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ysabetwordsmithThis story belongs to the series Love Is For Children which includes "Love Is for Children," "Hairpins," "Blended," "Am I Not," "Eggshells," "Dolls and Guys,""Saudades," "Querencia," "Turnabout Is Fair Play," "Touching Moments," "Splash," "Coming Around," "Birthday Girl," "No Winter Lasts Forever," "Hide and Seek," "Kernel Error," "Happy Hour," "Green Eggs and Hulk," and "kintsukuroi."
Fandom: The Avengers
Characters: Phil Coulson, Nick Fury
Medium: Fiction
Warnings: Minor character death. Bullying. Fighting. Suicide attempt (minor character).
Summary: This is the story of how a little boy named Flip grows up to save the world a lot.
Notes: Hurt/comfort. Family. Fluff and angst. Accidents. Emotional whump. Disability. Sibling relationship. Nonsexual love. Parentification. Manipulation. Coping skills. Asking for help and getting it. Hope. Protection. Caregiving. Competence. Toys and games. Comic books. Fixing things. Martial arts. Gentleness. Trust. Role models. Military. BAMF Phil Coulson.
Begin with Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7, Part 8, Part 9, Part 10, Part 11, Part 12, Part 13, Part 14, Part 15, Part 16, Part 17, Part 18, Part 19, Part 20, Part 21, Part 22, Part 23, Part 24, Part 25, Part 26, Part 27, Part 28, Part 29, Part 30. Skip to Part 33, Part 34, Part 35.
"Little and Broken, but Still Good" Part 31
The next time Phil wakes up, he is sitting in a rental car in his mother's driveway. He not only has a cast on his left arm but also another on his right leg. Fury has evidently drawn a Captain America shield on Phil's arm in lieu of signing his name. The man himself is having a terse discussion with Phil's mother.
"I really can't tell you much about what happened," Agent Fury says, probably not for the first time. "I can tell you that he got injured while saving the world. Again."
Mom gives them both a level gaze. "All right. I'll forgo the details, but I'll need you to keep me posted on some tallies -- how often Phil almost gets himself killed, how often he saves the world, that sort of thing."
"Well, I --" Fury begins.
"You can either give me the minimum information I require, or I'll go digging for all of it myself, and I will find it. I'm comfortable with either of those options, Nicky, so it's your choice," Mom says.
"I can draw up some forms," Phil offers, trying to avert the equivalent of global thermonuclear war that is making his social DEFCON go wild.
Fury glares at him. "I hate paperwork. How do you have so much experience with it after just a short hitch in the Marines? Now if you were Army, it'd make a bit more sense ..."
"Oh, Nicky, how little you know," Mom says with a laugh. "Phil has been doing paperwork since he was nine. It's his favorite coping skill."
"You must be joking."
"Nope. I still have some of his first forms," Mom says. "His favorite was an official apology, with an alphanumeric code at the top and everything. It's adorable."
"Mommmm," Phil whines. "Stop it, you're embarrassing me. I have to work with this guy!" The pathetic tone in his voice alerts him that not all the drugs have worked their way out of his body. Phil wisely shuts up after that.
It takes Mom, Alexa, and Fury to maneuver Phil into the house and deposit him in bed. The spare bedroom has all new furniture since the last time he visited, clean white paint with brass knobs. A patriotic quilt covers the bed, mostly red-white-and-blue with a kneeling soldier in the center panel. Phil smiles, recognizing his mother's work.
"I'm proud of you, Phil," she says as she tucks him in. When he basks in the warmth of her regard, nothing hurts.
Alexa signs Phil's arm in purple marker, adding a cartoon of a bird. One of her current pet-sitting clients has a macaw, who shrieks all the time and drives the owner crazy. "But what can you expect?" Alexa says. "Violet's only two. She's just a baby!"
The familiar sound of his sister's chatter makes Phil want to drift off again. "Mmm-hmm," he says sleepily, encouraging her to continue.
Agent Fury gives him a fond pat on the shoulder. "I need to return to base now, Phil," he says. "I'll come back to pick you up in a few months, when you're ready for duty again. Until then, enjoy your family."
"Mmm," Phil says. He knows everything will be all right now. The quilt is cozy and smells faintly of lavender. He traces his fingers over the lines of stitching. There are words on the flag at the center, which forms a backdrop for the soldier, but Phil falls asleep before he can make them out.
* * *
Notes:
Offering choices is a technique of positive discipline. They must be equally acceptable to the person offering them, and ideally, both acceptable to the other person too.
