for Joe

[yellowlion]

I yawn, and turn the page. It's not that late, really. I shouldn't be tired. But the house is unusually quiet and I'm finding it incredibly hard to focus on these reports.

Oh, well. I sip my coffee, then pick up my red pen again and make myself concentrate.

Comments

[yellowlion]

I throw up my hands. "I've been looking! I got onto a few other people and they don't know, either. I only came back in case he'd returned."

I take a shaky breath. I only came back because I ran out of places to look. "I -- I don't know what to do."

[bluedolphin]

"You went all over town to look for him? Maybe we should go again. If there's two of us, we can cover more ground and go back to places in case he's there now. One of us has to stay at home in case there's news or Joe comes back."

Yuusuke should stay at home, I think.

[yellowlion]

"I did, but maybe I missed somewhere," I admit, panic rising again. "I wasn't exactly focusing."

[bluedolphin]

"Why don't you stay here and Yuusuke and I will look for Joe? I'll call him now." I reach towards the phone.

[yellowlion]

"I want to help," I blurt out. "I need to."

I can't be more useless than Yuusuke.

[bluedolphin]

"Okay, okay - you know where you looked for him. We'll leave Yuusuke here in case something happens. One of us has to call him. Now." I hold out the phone between us.

[yellowlion]

I nod, take the phone, and stab in his number. I only get it wrong once.

Come on, come on, pick up.

[redfalcon]

"Yo. What's up?"

I'm hanging around in a bike shop, trying to look like I could actually afford to buy a motorbike, which I can't.

[yellowlion]

I wonder where he is.

"Bad news," I say, mostly levelly. "Joe's gone."

[redfalcon]

"Gone?! Gone where? Was he kidnapped?" Not Kemp again? "Don't go anywhere. I'm coming home -" Then I realise hey, we should be looking for him, "actually, I'm out. I should look for him."

[yellowlion]

"I don't know," I say hopelessly. "We had a fight. He left. It's all my fault but I'll beat myself up later."

[redfalcon]

"Er ... okay. Okay. I'm gonna look around town for him. Catch ya later!"

I rush off to the car where there's a lovely big parking ticket sitting on the windscreen. I toss it to the breeze. Never mind arbitrary fines, I have to find my son.

[yellowlion]

If Yuusuke's looking, I'm looking too. "I'll leave him a note," I explain to Megumi as I paw through the drawers in search of a pen.

[bluedolphin]

"You're not going anywhere. I will look for him."

I can't just sit around here while goodness knows what is happening to my little boy.

[yellowlion]

"Megumi-" I protest, but it's no use. I'll call them in 45, no, 30, no, 15 minutes and get one of them to take over here.

[bluedolphin]

I reach for a pen and paper en route to the doorway, "Where did you check?" I'll call Yuusuke and he can cover half the town and I'll do the other half.

[yellowlion]

"Shops, park, school," I rattle off. "But he could've gone back to any of them."

Or been driven back to any of them, if he's being attacked.

[bluedolphin]

I cross shops off the list. Joe never goes shopping, "school. Yes, we'll try there."

I scrub at my eyes hastily. Got to hold it together for my little boy.

[yellowlion]

"Call me the second you find something," I tell her fiercely. I find a tissue and hold it out to her. "Please."

[bluedolphin]

"Of course. Got to bring Joe back ..." I suppress a sob and snatch up the tissue gratefully. No time to waste.

[yellowlion]

I kiss her on the forehead quickly then shoo her out the door.

[thread jack a-gogo]

[catcameback]

There's something very wrong, I can tell as soon as I slide in through my door. It's not technically a door and I know that, but sometimes I like to pretend.

Jou is alone in the kitchen. And he... has been crying, I think. And he's not the only one, the entire room, no, the entire house reeks of bad news.

"What happened?" I demand. Yummy leaps from my shoulder five feet to the table. Man, he's getting really agile. He puts his head under Jou's hand, inviting him to pet. Smart, too. "What is it?"

Re: [thread jack a-gogo]

[yellowlion]

Kazari.

Good.

I take in a deep, unsteady breath and scritch Yummy gently, absentmindedly. "Bad news," I say quietly. "Joe's gone. The others are out looking for him."

[catcameback]

Yummy trills loudly and butts his head hard against Jou's hand, the scratches he's getting obviously not sufficient. Jou must be really upset then.

I take a step closer and grip the back of a chair hard, waiting for the hammer to fall, but what he tells me is almost... worse than I even expected.

"The pirates?" I growl, shoving a hand in my pocket to grasp at my Switch. I'm not about to let them take him. I'll tear them all apart.

[yellowlion]

"No, no, no," I say hastily. "I spoke to Marvelous. He could've been lying, but I suspect he would've wanted me to know if Joe had decided to be with them and had run away from us. I also... I really don't think Joe would do that anyway. Not without telling us. And they wouldn't kidnap him."