A dose of normalcy does everyone good

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who; Aaron, Eric + Bev
what; Dinner and normal things! (and serious spaghetti)
where; Aaron and Eric's pod
When; 16th, evening

After all the madness, dinner seemed so normal, and so perfect. It be fair, it was Eric's idea, and the menu was simple: spaghetti with meatballs and garlic breadsticks. How could a kid not love it? Besides, Eric's spaghetti was the best he'd ever had, and he was only vaguely aware he was probably biased. As the time neared for Bev's arrival, he started about setting the table for the three of them and smiled, watching Eric at work in the kitchen. He couldn't even express how grateful he was they were there together.

Comments

[gristle]

"Okay. I mean, I don't know if guns are a thing here, but it probably wouldn't be the worst idea to be able to how to use one." If something else crazy happened, both here and at home. Besides, she lives in Maine and doesn't have the stigma that other people might have, really.

"Sumerian. He's teaching me how to read it, which is the annoying part. It's like super weird as a language."

[customplates]

He smiled over to Eric before nodding. "They are. Eric showed up with one, and I found another looking through the old domes. Found some ammo, too, but not much. Of course, I haven't looked through half of them, either."

He frowned at that second bit, though. "How old are you?"

[amorea_mortuus_sum]

Eric shares the same frown Aaron has, starting to get annoyed on Beverly's behalf. "You're a teenager, you should be reading things like Harry Potter, not studying a language that you'll never use!" If he weren't at dinner with his family, he'd march next door and give Richard a piece of his mind and talk that pompous ass down.

[gristle]

"I'm fourteen." It may come with a little bit of a mouthful as Bev looks back and forth between her dads, and she wipes off some spaghetti sauce from her mouth with the back of her hand. "And I have no idea what Harry Potter is." It's part of that whole 1989 thing or whatever. "But he's teaching me because I asked him too. You guys know me, do you think I'd learn anything that I didn't want to learn?" The words are coupled with a typical teenage sort of shrug before she meets their eyes.

"So yeah, I'd like to learn to shoot."

[customplates]

He gave Eric a look across the table, one of concern. Bev was a strong kid and there was no arguing that point, but he's starting to get the same impression from her that he did from Carl and Enid. Because of the monster they faced in Derry, Beverly had been forced to grow up too quickly. Maybe she did want to learn ancient Sumerian, but that didn't mean she needed to avoid being a teenager.

"That's fair, but I think breaks are important, too." Especially if they were going to teach her how to shoot. "But I'll have a look around and find a place that's good to set up a range."

[amorea_mortuus_sum]

"I should certainly hope you wouldn't.." Eric clears his throat and makes eye contact with Aaron, understanding what he's thinking. He's angry that all these kids have had to grow up so quickly and have missed out on pivotal teenage things. "I'll have to find at least the first book for you. I got quite into it when they were coming out back home."

"We'll have a look around, yes." He's quick to correct, not because he doesn't trust Aaron, but with everything that happened, he's a little anxious to let him go. "In the meantime, we can teach you how to properly take care of a gun."

[gristle]

"Okay," she nods quickly before taking another bite of dinner, because that's what she was there for. "I'll take breaks. I do take breaks. But also for the first time I kind of actually really like going to school. It's not like back home where the teachers don't give a damn about what the bullies do and how they treat other kids." Another bite and another swallow before she adds, "besides I'm pretty sure if someone tried to be a bully in class, Richard would eat them. He's an asshole, but he's not going to let that stuff happen."

She has faith in it, and she moves on.

"And now there's training with Ubbe and you're gonna show me how to care for a gun." Blue lights up then. "Does that mean if I find a gun I can have it? I'll go look for one."

[customplates]

There was nothing Beverly said about Richard that was untrue. Aaron had spoken with the other man enough to know that much at least. He cared, deep down, underneath whatever baggage made him an insufferable ass most of the time, and so he nodded and moved on to a more pressing issue.

"I'll tell you what. I haven't found anything dangerous in the abandoned domes," and he looks over to Eric for a moment before looking back to Beverly, "but we can all go together and see what we find." Since he was apparently not allowed to go exploring on his own anymore.