Frenzied Spirits

Loser

This fire felt warm, but muted in a sense. It felt warm enough to keep them from freezing, but like it was lacking something- substance, maybe? It was like it was there to keep them alive, but not to keep them comfortable. It felt like comfort was within reach, but not actually attainable.

And when Frank thought of it like that, he found it actually did make sense.

☺

Frank shouldn't have been surprised when Jake eventually sat down next to him again.

Part of him, the loud part, wanted to tell him to go fuck himself and leave him alone.

Luckily for Jake, however, Frank was too fucking tired to say much of anything- and really, he was beginning to like the other man's company, as much as he didn't want to admit it to himself.

"Here, I brought you another sweatshirt," Jake said, dumping the gray pullover on the log next to him, "Hopefully it fits, it's one of mine."

Frank felt his face flush, features immediately settling into a glare. People didn't do things like that for him, and if they did, there was always an ulterior motive behind them. He couldn't even remember if Julie had done anything like this, or if their relationship was just them using one another.

He realized it was probably the latter, and Frank felt sick.

"What's wrong with my clothes?" He snapped, though, looking down at himself he realized he was covered in blood, and they probably needed to be washed.

Frank turned to look at Jake long enough to see him smirk, and found himself pursing his lips to stifle a smirk of his own.

"Well, I mean, if you like having clothes covered in your own blood, be my guest!" Jake said, letting out a laugh that sounded more like a snort before continuing, "But it's kinda gross, don't you think?"

Frank said nothing, carefully shrugging off his coat. Really, he didn't care if people looked at him, and it wasn't like he had many options for privacy, anyway.

He folded the coat in his lap, placing it next to him before shoving the hoodie over his head.

The fabric was softer than what he'd been wearing before- it felt nice, really nice, like it was probably really expensive. It was definitely not something he'd ever have been able to get his hands on without stealing back home, and here Jake was just offering it up to him out of the goodness of his heart.

Or, whatever it was that drove him to give him something.

The sweater even smelled nice, which surprised him. He assumed they'd found detergent in a trial and brought it back for them to use. It honestly felt comforting, which was strange considering comfort wasn't really a feeling that Frank had ever been able to experience.

Frank yawned, and Jake must have been looking at him because he immediately asked if he needed a nap.

"Do you want a place to sleep?" Jake prodded, gesturing vaguely to the tents behind them, "I can wash this for you, if you want to rest."

Frank watched Jake reach over to take the coat, but quickly grabbed it and put it on his lap.

"No! I can do it, it's fine!"

♕

After some poking, Jake convinced Frank to take a nap.

The man was clearly exhausted, and Jake couldn't say he blamed him. He made a mental note to show him where he could wash his clothes himself, because he had seemed more than a little cautious with his belongings.

Jake didn't want to prod further, but the way he so delicately cared for his belongings seemed purposeful, and like there may have been a deeper reasoning behind why he acted the way he did.