Chapter 19 - Therapy is Hard to Access Even in Other Universes

Even in alternate universes, it seemed mental health eluded the masses. It was a strange sight they made: one expertly trussed-up teenager whose tears were permeating into the mattress, and one adult sat nearby, with said teenager's foot in his iron grip.

The commotion outside was muffled in large by the growing amount of dead fish piling up in the corridors, and the smell was beginning to make its dense, odourful way under the gaps between the door and wall. It was strong enough that Io had made an offhand comment about it, sniffling indignantly, before resuming his babbling.

"Why did you have to take on that stupid mission?" He began to hiccup. "You should've just s-stayed here with us and we could've played WonderWorld and eaten lots of ramen and fried chicken. Like," a deep breath, and then he continued, "I know the mission was important so that we could go home and I know you needed to go and do it yourself because no one else was better for it but—but why couldn't we send someone else, like why did it have to be you?!"

Uari didn't feel prepared for this. He hadn't expected his answers to come with an emotionally-traumatised teenager, and he probably wasn't the best person to help someone through their feelings given how he was just barely grappling (read: ignoring) with his own. He found himself letting Io's foot go, squatting down next to his head, and then petting him awkwardly as the angst continued to tumble outwards.

"This is so stupid," Io muttered, nuzzling into his hand. "And I know I'm trying to intellectualise my feelings which Wizah told me I shouldn't do," so Wizah was useful after all, "but I don't know what else to do."

After a long pause, a small voice emerged. "I missed you."

Uari said nothing because he didn't know Io and couldn't miss him, but he continued to ruffle the blond until the hiccups stopped.

"Feeling better, bud?"

Io hesitated before replying, which Uari felt was too late after the bout of crying and emotional vulnerability. "Yeah."

"You wanna take a break before we continue?"

"I don't want to continue, damn you!"

Uari assumed that was a yes, so they sat together in silence for a minute as the chaos outside continued on. The fish might run out in an hour or so; he had spent a truly exorbitant amount of money on that toy.

Io's breathing began to even out. Uari rolled him over onto his back before the boy fell asleep on him. He still needed answers.

"Io, what was the mission about?"

"I don't know," he said sullenly. "You only talked about it with Ghost. You didn't even tell me. I only knew about it after Ghost told everyone you'd gone on a mission and she didn't know when you would be returning."

That triggered another round of ranting, so Uari settled in and let the information flow. "Do you know how upset we were? You just—you just left and you didn't even say goodbye and we wouldn't even know when you were coming back? And then she wouldn't even let us go to find you or tell us where you went, and then you show up with Wizah and you don't remember us at all!

"And you—you—instead of coming home or literally anything else you took a child with you and then you just disappeared! And we already wiped Wizah so we didn't even know where you came from, and we couldn't ask her either! Do you know how stupid that was?!"

The information was great but Uari's alarm was growing in direct proportion with Io's descent into blubbering. He shifted Io once more to prop up against the wall, just so the boy wasn't drowning in his own snot, and continued to pet his head. The pretty boy looked like an angry, upset caterpillar; Uari would file the image away for the laughs, later.

"Who's Ghost?"

Io snorted, and promptly choked on his spit. Uari waited until he stopped coughing.

"She's one of the first Gravts," he wheezed, completely out of breath. "You guys are tight as hell. I'm almost certain you've sle-"

Uari slapped a hand over his mouth. He didn't want to hear about his prior sexual history, although he was gratified to know his romantic experience wasn't quite as virginal as he'd assumed.

Io didn't say anything when he removed his hand, but he did have a smug expression, and Uari decided immediately that it was a stupid look.

"So Ghost knows about my mission, right?"

"Yeah."

"Okay. How are the Gravts trying to get home?"

"I don't know. I didn't pay attention when they were trying to explain it to us." Io sniffled. "How am I supposed to understand all of that quantum nonsense?"

"Didn't you go to school?" Uari was baffled. Quantum physics was a mandatory part of the curriculum, what with lustre being so prevalent.

"Sorry I'm sooo stupid," Io snarked and fell silent.

"Fine, fine. How many other missions are going on right now?"

There were three other missions in Southernland at that moment, and none of them seemed to have anything to do with him:

The first was an infiltration mission geared at positioning another one of their members in Barkley University. The second was a procurement mission, which apparently was just code for relieving some poor sod of an Interface; why that Interface was important, Io didn't know.

The third was a retrieval mission—specifically, someone had lost their cat, and someone else had been dispatched to find it. Uari got the sense that the Gravts were a lot less like a cohesive organisation and more like a collection of individuals held loosely by happenstance, who still did community service on the side even as they infiltrated universities.

Once he had finished explaining, Io let out a wide yawn. "Don't fall asleep on me now. I've got more questions for you."

Io locked eyes with him and slowly, deliberately toppled over to the right, on his side. "I don't know anything else," he announced, "and I'm going to sleep."

"I could tickle you again."

"Just kill me. It would be a mercy." He rolled over and began to snore lightly. At the same time, the sounds outside had finally reached a crescendo, demonstrated by the loud bang on the door. The fish had finally run out; the others were now here.

"Uari, you motherfucker." Oh, that sounded like Glasses. "I am going to shove my hand in your ass and rip your eyeballs out through your intestines."

"Ooh, kinky," Uari had said before he could stop himself.

There was a snarl from the other side of the door, filled with pure rage, and then a huge weight slammed into the door, denting it.