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Abeke usually didn't find herself staring at furniture. A desk here , a broken floorboard there, the scratched walls painted a gritty yellow by the previous owner of the flat. Turning the living room into a sickly yellow which got under her skin. She never really liked the living room. Especially with her father in it, holding a test paper she really didn't mean to flunk in.
She could hear the paper crinkle underneath his clenched fingers. She waited, feeling his strained gaze on her lowered head after he was done. Flexed her fingers for the scolding of a lifetime.
"Abeke..." He started in his signature voice, heavy with disappointment. But before he could continue, their creaky doorbell rung loud.
"Soama, get the door." Her father nodded at her elder sister. Abeke kept her gaze trained on the wooden floor, marking the engravings with her eyes.
She could pick up the conversation as the door opened, thought she couldn't see who was behind it.
"Who is it?" Her father asked in their mothertongue.
"Her friend, the poor boy." Soama replied, making sure to not speak in English.
Abeke looked up, catching the gaze of Rollan smiling at her through the doorframe behind her father.
"Abeke!" He called out, a grin on his face. "Hello!"
She waved at him, momentarily forgetting of her situation until her father cleared his throat. She stiffened and looked back upto the man's stern face.
His eyebrows were in a stiff frown as he turned to address the boy at the door.
"What brings you here?.....Ronald..?"
"Rollan!" Her sister whispered. Ah yes, ever the perfect memory keeper. Abeke wouldn't have ruined her biology test if she had that sort of memory.
"Ahem, yes...Rollan." Her father corrected.
"Good Evening, Mr Pojalo sir! I request that I borrow your daughter for a bit." Rollan pulled a quick hand up for a salute, which Abeke couldn't tell was genuine or not. It got a giggle out of her anyway. His lopsided smile was a little charming, she hoped it would sway the adult in the room.
"For what, exactly?" His voice turned hard, judging. Abeke felt something lodge in her throat. She didn't want to get scolded tonight. She wanted to get out of her dinghy flat. And Rollan had come in like a beacon of hope.
"You see, sir, our friends, Meilin and Conor just got out of a haunted house you see." Rollan spoke seriously. "They got pretty badly banged up and we decided to get them a hospital discharge gift! But I just got a message from Lin' that they would get discharged tomorrow morning. Could I please, take Abeke to my house so we can make them something?"
And he pulled out his most pathetic puppy eyes. The one that got him out of detention and multiple cop arrests (don't ask).
Her father's gaze hardened. Oh no.
A crash behind her pulled her out of her thoughts. She turned back to find a ceramic mug on the floor, some liquid inside it spilt on the flooring. A very non-guilty looking cat crouched on the table top, washing her hands.
"Fine, Abeke get that mangled cat out of the house." Her father huffed, barely containing his rage. And she didn't need to be told twice. She grabbed her cat, Uraza, and walked out of the house, barely pulling on her sandals in the process before rushing out of the house.
Soama, bless her spirit, locked the door quickly behind her, most likely to keep mosquitoes out but Abeke took in all the help she could get. The sooner she was out of her father's sight, the sooner she would be out of his mind. That biology test would not correct itself.
"You should've gotten a jacket." Rollan noted.
"Since when did you get responsible." She joked, rubbing her hands over her arms to get rid of the goosebumps. The cold winter air seemed to seep into her skin the moment she stepped out of the house. Made her almost miss the sporadic heating of her flat. Almost. How was the corridor outside so cold?
Atleast Uraza's wam furred body kept her from complaining. The cat kept her peace by keeping her claws retracted and nuzzling deeper into the crook of her elbow.
Rollan shrugged. Without a word, he pulled off the jacket he wore and placed it around her shoulders. It was thin but atleast it kept most of the cold out.
"Thanks," She blinked at him gratefully. "But why'd you come her so late? Didn't we decide on getting them flowers?"
"Well yes," Rollan shrugged. "But! I've decided that flowers would be super cheap, so how about we bake them something? My place's always open" He wiggled his eyebrows, clearly getting her to lighten up and accept his idea. And guess her weakness was the confident smirk on his face promising mischief. A few hours away from the house couldn't hurt right?
She did meet Conor and Meilin multiple times in the hospital. They looked alright physically (considering the amount of injuries they sustained, medical care was efficient, if not cheap.) But the looks in their eyes when it was just the four of them in the room, spoke volumes.
