Stateside or Wayside? [Callie and Eric]

[Niko Gallo]

It's been way too long since he'd seen his siblings in person. Not too long since he'd been in this town, but long enough that some things were new. That cafe downtown, lots of faces... but some things never changed. The mailing address he'd been getting whenever Callie got to writing him snail-mail... that hadn't changed at all. And here it was; Eric's condominium, with the lights on inside what he guessed (correctly) was the one belonging to his older teleporting half-brother.

Niko smiled, the expression ruggedly handsome and mischievous on his tanned face. The light of the streetlamps made his eyes glimmer, or maybe that was the thought of returning home. Home - back with his bro and sis. He may leave again at some point, but he'd always come back. In fact, he was sure they were expecting him by now; Babba told him she'd keep them informed of his comings and goings while he wandered across Europe this past month or so.

Shifting the backpack on one shoulder and the duffel bag on the other, he stalked his way across the street, long legs eating the distance with the same voracious hunger that they had the boundaries of Spain, Turkey, Germany, and France. The fall air whiffed his hair from his eyes, casting the brown locks about his features as he grinned. The locked door at the front of the building did him no trouble; one quick use of his powers and he was in the hall. Oh sure, his muscles aches a little and his teeth felt weirdly cold from the glass, but he was used to that by now. Better than walking through drywall and sneezing for an hour.

Up the stairs and around the corner towards the number listed on the envelope in clutched in his dirty, charcoal smudged hand, then waiting outside the door. He breathed deep, relishing this moment and what was to come before knocking loudly on the door. He heard something inside; it sounded like people talking. Both his siblings had to be home, then! Bracing himself, the young man couldn't help but grin ear to ear as he saw the blonde teen and roguish man standing before him seconds after he phased through the door.

"Hey!" Nikolas Gallo laughed, opening his arms in a welcoming and surprised gesture. "'Sup, sibs?"

[Calliope Gallo]

Eric had been doing his best to calm down Calliope. Sitting with her and subsequently not letting her out of his sight; that lead to an awkward argument when she needed to go to the bathroom, but she won that so at least she managed to spend a minute away from him. But she didn't want to be away from him. She had her arms around his waist and he was practically cradling the sobbing blonde on the couch.

"And then- She said- That Niko- Was- Gone..." She called out, her voice breaking on the last word as she burried her face in his neck; crying. Her biggest fear was losing someone in her family. And now it was a reality!?

Mama was losing it, and dad had urged her to get off the phone in case Niko was calling. This was a family who didn't go for longer than a day without all communicating once. Callie struggled to hang up on her Gia, but Eric had urged her too; showing true signs that he was his father's son and she was her mother's daughter. Eric had heard a noise and tried to get up, but Callie was being stubborn. "Don't go, aderfos."

But that was his voice. The blondes shot up in unison and... There he was.

Callie pushed off the ground so hard she was surprised her joints hadn't given out in her excitement. "Niko!!" She called out, running full bolt towards him. Her arms extended towards him and she actually jumped off the ground and into his embrace. "Ohmigod! Mou éleipses tóso polý!" She couldn't hide her excitement and joy; she forgot he hadn't even told them where he was!

[Eric Jones]

Eric and Andrew Jones prided themselves on being men of action. That was one of the reasons this situation was so frustrating for the young man. His phone was fully charged and within reach, his laptop was open and he was online on Facebook, Skype... any site that Niko could contact them through. All there.

And there was nothing.

He had been rubbing comforting circles on Callie's back for a while now. Seeing her cry was the worst thing. "It's ok, Callie-cat," he murmured. "He's totally fine." His words rang hollow; that wasn't how their family worked. But he was the oldest, it was his job to make sure his little brother and sister were safe. And if he'd already screwed that up with Niko, he was going to make damn sure he could watch Callie. "I'll just check the door."

Eric was a composed sort of guy, which was why his expression at seeing his younger brother was one that looked a little out of place on his face. Callie was off like a shot, and Eric let out a breath then waited for their baby sister to clear the way. Then, he punched Niko hard in the shoulder. "What the hell, Niko!" he snapped, even as he started furiously texting.

[dad, mom: He's just arrived at mine. He looks fine. Will call soon]

"You had us really worried," he said again, and then dropped the biggest guilt bomb a Galones could manage. "You made mon and Callie cry, you giant ass." Then he pulled Niko into a hug too and clapped a hand against his back.

