Jacklyn Baker (called_jack) wrote in the_colony, @ 2010-10-25 22:43:00 |
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Entry tags: | ^ week 21, jacklyn baker, leo parker, | jack and leo |
Week 21 - Thursday
Characters: Jack Baker, Leo Parker and Jamie Walker
Location: The Farmhouse
Summary: Jack is thrilled welcome Walker back
Rating:
It was going to take Leo a long time to get used to being unarmed. Reaching for his shotgun had become a knee-jerk reaction to pretty much every kind of spook or surprise. Now, being without it for the first time in months, the man felt fidgety and in desperate need of a cigarette. He didn’t dare go outside; not only was it cold, but it was also getting dark and it’d be far too easy for someone to pick him off if he stood defenseless on the front porch.
Finally, after much persuasion, Leo relented to a game of hide-and-seek with Walker, but only after the boy promised to be quiet, not to knock on any locked doors, and not to hide too well. A few seconds later, Walker dashed off, running past the kitchen and into an empty hallway where he disappeared into the shadows.
Which was right about the time Jack came down the stairs. She knew there was a lot of argument about Leo being back, but as far she could tell, Leo had never done anything actually bad to any of them. Besides, Leo took care of Walker. Anyone who did that couldn’t do bad things. Jed didn’t. Not to mention, she was super excited to have Walker around.
The game of hide-and-seek didn’t work when Bosie went racing down the stairs to chase after the boy. Hearing the sound of claws against the floorboards, Walker wheeled around, afraid for only a second before he recognized the face of the dog on his heels. He laughed out loud and grabbed hold of Bosie’s velvety neck as he was outright licked to death and eventually knocked down on his rear.
“Bosie!” Jack called between laughs, calling the dog off him. With one last lick, Bosie ran back to her. “Hi, Walker!” she yelled once the boy was revealed from behind the dog. Walker lowered his arms from where he’d been trying to shield his face, but his face was one of pure joy when he saw Jack’s face.
“Hi!” The boy scrambled to his feet and ran over to meet her. He was nearly as excited to see Jack as he had been when they finally found Alice. Walker nudged the dog aside to wrap his arms around the older girl.
Jack didn’t so much answer back as squeal. Even with her cast, it was easy to slip her arms behind Walker and hug him back. “I missed you! And you’re talking!”
Walker nodded with a grin and took a step back to look at her. Everyone wanted to hug him to death and everyone always seemed happy he was talking. It made him smile. His eyes lingered on Jack’s casted arm, and his eyes got bit with concern.
“You look like a robot!” he said. Over his shoulder, Leo stood with his back against the wall, watching from the end of the hallway. He didn’t want to interrupt, but he didn’t want to miss the little reunion either.
Jack giggled. “You think?” She glanced down at the orange cast. “I fell out of a tree.”
“Did it hurt?” Walker asked, his little brows drawing together in concern. Carefully, he reached out and felt Jack’s cast.
“Yeah...” Quickly, she tried to make it sound not so bad. “It doesn’t really hurt anymore and eventually, the doctor will take my cast off. Everyone signed it, look.” Walker squinted his eyes and read the many names, before a thought struck him with another shock of excitement.
“Can I sign it, too?” he asked.
“Yeah! I’ll find a marker, go wait for me somewhere where there’s light, okay?” She glanced over at Leo for permission. He offered her a smile and nodded his head, waving her back in the direction she came from.
“Come on, let’s go sit down.” Leo tapped Walker on the shoulder to get his attention and led him into a living room. The two sat in the dim light on an old but comfortable couch, though Walker barely managed the ability to actually sit down.
There was a Sharpie in Jack and Molly’s room and she rushed off to get it, clomping up and then back down the stairs. She took a seat on the end of the couch next to the boys and uncapped marker. “Bosie, lay down. Here you go.” Bosie obediently laid down at her feet and Jack held her arm still for Walker. Leo reached down to pat the dog on the side while Walker snatched the marker out of the girl’s hand.
The boy carefully cradled Jack’s arm, his expression one of determined concentration as he started scrawling his name in an empty space on the cast. He even stuck his tongue out a little bit, for good measure. J-A-M-I-E, he wrote and then quickly capped the marker. “There,” Walker added with a satisfied nod.
Jack looked at the print on her cast and then back over at Walker in surprise. “Your - your name’s Jamie?” The boy looked just as surprised for a moment, then he nodded his head.
“Yeah,” he answered off-handedly. He’d learned to write his name in school, and even though he’d adopted the name he’d been given when Leo found him, he wrote ‘Jamie’ out of habit every time. It didn’t matter to him, either way, what everybody called him. Walker inched a little closer to Jack and looked up at her. She had changed since they last saw her, surprisingly. She was older now. More feminine.“You look pretty.” Leo half-grinned and leaned away from the other two, resting against the arm of the couch. He’d been thinking the same thing.
Jack smiled, pleased. Little kids always told the truth about what they were thinking so she knew the compliment was genuine. “You’re sweet.” She reached out with her good hand to ruffle his hair. “I’m glad you’re back.”
“Me too,” Walker said, smiling as his hair was fluffed after Alice had made sure it was combed nice and straight. He sank back into the couch and let out a long, uninhibited yawn.
“He’s tired,” Leo explained quietly from the other end of the couch. “I don’t know what’s kept him going as long as he has, to be honest.”
“That’s okay. I should go to bed soon, too.” Jack stood up from the couch and Bosie rose with her. “Night, Walker.” She leaned forward and hugged him again. “Night, Leo.” Walker didn’t say anything this time, but he easily returned the hug and pulled away for another yawn as he rubbed his eyes.
Leo smiled a little; it was a relief to have at least one person in the household who didn’t appear to hold a grudge against him for leaving. The couch was so comfortable, compared to the other places they’d been sleeping, so when Walker curled up against him it only made sense to just spend the night right there. “G’night.”