"Hey Mom, I'm home," Daimian said, entering the the small house at the end of a long day patroling. The walls to the living room sat still with a light beige coat, various family pictures hanging on the wall. He stumbled over the short coffee table that rested between the couch and television before he made it to the lacking hallway. He looked to his right into the blue-gray kitchen that also functioned as a laundry room. Walking further, he examined the room to hus right, blank walls barely visible if not for the queen-sized mattress laying in the middle of the floor, sheets loosley thrown onto it. He kept walking, looking through the window of the gated backdoor, where he saw Faith working in the backyard.

    "Mom," Daimian called out from inside the house. "You alright?"

    "Oh, welcome back sweetie," Faith said with a wave. "I'll be with you in a sec, just finishing up some stuff in here."

    Daimian gave a quick thumbs up and retreated back inside. He stood around for a minute, back to the door, when he looked at his school backpack. He lurched to his feet and walked over to it, remembering there was something he had to do. Pulling out a small slip of paper, he looked to the kitchen clock, reading '11:43' to himself. He shrugged and rushed to his room on the other end of the hallway. He closed the door and took out his phone, jumping back-first into his bed.

    "Let's see how Alex feels about my 'not having friends now,'" Daimian nagged to himself as he slowly typed the number into his phone. He paused for a second, taking a deep breath, before pressing 'dial.' His phone rang once as he eagerly put it up to his ear. Another ring. Then another.

    On the forth ring, Daimian had given up hope. He slowly lowered his phone to his chest.

    ~khgh"-ello?"

    Wide-eyed, Daimian swiftly pulled the phone up to his ear and tried to say words that worked together. "K-kelly?"

    A gasp came from the other end. "Oh my gosh, Daimian? Is that you?" Kelly clapped her hands with a slight crackle from the reseption.

    "Yeah, it's me," Daimian said, slightly sweating as his eyes darted around his room. "Just wanted to test if the number worked. Sorry if this's a bad time though."

    "Oh no, it's fine, you're fine," Kelly assured him. With a slight chuckle, she put her phone closer to her face. "It's pretty boring here anyway. I'm glad you called."

    "Oh, heh heh, good to know." Daimian tossed over to his chest on his bed. "Well, how was your appointment?"

    "It was fine. Just that sort of 'every once in a while check in' thing they do. You know."

    "Yeah, I guess I do."

    "What about you? You do anything fun this weekend?"

    "Uh," Daimian paused, looking across the room at his backpack that contained all of his Obscurity gear. "I guess so. Checked out downtown a bit and bought a schnitzel."

    "Nice, nice." Kelly shuffled her phone around a bit before continuing with a snicker. "Sorry, brother's being a pain." The sound of a hearty laugh came through the speaker. "You got any siblings that mess you up?"

    "Oh yeah, I got a sister." Daimian faded his expression from interest to slight worry as he looked down at the floor. "But she moved out not too long ago, so I don't get to see her very much."

    "Aw. Well, at least you don't have to deal with the hastle of a brother, I guess," Kelly said with another laugh.

    Daimian chuckled alongside her, but sighed after a few seconds. Just then, he heard the backdoor of his house shut with a metallic crunch. "Shit, I should probably get going. Feeling a bit tired."

    "Well, it was nice hearing from you, Daimian," Kelly said as Faith stepped through the house. "See you Monday."

    "Yeah," Daimian said, shuffling the phone. "See ya. Night." He hung up and let out a massive sigh of relief. Just then, he heard a knock at his bedroom door.

    "You in bed," Faith asked from the other side.

    Daimian got up and opened the door with his eyes slightly lowered, causing his mother to jump a little. "Eh, kinda. What's up?"

    "I just wanted to say good night to my baby boy," Faith said, motioning for a hug.

    After an exagurated sigh, Daimian fell into her arms for a moment. "Night, Mom."

    "Good night, Daimian. Sweet dreams."

    Daimian looked down at his phone as Faith walked to her room. He smiled and shut his door.

    "Will do."