Fleurs Captives (Joshler)

17. Stinging Nettle

Stinging Nettle:
meaning- life and death, protection

***Trigger warnings for suicidal thoughts and a panic attack.***

Wait to start the song.

Josh wasn't expecting to be excited when he saw Papa again. He wasn't expecting to be relieved. He wasn't expecting for his feet to immediately carry him over to the old man or his arms to immediately wrap around him. Papa chuckled and patted Josh's back as the Josephs sat down with the flowers for breakfast. Tyler seemed worried, but Josh still hugged Papa for about thirty seconds before the old man told him to sit down for breakfast.

"Can I take my stuff upstairs first?" Josh asked.

Papa nodded, picking up Josh's skateboard, which he'd dropped on his way over to Papa. "I'll help you put your things away. Peony, can you keep an eye on things?"

Jenna nodded, and Josh was relieved to see that there was an abundance of food on her plate. She was being given bacon for the second day in a row plus toast, fruit, yogurt with granola, and a cup of orange juice. The other flowers weren't eating meat or toast, and they only had water to drink, but this was a start.

As Josh led Papa up the stairs, carrying his oxygen tank for him, he told the old man about eating pizza for dinner, skateboarding outside, and how nice Tyler's dad was. Papa smiled as he listened, but he looked confused when Josh closed the door as soon at the got to his room, digging inside of his backpack.

There was no possible way for Josh to explain why he pulled the missing poster with his face on it out of his backpack and immediately handed it to Papa, but he did. The thought of someone taking him away from his dad and his sisters scared him more than staying at this point.

"I saw this when we went to get pizza. I took it down before we went in, but it scared me, so I convinced Tyler that we should go back to their house to eat," Josh explained nervously, hoping Papa wouldn't detect the partial lie.

Papa's eyes turned cold as he looked at the flier. He didn't speak for a couple minutes, and Josh stood frozen as he waited for Papa's reaction. Anxiety was eating away at Josh as he waited to either be praised, punished, or told where to go from here.

At first, the only reaction he got was Papa wiping a hand down his face in frustration before reading the flier again. Then he looked at Josh. "Did anyone recognize you?"

"No," Josh replied quickly. "I didn't talk to anyone, and I tried not to draw any attention to myself."

"That's good, Josh. You did good," Papa said as he looked at the flier again. He sighed before looking at Josh once more and holding a hand out to him. "Take that stuff out of your face and ears and hand it to me."

Start the song. It's Wolves by Down Like Silver.

Josh's hands didn't move. For some reason, that request felt like too much. Josh had already given up everything for Papa. He didn't want to have to give up his lip ring and gauges now too. When he didn't move, simply staring at Papa in fear, the old man explained.

"If anyone were to see you after seeing this poster, they'd recognize you immediately. The piercings are a dead give away. You need to take them out so no one takes you away from me. We can do something to change your hair after the Josephs leave," Papa informed Josh.

Tears welled up in Josh's eyes as he lifted his heavy arms and took out his lip ring. Some part of him dissipated when he set it in Papa's waiting palm, and then he felt numb. He still felt numb as he took out the tunnels in his earlobes and set them beside his lip ring, watching them be dropped into Papa's shirt pocket.