[ He's surprised, somehow. Maybe he shouldn't be. Jesse's reactions have been understanding. Patient. She'd been through this before. Maybe not to this same degree, but she acted like she knew how to react. It surprised him that she never looked at him with judgment, even when he was doing and saying crazy things.
Maybe one day, he won't see those harrowing images whenever he looks at things that were mirrored by the Dark Presence, drawing from his own experiences. He doesn't like seeing them, and he doesn't like imagining the looks of worry people around him are giving him. It's not pity or concern that he wants. Hell, he doesn't even know what he wants. It's something he has to figure out.
Jesse offers a suggestion for what he should order, and he offers her a small, somewhat strained smile in return. ] Don't worry about it. I- [ I don't know how to do this. ] Why don't you and Steve get something? I bet you're both hungry. [ He should be, but he just can't seem to get past this particular hurdle.
He stiffens at the sound of the bell at the door, and at the sound of the door opening. The sounds here are so different from the ones that he'd been forced to grow used to. In the Dark Place, certain sounds heralded certain threats, and he'd gotten to know a lot of them. The transition is jarring, to say the least. A ringing bell isn't a sign of his impending doom, but he has to remind himself what it is a sign of: something innocuous and not harmful.
Maybe that's the way he should look at this. Instead of viewing food and drink as something he can't remember how to approach, he should look at it as something else that will help ground him. It's more or less what Jesse said. He'll have to at some point, and it'll help when he does. Reframe the problem until it stops being a problem. ]
All right, but you should still get what you want. [ Just because he's having difficulties adjusting doesn't mean he expects people to go out of their way for him.
At her next words, however, he straightens up and brushes a few stray hairs out of his eyes. ]
You will? [ Leave it to a writer of stories to be immediately interested in someone else's story more than anything else. ]
no subject
[ He's surprised, somehow. Maybe he shouldn't be. Jesse's reactions have been understanding. Patient. She'd been through this before. Maybe not to this same degree, but she acted like she knew how to react. It surprised him that she never looked at him with judgment, even when he was doing and saying crazy things.
Maybe one day, he won't see those harrowing images whenever he looks at things that were mirrored by the Dark Presence, drawing from his own experiences. He doesn't like seeing them, and he doesn't like imagining the looks of worry people around him are giving him. It's not pity or concern that he wants. Hell, he doesn't even know what he wants. It's something he has to figure out.
Jesse offers a suggestion for what he should order, and he offers her a small, somewhat strained smile in return. ] Don't worry about it. I- [ I don't know how to do this. ] Why don't you and Steve get something? I bet you're both hungry. [ He should be, but he just can't seem to get past this particular hurdle.
He stiffens at the sound of the bell at the door, and at the sound of the door opening. The sounds here are so different from the ones that he'd been forced to grow used to. In the Dark Place, certain sounds heralded certain threats, and he'd gotten to know a lot of them. The transition is jarring, to say the least. A ringing bell isn't a sign of his impending doom, but he has to remind himself what it is a sign of: something innocuous and not harmful.
Maybe that's the way he should look at this. Instead of viewing food and drink as something he can't remember how to approach, he should look at it as something else that will help ground him. It's more or less what Jesse said. He'll have to at some point, and it'll help when he does. Reframe the problem until it stops being a problem. ]
All right, but you should still get what you want. [ Just because he's having difficulties adjusting doesn't mean he expects people to go out of their way for him.
At her next words, however, he straightens up and brushes a few stray hairs out of his eyes. ]
You will? [ Leave it to a writer of stories to be immediately interested in someone else's story more than anything else. ]