2021-09-24 - Wake Up to a Break Up

Kip had fallen asleep in the usual state. Clad in one of Rekani’s t-shirts and snuggled up to the Latino man with his built in heat source. In the apartment at Broadleaf which she had recently joined him and Nova in. So when she rolled over and nearly fell off the bed instead of her arm draping over the expected figure that was Rekani, it was enough to start her awake. “What the..” She mumbled sleepily, trying to get her wits about herself.

Sitting up slowly, she looked around in a fugue of confusion. This wasn’t their room. This was the room at the old ladies house. Why was she here? And her clothes were...wrong. She was in a pair of shorts and a tank top instead of Rekani’s t-shirt. Panic started to grip her. Was this a Dream?? Except that it didn’t feel like one. The air wasn’t filled with static. Nothing was overcast outside beyond the normal.

Kip reached for her phone, a tremor running through her hand as she snatched it up. Immediately, something else was wrong. Her screensaver was back to a picture of herself and her brother, Peter from shortly before she left for the states. It should have been a picture of her and Rekani at Calle Ocho in Miami when they were down there visiting his uncle and some other family members, shortly before the storm had hit.

She went to text messages. Things from her brother and from some other friends. 'You were too good for him anyway'. 'He’s an idiot for letting you leave. You’ll find someone else. More panic. She found her text thread with Rekani. August 13th. Wait a second. August?!?!. Wasn’t it just like June or July or something when she went to bed? Things were just getting weirder. She scrolled up some to look at the text messages from other people. Later in August. September? She pulled down the date on her phone. September 16th. None of this made sense.

Kip went back to the thread with Rekani to see the last thing she had texted to him. 'We’ve been through this already and I’m not doing it again. I love you, but we both need space right now. I’m not making any promises for anything right now. Don’t call or text me until you get you’ve got yourself together. '

What the fuck did that even mean? She was so confused and definitely more than a little scared. Kip started scouring the room for...anything. Anything that Rekani had given her or any of his shirts but...nothing. None of the jewelry, none of the lingerie. Anything he had given her seemed to be gone. “Nonono…” She tried to think. If she had broken up with Rekani, she knew there had to be at least one thing she’d have kept. But where would she have hidden it?

Kip grabbed up her phone again. The only person she could think of to call was Rekani. Maybe he would know something? Anything.

Bzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

Rekani awoke groggy. Something was making noise.

Bzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

He tries to roll toward it. There was a body in the way. It was soft, small. He grins in his sleepy mind, reaching past the woman to pick the buzzing phone up off the nightstand. Then rolls back over while cracking his eyes open. It was a number without a contact. It seemed... familiar somehow but... No, if it was important, they’d be named. So he just hits a side button to kill the vibration and drops it on the bed next to him, rolling back over to cuddle Kip. He wraps his arms around the naked body beside him, which shifts back against him and makes a noise. New, higher pitched. He smirks sleepily. He loved when the mature woman he loved made cute sounds. He tucks his face into her hair. She smelled slightly different, a slightly fruity smell, sweet, and the strands felt slightly coarser against face. Maybe she’d used hair spray for date night or something. In the wane light of the morning, his eyes are open for only a moment....

And catch a flash of blue.

He opens his eyes fully in confusion. The hair was blue. Kip never changed her hair from the rich chocolate. This was... and why was she so pale? Did she get a shoulder tattoo?

It all clicks in a moment and Rekani recoils, the reaches and grabs the covers, whipping them ack and off the nude woman in bed next to him. Understandably, she groans and starts to curl into a ball as the warmth of a shared bed is ripped away from her. Cherry. Cheryl, actually, but Cherry was her stripper name. She’d only started about a week ago, Rekani remembered. Had Nova brought her home? She reaches back toward the covers and the DJ, starting to roll and stretch her body. She acted like she belonged there.

“What the fuck, bitch, get out of my bed!” Rekani unceremoniously shoves her off the bed. She topples to the floor with a sleepy groan. Rekani sits up straight, now realizing he wasn’t wearing any more than her. His thoughts start to race. He was sure he’d gone to bed next to his girlfriend last night. Had she left early this morning and Nova’s cokehead conquest crawled into his bed? The woman on the floor untangles herself and starts to get up. There’s a resentful look sent Rekani’s way, but her only words are, “Fuck this, I need a bump.” Before she wanders out of his room with no thought given to modesty. Goddamn strippers, man.

Rekani checks his phone. No texts on the home screen from Kip, so maybe it was fine. Drugs caused people to do weird ass things before, so Rekani just had to calm down and hopefully not have to explain this to Kip later. He picks a vape up off the nightstand and brings it to his mouth, depressing the button and sucking on it.

He coughs. Rekani coughs. What wattage was this thing set too? His vision swam. What was in this? He continues to hack loudly while he rolls onto the side of the bed, hand on his knees as he tries to get air and sense back.

Voicemail. Voicemail?!

