Eased Worries

Who: Becky and Jesse
Where: James House
When: Early Afternoon

With four glasses of wine in her, Becky had slept hard and when she woke up to the torrential rain hitting the window, there was a guilty conscience there because it was close to noon and she hadn't gotten up to see JJ off. It was one of those things. Too often she'd gotten herself all taken care of for school while her mother was in a drunken sleep on the couch or in her room. She didn't want to do that around JJ. It was just one of those personal things, felt in part because oh god, the hangover was making her head pound.

Becky eventually pulled herself out of bed and went to the bathroom to splash some cold water on her face then head downstairs to the kitchen to make a hangover cure for herself and Jesse, who wasn't on the couch but Becky figured he was probably in bed sleeping off his own headache.

She was glad that they'd gotten groceries the other day, because the torrential downpour was pretty daunting. So that meant no blueberries and and orange instead of orange juice. She found the blender and poured in the strawberries, banana, orange, milk, salt, and cayanne pepper and shut her eyes tight as the loud sound of the blender sent her head screaming.

It had been a while since Jesse had had a hangover. And granted, this one wasn't exactly killer or anything, but it was enough to slow him down, and he'd slept later than he would have liked. Like, say, he missed the 'morning' part of the day. Entirely. Either way, he headed to the kitchen, mostly because there was that bloody awful noise. "...the hell're you doing?" he mumbled, tone not exactly as coherent as usual.

Becky had a miserable look on her face as she turned her head to him with the blender going. She hit the off button and took the lid off. "Hangover cure," she said, her own voice thick but at least a little more coherent. He was all sleep rumpled with his hair sticking up and the whole annoyance with the loud and irritating sound was kind of endearing. "It's good. You'll like it."

He made an indistinct sort of sound and went to drop heavily onto a kitchen chair, dropping his head down onto his crossed arms on the table. He made another sound that might have been something that was meant to make sense but it really didn't even make it towards having syllables, let alone coherency.

She grabbed four glasses and poured Jesse the orange-strawberry-banana smoothie and set it on the table in front of him with a glass of lukewarm water and a couple of painkillers. "I promise it tastes good, just drink it slow." He sounded so miserable and she reached out and stroked the back of his head. "I promise you'll feel better." She was able to ignore her own pounding head enough to make sure he was okay, since he seemed to be a lot worse off. It had Becky wondering if he'd finished the bottle off after she'd gone to bed. A streak of lighting had the lights flickering followed by a long, heavy roll of thunder and Becky looked up as if the lights were going to go out.

The head petting was nice. Again. "If it doesn't work, will you just find something heavy to hit me in the head with?" he asked, sort of blindly, lazily searching for what she set on the table, and he almost knocked the water over but didn't, and he grabbed the pills, but didn't sit up again right away. Mostly because if he did that she was probably going to stop the petting thing and he was willing to let himself indulge that for a second. Just a second. Then he'd do the painkillers and drinking things thing. Really. That was the plan. For real.

"No pills," Becky said. She pushed the glasses out of the way and worked the pills out of his hand. "You need something in your stomach first." She kept stroking his hair, massaging his scalp. "That's what the fruit drink is for. It has banana in it and will make your stomach feel better. She put the pills to the side and nudged the tall glass of smoothie in his direction and took a careful sip of her own. Not bad for missing some other fruit in it. With Jesse's head down, Becky indulged herself in a smile at how cranky he was. Not that she didn't feel like hell herself, but someone had to get them better.

He made a little bit of a pained whine sound when she took the pills from him but he didn't fight her on it either. It was possible he was milking things a little. It had been a long damn time since he'd had anyone around to help him with a hangover. Baby J would, but he never liked her to have to, and generally that meant he did things when she was going to be in school while he recovered from vast amounts of liquid stupidity. "I like the pills idea. Much easier." he said. But after a few long moments he sighed and sat up enough to grab the drink, and he took a sip of it. It wasn't as bad as he thought it might be, but at the same time, he also wasn't going to be liking much of anything at the moment. He could have his mother's christmas dinner in front of him and he wouldn't have been feeling more like consuming things.

