"Hurts breaking, hurts being put back into place, and then hurts long and slow for a long time after. Then periodically in a thunderstorm twenty years later when you least expect it."
"Oh," Credence says. "I don't think I remember the first part."
The breaking. He was probably too young. He just knows the pain, the same
pain he lives now, and he doesn't even know if the bone has been set.
Metaphorically speaking.
Which is when Goldstein - not a nervous cat, just aloof, and selective about his affections - pads across the bed and jumps down, pushing his head under Quentin’s hand in an obvious demand.
"Sorry," Credence says on his behalf. He’s a little awed by his cat, doesn’t know how any creature can so easily demand physical contact from others.
These mortal concerns feel extremely distant, right now - though he's still
grappling with the fact that The Other Credence and The Other Shiro were
still close.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
timeasmymeasure
no subject
Date: 2018-02-02 02:34 pm (UTC)"I broke a bone once," Credence says, without a solid foundation in metaphors. "It was still pretty bad for a long time afterward."
no subject
Date: 2018-02-02 02:37 pm (UTC)Says Quentin, who thinks it holds up.
"Hurts breaking, hurts being put back into place, and then hurts long and slow for a long time after. Then periodically in a thunderstorm twenty years later when you least expect it."
no subject
Date: 2018-02-02 02:46 pm (UTC)"Oh," Credence says. "I don't think I remember the first part."
The breaking. He was probably too young. He just knows the pain, the same pain he lives now, and he doesn't even know if the bone has been set. Metaphorically speaking.
no subject
Date: 2018-02-02 04:02 pm (UTC)Agrees Quentin, with a soft sigh. Oh well.
"Think you could eat a bit more bread?"
no subject
Date: 2018-02-02 04:07 pm (UTC)"Okay."
He picks at it carefully, looking at the room around them.
"....your drawing came out looking good," he ventures, quietly. "In real life."
no subject
Date: 2018-02-03 02:04 am (UTC)He says, and looks around them.
"Do you like it? Is it comfy?"
no subject
Date: 2018-02-03 10:22 am (UTC)"The bed is nice," he says. "And - I like the windows. The rest will be good, when...it's done."
But the idea of actually starting work on it, energizing before the flood, feels absolutely insurmountable now.
no subject
Date: 2018-02-04 01:56 am (UTC)He agrees, with a muffled yawn.
"We'll get to it."
no subject
Date: 2018-02-04 12:36 pm (UTC)Which is when Goldstein - not a nervous cat, just aloof, and selective about his affections - pads across the bed and jumps down, pushing his head under Quentin’s hand in an obvious demand.
"Sorry," Credence says on his behalf. He’s a little awed by his cat, doesn’t know how any creature can so easily demand physical contact from others.
no subject
Date: 2018-02-04 03:14 pm (UTC)He says, obligingly attentive, turning to look at her and making a sharp sound when she turns into his fingers, starts purring loudly.
"God." Animals are so... unconditional when they like you. It almost hurts.
no subject
Date: 2018-02-04 03:20 pm (UTC)"I think he's a he," Credence says. "He doesn't like many people."
It makes him feel like a good cat-parent, that he likes Quentin.
no subject
Date: 2018-02-05 04:56 am (UTC)He checks, glancing over at him.
"Newt or Alec could."
no subject
Date: 2018-02-05 07:59 am (UTC)"Oh. Um - no, I haven't. He never leaves my room, do you think he needs...?"
Because while he'd feel terrible about filling the ship with unwanted kittens, he doesn't want to subject Goldstein to a procedure he doesn't need.
no subject
Date: 2018-02-05 08:28 am (UTC)He says, musing, but;
"One day you will leave here. You may not be able to get so safe a surgery where you end up."
no subject
Date: 2018-02-05 08:34 am (UTC)"...you're right." And he doesn't want Goldstein to have to suffer unnecessarily. "I'll talk to Mister Scamander."
no subject
Date: 2018-02-05 08:51 am (UTC)This to Goldstein, as he keeps scratching him.
"But Credence will take good care of you."
no subject
Date: 2018-02-05 09:00 am (UTC)Goldstein regards Quentin with mismatched eyes, then goes to sprawl over Credence's lap in a blatant display of favouritism.
"I should make sure he's supposed to be this big, as well."
He's never seen a Maine Coon before finding himself in ownership of one.
no subject
Date: 2018-02-05 01:11 pm (UTC)Agrees Quentin, feeling this adjustment is only fair enough, since he just arranged to get him castrated.
no subject
Date: 2018-02-05 01:19 pm (UTC)"I'm just glad he never talked to me."
That would have made this ongoing arrangement...strange. At least this way, Credence can imagine he's in possession of a never-talking cat.
no subject
Date: 2018-02-05 01:25 pm (UTC)He reasons, watching them.
"I like how you are with him. You're gentle."
no subject
Date: 2018-02-05 01:28 pm (UTC)Credence watches the passage of his long, thin fingers through the cat's thick fur.
"He didn't choose to be here. Or to stay. I just want to make sure that he's happy."
He has a lot of affection to give and very few outlets for it that feel...safe.
no subject
Date: 2018-02-05 01:34 pm (UTC)Says Quentin, and then draws in a breath,
"So- do you have a minute to talk something through?"
no subject
Date: 2018-02-05 01:37 pm (UTC)"I..."
Still feel a bit post-traumatic and delicate, but really, when does he not? Anyway, he's not busy by any definition.
"Yes, of course."
no subject
Date: 2018-02-05 01:39 pm (UTC)He says, and then makes a face;
"I had someone who I was picking just the right Christmas present for, too."
no subject
Date: 2018-02-05 01:41 pm (UTC)"Oh."
These mortal concerns feel extremely distant, right now - though he's still grappling with the fact that The Other Credence and The Other Shiro were still close.
"Um. Who - sorry. I shouldn't ask."
(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From: