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"Hey, boy. Hey !" The cab driver cleared his throat impatiently, snapping Sei back into the here and now. "Earth to the moon ? We're here."

"Yeah, sorry." The blonde mumbled, reaching into his pockets for his wallet and handing over a few paper bills. He got out of the taxi without waiting to get his change back - it was rather incredible how cramped these things actually felt when you were five inches taller and were not used to it. The treck from Barton to here had started to feel rather claustrophobic, which was one of the reasons he had zoned out.

But it didn't matter. He was here now. Finally home, of some sort. He ran one hand into his bangs to smooth them out, trying to contain his nervousness. Not so much as to how he was now, but to the fact that he'd all but despaired into thin air. Raven was very likely rather pissed at him.

Well, I can't say I don't deserve what's gonna crash onto me.

At last, he reached the door, fumbling with his keys a bit before carefully stepping inside. Took a look. The downstairs seemed empty. Upstairs, maybe ?

"Raven... ?" His voice was different, but not the same kind of worrying different than it had been last time he had grown - if anything, it just seemed like it had finally evened out and gone just a little bit deeper. "Omi ? Anyone's home... ?"

...Baseball bat ?

To his outlook, he had not sounded that different, or perhaps he had simply gotten used to it. Either way, he gave a rather puzzled look at the object, but did not move from where he was standing.

Sei had been expecting many things to happen right there and now.

Thankfully, this had been one of them.

Unfortunately, nothing could truly have prepared him for it. Normally, nothing would have happened, he would have gone on and kissed her and that would have been that.

However, as Raven was soon to discover, things were not quite normal. He very nearly recoiled when the slap hit, and it seemed like the only thing that kept him there was sheer stubbornness, and one hand rose in reflex to cover the slapped cheek.

To anyone else, it wouldn't have been so bad - to Sei, right there and right now, that had stung like a freaking b***h. "Yeah, im not gonna say I didn't deserve that." He finally managed through his clenched jaw, his free hand going to righten his glasses. "I... wasn't thinking very well." No, really ? He'd been 'not thinking very well' for quite a long time now.

"Yeah... Not really fond of doorframes at the moment." Really, there was such a thing as too tall. He was pretty sure he just found it. Once he got over basically being a lean stick, however, it wasn't so bad.

...This was a little more akward than he thought it would be, actually. At least she hadn't slapped him twice. To be honest, he was not quite sure how to... break all the rest to her, so to speak. It would lead to questions that she would not like the answer of.

"Yeah... Im glad." Glad that Omi seemed to be getting better, and glad that it looked like nothing else had happened. Raven wasn't really the person to ask for that, however, so he did not even mention it, instead he followed her further inside, careful not to trip over the forgotten baseball bat. He would go and get some coffee later, but right now it didn't seem likely that the foxcoon would let him out of her sight for even a second.

What had happened... ?

He wasn't sure it was a good idea. Not the entirety of it. But on the flip side... He definitively owed it to her. An explanation as to what had happened.

"I was coming home that night." It seemed like a good place to start. "And there was that... that noise in my head. Like a loud buzzing that never stopped. It took me a moment to realize what it was, to remember what it was... and when it did, I kind of freaked out." He shook his head. "Aion... was something with the force of an atomic bomb. And I was the one to use this... Before. The simple fact that had been re-activated was very dangerous, because even if I didn't want anything to do with it... What would have stopped them from making another android like I was in my past life for that purpose ?" What, indeed. This was a question that remained unanswered. That had seemed to be the logical reaction one would have, and yet Ex had always gone with him, which... had him suspect that he had something that the god needed. "So in a sense I didn't have a choice. I had to go deal with it." He ran his fingers though her hair and paused, for a moment, surprised by how soft it was.

"So I went. And I destroyed it. It wasn't really easy... since Aion's only weakness was magic. But I figured out a way... Well... have you ever kind of... Kind of stood at a crossroads, with a very important choice to make... but you only realize it afterward ? That is kind of what happened." And this was where his memory failed him. The hole was annoying, but in a way, perhaps it was for the best, if the scars were any indicator of the chain-reaction that had unfolded. Sometimes, it was best not to remember.

He was not sure how to explain what had happened to her, though - and so he did not try. Not vocally, at least. Instead, he took her hand, and nearly got distracted again. Her fur, just as soft as her hair, it seemed. He guided it to rest on his chest. The scar was sensitive, but nothing he couldn't bear.

There had been a sphere here before. She had seen it, and she would likely remember. But now there was nothing here... nothing but the faint flutter of his own heartbeat, something so ordinary yet so unbelievable given that it came from... him.

And that made him nervous again. He had no idea how she would react.

"I didn't." But he did now. A small miracle in itself, perhaps.

"There's a part of me that's gone. And that will never come back. And yet... I've never felt so relieved before."

...Well, at least that was a small victory. Honestly, coffee sounded good right now. He hadn't had a cup since... since he left, really, which was next to forever in his mind.

"M'kay."