Resistance To Assistance

Jay Halstead VS Himself

I was tired after what little emotional chatter there had been, and I was ready to doze off, but unfortunately for me, the Sergeants had elected it to be the perfect time to make a start on lunch.

Trudy lounged on the sofa, my body draped across the length of it so that my head rested on her lap. She stroked softly through my hair and hummed to me. Her own head was leaned against the back of the sofa, with her eyes closed as she rested. I stayed quiet, reminding myself of her threat every time my fingers trailed up to my mouth. It was strange that I'd never really noticed that I'd done it until the Sergeants had brought it to my attention, and now I couldn't seem to stop wanting it. I wanted to stick my fingers in my mouth, I wanted to suck on my thumb, I wanted to chew on my fingertips. I wanted it so badly that the only way to stop myself was the thought of how humiliating it would be to use a pacifier.

I could hear the sizzle of meat on the grill, Hank must have decided on steaks which would make sense since that was one of two things that Hank actually enjoyed eating, the other being pizza which he'd sooner order than go through the bother of making. That's not say that Hank was not a good cook, he could cook anything and it would taste delicious but his own tastes were narrow. Hank liked steak and potatoes, no gravy but heavy on the seasoning, or pizza topped with a shit load of various types of meat, so many different types that he had to request them because there wasn't enough on a meat lovers.

I was dozing off slowly. The mix of spices that were being cooked into the meat only helped to lull me, reminding me of times when Hank and I had dinner at his beside the warm fireplace.

"Jay, sweetheart," a soft yet calloused hand smoothed down my cheek. I snuffled and turned into it, my fingers falling from my mouth as I did so. "You have to wake up now. It's lunchtime."

"Am I hungry?" I grumbled, determined to surrender back to sleep if the answer was anything but affirmative.

"I -" there was a pregnant pause, the silence in the room thick enough to butter bread with. "I don't know, Jay. Are you hungry?" The voice was still soft, the hand still trailing over my cheek in gentle motions. I thought about it, aiming all of my fading consciousness at my stomach to feel out how empty it was.

"I don't know, a little." I grudgingly responded, my eyes still shut, and my brain still foggy. I could hear laughter from two different people, but I was still too dopey to figure out who they were.

"You're hungry, Jay. Get up. It's lunchtime." The hand against my face tapped twice, and suddenly, I was wide awake.

There was only one person in my life who woke me up like that.

I risked opening one eye and then allowed it to close with an embarrassed groan at the smirk that crossed Voight's face. I just knew that Trudy was giving me the same look, I didn't even need to check.

"Well," I groaned again as I felt my body start to ache and burn the more lucid I became. "I'm gonna need some help getting up."

"We got ya, buddy boy." Hank's hands slid under me, carefully cradling me as he stood, carrying me as if I was weightless.

"Wha - I can still walk, Hank!" I gripped him tightly, eyes wide with nerves as I watched the floor sway closer and further away with each step the man took.

"Just because you can doesn't mean you should, remember what we told you earlier, being babied isn't a punishment." Hank squeezed his arms around me gently so as to absorb any pressure the squeeze may have put on my ribs.

"Mhm, and you're definitely getting that pacifier I was talking about. It's a wonder you haven't lost any of your fingers with the way you were biting them whilst you were sleeping." Platt appeared in my line of sight as Hank placed me down on one of the chairs around the dining table.