[ Wu nods his head, pressing close against Mako's side. He takes a shaky breath ]
Yeah. Yeah. I'll be okay for her. She needs both of us! She's going to be okay, and we're going to be okay for her!
[ He is as resolute as he can be, and the pair of the weave their way along the boardwalk. Wu keeps his eyes out for her, and jerks at every small movement, thinking it might be a raccoon, but it isn't. He's getting more and more dejected as they walk toward the food.
The smell makes his stomach rumble, though. He's hungrier than he thought he was, but the hunger doesn't override his worry. ]
What do you think she'd like better? Funnel cake? Hotdogs?
[ Mako has to stop himself from snorting at the question. His legs are firming up underneath him, and it's getting easier to walk, easier to focus. Step one: find Fritter, so Wu stops panicking. Step two: find food, and real clothes.
Step three: figure out if this is permanent. If this is where they're really meant to be.
If it is, then step four: find a place to stay.
It's only the bare bones of a plan, but even that is enough to settle the roiling in Mako's belly, the rootless nerves that come with being as untethered as they are. Mako doesn't know what he was expecting, but this strange beach definitely wasn't it. He doesn't know how they're going to put down roots here, or even what kind of place it is. It feels like home. ]
You know her best.
[ Tugging himself back to the warm wood and the smell of food, Mako refocuses, looking down at Wu. ]
[ Wu meets his eyes, concern threatening to spill over into fear ]
I think she's a sweet, young baby who's probably terrified and I didn't take good enough care of her! It'll be all my fault if she's not okay, if she, she--
[ He can't even think about it. He can't think about if she drowned or got lost or hurt. It's his fault, thinking of taking a raccoon with him into that ocean, but what choice did he have? ]
I know her! I know her. I can think like her. Fritter, baby, please...
[ He takes a deep breath, trying to calm himself down. What would Fritter do? Where would she go? Considering that she's okay. She has to be okay. Something thrums in his chest, telling him that she's okay--
Wait.
Something thrums in his chest, and his eyes drop, because he can feel it. Really feel it. It's expanding from him in smoke and feeling and he should be scared, but instead that fear settles in him because this is
Fritter.
She forms in the smoke, clinging to Wu's robe, poking holes in it with her little claws, but he doesn't care. He doesn't care because tears are pricking at his eyes and she's here, she's safe and he wraps his arms around her, pulling her close as a loud sob rips itself from him. ]
Fritter! Fritter, baby, you're okay!
[ Warmth and love floods over him and that only makes him cry more because now he has his two favorite beings in the world with him, his family. ]
[ Mako knows this thing, this spiral where Wu works himself up all on his own, his fear getting the better of him until he isn't thinking rationally anymore. It's not at all a helpful reaction to a crisis, but Mako's dealt with worse. He curls his hand around Wu's elbow, intent on calming him down and telling him to focus because they're never going to find Fritter if he's standing here panicking, and they clearly can't do anything else until they do—
And then the smoke starts, and alarm replaces all of Mako's calm. It should be even weirder, except he thinks about stars and an endless frozen lake and furry limbs, the sharp scent of ice and snow in his sensitive nose.
He barely manages to get Wu's name out, manages only to get an arm around his shoulders as the smoke coalesces into a familiar shape, clinging and small, and Wu sobs and practically collapses into her. ]
Woah—
[ He's not sure if he's catching Wu or Fritter or both, but they're kind of a tangle of limbs, suddenly. Wu seems whole and alright, even though he's crying, and Fritter—it's definitely Fritter, Mako would know that face anywhere—is okay.
[ Wu's a little more than overwhelmed, holding Fritter close, feeling her little hands on him, feeling Mako's arms wrapped around the pair of them. He can feel love, actually feel it, and he doesn't know what to do with that. It fills him up in a way he's never felt before, like he's filled to bursting and the tears flow freely down his face, but he's laughing instead of sobbing now, and sprinkles Fritter's little head with kisses before turning to kiss Mako too, taking his lips in a hard kiss because he can't think of what else to do.
Fritter burrows against his chest, her fur soft and prickly against his skin, and it's perfect. For that moment, he feels perfect. ]
[ Mako usually doesn't like PDA quite like this. Not so sincere, not so vulnerable, not with so much feeling.
