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[Aug. 31st, 2009|10:17 pm] |
Joshua had been shifting as often as possible, trying to get to a place where he could control himself. He was driven, utterly determined to get good fast so that he could keep up with everyone. He hated to be left out of anything. Even if he didn't really acknowledge this place as home, he wanted to be included. He was out with Sigmund currently, hunting. Unfortunately, since Sigmund was allowing Joshua to do most of the work they hadn't caught anything yet. When a car approached, Sigmund lifted his head and signaled for Joshua that wolf time was over.
The entire duration of the four hour car ride back to the house had been spent trying to keep Jeremiah calm. The little boy had been starving and dehydrated from two nights alone in the woods and days spent locked in the basement at Joseph's cabin. He had cried and fussed a majority of the way back and had eventually fallen asleep, clinging as tightly to Holden as he could. He'd eaten a few bites of crackers and had a few sips of water, but he was really just fussy and didn't want anyone to put him down. Hunter got out of the truck first and he walked around to hold the door open for Holden to step out with the ltitle boy.
Of course Sigmund was the first to change and he tugged on his clothes, heading in the direction of the arrivals. When he saw the little boy, his heart skipped with a mixture of horror and relief. The boy looked terrible and he wondered if Joshua should see him like that, but something told him that Joshua would tear through all of them to get to the boy. He trotted toward Hunter and lowered his voice. "The boy who came with the sorcerer and Logan; it's Joshua."
Hunter took a deep breath and held it for a second. Taking Jeremiah from Holden, he told him to go into the house and he just cradled the little boy in his arms while he waited for who he assumed was Joshua to come and find them. Jeremiah got a little fussy but Hunter turned his body in closer so that he was pressed up against his chest and his shoulder and he quieted down pretty quickly. "Maybe Joshua will be able to get him to eat."
Joshua hadn't understood the hurry, his senses not nearly as acute as Sigmund's. But finally he came out of the brush and walked toward the two men. Sigmund was blocking his view of Hunter, but he could feel a large power radiating from the man and it made him puff up, walk taller and with greater purpose. He was so busy preparing himself to meet and impress the alpha that he didn't catch the familiarity of the creature in Hunter's arms. But when Sigmund stepped aside, Joshua nearly cried out, hands flying to cover his mouth before he sprinted the rest of the way. "Miah! Miah!" His arms outstretched and he started to tug the little boy out of Hunter's arms.
Miah didn't realize who was trying to take him away from Hunter at first and he started getting fussy again until he realized who it was. Then he just started sobbing as he clung to Joshua's, his arms wrapped so tightly around him that he threatened to cut off his airway.
Joshua could smell the lingering flecks of fear, and pain on the boy and it broke his heart. He should have been there to protect him but he hadn't been able to do so. He stumbled back a little, still holding onto his brother, arms wrapped protectively around him. "You're safe now. I'm not going to let anything bad happen to you ever again. I'm so sorry, Miah."
"Joshua." He cried as he kept his head against the side of his face and he wrapped his arms tighter around his brother. He was terrified but entirely relieved all at once and he didnt' know how to stop himself from crying.
"Is he hurt? Shouldn't we take him to a hospital?" Joshua looked up at Hunter, smoothing his hand over Jeremiah's hair. There was a bit of blame behind his gaze, as if Hunter might not know what the hell he was doing considering he allowed Jeremiah to be taken in the first place.
"Just bruises and scrapes." Hunter said as he walked over to put his hand gently on Jeremiah's back. "He didn't want to eat for Holden but maybe he will eat for you, so can you take him into the house? We can get him cleaned up and if you try to feed him he might eat."
"I'll clean him up," Joshua said, tugging them both back from Hunter's touch. "Thank you," he added though because Hunter had been the one to bring his brother back when he couldn't. He turned and took Jeremiah toward the house, muttering to him quietly. "Julian will be so happy to see you. He was so scared for you. I was too." He took him into the kitchen first and set him up on the counter. "I'll get you some jello, okay? And some soup? Chicken noodle like when you got a cold? It'll make you feel better."
