Re: Gotham: Jake & Clem
[The whole damn place smelled like South. Clem didn't even do it deliberate. It was things layered, and even with her only being there a few weeks now. Magnolias and limes and things that smelled of the bay, ozone and real green, with Chanel No. 5 spread over. It was her momma's scent, and she and Lore both got bottles every year while growing. It made them feel like belles when they were small, smelling pretty, and Clem recreated it without thinking any; it just was.
She heard the boy walk in, even over the singing from the man on the iPhone, but she didn't turn fast as she wanted and look at Jake like missing him was something in her bones, even though it was. Clem didn't love easy, and she didn't love well, but she did love loyal. One or two folks, and they got every last bit of that living in her, and Jake got the lion's share since Lore took her bit to the earth.
She waited on him to round the couch, figuring she remembered being his age and getting glomped fast by some relative ready to kiss cheeks and hug on too tight. And she expected him to be real wired. She was a fall-down wreck after zombies, and for her it hadn't come with the conflict of seeing a daddy that'd mostly gone missing for years on end.
So, she waited, and when weight dipped the couch at her side, she turned her body some and looked on over. Her smile was like something blooming in spring, and it made her look young as May. She hugged him, then, but she tried to keep it from being clinging. One kiss to his temple, and she drew back, fully expecting him to go on squirming over it.]
You're a sight for sore eyes like you wouldn't believe any. [She looked him over now hugging was done.] You grown like a weed.