That did nothing to quell Kip's anxiety. She kept hold of her phone and hurried downstairs where the old lady, Lorraine, was sitting and drinking coffee. She looked a little surprised. "Kip, dear, what's the rush? Are you late for work or something?"

Kip paused. Was she late for work? No. Impossible, she worked night shifts normally didn't she? Whatever, that wasn't her primary concern. "Oh, uh. No ma'am. Just uhm. Can't find my car keys! And have an...errand to run!" She lied, pretending to look through some couch cushions.

"I know driving isn't your favorite, but I feel much better with you driving instead of driving in that car with that Nazario boy and his loud music." Lorraine casually took another sip of coffee and Kip's anxiety just kept...skyrocketing.

"Right yes." She mumbled. She happened to glance out the window and blinked. She saw Lorraine's car but also another one. A nice one. Was that hers? It wasn't the car that Rekani had helped her buy and fix up. Where was that car? She fled back up the stairs, feeling tears starting to well up because of how wrong everything was.

She tried calling Rekani again while actually looking for car keys this time. Muttering in Russian for him to pick up. There they were. Car keys to the car that was somehow hers. Maybe she should put on real clothes? It was probably cold out at least. Her head was swarming with too many thoughts. She collapsed back on to the bed and stared up at the ceiling. If he didn't pick up? She was immediately calling a third time.

Bzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

His phone was going off again.

“Bruh,” Rekani mutters hoarsely to himself as he silences the strange number from ringing a second time. He was trying to get his head together. Was this even his vape? It looked different from the last box mod, at least. He sniffs it. Damn, that oil smelled dank. Must be a stronger strain. And this was a drip tank. It burned hotter. Whoever this belonged to must want to get fucked to face-numbing. He sets it down, now a little nauseous, and leans to pull open a drawer to get some boxers. He probably needed to shower. He smelled heinous.

There was a picture of his Tio on the top of the dresser. It looked weird, half of it was missing, like it was cut off where someone else was in it...

Bzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

This time, Rekani snatches his phone up, clicking accept and barking annoyedly into the line, “Fuck, what?”

Kip winced at Rekani's tone. His words. Was she actually just crazy? Did she somehow just block everything out of her mind? There's a moment or two of silence but she makes a noise, like she's trying to form words but failing for a second. Maybe it was just to make sure he didn't hang up on her while she tried to talk.

"Rekani?" She half asked finally, sitting up and wiping her eyes. Trying to collect herself and clearing her throat some. "I don't know what's happening."

"Please tell me you know...anything ? Have you looked at the date? Look at the phone date." Talking is hard. Her mouth feels dry. Her stomach is churning. "Something bad happened." But why and how? Kip has absolutely no idea.

“Mami?” Rekani answers as he hears her voice, hears her tell him she doesn’t know what’s happening. Was Rekani slow on the uptake? Absolutely. But there was no quicker way to send him in a spiral of gut wrenching terror than hearing the woman he loved almost on the verge of tears.

“Baby? What’s wrong what do you-...” He takes a quick moment to pull his phone away from his face. He looks at the date, but... what was different? Again, slow on the uptake, he was already bringing his phone back to his face... Then pulls it away again. Summer was gone. ’Something bad happened.’ Those were all the words he needed.

“Where are you.” His voice was steady. He was getting up, tucking the phone into his shoulder, pulling on his underwear, then reaching for clothes.

Okay, good, he wasn't talking like they were actually broken up. That was important. That probably meant he didn't know what was going on either. Or maybe he was just taking pity on her because she was in a state. "I, ah...Lorraine's house." She managed to get out. She parts her lips as if she wants to say more. He can hear the shallow intake of breath but instead she just exhales first. Trying to not completely lose it. "I'm so confused." But she also didn't think him coming here would be a good idea. Not with Lorraine here. Not after what the woman said.

"Meet me at the park. I ..need fresh air." There's a beat of pause as she recalled that last text and she added, "I love you, zaichik." She'd wait for his confirmation before hanging up and getting proper clothes on after all. Jeans and a long sleeved shirt. There was another desperate, but quick, search of the room for the necklace he'd given her on her last birthday. She always wore it but now...she just couldn't find it anywhere. Giving up, Kip made a soft noise of frustration before grabbing the car keys and hurrying out of the house before Lorraine could question her further.

As Kip drove through town she marveled at how...normal people were acting. Just going about their day to day like someone didn't just flip a switch and make it autumn. It made her question her sanity even further. The park had been mostly cleared of it's debris and Kip claimed one of the benches close to the parking lot so she could keep an eye out for Rekani.

If they were broken up, Rekani certainly wouldn’t sound so confused about her being at her old landlord’s house. “What? Why? Old lady kick off?” But he would listen and agree, “Yeah, see you soon.” Beat. “I love you, too, mamacita.”

Shirt, pants, shoes. No time to pick the right outfit, just the first things in his drawers. White tee, blue jeans, white trainers. Well, whatever was going on, at least he was still keeping his clothes clean? But then it hits him. He moved his pants drawer. That was where Kip’s drawer had been. He stops dead in the middle of his room and starts to look around. None of her things were there. No shoes. No clothes. The pictures she’d stuck in the mirror of them were gone.