They had been best friends for a while now, Abeke would get a story later, but for now, they wanted to quietly stew in their experiences, almost like they were protecting the other two of their group from the true horrors.
She really wanted to make them smile. Even if she had to stay over at Rollan's place to bake.
Her cat made the decision for her as she jumped out of her hands and stalked towards Rollan's legs.
"Alright." She sighed, watching the dust colored fur twirl between his bare legs. She padded over his worn out sneakers with an ego reserved for felines.
"Awesomesauce!" He cheered, unironically. He crouched down to grab Uraza but shrieked as the cat slashed his arm.
"Okay, stupid cat." He huffed. Abeke laughed at his misery.
· · ─ ·✶· ─ · ·
"By baking, I assumed, you had all the ingredients.." She muttered. She watched Rollan's messy room. He had an EasyBake oven alright, with eggs, flour, melting butter etc. and the usual utensils, set out over a newspaper on the floor like it was an art project they were working on, not real food. Rollan's pet budgie, Essix chewed on the edge of the paper, twittering as soon as she saw Abeke climb in through the window.
"I do!" He quickly climbed in through the window and went to fish out the last ingredient, a bag of gummy worms from under his bed. Essix fluttered to perch on his shoulder, nibbling on his hair. They had to come in through the window as Rollan's mother was asleep. Great news was that his apartment was just on the second floor. They climbed up the fire escape to enter.
"I meant, we need a kitchen to work with but now that you mention it- Where did you get an ENTIRE bag of gummy worms from?!"
His very wise mother would NOT have trusted her hyperactive son with an ENTIRE bag of sweetness. Knowing Halloween happened just a few days ago. And between the both of them, they had acquire enough candy to set up shop. Or last them for NINE MONTHS!
"Oh uhhhh, " He muttered something under his breath, looking away and busying himself with fishing out a bowl and spoon.
"Excuse me?" She prompted, eyes narrowed. Uraza let out a hiss from his bed, clearly taking her side. But by the familiar squawking of a bird, Abeke realized that her cat was on the hunt again. She grabbed the cat's body and set her down the bed. She turned back to give Rollan a very hard look.
"Okay fine!" He plopped down into a sitting position on the floor. "I stole em from the catty old girl with a pet spider!" He admitted. Looking not very regretful, more so proud.
"Drina?!" Abeke gasped. "You can't just steal stuff from her?!"
"She called my princess costume dumb, she had it comin'" Rollan shrugged.
"Oh no, what will I tell Shane..." She fell to her knees opposite to him.
"Why would you tell Shane ANYTHING?" He frowned. "He cheated off of you for too many tests, he can rot."
"But he's my friend." she flinched back as he lobbed a stray eraser at her forehead.
"I don't like him." He reminded her, like the world revolved around him. And it probably did with the way he carried himself like nothing would ever go wrong. Everything did go wrong he just refused to believe it.
"Anyways, Let's get baking!!" He cheered.
"None of us can bake." Abeke muttered but took it upon herself to mix the wet ingredients while Rollan mixed the dry ones. The recipe was written on an old sheet of paper he took from a library cookbook.
"Do you think a toy oven can bake this?" She wondered aloud, staring uneasily at the eggs in her bowl. Apparently she had to whisk it. She had never touched a whisk before in her life. Rollan had provided her with a fork and wished her luck. She mixed it as hard as she could without spilling too much. The aforementioned EasyBake Oven which her friend definitely didn't own, happily sat beside her in it's pink glory, with Essix perched on top of it.
"It's not a toy! Bertha is a good oven!" Rollan defended. He slapped the top, sending his bird flying away to bother Uraza.
"Bertha? Where did you get her from?!" She asked. He shrugged.
"Picked it up from a store, gonna return it later."
"You WHAT." She shrieked. Almost loud enough to drown her cat's snarl. The beast was on a hunt again, pouncing on Rollan's desk. The boy sighed and grabbed the cat by the scruff of her neck and pulling her off his chair.
"Calm down, my mum's asleep, you do know none of us can pay for this shit right? I atleast paid for the ingredients. Just not the oven." He muttered. He carefully measured flour in a cup and dumped it in his bowl. Abeke watched his precise movements. He wasn't exactly a careful person. But tonight something was different about his movements.
