A Crash Course in Reuniting [Emmy!]

The collision knocked the wind out of the blonde woman. It also knocked her grocery bag to the floor, spilling a bottle of shampoo, a bag of kit-kats, new socks, and other random drugstore goods across the wood. It was a feat for the young woman to remain on her feet after the crash—whatever she hit had been Solid. The Solid Thing spoke a moment later while Twyla was still disoriented, expressing anger before radically changing tone and saying her name. At first the twenty year old was too out of sorts to process the familiar voice. She held a hand to her forehead, blocking her vision for a moment so she could catch her breath once more.

Deep breaths. The last few seconds flooded through the young woman rapidly. She blinked. ”Twyla? What are you doing here? It wasn’t hard to hear the hurt in Emerald’s voice. Emerald… The hand fell to her side and she took in the sight of her old friend. The wolf girl looked different—more beast-like than she’d been before Twyla left but the red hair was unmistakable.

Em,
I can’t really explain this right in a note and I’m sorry but I’ve got to go. I can’t be in New York anymore. It’s all too much for me to handle. Just know that none of this is anyone’s fault but my own.
By the time you’ve gotten this I’ve left.
I’m sorry.
Promise we’ll still be friends? Twy

The note she’d left for her friend flashed in Twyla’s mind. She’d abandoned the wolf girl just like she’d abandoned everything else in New York. This reunion, while it still made a guilty flush stain Twyla’s cheeks, didn’t startle her nearly as much as running into Gawain on her first day back had. She didn’t hesitate and maybe it was inappropriate, but she flung herself at the taller girl and wrapped her arms around her in a hug. Twyla’s hugs were no match for Em’s bear-wolf-hugs but she did her best at conveying as much honest emotion into the gesture as possible.

“Em! I’m so-so-so-so-so-sorry. I missed you so-so-so-so-so-much.” And she had. A million times she’d thought about calling the friends she’d left behind but…the young woman had been dealing with her own demons. She’d been selfish, knowing that it would hurt to hear how others felt about her leaving. It prevented her from calling. She’d been weak and she knew it but wallowing in past mistakes wasn’t productive. All she could do at this point was listen to what everyone had to say, try to explain herself, and do her best to rise from the ashes of immaturity to make a new life for herself. Silently she hoped that this chance encounter wouldn’t be as awkward as running into her ex had been. Regardless, Twyla was prepared to handle whatever Emerald threw her way—she deserved whatever was coming to her.

The hug she received in return didn’t disappoint. It made all the bones in her body creak in protest at the amount of feeling put into the gesture. It also made Twyla want to cry—not out of physical pain but because it was so normal, so expected. Memories of earlier times at the Mansion flooded through the young woman. Her stomach clenched up. It all felt like too much.

The hug lasted a long time and then the two stepped apart. In true Emerald fashion Twyla was given little time to recollect herself before the questions she’d expected burst from the wolf-girl’s mouth. She sounded stern when she spoke to the blonde and Twyla resisted the urge to wince. This is what she deserved, wasn’t it? Leaving and coming back meant dealing with hurt feelings and answering questions that made the camouflage girl want to slide out of her mutated skin.

She blushed the colors of the hallway behind her, feeling the heat of embarrassment crawl all the way down her neck. Twyla’s powers made her look like a partially disembodied face as everything from her cheeks down to her chest turned pink and then camo. The happy feeling that had overwhelmed her just moments before began to seep out of her pores, deflating the mutant. Her friend sounded so angry but it was the hurt in her tone that made Twyla want to sink into the floor. She had no right to make other people feel that way, least of all those she cared about. Old guilt rapidly replaced the happiness.

There was no good way to explain herself. No magic words to make everything go back to normal. She knew this, told herself she didn’t want normal. The chance at something new was enough. Incorporating old friends would be difficult, but she wanted them in her life. Probably she didn’t deserve it, but she’d been selfish most of her life to this point—why not continue the tradition? “Look Em, I…” Her hands came up as if to pluck the right words out of the air. Nothing fell into her hands. Damn.

“It wasn’t right or fair to any of you, leaving like I did. I didn’t think—I was just so stressed…Everything was changing in my life so fast with college and getting a job and being a trainee and…” She trailed off, eyes trailing down to the bag of kit-kats still sitting on the floor where they’d fallen. She took a deep breath and straightened her shoulders. Emerald was a fair person; Twyla knew she’d listen to her so long as she was completely honest. Looking back up she continued: “I know that it was wrong. I ran away from my problems. It won’t happen again—I’ve changed a lot.” Her last sentence was tinged with something that sounded nothing like Old Twyla and everything like the harder person she had become.

