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[givingback]

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[givingback]

I think, for right now, I'm cried out. I just feel tired. I want to sleep for a while.

[ She definitely doesn't feel like eating, but she also knows she won't be getting out of it either. So she hugs Jamie again, then turns to wrap around Claire for a few seconds, just breathing her in as she commits to eating something enough to placate her parents. ]

[seventeenfortythree]

If ye eat now, m’ annsachd, then sleep will come for as long as you'd like. I promise.

[ He touches her hair lightly as she rests against Claire, and when he looks at his wife holding their babe, he knows there's nothing in this world or the next that would keep him from protecting them both. If Bonnet ever awakens from stasis, Jamie will be the one to end him permanently. If anyone ever touches his wife or child again, they will have him to contend with and he will not be merciful. ]

[nineteenfortyfive]

[Good girl, eating before Claire has to make her. Claire keeps an arm around her, though, since parting to go get the food was already far too much time away from her.]

I think a shower might be in order, after you eat. Then we can curl up in bed again, hmm?

[She gives her shoulders a little squeeze. Then, she looks to Jamie.]

You need to eat, too. Go on.

[givingback]

[ Bree can't help but smirk a little at Jamie who is, apparently, not immune to he mother's prodding. Still, Bree nods, smiling, though it doesn't quite reach her eyes. ]

That sounds good, mama.

[ The soup smells good and her stomach does actually growl in eager anticipation of food. ]

[seventeenfortythree]

[ When Bree tucks into the food first, Jamie takes a moment to kiss Claire's temple, closing his eyes and squeezing her hand in a silent show of shared strength.

He sits down to eat and the good itself is familiar enough, but when he gets to the drink, he turns it over in his hands, inspecting the bottle. ]

What sort of beverage is this, then? Some sort of dark ale?

[nineteenfortyfive]

[So no one gets on her case, she settles in to eat as well, though her appetite is hardly a thing she feels. An eye is carefully kept on Bree, in case--well, anything, really--but Jamie catches her attention.]

Oh. That. I've no idea. It might be a Nadril specialty. I was just told it's good. And sweet. Shall you try it for us first?

[givingback]

I've had it.

[ Bree supplies this information. ]

It's like a soda but...a little more bubbly. [ Which is mostly said for her mother's clarification because she knows Jamie won't know what a 'soda' is either. ]

It is pretty sweet. I'm almost positive you've never had anything like it before.

[seventeenfortythree]

[ No, he has no idea what they're talking about, but he takes a sip after Bree does.

The bubbles surprise him and he coughs a little, then looks at the bottle before looking at his wife and daughter. ]

It is bubbly. I dinnae ken why a drink needs to have bubbles.

[nineteenfortyfive]

[Somehow, despite all the grief in her heart, hearing Jamie say bubbly in that Scots accent of his almost makes her smile.]

Don't worry. We have a fine stock of liquor at home.

[Between mouthfuls of soup, she decides to give them both something to look forward to.]

If you're lucky, Bree might bless you with some pancakes.

[It's usually Claire making them and sharing them with Bree while in bed, their little late night tradition kept from the boys, but Bree and Jamie can begin something of their own. She hopes.]

[givingback]

[ Bree looks at Claire in surprise. That was something between the two of them, but if she's willing to give it over, then they'll find something else. She likes having something that's just them, but her mother isn't wrong - she wants something she can connect with Jamie over. ]

I'm getting pretty good at them. I'm better than mama at making actual round circles, anyway.

[seventeenfortythree]

Pancakes?

[ But for once, he knows what they're talking about. ]

Those were verra popular during Lent, ye ken. No' just during breakfast but easy enough for other meals because they had no meat. 'Twas the only time we had them the whole of the year.

[ Jamie smiles a little, features soft. ]

My mother always said it was the best forty days of the year because of it.

[nineteenfortyfive]

[Now, it's Claire's turn to look at Bree in surprise. And then she looks to Jamie.]

Just wait until you have ones with chocolate in them.

[givingback]

[ This all feels so normal, and for a few minutes, Bree forgets about what happened and she watches the two of them, her parents. She wasn't only trying to find her mother when she went through the stones. She was looking for Jamie, too. ]

There's a lot you can try. Let's see...

[ Bree tries to think. ]

Ice cream. I'll bet you'll be more appreciative of it than some other people I know.

