Rainbow Connection, AFTG ✔️

2.4

CHAPTER FOUR
JAMES

James didn't go to the first practice of the semester. Still getting used to moving on crutches and being out of the Nest, James, Wymack, and Abby decided that he'd handle meeting the full team the next day. Instead, on that day, he went down to Reddin Medical Center with Abby.

All of the Foxes apparently had semesterly check-ups with a psychiatrist named Betsy Dobson. Her office was extremely tidy and had an odd system of organization in place. It was all specifically placed, and James wondered what she had hiding where he couldn't see it.

He sat in her office chair, stiff and bruised, and propped his crutches on her desk. She smiled at him, and he said nothing.

For a minute, Betsy waited to him to make a move, but when he didn't, she poured him a cup and said, "It's hot chocolate. I love it."

James hesitated, but took the mug with both hands. He wanted to ask more about the drink, but he wasn't sure if he could. Evermore had always been an environment where it was better to be silent than to speak; it was Jean's problem when he was younger and Porter's problem to this day. Betsy spoke first — directly to him —, and James knew this meant he could speak too. Still, he didn't, because even when the rules aligned perfectly, Riko tended to change his mind, and he wouldn't test these people like that. It was simply inconsiderate.

"Careful, the glass is warm." Betsy warned gently.

James pulled his sleeves over his palms and readjusted his grip on the mug. They sat in silence while he took small sips, ignoring the stinging heat. It lived up to its name: it was liquidated chocolate warmed to drinkability.

After a few minutes, he glanced up at her, "I like this."

Betsy smiled, and James mimicked an awkward and shy attempt at one. Though he wasn't sure how to smile without it being forced, he would try.

When they started talking, Betsy asked him questions that he didn't want to answer, and when he quietly told her that, she listened without complaint or anger. No one had ever done that. They didn't discuss Evermore or Riko aside from brief mentions. James controlled the conversation, stirred it to things he could talk about and away from those he couldn't.

He talked about his birth parents and the few things he remembered from the first seven years of his life. Betsy refilled his drink, and James told her all about meeting Jason Knight and having his life signed away. He told her about gambling addicts who hated their son, and the closet Jason locked him in when he wasn't good enough.

They didn't turn the situation into crying and reflections, and she didn't try to push in on any sensitive spots. It had been years since James was ever as relaxed as he was in that moment, not being forced into anything, but having a place to talk.

His first official meeting with the Foxes rolled around the day after. Abby drove him to the Court, and he stared at it from the shotgun seat as soon as it came into view. He'd played on their court in October, but entering the Foxhole Court as a real player would be a different experience. James hoped he could savor it.

Their lounge was warm. James could feel the difference in the room compared to the Nest without even entering. The Nest had high-tech amenities and pool tables and everything a person could want, but it was always so cold. The Foxes lounge had an entertainment system, couches and chairs, and a collection of photos of the team on the wall.

James had gotten their first. Abby went to grab Wymack from his office, and James let his crutches carry him to the photo wall to inspect the team. He knew of all of them of course, and he knew horribly intimate details of their lives because of Riko's nosy behavior, but photos like these could paint a real picture if James tried to see one. James had always faked smiles in every photo he'd seen himself in; magazine covers, photoshoots for articles, and the NCAA's team photos were full of a happy James, allegedly.