The detective gives that trip 0/10. Would not visit again

[gadaboutdetective]

Who; Llewellyn and people
What; 2 Open logs and 1 closed
Where; Assorted
When; All through May
Warnings; Alcohol for a start. I will update accordingly depending on what gets discussed. Update: Brief mention of homophobia and unfair laws of the era in Ignis' thread, discussion of a murder case in thread with Ivy.

( I can also do personalized starters if you want! just let me know either on Discord: WhimsicalSpook#8219 or Plurk: whimsicalspook You are also welcome to throw a starter at me if you want, I don't bite!)



Finding his way home. - Closed to Rhy

It was late in the evening and footsteps were echoing through the sewers of of the city. Steps unsteady and a little staggered as the man exited the tunnels with a distracted look on his face.

He doesn’t really look particularly different how how he did a week ago when he disappeared. His gaze lightly unfocused as he walked almost on autopilot, his mind a whirl. Less a flock of starlings as he was prone to describing it and more of a tornado, and his emotions running rampant.

There was so much in his head now, too much. It was scrambling to sort what seemed like two very different lives. Almost two years away from home, between the Sphere and this world… And nearly that long suddenly stuffed in his head from his own world, much of it far less pleasant in some ways than the two years he’d come to know away from it.

Leaning against a lamppost, Llewellyn took a deep breath and then another as his eyes finally focused on the world around him. He was back, back in the world he’d come to think of as his home… And after having been back in his world? It had only cemented that feeling, regardless of how powerless and ill prepared he felt when it came to some of the things that happened here… It was better than the gnawing pain and repeated cycle of loss that he felt trapped in.

He wasn’t sure if he wanted to cry in frustration or relief as he stared at the quiet evening around him. Frustration for what he’d gone back to with no memories of this place, or in pure relief for being here again. Regardless, a few stray tears escaped anyway, though he’d deny it if asked.

… He’d deny a few things if asked, honestly.

“I need a drink…” He muttered, wishing to quiet his over-loud, racing thoughts just a little. It had practically been a part of his schedule over the last few months… Drink to quiet the thoughts, drink to numb the feelings that you wish you didn’t have, drink to forget how once again you were alone.

Then, absently, a particular thought rattled into place. Here he wasn’t alone. He had someone waiting for him.

Rhy.

The name comes to the forefront of his mind, and his heart suddenly ached for a different reason. How long had he been gone for? He’d promised not to leave the man, promised to stay by his husband’s side and not leave him to feel so very alone again…

The drink is forgotten for now, and Llewellyn turns in another direction, the correct direction. He wavers on his path once in a while, if only because worry had begun worming its way into his head. Worries of what to say to his husband, worries about what the man would think if he heard some of the last two years. Fear of disappointment, or judgement, or...

Llewellyn squinted at the door before him, the stained glass rose window glowing lightly with light from within. He had made it back without realizing it, so caught up in his own head again.

At first, he almost does the absurd thing, and knocks. Instead, having a small sensible thought break through the confusion, he pulls out his key and lets himself in.

It's an odd feeling as he wandered into the entry hall. Relief sinking in, the wonder of 'this is my home, it's safe here' catches a hold of him lightly. It's not the slightly lonely boarding house room, dim and empty aside from a few personal belongings, wine, and case notes. It's warm, bright, inviting, vibrantly full of life.

There's just one thing left... He wants- needs to see Rhy. Despite the vague anxiety of what on earth he might say, and the fear of how long he might have been gone lingering... He needs to see him. "Rhy?" He spoke as he began moving from one room to another in hopes of searching.

His voice doesn't sound as strong or confident as he'd like, he notes. He needs to fix that when does see his husband.

But it's a start.


Business as usual. - Gullwings or Aerith's shop ~ OTA if anyone wants to try to catch his attention when he's hiding in his work

If there was anything that would never change about Llewellyn, it was his proclivity for choosing avoidance of issues in favor of work. Why dwell and talk about the things in your head when you could be focusing on being productive and useful.

There were plenty of things that needed his attention, after all. There was work to be done at the Gullwings offices. He was a week behind on the smaller cases he'd taken on around the city, and hey- wouldn't it be nice if he tidied his desk a little? Adjust the tornado so it looked a little more...

Well, not better, but as though it had moved around a bit? Maybe a little more centralized on his desk instead of overflowing onto other people's spaces?

Plus, he noted with some confusion, he needed to tidy up the many odd little flowers that had been left on his desk. Llewellyn certainly didn't remember putting them there, and their presence puzzled him some...

