Dimension 76 CRAU PSL: I'm Gonna Go Back Home

[strangeandunusual]

Everyone seemed to be leaving, Lydia realized. They were wearing out their welcome with the natives, and her brand new boyfriend's grandfather was running out of patience with it all before they'd even gone on a single date. It was enough to make a teenager lose her mind... unless that teenager was clever. And knew how to deal with crazy, egotistical people. So she'd bribed Rick with a few bottles of good Pantropan wine she'd bought from her friend Elliot, and had him reconfigure her portal band so that it had five settings: home, C-137, Corona, Duckburg, and Pantropa. If she ever needed more, she knew where and how to get them.

For now, though, she was ready to go home for a bit... and she had company, which made it even better. She only hoped her traveling companion would be able to see her best friends, too, or it wouldn't be half as fun. She checked her bag to make sure she'd packed everything she wanted to bring home, then smiled as she activated the wide, glowing, green portal.

"Ready?"

Comments

[awwgeez]

Morty had to admit that he was surprised. He never expected Rick to be, well, kind in terms of Lydia. Maybe he liked her. Maybe she bribed him, though he didn't know about it if she did. Still, suddenly Rick was there, providing them both with portal bands. You can't just wander off and not have a way home. And there's no way in hell I'm giving you my gun, so don't ask. (belch).

With a packed bag slung over his shoulder, he turned to Lydia, his cheeks reddening. He was going on a sleepover, if his mother asked. He was excited to see the world she had shared so much about. Invisible ghost best friends. A world of the dead. Miniatures. "Uh, yeah," he said shyly. "I really am looking forward to this. I... I can't wait to see it all. Do you think your people will like me?"

[strangeandunusual]

"I'm sure the ones who matter will," she said, pointedly, as she took his hand. After all, she hoped she'd given him enough advance warning about Delia. "C'mon."

Borrowing the boldness she'd learned from Barbara and Rapunzel alike, she tugged him through the portal with her. The world turned emerald, rolling green hills and sky stretching out in front of them. As the effect of the portal faded, most of the green remained: a New England country hamlet in full summer splendor as they stood at the top of a hill overlooking a town that, from their distance, almost looked too perfect to be real...right down to the white steepled church and the red covered bridge over a winding ribbon of clear blue river.

[awwgeez]

"Well, I can't wait to meet your friends." He chuckled. Reaching out, he let her take his hand, threading their fingers together. In truth, he was afraid to meet Delia, but he was sure he would survive.

When they arrived, Morty's eyes widened. It was an idyllic picture, something he'd seen in a movie. It was just too perfect. He grinned and looked over at Lydia. "Really? This is your home?" He pointed at the river. "It... It's blue. And clean. I've never seen a river look that pretty and, well, not polluted." He laughed and looked at her. "And that church. It's so white!"

[strangeandunusual]

"That's exactly why my Dad wanted to move here. He saw the pictures in the realty book and just fell for it. I wasn't sure about leaving New York until we got here."

She gives his hand a squeeze, knowing the house is right behind them, but wanting to give him the choice to work up to it. "You wanna go down and see?"

[awwgeez]

Morty turned to look at Lydia. There was indecision on his face as he squeezed her hand in return. "Hmmm..." He glanced back down the hill, then back at her. "Nah. It's not going anywhere. We can meet the family for now and then maybe go exploring tomorrow?"

He could see why his dad wanted to move here. "Did you change your mind? Do you like it now?"

[strangeandunusual]

"Sure, that works for me. You might have to pretend you go to school in the next town over, or something, though. I go to a school that's just for girls. I'll tell Dad we met on a field trip."

It wasn't entirely a lie, after all, and she gave him a sly grin.

"Yeah, I love it here, now. Adam told me some of the history, and stuff, and ... boy, New England people can be really weird."

[awwgeez]

"They can't be any weirder than Rick," he teased as he looked over at her. "And I can do that. I've lied so many times for him that it's second nature now... Sadly."

He didn't like the lying. He hated having to do it for Rick, but that's just how it was. A small sigh slipped out. "I can't wait to hear it. And I want to see that mock up of the town you told me about. With the miniatures? That sounds so cool." He gave her hand a squeeze. "Thank you for this."