[Niko Gallo]

The subsequent tackle from Callie he had expected. The brunette of the trio caught his baby sister in his arms as she literally launched herself at him, slamming his back into the door and sliding the duffel bag into the crook of his arm as he held her close. "I missed you, too, Callie," he answered, squeezing her tight. He almost didn't want to let go, but he had to talk to Eric, too. He put his little sister down and smiled at her (were her eyes red? Had she been crying?), and faced Eric.

He didn't expect his brother to punch him. "Hey!" he cried out in surprise, rubbing the offended shoulder. "What the hell yourself!" he shouted back, put out that his homecoming wasn't as happy as he expected. "I know I didn't call, but Babba said she had it handled; she told you guys I was on the road... right?"

He looked back to Callie, and immediately the biggest kicked puppy look came over the artist's face. "Aderfi, I'm so sorry. I really thought she told you guys - she pretty much kicked me to the curb right after the last time we talked. She had the computer with her, too... Damn, I screwed up, didn't I?" The large bag dropped to the floor, and he swung the backpack around to his front, smiling hopefully.

"Well, can I make it up to you guys with some souvenirs? I picked up a lot of cool stuff in the last month."

[Calliope Gallo]

Niko's strong arms hoisted her up and kept her off the floor as she'd jumped towards him. His strong arms could carry her lithe form with ease. She didn't realise how much she'd missed his hugs until he was actually hugging her. No more stupid trips to Europe without her, that was for sure! Except in reality she knew that he was going to leave. Her feet touched the ground again and she lost the point of contact, and then Eric punched him!

"Hey!" She called out in unison with Niko as she looked towards Eric. But then he mentioned something about their grandmother having to tell them, and her eyes went blank. She looked back to Eric, doubting he had heard anything either. But he could answer that one. After all, he had been the one who found her crying at the University.

"Souvenirs?" Callie repeated. "Wait, Yia Yia kicked you out? Why?"

[Eric Jones]

No, no, they had not known he was on the road. Shaking his head when Callie looked at him questioningly, Eric sighed and frowned. It was not a common expression on the elder brother's face. "None of us had heard from you in over a week," he said. So what, most people might think. So what? You were clearly not a Gallo-Jones. "Mom's been getting pretty frantic."

But Niko was already trying to ease the air, and chill them out. It was difficult to stay mad, but Eric nodded at Callie's question. "Yeah man," he said quietly, "What'd you do? Marry a prodestent?"

His tone was lighter too as he ushered his brother in from the door, but Eric was going to get answers, because Gia and dad were going to demand them. And then, Callie was going to get souvenirs and he and Niko were going to have beers as Eric told Niko about Callie's love life.

But first, answers.

[Niko Gallo]

Guilt flashed over Niko's face and stayed there, the middle child bowing his head in shame. He should have known better. But there was just too much to see and too little time. No, that was an excuse, and he wasn't going to keep everyone worried. Looking back up at his brother and sister, he gave a half-wince smile.

"Nah, nothing like that that," he assured them, rifling through the backpack. "She just said she'd seen enough of my face for a while and that I should see more of the world. So... I did. I went to Istanbul, Milan, Barcelona, Paris... all over the place! I even managed to swing north to see Denmark for a bit before spending a couple days in London."

He pulled out objects and handed them to his siblings as he chattered, not really clarifying what they were or where they came from. Among them was a silver incense case that smelled faintly of perfume of some sort, a tightly stoppered tiny glass bottle with a paper label written in Arabic, a couple old books written in different languages (none of them Greek or English), a rosewood rosary with a silver cross, a few odd animal carvings... all sorts of interesting trinkets and things from his trip across Europe.

When he'd finally emptied the bag, he set it down and opened the duffel bag, pulling out a two bottles of wine as well, winking at Eric before retrieving another bottle. "Managed to get those past customs, too," he stated cheekily. "Had to give up the German beer, but the mead I picked up in Denmark more than makes up for it."

[Calliope Gallo]

Calliope listened as her brothers talked, trying to get the story straight in her head. So their grandmother had told him to leave so he could see more of the world? But then why didn't she say anything. The penny dropped in her mind and it showed in her eyes. "Ohh," She said quietly, before being more vocal, "So Yia Yia thought it was a good joke or something? That sounds like her..."

She shook her head at the thought. "But the last time I spoke to you was over a week ago. Unless she..." Her voice trailed off. Their grandmother was a pretty expressive shapeshifter. She could even change her voice if she wanted to. She'd been pretending to be Niko?

