collaborative_daredevil | Slavery RP Post XVIII

"I was due to go tomorrow anyway." He said with a yawn. "Nest or bed both sound good."

Bed, Barba decided after his obvious exhaustion, and led them all to the car. Ivannya hung on to Toffee, and Hendrick close by, and Jamie held Hendrick's hand and cuddled up to Barba on the way to the outside. Barba got in first, and let Ivannya gently push Toffee in next, and curled next to him, still sniffling and red-eyed. She looked awful, nothing like her normally composed and beautiful self, and he knew he'd have to keep an eye on her for the next week. And all of them, Christ almighty.

He put a possessive arm around Toffee's waist immediately, and let Jamie get in last, rubbing at his eyes and looking profoundly sad. Hendrick had the look he didn't often have--the one he wore when they lost an important case, when he'd gotten sick and had to re-take several final exams, and when he'd felt responsible for Ivannya's attempted murder. (They'd found out later that neither Hendrick nor Barba could have done anything more to prevent it in reality--but that stopped nobody from feeling terrible.)

When they got home, they got out slowly, and Jamie opened up the door and headed to the kitchen to assemble a tray of treats--what looked like brownies, ice-cream sundaes in bowls, and fresh fruit as well. Hendrick looked lost, and Barba firmly directed him to go and get the biggest tablet they had and set up the cupcake show that Toffee had asked for so meekly. Ivannya, him, and Toffee went up immediately, Ivannya stripping out of her beautiful dress she'd worn earlier and curling up into sweatpants and a sweatshirt and one of Barba's ancient t-shirts, one soft with age and riddled with holes.

Barba eyed Toffee. "Put on whatever makes you feel most comfortable," he said. "I'll get your bracelet."

He changed into one of the nightgowns Ivannya had given him, the bottle green one, and wrapped himself up in his Find Your Fade shawl.

"Ivannya, while Hendrick isn't here, would you mind if I did his sweater before yours, just without letting him know, to help reassure him that I know he's a fellow pet?"

Ivannya snuggled into the bed immediately with Toffee, curling up with him. "I don't care whatever you do," she said quietly, glad to see he loved the cheerful yellow shawl, how warm and snuggly he looked. "It's your thing. I won't be upset at all, and making Hendrick feel good, I'm always down with that."

"Good." He nuzzled her gently. "I'll just take measurements from one of his existing favourite pullovers."

"His actual favorite is this really old navy sweater, but he almost never wears it because it's got a few holes and it's got these lace sleeves," she told Toffee softly. "In law school he learned to dress like a free man, he's been doing that more and more ever since. You helping him remember to let himself be a pet at home--you're good for our family," she said quietly. "You fill a cold gap with your warm self."

"Show me the old sweater then." Toffee said. "I'll find something I can do that's fit for a proper pet."

Ivannya rolled over and wriggled, moving and pulling it out from the storage under the bed. "It's like this," she explained, giving it to Toffee. "See, the blue here is all dark, and the lace sleeves are all bright and glittery. But it's got so many holes, it's like forty years old." The sweater was soft, even the glittery part, but it had holes galore, and the elbows needed darning, and the hems were fraying. Hendrick took it out and stroked it at times, but then he put it back away with a sad face too.

(OOC: the sweater is essentially Old Romance by Joji Locatelli, but with a navy blue body and cobalt-blue lace sleeves, with silver lurex in the sleeves as well.)

"Oh, that's lovely." He'd been expecting a pullover to take measurements from, but he could do a cardigan instead. "I'll have to get the measurements later, but do you think he'd like a cardigan with a lacy yoke instead? Or maybe one with lace panels at the front instead of on the sleeves?"

(OOC: Toffee is thinking of Lush http://tincanknits.com/pattern-HUK-lush.html or of adapting Windswept into a cardigan http://tincanknits.com/pattern-HUK-windswept.html)

"Front panels would be gorgeous on him, and I think he'd like...I think it would make him feel seen," Ivannya said slowly and thoughtfully. "And you're really skilled, I think you could make it so pretty and soft he'd want to wear it all the time at home. And I'm not sure he'd care if it was a cardigan or a pullover."

(OOC--those patterns are gorgeous!)

"Mmmm. I think he's coming now, need to put the sweater back."

