Welcome to Gaia! ::

Alex turned around only to have Yin directly behind him with the platter full of silverware. Oh, had he forgotten to pick those up? Ah well. Maybe next time (hahahahhaa, never again). He reached out to take the platter from Yin and turned around to dump it into the sink as well. Though he was no longer glaring, if dumping things noisely into the sink was any indication, he was still feeling slightly bitter.

"Not long." He shrugged. "Probably need to be leaving here in under an hour if we want to get to train station in time. But packing will only take a few minutes, at least." Again, a feeling of lonliness was starting to well up in the boil as he looked around the kitchen. It was nearly time to say goodbye. He wondered if it would be as hard leaving this time as it had been the first time, even though at that time he had wanted it so bad.

"Hopefully the train ride home won't be so bad for you as the one coming in?" Alex said, a small smile playing on his lips as he tried to make conversation to distract himself. "Anyways, I'm going to go and pack. Don't forget when you get your things to grab that book I gave to you, okay?"

Alexander didn't know if Yin was going to stay behind and finish washing up, though he assumed the weremantis might, so with a light pat on the other boils shoulder, he shambled off, slowly, away to his room to get his things in order before leaving.

It was funny. Alex had actually barely even made it to his room when Yin entered in almost right behind him, wasting no time in grabbing his things and beginning to pack them up. Alexander moved towards the closet, reaching in to pull out the couple of shirts he had brought, which were of course at some point in the weekend freshly washed by Alex's mother. He then leaned down to grab for the pants that he had left on the floor, and for his small bag, bringing it all out and going towards the bed to begin shoving them inside as well before he turned towards the bookshelf to take some new ones back to school with him, ones that he would not mind reading again since he had read them all once before. Yin's voice piped up behind him, and he was about to tell the weremantis that no, he didn't need any help, but thanks for offering, when a thought occurred to him.

"Ties." He said, pointing towards the closet with a smile "I want to take some new ones back with me. Do you mind picking a few out? I don't really care which ones, I like them all." Obviously, or he wouldn't have them "The ones that are still in the plastic should stay, though, they're more collectors items then anything and I don't actually wear them."

He turned back towards the bed with three books in hand, fairly certain he could fit everything in his small bag.

Yes, okay, so maybe the books wouldn't all fit. He had brought two with him and now he was trying to take three more back and really it just wasn't going to work. Oh well, he could live with leaving them behind, and then maybe his mom could mail them to the school...

But then Yin was there, with the ties. Alex glanced at them, and they all looked perfectly fine to him, so he held out his hands and gathered them up, putting them on the bed then carefully rolling each up before putting it in the bag. "Yes, these are all fine." He smiled, though he really would have been happy with anything, just as he had said.

Yin's suggestion that he could take the books with his things was a nice one, and Alex appreciated the gesture. Glancing over towards the boil, his face lit up with a larger grin. "If you have room, that would be great! If not, though, don't worry too much about it. I can always get them some other time."

If Alex had known that Yin found ties to be so useless, so meaningless, he might have been appalled. They were the most wonderful thing. So many textures and colors and amazing patterns and of course they had more uses then just hanging around your neck!

But he didn't know so that wasn't something he needed to get into at the moment.

Everything was packed up, including, Alex had noted with some distaste before hiding them beneath his clothes, the double handful of protection charms he had dumped/hidden in the bottom of his bag after the first night home. He had no idea what the hell he was going to do with them once he got back to Amity. Maybe somebody else he knew could use them, because he certainly wasn't going to anytime soon.

He had let Yin take the books without protest, and now it looked like he was ready to go. Alex took a moment before replying, glancing around the room one last time, mentally ticking off all the things to make sure he had everything before they actually departed. His gaze dropped to the kennel on the floor, and the odd smelling creature within, before he glanced back over to Yin with an almost sad smile.

"Yes, I think so." He didn't have to ask Yin if he was ready as well. Obviously the other boil was more then ready to go. He'd probably been ready to leave an hour after arriving.

