InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "life needs things to live"

Thomas Julian Kemp (asterismos) wrote in nevermore_past,
@ 2014-08-21 21:03:00

Current mood:	hungry
Entry tags:	jameson kemp, thomas kemp

WHO: Thomas and Jamie
WHAT: I'm a terrible person. There's no food in the house and it's cold. MUAHAHHAA
WHEN: Late December, whatever year means Jamie is five and a half
WHERE: Their tiny apartment
WARNINGS: Poverty, hunger, swearing

The sound of his sister's phone ringing and ringing and ringing was mocking him. She wouldn't pick up (he would find out later she and her boyfriend had skipped town for a spur of the moment Christmas together) and his parents were out of town.

Everyone was out of town or busy.

"Dammit!" Thomas yelled, throwing the phone onto his bed with force because it was an outlet for his aggression that wouldn't actually harm the phone. He needed that, dammit. He needed his sister to pick up.

He needed someone to help.

There in the middle of his room, Thomas bent his face down into his hands and he rubbed at his forehead. There was no money and hardly any food and he had no idea what to do. Jamie would eventually realise it was several hours past lunch time and Thomas was going to have to figure out something to tell his son.

Oh god, what was he going to tell his son?

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	flare_star 2014-08-22 05:49 am UTC (link)
	Jamie's eyes widened slightly, because that didn't sound good. Not even a second later, though, they were scrunched closed as he laughed and squirmed under his dad's kiss attack. "Da-ad!" he shrieked, giggling. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	asterismos 2014-08-22 06:19 am UTC (link)
	"Can't stop!" Thomas cried out, "must keep kissing!" He kept it up for a moment longer and then pulled back, ruffling Jamie's hair. "You're just too wonderful, I can't help it. Want me to sing the songs?" While they watched movies, sometimes Thomas sang along using funny voices. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	flare_star 2014-08-22 06:37 am UTC (link)
	"You have to sing the Oogie Boogie Song!" Jamie demanded, bouncing slightly in place. "Please? You do the voices the best." (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

asterismos
2014-08-22 06:41 am UTC (link)

"As you wish," Thomas said with a grin, and because he couldn't help it, he leaned in to kiss Jamie's cheek again. He was going to try to keep things upbeat here as long as he could.

They watched the movie, Thomas singing all the songs, including the Oogie Boogie song as requested. Between songs, he dialled his sister's phone number over and over again to no avail.

When the movie ended, Thomas glanced at the clock on the wall which read 5:15. Their breakfast had been at around 7 which felt like forever ago to Thomas. He couldn't imagine what it felt like to tiny Jamie.

After pushing rewind on the VCR, Thomas turned to his son and did his best to seem like everything was fine. "Want to watch another one?"

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	flare_star 2014-08-22 07:14 am UTC (link)
	The distraction of Nightmare had worked for a while, but now that he wasn't focused on the citizens of Halloweentown trying to make Christmas, Jamie remembered he was still really hungry. He'd been raised that whining accomplished nothing, but the growling was getting pretty hard to ignore. "Can we put it on after dinner?" he asked. "I'm kinda hungry." (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

asterismos
2014-08-22 07:21 am UTC (link)

Thomas breathed out shakily before forcing himself to smile again. "Uhm...okay, Jamie." He turned to face his son, reaching out to ruffle his hair again. "I have to tell you something though. I'm sorry, but dinner isn't going to be very big. Do you remember how the car broke down this week and I had to take it to the car doctor? That cost a lot of money and- And uhm, we can't go shopping again until I get paid next week. I'm sorry. I can make you some cheese and crackers though, okay?"

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	flare_star 2014-08-23 05:19 am UTC (link)
	Jamie couldn't help it, his face scrunched up slightly. Cheese and crackers didn't really sound like dinner, but he was so hungry, he probably would've eaten toast again and been happy. "I remember," he said. "But yeah, that'd be OK. My stomach feels all weird." (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

asterismos
2014-08-23 06:02 am UTC (link)

Oh, Jesus.

Thomas leaned in to kiss Jamie's forehead slowly, and he rested his head there for a moment before pulling back. "Come on, Kiddo," he said, pulling Jamie gently off of the sofa and towards the kitchen.

