@pressx2jump Murray, post Venice He opened the door to their hideout with a hint of shyness. Sly and Bentley let him do the honors, he might've been all for jumping back into his old mask, but there's still hesitations in his movements as he made his way in, looking around and taking in the details: the old cookie jar from the orphanage, the sofa and the old TV in the corner, down to his benches and weights - if it wasn't for the piles of new maps and scribbled plans left on the table and a few adjustments to make the place wheelchair friendly, he'd say nothing changed, as if no more than a few hours passed since he left them. It makes the big inhale that followed his first steps come as shaky. "It's. I'm sorry, it's been a while"
For a moment, Sly really thought - or... hoped, perhaps, is a better term - that when Murray would have opened the door to the hideout, everything would have gone back to exactly how it was before. He even insisted with Bentley to move the forniture as little as possible, to keep their usual set up as familiar as they could. he didn't know what emotion it would have caused in Murray - to be fair, he didn't even give it a thought until now -, but he really hoped it would have been enough.
But it isn't. Of course it isn't. So much has happened in these last years, going back to the hideout isn't nearly enough to delete from memory all the bad things and get Murray back as how he was - and Bentley, much less naively, expected that. Where Sly chases the dream of things returning as they were, he knew they simply wouldn't. Murray changed. Murray grew. It is only natural. Forcing him to backtrack is not an option. Who better than him can understand that?
« There's no need to say sorry! ». Sly still talks first, a big smile on the face as he gives him a big pat on the shoulder, all the traces of any conflicting thoughts he might be having gone. Always the best when it comes to improvising. « It has been a while! Take your time, big guy. »
« Yeah, we're not in a rush. » Bentley adds, pushing the wheelchair inside and aiming directly for the maps, as he had always done. « We can catch our breaths before going out again - and I need to check a thing or two. » He gets to the table, and before diving ino the maps he gives Murray a smile. « Welcome back, buddy. »