"You stole an entire toy?" She whispered. Yeah, the two of them weren't rich. Their single parents barely scraped by enough. But stealing was a bit too wrong? A heavy feeling settled in her gut
"It's just for a day, Abeke, I'll give it back." His voice turned uncharacteristically heavy, as he was feeling the slow rotting guilt the same as she did.
They didn't know what else to say, so they didn't. Just quietly mixed up ingredients with crooked spoons. Maybe a smile on their traumatized friend's faces would be worth it.
Abeke couldn't go two minutes of silence before Rollan started banging the bowl with his spoon.
"You gotta do it lighter, man" She winced. He stuck a tongue out at her. How childish...she wan't above petty insults. She stuck her tongue back at him.
Essix twittered between them, getting her beak in the butter and generally causing a tiny nuisance.
"You sure it isn't her bedtime by now?" Abeke asked.
"Nah, the little bitch keeps me up till 4 am can you believe it.." He picked up a chocolate chip and tried feeding it to her. Abeke snapped it out of his hands before he got too close.
"You can't feed animals chocolate! It's like when Briggan ate the choco bar last year!" She snapped.
"Ohh... right.. I forgot.." He shrugged and popped the fallen chip into his mouth. It touched the newspapered floor but who cared at this point in time.
He didn't do a good job of mixing the powder, so Abeke managed to take the bowl out of his hands while he babysat Uraza. The domestic feline managed to get herself onto a shelf. He managed to preheat the oven between keeping the cat off the little furniture he had in his room, and his bird out of the batter.
Rollan didn't have a decent tray, so they had to make do with pouring the batter into an aluminium circular lid. They lined it with paper lathered in butter before popping it into the oven with hopes and prayers.
"Wait! The magic ingredient!" Rollan pulled out the tray and carefully embedded gummy worms into the batter. He even got a spoon to make sure the worms were fully covered in batter.
"What are you doing." Abeke sighed.
"Making the brownies special!" He grinned and finally let her put it inside to bake.
"I sure do hope this doesn't ruin the entire thing." Abeke mutters.
"Absolutely not! I have a feeling this would be the best idea ever. Imagine jelly inside when you take a bite."
"Hey, I like that idea." She giggles at his innovation.
"Alright, time to clean up." Rollan pulls up his sleeves. They both get to work cleaning up the utensils, taking turns sneaking into the bathroom across the hallway to rinse them before hiding them under Rollan's bed. He would put them back in place in the morning, unwilling to switch on the kitchen lights at such an unholy time in the morning. Close to 2 am.
I really hope we don't mess this up. Abeke thinks to herself.
They cleaned up until the EasyBake Oven beeped about 20 minutes later, further highlighted by a shrill yowl from Uraza and a squawk from Essix.
"Brownie time." Rollan opened the oven and was quickly stopped by Abeke before he put his bare hands inside the oven.
"Mittens!" She pulled him back by the collar, dropping him backwards on the floor. He fell lightly on his back.
"Uhhh I don't have those..." He blinked at her. She scanned the room and saw a towel flopped messily on a cupboard handle. She grabbed the towel and carefully took the lid out of the oven.
"Smells like heaven~" Rollan sighed. She carefully set it on his desk to cool.
"And something burning." She wrinkled her nose. A slightly charred smell hung in the air, along with the sweet chocolate scent.
"Did the jelly melt??" The boy eagerly passed her a plastic birthday knife to use. "Cut it!"
Abeke did, attempting to make rough squares with the middle pieces. The knife got stuck.
"Did we burn it internally?" She wondered aloud.
"Pshhhh no wayyy." Rollan anxiously laughed, trying to dispel the mood. "It's our first and only try, we gotta get it right. I don't have ingredients."
She grabbed the edge of the lid through the towel and used all her strength to cut slices. Somehow, the knife passed through, but came out with much difficulty and covered in dark sticky residue.
"I think the jelly burnt." Abeke noted.
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Rollan collapsed on the floor behind her. "WE FAILED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
She wrinkled her nose but kept cutting slices. She cut a small piece from the side and took a bite, after blowing away the steam. Her mouth instantly turned bitter. Her tastebuds immediately went into war. The back of her throat heaved at the foul feeling.
"Gak-" She managed to choke out and stepped back.
