who: Albus Potter, Helena Potter & Clara Oswald when: July 18th, after this where: The Potter House What: Helena calls Aunt Clara for help warnings: Talk of minor injury status: In Progress.
Albus hadn't responded yet to his Grandfather's message. He had taken a break from stacking the plates on the counter, having been pulling them out from the dishwasher, in order to glance at the network fro a moment. It took him a second for the words to fully process and he'd gripped the phone tight in his hand before turning the screen off. It was delicately set on the counter top away from him and he shifted, hands gripping either side of the twin sinks, as he bowed his head between his arms and stretched out. His hands gripped the basin tight and he took in a deep breath. The house was largely quiet and virtually empty aside from himself and Helena. Always acutely aware of where she was, he could hear the faint sounds of her running back and forth down below in the basement level, with Skyler following at her heels and an episode of Dragon Tails echoing from the television. Otherwise, there was no noise. His eyes shut and he stood in this position for a long time, fingers flexing as he loosened and retightened his grip, as the thought turned over in his head again and again.
She was gone.
Again.
Standing fully, thinking he was fine, he heard the sound of Helena's laughter down below. Without even really thinking about what he was doing, for his thoughts were on remembering how she'd cried for hours the last time his Father was sent back, he reached out to pick up one of the plates. He had intended to pick it up and turn to place it in the cabinet. Only, his hands were shaking, and his grip wasn't tight. It slipped from his hand and landed on the floor of the kitchen with a loud shatter of glass. For a second, his eyes fixated on the broken pieces upon the floor, before he reached out. The entire stack was pushed up against the crook of his arm with such force and then thrust right off the counter, sending them all tumbling to the floor as he let out a shout of a swear.
And then realization seemed to come back to him and he was aware of just what he'd done. Moving away from the pile, he made his way for the laundry room, and emerged a few moments later with a box to begin putting the large shards of glass in. Crouching down beside it, this was the task he was focused on, muttering under his breath as he put pieces into the box. Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted a figure coming near him, slowly and he turned his gaze to look at her. "Stay there, Helsie."
"What happened?"
He was keeping his attention on her now, though he was still picking up shards to put in the box, but largely making sure she didn't get too close. "I dropped them."
"All?"
"Yes, all." He said just as he was about to pick up another piece and proceeded to slice into his palm. He immediately bit down on his lip to suppress saying something he didn't want her to hear him say, even if she likely heard his earlier outburst downstairs, and the piece was dropped into the box quickly. He rose to stand and yanked a towel off of the counter to wrap around his hand, hearing an immediate "Daddy!" as she moved towards him. He put out his other hand. "No," he said sternly, not wanting her near the glass. She came to a halt and he moved to grab his wand off of the coffee table. He muttered a spell and gave the wand a flick, watching as the remaining shards and slithers rose up from the floor and into the box. With the glass up, he kicked the box lightly towards the wall, and looked to her. "Don't touch that, okay?" He waited for a response, of which he got a nod, before he nodded back to her.
"Are you okay?" She asked, her voice quiet as she said this, looking worried. He gripped the towel against his palm but moved towards her. He crouched down and reached out with his uninjured hand, pressing it to her cheek and giving her a weak smile. "I'm fine, baby. I promise," he reassured her. "I'm going to go clean this up, okay? Will you go back to your room for a little while?" He asked, watching her. She seemed to hesitate but nodded and backed up, making her way for the hallway and her door. Once she was heading in that direction, he winced again and made his way for the closest bathroom. He dropped the towel on the sink basin once inside and turned on the water, putting his hand underneath it, wincing again as he muttered, "Shit, shit, shit..." quietly.
Meanwhile, Helena stood in her doorway, watching her Father move away from the kitchen and towards the bathroom. She waited for a few moments before moving back toward the kitchen and snatching up the phone from the counter. She hit escape on the browser and clicked the phone option and stared down at the most frequent contacts. She clicked on the name she was pretty certain was Clara's, saw her photo flash for the information, and satisfied hit dial. Once she answered, "Auntie Clara?"