Kevin was finished school now and other than the occasional time when his new powers would activate randomly and he had trouble getting the shield to disappear, it had been pretty relaxed and quiet since their picnic in the park.

At least Lee assumed that Kevin’s powers were activating randomly. That’s what he said. But Lee honestly wouldn’t be surprised if he was sitting in his room constantly trying to make them work when he wasn’t actively playing a game. Since there didn’t seem to be anything more detrimental than immediately nearby electronics being drained of power when his shield activated, Lee didn’t really mind too much; it would be good for him to get more control over things before his trip to Texas.

Speaking of, Lee had spoken to Josh that day and the arrangements for Kevin getting down there had been finalized. Which meant that Lee had details to discuss with Tarin, because she was pretty sure that he was not going to want to be around when Josh arrived to avoid all of that awkwardness.

But Tarin had a slightly later end to his day, and Kevin didn’t seem to be overly social, which was leaving Lee feeling quite bored and antsy. Finally, Lee grabbed her guitar, pulling it out of the case it was still in from the picnic, and sat back down on the couch, starting to play as she waited.

Business had been strangely good lately, which was always a weird thing for Tarin to think about.

On one hand, it meant that business was good, which was always better than business being bad. On the other hand it meant that all sorts of people were trying to talk to dead loved ones or people who wanted to seek out dead people for a fortune hunt or treasure hunt or whatever it was they wanted to do. Sometimes it was downright depressing.

Today hadn’t really been all that bad, but it had been a mix of the former and the latter and as with most days, Tarin was just ready to be done and go home. It was a strange juxtaposition from how things had been in his past when he’d simply worked as much as possible to have something to pass the time in the shop.

It had been months since that had been his mindset, but it was still a bit of a shock to realize it.

Before, after a long day, there had just been reading or TV, or maybe going to grab take out for himself, sometimes he’d gone to movies (that had been depressing to do alone). Now he was heading home to hang out with Lee, and Kevin if he deigned to leave his room this evening.

Since the picnic the three of them had had in Central Park, Kevin had tried to act like his powers had only activated on accident, but Tarin knew better. There was no way a 13 year old who’d just discovered they had extraordinary powers was going to not try them out as often as possible. Luckily, they’d discovered, Kevin’s powers didn’t seem to ruin electronic devices…just temporarily drain them of power…so any accidents had only resulted in more charging cords around than usual.

Still, Tarin thought as he gathered his things and stuffed them into his backpack, he was ready to be home.

The walk didn’t take long, and neither did his trek up the stairs. As he unlocked and opened the door, he could already hear the unmistakable sounds of a guitar and he smiled a little. Lee really was good, at least to Tarin’s untrained ear and he tried to make as little noise as possible as he dropped off his keys and backpack before stopping to listen until she was done with whatever she was playing.

”Hey” he said simply at that point, grinning.

Lee couldn't hear Tarin enter the apartment but she could feel him entering and coming closer. Since he was trying to be quiet, Lee finished the tune she was playing before turning to smile at Tarin as the last notes faded.

”Welcome home,” she said as she turned on the couch to look at Tarin . ” How was your day?”

Lee kept the guitar on her lap, though she didn't continue to play at the moment.

”Kevin's only complained his shield being stuck up three times today, so he's improving.”

Tarin shrugged, ”It was fine.” he said, making a little bit of a face. ”Good problem to have, but I was busy all day.”

Lee said that Kevin had only complained about getting his shield stuck up three times, and while that was three times more than would have been ideal… ”Well, if it happened three times I guess that means he eventually figured it out.” Tarin said, moving to sit down on the couch near Lee.

”How was your day, besides troubleshooting with Kevin?”

”Ahh…that kind of ‘fine’ day?” Lee asked with a nod. And while busy was good for the bottom line, Lee knew it could be hard on Tarin.

