The pilgrim soul in you

[valmont_vicomte]

[ From here.]

The parking lot outside Excolo High

"...Wanda had a baby in the teachers' lounge?" I can't quite get over it. "This has been an interesting night," I say, as Hermia and I walk to my car. Honestly, I'm glad we have some drama to discuss, because I'm feeling a little nervous. It's silly, really; I'm not shy with women, and Hermia and I

Comments

[hermia_sophia]

"Right there!" I laugh back. "I saw the pictures. I mean, you know, pictures from after, not during!"

It feels so...easy. When I'm not thinking too hard about it, it feels almost as if no time has passed at all, and I'm just walking with Valmont through the parking lot on any ordinary night - a late night editing the literary magazine, or something.

Of course, if I do think about it, then I go right back to the uncertainty. If this is a date, what does that mean? What should I be doing?

[valmont_vicomte]

"I thought first time labour took hours?" I shake my head. "I admit I don't know much about pregnancy, though." I smile. "Do you need a ride to the Miskatonic, or did you drive here? I've only had one drink, so I'm safe to drive," I add. I always did want Hermia to approve of my choices.

[hermia_sophia]

"I thought first time labour took hours?" I shake my head. "I admit I don't know much about pregnancy, though."

"That's what I've heard, too," I agree, with a helpless shrug. "But I guess everyone's different?"

"Do you need a ride to the Miskatonic, or did you drive here? I've only had one drink, so I'm safe to drive."

"I drove," I said, nodding over to my car in the next row. "But it would feel silly to take two cars when we're going to the same place. And I trust you." I still want him to know that. Especially when it comes to drinking.

He never talked about his mother's drinking, and I hardly knew what was going on at the time - there was nothing in my experience to tell me what pattern the facts of his mother's life fit into. But when I looked back on it years later, I realized that that must have been what was happening, and felt guilty for not having seen it. But I can't change that; all I can do is tell him that I trust him now.

"So...thanks, if you're offering? If it's too much trouble, don't worry about it," I add

[valmont_vicomte]

"I'm offering," I say, and I smile at her, though inside I'm thinking: Hermia always did apologise too much. I used to wonder sometimes why, and if someone made her that way. But the thought that anyone made Hermia believe she needed to apologise for who she was or what she did just makes me feel furious, and so I set it aside for now.

We get in the car. When I turn the key in the ignition, the radio starts automatically, and it's playing some song I recognise from high school.

"Everyone's in a nostalgic mood, it seems," I say drily, as we drive the short distance to the Miskatonic.

Inside it's the same as I remember, and I think it's probably the same as it was when our parents were younger than us.

"Some things about Excolo never change, and that's a bad thing, but I like that this place stays the same," I observe, and we find a corner booth.