Once there, Thomas pulled out the crackers and the lone slice of cheese from the fridge. He set the kettle boiling so he could make himself tea, and then he pulled out three of the saltines so he could put half of the cheese on two of them. On the other one, he found a stray bit of peanut butter in a jar and spread some of that over it. There were more crackers, but if Anna didn't pick up her damn phone, they would need them later. Thomas didn't get paid for several days, but he didn't want to scare Jamie.

"Here, Kiddo," he said, handing a the plate with the crackers on it to his son. He doubted it would even slightly fill Jamie up, but it was better than nothing, right? Finally, he made himself some mint tea and headed over to the table. "I'm so sorry..."

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flare_star
2014-08-23 06:37 am UTC (link)

Jamie climbed up onto one of the stools, watching his father putter around the kitchen. He knew, even though he was still pretty young, that the plate in front of him was hardly full, but if he got upset, his dad would just get upset in turn, and the vicious cycle just continued.

So he smiled at his dad instead, and picked up the cracker with peanut butter on it. "It's OK, Dad," he said, biting it in half. "Do we have any milk, or anything?"

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asterismos
2014-08-23 06:42 am UTC (link)

Thomas chewed on his lip for a moment and then he said, "I can make you some." They had evaporated milk and mixed with water it would be kind of close. He rose and mixed it together before adding some chocolate syrup to take the edge off the taste.

"Here you go, chocolate milk!" he said, handing it over and feeling kind of proud of himself. "Drink it down and when you're finished you can take a bath, okay? No stinky boys in this house!"

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	flare_star 2014-08-23 06:57 am UTC (link)
	Jamie grinned, not even minding the slightly funny aftertaste. He ate his crackers slowly, sipping at his chocolate milk between bites to try and stretch it out. He stuck out his tongue at the mention of a bath, though. "I don't stink!" he said, all righteous indignation. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

asterismos
2014-08-23 07:15 am UTC (link)

Thomas grinned as he sipped his tea. As long as Jamie was smiling, he could ignore the fact that he was incredibly hungry. His son was all that mattered. "You're the smelliest munchkin," Thomas said with a fake serious look on his face. "I can smell you from out in the hall." Then he laughed and shook his head, "which is a lie of course, you smell delightful but you're still taking a bath because Daddy says so!"

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	flare_star 2014-08-24 04:32 am UTC (link)
	Jamie stuck out his tongue. "You know 'because I said so' isn't really a reason, right, Dad?" he asked, finishing the first cheese-covered cracker. "But fine, I'll take a bath. If you read some Brothers Grimm afterwards." (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

asterismos
2014-08-24 04:40 am UTC (link)

Thomas snorted and he grinned over at his son, "I don't think you're supposed to figure that out for several more years, so pretend you don't know that." He winked at Jamie and then drank his tea down quickly. He wanted to make himself another cup while Jamie was in the bath. It wasn't really a substitute for eating dinner, but maybe it could keep the pangs at bay for a few hours. "Of course I'll read to you before bed."

One bath, one cup of tea and several Grimm's fairytales later, the pair of them were on Thomas' bed, curled against the pillows.

"Ready for bed, Kiddo?" It was only about eight, but maybe sleeping was for the best.

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	flare_star 2014-08-24 05:00 am UTC (link)
	"Ms. Watson says it's because I'm preco- prec-" Jamie pulled a face. "She says I'm something, and then laughs a little bit. But OK." Once he'd finished his bath and gotten his stories, Jamie's brain was firmly in the 'time for sleep' mode. He yawned and burrowed himself down into the blankets. "Uh-huh," he mumbled. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

asterismos
2014-08-24 05:07 am UTC (link)

Thomas gazed down at his sleepy son, his expressing adoring. God, Jamie was so cute. "Come on, Munchkin," he said, standing and scooping Jamie up into his arms. "Back to your Munchkin cave."

He carried Jamie to his little closet-room and deposited Jamie in the bed, tucking him in. "Sleep well, okay sweetheart?" he said, hiding how nervous he was that Jamie was going to be unable to sleep because he was hungry.

