A cigarette hung loosely in the Dane's mouth. Surprisingly enough, Markell hadn't smoked in weeks. But his old habit was back yet again. It was a stress reliever for him. After the recent events, he needed to take a breather. With a soft sigh, he saw his cigarette was finished and he put it in his ashtray.
He went to go and light another one but stopped himself. Markell shook his head and put his half pack of cigarettes away. Then he saw his journal. Without thinking much about it, he grabbed it and began to write in it.
Journal,
Things are finally back to normal. Loki is home after being taken over. He's safe and sound. Bernard has his emotions back luckily and Arnold's doing just fine as usual. I don't have much to write.
I don't know why but lately, maybe because of everything that's been going on, I've been kind of stressed. And...I'm kinda scared too. I'm scared I'm going to lose my family one of these days and I can't...I don't know. I can't find the right words.
I don't want to lose them. Not again. Not after all we've been through together. I'm even trying not to push them away...heh, but I know I'll find myself doing so. It's a natural habit now.
I think I might go to the woods and clear my head like I normally do. Yeah, that sounds nice. Although, one good thing happened that I forgot to mention. Lenka is back. She's Loki's female counterpart. They're like siblings really. M̶i̶s̶s̶e̶d̶ h̶e̶r̶.
Markell closed the journal with a sigh before he leaves his room and heads for the front door. As he does, he stops when he hears a familiar voice.
"Uncle Markell? Where are you going?"
Markell turns to face Arnold and pats his nephew on the shoulder.
"Just going for a walk, Kiddo. I'll be back," Markell says but Arnold frowned.
"When do you want me to go and get you?" Arnold asks, just in case Markell had one of his episodes while outside.
"...Come check on me in 10 minutes, alright?" Markell says quietly before he leaves, walking into the forest nearby while Arnold sat at the door with a watch in hand as he waited, trying to keep his worry and concern off his face.