Once he was on the counter, Jeremiah usually would have let go but when Joshua tried to step back he held tighter and started whimpering. "No, no." He didn't want anything to eat, he didn't want anything but for Joshua to just hold onto him.
"Yes, yes," Joshua vollied in return. "You have to eat something and then I can take you to get a warm bath." He was gentle but firm, trembling at the idea that if Jeremiah didn't eat something, he would only get weaker and weaker. He knew it was important for their kind to eat. Instead of pulling away, he simply slung the little boy easily onto his hip and kept him close as he went to search for a can of soup.
Jeremiah sniffled a little bit and he put his face down into Joshua's shoulder. The last thing he wanted to do was for Joshua to put him down at all, so he clung to him as tightly as he could to keep him from allowing him to drop him down. "Where were you?" he asked finally, his voice still shaky.
"I was--" he didn't like to use the word 'sold,' even though that's what had happened. "A man named Andrew took me to his home in New York, and then we came to Seattle." Some people would have trouble doing everything one handed, but Joshua was used to it and fell into the routine easily. He felt completely natural doing this, had been doing it since Julian was born and their mother had made it clear she had no intention of really caring for the boys. "And now I'm here. They helped me through my shift."
Jeremiah didn't know what that meant so he didn't say anything. Instead he just clung to him for dear life while he went about making soup. "Where's Julie?" he wanted to see his other brother but he didn't know where he was. "When those men took me they left him." And he was crying and that had horrified and Jeremiah kept thinking about it.
"He's okay. He's probably upstairs" He put the bowl of soup in the microwave and started it up. While it was cooking, he leaned against the counter and drew Jeremiah to the front of him, hugging him tightly again. He couldn't believe he finally had both of them back and safe. Even if he could still smell the other pack on the boy, he was infinitely comforted by the fact that he could smell that familiar scent of his brother beneath all that.
Jeremiah was shivering as he held onto Joshua. He was starting to calm down a little bit as he leaned against him but he still refused to let go. "I want to see Julie tonight." Because he wanted to make sure that he was okay. Finally he pulled one hand away from Joshua, loosening his grasp so that he could put his thumb in his mouth.
Joshua nodded. "You will. But first you need to eat and we need to clean you up. You look a mess." And he didn't want to scare the other boy. The reality of the situation was really starting to settle in and as the microwave signaled that the soup was warm, Joshua had to sniffle back a few tears as he went to get it. Taking it over to the table, he sat down with Miah in his lap and stirred it.
Once they were settled on the seat he just leaned against Joshua and refused to turn at all so that he could eat. Jeremiah sucked his thumb, his hand pressed against his face as he closed his eyes and started to relax. The comfort of being with his brother again after such a long time was going to put him to sleep.
He let Jeremiah cuddle for a few moments before he turned him around so he faced the table. "I know you're tired, baby, but you've got to get something in your belly." Scooping up a spoonful, he put it gently in Jeremiah's mouth. Josh knew how to deal with stubborn little brothers. This wasn't exactly the same situation, but the same loving firmness applied.
Having to put his thumb down made him fuss until Joshua replaced it with the spoon and he just swallowed down the soup was ease. The soup was chicken noodle and it was easy to go down so he sipped it off of the spoon and then leaned back against Joshua again.
Joshua fed him until the whole bowl was gone and he placed his free hand on his stomach. It was warm and he smiled, relieved. "Good boy," he murmered before standing up. "Bath now? We'll get you all cleaned up and then we can go find Julian, okay?"
Instead of protesting, he just nodded and laid against Joshua again. He was uncomfortably full, which was how he was used to being since he had gotten to Wolf Haven, but not it wasn't something that he liked. He felt sort of sick but said nothing. He wanted to take a bath and then go to sleep with his brothers.
