amaranthh (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
greenling) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
rainbowfic2013-10-31 02:55 am
greenling) wrote in rainbowfic2013-10-31 02:55 am
Harvest Gold #15, Dirt Brown #15
Name: Greenling
Story: Asking for Roses
Colors: Harvest Gold #15 (nothing gold can stay) Dirt Brown #15 (Old Age)
Supplies and Styles: Paint by Numbers (i know i’m not the only one left wanting something else/wanting something more than this)
Word Count: 874
Rating: Gish
Warnings: None
Summary: Anne confronts Jaymie about the herd of elephants in the room.
Comments, criticism, and questions are all appreciated.
She didn't want to do this. Well, she did, but she didn't want to know where this would lead, exactly- the problem with walking on eggshells was that they tended to be sharp when they broke. Or something like that. Really, the whole situation was a mess.
Anne confronted Jaymie in the upstairs hallway, just after he'd come out of the bathroom. Wendy and Steve were downstairs, playing some old board game he'd found in the closet. It was about as much as she could take.
"Jaymie?" He looked at her. "You're not going out again, are you?"
"I was planning on it," he said. "Why?"
She frowned. "You've been out nearly every day since you got here."
"I thought you wanted me to go out?"
She held her tongue, trying not to sound angry. "Yes, but not every day. You're hardly spending much time with your family."
"I see you guys every day?"
"You know what I mean, Jaymie," she said testily.
"No. I don't actually think I do." He responded to her rising irritation with his own.
"Jaymie, please," she attempted. "We have been patient. We have not asked where you go, or what you do, or what's going on. I don't even know if you're trying to keep secrets or what, but since you've gotten here... you're like a ghost. Wendy has barely spoken to you."
"I thought you wanted to see her. That's why I'm here."
Anne tried to count to ten. It didn't help. She felt as if she might cry. "And that's it?"
"What the hell exactly do you want from me?" he snapped, teeth gritted.
"I want you to stop acting like you're put-upon by being asked to participate! I want to know if you even want to be here, and goddamnit, after all we've been through for you, if you don't, I'd like to know why!" she hissed. "I know we don't talk about serious things in this house. I know your father has his own opinions, but it was seven years, Jaymie. You might not have been dead, you might have just run off, in the middle of the night, to god knows where, left your job and everything else behind, but you did a damn good job of it!"
Jaymie stood in stunned silence. She paused, catching her breath. Well, if she'd started. she might as well finish.
"Then- then you come back to us, we take you in with no questions, we do everything we can to help you back on your feet, and we don't ever get an explanation, we don't get an apology- nothing. You haven't seen Wendy since she was in preschool- is this how you act around her? Leaving at all hours? Do you understand what she has been through?"
He just stood there, not looking at her. She was just about in tears at that point, hands moving uselessly at her side. She took a deep breath and said nothing for a moment, waiting to see if he would respond.
"No." He turned back towards her, still not looking her in the eye- she was pretty certain, under those damned glasses. "I mean, no, this isn't how I act around her. I'm... sorry. I'm sorry that I don't have a good explanation for you, and I'm sorry that I've been... avoiding you. I didn't... I wasn't thinking."
She paused, waiting for him to continue. "Avoiding us?"
"Look, I don't..." He hesitated, then sighed and looked straight at her. "Since I've gotten here for Christmas, things have been weird. I guess it's not fair to you to not to say something after all you've been, but... you're right, we don't talk. And you haven't seen anything get better." His voice was tight, and he paused for a long moment, jaw working. "And you're right, it's been... a long time. Eventually, I can talk about what happened. Not now. I'm sorry. But it's not just going to go away in a few months, and things are going to be weird, and I'm going to have to deal with them, and that means I'm going to be weird."
"Jaymie, I understand that. I just want you to be here. We're your family. We have responsibilities, to each other."
"And I appreciate that, more than- more than I can tell you." He looked nervous as hell. "I'm sorry. I'll make more of an effort."
She sighed. "Just don't you dare hurt that girl any more than she already is. Why do you say you've been avoiding us?"
There was another awkward pause. "Because I don't think I can handle pretending to be happy right now, or feeling like I have to explain myself if I'm not."
"Mmh." She crossed her arms. "Well. I suppose I've been guilty of wanting to pretend things will just go back to normal just as much as your father."
"We... all kind of have." His voice sounded choked, nearly a whisper.
She walked over and put a hand on his shoulder. "Let's talk about this later, hm? I'm sorry for yelling."
"Don't be sorry. I've been an ass."
