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[amicably_absent]

Glitch had been absent for two days.

Moreso than in the usual way, he had spent two days with the alchemists and medics and Raw, the comforting presence of his friend connecting him to the current problem.

They'd talked it over. Him, the alchemist and Ambrose. Except he and Ambrose didn't really talk, being as how he was Ambrose, except that he wasn't and that was really part of the problem, except when it wasn't.

It was enough to give anyone a headache.

He had asked them to give him time. To think about it. Everyone had agreed to give him his space and he had gone to think.

Thinking, as it turned out, meant sitting up on the railing of a balcony, looking over the O.Z. and finding that for once, he didn't glitch and forget.

The one time he wouldn't have minded it.

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[amicably-absent.livejournal.com]

"I didn't hide where I was. I just- needed to think for a while," he said softly. "I needed time in my own head, by myself."

But he reached back for Cain, for balance while he got down from the railing.

[less-hugging.livejournal.com]

"Of course you didn't. That's the secret to not getting caught."

He lets Glitch hold on as he gets his feet back on the ground, even keeps a hand lightly pressed to his shoulder, in case. You can never be too careful at these heights.

"If you need some more time alone..."

[amicably-absent.livejournal.com]

Shrugging, Glitch shoves his hands into his pockets as he steps away from the edge. "No, I'm..." He sighs softly. "I don't think I could take anyone else. But I'm okay with a walk with you. Where are we going?"

[less-hugging.livejournal.com]

"Outside."

Nowhere in particular. It's just a walk, and some fresh air, and if need be, no words at all.

[amicably-absent.livejournal.com]

"Can we stop by my room? I need a warmer coat."

There was a wealth of information in that little query.

[less-hugging.livejournal.com]

"Sure we can."

First stop, private rooms of the Queen's Advisor.

Not knowing what to say, or how to say it, Cain clenches his jaws and keeps on walking. Maybe he'll know what to say once they get outside. Maybe he won't need to.

Life would be so much easier if you didn't have to bother with words.

[amicably-absent.livejournal.com]

Glitch unlocks his door on the second go and goes inside, sliding off his battered, beaten, faded tan coat with frayed braiding and missing buttons.

He hangs it over a chair and opens the wardrobe, pulling out a dark brown coat with plain braiding and brass buttons. Brand new, clearly, thick and undamaged.

He pulls it on and shuts the door, walking back over to Cain. "I think I remembered what you said. I don't need the coat to remember now."

[less-hugging.livejournal.com]

Cain waits outside, refraining from so much as looking in. He's got no business going where he's not bid to enter. But before he's got the time to consider the fact they're better friends than that, Glitch is already there, and talking to boot.

--okay, hold up. What just happened here?

Cain looks.

Does a slight (stone-faced) double-take.

And finally, he nods. To think such a small thing could make such a big difference, and to think Glitch would be ready for the change... It suits him. More than that, it looks good on him.

"You ready to go?"

[amicably-absent.livejournal.com]

Glitch cocks his head, looking slightly confused. Waits for a response and gets it, as much as he expected to, anyway.

"Yeah, I'm ready as a- a- something that's really ready to go..." he trails off. "That didn't work quite like I intended."

[less-hugging.livejournal.com]

"Does it ever?"

There's a grin lurking underneath the carefully deadpan expression, but something is holding him back when nothing should. Glitch doesn't need him to be a stoic Tin Man, though who's to say what Glitch needs?

It feels as though being a friend is the right way to go, but too much seems to be on the verge of collapsing just with the Alchemist here. And if Cain doesn't loathe himself for thinking it.

"Come on. To the wild outdoors. We've been cooped up inside for too long."

[amicably-absent.livejournal.com]

Glitch chuckles. "No. I suppose not."

He looks down the the buttons - his mortal enemy, the button - and hesitates, fingers smoothing over the brass, plcuking the the stitching and knows this, he knows he does.

Then he drops his hands with a frustrated sigh and just leaves the coat open. "I like outside. It's clean. You can breathe. There's no chemicals, or clanging."

[less-hugging.livejournal.com]

"Not to mention you can see the sky."

Secretly, Cain sometimes finds himself sleeping outdoors. Having a too big bed and too many blankets and pillows and a too soft mattress grew very old, very quickly.

