i lost something

“Oh you know, I just scrawl mainly. I also draw things I want…Like this one is a hotdog costume, because I feel it’d be super fun” Leeloo rambled, then putting the drawings in the pillowcase she used to collect things in.

“Hotdog costume? Sounds - interesting.” Shane just nodded, though mostly to humour her. “I’d rather be something like a sushi roll. Those would be cute.” The talking  helped keep him from being so stressed about his lack of things.

“N-no. I d-do to. I-I l-look at that s-stuff all the t-t-time. Please give it back,” CJ said, stepping forward. “Now.”

“Feisty.” Shane dropped the things onto the floor, letting the paper fly all over and the blanket fall onto the dirty floor. “There you go. Happy?”

“Hey, do you want to go outside and get some fresh air maybe?” they tried, their brow furrowing in worry. 

Shane shifted awkwardly, he even fixed how his pockets were sticking out a bit. He really just wanted to do anything to keep him busy. “Yeah, okay. Sure. outside.”

CJ paused in his doorway, frowning at the man in his room. He looked around and noticed that all his stuff had been moved around. “Yes. T-That’s my stuff. Why a-are you in h-here?” He asked, stepping into the room. “I-I d-don’t want t-to give y-you my s-stuff..”

“Oh come on.” Shane sighed. “You n-never touch it. You can give it up a bit, I’ll give it back when I find something more interesting to get my fingers on.”

“Do you think your behavior is appropriate right now?”

“I don’t really care if it is or not.” Which was honest. Shane was feeling anxious and panicked and couldn’t help completely how he was acting. To be fair, he had thrown any coping tips he had from therapy was thrown out the window.

Gray could tell that Shane seemed to be struggling with having returned the drawings, and they immediately felt bad. As much as they didn’t want to give the drawings up they figured the children would be happy if their drawings made someone calm. “How about I give you some of the drawings? You can pick out your favorite?”

✴︎ — Ryan had some down time and they’d been wandering around aimlessly until they noticed someone walking with a blanket and some papers, glancing at the items when they spoke and then at the man. “ I don’t care about the drawings. The blanket’s got sentimental value though, ” they lied. “ You can totally buy it off me though. ”

Shane just squinted at them Shane didn’t have money on him; all wallet and money taken from him when arriving to Glendale. “You can have your blanket back. I don’t need it that bad.”

Leeloo leaned over and took the drawings in a swift movement, quickly scrambling back like a squirrel. “I uh, why though? Can’t you just do what I do and collect things?” she wondered.

 “I’m trying.” Collect, he liked that word. He hadn’t really thought of that. He watched her scramble to grab the pages. “What are you drawing in those?”

“I do!” they said, happy to have gotten their drawings back. “Thank you so much Shane!” They offered him a grateful smile, they nodded at his request. “Yeah, yeah, I can get you some clothes. They Is there anything else you might need?” 

The smile was probably supposed to make him happy or feel more calm, though he still felt panicked and like something was missing. “just m-more clothes.”

“I know you didn’t because you just asked me.”

Shane dropped the blanket and the papers, letting them go flying aroun him. He knew he was being a bit childish though couldn’t help that all. “There you can have your stuff back.”

“Borrowing without permission is still stealing. I don’t want to involve another staff member.”

“I could’ve gotten permission, you don’t know that.”

“Not mine, but not yours. If you need an extra blanket, let one of the orderlies know. Stealing is not permitted here.”

“I’m not stealing it. They can have it back when I’m done. Just borrowing.”

Gray’s brow furrowed lightly at his answer. “Shane,” they began, voice soft and quiet. They didn’t want to seem accusatory or angry –– because they weren’t. They would be lying if they said they weren’t starting to get a bit anxious, having never been one for confrontation. “C-can I have my drawings back please? “ It probably looked ridiculous to be so dead set on wanting the drawings back but they were a gift for them and that was something that meant a lot to them.

“Do you have oth-other things?” shane bit his lip, knowing he was being some kind of dramatic. He put the drawings back onto his desk, his fingers almost twitching and wanting to grab anything he could. “Or mine? They kept them, but I could really use some of them. Not enough changes of clothes here.”

“Nope, those too…I mean, I drew half of them. So why would I want to give them away?” She said, feeling herself getting horribly anxious, still holding out her hand “C’mon, don’t be an ass.”

“Can you offer me something else then?”