Time for a reunion Who: Kaye and Harrison Where: Scarlet Oak Clinic When: A couple of hours after this scene.
Kaye's stomach began to knot as she headed towards the clinic where Harri worked and she frowned at herself. Sure she had no idea why her brother was living in Michigan, not returning anyone’s calls and there was no way of knowing how he was going to react to her turning up at of the blue but it was still Harri. Harri who had helped her ride her first bike, been the first person she came out to, encouraged her to explore gray magic. She shook her head and tried to smile. Kaye Pravett scared of seeing her big brother, hell no! Or at least she was going to try and convince herself of the fact. After leaving Sunny's Diner earlier, with a promise to call by for breakfast tomorrow morning, Kaye had checked into the Phoenix hotel with the intention of just dropping off her luggage but had ended up falling asleep.
When she woke up a couple of hours she was less than impressed with herself and after straightening herself up headed to the clinic. Now as she walked through the clinic's doors, her smile became genuine as she took in the surroundings. It was reassuring to know Harri was doing good work here in Scarlet Oak. "Is Harris..., is Dr Pravett in?" she asked as she approached the front desk. "Yes though he's with a patient at the moment. If you can wait five minutes, he's off duty at four." the nurse replied. Five minutes? She had travelled over 1000 miles today; another five minutes wouldn't hurt anyone. She told the nurse she would hang around and taking a seat in the waiting area, began to do just that.
Harrison exited the door that lead to the back hallway, pulling his olive green coat over his black Zepplin t-shirt. He looked just as frazzled and worn down as he had the day before when he'd been confronted by Hal in the parking lot. He hadn't slept much the previous night- which wasn't completely abnormal but with Annie being in town and Hal hounding him... he just couldn't get a break.
How Harrison would react to Kaye sitting in the waiting area was anyone’s guess and she was purposely trying not to imagine the different ways it could pan out as she flicked through a magazine, barely looking at its contents. Checking her watch, she returned her attempt at distraction to the stack and stood up, not wanting to risk her brother walking past her right side and her missing him entirely. Her timing was perfect because as she turned, she caught sight of Harrison walking in her direction and the knot in her stomach that had subsided was back with a vengeance. Granted it had been a long time since she had seen him but he looked so...tired. Resisting the urge to march over to him and wrap her arms round him, Kaye's grip on her purse tightened as she called his name. "Harri?"
Hearing his name Harrison turned and saw... Kaye. "Kaye?" He questioned, wondering if the sleep deprivation was finally triggering hallucinations- but he shouldn't be to that point yet.
And the way he said her name, as if not quite believing she was, caused Kaye's resolve to crumble and before she had time to think about what she was doing, her arms were around Harri and she was hugging him tightly, afraid that if she let go he might disappear. "Hey bro," she said, her voice thick with emotion. "Long time no see."
He took in a breath at her embrace and allowed his own arms to hold her right back. "Yea." Harrison said softly his eyes closing for a moment as he took effort to keep on his feet. His sister was standing in front of him, hugging him. They probably should go outside or be somewhere not in the lobby.
While she might struggle with other people, Kaye knew her brother well enough to know that he would not want to have any sort of conversation where he worked so she reluctantly pulled back from the hug. "You know somewhere we can go Harri?" She didn't know where he was staying but she figured wherever they went would be an improvement.
"I was about to go to dinner." He offered.
"That's fine with me," she replied. Kaye wasn't particularly hungry but she wasn't about to leave Harrison to it and she was feeling the distinct need for a cup of coffee.
Harrison nodded and started outside. "My truck is over here... unless you wanna follow." He offered, gesturing to his old beater truck.
Kaye followed close behind him and smiled at the offer. "I've spent enough on cab fare for one day Harri, the truck is great." Sure it looked a couple of thousand miles past its best but hey, what did she know about cars?
"Thanks, it was affordable." He replied, opening the door for her. "The clinic doesn't pay much." And the military had paid decently, but most of it was wound up in red tape right then.
She carefully got into the truck, having hit her head on vehicle doorframes enough times to ram the lesson home, waving Harri away as she closed the door behind her. "Oh right," she offered lamely, not sure what else to say before deciding on "Are you enjoying working there?"
Harrison nodded as he pulled out and started off toward Sarah's Place. "It's nice. Quite, not at all what I'm used to." He told her. "But the only thing I could get so..." He shrugged slightly.
