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perfectworrytitle: Some Days It All Adds Up (and What You've Got is Not Enough); Part I: Crack the Shutters
verse: People's Republic of Heaven
community: [Bad username or unknown identity: ] +![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
originalfic100
prompt: Phase #3: Challenge #25: Weekly Quick Fic #8 ("clockwork") + Table A - 056 Breakfast
word count: 1,392
characters: Kristopher, Jude, Gabriel & Salomé
rating: G
summary: Kristopher is careful to stick closely to his schedule, because it makes a scary world feel safer. (Part I: In which Kristopher wakes up and eats breakfast.)
notes: This got out of hand pretty fast. It's 1k+ and Kristopher has only just gotten ready for school. Eep.
Kristopher sticks very closely to his routines. That way, there's no ambiguity and he knows who is where at what time of day, and most importantly, when they will be home.
First thing in the morning, he wakes up with the lightening of the sky that signifies dawn, although the cloud cover never clears completely in this city. Awake, he lays for awhile beside his brother, Jude usually still sleeping next to him.
Checking in on Jude is the first task of Kristopher's day. Some mornings, Jude is bright and cheerful and his smile and the light in his eyes is enough to make up for the sunlight Kristopher almost never gets to see. Other days, less often now but still not safely a thing of the past, Jude is crushed under the weight of his memories and they hold him down all day.
Those days, when the past is too much for Jude to bear, Kristopher gets himself out of bed, leaving Mew tucked safely in beside his brother. He kisses Jude's forehead, brushing raven's wing black hair out of Jude's bloodshot eyes.
No matter what, Jude always has a smile and a hug for his precious brother.
When he can, Jude bounces out of bed and into the kitchen with Kristopher trailing groggily behind. When he can't, Jude apologizes and Kristopher reassures him that it's okay, he's a big boy now, nine years old and nearly ten, and there are grown-ups who will look after them. Salomé and Gabriel will help. They aren't alone any more.
When he can, Jude helps Kristopher cook waffles and pancakes and crepes for breakfast, with sugar and butter and fruit. When he can't, Kristopher makes them both toast and bowls of cereal, or Gabriel helps him make omelets.
Salomé doesn't cook, but one time when Jude was sick and Gabriel was away on business, she ordered pizza for breakfast with the excuse that it was basically toast with tomato sauce and cheese. Gabriel was not impressed when his son told him, but Kristopher thought it had been great fun and secretly looked forward to doing it again sometime.
This morning, Jude can't. Kristopher can see it in his brother's blue grey eyes as soon as they blink open, before Jude even has time to speak. He knew even before Jude woke up; he tossed and turned all night, haunted by nightmares.
So Kristopher gives him a kiss and his favorite stuffed doll and goes to get breakfast.
Gabriel is already out of bed, and Kristopher isn't sure Salomé ever went to sleep. Kristopher is glad that he has them, so that Jude doesn't have to feel afraid or ashamed when he is too sick to get out of bed. Not that Kristopher minds caring for his brother, but it's reassuring to know that they have grown-ups they can trust.
"G'morning, Glory," he says, crawling into his father's lap for an early morning hug. Gabriel adjusts to make room for his son to sit with him.
"Good morning, Kristopher."
"Good morning, S," adds Kristopher.
Salomé looks up from her notecards and smiles. "Good morning, Kristopher," she says. Kristopher smiles back and snuggles against his father, feet up on the opposite chair; it's winter and the floors are cold, even with warm socks.
Neither of them ask him how he slept. Salomé was likely out here all night and saw Jude struggling in his sleep, and she knows that Kristopher never sleeps well on those nights. Gabriel was up before the sun, so he knows, too.
Kristopher thinks it's better to talk about happy things in the morning light.
Eventually, he is driven to action by the rumbling of his stomach. Today, he decides as he slides from his father's lap, is a cereal day. Standing on the stool put there for his use (and Salomé's, although she will never admit it and prefers to simply climb onto the counter), he takes down to bowls: one for himself, and one for Jude.
He fills both with his favorite cereal, then goes into the refrigerator for blueberries, which he adds liberally to both bowls, and a banana, which he cuts up neatly but puts only in his own bowl because Jude doesn't like them in cereal. He says the milk makes them all mushy.
Kristopher says his brain is mushy, and that bananas in cereal are delicious.
He smiles at the memory as he pours milk into both bowls and two glasses of orange juice, Jude's favorite. With help from Gabriel, he carries breakfast to Jude in the living room, before dashing back to the kitchen because he forgot spoons.
The two brothers eat breakfast together in bed. On Jude's good days, they eat in at the kitchen table where Salomé drinks coffee and Gabriel drinks tea, but not today.
Kristopher's friends were surprised that he was allowed to eat in bed, but he couldn't explain that, some days, Jude can't get up and Kristopher needed to eat with him so that they would both know the other was well fed. Words failed him then, and he didn't want to explain it all anyway, so he just let them think he was weird.
