The Prodigal Brother Returns

Who: Mathias and Dorian
Where: Nevermore
When: Middle of the damn night

Although Mathias didn't have any set hours at Babylon, and he tended to leave when he thought that he could leave - especially on a Friday night, when the place was full and he got chatting to a woman with curves in all the right places - which was what had happened tonight. The time had flown by and, eventually, they'd left together. She hadn't lived far away from the bar and they'd had a few pleasant hours together before he'd made his excuses. He didn't do overnight with a girl that he had no reason to have ties to. She hadn't minded - he had a way of putting things that didn't piss women off. He'd left her with the hope that he might call, but no actual promise that he would.

His drive home took him past Nevermore, more through coincidence than design. he'd installed a manager in the place when his brother had left town originally, and Mathias knew that someone was still running the place since Dorian had left town again. That was enough (vague knowledge though it was) for Mathias never to actually be bothered with the bookstore. It was hardly his style, after all.

At least, he wasn't bothered until he saw a light on, and the suggestion of someone moving around inside. At whatever the hell time it was. Time for bookstores to be closed, that was for sure.

Math eased his car over to the side of the road and killed the engine, quietly opening the door and slipping out into the snow, into the cold of the clear, dark night. The only light was from the almost-full moon above, which was more than enough as it reflected off the white blanket on the ground. He headed round to the back of the store, opening the door with the key he still had and letting himself inside. He'd always been good with stealth, and it didn't hurt that he moved faster than any human could, so was rarely where anyone expected him to be at times like this. The door to the back room was open a crack and he took a moment before pushing it open and heading straight inside, anticipating that the place was being robbed.

Dorian hadn't been in town long, just a few short hours. The intent wasn't to arrive in the middle of the night but a few flight delays and a long drive from the airport had him pulling into town well after midnight. He'd driven by the crater that used to be his house, pausing briefly to admire it from the rental car and then drove to the only other place in town he knew he had a key to, his store.

Once arriving at Nevermore, he'd spent a while just wandering around the place, putting away loose books, rearranging things and taking in the familiar. Of all the things he'd rushed in the past few years this place was the one thing he felt he did right. Owning this place wasn't just a job, it was a calling and abandoning it had eaten away at him since the first day.

Figuring there wasn't much he could do about finding his brothers' new lodgings until morning he'd set about putting together a makshift bed in the back room of the store, mostly it was made out of old crates and boxes, not entirely comfortable, but it would do for the night. His back was to the door when Mathias opened it, but he spun around at the sound, clutching the bedroll he'd been about to lay out.

Mathias came to an abrupt stop as he realised who the 'intruder' was and for a moment there was one of those rare things - the guy was genuinely surprised, lost for words. And it showed in his expression. "...bro?" he asked, before he recovered. 'Shocked' never lasted long on the eldest Lockwood and this wasn't that much of a difference. "Dorian - fuck, when did you get back? Why didn't you call?" he asked, breaking into a grin and crossing to draw his brother into a fraternal hug.

Dorian wasn't sure what he was expecting, but Mathias wasn't it. His heart had been racing, worried that he wasn't being robbed and now all of a sudden he was being hugged. Awkwardly, he half returned the hug but then stepped clear. "I just got in, couple hours ago maybe. I figured I'd call in the morning." His tone wasn't entirely convincing, but he was still adjusting. There'd been a plan that he'd put together while driving. An explanation of what had happened when he'd left town, an apology. None of it had involved Math showing up at Nevermore, nor did it involve him seeming so happy to see Dorian. But then again just dropping in unannounced was always Math's style. "What are you doing here? You aren't taking care of the place are you?"

Math laughed at that, shaking his head. "Fuck no - seriously, bro, could you see me running a store? You'd be out of business inside of a week," he exclaimed, easily. He hadn't got the first clue what his brother was doing back, but that didn't mean he wasn't glad to see the guy. Thrown, definitely, but glad to see him.

Dorian smiled, the knowing kind that both appreciated the humor but realized his brother was telling the truth. "Lucky for me then," Dorian remarked. "I needed place to crash." He finally set down the bed roll, draping it across his makeshift bed, not sure what else he should say. Should he just jump into the explanation?

Mathias eyed the bed, then looked back at his brother with an eyebrow raised. "And... You know, we found another place - we've got room... Kinda a nice lace, actually. Townhouse thing. Caleb took the basement, I got the upstairs. We meet in the middle, and when we need our own space, we got it. Course, it means that I can go days without seeing the kid, but it works for us," he explained, without really considering how that may make Dorian feel, either good or bad.

"Math, I...I'm not sure yet." Dorian looked at his brother, then away again. "I didn't really go out on the best foot. And just trying to jump back in...well that's the way I've always done things. I'm trying to make amends. Plus if you and Caleb are getting along fine then..." Dorian trailed off, leaving the statement open, but insinuating that bringing himself back into the mix might just ruin whatever balance the two had managed to obtain without Dorian around. "I appreciate the offer, you know I do."

