In the years to come, Erskine was going to be living at the museum. His laugh was a little more forced than he intended, and he didn't try to explain - not yet. He was going to have to come up with a more believable lie at some point. Was the museum hiring? Maybe he could 'become' a security guard or something. It wasn't as if Micah would check the facts after Erskine got out of the cab.

His second laugh wasn't forced. Not exactly. It came easily enough, anyway. But there was something about it even Erskine could hear, something almost bitter. "I'm in pretty much the same situation, actually. Family in town, and..." Well, they'd always been in town, but it certainly felt like they were only just meeting after far too long. "... and, well." He ran a hand through his hair, watching the cars flash by. "I think it's been far, far too long."

Or maybe not long enough. Erskine was perfectly capable of being practical, but he was sick of it right now. He was sick of all of it. Yes, Ghastly made sense back at the Hotel, and yes, he knew why he was being a tad hypocritical. It didn't particularly stop him from his gratuitous bout of not caring.