Eleanor deflated a little in her seat at Spence's admission, out of relief more than anything else. The relief was nearly physically, how strongly she felt it, knowing that the detective who was going to help her understood. He really understood. Hardly anyone did, even their own parents who often mistook the depth of her and Aaron's relationship as unhealthy, too codependent for their own good. Maybe it was, but there was nothing bad about how close they were. How could it be? Having someone so close to you that they knew you even when you didn't know yourself? Maybe it was different for people lucky enough not to struggle with mental illness, but for Eleanor, it'd been a life saving difference. She'd do anything for him, and she knew he'd do the same.
If you weren't a twin, chances are you wouldn't get it, but it wasn't just the reveal that Spence had multiple sets of twins in his life that suddenly filled Eleanor with confidence. It was the way he talked about it. As if he believed in the strangeness of twins as much as he believed in the strangeness of having such a pattern of twins in his life. It was a little weird, but then, so was being a twin. She knew it, Aaron knew it. And Eleanor suddenly thought that maybe, just maybe, Spence knew it too. And maybe that he'd be the first person to really take her seriously. That alone was enough to change the tide for her.
Some part of her knew that he couldn't promise her the world, even if she desperately wanted him to be able to say he'd find Aaron with absolute certainty. That part of her appreciated his willingness to commit to the case without making her promises they both knew he might not be able to keep, but that didn't stop another part of her from suddenly feeling a fresh surge of hope. Hope that Eleanor hadn't let herself feel until now. Maybe it was his smile, too, that was comforting to her, as kind as the rest of his features were. It would be hard not to like him, if she'd been set on not doing so when she'd walked into his office. She wanted to like him, and she wanted him to find Aaron. Eleanor couldn't stop herself from suddenly feeling with unreasonable certainty that he would.
His smile drew one from her that was a little closer to a real smile than she'd felt like making in months, ever since their father's death, though it wavered almost immediately at the question Spence posed. Eleanor hastily took a tissue from the box of them that Spence had moved closer to her, dabbing at the corner of her eye before nodding her head slowly.
"He is... I don't really know much," Eleanor answered ruefully, gaze drifting briefly to the floor before she looked back up at him. "All I know is that it happened after the funeral. Aaron was... vague about it, told me not to worry, that it wasn't a big deal. I should have known better."
Eleanor frowned, trying desperately to remember the details of what seemed like such a small conversation then that felt much bigger to her now in the wake of her brother's disappearance and her own journey to reincarnation. "He was acting strange for months and part of it was mom and dad, but maybe..." Eleanor swallowed. "All our lives, we've been connected. I don't know how else to explain it; it's like a gnawing feeling, when something's wrong. I know that sounds weird, but you say you thrive on weird. Nobody ever believes me. It's been over a month."
Brushing a section of hair behind her ear (a nervous habit when things got overwhelming, not nearly as destructive as the way she used to bite herself when she was younger), Eleanor chewed at her bottom lip. "We didn't keep many secrets from each other, but at the time, it didn't seem like he was keeping secrets from me." She almost asked who Dale was, but then her eyes widened suddenly as a more disturbing thought crossed her mind and latched on. "You don't think that might have something to do with his disappearance, do you? Does this sort of thing happen to reincarnates? Do they... go missing?"
The tinge of fear in her voice was mostly for Aaron, but also, a tiny bit for herself. She still didn't understand what being a reincarnate really meant long term, she'd just been focused on finding Aaron, and using whatever resources were available to do that.