The missing half of the picture of his uncle was her.

His heart dropped into his stomach. The drip vape was coming with him. And just in time for his next shock. He couldn’t find his keys. He never lost anything, that was just part of his powers. The only keys he could find was Kip’s. It didn’t have any of her keychains on it, but it was the key to her old beater he’d fixed up. She rarely drove it, really, since they’d been together. She only needed it when she needed to go to the store or work.

Whatever. He heads downstairs, passing Cherry now passed out in just a blanket on their sectional, her head lolled bonelessly back and aside. Sure enough, Kip’s car was parked in his assigned spot.

Some time later, having driven as carefully as he needed to in the creaky, hesitant beater, he parks, gets out, a cloud escaping his mouth, though making a sound like clearing his throat. It was still too damn strong, and it was unregulated so he couldn’t lower it. He wipes at his eyes and looks out for Kip.

Like most young adults, Kip had gone through a phase where she tried smoking. It didn't stick, but right now waiting for Rekani, Kip was almost wishing she'd had a cigarette. Or a piece of gum. Or maybe a couple shots of vodka on hand. Something to distract. To keep from being idle. She had flipped back and forth on calling Peter, but there was no way she could fake her way through a conversation with him to learn information. He would know immediately. Plus it was...probably a ridiculous hour over there right now. She looks confused when Rekani pulls up in her car. Where was his car? Kip's eyes slide briefly to her own ride and makes a mental note to check and see if it's possibly just a rental. She does so hate driving and Kip couldn't see herself going out and buying a car from a dealership or shelling out the by owner price for something like it.

A thought for later. For now? She's getting to her feet once the car is in a spot and quickly walking towards it. All she wants right now is to hug him and be hugged by him because everything is turned upside down and that's the only thing that makes sense. She's managed to hold it together so far but it's highly likely that as soon as she's in his arms she's going to lose it. The shock and confusion and just...all the uncertainties of everything. Not just about what possibly could have happened with them, but also as to why is was suddenly three months in the future.

There were few times where Rekani seemed serious, absolute rarities among the montage of jovial and silly the DJ always affected. These islands of no mirth were always when it involved his family or Kip. Really, she was both those things. He looked concerned, and for a lot of reasons, but seeing her come toward him, it was almost magnetic attraction that made his big arms fling open and pluck her tiny self up by the waist, hugging her close.

“Fuck, mamacita, you had me so worried.” He was strong now, she might have noticed or not. He’d kept putting in some gym time. She would come effortlessly off the ground if she let him. But the embrace would have to lessen eventually, and he’d put her down, one hand running up to the side of her face so he could tilt it up and look at her, “What’s going on?”

Kip made a soft sound of surprise that dissolved into a strange sort of brief laugh when he picked her up so easily. She threw her arms around his neck, clinging to him. Her face buried into his shoulder as she started crying, just getting out all that pent up emotion, and didn't let go until finally put her back on to her feet. She wiped at her eyes with a sleeve and shook her head. "I don't know." She managed to get out, taking in a shuddering breath. "I remember going to sleep next to you. I remember we were talking about going to maybe see a movie. And then now, I wake up in my old room. In different clothes. Three months later..." She looks up at him, expression full of worry.

"But the people. They all seem to be fine. Like nothing is weird." There's a pause. A hesitation. "And I couldn't find any of the things you've gotten me. And there were texts on my phone that I don't understand." She wraps her arms around his middle, giving a squeeze. "I'm very confused." She can't bring herself to say that they seemed to have broken up. She can't fathom why they would have. Sure he wasn't perfect, but neither was she. "...and what happened to your car?"

What she doesn’t get with her sleeve, he gets with his thumbs, and then the rest of her words can be paid attention to after he presses a long, passionate kiss to her lips. When he breaks it again, he rests his forehead against hers briefly before straightening and letting his arms drape around her shoulders.

“I don’t fuggin’ know, babe. You think it was that crazy old bitch in the dreams?” He wonders. He seemed breathless. For all the serious manner he’d affected, her arms around him could tell he was breathing hard, even shaking a little. He’d been seriously worried about her and the adrenaline was wearing off. “I dunno, I dunno.” He repeats again. So many questions, and all he wanted to do was hold onto her. Then...

“You think...?” His brows lower, wondering. She feels his gift stir, one hand loosening from around her and waving. What usually felt like stiff cardboard to push through... ripped open like tissue paper. He looked stunned, staring right through a door into the veil.

The kiss is accepted and returned. Clinging to those familiar feelings in all this confusion. Kip sighed and gave a little shrug. "I don't know." It was coming her new favorite phrase apparently. "Maybe it was? She did imply that whatever was coming was going to effect the Other Side too." She shifted when she felt his gift and slightly stepped to the side to look towards the opening. Her own eyes widening as she saw the interior.

