Jaxon

OK

     "Jap." Ardent had stopped yipping to Twitch and was now trying to get his attention. "Jap!"

     Jap set down his paperwork again and looked at Ardent. He smiled and slightly pet his head. "No." Ardent tried to look irritated as he tried to get away from Jap's hand, but just came across looking adorable. Jap just laughed.

     "Jap. Red please." Ardent pointed to his bag on the other side of the room.

     'Red? What does that mean?' Jap was a bit confused. Did he want his water? No, he already had it next to him... what else was red in the bag?

     "RED!" Ardent started to slightly whine when Jap didn't get up right away. He had never heard Ardent be this vocal before. Hace must be teaching him a lot more words to make it easier to know when he needs something.

     Jap got up and went to the bag and opened it. Right on top was his red plushie. 'Ah, I bet this is what he wanted.' He was about to bring it to him... but hesitated for a moment. He wasn't sure if it was a good idea, it was Ardent's favorite, and what if the two fought over it. But it was too late. Ardent had already seen it and was making grabby hands. Jap smiled and couldn't deny what was practically his nephew the toy.

     "Here you go buddy." He handed the plushie to Ardent, who quickly took it and gave it a tight hug.

     "Tank Uuo." Ardent tried to say.

     Jap's heart slightly melted. He wanted to correct the little guy, but at the same time loved the way he said it. He decided to just smile and scratch his chin instead.

     "Good boy."

     He sat back down to his papers but kept an eye on the boys as they started to yip back and forth again. Twitch didn't seem to make any movement towards Ardent's toy. Jap was starting to relax and thought maybe they won't fight after all.

     After just a short while, Twitch slowly got up again and carefully made his way to the pile of toys that were left for him. They've been sitting there the whole time, just waiting to be played with. Jap had been so happy when he saw Twitch get up a little bit ago and almost touch them, but he'd gotten spooked by something and ran right back to his spot on the floor.

     'I really worry about you little guy.' He thought as Twitch tried to reach for a toy but could see that something was holding him back. 'You haven't explored your surroundings at all. You don't eat or drink enough either. Speaking of...' Jap looked at his clock and saw it was almost noon already. He couldn't believe how much time had passed.

     Ardent started yipping at Twitch again. Jap wondered what they were talking about. It didn't sound like they were yelling at each other, so that was a good thing he supposed. He decided to wait just a bit longer to get their lunches ready. He didn't want to get up and scare Twitch away from the toy pile.

     "Go ahead." Jaxon was encouraging Ryan on.

     Ryan gave a sigh and closed his eyes as he reached out and touched the stuffed bear on top of the pile. Slowly, his hand rapped around the soft paw of the teddy bear that was almost the same color as his hair. His eyes opened and he looked quickly back at Jap. He was still sitting and had a smile on his face. He didn't look mad at all.

     "I told you it was ok." Jaxon smiled.

     Ryan pulled the teddy bear off the pile and into his arms. A slight smile brushed across his face as he looked at the button eyes and fake smile that was stitched into its fuzzy face. He was about to take it into a hug, when he heard Jap moving around behind him.

     He quickly turned around and saw Jap walking towards him. Ryan dropped the bear and dogged off to the side. He knew it! He shouldn't have touched bear; he shouldn't have touched anything. He didn't want to get hit. He didn't want to hurt again.

     The smile was still on Jap's face when he stopped close to him and bent over, picking up the bear. He leaned over to Ryan who was cowering a bit in fear now.

     'He's gonna hurt me! I knew I shouldn't have touched anything. Jaxon did this! He's the one who told me...' His thought were broken when Jap slowly got down to almost his level and tried to hand him the bear.

     Ryan looked at him confused and a bit terrified. He wasn't sure if this was a trap or not. Is he testing him? He reluctantly took his eyes off Jap for a moment to look at Jaxon. Jaxon had a slight smile on his face and gave a nod. He quickly turned his eyes back Jap who hadn't moved from his spot.

     'What do I do? Do I take it from him? Do I ignore him? What choice is the right one? Which one won't end up with me in terrible pain?' Ryan's eyes started to water as he made the choice he thought was best. Slowly, very slowly, he reached out and touched the ear of the bear with his fingertips. After a moment, Ryan put his hand around the ear and gave it a slight tug. Jap let got and said something to him before getting up and walking away.

     To say that Ryan was shocked would be an understatement. He wasn't sure what had just happened. He was so sure that Jap was going to do something terrible to him. His whole life every person he'd ever met had done terrible things to him. But then something occurred to him... Jap wasn't human. Jap had no reason to hate him, not yet anyway. Maybe he could just keep Jap happy and he'd continue to be nice to him.

     "Ryan?" Jaxon's voice broke his thoughts.

     "Huh?" Ryan was trying to focus.

     "Are you ok? You're crying."

     Ryan reached up and wiped his eyes. He looked down at the bear then back up at Jaxon. "I'm... ok." He sighed out. "I'm ok..." The words came out of his mouth a second time, and this time he actually believed his own words for the first time in his life. He was ok, and he was going to be ok... at least at that moment.