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((Mother's Day Special -- Page 4 of 12))
He knew that he couldn’t plop down on the mattress just yet, though. He was still holding Roman’s encased head in one arm--the same arm that was also carrying his shield. He hadn’t wanted to dematerialize the shield, because if he did, he knew that he wouldn’t be able to rematerialize it later. With all the other identical shields currently residing in Warrenhold, the volume limit for the shield’s unique materialization had certainly been reached.

Before he could enter the room, however, his mother’s voice acquired his attention.

“Hector?” she said, stepping closer.

He hadn’t even noticed her there at the end of the hall. Why hadn’t Garovel warned him of her presence? Oh, right, he was off talking to the Rainlords, already. Why hadn’t the Scarf of Amordiin warned him, then? Oh, it had, Hector realized. He just hadn’t been paying attention.

Man, he needed some sleep.

“...Hi, mom.” His voice was still ringing with metal, he realized. Because he was still wearing armor.

“What are you--?”

He dematerialized most of his armor so she could see his face.

She recoiled a little.

Oh, right, she hadn’t actually seen him use his power all that much, had she?

“Ah, sorry,” he said. “I didn’t mean to scare you.”

She didn’t say anything.

And neither did he.

Ugh. Was he supposed to be telling her something? He couldn’t remember. He was way too tired for this, right now, but at the same time, just ignoring her seemed like the wrong thing to do.

“...You look like crap,” she eventually said.

“Yeah,” he said with a sigh, “it’s been a long... uh...”

“Month?” she finished.

Holy shit, had it really been that long since he’d last seen her? “Er, yeah,” was all he could think to say. He noticed Voreese hovering there next to him. She was still waiting to revive Roman. He supposed he shouldn’t keep her waiting.

He entered the room and set Roman’s head down on a table by the balcony window. “Ah... h-how have you been?” he decided to ask.

His mother followed him as far as the open doorway. “Fine,” was all she said.

“That’s... good.” He sat down at the table and started trying to chip away at the encasement. Then, thinking better of it, he stopped. It might be more than a little surprising for his mother if she saw that there was a human head inside it.

Shit.

Now he didn’t know what do with his hands, so he just kind of sat there awkwardly, looking between her and the window. He knew there was a nice view of the underground courtyard there, but he’d have to go out onto the balcony to see it.

“...Have you eaten anything recently?” his mother asked.

Had he? Why was it so hard to remember all of sudden? “Er, no, I haven’t...” Truth be told, he was fucking starving. He was only marginally more exhausted than he was hungry.

“I’ll make you something, then. What do you want?”

At that, he genuinely did not know what to say.