Fred and Dori: The Hard Part

[x-nothungry.livejournal.com]

No one really deals well, least of all a feral mutant with abandonment issues. (Backdated to Sept 25th Cause I'm Stupid)



Doreen was up in the treehouse fiddling with her phone. She had brought blankets and a pillow and some blankets for Monkey Joe and was getting ready to hunker down for the night. She had brought her homework with her and a flash light and sat up reading comics the best she could, her homework off to the side, mostly done.

Food was coming.

She liked food.

Monkey Joe chased acorns in his sleep.

There was the telltale sound of heavy boots and heavy feet beating the ground as Fred approached, large basket of food in hand. As he approached, he saw the light of the flashlight in the treehouse and called up, his voice cutting through the calm of the evening, "Oi, Dori. C'mon down and eat a little."

Doreen poked her head out the window, "Can't you bring it up here?" she asked, in the dim light her eyes had a slight red shine to them. She didn't need the flashlight to see, it had just been for a bit of extra reading light. "I could meet you down halfway and then you could come up here."

Fred winced, and smiled as he scratched the back of his head as he looked up at the much smaller mutant, "Uh...Dori? I, uh, am a little to heavy to really, uh...be a safe treehouse occupant..."

"Oh... um... okay, I'll bring down a blanket then. Do you need a flashlight? I brought a flashlight because it makes reading a little easier but I don't really need a flashlight because I can see just fine right now and I'm really hungry and I hope you brought snickers or something," Doreen said, all as she gathered up the blanket and jumped down easily. She was a wild mess right now, but thought that was fine. You were bound to get stuff in your hair when you ran in the woods.

Fred watched as Dori descended. He'd been...out of it, since Johnny and JP had left, but Dori...he'd never thought about how she, or anyone else, really felt about it. His chest tightened a little at the guilt as he yanked a few of the aforementioned candybars from his pockets, "Callie packed you the real food. I took care of dessert. But eat some of the real stuff first."

"Dessert is real food," Doreen said, as she spread out a blanket. "We can have a picnic. Like, you know... a picnic...." her face fell and then she smiled, "I love picnics!"

"Dori." There was little in Fred's voice to suggest he bought it, "Stop that. If you feel bad, you're allowed. It's okay." Fred set the basket down and sat on one of the corners of the blanket, taking off his coat and offering to Doreen.

"No.... no no," she said, shaking her head at the coat, "I don't need to coat, but thank you very much. It's not cold out here. And I don't feel bad. Not really overly bad," worse things had happened in her life lately, she could deal with this, she reasoned. "What did Callie pack? Does it have apples? Strawberries? Apples that look like strawberries or strawberries that look like apples?"

Fred looked for a bit...then sighed a little, "Uh...apples I think, yea...and some bread and meat for sandwiches..." Fred began unpacking the box and placing the contents across the blanket.

"Yay!" Doreen said, sitting down, "I'm so hungry. It's crazy, how hungry I get," she said, thinking back on what she had eaten today. Trying to remember just how many times she had raided the kitchen. She couldn't. Monkey Joe came down, drawn out of sleep by the smell of food and sat down beside her.

"Thank you for bringing it out. Was Callie busy? I mean, I'm glad to see you, but I was wondering if Callie was going to bring it, you know?" she said, "Or if you both were. Since you and Callie are together a lot and it's really, really cute..."

She paused and then stuffed her mouth full of something so she could make herself shut up. The boy she liked had left. She knew it wasn't the case but she couldn't help remembering the promises that no one would ever want to date the rodent. She hoped Vic's mom was okay, so he could come back soon.

"She's....doin' school stuff," Fred finally said simply. He didn't really want any food and, while the wind was blowing away from Dori, he lit up a cigarette and pulled off of it deeply. Why was everyone suddenly interested in what he and Callie were doing? "I could get her though, if ya want..."

"No, it's okay. I don't mind that you're out here. Are you hungry? There's lots here," Doreen said. And though she could eat it all, she wanted to leave the option open to share.

Fred almost reached for a sandwich, before his shoulder gave a small flash of pain as his muscles spasm, which he covered by dragging off his smoke. Seemed to hurt more when he ate, "Nah, I'm good."

Doreen didn't notice, if only because the smell of smoke and food were taking all her attention right now. And truth be told she wasn't being the most considerate. Though she was giving pieces to Monkey Joe. That was nice, she thought. "This is really good," she said with a full mouth. "Please tell Callie thanks? I thought she'd just bring me a sandwich or something."

Fred smiled and nodded, "Yea, 's not a problem. Feelin' better?" he said as he removed a RedBull from his jacket and cracked it open, "I know it's not the easiest, people leavin' I mean..."

