The Other Side of the Equation

Who: Sophie and Oz, the Sophie and Thia
Where: their house
When: morning

Oz had gotten the mail, and was going through it in the kitchen, leaned back against the counter. He was still feeling off, really. Still not quite on par with...well. Anything. But as he was reading over the letter from the school board for the second time, he felt worse. "This cannot be legal." he muttered to himself.

Sure, when he'd first seen there was something from the school board he'd kind of panicked a little, thinking Dean was in trouble or something, but that was dispelled quickly enough. Now he was just left twitching over other shit. "Sophie--c'mere, you need to look at this." he called, ducking his head into the hallway as he tried to orient himself to her location in the house.

Sophie heard the call and headed downstairs until she found her husband. "What's up?" she asked, her eyes immediately going to the paper in his hand, a questioning look on her face, though she didn't make any move to try and take it off him.

"It's from the school." he said, handing it over to her. "He's not in trouble--" he added immediately, since that had been where his head had gone. "But apparently he's meant to be going on some overnight field trip to someplace haunted. Something about new education on spirits." he said, giving her the short-short version. "And it's also got in there something stupid about how it's required, we can't say no, unless we take him out of the school system." He'd read that part over a couple times. "Read it over and tell me I totally missed something, and we don't actually have to let this go on." he requested.

Sophie frowned as she took the letter. She turned away a little as she read it over, twice - she wasn't much one for the short-short version, especially not when she found out what that was. She was silent as she read, and she was reading it over for a third time when she finally spoke. "We can't take him out of the school system," she observed, her voice slow, since her concentration was mostly still on the words in front of her. "Why... would they do this? And make it mandatory?"

"...yeah, I know we can't take him out." Oz said. Then they'd have to deal with deportation issues again, and they'd already dealt with that. "There's really nothing there?" he asked, sounding unhappy about it. "And I don't know. you'd think that there'd be a choice in the matter or something, but it didn't look like it to me. Guess all this spirit bullshit is freaking people, but...whatever, I don't like it." he said, putting a fine point on his feelings on the matter, even if they were already really obvious.

"Dean already knows about spirits - he doesn't need this kind of thing. I'd prefer to keep him at home," Sophie agreed, skimming the letter once more, looking for something that wasn't there. The wording was very clear - the course was mandatory. "This can't be legal - they can't just insist that children are taken away from their... parents, guardians, whatever. There's got to be some choice in that, surely!" she said, hotly - finally looking at Oz once again.

"That's what I said." Oz muttered. "I don't think it's legal either, but...it's pretty plain. Maybe we should call the school board?" he suggested. "The superintendent? The PTA? I don't know. I'm sure we're not the only people who've got problems with this." he said. Even if he knew his own were tied in with the whole werewolf of it all. Dean was pack, he viewed the kid like his own, and he wasn't happy about Dean having to go anywhere that wasn't someplace Oz could get to immediately. Even if he knew Dean was capable, and spirits were hardly the worst threat known to man or anything. That didn't actually matter to him.

Sophie nodded. "I can make some calls," she agreed, putting the letter down and deciding that right now was a damn good time to do that. She headed over to the phone and flipped through the book she kept by it that contained all the numbers she'd ever thought they could possibly need - which included the head of the PTA. Who, happily, happened to be in. But who, unhappily, had been expecting phonecalls from parents and who was prepped to answer questions. Sophie was on the phone for the best part of five minutes, and when she hung up, she didn't look happy.

Oz had been pacing nearby and stopped when she got off of the phone. He didn't really need to see the look on her face to know it hadn't gone well, he'd heard it in her tone. "There's no way out of this?" he assessed, the question less a question and more just stating what was likely the obvious. "...that fucking sucks." he said heatedly. "I don't like this. I don't like this at all."

"Apparently not. Apparently, 'given the circumstances and changes in the world' then there's some loophole that says they can do basically what they like. You'd think that we were being invaded by fucking aliens or something," Sophie said, her annoyance at the situation clear in the way she swore - something that she very rarely did. "We're stuck with it. Oh, she was very reassuring, all 'there's no risk - these places have been checked out' about it. So sunny and dismissive. I hate that woman," she near enough growled - like she'd spoken to her more than once before in her entire life. Which she hadn't - just the once when Dean first moved here and she'd 'touched base' to 'make sure everything was okay and if you need any help, please call'. As though Sophie couldn't possibly care for a teenager without needing help.

Hearing his wife's language and such, he reached out to take her hand, pulling her over to him a little closer. "Maybe there's a way to go with, or...I don't know. They can't take a bunch of highschoolers without chaperones, right?" he suggested, grasping at straws, he knew. Plus he didn't know if that was even possible or if it would have to be teachers. It probably would, but maybe if enough parents put up a fight...

Sophie when with it, as always his touch calming her. She knew that it was the effect of the soul bond they shared, but it still never failed to make her feel better. "Maybe," she agreed, dropping her head against his shoulder. "One of us would have to stay here and look after Thia though. Unless Billy and Maddie would take her for a few days." She exhaled and then shook her head, straightening up. "No - no, it... I just don't like this. I don't like - I don't want him going," she said, finding a second wind of annoyance, despite Oz' touch.

