geodes and the ugly laughter // ky

His mother's muted voice coming out of the telephone room held a hundred different chiming notes of happiness that were clear even through the heavy oak of the closed door.

She was probably speaking to Katelyn then. Was he supposed to do something about that? Act a little tough maybe like a scary dad with a shotgun or something? He wasn't sure. He just knew that if Katelyn broke Opal's heart he was afraid that this time it wouldn't go back together. How many times could a heart shatter before it was broken for good anyway and what if he couldn't pick up all the pieces?

Ky was laying on the couch, eyes on the ceiling when there came a knock at the door. He turned his head slowly, eyes on the telephone room's entrance but Opal Earnest did not emerge and that meant it was up to him to deal with it. He sighed heavily, the inconvenience of movement turning his notes sour. He'd planned to lay there for at least another thirty minutes or so.

All plans to be lazy went out the window though when he opened the door to see an extravagant looking man carrying a case. Ky's eyes travelled over him quickly, confusion quickly trampled by absolute delight in a tangled mess when he realized that he was looking at none other than, "Sampson?!"

It had been years since Ky had seen them last, not since he was six years old at least but he'd never forgotten Sampson Crowe. He launched himself at his god-sibling and wrapped his arms tight around them.

There was a little bit of shame in his intensity, Ky knew that he should have called, maybe even asked about Sampson during one of Opal's long phonecalls with Sardonyx but apathy had stayed him. It was a two-way street and they'd failed each other.

"My hair?" he said sheepishly and tugged at a little tuft, "Actually it was getting kinda long so I just went for it... oh, ahhh, you're teasing me, huh?" Either way, Sampson was the loser in the end. They were the one in charge of cleaning it up. Ky couldn't hold back his grin, Sampson was responsible for some of his best memories of the Capitol.

"You didn't come all this way just to give me a birthday cake, did you?" Ky asked. He weighed the wrapped pastry in his hand curiously. He'd maybe seen the little logo on the packaging once before but it was hard to say, either way, it did look delicious.

Ky turned back into the house to get a knife, gesturing over his shoulder for Sampson to go in with him. "It's great to see you, feels like it's been ages," he began, the same comfortable feeling he'd always felt around Sam already seeping back in, "Weather's good, let's take this out to the garden? Mom and I've been expanding."

The Earnest garden was their pride and joy but also probably had the most variance in the district when it came to botanical strains. Ky grabbed a knife from a drawer as he beelined through the kitchen to the back door.

"You're gonna love the sunflowers, they're in full bloom!"