@dorkustm ➽ [ HAND ]: sender takes a gentle hold of the receiver’s hand, as a form of emotional support and reassurance. @ steph!!
𐃈 𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐩𝐡 𝐧𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐠𝐨𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐟𝐮𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐥𝐬. she knew what they were for, but not exactly why. what was the point in saying kind words to someone who was no longer able to hear or acknowledge them? what was the point in wearing all black to express mourning, as though her tears and screams and wailing weren’t adequate enough in doing so? what was the point in celebrating a life that had been cut short, that had held little truly worth celebrating?
steph isn’t sure exactly why she’s mourning her father. 𝗵𝗲𝗹𝗹, 𝗵𝗲 𝗮𝗱𝗱𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗲𝗱 𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗯𝘆 𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗳𝗮𝗶𝗹𝘂𝗿𝗲𝘀 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝗻 𝗵𝗲 𝗱𝗶𝗱 𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗼𝘄𝗻 𝗻𝗮𝗺𝗲. miss tessburger picked her up from daycare more than he did ( and that was only because her father had provided the school with his assistants number instead of his own, so they could only call miss tessburger when soloman forgot to pick her up, something he did nearly every day ) 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚒𝚛 𝚠𝚒𝚍𝚎 𝚜𝚌𝚛𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚝𝚎𝚕𝚎𝚟𝚒𝚜𝚒𝚘𝚗𝚜 𝚛𝚊𝚒𝚜𝚎𝚍 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚗 𝚑𝚎 𝚑𝚊𝚍, 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚜𝚑𝚘𝚠𝚗 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚏𝚊𝚛 𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚕𝚘𝚟𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚗 𝚑𝚎 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚍𝚒𝚍.
so why did it hurt so badly that he was gone?
steph sat on the bench of the church pew, her leg bouncing as she anxiously gnawed at the nail bed of her index finger. 𝙨𝙝𝙚 𝙡𝙞𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙣𝙨 𝙩𝙤 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙥𝙖𝙨𝙩𝙤𝙧 𝙙𝙧𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙤𝙣 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙤𝙣 about how great a man her father was and how big a hole the mayors absence would leave, and steph finds herself itching to protest as though it were a wedding and the question of if anyone objects to the marriage, speak now or forever hold your peace had been asked.
her father was not a great man, or a good man — hell, he wasn’t even an okay man. 𝗵𝗲 𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗲𝗱 𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗱𝗶𝘀𝗴𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗶𝘁𝗶𝘇𝗲𝗻𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗵𝗮𝘁𝗰𝗵𝗲𝘁𝗳𝗶𝗲𝗹𝗱 𝗮𝗹𝗺𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝗮𝘀 𝗼𝗳𝘁𝗲𝗻 𝗮𝘀 𝗵𝗲 𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗲𝗱 𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗱𝗶𝘀𝗴𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝗵𝗲𝗿. he’d lied and cheated ( and killed, steph was fairly sure ) for his spot in office. 𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐩𝐡 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐤𝐧𝐞𝐰 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐥𝐝 𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐢𝐭𝐮𝐝𝐞, and not the warm embrace that other kids had known, that other kids had gotten.
but yet, here this pastor was, droning on and on as if he knew him. he didn’t know him. no one truly knew her father — 𝚑𝚎 𝚔𝚎𝚙𝚝 𝚑𝚒𝚖𝚜𝚎𝚕𝚏 𝚜𝚎𝚌𝚕𝚞𝚍𝚎𝚍, 𝚐𝚞𝚊𝚛𝚍𝚎𝚍 𝚋𝚎𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚍 𝚘𝚏𝚏𝚒𝚌𝚎 𝚍𝚘𝚘𝚛𝚜 𝚑𝚎 𝚔𝚎𝚙𝚝 𝚌𝚕𝚘𝚜𝚎𝚍 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚕𝚘𝚌𝚔𝚎𝚍. and yet, here is the pastor and these sniffling, teary eyed funeral attendees, acting as if they knew him. an impossibility ---- how could they know him when she sure as hell didn’t?
a sharp pain brings her mind away from her spiraling thoughts and back to the present , as she looks down to see the beads of blood that began to rise along her fingernail bed. she stares at it for a moment, before going to inflict the same fate on her thumb. 𝙗𝙪𝙩 𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙞𝙨 𝙥𝙪𝙡𝙡𝙚𝙙 𝙖𝙬𝙖𝙮 𝙗𝙚𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙚 𝙨𝙝𝙚 𝙘𝙖𝙣 𝙙𝙤 𝙨𝙤, and she turns her head to see peter spankoffski, her peter spankoffski, grasping it gently as he looks at her with eyes far too loving and far too kind to be addressing her. she can’t help but smile at him, one that's almost as soft and gentle as peter’s grasp of her hand.
❝ thanks for being here, geek. ❞ she says after a moment, speaking in a hushed whisper beneath the pastor’s monotone droning. she threads her fingers with his, clasping their palms together. ❝ it uh, it means a lot that you’d sit through this shit just for me, so . . . thanks. ❞