DEFCON is a measure of danger originally used for nuclear war.
All families have some embarrassing stories. Know how to avoid embarrassing your kids, and how to cope when your parents embarrass you. Most of the time it's just annoying, but if you're not careful, you really can damage a relationship this way. So if somebody asks you to stop, you should stop.
Phil's quilt looks like this, and here is a closeup of the centerpiece. It says: "I will lie down and sleep in peace. For you alone, O Lord, make me lie down and dwell in safety." -- Psalm 4:8
This is a Blue-purple Macaw. Macaws have close to a human lifespan, so a two-year-old macaw is still a toddler and liable to behave accordingly.
[To be continued in Part 32 ...]
Fandom: The Avengers
Characters: Phil Coulson, Nick Fury
Medium: Fiction
Warnings: Minor character death. Bullying. Fighting. Suicide attempt (minor character).
Summary: This is the story of how a little boy named Flip grows up to save the world a lot.
Notes: Hurt/comfort. Family. Fluff and angst. Accidents. Emotional whump. Disability. Sibling relationship. Nonsexual love. Parentification. Manipulation. Coping skills. Asking for help and getting it. Hope. Protection. Caregiving. Competence. Toys and games. Comic books. Fixing things. Martial arts. Gentleness. Trust. Role models. Military. BAMF Phil Coulson.
Begin with Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7, Part 8, Part 9, Part 10, Part 11, Part 12, Part 13, Part 14, Part 15, Part 16, Part 17, Part 18, Part 19, Part 20, Part 21, Part 22, Part 23, Part 24, Part 25, Part 26, Part 27, Part 28, Part 29, Part 30. Skip to Part 33, Part 34, Part 35.
"Little and Broken, but Still Good" Part 31
The next time Phil wakes up, he is sitting in a rental car in his mother's driveway. He not only has a cast on his left arm but also another on his right leg. Fury has evidently drawn a Captain America shield on Phil's arm in lieu of signing his name. The man himself is having a terse discussion with Phil's mother.
"I really can't tell you much about what happened," Agent Fury says, probably not for the first time. "I can tell you that he got injured while saving the world. Again."
Mom gives them both a level gaze. "All right. I'll forgo the details, but I'll need you to keep me posted on some tallies -- how often Phil almost gets himself killed, how often he saves the world, that sort of thing."
"Well, I --" Fury begins.
"You can either give me the minimum information I require, or I'll go digging for all of it myself, and I will find it. I'm comfortable with either of those options, Nicky, so it's your choice," Mom says.
"I can draw up some forms," Phil offers, trying to avert the equivalent of global thermonuclear war that is making his social DEFCON go wild.
Fury glares at him. "I hate paperwork. How do you have so much experience with it after just a short hitch in the Marines? Now if you were Army, it'd make a bit more sense ..."
"Oh, Nicky, how little you know," Mom says with a laugh. "Phil has been doing paperwork since he was nine. It's his favorite coping skill."
"You must be joking."
"Nope. I still have some of his first forms," Mom says. "His favorite was an official apology, with an alphanumeric code at the top and everything. It's adorable."
"Mommmm," Phil whines. "Stop it, you're embarrassing me. I have to work with this guy!" The pathetic tone in his voice alerts him that not all the drugs have worked their way out of his body. Phil wisely shuts up after that.
It takes Mom, Alexa, and Fury to maneuver Phil into the house and deposit him in bed. The spare bedroom has all new furniture since the last time he visited, clean white paint with brass knobs. A patriotic quilt covers the bed, mostly red-white-and-blue with a kneeling soldier in the center panel. Phil smiles, recognizing his mother's work.
"I'm proud of you, Phil," she says as she tucks him in. When he basks in the warmth of her regard, nothing hurts.
Alexa signs Phil's arm in purple marker, adding a cartoon of a bird. One of her current pet-sitting clients has a macaw, who shrieks all the time and drives the owner crazy. "But what can you expect?" Alexa says. "Violet's only two. She's just a baby!"
The familiar sound of his sister's chatter makes Phil want to drift off again. "Mmm-hmm," he says sleepily, encouraging her to continue.
Agent Fury gives him a fond pat on the shoulder. "I need to return to base now, Phil," he says. "I'll come back to pick you up in a few months, when you're ready for duty again. Until then, enjoy your family."
"Mmm," Phil says. He knows everything will be all right now. The quilt is cozy and smells faintly of lavender. He traces his fingers over the lines of stitching. There are words on the flag at the center, which forms a backdrop for the soldier, but Phil falls asleep before he can make them out.