"...well I know Billy and Maddie wouldn't mind taking her." he said. Billy had his special sort of bond with Thia, and even Maddie had affection for their currently deaf ward. "But no, I don't like it either. I'd rather if there's any educating to be done on spirits that...I don't know. Dean goes and talks to Maddie and Billy, and have at it. Can't he...I don't know, test out or something?" Not that he imagined there was a 'spirit knowledge' test or anything. Maybe there would be now. Jesus, the world had really changed, hadn't it? It was still a little weird to be thinking about school having anything to do with the dearly departed, and it not being a huge secret. Like for Billy, when he'd been in school and he'd met Maddie in the first place...and now he was wondering if Billy's situation was going to happen more often now. Spirits and the living falling for one another.

"Test out? test out? Dean probably knows more about spirits than his bloody teachers." She knew that likely wasn't true - as far as she knew, Dean had never actually had any in depth conversations with anyone about spirits, or shown any real interest in anything at all. Then again, Dean never seemed to show any real interest in anything except his girlfriend as far as Sophie was concerned. "Hell, they probably know all they know about spirits from watching 'poltergeist' or some shit like that."

"Probably." Oz said. After all, he didn't think there were any huge experts out there. Or, none that were state or government sanctioned. Billy was an expert, but yeah. Something told Oz he hadn't been asked. And that the people who knew the most about this shit were a lot like Billy. People who'd adapted their lives because of necessity, and who weren't just out there to nab the public eye and opinion. He sighed. "I don't suppose there's any card that can be played that says he's technically not a citizen or something and is therefore exempt, is there?"

Sophie nodded. "No - apparently it's all kids in the school system. The only way round it is to withdraw him from school." Which Sophie would do, if she could - but she couldn't. He had to be in school for his visa to remain valid, that was one of the conditions of him being here in the first place. "I don't like this, J," she told him, though that was clear by now anyhow.

"Yeah, I don't either." Oz said with a heavy sigh. He really didn't. And sure, he knew he was paranoid, and overprotective, and all that shit, but it just seemed like a bad idea. A bad idea, and definitely too soon to be setting something like that up. He could even see the practical application, but...try a day trip. Try a point later in time where people were more aware of spirits and what they were all about. When things were more common knowledge. Set up a fucking class on it, like sex ed or whatever. Going for the crash course wasn't something he was a fan of.

"I mean, I know he's capable. I know he can look after himself - I know that he's not going to get scared of a damn ghost, but... things go wrong," she carried on, pushing her hair back behind her ears. "I - If I can find out where this place is... they're not going until Wednesday. We could drive up there tomorrow. It can't be more than a few hours, right? We could get there and back in a day, check it out." She wasn't sure it would make her feel any better, but maybe it would help a little.

Oz leaned back against the wall and watched her. He got why he was as worried as he was, but he wondered why she was. He was given to overreaction, it was kind of just his m.o. Sophie tended to be more level headed, but this seemed to be bothering her really, really badly. "Yeah, we can do that." he said. "...what's wrong?" he asked, needing to get that out of his system. Even if it sounded lke a stupid question.

"Wrong?" Sophie asked. "What - apart from the fact that apparently Dean's got to go on a 'mandatory' trip to god knows where - since they haven't actually seen fit to inform us of that? Just that they're taking our... my cousin away in some kind of state-sanctioned..." she broke off, aware that she was edging firmly into 'over-dramatics' territory right now.

Crossing his arms over his chest he stood there and kept his eyes on her. "Our...?" he picked out of that whole statement. That stood out loudest to him, even if he was aware that it wasn't even the point of the statement. Nor what he should have taken from it. But for him, that really had big blinking neon lights attached, and therefore he couldn't let it pass without bringing it up. Then he'd get to the rest of it, but no...that first. Occasionally werewolf priorities were a little weird. Or, that's what he blamed it on.

Sophie gave him a look for picking up on that. "You know he's basically like our kid, right?" she said though it wasn't really a question. Dean was her responsibility, but she knew that what was her responsibility was actually their responsibility. She just also figured that she didn't really have grounds to claim Dean as hers, it just felt like that at times.

"Don't look at me like that." Oz said first. "Yes, I know. I think of him like that. You were the one who pointed out I'm the role model." he added. Which still sometimes scared the shit out of him because he didn't especially think he made a good one, but whatever. "You're a little more agitated than you usually get over things. Usually I'm the one who's over the top pissed about things. So, what's wrong?" he continued, clarifying for her.

Sophie paused, taking a deep inhalation of air and actually thinking about the question before she answered, trying to pinpoint exactly what it was that was bothering her. Unfortunately, it was all too obvious. It wasn't the idea of a haunted house. Ghosts were - latest events aside (and that had been caused by someone meddling anyhow so couldn't be taken as 'usual') - comparatively harmless. And Dean knew enough about what went on in the world to be sensible about things. And she didn't think that the school district would actually pick places that were haunted in any clearly dangerous way. They'd have the safety of the students in mind as well. "Things can... Nobody knows what can happen. Nobody who has any say will have any real clue about what can go on - you know that. The chances of anyone actually knowing what's out there... Aside from ghosts, the rest of the stuff. And they'll have planned for spirits. They might even have planned for encountering a bad spirit, but - they won't have planned for the things that nobody can see coming."