Becky rolled her eyes and instantly regretted the action with her own pained whine as a stab of pain went through her temples. She kept one hand stroking his hair (although since he sat up her hand had fallen to the neck area) while she took careful sips of her own smoothie. It was kind of a strange, surreal situation that she never thought she'd find herself in. Drinks in the middle of the night with Jesse followed by shared hangover cures in the morning with Jesse complete with her petting his head. Becky was one who liked to comfort though (and it wasn't because his hair was really nice and she liked the reactions she was getting out of it. Nope. that wasn't even involved in the equation whatsoever).

Jesse put his bare foot on the lower rung of the chair nearest him and pushed it out in a sort of invitation for her to sit. He really liked what she was doing, but it was possible he was feeling a touch guilty about it too so yeah. She needed to sit down, she wasn't feeling well either, after all. It was probably kind of a dick move to just let her do that. "This a cure of your mom's?" he asked, figuring that was where she'd figured it out. Or possibly she just remembered making it for her mom. Which had him remembering how the women threw herself at him, which was awkward at best and he was thinking he shouldn't be thinking about that right now. Because yeesh.

She took the seat gratefully and her hand fell away from his hair to run through her own blonde tangles. "One of the old bartenders at the Kitten taught me," she said and forced herself to take a bigger gulp of her smoothie. She kept from gagging and swallowed it down so she could finally take some pills. "Mom's drinking was really bad when I was a sophomore and I was tired of her using the really disgusting cures that are out there." Like pickle juice and egg and oh she needed some water after thinking that. After sipping that and popping some pills, she lay her own head down against the cool wood surface of the table and shut her eyes. There was a samba going on in her head and it wasn't fun.

He took another few drinks of the smoothie, then popped the pills as well and swallowed some water. Then he crossed his arms on the table again and put his head down, but his chin was propped up so he was looking at her. It had occurred to him to reach out and brush her hair away from her face, but he didn't go through with it. Mostly because he didn't really know how that was going to go over, and after last night and the things he'd noticed about her being a beautiful woman and all, he was pretty positive he ought to not go through with shit like that. Still, it had crossed his mind. "So you came up with one that doesn't make the stomach turn?"

"I went through a strawberry phase," she mumbled with her eyes still closed. "Strawberries and bananas. Fruit salads every day that summer. I couldn't eat them all on my own though and after the third night I had to call in mom sick at work, her boss told me that this should do the trick. It did, and it helped me get through all the stuff." It was the summer of her first job too, working at the general store and with the extra money coming in, she couldn't help but splurge. Her eyes finally opened and she looked at him with an almost sleepy expression. "I gotta say though that I'd be getting drunk too if I could have this for my hangover cure all the time." Because seriously. It was good. "When it's hot out, you can put crushed ice in it." She smiled a little at him. "How do you feel?"

"...that ice thing sounds good anyways." he said, thinking that it did. Though more in theory than anything else, he supposed. He still wasn't any more inclined to drink much of anything at current. "I feel like hell." he told her, quirking a faint if amused sort of half smirk. "And you feel like hell, and I'm going to let this be a lesson to me--don't keep alcohol in the house." Not that he'd actually follow that. He never had much of it, but sometimes you had to know it was there, at least. If for no other reason than when he came home shot? Whiskey had been about the only thing that got him through that first night.

"Mmm," she agreed. "But what if we need alcohol for something good? Or should we transfer over to those liquour filled, chocolate covered various yummy things?" She remembered her great aunt and her boxes of imported chocolate. The thrill she'd get from popping those liquour cherries in her mouth. "Though if we relied on those, we'd have to eat a lot and then we'd become as big as this house and then Chirp might get into them and then where would we be?"

Jesse laughed a little, then winced, and groaned. "Don't make me laugh." he told her. "And I guess we'll just stick to having some, maybe just quit while we're ahead next time." he added. Sure, that sounded like an idea. A plan as it were. That worked, right? Sure. Whatever. "You going to go back to bed? Sleep for a while before...I owe you money, don't I." he said. Because he remembered promising her that he'd give her some.