But then Tarin was commenting on Kevin having figured things out, and Lee shrugged. ”Maybe? He was last out about an hour ago,” Lee told Tarin. ”My guess is that he’s getting it to pop up more often and when he focuses on breathing like you showed him it goes away. Then he gets over confident and when it doesn’t go away, he freaks out a bit. Because I’ve definitely felt his energy disappear and then reappear more than three times today.”

But other than dealing with Kevin experimenting with his powers, how had her day gone? ”For the most part boring, but there was something…”

Lee paused here, not because it was something difficult to talk about in general, but it seemed weird to talk about with Tarin. ”Josh will be here to get Kevin on Friday,” she ended up just blurting it out. ”He said that if his flight in is on time, he’ll get here around 8, so we’re going to have dinner then him and Kevin will head out, he’s booked a room near the airport because their flight out is early the next morning.

“Obviously you’re welcome to be here, but I completely understand if you don’t want to be around.”

”Exactly that kind of fine day.” Tarin agreed.

Kevin, it appeared, had been working with his powers more than just the three times Lee had mentioned and Tarin had to laugh a little, ”Well, he’s definitely motivated to learn…and it sounds like he’s been asking for help when he gets stuck, so I guess there isn’t much more you could ask for at this point…” Tarin said optimistically.

Tarin didn’t point it out, but the biggest thing this meant was that Kevin was figuring out how to bring that shield up on command…even if he did have a little trouble letting it go.

Lee said it had been a pretty boring day…except for one thing.

Kevin’s trip to Texas was coming up soon and his Uncle, the brother of the Tarin on this side of the rift, was coming to meet Kevin and fly with him.

Lee outlined the plans for all of that and Tarin frowned. Ever since the picnic he’d been trying to figure out what bothered him so much about the idea of the other Tarin’s brother being in town.

”I guess it kind of depends…” Tarin said, ” I’m not very comfortable with the whole idea…but…” Tarin sighed a little, ”How much do any of them know about all of this?” Because it would be even weirder to run and hide somewhere if they knew all about the whole situation.

How much did any of them know about this? There was A LOT that ‘this’ could be referring to here.

Finally, Lee set her guitar down and turned to look at Tarin more directly. ”I had to explain the Rift to them, obviously,” Lee said. Though that had been years ago at this point. ”They understood as best they could not being here. At the time, I didn't bring you up because I figured that would just make everything weirder than it already was for them.

“Now,” Lee took a breath. ”I didn't say or confirm anything, but Adele is convinced I'm seeing someone. Apparently, I sound happier than I did a few months ago? And honestly, I wasn't sure how to explain it to Josh, so all I've mentioned so far I've got a new roommate.”

Tarin listened as Lee explained the incredibly weird situation.

They knew about the rift and what had happened there, but they didn’t know that he had come through…at least not from Lee. That totally made sense though, why would she have shared something like that with people who were trying to understand that their family member was just…gone.

Lee kept explaining and Tarin couldn’t help but smile just a bit when she pointed out that she’d sounded happy enough, just on the phone, that the Mother of this world’s Tarin had known something was up.

She didn’t know why though, and neither did Kevin’s Uncle. It made sense, but it also complicated things a lot more.

”I think I should probably clear out that night.” Tarin said softly, ”Because that would be a lot.”

He thought for a moment and glanced in the direction of Kevin’s room, ”But we both know from experience that Kevin is going to talk…” he let the words hang, he wanted to help, but Lee was going to have to handle this.

Lee nodded when Tarin said that he would just stay clear of the apartment the night that Josh was picking Kevin up. She was pretty sure Kevin would be disappointed about not being able to say goodbye to Tarin, but that was probably the best situation.

”You're right. Honestly, I'll be surprised if they make it onto the plane before Kevin mentions you,” Lee said, rolling her eyes slightly as she smiled. ”I'll talk to Josh when he gets here. It'll be easier to know how he's taking everything compared to over the phone.”

And if Lee was lucky, Josh would have done ideas about how to tell Adele.

