pain_train | SANCTUM INBOX

yeah people are weird relationships are dumb fuck that stuff you make sense at least

ice cream makes everything better you would know that if you weren't afraid of it

okay! <3

[And she's ready to go in a few minutes, leaning on her cane on the doorstep with Jellybean, wearing a little harness, on her shoulder.]

Edited (just fixing the formatting) 2015-03-22 02:37 (UTC)

[And true to his word, it doesn't take more than five minutes before he's pulling up to the house. It still feels strange to not be going back to base at the end of the day, but it's getting easier each time.

There's a cursory wave thrown to the two before he pulls off his helmet, but then he stops, stares for a moment.]

Harness.

[Cat...harness?]

It's weird, maybe, how happy seeing Maine makes her, after she's been in such despair earlier on the week. But maybe she just needed the reminder that life still kept going, or that there was one person she could still protect in her own, inadequate way. Maine believes in her when she can't manage to believe in herself--in his own very particular way--and that's been a solid reminder to keep going. She's still sad, while she's working, but if he believes it's important and might accomplish something, she can at least feel better that he thinks so.

She lumps slowly forward to meet him, Jellybean balancing on her shoulder. "What?" Oh, the cat harness. "Well yeah. So she can't just wander off and get in trouble or get hurt. Cities are dangerous for kittens. Some of the books Delta sent me said so."

Well alright, that does make sense, but it doesn't make the entire concept any less ridiculous in his opinion. How the kitten is putting up with the harness is beyond him, and he frowns a bit as he reaches over to scratch behind her ears. That also begs the question, why in the world would anyone have a kitten to begin with if apparently everything is dangerous for them? Well, 'cities' is a very broad term, so it has to mean a lot.

It also begs a far more important question, one that has him looking over Wrath with a critical, concerned eye, "walking?"

That gets a little trilling purr from Jellybean and a bright smile from Wrath. Which turns into a rueful grimace at his question. "Probably shouldn't," she admits. "Guess I should call an autocab since I'm not supposed to be on combat models either."

Life sucks and is unfair, what else is new.

Then her expression goes a little crooked, but fuck it, she is happy to see him, and they're okay, right? Or at least he's okay. "Hug?" He probably doesn't need one but she sure does, just the reassurance. Hopefully he doesn't think she's too much of a pussy for that.

It's an unfortunate truth, and while he could offer to carry her, that might be far more insulting than intended. He still frowns though, but doesn't argue the point; she's not a child, she knows her limits better than he ever could. Though knowing and following are certainly two different things entirely, he knows that from experience.

The request, however, has him staring for a moment, blinking in slight confusion. Certainly a drastic change from the previous mentions, that's for sure.

It shouldn't be difficult still, especially considering all they've been through and how unintentionally intimate they've come to be with each other. It's his brain though, the thought grinds and sparks and it's still hard, even after all this progress that's been made.

In the end though, he leans down and wraps his arms around her, though his breath does catch slightly at first. It's easier as time goes on though, even easier when Jellybean decides that she'd rather meander up his arm than stay still. It's alright. It's probably, definitely alright.

At this point, it's more an issue that it still just doesn't occur to her to even ask. She sighs, nose wrinkling. "It's dumb. Is just so close, it'd take less time to walk there than it would to call a cab and wait for it to show up. Walking would be way more efficient." Or just giving up and getting a float chair. Even she's not sure why she's so resistant to the idea; she could certainly have it tricked out to go very unsafe speeds.

Wrath turns her face so she can snuggle against Maine's chest for a self-indulgent moment, eyes closed. Shouldn't have asked, but this makes her feel about a million times better because yeah, everything is okay. "Thanks, Maine," she says quietly. "I know you don't really like this stuff and I appreciate you doing it for me." To soothe her probably stupid worries.

She doesn't hold him to it long, though, since it was kind of a dick thing to do on her part to ask in the first place.

"Six." It's quickly becoming the answer he can always fall back on. Because if she's okay, then he is too, and if this is something that helps, then it's something he can do. For as far as they've come, it's a huge step that he can even entertain the idea of physical contact for that long, let alone carry it out, and that's so, so significant in ways that he can't put into words. Partners. Partners look out for each other, this is looking out for her. And it's easier and easier every time. He'll never be completely alright, but he can at least try.