Yes, anyone who walked in on seeing him organizing was probably going to wonder if they were hallucinating.


Then there was the flower shop. The detective knew he had time to make up for there, having left Aerith to take care of things by herself so rudely.

They were into the time of year where flowers were blooming and just waiting to be gathered to arrange in vases or baskets. So it wouldn't hurt to give the plants a little extra attention, would it? Especially since she'd allowed him to leave some of his starters to transfer at a later date.

Really, between arrangements waiting to be put together and flowers needing care, there was plenty for him to help with to make up for his absence!

Whether it was the office or the garden shop, there was nothing wrong with putting in a little more time here and there! And it gave him time to catch up with and check on people, which was still a priority at the end of the day.


I'll have that drink now. - The Tavern ~ OTA But warning for excessive drinking

Llewellyn was... adjusting.

Yeah, let's go with that. It sounded better than anything he could come up with. He really just needed time, he was sure. Time to finish sorting all the new thoughts and experiences into their little boxes on a shelf in his mind. Once that was done, he would lose the vague amounts of distraction and the questions of if he was listening or if something was off would stop.

He could do without those, really. He was fine. One hundred percent okay. Just adjusting. Just processing almost two years' worth of information.

Just trying to shake off the paranoia and anxiety that's still lingering from being in my own world. He let out a long breath while he waited for the tavern-keeper to bring him another drink.

Since it was just him and his thoughts? He could admit to himself that... There were some things that were less than fine.

He was tired of looking over his shoulder every time he was with Rhy, worried about some unknown seeing them and bringing danger down on their heads for just walking.

Tired of wondering when he was going to mess things up here, too. Both his personal life and professional life had... developed quite a track record. An annoying voice in the back of his mind kept musing that it might only be a matter of time before the rug got pulled out from under him.

And he was damn tired of the vague, lowered faith in the people around him. Expecting someone to spout some idiocy or opinion that would hurt someone who didn't deserve to be hurt, or even some slight against him when he didn't agree with them.

What happened to the progress he'd made? What happened to the glass being half full instead of half empty?

Another glass of something amber in colour was set in front of him, and idly he mused, 'There's a full glass.' As he pulled it towards him, hoping it might quiet his mind some while he passed some time before going home.

Comments

[gadaboutdetective]

“I’m glad, and I’ll be able to resume helping out around here.” He responded with an attempt at a smile, though he wasn’t quite buying that her increased time in the garden was entirely due to the season. Llewellyn knew her well enough by now… “Have they had anything interesting to say?” He asked, if only because he was trying to get a better read on how her time had been spent in his absence. Figuring out the states of those he cared about was a bit of a concern after his return, realizing that his absence had hit people harder than he expected.

Which was why he quickly shook his head at her comment about letting people know. “I have, but… Please don’t blame him for not saying? I could have- should have said something myself. He wasn’t in the best shape when I got home… I don’t think he’d been taking care of himself or sleeping much at all and I don’t think he was in a much better frame of mind than I was to have reached out.” Rubbing the back of his neck with an awkward expression, pausing in his tidying. “I wanted to make sure he got some rest, too.”

Llewellyn couldn’t help but feel odd. Every time someone said he hadn’t been gone for too long. “Yes, I’ve been informed it was only about a week for everyone? Strange how time flows between one place and another… It a little over two years for me.” He commented, finally resuming his busy work. “But I’m glad to hear that I haven’t missed anything particularly exciting and that there haven’t been any further disasters- I was a little concerned, since I recall there were some creatures wandering the streets and thought they might have been the beginning of something else.” Like the plants had been, or perhaps it was like that and it was just something that would take more time.

He was definitely focusing more intently on his work, staring at a vase to help put together a new arrangement in, but… it was more like he was staring through it. “My world was about what one could expect.” Which was hard to know what to expect when he didn’t tend to say much about it. “But I’m more glad to be home, and to pick up where we all left off.”

[cetrary]

"Hmm, I dunno, Yuki did a pretty good job," she teased. "Maybe your position is at risk, do you have anything that sets you apart from other candidates?" Now seemed like a pretty excellent time to try to lighten the mood of everything. Especially if he was going to ask questions himself. "No. A lot about changes though, I think maybe the Academy showing up...back up?" she tabbed her chin and hmm'ed. "Interested in them." Or at the very least they were interested in things changing around the world.

"I understand, but he did know people were looking and that they'd be looking in potentially dangerous places." Opps, she stopped there, not wanting to add to his own worries. "I'm just relieved to know now."

