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Tiera stands at the front, far from the grills and the majority of the Steaks, modern players xe's seen in games but doesn't know by name. Closer by, Archie is leaning on a wall. He stands up as Agan approaches.
"Careful." Xe holds a plate out over their hands.
"I'm careful."
"You're gonna burn it."
"I'm—" The fire shudders further up his arms, back to his shoulder. "I'm not."
"Sure?"
"Espinoza, give me the steak."
The paper plate drops onto their wrist and burns up in a near-instant, with the meat falling onto their hand. Agan fails to hold back laughter. Archie sputters, their face draining of flame before being reignited again.
----
It's good food, but of course the Steaks would know how to cook a steak. Xe watches from the next table over as Rosales and Archie apparently compete to get Abbott's attention. Rosales, casually implying that she might still be a siphon and answering Archie's challenges to it with "we won't know 'till bloodrain, will we?" Archie, holding their head in their hands, carrying it by the handle, tossing it as if about to juggle it but putting it down at the last moment. Abbott, calmly eating their veggie burger and paying attention to exactly neither of them.
Abner sits down next to Tiera as xe finishes up. A sea bunny pokes its head out of its jacket pocket. "Nothing you can have, Aurora." It returns to nestling in the fabric.
----
Archie lays out a map of North America. They draw a question mark in the general direction of Europe across the sea. "Alright, so, barring Mallorca, we could probably make it to most of our old ballparks easy." Abner casts them a look. With a dramatic sigh, Archie draws another question mark in the general direction of Antarctica. "Barring Mallorca and Antarctica, we could probably make it to most of our old ballparks easy. Closest one's right here in Texas." He circles Laredo. "Houston's a bit closer to the old Excavators ballpark, so we get the warp to the Spies and head off from there."
Abbott raises their hand.
"Just call out, Wright."
"Are you driving?"
Archie opens his mouth to respond, but Agan cuts him off. "They're not driving."
"Neither are you." Archie folds up the map. "Not gonna go through one of your "shortcuts" this time."
"At least I know how to use a GPS."
"At least I—"
Abner clears its throat loudly. "I'll drive."
----
The argument-turned-competition about Archie's and Agan's driving abilities continues into the car, but Tiera tunes it out.
Xe looks out the window. Memories flood back to xer as xe watches the city come into view. Houses pass the window and xe leans xer head against the door.
(More than forty years ago, xer abuela getting xer a blaseball bat for xer birthday, something xe had wanted for as long as xe could remember. The bat xe kept at home even when xe was working at construction sites, that xe had in xer room to take out and practice in the afternoon. The bat that xe had held from xer first game against the Fridays until the day xer team was incinerated. The bat xe was clutching as xe fell out of the hole at the start of the new season, into a league that only knew xer name from the texts of the Vault historian, into a league that only knew xer team from the crane on xer uniform. Xer bat was an artifact almost as much as xe was.)
Xe jumps as the car hops over a speed bump.
----
When Abner tells the group it's safe to get out, Tiera practically leaps out — and nearly falls over. Archie catches xem. "Careful."
Tiera cracks a smile. "Not as quick on my feet as I used to be."
Archie's face pulls into what can only be described as the lamp equivalent to a smile. "Don't know how many of us are."
Abner exits with no small amount of caution. "'s hot out." It makes no move to take off its heavy jacket.
Tiera stretches. "Just the way I like it."
Abner huffs. A trickle of ice dances across its fingertips.
----
Xe knows exactly where The Dugout is. Xe knows every inch of this city, every corner of the place xe once called home.
And you can never take down a Blaseball field.
Xe directs Abner for the ride, remembers every route to get there, every corner to turn at, even the ones whose shops have changed, whose stores have closed down, whose lots are empty and forsaken.
It takes half an hour from where they get off for lunch, and Agan's definitely asleep by the time they make it. Xe gets off with a barely-contained grin. "Wait here."
----
Tiera stands in the infield, and xe's halfway home again.
(Titania standing over xer shoulder, whispering stupid flirty jokes, her breath the coldest thing on the scorching field. Xer laughing, Titania's fairy dust falling down on xer neck. Bloom asking them if they can please focus, catching a flyout they were both far too distracted for. Meteora, holding down the left field gap with her huge, rocky arms. Mononymous and Fiesta, trenchcoat backwards, tails wagging excitedly, pitching so badly but xe could never get mad at them for it.
Xe could see it all, xe could see none of it. Clear as day, but xe knows when xe is right now.)
