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Well, that was something he hadn't really expected. He had gone so long without ever having a run-in with the crazy AI, GLADoS. It really wasn't nearly as bad as he had expected. There were just a bunch of interesting mazes. There were no security bots trying to kill him, or even a lava pit, or anything really extreme like that.

He was happy that at least he knew to not expect the promised cake, though it was a bitter comfort, not knowing what happened to his friends during his time gone. He pulled out his omnicomm as he oriented himself and began walking towards Engineering as he reviewed the recent posts to the network and typed out a message.

He hoped to find Billy, working away in the department that he'd come to love so much. Maybe even Sam or Anwei would come to visit him there as well. If not, at least he would be able to get some work done and try to get back to normal.

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Ronnae had heard that Alex was back, and that had made her really happy. She knew it would be an immense boost of confidence to both Billy and Kaya, not to mention he always made her smile and feel at ease.

She made sure to take her time, she was sure that the others had made their way to see him already, and she wanted to give them their space.

A probably familiar beat was softly coming from a corner of the department as techno streamed from his speakers softly enough that it wouldn't bother anyone else in the department. Of course he would be thrilled to see Ronnae as well.

Ronnie smiled warmly, seeing the once empty space occupied by it's rightful owned. She made herself noticed by rapping on the side of the wall lightly, loud enough to be heard, but not startle.

"H-hey Alex. Welcome back."

Alex looked up, smiling at Ronnae. "H-hey!" He turned the music down even more, tossing papers he was reading onto the desk with a spin of his chair. He pulled his legs up onto the chair to sit cross-legged. "H-how have you b-been?"

Ronnae smiled sweetly, "I've been a bit better, somewhat." She paused before shaking her head.

"Sorry, I've been better is what I meant to say." She smiled again, a bit more chipper. "I'm glad your back, didn't feel quite right without you around. And the fact that you seem safe lifts a heavy pressure from my chest. I was worried."

Alex blushed a bit. He expected worry from Billy and Kaya, but not so much from Ronnae. She barely knew him after all, but he wasn't about to complain. He'd worry about her too, if it came down to it. "I-I hope I'll be around for a while, b-but don' worry, I c-can g-generally take c-care of myself... Badly. B-but I survive!"

He frowned in a bit of concern, staring at his thumbs as he twiddled them, "m-mind if I ask wh-what's wrong, though?"

Ronnae looked up in thought, seemingly looking for a way to express what was on her mind. "It felt a bit too real... the people disappearing. In a matter of days more than a handful of people I know of disappeared, taken by Stacy in one way or another. And then I find out there were more, and I comforted those affected by it. And, well..."

She sighed and shook her head. "I don't like that... not at all. Sure seeing a few of them return makes me smile and happy, specially when I learned you and Kaya were back... but the fact that it can happen however, and whenever the crazy ship deems it so... I don't like feeling powerless."

Alex just nodded in understanding and looked down at his shoes. He wanted to say that it got easier, that it stopped hurting, but that would be a lie. The only thing that changed was that he had learned to deal with it better, but that had been a painful lesson.

She walked up to him, noticing the change in mood and simply hugged him. A sweet caring and warm hug, nothing to it but affection and an appreciative way to tell him that she was happy he was here and now.

He shivered and moved to pull away from Ronnae, but stopped himself, returning the hug. "It's h-hard, yeah, but I think that's wh-why we should make each day c-count. I m-mean, isn't life j-just like that normally? You never know when s-something c-could happen, and it's g-gone. It is a b-bit nicer on the ship, r-really, since instead of death, most of your l-lost friends are just sleeping."

She moved back and nodded. "Yeah, I tried to think of it that way, and explain it to myself and those who were down. Somehow it made them feel better and myself worse..." She shook her head and laughed shyly.

"A-anyways, I jus' you know, w-wanted to welcome you back and stuff. If you need anything jus' c-call okies?"

Alex smiled and gave her a thumbs-up, "'C-course I will!"

As an afterthought he added, "Oh! I w-was talking with Kaya about having s-something small with h-her, and B-Billy, and you, if y-you wanted. Just s-some dancing with t-techno and t-trance music."

Ronnae blushed at the thought. She had always been scared of going to the parties with her siblings, but the few that she went to she loved oh so much! So the chance at having a fun time with close friends like that made her really happy.

"I'd l-love to! It'd be totally fun, as a welcome home thing! I can bring some snacks that I had stashed away for a special occasion. Maybe some cool drinks?"

"Ok-kay! B-but I d-don't wanna make it r-really big or anything. J-just, something small. K-Kaya seemed to really like the idea."

"S-small is good! I like it better that way too." She said timidly, pressing her fingers together.

"Erm... H-how have things been with Billy?" He couldn't imagine anything having happened between them, but he was at a bit of a loss over what else to ask about.

"Things have been going fantastic..." She paused, her face reddening a bit before shaking her head a bit, looking down embarrassed.

"Well we sort of had a hiccup along the way, but we're working it out. Nothing serious."

Alex smiled, but his concern showed through the smile, "W-well, I hope it's all s-sorted now."

Ronnae returned the smile and nodded, giving him a reassuring, playful thumbs up. "Don' worry hun, it's been discussed and worked out. Things like these happen yanno?"

"Y-yeah," he said with a false but reassuring smile. He actually didn't havemuch experience in that. The last 'bump' he had in a relationship ended it and caused him to avoid any others until he met Luna, and the two of them had been far too easy-going to have any real issues. The biggest thing had been Alex's habit of apologizing for everything.

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