Eli Shane looked behind him just as the sun started to rise. It'd been a while since he'd seen it, so he stopped to watch as it peeked over the tops of the buildings and trees.
Burpy chirped on his shoulder impatiently.
"I know, I know." The young man replied, tugging on his small ponytail, a weird habit he'd developed.
He was nervous. It had been nearly ten years since he'd taken the drop down to Slugterra, and it'd had been nearly ten minutes since he got back on the drop to the Surface. The rest of the gang was back in Slugterra, watching over things until he returned.
Eli kicked at the asphalt with the toe of his sneaker. Wearing surface clothes for the first time in ten years was slightly unnerving for him, as was not having his blaster with him, which he also left down below. The only thing from Slugterra he'd really brought with him were his slugs. They were all smuggled in his normal looking backpack, annoyed at being stuffed in there for so long.
Eli turned back from the sunrise and started walking down the right side of the street, avoiding any early morning cars. It was almost six in the morning, and he didn't know how long it would be before people started moving around. He did know one person who would be up at this time though.
He stopped walking at a small ordinary building, nearly identical to the ones next to it. It looked plain compared to the fancy inside of the hideout back in Slugterra, but it also looked roomy. There was a light on inside, and Eli could see the faint shadow of someone moving around inside. He had been right, she was up. She was always an early riser.
Eli swallowed and looked to Burpy for support. The Infernus winked and squeaked confidently, before hopping off his shoulder and disappearing into his backpack. Eli took a deep breath before slowly walking up the front porch to the door. He could hear someone whistling a tune on the other side.
The young man raised a hand and knocked. There was a pause inside, then a bit of shuffling. Everything seemed to slow down as Eli heard footsteps approach the door. There was the click of a lock turning. Eli briefly considered turning tail and running back down the steps but his feet were rooted in place. A ball of nervous tension was pressing on his stomach.
The door opened and Eli could suddenly smell the warm scent of bubbling pancake batter and hear sizzling coming from the kitchen. The person on the other side of the door was in the middle of saying something like, "Can I help you", but froze midsentence. A spatula clattered to the floor, as both the person's hands flew to their face in shock.
For a second, the two stared at each other. Eli realized how much taller he was then the other person as he smiled and waved awkwardly. He said two words, two words that made the tension lift off his chest. Two words that made the tiny woman in front of him promptly burst into tears and throw her arms around him.
"Hey, Mom."