But Wu is crying and laughing and kissing him, and Mako can taste the salt-tang on his lips from the sea or his tears or both. He doesn't mind, really, too wrapped up Wu and relief and the slowly-sinking-in reality that they are here, that they made it. Fritter, maybe, makes it more real, her fur pressing familiar against Mako's skin as she wriggles between them. So instead of pulling away, Mako wraps his arm a little more tightly around Wu, pulls him and Fritter closer still, turns it into a proper kiss and pours all his relief into it. ]
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reddosmod) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
countryclub2021-08-09 05:25 pm
no subject
[ Mako squeezes his arm right back, keeping his own voice as level as he can make it. ]
We're gonna do our best, alright? Keep it together. She's gonna need you to be okay when we find her.
no subject
Yeah. Yeah. I'll be okay for her. She needs both of us! She's going to be okay, and we're going to be okay for her!
[ He is as resolute as he can be, and the pair of the weave their way along the boardwalk. Wu keeps his eyes out for her, and jerks at every small movement, thinking it might be a raccoon, but it isn't. He's getting more and more dejected as they walk toward the food.
The smell makes his stomach rumble, though. He's hungrier than he thought he was, but the hunger doesn't override his worry. ]
What do you think she'd like better? Funnel cake? Hotdogs?
no subject
Step three: figure out if this is permanent. If this is where they're really meant to be.
If it is, then step four: find a place to stay.
It's only the bare bones of a plan, but even that is enough to settle the roiling in Mako's belly, the rootless nerves that come with being as untethered as they are. Mako doesn't know what he was expecting, but this strange beach definitely wasn't it. He doesn't know how they're going to put down roots here, or even what kind of place it is. It feels like home. ]
You know her best.
[ Tugging himself back to the warm wood and the smell of food, Mako refocuses, looking down at Wu. ]
What do you think?
no subject
[ Wu meets his eyes, concern threatening to spill over into fear ]
I think she's a sweet, young baby who's probably terrified and I didn't take good enough care of her! It'll be all my fault if she's not okay, if she, she--
[ He can't even think about it. He can't think about if she drowned or got lost or hurt. It's his fault, thinking of taking a raccoon with him into that ocean, but what choice did he have? ]
I know her! I know her. I can think like her. Fritter, baby, please...
[ He takes a deep breath, trying to calm himself down. What would Fritter do? Where would she go? Considering that she's okay. She has to be okay. Something thrums in his chest, telling him that she's okay--
Wait.
Something thrums in his chest, and his eyes drop, because he can feel it. Really feel it. It's expanding from him in smoke and feeling and he should be scared, but instead that fear settles in him because this is
Fritter.
She forms in the smoke, clinging to Wu's robe, poking holes in it with her little claws, but he doesn't care. He doesn't care because tears are pricking at his eyes and she's here, she's safe and he wraps his arms around her, pulling her close as a loud sob rips itself from him. ]
Fritter! Fritter, baby, you're okay!
[ Warmth and love floods over him and that only makes him cry more because now he has his two favorite beings in the world with him, his family. ]
no subject
And then the smoke starts, and alarm replaces all of Mako's calm. It should be even weirder, except he thinks about stars and an endless frozen lake and furry limbs, the sharp scent of ice and snow in his sensitive nose.
He barely manages to get Wu's name out, manages only to get an arm around his shoulders as the smoke coalesces into a familiar shape, clinging and small, and Wu sobs and practically collapses into her. ]
Woah—
[ He's not sure if he's catching Wu or Fritter or both, but they're kind of a tangle of limbs, suddenly. Wu seems whole and alright, even though he's crying, and Fritter—it's definitely Fritter, Mako would know that face anywhere—is okay.
Well, that's.
Something. ]
no subject
Fritter burrows against his chest, her fur soft and prickly against his skin, and it's perfect. For that moment, he feels perfect. ]
no subject
But Wu is crying and laughing and kissing him, and Mako can taste the salt-tang on his lips from the sea or his tears or both. He doesn't mind, really, too wrapped up Wu and relief and the slowly-sinking-in reality that they are here, that they made it. Fritter, maybe, makes it more real, her fur pressing familiar against Mako's skin as she wriggles between them. So instead of pulling away, Mako wraps his arm a little more tightly around Wu, pulls him and Fritter closer still, turns it into a proper kiss and pours all his relief into it. ]