2019-06-17 - One Stormy Afternoon: Gilford House Edition

The first patter of rain began lightly enough against the windows that it wasn't particularly noticable to those inside. There was a half-abandoned board game on the floor, a movie playing on the TV, and snacks and drink containers scattered around. The house smelled, as it often did, of fresh-baked cookies, and Tobin's mother had been in the kitchen drinking a cup of tea while the kids hung out in the livingroom. That the storm was picking up wasn't really evident at first. But there was a slight chill in the cottage, one that didn't seem to have anything to do with the warm summer rain outside.

Despite what his home life was like, Byron was always that somewhat laid-back kid with so many ideas crammed into his head , that he was always eager to share these with his friends. He was always in good spirits when visiting Tobin's mom's cottage and today was no exception. By this time, his hair was beginning to get a little long, at least around his bangs and partially at the back of his head. He had on a tan colored love sleeved shirt beneath a denim jacket to go with those denim jeans and sneakers. "These cookies are delicious, Mrs. Gilford." He calls out, half-turned to regard Tobin's mother as he's munching on a cookie or two. Byron tended to kiss-up to parents for most of his youth, but he had a genuine appreciation for Tobin's mom.

Lilith doesn't complain a lot, but generally when she does, it's because she's bored and trying to rile the others into something new to skip into. And sometimes that's not the best thing, because as a kid, she has more Hank's zany flair for entertainment and it tends to make messes that suck to clean up. But this time she seems genuinely cold, pinpricked with goosebumps on her little arms as she complains to Tobin and Geoff and Byron nearby while crosslegged on the floor next to the coffee table, "It's cold, let's make a blanket fort or something."

She's maybe eleven or barely twelve while rubbing at her little arms, in that zone just before turning from bright eyed girl to lovely sprout of woman, all eyes and hair and energy sparks.

Then when Byron calls into the kitchen, she quite succinctly tells him he's a suck up before following tact to not be outshined in Tobin's mother's eyes, "... thank you for the cookies! I can taste the lovin'!"

Geoff had canceled plans for mischief that night when the gang started texting around they were going to be hanging out together, and had bugged Hank for a ride with Lilith when she was heading out. So when things inevitably began to slow down to the simply amusing themselves stage he had no problem with it, the youth not at all using the couch as it was intended, feet over the arm and laying half off of it. "Yeah Mrs.G the cookies are good." Geoff chimes in with Byron, the boy wearing a pair of basketball shorts and a black tee, his love of monochromatic clothing having started young.

Tobin rolls his eyes as both Lilian and Byron call out to tell his mom how much they love the cookies. But when she doesn't answer back, there's a slight furrow to his brow and he leaaaaans back to crane his neck and look into the kitchen. "Uh.." he says, but that's all that manages to come out of his mouth as he looks into the room.

First, there is no one there. Second, the back door is open, and the sound of the rain coming down hard is suddenly evident to everyone all at once, along with a warm breeze that comes in with that summer dampness -- which does not explain the chill in the livingroom at all.

"Mom?" Tobin calls out. Now, Tobin's mom wandering off was no new thing, not to anyone, but usually she didn't leave the door hanging open, and usually it wasn't while everyone was right there in the house with her.

But there's no response.

When Lilith complains of the cold, Byron shifts to shrug his jacket off to toss at her. "You should get a coat or something of your own. But I don't mind a good blanket fort." Before this, his hands and cheek could feel the chill, but without that jacket, he now realizes just how cold it really was in the living room. That Thorne kid is the type of person who revels in compliments or praise to his words or actions, especially from adults, so he does take notice when none is given in return.

Tobin calling out for his mother, has him really looking to see if he can catch any glimpse of Mrs. Gilford. The odd silence is somewhat disturbing. That's when his attention is drawn to that door that now swings open with the breeze, giving them a good view of the outdoors. He stirs from where he's seated, "Looks like she went outside." He states the obvious. Well it's the first thought that came to his mind anyway. He even starts moving that way to take a glimpse outside and maybe to shut the door if she didn't mean to leave it open.

Geoff swings his legs to stand up off the couch and walks over with Tobin to investigate the mystery of the mom who went outside "Weird I didn't see her go out at all." the boy scratching at his side as he sticks his head out the door to casually glance about. Looking over at Tobin he tilts his head to the side "Did your mom suddenly pick up smoking?"

