the pitt hyperfixation

Parker's always been able to pick out Victoria's scent anyway. She's still young enough that it's a little more docile, softer. Puppy-ish. So the gifts and treats were easily clocked as hers.

But Victoria won't speak. She actively goes out of her way to ignore Parker or turn around and run the other way when Parker so much as makes eye contact with her. It's like the pup put all this work into getting Parker's attention but then doesn't want it. Like she wants Parker to be aware of her existence and no other omega's but she doesn't want Parker to ever talk to her or anything.

Parker just can't stand for that. She won't allow it.

She tries to keep it simple at first. A few gifts of her own, scented jackets or shirts. She leaves behind softer shirts or blankets because she wants Victoria to only have the best fabrics in her nest. But it doesn't get Victoria talking or anything.

So maybeeee Parker slips some heat inducing pills into one of the baked goods she leaves in Victoria's locker and maybeee she makes sure that she's right by Victoria when the fever starts to settle in. And since Victoria has been surrounded by Parker's scent for a while, the only person, the only alpha she wants is Parker.

After all, isn't the best courting gift an alpha's knot?

So now he has not one but two people (three if Trinity isn't aiding him in his nonsense and she usually is) watching him and yanking him down from heights or out of the electrical wiring he insists he can fix. They come home to furniture moved around (Dennis how did the extremely heavy table get moved and where are your shoes) or in from the front yard where he's happily storm watching or "Dennis, where the fuck did you even get that power tool, no put it down right now.” He does even worse on the farm helping Amy. He doesn’t see an issue with driving the heavy machinery despite being bone tired and shakes off a probably dislocated shoulder because the calf he needed to tag got pissed. Or he decided he wanted to investigate the leak on the roof himself and now he's getting yelled at even though he just saved his partners a couple grand.

They come home from a quick errand to find Dennis in some precarious situation, his hand down the garbage disposal or using a power tool for something that does not require a power tool, dangling out of a window to clean the gutters because he heard someone quote Robby triple what it should have been.

After he's safely inside again, on solid ground, tools away, that's when the yelling starts. Robby’s yelling with a pale white face, Jack is furious, and Dennis is yelling back because he’s fixing a problem, why is he in trouble?

When Robby starts pushing him towards his corner, that’s when he stammers a "Wait, wait, yellow!"

Both men freeze. Robby drops his hand and Dennis doesn’t like how cold his skin feels as a result.

“I don’t-” he shakes his head and inhales slowly. “Why am I in trouble?”

“Dennis.” Jack’s voice is calmer but there’s a level of exasperation to it too. “You were using a power drill while standing on a ladder.”

“So?”

“And you were alone and wearing socks.”

“So you’re mad because I wasn’t barefoot?”

There’s genuine confusion in his tone. Jack stares at him before looking at Robby and gesturing at the younger man as if to say “your turn.”

“And you could’ve fallen and cracked your skull open,” Robby says bluntly. “Or broken bones or severed your spinal cord or any number of things that would’ve left you paralyzed at best.”

Dennis frowns, making a face very similar to the one he uses when he’s told no, and he crosses his arms over his chest defiantly. "No, I wouldn’t.”

“Oh?” Robby’s voice raises a little bit. “You couldn’t have gotten startled and fallen? Or lost your footing? Missed and drilled a hole into your hand instead?”

“I used to do this all the time. I grew up on a farm. I know how to use power tools!"

"That's not-" Jack sighs and rolls his shoulders. "Baby. That's not the point. You shouldn't be . What if you slipped and fell? What if something happened?"

"But I've done it alone since I was a kid."

"What?"

“Excuse me?”

Dennis shrugs. "I've done it alone for years. I don't need someone to watch over me. No one's ever watched over me while I do it.”

“But someone should have,” Robby stresses. He starts rubbing at his neck and that’s when it kind of clicks for Dennis that this isn’t a normal dynamic thing. This is actual fear and stress. “You shouldn’t have ever been doing it alone. Not at any age.”

Dennis still has a befuddled expression that shows no inkling of understanding. Jack sighs and steps away to find his phone.

"Yeah. Okay. You know what? Give me one second.”

Jack believes in visual learning aids and he texts Ellis for her best pictures from at home accidents. There's bones sticking out of skin, burns, eye injuries, nails in fingers-the list and pictures go on and on and on.

And Dennis gets quieter and quieter and quieter. Robby can only see every image as something on Dennis, something they could come home to, another patient he won’t be able to save.

“But-" Dennis’s voice is quiet, kind of weak, and it makes Jack and Robby both pause. “I’m good at that stuff.”

Their hearts start to crack just a bit.

"I mean, I've been doing stuff like this since I was little. I can help people with it like how I helped my family.”

“You can,” Robby reassures him. “But you can’t do it alone. Nothing is so important that you can’t wait until one of us is home in case things go wrong.”

“Things won’t go wrong,” he insists as if there isnt uncertainty in his voice. “I once pulled the staples out of my dad's head because he didn't want to go to the doctor."

“That’s-” Robby falters. “That is a separate conversation. This is about using things around the house that could hurt you.”

“But I use sharp things at work.” They know they’re starting to get to him because his voice slips into a whine. “Sometimes I’m supervised but not always. Why do I get to do it alone at work but have to wait here?”

“Because here,” Jack says firmly, grabbing his chin and forcing his gaze up. “You’re not a resident or some fucking farm hand or a kid that has to earn his keep. You’re our little boy and our little boy doesn’t do things that can hurt himself. Understand?”

Dennis nods which only gets him a raised brow and Robby clearing his throat. “Yes, I understand.”

Robby ruffles his hair and ignores his grumbling protest. “No more ladders or tools or things that require your dad or I. Got it?”

“Yeah.” Robby pinches his thigh and he huffs. “No ladders or tools or things that require either one of you.”

“Either one of who?” Jack prompts.

“No ladders or tools or things that require dad or daddy,” he corrects and that gets him a kiss.

“Good. Now what exactly were you trying to fix?”

“Robby said that the light fixture was crooked.”