When Colin walks out of the kitchen with a tray that has a pot of spaghetti noodles and a pan of sauce, accompanied by the plates and silverware, he stops in his tracks at the sight of a tired Cree standing with his head down, and behind him is a massive blanket fort taking up 3/4 of the living room.
Cree looks up at him with defeated eyes. "There was no stopping them..."
Colin chuckles and walks over, setting the food tray on the new coffee table. Reela pokes her head out from the entrance to the fort with a mischievous grin.
"What's the password?" she demands.
Cree grumbles and pats Colin's shoulder. "Good luck. I'm still not allowed in."
Colin sighs and kneels in front of the entrance and Reela.
"Food's ready, children," he rolls his eyes, smiling.
Reela squints her eyes and purses her lips before quickly ducking back inside. They can hear muffled whispering, then Edith pokes her head out next.
"Incorrect password! But briberies will be accepted!" she states.
Colin nods his head towards the food tray on the table. Edith glances over at it and her eyes narrow before dodging back to him. Reela's head pokes out again next to her and they look at each other.
"What do you think? Will this suffice?" Edith asks.
Reela hums in contemplation. "I don't trust it! It might be poisoned!"
Colin opens his mouth to speak. "But—"
"Order in the court!" Edith announces and both she and Reela retreat back into the fort.
Regan emerges from the back and holds his head high. "You dare try to poison Queen Reela the fourth?! Off with their heads!" he points at Colin and Cree sharply.
Edith jumps up next to him. "Regan! That's not how court works!"
"Well, I'm sorry I'm not the lawyer here!" he scoffs.
"They need to stand trial!" Edith declares.
Cree groans and picks up the carton of chocolate milk Colin has on the food tray and he just chucks it at Edith, nailing her in the center of her forehead and she falls back into the fort.
Regan stares down at her, then looks back over at Cree and Colin.
"Very well. You may enter. But we've got our eyes on you hooligans..." he glares at them suspiciously as he slowly lowers back into the blanket fort.
Colin sighs and looks up at Cree, who nods with the face of a man who knows the pain.
After being 'granted' access to the blanket fort, they all got situated with their plates of spaghetti. Reela seems completely pulled out of reality at the new taste, and her appetite somehow rivals that of Edith. Regan and Colin sit together across from Edith and Cree, with Reela laying on her stomach between them all, devouring her plate of spaghetti, Toya picking noodles off her fork and letting out small squeaks while she eats.
It's not long before Reela has full-on passed out so they put her to bed before starting to talk over drinks, Edith enviously watching Colin and Regan with their wine and Cree with his whiskey. She misses alcohol.
Colin chuckles and takes a drink from his wine glass, looking at Regan.
"Well, you certainly know how to make your presence known," he says. "You're pretty famous around here now, after that little broadcast of yours."
Regan shrugs and waves him off, eating some of his spaghetti. "What can I say? I just have this effect that turns heads wherever I go," he places an elegant hand to his heart.
Cree snorts and cocks a brow at Colin. "Look who's talkin', gearbox. I swear, back in Aramora we couldn't go five feet without hearing the name of the 'great Colin Lee'. You're givin' Regan shit for being famous, when you're right up there with him," he rolls his eyes and takes a drink of his whiskey.
Colin eyes him quizzically. "I... am?"
"Yes! I think there are even a few bard songs composed about you!" Regan points at him with his fork before taking another bite and then a sip of his own wine.
Cree clears his throat and narrows his eyes at Regan.
"Um... Weren't you working on a song about him?"
Regan coughs and laughs nervously, throwing a pillow at him that Cree swiftly catches and glares at him with a huff.
Colin turns his curious gaze back onto Regan. "Oh really?" he teases. Regan chuckles and scratches the back of his neck.
"Give me a break, you saved my family!" he takes another drink. "Come to think of it, I think I still have that lute you gave me. It's back in Sage, of course, but I kept it nonetheless! Had I known we'd be going to a fantasy continent, I would have brought it with!"
Edith guzzles down an ungodly amount of chocolate milk. "How did that even happen? How do you just 'wind up' on another continent?"
Cree glares at her. "You tell us, miss 'oh let's just stay past the timer and magically poof to another continent and let everyone think we're dead'."
