i'm fine, the female code for i want to punch you in the dick

[graveflowers]

"Jake, you can't just spend the rest of your life in this cabin like the freakin' Unabomber." It wasn't the best argument, really, but she needed to go to the store and he needed to come with her. It was a dress for his family's Christmas party and since Vi's idea of a formal dress was more along the lines of a sundress, she really did need his opinion on the matter.

Of course, Jake's reply was so grumbled and quiet that she couldn't hear him very well through the wall separating their rooms, even with both their doors open. She thought she heard something about how she would be beautiful no matter what she wore, but she mostly ignored that, putting the compliment aside to thank him for later.

"Look," she started, padding barefoot into his room as she pulled her tee shirt over her head, slicking her ponytail back. It was Jake's shirt, actually, an old Army shirt she'd found when she was doing laundry and just taken for herself. It was big on her, he was after all, roughly the size of Gaston -- who was roughly the size of a barge -- and she was the size of an elf, but she tucked it in to her jeans and still managed to look adorable. "It's just one hour and, I dunno, I'll buy you some beer on the way home." Because it was home now, even if she was protesting his holing up in it. "Consider it therapy."

Jake frowned at her, looking not at all pleased with her idea of therapy.

"No, seriously. You've spent the last three months with just me, you're used to me and I'm used to you and we have a system, but its our system. You've got to learn how to navigate people who don't give a shit about your injuries and how to move amongst a crowd or what are you going to do next weekend?"

"Violet, I'm going to be on the couch the whole time."

Her hands went to her hips as her eyes narrowed slightly -- she really wasn't fond of when he used her full name. She knew he wasn't having the best day and she knew pushing him for this could just devolve into a fight, but it was true. He needed to get out of the house. Not even for the interaction, because she highly doubted he would actually talk to anyone, but because he needed to be able to navigate around people. And more importantly, he needed to feel comfortable doing it before he went home to his family. If a stranger saw him stumble, it would be far less embarrassing than if his family saw him stumble. "Jacob, I'm not kidding."

"Violet, I'm not going."

There was silence for a moment, Vi's lips twisting in displeasure. It wasn't a scowl so much as a disappointed frown. "Fine. Then I'm not going to Christmas. Have fun."

Comments

[familyfuckup]

She didn't usually push him into new experiences like this. She usually let him live a hermit's life. Going to the mall was not a hermit's life. He was having a hard time adjusting.

He shrugged a bit. "I'd probably deserve it."

[graveflowers]

"Probably," she agreed absently. Her eyes closed, contentment and warmth adding to her tired state even though her mind was far from sleepy and kept mulling over things she'd rather not think about when she was relatively comfortable in her contentedness.

"Tell me a story."

[familyfuckup]

He ran his fingers through her hair while she drowsed against him, just as content as she was at the moment. He'd just closed his eyes when she made her request.

"Hmmm?" he sort of hummed, rousing himself enough to make an actual response to her. "Uhm...I'm not much of a story teller."

He hummed again a bit, trying to gather up something for a story. "There's a bunch of stray dogs wanderin' around Afghanistan. It's just sort of something that happens. So one morning we're all sitting outside eating breakfast and there's this guy in my unit, George. George likes to hear himself talk. He's from Charleston and he's got this Southern drawl. Anyway...George is talking, using both of his hands to gesticulate and we're all laughing at something he's telling us about a girl and a summer back home with a water hole. So none of us are paying attention and this wiry, little skinny dog sneaks up and grabs his bacon, darts off quick as you please. Now a couple of us saw it happen, but we're not telling George anything. So he reaches down to get a piece of his bacon and it's gone. We manage to convince that he ate it all and Isaac, another one of the guys, hands over a piece of his bacon. Says he's Jewish and he shouldn't be eating it anyway. George takes a bite, puts the bacon down on his plate and goes on with his story. That dog sneaks up, grabs the bacon and takes off again. Well this time, it's a little harder to convince George that he ate his bacon so he's accusing several of us of taking his food and while he's doing that, the dog sneaks back up and starts slurping down his eggs. George turns just in time to see the dog licking his plate clean before it dashes off."

Jake was chuckling as he told the story.

"We named the damn dog Oliver and we all gave up part of our breakfast every morning to feed him."

[graveflowers]

"Never would have guys you boys would be up on the classics, Oliver Twist, well done." It was such a sweet story and Jake told it with such humor that it made Violet's heart hurt a little. Those were his friends and they were all gone.

God, she didn't know how he did it. She always told him he was strong and he didn't need to blame himself for what happened, but she wasn't sure he know just how strong she thought he was because it was incredibly hard to put into words.

"Did you ever have a dog, growing up?"

[familyfuckup]

Jake shrugged. "It had to be explained to a coupla the boys." He was trying very hard not to think about the fact that all of his friends were gone. It was easier to make it through everything if he could avoid focusing on that. He cleared his throat a little, pushing away the thought of his friends then nodded.

"Oh yeah. We had this crazy chocolate lab that chewed all of dad's shoes, but wouldn't touch mom's. He slept at the foot of our beds, different one of us every night. His name was Rusty. We weren't real original with his name."

[graveflowers]

"You could have called him Brownie," she said with a shrug, defending their decisions as children. She yawned slightly, stifling it behind her hand. This day was far more emotional than she thought it was going to be and it had begun to press at her, begging for sleep.

She nestled closer to him, fingers tracing little circles on his arms. "I always wanted a dog."

[familyfuckup]

"Dad wanted to call him damn dog in Swedish. Mom forbid it." And everyone knew who really ran the Safstrom household. He wrapped his arms a bit tighter around her shoulders, hesitant for a moment as he thought about his words and the implications of them.

"We could get one. Maybe an older dog that's not as likely to jump around into me."

because the last thing either of them needed was for him to get knocked down and make his rehab worse.