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As with all good things, even this had to come to an end. With morning beginning to creep toward the noon mark, the likelihood of his parents calling the twins to ask when he'd be coming home increased, and he had no interest in a bitter aftermath. His aim had been to alleviate tension, not to create more.

His goodbyes to Nani said, with the promise to see her soon and her apologies she could not see him home due to needing to care for Seiji, he was transported from the Haven back to the front gate to make the walk back. Not that he minded, really. All things considered, even with the drama of last night, the gnawing edge of anxiety and anger he'd been nursing over the last few weeks was gone and he felt, once again, like he had a grasp on the world around him as he headed down the gravel path that led him back to the main road near the Reclamation Facility.

Beside the road, near the facility itself, a familiar sight was discovered. She'd been there for a little bit at least, curled on the hood of the car, crosslegged. A book was in one hand, pages flipped idly by her thumb as the other held a half-wrapped breakfast sandwich. Yeande didn't look up when he came into view, but merely pointed to the golden-arched bag on the hood beside her. "Sausage McMuffin," she stated simply, glancing to him as the book was set in her lap. "I hope you still like them. And I didn't know if you were into coffee yet or not, but I got you an orange juice."

A normal mother would have been livid. Or screaming, or something. Yeande, however, wasn't what most would consider 'normal'. She had called the twins the night before... and she honestly didn't know why. Perhaps it was the infamous 'mother instinct' that she kept hearing about. Or maybe it was the rather quick way she'd been shuttled off the phone. Either way, when she'd showed up on Raven and Kendall's doorstep, answers were rather grudgingly given.

Zhane had not immediately noticed his mother, but at the sound of her voice, stopped dead, the bottom dropping out of his stomach as he remained where he was on the path, afraid to move. Afraid to even blink.

As silence spanned between them, somewhere in the distance a crow cawed. The other shoe was somewhere still up in the air and he was waiting now for it to drop and for the yelling to start. There was no way it was going to be that easy....that she wasn't even mad at him. Especially when he'd never done anything like this before in his life...
"It's getting cold," she prodded, moving to pat the hood of the car next to her. "C'mon. I'm not going to bite you or anything. Despite the times that I've wished for it, we do not eat our own young."

She watched him, her expression not changing. She would have smiled, if she hadn't been so worried. She would have frowned, if she hadn't been so relieved that he was all right. "I thought you'd run away," she said, softly enough that it was almost not heard.

At her last statement, Zhane felt an inner leash break and guilt, hot and ugly, flowed through him. The idea that he'd make them think that hadn't even occurred to him....

"I wasn't." he said, finding his voice and forcing his legs to move to bring him slowly closer to where Yeande sat. "I mean....I mean, I'm not. I just--" he faltered.

Oh hell, his dad was going to be PISSED...

"It's okay," she said, extending a hand to him at first... and then when he seemed to lose his nerve, she moved. It was a fluid motion, the slide from the car to his side, and her arms wrapped around him tightly. "I know. I called the twins last night." She sighed then, giving him a squeeze then releasing him. Zhane wasn't her 'baby' anymore, and she didn't want to embarrass him.

"And when Kendall blew me off, they found me on their doorstep. For what it's worth, they tried to cover for you, until I threatened to force my way into the house and tear it apart until I found you." While not as temperamental as Talonfaust, she was still his mother... and god help the person who kept her from him. "He told me why you came here," she said then, watching him. "And that it wasn't what I was likely thinking was happening."

Little by little, his confidence that the yelling was simply not coming grew and he allowed himself to relax a bit as she hugged him. As she explained the scenario, the idea Kendall had betrayed him for no good reason likewise, evaporated. The power of an irritated mother really could not be underestimated, after all. Not the twins' and certainly not his own.

He drew in a deep breath and let it out slowly, his eyes fixated on the ground. "It wasn't like that." he explained for what felt the umpteenth time when describing the relationship between him and Tinania as he unshouldered his overnight bag and let it thump to the hood of the car. "She said I could come over because she thought I needed to get away for a night. And I did. I just wanted to go someplace for awhile where there wasn't gonna be any yelling."

