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“That was laughably awful,” Adam commented as the credits finally started after a movie that seemed like it was never going to end. He turned the volume down, though it had already been pretty low, since it was rather late. “Where did you even find this, Lizzie?”
When Lizzie didn’t answer, he glanced to his right to see her completely knocked out. Her head was leaned back on the couch with an open mouth, drooling, somehow not snoring. She was also half-leaning on Norma, who had fallen asleep long before her. It wasn’t even that late, yet Adam was already the last one left awake.
Soon after the interns’ promotion to Junior Agent status, the group of them had arranged a sleepover in the lounge of the dorms they all stayed in, just for fun. It gave them a chance to celebrate a little bit, and to let Raz get a feel for what the dorms were like. He had been curious, since he didn’t stay there; after much discussion and debate, he had decided to stay with his family in the Questionable Area until they left again- though, who knew when that would be.
All the Junior Agents had started off the evening ready to stay up as long as they possibly could, maybe even pulling off a few all-nighters. It soon became clear, however, that that was not going to happen. Gisu, despite her bragging about her amazing ability to stay up for 48 hours straight, had fallen asleep before 10 PM. No one woke her up, but they did all agree to mercilessly make fun of her for managing to fall asleep at a sleepover before the literal 10-year-old who probably went to sleep at 9 every night.
Before long, almost all of the Junior Agents were asleep. Only Sam, Lizzie, and Adam had managed to stay awake past midnight. They started watching some shitty movie Lizzie suggested they watch, and Sam had quickly fallen asleep in the most uncomfortable-looking position on the floor. Apparently, though, Lizzie had also fallen asleep before the end of the film, and Adam was the only one left standing.
Adam quietly snorted at Lizzie’s ridiculous look and turned the TV off. Carefully, so as to not wake anyone else up, he got up off the couch, set the remote down next to the TV, and started towards the kitchen area in the lounge. He might as well grab a glass of water before he actually went to sleep. He turned on a lamp conveniently placed nearby so he didn’t wake everyone up by turning on an overhead light, but before he could take another step towards the sink, something surprised him.
Well, more like someone. Raz was sitting on a stool, very much awake, leaning against the island in the middle of the kitchen area, holding his own glass of water. Even though he clearly wasn’t doing anything wrong, he looked like he had been caught red-handed in the middle of a crime; he had completely frozen, eyes wide open as he stared right at Adam.
“Raz!” Adam whisper-shouted in surprise. “I thought you had already gone to sleep!”
Raz blinked. “Oh, um, I didn’t. Yet.” He awkwardly held up his cup of water. “I was just, uh, getting... something to drink.”
“I was doing the same exact thing,” Adam commented, finally actually stepping into the kitchen area and getting a glass out of a cupboard. He then moved to the sink and began to fill up the glass. “How come you’re not asleep yet, then? We were just watching a, uh, interesting movie. You could’ve joined us.”
“It seemed pretty awful from what I heard,” Raz replied dryly, saying nothing else.
Adam shrugged. He couldn’t argue with that. “It was funny, though.” He took a sip of his water. “You seem tired,” he commented, trying to imply something here, if Raz would get the hint.
Raz didn’t say anything for a moment. “I am,” he finally said, once again saying nothing else.
Well, that raised a bit of a red flag. “Then... why don’t you go to sleep?” Adam suggested.
“Do you think I would be up right now if I could go to sleep?” Raz asked, with as much attitude in his voice as an actual teenager. Wow, either Adam and his fellow Junior Agents were a terrible influence, or Raz was just really grumpy. Or he was just like this. That honestly seemed the most likely.
Adam set his water down on the counter and sat down on a stool next to Raz. Time to see if he was actually any good with kids, then. “Well, why can’t you sleep?” He asked sympathetically. “Is something bothering you?”
Raz rested his head in one hand and sighed. “I guess.”
“You... guess?”
“I felt fine,” Raz said, absently tapping a finger against the rim of his glass, “and now I don’t. I just can’t sleep. At all.”
Adam tilted his head. “Well, what do you think is bothering you? Is something weighing on your mind, or...?” He could think of a few things that could be keeping the guy awake, but he didn’t think it would be very helpful to start listing them, especially with the bad mood Raz was clearly in.
Raz stared at his glass of water for a couple moments. When he finally responded, his voice was so quiet that Adam could barely hear him. “I think I miss my family,” he mumbled. “You guys are great and all, but there’s no beating me and my four siblings all sleeping in the same comfy bed.” He let out a short sigh. “Even with all you guys in the same room, it just feels... empty. I dunno.”
