apocalypsehowcomm | Moving Day

Entry tags:

Moving Day | Closed

Who: Hunter, Eda, Raine, Peter
When: Mid-May
Where: ADI Apartment, Bonnie's Flophouse
Summary: Hunter's moving ~~in with his parents~~ to Bonnie's
Warnings: None

In the end, the decision to move to Bonnie's wasn't that hard. Eda had asked him to think about it, back when he first arrived, and he had, many times. But he had fallen into a routine. He was comfortable. He liked his roommate. He thought he was doing okay.

And then he met Raine in the graveyard and it quickly became apparent that he was not okay. More than that, he wanted what they and Eda were offering.

[ Closed to Peter ]

The first order of business was letting his roommate know. It would be rude to just up and leave without saying something. And Peter was a friend, one that he very much would like to keep.

So right around breakfast time, he hovers by the table, hands tapping on the back of a chair.

"Hey, Peter... Got a minute?"

[ Closed to Eda and Raine ]

Turns out, he doesn't actually own much. All his clothes fit into one box, padding the few knick-knacks he's picked up. The other two boxes contain nothing but books, and they are both too heavy and unweildy to haul up the stairs on his own, though he insisted on taking one of the book boxes.

He's halfway up the stairs before he remembers his manners and glances over his shoulder.

"Thanks for the help."

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Eda does in fact catch that grin, but she decides not to say anything for once. For the moment she just follows Hunter in and sets down the box she was carrying.

"Well, if we can't hang things I'm gonna be a in a lot of trouble," she says with a little snort, despite Raine saying of course.

"But if you need anyone to put together some shelves you know where I am," she adds, as she looks around the room as well. "Could probably even grab some today."

Repairs? He's only now seeing the crack in the wall. It doesn't look that bad, though. Maybe. He has no idea, so he just nods along.

"I don't really have much to unpack. I guess the books can go on the desk for now, and..." He frowns. Yeah, He's going to need at least one bookshelf. It's a good thing he doesn't have a roommate.

Which brings him to the next realization. "You have to build the shelves yourself?"

"Sometimes, I think. Depends on where you get it from."

Raine didn't quite know where Eda got the bookshelves in their room from, but furniture seemed to come from thousands of places in the human realm. Even the trash, sometimes, according to Eda.

"There was a place I discovered using my phoon called IKEA, apparently you have to build everything they give you there."

Raine put their hands on their hips, and turned to Eda.

"Hunter showed me how to use my phoon when I first arrived at the ADI. He seems to know a lot about the human world! It was very helpful."

They beam at Eda- both because they were genuinely proud of Hunter, but because they were happy they had a kid to brag about that was as cool as him.

Eda can't help a fond chuckle behind her hand as Raine brags about Hunter. It's adorable... and more than a little funny, given she's seen Hunter's typing. Not that she's going to mock him about it right now, as tempting as it is.

"Oh he's really caught onto this place," she agrees--and she knows it's partly because he was spending time in the Human Realm with Luz before getting here, but although she's filled Raine in on a lot of what she knows, she doesn't bring that up right now.

"But--yeah, sometimes you have to build them yourself. We don't exactly have construction magic here. Had to do some of that back home, anyway. I'm used to it." Mostly because she was fixing up the Owl House by herself, as well as that little house in the Human Realm.

Hunter is just...confused. No one's ever bragged about him before. Sure, he bragged about himself plenty, but that didn't feel the same. This felt nice and left him fairly flustered. "It's not a big deal..."

Building the furniture makes sense. Someone had to do it. It's just not something he ever had to do himself. When he needed an extra shelf in his room at the castle, it came already assembled.

Anyway, a shelf is just a bunch of horizontal planks between two vertical planks.

"Psh. Who needs magic? It can't be that hard."

"It is a big deal! I'd still be trapped in that library if it weren't for you, Hunter."

They're embarrassed to even bring up the library, but luckily, the other two seemed preoccupied with the concept of building furniture.

Raine's smile changed a little, and their head cocked to the side in a way that Eda would recognise as one of their rather mischievous looks.

"I think it would be fun to watch you build furniture, Eda." Their tone hits somewhere between teasing Eda and flirting with her, but they tack on a more sincere tone as they continue. "But I'm sure we can all figure it out if we build it together."

They gave Eda one more grin before they began to look inside of one of his boxes.

"Would you want to look for anything today? Furniture? Or what about some clothes..?"

Eda glances between Hunter and Raine, but decides not to ask what they mean about a library, and why it would relate to human technology. She might ask Raine later.

She gives Raine an equally teasing eye-roll at their comment on watching her build furniture. "Bet you would," she mutters back, her tone equally ambiguous.

"There's an idea, we could make it a whole shopping trip, huh?" she suggests with a grin. It would be nice to just spend some time with the two of them, while they have a chance—the day off, and no disasters or anything trying to eat them right now. She's enjoying the opportunity for a nice domestic moment more than she might want to admit.

He would argue that the library wasn't a big deal either. But he's not going to voice it because he's pretty sure they won't agree with him.