Nodding, Yeande moved to rest her hips against the hood again, watching him. "Your dad can be like that, you know. I could give you the 'he does it because he loves you' spiel, but to be honest? I didn't believe it when I was a teenager, either." Finally, she let herself smile, her arms crossing over her chest. "But he does. And I think he's just being over protective. You're growing up on us, and I think neither of us is quite ready for it yet."

She turned then, looking back along the path that he'd arrived on. "Is she nice?" she asked, honestly curious. She hadn't seen much of the girl the last time, mostly due to the debacle that ensued.

He looked over his shoulder at the empty path as if expecting to see Tinania there. She wasn't, of course, but he felt a smile ghost at his mouth all the same. "Yeah." he said quietly. "Really nice." Not allowing himself to get swept up in the same pleasantly-fuzzy haze he often felt when in her presense, he shook himself back to the here and now, turning back to his mother.

"I don't get why he can't just -talk- to me, then." he sighed, feeling the annoyance he'd gone away to escape creeping back once more, his tail lashing behind him. "All he ever wants to do is scream at me and tell me I don't know anything because I'm just a kid."

"Well, you are a kid still," she pointed out, then continued before he could retort. "But you won't be for much longer. You're growing up... you're starting to spread your wings, to put it mildly, and we just don't know how to handle that yet." Granted, she was willing to take the calm route to it, instead of screaming. "Maybe he just thinks that if he says it loud enough, you'll agree with him and be the kid who thought he walked on water again."

"Yeah, well....he says it much louder and I'm gonna go deaf." he muttered, lightly giving the car's rear tire a kick before, like her, he leaned against the side of it, crossing his arms over his chest. "I mean some of the s**t he said about Nani yesterday....he doesn't KNOW her. Who the hell does he think he is?"

He shook his head, taking several deep breaths to calm himself again. "I'm lucky she even wanted to see me again..."

"I'll talk to him," she said. She didn't WANT to, but she would. "On one condition." She waited until she had his undivided attention on her. "You have got to start telling me what is going on. I mean it. I'm not going to spend another night going out of my mind and having to lie to your father about it."

That was what made it worse for her... is that she'd had to lie to Talon last night when he asked her why she was going out... and then when she was quiet after she got home... and then again this morning when she'd left first thing.

He blinked, startled out of his growing anger as he looked at her in puzzlement. "....he doesn't know?" he asked in disbelief. His assumption, when he'd seen Yeande waiting for him, was that his father was foaming and gnashing on the end of his tether someplace just waiting til he got back home.

She shook her head, looking down at the ground instead of at her son. "I told him that I wanted to take you the cell phone, in case it was needed, and that was why I had to go over to Raven and Kendall's last night. Then when I got home, I handed it to him, saying that I'd forgotten that he had work today and that you'd told me to make sure he had it instead."

She paused then, chuckling a bit as she looked to the bag of food on the hood. "Then this morning, I told him I was going to pick you up and get some breakfast. At least that one wasn't a lie."

He vented a small chuckle back at this, devoid of humor, but not lacking in its relief. The biggest weight on his mind, at least, was alleviated for the moment as he tried to put his thoughts in order before speaking again.

"M'sorry, mom." he said, chewing his bottom lip. "I didn't mean for this to turn into such a big deal, I just was going kinda crazy, I guess...." he lifted his head then, peering at Yeande through a forest of shaggy golden bangs. "I'm not gonna do anything stupid. I'm not running away, me and Nani aren't secretly planning to elope or anything..."

"Good," she replied, finally turning to him. "Then, I'll make you a deal. You keep me in the loop, and I'll handle your father when he gets too abrasive. I understand why you didn't tell him about this... especially after how he found you guys the first time. But as long as you continue to think with the head that's on your shoulders, I'll back you up. No matter what."

He felt himself smile, happy to know that he had at least one of his parents in his corner. And that she was going to, if nothing else, at least make an attempt at understanding things. Without really thinking about it, he threw his arms around his mother to hug her again.

"Thank you...." he said, muffled a bit by her shoulder.

She moved to hug him back, letting her chin rest on top of the dual-coloured hair for a moment before she kissed the unruly mop and let her hand slide along his back. "Thank you," she murmured in reply. "For not being as irresponsible as all the teenager horror stories make every kid out to be."

That was what it boiled down to, after all. She'd been scared out of her mind that he was going to be gone... and now that she knew the entire story, she was far more willing to listen.

