You Know, If You Want ...

[Enid] This is, perhaps, not the best of places to have called for a get together, but it will do - it's the best Enid could think of, anyway, when all the usual places are considered and discarded as not safe enough. She's in workout clothes, of course.

It's a track.

University of Chicago's indoor track, in fact, and there are college kids around doing their own workouts, but Enid's picked a good time for this. She knows there's no chance of her dad or any of his professor friends wandering in, and so forth. So, as obscured as she can be in clothes appropriate for the place (she's been working on sprints, and it shows in the flush of her cheeks, the sweat-damp of her hair), but she doesn't seem particularly worried. People will see them, sure, but no one will recognize them.

And so, she waits - a bit earlier than her suggested time - stretching as she watches. She is, of course, wary. She looks pale (though that's getting a little better, now that she's started running again) and drawn, and a bit on the thin side, as if she hasn't quite gotten back into the habit of eating properly yet. (She hasn't, in fact - most of the baking she's been doing has been given away to other people.) But she's there, and in one piece, which one imagines means she's well enough.

[Austin] All things considered, this wasn't a bad location to meet up at. Austin, of course, didn't have the requisite University ID that would allow him free and easy access to campus facilities, but it wasn't a difficult trick at all to convince the desk clerk that he wasn't worthy of notice as he walked in and quietly made his way past her. She suddenly became so engrossed with whatever she was reading that the President of the United States could have walked in and she wouldn't have noticed.

After figuring out which direction the track was in, Austin appeared through the door, looking much the same as Enid herself did. He was dressed in a pair of black track pants and a plain white t-shirt, and although he seemed... tired, he was in reasonably good health. He'd lost a bit of weight though. They both had. (Given the circumstances, it was probably to be expected.)

Initially, his approach was hesitant, as if he wasn't sure how to behave. As he drew up to her, he opened his mouth to say something, but the words never came.

Instead, he suddenly grabbed Enid and pulled her into a crushing embrace, and he kissed her like he needed it to go on living. Like he'd been needing it for days and days and only just now realized this fact.

[Enid] She, too, opened her mouth to say something as he approached, but it failed; 'hi' seems silly, insufficient. And then, she finds herself scooped up, hugged and kissed, and after the briefest of moments her own arms come out around the Akashic. There's relief there as uncertainty melts away. She couldn't be closer to him than she is right this moment - or rather, she could, but to do so would require fewer clothes. Not that hers form much of a barrier - running tights and fitted athlete shirts seldom do. Regardless, he's here, and holding her, and it feels good. She makes no effort to keep this from him.

The kiss lasts long, and Enid all but clings to him. When she pulls back from the kiss, it's not to go far - she doesn't pull out of his arms, just moves enough to speak. "I'm glad you came," she says, and it's with just a hint of smile; it's not much of one, maybe not enough, but it's obvious that she means what she says. And then, after a couple smaller, shorter kisses, "I missed you."

Because of course she had. And she'd worried about how he was doing, about if he'd want to talk to her again, all sorts of things.

[Austin] Truthfully, he had not been planning to kiss her. This encounter had gone a bit differently in his head during the drive over, when he'd still been thinking pragmatically about how Enid would probably need a friend right now more than anything else. A friend, and not a boyfriend. Someone stable and pragmatic and able to look after her while she dealt with the process of coming to terms with a mother's betrayal and the death of someone she'd thought of as family. Alone, on his motorcycle, he was able to contemplate these things with a measure of detached understanding.

But that had changed the moment he'd actually seen her. And now, all he wanted was to hold her and be as close as he possibly could, so as to reassure himself that she was still alive, and safe, and that she was still Enid. Other people were watching them. He could see their curious glances out of the periphery of his vision, but it didn't seem to matter.

She said she'd missed him, and Austin... still couldn't seem to say anything. He just renewed his vice-like hold around her and buried his face into her neck for a long moment. I missed you too.

When he finally was able to speak, he forced himself to loosen his arms and take a step back. "I'm just glad you're okay. I've been... really worried."

[Enid] "Ashley takes good care of me," she says with a shrug. "And Emily visits. And I have papers to do." None of which touches on that necessary process of coming to terms - as Enid herself hasn't much touched on it yet. She doesn't want to think about dead Uncle Steve, or Uncle Zeke firing a gun into Austin's back, or of Kaye . . .

She doesn't want to think of Kaye at all.

"I have too," she says, and doesn't close the step between them, but doesn't widen the distance either. She's been worried, of course she has - he left abruptly, and they haven't spoken since. Not that she doesn't understand why he left, mind, or that she wouldn't have understood if he'd decided he didn't want to meet her at all. There comes a point when one has to consider if a person is worth the trouble, is all.

"But Emily got me a new phone. And . . . I'm moving. There's not really enough room at Ashley's for her, Zane and me, not for long term, anyway. But I'll be close, still, and I gave you my new number." Obviously, or they'd not have been able to plan this.

[Austin] Ashley was taking good care of her. And there was Emily, who visited. And work to distract herself with. All told, Enid made it sound as if she had things fairly easy, but Austin knew this wasn't the case. Not really. Not once you dug a little past the surface of things. He listened to her response and nodded, because yes, these were all good, practical concerns that she was addressing.

"I'm sorry about... the way I left. I just really needed to be alone for awhile, and I thought it would be easier on all of you if I wasn't there. I couldn't just let Ashley take on that kind of burden, not when I'm fully capable of taking care of myself." And, as Enid had pointed out, Ashley seemed to have fairly limited space and resources at her disposal. After a pause, Austin glanced around them to take in the space and the other people who were either running or stretching nearby, then he backed up to the wall so that he could lean against it as they spoke.

"Where are you moving to? Is it safe?"

[Enid] "There are wards and things," she says quietly as she moves with him - not to lean, but so she needn't raise her voice. It's better to keep it all quiet and subtle, despite the energy running through her, the quiver that isn't quite. She's gripping hard to keep control, and has been . . . well, since they came back, really. Hence the retreat into books and work. "This friend of Ashley's - his name is Solomon - has a big house he inherited, or something, and could use a roommate."

And she needs a place more permanent than Ashley's couch, so it works out. And yes, she is so very carefully focusing on the things that make it seem like she has things easy. She'll crack, and it will probably be soon, but right now? Right now, she very much doesn't want to wind up in tears.

"And it's alright. I'm just glad . . ." She's glad that he hadn't left because she got him into it all and he didn't want to be around her. She's glad that he's okay. "Well, anyway. You've been doing alright?"

[Austin] "I've been okay. It helps if I can meditate and focus, so I've been doing a lot of that. And I went back to work recently, which I guess you figured out. That was actually nice. I really kind of missed some of the kids." There was something to say for keeping oneself occupied, as well. That at least was a quality that Austin and Enid had in common. They both tended to do better when they could make themselves useful.

He looked at Enid for a long moment, as if trying to make up his mind about something.

"You know, if you want... you can stay at my place. I mean, if this other guy doesn't work out. I'd rather you were safe, but if you don't have anywhere else to go, I suppose my little closet of an apartment is better than some of the alternatives."

[Enid] ((*slaps pause!*))