#lucy:james

[ambercast]

where: outside who: james goldstein ( @detectivegoldstein )

Lucy had found a really nice loveseat at the trading post and was now doing her best to drag it across town, sweating immediately as while it wasn’t heavy, she really had little to no upper body strength, so it was difficult pulling it across the sidewalk.

[ambercast]

Lucy could feel her racing heart starting to calm as she concentrated on what was around her. She could feel her skirt, and she rubbed it between her fingertips. “Skirt.” Reaching up she stroked one of her braids. “Hair.” The bench beneath her. “Wood.” His arm in front of her. “You.” They managed a tremulous smile. “Better.”

He nodded along encouragingly. Lucy talking was at least a start. "Good. Yer doin' great sweetheart. A few more breaths an' tell me four things you can feel right now. Can be anything." James continued with his own slow, steady breathing, to help guide them.

[ambercast]

where: the pumpkin festival who: james goldstein (@detectivegoldstein)

Roman had convinced Lucy to go into town for the festival, probably hoping she’d eat something. She did miss her friends, and some of the grief had faded enough over the past month for her to long for her old life. So they agreed to go to the festival to see Cat, Parker, Jerico, G, hopefully Duck. Unfortunately, the crowds were bigger than they were expecting, and already they could feel anxiety creeping into their chest.

Roman had placed her on a bench and told her not to move while he got them some pie, but she’d never felt so small with all the people surrounding her, and she could feel her chest tightening and it was getting harder to breath. She gasped for breath, hyperventilating some as they grabbed the seat of the bench with a white-knuckled grip, their near skeletal frame trembling.

[ambercast]

(continued from here with @detectivegoldstein)

Lucy lifted her hand in a thumbs up before turning over to push herself up, wobbling precariously. She managed to shuffle-skate her way over to where James was without falling again, but she went ahead and plopped down to remove the skates. Obviously, they were not for her.

[tonklings-blog]

[text]: Where are you? (lucy)

lucy [text]: working at the soup kitchenlucy [text]: try to behave for a bit so i can do my good deeds, mister.

[ambercast]

Lucy startled at the voice, relaxing once she realized who it was. She dropped the loveseat, wiping her hands on her skirt. "I'm not good at that," she admitted, the thought of asking someone for help never having crossed her mind.

James stopped walking, leaning some weight onto his cane as he just watched Lucy for a few moments. He couldn't help the chuckle at the way they struggled. "Ya know kid, you coulda asked someone for help," he called out with a smirk.

[ambercast]

Lucy didn’t recognize the man who crouched in front of her, but something about his demeanor and way he talked reminded them a bit of Duck. She inhaled shakily, exhaling slowly. Glancing around, they continued to take a few more breaths, but looking around was still overwhelming, so she turned her gaze onto the man instead. “Dress. Blue. Red,” she listed off softly, describing what she saw on him in front of her. “White. Arms.” Those counted, right?

Even amidst the crowd of people, James' keen sense of hearing caught the gasps for air as he walked past the bench. Turning toward the sound, he immediately jumped into action. Sliding down to his knees so that he could be level with Lucy, he placed a hand gently but firmly on one of their own knees. "Hey, hey, can ya hear me?" Years of training allowed him to keep his tone steady, and what he hoped was comforting.

"Breathe with me kid, alright?" James took a long inhale and a long exhale, continuing until it seemed Lucy was following along. "Good. Can ya tell me five things ya see? It can be anythin' at all."