"...That is bad. Yes?" He opened it so easily. She could feel the energy more acutely. "This has to be part of the reason for the time changing." Though that still left more questions then answers. "We need to figure out what's gone on." She murmured finally, looking back up at him. "What we have missed." And why all their stuff was seemingly gone from the others lives.

"I just... I wanted to make sure we weren't Dreaming. That..." His eyes eventually treat themselves away for the tear in reality, looking down at his hand in confusion. "Why was that so easy?" His lifts the hand again after a moment's thought and makes a circular motion with his hand closing into a first, like a last calling an orchestra to silence. The hole begins to knit itself closed, albeit slowly. He looks back to Kip.

"Where do we even start?" Because she was the thinker, the brains... The responsible one. But at least he has a thought. He pulls the keys out to her old car and holds them up to her.

"It's never been that easy before, right?" Kip chewed her lip lightly and she shook her head. She didn't know where to start or what to do. When he held up her keys, she just kind of stared at them for a moment before taking them from him. "We should find out what happened to your car." She decided. One step at a time. She dug out the car keys to her 'new' car, the key was on the key chain that the clunker's should have been on. "And I also should find out if this is a rental or not."

Kip looks a little hesitant. "...What if we find something we don't like?" Well, clearly they already had. But what about when they get their answers?"

"Nope." The simplest answer, but that was a section that seemed less important than what had happened to their lives, individually or not. Rekani tried to be reassuring, even in his uncertainty himself. He would probably end up regretting his words later...

"It doesn't fucking matter as long as we're together." He lossens his grip, but he reaches for her hand. The last thing he wanted now was to be separated again. "Ok, let's go check the registrations."

Kip gives is hand a squeeze. "You're right. As long as we're together." She crawls into the clunker to grab the paperwork and comes back out, unfolding the paper and looking at it with him. The registration was in his name as of early August according to the paperwork. She frowns at his. "I..." She starts to say and then stops. No. She doesn't want to give life to those thoughts. Instead she just sets the papers on the driver seat and walks to the passenger side of the new car. Looking through the glove box she finds the paper and shakes her head. "It is a rental." Showing him the papers. But why would she have put the car over to him in the first place?

"Call your work? Maybe you left your car there for an oil change or something?" Kip pondered. But didn't sound very convinced.

"That makes sense," Rekani guesses, watching Kip read stuff, "If my car's having work done, I'd drive the beater, and make sure you had the reliable car." He did have some pretty chauvanist tendencies like that he could thank his Latin roots for. He looks more confused as he says it, though, even as he's pulling out his phone. "But who would I let work on my car?" He clicks through his contacts to his favorites, no Body by Jack listing...

"The fuck..." He mutters under his breath, then looks up, "Wait, what happened to your phone? Why didn-..." No '🇷🇺💞Mamacita💞🇷🇺' listing either. His voice was quieter as he asks, the worry and doubt creeping into his tone. "Why aren't you in my phone..."

"Yes that does make sense." Kip nodded. It did, it did. Maybe that's all it was. She turns, noticing the change in his tone She chews on her bottom lip again and walked back to him, taking her own phone out. It made sense then, why he didn't answer her calls initially. If she wasn't in his phone. "My phone is the same." She showed it to him. "But there is trouble things in it." The Russian woman admits hesitantly. The things that had gotten her anxiety shooting through the roof. She taps a few things and then shows him their text thread.

"...I think we broke up." She finally speaks those five little words like they're the heaviest thing in the world. "But I don't know why." Things had been fine when they went to sleep. Right?

“Nah.” Rekani’s voice had a raspy quality to it, his usual dismissive tone, letting the syllable hang to really lend it credence. He was flitting through the text conversation and looking confused, “That doesn’t make sense, we were happy...” he says with a quick glance up at Kip, as if looking to her for confirmation. His eyes looked a little glassy. Maybe he was still a little choked up from the harsh vape.

He decides to continue looking at his phone, unable to find the text conversation at all, meaning he had deleted it right alongside her number. Weird. Either way, he searches the internet for the shop...

“Body by Jack is closed. Permanently.”

"We were happy." Kip confirmed softly. So what had changed? She tucks her phone away while he looks through his and moves back to the clunker to put the papers back in the glove box. "Permanently? That makes no sense. When did they close?" She starts climbing back in but something causes her to pause. A frown creasing her features as she picks up a small ring box that had fall out in her rush to get the papers. It seemed familiar somehow but she was sure she hadn't see it before. "Rekani.." She started to say but then fell quiet again as a vague bit of memory tickled the back of her mind.

She was standing...somewhere. The details of the where were fuzzy. Rekani was in front of her with the open ring box. Her face felt hot. She was frustrated, upset. Incredulous even. "This is not what I meant when I said you had to grow up. This is the opposite of growing up!" She wipes at her eyes. "I can't do this anymore."...

The memory fades out and Kip can feel tears pricking the corner of her eyes. She exhaled heavily and cleared her throat as she stuffed the papers back into the glove box and came out with the ring box. "I...found this." She offers, showing him the box.