Lilith doesn't catch on to something seeming off and seems girlishly charmed to be putting on Byron's jacket, despite ribbing him about being a suck up. initially she's not worried and late to the game with it while shrugging into the borrowed coat, because moms do mom things and Mrs. Gilford is no exception. Considering her own mother supposedly ran out when she was a tiny thing with no memory of the woman, she doesn't have a lot to compare to, and Hank literally made her and Geoff ride in the back of an old beater pickup because one of his 'inventions' was in the passenger seat. Also it was raining and they were lucky they got a ride. This time they were lucky that her dad had an actual ride he hasn't sold or traded to pay a debt this month, so a rainy ride in the back of a pickup? That's not mild negligence and child abuse, that's just something you make a game out of for people like Lil and Geoff. This time they pretended they were in a hurricane in Florida and decided it wasn't fun and that hurricanes suck.

"Maybe she had to go to the store." There's a little shrug with that but after Lilith says it, she leans on her hands, then shoves up in the boy's jacket over the cute summer yellow romper set the woman had around for her to change into once she got there to dry off. Tobin's mom was just like that. She wanders in her bare little feet toward the room and open door after the boys, suddenly piqued with curious concern. Then she breathes out an 'ohhh' at Geoff like that makes sense. It probably does in the trailers.

Tobin pulls himself up to his feet to go and take a look when Geoff and Byron head out toward the door. Mrs. Gilford, however, doesn't appear to be outside either. There's some little twinkling lights left on in the garden, but they don't illuminate much. The rest is rain and darkness. Except for a shadow that moves between them and those twinkling lights, just enough to disturb the view of them, just enough to allow the flicker of light to catch on reflective eyes. Then a second set, both blinking at the children standing in the doorway.

The sound that can be heard through the rain is a low, rasping growl. Tobin's eyes go wide and he says "Close the door! Close the door!"

In Byron's mind, Mrs. Gilford didn't look like the smoking type. They had this look about them, those smokers. "My dad's a smoker." He starts by saying, "And Tobin's mom's not like that." Whatever that means. Then he's there standing in the doorway with the others, even peeking his head outside to check if she's in some corner that they can't see from the doorway itself. He notices those twinkling lights in the distance, as captivating as they are, but he also senses the darkness that seems to fill the Gilford's yard. He's seen something similar to it before.

Seeing something blink out there, in the thick mist and fog, it's Tobin's cry for them to close the door that has him suddenly panicked and trying to get a better look. "But your mother might be out there!"

Geoff hears that growl and his eyes go wide, so when Tobin is calling for that door to be closed he just sort of ignores Byron's protests and slams the door closed, frantically fumbling with the deadbolt till he gets it in place. Leaning back against the door he looks amongst the others, eyes still wide asking "What the heck was that...I saw eyes and it's growling."

There's about two things Lilith looks like she's about to do when Tobin starts to panic and she hears the growling, though she can't really see fully around the boys looking out, being late to the game like she is with her concern and tailing behind. Initially, she huddles behind the boys to listen. But she can be a bold and fearless scamp here and there, and she's almost reckless about pushing her way toward the door when Byron says that bit about Mrs. Gilford being outside, like she's actually going to -do- something about it.

But then she's close enough to see the reflection of eyes and shadow block of the lighting through the rain. And she's a kid. Though she doesn't quite squeak with childlike surprise and fear, her voice shakes and she reaches to slam the door closed, but Geoff is already on it, as expected, the total Action Jackson of the team in whatever regard.

"She'd say..." Little rational Lilith might be together enough to start that sentence about what Mrs. Gilford would want and comply, but she's not finishing it because instead she's wondering quickly as the door swings to slam barrier, "... I couldn't see. What are... did you guys... should we..."

Her feet back herself up away from the door. And she eyes the lock and handle just in case. Animals and monsters can't work door handles, right?

Mrs. Gilford is not and has never been a smoker. She has also never had reflective eyes, either. When Byron exclaims that his mother might be out there, Tobin's eyes go even wider and he looks torn between the urge to put as much distance and solid objects between him and those eyes, and the fact that his mom might be out there in the garden with them. "MOM?!" he calls out again into the darkness, but there's no answer in return. His voice cracks a little with the strain, going up an octave in the midst of that cry. But then Geoff is doing exactly what he had said to do and is slamming that door shut and he looks even more stricken, unsure whether to try and run outside or hide inside.

Behind them, in the livingroom, there is the sound of tick tick tick against the glass, like the sound of something tapping, and not tapping lightly either. Lightning outside the window illuminates a shape there at the front of the house. Tobin rushes to the kitchen window to try to look out into the darkness of the back yard, to try to see if he can see his mother. "Where is she?" He doesn't even notice the sound behind them.