While he could not understand the comfort in sleeping in the same bed as four other people, Adam could understand the general sentiment of homesickness, even if Raz’s ‘home’ was technically only five minutes or so away. “I get it,” Adam said, nodding. “I don’t think there’s a whole lot I could do about that, but...” He thought for a moment. “I could get, um, some extra blankets, or something? To make it more crowded-like?”
Raz looked up at Adam with a small smile. “That might help. Thanks, Adam.”
“It’s no problem, bud,” Adam replied. He took another sip of water, then asked, “Anything else worrying you? You still seem all torn up.”
Raz didn’t say anything again for a couple seconds, and Adam could see him kicking his feet back and forth anxiously under the island. Finally, with his voice full of hesitance and trepidation, and once again so quiet Adam could barely make it out, he admitted, “I... have been having... I guess technically sort of kind of, um.” He paused, looking nervous to even say it. “Nightmares.”
Oh, God. Well, Adam had expected it, but now that they were here, he realized he didn’t really... know what to do about it. “Well, there’s nothin’ wrong with that,” he said, lightly nudging Raz in the shoulder. “C’mon, we’re in the Psychonauts! We know that’s normal, right?”
Unfortunately, Raz did not seem at all comforted by Adam’s words. He glanced up at Adam, then back at his water. “Sure, but... these are... mngh. Never mind.”
“No, no, go on,” Adam gently urged.
Somehow, Raz looked even more nervous, maybe even... ashamed. “I- it- they-” He bit his lip, then shut his eyes tightly and finally blurted, “They’re about my Nona.” He paused for half a second, before quickly adding on, as if the words would escape him if he didn’t get them out now, “And- and um, me drowning. And.” He gripped his glass tighter, and his voice became more mumbled and less and less clear as he continued speaking. “And water everywhere and the Hands and the Rhombus and- and all that.” Once he finished his quick, barely coherent explanation, his eyes snapped open, and he anxiously glanced up at Adam.
Adam blinked, trying to process everything Raz had said, but he had said it all so quick and under his breath that Adam could barely keep up. After a few moments, he realized that Raz was waiting for him to speak, so without getting a chance to think through it all, he finally got out, “Does- do you get that every time you try to sleep?”
“Most of the time,” Raz replied instantly, now seeming anxious to quickly get all his words out instead of haltingly muttering things like before. “And then I end up waking up right before- right before I actually do drown in the dream, and- and I can’t get any real sleep.”
“Have you... mentioned this to anyone else?” Adam questioned. Please say yes.
Raz squirmed awkwardly. “Um. No.”
Damn it. “Didn’t Sasha give you a mental health check-up... yesterday?” Adam asked.
“I, uh.” Raz pointedly avoided eye contact with Adam as he spoke. “I may have... not told him everything...?” He glanced up at Adam again and gave him a nervous grin.
Christ Almighty. Adam took a deep breath. “And... why not?”
Raz’s eyes went back to his glass of water. “I... don’t really know,” he admitted. “I guess I... I don’t know, it’s kind of embarrassing. Like, that’s my grandma-” He cut himself off and pursed his lips. “Well. Not really. But. Y’know. That’s Nona.” He crossed his arms on top of the counter and laid his head down on top of them. “Why should I be having nightmares about my Nona?”
Adam hesitated. Ahh, this was... tense. And fragile. A controversial subject. How much should he say here...? “Well... if you don’t mind me saying, then, um. Is it really surprising?”
Raz looked up at him with a confused look on his face. “What do you mean?”
“Er, well.” Adam rubbed the back of his neck. “Considering everything with Maligula and all that... is it that much of a surprise you’re still scared about it all?”
“I’m not scared!” Raz shot back, sitting up indignantly. “I’m not a baby, Adam.”
“I didn’t say that you were!” Adam hissed, glancing back at the others, still sleeping. “And please quiet down? I don’t need all of them on my ass for waking them up.”
Raz looked annoyed, but also apologetic as he relaxed a little. “I’m not scared,” he repeated in a whisper-shout.
“Okay, maybe scared wasn’t the right word,” Adam muttered. “But you’ve gotta admit, you’re still thinking about it. And I bet you were pretty scared when it was all going down, right?”
Raz squirmed a little bit on the stool. “I... I guess.”
Adam nodded. “Well, I hate to break it to you, but it’s not like you’re going to forget all that like it never happened. Your Nona might be your Nona, but she also did try to kill you in the worst way possible.”
