[ota] aggressive normalcy

[thepupthatmatters]

There's still a lot to learn.

But that's okay. He's starting to feel properly that it's okay. It's okay that he's still getting used to walking with a knife in his boot. It's okay that he's adjusting to which Fives to call by their name and which will all but slap him if he doesn't say 'sir.' It's okay that his greatest visible skill is an incredibly efficient knack for getting paperwork filed and delivered, and that the skill he's been progressing best at is classical piano.

Yes, the man he came here to find is an overwhelming force of nature. Yes, watching his father Challenge to Ten had absolutely sent him, briefly, through half a crisis. But that's okay too.

Because he's here. He's here, and here is the right place to be.

It's the right place to be while he works at filing cabinets. It's the right place to be while he steals mouthfuls in the kitchen and whispers in more comfortable languages than English with other former Outsiders. It's the right place to be while he gets his ass handed to him in the training fields and forces himself back up onto his feet.

And it's the right place to be while he steals out on an afternoon off to just skip rocks over the newly thawed lake. Because it's really nice to know that skipping rocks and throwing knives are both starting to feel equally normal.

Comments

[heartshy]

Jinx was trotting by - she trotted lots of places, it being a sad requirement of lack-of-height - when she saw that nice boy skipping rocks. On the lake. That wasn't freezing anymore.

(All things sweet and fluffy she loved warmer weather.)

Patting her pocket to ensure the existence of her handy Pez dispenser, Jinx changed the course of her trot (they wouldn't mind if the envelope got there a little later, right? It was just something small. She thinks. Probably.) to put Aleksei in her path.

[thepupthatmatters]

He'd grown up with long, cold winters. It absolutely had made him more and more appreciative when spring returned--or when spring even just started to return, really.

The simple fact of a warm day was enough to have him smiling, but glancing over his shoulder to catch sight of the young Heart who had supplied him with cocoa to get through the winter has him lighting up even more.

"--hey."

[heartshy]

Jinx beamed at him, waving her hand happily. Hello hello! The beginning of Spring was so exciting, wasn't it?

Oh wait. Not words.

Chewing her lip and staring at the clouds in the sky to lighten to pressure, she said "pretty out," in the biggest voice she could muster.

[thepupthatmatters]

She doesn't always start with words. That's all right. Words still aren't his forte here, but she's always got pretty clear meaning in her smile.

She also smiles a lot. That's not something everyone does--and absolutely something everyone needs a little bit of in their life.

"Very pretty. And-- warm, now. Good weather to go out visiting."

[heartshy]

It was so nice when she found people that didn't demand words. So much easier to find them in the first place, without pressure to use them.

Widening her smile a hair more, she bobbled her head in bubbly agreement.

Jinx offered her precious Tinkerbell Pez dispenser dispenser to him - celebratory agreement candy?

[thepupthatmatters]

Her smile is enough. Smiles are entirely beyond language.

Her beaming keeps his own grin in place, even at the inexplicable offer. "--what is it?"

[heartshy]

She stared at him for a moment, like she didn't understand the question, corners of her mouth drooping from their smile. Slowly, Jinx's eyes widened, and she goggled at him.

He... he didn't know about the magic that is Pez?!

Her eyes still wide with shock, her face managed to brighten up with pure excitement. This is your lucky day, dear friend! She gets to introduce you to pure, sugary joy!

[thepupthatmatters]

It looks like a tiny brick of sugar. But she's grinning with such excitement that he can't help grinning back.

"It's good?"

Look, he's trying it. He's not certain the hit of flavoured sugar is really worth beaming about, but hopefully trying it will be enough.

[heartshy]

Jinx bobbled her head in a yes, taking her own piece and crunching it between her teeth.

It was sad, that no one else really understood the joy that was Pez. Ah well, more for her.

[thepupthatmatters]

Well. Past the lips and over the gums.

It takes a moment of crunching before he pushes for a proper smile.

"It's-- very sweet."

And chalky. But she probably isn't beaming about chalkiness.