"You're never gonna let me live that down, are you?"
"Nope not a chance."
"Great..." Edith mumbles.
Regan sighs. "We didn't know what we were getting ourselves into. We had only one lead and that was the rifts, so we followed it to Aramora before even knowing what we'd be walking into. However, I don't regret it one bit. We set out to find you both, and in the end, it worked out," he smiles at the two SRL.
Colin runs his finger around the rim of his wine glass. He feels the question of Sara nagging in his mind, but he resists his curiosity so as to not dampen the mood. He hasn't seen Edith this happy in what feels like forever. Best to not waste it.
"Well, whatever the case, I'm glad you two made it out in one piece," Edith says sweetly and takes a large bite of spaghetti, then her eyes land on Regan. Specifically, on his cheek.
How didn't she notice that thick scar before? She supposes she was just too delirious with ecstasy over seeing them again that she wasn't able to process it, but now that she's gotten a moment to breathe, it sticks out like a sore thumb.
She gasps and moves over to him as quickly as she can to run her thumb over the length of the scar. "Regan! What the hell happened? Where did you get this scar? Who hurt you?"
Regan laughs nervously once again and clears his throat, shaking his head out of her hand to take another drink from his wine glass.
"Ah, well, you see... About that," he bites his lip. "Um... Aramora was just... It was dangerous! So many things happening so quickly, one tends to lose track over the small details! There was that run-in with those Latyrs! Maybe they—"
"It was me," Cree interrupts.
Edith freezes and slowly looks back at him. "...What?"
Regan sighs and gently grabs Edith's wrist, looking past her over at Cree.
"You don't have to..." he says softly, shaking his head.
Cree takes a deep breath and looks down. "No, Regan... It's okay. I was... stupid, then."
"What do you mean you did this?" Edith demands and turns around to fully face him.
Cree bites his lip and fidgets with his fork on his plate. With a deep breath, he explains. "I... was in a bad place. Regan tried to help and I... I lashed out at him. As I said, I was stupid."
Regan reaches over and rubs his wrist, getting him to look at him. "It's okay, Cree. You were... a different person then," he smiles. "I'm proud of you."
Colin and Edith exchange a glance while Regan and Cree have their attention on each other.
Judging by the look on their faces, they're wondering the same thing but neither of them say anything about it. Well, at least Edith doesn't.
Colin on the other hand tries to approach his curiosity with an air of caution.
"Regan, did... you just call him 'Cree'?"
Regan and Cree both turn and look at him, Cree with a glare and Regan with a slight blush that's just unnoticeable enough in the dim lights of the blanket fort.
"Um... Yes! I did! We, um, we've bonded quite a bit since last you saw us!" Regan chuckles and Cree merely slams the rest of his whiskey bottle before standing up and pointing to the kitchen.
"I'm grabbing another drink!" he shouts before hurrying to leave the fort.
As soon as he's gone, Edith and Colin huddle around Regan like gossiping teenagers.
"Okay, Regan. Is something going on between you and Cree?" Edith asks giddily.
From the kitchen, they hear Cree clear his throat loudly.
"I can still hear you guys you know."
Edith throws her head back in his direction. "Exactly! That means we're not talking behind your back!"
Cree growls. "Regan, say nothing."
Edith and Colin return their full focus onto Regan, eagerly awaiting his answer. He just blushes and bites his lip. Staying silent, he slowly nods and mouthes 'there is something' with a wide grin.
Edith pauses and throws her head back again.
"Okay now we're talking behind your back!" she calls to the kitchen.
"Regan, what did you say?!" Cree demands.
"I didn't say it, I mouthed it!"
"Then what did you mouth?!"
"You!" Regan exclaims, then covers his mouth with a gasp.
Edith and Colin burst out laughing while they hear rapid footsteps and Cree dives back into the fort and tackles Regan, making him let out a high-pitched squeal.
Once the overall rush of all... that dies down, Colin still laughs softly, holding his stomach as he can't remember the last time he laughed that hard. "Once again, Regan. You prove to be the one man I know who can resolve any question with a one-word response."
Cree chucks a pillow at him next. "Shut the fuck up!" His face is bright red, and the dim lights do nothing to hide it.