Xer legs and xer heart ache as xe heads back to the car.
----
The drive back to Houston starts out quiet. Xe watches the city move past the windows, breath fogging up the glass.
It's nice. Quiet.
And then Archie pulls out the Mlad Libs, and Rosales takes it on herself to ruin it.
"Noun."
"Dolphin," offers Rosales.
"Adjective."
"Aquatic."
"Really? Okay. Plural noun."
"Fins."
Archie glances back.
"It's a plural noun," Rosales deadpans.
"Noun. Something that doesn't have to do with dolphins. Please."
Rosales thinks about it for a minute before finally responding, "Drag."
Archie tosses the booklet at the back seat.
----
The next stop is San Diego, which means a trip through Los Angeli.
Xe had heard about the splitting of Los Angeles into the infinite cities several times over. First from Parker, then from Ramirez when xe asked about it in more detail.
Still, seeing it in person was something completely different. Ronan wouldn't stop peeking into dimensional rifts until nearly getting a knife to the face out of it. "Told you," Abbott chimes in helpfully. Ronan snorts.
The Chowder Bowl itself is predictably empty. Ronan pokes their head into an abandoned snack cart. There's a glint in their eyes as they reach a hand inside the cart. "Food for the ride?" From their hands dangle a packet of 40-year-expired saltines.
Archie calls out from behind xer. "Eat it!"
Xe starts heading back to the car as Ronan rips open the sleeve.
----
The car ride is long and boring when it hits nighttime. The others have started to drift off, but xe has a hard time sleeping.
(Xer family wasn't big on traveling, but xe had wanted to see the world. When news of a Blaseball ballpark in Laredo came up, xe wanted in at the first chance xe could get. Xe made it into the Shadows, and stayed there until Season C. When xe first got called up to the Lineup, Titania showed xer where xe'd be fielding — in the same spot with xer and Bloom Goblin.
Xe wasn't a great fielder, as it turned out. Titania was a huge distraction.)
----
Tiera leans on the wall outside the Crystal Ball as Abbott races into the ballpark. Xe opens xer camera to take a picture to send to Vaquita. Looking through the phone's camera, xe notices a familiar orange hue near the wall of the ballpark.
Xe puts xer phone away and rounds the side of the arena.
It's a crane, and an old one at that. The door hangs open. A layer of rust has smeared across it in several spots. The paint is chipping, and rainwater covers the top of the vehicle.
Tiera steps into the vehicle. The key is in. It's too perfect.
Xe starts up the crane just as Abbott comes back out. "Hey, T—what are you doing?"
Xe grins wildly. "I found a crane!"
"You can drive a crane?"
Xe pulls it up to the front of the ballpark, yelling over the noises of the rusty old thing. "Since I was 19!" Abbott whistles.
"Whose is it?"
"Not sure!" Xe stops the vehicle beside the entrance, the giddy feeling not quite leaving xer system.
----
As xe tries to fall asleep for the tenth time that night, Tiera leans against the door of the car.
(Xe would lean on Titania's shoulders after home games, staying late in the dugout of the Dugout. Sweet whispers, kisses filled with fairy dust, talking about nothing, talking about everything. Talking about the Sun, the Firewalker, the Hall of Flame. Talking about the season, their pitchers, their ballpark expansions. Talking about each other, their goals, their place on the team. Spiraling sometimes, but grabbing each other by the shoulders and saying it's gonna be okay.
Even the day the Firewalker arrived, telling each other it was gonna be okay. Even when it wasn't gonna be okay, telling each other it was gonna be okay.)
----
Abner parks the car near the warp. "Alright. We can stay over here for some time." It gets out of the car and takes a glance at Tiera. "Where was it you said you needed to go?"
"Anchorage."
There's a silence between them. Abner slowly moves its hand to pet Aurora.
"....don't let him burn up the car." It tosses the keys over with its free hand. "And don't bring him back over here."
Xe catches the keys. "I told him, he's finding his own way back." Xe heads to the car.
----
The road is uneventful. Xer passenger is quiet, almost scared to make a sound.
(It got tense when the Firewalker arrived. Glances over at the highfield as they played. The games wouldn't stop for fear, never had. So they played. Knowing the team would be Unstable by the end of the week. Knowing they likely wouldn't last the Season. Knowing they were kindling wood now, and whoever took their place probably wouldn't even take their ballpark. Knowing they'd be relegated to history.
He was quiet then, too.)
----
"Thanks for taking me." Parker looks at his knees.