Mathias looked at him, then nodded. "Whatever you need, bro - you know that," he said with the air of one who thought this should be clearly obvious. Which, to be fair, he did think. It was just that he didn't always make it clear to other people. He just assumed they knew, which usually they didn't. He shuffled the key to the townhouse off his keyring and tossed it at his brother. "But anyway - door's always open," he added. Of course, that raised the issue of how he was going to get in, what with Caleb being away still. Still. Mathias knew the kid was meant to be home yesterday. He'd received a call from the school giving him soothing noises about possible trouble that they were doing everything they could for. Mathias didn't buy that - or, rather, didn't buy there was anything the school could do. What he did buy was Caleb's ability to look after himself. he had confidence in his brother - he'd seen the guy, fought alongside him. Caleb would be fine, he was sure.

"Thanks." Dorian was relieved his brother was understanding. They were brothers, but they were still very different. Dorian constantly felt like he was odd in his feelings, his concerns, especially when it came to speaking with Mathias. He caught the key, allbeit awkwardly, and hooked it on the keyring with the keys for the shop. "How is he by the way, Caleb? You said you two were managing?" Another regret pained Dorian, he'd left things in such disrepair with his younger brother. That had haunted him while he was gone, and yet Dorian was still at a loss for how to fix it.

Mathias nodded again. "He's... good. He's, er... kinda missing right now. But I know Caleb and he can take care of himself, so... I'm not so worried. It was a school trip thing, so - really, what's the worst that could happen?" he offered.

Dorian raised his eyebrow at his brother's nonchalant attitude. "Missing? He's gone missing? For how long? And what's the worse that could happen? It's Caleb, the kid is like a magnet for disaster." The concern was evident on Dorian's face. He'd not been thrilled to have his little brother dropped in his lap, but after learning everything about their parents, not to mention everything else Caleb had gone through recently, worry was the natural reaction. "A school thing? What did they say when he didn't come home? Did the other kids come home?"

"The school sent him on this trip," Mathias explained, with an air of patience. "To this old haunted hospital - something about teaching them hands on about spirits or some bullshit. Anyway, they were meant to come back yesterday, but there's been a snowstorm and they're snowed in. So, I guess missing is the wrong word - we know exactly where they are, they're just kinda stuck. And Caleb might be a trouble magnet, but the guy can take care of himself. He'll be fine."

That didn't really alleviate any of Dorian's concerns, but it did shift them. Were the chaperones prepared for getting snowed in? Would there be sufficient supplies, did the heat work properly in that old building? Sure he was playing the role of an overly concerned parent, but one of his realizations he'd come to while he was away was that Caleb needed things to be better between them. Coming home to find out the kid was missing was not good news, even if he wasn't really missing. "I know he can take care of himself Math, but what if he loses that knife you gave him? Then he's out there bleeding out with nothing he can do about it. You haven't heard anything from him directly? He hasn't called?" Caleb would call if he was in trouble right?

"His... cell goes straight to message," Mathias admitted, for the first time thinking that possibly he should have been more concerned in the face of his brother's reaction. "But, seriously - the school said that that was probably down to the storm. Apparently it's pretty bad. It's just a storm, Dor. And, I dunno - you've seen this place, it snows. A lot." Much more snow than Mathias had ever seen in his life. Everywhere, fucking snow. Loads and loads of snow.

Dorian gave his brother another look, this one had replaced some of the concern with some annoyed. Not that he could really blame Mathias. Math had figured out Caleb could hold his own and now Math was determined to let him do just that. Although he did have a point about the snow. Maybe it was just a storm. Still... "Should we go up there?"

"I figure once the storm's over, if there's issue then, then yeah - we go up there. Right now? There's no point. Don't know about you, but even I can't get through a wall of icy coldness, little brother. And I don't know anyone who can. I got the address of the place though - it's a couple of hours drive, but I figure that I could get there sooner, if we really needed to." So far he'd definitely been working on a 'don't have to worry' mindframe, and he was quickly adjusting that to fit Dorian's point of view - and to fit the fact that there were two of them now. Shifting his 'I's to 'we's.

At least there was some semblance of a plan. Math was right, they were useless against the storm. "If we haven't heard from him by tomorrow, I mean tonight, we should consider heading up there. Just to be safe. The storm can't last forever." In the back of his mind, Dorian considered just how stupid they were going to look if they arrived as a rescue only to find nothing wrong. Too bad rarely in his life were the rescues unwarranted.

"Okay," Mathias agreed. In theory, he was meant to be at Babylon tonight, being it was a Saturday, but if the boss wanted to bitch him out about it, she could. And he would give her some excuse that didn't involve the reason 'I was going after my little brother'. Mathias tried not to mention his family to Eris. She knew they were there, but he really didn't want to bring them to her attention. he didn't trust her not to fuck with them. "So, man - what... You're back," he added, moving on with an air of 'and this is us, changing the subject'.