A look of concern crossed her face at what he revealed. "That must be hard for you to be back here with so many new memories." At the very least it had to be pretty overwhelming for him to try to sift through them all and all the memories from this place. "They're still around, I'm pretty sure. Strange that nothing bigger or worse has come though, huh? It felt ominous with them appearing and everyone talking about the academy." She still wondered if more wouldn't come eventually, but for now it seemed like that was the worst of it. Though now she was kinda worried she was going to be the cause of something worse actually coming.

"Well, if you ever need to talk about what one could expect there, I'm a good listener. So are my flowers." But she wasn't going to push the topic too much. "We should have a party!"

[gadaboutdetective]

“Oh, so my place has been lost, has it?” He responded with a raised brow, though he did seem to consider the question more seriously. “I suppose of the two of us, he certainly has the edge, given he has access to plants and prior experience. My own garden got a bit… Delayed, I suppose.” He shook his head a little. The timing of his disappearance had truly been inconvenient. But he tried to not slip into thinking about it too hard, trying to keep his tone light. “I suppose one plus is I have an excellent reputation for bringing in food and snacks for those of us who forget to eat lunch.” He commented with a pointed look at her, wondering if she’d been neglecting breaks too while he was gone.

Llewellyn understood where she was coming from, of course, and if circumstances had been different, perhaps it would have been different… But it hadn’t, and no one had been there to see the state of things when he got home. All Llewellyn could do was frown slightly, tone apologetic. “And for that I’m still sorry, Aerith. Though… I wish people hadn’t put themselves at risk like that.” Why? Why would they put themselves at further risk? It didn’t make sense and even if something had happened… He wouldn’t have wanted them getting hurt on his account. It wouldn’t have brought him back. “I’m glad that nothing else happened, at least.” He finally murmured, deciding to let it drop at that.

“I uh- admit, that’s been particularly disorientating for me since I returned.” An absolute understatement, really. Even if it was a few days later, he was still terribly distracted at times. “My thoughts… Tend to be a bit cluttered and chaotic. So I, um… Hope you’ll forgive me if I don’t always seem like myself. I just need some time to adjust.” How many times was he going to say that? Until he didn’t need to remind himself anymore. It was hard to not still think like he was back in his world sometimes. Which was silly, since this place was so very different from there… He moved on quickly, yet again, to focus on the topic of the city. “So the Academy is still a popular topic? Well… I suppose that checks out. It’s a curious subject. Even I can’t help but wonder about it.” But the subject of the monsters gets a small, concerned nod. “I’ve been worried that they might be a sign of more to come… Seems like that’s how things work around here, after all.” Which was why he was quite worried about people searching around the city. What if there was already something worse, and they just hadn’t stumbled on it yet?

“Ah… That’s kind of you to offer. I’ll keep both you and the flowers in mind, then.” No, he wouldn’t, that was one of Llewellyn’s rare lies… Or half lies, he might accidentally talk to the plants if he were alone. He had a habit of bouncing thoughts off them already. The detective’s brow furrowed slightly at the sudden switch in topic. “A party?? What um- would be the occasion, and what did you have in mind?”

[cetrary]

"It might have, you never know. It's a competitive market after all!" Everyone wants to work for her, right? Maybe. "Maybe I should make it into a competition for the position." Of course she was smiling the entire time, it was all just a little joke. As far as she knew he'd just come to help her while Llewellyn was missing, so his position wasn't too threatened. "The snacks are a very good point though! It's pretty nice to have someone thinking of those things." Because she definitely didn't think of it ever.

"You don't have to worry, nobody took any super big risks. Everyone knew to be careful with the current things that had happened. And I had my trusty bodyguard with me." Though if he hadn't insisted she probably would have gone out on her own. "So we looked, but we were smart about it. People even planned things out." Which was actually a miracle compared to how everyone usually acted around here. It seemed like for the most part people preferred to act alone and then report back if anything happened.

"I'm sorry. I wish there was something I could do to help you," she said sympathetically. "Are you sure you want to come back then? You can take more time if you need it." Though, knowing him he probably really wanted to go back to work to distract himself. "I'm not entirely sure if it's popular, I think I've been a bit in my own head lately," she offered as a sheepish response. "I'm not sure if anyone's been or tried to go. But you have a point, that's usually how things work here. I guess all we can do is wait." Just like what they'd done when he'd disappeared.