He remained in the hug for a moment more before he drew back, his eyes wandering between his mother and the car as if to ask 'what now?'

Just as he knew his father was likely to snap at someone at the drop of a hat, he knew his mother didn't just let things go. It wasn't going to be simply as easy as assuring her he wasn't running away from home or stealing out in the dead of night to have sex with some girl he still barely knew.

Sighing, she let go and moved to ruffle his hair slightly. "Come on," she murmured, nodding towards the car. "I want to hear all about this girl." She paused then, watching him carefully. "And I DO want to meet her at some point. I trust you... that doesn't mean I want you running around at all hours with someone I've only heard of and your father's only seen for a few seconds as she was fleeing his wrath."

He inwardly flinched a bit at her words, but nodded. "Fair enough." he said, hefting up his bag again and moving to get into the car before pausing and taking the food she'd left for him from the hood so it didn't go flying everywhere when they drove off. He wasn't particularly hungry, but he wasn't oblivious either.

"What do you want to know?" he asked, opening the back door to toss his bag inside and slamming it shut again with a chunk.

"Well..." Yeande smiled as she pulled the driver's side door open. "For starters, where did you two meet?" She wasn't sure what she was expecting to hear. Maybe that they met at a dance, or through a mutual friend. Even though she was being understanding, she was inwardly hoping that she wouldn't hear something along the lines of 'Well, see, we was really drunk...'

"Online." he answered quickly...then fought to slap his forehead at just HOW quickly he'd said it as he pulled open the passenger side door and climbed in, fussing with his seatbelt. "I mean....she'd commented on some of the photos I posted on this board I go to, and I Emailed her. We got to talking after that, found out we lived pretty closeby each other, so...."

He trailed off, waiting to see if he'd be prodded further on it, and realizing that before this talk was over, he was going to have to fess up to borrowing dad's car to meet her at the coffee shop.

Nodding, Yeande smiles. "That's not too bad. You know, though, that you have to be careful with people you meet online. She could have been some three hundred pound man named Bubba." She did have her mom moments. "I'm going to assume that the first time you met in person was NOT when your father found her in our living room. How long have you two been seeing each other?"

He chuckled at the three hundred pound man comment. He knew....he'd heard horror stories from Ken about meeting some of his online acquaintences in person. "Uhh..." he had to stop, backtracking over the days since their first meeting. "....probably about a week and some change." he told her.

He paused, absently brushing bangs out of his eyes. "I don't really know what I expected when I met her, really....I just wanted to have a friend, I guess. I think she was hoping for the same. She's kind of had it rough, from the sound of it..."

Only a week? Yeande hid the concern she felt tugging at her then. It had been only a week and he was spending the night at her house? "Tell me about her," she managed to say instead, shoving her concern down for the moment. She'd come back to that particular subject later.

He drew in a breath, letting it out slowly, trying to think of where to begin. "Well...." he said "Her name's Tinania. She's a couple years older than me, and she lives on her own.....back there." He punctuated the statement by gesturing in the direction of the path Yeande had caught him on.

It startled him when he realized just how little he knew about her as of yet, aside from what had come up in conversation. And how little she must know about him as well....the time when they both felt the need to grill each other for details had not yet come.

The fretting came back. As his words faltered slightly, she just murmured quietly. "You really don't know much about her yet... do you?" She was worried... VERY worried. But she did still trust him. "Just promise me that you'll get to know her better... before you spend the night again? You can tell me I'm being paranoid, and you're right. I'm your mother, I'm allowed to be paranoid."

He chewed his bottom lip and then nodded. He wanted to tell her they didn't do anything, because it was true, but at the same time it wasn't. If the water hadn't spilled when it had, who -knew- what might've happened?

"I think....we're still figuring each other out." he said carefully. "I mean, you and dad always said that 'love at first sight' stuff was bunk, and I thought so too, but I just--" he hesitated and then shook his head. "I don't really know." He looked over at Yeande then, his expression somewhere between earnest and puzzled. "I really think I like her, mom."

That made her smile and she nodded. "Love at first sight isn't as 'bunk' as you might think. But there's a difference between falling headlong into it and stepping back to make sure that it's not just hormones talking." She reached then, resting a hand on his shoulder. "Just get to know her first... 'figure her out', if that's what you want to call it, before you decide if she's the one."

