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Wyatt Halliwell stops by the family house of the Halliwell sisters and makes some progress resolving some concerns.
May 1, 2017
Halliwell Manor, San Francisco
It's a beautiful morning, even if it is raining. It's still a pleasant enough temperature, especially for May, and the sound of rain on the solarium's glass always soothed Prue. It's not still early morning exactly, but it's not yet late morning or afternoon. It's somewhere firmly approaching brunch territory.
On the dining table, Prue has left a large selection of printed photographs from the Castro, her latest and luckiest engagement in pursuing her love for photography. A laptop sits closed next to them, and they've been sorted into stacks as fastidiously as always with the well-organized eldest sister.
But she's in the solarium, sitting in one of the comfortable chairs and sipping some richly-scented tea. Vanilla and some combination of botanicals, floral scents and flavors. She takes a sip and a deep breath afterwards, easing back into the cushions as the raindrops pitter-patter on the colorful panes.
It's been a while since Wyatt has visited. At least, when others are home. Having not been allowed to see his own mother, for fear of messing up his own existence, made such visits difficult. But, he's here now, arriving in a swirl of glowing orbs, looking cheerful. "Hi, aunt Prue."
"Oh. Oh! Hey!" Prue manages to snap out of her part-reverie, setting her mug down on the table next to her chair. "Do you, um, want some tea or anything?" She visibly tenses her muscles a bit, sort of a full-body yawn. After a good half-hour spent unwinding, she felt like she could just about sleep the rest of the day away.
Wyatt looks a little bit surprised at the offer of tea, but says, "Sure. I mean, yes please." Glancing towards the kitchen, he spots the pictures on the dining table, quickly stepping over to take a look. After a moment, he says, "These are awesome. I wish I was this good."
Prue gets to her feet, divesting herself of the casual throw she had wrapped around her shoulders. She continues into the kitchen and pours up a mug of tea for Wyatt, stepping out again and offering it over to him. "I was really lucky," she answers, laughing. There is even a series of photos with a definitely fashion-forward androgynous model of some kind, at a cafe with a kind of old-fashioned overall motif. "The Pride Month spread might just give me something to work from. I can hope."
Wyatt Halliwell grins, and says, "I could be really lucky and have everything lined up for an awesome shot and they still don't look nearly as good as these." Then, he seems to remember why he came, and says, "I wanted to tell you, my sister Melinda, a version of her anyway, is in this time now too. And I don't know if she'll follow that whole not meeting mom and dad thing." He frowns a bit, and says, "Not sure I even want to anymore, either. I mean, not that I ever really wanted to, but..." He trails off.
Prue reaches a hand over to place on Wyatt's shoulder. "You'll get it. I think at least half of the pictures I took the first year had the lens cap on, so getting anything is a lot better than getting that!" She offers an encouraging smile and pulls out a chair to sit in. "You know you don't have to," she continues, sliding the chair next to her out with her telekinetic abilities. "I don't think it's going to change anything."
Wyatt smiles a bit sitting down in the offered chair, and takes a drink of his tea. "Yeah. I mean, if this timeline was anything like mine, the baby me would be born by now." He looks rather hopeful as he says, "I can't mess anything up beyond that, can I? I've got to be in a completely different timeline. Even more than that there's no magic school in this one."
"Right. From what you've told us, I don't think it's a danger anymore. You surely can't mess up something that's already different." Prue folds her hands in her lap, leaning sidelong against the back of her chair, to face Wyatt. "Unless of course you've got the facts wrong, but I don't think that's the case. Anyway," she smiles again, "we'll cross that bridge if it comes up."
Wyatt looks downright relieved at that answer, "Thanks. Then, maybe, maybe I can come home." Then, sipping his tea, he gets a nervous look. "I hope she doesn't freak. I mean, she probably will, but... I mean, the way you and aunt Phoebe reacted, you thought it was all a trick or something. I don't want her to blow me up," he says, partly joking.
Prue gives Wyatt a long, thoughtful look. "I'm...still not sure how the shyest member of our family becomes someone who freaks out at the drop of a hat and blows people up." If Prue had that power? Maybe. But even she got over her shock and disbelief at the news that they were legendary witches fairly quickly. "It's just a matter of reasoning it out. Piper is a reasonable person, Wyatt. She's not going to...blow you up, or anything else like that. I think that would freak her out if she did."
Wyatt grins, and says, "She doesn't actually freak out that much in my future either, she's just really protective and doesn't like surprises, but she's actually probably the most... Wait, did you say shy?" As that sinks in, he gets very curious. "In my future, she always speaks her mind. I've even seen her giving a stern lecture to an Elder."