He looks between the two of them, half baffled, and half mortified by...is this flirting? Is that what's happening? Is this a thing that's going to happen a lot?

"Uh."

Oh, thank Titan for something else to focus on. "Shopping?" He mentally tallies up his current savings. It's...not great, but probably enough for a few things. "That's fine. I do need a shelf for my books."

He's surprised they want to do something so mundane as a group, but it does feel nice.

Oh yes, why yes it is flirting, Hunter.

And there will be more. Raine must flirt with their childhood best friend at intervals deemed appropriate for the situation, or they won't survive.

Raine gave Eda another mischievous glance before they moved back across the room, to Hunter's side.

"We can help you buy whatever you need. I mean, I'll have to stay within budget but.. I'm sure we can figure it out." They grin at Eda. "I think a shopping trip sounds great."

They were loving every moment of this.

"What else do you need for your new room, Hunter?"

Eda ignores the look... or, more than likely, decides to keep flirting with Raine even more in the future. Sorry, Hunter, the adoption comes with free second-hand embarrassment. That's just how it is.

"I've got a little saved up too, shouldn't be a problem," she says, casually. Especially since she's pretty sure he never let her cover all those emergency woodworking supplies.

"But you probably will need more than shelves," she agrees, glancing around the room as she considers what all might be useful.

"And Red might want his own stuff, huh?" They can't leave Hunter's palisman out of the planning conversation, after all! Even if the cardinal won't exactly need much in the way of human-sized furniture.

Softly and with all due respect: ugh.

Oh. They wanted to help buy things. Camila had done that, but they had all arrived at her home with nothing but the clothes on their backs. They'd all tried to be as helpful as possible around the house in return. Maybe he could do the same here. Or find some work to pay them both back.

Flapjack alights on his shoulder and starts chattering. Hunter tolerates it for a moment before sighing. "What do you need a lamp for? No. We're not getting all that."

Though...it would be nice to set up a little spot for Flap. The corner by the window, maybe...

"I'm not actually sure what I need. Maybe I'll get some ideas while we're looking around."

Sorry Hunter! You'll get used to it.

Raine watched Flapjack with a smile on their face, and they give the bird a friendly little finger wave hello.

"Hey. He can get a lamp if he wants one. Surely lamps aren't that expensive for birds. And besides, don't you think it would be nice to give him a little space of his own?"

Raine put a hand on their cheek and thought a moment, and tried to think of where they could go. They wanted to get Hunter more clothes. But he also needed furniture, and Raine could think of a place to go for that. It would be hard to do it without Eda catching onto their scheme after she'd spent days watching them scroll through endless pages of oddly named furniture.

"Well," They began, and tried to contain their enthusiasm despite the telling smirk. "Since Hunter needs furniture, what if we went to IKEA? It isn't too far with transportation."

Don't accuse them of being obsessed Eda. Please. This is not a ploy to go to the place they've been fixated on.

Eda can't help being amused when the palisman begins chirping and chattering, and moreso when Hunter decides to argue. But she nods when Raine says he can have a lamp; honestly, the little guy's had a rough enough time of things that he could probably talk her into just about anything he wants.

And fortunately (or maybe unfortunately), so can someone else. Eda gives Raine a lengthy sidelong glance at their suggestion. The fact they're jumping on the excuse to go to the place they've been oddly fascinated by is not lost on her, but on the other hand, she does find it their fascinating very endearing.

"We might as well," she decides, "since you're probably an expert by now." The grin she gives them is more than a little obnoxious, but she isn't about to say no. Besides, normally she's the one interested in collecting confusing Human Realm objects, so she's not really one to talk.

Flapjack fluffs up happily, and Hunter doesn't put up a fight. The palisman does deserve anything and everything he so desires, and if Raine and Eda are willing to help with that, even a little, Hunter can't argue.

His initial plan had been to check out the thrift store - it sometimes had passable furniture. But Raine's enthusiam over...Eye-kia? was compelling. "Sure. I guess that's a start."

He does a quick spin around the room, to see what he actually has space for. Small shelves will probably work. And...maybe a table for a sewing machine? And maybe...

No. If he stands here too long, the list of needs and wants will never end. He turns to the door. "We should go before it gets too late."

Raine gave Eda a very stubborn look in return, attention brought away from Flapjack's chattering.

"Eda! I'm not an expert," They protest, and crossed their arms, flustered. "I've just been... getting ideas for things I think Hunter might like."

Raine will be stubborn about this Eda!

They were often up late, doing hard research. Eda even witnessed said hard research, when Raine googled why and if the meatballs were really made from Swedish people.

They were not.

"Unless, you'd like to go somewhere else first?" They asked Hunter, their form relaxing. "It's your choice Hunter. But, either way.. I'm going to go grab my bag from mine and Eda's room."

They head towards the doorway, but pause.

"Eda, do you want me to get your things too?"

They wore a come talk to me look.

"Aww, c'mon, don't sell yourself short, Raincloud. I never said it was a bad thing you've been doing research on the human realm," Eda points out, her grin just growing even more teasing than before when they get flustered. Not that she's even joking entirely—she wouldn't have been all that sure where to start looking.

