Yes…all of those things, Tarin thought as Lee went ahead and listed all of the reasons that one could question the wisdom of all the things they were talking about.

“Yeah, those were pretty much all of the things I was thinking about…” Tarin said, deflating a bit as it was obvious that Lee had already thought about those things.

She had a lot of time to think, more than the average person because she didn’t sleep nearly as much as the average person slept. Tarin supposed it made sense that she’d be able to go over more things in her head.

Lee echoed sentiments that Tarin had thought of a few minutes earlier and he found himself nodding his head slowly.

What Lee was suggesting was so so dangerous on so many levels, but she seemed confident that she had never been afraid of the other Tarin’s powers, and she wasn’t afraid of his…she wanted to show Kevin that when you could help a person you should help them.

It was almost too much.

“I don’t know what to say…” Tarin said, “I don’t think I’ve ever known someone like you.” It was true, the people he’d known…well…they’d all been like him. They’d all understood the way the world worked and what you had to do to ensure your place in it. They all understood the stakes and would happen if or when they made a mistake. Suddenly Tarin wanted to tell Lee about it, all of it. He desperately wanted her to understand what made him do the things he’d done and say the things he’d said. This wasn’t the time for it though, not with everything else so fresh in his mind.

“Roommates then…I guess?” he said, reaching a hand out as if to shake on it, “I guess we can work out the details tomorrow?” What time was it even? In spite of everything Tarin felt…hopeful? Even if he still wasn’t wearing pants.

When she finished speaking, Lee sat there and let Tarin think about what she had said. Would it be weird with him here, especially at first? Most definitely. But that didn’t stop anything else that she had said from being true.

And like earlier, Lee could see Tarin thinking it all over, still arguing with himself. But finally he spoke, and Lee gave him a sad smile. “Unfortunately with everything that I’ve heard about the otherside, especially what you’ve said, it doesn’t surprise me,” she replied. “But it’s about time that you did. Everyone deserves that at some point.”

More thinking. Tarin had had a lot to deal with, a lot to take in this weekend, so it made sense. But when he spoke again, Lee couldn’t help but laugh. “I guess so, yeah,” she said, the laughter still in her voice as she shook Tarin’s hand. “And tomorrow would probably be better.”

Tarin seemed to have calmed down and relaxed after how he had woken up. Glancing at her bedside table, Lee saw that it was just about 4:30. “You should probably get back to sleep, if you can,” she told him as she stood. “If not, I can throw some coffee on for us.”

It was 4:30? Well, there was next to no point in going back to sleep if it was already that close to daybreak.

“How are you doing? Do you need to lay down? I know you said…yesterday? The other night? Whenever? That you thought by this morning you’d be ready to sleep.”

God, there he went again, just thinking about himself and his own problems while Lee was probably dead on her feet because she’d gotten herself all messed up saving his sorry ass.

“I can totally clear out of here…” he said, moving to get up and realizing, yet again, that he wasn’t wearing pants. “Uh…if you give me a minute, I can totally clear out of here. I know how to make coffee…”

“I'm fine,” Lee replied then shrugged. “I was guessing I’d be able to. It's not like it's an exact science. I'll just siphon like normal today, and I'll sleep tonight. Honestly, just two sleepless nights like this is nothing.”

But then Tarin went to get up, but immediately stopped. Realizing what had to be the reason, Lee turned toward the door, but not before she had started blushing. “I'll go get that coffee started.”

Without waiting for Tarin to be able to say anything else, Lee made her way out of the room and into the kitchen. Closing her eyes, Lee took a deep breath before getting the coffee brewing.

Then she stood there, facing the cupboards as she leaned against the counter. This, all of this, was feeling so…easy and natural. So much so that after she'd woken him up from the nightmare. In her bed. Tarin wearing (she was guessing) just underwear and an undershirt. They had sat there talking as comfortably as possible this soon after a merge.

They barely knew each other.

She wasn't regretting her decision, it wasn't that. But it shouldn't feel so…normal and natural, should it?

