( everything being on pause isn't any better. it gives billy more time to - sit and wallow maybe. not have to worry about mother while also handling everything else currently going on, he can take the time to sit down and process. or stand here and not get attacked by vines, either way. )

You've got a point. I wouldn't listen to a familiar. ( though talking a lot isn't doing him any favors either. first he almost gets knocked over by a scorpion, then he gets flung around, dropped into someone's arms, a someone who just happens to be stupidly understanding and--a little dorkish, if the random eye statistics say anything about him. not that billy minds. he likes dorks. except he's an embarrassment who's gone ranted a little too much about his bleak future as a witchy cat hoarder who will forever be alone because he messed up and teddy left and there's no way to fix it. and even if there was, he's here. and rook's trying to make him feel better which is--sweet. very sweet. even if billy's fairly certain he doesn't deserve it at this point, considering he's just made a bigger mess. )

Thanks? You're, uh, cute too. ( this is a completely normal conversation to have, isn't it. ) And see? I told you that you're definitely the competent one here. I'd never stick a landing like that. Also - a houseboat owned by a supervillain? Sounds like a fun story, if nothing else. Like how many people could claim to have lived in one? Not many.