Edith wipes tears from her eyes over laughing painfully and she coughs, still giddy.
"Forget alcohol, this is way more intoxicating. You guys are hysterical."
Cree glares at her and flops back against the wall with his arms crossed. "Shut the fuck up, ace. Why don't you get plastered? Maybe that'll make you less insufferable," he huffs and shakes his head.
Edith bites her lip and feels her stomach twist in knots. "Um... Nah. I'll just stick with chocolate milk, thank you very much," she states and takes a drink.
Cree frowns. "No no no, back in Mortal, you would always bully me into buying you drinks at the Watchman whenever Data cut you off. Well, here you go!" he holds his whiskey bottle out to her.
Edith stares at it and laughs nervously, shaking her head. "No! I won't be peer pressured, asshole!" she whips her gaze away and hugs her arms around her stomach. Colin can tell that even though she's keeping up her spunky defiance, she's still a bit anxious about her current 'condition'.
Regan tilts his head at her when Cree lowers the bottle and pops the cap off, taking a drink.
"Why are you suddenly so opposed to drinking, Edith?" Regan asks.
Cree snickers. "Yeah, and here I thought you'd be border lining 'raging alcoholic' by now," he takes another drink. "What gives?"
Edith shrinks in on herself a bit and says nothing, so Colin clears his throat to pull their attention onto him and away from her.
"Well, because she's... Um..."
He stops himself when Edith looks at him and slightly shakes her head, keeping her mouth shut and staring at him with warning eyes.
He clears his throat again and sets down his wine glass. "She's just... not feeling well lately and the last thing she needs to deal with is a hangover in the morning," he chuckles and she slowly nods and relaxes a bit.
Regan's eyes soften and he looks over at Edith. "Oh no! It's nothing contagious is it?"
"God I hope not," Colin balks.
He's met with a pillow slapping his face and he falls backwards, looking over to see Edith glaring at him with a pout.
He sits up and pats her on the shoulder. "I'm kidding, doll. I would take the... 'sickness' from you and suffer it in your place if I could."
Edith sighs and slowly nods. "I know you would. But still, fuck you," she chuckles and bumps him with her shoulder.
Colin smiles at her and takes a deep breath, looking over at Cree and Regan. He still doesn't want to ruin the moment, but the nagging questions in his mind return to the forefront. Seeing how carefree Regan and Cree are being right now makes him even more curious about what the hell happened in Aramora. It gives him a bit of hope that they didn't deal with similar things that he did.
He bites his tongue for a bit longer to clean up the dishes and bring them to the kitchen to wash later when everyone else is asleep. Since he himself doesn't need rest, he's been trying to make himself more useful by helping out with earning their keep in May's home station.
He returns to the fort, momentarily questioning how the four adults in the house are the ones bunkered down in a blanket fort while the eight-year-old girl is sleeping in the other room, but he supposes there's really nothing to question there. It's Edith and Regan.
He sits down beside Edith, across from Regan and Cree.
He supposes now's as good a time as any.
"So... we heard you ran into some trouble back in Aramora," he starts, dodging his eyes between the two of them.
Cree scoffs and nods, taking a drink of his whiskey. "Yeah. You could say that," he grumbles.
Edith tilts her head at them. "What happened?"
Regan sighs and rests his hand on Cree's shoulder.
"It was... hard. But we managed to pull through," he says with a small smile.
"Hard? How so? I mean, I know Aramora's not a place for the faint of heart, especially with... Sara on your trail," Colin says carefully, feeling his heart beat a little faster but he manages to remain calm.
Regan looks over at him. "You're not wrong... She was the source of at least ninety percent of our problems over there. It felt like we couldn't do anything without her interfering in some way," he says with a sigh.
Cree just grumbles and takes a drink.
Edith can tell where Colin is going with this but she opts to say nothing. It's his business if he wants to ask. She herself is worried about her friends, but she has no place to ask.
Colin nods slowly, noting Cree's silence.
"She didn't..." he pauses and bites his lip. "Hurt you guys, did she...?"
Cree scoffs and glares at him. "No. Not at all," he slightly pulls down the collar of his shirt to show the deep gashes crossing over his chest from the prison incident.
