(a/n – so, it is the birthday of pixiesstolemysocks on tumblr so I decided to write some fluffy Berena. Many happy returns, Kat! Also, since a misogynistic orange douchebag is now president methinks we need some fluff.)
Embracing Pattern And Colour
"Serena!"
Serena looked up at the cry from up the stairs, and she marched up them in her boots, wondering what on earth Bernie had done. Jason was looking after the Fletchlings for the morning, given the fact that childminding turned out to be something he was rather good at due to his strict need for routine. Therefore, Serena and Bernie had planned a countryside walk together, as it was sunny and they both had a rare day off together. Bernie, however, had been taking forever to get ready. Serena opened the bedroom door and saw a very flustered looking Bernie leaping around the room barefoot. Serena raised an eyebrow.
"Something the matter?"
"Yes!" Bernie was clearly exasperated. "What have you done with my thick socks? The ones I wear for hikes?"
"How am I supposed to know? If you put them in the laundry basket last time you wore them, they'll be in your drawer again now."
"But they're not!"
"Are you sure you brought them when you moved?"
"YES!" Bernie was getting increasingly flustered, and Serena winced as socks and tights were tossed out of the drawer haphazardly. She sighed.
"Bernie, are you sure you put them in the laundry basket last time you wore them? Because you have a bad habit of just leaving your clothes strewn across the room. I can forgive it if I've been part of the process, and my clothes are also all over the floor, but on a day to day basis it is rather annoying." At Serena's words, Bernie let out a low growl and began tipping the contents of the drawer everywhere in an even more furious manner. Serena tried to calm her down.
"Bernie, let's try and be logical. What could have happened to your socks?"
"Oh, so many things, Serena!" Bernie's tone was dripping in sarcasm and slightly hysterical. "Our invisible dog could have eaten my socks! A friendly neighbourhood ghost could have decided it wanted to keep its feet warm! Pixies stole my socks! Anything is possible, Serena!" Bernie huffed and Serena decided that enough was enough.
"Let me know when you're done with having your tantrum, and we can try and solve this problem like rational human beings." She crossed her arms in front of her chest and stared levelly at Bernie, who flopped onto the floor with a sigh.
"I'm sorry. I just really wanted today to be brilliant, Serena."
"And it will be," Serena sat on the floor beside Bernie and took her hands. "Look, you can wear a pair of my thick socks for today, okay? We can find yours tonight. For now, you can learn to embrace pattern and colour." She smiled, and Bernie looked indignant.
"I do embrace pattern and colour!"
"Your wardrobe is practically monochrome, Bernie. Scrubs don't count as embracing colour."
"I have my checked blouse!"
"Which is dark green and checked. Not exactly out there, is it?"
"Cam told me checks were sometimes seen as a sure fire sign of me being 'out,' actually." Bernie muttered, and Serena laughed, before extracting a pair of her own socks for Bernie.
"Put these on, you daft woman. Pink and grey stripes never hurt anybody." Serena patted her leg before standing up, ignoring the creakiness of her knees as she did so. Bernie pulled on the socks then laced her boots.
"Ready to be whisked off to the countryside, Ms Campbell?"
"Ready to get out of breath trying to keep up with you on public footpaths, Ms Wolfe."
The walk was enjoyable. Bernie avoided marching off up steep inclines (too much) and Serena kept her complaining about the cold to a minimum (but when the wind nearly stole her hat she was not happy). Together they spent the majority of the morning cosied into one another, talking about all kinds of everything whilst admiring the nature which surrounded them. When the flask of coffee Serena had prepared had been finished, they headed to a small country inn for a hearty lunch of jacket potatoes to warm them up again. Serena never wanted the moment to end when she was curled into Bernie's side at a table by the fire in the pub. But, as Bernie reminded her, they needed to drive back home so that they could hear the tales of Jason and the Fletchlings.
They arrived home before Jason, and he arrived as they were lying on the sofa lazily, Serena's head upon Bernie's chest, and her hand fiddling with the army medic's blonde hair as Bernie traced circles onto the small of Serena's back beneath her jumper. He bounded into the living room and down onto his favourite armchair.
"Auntie Serena! Bernie! I had an amazing time with them and Raf and Fletch say I can look after them again sometime because they all had so much fun!" He was beaming, and both Serena and Bernie grinned at his enthusiastic nature. Jason opened his backpack and produced some drawings, which he handed to them both. Serena smiled at the wonky crayon outlines of people as she sat up with Bernie.
"Who are these?"
"They're us! Me, you and Bernie! Ella drew you and Bernie, and Theo drew me! I would like to stick them on the fridge, if that's okay?" Serena nodded as Jason rummaged through his backpack. He produced a bundle which he tossed to Bernie.
"What's that?" Serena queried.
"They're your thick black socks, Bernie. I hope you didn't mind me borrowing them. I would have asked but you were both asleep when I knocked and came into your room. I think you probably had a very tiring night last night at the hospital when that trauma call came in." Serena looked at Bernie, who was clearly trying hard not to giggle. They'd both been exhausted last night, and had slept soundly, but not due to the trauma call, and more due to what they'd been doing in bed once they got home. Jason didn't seem to notice the slight flushes of their cheeks and continued. "You see, we were making shadow puppets and Alan told me that black socks are best for making different shapes and pictures because they're dark and no light gets through and they can be twisted and things!" Bernie looked at the socks in her lap and smiled at Jason.
"No, I don't mind that you borrowed them, Jason."
"Did you get my note? I left it on top of the drawers?"
"Um, ah, yes Jason. Thank you." Bernie refused to look at Serena. Jason stood and announced he was going upstairs to play on his video games. As soon as he was gone, Serena turned to Bernie.
"You didn't even pick up the note, did you?"
"Uhhh…"
"You just went straight to the drawer and when they weren't there, panicked, didn't you, my Disorganised Unobservant Trauma Surgeon." Serena laughed and Bernie pouted.
"I prefer Big Macho Army Medic."
"Hmm, well. You can demonstrate that to me tonight. Once you've put everything back in my drawers neatly."
That evening, Serena realised that perhaps, the way to get Berenice Wolfe to tidy up her laundry was to offer her such an incentive. Never before had the woman tidied a drawer to such high standards. Serena grinned, then gasped, as Bernie proved that she definitely was a Big Macho Army Medic.
~finite~
(a/n – literal unedited plotless rubbish but I've had a bad day and this is the best I can do whilst in all kinds of pain. Also: I make no apologies for the stupid jokey reference I made in there – I am walking meme trash. Thanks for always being so nice, Kat. Happy birthday!)