Author: WhiteRabbitAlice0@hotmail.com
Disclaimer: They are protected by a copyright which isn't mine.
Rating: PG
Summary: Vignette. Ryan-centric. // "You don't know guys like Donnie -- and he doesn't know kids like you."
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Seth still thinks like a kid. He thinks about sailing and goofing around. Plays video games, and crushes on Summer for something to do. There's a guestroom in the Cohen's house full of boxes of junk he got tired of over the years. Train sets, Atari game cartridges, yo-yos of every color, souvenirs. Tons of shit, packed in boxes, neatly labeled by date.
The stuff's on a sort of rotation. Whatever Seth wants, Sandy goes digging for. That's how Ryan found out. There were all these boxes in the hall, and Sandy was covered in dust, pulling the last one out. Seth looked mortified when he saw Ryan. He had wanted to see a toy horse from his seventh birthday, 'til Ryan walked up.
Ryan leans against the wall, lifts his eyebrows when Captain Oats comes outta the box. Seth sees the horse, and gets over his nerves. Fiddles with it's saddle, talking with his dad about the terrible cake Sandy's mom made that year. Pineapple Upside-Down they remember, laughing.
Seth smiles like a kid who can't think of anything but why he's smiling. Ryan half-smiles, too. He used to watch the kids in a backroom while their parents got drunk, got high, got laid, whatever. He'd make shit stories up when they'd whine about daddy selling the TV for dope, tell them there was nothing good on anyway, and talk 'em to sleep. They never smiled like that.
Ryan knows how to treat kids. Do everything your parents didn't, and nothing they did. Don't get angry. Don't blame them, 'cause you're the adult, so it's never their fault. Even when they wheedle at you, you can still say no.
Ryan didn't have to go to TJ (Seth tried to use peer pressure, sure, but so what?), didn't have to save Seth, (Luke, everybody) from Donnie after he'd warned Seth to stay away from the guy. He just did, because you can't smile like that and still see trouble. And yeah, sometimes innocence is a mistake, but not one you should be punished for.
"So -- yeah, this is Captain Oats," Seth grins, "pretty dumb, huh?"
Sandy gives Ryan a speculative look.
"Nah," Ryan shrugs, "s'cool."
Seth's grin widens, "Okay, cool. So, you wanna play some video games?"
"Sure."
Ryan knows how to treat kids. He plays video games, and doesn't worry about getting sent to Foster Care anymore. The Cohens never throw anything out.
-end-
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