"You won't, but that's okay," she confirmed. They'd spent enough time together for her to know that, but the offer was there regardless and she didn't mind if he lied a little bit. She did it enough herself after all. "Your return of course, silly," she said with a light giggle. "Don't worry, I'm just teasing, I know you wouldn't want all that attention."

[gadaboutdetective]

“Now I wonder what a competition for the job would entail.” He mused with a small tilted of his head, trying to imagine it. He was at least glad that she seemed to be joking… He wasn’t sure how he’d take simply losing the job. It had gotten to be rather important to him, and he enjoyed getting to know Aerith through it. “Then I’ll have to make sure the ones I sneak out for later are, uh- particularly delicious, hm?”

Llewellyn supposed that was something… And he was at least slightly relaxed to hear that Aerith had taken Cloud with her… It still wasn’t ideal, and he still would have preferred they not gone looking at all… But he’d have to accept it as it was, he couldn’t really change it now. What was done was done, and he would simply have to try to check in on people to make sure that things were, indeed, alright.

“That’s a kind thought, but it’s fine… I just need some time, I think. To settle back into things here, and adjust.” Again, that word. It was the only thing he could think of as an answer to the problem. Though he looked up quickly at the question, the idea of taking more time was… Well, it wasn’t a bad thought, but… “No, I appreciate that, but… I should be fine. I assure you, I won’t be making a mess of the shop and I really do think I’m ready to get back into the swing of things?” Which really meant he was going to make himself be ready, because the idea of sitting at home with his thoughts was a bit frightening and he was desperate to just move on as normal. It had never worked in his world, but it seemed like he intended to try to make it work here.

A brow raised, expression a little awkward if slightly amused. “You know me that well, then.” He mumbled more quietly, with a small shrug. At least she seemed to understand. It wasn’t something he wanted to dwell on or talk about. He wasn’t sure what people would think, really, and it didn’t seem like it would really fix anything. Still, she’d probably hear some of it from the flowers, in a way. “Oh!” He felt a bit silly for not thinking of that, but he was glad she was just teasing again. The confirmation settled some nerves that had begun to build up at the idea. “I appreciate that, Aerith… Not that I don’t enjoy a party, of course, but… I think I need a little time before I’m up for something of that nature. I’d hate to space out in the middle of things and bring the party down.”

[cetrary]

"I couldn't tell you now, that'd give you an unfair advantage," she said as if it were the most obvious and logical thing ever. At least Aerith was pretty good at keeping a joke up and teasing seemed like a nice way to lighten everything up. "If the next snacks you bring are particularly yummy then maybe you'll get some extra bonus points." For the mystery competition.

"You have always seemed like the type to dive right back in," she offered him up a smile that had a touch of concern lingering on it. "Gotta get rights back into the chocobos saddle, huh? As long as you make sure not to overdo your adjusting." She tapped her chin thoughtfully then put a finger into the air as though she'd just gotten an idea. "We should go to my garden together sometime. I have some clippings that are ready for transplanting and I thought I'd see if anyone would want to take some home with them. They're much nicer to have alive than just as a bouquet of flowers. Buuut I'll need some help bringing in the pots." Of course, she could just order Cloud to do it, but going to her little garden here always made her happy. Maybe it'd help Llewellyn some too.

"Well, you are here a lot. So I'd hope I'd know you at least kinda well." She smiled. "Maybe when you've had some more time to settle back in we can have a potluck. Not a party for anyone, but just a friendly gathering of everyone." Note the very important distinctions.

[gadaboutdetective]

Llewellyn hummed lightly at that, “I suppose we can’t have that… Wouldn’t be right in the spirit of competition.” Not that he was very good at competitions, he had frightful luck in that area. “But I’ll be sure to make a good selection when break time comes for snacks. Luckily for me, I happen to know the best places in the city.” At least he was confident that he did, as long as things hadn’t changed that much over the last week he’d been gone here.

The detective’s brow raised slightly, though, at her comment. “You know… I uh- hadn’t considered that some sayings might also have slight variations from one world to the next, but yes… I suppose I do intend to get right back into the ‘chocobos’ saddle.” Llewellyn’s tone was thoughtful, clearly caught up in wondering what other phrases might be slightly different from his own world. “I find it’s… easiest to move forward if I keep busy.” Not that it didn’t stop him from pushing himself too far and ending up in another mess shortly after the last.