“That wasn’t her fault!” Raz hissed. At least this time he tried to keep his volume down.
“I didn’t say it was!” Adam sighed. He didn’t want to be mad at Raz, but he was getting a little exasperated. “Look. Whether you like it or not, you did almost die. Like, a concerning amount. And you’re gonna be thinking about it, and you’re gonna be worried about it, and you’re gonna have a bit of, you know, trauma from it. It’s just how it works, li’l man.”
Raz’s eyebrows furrowed. “But I’m not-”
“Whatever you’re about to say, save it,” Adam cut him off, not unkindly. “Unfortunately for everyone, all of us have to deal with a little bit of being affected by things that happen to us in our lives, and yes that applies to everyone, including you.” He smiled. “Nothing to be ashamed of, though, we know that!”
Though he didn’t speak for another several seconds, Raz still looked annoyed. “But-” He bit his lip, then sighed and laid his head back down. “Ghh. Fine. Sure.” He still looked tired and a bit annoyed, but it seemed as though he was actually considering Adam’s words more than beating himself up over it like before.
Adam smiled. Mission success, maybe? He blinked, then added, “Oh, but you should still tell someone- someone who can actually do something about it- about all this.” Adam himself could only do so much to help Raz out here, especially at one in the morning when both of them were already very tired.
“Yeah, I know,” Raz muttered. He kept staring at his glass of water, clearly still deep in thought.
Adam kept his eyes fixed on Raz for another moment before he tried to come up with anything else to say. He looked tired, as Adam had already noticed, but he must’ve been really tired to still be up past 1 AM when almost everyone else was already asleep.
Eventually, Raz noticed Adam’s staring, and he glanced at him, raising an eyebrow. “Do you need something else?”
“What time do you usually go to sleep?” Adam asked, perhaps against his better judgment. He didn’t want Raz to think he was telling him he had a bedtime, but... well, he probably did, didn’t he?
Raz hummed in thought, apparently not thinking Adam was suggesting anything. “Um, depends. If we ha-” he cut himself off with a quick yawn, then continued. “If we have an evening show, then sometimes as late as now, but usually between 9 and 11, I guess.”
“Your parents let you stay up to 11?” Adam was surprised; he didn’t think he could stay up past 9:30 when he was ten.
“Nope,” Raz replied, popping the ‘p’. “But Dion and Frazie do.” He yawned again, and it took all of Adam’s willpower to not do the same. Man, this was making him more tired.
“I think you should at least try to sleep,” Adam suggested gently. “It’s super late, and you’re a growing kid.”
Raz raised his head up from the counter and looked Adam in the eye. “I can’t,” he insisted, almost desperately. “I just- I can’t. Even if I could get to sleep, I-” his voice cracked in the middle of his sentence- “-I just can’t.”
Adam’s brows furrowed. This was worse than he thought. “But- listen, if you have that nightmare, then-”
“It’s not just that.” Raz cut off his sentence, but broke eye contact and looked back at the glass of water. “I-” He hesitated again before speaking, as if he weren’t sure he should be sharing this with Adam. “I’m tired, but I just can’t get to sleep,” he finally continued, voice quiet and somewhat shaky. “I lay down, and it’s too quiet, so I- I start thinking about too many things, like my family, and Nona, and Ford, and- and Loboto, and Gristol, and Agent Fullbear, and Lili, and water, and then even if I do get to sleep, then it’s always that damn dream again, and I feel so bad, ‘cause- I guess you were right, it still scares me, but I can’t help feeling like I shouldn’t be scared of Nona, and- and really, I shouldn’t even be scared of wa-”
Before he could finish that sentence, the sudden sound of glass breaking pierced through the air, accompanied by the equally piercing sound of a mix between a squeak and a short shriek that came from Raz, both sounds echoing around the room.
Raz’s water glass that he had been staring at and tapping- but hadn’t taken a single sip from- was now in sharp, extremely tiny pieces scattered across the counter and the floor, and the water that had been in it was now quickly spreading across the counter and dripping onto the floor, making a puddle. Raz, on the other hand, was completely still, frozen in shock while staring at what had just been a glass of water, a hand slapped over his mouth.
Adam stared for a few seconds too, mouth agape, before he came to his senses, snapped his mouth shut, and looked at Raz instead of the water. “Are- are you okay?” He asked, reaching out and touching Raz’s shoulder.