Except, when she had first met the Tarin from this world, the man she had ended up marrying, things had felt easy and comfortable, and natural from the start.

Well, once he had stopped trying to perv on her and the spirits had no longer been visible.

Lee was apparently fine. Two days without sleep was nothing. Apparently.

At least she took the hint and headed out of the room. Once she was gone and he was alone, Tarin allowed himself to flop back on the bed for a moment and try to sort out exactly what was happening.

It was one thing when Lee was right there, countering every point he made about why this was a terrible idea. About why it was absolutely crazy to invite someone you’d only known for 48 hours to live in your home with you and your son.

It was another thing entirely that despite the fact that they’d only known each other for 48 hours Lee seemed to know him better than anyone he’d ever met. If he thought about it too much, Tarin had to admit how weird it was. He knew why Lee knew him so well, he knew that it wasn’t real connection. Tarin knew that it was simply the fact that two people on either side of the rift were the same person with different flavors. Lee had known her Tarin, the Tarin from this side that she’d been married to for years for so long that it was simply easy to slip into old routines.

Tarin would have to be careful if he was going to do this, because it felt good to be seen the way it felt like he was being seen.

Running his hands through his hair, Tarin pushed up out of the bed and got dressed…insomuch as putting on your pants meant getting dressed.

Out of the room Tarin went, making his way around to the kitchen where Lee was making the coffee. Right now she was leaning against the counter, seemingly lost in thought. Something twisted just a little bit in Tarin’s chest as he watched her there.

Careful. He was going to have to be very careful.

“Coffee is something that is quite a bit different on this side. It definitely took some getting used to…” Tarin said as he made his way towards the kitchen. It had been a while since he’d thought of that particular quirk, but the smell of the coffee was bringing back memories.

Things had always felt natural, right, with him. Well, except for after the camps. And when he wouldn’t leave New York with her. But otherwise, from the start and through all the years, the connection between them had come so naturally…

It’s just the situation, she thought to herself. The merge, the recovery and aftermath following it. It’s not a good situation, but it’s familiar. This…whatever it is…will go away once things are back to normal.

Lee was so lost in her thoughts that even with her siphoning working again, she hadn’t realized that Tarin was approaching until he spoke, causing her to jump slightly.

“I have heard that before,” Lee said as she turned to face Tarin. “Though I think the exact words were something along the lines of the coffee being ‘so horrible it was an artform’.” She laughed slightly as she turned to pull a couple mugs out of the cupboard. She’d left the sugar on the counter the day before, so she didn’t need to go hunting again. “Was it that bad for you at first?”

Lee jumped as he spoke and Tarin couldn’t help but wonder what she was thinking about as he approached. Was she regretting her decision already? Had she already realised that this was an absolutely huge mistake?

Regardless, it appeared that Tarin hadn’t been the first person to point out that coffee was really different on this side of the rift.

Had it been hard for him at first? Tarin shrugged a little sheepishly, “I don’t really drink a ton of coffee. I knew it was different, but I was enough of a novice that it wasn’t too hard for me to adjust.” He said with a little smile, “I know that it rocked other peoples’ worlds though. Did they ever figure out what the difference was?”

As she listened to Tarin speak about his coffee experiences on both sides of the rift, Lee made her way over to the fridge to grab the milk before moving back to get the coffee into the mugs. Which really didn’t take long, and only a couple moments later she was turning around, holding a mug out to Tarin, into which she had added a bit of milk and sugar. Then she leaned back against the counter, her large mug held between her hands.

“Not that I’ve heard, but I haven’t been trying to keep track of that kind of information,” Lee said before taking a sip of coffee. “Now that I think about it, I can’t remember this Rupert drinking as much coffee. Though, he also doesn’t look as tired as the Rupert from this world, so he probably doesn’t have insomnia nearly as bad." Now that Lee was thinking about this again, she’d have to try to remember to ask Rupert about it when she spoke to him next. Whenever that would be.

