"I'm lonely. And I'm lonely in some horribly deep way and for a flash of an instant, I can see just how lonely, and how deep this feeling runs. And it scares the shit out of me to be this lonely because it seems catastrophic."
― Augusten Burroughs

Tommy wears casual clothes with a duffle bag thrown over his shoulder as he walks through Empires. Crowfather caws on Tommy's shoulder, lifting its body up with a flap of its wings as soon as the hero enters into the Chromia tavern and inn. Tommy looks over his shoulder, watching Crowfather rise up into the air. The door shuts behind him. Tommy turns away, staring into the interior of the tavern. The downstairs bar seems to be closed as there is no one there, not even the bartender. Tommy frowns at the stillness, pursuing through it with an edge of hesitation taking over his steps.

He climbs the stairs, straining his ears to hear people moving around. He thinks he hears the faint beating of a song, but it isn't loud enough for him to be certain his own mind isn't conjuring it up to make him feel better. Tommy shakes his head, stepping into the second floor. He turns the corner. Light streams in through a window at the very end of the hall. Tommy can see the sun low on the horizon between a few streets of buildings. He averts his eyes, letting them land on one of the door knobs that reflect back the light of the city and sun, but not any lighting from the hallway. The overhead lights are off, and there aren't any alternative sources like candles or lamps.

Tommy stands in front of the door he knows to be Tempestarius' current lodging. He breathes in through the face mask that Serenade loaned him. He pulls it down with one hand as the other one raises up to knock on the door.

Before his knuckles can make contact, the door opens. Tempestarius stands in the doorframe. She is wearing casual clothes including a dark blue crop top and high-waisted gray sweatpants. She has a mask around her eyes, and her hair is pulled back into a ponytail. Her eyes narrow at him and her lips press together firmly, a conflicted expression molding across her features. Tommy flinches as her eyes land on him. She takes in his face for a solid minute. She takes one step out of the room. Tommy takes a step back to accommodate her. His heart drops when he notices how she closes the door behind her. Tempestarius folds her arms over her chest, speaking softly as to not disturb the other patrons, "Are you okay?"

"I think so..." Tommy admits slowly with a half-smile on his face. He doesn't have a good answer to that question. He's physically fine, so that's what he went with. Emotionally? Mentally? He thought a villain he cares about was going to die, so he panicked and gained a new ability. He is currently being hunted down by one of the most dangerous forces in the entire city. Is he supposed to tell Tempestarius all of that? Is he supposed to explain in depth how any of that came to be? He doesn't know where to even start with that.

Tempestarius runs a hand across the side of her face. Her eyes close, and Tommy notices that the air around them is getting thicker with a faint sheen of mist and humidity. Tommy reaches a hesitant hand towards the dagger handle strapped to his waist by a sheath on his belt. He doesn't like having to fight with his powers not quite in his control right now. He especially doesn't want to fight Tempestarius specifically, but he will do it if she forces his hand. He cannot afford to die right now. He refuses to die by her hand.

Tempestarius opens her eyes. She scans his entire body from head to toe, and then comes back up to double check that he's intact. Her lips pucker together as she searches for something. When she finds it or doesn't, she meets his eyes. She takes a deep breath. She reaches forward, quick as lightning, to punch his shoulder. There's enough force that Tommy continues to feel the pressure even as her hand comes back to her side, but it isn't nearly as strong as it could be. Tommy doesn't even feel much pain, and he knows that if Tempestarius was really angry, her fist would have been sparking with electricity or covered in an explosion of mist.

"What the hell was that for?" Tommy hisses, rubbing his shoulder. Tempestarius looks at him with a softer expression. She's far more at ease now that she's hit him once, and Tommy supposes he doesn't mind that much now. He still wants answers, though, and he isn't going to let her get a second hit in.

"I had to protect Pearl and Etho for the entire night. I didn't get a wink of sleep because I was so paranoid that the Red Army was going to shut up. Even if I wasn't worried, Good Guy and Watcher, of all people, came over in the middle of the night. They were crying with Pearl for hours. Etho and I sat in the corner because what are you supposed to do when people are crying together? It's so awkward!" Tempestarius complains. Now that he's looking for the signs, he does notice how tired she looks. She rubs the side of her forehead as if a headache were coming on. She stares up at him with wide, glossy eyes. "Etho turned the television on. The news anchors were talking about the battle that went on in the middle of the city. You were part of it. I was worried about you for the entire night on top of worrying for Pearl and Etho and listening to Pearl, Good Guy, and Watcher have an emotional moment."

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to concern you," Tommy tells her apologetically. He was so caught up in Serenade that he didn't even think to message Tempestarius that he was okay. He didn't even think to ask the Syndicate to send someone to visit her, making sure that she was alive and that Pearl and Etho weren't back under Crimson's control.