"Sorry," she apologized with her own sympathetic wince. Bed.... "Pillows sound nice," she said dreamily because really, the temptation to crawl back under the covers, especially on such a miserable day, was enticing. "I don't think I'll go out today with the weather like this though but I'll take the money. Don't have to right now though. You going back to bed?"

Jesse considered that, looking at the windows and the horrifying weather outside. But then he'd always kind of liked horrifying weather when he'd been younger. "Naw." he said. "Think I might just...watch the lightning for a while. Maybe sit on the porch." Since he had one now and everything. Maybe he'd light a fire in the fire place, and go freeze his ass off outside for a bit, then come back in and toast himself back up again.

Becky lifted her head to take a better look outside. She'd been scared of storms as a child but had since gotten used to them and she could certainly appreciate the ferocity of this one. "Wind's not blowing at the porch," she agreed. "Should find a good pair of socks though." Sitting on the porch actually sounded appealing, but she didn't ask, especially if Jesse wanted time to himself. Last night's conversation certainly couldn't have been easy, no matter how many glasses of wine he had. The next flash of lightening had the lights flickering again. "Might be worth looking for some candles," she said thoughtfully.

"I think we have some..." Jesse said, ticking his gaze up to the flickering lights. "Fucked if I know where they are, though." he added. Because yeah, he so didn't. What he did know was he did want to go sit on the porch. "Socks are overrated. I'll just do things the hard way, grab an afghan, go semi-freeze, and work from there." he decided, getting up. He took another drink of the smoothie she'd made him, and another drink of water, before he started to take steps towards the door. The limp today was more pronoucned than usual--the weather did that sometimes. "You coming?" he asked. "Or are the pillows calling?"

"Probably the dining room." That's where the last few boxes were and she couldn't think of where the candles could be, nor did she want to think. At his insistance that he didn't need any socks, it was her turn to laugh a little but it tapered off as she watched him walk with that limp. It did something inside her chest and she thought about him being shot and how much worse it could've been. "I'll join you. Let me get a blanket though." With a groan she got up from the table and padded into the living room where the blanket was folded over and she pulled on her dressing gown for an added layer of warmth (no matter how little it might do) and came back over. "I kind of miss the snow," she admitted.

He'd headed towards the door and was waiting for her there, and he opened it up for her as the wind whipped by and thunder crashed overhead. The ladies had insisted on a porch swing--so there was a porch swing and he intended to make use of it. So he made his slower way there, and dropped down onto it, even if it was kind of damp. He didn't really care, if he was afraid of getting wet he wouldn't be on the porch in a rainstorm. He laid his arm across the back of the swing. "Why would you miss the white shit?" he asked.

Becky sat down beside him and unfolded the blanket so they could both share it, which involved her sitting a little closer to him than she usually would. She pulled her feet up because unlike Jesse? She didn't particularly care for frozen toes. At least under the blanket they couldn't freeze so much. "Because when it stops snowing everything glitters. The way it clings to the trees like a christmas card. Sure it's cold as hell but it's nice to look at. Drawback is that you can't sit outside like this and enjoy it." The wind had her hair whipping around her face face a bit and she pushed it back in mild annoyance but other than that, it wasn't too bad in the shelter of the porch.

The cold and weather outside was actually serving to help him feel more awake, and a little better. Call it the fresh air or something, but it helped in a weird way. He didn't mind her sitting closer, he just made sure he didn't drop his arm down around her, he just kept it along the back of the seat, and he let her situate the blanket. He listened to what she had to say on the matter, however, and smirked. "So you miss the snow because it's pretty." he assessed.

While the cold was refreshing, it mostly had Becky shivering a bit and pulling her end of the blanket up more and leaning back against the swing so Jesse was partially serving as a barrier. Still, it was nice out, watching the rain hit the street and be dry. She hit his chest lightly with the back of her hand and mock-glared at him. "I miss the snow because it's beautiful," she corrected him, turning up her nose and everything.

Jesse flashed a grin, and chuckled. "Sorry." he said. "You miss the snow because it's beautiful." he corrected himself accordingly. "I never much liked snow. It's cold, makes driving shitty, and makes running a job harder." he said, before he winced faintly. "And let's pretend I didn't automatically think that while having a perfectly normal conversation."