She likely wasn't going to tell Talon about this conversation. Nor was she going to tell him about the night's events. "And I wouldn't recommend letting your father know that you like her until we've gotten to know her a bit better, too."

"If he thinks I'm talking to him about any of this right now, he's nuts." Zhane snorted. "He already scared the hell out of her yesterday morning." It was likely going to take a lot more reassuring to coax her back over to his parents' house again after that episode, and even more to try and convince her that his mom was much more level-headed than his dad.

"No offense," she began, looking to him with a brow raised. "You scared the hell out of us too. Your father comes downstairs to someone ransacking the kitchen, just to see a small child that neither of us had seen before... and our son curled up with a girl we didn't know. Every 'stupid teenager movie' that we've ever seen in the past came back to haunt us." She paused, sighing. "And if your father hadn't flipped out, I likely may have if I'd been the one to come down instead."

He really would have liked to meet the couple that was able to spawn a kid capable of ransacking the kitchen in a single night....the idea made a chuckle rise to his throat, but he bit it off, not wanting her to think he was laughing at what she'd said. "We were out for a walk," he explained. "She wanted me to meet Seiji, and I wanted to show her a place I'd found. Then he started getting fussy, so we came back to watch a movie so he could have his bottle and go to sleep. She was going to leave after it was over, but it kinda didn't happen like that."

"Honey, it's really hard to have sex when you're still dressed. Trust me, I know." She had no doubt that nothing had happened. "However, some warning would have been nice. Even if she wasn't planning on spending the night... next time, let us know, okay?"

His earfins snapped down against his head as THAT lovely mental image came into focus. He knew, of course, his parents had probably had a perfectly healthy sex life before he and Phae had come along, but that didn't mean it was something he wanted details, no matter how vague, on.

"All right...." he agreed.

"And I want a promise from you," she stated, while he was in an agreeable mood. "No more hareing off overnight unless I know exactly where you're going to be. I'll understand if you don't think your father will agree. But if I don't agree? You don't do it."

He was getting to the age where this was going to be a more common occurrence, and she'd accepted that fact.

She'd deal with the fact that she felt old, later.

"I know that if we try to restrict you too much, you'll just sneak off and do it anyway. And before you tell me you won't, you're a teenager. You WILL. Something'll happen, you'll think that she needs you there right at that moment, and if we say no, you'll be gone. But I'll bedamned if my son is going to be off somewhere without anyone knowing. You promise me that you'll tell me when something like last night happens again... and I promise that I'll be reasonable about it. But if it comes down to ME saying no... that means no."

Ah, THERE it was. At least it still wasn't as bad as he'd expected it to be. They'd made it this far without it degrading into her yelling and him counting down the dotted white lines on the road til they got back to the house. His tail thumped once against the side of the seat as he weathered the stern tirade.

When she was finished, he drew in a breath. "I promise, that I'll do my best." he told her, meeting her halfway on it. "If its just me needing to get out for a night, or wanting to go someplace with her, I'll ask first." He hesitated. "But if something happens for some reason and I -need- to go, I'm gonna go. And in those cases, I promise I'll try to call from wherever I am."

He thought it sounded reasonable....and he couldn't think of anything immediately that would be urgent enough that he'd need to take off running. So far everything he and Nani had done together had been out of wanting to, not out of any sort of need.

Nodding, Yeande sighed. "Sounds about as good as I can get at the moment. Lord knows that if something happened with your father, I'd be gone without a word too. But call, okay?" She smirked then, reaching out and poking the side of his forehead. "Just keep thinking with this one. Not the one that gets noisier as you get older."

Had it even been a couple days ago, he would've asked what she'd meant, but knowing what he knew now, he gave a chuff of laughter and nodded. "All right." he told her. His brow furrowed then, and he looked thoughtful. "....Mom? Where'd dad take you for a first date?" he asked.

He didn't expect to hear anything magical, but having ANYTHING to go off of would be helpful at this point.

"First date?" Yeande blinked then, turning to stare at the road for a moment. Had they even had a first date? Well, yes... however it happened to be AFTER they'd slept together. She was realising just how hypocritical she was at this point. "Well, yes," she said, clearing her throat softly as she continued to drive. "There was this cafe a couple blocks away. We went there for espresso and strawberries..." she smirked then. "Never give your father espresso. He cleans EVERYTHING."

