Archive of Our Own ^beta

Lucrecia awoke to a chill in the air and a sense of stillness.

Water was always around her, that she knew. Otto had a scientific explanation, a talk about molecules that made up the air, but even without his excited rambling about how it worked, this was something she knew as fact. For as long as she could remember, she felt the water that surrounded her, and she called it a friend.

That is why, when she felt that stillness, she knew it had gotten cold, turned the water sluggish as it began to freeze. It wasn’t her favorite feeling in the world, and the knowledge that it could make her own hydrokinesis more difficult to use was annoying at times, but she knew that eventually it would warm again, and the water would move easily once more. Water was, if nothing else, fluid.

At least most of the time, she could almost hear Otto say. Chuckling at that thought, she got up so she could go find Ford, Otto, and Bob.

Two of the three were found easily.

Lucy wasn’t surprised to find Ford and Otto together. While Ford tried often to include her, sometimes even going out of his way to do so, sometimes he and Otto got so caught up in what they were working on or discussing that he never had the chance to even think about it. If Otto wasn’t working on something alone, and Ford wasn’t with her, then it was almost certain that those two were together.

A fact that most of the time led to chaos and, if they were lucky, a new discovery.

This time, however, things were calm, the two quietly coexisting in Ford’s ranger station. Otto was furiously scribbling something down at the small table where they sometimes ate, no doubt a new idea that he wanted to get on paper before his mind latched onto something else. Ford stood by his small camp stove, cooking a few various breakfast items even though it was getting closer to noon by this point, including the bacon he seemed to enjoy so much. Between the camp stove and the fire gently crackling in the fireplace, the small one-room building felt pleasantly warm, a welcome change from the cold that waited outside.

While Ford and Otto were there, Bob, however, was not.

“Have either of you seen Bob yet this morning?” Lucrecia asked, sitting next to Otto as she levitated a mug towards herself, filling it with coffee from a small pot as it traveled through the air.

“Nope,” Ford replied, flipping over a piece of bacon. “Haven’t heard a peep outta him either, not for a lack of trying.”

“He’s most likely busy with his plants.” Otto added, setting his pen down. “It dropped below freezing last night so he’s probably busy trying to save what he can before it gets any colder, if there’s anything left to save, that is. Those zinnias he had outside definitely didn’t make it, not with how it dropped into the twenties.”

“And since when do you know so much about plants?” Lucy teased, raising an eyebrow as she tried not to smile.

“Since we added our local gardener to the group; not only does it help me keep up with him when he’s talking about plants, but it’s given me some great ideas for experiments for us to try with him!” The enthusiasm was clear in Otto’s voice and Lucy couldn’t help but wonder just what Otto had planned for their newest addition.

“Well you’re gonna have to get him away from that greenhouse of his first if you wanna try anything else.” Ford jumped back in as he turned off the small stove, cooking done. “He won’t let you try anything anywhere near there after what happened last time.”

“Please, the damage was minor.” Otto waved a hand dismissively. “He’ll get over it eventually.”

“You accidentally gave aphids telekinesis and we were only able to get them outta his greenhouse with Lucy’s hydrokinesis.” Ford deadpanned as he sat down across from them at the table, giving Otto a look.

“And they only caused minor damage while they had telekinesis!” Otto shot right back.

“While you two discuss this further, which I’m sure you will, I’m going to go find Bob.” Lucy said, shaking her head as she rose from the table. The other two didn’t seem to notice, caught up in their discussion.

“They were throwing tools and dirt all over the place! It’s a miracle none of us took a pot to the head or got hit by flying pruners!”

“And none of us did, so what are you complaining about?”

Lucy left the building, a smile on her face as she heard Ford and Otto continue to bicker even as she walked away.

To her surprise, Bob wasn’t in his greenhouse.

That was odd; if Bob wasn’t anywhere to be found throughout the Gulch, if he wasn’t with her, Ford, or Otto, then he was almost certainly in his greenhouse. Lucrecia had looked a little while walking over from Ford’s station, and she hadn’t seen any sign of the gardener along the way. Any other day, the greenhouse is where he would be.

It was odd, and if she was being honest with herself, a little concerning.

Searching the rest of the gulch gave her similar results, even as she checked Ford’s station again and where Otto had set up a temporary lab. As she kept searching and kept failing to find Bob, her concern only grew.

There was, however, one more place she could look.

The small home was dark and quiet when Lucy walked in. She'd knocked but there'd been no response, and reaching out telepathically had a similar result. So, worried about her friend’s well-being, she'd let herself into the house.

"Bob?" She called out. "Are you here?"

Nothing but silence greeted her.

Looking around the room, she saw numerous plants— of course Bob had a small army's worth of house plants as well— but something seemed... off. She frowned and looked closer at the closest plant to her. Upon further inspection, she could see how the leaves drooped and the plant was limp, still alive but lacking in its usual liveliness.

That, she decided, wasn't a good sign.

"Bob? It's Lucy." She called out again, hoping for a response.

Still, there was nothing.