"Well. I'm glad you realize that." She smiled at him; he gave her a smile back, more or less.
Story: Asking for Roses
Colors: Harvest Gold #15 (nothing gold can stay) Dirt Brown #15 (Old Age)
Supplies and Styles: Paint by Numbers (i know i’m not the only one left wanting something else/wanting something more than this)
Word Count: 874
Rating: Gish
Warnings: None
Summary: Anne confronts Jaymie about the herd of elephants in the room.
Comments, criticism, and questions are all appreciated.
She didn't want to do this. Well, she did, but she didn't want to know where this would lead, exactly- the problem with walking on eggshells was that they tended to be sharp when they broke. Or something like that. Really, the whole situation was a mess.
Anne confronted Jaymie in the upstairs hallway, just after he'd come out of the bathroom. Wendy and Steve were downstairs, playing some old board game he'd found in the closet. It was about as much as she could take.
"Jaymie?" He looked at her. "You're not going out again, are you?"
"I was planning on it," he said. "Why?"
She frowned. "You've been out nearly every day since you got here."
"I thought you wanted me to go out?"
She held her tongue, trying not to sound angry. "Yes, but not every day. You're hardly spending much time with your family."
"I see you guys every day?"
"You know what I mean, Jaymie," she said testily.
"No. I don't actually think I do." He responded to her rising irritation with his own.
"Jaymie, please," she attempted. "We have been patient. We have not asked where you go, or what you do, or what's going on. I don't even know if you're trying to keep secrets or what, but since you've gotten here... you're like a ghost. Wendy has barely spoken to you."
"I thought you wanted to see her. That's why I'm here."
Anne tried to count to ten. It didn't help. She felt as if she might cry. "And that's it?"
"What the hell exactly do you want from me?" he snapped, teeth gritted.
"I want you to stop acting like you're put-upon by being asked to participate! I want to know if you even want to be here, and goddamnit, after all we've been through for you, if you don't, I'd like to know why!" she hissed. "I know we don't talk about serious things in this house. I know your father has his own opinions, but it was seven years, Jaymie. You might not have been dead, you might have just run off, in the middle of the night, to god knows where, left your job and everything else behind, but you did a damn good job of it!"
Jaymie stood in stunned silence. She paused, catching her breath. Well, if she'd started. she might as well finish.
"Then- then you come back to us, we take you in with no questions, we do everything we can to help you back on your feet, and we don't ever get an explanation, we don't get an apology- nothing. You haven't seen Wendy since she was in preschool- is this how you act around her? Leaving at all hours? Do you understand what she has been through?"
He just stood there, not looking at her. She was just about in tears at that point, hands moving uselessly at her side. She took a deep breath and said nothing for a moment, waiting to see if he would respond.
"No." He turned back towards her, still not looking her in the eye- she was pretty certain, under those damned glasses. "I mean, no, this isn't how I act around her. I'm... sorry. I'm sorry that I don't have a good explanation for you, and I'm sorry that I've been... avoiding you. I didn't... I wasn't thinking."
She paused, waiting for him to continue. "Avoiding us?"
"Look, I don't..." He hesitated, then sighed and looked straight at her. "Since I've gotten here for Christmas, things have been weird. I guess it's not fair to you to not to say something after all you've been, but... you're right, we don't talk. And you haven't seen anything get better." His voice was tight, and he paused for a long moment, jaw working. "And you're right, it's been... a long time. Eventually, I can talk about what happened. Not now. I'm sorry. But it's not just going to go away in a few months, and things are going to be weird, and I'm going to have to deal with them, and that means I'm going to be weird."
"Jaymie, I understand that. I just want you to be here. We're your family. We have responsibilities, to each other."
"And I appreciate that, more than- more than I can tell you." He looked nervous as hell. "I'm sorry. I'll make more of an effort."
She sighed. "Just don't you dare hurt that girl any more than she already is. Why do you say you've been avoiding us?"
There was another awkward pause. "Because I don't think I can handle pretending to be happy right now, or feeling like I have to explain myself if I'm not."
"Mmh." She crossed her arms. "Well. I suppose I've been guilty of wanting to pretend things will just go back to normal just as much as your father."
"We... all kind of have." His voice sounded choked, nearly a whisper.
She walked over and put a hand on his shoulder. "Let's talk about this later, hm? I'm sorry for yelling."
"Don't be sorry. I've been an ass."
"Well. I'm glad you realize that." She smiled at him; he gave her a smile back, more or less.
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They do definitely need to deal with this.
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I'm glad it's realistic. Thank you.