Sure he can see those eyes and hear that growl, but Byron's own eyes widen at the sound of the door slamming. "What if Tobin's mom is still out there? That thing will get her!" He tries to explain and looks like he might try to get the door unlocked just to make sure. A little half-heartedly, in truth. As much as he's trying to be a white knight, even he's afraid of what's lurking in the shadows. Especially when they hear that tick tick tick against the glass.

"Mrs... G.?" There's this fear in his heart that Mrs. Gilford might be trying to get in! But why is she not responding? So many thoughts go through his head, maybe the thing ripped out her tongue! Seeing where Tobin goes, Byron quickly move to find his own window or crowd around his friend's.

Geoff grumbles "So what if his mom is out there? She has keys and can get into the house or the car if she needs to. We don't need stranger danger guys." Glancing back towards the bedrooms he clears his throat and begins to edge that way "Though....Just saying this, not afraid or anything, we might be warmer if we all went and climbed under Tobin's bed and didn't say anything." His eyes darting to the windows with that tapping and looking around as if any one of the windows might be the portal to some horrible hellscape filled with ghosts and or goblins.

Lilith has an idea that entirely differs from Geoff's idea. She can't really form it verbally at first, though, she just stands and listens to that horrifying tick-tick on the glass with the semblance of claw noise, then watches the handle and lock as Byron thinks about working them open. As Tobin yells searching and Byron tries to see, she silently darts for the front door when she can move from frozen fear state.

Then she opens the damn thing. It's barely an open, though, really, it's just enough to yell HEY ASSHOLE and slam it noisily. Then she does it again like an attention draw without the yell three more times before slamming it to lock anew, looking over her shoulder, "Maybe if she's hiding we can get them to come around front so she can come in back! Are they moving?"

What appears at the window that Tobin and Byron look out of is not, in fact, Mrs. G. It's simply a very long fingered pale hand with sharp black claws at the end that tap tap tap at the glas right in front of their faces. Tobin lets out a shriek that is not in any way brave at all and grabs Byron's arm, dragging him bodily back away from the window.

The slam of the front door makes him jump again, spinning around to see Lilith opening and closing it two more times. The hand vanishes from the kitchen window, and for what seems an eternity there is nothing but the sound of the rain outside, and the occasional flash of lightning. Is it less disturbing, or more, that nothing is illuminated near the windows by the flashes.

Even still, there doesn't appear any sign of Mrs. Gilford either, not outside, not at the windows, not returning to the house, but also not outside either.

Byron's sharp eyes would have begun desperately searching for Mrs. G. once he reached that window, but once he sees the long clawed hand tapping against the window right before them, he can feel his breath caught up in his chest. Even without Tobin's help, Byron would've backed away, but with Gilford's tugging he gets moving a lot faster. "That's not Mrs. G." His voice quakes when he informs the others of what he saw in the vaguest of ways at first.

He's right about to turn and look on Geoff to see if he's got some kind of fort built up, but just like with Tobin, once they hear the slamming of the door, his heart stops. "We should call the police and tell them there's a monster outside." There, he said it. He saw a MONSTER. And now the other kids know too. He scrambles for the phone, stumbling once in his panic.

Geoff NOPE NOPE NOPE NOPE, that is the reaction Geoff has to this whole situation and when Lilith opens the door he is quickly doing his best to slam it once more and once against deadbolt "Damn it Lily were you drinking your dad's special juice?" and then Byron is saying monster "It's a monster! Monsters eat kids like us." And with that he is attempting to take her by the hand and drag her back towards the bedroom "Come on we need to hide." passing by the kitchen he says to the guys in a straight not so whisper whisper "Come on guys, we gotta get out from where it can see us."

Lilith has played some pretty nerdy action pretend games with the boys in bulk and is pretty street smart about stranger danger because she has to be with no real adult supervision over in the trailer hood. She was plenty scared, but really was trying to keep tactical to power through and maybe help Mrs. G get back inside if she's actually outside. Treat it like one of the games, right? As the girl she had to compensate and be twice as bold and fearless as the boys when it came to these kinds of things as a matter of principle sometimes.

But Tobin doesn't shriek when they play and Byron doesn't panic and want to call the police, Geoff doesn't want to hide, and when someone drops the word 'monster' it's because they made that monster all in the name of the game. And they did not make this monster. So all that bravery once she's had her moment of smoke and mirrors tactic distraction evaporates in a hurry afterwards and she's easily dragged along with Geoff.