She wandered through the small home, finding more sad-looking plants, but no sign of their caretaker. If she hadn’t known Bob, hadn’t known there was nowhere else he’d be at the moment since he wasn’t in his greenhouse, she’d think that he wasn’t home. It was cold and dark throughout the house with an odd feeling in the air, each room being just as void of life as the previous one, and the lack of life only made her worry grow.

Finally, upon opening another door, she found a bedroom and spotted a familiar-shaped mass under a pile of blankets, only the very top of a familiar brunette head poking out of the top.

Oh.

The lack of response, the almost lifeless plants, the fact that he was still in bed, she had an idea of what this all added up to, and Lucy felt her heart break for her friend just a little. She could be wrong, of course, but she didn’t think she was. Not about this.

Still, without more information it’s a precarious situation, a balancing act. To not do enough would leave Bob to suffer, and to do too much would be to overstep and fall into whatever consequences found her. A good middle ground is what she needs.

So, with years of tact gained from having a sister, Lucy quietly moved closer, and poked Bob in the shoulder with just enough force to get his attention.

The blanket mass moved, and Bob's face poked out, the gardener blinking at her blearily.

"Lucy?" Bob asked quietly, his voice rougher than usual, presumably from lack of use.

"Hello Bob." Lucy greeted him, keeping her own voice quiet as well. "It's well past noon, I was getting worried since I hadn't seen you yet today."

"Sorry..." Bob apologized, pulling the blankets tighter around himself.

"It's all right, I am just worried about you." Lucrecia reassured, sitting on the edge of the bed. "Is everything ok?"

Bob stayed quiet, his gaze wandering around the room. Lucy waited for his response, idly wondering just how much of the room he could see without his glasses on. She wouldn't rush him, she could wait.

"...it froze last night." Bob finally replied. "Didn't expect it to freeze so soon... I didn't get all my plants inside."

"Oh... oh." Lucy said softly, the realization hitting her. The reason, she hadn’t expected, hadn’t realized just what a sudden frost could mean for someone like Bob. "I'm sorry, Bob."

"Thanks... I... I don't handle winter very well." Bob admitted. "Everything either goes dormant or it just... just dies, Lucy, and then it's so quiet and... and..."

"And lonely." Lucy supplied, her heart only breaking further for her friend. She knew his past, about how loneliness was practically a constant for him. Some of it had been overheard around town, small pieces of fact scattered throughout the gossip. The rest had been told to her by Bob himself on quiet nights that had them both reminiscing about those who were gone. She knew what loneliness was for him.

"Yeah... I spend a lot more time in the greenhouse or indoors here with the plants I do have because otherwise... otherwise I feel how dead everything is and I just want to sleep the winter away."

“I understand.”

“You do?”

“I do.” Lucy smiled sadly. “Sometimes, when the ache of loss is all you can feel, it can be so tempting to want to do something to make it stop. Sometimes it’s wanting to sleep and hope the hurt does not follow you into your dreams. Sometimes it’s moving to an entirely different country just to be away from all the little places that remind you of that loss.”

“Yeah…” Bob agreed, trailing off as his gaze unfocused.

“Do you want to know what helps me?” She asked, trying to keep the conversation going before Bob could get too lost in his thoughts.

Bob nodded, his gaze moving from elsewhere in the room to just over her shoulder.

“Being around the people I do have in my life.” Lucy started, gently resting a hand on his shoulder. “Seeing that they are here, that they are alive and well and that I am not alone. It doesn’t make the hurt go away, not entirely. But it helps. And sometimes we all just need a little help, yes?”

Bob didn't say anything right away, and she wasn't surprised by this. She knew he wasn't used to people, wasn't used to having anyone to ask for help from. But she also knew he'd started to realize that he could, that he had people in his life again for the first time in too long. It was something he’d begun to realize, that he was attempting to get used to, and she hoped he would let them in, let them help. Finally, after a moment, he spoke.

“Yeah… yeah, you’re right.” It was small, just an agreement, but she recognized statement for what it was; it was a hand reaching out, an admission that he wasn’t ok, that he wanted their help.

“Of course I am, I’m me.” Lucy teased, smiling as she tried to hide her relief. “Now, why don’t I tell Ford and Otto that we’ll be over to Ford’s station in say… twenty minutes? That will give you plenty of time to get up, and I’ll tell him to make the good hot chocolate so it will be there waiting for us. And then we’ll find something nice to do together since it’s too cold to do any mining. How does that sound?”

“That sounds… doable, I think.” Bob closed his eyes for just a moment, breathing in deeply. “Yeah, I think I can do that.”

“Wonderful.” Lucy replied. “I’ll let Ford and Otto know.”

She stood and moved towards the door. Just before she could exit the room though, Bob’s voice stopped her.

“Lucy?”

“Yes?” Lucy paused, standing in the doorway.

“I… I just want to say…” Bob paused, no doubt trying to find the words he wanted, before settling on just one. “Thanks.”

“Of course, Bob. Anything to help a friend.”