Briar got off the bus with a sigh of relief. Shouldering his bag, he started walking the familiar route to the house, stopping occasionally to nod to a neighbor or examine the plants growing in the cracks of the sidewalk. A block away from the house, he crouched down to look at a small wild rose bush that grew in the middle of the path.
"Hey, Briar Moss!"
Briar looked up and smiled. "Hey Ali. How's it hanging?"
Ali grinned back and sauntered over, crossing the lawn in bare feet. "Can't complain. It's been a while, man!"
Briar stood, and held out his fist to the other boy. "Shit's been crazy, yo."
Ali bumped his fist against Briar's and slapped him on the back playfully. "Yeah, yeah. Welcome back, city boy."
Briar rolled his eyes, grinning. "Piss off. How's Flick?"
Ali smiled. "Yeah, she's good. You know, driving me crazy, nagging me to get shit done."
"You'd be fucked without her." Briar teased, shaking his head.
Ali laughed. "Yeah, truth. She's the reason we can pay rent here, for sure."
"Yeah, she's always been way smarter than us." Briar agreed. "You got plans this week? I got two weeks here before I fly back, we should hang sometime."
"Definitely. Hit me up whenever."
"Cool." Briar shouldered his bag again. "I should probably get going, don't wanna be late for dinner."
"Yeah, Flick's gonna be home for dinner soon too. Gotta get to cooking." Ali punched him on the shoulder playfully. "See you around, man."
"See you." Briar said, continuing on his way as Ali headed back into his house.
He walked the last block to the house, almost running as it came into view. He took a moment to greet the plants at the edge of the garden before walking up the front steps and knocking on the door.
Swaying on the balls of his feet, Briar waited as he heard excited chatter and hurried footsteps inside. A moment later, the door swung open, revealing Evvy.
"Briar!" She squealed, shoving open the screen door and throwing herself at him.
"Oof! Hey kid." He said, hugging her back and ruffling her hair. "Good to see you."
"Briar Briar Briar!" Glaki shouted, running outside and joining the hug. Briar grinned and squeezed them both tightly.
Lark chuckled as she walked to the door. "Gently, now. Let's let him breathe."
Evvy and Glaki let go reluctantly, and Briar moved forward to hug Lark with a grin. "Hey Mom."
"Hello, dear. We've missed you." Lark kissed his cheek and released him as Comas shyly hovered at Briar's side. Briar hugged Comas, and looked around for the others.
Rosethorn came into view, with Sandry and Tris right behind her. The corners of her mouth turned up in a gruff smile as she spotted him.
"Just in time for dinner, I see."
Briar grinned cheekily and threw his arms around her in a tight hug. "Hey Ma."
She hugged him back for a moment before holding him at arm's length and examining him. Spotting the new tattoos on his hands, she frowned.
"Tell me that isn't what I think it is, boy."
Briar shrugged and winced. "Surprise?"
"Briar!" That was Lark, who had moved closer and seen the tattoos as well.
"What? I don't think they look so bad." He said, a bit defensively.
Rosethorn arched an eyebrow. "This looks infected."
Turning his hands, she frowned at the irritated skin.
"Which pox-brained idiot did this without properly sterilizing their tools?" She demanded.
"Um." Briar said, shrinking a little at the piercing look she gave him. "I kinda, maybe, sort of did it myself."
Rosethorn gave him a deadly glare. "Briar Moss! Of all the stupid, ill-thought out, reckless things to do!"
Evvy giggled and leaned in for a closer look. "Oooooh, Briar's in trouble." She sang, poking the flowers inked onto his hands.
"Evvy, hush." Lark said, pushing her gently towards the kitchen. "Why don't you, Glaki, and Comas set the table, hm?"
Evvy pouted but did as she was told, the other two trailing behind her. Briar shrunk closer to Lark as Rosethorn continued to glare at him.
"It's not that bad, really." He muttered.
This did not seem to pacify her. "Not that bad! For fuck's sake, boy, you could've gotten a far worse infection than this! What possessed you?"
"Rosie." Lark sighed. Without looking away from Briar, Rosethorn reached into a pocket and handed her a wrinkled dollar. Behind her, Tris snickered.
