[Seasonal Event] What Must Be Done

Emmett There's always more to do, Good thing I want to do it Emmett frowned at Phoebe with complete confusion. He didn't want to understand? But that was exactly what he was trying to do! Carrying so much of his own emotional baggage, he didn't know how the heck he was going to take on Phoebe's too, but he wanted to try. As she tried to shift the subject he shook his head and tried to gently hold her shoulder and pull her back to face him. "Bee. I wanna understand. Tell me about it. I...Everythin's hard at the minute, and uh...I...I'm real sorry if I missed somethin'. I've never had a girlfriend before already and with alla it...I'm sorry if I forgot somethin'." His apology was genuine, his tone truly apologetic. He leaned over to his bedside table and rooting about in the drawer, brought a clean handkerchief out. It had little flowers embroidered around the edge, clearly something that had once belonged to someone else due to the stitched letters 'M.P.' in the corner. Emmett held it out to Phoebe for her tears.

It wasn’t difficult to get her to stop and turn back around to face him. She wasn’t particularly strong, either in body or spirit, especially now. She tried to keep a straight face, but every now and then it was interrupted by some quick breaths and a few errant tears. ”You missed the part where I’m your girlfriend.” she blurted out at him. Immediately she looked down at the floor, her guilt obvious in her expression as she gripped her skirt. ”I wanna help. I wanna take care of you and help you feel better and get back on your feet but…I don’t want to just be your babysitter for your siblings.” she said quietly, tears welling up anew. Phoebe didn’t really know how to make her biggest issue more obvious to him. Yes, she was traumatized and struggling in her own way from that night but what she yearned for most was the good parts of that night. ”We…we had sex but now you just…you don’t give any more affection to me than a brother would.” Hugs. Forehead kisses. Hand squeezes. That was fine and good. But she wanted him to kiss her. She wanted him to hold her and tell her she was pretty. She wanted things to build and grow and it just…wasn’t. ”Bad things are supposed to bring people together but you just keep pushing me away.” she said finally, barely above a whisper. She took the handkerchief on instinct, noticing the initials on it. This had been something one of the people in his family had owned. ”I don’t want to ruin it.” she said quietly. Phoebe In a gentle way, you can shake the world

Emmett There's always more to do, Good thing I want to do it Oh. This was not an issue Emmett knew how to approach at all. Sexual things had been far, far from his mind at the moment. He wanted to promise Phoebe he'd rush her up into his arms and make love to her that very night, but he knew he'd struggle to get himself into the right mood for it. "Uh..." He began eloquently, not sure how to approach it. "I'm...sorry y'missed that. It's...it's not 'cos I don' like you or anythin' like that. It's just...this was already new, then with alla everything I...I dunno if I'm ready t'have sex again. But I can try do more'a..." Emmett leaned forward and tried to kiss Phoebe, a hand going to rest on her jaw while the other still stayed on her waist. Her protest about the handkerchief was met by a shrug, Emmett having far more precious things to remember his family by than pretty snotrags. "...How about...tomorrow we have...have a day away from alla this? Both of us 'n' a nice walk and I could make a picnic?"

Phoebe sighed, shaking her head a little. She wasn’t asking him to make love to her right then, that night, or the next even. She even kept her mouth shut about intercourse being one of the best distractions and releases for emotional stress – which she knew well from her time as a midwife. She had only mentioned it as a point of reference – that they had been intimate and for him to pull away so drastically now was painful. Though something about the way he phrased it made her feel like maybe he had actually been disappointed in her and actually wasn’t interested in sleeping with her again. That was a blow to her self-esteem she tried to ignore for now. His lips pressed against her, and she wanted to relent. She wanted to lean against him and kiss him back and pretend it was all okay. But it wasn’t. So instead she stayed still, not responding to his touch. ”I don’t want you to do that because I told you to. I want you to do that because you want to.” She said quietly. She just needed the affirmation that his heart was in it, even the tiniest itsy-bitsiest bit. His offer to have a day together though was appreciated. She sniffled a little and wiped at her eyes, nodding a bit in response. ”That sounds nice.” she said quietly. Phoebe In a gentle way, you can shake the world

Emmett There's always more to do, Good thing I want to do it "But I do want to. It just...hasn' been the biggest thing on my mind right now." Emmett assured her, the hand on her side moving to rest on her hip. When he actually had it in his thoughts, Phoebe looked very attractive before him, tempting in all the right ways - not that they could do anything here (it would be wildly inappropriate and weird) but he considered that next time they shared a bed, he could at least stretch to some making out. At least she seemed to like the suggestion they could go for a picnic. "Yeah! I'll make whatever y'want. What's your favourite?" Having something to cling to in the midst of all the uncertainty felt good, so he wanted to make this promised picnic the best she'd ever had.