She saw her friend take a tentative piece through her watering eyes. She didn't bother warning him, sometimes you had to experience it to truly know the gravity of the situation. He recoiled back as if he had been shot.
He sat infront of her, knees drawn close and head on top of them. A grieving expression dampening his face made her heart twist. He was really looking forward to surprising Conor and Meilin, she could tell.
They didn't deserve to get sucked up in a haunted house for so long. She could still remember the suffocating fear as she waited for them to come back and recoup in Meilin's house. The anxiety of Meilin's father pacing the room until he shook his head and started his search for his daughter. Him being a cop, heightened his anxieties, thinking up the worst possible scenarios the teens could be in. Rollan's mom coming over and comforting Connor's family while the rest of the adults searched.
The cuts, bruises and literal broken bones they sported still sent shivers up Abeke's spine.
"We did not fail." She spoke lowly, a sudden surge of optimism flaring in her heart.
"What?" Rollan asked.
"I'm not giving up on this." She confirmed. "How can we fix the brownies? More sugar?" She asked.
"It'll get crunchy and weird if we just pour sugar on it." He frowned, as if thinking of the possibilities. Something he should have done before dumping jelly inside the batter.
In their defense, none of them could cook. Baking was another issue altogether.
"Maple Syrup, Choco chips, Twizzlers, Whipped cream, Strawberry syrup, Sprinkles. Nuts-" Abeke listed all of the sweet toppings she could think up. She stopped as a sudden spark lit up in her friend's eyes. "What is it?"
"Whipped cream and sprinkles! I have just the place to find those." He exclaimed.
"It's close to 3 am... what do you mean." she asked.
"Oh don't worry I know just the place, trust me." He winked at her, so full of life and fun secrets she couldn't find it in her heart to argue.
· · ─ ·✶· ─ · ·
"Okay, all you gotta do is stay put," Rollan whispers. "Pay attention to the signal I give you."
"Alright!" Abeke gives him a thumbs-up. He nods to her and pulls up his black facemask till the only thing she could see were his eyes shining in mischief. He tugs down his hoodie to cover his wild hair.
"Please be careful." She begs softly as she crouches for him to climb on her back. She grunts a little at his weight, shifting her legs to hold better on the tilted lid of the garbage can she stood on. Rollan carefully held onto her, with practiced hands making sure to not grab her head too hard as he sat on her back.
"Higher.." He whispers loudly. She strains a little more, pulling on to the wrestling Meilin practiced on her. Abeke wasn't very skilled but she was a strong athlete, fastest in her school. She trained in the school grounds sometimes. Rollan being lanky wouldn't strain her muscles too bad.
"There!" His weight lifts off of her. She looks up to see him dangling from the roof of the building, climbing up with his upper body strength. Which he did not have much of, as he was more of a negotiator (manipulator) than a fighter.
He huffed as he swung his right leg, letting it latch onto the wall's edge. He rolled out of her site and onto the terrace.
"You alright, Rol'?" She asked.
"Yup! I touched pigeon shit!" He called back. She saw his dark hoodie figure straighten up and turn back, giving her his right hand to climb up with. She eyed it for the aforementioned bird defecation and after confirming with her own eyes that hand was clean (relatively to the other hand, not clean overall) She grabbed it.
After the both of them straightened up on the roof, Abeke felt a gust of cold wind and drew closer the dark hoodie she borrowed from the boy beside her.
"Okay, that could be the door." She pointed at a small room on the roof, probably a storage unit.
"Bingo." He whispered back. They both made their way near the door. Rollan turned back at her.
"You have a hairpin?" He asked.
"...no?" she frowned. "Don't tell me you're gonna do the classic movies thing."
"That was my plan, yes-" He shoved his right hand in his hoodie pocket and pulled out something small.
She narrowed her eyes, straining to look through the pitch blackness. The only light they had was the streetlamps. They didn't even have a phone or a flashlight on them.
"Is that a key?" She took a wild guess with the way he confidently jammed it into the lock.
"Yup. a duplicate."
"Wait, How do you have the key for the terrace storage room door of a Walmart.?" Rollan didn't answer.
The lock surprisingly clicked open. Guess they didn't make these things like they used to, back in the day. She didn't really know what 'back in the day' she was thinking about as her life consisted of a grand total 14 years.
