The Adventure Continues

[abrightboy]

For thatsfascinating.



The villa Malcolm rented was in the Languedoc, not far from Marseilles, south of Avignon. It was a very historic region, though Malcolm was particularly not interested in visiting Marseilles again. There was a charming village nearby the villa and if they were going to go to an historic city for a day, he'd rather make the trip over to Montpellier, where he'd never been at all, much less with Dr Whitly.

The villa had six bedrooms. As the driver brought their luggage inside the bright and spacious main room, Malcolm handed him some folded Euros and thanked him and shut the door behind him.

"First choice of a room is yours," he told Edrisa with a smile. "But you might want to explore first."

Comments

[abrightboy]

"I don't think so. I don't remember eating much soup back then."

He took another bite.

"I might try the bread. Do you want to split a piece with me?"

[thatsfascinating]

"Yeah, definitely! Take as much as you want and I'll have the rest."

She sipped her wine, considering what he said. "Did you have your food issues when you were younger?"

[abrightboy]

He took a slice, carefully tearing off about a third of it before handing her the rest.

"I hope I haven't gotten overly ambitious," he noted, "but it just smells good, doesn't it?"

He took a bite of soup and considered her question.

"No, not really. I mean, I guess I was a bit of a picky eater, but the real difficulties started after the anxiety problems and medication cocktails came into play."

[thatsfascinating]

"It does!" she agreed, taking the bread and taking a bite. It tasted as good as it smelled, and she hummed and nodded in approval.

She nodded again at Malcolm's explanation. "That must have been such a chaotic time, having to learn how to deal with all of the fallout."

[abrightboy]

He nodded thoughtfully, taking a small bite of the bread.

"I mean... at least food was something I could sort of... control? People thought it was weird and I got judged a lot for what I ate or how much I ate... or didn't eat. But.... I could make choices. I didn't have a whole lot of choices."

[thatsfascinating]

"That's really common," she said with another nod. "It's one reason trauma can trigger eating disorders. Everyone wants to have some control over their circumstances." She shrugged a little. "But we have less control over our eating than we often think we do. Not that I'm lecturing! I'm sure you know all this stuff already."

[abrightboy]

He looked up from his bowl to her face. "You're not lecturing," he said. He canted his head slightly. "I'm interested."

[thatsfascinating]

She blinked. "Oh." It was still so strange to her, that he wanted to listen rather that shut her down. Of course, she had started shutting herself down, so she wasn't sure how to continue. She frowned faintly. "Which part?"

[abrightboy]

"Control. You were talking about how we don't really control our food like we think we do," he prompted.

[thatsfascinating]

"Oh right! Well, it's like I was telling your mother at Christmas dinner. Listening to your body is really important when it comes to food. You know what happens when you eat more than your body can handle. There are other things the body does when you eat less than your body needs."

She took another spoonful of the stew.

[abrightboy]

"I did pass out in twelfth grade calculus once, after not eating anything for two and a half days," he conceded. "That's one of the things it does, right?"

[thatsfascinating]

Her eyes widened in concern, her point forgotten. "Two and a half days? Were you okay???"

[abrightboy]

"Oh. Yeah," he said, waving it off. "They took me to the hospital and put me on an IV. I came around. That's actually where I discovered that certain kinds of soup didn't bother me. That was high praise for food."

[thatsfascinating]

"Do you still do that?" she asked softly. "Not eat for days?"

[abrightboy]

He was trying to spoon some more broth out between the pieces in his bowl when she asked and he looked up at her voice, only to see how earnest her face was and it almost startled him.

"Oh. Oh," he said as he realized. "No. No, I haven't done that... since then, really. I always have something. A meal replacement shake or a handful of candy or some soup. Something."

[thatsfascinating]

She sighed, looking relieved. "Oh good." She took another spoonful, swallowed. "Not that I thought you were, necessarily, but things have been stressful. Leaving the FBI, reestablishing contact with your father..." Another spoonful.

[abrightboy]

"Right, yeah. Well. I have lots of unhealthy coping mechanisms, but that isn't one of them," he assured her. "Besides, there's someone around... deescalating the stressors these days," he pointed out.

[thatsfascinating]

She smiled at that, a little bashful. "I'm glad I can be there for you." She took another spoonful. "Would you like to take a walk in the vineyard after dinner?"

[abrightboy]

"I'd love that," he said brightly, weeding out some more broth for himself and taking a bite. "I bet it's even more beautiful here at night. I bet you can see so many stars."

[thatsfascinating]

She brightened as well. "Ooo! I bet you can! That will be so nice. Mohonk was probably the most stars I'd seen in years, and that's still pretty close to the city."

[abrightboy]

He laughed. "Yeah, there's a reason Gil calls me 'city boy'," he admitted. "I'm actually really excited about the skylight over my bed. I bet when the lights are out, the view of the sky is amazing."

[thatsfascinating]

"Assuming the weather cooperates, we can find out tonight." She fully intended to lie down with him until he fell asleep.

[abrightboy]

He loved that she did that, despite how inconvenient it had to be for her. He fell asleep more easily. His mind raced less. He felt needed. He felt loved and appreciated.

"Maybe we'll see some constellations."

[thatsfascinating]

She loved being able to be there for him like that. They couldn't spend the whole night in the same bed, but she could be with him until he fell asleep, holding him close and keeping him warm. Showing him she was there, and she loved him.

"Maybe!" She looked around. "Which way is north?"

[abrightboy]

He thought about it, turning in his seat slightly to orient himself.

"That way," he concluded, pointing to the left.

The chef came in, noting Malcolm's very slightly touched bowl.

"You do not like, monsieur?"

Malcolm looked up, almost startled by the question. "What? Oh. No. It's very good. Thank you."

The chef looked dubious as he refilled their wine glasses and then slipped back out of the room.

Malcolm watched him go, then looked at Edrisa. "It's possible I didn't think this through."