Jack the Ladle (jack_of_ladles) wrote in blackdawn_ic, @ 2024-02-10 13:26:00 |
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Entry tags: | jack legend, jesse legend, jonah lovel |
Who: Jonah, Jack, Jesse
What: Jonah wants to help his brothers through their grief.
When: Early January {backdated}
Where: Legend Main House
Rating/Warning: med/grief, crying, sadness
Jonah had run to the Legend compound as soon as he heard the news. He didn’t care if he was risking rift sickness or whatever. His brothers were in pain and he didn’t know if he was wanted there or not but he was going to them. He was going to be there for them.
The whole place seemed depressed. Jonah didn’t feel the energy, the happiness, the sense of a home that he normally felt. He walked through the halls of the house, trying to sniff out his brothers. It took a few turns and back tracks before he found Jack in the medical area. Jonah hesitated. He hated the smell of this place. It reminded him… no, this wasn’t about him at all. He peeked into a room.
“Jack?” Jonah asked softly.
—
Jack had actually been resting on a stool in front of a desk, updating the medications list on a few papers so that Gabe would know what he had done when he woke up. But he hadn’t gotten much done before having to wipe at tears and find a tissue. He leaned on his elbows with a sigh and rubbed at his face and forehead. This was rough.
The voice wasn’t immediately recognized with his thoughts so far away, but he lifted his head to find whoever it was. He blinked, then pushed to his feet, “Jonah! When did you get here?” He moved toward his brother to immediately pull him into a tight hug.
—
Jonah stepped closer to Jack and wrapped him in a hug. He had no idea what he was supposed to be doing here. He didn’t know how to comfort his brother but he wanted to be there for them all the same. He hugged Jack tightly.
“Not long ago,” Jonah said, when Jack let go. He wasn’t going to initiate the end of the hug first, “I came as soon as I heard. I’m so sorry, Jack…” he trailed off. How did he ask if anyone was okay?
—
Jack held on for a long time to that hug, then finally took a deep breath and pulled back from his brother, “Thanks for coming. We’re uh… not so good. Jesse and Alasdair were hurt, too. I wasn’t with them… I was with Fen at a different party, so… I feel bad having not been with them at the time. Not that I would have been much help, really.” He shrugged and finally made himself stop talking as he glanced around, his voice starting to crack at the end.
—
Jonah took Jack’s hand and gave it a squeeze, “I’m glad you weren’t there. If you were hurt or…” Jonah trailed off then shook his head, “I’m glad you are unharmed. Is Jesse okay? You said hurt, is it bad?”
Jonah pulled Jack into his arms again, hugging him, “If it’s okay, I’ll stay here a few days. I’m here to help you, Jesse, anyone in whatever way you guys need.”
—
“No, instead I get to take care of them,” Jack answered quietly as he glanced back at the infirmary again. “Jesse will be okay, he was hurt pretty badly trying to protect everyone, but he’s a werewolf and I’ll make sure he rests. We can go see him if you like?”
He hugged on Jonah again, appreciating the sympathy and closeness, “Of course that’s okay. I’ll just run it by Greyson later. He’s kind of our acting Alpha until we settle things. It’s good to see you, Jonah.”
—
Jonah frowned when Jack said Jesse was hurt pretty badly. He hesitated then asked, “Is it safe for you guys to be here? I mean,” he hesitated again, “You’re my brothers. I don’t want to lose either one of you.” Not yet. Not for a long time. He hugged Jack again.
Jonah nodded, “I can talk to Greyson. I get it if he doesn’t want me to stay and have it pack only. But. Just let me know how I can help, please?”
—
Jack actually gave an amused huff at the question, “Nowhere’s safe around here. Boone will be coming to finish off the job now that Seth’s gone, but I’m not leaving the Pack or our home. We will do our best to keep him out of our territory and that’s all we can do. So… no, it’s not safe.” His hands lifted to rub at his eyes and more tears forming there, absolutely dreading running into Boone and whoever had brainwashed him or whatever.
“We’ll talk to Greyson together, I’m sure he’ll be okay with you staying for a bit.” He glanced around the infirmary, “Uhm… let me finish what I was doing, should only take a minute. You wanna see Jesse after? I think he was moved to his room. And as for helping, my brain is a little fried… but I think we could use a volunteer to watch over the infirmary while others are sleeping? All you have to do is come get me if someone wakes up and needs anything.”
—
Jonah frowned. He didn’t like to think of his brothers being anywhere that wasn’t safe. He would ask them to come home with him but, honestly, he was still couch surfing. Maybe he really should find a place of his own. But, aside from that, Jack said he wasn’t leaving. They wanted to stay here. Or at least Jack did, which was decision enough.
Jonah hugged Jack again as he saw those tears. He let go and nodded, “Whatever you want. I’m here for you and Jesse and whatever you guys, the pack, whatever, needs.” He could let Jack finish up. He could watch over the infirmary. He would do whatever was asked of him.
—
Jack let go of him again, taking another deep breath to steady himself. He nodded, “Okay, just one minute.” He motioned at one of the waiting chairs for Jonah to take a seat if he wanted to, then went back to the desk to lean over it and write down what he needed to into each chart. He forced his brain to work enough to think ahead and link things together, making notes with his more limited training (when compared to Gabe’s). When that was done, he moved to the beds to put the charts back into their little holders on the beds, check a few dials, and a few numbers, and then finally came back to his brother.
“Okay. No red flags. You wanna go see Jesse? Or are you tired? We can get you a room right away?” Always a caretaker.
