(Untitled)

[not_the_s]

Kon wasn't sure what to think. He'd woken up from a dream where he'd been able to fly again, where he'd found Krypto, and now he didn't have those powers anymore, but Krypto was here again. It'd been almost funny, the first time Krypto had tried to fly and Kon'd had to explain to him how it didn't work like that here. He'd never seen a more

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[thethirdwonder]

It had been strange waking up on the island again. Being home had been very...clarifying for Cassie. For many reasons. She'd gotten to talk to her mother and she'd...well, she'd gotten the idea that maybe Cissie and Kon's teasing hadn't been so unfounded and the ghost of what might have happened haunted her.

Since she knew Cissie would just use it as ammunition to tease her, Cassie decided she needed to talk to Kon. That, and she needed to thank him for dealing with Luke while they were home so Cassie wasn't tempted to kill him. Iris was with her, since the dog clearly needed a run after looking after her girls all weekend.

But what surprised Cassie was that while they were walking down the beach, Iris just took off, barking her head off. "Iris! Iris, where are you going?!" Cassie shouted as she ran after her stupid dog.

[not_the_s]

Kon stopped walking when he saw Iris. For some reason, she'd never liked him which was weird. Her owner sure seemed to like him well enough.

"This is Iris," Kon told Krypto when the dog perked up at the arrival of the new dog. "She's Cassie's." Kon got a look and he nodded. "Yes, that Cassie."

Apparently deciding that was enough, Krypto chewed on Iris' ear as a way of greeting and loped off.

[thethirdwonder]

Iris gave Kon her customary greeting to him of growl, before sniffing at the dog chewing on her ear. When he loped off, she followed, nipping at his backside to get him to pay attention to her so she could investigate him properly.

Cassie finally caught up and slowed to walk just before she met Kon. "Whose the new dog?" She asked, unable to help a small smile as she watched Iris snort in his face challengingly before darting off to the side playfully. "Is it yours?"

[not_the_s]

Kon laughed quietly as he watched Krypto chase after Iris. "Yeah. He's from back home. Krypto. He was Clark's. And mine." He shrugged a little and kept his eyes on the dogs. He didn't have to face Cassie and what she might say about...god. He'd never even told her about Wallace. Maybe he'd been hoping that he wouldn't have to tell her. That she'd just find out on her own.

[curiously_cora]

Coraline sat quietly, alone on the beach. The island had been quiet again, people had slept and Coraline had been left alone. Coraline knew it wasn't their fault but at the same time she hated it and hated them for leaving her again.

Wiping her eyes stubbornly Coraline stared into the distance watching a familiar shape approach with a beautiful looking dog. Coraline scrambled to her feet yelling his name surprised and happy all at once. Coraline ran barefoot across the beach and launched herself at him, hugging him tight. Coraline might have thought Kon was a jerk sometimes and annoying but that was because he was her big brother and she loved him.

"You're home," Coraline said happily wrapping her arms around his neck. Coraline hugged him tight, burying her face against his shoulder just in case she started to cry.

[not_the_s]

Kon wrapped his arms around her tightly and kissed the top of her head. "I'm fine, I promise." He wasn't sure whether he was. Not really. He was beginning to have a life here for a minute and then he got back here and found out that everything was as much a dream as his time back home had been.

He felt a cold nose touch his leg and he yelped a little.

"Hey, munchkin. I'd like to introduce you to someone."

[curiously_cora]

Coraline squeezed Kon tightly. It didn't matter if she'd slept through an entire weekend herself, the point was Coraline had been left behind by Bill and by Kon and by people she loved. She'd been alone again. It had been awful. Coraline looked at Kon fondly before she took a step back and punched him in the arm. It wasn't like hitting a wall or anything but it was fairly close. Coraline scowled at him.

"That's for leaving and for calling me a munchkin." Coraline said. Coraline was five foot seven, she was hardly small no matter how everyone else treated her. "Introduce me to who?"

Coraline looked confused for a moment before she looked down and smiled brightly. "You've got a dog!"

[not_the_s]

"Owww." Kon rubbed at his arm. "Have you been taking lessons from Tim or something?" He shook his head. That was the last thing they needed. He looked down. "This is Krypto. He's...smarter than your average dog. Or dumber, depending on the circumstance."

For that, he got nipped and he hopped away.

"Again...owww. Hey, who's the one who got yelled at when you went rampaging through Kory's garden?"