At least this time Alex wasn't going back to the school to be left alone, with nobody he knew. That did make it quite a bit easier this time.

Lifting up his bag and putting the strap over one shoulder, he shambled over towards the wall and snatched up the skateboard that was leaning against it. Tucking that beneath the same arm that was shouldering the bag, he then made his way to the door, grabbing for the handle of the kennel and lifting it up with his free hand. "As ready as I'm going to be." His smile broadened as he waited to go back downstairs with Yin.

Ties could do all of those things. Yin really needed to have a better imagination.

Alex waited for the door to be opened before shuffling his way through. Between his bag, the kennel, and the skateboard, he was moving a bit slower then the norm, which really just meant that by the time he got downstairs to where his dad would insist on taking his things, it would definitely be time to go. He glanced over towards Yin anyways, when the boil offered to carry one of his things, contemplating taking him up on the offer. However, Yin had his hands full as it was, so Alex just blinked at him a little blankly, and then gave the weremantis a huge and reassuring smile. "No thanks, I've totally got this. Besides, once we're downstairs, my dad will want to carry everything, remember?"

And that was pretty much how it happened.

After he had finally reached the bottom of the stairs, his father was quick to reach out and take his things. Alex knew better then to argue, especially with his own mother hovering nearby. Everyone who was still currently occupying the house was there to say goodbye, and the zomboil received a hug or a pat on the shoulder or a firm handshake from each of them, including Nathaniel, who glared at everyone afterwards as though daring them to make a comment. He might have been a bit of a jerk, but he was still just a scareling.

Alexanders Mother came last, though she followed them outdoors and to the edge of the yard before grabbing Alex's arm and spinning him around into a tight embrace. She mumbled something to him, something about staying safe and to call her as soon as he reached the school to let her know that he'd made it okay. He nodded, giving her one last parting look and a smile before lifting up a hand to wave and turning away to rejoin his dad and Yin, who were moving away into trail through the wooded area.

Of course, the walk to the train station was exactly like the walk to the house had been and it took a good portion of an hour to get to where they were going. The station itself wasn't nearly so busy as the one back near the Academy had been, and Alex waited patiently outside with Yin as his father went indoors to purchase their tickets for the ride home.

Alex was feeling...strangely empty at the moment, and almost disconnected, as he forced himself not to dwell too much on the fact that he was separating himself from the horde, willingly, yet again. It was an odd loneliness that he had forgotten about, one that he had overcome within his first couple of weeks at the school but was now rearing it's ugly head again. He could only hope that this time the feeling passed more easily, since he had gone through it once before. In order to distract himself, he focused on Yin, somewhat curious as to how he must be feeling at the moment. Probably happy, and all too eager to get as far away from Alex's family as he could, was what the zomboil would guess. It hadn't been the..smoothest of weekends, anyways. At least they were able to leave off on a good note, however.

"Scarentines day coming up." He commented, just...making idle conversation really while they waited for Alex's father to return. He needed to be able to talk, to distract himself, to focus on the fact that once he got back to the school this time he at least wouldn't be alone. He would have his best friend, and all of the other friends that he had made.

"Is that something mantodae celebrate?"

Well, he hadn't heard of it, so that answered that question. And what would Alex do for Scarentines day?

Probably sit alone in my room wishing I wasn't crushing on the most unobtainable person imaginable...

"I..hadn't really thought about it, to be honest. I think the school will put on a dance or some kind of party to celebrate but...I don't know, I heard there was going to be some kind of mini pet mixer as well? I guess it's just not something I've ever been inclined to participate in. I supposed if I were invited I might go, though." That really left things sort of vague. It didn't explain what Scarentines was or why the school might have a celebration for it. And he wasn't fishing for an invite or anything, or at least, he didn't believe his tone was suggesting that in any way whatsoever. He didn't think he would receive an invite from anyone,anyways, having not seen anybody express an interest in him in that way.