He didn't even try to hold it back this time, letting laughter come. "He CLEANS?" he asked, assuring his brain that, no, it was quite all right, he did not need to picture his dad wearing a maid apron with a feather duster. He made mental note of the cafe and strawberries, though.....he'd been expecting something much worse. Like taking her bowling or something and then not talking to her for a week after she'd beaten him.

She coughed slightly, allowing herself a weak smile. "He cleans. And unfortunately, we went there for breakfast. By noon, I couldn't find a damned thing in the house."

He hid his face in his hand, his shoulders shaking with mirth. That was awesome....and it was something he was going to hold onto to call to mind next time Talon started bitching. When the laughter had, at last, subsided, he calmed himself with a few breaths and then spoke again.

"I'm supposed to be taking Nani out sometime.....like on a real date with no drama."

Nodding, Yeande smiled. "Find out what she likes... and whatever it is, you take her out for it, even if you don't like it. If nothing else, every menu has chicken on it, of some kind."

"Good way to look at it, I guess." he replied, leaning to rest his head on the glass of the passenger window. "I've got some stuff I want to ask her about, I'm just really not sure how to ease into it. And its not stuff I want to talk about on a date."


((TBC...))

The door to the clinic opened and then swiffed closed again as a young man stood uncertainly for a moment, lingering at the entrance.

Zhane really had no reason whatsoever to turn up at the GMFC. Any of the kids he'd made friends with when he'd been smaller he barely remembered, and he was sure the feeling was mutual on the offchance any of them happened to be there tonight.

The clinic, however, was one of his few beacons of familiarity, and with familiarity came comfort. After the day he'd had, he felt in need of both...even if his time here was spent alone.

Which, from the look of the silent waiting room, was exactly how it would turn out.

Unshouldering his backpack, he crossed the large room and slumped into a chair, sitting still for a moment before picking up a magazine to leaf through. Even if everything else was changing, at least this place never did. It was exactly as he'd always remembered it.

Pushing the door open that led to the back office, Krista shakes her head as she holds a couple of files in her arms. Moving towards the desk, she sets them down at she looks towards the young man in the waiting area "Is there something I can help you with?" her voice was gentle as she smiles towards Zhane.

She was built pretty much the same as her daughter, as elves always kept their beauty. Over her right eye was the same marking as Tinania's. Because of the weather, she was dressed rather warm with a long sleeve shirt on, a pair of jeans, then a vest over the shirt.

He started a bit at the sound of another voice and looked up, bewildered in the direction it had come from. He blinked....and then blinked again.

....Nani?

As the woman drew out of the shadows, however, he realized he was mistaken with an odd mix of relief and chagrin.

"Oh....no, I think I'm all right." he told her, giving a half-smile back he didn't really feel. "I just stopped by because..."

He trailed off, fishing for a reason that didn't sound stupid.

"....because I haven't been here in awhile, I guess. Not since I was a kid, at least." He shot a look back toward the door. "If you need me to go or anything, I can take off."

With a light chuckles, Krista shakes her head as she moves some paperwork into the filing cabinet "Your no bother at all sweetie." pausing she looks over a file, before looking back towards the young name "Did I hear you been here before? You wouldn't happen to be a child born of this clinic?"

"Um, yeah actually..." he said, shifting in his chair a bit. "The last time I was here was a couple years ago, though. And I think my mom stopped checking in awhile back."

He eyed Krista again, finding the resemblance striking, but decided not to say anything. It was probably weird enough he'd shown up out of the blue without questioning the receptionist as to whether or not she was any relation to his girlfriend.

Arching a brow, Krista shakes her head "What your name hun?" she was flipping through the files once again. She notice him looking at her, but she didn't pay any attention to it, for all she knew he might have seen her somewhere before.

"Zhane." he told her, then paused. "Er....Zhane Breslin." he amended, giving her the full name. He didn't know how many Zhanes the clinic had (not many, he guessed) but records were probably kept by last name anyway.

"I don't really remember what I was in for last time...a booster shot, I think. If that helps any."