Once Jamie was tucked in, Thomas headed back to his own bed and he let himself sink into it, exhausted and ravenous. He rubbed his stomach absently with his left hand while he curled his right into his pillow. He was pretty sure he would be unable to sleep, but it was more because of his worry for Jamie. If Jamie made any sounds in the middle of the night, Thomas was going to hear it.

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flare_star
2014-08-24 05:20 am UTC (link)

"Love you, Dad," Jamie said, turning onto his side and quickly falling asleep.

When he opened his eyes again, it was still dark outside. It took him a minute to figure out that he'd woken up because his stomach was growling at him again. It was worse than it had been before dinner, and Jamie was pretty sure he could have eaten half a pizza by himself.

He crawled out of bed, but hesitated when he got to the door. His dad had even said there wasn't a lot of food in the house, and he wasn't trying to be selfish, really, but he was so hungry.

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	asterismos 2014-08-24 05:27 am UTC (link)
	Thomas had been drifting slightly, somewhere between awake and asleep. When he heard movement though, he shot out of the bed and rushed towards it before spotting his son hovering around the door. "Jesus, Jamie-" he breathed, one hand over his heart. "Honey, what are you doing?" He was a little too worried to notice the distinct chill in the air. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	flare_star 2014-08-24 05:42 am UTC (link)
	Jamie jumped at his father's sudden presence, but it was too late to back out of it now. "My stomach hurts," he said in a small voice. "I was coming to find you." (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

asterismos
2014-08-24 05:47 am UTC (link)

Thomas felt his stomach freeze and he went to go hug Jamie tightly. "Oh, honey. Okay, come here-" He rose and took Jamie's hand, leading his son into the kitchen. Once there, he simply lifted Jamie onto the counter and fetched him a cracker. "Eat that, okay? I- We don't have anything else."

He chewed his lip and glanced around the apartment. Why the fuck was it so cold?

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	flare_star 2014-08-24 06:29 am UTC (link)
	Jamie sat on the counter, swinging his feet and nibbling on his cracker. It wasn't great, but it was better than nothing, he thought. A shiver passed over him suddenly, making his whole body twitch. "It's cold, Daddy," he said, wrapping his arms around himself. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

asterismos
2014-08-24 06:34 am UTC (link)

"Yeah it is," Thomas muttered. "Just a second, okay?" He left the package of crackers, mostly empty now, on the counter beside Jamie and headed across the room to the heater. He rested his hands against it and found it bone cold.

"Oh don't you do this to me," Thomas groaned, kneeling in front of it so he could check the dial. It was on full-blast and nothing obvious seemed to be out of place. He twisted the knob a few times to see if it would give the familiar answering 'woosh' sound it usually did while turning on, but it was silent.

"Darnit," Thomas said out loud. Fuck, piss, ass, hell, shit, damn, he said inside. "I think the heater's broken." So now they were out of food and freezing. Great.

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	flare_star 2014-08-24 06:45 am UTC (link)
	Jamie took another cracker, he couldn't help it. He figured his dad wouldn't mind too much. He could feel his eyes widen slightly. "That's bad, right?" he asked, even though he already knew the answer. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

asterismos
2014-08-24 06:49 am UTC (link)

"It's okay, it's going to be okay," Thomas said, turning to find Jamie eating another one of the crackers. He couldn't even blame Jamie at all. He was frantically trying to think of a way to make this better. How could he think he was worthy of raising Jamie if he couldn't even keep him warm and fed. The fact that Jamie had been both up until now was completely forgotten, lost to guilt. His son was cold and he was hungry and Thomas was a terrible human being.

"Okay, honey, we're going to make a fort," he said, trying desperately to make it sound fun. Or at the very least, not absolutely terrible. "We'll use some blankets and then sleep inside the fort and it'll keep us warm, okay? Go put a coat on?"

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flare_star
2014-08-24 06:59 am UTC (link)

Jamie perked up at the idea of making a blanket fort. "Cool!" he said, hopping down from the counter and running to find his coat. He tugged it down from the coat tree, took the hat out of the pocket, and pulled it on over his hair.

His coat was big and puffy enough that he could bounce off walls with a bit of impunity, which he did, mostly to amuse himself, as he headed back to the living room.

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