Raz twitched when Adam touched him, but it took him another couple seconds to actually respond to Adam. He blinked and looked up at him, lowering his hand. “Oh- uh, y-yeah, I’m fine- d-” his voice became more hushed, and he turned his eyes to the water again. “Did I... do that?”
Now, wasn’t that an awful question to answer. Adam’s brows drew together in worry. “I- maybe. Probably. It’s okay, though!” He carefully stood up from his stool and stepped over the shards of glass on the floor. “We can just clean it up, alright? And then we can talk. Er, if you want.” He glanced around the kitchen and greater lounge area. “Are there seriously no paper towels in here?”
“I can go get some,” Raz offered, using a little Levitation to move over the glass on the floor- smart. “And you can get the glass?”
“Of course,” Adam replied. He couldn’t help but notice that Raz was still shaky, both in his voice and his movements. He didn’t say anything about it as Raz passed by him to leave to go find paper towels; he simply gave him a pat on the shoulder and watched him go. He also couldn’t help but notice that it seemed as though tiny little water hands sprouted up out of the puddle as Raz passed by as he left, reaching out to his leg, but never quite touching him.
Once Raz was entirely out of earshot- and hopefully couldn’t hear his thoughts, either- Adam sighed and ran a hand down his face. “This was a lot more than I bargained for,” he muttered, turning back to the island to clean up the glass.
Before he could start doing anything, though, he heard the sounds of someone moving over where everyone else was sleeping. Soon enough, he watched Lizzie’s head poke up from over the couch and look back towards the source of light and sound. She was squinting, and she looked a little annoyed, but she mercifully did not shout at him to shut up or something, and instead made a spectacle of hauling her ass off the couch and over to him.
“Jesus, ‘t’s too damn bright,” she grumbled, rubbing at her eyes. “Wha’s goin’ on? What waszat sound?”
“Uh, just some, uhm...” Adam faltered, genuinely not sure what he should share. Would Raz want Lizzie knowing? Would Lizzie be able to figure it out, anyway? It wasn’t like it was a difficult puzzle to solve. He finally sighed and responded, “Raz and I were having a chat, and there was a, ah... incident.”
Lizzie raised an unimpressed eyebrow.
“He may have accidentally shattered his glass of water,” He further clarified, really hoping that Raz wouldn’t mind too much.
Lizzie squinted at him. She pulled a stool over to where she was with Telekinesis and sat down, bringing one knee up to rest her chin on. “How th’hell’d he do that?” She asked.
“I would assume with Hydrokinesis,” Adam replied as he turned back to the glass and started picking the little pieces up with TK and collecting them in a pile on the island counter. “I don’t know how exactly that all works, but he’s clearly stressed out; he can’t even get to sleep, and he gets nightmares when he does. I guess he just got so stressed out just talking about it he...”
“Exploded a glass with his mind?” Lizzie suggested when he didn’t continue.
“...” Adam stared at her for a couple seconds, a tad bit annoyed. “Not the words I would’ve chosen, but yes.” He glanced at the very slowly growing puddle of water on the floor, which still had a couple of tiny little hands here and there. “And I’m going to guess he wasn’t just getting some water to drink, I mean- he never took a single sip.”
Lizzie hummed in thought. “And those li’l things’re definitely his doing.” She glanced down at the water, and the tiny hands that were still present. “Not that he pro’ly means to.”
Adam sighed as he collected the last of the tiny glass shards on the counter. He stared at the water for a few more moments, then looked back at Lizzie. “So, is there a reason you decided to actually get up? You could’ve just gone back to sleep. I doubt watching me pick up glass is that exciting.”
“It’s not,” Lizzie agreed. She tilted her head. “I overheard you guys a li’l and... well, I guess I thought you needed some advice here.”
He almost felt insulted by that. “In what, exactly?”
“Dealing with a little kid’s 1 AM crying session, duh,” Lizzie responded, not going so far as to roll her eyes, yet still making the attitude palpable. “And, y’know, Hydrokinesis stuff. You definitely don’t have any experience there to help ‘im with.”
“And what makes you the expert on Raz’s feelings?” Adam questioned, raising an eyebrow.
Lizzie snorted. “Nothing, not with his. But I do have a sister who gives me some practice in dealing with the icky late-night emotions stuff all the time.” She paused, then added, “Don’t tell her I told you that.”
Adam shook his head. “Sure.”
