It didn't matter how badly Thackery wanted it. There was truth in the saying that nothing could last forever, and that included parties, for whatever ridiculous reason. With his room full of sprawled blankets and a clutter of pillows and painfully devoid of any company, he felt that one particular absence tugging at his heart again, persistent and unavoidable. It wasted no time; the room even smelled like a dozen friends and his mind kept wandering to the scent that was missing.



A kitsune-skinned app on his phone was happily singing about a message.

'As expected, parents confiscated temporary skelephone previously acquired. Have acquired another, after blackmail of mother's sister. It is dreadful here. Take care.'

It explained a great deal of things, and he sent a smiley face and a message (or seven) of affection to the number, hoping that it was still in Ash’s hands. The words were comforting enough to calm his heartache for the moment, and he curled up in front of the fireplace again, the flicker of the flames soothing him to sleep.



'It's a blood moon this night. Sirens are wailing. Miss your presence.'

He smiled in the middle of a Moonday morning lecture, his notes slowly slipping into doodles, mind miles away in a place he hoped he would never have to visit.

It was harder to sleep that night, after his barrage of texts eventually merited a volley of responses informing him of a disconnected line. He hoped he hadn't said something that might get Ash into trouble. He hoped he was okay. He idly scratched Princess Cinders behind his ears, the boafox settled protectively across his chest. The minipet was more clingy than usual, annoyed with his owner’s frequent disappearances and lack of attentiveness. He could faintly remember a time many Octobers ago where his Cerberus had acted the same way.

The difference this time was that he never returned with a smile on his face.



'Previous device confiscated. Parents assimilating me into familial reunion. Am an embarrassment, but I am alive, after the ordeals I've faced, and that's more than most. They know nothing of me or us or insanity or humans.'

He was halfway through brushing his teeth when the eyephone vibrated off of the sink. A bit of foamy paste dribbled down his chin as he read the message, then stared at it, dissecting it all piece by piece. Remembering his hygiene, he spat in the sink and wiped his mouth with the back of his arm before shuffling barefoot to his bed, eyes still fixated on the glow of his phone.

It both frustrated and pleased him that Ash never spoke to him like he was a puppy, some cute little idiot, even if he wasn’t much more than that sometimes. 'Eloquent' almost didn't feel like a strong enough word to cover how his boilfriend talked, and the words always sounded nice, especially from his mouth, but he couldn't hear his voice now and this message seemed important. Thackery had a great deal of pride in himself, but no amount of narcissism could help him know words he didn't know.

With a bit of Gruegle's search expertise, he had a list of definitions and an understanding that he hoped he was a misunderstanding. If he was 'assimilated' into a reunion...was it just a visit kind of reunion? Or something more permanent? Each time his eyes met ‘embarrassment’ he felt more and more sick. Maybe he should never have distracted him. Maybe they wouldn't be so mad if they had spent more time discussing what Ash wanted instead of a hundred nights of humoring doglike excitement over the silliest of things that all seemed worthless now. Maybe if he had tried harder to fix the Insanity instead of feeling sorry for himself.

Worries and what-ifs dampened all of the things Ash had ever told him about his family, and he had a fitful sleep to dreams that proved him right.



He woke to a singsong voice in his ear. One missed call. One voicemail.

One brief message from a voice he missed terribly.

"I have informed the parental units that I have no intention of returning after graduation. They did not take it well. We are having a disagreement. I love you-"

Someone yelling, and something metal striking something else, and something breaking, and the line went dead. A digital kitsune chirped that there were no new messages, and worked her way through a menu five times over before giving up. The app closed.

Everything hurt. He couldn't breathe, and then he couldn't breathe fast enough. His chest heaved with panicked sobs and the world flashed black and bright and screamed in his ears. What had he done? Ash was strong, but against an entire town of reapers that so violently disagreed with him...

All of the talks about a life after graduation carried a weight that made them feel disgusting now. He was ashamed of how easily his daydreams had spilled forth when just mentioning his plans at all had earned Ash a...had made them...

Ample time since the message and there was still only one. Nobody called back. No words of reassurance.

The thought that Ash had left him felt so stupid compared to the thought that Ash was never leaving home.