The Metaphorical Key Book III - United We Stand

Chapter III

"Hey, you!" Will chirped, his face lighting up and his eyes crinkling. He wrapped Aiden up in a tight hug before stepping back.
Pollux bounced slightly on his feet and shook his hands up and down, up and down, practically vibrating with excitement, grinning so widely he was positive his face was about to split.
"Ohmygodohmygodohmygod I have so much to tell you! Will, Dulcie, Kayden - you met Kayden like once, he was helping Dulcie back when - you know! And me, of course - we lived in a hotel. Pretty insane really, but they didn't kick us out! It was hard at first because we were four people living in one hotel room but after a while - after a while - it was easier, more like a studio apartment?"
Aiden raised an eyebrow and Pollux felt his face flush - shut up shut up you're rambling again.
"How'd you afford that?" He asked.
"We all got part-time jobs! Will worked as a lifeguard, I got my driver's license and started operating as - basically a taxi driver except not? Dulcie gardened for some rich family off on Orchid Row - this was all in Parin - we didn't leave - and I think Kayden worked at some mechanics shop?"

He took a deep breath.
"Oh my god, I'm sorry - I got carried away - what's been going on with you?"

Aiden laughed.
"Why don't we get out, go somewhere, fetch Dulcie and - Kayden? And just - y'know, spend the day being kids," he said, smiling softly. It'll be our last chance.

Pollux nodded, pursing his lips.
"Yeah, yeah," he said. "Let's go be seventeen."

Aiden wasn't expressing it as visibly, but the same joy that was causing Pollux to practically vibrate was pumping through his own veins. There was a feeling of weightlessness in his chest, as if somebody had removed as weight pressing down on him - a weight that he'd been carrying for so long he hadn't even been aware it was there.

Two years and eight months, I didn't even know if they were alive and now they're right in front of me.

His mouth was dry (he'd had a glass of water on the train ride to Cheral, though?)

He stopped in a large room - the lobby? It was strange to have The Ravens' headquarters above ground, in some sort of massive, abandoned hotel - maybe two-hundred rooms?

There was a pounding of steps on the staircase and Aiden's heart slammed into his rib cage as Dulcie burst into the lobby, as full of life as ever.

Her hair was an organised mess (wasn't it always?) the kind of bedhead that was clearly purposeful. Her hair fell just above her shoulders.
"Aiden you bastard!"

Dulcie was born of fire and unchanging earth, steadfast and strong and entirely unpredictable. Her mouth was split into a wide grin, lips cherry-red. Hanging around her neck were two silver chain-link necklaces, springing up and down as she moved (because Dulcie never stood still.) Hanging over ripped jeans was a ratty sweater a couple sizes too big that proclaimed in aggressive white text; I PUT THE FUN IN FUNERAL.

Somebody came down the stairs behind them - a young man - about Rico's age, give or take a few months - with honey-blond hair carefully combed into a somewhat shaggy but still well-maintained style. He had facial hair, what Aiden believed was referred to as "designer stubble." He sported some sort of... eye-bleeding neon green and purple cotton jacket with very obvious shoulder pads, a leather belt holding up a pair of trousers that didn't need a belt, and a tacky wristwatch that'd probably stopped working before he was even born. He was barefoot. His hands were in front of him, fingernails extremely short and chipped, as though he'd been doing yardwork or was just extremely clumsy. "Nervous wreck" seemed to be an apt description of him, with the way the corners of his mouth were turned down, his brows furrowed, and the absence of lines by his mouth indicating that he didn't smile much - but upon further consideration Aiden decided that "nervous wreck" was far too light of a descriptor for the man before him - more accurate, perhaps, was "car wreck subsequently shoved through a trash compactor." The scent of ash and smoke clung to his hair and clothes. Aiden wrinkled his nose as the man pulled a pair of socks out of his jacket pocket and hastily pulled them on with shaky fingers.