Callie watched him start to retrieve souvenirs, unsure of what they were or where they'd come from. Weirdly enough the books caught her eye first, "Who are they for? Can I borrow them?" That was bound to raise some red flags in her brother's minds. But the new friend she'd made at Eric's University was big into languages. Did Eric know that? Had she mentioned it to him when he'd found her?

"Gross." She shot out when they were talking about beer and mead and wine and all that. Callie couldn't even stand the bitter taste of coffee, so she was sure that alcohol was not going to be her forte.

Her phone started ringing, and she checked it. "It's Mama. You're in trouuuble!" She sung out with an amused expression before answering and bringing the phone to her ear. "Yeah, he's here! ...No, listen, it wasn't his fault! ...I think you should ring Yia Yia and ask her what happened..."

[Eric Jones]

"That sly old woman," Eric said slowly, as he came to the same conclusions Callie did. Yia Yia was tricky, so very very tricky. And now he came to think on it, he hadn't had a proper, long conversation with Niko over skype in a over a month. "So that's why you kept asking if I had a girlfriend yet." he mused, then laughed. "Oh crap."

His eyes narrowed slightly as Callie voiced an interest over the books, of all things. Putting down the tiny glass bottle he'd picked up, Eric looked at her closely. "Why the books?" he asked suspeciously, then glanced at Niko and grinned at the sight of the bottles. "Fantastic," he said brightly, then glanced at Callie again. "Don't disapear again though, Nik. The minute Callie got worried, I found her in the arms of some hot, sort of prudish latia woman."

He hooked down a few glasses, and opened the fridge to find juice for Callie. "Not like, nun prude," he went on, "More like," he thought for a moment, pouring apple juice into a glass, "headband prude. Bit standoffish, but you'd still totally tap that, ya'know?"

He had just gotten back when his own phone went off, and he checked it. "Dad's calling too," Eric smirked. "Now that's a fun choice for you."

[Niko Gallo]

Niko glanced to his sister, startled. "But Callie, I've been off the grid for over a mo-" His eyes widened in understanding the same moment her and Eric's did. He cursed lowly in Greek as his brother commented, grinning despite himself. "Damn that old lady!" he chuckled, shaking his head. "She got us good."

When he'd pulled the books out, he'd meant to just kind of give them to Eric as "house settings" - you know, things to impress the girls he brought over. Callie's request honestly surprised him, and he glanced to his brother in confusion. "Uh... sure, Cal," he answered dubiously, handing her the old tomes. He'd picked them up in bookstores, having been told that they were stories from the area. But that wasn't usually something their sister was interested in. "If you want 'em, they're yours."

Grinning at the expected reaction from both the students, the brunette flipped the bottle of mead in his hand, catching it expertly. "Oh, trust me aderfi," he laughed, holding the bottle in front of her, "this stuff is sweet enough even for you. We'll save it for your twenty-first. or maybe graduation night." Passing Eric the roguish grin the both of them shared, he placed the bottle firmly in his older brother's hands.

"Really?" That was something interesting. Turning back to the blonde waif before them, he was about to ask what it was like as both phones began to ring. The middle child pondered the likelihood of escape back the way he'd come, but he knew that would get him into more trouble. Besides, Eric could always just teleport after him. Heaving a great sigh, he held his hands out for both phones; better to tell the story once rather than twice.

Immediately as he put the phones to his ears, the talking came from both ends; Gia's whine of worry and their father's scolding tone. Holding them both away slightly with a wince, he put them on speaker instead. "Hi Mom, hi Dad," he called out, silencing them both for a moment. "Any way we can get this on one call so I can tell you both at the same time that I'm fine and Babba pulled a prank on all[/b] of us?"

[Calliope Gallo]

"No real reason. Seriously!" Callie replied. She should have known that she wouldn't get away with a request so out of character. She shrugged the thought away, trying to look as nonchalant as possible. What, it wasn't like she was trying to impress someone or anything like that!

"I looked after a drunk girl like a week ago," Calliope informed, recalling the events of the night vividly, "That's enough of an alcohol experience for me for a while..."

She turned over her shoulder when she heard Eric talking again. Her mouth pulled down into a frown; "Hey! She's not like that!" She called out, before proceeding to bail back to the phone call. Then Eric said that he'd gotten a phone call as well. Callie held the phone out to Niko and watched him take it. She looked at Eric, flashing him an amused smile. He was in so much trouble~!