"And the rain doesn't?" she pointed out with a little smile. "And I'm just fine with pretending if that's what you want." It wasn't like she really had anything to say about running jobs unless it was to make a joke that her head hurt too much to really think of. "Unless you want trained out of it. I could find a newspaper and thwap you if you want but I don't think that's too fun." She smirked back at him.

"Not as much as snow." Jesse answered. Then he looked at her, and shook his head. "I think you'd like that." he said, tone amused, then he looked back out at the weather. "Yeah, I think you'd like that far too much. Smacking me every time you thought I was out of line..." he teased. "You're already going to be training a dog and everything, so why not train me while you're at it? Might give me some manners or something--or we could skip it because I don't especially want to be swatted with the Echo."

Becky pursed her lips and shook her head which had her wincing. Ohhh that made things a little swimmy there and she shut her eyes as the wave of nausea hit her. The cool wind hitting her face helped things as she breathed in and out and after a moment she opened her eyes, but she did lay her head back against his arm a little. It was nice against the back of her head and her thoughts traveled to how defined those arms were. "I could just call your mother on you," she suggested. Mothers. That could get her mind off of his arm. She did not usually think of these things (sure, there was maybe one week junior year when she thought that Jesse was total kissing material but as soon as she mentioned it to Evie, that train left the station. Or at least, was meant to. A couple cars might've been left behind). "So there's the decision. Your mom or the newspaper."

"What if I just promise to be a very good, non criminalistic boy?" Jesse suggested. It occurred to him that since last night and her having kind of snuggled up to him and whatnot, that he had gotten past is over awareness of proximity. He'd been keeping himself distant because of the environment she'd just left, not wanting to step on any triggers. But, apparently after you've gotten drunk with a girl and she got up close and personal you got over those things. Right.

"That might be a good idea," she agreed, now pretty sure she had a good handle on everything and she looked at the rain hitting the pavement and listened to the rolling thunder. "Don't want to end up in trouble. We'd have to bail you out but then there's all sorts of complications... but if you do steal something, I want a snow globe." The thing with Jesse, what she told him about feeling safe with him was quite true, and perhaps that was the reason why so far except for a problematic first couple of days, she was doing alright. She was safe. Sure, yes, there was a decent bit of repressing going on too but she couldn't let herself be a mess, especially when they were moving houses and getting things in order.

"A snow globe?" Jesse asked. "What kind of snow globe? What would you want inside it?" he asked, thinking that was a doable request. And also, it sort of gave him permission to steal something, even if it was something incredibly simple. Or, that was how he was taking it, at any rate, and it was possible he was just latching onto the excuse. But he really just couldn't flat out change his stripes, so yeah. Maybe if every now and then he did something small...

Becky would prefer he didn't go off stealing things and she did mention that it wasn't the best idea but Jesse was an adult. He knew the difference between right and wrong. "I don't know. I'd want it to be a surprise." She raised an eyebrow at him. "But I really do discourage going to get one by illegitimate means." Although the idea of him stealing her a snow globe was really kind of sweet, in a weird, less than legal sort of way. With winter fading fast though, most of the snow globes on display were those Valentine's Day ones with kissing figurines and all that jazz. Nothing all that exciting. "And if I want one bad enough, I can go and get myself one." Maybe she'd put it amid the vast ugly figurine collection. Inject some pretty into that. The thought made her smile as she looked across the street at some mother yelling at her young son to stop jumping in the rain and get back inside.

"It's no fun if you get one yourself." Jesse pointed out. He heard the yelling, though didn't take his eyes off of her for a second, liking seeing her smile. He'd not seen enough of that lately. There'd been a lack of many smiling faces in his life. And sure, there'd been more since he got the house, but still. He liked it. Then he looked back out into the storm, lightning streaking across the sky. "And you realize that you just said 'if you do steal something' and made a request, then turned right back around and told me that you don't condone my getting something by illegitimate means, right?" he asked. "So, which is it? If I happen to have a certain itch to scratch in that department, I should do something as innocent as procuring you a snowglobe, or you want me to stay on the straight and narrow without any detours?" he asked, amused.