A small alarm bell went off in Kaye's head as she reached over to give Harri's hand a reassuring squeeze - she hadn't know what to expect when she got to Scarlet Oak but seeing her brother so...defeated, was definitely not it. Deciding to bite the bullet, she finally asked what had been on her lips since she walked into the clinic. "What happened Harri? Why are you here?"
It didn't take long to get to Sarah's at all and by the time Kaye had asked her question he was already pulling into the lot. "Let's talk when we get settled in." He said taking a space and turning off the engine. Harrison got out of the truck and led Kaye inside. They took a seat and a waitress was over quickly. Harrison ordered his usual and waited until Kaye ordered, and their drinks were brought before turning to his sister and finally answering her question. "I'm here because this was the first plane I could get out of Virginia."
Resisting the urge to scowl at her brother, Kaye followed his example and sat giving him a very pointed look as she waited for him to answer to her question. When he did, the look took on a sharper quality. "That," she replied, stirring sugar into her coffee as she spoke, "Is not what I meant and you know it." The location wasn't important, thought the fact that he had wound up in the same town that Annie was already living in and that she and Louise were moving to had a fated quality to it. No, if Harri had left the military then something big had gone down. "What happened with the Corps that was so bad you decided you couldn't come home?"
"-I- didn't decide to do anything." Harrison corrected her. "-They- decided." He sighed and took a sip of his coffee. "I started to write my own spells a couple months ago." He explained softly. "You know how careful I am with that stuff." How careful they both were, their parents had raised them to be. "I guess I got lazy or something because a few weeks ago some of the guys in my bunk found my journal with the ones I'd been working on." His eyes didn't move from the table as he spoke. It was clear his emotions were still very mixed and fresh about the whole thing.
Kaye's face dropped at the correction and as Harrison explained further, her expression became one of disbelief. "They kicked you out for being a witch!?" she asked incredulously, her voice increasing in volume as she did so. Leave to the home of the "Don't ask, don't tell" policy to gets it's underwear in a twist about having supernaturals in its numbers.
"Officially, I'm on temporary perminant leave and suspended from duty while the situation is examined." Harrison replied, taking a sip of her coffee, his eyes still looking away from her. "They've suspended my pay, and I have to report to an officer like a parolee once a week. Inform him of my location and status."
"What?!" Kaye cried, her cheeks turning pink with anger. "That is the biggest pile of horse shit I've ever heard in my life. I cannot believe they can get away with treating you like you've done something wrong - it's disgusting." Completely unaware she was rapidly approaching shouting, she went on. "I've got half a mind to go to Virginia and kick some self-righteous military ass."
Harrison reached out and placed a hand on hers. "But you won't. This thing will get figured out and they'll realize that they need doctors more than they need to be short sighted and I'll be reinstated." He said, looking up at her. He had to believe that, he'd given so much to the Corps that if they turned their back on him over this then what was the point of losing everything to do something he'd believed in so much?
The familiar touch on her hand calmed Kaye down almost in an instant and the sheer hopefulness in what Harrison was saying made her expression soften. "I hope you're right," she replied and while inside she was still fuming at the situation, she knew how much her brother loved his job, she really meant it. The two siblings sat in silence for a few minutes drinking their coffee before Kaye spoke again. "Why didn't you just tell us what happened Harri? I mean, it's not like you've done anything wrong so I don't get the whole keeping-the-family-in-the-dark thing."
Harri drew back at her question. "But I did. I should have been more careful about my work. You know how Dad is about that type of thing, I was careless and if I had been more cautious this never would have happened." Of course the fact that the book had been under his mattress and the only reason it had been found was because his bunk mates were planning on playing a joke on him- he should have locked it or hid it under a floorboard or something less accessible.
Kaye made a dismissive noise; she knew exactly how careful Harrison was and if he had managed to keep his magic a secret from his ex-wife for their entire marriage then it was hardly likely he was found out by 'accident'. "You're being too hard on yourself, like always. Sure Dad's always said about being careful but you couldn't have known something like this would happen." She paused, looking pensive. "Even if you didn't want to tell Mom and Dad, you could've told me. Instead I've gotta travel over a thousand miles a week ahead of schedule to check my older brother hasn't...well I dunno what I was expecting."
"I'm sorry Kaye." He meant it. "Things've just been... hard. Really I've not been wanting to talk to much of anyone." Harri said with a sighed.
"It's okay, I understand." Sitting back in her seat, a small smile appeared on her lips. "Though I'd make a point of calling Mom soon before she heads up here herself looking for you."
"I did call." Harri replied. "Though I guess it wasn't enough of an explanation." He sighed again. "I'm sorry Kaye, I didn't want our reunion to go like this." Which was another part of the reason he'd not gone home. "But I am glad to see you again... tell me, how are you?"