Just hearing that he {i]wanted{i} her in a non-platonic way moved mountains of self-doubt. It was hard for her, going from such a level of intimacy to basically nothing. She didn\'t need him to sleep with her per se, she just needed some small affirmation that she really was more to him than free housing, hot meals, and child care for his siblings. Phoebe smiled the tiniest bit, letting her arms wrap loosely around his waist. [say}"I know you've got more important things on your mind. It's why I didn't say anything...being here just..." she glanced at the bed and sighed. The memories were all tainted though. She glanced back at him before kissing him quickly, making up for what she had ignored before. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have let my insecurities get the better of me." she said quietly, guilt lacing her words. "I can make the food if you pick the spot?" she offered, feeling guilty now for losing her cool before. "I promised you I would do the cooking, remember?" she said with a small smile. He probably didn't remember. Most of what had transpired at the Rathskellar probably fell into some sort of fog between the pain, sleeping, and the pain medication they'd given him. Phoebe In a gentle way, you can shake the world

Emmett There's always more to do, Good thing I want to do it "Yeah...I wish Longnight had been normal. If you'd wanted t', we woulda done that a lot more times." He said with a light laughter in his words, knowing it was true. Before tragedy had overtaken his life he had been very interested in sex with Phoebe, had never thought he'd actually get to have it. Emmett returned the kiss gladly and softly shook his head at her apology, thinking it unnecessary. With a stroke of her cheek and a kiss on her forehead though, he hoped he'd managed to calm her doubts for the time being. "Did ya? I don' remember that. Y'know I can cook, right? I ain' onna these useless husbands who don' do anything round the house." He insisted with a smirk, having had a mother who had insisted on teaching him all household chores and duties along with everything else. "Promise I won' poison ya."

Her cheeks turned a little red at that, feeling like her fears were very much put to rest for the time being. If it really was that he was just distracted and dealing with everything like it seemed, she was happy to wait. "Well...I can wait until whenever you're ready again. It's just...I was starting to think you didn't want me like that at all anymore." she said. "I'm glad that isn't the case." She smiled a little and nodded. "You were worrying about who was going to do the housework while you got the farm fixed up. I really don't mind doing it." she said. Her cheeks really flared red though as he used a certain word. Husband? That was...quite the jump. "A useless...husband?" she said, raising a brow. But really they ought get back to work. "What can I help with here?" she said, knowing that his efforts downstairs probably weren't going well. Phoebe In a gentle way, you can shake the world

Emmett There's always more to do, Good thing I want to do it "Nah, of course not! I mean, look at you..how could I--when would I not--" Emmett was clearly shocked by the notion of not wanting Phoebe, his hands gesturing uselessly about her body as if to show how obvious it was that he would be unable to do anything but be enamoured. He didn't remember having a conversation about her doing the housework at all, but he just nodded; he wasn't really in the position to be turning down help he was offered. "Well that's real nice of you Bee." His thanks turned to a panicked shake of his head at her repetition of 'husband', not having meant it to be a suggestion. "I was just--just sayin' as an example! I wouldn' presume that this soon." He assured her. He supposed he would marry Phoebe if he had to right now, but even the most strong of teenage crushes needed some years to mature and he knew that. "Yeah. Um...can you help me neaten stuff up downstairs? D'ya think...d'ya think I'm making progress on the floor?"

Phoebe blinked in surprise as Emmett seemed to be surprised to hear her insecurities…and more importantly that he didn’t seem to know how to adequately assuage them. His method of stumbling over his phrases, flapping his arms about somehow reminded her of a panicking bird and caused her to smile a little. Then she giggled, because it was very ridiculous imagery, and took his hands if she could before gently kissing his cheek. I’m glad you think so and I will do my best to remember that you do.” she assured. She just smiled as he said her willingness to help was nice. It was really the least she could do since she wasn’t really certain how else to help him. He didn’t really confide in her, pulling away from her instead when his emotions got the better of him – hence her flare up of insecurity. So if she could make sure he had a place to sleep, clean clothes, and food to eat, that was something at least. Again she started to giggle as he panicked a bit when she called out his choice of words. ”It’s okay. But you make very funny faces when you’re thrown off you know.” she said, lightly teasing him. But more serious subjects were at hand and the moment of levity would likely pass quickly. ”Let’s go see how it is looking.” Phoebe said, knowing what the likely answer was. Still holding his hand she would walk with him back downstairs. It was sort of clear where he had mopped, but really, it wasn’t much of a change. She frowned a little and moved to a floorboard she remembered someone mentioning was loose and wobbly. Carefully she pulled it back, revealing that these were far from surface stains. The moss was thoroughly soaked through, stains even reaching the dirt beneath. With a frown she looked at him and shook her head a little. ”Emmett…I don’t think this is really salvageable.” she said as gently as she could. Phoebe In a gentle way, you can shake the world

