra's twitching hands, flicking her eyes up to meet his a couple of times as she did so. She wasn't going to get much information by smell, but she tended to take cues from domestic dogs and cats when interacting with humans: it was an expression of curiosity and concern. You still hurt?

shibrgane