—
Jonah nodded and took a seat. And fidgetted. And tried not to move around too. And tried to be quiet so Jack could work. He was so diligent! How could he focus for so long? Jonah wiggled in his seat. He pulled out his phone and checked for messages. He swiped through his apps. It was taking forever. It was probably like five minutes but it felt like forever.
When Jack was finally done, Jonah jumped up to his feet, “Hey. I’m supposed to be here to take care of you and Jesse. So have you eaten today? Or drank enough water? You want to go relax and I can find you some food?” Someone was cooking here, right? There was always someone cooking. Uh, Jonah could try? PB&J sandwiches for all!
“What do you need?”
—
Jack blinked at the questions, honestly trying to remember the last time he ate something. Water he had done, but… when? The thought of eating something, though, made him feel nauseous. His nose wrinkled, “I don’t think I could eat anything right now… but… I probably should. Jonah taking care of the caretaker.”
He drew in another deep breath, then slouched a little, “I think I’m just tired, really. Maybe we can bring something little to eat to Jesse, too?” He felt and looked exhausted all of a sudden, now that everything and everyone was settled and there was nothing left to do but take care of himself, down at the bottom of the list.
—
Jonah put an arm around Jack, “Of course. You’re my baby brother. I’m supposed to take care of you,” he paused and in a soft voice, “I’m sorry I wasn’t able to do that before. I’m sorry I wasn’t around but I’m here now.”
“Why don’t you go find Jesse and I’ll bring the both of you some food?” Jonah offered, “We can curl up after and try to get some rest?” If that would help. He really didn’t know how much he could do for his brothers but he had to do something.
—
Jack’s arm slid around Jonah as well as they left the infirmary and stepped out into the hall. He shook his head at the apology, “Stop apologizing… we’re all three sorry we didn’t find each other sooner, but we have each other now. And we aren’t letting go again.” He kissed on Jonah’s cheek, then slowly let go of him.
“Yeah, I’ll go see if Jesse is in his room. Thanks, Jonah, I really appreciate your help,” he squeezed on his brother’s arm, watching him with teary eyes, absolutely looking ready to collapse and rest for a while.
Jonah would probably be a few minutes, so he crept his way through the quiet house to get to Jesse’s room and knocked lightly, leaning into the door, “Jesse? It’s Jack.”
—
Resting is what he should be doing. Resting is what his body and the pack were telling him to do. But how could he rest when there was such a void left in the pack? A void that he would somehow have to fill. Each time he tried to relax despite the pain of his wounds, his mind started racing- hateful doubt creeping in and telling him that he could never be half the alpha Seth was.
Jesse sat on the edge of his bed, his body aching and screaming at him to lay back. Elbows resting on his knees with his head in his hands, had he been more alert he would have noticed someone approaching. But as he pressed the heels of his palms against his eyes and rocked slowly- a soothing motion he’d done from childhood when stressed- the knocking caused him to jump. He quickly moved to the door and opened it, looking hollow with dark circles under his eyes as he gazed down at his brother- a small, broken smile pulling the corner of his lips, “Hey.”
—
Jack’s heart broke all over again at the sight of his brother’s grief, his face crumpling into sorrow. With a sniffle, he tossed himself at his brother and hugged him tight, crying into his shoulder quietly. They had been doing a lot of crying over the past few months… Jack wasn’t sure how to stop right now. He should be telling him that Jonah was here and was on his way up here soon, but he couldn’t gain enough breath to do so. So he simply held onto Jesse desperately and kept them near the door for now if Jesse tried to move them to close that door.
—
As soon as Jack put his arms around him, that smile faded and Jesse allowed himself to feel the grief and guilt he’d been trying so hard to smother. He held his little brother tightly and dipped his head down into the crook of his neck. While he thought he’d cried all the tears he had left, more flooded forth with a shuddering sob. He wanted to tell his brother that it was okay, that he was there and they would get through this but no words surfaced. So the wolf simply held the other and didn’t let go.
—-
Jonah went to the kitchen and gathered up food. He found stuff that would make a proper meal but also grabbed a bag of popcorn and chips, figuring that snacks were good too. His arms were full when he headed to where his brother’s room was, hoping he remembered the way, and paused at the door, seeing Jesse and Jack, in tears, holding onto each other.
He shouldn’t interrupt. He should give them their moment of being sad. They were mourning someone that Jonah couldn’t understand and what was he doing here? Insecurity smacked him and he took a deep breath in. He was trying to be there for them.
He stepped into the room and set the food down on the floor before approaching them. He hesitated for a second before hugging them both. His poor brothers.
—
Jack heard Jonah creep into the room and lifted an arm to invite him into their hug. He held onto both brothers tightly, desperately keeping them close as he cried.
It felt like hours of crying that probably only took a few minutes, but as he sniffled and calmed, exhaustion smacked him even harder. He had been working non-stop for two days in a row now, through grief and blood, but his brothers were here and he could lean on them for support.
He lifted his head to look them both over, “I suggest a puppy pile …”
—
Jesse was thankful to have his brothers there with him. To hold him and comfort him. To remind him that things would eventually be okay. His arms wrapped tightly around the two of them as they all stood there, squeezing each other and sobbing. Jesse pressed a kiss to each of their foreheads before nuzzling them affectionately. He appreciated that Jonah had gone to get them something to eat but a puppy pile sounded like just the thing they needed. They could eat later. He nodded slowly. Puppy pile. All the warmth.