and my ears will listen

[truthwright]

Time goes by. Shura's mother lets her cut a cloudpine branch, and she and Helen go flying together.

Helen celebrates her eighth birthday by baking all her favourite people a cake again. And then she goes away with Kas, to Iceland and Russia and back by way of Alaska.

When they fly in, Kas on Petaal's cloudpine and Helen on her own, Helen is wearing blue jeans and a pink T-shirt.

Comments

[alicornucopia]

"...Kas?" Ranata asks. It's not, but she doesn't have a better guess.

[pythbox]

"No. Sue," he says distractedly, turning in circles one way and then the other. "This is their house, right? How long—?"

[alicornucopia]

"This was Isabella's house," says Ranata slowly. "I suppose Kas lived here too. Where did you come from?"

[pythbox]

"Peace," he says. "One sec."

And he flickers out of view, and back again a few seconds later.

"How long has it been?" he asks, looking straight at Ranata for the first time since he arrived, intense and a little worried.

[alicornucopia]

"Peace? How long since - what?"

[pythbox]

"Since she left!" exclaims Sue from Peace.

[alicornucopia]

"She's been gone for - sixty years now," says Ranata, "but Kas says she's coming back - look, who are you?"

[pythbox]

"I'm Kas's alt from Peace," he says. "My girlfriend's Aegis, she's one of Isabella, she's gone too but it's only been a couple of minutes for me - sixty years? Fuck. I can't stay, then, not if it's gonna be anywhere near that long." He runs both hands through his shortish curlyish hair.

[alicornucopia]

"Alt? Peace? One of Isabella? What are you talking about?"

[pythbox]

"...Wait, do you not know? Shit," he says. "Look - I'm sorry but I have to go, the clock is fucking ticking on this, I'm probably not gonna get any sleep this month - "

And he vanishes again, this time for good.

[alicornucopia]

[Kas?]

[truthwright]

[Yeah?]

[alicornucopia]

[I was just - visiting Isabella's old house - and a boy who looked like you appeared out of nowhere, and said some bewildering things, and then left.]

[truthwright]

[...was he wearing a kind of uniform jumpsuit thing?]

[alicornucopia]

[Yes.]

[truthwright]

[What exactly did he say?]

[alicornucopia]

[I - he wanted to know how long it had been, he said his name was Sue and he was 'from peace' and that he was your 'alt', and his girlfriend is 'one of Isabella', and that he - that 'the clock was ticking on this' and he probably wasn't going to get any sleep this month...]

[truthwright]

[Yeah.]

He sighs.

[Look, I'd explain it to you, but I'm kind of in the middle of Helen crying. One of the other kids was giving her shit. Raincheck?]

[alicornucopia]

[Why not, I've waited sixty years. Helen okay?]

[truthwright]

[She'll be fine, she's just not happy right now.]

[alicornucopia]

[Which kid was it?]

[truthwright]

[Kaydi.]

[alicornucopia]

Ranata sighs. [I can have a talk with her mother, if she's a problem.]

[truthwright]

[Could be. Could be it won't help. What's Kaydi's mom think of witch kids in mortal clothes?]

[alicornucopia]

[I - don't know, we've never discussed it. Is that what set Kaydi off?]