He listened, still watching the tension in her frame. "Yeah, I know." he said. Because he did. "But no one can do that ever. We prepare as much as possible and still get caught without a clue what to do sometimes. You're still far more worked up about this than I'd have expected." he got what she was saying, but again, he figured he'd normally be the one having that reaction. And because she was, it was giving him pause.

Sophie opened her mouth to snap at him, but shut it again, reining herself in from taking her annoyance out on her husband. "I don't trust school activities to be 'safe' just because someone tells me they are," she said, instead, trying to keep her tone calm and even.

There it was. Or, at least, that's what Oz latched onto when she said that. 'School Activities'. Which he immediately did the math for. He looked away pointedly for a moment, then back towards Sophie. "School activities." he repeated. "This is about what happened to us, isn't it." he said. "This doesn't really have anything to do with spirits, or Dean going on a trip, or whatever, it's that. It's the play."

"It has to do with a lot of things, J. But yes - some of it has to do with us. Do you blame me? Really? Things could have turned out a whole lot worse there. And I'm not saying that something like that's going to happen here, but - they can't keep him safe. That woman - that woman was going on about how they'd checked everything and there was nothing to worry about and... There's always things to worry about. And Dean's been through so much already. He doesn't need more - especially for some trip that he doesn't need to go on in the first place!" Sophie exclaimed.

He kept his gaze on her, jaw setting for a moment, and he might have said something. A few years ago he would have. But, he'd stopped. And even if he understood somewhere that it wasn't the way to deal with things--what with the not actually doing anything resembling dealing part and all--but it was really hard to get out of it. "I'm going for a walk." he said, pushing off the wall and heading towards the door.

That threw Sophie entirely and she stopped, open mouthed. "You're... Just like that? You're just going to go?" she asked, not understanding where that came from. Except he'd been doing that more and more lately, spending more and more time alone, outside. In wolf form. It was lonely, sometimes. She missed him, but if that's what he needed to do, she wasn't going to stop him either. She looked down a little, then nodded. "Okay - I'll... Make those calls. And I guess someone should tell Lullaby. I'll see you later - take care," she said, the fight gone out of her voice.

If she'd left it at the first part, he might have stayed. Said things he'd probably regret, but at the very least get it out there. There was an Issue going on there, and it was added onto the pile he was already trying to deal with--and of course not doing that spectacular a job at. Oz never dealt very well with things on his own, or more, he didn't deal with things on his own. Left to his own devices, he very rarely ever worked through anything entirely. So, he might have done something, but then she didn't fight him on it. She just dismissed him. Or, that was how he saw it. He was leaving, and she wasn't about to fight for him. Which really, just brought up more issues and he looked back at her for a long moment, before he turned and headed out without a word.

Sophie swallowed the lump in her throat as he did, in fact, just go. She leaned back against the counter, not feeling like her legs could entirely hold her up right now and watched him leave for a moment or two before she closed her eyes against it and firmly told herself that he was just going for a run and it probably wasn't her fault anyway. Just because she always felt like she'd done something wrong when he did that, didn't mean it was anything other than her never-ending guilt complex about their past.

Still, she felt even more miserable now than she had before - only now it was just stark, empty unhappiness with the world, rather than an angry rage. That was harder to deal with, and left her feeling drained as she made herself get back up and go to find Lullaby.

Lullaby was in her room, putting clean clothes away, and contemplating her own homework. And possibly Dean's. There were a couple of assignments that she'd glanced at that sort of possibly needed just a little reworking, and anyways, his knowledge of the continental united states and things that happened in Utah, or whatever weren't ever going to be vital to his life. So, she could justify a little help in that. What stopped her dead was she glanced over at her open door, and saw blackness in the hallway, creeping in along the floor and she dropped what she was doing, and went for the door, looking out. "What's--" she started, seeing Sophie. Which startled her a little bit, even if she wasn't entirely sure why. "Sophie? What's wrong? Are you okay?" she asked, and even if her voice was quieter than usual due to her whole deaf at the moment thing, the clear, immediate concern was plain.

Sophie gave her a small, hopefully reassuring smile as she saw the concern on her face. "Yes, yeah - it's fine," she said, trying to put the 'parent' guise on and lock her concerns and issues away in the back of her mind for now. "How are you today?" she asked, lightly.

"I'm fine..." Lullaby started, still looking concerned. Whether Sophie was trying to push things back or not, that didn't cut off the serious line-output she was giving of. And then she kind of wondered if Sophie even remembered that she could see things like that. Or would notice that it wasn't like Lullaby could have heard her coming--she'd seen the lines and gone to check before Sophie had even been visible. "...you're not fine. What's going on?" she asked, worry churning her stomach hard. Even if she didn't think that Sophie would even ask how she was doing if say, she had horrifying news to share or something.

"It's nothing to worry about," Sophie told her, trying hard to be reassuring, even if that clearly wasn't working. She had, in fact, forgotten in the moment that Lullaby could see 'moods' - she didn't think too closely on what the girl could do, or why. There were lots of things in her life that Sophie didn't think too closely on. "We just got a letter from the school this morning to say that Dean has to go away on a field trip for a few days."