Lee agreed about Kevin and Tarin supposed what she said about talking to Josh made sense too.

Tarin could absolutely appreciate how difficult this situation was for Lee, and how awkward the entire conversation was going to be. She was obviously close with the other Tarin’s family and how did you explain to your missing ex-husband’s family that you were now seeing an alternate version of him from another reality? Tarin hated to think about it that way, not even a little bit, but when it came down to the barest facts, it was true.

It wouldn’t be completely out of line for them to hate him on principle, simply for existing on this side of the rift. Robert had, and he hadn’t even liked the other Tarin. What would it be like for people who had?

Tarin knew he had been quiet for a while, and he cast an apologetic look in Lee’s direction, ”I wish all of this wasn’t so complicated.” he said, wishing he knew how to explain everything he was thinking.

He wasn’t going to get in his feelings about it though, the only thing that would do was make Lee feel bad, and this was even less her fault than it was his. ”But yeah, I can just hang out at the shop that night. It’s not like I haven’t done it before.”

”I wish all of this wasn’t so complicated.”

Lee gave Tarin a small, tight lipped smile as she reached for his hand. ”That's part of why it's so difficult,” Lee said softly. ”It doesn't feel complicated until we have to explain things to someone who doesn't know you.”

Then Tarin was saying he could just hang out at the shop that evening, and Lee nodded. That was probably for the best.

Giving Tarin's hand a squeeze, Lee gave him a slightly larger smile. ”Is there a game tonight? Or do you want me to play again?”

Well, at least his ideas were sound. That would make things much easier on Friday night. He’d just get take out and watch something in the back of the shop. It’d be like old times.

”I cannot imagine for a second that they’ll want to know me at all.” Tarin said, taking Lee’s hand and returning her little smile. No, the less they all knew of each other’s existence for now, the better…probably.

Lee wanted to know if there was a game tonight or if he wanted to watch her play and Tarin shook his head, ”There is a game, but I’m not really in the mood, you go ahead and play.” he said. The Mets were playing like garbage again lately and he didn’t want the frustration…besides, the music had been really nice when he walked in.

Tarin didn't think that Josh, or Adele, or any of them would want to get to know him at all. On the one hand, that was a sad thought because of how large a part of her life, and even Kevin's, that Tarin had become already. But at the same time, Lee understood. She'd felt similarly six years ago. Hell, she'd thought similarly even three months earlier.

Then she had gotten to know him.

Lee's eyebrows rose in surprise when Tarin told her that there was a game but she could go ahead and play. ”If you're sure,” Lee said, giving Tarin's hand another squeeze before turning to grab her guitar again. “I don't want to deprive you of your precious baseball.”

Despite her words, Lee settled the first on her lap and started planning softly again.

Lee was quiet when Tarin said that he didn’t think that any of the other Tarin’s family would want to know a thing about him. The silence was confirmation enough to massively increase Tarin’s confidence in his thoughts about the situation. It was fine though, he didn’t think he really wanted to know any of them either.

It was like he’d told Lee a little while back, he’d never had anyone to push him that last little step of the way to reach out to his family back on the other side and regardless of the reality of things, these people were all strangers.

”I’m sure.” Tarin said with a small smile when Lee pointed out that she didn’t want to be depriving him of baseball, ”I can check the score later and watch them lose tomorrow.” . The current series was not going well. ”You’ve already got the guitar out and tuned or whatever, and I like to hear your play.”

Lee just nodded at first when Tarin said that he could check the scores later that night and he'd watch the team lose the next day. That was a fair take; even Lee had seen that they hadn't been playing as well recently.

As Tarin continued speaking Lee smiled, turning her eyes down to the first as a slight blush covered her cheeks. ”Is that why you tried to sneak in tonight?” she asked softly, glancing up at him out of the corner of her eye.

Lee continued playing for another minute before looking up at Tarin fully again. ”Anything in particular you want to hear?”