Memory Glitch (Book 2 in the "Glitched" Series)

[TWELVE - Reminds Him Of An Old Married Couple]

'So you're telling me, that the 'Landers actually made a second base, and the mountain blew up?'

'Pretty much, yeah.'

'...Dang' Preston whistled quietly, looking down to his hands and crossing his legs under the blanket. After having to explain (to a rather confused Preston) what had happened after he'd been kidnapped, Rob leant back against the wall and ran a hand through his hair tiredly 'When we came back to check for survivors, because for whatever reason some of us woke up down here, when we couldn't find you-'

'Rob started to have a massive panic, running around and screaming that he was going to kill anybody if you'd been hurt.' Jerome interrupted with a cheeky grin, the wolf hybrid just glaring at him as their younger friend bit back a smile. He was still confused, but hearing that Rob would do something that extreme to make sure he was safe? He found it slightly... Adorable. Seriously, you don't hear that every day 'Aw Robbie, you really do care about me!'

Yet again, all Rob did was glare, but with a bit more humour than the last look 'Of course I do, you fudger - You went missing for I don't know how long, then you go and almost get yourself killed, I literally can't let you out of my sight!'

'Y'know, you two remind me of an old married couple,' Mitch decided to pitch in at this point, leaning forwards in his chair and lacing his fingers together, 'Fight a lot, but you're also super protective over eachother.'. Jerome nodded in agreement to this while Preston and Rob just let out random noises of protest 'We do not!'

'Kinda do though.' The Texan just shook his head, laughing silently and leaning back against the headboard. He'd missed all of this; Just him and his family, joking around like the good old days.
But, speaking of family-

He had to ask. 'Uh, guys... Did my Mom make it out of the mountains? Like, did she survive the attack?' The two visible hybrids looked at eachother, as if unsure of what to do, while Mitch just shrugged and played around with a smoky grey ball of his magic. An awkward silence fell upon the group, with only the slight "woosh" noise of the Canadian's ball, and Preston glanced between the two oldest.

'Guys?'

'She managed to get out of it reasonably unharmed, yeah, but we're just kind of surprised that you asked. I mean, she did attempt to possibly kill you.' He felt a slight pang in his heart as those words floated around the room, and he felt himself sub-consciously moving a hand to where one of the obsidian splotches had been. That could have scarred him forever, it's true, but maybe... Maybe she had changed 'I hate to say it, but she's still my Mom. I should at least talk with her, y'know? Try and clear the air.'

'Preston, what if Kira doesn't recognize you? You still look like a human - No offense to you, Mitch' The bacca hybrid pointed out, and the brunet just shook his head before dispelling the ball and standing up 'None taken biggums, my particular species can be right idiots sometimes. You have a point though, Preston still looks human - Wait, what about that kid? Ah, can't remember his name... Harley?'

'Harvey.'

'That one, yeah. Maybe he can find a way to speed up the whole "Regaining powers" thing?' After testing out his own abilities once passing the barrier, the Canadian had gained control rather quickly, but Preston's appearance hadn't changed one bit. 'We could ask him, yes, but he's changed his opinions on humans since the battle. Finds you guys slightly more threatening.'

Mitchell felt guilty at that point, knowing that it was his village that had caused this, and started to play with his hands behind his back. It was a nervous habit that had returned after losing his bow, but had just grown more severe since he'd gone back to the village 'Yeah, right... Sorry.'

'It wasn't you, alright? Don't blame yourself ' Jerome comforted, placing a hand-paw on the shorter's shoulder, 'It was just the people from your village, they overreacted. I'm pretty sure we would have done the same if this happened to one of us.'

'It literally did happen, remember? I tried to storm the village.' The older brunet of the half-team pointed out, moving to sit with Preston on the bed as his tail drooped a bit. 'Yeah, well, you had literally nothing else to do. Robert cannot get a Job...ert.' Preston joked, pulling his friend into a tight side-hug.

They didn't do much else, really. Just bantered about for a bit, making up for some lost time and tossing stories around like they were kids once again. It was probably the most relaxing thing any of them had done in a long, long time.

~~~

Lachlan still hadn't found Vik. He was beginning to regret not accepting Red and Minx's help, it would have been a good idea - An eye in the sky, and a skilled hunteress. Not his smartest move 'For fudge's sakes, Vik, where are you?!'

The shorter male wasn't even replying to the telepathic messages Lachlan had been quick-firing through his mind as he jogged through the forest. He would have flown himself, but after his last "episode" he knew that it would just compromise both him and his friend "Suddenly realisation, Lachlan, he could be unconscious. Or dead. Or incapacitated oh MY NOTCH WHY DIDN'T I KEEP AN EYE ON HIM?!"
'Vik, scream if you're not dead!' He yelled, cupping his hands to amplify the sound as he looked around. The blond was reaching the bottom of the mountain now, still keeping an eye out for a flash of black or blue. It shouldn't have been that hard, but since he was... Y'know, small, he would have been able to get into places that Lachlan couldn't.
No scream or reply came back, but he was partially glad about that. If he had screamed, then the dragon would have known that he was in danger. But on the other hand, at least he would have known, and not been in the dark about the whole thing 'Oi Icky Sticky, where you at?'
This time, he got a response - Not in the way he'd expected. A low growl seemed to echo around the forest, as if being backed up by two more.

The growl of a dragon.

Being a hybrid, he was able to loosely understand it as "The star master has returned!". The reptilian sounded young, and overexcited. It also reminded Lachlan of a time ago, when he had a dragon himself "Salt was probably lost... Damn."

'Oh, hey Lachlan!' Snapping out of his thoughts, the Australian whipped his head around to see Vik standing a few feet away with a goofy smile. Next to him, with one of it's three heads resting on his shoulder, was a white-and-gold dragon. The three pairs of eyes all focused on Lachlan at once, and something that could have been a smile made it's way onto the three scaly heads 'And the tall master!'
'Wait, Salt?' He breathed, taking a step forwards as the dragon moved towards him. The reptilian creature nodded, and the blond let out a shaky laugh before dashing for the dragon and flinging his arms around it's middle neck 'Oh my Notch, Salty, I thought that you had been killed! How are you - What-'

'Master, please do not cry' Noticing this, Vik walked so that he was by Lachlan's side and carefully placed a hand on his arm to feel him shaking - He really was crying 'Lachlan, Lachlan, don't cry... Salt's alright, he's been here all this time!'
'He - Were you, you waiting for me?'
'Yes' In reality, this just made Lachlan want to cry even more. His dragon had been waiting for all these years, but he'd given up looking after only one? 'How did you manage to escape? I thought you, thought you couldn't fly'. The dragon crouched down so that it was around his Master's height, letting out a quiet puff of uncomfortable warmth from his left head and freezing air from the right. 'A human found me, and released me into the wild after making sure I had healed. I find it rather remarkable.'

'Alright, this is one of the most heart-warming things I've seen all... Eh, it's just the sweetest thing I've seen ever'.
'Choco, you just... Shut up.'
'Sorry, but Vikklan was being adorable.'

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

MITCH KNOWS.

MITCH KNOWS ALL.

WHAT MITCH SEES, MITCH SHIPS

ALL HAIL MITCH.

Same with Choco actually, mah gahhhhhd.

See you all in the next chapter, and have a great Morning - Afternoon - Evening - Dawn - Dusk - Midnight - Paranormal Timezone!