Aerith’s idea was a clever one. It would be good for him and the way she phrased it sounded more like he could provide some extra help to make up for his absence. Given his current state of mind, it didn’t even occur to him that she was just trying to offer something a little more relaxing for him to do. “Oh? That sounds like an excellent idea. I’d um… I’d be glad to help with it, if you like?”

A potluck was a nice thought… After all, the point to a potluck was simply to gather and enjoy food together. Something Llewellyn was quite fond of already. “I’d like that… I think? Just a nice afternoon with some good food and friends, maybe sometime in the future.”

[cetrary]

"Exactly! And I run a fair and balanced shop!" She said with a matter of fact tone. "So I'd have to run a fair and balanced competition, right?" Made perfect sense. "I'll be waiting to judge if these places are really worthy of being called the best places." Would she really be able to tell the difference? No. But being able to tease a bit felt pretty nice. At least she thought it did and she really hoped he felt similar about it.

"Hey, it works here too, we have some around." Which was kinda weird, but all things considering that was normal for this place. "I bet a lot of places have different sayings." It might actually be interesting to hear more about them. "I think I can relate to that. It's easier to not get caught up in your own head, isn't it?" That happened to be what she did when she felt too overwhelmed with her own thoughts. There were a lot of things that were just easier to not think about or deal with and she usually liked keeping as busy as possible. Which, probably wasn't the best way to handle things (because you didn't actually handle anything) but it was certainly the easiest.

"You were exactly who I was thinking of. You can let me know when you're free." She beamed rightly and seemed genuinely excited by the idea. "And I'll keep the potluck in mind when you've been back a bit longer. You'll have to tell me some of your favorite things so we make sure to have that."

[gadaboutdetective]

“Well, you won’t have to wait long. Only an hour or two from lunch, if I’m not mistaken.” He responded with a tilt of his head, before pulling out his pocket watch to check the time. Satisfied that he was more or less correct, he tucked it away again a moment later.

That was the weird thing about this world. It seemed like it had some things that were familiar to him, and then other things that were familiar to other people. “That we do- I just find it interesting, I suppose, that some worlds share phrases with slight differences. In my world we’d say horse, not chocobo… So I expect you're right, I just can’t help but wonder what those slightly different sayings are.” He was a bit fascinated by things like this. With languages in general, really. He spoke more than a handful of languages fluently, even if it didn’t really come in handy in these worlds. He’d become the station-house translator, which he supposed made him useful in ways that his colleagues weren’t.

He nodded, though, to her question. “Mm… I think so, at least… I find it a bit dangerous to get too caught up in my thoughts. So keeping busy? I find it helps, and I’d rather just try to put the past where it belongs.” Even if the past was fairly recent and very upsetting. The last thing he wanted to do was keep thinking about it and try to figure out how to go about dealing with it… They were more than a little alike in that way.

So, really, even if his advice would be (and had been) very different at times… Like talking about it or trying to deal with the problem… He wasn’t about to take his own advice.

“Then I’ll gladly help. I should be free about as often as ever?” He added with a small, thoughtful tilt of his head. “So uh- we can work out the times accordingly to avoid any issues with either of our schedules.” Llewellyn was keen to have more than a few side projects. So… House improvements, an extra project with Aerith, and a personal investigation would at least help to keep him busy outside the hours he was working or with his husband. At least, that was the plan he was hoping would work out well enough to keep him thoroughly distracted.

[cetrary]

"Then I guess we'll see at lunch time. Maybe it'll be your first challenge for the competition." The competition that wasn't actually real. She'd continue to pretend it was a real competition for as long as she could keep this going though.

"I'd guess that's because your world doesn't have chocobos?" Which was also kind of an interesting thing in it's own right. It seemed like there were a lot of general similarities in worlds along with a lot of differences in the details of how they world. "It might be interesting to ask people sometime about the different sayings they have in their world." Maybe it'd even be a nice way to distract people after something bad happened.

"Too many people spend a bit too long letting themselves get caught up in the past. I'm glad to hear you're trying to not let yourself do that." It made her happy to know that he was at least trying to not let himself spend too long thinking about the past. Or at least, she hoped he was telling the truth about all that.

"Sounds like we've got a plan then. Or at least the start of a plan that will lead to us making a more solid plan."

[gadaboutdetective]

“Exactly, we have something called a horse- though I’m not sure if you’ve seen one.” He added absentmindedly, having had to explain what a horse was once before…? Well, that was a harder thing to do than he would have thought, odd as that was. “Mm… That might be a fun question to pose one day. I’ll have to keep it in mind.” He added with a curious tone, his own thoughts not far from her own. At some point, there would undoubtedly be a need for lighter conversation.

