#Avocato will fold him like paper

[kidcsmic]

cookiebandit

Seeing the Kid lash out, upset and lonely, it made him want to hold him close, to bring him comfort in some way. He wasn’t sure what drew him to these traumatized kids, but it hurt him to set them in pain with no way to help them.

He almost apologized again, but saw no point, instead keeping quiet until it gets to the point that Kid has to cut himself off to prevent from cry-talking. He didn’t just see Little Cato in the boy.

He saw himself.

Alone, abandoned, with the belief that no one cares about you.

He wants to sit beside him, but feels like he would just get shoved off the bed. Which, fair. So he simply remains standing, holding his hands together as he answers, voice low.

“ I do. ” he takes a deep breath before continuing. “ When I was about your age. My dad… ”

Gary pauses, pulling a slip of paper from his pocket. Mooncake, it reads, faded from the years. It was all he had left of the Caterpillar his father gave him. Just the paper that was taped onto the jar.

“ My dad was a member of a team that protected the other from extraterrestrial threats. He set out to investigate a breach in space, and… ”

The paper crumpled in his hand, and was shoved back into his pocket. “ He never came back. My mom, who had left when I was a baby, cared for me for a while before leaving me alone to try and get him back. ”

“ I was alone, for years. All I had left of my parents was a Caterpillar that my Dad gave me before leaving for that mission. Kid, I know what you’re going through. I know talking isn’t gonna bring them back, but I don’t want you to have no one you can fall back on or rely on to feel safe. ”

Gary knew the Kid had his grandfather, but it was clear, at least to him, that he still didn’t feel like there was anyone, that he was still alone. He himself had his mom now, and a cobbled together family, but he too still felt alone sometimes. It wasn’t something that either of them could help, but ignoring it wasn’t going to make them feel any better.

“ Keeping everything bottled up…it isn’t healthy. You need to talk to someone, anyone that you feel like you can trust. Just now? Talking to you? I feel better. Ive only told one other person about my Dad, and telling someone else helped. Especially since telling them was an attempt to help them with their own problems. To tell them I know how they feel, and that I just want to help. ”

From the time his mother left to when he met Avocato , Gary was alone, living on the streets as a criminal only to get arrested and end up in five years of isolation. Maybe it was because he was alone with no one to depend on for so long that he worried so much about these boys.

He didn’t want to go through anything close to what he did.

      the younger boy didn’t know what to say. he listened to gary’s story, arms crossed tighter and tighter over his chest until he felt like he might be able to fold over into himself. the tears still stung the corners of his eyes to the point where he felt the need to blink over and over again, but the rising sob that was once bubbling into his throat was reduced into more of a stifled throb in the back of his neck. he uses the back of his hand to scrub at a stray tear that had trickled down his red, puffy cheek.

   maybe... maybe gary was right. maybe talking about it did help, somehow. even if it didn’t bring his parents back or make it easier to think about them no longer being there, maybe in it’s own way it could lighten the burden off of his shoulders for just a little bit of time. a sigh slips past his lips, but he can’t bring himself to look into gary’s eyes. not yet.

   “ they were nice. ” 

   kid sniffles and looks out the window of his trailer, thinking about the road just a few feet away. thinking about what could happen, thinking about how bright the semi’s headlights were as they came too close to his parents car. he thinks about the way his moms arm shot forward on instinct to try and keep him safe. he thinks about the way his hand reached out fruitlessly, as if to grab hold of his mom or dad one last time...

   “ they took good care of me. my mom made sure that i saw papa g as much as i could, even though he lived so far away. i... i.... ” the tears well up again, and he grips his tiny hands into round fists. “ i was seven when it happened. ” kid turns to look at gary, trying to keep his lip from quivering. 

   “ im sorry. im sorry to hear what happened to you and your mom and dad. im sorry for yelling and getting angry. im - im just - im - ” and he starts crying again, this time with reckless abandon as he threw himself into gary’s arms. he felt so bad for what he said and the way he acted. he felt so bad, and he felt so bad about feeling bad. 

#( ic. / && answer. ) #cookiebandit #he’s just a sad and confused kid :’(( #i love them both sm