theo had never been the smartest of the litter, they knew that well. all their abilities were tightly tied to muscle and force, to their capacity to lift, move or hold stuff, and their mind, which was always somewhere up in the sky, flying along imaginary butterflies flickering their wings over an imaginary field, had never been adept to instructions. however, they were trying. for him, this kid that reminded them so much of milán sometimes they had to force themself not to openly stare at him while melancholy tugged achingly at the strings of their battered heart. “ okay, okay. jasper, ” they called, a little bit overwhelmed at the amount of information being thrown their way, his impatience making them purse their lips to avoid the full display of their amused smile. “ i’m— look, i know i’m slow, and i’m sorry about that, but— just— ” a sigh forced a pause, a much-needed intake of breath to restart themself. “ okay, let me try again. step by step, can i ? ” and even when the words were placed as a request, they were pulling out a new mug from the top shelf right in front of them and placing it on the counter before he could reply to it — it always helped them, working on a clean canvas. “ so it is … two scoops in, then water, just the tiniest bit, and stir, right ? ” they followed the instruction, adding everything carefully to the clean mug, their voice firm despite the uncertainty lighted by the fear of failure always tapping at their shoulder. “ how long do i have to stir ? i mean, how do i know the paste is okay, ready to go and shit ? ” they had so many questions all of a sudden, but at least they were positive they got the first steps right this time.