Trying to concentrate on what Sophie was saying, and not the huge amount of black coming off of her, she walked closer, and started trying to draw it in. It wasn't something she could do with Dean. Dean had his own baseline negativity that he couldn't shake and she couldn't drain dry. But other people, she'd had a little success in helping out if she kept drawing on the energy. So she gave that a real shot now. "A few days? I--what for? I...well. Really don't remember that being scheduled in this year's field trips..." she would have recalled something that weird. Overnight wasn't generally a thing. Only like, school sanctioned trips to other countries had those. And those were something you had to try to get in on, have the money for, all sorts of things, it wasn't anything anyone 'had' to do.

"There's been a change of scheduling," Sophie said, still trying to treat this as a normal, non-worrisome eventuality. It wouldn't help anything if Lullaby felt that the people who cared for her in the nearest thing to a parental capacity were flipping out over this. "It's because of the spirits. The school district feels that it's necessary for all students to be properly educated and comfortable with spirits being around. So they're instigated an emergency programme and groups are being taken to stay at known haunted locations for a few days. He'll be leaving on Wednesday and coming back on Friday. They've checked out all of the locations and apparently they're all perfectly safe."

Blinking, Lullaby stared for a moment. "....that's a good idea how?" she asked, not at all surprised that Sophie was putting out black lines like a little sun. "That's...that's one of the dumbest ideas I've ever heard. Does he have to go? He knows enough about spirits anyways, doesn't he? I...you're worried and--" she broke off, exhaling as she drew her fingers through her hair, and she tried to keep her eyes on Sophie so she didn't miss it when the woman spoke.

Okay, so she was doing a really bad job of hiding how she felt about this, that much was stunningly clear. "Apparently, yes, he has to go," Sophie said, dropping the act enough to admit that she wasn't happy, but still downplaying the level of concern she had. "They're not asking anything about what people do and don't already know. I think they've come to the conclusion that there's so much rumour and conjecture flying around that nobody can be trusted to 'know' anything." Including the teachers, she thought, bitterly. If they did a test, I bet he'd come up with answers that they'd mark as wrong just because he knows more about the reality than whoever they have pretending to be an 'expert'. "Everyone enrolled in high school has to go."

Lullaby didn't look happy about it either, though she was still trying to draw off of Sophie, hoping to get it knocked down. It just happened to be quite a task. "Doesn't sound like it's a very good idea." she said. "...guess there's nothing to be done though, huh?" She put her hands in the hoodie's front pocket, which happened to be Dean's blue one that he never took back when she tried to give it to him. "If anything happens, you know I can get to him really fast, right?" she asked, since that was one of the first things to go through her mind when she accepted that it might not be an avoidable thing.

Sophie nodded a little. "Yes, but I'm sure he'll be just fine. Dean's very capable, and we all know that spirits are, well - he'll be fine," she said, still trying to be reassuring. She needed to tell herself that as much as she was telling Lullaby, after all. "J and I are probably going to be taking a drive out there tomorrow, just to check the place out. Make sure that it's okay. And I might see if I can find out as much as I can from the internet. Anywhere that's haunted is going to have a history, after all."

Dean's got his tattoo, too. she thought, even if she didn't say. Because she knew that Oz wanted them to all get one like it and stuff but really, she didn't know how much Sophie knew there, or how much she'd approve of Lullaby having specifically not only encouraged but had a tattoo drawn up for her cousin... "That's good...going to see." she said. "Keep me posted? And I know that he's capable and everything...I'm sure it'll be fine. I just..." she quirked a half smile. "Worry."

"We all worry," Sophie agreed. She knew she worried a whole lot - to the point of paranoia, though she often didn't see it as paranoia. With the world they lived in, she saw it as simply 'being prepared'. She just had more awareness than the aware person of how badly things could go sideways. And Oz was right - you couldn't prepare for everything. But you could prepare for a whole lot of things and Sophie strived to do just that.

Lullaby nodded. "Yeah, I know." she said. "...you're really..." she drew in a breath, feeling nervous, and she bit her lip a little. "I um. I don't know if you remember, but I can kinda..." she made a vague gesture towards the blonde. "See. I mean, upset. Bad moods. You're really upset right now. Are you going to be okay? Is it just this? I...I've got time if you wanted to talk at all." she offered hesitantly, almost positive that Sophie wouldn't want to talk to her about anything, but she had to try. She had to offer, it went against her nature not to.

Sophie looked a little surprised, then she remembered and cringed a little. "Right, yeah - sorry, I forgot. And, yes - I'll be fine," she said, not being dismissive, but simply not wanting to load her problems onto the younger girl simply because she'd shown willing to listen. She never did well with talking about issues, so she'd got into the habit of simply... not.

"Don't be sorry." Lullaby said. She was quiet for a moment, then looked at Sophie in the eye for another stretch of heartbeats. "...you sure?" she asked. "I...I know you kinda don't talk to people, really. Or that's the impression I get. Sometimes it helps. If it's none of my business and everything, okay, I don't really want to pry or anything, but..." she shrugged one shoulder. "I care about what goes on in this house and everyone in it."