He wasn't ready to tell them why sometimes Jude had days so bad he couldn't keep track of timelines. When Kristopher visited his friends to play, he didn't want to talk about being cold and hungry and alone.
That is why it's so important to stick to his schedule. Routine means organization, and predictability, and calm. It means Kristohper knows when he and Jude will eat again.
They eat breakfast together, but Jude is quiet. When Kristopher finishes his cereal and juice, he places his dishes beside the mattress for a moment to butt his head affectionately against his brother, who hugs him close.
"Don't worry too much about me, Kristopher," says Jude, forcing a smile. "Go get ready for school."
Kristopher bends to take the dishes back to the kitchen, but Jude waves him off and gets up to wash them himself. Kristopher can see that he is trying while he takes his clothes from the chest of drawers Salomé brought home for him and Jude to store their things.
Lately, Kristopher has taken to dressing like his father in blue slacks and white button down shirts, tailed for him by Salomé. She says it gives her something to do with her hands, but Kristopher saw the smile she tried to hide behind her hands the first time he wore something she made him.
He chooses his outfit, opting for a sweatshirt because he will be staying home today and the air is chilly, and takes his clothes down the hall to wash and change.
Kristopher hates the way his hair feels when it's dirty. It reminds him too much of when he was small and his hair grew wild and matted. The adults around him then wouldn't help and he had been too young to do it himself, so he had pulled at his hair, anxious and unhappy.
When Kristopher had first come to the city, Salomé cut his hair for him, and he kept it short, above his ears. Now, he had begun to let it grow long like his father's, but he scrubbed it every morning with sweetly scented shampoo, so he smelled like strawberries all day.
He dries himself with a fluffy soft towel. It's sky blue, his favorite color, and there's a K embroidered on one corner to distinguish it from Jude's. He hops into his clothes as quickly as possible, pulling on fuzzy socks and a Harvard Medical School sweatshirt, because he wants to be a doctor when he grows up.
Today is a school day, but his lessons are all at home. Sometimes, he goes to play with other children, but not so often when it is wintertime. Kristopher could stay in his pajamas all day if he wanted to, but he always dresses himself neatly on school days. Pajamas are for weekends and holidays.
He folds his fleece nightclothes and leaves them neatly on the counter by the sink.
Kristopher ties his hair back with an elastic (never a real rubber band, because he's seen Gabriel make that mistake and it looked like it hurt) and he is ready to start his school day.
verse: People's Republic of Heaven
community: [Bad username or unknown identity: ] +
originalfic100 prompt: Phase #3: Challenge #25: Weekly Quick Fic #8 ("clockwork") + Table A - 056 Breakfast
word count: 1,392
characters: Kristopher, Jude, Gabriel & Salomé
rating: G
summary: Kristopher is careful to stick closely to his schedule, because it makes a scary world feel safer. (Part I: In which Kristopher wakes up and eats breakfast.)
notes: This got out of hand pretty fast. It's 1k+ and Kristopher has only just gotten ready for school. Eep.
Kristopher sticks very closely to his routines. That way, there's no ambiguity and he knows who is where at what time of day, and most importantly, when they will be home.
First thing in the morning, he wakes up with the lightening of the sky that signifies dawn, although the cloud cover never clears completely in this city. Awake, he lays for awhile beside his brother, Jude usually still sleeping next to him.
Checking in on Jude is the first task of Kristopher's day. Some mornings, Jude is bright and cheerful and his smile and the light in his eyes is enough to make up for the sunlight Kristopher almost never gets to see. Other days, less often now but still not safely a thing of the past, Jude is crushed under the weight of his memories and they hold him down all day.
Those days, when the past is too much for Jude to bear, Kristopher gets himself out of bed, leaving Mew tucked safely in beside his brother. He kisses Jude's forehead, brushing raven's wing black hair out of Jude's bloodshot eyes.
No matter what, Jude always has a smile and a hug for his precious brother.
When he can, Jude bounces out of bed and into the kitchen with Kristopher trailing groggily behind. When he can't, Jude apologizes and Kristopher reassures him that it's okay, he's a big boy now, nine years old and nearly ten, and there are grown-ups who will look after them. Salomé and Gabriel will help. They aren't alone any more.
When he can, Jude helps Kristopher cook waffles and pancakes and crepes for breakfast, with sugar and butter and fruit. When he can't, Kristopher makes them both toast and bowls of cereal, or Gabriel helps him make omelets.
Salomé doesn't cook, but one time when Jude was sick and Gabriel was away on business, she ordered pizza for breakfast with the excuse that it was basically toast with tomato sauce and cheese. Gabriel was not impressed when his son told him, but Kristopher thought it had been great fun and secretly looked forward to doing it again sometime.