“It got destroyed in the storm.” Rekani answers, “At least that’s what’s on the website...” He was thunderstruck, staring at his phone blankly. That was over half his income, easily, and it was the steady part. His stability was cut right out from under him. And then, Kip was showing him the box, he reaches to take it, and his fingers touch it...

He was looking at a letter, the box was open, displaying the intricately decorated jewelry inside. His eyes were wet. The letters were perfect cursive, and written in Spanish:

‘Rekani,

I hope this finds you well. Your last trip out here had been a joy to remember. I wish you had stayed longer. Maybe you could have been here. This is the engagement ring you asked about. Your Tio had given it to me when he was just a little younger than you. I hope you and your love find the same happiness together that we had.

-Titi Maria’

Rekani’s eyes weren’t just wet in the memory as it comes back to him. He looked just as shell-shocked. “I-... This is my Titi’s ring.”

"Then...where would your car be?" Where would he be working now? Kip looked over her shoulder, back towards town. Was the theater still open? Did she still work there? But then he was saying whose ring it was. Kip looks back, puzzled. "Maria's?" She asked. She had loved meeting Rekani's aunt and uncle and the other family members they had met. They had ultimately been warm and inviting which helped ease the nerves she had been feeling. With Kip not having a close relationship with any of her family besides Peter, she wasn't entirely sure what to expect. But she had liked what was found.

"Why is it here?" And why had she said no? Kip swallowed hard, trying to ignore that bit of memory that flashed up again. What had happened in such a short span of time?

“I... I dunno...” He looks sheepish at the question, his voice a little lower, like he was a kid caught in a lie and he was trying to find excuses, “I been peepin’ at rings for like a month or two...” He finally lifts a meat hand, knuckling the moisture from his eyes, then sucks in a breath through his nose that made a noise only someone that smoked and was crying could achieve. Not cute.

“But like... I dunno if we were about that life. And like... Somethin’ could happen to us at anytime. It never seemed like the right time...” He lets out a sigh, uses the short sleeve of his tee to dry his face, and looks around.

“Man, I dunno where my car would be... Fuck.”

Kip studied him for a moment, contemplating something. "You have?...had?" She asked, feeling a little heat on her cheeks as she looked away a bit. She'd thought about it of course. Even though they'd only been together for a year, she loved him and she really couldn't picture herself with anyone else. Sure there were some things he could improve on but Kip knew she wasn't perfect either. Something else must be going on for her to have reacted the way she did. She just wraps her arms around him again and buries her face in his chest.

Then drew in another breath and looked up at him. "Whatever happened, I know I love you. And I know I don't want to be without you, zaichik. So we will figure out what happened and we will go from there." She released him and rubbed at the back of her neck. "The normal people seem to be fine. Like they have just been living on. Do you know anyone normal you could call that maybe might know?"

“I mean... Yeah.” It was a small voice still, but it was clear he was emotional about it. He returns the hug feircely, hand behind her head and holding her to him. “I love you.” Not ’I love you too’, It wasn’t just an ask/answer or an automatic response. It was a deliberate thing to say. He signs and lifts his arm, phone visible now to both of them as he scrolls through his contacts, thumb dragging down to return to the top. That was where all the odd characters congregated. Emojis and numbers... Sure enough: 🍒...

With a heavy sigh, Rekani clicks the contact and the phone calls. He stares towards the heavens as he brings it to his ear.

Kip closed her eyes when he hugged her back and affirmed that he loved her. She watches him dial whomever it was, watching curiously. She knew him pretty well and he seemed reluctant to even call this person. She drew in another soft breath and loosely crossed her arms over her chest. Hopefully whoever this was could shed some insight.

Someone picks up, the voice was female.

“Yeah, it’s me. Where’s my car?”

There’s more sound of a woman talking. Rekani looked exhasperated. He lifts his hand to pinch his nose and closes his eyes as he listens to the words.

“No, my BMW.”

There’s even more talking. Rekani goes pale. Whoever was on the other end was just chattering away and he was just lowering it away from his face, his eyes going to a thousand yards, and then looking to Kip.

“I wrecked it.”

Kip tilts her head when she hears a feminine voice though can't really make it out. She waits and then looks a little worried when he pales. "...You wrecked it?" She can feel a little nagging voice in her head that says she isn't surprised. It was bound to happen eventually right? He always bordered on reckless and he was usually high...Kip blinked rapidly. What was she thinking? He'd broken a few speed limits sure, but he always looked out for her safety...and his?

"Ask her what happened." Kip added softly, quickly. Now was the time for information. While they had this normal girl on the phone.

Rekani does as Kip asks, and send to get an earful for it. By the amount of chatter to what he communicates of the details, there might be some part of the conversation he was leaving out, but it included him pulling up the sleeve of his t-shirt and revealing a new pink scar on the front of his right shoulder, likely where some damage of the car had cut him deeply and had just recently healed. He had been just driving to waffles, more than likely while high and had misjudged a corner. He hadn't been quick enough to recover and had rolled his car and totalled another. He'd been in the hospital for two days. He probably had ridiculous bills for it now, too. He always only had the minimum of insurance, and he definitely didn't have health insurance.

