Guest: "Arco Iris" is Spanish for "rainbow" (I know, I am ~incredibly original~). I wish I were witty enough to come up with some kind of Czech pun, but sadly I am not that good. (And yes, Una is totally amazeballs. And bonus points for use of the word amazeballs!)
Thank you to everyone for their reviews. :)
(also idek what to say about this.)
three
shifting and shaping
Faith had a bruise. Again. She wasn't even really sure how she'd gotten this one - it was on her arm, so she probably hadn't tripped and fallen down this time (which was good, because Rosemary had just finished sewing up all her stockings). Perhaps she had gotten it the other day in Rainbow Valley - they'd been trying to see who could roll down the hill fastest (Nan, being the smallest, had won, to Faith's slight irritation). That would explain it.
She'd discovered it while rolling up her sleeves to get a drink from the creek, but now was too engrossed in poking it and watching it fade into her skin, then turn back to purple. She poked it again. Pink, purple, pink, purple…
"Faith?"
She blinked and looked up. Jem Blythe was standing there, squinting at her in confusion.
"Oh! Hello, Jem." She scrambled to her feet, feeling vaguely foolish. Ever since coming back from his first year at Queen's, Jem seemed so…grown up. He sometimes walked back from church with older girls, discussing various intellectual something-or-others with them. Of course he still chummed with her and the old Rainbow Valley group, but…there was a vague sense of dissatisfaction with their friendship that Faith couldn't put her finger on. He laughed less - laughed differently. He chuckled over their old stories with an air of amusement, but he only laughed in his old, uproarious way with - with - the older boys and girls. It made Faith feel rather embarrassed to be caught childishly playing with her bruise - although strangely, she was sure she wouldn't have cared if it were Walter or Ken Ford.
He smiled at her. "What are you doing?"
"Nothing," she answered, sinking back down to the grass.
He sat down next to her and tilted his head. "Poking a bruise?"
Was he making fun of her? Just because she wasn't going to Queen's - yet - didn't make her a baby to be patronized! She scowled at him. "I'd just discovered it," she said, a bit stiffly.
Jem's eyebrows raised. Faith, still on the defensive, interpreted that as a sign that he was judging her silently.
"I should go home," she muttered, feeling irritated and embarrassed. She wasn't even sure why she was so angry with Jem - or perhaps she was angrier at herself - she wanted to prove to Jem that she was just as grown-up as all his new friends - and instead had let him catch her acting like a child. She simply couldn't be around him anymore.
"Oh, wait," Jem said, catching her arm. His fingers pressed against her bruise and Faith hissed. He let go quickly, but took her hand instead, tugging her down to sit with him. "Let me have a look. As a doctor-in-training," he added mock-seriously.
"You aren't even done with Queen's," she pointed out.
"True," he conceded, rolling her sleeve up. "But it's never too early to start!"
"It's not really that bad -" Faith began to protest, but Jem was already acting the part of the doctor, hands carefully touching the area around her bruise.
"Does this hurt?" he asked, pushing gently.
"Yes," she said. "Really, it's just a bruise."
Jem didn't say anything, fingers skimming over her skin, skin warm and touch gentle. Faith sat quietly, unsure what to do. She wanted to pull away - his touch made her nervous, jumpy. She wanted to run home. She wanted to stay. Jem hadn't been quite so close to her - physically - a while. She sneaked a look at his face. He didn't look mocking or patronizing. In fact, he looked quite serious, as though the purple blotch on her arm was a life-threatening wound. It was such an unfamiliar expression that her breath caught.
Maybe this was the problem. Jem wasn't Jem, anymore. He was thoughtful and ambitious and talked of becoming a doctor instead of playing soldier. And he had left them all behind while he went to - to - to grown-up land.
"How did this happen?" he asked.
Faith felt her face turn red, but had to answer the question. She couldn't lie to Jem. "We were trying to see who could roll down the hill the fastest."
Jem laughed - but the sound seemed distracted. "And who won?"
"Nan," muttered Faith.
Jem tsked. "All this trouble and you didn't even win?"
"It's only one bruise!" Faith protested.
"Well," he said, "it looks like it'll be fine." He tugged her sleeve back down, hand brushing her elbow, her wrist.
"That's because it's just a bruise," Faith said. Then, feeling bad for being sarcastic, she gave him a small smile. "You'll make a good doctor," she added.
"Thank you." He stood, offering a hand to help her up. When she got to her feet, he didn't let go. "I missed you, you know."
Faith stared at their joined hands, feeling something strange move inside her. She could still remember the brush of his fingers on her skin, the gentleness of his touch - Jem, who never used to be gentle. And yet.
"I missed you, too," she murmured. She felt him give her hand a squeeze, and had to smile. Perhaps somewhere deep down, he was still the same Jem - cared for them - for her - just the same as he always had.
"I'll walk to you back to the manse, shall I? And I'll check up on your wound tomorrow," he said, looking oddly...shy? Jem was never shy. Faith's heart gave a strange, unlikely thump.
Maybe nothing was the same.
Maybe that was all right.
oh jem, trying to ~charm the ladiez~ with his d0kt0r skillz.