This morning, Jude can't. Kristopher can see it in his brother's blue grey eyes as soon as they blink open, before Jude even has time to speak. He knew even before Jude woke up; he tossed and turned all night, haunted by nightmares.
So Kristopher gives him a kiss and his favorite stuffed doll and goes to get breakfast.
Gabriel is already out of bed, and Kristopher isn't sure Salomé ever went to sleep. Kristopher is glad that he has them, so that Jude doesn't have to feel afraid or ashamed when he is too sick to get out of bed. Not that Kristopher minds caring for his brother, but it's reassuring to know that they have grown-ups they can trust.
"G'morning, Glory," he says, crawling into his father's lap for an early morning hug. Gabriel adjusts to make room for his son to sit with him.
"Good morning, Kristopher."
"Good morning, S," adds Kristopher.
Salomé looks up from her notecards and smiles. "Good morning, Kristopher," she says. Kristopher smiles back and snuggles against his father, feet up on the opposite chair; it's winter and the floors are cold, even with warm socks.
Neither of them ask him how he slept. Salomé was likely out here all night and saw Jude struggling in his sleep, and she knows that Kristopher never sleeps well on those nights. Gabriel was up before the sun, so he knows, too.
Kristopher thinks it's better to talk about happy things in the morning light.
Eventually, he is driven to action by the rumbling of his stomach. Today, he decides as he slides from his father's lap, is a cereal day. Standing on the stool put there for his use (and Salomé's, although she will never admit it and prefers to simply climb onto the counter), he takes down to bowls: one for himself, and one for Jude.
He fills both with his favorite cereal, then goes into the refrigerator for blueberries, which he adds liberally to both bowls, and a banana, which he cuts up neatly but puts only in his own bowl because Jude doesn't like them in cereal. He says the milk makes them all mushy.
Kristopher says his brain is mushy, and that bananas in cereal are delicious.
He smiles at the memory as he pours milk into both bowls and two glasses of orange juice, Jude's favorite. With help from Gabriel, he carries breakfast to Jude in the living room, before dashing back to the kitchen because he forgot spoons.
The two brothers eat breakfast together in bed. On Jude's good days, they eat in at the kitchen table where Salomé drinks coffee and Gabriel drinks tea, but not today.
Kristopher's friends were surprised that he was allowed to eat in bed, but he couldn't explain that, some days, Jude can't get up and Kristopher needed to eat with him so that they would both know the other was well fed. Words failed him then, and he didn't want to explain it all anyway, so he just let them think he was weird.
He wasn't ready to tell them why sometimes Jude had days so bad he couldn't keep track of timelines. When Kristopher visited his friends to play, he didn't want to talk about being cold and hungry and alone.
That is why it's so important to stick to his schedule. Routine means organization, and predictability, and calm. It means Kristohper knows when he and Jude will eat again.
They eat breakfast together, but Jude is quiet. When Kristopher finishes his cereal and juice, he places his dishes beside the mattress for a moment to butt his head affectionately against his brother, who hugs him close.
"Don't worry too much about me, Kristopher," says Jude, forcing a smile. "Go get ready for school."
Kristopher bends to take the dishes back to the kitchen, but Jude waves him off and gets up to wash them himself. Kristopher can see that he is trying while he takes his clothes from the chest of drawers Salomé brought home for him and Jude to store their things.
Lately, Kristopher has taken to dressing like his father in blue slacks and white button down shirts, tailed for him by Salomé. She says it gives her something to do with her hands, but Kristopher saw the smile she tried to hide behind her hands the first time he wore something she made him.
He chooses his outfit, opting for a sweatshirt because he will be staying home today and the air is chilly, and takes his clothes down the hall to wash and change.
Kristopher hates the way his hair feels when it's dirty. It reminds him too much of when he was small and his hair grew wild and matted. The adults around him then wouldn't help and he had been too young to do it himself, so he had pulled at his hair, anxious and unhappy.
When Kristopher had first come to the city, Salomé cut his hair for him, and he kept it short, above his ears. Now, he had begun to let it grow long like his father's, but he scrubbed it every morning with sweetly scented shampoo, so he smelled like strawberries all day.
He dries himself with a fluffy soft towel. It's sky blue, his favorite color, and there's a K embroidered on one corner to distinguish it from Jude's. He hops into his clothes as quickly as possible, pulling on fuzzy socks and a Harvard Medical School sweatshirt, because he wants to be a doctor when he grows up.
Today is a school day, but his lessons are all at home. Sometimes, he goes to play with other children, but not so often when it is wintertime. Kristopher could stay in his pajamas all day if he wanted to, but he always dresses himself neatly on school days. Pajamas are for weekends and holidays.
He folds his fleece nightclothes and leaves them neatly on the counter by the sink.
Kristopher ties his hair back with an elastic (never a real rubber band, because he's seen Gabriel make that mistake and it looked like it hurt) and he is ready to start his school day.