He hiked up the stairs and into the bathroom that he'd been using. He was eager to get Jeremiah's clothes off to check him over, convince himself that they hadn't injured the boy more than what was obvious. He ran the water and made it nice and hot.
When Joshua went to set him down to undress him he started whimpering a little and just held onto his shirt as tightly as he could. "Don't put me down. I wanna hold you." which is what he said when he wanted to be carried.
Jeremiah was like velcro and Joshua sighed. He wasn't going to force the boy, so instead, he knelt down next to the bath, all the while still holding onto him. "Skinnacat," he said as he tugged Jeremiah's shirt off, wriggling it between them until he could chuck it on the floor. He left the boy's pants alone and reached for a washcloth to scrub gently over Jeremiah's face.
Jeremiah closed his eyes and scrunched his face up as Joshua washed him off. He was covered in dirt and beneath the layers of it there were dark bruises on his skin, mostly from being grabbed too roughly and just sort of pushed around. His elbows were scraped and there were other scratches all over. "Just wanan be dirty."
Joshua nodded. "All right, all right," he said quietly, giving Jeremiah a kiss on his forehead. "You can be dirty for awhile longer." It wasn't imperative to get him cleaned, even though Joshua's mothering instincts were in overdrive and all he wanted to do was clean and feed the boy.
Jeremiah curled up against Joshua and he closed his eyes, calming down now that they were sitting there together. The bath was hot so it was steaming up the air in the bathroom and he curled in closer to Joshua, calming down enough to start to drift off in his arms.
At least he'd gotten some of the dirt off. "Can we at least get you into pajamas?" He asked as he drained the tub and stood up to carry Miah into the boys' room. He rummaged through the top drawer and found some PJs in Jeremiah's size.
Miah let go of Joshua put him down long enough to strip him the rest of the way out of the clothes he'd had one. He was really filthy when he was completely undressed. Beneath the dirty and filth there was the distinct smell of urine and vomit that was stronger once his clothes were off.
Joshua wrinkled his nose at the smell. It wasn't so much that it was foul but what that foul smell told Joshua about how his little brother had been treated. "Are you sure you don't want a shower? I'll get in with you and wash your hair." He'd done that before, just all three of them in a quick shower after they'd been playing in the mud, or snow.
"Kay." Jeremiah liked having his hair washed so he agreed to the shower. Just so long as Joshua stayed with him he didn't care. "Just let me hold you." If he had to be put down in the shower, fine, but for the most part he just wanted Joshua to keep a hold of him.
Joshua wanted that too. He felt like if he didn't keep Jeremiah in his sights, he'd lose him again. He'd been like that with Julian for awhile too, though it wasn't as severe as in this case. Grabbing the pajamas, he plucked Miah back up and headed to the bathroom again. Shucking off his own clothes, he picked the boy up and got into the shower, turning the water on quickly. It was warm and felt good and he felt satisfied to watch the grime from Jeremiah's skin wash down the drain.
The dirt and filth washed off of him, but the bruises stayed on his skin as he was wiped clean. Now that he had calmed down a little bit he moved with Joshua and let him clean him up, though he always kept one hand on his brother just to make sure that he wasn't going anywhere.
He scrubbed the boy's hair and then rinsed him off, appreciating the scent of clean rather than torture clinging to Jeremiah. He was careful about the bruises, and logged each one so that he could keep a watchful eye on their healing. Cleaning himself up briefly, he finally turned the water off and picked Jeremiah up to wrap him in a big towel. "Isn't that better?"
Jeremiah nodded and he just shuffled closer, all wrapped up in the little towel, so that he was pressed up against Joshua's legs. He leaned against him and just sighed. "Sleepy."
Putting him swiftly in his pajamas, he carried Jeremiah to bed. Julian would come in from wherever he was soon, he was sure and until then, he decided to let Miah drift and nap.
Curling himself up to Joshua as close as he could manage, he wrapped his arm around his hips and he clung to him tighter as he pressed his face up against Joshua's ribs. He was out within a matter of minutes, completely gone from the world.
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