Eda starts to agree to Raine grabbing her things for her, but then notices their expression and raises an eyebrow.

"Nah, I'll get my own stuff," she says, before glancing back at Hunter. "Be right back, kiddo."

Eda turns to follow Raine back to their room, curious what's on their mind.

It's a good idea to learn about the place you are in, so he's not surprised by Raine researching human things. What does surprise him is their saying they were looking for things he might like. It draws the tiniest squeak from him, and he shakes his head at the question.

"No. The IKEA is fine...."

He doesn't understand the looks they're passing back and forth, and after the flirting earlier, he doesn't think he wants to.

"Flap and I can meet you downstairs."

If Raine couldn't win by fending her off with their noble plan to help Hunter, they'd just ignore Eda's teasing grin instead. Their success varies, perhaps, because the smile they're still wearing is accompanied by a mild scowl as they shot Eda another glare before they stepped outside, and into their own room.

They picked up their bag, and opened it, checking inside to ensure everything they needed was there.

"I'm not going overboard, am I?" They asked, their voice quiet and tone hesitant. "I just wanted to make sure he has nice things.."

They zipped their bag up and put it over their shoulders, and held onto the straps, their head tilted to the side as they wore their worry.

"I mean. I wasn't around him a lot in the castle but I- I know some of what he's been through just from.. Talk. And from him opening up to me. He deserves nice things. But, I don't want to be overwhelming."

Eda very pointedly ignores Raine's glare, doing her best not to laugh. Instead she glances at Hunter. "Yeah, see you downstairs."

Part of her wonders if Raine is going to argue more about the IKEA when she follows them into their room.

And then they start talking and her expression softens into something much more fond. It's nice seeing Raine with Hunter, how they talk to him and how worried they are about him. It makes her miss her own kids, and the fact she didn't get to introduce them to Raine.

It makes her miss... other possibilities too. Ways their life could have gone if the two of them hadn't broken up. But she doesn't want to be sad about that right now. She just wants to lean in and give Raine a quick peck on the cheek, which she does.

"I don't think you're going overboard," she says. "But you're right, he's... been through a lot," she adds, a little more softly. "Just—I don't know, be careful. But I think he needs this."

Once Raine and Eda have left, Hunter takes a moment to gather a few things - mainly his wallet and a baggy of snacks for Flapjack. Feeling a little nervous, and also excited?? - it's confusing - he cradles his palisman.

"It's like when Camila took us to get clothes. No big deal, right?" Only that time, the other kids had been there too. At least this time he's got some money saved up to help pay for things.

Flapjack makes some encouraging sounds and hops up onto his shoulder as they head downstairs to wait in the common room.

Raine was so busy being stressed over Hunter, and how he was doing, that the kiss from Eda caught them off guard.

"I'm.. Trying." They sheepishly peered up at Eda, colour returning to their cheeks as they fidgeted with the collar of their shirt. "It helps that he's a little older, and that you're here. I'm.. glad."

They took Eda's hand, rubbing the back of her hand affectionately. They still felt a certain shyness about how happy they felt, to be with Eda again, in what felt like their own unconventional family.

"Let's not keep him waiting, though."

Eda can't argue the fact that both of those things probably help, but Raine simply seems good with him on their own, too.

She supposes that's not too surprising; they've always had a good heart, and she did see how they were with the BATs. She also knows they taught, for a while, and part of her wants to ask them more about that. But now isn't the time.

For now, she squeezes their hand back gently and leans in for another quick kiss on the forehead. It feels almost wrong to be glad they're all together, given where they are, but then again maybe it's important to let themselves make the best of what they have.

"Yeah, we'd better not. He'll just keep second-guessing what he wants if we leave him alone." Or at least, she's pretty certain of it.

It hasn't been that long, but by the time Eda and Raine make it downstairs, Hunter is pacing a ditch in the floor. He has somehow acquired a notebook and a pen and is occupied with writing a thing, then crossing it off, then writing another thing. (It's a list of things he would like (most are crossed off), things he needs now, and things he could get later.)

The moment he realizes the other two have arrived, the book is flipped closed and tucked away in a pocket and his phone replaces it. "Peter taught me how to use the tiny map. I've determined the most efficient route to the store."

Raine loved the forehead kisses. They caught her before she could move away with a quick peck on the cheek, and then they head downstairs.

"Oh, good," Raine smiled at Hunter. "How far is it? Can we walk there?"

They peered over Hunter's shoulder, and smiled. They tried to discern what was going on with the map.

"I assume not. Too bad we can't just fly there."

Eda catches sight of the little notebook for just long enough to suspect that she was right about Hunter continuing to second-guess his own list. She glances at Raine, but doesn't say anything about it.

"Well, flying back with furniture would be a pain anyway," she says with a shrug, before moving to take a look at the little map.

"But it does look like we'll have to take the bus." Eda wrinkles her nose, because even if most of them aren't full of spiders, she's even less fond of public transit than she used to be. But she'll make do for the kid's sake.

Moving Day | Closed

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