Tempestarius sighs. "My biggest concern right now is your powers. The news only said you released a shockwave of energy that brought everyone down. But I know that shockwave isn't in the purview of your normal powers. You have either been holding back for years, or you went through a traumatic event that achieved the potential of your powers. I assumed it was the latter, and I was proven right when I overheard Minotaur talking to the higher ups. He said you were suspended until you could get your powers under control. Monarch tried to get jurisdiction over your training, but Minotaur said that as a member of his team, you were his responsibility. XD sided with Minotaur. He gave Minotaur a time limit to train you."

"Shit. Did Minotaur talk to you?" Tommy asks, reaching out for Tempestarius hesitantly. In his mind, he can still see the scars across Tubbo's body from Minotaur's hands. Tommy feels nausea rise in his body at the thought of Minotaur doing anything to Tempestarius. He should have put that bull of a man into a morgue when he had the chance.

"... yes. It isn't what you're thinking. He caught me outside XD's office. I told him that I was there to give XD a mission report. Minotaur didn't seem to care about me eavesdropping. He only told me that if you were to come to me, it would be in my best interest to take care of you. He didn't even ask me to tell him if you were to come here. He only said that I should handle you and left. Monarch came out next. They asked me the same thing you did, and they were as shocked as I was that Minotaur didn't really threaten me. I mean, he did say 'in my best interest,' but that's extremely tame considering what we've heard from him before," Tempestarius explains, putting a hand on her chin as she thinks. Tommy counts this as another reason why Tempestarius stayed up nearly the entire night. Nothing good comes from Minotaur being uncharacteristic and mysterious.

"Well... at least it doesn't sound like he's going to come after me," Tommy says with a confused lilt in his voice. Tommy shifts his body weight onto his other leg. Nothing good will come from overanalyzing what Minotaur does. Tommy is going to take what freedom he can get. Tommy meets Tempestarius' eyes again. "He wasn't wrong. I did have a breakthrough. I no longer need to touch an object to gain gravitational control over it. And he wasn't wrong in saying that I need time to master it. I have someone who's making a training course for me."

"That's good," Tempestarius tells him. She gives him a smile. "As someone who has also had a power breakthrough and lost control, let me give you some advice. Your powers are still your own. They still obey your will. The only difference is that the more powerful the ability is, the more clear you need to be with your desires. Being an esper means being completely honest with yourself. I would even wager that's why a lot of villains are extremely powerful: they are honest with their desires to the point that they feel very little shame. But that's a conjecture for another day. Focus on yourself right now. Don't worry about the Red Army, or Minotaur, or even me. Gravity is a force of nature. Control it or it will control you."

"Thank you, Temp," Tommy tells her in a soft voice with a grateful smile on his face. He supposes this is why Tempestarius went from creating mist to controlling weather itself. Tommy shakes his head. He isn't about to cross reference Tempestarius' trauma for proof that it relates to esper awakenings. Tommy's smile drops from his face. "I need somewhere to stay for right now... off the radar, you know."

"I hate when Minotaur's right," Tempestarius murmurs, rolling her eyes. She reaches a hand behind her. She pulls down the door handle. She kicks the door open with her heel. She tilts her head back. "All the good places to sleep are taken."

"I'll sleep on the fucking floor if I have to," Tommy tells her as he steps inside. He tugs off his shoe in a small hallway that separates the entrance door to the main room. There is another door right beside Tommy that he assumes leads into the bathroom.

As Tommy is getting his first shoe off, he notices someone getting up from the couch to stand at the entrance of the short hallway. A shadow falls over him as the person stands there hesitantly. Tommy ends up making eye contact with a pair of blue eyes. Although they are a different shade than Jimmy and Grian, Tommy notices the same look in her eyes that was in theirs. Pearl looks as apologetic as Jimmy did when she was still under the influence of Crimson and yelling at him. She stands as resolutely as Grian did when Tommy explained a potential alliance between the two of them. The traces of the Scarlet Demoness have completely disappeared, but Tommy cannot forget what Pearl is capable of.

"I'm sorry," Pearl says to him. Tempestarius darts around Tommy and Pearl. She goes deeper into the room, leaving Pearl and Tommy in the darkness of the small hallway to confess their sins to one another.

Tommy looks away from Pearl, pulling off his other shoe. He dismisses her, "Stop talking nonsense."

Pearl reaches forward. She grabs his wrist as he's trying to set his shoes down by an alarming amount of other pairs. Pearl forces Tommy to look at her. "It isn't nonsense. I wanted to hurt you, and I did. I'm sorry for the fight we had in Snowchester. I'm sorry for all the horrible things that I said to you when I wanted to convince you to side with the Cult of Erythr. I never should have done or said any of that, but I did, and I need to express my apologies to you, even if you cannot bring yourself to forgive me."

"I didn't listen to half the shit you said when Crimson was fucking up your mind. You can't blame yourself for the fight, either. I knew what kind of gamble I was taking when I proposed our deal," Tommy shakes his head. He drops both of his shoes. They aren't straight as they land on the ground beside a pair of boots. Tommy rises up back up.