"I disapprove of the thievery because I think it's a bad idea, but if you're going to do it, get me something," she clarified and lightly hit his chest again, since there was no newspaper convenient. "I'm hungover, shut up you," she mock-scolded and gave him a stern look that didn't last very long before her eyes crinkled a bit at the corners and the corner of her mouth twitched. She liked this, the goofing off there in the rain like that. It took a load of her mind, let her forget about darker things lurking in the corners. "First one... although maybe instead of getting something for me, get something for JJ." The girl had been quiet, but then again, she'd been focused on where to put all the belongings in the new house. And then Becky felt guilty not being up when she got up, especially on a day like today.

"Hey, no fair, beating me up." Jesse said, chuckling a little bit, eyes back up on the lightning show, and it was one hell of a show, as it were. The wind was starting to give him goosebumps, but that was alright. He was okay with that. "I still don't think you actually made sense there, but whatever. I'll just do whatever, and claim you told me to." he informed her. "I'd be at the very least half right. As for getting something for Baby J, I think she'd kill me if it was something she knew was stolen. If I was going to get her something it'd be nice. Though lately, I don't know. She seems...different." he admitted. "Maybe it's just what happens to girls when they hit this age, but she does. She seems a lot less happy than she used to be. She seems like she's all of a sudden been hit with huge mommy issues that she never had before, she just seems...I don't know. Like a different person, sometimes. She never used to be so reserved, and these days it's like no matter what, badness is happening. Is that normal?" he asked, wanting an honest answer, and she'd know better than him. She'd been a teenage girl at one point, after all.

Becky pulled her feet up under the blanket more as the wind kicked up there for a minute and watched the lightening. She listened to what he said, noting the concern that was so very much there. She could see it in the teenager. There was definitely a lot more going on up there than there used to be and it was never easy. Not one bit. "Part of it definitely is, being that age. You're stuck in that middle where you're capable of taking on more responsibility but you're still kind of a kid. She's struggling with finding out who she is and where she fits into the world. Some of that naivite is starting to fade because she's able to understand what people mean now instead of those conversation the adults have when they're trying not to show that they're having that kind of conversation. The world isn't so black and white any more.

"Then you factor in hormones that fuck your mood up when you least want it to and things that you didn't realize you didn't have you start to miss. I mean, sure, I had my mom, but I really started missing not having a dad. I had you and your dad, but it still wasn't quite the same. And it's not fault on you or your abilities in being a father, there's just some things that you really need a mom for. She has her aunts and her grandmother and there's me too I guess. I try anyway. But she can't talk to you about boys or the changes she's feelings because well, you wouldn't get it and there might be some guilt there because she feels that she should talk to you about some things, but at the end of the day, it's stuff you don't want to tell your dad about.

"And on top of all that, what about her friends? Some might be drifting and getting really into boys or really into make up or clothes and she's not there yet and it feels like you're losing friends. Evie and I had some pretty bad fights when we were in high school about what we'd do. I started getting into boys a little sooner than she did and let me tell you? That was a world of angst that I didn't want. I was the girl that started developing first in our group of friends too and I tried to cover up but then I come home one day and my mom's tossed out my baggy sweaters and gave me this lecture on using what I had to get ahead in life and there was rumors started about me being a skank when I didn't even do anything. Girls are vicious." She shuddered a bit and frowned. "There's a lot going on. I don't think boys ever had it quite as complicated as girls."

Jesse took everything Becky had to say extremely seriously. He listened to ever word, eyes ticking from the storm to watch her as she spoke. He'd had this on his mind for a while, and hadn't really known who to ask about it, so he was glad that she was there, and that she had an answer for him. Not an answer that was full of things he wanted to hear, either, which made him think it was point blank honest. He was quiet the whole time, trying to incorporate everything she said into his mindset. Not that it made him any less concerned, but still. It was all good information to have. It really made him upset on a deep level, thinking that he wasn't the person to be there for her right now. And he'd try. It was in his nature, he'd definitely try, but Becky made it sound like he was a little doomed in that respect. And he could get it, a little bit. There were parts of being a guy that he knew women didn't understand, and he knew perfectly fucking well there were things about women he'd never understand either. Still, he hated to think that his baby girl couldn't talk to him about things. He sort of absently picked at the chipped paint on the back of the swing as he let it all sink in. "It's not any less complicated being a guy." he said, voice quieter and a little distant, though it was clearly not directed at her. "Just different."

