It was the oddest sensation, Daphne thought with wonder, feeling as though one had been both at home just then and away from home for months all at the same time. For the first time since she’d arrived in this newer incarnation of Vallo, she felt like her home world was only just out of reach rather than an entire lifetime away. The fact that she was currently sat near a waypoint within the forest with the lingering scent of Simon’s--the Duke’s--irritatingly appealing cologne caught in the breeze brushing by her did nothing to help that feeling of thereness. Her confusion was further perpetuated by the arrival of familiar faces come to collect and explain to her the existence of this new world. She followed them, of course.
Perhaps she’d have understood the implication of her situation much sooner had she actually arrived the proper way the first time. As it were, it took Daphne walking into the Department of Outlander Affairs and spotting a calendar on the wall to realize that this was not just a belated welcoming party. She was not dramatic by nature but it still took every ounce of composure she possessed to remain calm in light of such a revelation. It was not every day, after all, that one seemingly lost weeks of one’s time without remembering having spent any of that missing time in any one particular place. Had she gone home? Had she gotten stuck inside of another hellscape she no longer remembered? And if she had been gone for more than a handful of days, what else had become of those she knew in Vallo?
As the questions stacked upon each other, one atop the other, Daphne’s composure nearly broke. She was full to the brim with burning questions, and an even more pressing need to know one thing in particular: were her siblings still here?
Tears threatening to spill and confusion warring with uncertainty, Daphne was sure that it was a miracle that crossed her path with one of only two faces that would have been particularly welcome just then. “Anthony!” she called out, nearly breathless, and didn’t even wait for the wonderfully familiar head of perfectly coiffed brunette hair to look up in her direction before she was hurrying down the hallway to the older brother she was all too happy to see.
Anthony had been adjusting to life at the department, with many hours spent trying to educate himself on the history of his own world spanning from his own time until now. Not all, but most outlanders were familiar with some version of it, so he was doing his best to catch up.
Even so, he still felt inadequately prepared for the job of welcoming new arrivals into Vallo, and that was not something he was accustomed to. So the job was frustrating but Anthony Bridgerton was stubborn enough to continue on.
As it turned out, he was extremely grateful he had. At the sound of his name he turned, recognizing the voice even before he saw his sister, his entire countenance lifting once he did. He took long strides toward her and when they met he held out his arms.
"Daphne."
There was awe in his voice, mixed with both joy and relief. "Sister, I am happy to see you have returned."
Daphne wasted no time in closing the space between them and throwing her arms around her brother in a hug as though her life depended on it. Just then, it almost felt like it did. Any lingering exasperation she’d felt toward Anthony had quickly evaporated in the wake of how relieved she was to know he was there. As quickly as she’d hugged him, though, she was taking a step back and studying him.
He was solid and real, that was certain, but did he look tired? Weary? As though he’d been in Vallo this whole time, or just come in from a duel? She couldn’t tell.
“It is positively wonderful to see you, too, brother,” she smiled, letting her hands come to rest at his elbows. “I don’t think I knew I even left in the first place. Did you leave, too? Is-- Is Eloise still here?” For as terrible as she knew she was for hoping, Daphne couldn’t help but to want both of them to have remained. “Have I really lost two weeks?”
Anthony hugged Daphne in return, then faced down her barrage of questions as he guided her toward his desk. "I've not left, nor has your sister. Come, let's go to my desk and I'll get you properly sorted as quickly as possible. We'll skip the video as you seem to remember having been here, and if I waste time in letting Eloise know you've returned she'll be rather cross with me. Yes, you disappeared two weeks ago, and we assumed you had returned home."
He paused, then gestured toward a chair facing a neatly organized desk. "Take a seat? I suppose you didn't expect that your older brother would have found employment here, and yet here we are." He grinned at her, that same mixture of joy and relief now combined with amusement as he recalled Eloise's surprise when he told her he had found himself a proper job.
"This really shouldn't take long."
Daphne began to follow, though paused when she'd had a moment to process his words and the sight of a desk that was, for all intents and purposes, his. "Wait, you work here now? You well and truly are a fully employed member of Vallo society?" She took a seat, grateful for the opportunity to laugh good naturedly amidst the otherwise troublesome reality of having temporarily lost both time and space.
"No, no, but I am proud of you. If you want to go through the whole spiel on me for the experience, my first arrival wasn't quite conventional to say the least." Daphne reached across the desk and placed a hand over her brother's. "And, for your sake as well as mine, we should probably let Eloise know I'm here before we dive in."
Again, Anthony's entire face lit up as he smiled at Daphne. "Very well then, let me get you a phone first, so you can break the news to Eloise yourself. Then we shall continue."
When he had decided upon this job, it was so that others arriving from so far out of time such as he had would have someone who understood what it was like at their disposal. He may have dreamt that one day he would see more familiar faces, but for Daphne to have arrived back so soon after leaving, and he being among the first to greet her? That was more than he could have hoped for.
He retrieved a new phone from a drawer in his desk, ready to register it to Daphne so she could contact her sister. Eloise, of course, would be ecstatic. "Welcome back, sister," he said. "You've no idea how grateful I am for your return."