Pearl doesn't let go of his wrist, her grip instead tightening. "If you won't accept my remorse, will you accept my gratitude?"

"What the fuck would you be grateful to me for?" Tommy asks blankly. He blinks, searching his memories for a moment where he did something for Pearl.

Pearl laughs disbelievingly. She releases his wrist, taking a step back. Instead of framing her, the light now shines across half of Pearl's face. This puts the other half of her face in darkness, but her eyes shine like two brilliant stones of the sky and sea. "Are you kidding? You saved my life instead of killing me. You made the antidote that freed me and so many others. Most importantly, you reunited me with my brothers."

"And how is your relationship with them?" Tommy asks quietly, attempting to change the subject.

Pearl looks away from him. Her hands rise to her stomach, fingers interlocking nervously. "Never in my entire life have I ever wanted to kill or even hurt my brothers. But I was too foolish to see that part of me did resent them. I devoted my entire life to them, and they left me. I kept telling myself that it wasn't fair for me to feel that way instead of trying to work through my emotions in a healthy way. Crimson exploited my festering resentments. He corrupted me using my pent-up emotions as a doorway. He turned my resentment into hatred and wrath. I couldn't stop him. I know that it will take some time, but I'm willing to do whatever it takes to rebuild my relationships. I promise that I won't ignore the way I feel anymore. All it took was a mind-controlling villain to make me realize that."

Pearl laughs with self-loathing and bitterness. Tommy reaches a hand out hesitantly, touching Pearl's shoulder. She startles but doesn't pull away. They lock eyes. Tommy tries not to sound envious as he wishes her, "Good luck."

He probably doesn't do a good enough job because Pearl looks at him mournfully. She reaches a hand up, placing it across the one he has on her shoulder. "You aren't alone, you know?"

Tommy releases a breath, trying not to roll his eyes. He removes his hand from Pearl's shoulder, stepping around her to walk into the room. He looks around the room. There is a television on a dresser on one wall. Across from it, the bed has been shoved into a corner of the room. The nightstand that should be on the bed has been shoved to the opposite corner by the desk. The cord of the lamp pulls taut as it struggles to spread light into the room. There are a few air mattresses covered in blankets and pillows on the ground beside the bed. In front of the air mattresses is a couch and a couple of foldable chairs.

There are people in the room. Grian is lying on one of the air mattresses, playing on his communicator with a pillow lifting up his head. Jimmy is lying against his brother's stomach, turned so that he can see the television between a couch and a rolling desk chair. Tempestarius is sitting in the chair with her knees brought up to her chest. Etho is dozing off on the touch, his elbow on the arm to prop his head up. Surprisingly, Sparrow is sitting on the couch with Etho, watching the television with wide-awake eyes. Sparrow looks over at Tommy. Tommy's mouth falls open in surprise. Tempestarius doesn't look away from the television as she says, "He's a friend of Fire Striker, apparently."

"I am Fire Striker's friend. I am also a friend of Pearl's," Sparrow confirms. Pearl hums, sitting on the couch between Sparrow and Etho. She tilts her body to put her legs in Sparrow's lap. Sparrow levels Tommy with a large grin. "You left me with an abandoned safe house. I thought the Scarlet Demoness-" Pearl's jaw sets "-and Technician-" Even half-asleep, Etho flinches "-had been kidnapped."

Sparrow leans back. Tommy assumes that Sparrow simply didn't see the way Pearl and Etho reacted because he's facing Tommy, not them. Either way, he doesn't feel comfortable with the way they reacted to their villain names. He makes a mental note not to mention them. Though, he already had that note for Pearl because of the way Grian reacted to her name.

"I came to check on my friend Fire Striker, to make sure he was still where I had last left them, when I found Tempestarius and her stowaways," Sparrow explains, waving his hand at the scene around them. Tommy now fully understands why Tempestarius told him all the good spots were taken. She practically had an entire circus in one room.

"We aren't stowaways," Grian calls out from his place on the air mattress. Jimmy makes a funny look as his pillow moves underneath him. Tommy stifles a snort.

Sparrow shrugs, "Semantics, really. I prefer referring to you all collectively."

"No fighting," Tempestarius demands, her gaze cutting away from the television to glare at them both. Grian's face falls into neutrality as he looks back down at his communicator. Sparrow carries a small smile on his face as he gets comfortable on the couch. Tempestarius' mouth parts as she looks over at Tommy. Her eyes pin Tommy to the place he stands. "No one should be fighting."

"Okay," Etho murmurs sleepily at the same Jimmy calls out, "Will do!"

Pearl nods. Tommy follows her lead with his own nod, and he settles on the ground in front of the chair Tempestarius is in. He hears her declare to everyone, "That's good. I think we're all going to be stuck with each other for a while, so remember common courtesy. I'm not above throwing anyone out, even you two, Pearl and Etho."