"When Piper gets pushed past a point, she'll lay out the facts. But usually? She just keeps to herself or tries to make peace." Prue glances around and, not finding her cup of tea, remembers she left it by the chair. She turns to bring it by telepathy, then thinks twice and gets to her feet again. "Want to go into the solarium? The chairs are more comfortable." Sliding her own chair back in, she waits for Wyatt to join her before moving back in that direction. "Anyway, I'm sure said Elder had it coming, if Piper was giving them a lecture."
Nodding, Wyatt stands up again. He's practiced holding his tea, so nothing spills, even as he moves rather quickly. "Yeah, he did. I think. It was years before even came back in time, and that's been a couple of years now too."
Prue sits back down in her chair, pulling the blanket up around her shoulders again and lifting her tea closer to her face. "If it was an Elder, they probably were doing something that deservedly tempted the wrath of Piper," she comments, then takes a sip of her drink, letting it warm her from within. "You need a wrap or anything? I mean...I know guys usually run a little hotter." Which she would know, since she temporarily was one, once upon a time. But she doesn't like to think about that much if she can avoid it.
Wyatt shakes his head, and says, "No thanks, I'm fine." Then, he says, "Do you think we can do the whole introduction thing in the next few days? I mean, I know it'll be a while probably before I fully come home, but I'd like come at least visit more often." Then, he seems to remember, and adds, "Oh yeah, another thing. I wanted to warn you, some crocodile demons came after me, looking for the bounty. Nothing to really worry about, but just keep an eye out."
"Crocodile demons?" Prue raises an eyebrow, lowering her cup to cradle between her palms. "Thanks. I will. You know, if you need any help..." Trailing off, she shakes her head and raises one hand. "No. I'm going to be firm here, because you're family and we should stick together. Let me help. And maybe...we can do dinner? I can ask Piper to make a nice springtime dinner, we can do it properly."
Wyatt smiles again, and says, "Thanks. That would be cool. They seem pretty easy to take out one at a time, but there's a whole bunch of them. They seem to like sneaking up on you, too. Though, it's still pretty obvious when they do it in the middle parking lot." Then, at the mention of dinner, he smiles brightly, "That would be awesome. I really miss her food, too!"
Prue smiles again, nodding and sipping from her tea again before setting it aside. "Then it's a date! You and me can team up and find out what's up with the crocodile demons, then say...Friday night, maybe? We can all have a nice dinner together and get past all this awkwardness." When she laughs, it's such a light, weightless sound. For that moment, maybe she's shrugged the weight of the world and the weight of her family obligations. Maybe she's just learned to deal with them better. "I think this will be good for Piper."
Wyatt grins, nodding in agreement, "Perfect!" He is more mature than when they first met, but he's still basically a kid, and it shows in the excitement on his face about these plans. "Friday's perfect, too, no school the next day. So I stay as long as I want. I bet mom will have a lot of questions."
Prue looks aside for a moment, as the rain picks up and starts almost singing against the glass, in sheets falling from the clouds. "Piper will have a lot of questions, Phoebe will try to make at least half of them about herself." It's a little shady, but not really all that far from the mark. Not that Prue's without fault herself, but she's prone to calling things as she sees them.
Wyatt nods, and says, "Aunt Phoebe already asked me some stuff when we first met... Which still feels weird to say. Anyway, I maybe set a bit too much, but that isn't as much of an issue now. I'll be able to say a lot more, because it's not your future."
"And maybe...that'll help us. Maybe it'll be a big help." Prue eases back again, having started to lean forward in the more serious parts of the conversation. "We could certainly use it. After a while, I thought this would get easier, but it feels like...it's just getting weird and even more complicated. You know?"
She breathes in and sighs softly, folding her hands again and leaning on one arm, against the arm of the chair. "Points for Phoebe for being discrete, though. I never thought I'd say that in my life."
Wyatt tilts his head a bit, and says, "I'm a sanctioned Nephilim who's the heir to Excalibur, and since I was a baby demons have been trying to either kill me or turn me evil. I don't know, weird and complicated are relative," he says with a laugh.
It's a little difficult to believe sometimes, even for Prue, with her pragmatic approach to everything. That she's sitting this morning, talking with her younger sister's teenaged son from the future and on the same wavelength to a surprising extent would have probably blown her mind before they rediscovered their powers of witchcraft. "Weird and complicated are totally relative," she answers, nodding and getting up again. Her tea's cooled off, and she should freshen it up anyway. "Look, Wyatt, I think we've done enough of keeping apart family. If you need anything -- anything at all -- please just ask? You've got my number and you know where we live."
Wyatt smiles again, and nods quickly in agreement. "Yeah, family should stick together. Especially our family. I promise, I'll ask. And if you need me too, just yell my name. But I guess I told you before. But I can help with a fight, and I can heal." He pauses, and tilts his head, "Speaking of which, I gotta go. I'll be back and we can talk about those crocodile demons!" Grinning, he waves and then vanishes in a swirl of blue-white orbs.