"So do I," Sophie told her, meeting her eye and trying to be the adult in the conversation. She always felt like she had to be - ever since Dean had arrived. Sometimes it felt like a lot of pressure. After all, she was barely 21, but that was what she felt she had to be. "And you don't need to be burdened by my issues," she added, kindly.

Lullaby took a moment to figure out how to say what she needed to. And in the end she gave a bit of a pained look. "If this sounds wrong, I'm really sorry." she apologized first. "But...you and Oz. You're...you're the parents here. And I know you're not really and you didn't ask for it either, especially not with me. And I know you're not even that much older than us." she said. "But Dean and I...we can tell when things aren't quite...okay." she said, trying really hard to be delicate. "And that means it affects all of us."

Sophie really didn't know what to say to that. She didn't hold it against Lullaby for the observation, but she wished that it hadn't been observed in the first place. "Things have been better lately - we're working things out," she said, giving her what she hoped was another reassuring smile, though her heart was busy sinking. She'd hoped that things had been getting better, but clinging to that belief had been harder over the last few days. She just wasn't sure where to go from there.

If they're better lately, something tells me you either don't know what's going on around you, or things were way worse than we thought. went through Lullaby's head. She nodded, opened her mouth, and then shut it again, wanting to say something, but she didn't know if it was her place or not. So, she stood there, looking uncomfortable, as she tried to weigh it.

Sophie spoke, because there was silence that needed to be filled. "Things between me and J - they haven't always been easy. Neither of us are particularly good at communication, but we're working at it." At least we don't scream at each other the way we used to. "And we're going to keep working at it. Neither of us is going anywhere." For all its problems, for all the time she spent miserable, Sophie couldn't imagine a future without him.

Lullaby nodded, glad to be told that, though she still had doubts. "Communication...can I...can I share an observation?" she asked, thinking that was the best way to go about it. "It might be totally off base, or might be something to think about, I don't know." But she wasn't going to share it unless Sophie was okay with hearing it.

"Sure, of course you can," Sophie agreed, nodding slightly and giving Lullaby time and room to speak, since the girl seemed hesitant about saying anything.

"You and Dean...you're a lot alike in some ways." Lullaby said. "You've got some of the same tendencies, as far as I can see? And...well. One thing that he and I kinda work at a lot, or have had to work at before, is that he kind of...he does this thing." she said. "And it's not his fault and it's not wrong or anything, it just makes things harder sometimes, and he doesn't realize he's even doing it, most of the time. And it's...he kind of makes a lot of assumptions. Some things, he things are so amazingly obvious, that of course I should just know automatically, and he shouldn't ever have to say anything about it. Only...well, he does, cuz I'm not psychic. And just because something's really really clear, and really obvious to him doesn't mean it actually is to anyone else. And you two both...you're kinda reserved in the talking about things thing. I mean, I get around it with Dean, because I really don't stand for not talking about things. But I'm like that. It's natural for me, and by now, we're at a place where we talk about things and I don't have to put that effort in. But...I don't know what it's like with you guys. It's just something to think about. Maybe he doesn't know things he should. Oz, I mean. Maybe he's missing some information that he needs."

Sophie listened carefully to what Lullaby had to say, and smiled a little at the end of it. "I'm glad you and Dean have found a way of talking with each other that works for you," she said, first and foremost. "But, J and I? It's a little more complicated than that. Sometimes it's hard to - to get J to understand what I'm saying. he likes to take things in the worst possible way, or so it seems. So I try and not say things that I think he'll take badly." In other words, she didn't talk as much as she once had. But when she'd done that, it really felt like they were fighting all the time. And she thought they'd cleared the air a lot around their wedding, so she'd mostly been keeping her head down since then and not rocking the boat. And he hadn't said anything to her, had he.

When Sophie said that Oz took things in the worst possible way, she had to crack the slightest bit of a smile. Dean tended to do that too. There were some subjects where he just...yeah. Things needed to be very carefully worded and she was still working on doing that. Such as Dean went from zero to growly in about .2 seconds if it was ever mentioned that someone might have an issue with her. Lullaby was quiet a moment. "...that kinda sounds a whole lot like just ignoring things." she said as delicately as possible. "Maybe you guys need to sit down and figure out a better way of communicating, if what you do now doesn't work so well. Not saying it'll be easy or anything, cuz I know you guys have been together for a long time, and I'm sure if it were a simple fix it'd already be done, but...might be worth it to look into." she said. "If you've got things in your mind he won't take well? It's still valid. It's on your mind. He should respect that, and at the very least let you have your say."

Sophie's smile turned a little bit pitying. "When J hears something he doesn't like? He tends to go for a walk." Which was what he'd done earlier on - a thought which had her closing her eyes for a second as she wondered once more what she'd done this time. If she'd done anything at all. But, that couldn't be helped right now, so no use dwelling over it. She took a breath and forced her attention back to Lullaby, a pause of maybe a second at most. "J and I used to fight a lot. When we tried to talk - it would always turn into an argument. And we'd both end up unhappy. These days, I do what I can to make sure we don't fight so much." She knew that was for the sake of the kids - there was that unspoken want that she knew they both had, not to fight where the kids could hear them.