"Nice going, numbskull."
Briar scowled. "Fuck off, Coppercurls."
Sandry tilted her head thoughtfully. "Were you trying to make the flowers all different sizes?"
"Three words for you. None of your business."
"That's four words." She informed him, smirking.
"All right, enough." Lark said firmly, giving Sandry and Tris a disapproving look. "It is what it is. You two, go help the others serve dinner. Rosie, why don't you find some disinfectant?"
"It's fine." Briar groaned.
Lark raised an eyebrow. "It's infected, Briar. Rosie?"
Rosethorn dropped Briar's hand and gave him a withering glare. "Stay here. I'll be back in a moment."
Turning, she disappeared down the hall into her workroom. Briar let out a long sigh, kicking his shoes off by the door.
"Am I interrupting something?"
Briar whirled around and spotted Daja leaning against the doorframe behind him, unnoticed in the chaos that had unfolded.
"Daj! When'd you get here?"
"Oh, about a few minutes ago. I would've announced my presence earlier, but I was enjoying the show." She said, grinning.
"Aw, piss off." Briar said, rolling his eyes. He walked over and punched her playfully in the arm before hugging her tightly.
"Daja!" That was Sandry, who had emerged from the kitchen, Tris behind her. "I thought I heard your voice."
"Hey, saati." Daja hugged her sisters, smiling broadly.
"Can we eat now? I'm starving!" Evvy stuck her head around the kitchen door frame. Spotting Daja, she ran over and threw her arms around the older girl.
"Daja!"
"Hey, kid." Daja ruffled her hair. "How are things?"
Evvy let out a long, dramatic sigh. "Ughhh. It's been so boring without you guys! There's nothing to do, and Rosethorn won't let me look for new rocks on the mountain."
Pouting, she crossed her arms in front of her chest.
"Yes, I'm such a tyrant." Rosethorn said dryly, emerging from the hallway with a tube of salve in hand. "I've told you, there's been a rock slide. You can go when it's safe."
She turned to Briar and handed him the salve. "Apply this twice a day, morning and night, until the infection is gone. You'd best use some now, seeing how that infection looks."
"Yes, Ma." Briar said meekly, uncapping the tube and applying the salve to the red patches of skin on his hands. "Thanks."
Rosethorn gave him one last disapproving glare before looking over at Daja. "Well, you're all here, then."
Daja smiled and threw her arms around her mom. "Good to see you, Ma."
Rosethorn cleared her throat gruffly and hugged her back tightly. Briar took that as his cue to escape to the kitchen and sat beside Lark.
The others followed a minute later, and soon they were all seated around the table. Rosethorn looked around for a moment, counting heads.
"Everyone here? Good."
She reached for the pot of rice and spooned some onto her plate before passing it to Tris on her left. Everyone began serving themselves and passing the food down to the others, talking amongst themselves.
"How are things with Rizu, Daja?" Lark asked, scooping some chickpea curry onto her plate.
"Yeah, good. Fine." Daja replied, taking a quick bite of food to stall any further questions.
"Wow, that good, huh?" Briar asked teasingly.
Daja scowled and flipped him off.
"Mature." He smirked, his mouth full of curry. "Real mature."
"What happened with Rizu?" Evvy piped up from her spot next to Daja.
Daja looked down at her and smiled tightly. "Nothing happened. Briar's just being a dick."
Briar gasped, pointing his fork at her in fake indignation. "I take offense to that!"
"All right, enough." Rosethorn intervened. "You'll set a bad example for the kids."
"Don't worry, I already know what a dick is." Glaki said innocently from where she sat on Tris's lap.
Briar laughed and coughed as he inhaled his food. Lark thumped him firmly on the back a few times until the coughing subsided. Wordlessly, she held out her hand as Briar and Daja dug a dollar out of their pockets and handed it to her.
"We need a better system." She said, sighing as she stood and put the money in the jar.
"Seems like a lost cause to me." Evvy said knowingly.
"Yeah, we're all fucked anyway." Briar agreed, already holding another dollar out to Lark.
Rosethorn snickered as Lark sighed.
"Well, it was worth a try, I suppose."