As she pulls away, the kitten latches onto his sleeve, and now he's stuck with a stubborn Jellybean who's very loudly letting the world know that she's not happy, and that helps to break away some of the lingering feelings in the back of his skull. Wrath raises a good point though, and there's a moment where he fights internally on whether or not it's a good idea-

"Carry?"

Well, fuck it.

Jellybean is the best, that's all there is to it. Wrath grins. "She knows who her daddy is," she says teasingly.

... Oh yeah. Carrying is a thing. Is it weird that the thought of Maine carrying her bothers her a lot less than the continued question of if she should finally give up and just get a float chair. Though really, Maine is more badass and dangerous than even the most tricked out float chair could be. With the added bonus that he's Maine, which automatically makes him safe because he always has her six.

Yeah, it sucks that she can't get anywhere under her own power right now. It's frustrating. But Maine's her soldier, and it's always been a thing to pick up your brother soldier and carry him if necessary, if he's injured. So maybe this isn't different. Maybe she can feel okay about it. And she has to get there somehow. All the bitching and poor attitude in the world isn't going to change that, so she should try to be positive.

Other than... She already knows hugging isn't easy for him. Carrying her that far? Hasn't she already burdened him enough with her pathetic need for reassurance? She looks at him thoughtfully, a bit of concern showing. "Are you sure?"

He's not sure when he's become a dad figure to a small kitten, but whatever, it's probably just a turn of phrase. What's more important is adjusting said kitten so that she's not crying anymore, which means summarily pushing her up to his shoulder. He definitely doesn't understand at all.

But yes, he's very sure, just not certain if the offer is insulting or not. Wrath is capable on her own, he doesn't want to intrude on her sense of autonomy. But the offer still stands, and he nods in response; he's got her back, it's no trouble at all if she's fine with it.

She nods once, definitively. "Okay. Let's go, then."

And he gets to pick her up however he's comfortable with it. Didn't she already admit that she kind of likes it when he carries her around? Hopefully it's not too weird, but he doesn't seem to mind.

The easiest way would be to just sling her up in his arms, but that's also perhaps the worst possible thing for her back, and if she's already having trouble with walking, that's certainly not an option. Which leaves-

There's a bit of shifting to be done, Jellybean is transferred to one hand despite her protests on the matter, and then he's taking a knee, shrugging his shoulder to motion her over. Back, he can definitely do back or shoulders, that shouldn't jar her too badly.

She'd been kind of expecting the sling up in the arms. This? A million times better. She actually goes squee. And without too much difficulty, she gets herself settled on his shoulders.

It's a million times better because this time? She's not drunk.

The moment he straightens up, there's another happy squee, followed by, "I'm so tall!"

And with that, Jellybean is summarily passed off to Wrath, because he's not about to deal with a fussy kitten when he's got something to balance like this. It should be absolutely ridiculous, in some aspects it really is, but whatever, who's going to tell him that to his face?

"Where?" He has no idea where this shop is, and wandering in a random direction isn't going to be helpful.

Wrath gets Jellybean settled by sticking her into her shirt. "Okay--forward!" She points down the street.

And she's trying, really hard, to not squirm with glee because this is amazing. This is the tallest she's ever been in her life. "Everyone looks so tiny!"

Though she is competent to give him directions for the two turns (a right and a left) to get to the ice cream shop.

If one thing is for certain, it's that he can't quite understand Wrath's enthusiasm, but he's sure as hell not going to kill it. Things have been rough lately, if she's enjoying this, then she should be damn well able to enjoy it to the maximum of her ability. It's good to hear her laugh again, might bright a hint of a smile to his own lips.

She's right though, it's not a far walk, and it's easy enough to ward off any staring because even with a small, laughing woman seated atop his shoulders, he can still be an intimidating motherfucker when he wants to be. It does beg the question if they'll be allowed into the shop like that though, and so with a resigned sigh, he takes a knee again outside of the building.

Getting down is a little more awkward, and she has to hold on to Maine's shoulder very tightly. Once her feet are firmly on the ground and she's got her cane sorted out, she has to stick one hand down the front of her shirt to extricate Jellybean from her bra.