She didn't see too clearly, but looking over her shoulder from the front door cacaphony, she saw and heard enough to not argue and has a sudden dread about the front door crashing down in lieu of the silence, "Guys, I-- think the shadows are starting to eat the light..." The hell does that mean? She doesn't know, but that's what it's starting to look like! Hissing at Tobin, she theorizes suddenly, "Flashlight!" Okay, she wants to shine lights at shadow monsters now. They really should stop taking her to fucking Kevin's. Or maybe she wants someone to have one just in case.

When Byron gets to the phone, the line is dead. There's no signal on the other side, just a kind of wash of static like the rain outside, crackling a little bit. Then there's a faint whisper on the other end of the line, a voice so faint it can barely be heard. Can he be sure what it's saying? No. It's very difficult to discern actual words. But whatever it is saying grows more insistant the longer that he listens.

Tobin stares at Lilith when she says flashlights like he's not even hearing her clearly, until it finally starts to register and he says "Hall closet." Because that's where the flashlights and the batteries are for when the power goes out. There's also candles, lighters, and a whole slew of household cleaning products and paper towels and things in there too. He backs away from the kitchen slowly and is visibly shaking. The fear in the room is palpable, and it doesn't take an empath to feel that.

Outside the thunder rumbles, and it is indeed as though the darkness is swallowing the light. The lights from nearby houses can no longer be seen outside the windows, nor can the street lights on Bayside. It's as though the entire world outside of the immediate area around the house had simply disappeared, swallowed up.

You'd think that after getting no signal on the phone, Byron would immediately hang it up. Well, he might have, if not for the whisper that he now hears coming from within the receiver. In the beginning, he's trying his best to decipher exactly what is being said, but when that voice becomes more forceful in tone, if not so much in volume, he fumbles with it to shut it off, before tossing it off to the side fearfully. That look on his face shows the fear running through him now. "There's someone on the other side." He starts, "And it's not the police. And they sound... angry."

It's Geoff's panic that has his spooked even more and he follows along quickly as everyone flees from the kitchen now. "Flashlights! Good idea! Should we draw all the curtains close and make sure the windows are secure? If we don't want them to see us!" Because Geoff has put it in his mind that they can see them in here!

Nodding along with that Geoff chimes in "Yeah we need flashlights." after a small pause he adds "And the cookies, grab the cookies we're probably going to be in there till morning. Don't want to be hungry." He definitely is going to keep dragging Lily till they are in the bedroom, after all he can't possibly let her think about being a hero anymore.

Once they are in the bedroom the first thing he does is flip on the light, then it's a mad dash to pull the blinds down on the window, maybe not so much so whatever it is can't see in, but so that he can't see it, after all what you can't see can't hurt you "We need to make it so the blankets hang down to hide us....That or the closet, bu--..." And now he's need to check the closet to make sure there is nothing ready to jump out from there.

Geoff does live next door, more or less, and sees more of the shit Lilith pulls when she's getting creative without anyone else to see and... it has Hank + Superhero written all over most of those things which might be a bad combo for right now, admittedly. One time she even pulled a bat on a debtor that came to beat Hank's ass and the guy ended up facing down a seven year old with a Louisville Slugger about to kneecap him while Hank ducked out the back. The guy wasn't sure what to do with all that but he did leave.

So it's maybe not a surprise he doesn't think -she- should be the one with a flashlight to hail these things like a lighthouse she's carrying and treating as a light sabre. That leaves poor Byron and Tobin to decide whether or not to bring cookies and secure the perimeter. However, once she's in the bedroom, when Geoff is checking the closet and closing the blinds, she's going to grab blankets and... well. A baseball bat. Surprise.

"Did it sound like a... monster?" She wonders this while being yanked.

There's a general mad scramble for Tobin's room and that's where they all hole up with the lights on and the blinds closed. Flashlights, cookies, and blankets have all been acquired and the construction of a rudimentary fort in which to hide has begun. The storm outside continues on, and the rain seems to only get harder, coming down in sheets though they can't see it with the windows closed. Even with the lights on, however, the flicker of lightning can still be seen.

Of course, that's when the lights go out.

And only the flashlight remains to illuminate their small fort. Tobin helps to arrange the blankets, checking for holes, spots where anyone could see in. When the lights go out he freezes and holds very still. There's a glance toward Geoff, and one toward Lilith, checking that they're still there.

Somewhere, down the hall, there's a slow creaking sound, the kind made when someone steps on a loose board, or when a door begins to open whose hinges are a bit on the squeaky side.

