Lacuna Rambles/Thoughts/Gif Reacts #3: J Tries 🥺

[Alternate Text: A GIF of an adorable woodchuck chewing something. He is sitting in a forest.]

I swapped our ramble about J's truck to maybe hit you with a truckload of feelings? This comes from a choice where you'll be reacting to seeing your old tree house with J. Corvin. It's this option:

#Make a joke to undermine how much this means to you. "You must have had a lot of splinters."

Your Returning Visitor might try to deflect with humor after seeing the state of the tree house—how much care has gone into preserving/expanding it. I'll leave most of this scene's mystery intact, but it's precious how J attempts to joke around in an endearing way. 😭 They're naturally more so sincere/reserved, but this teases at lighter moments from your childhood along with how J tries for the MC.

James

James shoots you a bemused frown, parting his lips to say 'pardon' or 'excuse me' instead of calling you out for coping in a way that could hurt him. You refuse to. (Mrs. Corvin's watchful gaze flashes in your mind.) Before you can think better of it, you pull him into a brief, one-armed hug that he accepts.

"I like it, okay?" you mutter that into his flannel shirt. "Just it's—it's from the past—what I thought was forgotten, so… I'm going to be a little weird about it, but what you did wasn't. It was sweet."

You release him, exhaling loudly to be done with this part—the feelings. "Still, that's a lot of wood," you off-handedly note. "Trunks."

"A woodchuck would be jealous…?"

James's awkward yet well-meaning addition to your subject change pulls a laugh from you, which he smiles faintly at, happy to help.

Jane

Jane shoots you a bemused frown, parting her lips to say 'pardon' or 'excuse me' instead of calling you out for coping in a way that could hurt her. You refuse to. (Mrs. Corvin's watchful gaze flashes in your mind.) Before you can think better of it, you pull her into a brief, one-armed hug that she accepts.

"I like it, okay?" you mutter that into her flannel shirt. "Just it's—it's from the past—what I thought was forgotten, so… I'm going to be a little weird about it, but what you did wasn't. It was sweet."

You release her, exhaling loudly to be done with this part—the feelings. "Still, that's a lot of wood," you off-handedly note. "Trunks."

"A woodchuck would be jealous…?"

Jane's awkward yet well-meaning addition to your subject change pulls a laugh from you, which she smiles faintly at, happy to help.

(Also, I didn't know woodchucks were so cute?? I liked finding the GIF for this post. :D)