They walked in, leaving the door a little open with a piece of cardboard she found on the floor. They walked in a narrow way between two rows of boxes. The room wasn't very large, soon they found themselves walking down a staircase and into the supermarket.
"We should've gotten a flashlight." Abeke mutters, it was pitch black. The outside light wasn't even close to painting the walls slightly orange with it's color. She felt her hand engulfed in his cold one. Thank the heavens, it was dry.
"Don't worry, I can see quite well in the dark." He blinked at her. She had no idea how she noticed that. She could barely see. Were his eyes glowing a faint golden? How could he see?
They made their way through quiet shelves, stocked to the brim with junk food and sweets. she could only assume that the can he shoved in her other hand was whipped cream. He gave her another small container which made a jittering sound when shook. Sprinkles? She put them both in the massive pockets of his hoodie.
"I think we got enough." She noted. "We should leave, I bet the sun's coming up."
Rollan hummed in response. He left her hand for a second to pull out the exact price of what they took and dropped it on the shelf. (She couldn't steal again, even if Rollan had less of an issue with it as she did.) He held her arm again as he dragged her back the way they came.
"Oh about the key, I stole it from the manager before and made a clay mould. Then I sweet-talked the bank guy, Zeriff, into making a replica. I owe him a date with my mom now."
"Please don't tell me you're NOT keeping your promise." She shuddered. Ms. Aidana was a really sweet woman. Zeriff was the local adult being a nuisance to the kids. The type of man who would yell at trick-or-treaters on his porch. She would know, Rollan made the mistake of knocking on his door a few days back when the two of them went for Halloween.
"I don't have anything to offer him." Rollan sighs. The look she gave him made him clarify. "I mean, I'll figure out something else soon, no way I'm letting that creep talk to my mom."
The two teenagers stood on the terrace. They looked towards the sky, watching dawn slowly color the clouds in rosy hues. Rollan locked the door. They sat down on the floor, shoulders touching and leaning with their backs to the door. Abeke felt an itch in her eyes, clearly showing she didn't sleep a wink all night. The two of them found themselves in shenanigans since 9pm yesterday. She forgot about the dread of going back home to her father's disappointed glare.
Not when she had (hopefully) edible brownies to give to her two best friends in the hospital. She wondered if they could see the dawn, but remembered the setting sun she saw through the window of their shared room. Disappointing.
"They can't see the rising sun." She noted aloud. Rollan nodded, resting his head on her shoulder. She watched the climbing golden rays of the sun travel through the sky. She felt his hair tickle her neck. She shivered in the cold air. She guessed it would be around 7am with the late sunrises of Winter.
She guessed that the hospital would be open for visiting hours at 9am.
Oh shit it was 7am. Her dad would be furious. Even if it was a Sunday.
"We gotta go!" She squawked. "It's 7 am! I'm supposed to be eating breakfast at home right now."
A light snore near her ear made her pause. She couldn't move her head to see, but the boy resting on her seemed to have slowed down his breathing. Rollan was asleep.
"I guess I could stay for a while..." She conceded, lightly brushing away his hair from tickling her neck. She let out a deep breath. Her father wouldn't worry, he knew whatever she got upto with Rollan, she could handle the boy's insanity. He would be angry at her for not coming back early but he would understand. Eventually. Hopefully.
They still had friends to deliver cake to soon. She might aswell close her eyes for a little bit. Just a moment. The sunrays warmed her face and chased out a little chill. The moment was so small, she could take a break to grab it in her palms.
So she closed her eyes. And drifted off into a short nap.
· · ─ ·✶· ─ · ·
"Look who's here!!!" Rollan announced joyfully as he stepped into the hospital room. Abeke whooped behind him, bringing in a container of their special treat.
Conor and Meilin looked weary, still covered up in bandages and splints. Conor had a plaster on his broken arm and ointment on the side of his face. Meilin had her leg bandaged up and similarly plastered. They sat on different beds, with their families next to them.
"We'll give the four of you time, we have to get documentation ready." Meilin's father nodded to the two newcomers and got up. "You kids clearly need a while to catch up." He ruffled Rollan's hair and patted Abeke's shoulder on the way out.
Conor's mother followed him out of the room. She touched both of their cheeks in a warm motherly hold and said "I've been told by Aidana that you both have been upto something all night."
