Room 324, Tuesday Afternoon

[wwiii]

Okay. Things. There were things happening, and Warren needed to... to do something about them. Frat had been skipped last week because of the holiday, and this week, after losing his entire world, he just hadn't had it in him to coordinate anything resembling fun and games. He'd meant to go to the library to help research over the weekend, and that hadn't happened, and he couldn't really remember the last time he'd eaten, though he was vaguely aware of stumbling off to raid common room fridges at least a couple of times in there.

It was stupid. He hadn't so much as thought about going home in the past two years, and now that it was gone...

He needed to be doing things, but he had no idea where to start. So he just kind of cuddled Thor and stared at the ceiling.

When had moping in his room alone with a bunny become the status quo, anyhow?

[Open post, closed door, IDEK. Someone smack him or something.]

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[wwiii]

That got Warren to look at her. It got his gaze to focus, first on those same hands, and then up to her face, so tired and scared and trying like hell not to be either. And he nearly laughed.

"But we are still kids, aren't we?" There wasn't any mirth in those words, even though his face seemed hell-bent on smiling, something dark and strained and terrified. "We're just terrified teenagers trying to make sense of this, trying to figure out how to make something better and even the grown-ups are terrified and struggling. We keep... growing up, and saving worlds, and fighting and healing and do you know how many times I've seen nightmares in New York since coming here, and each and every time, I'm just thankful that it's not my New York. I can keep doing it because it's not my New York and even if it was, I wouldn't be able to just... just sit back and watch people get hurt. But with Trigon and the Church of Humanity and Kyknos, at least we knew what was going on. And now we don't and New York is gone and people are gone and we're still just kids."

... Some of that made sense, probably.

[glacial_queen]

"But we can't be kids," Karla protested. There was too much to do! Books to be read and graphs to chart and records to be kept and pictures to be pinned and messages to send and and and

The responsibilities never stopped. They just kept piling up and getting higher and deeper and they were drowning and it was unfair!

"...Can we?"

Karla wasn't sure she knew how.

[wwiii]

Warren's shoulders hitched upwards slightly.

That was... it was a good question.

"Maybe we can be kids today," he offered, quietly reaching for her hands. "Because we're not very good at being adults right now anyhow. And we can work on growing up tomorrow."

[glacial_queen]

Karla clutched at his hands, leaning forward to rest her forehead against them. "I'm sorry," she whispered. "I was hurting and upset and I yelled and I shouldn't have. I'm sorry."

She was still turning the idea of being a kid over in her mind. She wasn't sure if it were possible without Fandom's influence to help that along. But that didn't mean she couldn't try, right?

But before she did, there had to be one last moment of maturity and let Warren know how sorry she was for using her words to hurt.

[wwiii]

"I yelled too," he pointed out, leaning forward to press a kiss against the top of her head. "And I gave you a reason to yell."

Things were... still inside-out. Still upside-down and roiling around in the pit of his guts. And he'd yelled as well.

"And then I broke my promise, and I'm sorry for that too."

[glacial_queen]

"Sit with me again?" Karla pleaded softly. "Everything else is going wrong. I couldn't stand it if we went wrong, too. Maybe we could...try again? Just start this whole conversation back over."

Fighting with Warren hurt. It was so weird. Picking a fight with Morton to make herself feel better had always been a thing. But now, even fighting with Warren unintentionally made her heart ache and her stomach twist.

"Or, not, even. We don't have to. I just--I don't want to fight with you. I don't want to yell. I'm sorry."

[wwiii]

Warren bit his lip, looking up at her, watching her face for seconds that felt like long, tired hours, before nodding and shifting his weight around a little, freeing up one hand so that he could relocate Thor down to the floor.

"We... could. I don't think I'm doing any good at getting the right words out today, though."

He inched a little closer, bumping his hip against hers and folding a wing over her shoulder again.

[glacial_queen]

Karla immediately buried her face in his wing, letting soft feathers and the scent of cornchips help alleviate some of her tension. Not all of it, no. Not even the greater part. But some. Being wrapped in his wings eased something deep inside of her.

"We don't have to talk about anything at all," she said, turning slightly so that her cheek was still resting on his feathers, but so her voice wouldn't be muffled. "I just want to make sure everything is okay between us first. We're just scared and miserable and out of sorts, but that doesn't mean we should be taking it out on one another."