Some think of Byron as some brave kid. Not afraid of ghost stories, or if he is, he tries not to show it, even if he often makes sure to return home by a certain time and refrains from the more risky adventures. I digress! That said, Byron knows first hand what a real monster can do. He lives with one. Something about this and the creeping darkness that he's been witnessing more and more just felt so much different than a mere tale in which to frighten children with. He's actually seen something out there. And from what he's heard over the phone, the thing wants inside.

"It..." He stammers, "sounded angry." He'll say, darting behind the others and into the safety of Tobin's room. There's this near sense of relief that comes over him once the door is shut and they are bundled together beneath blankets and behind pillows.

"I think." He continues on, now that they are huddled, "That it wanted i--" Then the lights go out and he falls perfectly silent. If he had a cookie in hand, he wasn't eating it now! He's had to use this quiet, whispery voice at home some times, "...it's here." He practically breathes out and from behind a protective blanket, he watches the space beneath the bedroom door.

"You're breathing on me really loud..." Lilith tells Geoff in the huddle of their prepped fort while they're all sitting there blanket forted and prepped with terror, flashlight, cookies, and bat. No one really wants her to swing that bat, though, seriously. Her enthusiasm means jack squat for her aim or strength and she's just as likely to pop one of them with it trying to swing at something in the dark, besides. She also doesn't sound irritated about the accusation over Geoff's way so much as she's kind of trying to calm him by pointing that out. But she's breathing shallow and quick herself with little pants that turn into a gasp when the lights go.

Before that moment, though, she's just staring at Byron's explanation with general anticipation and fear. Then of course, when it's dark, she does that kid obvious thing that sounds obvious with reflex instead of quiet, rigid and still and waiting, "Shhh."

All four children freeze inside the fort of blankets, cookies forgotten. One can almost feel all four hearts racing. Breathing sounds so much louder in the silence of the room. There comes a creak again, and another, a slow and steady approach down the hall. Within the blankets, there's no way to see what is going on, no way to know what might be approaching the door.

Tobin screws his eyes closed and grabs onto Lilith and Byron's arms simultaneously and holds onto them, trying to be as silent as he can, even going so far to hold his breath, which isn't going to make things any better for very long.

In this darkness, with no light on the other side of that door, it's hard for Byron to determine anything. He can't see much, the darkness seeming unnatural, but they all can hear it. This something moving out there. He hated being this scared, this inability to do or say anything, because if he did, it might spark the anger of... His mind returns to the thing lurking outside. He saw the ghostly clawed hand outside, heard the voice over the phone. And yet, in his mind, he gives this thing an all too familiar face.

He's never been in this situation with his friends gathered around him, so at Lilith's shushing and feeling Tobin's grip and the frightened breath coming from Geoff behind them all, he continues to speak as quietly as possible, head turned into the blanket that's draped over them, "Don't think of anything. He can hear your thoughts."

Lilith doesn't really stop to wonder how Byron knows that. Part of that is the moment, sure, but the other part is related to the pieces of her that would trust him to throw her into a canyon if he said it were the way to go. And something about Tobin's gripping touch has her breath nearly syncing to his with automatic response of trust and bond while frozen with the cold anticipation of waiting dread. She holds her breath too, like it's suddenly too loud and she tries to make her mind quiet too, so quiet.

Her eyes are open instead of closed and she's not seeing through the thick dark, but one of the last things she really thinks about and uses as a focus to shush her fear and all the other things is... how odd it is she can see them lit up, somewhere in her mind in that little space, touching each other like sparks of electricity in a moment of forced grounding. She doesn't need to see at all to see it. They're all a little shiny there together, something inexplicable as backsplash.

She waits. And she's so very, very quiet. And when Tobin forgets to re-up his breath he's holding, her fingers clench a little to remind him subconsciously with pulse of pressure. Her other hand squeezes tight on Byron's fingers with faith of presence and trust while she listens to Geoff breathe, quieter himself now.

It's when the doorknob begins to turn that Tobin lets out that shuddering breath he'd been holding and then immediately claps both hands over his mouth. The door opens slowly, just a crack, and then a voice follows, a very familiar voice. "You kids alright in here?" Mrs. Gilford looks into Tobin's bedroom, where all four children are huddled beneath a quickly constructed fort of blankets in the darkness. "The power's out down the whole street, but I brought up some flashlights." She has one in her hand, and the beam shines into the room, the light of it landing on the makeshift fort.

