Having Uncle B out of the room put things in perspective.
Here he was. Luke. 5'11", 19 going on 25, feeling weird and small again now for apparently no reason. Everything was making him feel like a kid who didn't know anything. Shouldn't this encounter be easier? Why did he feel like four things at once? Aunt Alana had a grin on her face that was wider than he'd seen in a long time -- maybe ever -- but he knew it couldn't be that easy to fix things. Could it?
Still. It already felt like something was missing, and Uncle B hadn't even been gone for a minute.
He was back pretty quickly, though. Quickly enough that Lucas couldn't think of anything to say in his absence, and when he showed up in the doorway again it was like he and his aunt came out of pause.
Leah was a tall blonde woman with a hard face. When it was his turn, Luke wanted to smile at her, because that was what you did for people and their not-girlfriends -- not-yet-girlfriends? -- but suddenly everything felt so surreal and he had instant deja-vu and then all he could do was kind of smirk.
Damn it.
But whatever. These things were easier to just roll with.
"Yup," he said, popping the p. "Look at me. I'm all fucking grown up."
Maybe if people repeated it enough times, it would be true. Like a magic spell. And maybe he really could pass for 25. Sure.
"Nice to meet you," he offered Leah after a moment, smirk widening into something slightly more genuine.