And there it was. The question you’ve all been dying to hear the answer to folks: “Twy, if you were so overwhelmed then why didn’t you ask for help?” It echoed all of the questions that her family had asked when she ran away from home due to her mutation and then the ones they asked when she came back from running away from the Mansion. It was the Burning Question, the one that would unlock her entire reasoning for every majorly bad decision she’d ever made. The problem? Twyla Ashby didn’t have a suitable answer to it. No matter how many different ways she framed a response in her mind the answer wasn’t good enough. She understood her reasoning about as well as the bottle of shampoo she’d dropped did.

She watched as Emerald’s body language became more strained. Twyla almost took a step back in response but held her ground, listening to the questions and the accusations with a look of calm determination on her face. She wouldn’t interrupt—her friend needed to get these feelings out. Twyla wished she hadn’t waited so long to come back. Ripping off old Band-Aids from year-old wounds was never a fun experience. The girl forced herself to watch the emotions rolling over the wolf-girl’s face. She couldn’t totally understand what Em was going through but she did her best to take in as much of it as possible.

”What’s done is done right?” The way the other girl looked made Twyla reach out to pat her arm subconsciously. She nodded at her last words, paused, and then shook her head. “It doesn’t have to be so final as that. What’s done is done but that doesn’t mean new things can’t overwrite the old.” She wasn’t sure if she was talking to herself or the other woman more. Shaking her head again she responded to the first question: “To be honest, I don’t know exactly why I left. It’s obvious now that things would have worked out if I’d talked to someone—figured out my issues but at the time…” Thin shoulders shrugged, she was at a loss. “I don’t know why it didn’t seem like an option. I think it was cowardice.” She added the last bit in an almost whisper, shame crawling around in her stomach. Admitting these feelings aloud made her feel slimy and weak.

Emerald ducked some hair behind her ear. It looked scarred up, like it had been mangled. Instantly brown eyes narrowed. Twyla’s face assumed an all too familiar worried-mother position—the face reserved for Mirror and Emerald when they got hurt. She hadn’t used it in ages but it popped on her face out of habit. “Em, what happened to your ear?” Her tone was not hesitant as it had been when she tried to explain herself. Twyla sounded like her old, concerned, and stubborn self. The tone demanded an explanation, all history forgotten.

Without thinking the blonde took a step forward to get a better look at the damage. She could tell that it was an older mark. An eyebrow shot up and her curiosity and worry were piqued. When had it happened? What had her friend gone through while she’d been away battling her own demons? Was it her place to even ask about the ear…it had been so long…

Twyla let the comment about not being a coward slide—she’d had that discussion with too many people too many times. Besides, that was Old Twyla. New Twyla had a better handle on things. She wasn’t perfect, mind you, but she had her priorities in place once more. She’d done a lot of changing in the time she was gone. She’d made promises to herself that involved not being ruled by fear and she planned on sticking to them. No, there was no need to rehash an old argument.

The young woman appreciated Emerald’s honesty. Straight up telling her that she was still mad at Twyla for leaving was relieving in a way. She didn’t have to worry about where they stood; things began to align themselves in a relatable pattern. She nodded, to show her friend that she understood where she was coming from. Really it made sense and Twyla wasn’t asking for things to go instantly back the way they were. What she really wanted was to work with what was left and create a new patchwork life.

She wanted to know how things had changed, but saved her questions for after the ear was explained. Emerald brushed it off. Twyla quirked and eyebrow but decided not to push their reunion by pestering Emerald with worried questions. “Fair enough.” Her tone was calm and her expression was apologetic. If she wanted to tell Twyla about it she’d do it on her own time. There were things that the blonde had gone through recently that she didn’t want to talk about so she’d be a hypocrite if she pried. Her brown eyes were curious however, as she glanced over the wolf-girl. What sorts of trouble could Emmy get into in a year? Twyla guessed quite a lot.

The things she’d dropped on the ground were begging to be cleaned up before they got trampled. The blush she’d felt so intensely earlier faded away as she looked at her shampoo and candy. They reached up with their imaginary arms, wanting to be back in a bag. Stooping down, Twyla acquiesced to their silent request. Looking up at Em she asked: “Anything exciting I should know? How’s…your life been, I guess.” Her voice was bright and curious. She hoped that things had been going well for Em like they’d been going well for Twyla before her boss and then community found out about her mutation.

It only took a few seconds for everything to be safely back in the paper bag. Twyla stood up and brushed off her knees. “I should drop this stuff in my room—do you want to head somewhere to catch up properly?” Her smile was hesitant, unsure if Emerald would want to have that kind of chat so soon or if she was too upset by Twyla’s sudden reappearance to have an old-friend-like conversation. Either way Twyla was content with how things had gone thus far. She’d been expecting everything she got. Perhaps she’d be able to work up the courage to ask Emerald to forgive her one day. That day was not the right time, obviously, but it was something to think about.

Things seemed to have settled into small talk between the girls. Twyla hadn’t been expecting much else—she realized that things at the Mansion would be awkward for a while. Hopefully she and Emerald could get back some semblance of the relationship they’d had before she’d left and if not…that was Twyla’s fault and she deal with the consequences. Emerald did say something, however, that made her hears perk up. Em’s got a boyfriend? This was new and (as far as the blonde could remember) unheard of.

