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[Jul. 26th, 2009|12:52 pm] |
The sun was getting ready to drop below the horizon, sending Wolf Haven into a nice summer twilight. Tes was out back of the main house, working in her little garden. Hands deep in the earth, she dug at some weeds that were daring to choke her watermelon plants. She'd been out there for a couple hours, harvesting and tending. There was a large basket behind her, full of tomatoes, cucumbers, and strawberries. She didn't waste her time on ridiculous flowers that had no real purpose. She grew utilitarian plants. Herbs, and fruits, and vegetables.
For the most part, Jeremiah was sticking by Julian's side. The only people he would let hold him were Wendell, Hunter, Everett and Loren, and he'd howled and cried for an hour when Shane tried to take him to meet the other kids. But other than that, he hadn't much been alone. When he was alone, however, he was foraging. Taking food he knew wouldn't go to waste and hiding it in the tiny closet in their room. Wendell had put what was left of the cookies in a little baggie and he had taken those off the counter when no one was looking. The closet had a lot of things in it, so he tucked the food away in the back, hidden in an empty shoebox he had found on his own. Everything was just in case. Just in case they had to go and could take the food with them. Just in case their food started being taken away and used against them like punishment. And that was precisely what he was doing in the kitchen until he saw Tes in the garden through the screen. For a few minutes he just watched her and then he pushed the door back on its tracks to see what she was doing. It looked like she had food out there and he thought maybe she would give him some if he was nice to her. To get down the steps on the porch he had to hop down and then he went across the yard to Tes. Once he was to her he just stopped, a few feet back, and waited for her to notice him.
She heard him thumping down the stairs and frowned. There were way too many damn kids running around this place now. The twins were bad enough, but two more and then Jacob's brat on the way? Christ. She dug a little more ferociously at the weeds, enjoying the sound of the rough roots ripping and giving way under her attentions. Tossing the now-dead plant into the pile of pulled weeds, she turned around to look at Jeremiah. "Hey, kid. You got time to lurk, you got time to work." Even though she wasn't nearly so nice as any of the others had been, there was no true cruelty coming from her.
Jeremiah stood there for a second, his hand by his mouth as he touched his bottom lip. The kid sucked his thumb. Had since birth and hadn't found a way to stop yet. It was a comfort thing, one of the few comforts that he actually had. But for the moment it stayed out of his mouth as he tried to decide what to do about Tes. "I don't know what lurk means. Can I have one of those?" he pointed to the strawberry, just because he knew what it was and he knew that it probably tasted good. He wasn't really that hungry but he pretty much ate any time food present itself because he didn't know when he'd have the opportunity again.
"Lurking is what you're doing now. Standing behind someone and staring and basically doing nothing very helpful." She wiped her arm across her forehead to catch some of the sweat on her brow. It smeared dirt over her face. "Come here, take a few of these weeds to the compost pile over there," she pointed. She was not gonna have these babies grow up as unhelpful as the likes of Sullivan, Austin, and the rest. "Then you can have a strawberry."
Walking over to her, he picked up as many weeds as he could fit in his arms, promptly smearing dirt across his new shirt, and once he had an armful he went running off to the compost pile to put them on it. Jeremiah was very intent on getting it right, his little tongue stuck out between his lips as he threw each weed individually up onto the top of the compost pile, as high as he could get them to go before he turned and ran back over to her. Jeremiah was not a stranger to work, even at barely four years old. He was always fetching things or putting things away when people told him to.
She was surprised by his earnest effort. No, damn it, she would not let him become endeared to her. Watching him carefully, she nodded with approval. "All right, I think you've earned some berries." She gestured to the basket and stood up to put the rest of the weeds on the pile.
Wiping his hands off onto the side of his shirt, he made sure they weren't too dirty before he took one of the strawberries from the little bucket in one hand and another in the other. "Thank you." Miah said as he looked up at her. He held each of the strawberries by the stem and in turn he ate each of them all the way down to his fingers, leaving only little bits of green leaves.
She brushed her hands off and eyed him some more. "Come inside. You're a mess now. Two minutes outside and you're dirty. Typical boy." She picked up the basket of food and started to walk back to the house, expecting him to follow her. Once inside, she set the veggies on the counter, knowing that no one would dare lay a finger on them after her last blow up about eating her garden things.
Following along after her like she said to, he just tried to keep up with her brisk pace. Jeremiah practically ran to keep up and when they got inside he stayed behind her because he figured she was going to make him wash his hands or something. He probably should have before he ate the strawberries but they had smelled so good.
Washing her own hands in the sink, she wiped them on a towel and then turned to beckon Jeremiah into the laundry room. As she walked, she pulled her dirty tshirt over her head, revealing a tank top underneath. Once they got to the laundry, she knelt down and reached for Jeremiah's shirt. "We need to wash that. We'll toss it in with mine."