Lullaby watched the lines again, kicking up, billowing outwards. She was still pulling on them, trying to draw them in, but there was a lot there. "Next time...don't let him bail on you like that." she said. "Arguing isn't the end of the world. I mean...Dean and I do it from time to time, but we do it and things get worked out. We kind of keep at it til there's a resolution, or middle ground, or at least the agreement that we view things differently, and that's okay." She was quiet a moment. "You said that you'd argue and wind up unhappy and I think that's what you're trying to avoid. But right now? You are unhappy. And if he's gone for a walk or whatever, I'd guess he isn't happy either. So..." So obviously this avoidance game isn't actually working out for you, it's time to try something else.

"Don't 'let' him? Lullaby - have you ever tried telling a werewolf what he can or can't do?" Sophie asked, a little amused by that. She had never been afraid of her husband. She'd never had reason to be - the wolf was as mated to her as the man was, he would never hurt her, as much as she knew he worried about it at times. She shook her head and sighed a little. "Okay - if I asked him not to leave, I know he'd stay. But he wouldn't stay like we would. He wouldn't stay to talk. He'd stay because I asked him to. Like I had him trapped or something. I don't want to do that to him. I don't want him to have to do something he doesn't want to. All I want is for him to be happy. It's just, apparently, I'm not very good at that."

"But if you're keeping him there to talk to him because you care about what's going on, that might be different. And him walking off all the time isn't good for either of you either. That's just avoiding too. I just...I see it. Like I said, I can see the...the bad moods? So even if you guys are behaving fine, and everything like that, there are times when I'll walk through and it's right there. I just don't think it's helping." Then she paused. "You could always tell him if he's got to go, fine, but you want to talk later. Not just let him go and that's that." she suggested, trying to find different ways around things. She paused another moment. "If you walked away and he didn't stop you, what would you think of it?" she asked. It wasn't meant to be leading to a specific answer, she just wanted to know.

Sophie bit her lip a little - that was a sore subject for her. "I don't," she said, eventually, her voice sounding slightly strained to her ears, which made her glad that Lullaby couldn't hear her right now. "Walk away - I don't walk away." He always did that, but she wouldn't. She wouldn't do that to him.

There were those guilt-lines again. Sophie lines. She still carried around so much of it. That had to not be good. Really, for anything. But she didn't say it, that would be far too pointed, and really, Dean knowing she could start learning how to pinpoint exactly what kind of badness people were feeling was one thing but she thought other people would find it creepy as hell and probably invasive. "I'm trying to think of ways you guys can...can talk to each other more effectively. I don't know. Maybe you two need some time to yourselves. Want me to go to Billy's, or something when Dean has to go on this dumb field trip?" she asked. "I don't think he'd mind." She still had her room there and Billy and Maddie both had made it very clear that she was always welcome there.

Sophie laughed a little and shook her head. "Firstly, I'm not going to chase you out of the house. And secondly, Billy and Maddie just got married yesterday, I think maybe they're the ones who need some alonetime," she said, though she couldn't deny that some time alone with Oz would be good. Then again, they'd had alone time when Lullaby and Dean had gone to England, and nothing had been said, really. "Anyway, J is going to be frantic enough about losing one of his pack, let alone two," she pointed out.

She smiled a little at that. "I won't be far." she said. "I could go to the house on big bay road. Do some work in the attic and stuff." she suggested. "You wouldn't be chasing me anywhere. I just kinda hope you guys can talk, and if that talking involves shouting or something, even if right now I wouldn't hear a dumptruck going through a nitroglycerin plant, I know that you'd both know I was here anyways, and...that'd probably make a difference." She knew about needing privacy for things. Lullaby knew all about the need for that. And she really thought that Oz and Sophie were the types who wouldn't be able to really get into anything hard if they were going to be overheard, or anything of the kind. They were pretty conscientious parents when it came to that. No fighting in front of the kids as it were.

That earned her a look. "So, instead of going to the two people we trust the most, your alternative is going off on your own?" she questioned. "You know, I don't think it would only be my husband that would be up in arms against that idea. But, we'll see how things go." Which was the most she'd say. She didn't dare put odds on anything when it came to her husband. But Lullaby had one thing straight, that was for sure - they did need to find a way to talk to each other.

Thia made a face. "I know...but you're right, they just got married, and...well." she blushed faintly. She could really imagine what it was like at the house, and she was sure she'd really kill the mood. Or something. She didn't want to do that either. "Just let me know, if you want a little time. I'll be happy to go find something constructive to do in the meantime. There were things I'd wanted to do in the attic anyways. It needs like...curtains and things up there, I swear." It was just a statement so that Sophie would know she was serious, she wasn't pushing for an answer or anything else. She accepted Sophie's 'we'll see' answer. "And...I'm always around. If you wanted to talk or anything. I'm a good listener, figuratively speaking." she offered.

"Thanks, I appreciate that," Sophie said, though she was sure that she wouldn't take the girl up on it. As they'd both established, she was the parent here and she felt like that came with certain responsibilities. She'd feel like she wasn't meeting those if she had to bring up her relationship issues with Lullaby.

