IC Inbox

[vrdantwind]

"Hey, this is Claude! Pretty sure I'm doing this correctly. You can leave me a message here, and I'll get to it as soon as I can. Talk to you soon~."

Comments

[vrdantwind]

They called me old first! [Claude's whine is practically audible over text.] I figured that if they consider someone my age old, there wasn't a whole lot of talking them out of that idea anyway...

Ugh, maybe I'm just not good with kids.

[woofdad]

[Sorry not sorry, Claude, this is still incredibly funny.]

See, accepting it is one thing, agreeing is another.

As far as I can tell, you're doing pretty good, actually. The fact that they said something like that to your face but haven't shown any signs of being scared of you since then means they must be pretty comfortable with you.

[vrdantwind]

Yeah...I've noticed they're pretty wary for a kid. I actually think I've been getting along with them okay because they remind me of myself at that age, so I've got a vague idea of how they might react to things. It's not a perfect guide - they've surprised me more than once - but it's obviously working okay.

It really makes me wonder what they've been through, though. I'm going to risk an educated guess and say it's related to things that happened before you adopted them? Since you obviously take great care of them yourself.

[woofdad]

[They remind Claude of himself... that's a little worrying, not least because Grant knows Chip reminded him of himself at first, and he sure knows why that was. He's certainly got a few questions about Claude's upbringing now.]

That would be right - and I honestly appreciate that you trust that I wasn't the one who did this to them. Frankly, Chip was treated very badly by their birth family; getting them comfortable with new people is usually something of a process.

[vrdantwind]

I do trust you, but it's not even really trust that led me to make that call - it's just observation. You're a good dad, Grant. And you love Chip. It's pretty much impossible for anyone with even the most basic grasp of common sense to believe you could've been the cause of whatever issues and fears they have. I don't have to take it on faith.

That's awful, though. I'm glad they're with you now. I wouldn't think any kid deserved that, but they're a good kid who especially doesn't.

[woofdad]

I don't know, some people put up a pretty good front - so I'll keep being glad that you realize that's not what this is.

Absolutely agreed. I think they might be working through it, a little bit at a time, but it's bound to take a while. It wasn't even that long ago that I adopted them, so they've got almost a decade's worth of garbage treatment to deal with. Sometimes I'm honestly amazed they're as stable as they are.

[vrdantwind]

Maybe, but I'm also good at seeing through people trying to manipulate me. I'm pretty confident in my judgment of your character.

They're a good kid. And they'll only become better with a dad like you looking after them. Let me know if there's anything I can do to help them be more comfortable around all of us, okay?

[How did they get on the subject of Chip when talking about Grant potentially going out with Dimitri? Claude isn't sure, but in a way he's oddly grateful. Talking about this is actually...soothing some of the sting. It's reminding him how good of a guy Grant is, and how he deserves good things, and is helping him push his own selfishness aside. When he focuses on Grant, instead of on the (purely theoretical, in that Claude never had him to begin with) loss of Dimitri...it's easier.]

[woofdad]

Thank you - really. And I'll let you know if there is anything; so far, they seem to be adjusting pretty well, especially now that they're getting along better with Sylvain. Couldn't ask for a better group of old-timey nobility-slash-veterans to be traveling with.