Pulling his record out, Krista flips through it before she frowns "It say here that you haven't had a checkup since you were a baby. And your shots are way out of date." moving around the desk, she moves over towards him to sit down next to him "Sounds to me like there was a reason for you to come to the clinic today. As my daughter Tinania would put it: Things happen for a reason, and it better to just go along with it." with a light chuckle, she taps her knees with her hands.

"Huh...I didn't know it'd been that long." he said. Not that he was usually chomping at the bit at the prospect of getting his arm jabbed with needles.

As she continued, he jarred noticeably. Nani's mother? Well, that explained the resemblance, at least...and it meant he wasn't going crazy. After the day he'd had, that was a definite plus.

"I don't really remember her saying you worked here. Or if she did, I missed it." he said, giving a small chuckle.

Krista smiles before she shrugs alittle "It must have slipped her mind, she been busy as of late. And now I know why, so your Zhane? The young man who has my daughter all a flutter." with a chuckle, she stands as she nods to him "Come on, might as well get you up to date on your shots at least. It will give me a chance to talk to you." with that, she turns making her towards the double doors.

Pushing on door open,she turns and waits for Zhane to follow her.

He set his jaw as he looked at the door being held open for him. Did he really want to cap the day's events off with a round of shots? Really?

By the same token, did he want Nani's mom's first impression of him to be him being an uncooperative jerk? Talk about loaded choices...

Green eyes darted between Krista and the door a couple of times before he set the magazine aside and rose from his seat to join her as she ventured into the more professional area of the GMFC.

Leading Zhane to an small room, Krista smiles to him as she taps the table "So tell me about yourself. And before you think badly of me, I just want you to know I'm just curious. Its not everyday my daughter finds someone who she willing to do anything for. In fact the last I remember, Tinania said something about never falling in love again." turning away from him, she moves over towards the drawers to pull herself out a pair of rubber gloves.

He nodded, moving to scoot up onto the edge of the table, the sterile paper crinkling loudly beneath him as he did so. "Its okay." he assured her. "I don't mind or anything." He took the remark about Nani saying she never wanted to love again in silence, however. She'd told him in the past about her trust being rattled, and....well, he imagined he hadn't done much to help that today with his dad storming in after he'd assured her he wouldn't be a worry.

"Ummm...." he was never good at these. "Well, she probably told you I'm kind of a wanderer..." he gave a chuckle. "we actually met though some of the photos I'd put online. When I remember to take a camera with me, I like to take pictures of the places I've been...."

He rattled his brain for other interesting things about himself that would make him sound less like a live-at-home loser and found himself coming up sparse. Such was the dilemma of being a teenager.

Nodding alittle, Krista smiles as she pulls out a couple of needles "Did she ever tell you about when she was about your age? She was a wanderer herself, always went walking around in the woods. She would find some of the most beautiful places around our home." turning to Zhane she nods to him "I will be right back, I need to go get a few things. You just go ahead and relax okay?"

Slipping out of the room, she leave it partially open as she heads down the hallway.

In spite of how haggard he felt, and probably looked, he grinned a bit. No, Nani hadn't told him that. Their discussion of when they were kids was scattered here and there as it came up in conversation. But it explained why she was so tolerant of his vanishing for the entire day...

"Okay," he said to her retreating back as she left. "I'll just wait here." he cast a look at the sterile white walls surrounding him. "....I guess."

Given a moment alone, he stared into space in thought. From here, he decided, he would head to the library to borrow their internet and maps. From there, maybe head home and pack with more level of a head than snatching blindly whatever had been in reach and happened to fit in a backpack.

After that....he'd decide as he went.

Knocking on the door, Krista steps back into the room holding a tray. On the tray was seven small bottles "So here is the deal, I need to give you about six shots. The last one I'm going to give you also because it looks like you are much like Nani. You enjoy the outdoors, so you probably end up getting cut up alot?" setting the tray down, she turns back to look at Zhane, before she lifts her hand to touch his chin.

Turning it carefully towards her, she frowns "So may I ask why and who slapped you across the face?"

Six. Ugh. He bristled at the idea, but remained obediently where he was. If he could take a tree branch through the arm, he could tolerate shots, he promised himself. "Only when I don't look where I'm going." he told her, trying to make light of the situation.