Lizzie narrowed her eyes, but didn’t say anything more on that. Instead, she leaned forward as if she were giving Adam a pep talk. “Alright, so what you gotta do is not try to find a solution to everything, ‘cause you don’t have solutions to everything. Don’t even expect to understand everything he says. Instead, what you wanna focus on is little steps to make him feel better, and hopefully to make him laugh, ‘cause that almost always works, and I’d imagine it works even better with a little kid like him.” She TK’d Adam’s water glass over to her and took a sip, rudely. “And for the HK stuff, tell him to take deep breaths and not show any fear to the water. It sounds weird, but just trust me.” She pointed at him her TK hand that was holding the water, almost spilling more on the floor. “And don’t let him do that thing again where he just keeps reminding himself of everything that’s stressing him out. If he wants to talk about it, then let him talk, but absolutely no listing off every worry in his head, or else something explodes.” She took another sip of Adam’s water, then added, unnecessarily, “Again.”
Adam blinked, not expecting that many actual helpful words to come out of Lizzie’s mouth. Ever. He narrowed his eyes at her. “Where the hell did this come from?” he teased.
“Like I said,” Lizzie replied, “Norma. Have you met her? She loves freaking out over everything at once and exploding something on accident about it. Raz seems kinda similar. Don’t tell either of them I said that.”
“I... huh.” Adam chuckled and glanced at the water on the floor again. “I guess you’ve got a point, there.” He looked back at Lizzie. “I just never thought you’d have that much to say that would actually be kind and helpful.”
Lizzie narrowed her eyes at him and abruptly thrust the glass of water in her TK hand right into Adam’s hand, once again almost spilling half of it on the floor. “Look, just don’t get anything else exploded, and don’t make him cry, and you-” She yawned, then continued. “You’ll be fine.” She got up off the stool, stretched, and turned back to the couch. Just before she got on the other side of the couch to go back to sleep, she whisper-shouted back to Adam, “And tell him to feel like one with the water! It sounds really stupid, until you actually try it!”
“You got it,” Adam called back, waving good night to her as she completely ignored him for the comfort of going back to falling asleep right on Norma.
He watched for movement again, and when no one else stirred, he sat down on the stool he had been sitting on before. He TK’d the stool Lizzie had used back to its place, and his now dirty water glass into the sink across the room. Conveniently, Raz chose that moment to return to the lounge with a fresh roll of paper towels.
“Found some!” Raz declared quietly as he walked towards Adam, tearing off some paper towels from the roll and using TK to spread them out across the floor where the water was. Adam couldn’t help but notice that he wasn’t touching any of the water himself; he was only using TK and paper towels to touch it.
The two of them worked together to get all the water mopped up from the floor. Adam found a trash bag and put all the wet paper towels and shards of glass- wrapped up in paper towels first- in it. He tied it up and left it next to the trash can, hoping they didn’t need to do anything else with it.
Once all the mess was cleaned up, Raz nervously turned to Adam, avoiding eye contact. “I, um... I’m sorry, Adam.”
Adam raised his eyebrows in surprise. “Huh?” He patted Raz on the shoulder reassuringly. “Whaddya mean, bud, it’s the glass you hurt, not me!”
“No, not-” Raz’s shoulders dropped. “Well, yeah, sorry about the glass, but...” He crossed his arms. “I mean I’m sorry for, um, dumping all that on you. I should’ve just talked to Sasha or someone about it.”
Oh. Adam smiled and shook his head. “I appreciate that, really- and yeah, you should talk to Sasha- but I quite literally asked for it. If I didn’t want to hear it, I wouldn’t kept asking about it, would I?”
“...I guess,” Raz muttered. He didn’t sound reassured at all.
Adam’s brows drew together in concern. “Is that what’s bothering you, or is it still the... everything else?’
“That is a fantastic question,” Raz replied, jumping up onto the stool he was on before. “I guess... yes?”
Adam glanced back at the couch. Your advice better help, Lizzie, he thought as he steeled himself. “Well... you’ve got all the time in the world to figure it out, now. You’re not in the middle of saving the world like you have been for a few days!”
Raz smiled, but the worry in his face didn’t leave. “Sure, but... I just have this nagging feeling that something bad is gonna happen. Jump on us out of nowhere and throw everyone into panic mode again.” He sighed. “And even if there’s no world-ending disaster, I don’t even know if my parents are gonna let me stay here past- I dunno, this week.”