She peeked at the wolf-girl. You go. A smile twitched at her lips. Emerald was wagging her tail. That was cute. So who was this guy? A million questions burned inside the young woman but she managed to contain herself. She didn’t want to come off as nosy after…everything. It seemed like everyone that she bumped into was in a relationship. Gawain, my roommate, and now Em. How many do you need for an epidemic? These were things that Twyla liked to see. It made her oddly happy to see other people happy with each other. Seeing everyone else with someone almost made the twenty year old jealous in a way but she didn’t dwell on it—she was more important at the moment. Sometimes you gotta do you. Twyla needed to work on Twyla. Besides, being in a relationship sounded like work and she was planning on having enough on her plate.

That didn’t, of course, mean that she couldn’t wonder all about Em’s boyfriend—how they met, what he was like, if he was a mutant, all those things. She made a note to ask her old friend at the most appropriate opportunity. If she was lucky she’d be able to weasel in some questions that afternoon. Gah. It almost hurt not to ask. It was odd, normally Twyla didn’t really pay attention to those kinds of things but she’d missed the beginning of Em’s relationship—all the buildup and everything that she would have taken for granted had she been in New York still. This was Big News to someone that had just plopped back into a social life at the Mansion. Usually Twyla wasn’t a relationship gossip, but she had a lot of catch-up to play.

The young woman was glad that her friend still wanted to talk to her. She almost winced when asking about where she’d been was suggested. There were things from the past year, especially recent things, that she wasn’t ready to talk about with anyone. Instead of showing her discomfort however, the girl smiled up at the taller young woman brightly. At least they’d be alone out on the grounds. “Sounds good to me, I just gotta drop these things off—come with me to my room?”

Twyla led the way to the bedroom that she shared with Rebecca and quickly deposited her backpack and bag of assorted goodies on her bed. Her side of the room was still bare as none of the boxes her parents had sent to her had arrived yet. She’d probably still be living in the things she’d brought in her backpack for the rest of the week. As the pair headed for the shed Twyla picked up the conversation once more: “As far as what to talk about, I think that you need to tell me about this comic artist boyfriend and I’ll be sure to ‘ooh’ and ‘aaah’ in all the right places.” There was a laugh in her voice. “But seriously.” She looked at Emerald expectantly, both eyebrows raised. Twyla would ask as many questions as it took to keep Emerald off the subject of her…er, time away… and she was still ridiculously curious.

As her friend talked, Twyla made a list of given characteristics to this ‘Akshay’ fellow. The blonde was glad that he was nicer than the other party favors that Emerald seemed to have a habit of attracting. Nerdy was also a good characteristic as was the fact that Em felt so comfortable around him. It seemed like this type of relationship was something new for the wolf-girl; Twyla hoped that things would work out for them. People deserved to find people that they could be themselves around.

The young woman refused to let memories of her past relationship surface. They remained in the nice little box she’d placed them in before she’d shoved them in the back of her mind’s closet. Safe and unseen.

Materializing words? Very cool. Twyla made a mental note to pester Emerald about meeting this guy…after the relationship between the wolf-girl and the camouflager had righted itself a bit more. The young woman quirked her lips into a satisfied smile as the pair headed into the shed. She plopped herself into the offered chair with the ease of a teenager, curling her legs up under herself and otherwise making the seated position comfortable.

What else did she want to know? Oh, there were lots of things. Twyla just wasn’t sure how to ask them or in what order. Usually she wasn’t very interested in these kinds of ooey-gooey things. Of course, usually one didn’t just materialize like a discolored ghost back into a social life, missing all the important things between ‘I met this guy’ and ‘We’re dating’. One of her sisters or friends from high school was probably better at making this kind of ‘girly’ conversation and for a moment the blonde wished that she’d been better at talking about boys when she was younger. Oh well, no use in crying over spilt perfume…

“So…how did you guys meet?” She leaned towards Emmy to show her interest, cocking her head to the side and putting just a little too much emphasis on the ‘o’ in ‘so’. That was right, wasn’t it? The logical next question to ask now that she had a basic sketch of what this guy was about was to ask where they’d met. If it wasn’t she doubted that Emerald would care—neither girl had been particularly gushy about this kind of stuff when they’d been closer all those months ago. Twyla was friends with all kinds of girls—Em was the type more likely to defend a friend in a fistfight then go out for coffee and gossip. Perhaps this wasn’t the best conversation to get their relationship on track seeing as how neither young woman was particularly good at it.

Silently Twyla wondered why all of the relationships she’d seen in the last few days had been between mutant and mutant partnering. Back home it was non-mutant and non-mutant. It seemed like a telling separation—who you date represents who you relate to, right? Could she ever have a lasting relationship with someone without a mutation? It was an interesting question that was put on the back burner to boil and be served later.