The voice on the other end still seemed to want to chatter and yell about something, and Rekani's eyes briefly widen, then he hangs up on them.

Kip's eyes go wide as details of the events come to light. She wished her hearing was just a little better but she wasn't able to make out much of what the person on the other end was saying. She vaguely recalls a few feelings of worry, fear, but can't quite latch on to them and try to figure out what they mean. She reaches up to lightly touch the area near the scar when he exposes it. "...That looks like it was bad." She murmured. There's no way his car's not sitting in a scrap yard now by the sound of it.

When he finally hang up the phone, Kip cants her head ever so slightly to the side. "What did she say?" Wondering what had caused him to widen his eyes there at the end. This whole thing was just..bad. All bad and worrying. But at least they knew what happened with the car. Thinking about how she could have so easily lost him? That wasn't something Kip wanted to dwell on.

"Ah... Nothin'." Things Rekani was not: A great liar. "You know how strippers are, you live...d... with one..." He tries to hold in a wince poorly as he realizes he had just revealed to Kip she was a stripper. He tries to change the subject.

"I'm fine now." Probably not emotionally, but physically, this was true. "So, I wrecked my car, I've been driving yours." It was a version of events, simplified to a razor's edge. "Why..." he stops to take a breath, like something didn't sit well with voicing the question, but then soldiering on anyway. "Would that make you break up with me? Like... you just moved in. But... All your stuff was gone." He then thinks and looks toward the much nicer car Kip had checked out, "And rentals are expensive..."

Kip's eyes narrowed ever so slightly. He wasn't a great liar and she hated beating around the bush. Normally. "What did she say, Rekani." There's that tone. Not one she had used with him often, but definitely one that conveyed he better tell her 'or else'.

She rubbed the back of her neck when he pushed on with what really were more important questions. "I..." Kip starts, stops, and then gives the slightest of shrugs. "I am not sure." She says finally. "It sounds like you were distracted." High. "You could have died. I...can see wanting you to be more careful. Worried for your safety. " She looked up at him again. "But I don't know if that alone would make me break up with you..."

Kip looks back over towards the car. "And I don't know anything about this rental. But..." She chews on her lower lip as she looked back to him. "I remembered the ring. When I saw it. Remembered that you had proposed...but I was upset. I said...it wasn't what I meant when I said you needed to grow up. That it was opposite." There's uncertainty here on her expression. "But there is still missing pieces. It doesn't all add up yet."

Rekani sighs heavily, his whole face squeezing unpleasantly as Kip uses the tone. When he opens his eyes again, she could likely tell that the whole thing was causing him pain, and he listens, but it seems to weigh heavier and heavier. He takes a step back and leans on the quarterpanel of the beater, the whole thing creaking slightly as the suspension sags with his weight. He looks down at his hands, at the ringbox he still held. Why did it hurt so badly to look at. He takes another breath and it's almost as wet as a sob. But finally, he blurts it out.

"She said we fucked." he admits in a rush. There. Damage done. Honesty best policy, but Kip already broke up with him, so what hope did he have anyway?

Kip just stares at him for a long moment. Like when you learn something that you just suddenly wish you hadn't learned. She wants to be angry about it. She is angry about it. But there's that other part of her that just knows that isn't fair. That if they had already been separated then why shouldn't he sleep with whoever he wanted? There's another glance towards the rental car. Was she sleeping with someone?

Kip started to say something but then her phone started ringing. She pulled it out and looked confused. Dimitri. Her eyes widened and she quickly declined the call. She didn't want to even step into whatever mess that was. She cleared her throat and silenced her phone, shoving it back into her pocket, before looking to Rekani. Instead of directly addressing the fact he slept with one of the strippers she asks, "What do you think we should do?"

In a situation where they were trying to put the pieces together if a missing three months, Kip, the inquisitive woman he loved not picking up a phone call? Rekani would notice that. Especially when it was prime for deflection of his seriously he thought he had messed up. His brows quirk.

"Wha'was that?" He asks, the mild way he asked not doing well too many his suspicion, as well as Kip knew him. But she asked an important question that vote thought. A hand is raised to rub the stubble on the side of his face. "Man, I dunno. I guess... I guess I gotta figure out how bad it all is..."

Kip looks a little sheepish when Rekani asks about the phone. "Dimitri." She said finally. Not a name she had spoken often and when she did? It was normally in a negative manner. "I do not know why he would be calling me." There's a soft frown.

"You aren't the only one. I should figure out things too. I can feel that there is something else my brain just can't quite reach it. I...guess I should call him back." She doesn't seem thrilled at the prospect. She'd much rather they just get in the clunker and leave town but that's not realistic.

"Wassat dude doin' calling you?" It would be hard to thread the needle on what got Rekani's hackles up. It looked like just the name aggravated him, but figuring out it was anger that Dimitri might have some way to hurt Kip instead of just general jealousy? That would likely take a pretty specific leap of logic, borne of the connection the two had shared, a connection that currently seemed a lot shakier.

