PSL; Post-Asgard, Connor & Sophie

[ana]

The announcement was made on the network three days after the war ended. It was 7pm, Connor had just closed the store, and on the streets of Asgard every Traveler had paused where they were so they could watch the message. Odin was no friendlier than he'd ever been but seemed less irritated... And what he said was surprising. At least to Connor, who had been specifically told otherwise. The travelers were being sent home, no surprise there. But the dead were being given a choice: go home, remain in Asgard, or follow another traveler to their world. They'd be contacted soon to give their answer. No explanation was given... It didn't apply to him anyway. They weren't dead, after all. He listened to the rest of the message numbly as the full weight of it settled over him like a blanket. Time to go home. Time to leave this home. Time to leave Sophie.

Connor turned off his bracelet and resumed walking, though he made a few detours on his way. He picked up flowers, some of their favorite things from the grocery store (he got the feeling that the apocalypse would make it hard to find a good steak when he got home), new cat toys for Innie, and then swung by the jeweler. He'd walked past it so many times, looking in the window at the shiny tokens of bracelets and necklaces, dismissing them with practicality. They were beautiful, but when would she ever wear jewelry? Presents should suit the person. Still, he had a lot of money saved that wouldn't be needed now, and no matter that he'd kept walking he'd still considered going in every time. So today he did.

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[hollowchild]

After the announcement finished, Sophie found that she was sitting on the kitchen floor, the cat climbing over her legs trying to determine what mommy was doing on the ground.

The dead had a choice.

She'd never told Connor. She'd never told anyone; there wasn't a point. Asgard had been more of a life than anything she could ever had lived in Gargamel, and as far as Sophie was concerned, it would just have to be enough. She would die without regret, and nobody needed to be concerned about it.

But now, now she had a choice.

Innie's tongue was scouring a raw spot on her chin, and she petted the cat absently. If she went back with him, would it be like this? Would her abilities return? Odin hadn't said. Would he even want her to? There was nothing safe about Connor's world.

It was dark by the time Sophie climbed to her feet, startling Innie and sending the cat scampering off with an annoyed meow. She reached out with her shadows, flicked on the lights. Connor was late. Really late, actually. Had something happened? Could he not face her? She chewed her lip, staring out the window without seeing anything.

[daddyissues]

Connor passed half the bags off to a shadow hand so he could rummage for his keys, and found himself wondering how hard it would be to lose shadow control. He used it so constantly... In some ways it would probably be harder to live without than his original abilities. Day to day life was about to change so dramatically that he might not miss it there, but he'd definitely have to start hoarding weapons again. He might have to relearn everything. As the keys clicked in his fingers, he wondered if everything at home would suddenly be too loud. Too bright.

It would definitely be too lonely.

Sighing, Connor opened the apartment door and sent the shadow in first. When everything was inside and out of his hands, it seemed like a lot -- whoops. He flipped the bolt on the door and rolled his shoulders. "Sophie?"

[hollowchild]

The scrape of the lock made Sophie startle, but by the time Connor and his rather large selection of bags came through the door, she was composed again. As Innie circled his feet, Sophie relieved him of some of his bags.

"You went shopping." A hideous understatement, but some things never changed. "I don't think I need to ask the occasion." Regardless of the bags, she leaned up onto her toes and kissed the corner of his mouth. "What is all this?"

[daddyissues]

"A couple months' pay and oversentimentality? Just put the food away and I'll sort through it later." Connor smoothed Sophie's hair over her shoulder and kissed her forehead. He looked like he was going to say something else, but a frantic rustling told them that Innie had already found the catnip mice. "--don't eat the package!"

[hollowchild]

"Well, it isn't as though we'll need the money." She caught the cat in one arm, who promptly began loudly protesting being denied her rightful catnip. "Shush, you, wait until you're given your gifts." Handing the cat off to Connor, she took the rest of the bags and began to put away all the groceries.

"I hope some of this is intended for dinner. I...may have been a bit distracted and forgotten to make anything."

[daddyissues]

"There's dinner stuff. And breakfast stuff, and then probably another dinner and a half... They didn't give us a time frame." Connor had the decency to look guilty, then, and he dug into the pet store bag to placate the fussing cat. "Not that you have to cook. I can, or we can go out. Or maybe you want go check on people?" He hadn't thought of that -- Sophie had a lot of friends in Asgard, more than he did, and they had no idea how long they'd get to say goodbye.

[hollowchild]

"No, I want to cook. And I'll talk to people in the morning. I doubt anyone will be going anywhere without saying goodbye. Going out just..." She shrugged. "It doesn't appeal at the moment. What do you want to eat?"

How exactly was she supposed to bring up being dead? Better to talk about obvious things and figure that out.

[daddyissues]

Connor managed to free a mouse from the package with one hand, then set Innie down and tossed the toy for her. The rest went in a kitchen drawer and he moved to help Sophie. One bag discreetly wound up in the cupboard unpacked while he searched for their vase and scissors for the flower stems.

"Whatever's easiest," he shrugged, honestly not all that hungry. He was actually starting to feel a little bit sick, standing there in the kitchen like it was all normal. He started snipping the flowers. "You pick?"

[hollowchild]

"Hm. All right."

But what happened instead was that she ended up standing in front of the closed refrigerator, staring blankly at the door, fingers resting on the handle. She chewed on her lip until it went bitter with her tainted blood just below the skin. Connor's anxiety was almost a palpable thing. Telling him couldn't possibly be worse than not telling him. Well, it could, but she refused to entertain the thought. Taking a deep, steeling breath, she turned back around.

"Connor."