It's hard for Byron to remain perfectly still, his anxiety heightened, this scene feeling all too familiar to him. So he rocks gently back and forth instead, doing his best to clear his minds of all thoughts. That doesn't mean that all sparks of fear is entirely quenched. Nothing of the sort. Despite trying to empty out his every thoughts, just the sound of the board creaking out there will make that terror level in him spike in sudden bursts.

Then there's that sound of the doorknob twisting, an all too eerie noise that makes him feel faint with growing tension. He, himself, doesn't shut his eyes closed and in a sense, watching and waiting is what he's used to do to prepare himself for what's to come next. It doesn't mean that he says anything, his mind already lost into his own thoughts now. This was his way of Flight in the Fight or Flight process.

Then out of the darkness comes the comforting and warm voice that belongs to Tobin's mother. This pulls him out of the shock that he'd put himself into and his eyes quickly blink. He won't rouse himself from beneath the protection of the blankets. Right now, it's difficult for him to trust anything that he sees or hears, but there's is this part of him that wants to cry out in relief. Slowly, he turns this pale and stony-faced look in Tobin's direction.

Lilith really has to fight her reflex not to fling herself out of the blanket suddenly at the sound of Tobin's mother's voice, but her own fear and relief and jolt of the changing moment takes a backseat that makes it a little easier. It's Tobin's mother afterall. And something about Byron's fear isn't settling well with her, so after huffing out a hard breath, she sits still and finally pipes up from under the blanket, "... we got scared." Obviously. They clearly aren't there playing doctor in the dark from the shaky sound of her own voice.

She takes advantage of the beam of light shined their way to permeate through the fabric for a long look at Tobin and Byron and Geoff in turns, like she's not sure what to actually do now that things are okay and she's not flinging herself out of the blankets at Ms. G. Or how to explain that they thought she got eaten by a monster. She lets someone else take the lead there.

When he hears the sound of his own mother's voice talking to them as if everything were perfectly normal, there's a sudden wave of both fear and relief mixed together. Part of him fears that it is not actually his mother, and part of him knows that it is. It's the part of him that knows that it is that has him scrambling from beneath the blankets. He pulls himself out from under the blankets and wraps his arms around her and hugs her tightly. "There was something at the window... where did you go?"

Tobin's mother wraps one arm around Tobin. She can sense the fear, feel it rolling off them. "It's okay, it's just me. There's no one here but us. Come on back downstairs. Bring the cookies, and we can all curl up on the couch and wait out the storm." She moves then to kneel down by the blankets and lifts it so that they can see her clearly. It's Tobin's mom, the same as ever, the same as she'd been sitting in the kitchen drinking her tea before everything went crazy. The rain has subsided to a dull patter against the windows once more, and soon, the power flickers, and comes back on.

Dark eyes watch Tobin tentatively as he crawls out from beneath their blanket fortress and into his mother's embrace. That's almost enough for Byron to make his way out too, but something within him feels not fear, but shame. He was good with bottling up his problems from his friends and here, Byron felt as if he failed them. With Tobin's reunion with his mother out there, of course, Byron felt this relief that Mrs. G. wasn't dead. He'd envisioned that all in his mind too!

A cautious look is first given Geoff, though his eyes lower when he turns to Lilith, as if he's unable to make eye contact with her, "Everything will be alright." He tries his best to reassure her, though by then and with the appearance that Mrs. Gilford makes to the entrance of their fort, at that moment, all three kids should have felt that wash of relief come over them.

Then at this snap of a finger, Byron forces a smile up at the warm motherly woman, moving to stand so that he can give her a hug. That's more than he'd ever given his own mother. "We were worried about you, Mrs. G." Though he doesn't say why. "But looks like everything is OK now."

Lilith looks at Tobin's mother with big eyes a hint wary in unwitting fashion when the blanket is fully flipped back, as if the sudden comfort and warmth and general normalcy is too good to be true, but she comes around and smiles after a reassured, listening and watching moment. She seems to realize Byron is kind of avoiding looking at her, so she does him the favor of side eyeing him and nodding good and solid instead of dwelling on it. But she huddles there in his borrowed jacket for a moment while watching him go for his turn with the hug.

Then she's popping up to steal her turn shamelessly after all that patience in the world to feel the touch of adult safety and comfort. Hank, for his part, forgets to pick her up. But she probably didn't want to go home anyway. And if Byron thinks he's getting that jacket back any time in the next twelve to twenty four hours, he should probably think again. But it's not like he's going to take it from her. He might even forget on purpose.