He just crosses his arms across his body and waits, leaning against the car, assuming she does call back.

Kip just shrugs, maybe looking a touch defensive at his tone. "I will find out." She puts in the call and a moment or two later Dimitri picks up. They speak in Russian and Rekani's never really seen Kip in full Russian mode before. Even talking to her brother they try and stick to English because he was learning it.

She's animated though, much more expressive than when she's navigating English. She looks mildly confused but seems to be going along with what he says. Finally she says something that maybe sounds like '*I'll let you know.' And hangs up.

Kip digs into her purse for her wallet and pulls out a tiny card. Still holding it, she looks to Rekani. "My work visa is expiring next month. I...had reached out to him to see if there was a way we could try working together again on videos and stuff. Because he is good at what he does, even if he is an asshole and a half."

Patience wasn't a virtue Rekani practiced too often in stressful situations, not unless there was some sort of chemical assistance to tap into. The drip vape is brought to his lips, then he hits the button to hear the sputter and pulls his mouth away immediately before even taking a puff. He blows through the mouthpeice to vent the vapor, then tries taking a drag with short quick taps of the button. This seems to work much better, and the cloud he releases after doesn't make him cough and seems much thinner. Rekani's face then falls immediately, somehow looking paler as she breaks the news about her visa. That would mean she couldn't stay in country. But the next part?

"Dmitri? Manipulative, cheaty, asshole Dmitri?" Rekani asks for clarification, looking absolutely floored with the news, "Why the fuck would you wanna work with that scumbag again?" An emotion flashes across his face, pain, as he realizes maybe being broken up with him, she'd wanted to get back together with something familiar. He couldn't blame her, and the pain turns to guilt. "Sorry, you're uh... You're a grown ass woman. You don't deserve that."

There's a conflicted look that crosses Kip's face before her expression turns downright icy. "You're right. I am a grown woman and I can do whatever I want She shoves her work visa back into her wallet and the wallet back into the purse. "Just like you can do whatever you want. Fuck who ever you want." She looks back up at him. "I don't know why I would want to work with him again. Maybe it's my only opportunity back home." Maybe I should take it.

Kip brought a hand up to cover her eyes as she tried to collect herself. Muttering something in Russian before looking back at him. At least the cold was gone, replaced by something more apologetic. "...Sorry. This is just...I don't know. Three months of our lives are just gone, except that we've lived them. How do we handle that?"

Rekani looks on the verge of an angry outburst himself, reactive to Kip getting icy with him, but it was much easier to take the sorry and sigh. His hand lifts, runs through his hair, rubs at the side of his face. He brings his other hand up, rubs both his cheeks roughly, eyes squeezed shut. He swears a few times himself before getting sense back.

“I don’t fuckin’ know, cause like... How much of this is us? Did we do this shit or is it some fuckin’ weird fuckery? Harbor bein’ Harbor.” He knuckles his eyes, then finally brings them to Kip again, “‘Cause like... I’m sorry, too.” His eyes had turned glassy again, and he pulls a breath in suddenly, then lets it out. It almost looked like a sob, but he’d managed to defuse it.

“Why the fuck do I feel so fucking sad?”

But then sadness flew to rage, and he takes two steps and flings the ring box as hard as he can away from him.

"It's impossible to know. I mean, it seems like we did it. I have inklings of memory and feelings but at the same time. It could just be also the Other Side making things hard." Kip agreed softly. She leaned against her rental and crossed her arms over her chest loosely while she thought. When he flings the ring box, he can feel her own power stirring up as she shoots a hand out towards the direction of the box. It stops mid flight and she brings it back in, towards herself.

She holds the box for a moment in silence before looking back up at him with a pained expression. "Because whether we remember it or not...whether we wanted it or not...things have changed." Kip looks back down to the box. "We can just go back to how things were. Pretend nothing is different. But," Her tone changes slightly, more resolved. "I am not going to give up on us now, even if I was ready to during this missing time." Kip walks back up to him and holds out the ring box.

"I am going to work on getting my visa renewed. You keep this."

Rekani looks down at that box. It was almost like some sort of aura effect. He had thrown it away and had been able to breathe for a moment. He reaches out to take it from Kip, puts his hands on it, is in the middle of saying, “I’m not giving up either...” when his eyes start to run again.

“I’m going to marry you, Kapista Zakharovna.”

He got the pronunciation right. Had he practiced her name? It was hard to tell with how tears were staining his words. There was also panic slowly dawning in his eyes.

’...that we had...”

He stumbles backwards toward the car again and sits down hard. He misses the edge of the car this time, arms flailing, but a certain unfocused paralysis to them. He slides down the tire all the way to the ground in a tangle. He sits there shell shocked.

The picture of his uncle on the dresser, half of it missing where Kip should be. There was a Lady of Guadalupe candle flanking it to either side. They had longed burned down into nothing. More were in the trash can.