Ivannya nodded and folded it back into place delicately, and then wrapped herself around Toffee again as Hendrick came in, carrying the largest tablet they had, Cupcake Wars loaded up and ready to go, and Jamie with a whole tray of treats. Barba came in after in sweats, and beckoned them in, Hendrick fussing to get the tablet placed perfectly on the roll-in tray at the end of the bed, and Jamie put the tray on their laps and slid onto the end, pushing Hendrick closer to Toffee.

"I love you," she told him quietly, snuggling up to him as he sat on the other side of Toffee. "You're still good and I love you, Hendrick."

"Yes, still good. Never was scared of you." And he nuzzled Hendrick's neck comfortingly.

Hendrick wrapped his arms around Toffee's waist, kissing him deeply and sweetly, trying to convey his absolute gratitude. "You are so sweet, so good," he murmured. "So perfect. I'll be so good to you forever, I promise. And you--you bring us all together. And you remind us to be better too. I work harder, I try to be kinder, because of you," and he kissed him again.

"Want to be good for you all." He said with a smile, kissing Hendrick back.

"You focus on getting better," Barba told him as they passed treats around, Ivannya gnawing on a bar of peppermint bark, and himself taking a cup of fruit and whipped cream. "That's your job right now, and I expect you to do your best," he said firmly. "And, when you encounter problems, or need help, or want us to change something, to bring that up. It's the same when Jamie needed to replace the dishwasher, or if Ivannya's having flashbacks or panic attacks--you help us help you."

"When one of us is suffering, we're all suffering," Jamie said quietly but fiercely. "We're a family. You have to act like it. I know you were alone before, and it took extraordinary courage and strength to survive like that, but you aren't alone now."

Ivannya wordlessly nuzzled him, humming under her breath--a soft, soothing song, a deep lullaby.

"Will, I promise." And he kissed everyone in reach before starting on his own cup of fruit and whipped cream.

Jamie settled back with the rest as they began to distract themselves with the show. He had to admit, watching bakers make baffling decisions and ruin cupcakes (who could forget how moist beets were?) or brilliantly succeed with them (he wouldn't have thought to put white chocolate and taro together at all). He thought about tomorrow and how that would be for him in particular--he could start teaching and cooking with Toffee immediately in the morning, by showing him how to make the perfectly fluffy scrambled eggs that the whole family loved when he bothered to make them. (It involved dijon mustard and shredded cheddar.) And of course Toffee had physical therapy, and if Barba intended to go with him they might come back and have lunch together afterwards, or Toffee might need a nap.

And then he could just sit and relax with him, let Toffee knit as he folded the enormous pile of towels that would be dry in the morning, and they could watch Pets reruns together. It abruptly occurred to him that perhaps Toffee had never seen the beloved sitcom Pets, which involved six pets living in the neighboring households (with their owners rarely being seen) and having various adventures, and he felt sad and then joyful at the idea that he could introduce Toffee to it. It was always sweet, had been really quite scandalous when it aired for its warm and beautiful portrayal of the pets, and neatly avoided many of the worst consequences that could have befallen the friends.

And if Toffee hadn't seen it, it was okay--he could just show it to him, and hopefully they could share more together, grow closer together. And then, instead of dragging him to a pet-park or exhausting him, Jamie firmly planned to watch for signs of sleepiness and respect them. He felt like an absolute idiot for not realizing how he wasn't helping Toffee with what he really needed at all, and he intended to rectify that right away.

He put his cup aside as he finished it, then cuddled in with the others, glad that he'd had enough rest not to need to immediately slip away into sleep.

"Matt likes this sort of thing because he doesn't need to worry about any of the people in shows like this."

"He doesn't have to think that they might be having a hard time, or he doesn't worry about the characters?" Ivannya asked to clarify. "I like some of the shows we watch because nothing really bad ever happens to the characters--like in Pets. Not all the books or shows are like that though."

"Doesn't have to worry about the competitors, because nothing really bad's going to them."

Ivannya nodded thoughtfully. "Do dramatic TV shows upset you then, like my Russian soaps? Or the ones where characters get killed and stuff?"

"Not really, but they're not good for relaxing to." He clarified for Ivannya.

She nodded. There was quiet for a time.

"We never did take you to somewhere safe so you could tell us what happened before you were ours," Jamie said quietly. "Do you want us to?"

"Uh...not just yet. Maybe, in a month of so?"

Toffee: Overload and Burnout

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Toffee: Overload and Burnout

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Toffee: Overload and Burnout

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Toffee: Overload and Burnout

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Toffee: Overload and Burnout

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Toffee: Overload and Burnout

Re: Toffee: Overload and Burnout

Toffee: Overload and Burnout