sortinghat_logs | if you're lost and alone

WHO: Jake English and the Strilondes (this sounds like a terrible band name).
TONE: Awkward, as most things with Jake tend to be.
RATING: PG?
WHEN: Backdated all the hell way back to Easter. Welp.
WHERE: The Strilonde Residence.
WHAT: Bro has demanded Jake return to the Strilonde residence with him to spend the Easter holiday with them so he's not alone at the school. Shenanigans are likely to ensue.
STATUS: Ongoing!

Jake had, without a doubt, always enjoyed people. But he'd not grown up around large numbers of them, so he wasn't horribly distraught when not surrounded. If anything, he enjoyed a healthy dose of solitude. This had continued even after his grandmother died and he had moved back in with his parents in Glasgow-- he rarely left the house, was rarely seen with anyone but Neytiri.

Hogwarts had changed that. He still got a little antsy around large groups, but now he was essentially part of a family. He'd been adopted, more or less, by the Strider/Lalonde hybrid set of sideshow oddities. And while he certainly didn't quite fit with their pale hair and strange eyes, he didn't mind so much, looking so different. He was tall and built similarly to the Strider father, dark-skinned and dark-haired, but he had just as many quirks about him as Dirk, or Dave, or even Rose.

But he'd never really had a problem with spending odd holidays alone in the school. Bro, on the other hand, seemed to take issue with the concept of him spending Easter on his own. So, here he was, abruptly apparated to the Strider-Lalonde household, Neytiri in his arms and a duffel over his shoulder.

Welp.

[Idgaf how you guys wanna tag, action brackets are fine I just prosed because I'm a proser. Idk what anybody was gonna be up to over the Easter holiday so I left it super open-ended.]

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It would be a bit more cluttered in a few days, after having been lived in again, considering things like making the bed only happen on special occasions, with him.

"When he makes his mind up, there's no changing it," Dirk commented, setting his own things down on his bed and unpacking a few textbooks to set on the desk. "Not like we mind having you over, dude."

He didn't know what was so awkward about this visit that wasn't awkward in the rest of them. Hell, he really did spend nine out of ten school holidays here, what was so suddenly unusual? Possibly the fact that he was dating Dirk's sister, or that this was one of the few holidays he usually didn't spend with them.

A funny little lesser-known fact about Jake English, you see, is that while he certainly adores the company of his friends and his family (even if most of his family is not of blood relation), he has a rather might solitary streak running in him. Blame it on his largely singular upbringing and the fact that he rarely had companionship outside of his cat, but the boy got overwhelmed when he didn't have a healthy dose of Jake Time. It never stopped him from envying his classmates who had families to go home to and be an active part of, but sometimes he found himself valuing that aspect of his life, since it gave him the chance to roam the halls when they were nearly devoid of people, and have at least a weekend if not more of solitude. It wasn't always the greatest thing for him, but he did generally like it.

But, the reality was just as Dirk said. When Bro Strider made up his mind, there was no changing it. So here he was, in his best friend's bedroom, feeling out of place and vaguely overwhelmed, but managing a smile and a light chuckle.

"I know," he offered. "I just always feel like I'm imposing, somehow."

If he was being honest, beyond his unfortunate feelings, Dirk had little reason to be worried about Jake and Rose, not the way Bro seemed to. He knows Rose can look after herself, and Jake was so painfully sincere about it that Dirk didn't have much room to be worried about his dedication to the relationship.

"Just because things can be difficult to arrange doesn't mean you're imposing," Dirk pointed out, as he continued to lay out his things to his satisfaction. (Anything to keep things casual.) "It's still awkward as shit to be in someone else's place. School doesn't count because it's none of ours."

"Yeah," Jake conceded, watching as Neytiri basked in the sunlight filtering in from one of Dirk's windows. He stayed crouched on the floor with his arms hugged around his knees, frowning a little. "...I just feel really out of place, I guess." Which was strange, because let's be real he's an honorary Strider in the eyes of everyone but Bro. But here he was, awkward and odd-colored, hunched around himself to be as small as his broad-shouldered self could be, worrying at the inside of his lower lip.

"...I mean I guess it's always sort of awkward for me to be here," he said, shrugging with a chuckle. "I don't exactly fit?" Jake what is with your sudden inadequacies.

That's what Dirk was beginning to wonder. He finally looked away from what he was doing, and moved so that he was facing Jake fully. "What even brought this up?" he asked. "You've been coming here for years. I mean, sure, we're weird, but as far as I've observed you're used to that by now."

"Heh," he laughed to fill the silence that fell over them as he thought about that. Frowning, he shrugged his shoulders and hunched them further. "Suppose I'm just not adept at family situations..." He worried at his lip again. "And it's a bit like that, now, I think?" He felt so silly saying all of this. "Like, as children it was just me spending the summer with my best friend and his family. Now that we're getting older, the more time I spend here, the more it feels like I'm actually part of your family."

He was quick to amend that statement with another awkward chuckle and a smile that didn't quite reach his eyes. "Not that you aren't my family, it's just. The formality of spending family holidays with a surrogate family is... terrifying, with as long as I've gone without one. Formally."

Dirk gave Jake something of a look. "This is the kind of thing that's supposed to get easier as you grow older, you know. You're not supposed to act any different just because we're practically your family. That is actually the entire point."

He elbowed Jake's shoulder gently. "Go back to thinking of it as visiting if you like, but you don't have to act like we're going to laugh at you just because you don't use the right fork at dinner. Especially when we don't have more than one type of fork."

"I guess," he said, still frowning. With the elbow to his shoulder he chuckled softly, shrugging. "I worry too much, I think." He turned at the waist and smiled up at him, reaching a hand up. "Come here." Dirk, you're getting a hug. No questions.

Does he have to? Well, he kind of wants to anyway, even if it will in no way be an ironic hug. He still tries to keep it casual by just starting with a one-armed side hug. "Worrying to much is my job, bro."

Come now, Dirk, you should know better than to try that with Jake. He chuffs softly before tugging, pulling Dirk into a full-on embrace because really.

"I suppose I'll taken on the roll of your apprentice in the field, then," he said lightly. "You put up with so much from me. Thank you."

He knows, but he still tries anyway. It's for the sake of his pride. He sighs, but eventually returns it, because Jake would probably start making a disappointed face at him if he didn't. "Yeah, well, I'd be down a damn good friend if I didn't learn to put up with it," he says, slightly muffled.

if you're lost and alone

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tags on my phone are H A R D ...

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