[There's a smile audible in her voice, because she figures if she keeps positive and upbeat it'll help reassure Jaime that he doesn't need to freak out too much.]
Your parents know about the superhero thing, yeah?
[Which isn't actually accurate - normal families don't exactly shrug off their home exploding and march headfirst into the invading aliens without a second thought - but it is in Jaime's mind.
Then again, he also thinks that he's still basically normal, so there you go.]
[It takes him a little longer than it should for it to click (blame finally getting around to his freakout after hugs have been achieved), but click it does.]
[Well, at least it's shifting worries from one thing to another. He hadn't thought about it too hard, but it's true that people have been disappearing at a rapid rate.]
And then they brought in, what, four people from our world, but that doesn't even it out. Everyone was finally going on missions once - [his voice catches a little, but he keeps going] - once Blue started sending us out. That could have something to do with it.
We don't know if they even fired up the Transporter.
[And she's not sure what that could mean, just that it's troubling.
What she's thinking is that maybe Peter was right, about them breaking the universe.
She shakes her head, even though Jaime can't see it.]
Let's focus on one thing at a time. Your family's safe, and we can help get them set up in Exsilium when we're back. You can worry about them, I'll look into everything else.
Right. Set them up in Exsilium. [Ugh. He's not thrilled about them being here beyond that first surge of happiness to see them, but hearing Steph sound so calm about it does actually help.] We've still got a couple of extra rooms, at least.
You're gonna have to get used to living with your parents again.
[It's said lightly, because she meant what she said about letting her worry about other things. Jaime's got enough to deal with, she's just going to focus on reassuring him.]
If they want to do some shopping while they're here, I can help with the funds for that. Turns out I'm not bad at poker.
[Or at stealing people's wallets, but she won't mention that.]
Really? I mean, I've got some cash, but I don't really have any clothes for them.
[They could probably fit into his clothes - they're a family that's a little on the short side, truth be told - but he doesn't actually have much. That's one unforeseen drawback to having the Scarab make up the bulk of his wardrobe.
You'd have a hard time finding someone who sounds more earnest when he says,] Thank you, Steph.
Really, I was just gonna spend it on shoes and jewellery, anyway.
[It's a joke, mostly, since she'd been planning to turn all her money into something a little more transportable, for future use. But she has plenty, so giving some moeny to Jaime's parents won't hurt.]
Don't worry about it, Jaime. That's what friends are for.
voice
[He does, in fact, take that deep breath now.]
voice
[There's a smile audible in her voice, because she figures if she keeps positive and upbeat it'll help reassure Jaime that he doesn't need to freak out too much.]
Your parents know about the superhero thing, yeah?
voice
voice
[So they'll be able to cope with Exsilium, is what she's saying.]
voice
[Which isn't actually accurate - normal families don't exactly shrug off their home exploding and march headfirst into the invading aliens without a second thought - but it is in Jaime's mind.
Then again, he also thinks that he's still basically normal, so there you go.]
voice
[HOLD THE PHONE SOMETHING LITERALLY JUST OCCURRED TO HER.]
Wait. It's not the eighth.
[So how could a bunch of people show up when it's not time for the Transporter to run???]
voice
[It takes him a little longer than it should for it to click (blame finally getting around to his freakout after hugs have been achieved), but click it does.]
Oh. Well, crap. That can't be good, can it?
voice
[She's been keeping track of that sorta thing ever since her talk with Sonya about the rates of comings and goings of Transports.
And she's noticed they're losing a lot of people.]
voice
[Well, at least it's shifting worries from one thing to another. He hadn't thought about it too hard, but it's true that people have been disappearing at a rapid rate.]
And then they brought in, what, four people from our world, but that doesn't even it out. Everyone was finally going on missions once - [his voice catches a little, but he keeps going] - once Blue started sending us out. That could have something to do with it.
voice
[And she's not sure what that could mean, just that it's troubling.
What she's thinking is that maybe Peter was right, about them breaking the universe.
She shakes her head, even though Jaime can't see it.]
Let's focus on one thing at a time. Your family's safe, and we can help get them set up in Exsilium when we're back. You can worry about them, I'll look into everything else.
voice
voice
[It's said lightly, because she meant what she said about letting her worry about other things. Jaime's got enough to deal with, she's just going to focus on reassuring him.]
If they want to do some shopping while they're here, I can help with the funds for that. Turns out I'm not bad at poker.
[Or at stealing people's wallets, but she won't mention that.]
voice
[They could probably fit into his clothes - they're a family that's a little on the short side, truth be told - but he doesn't actually have much. That's one unforeseen drawback to having the Scarab make up the bulk of his wardrobe.
You'd have a hard time finding someone who sounds more earnest when he says,] Thank you, Steph.
voice
[It's a joke, mostly, since she'd been planning to turn all her money into something a little more transportable, for future use. But she has plenty, so giving some moeny to Jaime's parents won't hurt.]
Don't worry about it, Jaime. That's what friends are for.
[Still, there's a smile audible in her voice.]