As her hand touched his face, however, he drew away. It didn't hurt or anything, but he also hadn't been aware it had left a mark as he reached up to rub at it absently. "That's....." he began, then shook his head. "I think I had that coming. Don't worry about it."

The awkwardness in the room was growing by the second.

Krista couldn't help it as the worried mother look appears on her face. Giving Zhane a small nod she thinks of a way to ease Zhane as she grabs a hold of the first needle "So are you off to see Tinania? If you are, could you do me a favor and tell her to stop my Emerald Haven? I managed to find the rest of the items she wanted in the attic." setting the small bottle down, she turns towards him taking his arm.

"I promise this will only hurt for a second." with those words, she stuck the needle into the skin of his upper arm.

"Actually," he began, bracing himself for the incoming shot. "I'm probably headed out for awhile. Maybe a long while, I'm not sure." As the needle pricked his skin, he gritted his teeth a bit, but remained still.

"I was actually going to ask if you wouldn't mind telling her not to worry..."

Krista pauses as she goes to pick up need number four. Glancing back up at Zhane, she shakes her head before she sigh "You know Zhane, the last guy who left without telling Tinania broke her heart. It took nearly a year for her to get over him. Do me a favor and don't do that to her again, as she can't handle anymore pain. She been through enough in her life." carefully poking the next needle into his skin, she doesn't look up at him as she continues "If you care or even love her, let her know your leaving. Cause when you come back, she'll be waiting with open arms. And that will make everything that is bad right now go away." setting the needle down, she turns away from him again.

She was really hoping he would take her advice.

Krista's words stung as he dropped his eyes, a rush of shame sweeping over him. He hadn't really thought of it that way. And that was, most definitely, not the impression he'd wanted to give.

"I just didn't think she'd want to see me after--" he stopped himself, clearing his throat. If she was anything like most moms he'd heard about, she didn't particularly need a play-by-play of what had happened earlier, even if her daughter WAS out on her own. She'd gotten the point across clearly enough.

"You're right." he said quietly. "I'll go talk to her." That was, assuming she'd want to talk. With the way she'd fled, he'd be surprised if she'd even answer the door.

Placing the final need down, Krista smiles as she turns towards Zhane "Alright, your all up to date on your shots. Now don't worry if you start to get sleepy, as that is a side affect to one of them. Just allow yourself some time to relax and you should be fine." pulling the rubber gloves off, she tosses them down into the tray before she nods to him.

"Now you won't need another shot until your about Tinania's age. After that, you'll only have to worry about a flu shot every year if you really want to get one." turning away from him for a moment, she updates his records "And by the way, I don't think you will have to worry about Nani not wanting to see you. I know my daughter, trust me when I say you would know if she didn't want to see you."

He turned his head to eye the reddening area on his arm where the shots had been administered before tugging his sleeve down over it. "Thanks. I'll try and remember all that." he assured her, giving her a smile. Inwardly, he thought if he never saw the business end of another needle, it'd be too soon.

He slid off of the table, listening to Krista's final statement before drawing a breath and nodding. "I hope so..." he told her. "She kind of left too fast to be able to tell, to be honest."

There was a pause.

"Is she home, do you know?"

Krista smirks before she flips her phone open "One way to find out?" pulling her daughter's name up on her cell, she press the call button. It took a few seconds before she smiles grows bigger "Hey sweetie, I was wondering if you were home? Oh you are? I was just curious because I might be stopping by after work to have some tea with you." she pauses for a moment as she turns to look at Zhane "Okay I will be sure to do that hun, yea I love you too sweetie."

Hanging up her phone she nods to Zhane "She home right now, but will be heading out in an hour. She has to run to Durem to pick up a few things before dark. So my guess is, if you want to see her..go now."

He mentally calculated the odds of being able to walk from here to Moon Haven in an hour. If he cut corners, he decided, he should be fine....and that failing, he could always wait until she got back.

"Thanks..." he said, giving Krista a grateful smile "For everything." He fished for something more to say, but could think of nothing and with the proverbial timer ticking, he didn't want to waste time. He left the examination room without further ado, pausing in the waiting area to snag and reshoulder his backpack.

Once back outside, he broke into a brisk trot in what he felt was the most straightforward direction from downtown to the Durem reclamation facility.