"So. Pepper jelly," she says, putting Jellybean on Maine's shoulder since that's where she wants to be. "You have to learn how to make ice cream badass."

This is the second time she's brought this up, and he's just as perturbed as the first. Distracts himself by scooping the kitten into his hand and letting her cling to his chest, despite her protests otherwise.

Seriously, pepper and ice cream? Nothing about that made sense. It has to be a cultural difference that he's not getting, or something like that.

Wrath would be skipping if she could. Ice cream! She hasn't had ice cream in forever! She makes a show of going over the case, though she knows what she wants already. Everything looks amazing.

"A large dark chocolate ice cream in a chocolate cookie bowl, with the grade one pepper jelly." See, she's even getting the most mild so it won't make Maine breathe fire. And if he likes chocolate he can dig under the jelly. Well. Assuming she's going to share. (Of course she is.) She grins at him. "What's Jellybean want?"

Since you know. Apparently space marines don't eat ice cream.

It's like a kid in a candy store which...actually is pretty close to the actual situation, all things considered. It's also fairly obvious he doesn't quite belong in the shop, judging by all the stares he's getting.

All things considered, it should be pretty funny. Jellybean is instantly fascinated by the new surroundings, blinking and looking at the case, but he's just pointed her in one very specific direction. It's pink. It's very pink. Unnatural pink. And totally for the kitten, of course.

Okay, she can totally buy pink for Jellybean, since pink is the best and the kitten knows what's up. The fact that she's pretty sure it's actually for Maine leaves her a little surprised. Well, maybe Maine has realized pink is the best, too.

"And a cone with two scoops of super strawberry blitz," she says, reading the label. "For the kitten," she adds, just so everyone knows that it is totally not for Maine, no way, nuh uh.

Boys.

She hands the chocolate to Maine, actually, since that comes out first, and takes the cone. There, she's got his back. "There's some benches outside, let's go there."

Hey, there has to be something to protect his overly fragile male ego, and if it has to be using a small kitten as a shield, then so be it. It's ridiculous, yes, but he's not going to give up that particular coping mechanism quite yet. Life is already a lot different than back home, he has to have some sort of semblance of control over at least one thing, right? Probably too deep of thoughts, especially when he's handing over credits for ice cream.

Success, strawberry acquired, though it's not immediately relinquished to him. Fine, he can deal with that, it's probably better that way anyways, all things considered. With a slight nod, and an attempt at balancing both the bowl and Jellybean with one arm, he follows her out of the shop, stopping only to offer said bowl to her.

Wrath keeps going all the way to the bench, since it's easier to do the ice cream trade sitting, without a cane occupying her hand. Instead of immediately taking the bowl, though, she grabs the spoon and digs out a lump of the dark chocolate ice cream, and even gets most of the pepper jelly off of it. Then she tilts the spoon toward Maine. "Bite , and then I'll hand your ice cream over. Unless you think your mouth is too wimpy."

Yeah, she did just call the honor of Maine's mouth into question there.

There's a disgruntled look shot in Wrath's direction; it's not his, it is most definitely for the kitten. Yes, he's still content to hold onto that very flimsy lie to help soothe his fragile male ego. That does beg the question though if cats can even eat fruit. Not something that he'd thought to look up before going out, so that's going to be difficult to explain away if there's some issue.

With a huff, he leans down, shooting another look to her, but does take a bite. Cold, sweet-

And immediately recoils, because there's suddenly pain, and he'd not been expecting that. Hot, ice cream shouldn't be hot this isn't something he signed up for at all.

Wrath observes this reaction and wrinkles her nose. "Wow. I even get the most mild kind of pepper jelly. But it's okay if you don't like it. Not everyone does." She carefully relieves Maine of the bowl before he can drop it. "Just. Uh. Never let the guys in the mess dare you into a hot sauce contest if you didn't like that."

Wrath? She wins hot sauce contests. She makes grown men weep.

She'd like to start eating her ice cream, but now her hands are full. "Here's your--uh. Jellybean's cone." The cone, with its two scoops, is bigger than the kitten in question.

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