Out here, he can breathe. He can stretch out and breathe deep and he never feels shut in. It makes things more bearable.

"Want some help with that?" He glances pointedly at the long rows of buttons. A warm coat won't do much if it's wide open.

[amicably-absent.livejournal.com]

If anyone keeps tabs, Glitch is yet to sleep a night in his rooms. He sleeps outside, in his lab, in the stables, in bed, half a night, maybe, but then he heads outside again.

He's slept outside too long to adapt yet.

"No." He huffs again. "But I think I need it." He stops and turns to face Cain.

[less-hugging.livejournal.com]

"Right." Needing and wanting being two different things; he knows that, knows it from his years raising Jeb, knows it from personal experience, but does he ever learn?

Sometimes, the two shouldn't be so completely different. Sometimes, he feels they're exactly the same.

"Turn around. Let's see if we can't teach an old zipperhead new tricks."

And there it is. He's smiling.

[amicably-absent.livejournal.com]

"I know buttons work. They- the thing and they go- and then it stays- I know how buttons work!"

He just can't ever wrap his half a mind around it. He turns around without ever questioning the instruction. "All right. But only because you smiled."

[less-hugging.livejournal.com]

"I know."

He steps in close, leaning his chin on his friend's padded, nice, shiny new-robed shoulder and wraps his arms around to the front.

"Watch my hands, Sweetheart." He does one up. "See? Give me your hands."

He can remember faint bits and pieces of something like this. When he was younger, and teaching his son important things like how to tie his shoelaces.

[amicably-absent.livejournal.com]

Glitch looked back over his shoulder until Cain tells him to watch his hands, which he then does.

Metal into cut. It's so simple, but he has the sinkng feeling he won't remember.

Cani's hands were warm over his, big and warm and guiding his fingers through familiar motions. "One more?"

[less-hugging.livejournal.com]

"We're gonna do all of them until you don't need to think to do it. You just do it."

Muscle memory's a fascinating thing, and so what if Glitch will forget in the next ten minutes? Maybe something will linger on.

His hands are calloused and steady where Glitch's are slightly too cold and uncertain, but he supposes there's nothing much he can do about it. Apart from doing one button up, and then another. Baby steps.

"You're doing good. Don't get me wrong, you could do better, but you're not half bad."

[amicably-absent.livejournal.com]

"That's what I like about you, Wyatt. You don't humour me. I'm a headcase, not a child, and not dumb, and you remember it. You, and Raw, and DG, you all remember that."

By three more buttons, his fingers seem to have taken over, moving before Cain nudges them into action to pop the buttons shut. "I know I should do better, and you don't pretend it's otherwise. I'm an adult, and I get confused over button- oh. We're done?"

[less-hugging.livejournal.com]

"You're the smartest one out of all of us, Glitch. You just can't see it yet. DG told you that once, and I stick by it."

He pats his shoulders, stepping to the side and taking a look at their work. All nice, neat, no button skipped in the midst of things.

"I knew you had it in you, zipperhead. We're done. ...unless you want to undo them and start over on your own?"

[amicably-absent.livejournal.com]

The no skipping is probably a big thanks to Cain. Glitch wasn't allowed to lose his place. Like he normally would.

"No. Might be here all night if I start repeating actions and then I'll glitch and then who knows where I'll end up?" He throws up his arms in exasperation. "Honestly, some days, I don't know what to do with me. Where were we going?"

[less-hugging.livejournal.com]

"What, you think it's a piece of cake for the rest of us dealing with you?"

Another pat, and Cain jabs a thumb in the right direction. "Outside. Taking a walk nowhere in particular."

[amicably-absent.livejournal.com]

"I get frustrated with me, I can only imagine how you guys feel." He slides his hands into his new pockets and nods. "Yeah, outside sounds nice. I find inside so stuffy."

[less-hugging.livejournal.com]

And through some arcane magic or other, Cain's hand stays on Glitch's shoulder as they fall into step beside each other.

"We get frustrated because we care about you. It's...difficult, not knowing how much or how long you'll remember things. But we're dealing with it the best way we know how."

Even if it means being a bit obnoxious at times. Or downright grumpy. Stubborn.

[amicably-absent.livejournal.com]

"You think it's hard for you. You should try it from this end. But I feel better today. I think it's all the time in contact with-"

He goes quiet. "We finished the assessment today."