OVER FEEL.

When she appraised the new ink as incredible, he let out an exaggerated sigh of relief. His shoulders sagged as if a weight had been lifted from them. "Phew," he lifted his opposite arm to wipe faux sweat from his brow line. The man was full of theatrics. "I really thought you were going to go with a well, that's permanent, line." He tugged his sleeve back down as a grin pulled the corners of his lips upward. "Every detail, huh?" A laugh was drawn from his lips. "I'm not busy. Are you offering to interrogate me over something to eat?" Omari his brow lifted in her direction.

His reaction instantly triggered a genuine laughter, as she quickly moved her hand down from his arm. "Oh, no, you're safe! I just can't believe you actually did it." She might be sounding repetitive at this point, but the surprise was hard to shake. "Okay, sir, you're the one throwing the word interrogation in here." Kamaria lifted her arms, apparently now being the one responsible for the theatrics. "I'm innocent and just in need of a good story. In other words, I'm in."

It was always hard to go wrong with mac and cheese, or comfort food of any kind, as far as Sage was concerned. Although Ozan had treated her to breakfast upon release, there had been little motivation to cook or grocery shop with all of the stress that she was under. "Sounds great," the brunette responded with a nod, setting the vegetables off to the side so that she could wash them as they spoke.

Kam tried to keep going as her cousin started telling the story, but it became a lot to juggle, even if she was just waiting for the water to boil and shredding some extra cheese. She shook her head and turned her body to face Sage instead. Her words helped Kamaria picture the scene, the story fitting like a puzzle piece with what her and Maverick had head but didn't think it was anything serious and what Mei and Rosa had said over the phone later on. "Thank God I wasn't there, 'cause then I guess it would've been three of us." She wondered, biting her lip into a reflexive expression.

Jordan did her best to hold back a laugh as she stepped around the younger woman, finally getting a good look at the state of her house plants. “I promise to reserve judgement till after I’ve given you advice and you don’t use it,” she quipped, sending Kam a wink before she stepped forward, examining the plants more closely. “Well, for starters, I can already see one problem that we don’t need Mother Nature to fix.” 

"Rude! Who says I'm not gonna use it?" She dramatically put one hand over her chest, a playful tone in her voice. Kam turned her focus solely to the plants, listening carefully what Jordan had to say about them and shook her head, her mouth even opening a little bit, in surprise. She didn't even know for how long the two little succulents had been in her kitchen. "Holy shit, that's terrible!" She grabbed the pot that Jordan was offering and also the other one, taking some time to compare the similar states they were in.

"Oh, yeah, you'll get your steps and weights in for sure." She agreed with a chuckle. Kam circled the car and opened the back door on Delilah's side, half opening the lid on one of the boxes just to be sure she had the right ones in mind. "Yes, okay. So, I'm thinking under the sea theme for the little ones, and then, like, Earth stuff for the middle schoolers? They don't even like decorations anymore by this age, but my classroom, my rules, right? So maybe these will get a more grown-up vibe. They'll also be learning things like this in other subjects." She showed her a box full of globes, country flags and landscape paintings. "I can get these two over here and you'll take the others? We go in, and the first classroom is just by the entrance, to the left if I'm remembering it right."

The grin on Jett's face faltered almost instantly. "Twelve?" he echoed, rubbing the back of his neck with something of a wince. "Well, now I sound like an asshole." Not that he really cared about what anyone else thought of him. He'd given up on that a long time ago. "Guess I missed a few updates. Sorry, man.. wasn't trying to drag up old shit." An awkward silence settled between them before Jett cleared his throat. "So... what've you been doing with yourself?"

"Around that, yeah." He wondered what Jett would say if he knew he had a daughter now, too. But he would have to figure that one out by himself. Elliott shook his head, moving his hands to his pockets. "Don't sweat it. I've moved back just a few months ago, so there's been a lot of settling in for us. Been working at the library." And then, to make the conversation even more awkward. "How's Hank doing?"

He let out a quiet breath through his nose, unsure of what Elliot's mind must be racing with. There had been a time that the two had been able to reach each other's minds endlessly. "I said I'd tell them." It's all he can promise, not wanting to presume anything of his parents. He wasn't even sure where they had stood, if he were being honest. It wasn't a conversation they had in quite some time.

He got the message, deciding to just stop bringing the whole thing up. Apart from all of it being uncharted territory for them, not knowing what to do around each other was new as well. It wasn't long before Elliott got lost in the memories of simpler times, prompted by the day they ruined the fence. For the first time ever since they first met again, the Archer felt comfort in the silence.

“Oh, so you didn’t get into the biggest mess anyone possibly could and then get up and walk away, leaving the rest of us back here to pick up the pieces on our own?” There was a vulnerability in what he said this time that he hadn’t meant to let out. But deep down, while Jake really was upset on his sister’s behalf, there was a big part of him that had gone through his own hurt when Elliott left the way he had. He’d always considered Elliott his friend too, someone he looked up to and respected. So to have him leave town without a word after the accident… it had felt like a slap in the face of what he had thought was a real friendship. 