[strangeandunusual]

"Okay, you've got me there. At least, not as consistently weird as Rick. A few of the things I've heard about the town barber come close, though. He's like, 80 and Adam saw him do a keg stand once. At his wife's wake."

New England, man. When he sighed, though, she knew it was time to get the show on the road so he didn't start moping too much about everything he'd been through. New memories, good ones, were waiting. "Don't thank me just yet. But I'm glad you're here."

With that, she spun them around to face the expanse of white clapboard, avant-garde, and classic farm style that was her home. It nearly took up the whole hill, and even though Delia's strange artistic influence was present in the open-air porch, the rest of it still managed to look quaint. A narrow, long flight of stairs led up beside the garages to a small door, and she steered him toward it. Sure, she could bring him in the living room, but going in through the kitchen meant she could show him her dark room and sneak him up the back stairs to the attic without passing her Dad's study or Delia's studio.

[awwgeez]

Morty smiled and followed along, letting her lead him wherever she wanted. In truth, he'd probably follow her anywhere. Honestly, he was glad he was here too. His eyes were wide and he took in everything as they made their way through the kitchen and up the very skinny stairs. He didn't know where they were going, but he trusted her.

In the background, he thought he might have heard people talking, but he paid it no mind. "Wow," he whispered, trying to be quiet. Having her describe the house in detail was nothing to seeing it play out in front of him. It was nothing like their little, suburban house he shared with his sister. It was so much more colorful, with a history to it.

Not cookie cutter like all the other houses on his street.

"And up there. The attic. Your ghost friends live there, right?"

1/2

[strangeandunusual]

She couldn't believe that this was actually happening, after all the times they'd talked about it: it almost felt too good to be true. Especially when she kept taking nervous glances over her should and found him looking so enraptured by everything. The voices he heard were decidedly Delia and Charles, as she tried to talk him into something, garbled trilling only briefly giving way to a few low, quiet rumbles of half protest. Morty had traveled the multiverse, and yet still this house - her house! - impressed him. She felt like her heart would explode as she paused on the narrow landing and knocked.

"Adam? Barbara? It's me, Lydia..."

2/2

[strangeandunusual]

The door creaked open slowly and a brunette with a crazy mop of curls popped her head out, smiling.

"Hey, Lydia, what -"

She instantly froze at the sight of Morty. "... What are you doing?! You can't bring anyone else up here!"

"Nonono, it's okay, Barbara, it's okay!" Lydia reached out to grab the sleeve of her shirtdress on instinct, sighing when her fingers went straight through. "Morty's from another dimension, he's seen so much crazy stuff he already has to keep secret from his family. He won't tell anyone about you and Adam, I swear. I just... I wanted you to meet him. It's... important."

Barbara studied her skeptically, then Morty. Slowly, a smile replaced her worried frown. "Important, huh? Well, Morty, if you're important, you would have found out about us eventually. Come on in. Adam's down in the basement, but he won't be long, he needed sandpaper."

[healingincantation]

With things between Pantropans and the world's guests starting to go south, Rapunzel had started to try making her peace with going home, and facing all of that mess. It was definitely a work in progress, so when Lydia had invited her to visit White River...

Well, honestly, she would have seized that opportunity anyway. But putting off a return to Corona - not home, it didn't quite feel like home anymore - was icing on the cake. She'd asked Rick to program in the same settings on her own portal bands as he had on Lydia's, although the coordination had been entirely unplanned. A happy coincidence.

At Lydia's question, she leaned in toward her friend with a grin. "Yes! It's about time we did this."

[strangeandunusual]

"You're going to love it!" She grinned. "Did you bring your paint? You're going to want to paint everything, I swear, the light is so great. If you didn't, I know where you can get some. There's a little old lady who does painting lessons in town, and she sells the supplies out of her house. Barbara told me about her."

She gestures to the portal, wanting Rapunzel to take the first look at that majestic vista of rolling Connecticut hills and homes, all of it laid out below the hill like ... well, a model. A very special model. She hopes that not too much has changed in her absence, but if it has, she can take her friend to gather pictures for Adam.