Though lets be honest, unless I ghoul (or boil) was being incredibly obvious, Alex would probably never notice (see: Olivia). Really, Alex had no idea why he even brought it up except that he was trying to fill the silence with mundane things to talk about so he could ignore the steady, lonely ache in his chest that only worsened the more he thought about stepping foot on that train.

Soon enough Alex's father returned with the tickets, handing one to each boil before pulling Alex into a bone crushing hug. He might have offered Yin a handshake, mindful for once of how breakable the weremantis likely was in comparison to the company he was used to being around, but whether or not the boil accepted, they would soon find themselves clambering aboard the train, getting their tickets punched before finding a seat, which was easier with a train that wasn't nearly as full as the last one. Alex stowed his things and collapsed into a chair, glancing out the window at the familiar area that he had grown up in one last time before turning away.

It would really be easiest if he didn't watch out the window as he let himself be taken away from this place yet again. If Yin were observant he might notice that Alexander looked slightly melancholy at the moment.

Alex was distracted by his own thoughts, staring out into space probably somewhere just over Yin's shoulder at the seat behind him, face blank but for the odd sadness that seemed to reside there. Yin's question made him blink back to life, however, and he suddenly became slightly more animated as he sat up a little straighter in his chair, gaze shifting to Yin's face. He welcomed the distraction, he really did, so he decided the best thing to do for now would be to just talk. About anything

Alex was usually pretty good at talking, so this was easily doable.

He gave the weremantis a small smile before answering. Really, it wasn't a surprise at this point that Yin didn't know certain terms or expressions that were sometimes used, so he didn't even question it. "A minipet mixer would be...well, it'll probably be an enclosed area that owners will be allowed to drop off their pets in. The pets will all be able to play together while their owners have a chance to go and participate in the other festivities themselves." and then another thought occurred to him, since Yin seemed somewhat interested in the idea.

"I bet Princess Eva would enjoy it." Alex tried to ignore the lurching movement of the train as it began it's slow and steady departure from the station. He just needed to look straight ahead, and not think about what he was leaving behind. He had his best friend here, and that helped immensely. It would help right now, and it would help later as well.

Alex was always glad to lend his help to Yin by answering the other boils questions, even ones that most others would find ridiculous. It never once made him feel like Yin was dumb, just a little..uneducated. Just like Alex wasn't really slow, he was just lazy.

That would almost make sense except that Alex really was just slow.

He nodded along happily. It would be nice for Yin to take Princess Eva out to the minipet mixer, but Alexander himself had never given it any thought. His own pets were...well, rather special in their own ways. The zombie joxes were quite reclusive, and hated to be separated. The black rabbit was..well, he was just mean and nasty and Alex wouldn't trust him around other pets and his undead poms....ya, he was just a little off, though quite harmless. So really, no point in worrying about minipet mixers.

Yin's question took Alex aback a little bit. He had not expected even for a moment that Yin would actually want him to go. He had no delusions that this meant anything other then the two of them attending the festivities as friends, however, so he was a little unsure of how to answer. Typically one went to these types of things with their boilfriend or ghoulfriend, though going with just a friend was not exactly uncommon....was it?

Really, how the jack would Alex know? He'd lived with zombies his whole life and had only seen things like this in books or on skeevee. Not the most reliable of sources, at times. But if Yin thought it would be more fun with him there then...well, he was sure there could be no harm in going with him. "Ya sure, I can go. I could maybe even bring one of my own pets." He had pretty much already ruled out all of them except the poms or the pet he was bringing back to his dorm right now, and taking the new guy was probably not the best idea considering how little he knew about him.

Oh well, there was plenty of time to think about it.

"It's next Tombday, so in about a week." He answered, leaning back in his chair now and casting a glance out the window as the countryside began to change enough that he didn't mind watching it anymore. Shortly after he said this the food and bevarage trolly began making it's way by with the clanging and banging sound of jostled metal. He made a motion at the elderly ghoul pushing it along and asked for a bottle of water which he promptly paid for and handed over to Yin without even bothering to ask if the other boil wanted one. It had seemed to help him the first train ride so he just figured it would help him now.