The house, while sparing with furniture, was obviously well kept and gave off a homey atmosphere. A stairway led to the upstairs, while the doorway to the right opened to the kitchen and the left to the living room.
"Welcome to my humble abode. I don't spend much time here, but it's a place to rest."
"Can dogs live a week without food or water?" Scipio asked, not paying much mind to the tour.
"I think you're good on the food, but I don't know about water…" Seeing that Scipio didn't really care, he simply walked into the living room and sat down.
Scipio draped himself across a chair, groaning. "If Ragno is dead when I get back I'm gonna be pissed."
"Yeah. More likely than not Rafael would die too." At the mention of his name, Rafael came scampering into the room, only to freeze at the sight of the two boys.
Scipio flipped right side up and surveyed the dog silently, deciding to let him approach if he wanted to. He was far better with animals than people.
Finally, the dog made his way towards Scipio and sniffed at him. Seemingly satisfied, Rafael jumped up onto Scipio, tail wagging.
"Ugh, betrayed by my own dog," Richard chuckled.
Scipio pet Rafael quietly, a slight smirk tugging at his lips. He scratched behind the dog's ears, which had always been a sweet spot for his own dog.
Rafael seemed to act exactly like Scipio's dog. Richard smiled at the two.
"Good to see you're getting along."
"Dogs are better than people." Scipio said simply, stroking Rafael's head.
Richard nodded.
"Even I have to agree with that."
"They don't care what you've done as long as you give them food and pets."" Scipio hummed as his watched Rafael's little nub tail wag. "You said my parents were next door?"
"My parents are. Yours are still in the human world. And I swear to god you'd better not pull anything." Richard remembered what Scipio had said in Merlin's workshop, and he didn't much like that at all.
Scipio shrugged. "It might be better if I met an actually decent version of my parents."
"Yes, well, just don't forget who they really are." Richard didn't really like the idea of having Scipio meet his parents, but it wouldn't hurt too much, right?
"Obviously, I expect you to supervise. You know me better than anyone, and you don't trust me, which is fair. I'm not stupid." Scipio continued petting Rafael.
Richard nodded.
"So, well will you want to meet them? They might not be around, mind you, but I can always call right before we go over."
"I guess so… like I said, it could help some of the enmity I hold for my own parents."
Richard nodded.
"I could always call them and see if we can come over now. If you don't want to wait, that is."
"Sure." Scipio flipped so he was laying across the chair with Rafael laying on his stomach.
Leaving Scipio on the chair with Rafael, Richard stood and walked into the other room. The Mirror World didn't have cell phones, in case a call came while they were on duty, but they did have landlines. Richard dialed his parents' phone number, waiting for someone to pick it up.
"Hello, darling!" His mother said when she answered the phone. "Plan on coming over? Father isn't here right now, but he should be back soon."
"Yes, mother. And mother… I'm going to be bringing someone with me. Just promise you won't freak out?"
"Richard, why would I freak out? I love meeting my son's friends!" With that, his mother hung up. Richard sighed before walking back to tell Scipio they should hurry over.
Scipio stood up, gently setting Rafael on the floor. He was honestly very apprehensive about this whole thing, but he never showed any physical signs of it.
"I suppose we're going now?" He asked, smoothing down his hair. As far as he could tell, Richard's version of his parents were far better than his own. He was about five years old when they practically abandoned him, though he was still living in their house. He was one of the kids who would cause trouble just for attention, which had gained him nothing but fear and hatred for his father. His mother was practically a ghost. He occasionally saw her in the house, but they never spoke to each other. In fact, he'd almost forgotten the sound of her voice.
"Yeah," Richard said, petting Rafael slightly before heading for the door.
"I'm sure they'll love you. They always felt bad about what was happening…"
Scipio nodded and followed Richard to his parents' reflections' house. "So… how should we do this? Should you go in first and explain the situation?"
"Yeah, I thin-"
"Richard!" Richard's mother threw the door open. "What took so lo-" She paused, frozen as she caught sight of Scipio.