For a second he just stood there, looking at her like he didn't think that was a very good idea. But then he took off his shirt and held it up for her to take it. There were marks on his shoulders and against his back and his chest. Bruises that had been so deep and so dark that even over a week later they were still blue and black in the middle, though starting to yellow around the edges as they prepared to fade. The last gift his mother's boyfriend had given him before selling him off at as high a price as possible. "Wendell bought me a spiderman shirt."
She had not expected that sight, and so she had no time to hide the surprised but concerned look that blossomed onto her face. Putting their clothes into the washer, she turned it on and then got back to her feet. "Back to the sink. We need to wash you off and then we can go upstairs and pick you something else to wear." She was not affectionate, but her demeanor was slowly softening.
Jeremiah walked back to the sink and he just stood in front of it, looking up at it. It was too tall for him, he could barely even get his hands up to the counter when he stretched as far as he could, let alone into the sink. So he just waited, expecting her to pick him up so that he could wash his hands off underneath the water. "Can I put my spiderman shirt on? It's red."
"You can wear whatever you choose," she said simply as she plucked Jeremiah from the ground and set him up on the counter. Efficiently, she wetted a cloth and started cleaning him off. She was meticulous, and finally she took a step back to examine him. "There, much better."
Once his hands were clean he looked at them and then he gave her a very small smile. It didn't last though, before it was gone again, and then he turned to try and lower himself down off of the counter. Miah wasn't used to asking for help, so he just dropped off the edge and he landed on his feet and then fell back onto his butt. Just a small setback before he was upright again and heading off towards the stairs so that he could go and find a shirt that Wendell had given him.
Tes actually yelped for him when he ended up on his backside. But he was up and gone before she could help him. It was her turn to follow, and she ended up in his room where the boy was looking through his clothes. "Looks like Wendell set you guys up with a nice room." She eyed the rabbit in the cage.
The drawer on the bottom was his because he could get to it. Pulling it open, he took out the little red shirt and unfolded it and pulled it on. It was a great deal of effort for him, getting his head in the right hole and then his arms in. He put it on backwards first but before she could say anything he took it all the way off and tried again with much more success. Once it was on again he looked up at her again and completely ignoring what she said about the room he said "You have very long hair."
Gee, kids were so smart. She wasn't about to help him with the shirt. She was of the mind that children needed to learn for themselves, that's how she'd been raised--mother hardly there, working all of the time.
"Yeah, I guess I do. Your hair is very black."
"Can I touch it?" Her hair, not his, but he didn't think that he needed to specify that. Jeremiah didn't really usually ask so many questions but his interactions with Wendell had allowed him to be a little bit braver. And Tes didn't seem very threatening, even if she wasn't all that friendly.
She was going to say no, but she thought of his willingness to help in the garden and the bruises on his body. Going to sit on one of the beds, she nodded. "If you want." Though she didn't know why anyone would want to touch her hair. She had to smile a little though.
Jeremiah came over to the bed and he pulled himself up onto it after three tries and once he was up he stood up so that he could reach it. Though really, her hair was long enough that he didn't have to stand to touch it, but he wanted to. Reaching up, he ran his hand down the back of her hair. It was soft, he liked the way it felt.
She stayed still. "You're used to doing things for yourself, aren't you." She observed. He kind of reminded her of herself, just plowing forward and never asking for help. It made her soften another notch toward him. "What's your name? We haven't introduced ourselves."
"Jeremiah. Though lots of people just call me Miah." He petted her hair for another minute, taking great comfort in how soft it felt, but he stopped before it would become bothersome. Moving to sit down beside her he let his legs dangle off the edge of the bed and he put his hands in his lap. Jeremiah was very good at sitting still and being quiet, which wasnt't natural but very practiced. "what's your name?"
"Tes," she replied, kind of missing the sensation of his little hands in her hair. "You're welcome to pick and eat my strawberries anytime you like." Miah wouldn't realize it, but that was a huge deal to her. That garden, like her own room was under strict guard from the others. She needed her space and would protect it under punishment of death.
"Thank you." Miah gave her another little smile but this one didn't last either. He swung his legs from side to side a little bit and he looked down at them. "I'll put the weeds in the pile when I do so that I'm not lurkin, I'm workin'." There was an overwhelming urge to crawl into her lap and nuzzle into her, but jeremiah stayed put. He hadn't felt any of these people out yet and he didn't want to overstep.
It would have been overstepping with her, but she would have tolerated it. After a second she reached over and patted his shoulder gently, cautious of hitting any sore spots. "Sounds like a deal," she said and then stood up. "I'm going to go check on our clothes. I'll bring your shirt up and leave it for you when it's all dry."
"Okay." Jeremiah watched her go and he just stayed put on the edge of the bed because she hadn't asked him to come with her. He was still figuring out how to play and how to be a little kid, because so far he hadn't managed to do it and now that it was expected of him he didn't know what to do. So he sat, hands between his knees, just staying quiet.
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