“Oh fuck...” Tears were running down his face now, his eyes wide open. He grabs his phone out, starts scrolling, finds his aunt’s number, looks at call logs and texts, a flurry in June.

“Tio... I think my Tio is dead.”

Kip smiles at his assertation, maybe even a little impressed that he said her last name so easily. She gives his hand a little squeeze and might be about to say something more when she sees the panic. The panic, of course, causes her to worry. She lowers herself down to the ground with him, in front of him. Hands go to his shoulders and squeeze. "What's wrong?" She asked softly, watching as he started quickly going through his phone.

Then he says that his Tio was dead. Her eyes go wide. They had just seen him, at least, they should have just seen him. If the stupid time warp hadn't happened. Kip recalled the picture they took together, she was pretty sure it was still on her phone somewhere maybe. He had been a little intimidating for her at first looks but she had enjoyed the time spent with him. With the whole family. "Dead?" She repeats quietly, trying to process that. She knew how much Rekani's uncle meant to him.

Kip moves then, to sit beside him and place a hand on his thigh. A small gesture, but an attempt at comfort because there really was no easy thing to say when someone that close to you passes away.

Rekani lets out a few breaths, the exhalations noisy, the verge of sobs as pain and loss seize his face, his brain, and won’t let go. But Kip touches him. His hand closes over hers. His face swings to look at her, then he tilts his head back. Squeezing his eyes shut and finally letting a shaking sob out. He draws another breath in. He lets this one out as a breath, trembling, but a breath. He takes one more, and he’s starting to settle.

“Fuck this town.” He blurts, finally sniffling. He swaps hands on Kip’s and swings an arm around her. “Fuuuuck this town.” He lets out a cough, shakes his head and swallows, then starts staring into the middle distance. It would take him a long time to finally speak again, probably a. Good 30 seconds. She has the time to interrupt him.

“Do you wanna fuckin’ leave?”

Kip stays quiet, leaning into him when he puts his arm around her and just letting him proceed however he needs to. Whatever happened in the past three months between them? It didn't matter.

When he brings up the idea of leaving? Kip would have been lying if she said no. She turns to look at him, a thoughtful expression on her features. "Is Vegas nice this time of year?" It was on her wishlist of places to visit and getting out of town, at least for a while would probably be a good thing. Right?

There’s a short blurt of laughter from Rekani, the idea so foreign and ridiculous that he can’t help but laugh at it. It’s rueful, the pain still fresh and raw, the fear of the unknown still weighing on him heavily.

“Girl, I’m drivin’ your ol’ beater, I’ve probably got so many bills from the accident, how we gonna go to Vegas?” even if it was ridiculous, he at least humors her, lifting his phone to his mouth. “OK Google, what’s the weather in Las Vegas?” It beeps. The screen pops up 90 degrees and sunny throughout the week. He shakes once with another laugh... Then stops. He slowly looks over at Kip.

“You... Do you...” He stops, lips pressed together and out in contemplation, brow lifted into an arc. He squints at her, some sort of doubt in his face, maybe wondering if she would be ok with what possibilities were going through his head, “Ok, maybe we can go to Vegas...”

Kip looks perplexed at his reaction to her suggestion. "We have the rental car. Or we can figure out money for plane tickets." She countered. Of course then there's the hotel to think about, food. But she is glad to see him laugh.

"Do I what?" Kip looked back towards the weather and then to him. "What ideas are you having?" He may come to find she's more open to potential shenanigans than she may have been in the past. After all, this was for s good cause!

If they could just get out of town and breathe for a bit...it had to help, right?

Another quick check with his phone. Seventeen hours. There’s a look on his face that makes it seem ridiculous, then... It just doesn’t seem as bad.

“Yeah... We could do that...” It’s a tentative thing when he uses that tone, like he was only partially believing of the idea, then, “Yeah!” More gusto, more confidence. Excitement. Energy. The first time since he had woken up today, there was hope. Everything could be alright.

“We leave now. Clothes on our backs, money in our wallets. Whatever happens, we figure it out.” A guy as large as Rekani, he has to position himself right, and plant a hand on the tire so he can lever himself up, then he’s offering a hand up to Kip as well, he was looking down at her, smiling, eyes sparkling.

“Because everything I ever need is right here.” He would squeeze her hand.

"It'll be fun. It'll be a way for us to recharge." Kip smiled a bit more as Rekani started coming around to the idea "Yes! I like this. We just start driving then we can stop for stuff later. When we're out of here. Maybe passed the state limit even." She wasn't exactly sure how far away the Oregon state line was. Or, well any state line.

As they get up to their feet Kip blushes just a little when he speaks those words and squeezes her hand. She leans up (and likely tugs his shirt a bit so he would come down) and presses a kiss to his lips. Yes. This was right and whatever happened before was clearly some very terrible mistake. She loved him.

"It's you and me, all the way." Kip agreed, giving him a grin. " What's the saying... " she turns to lead him back towards the rental car. The keys are handed over to him, of course. "Let's blow this joint. "