if you keep reaching out, i'll keep coming back [aaron]

[Deleted]

december 22nd, 2024

This was happening. Step by painstaking step, Jamie was making her way back into the world. She still had so much more to do, though, and was trying to pace herself so that she didn't end up overwhelmed by everything that was going on, especially since the holiday season was coming up horribly fast. Jamie knew that if anyone would accept that she needed to go slowly, though, it would be her family; they had been privy to the most details of her time away from the wizarding world, down to her fears that she would lose her mother for good. Jamie didn't doubt that her brothers and sisters would be patient with her if she needed more time. The thing was, Jamie didn't want to be patient. She had missed them all fiercely when she was away.

So, Jamie was going to see her elder brother. She hadn't exactly told Aaron that she was coming, so she wasn't even sure if he would be home, but she was hopeful. She stopped in front of the familiar door, expecting to be a little afraid, but she wasn't. The only thing she had room for in her head and her heart as she knocked on the door was excitement to finally see Aaron again.

@aaron

[Deleted]

it gets better.

AARON TRAINED ALMOST EVERY DAY. IT WAS TO him as simple and perfunctory as brushing his teeth. An automatic reaction to a routine he had been completing for years. So, his mornings were fairly typical. Following a schedule right down to the moment he slipped on fresh clothes and cuddled with Lupo, his dog, for an hour or so. And he normally did all of this alone, a sacred time he saved for himself and Lupo, who puttered around behind him as he re-entered his flat and showered, changing before he stopped to brush his teeth.

It was like this, his toothbrushes plastic handle hanging from his mouth, when there was a very gentle knock at his door. Aaron looked down at his watch first, frowning as he drooled a little bit of toothpaste from the corner of his mouth. Lupo let out one big bark, his tail wagging curiously as he followed Aaron to the door. He hadn't been expecting any visitors and so he was frowning curiously when he threw the doorway open and made a foamy, croaking sound of surprise when he found Jamie standing behind it.

"Jamie!" He tried to squawk, though it was around his toothbrush and his hand as he pushed the liquid in to his cheek, chipmunk-ing it, and pulled the plastic free to try and speak. "Why'd you knock?" He asked, ushering her in with a rough, familiar hand on her shoulder. He turned and walked to the bathroom without a second glance, spitting in to his sink before yelling behind him. "I keep telling you to just walk in!" He said jovially, pleased to see his sister, as always. "You know you're always welcome, right?" He added, quieter this time as he leaned against the bathroom door frame and looked out at her. Lupo was delighted. 

@jamie

NEVERLAND at ADOXOGRAPHY 2.0!

[Deleted]

It hadn’t occurred to Jamie how early the hour was until Aaron came to the door with a toothbrush still stuck in his mouth. Oops. “…Hi.” Jamie said around the rapidly-forming lump in her throat. She distracted herself from looking at her brother by reaching down to pet his dog, giving Lupo a quick scratch behind the ears. Whether it was to calm the dog or herself down, Jamie didn’t know.

Jamie shrugged when Aaron asked why she knocked. “I didn’t know if you’d be in.” Furthermore, even if she had been assured of her welcome over and over again, there was a part of Jamie that feared that she had finally done something unforgivable, something that would make her brother turn her away. “And I keep telling you that knocking is what civilized people do,” Jamie said, attempting a joke. It felt strange to joke around with her brother like no time had passed at all, but it also made her feel better about being there with Aaron. If they could pretend like no time had passed, then that was a good thing, wasn’t it?

“I… I had hoped.” Jamie said, swallowing thickly. “But I was worried.” The Hufflepuff bit her lower lip to keep it from trembling, and looked down at her feet rather than at her brother’s eyes. She was afraid that if she looked Aaron in the face she’d start crying.

@aaron

[Deleted]

it gets better.

SHRUGGING ONE SHOULDER EASILY, AARON accepted Jamie's reasoning as quickly as she said it. Of course she wouldn't be sure, though he wouldn't have minded if she'd walked in regardless. He didn't mind sharing his space with Jamie, she was family. That had been a sentiment Aaron had carried across from his mother, who was as generous as she was kind.

"And I keep telling you," Aaron retorted, crossing his arms with a very large grin. "That I am far too old for new manners." He clicked his tongue at her and pushed off from the door frame, happy to laugh and joke like no time had passed at all. He was good at that, side-stepping the elephant in the room. Mostly because a lot of the time, he didn't even realise it was there.

Too late he realised that Jamie was upset. His heart jumped and he approached her quickly, tilting his head down as if to catch her eye as he laid a gentle hand on her upper back and shook her softly. "What's wrong, eh?" He asked carefully, concern clear on his face as he looked her over for injury. He pulled her in to a hug instinctively, patting her back roughly because he wasn't a very gentle person when it came to affection. It probably had something to do with the fact that he didn't really know how, though he tried. "Have I made you cry already?" He tried to joke lamely, pulling back to inspect her face. 

@jamie

NEVERLAND at ADOXOGRAPHY 2.0!

[Deleted]

Aaron’s comment about learning new manners had Jamie smirking the moment it came out of her mouth. “You know that thing about old dogs and new tricks is for real dogs, right?” Jamie retorted. “I think we’re considered dog-adjacent, at best.” Wolves weren’t the same thing as dogs, and werewolf wolves were even more different – and then there was the fact they were only canines one night out of every twenty-eight, which was negligible, as far as Jamie was concerned. Aaron couldn’t use that proverb to his advantage.

None of that distracted Jamie from the encroaching feeling of – well, something. She wasn’t sure it could quite qualify as sadness, but it was in that area. Overwhelmed, Jamie decided. She was overwhelmed by everything. “I missed you,” Jamie breathed, pressing her face into her brother’s chest when he pulled her close. “And I’m happy to be back, but…” She sniffled. “We already lost so much time.” She knew her family wasn’t like most; they hadn’t grown up together, and in some ways they barely knew each other. Jamie had already spent so much of her life without her family, and being forced to spend even more time apart from her half-siblings had, in a word, sucked.

@aaron

[Deleted]

it gets better.

JAMIE ALWAYS HAD A SMART REMARK THAT THREW Aaron, he couldn't win with her. So, instead he scoffed and waved her off. "We age about the same rate." It was a stretch at best, but he didn't want her to think she'd won either. They were barely related when it came to canines. Plus, Aaron actually believed you could teach a dog whatever the age.

"We have plenty of time," Aaron told her softly, rubbing her back as he pulled her in for a hug. Sure, she'd been gone for a bit, but that meant very little to him in the long run. Even though they hadn't known each other for very long, Aaron felt very comfortable around his half-sister. Then again, he'd always had a knack for making himself at home. What really mattered was that she accepted him.

"You're back now," He said, leaning back to smile at her encouragingly. "That's all that matters." And then he leaned over to his coffee table where a small tea towel was folded. "Here," He said, handing it to her. He'd been using it as a coaster for the time being. "For your face." 

@jamie

NEVERLAND at ADOXOGRAPHY 2.0!