Doreen paused and looked down at the table cloth and then smiled, "Oh no, I'm totally fine. Really."

"You're a worse liar than Callie, Dor." Fred said after a beat. He threw back more RedBull and handed one of the Snickers to Doreen, "Serious."

"I'm not lying! ...Well, not totally... I mean, I am okay like physically and stuff," Doreen pointed out, pouting. And then covering said pout by stuffing her face with snickers.

Fred watched her, smiled, then handed her another candy bar, "I know, Dor. No one, uh, beat you up But I also know you're sad and, if you don't wanna talk about it with me, that's fine, but...talk to someone's all I'm saying..."

"...Yeah. Sorry... uh... I... Vic... um...." she didn't reach for the candy bar, instead pulling her knees to her chest. Great, she was starting to cry. That was SO mature.

Fred barely concealed a wince. This he wasn't really good at. He held out one of the sleeves of his jacket, "Hey, uh...here. For, your, uh...your face..."

"Don't want to get it dirty," Doreen sniffled without looking up that much. She just knew her eyes would start getting puffy and she already had enough of a complex about how she looked going on. "But... thanks... though," she managed. Oh crap, she WAS crying.

"I...uh...you want me to get Callie, uh, maybe...?" Crap he was awful at this...

Doreen shook her head, "No," she sputtered, "I... I'm okay... sorry. I don't mean... I mean..."

Fred slid across the blanket, and draped one of his massive arms almost over the entirety of the smaller girl, "Hey...uh...it's all gonna be alright, okay? Ain't the end of the world or anything..."

"But people keep leaving!" she managed. Oh, she had been trying so hard not to start crying!

Even Fred knew it was no use talking at this point, he just tightened his grip a little on Dori as she let it out. When she'd calmed slightly, he said very simply, "Yea. And people'll keep showing up, I wager. And people'll keep gettin' hurt, or hurtin' each other, or gettin inta' trouble. 'S the nature of people, Dori. The important thing is how you are with them when they are here."

"Bu...but I liked Vic," she admitted, wiping her eyes with her arm. "Like liked like."

"Yea, I liked him okay t-oh..." Fred got the meaning of her words mid-sentence, "Hey, I, uh...I know it doesn't seem like it, but...y'know, uh, those kinda feelings...uh...it still ain't the end of the world..."

"But... I mean..." Doreen sputtered and tried to get to a point where she could talk, "I... never really liked anyone before and..."

Fred sighed and smiled slightly, despite the situation, "Would, uh....would it help if I tell ya you'll feel that way about someone else again?"

"Yeah...but no one is going to feel that way 'bout me. I mean, I know how I look," Doreen said, sniffling again, "I'm sorry, I sound so stupid."

Fred spoke a little more sagely now, "Hey, I felt the same way for a long time. I mean, I ain't never winnin' no pageants, Dor." Fred smiled a little as an old memory creeped into his head, "...till a...friend...of mine...taught me different. And later, when I came here, I met Callie and..." Why was his life such a minefield of topics he didn't want to talk about? "Anyways, don't ever feel ugly, Dor. Don't let anyone make you feel that way, specially yourself."

"Yeah, you have Callie. You guys are sooooo cute," she tried to smile as she said it. But it was true.

Fred got a bit of a sour look on his face, "I ain't never been nor ever will be cute, Dor. Them's fightin' words."

"But you two are cute together!" Doreen said.

"We're-I mean we are-I mean as two people-" Fred sputtered, then sighed, "I'll agree with ya on one thing: Callie is real cute."

"You two together though, it's so cute!" Doreen said, "Like when you watch movies or when you two just sort of snuggle on a couch," she said, her voice hitching. She would love to have a boyfriend to do that kind of stuff with. "You guys are both so cute."

Fred just stayed quiet for the time being, silently pulling and exhaling from his cigarette...

"You guys are," Doreen repeated, wrinkling her nose a bit. The wind had changed slightly and she could smell the smoke, "And you guys are totally lucky."

"Luck's got nuthin to do with it, Dor." Fred said as he stood up and offered Dori a hand, "Hey, c'mon. Let's get you inside. It's getting cold out here."

"....Okay," she muttered, since she doubted Fred would let her get away with sleeping outside, no matter how much she wanted to. And she didn't want to try to out stubborn anyone right now. She stood up slowly, you didn't have to worry about cutting Fred so she could actually grab him, "I still wish I was lucky."

And that Vic (and Johnny) hadn't left.

"Trust me: I know it don't seem like, but it will be just fine." Fred gathered up the blanket and basket and stray food, and pointed himself towards the house.

"Yeah....fine." Doreen echoed, following. "Totally fine." The treehouse would be there tomorrow.