"You're welcome." she said, also thinking that Sophie wouldn't really be doing that, but she at least had made the offer and it was out there. That was all that could be done, really. "...do me a favor and maybe remind Oz that if anything happens with Dean, I can be there in like...two seconds. No matter where he is. I know it's not the same, or perfect or anything, but he wouldn't be alone." she tacked on the end, going back to their original subject.

"I can do that - it may help," Sophie said, thinking that it might help - it couldn't hurt at least. And anything that could possibly help, she wanted. The days were going to be hard for Oz - they'd been hard when the kids were in England, and there they'd just been visiting family. He'd still rung every day, despite the fact that Dean had rung home every day as well.

Lullaby smiled. "I hope it does. But...yeah. So long as he can get a text to me, I can go check on him. Might anyways, depending on how far away he is. I mean...I don't know how much energy of mine it'd kill. Though I guess, where he's meant to be going, there might be enough there to draw from that it wouldn't be that bad. Like...I can go to the orphanage and back with no problem. But anyways...yeah." she said, realizing she was rambling slightly. "Sorry. I don't like the idea of him being off someplace like that overnight either."

"Two nights," Sophie corrected, not looking happy about that. "Somehow, i don't think any of us is going to be thinking this is a good idea. Just - look, I'll pass your message on to J, if you can do your part to make sure that Dean actually does go on this thing. I don't like it. J doesn't like it. you don't like it and I very much doubt that Dean will like it. But from what I know so far, he has to go. There's no getting round it and if he skips it, he's going to be in very big trouble. I - well, he doesn't really listen to me much. Maybe you'll have more luck - since you said you know how to talk to him."

Lullaby paused for a moment, thinking it over. "I think I can do it." she said. She would be promising him she'd come visit after lights out is what she'd be doing. "You know me, I'm always on him about school. He kinda listens." To an extent, anyways. She tried. "But I'm pretty sure I can manage this. I still think it's dumb. And...like...illegal." Which made her think about Thom, and his mom. Who was a judge. But she couldn't exactly go calling him up, now could she? "But okay, we'll all have our missions on this one." She gave a little smile. "You take care of Oz, I'll take care of Dean. I think we might have our work cut out for us."

Sophie chuckled slightly at that and pseudo-rolled her eyes. "Men," she said, as though they were the be all and end all of all the world's problems. It was only meant lightly though, and her heart wasn't entirely in it. She was still wondering about Oz, and about the reasons he'd left.

Lullaby could see Sophie wasn't fully into that but she didn't call her on it. She smiled instead. "No kidding." she agreed instead. "Where would they be without us?" she asked rhetorically. She left it a minute, looking at Sophie thoughtfully. Then she told her something she didn't think Sophie had gotten to hear. "I appreciate everything you've done." she said. "I know you've done a lot. For Dean, for me, for all of us. I think you're a great person, Sophie. And I think you've done a very good job, with all the insane stuff that's been thrown your way."

Sophie had, in fact, never heard that. And she appreciated the words in a manner she couldn't express. She felt the stinging in her eyes, but swallowed it down, covering it was a wavery smile. "We've all had to deal with insane stuff. That's, unfortunately, just the world we live in," she said, waving it off, because she didn't know how to deal with it right now.

"Yeah, I know. But not everyone deals well. And you have. And Dean's quiet a lot, and I'm sure it wouldn't occur to him to say it, and Oz is Oz, and Billy's Billy, ...so on and so forth. I just thought you should know. You've done a good job, and you're appreciated. I'm really glad you're here, and I've gotten to meet you at all. I just...yeah. I appreciate you. Thank you for everything." Thia said, finishing her statement. It was strange, but she knew people didn't hear that kind of thing and they should. And Sophie...particularly today, Lullaby really felt she needed something, and so she was getting it, in what way she could provide.

Sophie looked at the girl for a moment, then smiled, accepting the words, even if she didn't look entirely on board. It wasn't that she doubted them, she just wasn't sure how she was meant to react. She did, however, really appreciate the sentiment. "Thank you - I... Appreciate that," she gave back, then took a breath, needing to more the subject on. "How - how are your studies coming along? Is there anything you need from me?" she asked.

Lullaby smiled. Sophie apparently wasn't much better at accepting things of that nature than Dean was, but she understood it. It was probably something that was hard to know what to say to and it didn't so much require a returned statement. "They're coming along. I'm keeping up with them fine. So far I don't need anything. Most of it's all kinda easy to keep up with, I guess they don't want non-computer savvy people to fall behind, so it's a bit idiot-proofed?" she suggested, laughing a little. "But I'm doing well, so far. All my scores are high. I'm keeping up an A status." She was just that kind of a student. She didn't like getting anything that was just passing. If she was doing something she was putting her all in, and she was especially doing so now because it wasn't even on her dime. Oz and Sophie were paying for her education and she sure as hell wasn't going to let them down. So she made sure she was pulling A's.

"Congratulations - that's really great! It's not too idiot-proofed though, right? I mean, is it pushing you enough? Did you want something more advanced or anything?" Sophie asked. She'd always been a keen student herself, and always regretted dropping out of university - not enough to try and re-enrol, her priorities had shifted now anyway, but it was something she'd enjoyed.