Shrugging slightly to herself, she took another sip of her coffee.

“If you’re up for the day now, got any ideas for the day?” Lee asked after a few moments. “Because TV has sucked tonight, and this is just about the worst time to actually find something even half decent to watch.”

There was clearly a story here that Tarin didn’t know. Lee had used that name more than once, but in very different contexts. “I’m guessing that Rupert is like me in that they got stuck on this side of the rift when it closed and you knew their counterpart. Isn’t that who you said you were worried had shot the Tarin on this side of the rift as opposed to him getting through the rift?” All of these names, it was getting kind of tough to keep everything straight.

Yeah, Tarin thought, he was definitely up for the day. That nightmare, those…memories were too jarring to even think about going back to sleep. He sipped the coffee, it was potentially going to be a long day.

What did he want to do with it.

“Well,” he said thoughtfully, “If you’re still sure that this whole roomates thing isn’t an absolutely horrendous idea with potentially dangerous consequences, I guess I’ll go and get some stuff from the shop? Probably need to get some furniture for the room?” As jarring as all of this was, Tarin found himself a bit excited. Since he’d ended up on this side of the rift he’d kind of just slid into the space that had previously been occupied by this side’s Tarin. He hadn’t been motivated or seen it necessary to really make the space his. This was kind of an opportunity.

“Did you say your kid is coming back at some point today? I should probably make myself scarce when that happens so you can make sure he doesn’t veto the idea? How old is he, if you don’t mind me asking?”

Lee nodded as Tarin spoke, then took a sip of coffee. “He did. And that is the guy. Even had a box of bullets with Tarin’s name on it. But he’d been threatening to shoot him, well both of us, for years and didn’t, so it’s impossible to know what happened.”

If she was still sure about the roommates thing? Lee rolled her eyes as she turned to top up her coffee. “Remember when I said I wouldn’t have offered if I wasn’t sure?” she asked. “But we’ll need to be back here this afternoon. The bed is supposed to be delivered between 2 and 5 today.”

When Tarin asked about when Kevin was due hom, Lee ran her hand through her hair with a sigh. She wasn’t so much worried about what Kevin would say or think, it was more the bombardment from her sister when she found out. “I think so. Rachel hasn’t sent me the flight details home yet, so I’ll have to call her later this morning. But yeah, it might be good if you’re not around when they get back. With the thousands of questions she’ll have for me…well, Kevin doesn’t know about the merging and I’d like to keep it that way at this point. He’s 13 now, so we probably would have told him something by this point, but with his father not here, I’d rather he not know.”

So, this wasn’t the first time that Lee had met someone’s counterpart from the other side of the rift. Eyebrows raised over the rim of the coffee cup as Tarin took another drink. The more Lee told him about her life, the more Tarin was able to believe that she didn’t think he was all that dangerous.

“This was someone you willingly spent time with?” he asked a bit incredulously, “Or was it some kind of arch nemesis type of thing?” Did people on this side have arch nemesis? It seemed like the kind of thing they’d have done over here with their well established mutant factions and the all around openness of power usage on this side.

Lee scolded him (there wasn’t a better word for it) when he once again pointed out the folly of this whole roomates idea and Tarin held up his free hand defensively, “Someone has to be the voice of reason here.”

Oh wow. Lee’s son was 13? Somehow he’d pictured the kid being younger. Thinking back, it didn’t make sense with what Lee had told him, but still. Roommates with a teenager and his Mom. This got more interesting by the minute.

And wait. “You didn’t…” Tarin said when Lee pointed out that a bed for the spare room was being delivered that day. Nowhere in New York did same day delivery unless you were on a very exclusive list. Knowing Lee, she was probably on such a list, but more likely she’d ordered the bed when all of this had started a few days ago.

“Fine. But I’m paying you back for it.” Tarin said.

It sounded like Lee was going to have some explaining to do to people other than Kevin, and Tarin nodded his head. See, he wasn’t the only one with sense in this scenario.

