Chapter Text
The all too strong smell of the acetone in the polish remover beside her on the dresser was not entirely unwelcome. Of course, she was quick to screw the cap back on once the previous layer of polish was gone, but it still served as a rather lovely reminder to her. One of a peaceful childhood, even if it had just been her and her mother where she had never worried about going uncared for. Even on those stretches of time where her mother, a nurse working in Missoula was gone for far longer than anticipated, there was still someone there. Typically her aunt, a woman that she loved just the same as her mother.
Now unscrewing the top of the quaint little bottle of color, deep blue and metallic, she couldn't help but smile fondly, recalling the many late Friday nights with her aunt that would be spent with a Disney movie and a nice little bottle of nail polish. Both always joked how her aunt could get a job at a nail salon with how often she had painted hers. How she could make so much money that she could help pay their bills and her mom could quit being a nurse and find a job that was closer.
Perhaps she would have liked to spend more time with her mother, but she didn't hold it against her and just enjoyed those memories even more.
As far as she knew, she was one of very few who had genuinely had such a peaceful time of youth. Of course it wasn't perfect, but there had been no horrible tragedy, no real rebellion, no wants to be a completely different person. Sad nights after a breakup and stressing over schoolwork, of course, but weren't those experiences wont for everyone?
Even through remembering the times that weren't so perfect she smiled. It had been quite some time since those memories were created and she had come a long way, but in a lot if ways she was just the same. Never vain or prideful, but always intending to look her best without overdoing it. Redoing her nails once a week was simply among that little routine she had.
She had only just finished the first coat on her left hand when she heard the door creak open and calm footsteps approach, accompanied by a gentle sigh. The sounds only served to make her grin widen. “I was wondering where you had snuck off to.” The comment was gentle but held a little bit of teasing in the tone, and a little hum left her as he came around, bringing a chair over. That was a sign to her that he had finished his work for the time being and they would be given a moment of peace. She relished those moments where she knew that John would not be pulled away from her.
In some ways it was like her mother all over again, having him stolen away for long stretches of time for work. Just the same though, she didn’t mind. It only made these moments all the sweeter.
It was as she was putting the brush back into the bottle to let it be for the time being that one of his hands reached for left one, taking it carefully so as not to smudge any of her work, admiring the still somewhat translucent color. “A bit unorthodox for you, isn't it?” John wasn't wrong there. Usually it was always light, pastel even, matte colors, but here was just the opposite. “I just figured a little change would be good.” She moved her hand to his arm, showing how the color would very nearly match the cuffs of his typical button up when she was done. “It's just been sitting around after all.” She nodded towards the bottle as she spoke again, and it was his turn to grin at that. “It looks good.”
“I thought you might like it.”
To her words he nodded slightly, reaching for her other hand now to simply hold it, though he did begin sweeping his thumb over the back of her hand. She had been here, been with him long enough to know every last little tell of his. The gentle affection like he was displaying now said that his confessions had gone well; without much struggle either she would bet.
Upon first arriving here, she had been subjected to the very same thing, though there was truly very little for her to confess. Miniscule things here and there, and in the end John had decided that based on her stories of only doing the minimum in school simply because she just didn't want to do the work that sloth was her sin. Still, when he tattooed it onto her, it was small, resting just above her left shoulder blade and had remained there rather than being carved away. That much she was thankful for, though she understood the reasoning for it; supported him and his ideals.
A glance down had her humming softly though, head tilting ever so slightly. “You missed a spot.” Her words were soft as she moved her hand now so that she could sweep her thumb over his own, stopping so that the tip of her nail stopped at the corner of his, pointing towards a little fleck of dried blood that had somehow escaped his meticulous cleaning. John hardly had the time to let his smile fade before she had carefully ran her nail beneath his, clearing away the spot with ease.
She knew what he did in vivid detail and yet he still tried to shelter her from the viscera of it all. She had seen far too much blood in her lifetime according to him. She had seen far too much blood in her lifetime for it to phase her in the slightest, according to her.
Hope County was not the peaceful place it once had been.