He sighed again, leaving some room for Jacob to say more, if he wanted to. When the silence lasted for longer, he knew the other man was waiting on him to say something. "I made a mistake. Multiple, actually, one after the other. But there was no walking away from the mess, at the time I saw it as taking as much as I could with me so no one else would have to deal with it. So y'all could go on with your lives." He knew honesty was the best way to go about this, even if Jake thought it was bullshitt, which he probably would.

Noah had been going to these support groups ever since he was released from prison, mostly because his parole officer told him it was a requirement and would do him good in the long run. The hardest part was that Noah rarely felt like he belonged there. Everyone else carried guilt over the choices they'd made. Noah carried guilt over a choice he made, but not the crime itself. It wasn't a distinction he could explain without unraveling eight years of lies, so he mostly kept quiet, listening instead of speaking. When he noticed Elliott quietly slip out before anyone else had much of a chance to move, Noah hesitated for only a second before following after him. He found him in one of the empty rooms and slowly stepped in to join, "Could've been worse," he offered, "They could've run out of donuts," He joked with a whisper of a grin. "I kept thinking these meetings were supposed to get easier the longer you went, so far... I think they've actually gotten harder." His expression softened as he looked over at Elliott. "You okay?" It wasn't a question people always answered honestly, but Noah asked it anyway. He figured sometimes it helped just knowing someone cared enough to ask.

"It gets worse before it gets better." He advised, not being able to stop the words. Somehow, he'd always find himself in this position with Noah, there was no helping the protectiveness and the want to help him navigate whatever situation Elliott had already navigated before. "And then later it's fifty-fifty, I'd say." Elliott turned to face Noah with the faintest trace of a smile in his face. He played with the question in his head for a while. The writer had always enjoyed talking to his friend after meetings, they'd always debrief; it felt almost like a second meeting, if he was honest, just between the two of them. With Noah, the feeling of wanting to run away from the conversation was not as bad. By this time, it had become almost non-existent. So he answered honestly. "Not really. It's one of those days." His jaw tightened and his gaze was directed at the floor for a moment. The same question he heard before was hidden in the silence, being asked right back at Noah. "I can't be the only one, c'mon."

It was nice to know that Elliott had her back. To know that he understood her struggle more than most, even if that wasn't something Summer would have wished upon anyone. There had been at least a few people who wondered why she couldn't take her mother's sudden effort at surface value and give her the chance to finally show up. But after years of silence and wishful thinking, it was going to take a whole lot more for her to earn a shot at civility and acceptance.

"I wouldn't call it overcompensation, it's just... Basic human decency?" He had to think for a few seconds, but decided to land on the most honest answer, instead of some wise concept. Summer's last words left Elliott speechless, despite the many thoughts going over his head. He recognized every single twitch in her expression because he'd felt it in himself too. He nodded slowly, his eyes gently focused on his friend's face, as if those two actions could make her understand the words that were burning is his tongue; that he knew exactly what it felt like; that it wasn't true; that someday she'd be on the other side of it, like he was. Like he was supposed to be, at least.

mallory's mouth twitched a little as a quiet laugh spilled at the sound of his giggle sitting in the space between them. this was a long shot from where she'd thought they'd be after their text exchange, but she'd apologized for that and would do it again if he asked her to. "i think that sounds like a fair ask," she assured, her gaze dropping to his hand for a couple of beats before she reached out and accepted the peace offering. his touch was warm and welcoming, and she laughed again when he shared another detail about himself. "good to know." she made a mental note to add him to her short-list of people she could drop off sweets to when she fell into a stress-baking night. "looks like we've got ourselves a deal."

He felt more relieved than he thought he would when she agreed to his proposal and shook his hand. Considering all the people he'd hurt when he left, and the people who hurt him, there weren't too many friends to be had in Sedona; he'd hate to see this newly formed relationship be ruined over some texts on a bad day. "Good to know?" He raised his eyebrows, staring at her like he was an investigator. "Are you a secret baker, by any chance, Mallory?"

⸺JASIRI WATKINS.

Elliott raised his eyebrows at Jasiri, but they were soon back into place when he heard her reassurance. Elliott nodded and was about to reply, but his daughter's desperate words filled the silence first: Two weeks??? That's like the whole time I have left off school! The man rested one hand on her good leg and started rubbing it up and down, as he would do to her back if he was hugging the child. "Hey, be nice. It's not Miss Jasiri's fault." He saw her lip tremble and offered her a calming smile. His gaze then turned to what Jasiri was doing, watching and listening carefully in case he had to repeat it later. He broke contact with Juniper just for the time it took to set the timer on his watch and get his phone out of his pocket, handing it to her. "Here, try and talk to your mom to let her know what happened, okay? Texting works better here." His attention was back to Jasiri, at last. "Thank you. God, I never even introduc— I'm Elliott. Thank you so much. Uh, you have a tent back in the main area too?"