MHA #6 Saturday Afternoon

[arboreal_priestess]

So, with the past week, Liam had had plenty of time to experience being around blanket forts, but Verity was pretty sure he'd still never had the fun of building one. So she'd sent him out to the store for some snacks, citing a long-overdue call with Sarah for why she couldn't accompany him and after said call (in which she harangued her cousin to at least talk to Artie, for god's sake, and also to come back to Baltimore), she stripped all the linens off their bed and grabbed everything from the closet and left it all in a giant pile on the floor for Liam to spot when he came home.

Shut up, this was totally for Liam's benefit and not at all because the past week had Verity feeling nostalgic or anything.

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[arboreal_priestess]

"A stuffed jackalope?" Verity said, tilting her head at it in confusion. "Where did - is that yours?"

[firstofitskind]

"Where would I get a stuffed jackalope?" Liam pointed out. "Why would I have a stuffed jackalope?" Let alone have one without Verity seeing it before?

[arboreal_priestess]

"A souvenir from that chupacabra-run museum?" Verity suggested, answering exactly one of Liam's questions with no good clues to answer the the others.

[firstofitskind]

"I mean, yes," he had to concede. "But no. This isn't from the museum. It's not mine."

That wasn't entirely true. Just like the island had decided the blanket forts everywhere needed to be a thing, so too had it decided that Liam did in fact need a stuffed animal of his very own.

[arboreal_priestess]

"Well it isn't mine," Verity said, confusion shifting towards amusement. "Finders-keepers?"

[firstofitskind]

"What am I supposed to do with a stuffed jackalope?" Liam wondered, still on the 'confused' page himself.

... Though the fingers of one hand were kind of absently running over those velvety antlers, shut up.

[arboreal_priestess]

"Same thing anyone does with a stuffy," Verity said with a small smile. "Cuddle it. Squeeze it. Snuggle it."

[firstofitskind]

"But aren't they for kids?" Liam argued.

You know. Like blanket forts.

[arboreal_priestess]

"Aren't blanket forts?" Verity asked, raising an eyebrow.

[firstofitskind]

"Well, sure, but..." it was different! Somehow!

[arboreal_priestess]

This seemed like it was one of those times where the best plan was to sit with that eyebrow still raised and wait for Liam to stumble himself out. "Go on," she invited.

[firstofitskind]

"I wouldn't have built a blanket fort on my own," he reminded her. Hell, he wouldn't have gone into an already constructed blanket fort on his own.

[arboreal_priestess]

"And you wouldn't have bought a stuffy on your own," Verity agreed. "And?"

[firstofitskind]

"We built the fort because you wanted to show me what it was like," Liam said. "And- I wanted to see," he admitted. It was easier to admit he wanted to experience those little bits of 'childish' things when it was someone else's suggestion, absolutely. "This," he nodded down at the stuffy, "is just here."

Liam had plenty of weapons, a good number of clothes, and lots of books. What he didn't really have were things.

[arboreal_priestess]

"And?" Verity said again. "Do you like it?"

That was a valid reason to have something, Liam.

[firstofitskind]

“It’s soft,” Liam admitted. “Feels nice.”

So... yes.

[arboreal_priestess]

"Liam...ignoring your own needs, especially emotional ones, is a problem that you run into face-first on a semi-regular basis," Verity said softly, shaking her head. "It's okay to have a stuffy just because you like it."

[firstofitskind]

“Even if it’s supposed to be for kids?” Liam asked, still sounding a little dubious.

[arboreal_priestess]

"If you're really all that worried about it, think of it as being for the child you never got to be," Verity pointed out gently. "But...either way...why does it matter?"

[firstofitskind]

“I guess it... doesn’t?” Liam said carefully, hesitantly.

[arboreal_priestess]

Verity nodded. "If something made me happy, would you give a fuck if it was originally meant for kids, or guys, or boogeymen or whatever?"

[firstofitskind]

“No, of course not,” Liam said, shaking his head.

[arboreal_priestess]

Verity just gave him that face, the one that said, And now follow that through to the conclusion we both know you're avoiding.

It was a very eloquent expression.

[firstofitskind]

Between her and his therapist, Liam saw that expression kind of a lot.

“If it’s okay for you, then it’s okay for me too,” Liam said slowly.

[arboreal_priestess]

Verity nodded and repeated it. "If it's okay for me, then it's okay for you, too." And then, a moment later, pressed him for more. "And why is that?"

Sorry Liam. But you had to practice saying and believing it until it stuck.