"I'm glad to see you too Harri, it's been a while." Picking up her mug of coffee, she turned it in her hands a couple of times before taking a sip. "Things are good; the forum's booming, Louise and I are both healthy. She's taken a position at the university, so we're moving to the area. Gotta say bro, it felt kinda fated when it turned out you were already in the town we've bought a house in." He really didn't put much stock in fate, but it did seem to favor him. "I'm glad you're well." He said with a small smile. "It sounds like things are really coming together for you guys."
"They are" she replied with a soft smile, her thoughts turning to Louise and their new house. As she did so, an idea started forming and she looked at Harrison, trying to gauge how to approach asking him about what she was thinking - there was ample room at the house for her brother to stay with them and while she'd have to run the idea past Louise, she and Harri and always gotten on.
Eventually she settled on "How do you like where you're living at the moment Harri?" Sure she knew he was living in a hotel but he didn't know she knew.
"It works." Harrison responded. Sure it wasn't the best place- not even that nice, but he didn't have much choice. However Harri was always ok with settling for things that weren't the best- at least when it came to -things-. "And it's cheap."
So he wasn't overly attached to living in a hotel which Kaye was glad of because she certainly wasn't a fan of the idea. "Well cheap is good but I can do you a much better deal if you could face living with me and Louise." She carried on, not waiting for him to reply. "I mean, we've got more than enough room and I'm sure it would put Mom's mind at rest. What do you think?"
"I... I don't think it's a good idea Kaye. I mean its Louise and your place, thank you but, I couldn't impose." And truthfully he felt he while he didn't need her help, he also didn't deserve it. He was doing just fine and would continue to do so. Once things were cleared up he'd either be back overseas or able to work at a nicer hospital anyhow.
The look Kaye gave Harrison after that comment was an uncanny mix of their mother and a cat stuck out in the rain and she folded her arms. "You wouldn't be imposing Harri, especially if things get cleaned up with the Corps soon and the only person likely to object would be Merlin and he hates everyone except me and Lou." She sighed, knowing how stubborn her brother could be - a trait they shared- and looked down at her coffee. "If you hate the idea that’s fine, I just don't like the idea of you living in a hotel." Ah well, so much for not mentioning the hotel thing. His brow furrowed a bit. "How did you know I was living in a hotel?" He asked.
"Annie told me" she replied reluctantly. She really hadn't wanted to bring up Harrison's ex-wife, having the sneaking suspicion he would think they were ganging up on him, but she didn't exactly have another reason for knowing to hand so the truth would have to be it.
"I see." Harrison nodded, not having much more time to reply as their food finally arrived at the table. "Thanks." He said to the waitress as he sat back and let her put the plates down before them.
Kaye echoed the thanks but didn't look at her food. She hated when he said 'I see', it was frustratingly ambiguous and she hated not knowing what he was thinking. "You're not mad at me are you?" she asked, sounding every inch like her fifteen year old self.
"No." Harri shook his head. "I'm not... why would I?" He asked with a small smile. "It's not like you two shouldn't get on just because of me." Though he would have been happier if she hadn't gone to his ex-wife -first- or that Annie hadn't 'spilled' about his situation.
"I don't know," Kaye replied as she picked up her fork and began toying with her food. "It's just I didn't know what to expect when I got here. All I knew is where you're working and if you hadn't been at the clinic I wouldn't have had the first clue where to look. I knew Annie was here in town so I looked her up first."
He nodded as he started into his meal. "It's fine. Really Kaye, I'm sorry if I seem a bit distant... just things are... well." Harrison shrugged slightly. What could he say? Not how he planned? Sucky? Crappy? At least he's surviving? He'd worked so hard to get the respect and do what he did and now, he was nothing.
If she could hear her brother refer to himself as nothing, Kaye would have smacked him on principle. As it was she didn't so she just smiled at him sadly. "It's okay Harri, you've had a big shake-up in your life recently - I don't expect you to be Mr Personality for me. I just want to help you if I can." She poked her food once more for good measure before speaking again. "Look, Louise gets here next week to move in. Promise me you'll think about staying with us for a bit." She wasn't about to let the point go without some resistance.
He nodded again. "I'll think about it." Harrison promised.
"Thank you" she said, a genuine smile on her face as her stomach finally unknotted itself. Tucking into her food, she kept glancing at her brother. Something was definitely off with her older sibling but he was speaking to her and apparently willing to listen too and that was a good a place to start as any.