“Exactly, and… I wouldn’t want to get too caught up in it. There are better things to focus on here, I think.” Well… Llewellyn was probably lying to himself more than he was lying to her at this point. Either way, he was trying his damnedest to act like things were fine and normal, even when they weren’t, and even if his actions or focus weren’t exactly as people were used to seeing.

The detective nodded. “A plan to make a plan, then. I’ll um- be glad to help whenever you’re ready. Just let me know and I’ll be right over.” He added with a small glance at the tidying he was doing. “Is there anything you need brought for the project? Or do you have everything uh- already there to proceed?”

[cetrary]

"I think maybe we had them at one point? I'm not sure, there was this creature in the train graveyard that kind of resembled what you described except it only had it's front legs." She tapped her chin thoughtfully and made a humming sound. "But maybe it had back legs. The back was uh, a chariot." It had a chariot butt. "It was pretty freaky." But that was the only thing she could think of that seemed like that. Then again, she'd never really "We'll need to lighten things up someday, right?" Who else would it be up to if not them?

"Much better, I'd think. You know, some people have another saying," she gave him a very gentle smile. "Fake it until you make it, that's right I think? Maybe...that's not always such a bad thing?" It seemed like that was precisely what he was doing, but she didn't want to call him out on it so directly. A little nudge seemed like the best way to go about things. It was the way she usually handled Cloud after all.

"I have everything, don't worry about a thing. All I'll need is my newly enlisted helper!"

[gadaboutdetective]

Llewellyn’s brow furrowed with some surprise at the description… “That uh- does sound rather like a horse… Aside from the hind quarters being a chariot, though perhaps something happened to the bones from that side and it only appeared as such? They are hitched to carts and carriages in our world, which I suppose could give such an illusion.” He rubbed the back of his neck lightly, trying to imagine it… Honestly, given what he knew was possible in other worlds? There was a very good chance that it was just as Aerith described and was part chariot. Not much would surprise him anymore.

… maybe.

She was right that someone might need to lighten things up one day, and even if he wasn’t feeling particularly light-hearted right now… It might help someone, or even themselves, down the line to have such a distraction. “I’m sure you’re right, things do tend to get a bit heavy depending on the situation… Though, I daresay you may be better at brightening a mood than I am.”

Faking it was definitely what he was doing, and he internally winced at the light nudge to admitting that. “I have heard that phrase, so that’s another that our worlds share.” He frowned slightly, knowing it well. “And one I’m familiar with following in my world, it can be quite true.” And it worked before (sure it had, Llewellyn), so it could work again. Right?

“Then your mm… Newly enlisted helper will be awaiting your contact with gardening gloves at ready.” He responded in a lighter tone. It would be something good to focus on.

[cetrary]

"Well, it was kind of a ghost so I think it was more so fused," she said with an awkward laugh. "It was kind of a complicated situation." And one she wasn't entirely sure she wanted to talk about for too long. Having to face her own loneliness like she had in the train graveyard wasn't exactly a thing she wanted to linger on too long.

"Am I? I try to help out when I can." Sometimes it was a bit harder to do than others, but she was pretty dedicated to giving it her best attempts. Someone had to do it after all, didn't they?

"Sounds like worlds may have a lot in common," which was kind of nice. "It's not always a bad thing to follow, I don't think." At least not sometimes.

"Until then, we should get back to work!"

[gadaboutdetective]

“Oh- I see… I think.” Llewellyn’s brow wrinkled now as he actually tried to imagine such a specter.. “It sounds very complicated, to be, uh- honest.” He added with a small shake of his head. “It would seem there are still similarities, at least in some small part, when it comes to creatures and animals in other worlds, even if they’re… not exactly the same.”

He nodded, though, the tone a little more genuine as he confirmed it. “You are. At least I’ve always found you to be.” It was why he liked working with her, really. It was something he would come to appreciate more in the coming weeks, considering his state of mind. It was just a little worrying sometimes, to know how difficult her life was and that she was keeping more than a little worry and problems to herself. Llewellyn only hoped that things worked out, and she realized she was welcome to talk if she needed to again one day.

The comment that they should get back to work, though, is met with a quick nod. “Of course! I, um, suppose there does seem like a lot to do. Tell me where you’d like me to start and I can dive in.” He was eager to help get the shop looking like it had been before his departure, to make it seem like things hadn’t changed at all… So he was content to get to work, and try to find that sense of normalcy with his friend again.