Dorian nodded, feeling a little more relieved. He wouldn't be comfortable until he was sure Caleb was alright and he'd seen his brother with his own eyes, but at least they had a plan. And at least Caleb was with others, not out on his own. Dorian blinked a little at the subject change. "Yea, back. You didn't think I'd come back? I just...I needed some time. I always wanted to come back."

"I dunno bro, it was the second time you'd decided to leave - kinda like you were turning into me," Mathias joked, but there was a tiny part of that which fell short. Part of Mathias felt like he was turning into Dorian - into what he'd always considered to be 'the responsible brother'. Thig was, Dorian had, in Mathias' opinion, been good at that. It had been a real shock over the last few months to find out that it hadn't come naturally to the guy all the time. Mathias had always considered Dorian to be the strong, responsible, stable brother. Caleb had been the 'normal' brother. And he'd been the flake, the party guy, the one with no strings who didn't do responsibility. Then they'd all ended up in Marquette and the world had been turned on its head. Caleb knew pretty kick ass powerful magic; Dorian had a breakdown; and Mathias had turned responsible. Or so it felt - he just wasn't particularly any good at it, in his own opinion.

"I don't think I could handle being you," Dorian joked back even though he meant it. "I went too hard, too fast. And then everything fell apart, and the house...I just...lost my shit." He glanced down at his feet, unsure of what to do with his hands, but wound up sticking them in his pockets. "While I was gone, I traveled a bunch, did some studying and a hell of a lot of thinking. The whole time though, there was something missing. Took me a bit to figure out what it was, which you know is rare for me." He looked back up at Mathias with a small smirk. He'd been the brainy brother his whole life, always digging into mysteries, trying to find answers. "But the answer wasn't out there, there's not a place for me out there. It's here, I just couldn't settle into it. I've spent my whole damn life wishing I was something I wasn't. I can't do that anymore. And hell, I've never had a greater sense of self except when I'm around you and Cay. Of course it's usually a sense of shortcomings, but maybe that's not all it is. So I'm gonna try and fix it."

Mathias chuckled a little at that. "Yeah, think we all end up comparing ourselves to each other," he said as an off-hand comment. He'd thought about it a little lately, and wondered if that had to do with their upbringing, with their mother. To Math, anyway, she'd always compared him to his brothers, though usually favourably. Mathias wasn't sure how much they'd gotten the same treatment. "So, you gonna be taking this place over again, or just seeing how things go?" he asked.

"It's a brother thing," Dorian agreed, though his response wasn't as off-hand. "I want to, although I'd rather go at it slowly. The guy you hired has done a decent job, but eventually I think I want it back in my hands." Nevermore was a brightspot in Dorian's past and once he found that middle ground between his brothers, he felt assured in taking it over again. "I just...have to go slow."

"Like I said, Dor - whatever you need. Seriously. Just say the word," Mathias assured him with typical verbal generosity. He was good with that - with promising people the world. And, if he still happened to be around when they needed it, sometimes he'd even deliver. But Mathias just wasn't reliable. He was great when he was around, but he simply wasn't a guy you could count on. Or, at least, historically he'd never been. Maybe these days he was slightly better. He just had a screwed up perspective on the world.

Dorian nodded. "Appreciate it," he told his brother, although he did wonder how long Mathias would be around. Hell the guy wasn't really stable and he'd been loitering in Marquette longer than Dorian could remember him staying anywhere before. Really, Dorian hoped Mathias would stick around long enough for Dorian to get his shit figured out because trying to do it on his own and take care of Caleb...Dorian wasn't sure he could do that.

"Well, look - you must be tired and everything." What with it being the middle of the night. "I'll call you tomorrow though, about Caleb," he added, actually getting that Dor wanted space, so glossing that contact with a specific reason, both because Dorian would be concerned and also so that he didn't feel crowded.

Dorian didn't want Mathias to leave, but he was aware that it was the middle of the night, and Dorian himself was exhausted from all the traveling. Mathias' presence was as intoxicating as ever; it was easy to dislike him when he wasn't around, but when he was there, Dorian wanted nothing else but to stay in that glow. Granted that glow was what had cast the shadow where Dorian had spent his life. "Thanks. You'll tell him I'm back? If he's alright."

Mathias laughed at that. "Oh hell yeah, I'll tell him you're back," he assured his brother. He'd definitely be imparting that pretty important piece of news. "It's good to see you, Dor - really good to see you," he added, warmly, honestly over the moon at seeing his brother. It was unexpected, but so much that was good in life couldn't be foreseen, especially not in Math's life. he loved surprises, he loved the unexpected. This was just great.

"You too Math," Dorian responded, unable to not match Mathias' warmth. He knew full well that the road he was on was a long one, and that as much as he needed Mathias around to get better, there was always the chance that having his brother around would let him slip into that place where he didn't have to get better. Still, he had missed his brothers, more than he'd admit. He was harder to get used to being alone again than it was to get used them being around.