"I know. I can't really imagine what you're feeling about it and I'm sorry. But yeah, it's different. And you're the kind of guy who wants to help to begin with. There's just some things... Baby J is growing up, but she's always going to need her dad, even if she can't talk to him about how the boy sitting next to her in class makes her heart flutter." She offered him a gentle smile. "You're a tough act to follow, you know. Every other guy in her life is going to be measured up to you." Hell, she'd caught herself doing it once or twice before. Not that Jesse was perfect by any means, but he was a good person when it came down to it. "And for the reserved thing? Well, she's an only child. She doesn't have five other people to try wrangle her moment of attention from."

"You contradict yourself a lot, it's hard to keep up with." he told her, sighing just a little. But then he was completely back on track. "Why can't she talk to me about some boy she likes? I'd much rather know than find out she's sneaking out. I want to know who might have her attention. I keep waiting for it to happen, she's at that age. I saw it with all my sisters and you, and was there on the other end of it before. Not that that's the same thing either." He chipped more paint. "You think she'd compare guys to me? Why?" he asked. "And the reserved thing--that's new. She never used to be so gaurded. She was more outgoing, she seemed to have more fun in her life, lately it just seems like she's...stressed out and heading towards judgmental, and....yeah, I just don't know. It just worries me. A lot." he admitted, knowing Becky probably didn't have all the answers for him though that appreciation for her input was clear in his body language.

"How am I contradicting myself? By saying that she's still going to need you? Because she is, it's not like she's going to completely move on and decide she doesn't need you anymore. Just right now she needs something else in addition." It was a confusing concept, yeah, and she frowned some as she went over what she said and what he said. She didn't mean to be confusing. "I don't think JJ is the type who'd sneak out... and while I don't know for sure, I'd be very surprised if she didn't. You're her dad and she adores you. It's not hard to see. I can very much see her comparing guys. There's this expression that girls want guys like their dads and guys want girls like their moms." JJ was definitely a daddy's girl which wasn't a bad thing, but sometimes she wondered if JJ was too attached. Not in a bad way but that girl sure loved her dad. She didn't say it though, especially if what she said already was confusing. She was confusing herself a little there too. "It might be worth talking to your dad. I'd consider him a real good authority on raising girls," she suggested. "I just hope that what I'm saying isn't crushing you, but I want to be honest. I didn't have a very conventional childhood either."

"No, you said you didn't think boys ever had it so complicated as girls, I said they did, and you said you knew." Jesse said, since she asked, and it definitely wasn't what she'd said. Still, he listened again, falling quiet as he tried to follow it all, tried to take it all to heart. No one else was going to have this talk with him, he was sure. Not even his sisters. So, yeah. He was paying attention to every damn word. "And don't worry about what effect you're having on me with what you're saying, I just appreciate you being honest." he said. "You're right about my dad, I probably should talk to him. I just wanted your take, and somehow I can't see myself having this same conversation with Evie or anything." he admitted.

"Oh! yeah... That was kind of habitual." She didn't even realize that she'd done it and she winced lightly. "I'll work on it. And I guess I just don't want you to feel like there's nothing you can do. There'll be times where you can't do much except give her a hug and say you love her and on your end, you're going to have to learn to be okay with that. That there are things she's going to have to work out on her own." She bit her lip and looked out at the rain as he mentioned Evie. She missed her friend and part of her worried that things weren't going to work out. "I'd say out of your sisters, Dorothy might be the best, she's a parent too after all. But I think your dad can really help you out the most. He had to go through it four times and it's not the same every time." Becky looked back at him then down on the floor of the porch where the chips of paint were falling. "Maybe she's reserved because she knows that you have a lot on your mind and doesn't want to bother you. Sure, you say that you always have time for her and stuff, but it could still be her not wanting to worry you. Part of that learning to be grown-up thing."