"No, it's not too idiot proofed. And I'm assuming things'll get harder soon." Lullaby said. "They have to get through all the basics first I'm guessing so you can get to a higher level without them losing everyone halfway." Or, that was her theory and she was sticking to it. "But I'm keeping up and doing well. I'm glad that I'm getting to do it at all." Which was genuine. Missing school was still a sore spot with her.

Sophie chuckled at that. "Glad you're glad then - because I would have made you do it anyway. It wouldn't be right if you didn't get a proper education. I think everyone should have that." Even if Lullaby's life wasn't going to ever really be 'normal', even if she never needed qualifications for anything, Sophie believed in education, she always had done.

"Oh, definitely." Lullaby said with a firm nod. "Now all I have to do is continue to try convincing Dean of that, and I'll be all set. But yeah, I...well. I really miss school. But I'm glad I'm getting at least some semblance of it." And when Lullaby wasn't spending time in the attic with her bow, she was reading a lot and doing schoolwork during the day.

"Well, I'm counting it a success that I actually managed to stop him playing hookie - even if I had to bribe him with a car," Sophie admitted. She didn't add that she would have bought the teen a car anyway. He needed one in this area, and they needed him to have one.

"You did! So, that's good. He hasn't missed a day in a while, and I know he's been keeping up with his homework." What with her making sure he did. And yes, sometimes that consisted of her actually doing his homework, but still. Most of the dumb little assignments weren't really that much. Plus, they were part of the grade, but not really vital. So...she was helping! Or something. That was her story.

"Hopefully he's learned his lesson then," Sophie agreed. "Anyway, I need to start trying to find out more about this 'trip'. At the moment, I don't know exactly where it is, but I plan to by the end of the morning." She paused and then looked at Lullaby a little. "Once I know - if you wanted to help me research the place, check it out online, make sure it's okay... I could really do with the help," she offered. Which was a little stretch. She could do it perfectly well herself, but it was something that she thought that Lullaby would appreciate being able to do.

"Sure, I can do that." Lullaby said, thinking that Sophie could probably manage it on her own, but she appreciated being included. Especially considering lately, she'd been fairly separated off from everyone, due to the loss of her hearing aids. All it would be was plugging something into google, after all, but yeah. She'd do it, and maybe, if the place was local enough or something, she'd know a little about it.

"Great - I really appreciate it, and it's always better to have two sets of eyes looking than just one. Anyway, I'm sure Dean'll have questions and, if he does, I bet he'll come to you about them before he comes to me..." Sophie pointed out, shaking her head a little.

"Well, if it's kinda famous enough, I might know something about it just cuz I'm from here." Lullaby said. "But who knows. Find out, we'll both try and see what we can find on the place. Hopefully, it'll be someplace nearby, or at least kinda...well the most haunted place I know is the orphanage and that place is tetnus waiting to happen. ...though the theater on NMU's campus is supposed to be haunted...and like one of the buildings connecting to it." she said thoughtfully. That would be okay.

Sophie considered this. "It would be good if it was somewhere in town," she agreed. "After all, they could just want people to stay over night because of some misguided notion that ghosts only haunt at night, right? Though, if that's the case, I have even less faith in the people organising this event." She considered this further. "Of course, it could be that they wanted to prove something to the students, that night is no more or less than day, but... Oh, I don't know," she finally said, sounding rather exasperated as she abandoned trying to rationalise things out.

"I have no idea. I still don't see the logic of throwing anyone into a situation like that in the first place." Lullaby admitted. "Seriously, I just don't. It's not anything that i think I can wrap my head around in general. But I guess it's just something that has to be dealt with. So...." She shrugged one shoulder. So they'd deal with it, she guessed.

"I can't either," Sophie agreed. "But we can only hope that someone does. And of all the people out there, I think Dean can cope with it as well as anyone, if not better. If there's one thing my cousin is, it's capable. Of that much I'm sure," Sophie said with confidence. He'd shown that time and time again, even when things were really bad. Even if he had to take time out - in her head, that only supported the claim of capability. The guy knew when enough was enough and took himself down for a while. She had confidence in him. That just didn't mean she liked this situation any more though.

Nodding, Lullaby mostly agreed with that. Dean was very capable. He just also tended not to stop unless she made him. He was great at taking care of other people. He was fabulous at taking a situation and doing what needed to be done, and assessing what that happened to be. He sucked at looking after himself in a crisis. He needed her for that, or, that's what she thought. And, with a bitter little stab, what she remembered. What with him having not taken a break in twenty four straight hours when she'd died last. And no one had taken up her job of saying 'Hey, Dean, it's time to sit down and not do anything serious for five minutes. Hey, how about you eat something? When did you sleep last?' or anything else. She didn't let it show, though. That was just something she'd taken on board and now firmly classed as her responsibility that she didn't trust anyone else to do. At least she could get to him easily. ...just in case. "He's very capable."

There didn't seem anything else to add to that, so Sophie nodded. "Well, I'll get to making phonecalls then," she said. She already mentally had a list of calls she could make - and someone had to be able to tell her something - right?