Lee explained that she and the other Tarin had never explained the concept of merges with Kevin and Tarin couldn’t help himself from being surprised again. Raising a kid with so many…complications would have been downright difficult.

He simply nodded his head, “Happy to comply with whatever you think is best. You think he’s gonna be okay with this whole thing?”

Had Rupert been someone that she had willingly spent time with or was he more like an arch nemesis? Lee could not help the full on laugh that burst out at that question.

“That…” Lee started thoughtfully even though the laughter was still in her voice. “That is a VERY good question. And depended on the day. Sometimes by the minute, for what that answer would be.”

But Lee did not have time to go into any more explanation than that (and Rupert would take a long explanation) because Tarin was reacting to the fact that she already had a bed on its way to be delivered. She shrugged. “Like I said, I’d been planning to get one for that room for a year. So I ordered it Saturday night. It’s really not a big deal.”

Would Kevin be alright with this? He had been before, when Blaine had practically moved in after that first fight with his doppelganger. Though that had been years ago. “It’ll probably be weird for him,” Lee admitted. “But I think he’ll end up being ok with it.”

Lee took a slightly deeper breath as she pushed herself away from the counter. “If you want, I can try to explain the hypocritical contradiction that is Rupert Kelley. But if that’s the case, we should go sit, it’ll take a while.”

Supposedly the guest room bed had been some kind of coincidence. Tarin eyed Lee sceptically, not entirely convinced, but not sure he could argue anything different.

Kevin would think it was weird, but would end up being okay with things. Tarin knew absolutely nothing about children, and even less about teenagers outside his lived experience so he just nodded. Lee definitely knew best.

She also offered to share the story of her arch nemesis and Tarin followed Lee from the kitchen to the living room, taking a seat when she did.

There was one other thing though, probably the most awkward thing of all, “ I definitely want to hear the story…and I hate to continue making things more weird, but is there any particular way you’d like to handle the fact that you’re both about to be roommates with someone who is a stranger despite having the same name, same powers, and other…similarities to his father?”

Lee sat down on the couch, her coffee cup in hand still, as she tried to figure out where to start with explaining Rupert.

Or she was trying to figure that out until Tarin asked his own question. That… yeah…

Lee leaned back on the couch, eyes staring unseeing at the TV she had left on when she’d heard Tarin having the nightmare. That was all true, and the number of similarities in the behaviour and mannerisms between the two men was a little freaky at times, but Lee knew that they were far from being the same person. Knew in both her mind and her heart. How could she not when she had been able to tell with a look in the eyes whether it was her husband or a spirit looking back at her?

Kevin didn’t even know about merges, never mind having seen one. But he had met both Ruperts, and even when he was younger understood (thanks to the opposite ends of the mutant sentiments spectrum they were on) that they were two totally different people.

”Well,” Lee said slowly, still looking toward the TV. ”Like I was already planning, I’ll re-explain to him about how people are different on both sides of the rift. He’s met both Ruperts, so he understands that part. And unfortunately, I’m not sure how much of his father he actually remembers first hand. But,” Lee finally turned her head to look at Tarin at this point. ”The two of you look nothing alike, so that’ll help.”

Tarin could tell that Lee had not thought of this angle to this particular problem. As she processed things, he sipped his coffee and mindlessly watched whatever was on the TV. She obviously needed a minute to process things.

When Lee spoke, she seemed confident if a bit unsure exactly how things would go. It wasn’t too strange to expect that a 13 year old would understand some of the things associated with the rift. Enough people had gotten stuck on this side that pretty much everyone knew someone who’d either come from the other side, or gotten stuck there.

”Okay,” he said, ”It’s probably just gonna be a bit weird then.” He could handle weird…right? This whole thing was weird, what was a bit more weird right on top of the pile? Dealing with all of that was better than trying to deal with what he saw every time he closed his eyes.

”So…about that nemesis story?” he said, hopefully to change the subject.