"Have an opinion, Becky. Have one, and stick with it, everyone's entitled to one and I'd rather you actually stick to yours and argue a point than just blindly roll over and agree with whatever I said, or change yours if I don't agree or like it." he told her, which was the same thing he told his daughter, not wanting her to back down from how she felt. He knew a lot of women did it--hell, a lot of women were conditioned to do it, as in a hell of a lot of men didn't listen to anything they had to say in the first place. Maybe it was just how he'd grown up, in a household flooded with girls, but he just didn't view the world that way. And he didn't like it when he saw evidence of it around him. He listened to the rest of what she said, though, considering. "Maybe. I don't know. I haven't been trying to do anything heavy, or I haven't been trying to show it if anything is up." he said. "I just know she used to be more outgoing than this. Or she seemed like it to me, and...it's like a dark shadow's fallen over her." he said, finally managing to put into words what it seemed like to him. "Like the sun was out, and all of a sudden..." he trailed off.

The thing was is that she used to. She used to be that person who'd be outgoing and firm in her beliefs and sometimes refuse to change their wrong opinion just because it would mean backing down. Her thoughts went to the earlier conversation about training him out of petty thievery and back to the last few months. Is that what happened? In the end, did he really break her? That she went from the woman who was going to dish out a piece of her mind on someone else's behalf to someone who backpeddled in fear. Becky was quiet for a long time as she thought it over and wondered if she should say something, but in the end decided not to. The conversation wasn't about her, it was about JJ and Jesse and Jesse's fears. Thunder and lightning crackled across the sigh and Becky picked at a loose thread on the blanket they shared.

"You know how babies will cry when another baby is crying? Or their mother is upset and they'll get upset?" she asked suddenly, thinking of how upset he'd been the previous night over the Veronica situation.

Jesse stopped picking at the paint for a moment, and tucked a little of her hair behind her ear, before he went back to it again. A small, comforting gesture because he recognized that he'd kind of knocked her off stride there. "No, I hadn't noticed. ...maybe the second one. Though not just their mother, I just know sometimes when I was upset, it was like Baby J could tell, even before she could talk."

The gesture caught her off guard and she looked at him but he was back to picking paint. She reached up to wipe at the corner of her eye and her shoulders relaxed a little bit. Becky hadn't even realized how tense she'd gotten. "Well, being her primary caregiver, she'd be in tune with your emotions. That doesn't just go away as you get older. Some people, sure, I think especially if you have siblings, but Baby J and you have lived in close quarters. You're able to sense when she's not doing too good, even if she's not showing it. It stands to reason that even if you're working on not showing it, JJ can still tell that you're upset or really locked in her mind over things... especially if that particular thing is related to someone who causes you pain." She bit back the automatic add-on of saying 'but it's not your fault, don't feel bad!'. She just let that sit there for him to go over and see how he felt.

"Makes sense." he said. He could accept that. And oddly, it sort of made him feel mildly better that she might still be in tune, or whatever Becky had termed it. Granted it was a double edged sword, when he didn't especially want her to know he was having a 'Ronnie came by and fucked with my world view again' day, but still. It was that solid connection he wanted to have there. To not lose. He was quiet for a few long moments. "Hopefully she won't find us." he said, voicing his thought without actually filling in the blank, though he imagined that Becky would get it regardless.

"I'll kick her ass if she does," Becky said automatically, sounding pretty damn serious about giving that woman a piece of her mind. "She's put you both through enough." There was a time when she would go to bat for Veronica. She'd lived through her mother and could see where her issues stemmed from and why she chose to cope the way she did. But Becky's mother's actions really on hurt her. Veronica's actions hurt Jesse, JJ, and the rest of the family. Becky's thoughts of maybe something could be worked out was pretty much out the window.

That had Jesse giving Becky an amused little smirk. "Oh yeah?" he asked. "Cat fight on the lawn, then?" Which he would actually pay to see, probably. Or, he would in that way of in his head it seemed like a really good idea but he knew if he were faced with the reality it would be nothing short of a fucking disaster that he couldn't properly fix. So, yeah. Still, the flirt in him twinkled behind his eyes for a second.

"Cat fight would imply that she'd still have enough sense left in her after I hit her," Becky said primly, returning his amused little smirk with a haughty look of her own. "We'd do it tomorrow. Get some mud in there." She arched an eyebrow, daring him to admit that he'd enjoy that too. She was curious to see if he would too.