Edith's eyes widen and she lets out a small gasp. "Sara... did that to you?"
Cree shrugs and lets his shirt go, leaning back again and taking another drink.
"Kinda. Her soldiers did under her command," he shakes his head.
Colin huffs and looks down. "Figures she wouldn't want to get her own hands dirty..." he sighs and meets his eyes again. "But did she do... anything else...?"
He hadn't realized how tense he was until he felt Edith's arm hook around his and she leans against him, resting her head on his shoulder. It helps him relax a little.
Cree growls quietly and stares down at his bottle.
"She did a lot more..." he grits his teeth. "Mostly because of my own stupidity, though. So I guess I'm partly to blame."
"Cree..." Regan says softly. "She manipulated you, remember. That's not your fault."
"I appreciate that, Regan. But it doesn't change what happened."
"What did she do?" Edith asks.
Cree rolls his eyes to himself and sighs. "I was an idiot and let my guard down. Nothing really more to be said."
Colin's tension returns. "What... do you mean?"
Cree snickers and takes another drink of whiskey. "What do you think I mean? I was drunk and she was charming and sexy. And I was an idiot."
"But were you..." Colin stops himself to take a deep breath. "...I mean... but you were... willing, right?" he has to force himself to say it, and his gaze drops from them to stare at his hands as he fidgets with them in his lap.
Cree pulls his attention up and onto him again, cocking a brow. Regan stares at him in question and concern as well.
"Willing...?" Regan asks.
Colin says nothing.
Cree stares at him for a moment, trying to understand his demeanor and what he's talking about, and when it hits him, he sits up straight with more hatred in his eyes than he had just a moment ago.
"You've gotta be fucking kidding me..." he growls.
Colin still says nothing and Edith's grip on his arm tightens a bit reassuringly.
Cree scoffs and shakes his head. "And here I thought she couldn't get any fucking worse."
Regan covers his mouth with his hand and stares at Colin mournfully.
"...So that's why you left..." he whispers. "Because of her."
"I guess I was an idiot, too," Colin mumbles and takes a drink of his wine, dreading the fact that he can no longer get drunk. Figures, it was hard to adjust to being a Bio SRL at first, yet here he is now, missing the little things about it.
Cree stares at him and sighs, raising his bottle to Colin.
"Hey," he says as softly as he can manage when talking to Colin while also being tipsy.
Colin lifts his gaze to him again.
Cree shows him a small smile. "Fuck Sara," he says spitefully.
Colin softly chuckles and raises his wine glass, and Edith copies with her chocolate milk and Regan with his own wine glass.
"Fuck Sara," Colin and Edith say, and Regan just pretended to say it as well.
"Come on, Regan. You hate her too," Cree nudges him.
Regan nods and purses his lips. "Well, yes, but..." he sighs. "Look, profanity is not my cup of tea, alright? Get off my case!" he takes a sip of wine.
Edith and Colin chuckle and Cree just rolls his eyes with a smile. Edith looks up at Colin, seeing how he's distantly staring at his glass again.
She smiles tenderly and leans up to kiss him on the cheek, and he looks down at her in shock and sees the compassionate look on her face, which makes him smile as well. He remembers what she said to him before. How he may not have been a hero by running, but he was human. If he hadn't run, he wouldn't be where he is today.
He wouldn't be here with his friends. His family.
Edith stares up at him, and seeing his glowing green eyes peering down at her in the dim lights warms her face a bit, but she doesn't bother trying to hide it this time. She doesn't know what she wants, but she can tell that this feels somehow both right and wrong. But not for the reasons she thought before. It's not because of the divide between his heart and mind.
It's the divide between her memories of his heart and Colin.
She knows who Colin is after everything he told her. And that love that she has always felt for his heart is still there, but when it's for all of him, it feels different. New.
She doesn't know how to describe it, but then again, she doubts there is a 'right' way to feel about this. Their situation is just so unique that it's almost like it's evoking entirely new emotions that she doesn't think she's ever felt before.
But she does know one thing for certain.
She's falling in love all over again.
She turns her gaze forward again to rest her head back on his shoulder, letting her sink her weight against him and he responds by hesitantly wrapping his arm around her back.
If they could stay like this forever, she doesn't think she would mind.