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⋆⭒˚𖠋𖠋𖠋*.⋆
John feels…different. He’s felt young before, around 10 or so, but now he can’t help but feel younger.
He put off acting like a kid until he was alone, but sometimes things just happen to slip though, like how he kept tugging on Abigail’s sleeve today. He’s distancing himself from her as of now because he noticed the annoyed look on her face. Mainly annoyed, but also mildly confused.
John heads to Arthur’s tent as though he’s sneaking, a game of his, despite the fact that everyone could turn and see him if they truly wanted to. John then peeks his head in. As of late, Arthur has been keeping his tent flaps down.
Arthur doesn’t notice him until around a minute later, looking up. His expression hardens and he demands, “What do you want, Marston?” John doesn’t know what to say, so he takes the wooden bear toy he’s been hiding and holds it up. Arthur’s expression relaxes and he gestures for John to come in. Neither one of them communicate or even look at each other, Arthur busy reading a book and John busy doing his own thing, but both are content with the other’s presence.
Kieran frantically ducts into Arthur’s tent and attempts to explain, “Arthur! Bill’s tryna talk to…me…uh.” Kieran tries to continue speaking, but the surprise he felt over John being in here distracts him and turns him into a stuttering mess. “Does nobody knock anymore?” Arthur complains.
Kieran replies, “With all respect, Mister, I don’t think you can knock on tent flaps.” Arthur stares at him for a moment, then turns away and heavily sighs. “Just stay in here a while,” he tells Kieran, always a bit rough around the man, but not out of malice.
Kieran sits next to John, who is watching Kieran with careful eyes. Kieran, however, avoids all eye contact. Unexpectedly, John grabs something out of an old, dirty satchel he found and places it in Kieran’s lap. Kieran looks at the wooden, half-broken eagle with wide eyes. “F-For me?” he asks.
“Jus’ give it back, or wh’tever,” John mumbles, going back to playing, albeit more discreetly. Kieran thanks him, noticing how John’s speech pattern has changed.
It doesn’t take long until Kieran and John are talking, then only a few more minutes for Kieran and John to start messing with the toys together. Kieran’s still a bit shy, but John doesn’t care as long as he has a buddy.
“John, quit bossin’ Kieran around,” Arthur interrupts after a while noticing how John keeps commanding Kieran where to put his character. Arthur doesn’t expect it when John quickly says, “Sorry.” Then, the two just continue messing around.
Arthur notices that Kieran has gone quiet, but he’s used to the feeling because whenever he regresses, he also goes quiet. After a while, he narrows his eyes and looks down at them. He hasn’t even been able to focus on his book for the past few minutes.
He awkwardly gets on the floor with Kieran and John, leaving his book on his bed. Arthur grabs John’s satchel, to which John protests. “Arthur, can I come in?” Hosea asks. John loudly answers for him, “Sure!” Hosea steps in, looking at the three of them. He realizes immediately what’s going on and tells the three with patience, “It’s time to eat, y’know.”
John replies with a simple and defiant, “No.” Kieran looks between the two of them, setting the eagle down.
“Is this, like, a club?” Kieran cautiously whispers to John. John thinks about this, then decides, “Yeah, I guess it is!” Hosea sighs, realizing that he may need to bribe them just to get them to leave. Thankfully, though, Arthur says, “Comin’.”
John complains, “What?! But we’re doin’ somethin’!” Kieran leans over and whispers something to John. John thinks it over, then comes to a conclusion. “We’ll do it for a cookie- No, two cookies!”
Hosea crosses his arms, deciding that two can play at this game. “Half a cookie,” Hosea bargains.
“One-third!”
Kieran whispers to John that one third is actually less than half, so John retreats, “One-half!!” Hosea sighs, smiling.
“Alright, half it is.”
༘⋆✿ ・・ 𓌉◯𓇋 ・・ •ᴗ•
John talked to Kieran the entire time. Poor Kieran had no clue what to say at first, but eventually managed to speak up.
John didn’t really have a pattern to what he said, he just kept talking. Abigail eventually told John to go take care of Jack for a while, so John did. He tried tugging Kieran along, but Kieran said that the kid keeps trying to sabotage him, so John left him at the table.
John forces himself to put on his adult face. “Uh, hey, Jack,” John said, crouching to meet the kid’s level. “What’re you doin’?” Jack looks up at him like he’s stupid. With a bit of attitude in his tone, the kid responds, “Drawin’.” John doesn’t say anything for a moment.
“Right. Uh…What is it you’re drawin’?”
“Money.”
“Too much influence from Dutch I see.”
“Pa.”
John stares at his son, wondering where the kid got so much sarcasm from. Thankfully, Hosea steps in, “I’ll watch him, John.” John thanks him only to turn back around. He doesn’t think I can watch my own kid! John realizes. To be fair, John is in a younger mindset, but he can still watch his own kid!
“I’ll help you watch him,” John decides, his arms crossed. Hosea looks at him with a skeptical look, but doesn’t mention it. Hosea sits Jack in his lap. “Do you remember how to count past 10?” Hosea asks Jack.
“Uhhh…” Jack thinks, buffering. John silently mouths at him “Eleven.” Unfortunatley, Hosea turns his head, so John stops. Jack makes his guess, “Three-teen? I remember fourteen!”
“Twelve,” John whispers to his kid. Hosea looks directly at John, causing his to freeze in place. “Yes, John. That’s correct, but Jack won’t learn if you tell him,” Hosea lets him know. Jack laughs like John and him are playing a game.
Suddenly, John feels a hand on his shoulder. He looks up, seeing Abigail standing behind him. “John, may I talk to you for a second?” she asks. It’s not really a question. John internally groans, but knows that if he wants to keep Abigail, he should really listen to her.
“Be right back,” he tells the two of them, then follows Abigail into their tent, which is odd because that means she wants extra privacy. The moment they enter, Abigail asks upfront, “John, are you okay?”
“Me? I’m fine.”
“Right…I know you’re a man, but you don’t always need to act all…tough.”
“Seriously, Abigail. Dunno what you’re talkin’ about.”
Abigail crosses her arms and raises her eyebrows, a sign that she knows exactly what’s up. Feeling small, John quickly asks, “But, like, if something was- I mean, how much you noticed?” Abigail sighs, unexpectedly running a hand through John’s hair. “Sit down,” she says. John slowly does so. She pets through his hair.
He hugs her, only able to reach up to her waist. For once, he feels genuinely content. “…Abi?” he whispers.
“Hm?”
“I love you. A lot.”
“I know, John.”
They stay like that for a while, perfectly silent, until Abigail carefully asks, “You miss your childhood?” John nods. Abigail confides in him, “Me, too.”
It doesn’t take long until John falls asleep. When he wakes back up, he discovers that Jack has curled up to him. He’s surprised, but doesn’t feel even the littlest need to complain.
༘⋆✿ ・・ 𖠋♡𖠋 ・・ •ᴗ•