[seventeenfortythree]

[ Jamie looks between Bree and Claire after taking a bite of his soup. ]

Seems as though there's a story there. Something I've missed.

[ He wonders if there will be a bit of that, of trying to catch up to his wife and daughter's experiences here without him. ]

[nineteenfortyfive]

[Hooo boy.]

Just Theon. At the time, his teeth were [broken shards] sensitive, and he didn't realize that biting into ice cream is like biting into snow.

[How one grows up in a place called Winterfell and doesn't think to be careful around anything with ice in the name is beyond her, but. Children. Bree could have probably tried a different treat, too.]

I think you'll like it, though. But hopefully we'll be feeding you more than pancakes and ice cream.

[givingback]

[ Bree still wants to know what kind of idiot bites into a ball of something frozen but she doesn't interject.

She has her moments with Theon (getting drunk together stands out) but for the most part, they don't speak much. ]

Meats have to be less boring with the different ways they can be cooked here. And so much more variety, too.

[seventeenfortythree]

If anything is as good as the stews yer mother makes with the game I bring home, then I've no reason to complain.

[ Jamie smiles at Claire, nothing but pride and happiness in his eyes. ]

She's become a verra fine cook. Better than twenty-three year ago. I found myself looking forward to coming home when I kent the pot had been simmerin' for hours.

[nineteenfortyfive]

[It makes her a little sad, hearing him talk about things she can't possibly know because she hasn't lived them, but. A glance to Bree, and she knows she wouldn't want to be anywhere else but right here.]

I did have a child to feed, occasionally, over the past two decades.

[givingback]

Occasionally.

[ Bree smiles softly, but under the surface of it, she's just tired. She's eaten about half of her soup and hasn't picked the spoon back up again, tired and wanting to lay down. ]

I remember the casseroles you made. They were always my favorite.

[seventeenfortythree]

[ He notices of course. He's already picking up on things, and when she seems to be done eating, he glances at Claire to make sure it's all right. He isn't sure yet if what she's eaten is enough to satisfy his wife. ]

I'll have to try whatever a 'casserole' is. Soon, I hope.

[nineteenfortyfive]

[It's all right. She didn't expect Bree to eat much. Setting her own food aside, she leans over to relieve Bree of hers. One more push.]

We'll have casseroles and pancakes galore when we get back. As well as our own tubs.

[For now, it seems they're limited to the communal showers at the end of the hall. Claire reaches out to fuss with Bree's braid, smoothing her fingers over it before beginning to pile it up atop her head. She'll wash her body. The hair can wait.]

Jamie, will you be all right here while we go freshen up?

[He will be, of course, but it's an indication of her intent.]

[givingback]

[ Bree's relieved, wanting so badly to get the feel of Stephen Bonnet off of her somehow and she leans close, letting her mother pin her hair up. Right now she's talked out, just wanting the shower, letting her mother check after Jamie. ]

[seventeenfortythree]

[ Jamie nods, intending on getting rid of the bowls and such. ]

Aye, Sassenach, I'll be fine.

[ He wants her to go take care of Bree, in whatever way she needs to be taken care of. ]

[nineteenfortyfive]

[There it is. Claire nods to Jamie, and once Bree's hair is all out of the way she stands to fish something for Bree to wear out of the few belongings she packed to bring for a stay in Nadril. Bree has her own things, somewhere, but Claire's sure she won't mind sleeping in her mother's powder blue pajama set. Folding it over her arm, she holds out a hand to help Bree up.]

Let's go, darling. Then you can get some more sleep.

[seventeenfortythree]

[ When the two of them stand, Jamie looks up, preparing to stand and see them to the door when every part of him goes cold at the sight before him.

His daughter's shift, covered in blood at her backside. It nearly drives him to his knees, bile rising in his throat and he can only stand there, frozen, not wanting to call attention to it, to make Brianna upset, to set her to tears again. He's never experienced this before, this feeling as though he can't quite breathe.

As soon as they leave and he can no longer hear their footfall, his empty soup bowl is hurled at the wall where it shatters.

Everything will be cleaned by the time they return, and the only hint of his tears will be far away in his eyes where only Claire can see. He's quiet, sitting on the edge of the bed stock still, unable to stop thinking about anything other than how horribly his daughter was brutalized, and it's where he'll be when they return. ]