"Weren't gonna leave me alone."
They sit on the pitcher's mound. It's quiet here. They're quiet here, too, for a while. Frosty breaths filling the space between times, the gaps in the conversation they know aren't going to be discussed, the fragile steps they know to avoid.
"Crits used to stand right over there." He points.
"Who?"
Parker stands up. "Crits Manhattan. Star batter. Terrible fielder. Horrible runner." He walks to the left cornerfielder position. "Right here."
Tiera watches as he traces out a path around the field. Ellie was a longstop, Agustin was a shortstop, Luka was a right liner. He heads to the highfield and quietly mentions his own spot, and that xe remembers, because that never changed. Scarce grass charring and turning brown under his feet, home runs forever etched into rings of fire around the bases of The Dugout.
There's a pause as he sits back down.
"So much for 'Alaska Forever', huh?" Xe cracks a smile.
He snorts. Fondly, bitterly. "Guess so."
----
When xe finally gets back to the Big Garage, Abner takes the keys back with a huff. "Took you long enough."
They take the warp to Broken Ridge and head to Cheyenne from there.
They arrive at the Cooler Pod in the middle of the day. Xe takes photos to send to Vaquita as Rosales and Archie start up what passes for a casual conversation.
"Our Pod was cooler, by the way," Archie calls out from the top of the bleachers.
"Oh, is that why you guys lost every home game?" she shouts back.
"We didn't lose every home game!"
"No, 87% of them isn't "every," you're right."
Tiera rolls xer eyes. Somehow, the rivalry between the Dolphins and the Whales had seen pettier arguments.
----
They get to the airport in Chicago that afternoon. The plane ride is going to be boring, even with Ronan sitting next to xer, mostly eating expired Snacks. Xe texts Vaquita a couple of pictures of the Cooler Pod xe forgot to send just as the announcement comes overhead to put xer device in airplane mode. The last text xe gets before turning it on is from Parker, letting xer know he just made it back to Baltimore. Xe zones out as the plane passes the edge of the airport.
(When xe fell from the Black Hole, xe was wearing the same jersey and hat xe had had on when xer team was incinerated, holding the same bat xe was sure must have caught flame. When xe fell from the Black Hole, xe hit the ground with a thud, felt it greet xer with a slamming sensation. When xe fell from the Black Hole, Vaquita Magno helped xer up, asked if xe was okay. When xe fell from the Black Hole, xe asked where xe was. When xe fell from the Black Hole, xe heard a familiar voice say "Baltimore." When xe fell from the Black Hole, xe turned around to see Parker Macmillan, looking at xer but not making eye contact.
Xe didn't know how to respond to that.)
----
The Glallery is lined with artwork eerily preserved through the years, though some show signs of obvious water damage. Tiera watches as Agan steps into the field. The ballpark is eerily silent, save for the sound of dripping water from some unknowable point that sounds like it's everywhere at once.
"Slosh was at bat." Archie looks up as Agan walks into the field, bat in hand, as if he was about to play a game. "Top of the first."
They step up to the plate. "The umpire went for the whole team, but...." Xe holds the bat strangely, as if it were a much shorter bat. "I got in the first line of fire. Next thing I knew, I was in the Hall."
She walks over to the artwork on the wall.
"Someone else got that bat later on. From the Miami Dale." They run their hand along the glass. "Lasted longer than I did, at least."
----
It's another quiet plane ride, but this time Tiera manages to fall asleep. The group makes it back to Chicago that afternoon. They say their goodbyes, they get their things, they start to head home.
(Heading home, after heading home.
Because, now, home is late nights on the phone with Vaquita, them talking about the ocean, the two of them meeting up at an aquarium, or xer just infodumping about how construction vehicles work for half an hour.
Home is talking to Tiara about the Library, what can be seen of it; reading the heavily-redacted texts of what Lōotcrates saw fit to preserve; describing years of Blaseball to a ghost who's only been around for two seasons of it.
Home is making peace with the Firewalker, finding comfort in being able to talk to someone who was there, someone who knows who you're talking about when you mention Rufus Neske or Brock Harvie or some other player too obscure to the modern league to be relevant.)
Xe walks past the warp and leans on the side of the Crabitat.
(Home will never stop being Laredo. The home that left dust and dirt on xer hands and fairy dust on xer lips and sweat on xer skin will never leave xer. The home xe was born in, the home xe first stepped up to the plate in, will never change.
But home is Baltimore now, too.
Whatever happens in the coming seasons, that won't change, either.)