He chuckled. "So mud-fueled cat fight." he said, shaking his head as he grinned, then made a show of looking her over. "Nope, no interest in that whatsoever." he said, even if it was blatantly obvious that he was teasing.

Her cheeks pinked up the slightest bit and she had to look away but there was no use hiding the grin on her face. It was weird to be joking around like this with him. It's not something they'd done before, let alone the way he'd looked at her. Regardless, she was glad he wasn't brooding (although the brooding was understandable). "Boys. Aaalll the same," she said in a pitying voice.

Jesse laughed. "Yeah, pretty much. Can't exactly argue with you on that point." he agreed. "So I guess, just know that I'm just like other guys and keep that in mind?" he suggested. "Not that I know if that would be a good thing or not..." He shrugged. "Can't help it. I'm not blind."

Becky wasn't sure how she was supposed to take that. It was very different from indirect, general flirting to something that could be taken as a direct 'hit' so to speak. It was kind of startling and the startled look on her face showed it. "Well yes, I suppose you can't," she said after a moment. She recovered and grinned at him, just going with it.

Jesse took that tripped up look as the clear sign that he wasn't allowed to do things like that. That the whole bit where he admitted he wasn't blind wasn't appreciated. So, he looked back out at the storm, not wanting to make her more uncomfortable, even if she did smile at him afterwards. "Maybe it's time to head back inside." he said. "I should probably work on unpacking shit, maybe get the house as together as possible before Baby J gets home."

"Yeah. Um, I'll talk to her, if you want me to," she said. She didn't look fully away but she averted her eyes to the rain. The moment suddenly went awkward and she knew it was her fault. Jesse didn't mean anything terrible by it but it was still... "Unpacking is good." Becky breathed in the cold air slowly. She felt bad because she hadn't been very stealthy with that look, she knew, and Becky raised her hand to touch his shoulder but pulled back and pretended she was running a hand through her hair. Just full of smooth moves, wasn't she?

He noticed the move, but sort of figured it was probably paranoia that it wasn't exactly what it seemed to be. "What would you talk to her about?" he asked, finally retrieving his arm, as he sat forward, stopping the motion of the swing. Thunder rolled hard again, and he was still thinking starting a fire would be a good thing. But either way, he looked back over his shoulder at her.

Jesse moving meant that his body heat moved too and she shivered and wrapped her arms around herself. "Girl things," she said after a moment. "How's school, any cute guys she likes, does she find that she's getting really moody lately. Because hormones aren't fun. I can let her know you're worried? Or I can keep that to myself. I don't want it to be a reconnaissance mission. If there's something really wrong that she should tell you, I'll tell her to tell you, but I can let you know if it's just girl things or if it's something that she's working on to try tell you." This time she did reach out and gently touched her fingers to his shoulder blade, looking at him softly. Not just to reassure, but to try let him know that she wasn't upset. She didn't like the awkward feeling.

He wasn't quite sure how to read the touch, but his mind was more on what she said about his daughter in the first place. "Maybe it'd be good just for you to talk to her in general. Just...yeah. Ask her how she's doing, be there to talk if she wants to. Get in to all that stuff that apparently I can't talk to her about and wouldn't understand correctly anyways." he said. "And I trust you to know what's best on things. Whether you tell her I'm concerned, or tell me what's going on with her." He didn't figure Becky would steer Baby J wrong. "I'd appreciate it."

Becky nodded. "That I can do. Glad to know my good judgment can still be trusted in," she joked and smiled a little more at him. "It'll be okay, Jesse. Chirp's judgment isn't too bad herself." She shivered again and scooted forward and her toes curled as she pulled her feet out from under the blanket. "However my nose is frozen and I'm pretty sure I can't feel the rest of my face. I'm going inside to take a shower. Do you want me to start coffee?"

"Naw, I'll do it." he said. He was going to start a fire, put coffee on, and set in for a day of unpacking what little they had, and start making a better list of the shit they didn't. It was probably going to be a long process, but he figured she'd help him out on it too--after she'd had her shower and everything.