Emmett There's always more to do, Good thing I want to do it Emmett smiled as his hands were taken and kissed Phoebe's forehead, glad that the argument had apparently ceased for now. "I don'!" He insisted about his face. Emmett did not often deal with grand emotional situations and was unawares of how he looked when working around them. He didn't want to think he made goofy faces though. Phoebe gently led him downstairs and he let himself be led, hoping she might tell him he'd done a good job and that they were halfway to a decent living space. But she reached down and as soon as he saw her face as she lifted the board...he knew. He'd known when he'd begun the job, really, but hadn't wanted to admit it to himself. "...S...so um, a new floor, huh? That isn' so bad. I can cut the wood." His voice was shaky, as if he knew that really it wasn't just the floor that needed replacing but didn't quite want to say it yet.

”You do too.” Phoebe said in an almost sing-songy manner to his protest. Funny faces were something he did whether he liked it or not. But again. More serious matters. She frowned a little at his reaction, knowing why he was so deeply in denial about the situation. Gently she set the floorboard down…then looked at her hands in horror. The board had felt dry but it had been so deeply stained that her hands and fingers had red marks from where she had grabbed it. She swallowed, holding back her emotions as she took a few quick steps towards the bucket of water, rinsing the stain off as quickly as she could. Blood didn’t make her queasy, but this was a very different sort of situation. Fortunately it came off easily and she was able to quickly dry her hands on her skirt. It isn’t just the boards. It’s the dirt beneath the house, it’s the walls and support beams…” she frowned as she looked over at him. ”By the time you replace all of that without somehow causing the second floor to come crashing down…you may as well build a whole new house.” Phoebe In a gentle way, you can shake the world

Emmett There's always more to do, Good thing I want to do it Emmett watched Phoebe rush to clean her hands flatly and without reaction, having gotten blood on his own boots but wilfully ignored it. Besides...if he couldn't touch his own family's blood, he didn't think himself worth much. "Sorry about...about the blood." He finally lamely said, wanting to somehow acknowledge her discomfort. What Phoebe said wasn't really news to him, but it was still too much to hear. Emmett swiped at his eyes with his sleeve as they began to betray him. "...B-but...I could...use the upstairs, still. Or...some of the rooms. I gotta keep the farm here. Maybe we could...I dunno...c-convert some of it? Or..." He was clearly grasping at straws, he didn't even know why. It wasn't like his family would return to life if he restored the home but... At the cooker he could see his mother cooking family meals or his dad making his famous cocoa. At the table his siblings arguing about toys or meals or whatever else the issue was at the moment, sometimes the yells reaching to his room upstairs. He had been annoyed by the sound then, but now he would have given anything to hear it. "...Yeah. You're right. I wanna...gather things, though. Stuff that means somethin'."

Phoebe gave him a little sympathetic smile as he tried to apologize. ”I’m a midwife, it doesn’t really bother me. I just didn’t want to get it on anything else.” she said. Really, she didn’t want his family’s blood literally on her hand. She worried she had somehow brought them bad luck, that she was somehow to blame for their misfortune and ultimate demise after years of quiet Long Nights. He could try to hide his emotions but it didn’t go over her head. Quickly she crossed the room back to him, wrapping her arms around his waist. She let him ramble his ideas, his attempts to keep what had been irreparably ruined, her fingers gently gliding across his back in a soothing manner. ”You can definitely take some of the boards and materials from upstairs. And you can always rebuild it in a similar floor plan.” she said with a gentle smile. ”Or think of it instead as a way to begin anew. Rebuild and fix any inefficiencies. Make it better than it was. Somewhere you can make new, happy memories.” she said encouragingly, trying to get him to think more positively. Every place, no matter how sentimental, had things that people would have done differently if they were to be redone. Certainly Emmett could think of a few ways to improve the home if he had to rebuild it. Eventually he did see some sense. No amount of scrubbing would clean this place. She lifted a hand and dried any leftover tears he may have missed. ”Of course. Especially upstairs there are lots of things. We can pack it all up and take it to my place until you get all rebuilt. Any salvageable wood you can put in the barn…how does that sound?” she said, trying to be chipper for his sake. Phoebe In a gentle way, you can shake the world