[wizard_errant]

Krypto may not be interested, but Ponch is always ready to chase sticks. For a dog who used to make universes, he's pretty easy to please. Dairine feels pretty bad for the weekend--he'd been standing over her when she woke up, whining worriedly and licking her face. It was hard moving; she was stiff and dehydrated and starving, but she'd got up, had about a gallon of water and a sandwich and taken him out to the beach. She's getting her feet; he's getting fresh air.

So when Ponch sees Krypto is not interested in the stick, he lopes off after it, then trots up to Kon to drop it at his feet, tail wagging.

[not_the_s]

"Hey, Ponch. Dairine around here?" Ponch, predictably, didn't answer, so Kon took the stick again and threw it in Krypto's direction. Presumably, Krypto could distract Ponch for a little while so that Kon could find out whether Dairine was here or not. He definitely wanted to see his friends right about now.

[wizard_errant]

She's just a little behind him; not knowing there was something to hurry for, she had let Ponch go on ahead. "Hey, Kon!" she calls, waving to him, jogging closer. And then gets a better look at his face. "What's wrong?"

[not_the_s]

Kon shrugged. "I went home. For a little while." He looked into the air and watched the clouds drift by. A day ago, he'd been able to go up there and feel the wind in his hair. "And then I came back and...and found out some people are missing. Well, a person."

[arrownomore]

All things considered, Cissie was very much relieved to wake back up on the island. There were some good things about being home, sure, but the insecurities about who she was as a person and where she fit in outweighed everything. Here, at least, she felt like she was figuring all of this out without the baggage.

But right now, she wasn't thinking about anything except how nice the breeze felt as she jogged down the beach and whether she wanted a shower then lunch or lunch then shower once she was done.

About halfway through her jog, she caught sight of Kon and veered over to catch up with him. He had a dog with him which was a bit surprising - she wondered if he was dog-sitting for someone or if the island was trying to apologize for its earlier weirdness or something.

"Hey! What's up?"

[not_the_s]

"Wallace is…" Kon tried for a smile that didn't quite reach his lips let alone his eyes and shook his head. He couldn't say 'gone'. Not yet.

[arrownomore]

She took one look at the expression on his face and immediately wrapped her arms around him tightly. She thought she knew what he was going to say but didn't and her heart ached for him. Sometimes this stupid place was so unfair.

[not_the_s]

Kon hugged her back fiercely and buried his face in her neck. "It's not fair. I was willing to try and just when I'm ready he…" He let out a shaky sigh. "Maybe I'm doomed to be alone. One girlfriend dumps me and then dies. Another wants me to kill for her. Cassie is...yeah. And now Wallace."

[lucked]

Just because things had worked out before, didn't necessarily mean that they would work out again. When Claire heard about all the people who'd fallen asleep for a second time, just a month after she'd slipped back to Kirby Plaza, she immediately worried. Feared that somehow, this time would be different, and people wouldn't wake- she'd never had the best of luck, and so very few things in her life were constant. But gradually, everyone had woken up, looking worse for wear as they trudged about, eating for lost time, regaining strength, if not necessarily the fervor and energy in their eyes. She spotted Kon some distance away, eyebrow quirking at the dog in tow. Mr. Muggles leaped from her arms, kicking up sand as he ran over to greet the new friend.

"You okay?" she asked, before anything else.

[not_the_s]

Kon shrugged, watching as Krypto carefully nosed Mr. Muggles in greeting. "Claire," he offered when the dog's eyes went to the girl. Krypto accepted that and went back to his meeting with the girl's dog. In response to Claire's question, he shrugged and offered, "Not really?"

No flying, no quasi-boyfriend, and he'd been the fifth wheel back home. On the plus side, Krypto was here.

[lucked]

As far as answers went, it was pretty blunt, Claire's lips pressing together in worry. But on the plus side, Kon was at least being honest with himself about it, which was more than Claire could say for most of the people she knew, especially back home. Part of her understood the urge for secrecy very well, given the way that Claire herself shied away from telling other people her problems, her woes. In other people, though, open honesty was a lot easier to deal with.

"Hey there," she grinned at the dog, giving a small wave, before the smile faded as she looked back to Kon. "Well, I'm here. And all ears, if you need. What's going on?"

[not_the_s]

"I went home." She probably already knew that. Or knew that some people had gone home, even if she didn't know that he'd been one of the ones to go. "I could fly, again, Claire. It was almost like I had never left. Well, except for the outfit. And Cissie. And Luke. And...all right, it wasn't much like when I was home, but I could fly and when I got back…"

He closed his eyes. He didn't want to think about going to talk to Wallace, only to find him missing.