The Harder I Try [Closed]

[criticallyfucked]

Who: Foster and Rita
When: S2: D22
Where: Trailer 18
What: Foster and Rita learn the power of teamwork(?)
Warnings: Foster. Specifics to be added as they come up.



He's both disappointed and relieved that Rita is so prompt--there was a small hope she'd protest against working with him, but he's sure the reasonable conclusion would have been orders to surrender the book to her, and he...

...well, he would have obeyed, but it would not have been in good faith that he did so.

Anyway, the extra-large door of trailer 18 is already open when she gets there.

If she lets herself in, she'll find it... clearly demarcated between the two owners. Foster's side is actually neater, if only for want of so many material possessions. It's also arguably less sanitary; there are spots and smears of dried blood on both the bedsheets and the wall.

Foster is on the floor next to the bed. He's on the floor because he's about the size of a child's rocking horse, and his... well, he could best be described as a 'teddytaur,' covered in soft golden curls and clad in a costume to match 9S', pink and all. There's a heavy book in his lap, his paws resting on top of it.

He doesn't say anything, just looks at her. His round, plush little face is hard to read.

Comments

[anti_nonsense]

Rita may be a hell of a speedreader, but even she has to recognize that there's no way she's getting through this in one sitting. She gets to the end of the current chapter, then stops, crossing her arms and taking some time to mull over what she just read.

"Never knew that divergent timelines could grow to be so volatile..." she murmurs, then gently closes the book and holds it out for Foster. "You can have this back now. I'll have to come back and continue this another day."

Come to think of it... they've been here a while, and Rita spent most of the time absorbed in the book, but Foster? "And, uh... you don't have to sit and watch me the whole time, you know." He does know that, right?

[criticallyfucked]

Foster looks mildly startled--some of it is from how quickly and decisively Rita decided she was finished, and then actually returned the book to him. Sure, there was his little gesture when she came into the trailer, but he did not actually expect her to take it seriously.

He accepts the book gingerly, reverently, with both paws.

The other reason for his surprise, though--

"Of course I do!" He turns his head to the side a bit, his eyes staying on her enough that the whites can actually be seen. Which proves there are whites to them, finally.

"I'm no use to you if I'm distracted elsewhere." Obviously.

[anti_nonsense]

Rita stands, brushing the creases out of her tunic with her hands, and frowns.

"You can answer questions just fine from somewhere else in the room!" she protests.

[criticallyfucked]

Foster looks at her. Then, slowly, he turns, looking over Taako's detritus-rich side of the room. Skirts, shoes, snacks, at least one book, sad-looking paper aeroplanes, and so on are scattered variously under his bunk, on top of his bunk, on top of the dresser, and... well, Taako doesn't care where things end up, is the point.

But where Taako's stuff isn't, there's... not a lot of anything. No other books besides the one in Foster's paws and the two under Taako's bed. No food that isn't Taako's, no art supplies, no evidence of hobbies of any kind.

Unless the gratuitously wicked-looking knife on the tiny kitchen table is a hobby.

He glances back at her.

"No," he says simply.