Third Trigger Warning

[c9rp9realn9rmative]

Very amusing. I applaud whomever managed to move me all the way from Gryffindor tower to the Divination tower while I was asleep, but I am going to need to know the new password so that I can get back in and collect my belongings.

The heavyset female-identified guardian assigned to the Gryffindor portrait hole refuses to even give me a hint, as well. She is acting very strangely indeed. She looks as if she has seen a ghost.

Very amusing. I applaud wh9mever managed t9 m9ve me all the way fr9m Gryffind9r t9wer t9 the Divinati9n t9wer while I was asleep, 6ut I am g9ing t9 need t9 kn9w the new passw9rd s9 that I can get 6ack in and c9llect my 6el9ngings.

The heavyset female-identified guardian assigned t9 the Gryffind9r p9rtrait h9le refuses t9 even give me a hint, as well. She is acting very strangely indeed. She l99ks as if she has seen a gh9st.

[There is a 12-year-old Kankri standing petulantly in front of Gryffindor tower, in a bright red sweater that's a little too big for him.]

Comments

[accioleggings]

[Sal smiles a little sheepishly, almost embarrassed by how old he looks and feels in comparison. There's also a very small amount of guilty satisfaction that he managed to stun Kankri of all people into silence.]

I, um, I grew up.

[c9rp9realn9rmative]

[Kankri crosses his arms over his chest and frowns in deep confusion.]

I'm not amused. What's going on? Why did I wake up in the Divination tower this morning? Why do you look old enough to be my parent? I'd like the real answers, please.

[accioleggings]

[Sal's smile quickly fades.]

Let's get into the tower first. We can sit in the common room like we- [Like we used to.] We can sit in the common room and talk.

[c9rp9realn9rmative]

[Kankri gestures to the empty portrait.]

She ran away when I tried to give her the password.

[His voice cracks a little.]

...Am I the one who's temporally dispossessed, Sal?

[accioleggings]

[Oh no, Kankri, don't do that. Not the voice cracking.]

...Yeah, you are. It's 2012, Kan.

[c9rp9realn9rmative]

...Oh.

[He goes eerily silent (for him).]

So we're supposed to be 33?

[accioleggings]

['We're'. Ha...ha...h...a...]

Turned 33 all the way back in June. There wasn't much of a party, Di and I sort of focused all our energy on giving Karkat a nice birthday instead. [Sal, stop going off on unrelated tangents and avoiding mentioning things.]

[c9rp9realn9rmative]

[Kankri's eyebrows furrow in confusion.]

Who's Karkat? Do you have a child?

[Wouldn't that be weird, to be the same age as his nephew for however long this event lasts. Ha. Haha.

You know, instead of being the same age until Karkat turns 16]

[accioleggings]

I do! But not Karkat. [Not officially anyway.] He's our nephew, Armand's son. And you have a niece too. Her name's Nepeta.

[c9rp9realn9rmative]

Armand has a son? Does he...? [Is he magical?]

So then Nepeta is yours?

[THE FUTURE IS CONFUSING.]

I can't imagine that I grow up to have any of my own. I'm sure that I have my hands plenty full with my niece and nephew.

[accioleggings]

He does. He's a fourth year Gryffindor. [Is that a little pride in his voice? You bet it is.] Yeah, she is. She's...absolutely fantastic, just like her mum. She and Karkat are in the same year.

[...O...w.]

The two of them can be quite a handful, I can't deny that.

[c9rp9realn9rmative]

[Even at 12, Kankri doesn't need to ask who Nepeta's mother is. Sal and Deidre's courtship was basically set in stone. Written in the stars. Destined to transcend the quadrants.]

Fourth year?

[Sal, you're 33. That would make them 14. Why you get started so early.]

Do I end up teaching here as well? [He doesn't sound like he's too fond of the idea, but he doesn't sound like he minds it much either. He just thought he'd have better things to do. But that would explain why he ended up being temporally displaced in the castle.]