* * *
Notes:
Offering choices is a technique of positive discipline. They must be equally acceptable to the person offering them, and ideally, both acceptable to the other person too.
DEFCON is a measure of danger originally used for nuclear war.
All families have some embarrassing stories. Know how to avoid embarrassing your kids, and how to cope when your parents embarrass you. Most of the time it's just annoying, but if you're not careful, you really can damage a relationship this way. So if somebody asks you to stop, you should stop.
Phil's quilt looks like this, and here is a closeup of the centerpiece. It says: "I will lie down and sleep in peace. For you alone, O Lord, make me lie down and dwell in safety." -- Psalm 4:8
This is a Blue-purple Macaw. Macaws have close to a human lifespan, so a two-year-old macaw is still a toddler and liable to behave accordingly.
[To be continued in Part 32 ...]
Oh, my, again!
Date: 2014-08-13 11:41 am (UTC)Another fun post. It makes me wonder how many months he'll be recuperating.
Re: Oh, my, again!
Date: 2014-08-13 07:49 pm (UTC)Yay! I'm glad that worked for you. Thanks for sharing the parallel experience, that's very helpful.
>> Facing Nicky with that exact kind of choice actually tells me a lot about Mrs. Coulson's acceptance of him (closer than merely a friend of Phil's) /and/ the kinds of mistakes she thinks he's making (right now). <<
Sooth. She really likes Nicky. She can see the kind of trouble into which he is bound to get. Her requirements are not just made for her own comfort and Phil's protection, but also to provide a gauge and an anchor for Nicky.
>> Another fun post. It makes me wonder how many months he'll be recuperating. <<
Probably three. Phil heals well, so he's likely to be fit for desk duty in minimum time. They might keep him benched for an extra week or two to make sure, before letting him back into his office.
Re: Oh, my, again!
Date: 2014-08-13 08:01 pm (UTC)If you honestly, genuinely look at that list and think, "they're all clean, no holes or other damage, and modest enough for somoene's fancy church (technically)---we're good!" it will work. If not, either you spend the time trying to find something /else/ which will work, or the kid very, very quickly learns that while you SAY you're okay with option A, there are all kinds of other things going on. (Like SOMEBODY suggesting drive through instead of a planned dinner out.) And yes, they're smart little humans with working brains--- they will USE what they learn, especially if they learn that something pushes the parent's buttons.
Re: Oh, my, again!
Date: 2014-08-13 08:25 pm (UTC)I was weird, as a kid, in that I considered time out an attractive option. Getting away from people bugging me was frequently a high priority for me. It baffled the fuck out of people that I would gleefully bail out of certain conflicts at the point of, "You can do as I say, or go sit on the bench." Problem solved! To this day, I would usually rather give up an item or activity, than capitulate in a way that makes me think less of myself, or continue having contact with people who are driving me up a wall. It's kind of annoying to see the positive discipline pages argue that time out is not an option that kids find acceptable. Time in would've driven me bugfuck, in ways hazardous to me and anyone in the blast radius. Time out I'm cool with. It's one of my go-to coping methods. I've just gotten better, over time, at figuring out and articulating what caused my personality to throw a rod, and how to work through it later.
Re: Oh, my, again!
Date: 2014-08-13 10:48 pm (UTC)Heck, as an adult, I cope with too much interaction/too many people by taking a stroll to the bathroom and back, because that gives me at least five minutes of /breathing room/. Kids can be exactly the same way!
(no subject)
Date: 2014-08-13 11:36 pm (UTC)and d'aww, how cute is drugged-up Phil?
Thank you!
Date: 2014-08-14 01:56 am (UTC)I enjoyed picking it out. I wanted something that was patriotic but not too polished. Meticulous art quilts are lovely, but when I'm shopping for emotional effect, I tend to prefer a little more rustic touch. The stringwork and the handwriting were the perfect touches.
>> and d'aww, how cute is drugged-up Phil? <<
That actually touches on a couple different themes in this series. One is about intimacy and vulnerability -- who is allowed to see you when you're not at your best, how and what you show when you are with them. Another is about how to make people feel better. For some people, drugs work great; for others, they don't, or require more finagling to find the few that will work. So the treatment has to vary, depending on who gets creamed this chapter. And it matters that Phil is a babbler when he's high; that influences what he does to avoid spilling secrets, and how he handles his assets when they are hurt. Think about how gentle Phil is with Bruce and Bucky in the nightstick scene.