"It's a great surprise, Mrs. Conor's mom!" Rollan smiled.
"Oh and your father called, Abeke, I'll drop you off at home later, alright?"
The girl nodded, a little anxiously. Then the sweet woman left the four kids alone in the room.
"What's that?" Meilin croaked. She tried sitting up properly to curiously look at the plastic tupperware box but didn't go very far with both her legs hurt.
"What have you been doing?" Conor fondly asked. His eyes somehow twinkled slightly, even through the burning sensation at the side of his face when he pulled his lips into a small smile.
"Brownies!" Rollan announced. He pulled off the lid with pizzaz. Abeke watched with a grin as her friends looked over and gasped.
"Why did you add so much- is that whipped cream?" Meilin asked, sounding a little judgemental but her friends knew she didn't mean harm.
"That's a lot of sprinkles.." Conor mumbled lowly.
"It's our super special recipe!! try it!" Abeke got out a piece for each of them.
"There's a ton of sprinkles..." Conor mumbles again. He looks up and gives Rollan a long look. "Are you hiding something?"
"Absolutely nothing, bro." Rollan aggressively nods his head. Abeke just shakes her head in exasperation, in tune with Meilin. The girls giggle, Rollan was a terrible liar when it came to his friends, it was pathetic.
"Please try it!" He begged.
"Now that Conor mentions it, I don't trust you." Meilin huffs. "You both together especially. How about you eat it first? There's plenty." She nods towards the container with a meaningful look, challenging.
Rollan falls for the bait, hook, line and sinker.
He grabs a slice, "Of course we will, you should be glad we didn't eat it on he way here, it's delicious!"
Abeke sighs and rolls her eyes. But she also wanted to see Conor and Meilin's reaction when they tried it for themselves. So, steeling her nerves she took a piece. Making sure to glare at Rollan. He looked at least a little guilty.
"Okay how about we all bite in 3?" He asks. The two patients nod, a little apprehensively.
"Three."
"Two."
"One."
"Sike!" Rollan yells out as the other 3 take a large bite.
Three faces screw up, in varying levels of grief.
Conor, Denial.
Meilin, Anger.
Abeke, Acceptance.
And Rollan was going to be Bargaining for his life after they were done with him.
"THIS SUCKS!" Conor wailed, spitting out a chunk of whipped cream covered brownie in his palm.
"Why is it gooey and burnt in between." Meilin raged but stubbornly didn't spit it out. She was going to power through the torture and come out victorious even if it was the last thing she did.
Abeke swallowed a lump of unchewed brownie. It was not lasting on her poor tastebuds any longer than it should. She would rather bear the heavy lead-like feeling slide down her throat uncomfortably.
"It tasted like burnt tar and I'm going to kick you in the shins once I'm alright." Meilin threatened the grin splitting Rollan's face.
"Why would you do this." Conor had the most heartbroken expression on his face, Abeke gave him a pat on the head in pity.
"Aw cmon guys, me n 'Beke had to rob Walmart at 5 am for this shit, show a little love." Rollan wisely sat at the foot of Meilin's bed, taunting her.
"I'm not even gonna question how you guys did that." Meilin frowned.
"It's the thought that counts?" Abeke tried.
"You tried to kill us!" Conor groaned. "We almost died once!" Meilin aggressively backs him up with a nod.
"Well, Mei could've just, I don't know, NOT walk into the infamous haunted house?" Rollan asks rhetorically.
"We won the candy tournament anyway." Abeke nodded.
"TRY GETTING BROKEN APART IN A HAUNTED HOUSE YOU GUYS WOULDN'T LAST A MINUTE!" Meilin argues, her face turned red, likely from embaressment of her mistake.
"All right, girls you're all pretty." Conor breaks up the oncoming playful fight with a sigh.
Something about the ridiculousness of the situation dawns on them. They all break into a small happy atmosphere. Their own little bubble.
"Thanks for putting in the effort of making something so horribly bad, you just lowered my respect for you." Meilin nods at Rollan. She turns to Abeke. "and thank you for surviving the night in one piece."
"Well, I'm glad you both are better." Abeke smiles at her friends. They smile at her back. All was not right, but it was slightly less horrifying in their messed up world now that they were together.
Mostly well and importantly, alive.