“Oh, c’mon, at least half your family is on our side,” Adam said, smiling. “But really, that’s something you can definitely work out in your favor. And as for the first thing...” He paused and took in a deep breath and held it for a few seconds as he pondered the idea. How did he even begin to respond to that? Obviously, it was just Raz being paranoid, but the point of paranoia was that it couldn’t be disproved. No, wait- stop trying to solve everything at once. Just show him there’s more to it than that. Or... something... like that. He finally exhaled and continued. “Well, it’s not like I or anyone else can promise that nothing crazy will happen, but it’s not like the Psychonauts aren’t used to crazy thing happening. They’ve got responses in place even without your specialty for stopping psychic villains.”
Raz snickered at that comment, and Adam internally breathed a sigh of relief. Maybe he did know how to deal with this. Maybe.
“And besides,” Adam added, “it’s not great for your peace of mind to constantly be thinking about the end of the world.” He tapped the side of his own head. “Hurts your noggin a bit, and it sure does take a lot of energy. And for what? Wanting to say, ‘I told you so’ to some, like, higher power, if some disaster does happen?”
Raz finally seemed to be calming down a tad. He wasn’t as tense, his smile looked more natural, and he looked more sleepy than plain old tired.
Adam smiled and gently nudged Raz’s shoulder. “That’s probably part of why you can’t get to sleep- you’re too busy thinking about the worst what-if’s ever. C’mon, you’re not even a teenager yet; you’re supposed to be thinking about-” He paused and laughed quietly to himself. “I don’t know, what do little kids think about? Toys? Girls?”
Raz pushed him away, full-on smiling now. “I’m more mature than toys- how old do you think I am?”
“More than half a decade younger than me,” Adam teased.
Raz grimaced at that comparison. “Geez, I’m not a baby,” he said, again.
Adam chuckled. “Never said you were, tough guy.” He paused, debating whether or not he should mention it, but after a few seconds, finally decided to just go for it. What’s the worst that could happen? “Hey, by the way... was that water you got really for drinking, or...?”
And just like that, Raz’s relaxed expression disappeared. Adam really hoped this was the right way to go here. “Um... well, it was,” Raz replied, voice quiet, but less mumble-y than before. “I got up ‘cause I couldn’t get any real sleep, and I decided to get some water, and... I guess I just started thinking way too hard about it, and, y’know... Hydrokinesis.” He smiled sheepishly. “Why, was it that obvious?”
Adam smiled back. “Well, you never had any of it, and you did explode the glass, and the water on the floor made tiny versions of those hands of water, even though it was nowhere near deep enough for you to drown in...”
Raz’s eyebrows raised, and he looked actually surprised and curious at that idea. “Really?” He looked down at the floor, as if the water was still there, then looked back at Adam. “I... guess it was making me... nervous.” It seemed as though there was more to that, but Adam somehow got the sense he shouldn’t pry further.
“You know, you did wake Lizzie up with the glass explosion act,” Adam said instead. Raz looked a little embarrassed at that, but Adam continued. “And she suggested that you, uh... I think she put it as, ‘feel one with the water’ and ‘not show fear’.” He paused to let Raz absorb that, then added, “She said it sounds stupid until you actually try it.”
“...Somehow, that makes sense,” Raz replied, after thinking about it for a couple seconds. “Kind of like a mix of Clairvoyance and Telekinesis.” He glanced down at the waterless floor, then at his hands, then back at Adam. He rubbed the back of his neck and smiled. “I... think it’ll have to wait, though. For a few reasons.”
Adam snorted. “Yes, well, I think that 1 in the morning isn’t the best time for an impromptu Hydrokinesis lesson with an entirely unqualified individual, anyways.” He nodded to Raz. “And I think it’s far past your bedtime, mister.”
“I do not have a bedtime,” Raz retorted, but relaxed and sighed. “But... really, Adam, thanks.” He kicked his feet under the counter as he spoke. “Thanks a lot.”
“Any time, big guy,” Adam replied, his chest warming at Raz’s gratitude. Maybe he really did know what he was doing. Kind of. Maybe. He definitely did not want to do this again, but... he could, and that counted for something, right?
Raz yawned and hopped off his stool. “Alright, well. I’ll try to sleep. Wish me luck, I guess?”
“Sure, good luck.” Adam stood up as well, walked over to the lamp he had turned on before all this, and flicked it off. “Just don’t overthink it. Think about, I dunno, True Psychic Tales, or something.”
“You got it, boss,” Raz responded, punctuating his reply with another yawn. “Good night, Adam. ‘n thanks again.”
Adam found his place on the couch by Lizzie again- which she had almost entirely taken over- and pulled his blanket over himself as he sat down. “Night, Raz,” He whispered back. “And it’s no problem.”