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[abrightboy]

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[conning]

"Do we have any mint left?" Neal looks at his hands on the table rather than at Malcolm or Abby. "It..."

For a second he frowns, then finally looks up at the two of them. "You didn't hear about anything strange happening last night, did you? Stranger than usual?"

[retisense]

"Okay, one green, one mint. Got it." she says, heading into the kitchen and turns on the electric kettle, getting three cups set up and putting tea bags into all three of them from various containers.

When Neal asks about something strange happening, she laughs, "Isn't something strange always happening around here? What kind of thing?"

[abrightboy]

Malcolm watches him curiously, letting Abby’s question linger for a moment before asking “That sort of situation isn’t something you normally… indulge in?”

[conning]

Neal looks down again, for a half-second, then forces himself to meet Malcolm's eyes again. This is good. It's a good thing. Don't deny it. "It isn't that, necessarily."

He frowns, rubbing his temple while he tries to put his aching skull to thinking about what he remembers. "But there was..."

His skin crawls as he remembers the last place, the only other place he felt that slipping control before. In that psychiatrist's office almost three years ago, when she drugged him. The only difference is, this felt good. Better than good.

"I was on a walk, and I heard music," he says, the words almost experimental. "Not like what was happening before, real music, and the people around me heard it too. It..."

He trails off again. He doesn't want to tell them how good it felt to let go. To stop thinking. To stop caring about anything but that moment of feeling good, and then the next, and the next. Neal leans forward and rubs his face with both hands.

"I don't know, maybe it was just a really good concert or something."

[retisense]

Neal's explanation is a little...confusing.

"So you heard really good music? That's not all that weird."

[abrightboy]

“And then he didn’t come home,” Malcolm clarifies. “Like the land of the Lotus Eaters?” He pauses. “Or more like the Sirens. Or… more like being tired of being tired and traumatized and burying yourself in a good time to feel anything else.”

[conning]

He looks at Malcolm again reluctantly, then back at Abby. Does he have to elaborate? Malcolm pretty much spelled it out, to Neal’s extreme discomfort.

“I heard the music and I lost track after that. I don’t remember a lot of last night.”

[retisense]

"Oh."

For a moment, she's quiet, then she speaks again, quietly, "Ohhhhhh."

Then a much longer moment of quiet, because she's now wondering if Neal and Malcolm finally did what they've been needing to do for quite some time, though maybe not in the best way possible.

"So, uh...did you two...?"

[abrightboy]

“No,” Malcolm tells her softly, squeezing his own hand against his tremor again. “Not me.”

[conning]

Neal studies his hands, feeling a little sick to his stomach. He doesn't even know the names of the people he slept with. He doesn't even remember their faces. It occurs to him, in an incidental way, that he should go to medical at some point after he gets some sleep.

Neal leans forward, pressing his face into his hands.

[retisense]

Oh, well, that's awkward. Real awkward.

The look on Malcolm's face and the sound of his voice is kind of heartbreaking, and Neal's reaction is just as bad. The way he leans in and pushes his face into his hands, the hunch of his shoulders.

Abby pours boiling water over the three tea bags, and considers for a moment. What she says next seems suddenly really important and she hates that.

"Shit happens."

That's all wrong and she knows it, but what else can she say?

"But it sounds like something was interfering, right? Maybe I can help you look into it?"

[abrightboy]

Malcolm doesn't believe something compelled Neal to do it, beyond depression and trauma. People who are upset do reckless things and things have been upsetting lately. He watches Abby out the side of his vision for a moment, then at Neal from under his brow. He thinks it's exactly what he said it was. Neal's shame reaction seems to match it.

But he's Neal's friend and that means not running away when he needs help to lick his own wounds. Neal isn't responsible for how he feels. He was honest about his own intentions and feelings.

"Look into it how?"

[conning]

Neal looks her way as well, curious himself. Part of him wants to know what happened so he can guard against it next time. Part of him wants to know what happened so he can do it again.

"I wasn't the only one. There was a whole group of us."

[retisense]

"Do you think you could find them again? Or do you remember anything about what the music sounded like?"

Somehow, it feels easier to dig into the mystery of what happened than it would be to just figure out how to comfort these two boys. As much as she wants to, she isn't sure she's equipped, not for both at once.

Picking up the teacups, she puts down the green tea in front of Malcolm, the mint in front of Neal, and then settles in with her own cup of chai, warming her hands on the porcelain cup.

[abrightboy]

"Do you think Jeff isn't the only person who can imbue music with magic?" Malcolm asks.

[conning]

Neal is about to take a sip of his tea and probably burn his mouth when Malcolm says that. He freezes.

"Wait, what?"

[retisense]

Blinking, Abby looks at the two guys, then takes a sip of her tea and sets it back down.

"Jeff is a bard. He does magic by playing music, I thought you knew that. I mean, I can do magic too, I just don't do it with music."

[abrightboy]

“He told me what his magic does. It doesn’t start orgies,” Malcolm assures. “But I guess somebody’s could.”

[conning]

Neal slowly puts his mug back on the table, his expression schooled into a relaxed calm. He remembers, barely, seeing Jeff. Jeff, in the middle of the throng, before Neal himself got caught up in it.

He finally raises the cup and takes a sip, not even wincing at the heat. "He might know if there's someone else around who can do it."

[retisense]

There's something about Neal's face that she doesn't like, but she doesn't comment on it, instead she just takes another sip of her tea, slurping a little to avoid the heat of the drink inside.

Did Jeff do this or something?

But then Neal says that he might know if someone else can do it, and there's a little relaxing surge of relief in her. She doesn't want to think Jeff did something like that with his magic.

[abrightboy]

"You guys seem to have a handle on this investigation," Malcolm admits. He gestures towards the door. "I'm just going to... I have to go to work." He gets up, tugging his jacket down after buttoning it.

[conning]

Neal starts to note the fact that Malcolm hasn't had any of his tea, but he stops himself. At least if Malcolm excuses himself there's one less massive bit of awkwardness to try and deal with.

Neal scrubs a hand through his hair, another twitch of guilt in his gut. He offers a tentative smile. "See you around."

[retisense]

Abby notices that Malcolm hasn't touched his tea either, but she's not going to mention it, because this situation is painfully awkward and honestly it's sparing the boys some of that too.

Besides, she's pretty sure she needs to talk to Neal.

"Okay sure, you mind if I check in on you later?" she asks, eyes flicking to Neal.

[abrightboy]

"I mean. If you... I'm fine, though," Malcolm points out. "I'm just. Going to be late. Let me know if you need any help with the whole... magic thing," he offers, heading for the door. "Feel better, Neal. Drink lots of water," he advises and then slips out the door.

[conning]

Neal watches the closed door for a moment, his thoughts coming and going to a background of static fuzz that won’t quite let him focus on any of them.

He pinches the bridge of his nose and shakes his head.