for ] [ iwasjustified

[victory_laps]

Winona moved across the room, the fabric of her skirt pulling taut against the backs of her legs. She was pushing herself, she knew that, but honestly, she knew that with the amount of boxes they still had stacked up in the front room -- they'd never be fully moved in if she left it to Raylan.

It was just a few boxes. A few dozen boxes. The back of her hand rested to her forehead, trying to make sure she wasn't actually working too hard. Her doctor advised against pushing too much, but she'd been fairly active before and it wasn't as if this was any more stressful than being seated all day in a courtroom with no AC.

At the sound of the door opening, she leaned back glancing down the hallway, "Raylan?"

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[iwasjustified]

"Winona?"

He shut the door behind himself, heading for where he heard her voice, leading with his head as he tended to, especially when his hat was on. One of the back rooms. There she was, standing in the middle of an array of boxes he hadn't gotten around to moving. After what often turned into long work days and traipsing in at sometimes ten or eleven at night (if not later)...Raylan felt a stab of guilt. It was an excuse, and he knew that. Keys still in his hand, he lingered in the doorway, brow furrowing slightly.

"Doctor says you shouldn't be doin that." It was only the mildest of reprimands; he knew he should have made time so she wouldn't have had to do this at all. His eyes fell briefly to her growing bump.

[victory_laps]

There was a soft frown that hit her features when he reminded her, once again, that she shouldn't be doing that. Just like she shouldn't have gone ahead and made the offer on the property, or called the movers -- or all the other things that she shouldn't have to do, but did.

She was adjusting and maybe that meant being the one that took those moments to actually get things done. They weren't going to Glynco and she wasn 't going to argue that point anymore.

"Well, the doctor also says that a little physical activity won't hurt. It's not like I'm training for a marathon; I'm just putting things away."

[iwasjustified]

"I think he meant neighborhood walks, not heavy lifting." It was still not very stern, because he knew he shouldn't have left this stuff here for her to do to begin with.

He pointed a thumb back down the hallway.

"I'll go pull some of rest of these out of the living room and you can go through 'em if you want to do something." He sounded tired, and he was, but if she had her mind set on it, the least he could do was make it easier.

[victory_laps]

Her hand settled on her hips, glancing up at him with a touch of skepticism.

With a tilt of her head, she opened her mouth, "If I want to do something? Raylan, what part of me putting this house together isn't me wanting to do something."

She wanted to have a home with him, she wanted to not worry that people would be coming at them from all angles, but instead she had a front room half-filled with boxes and a handful of furniture pieces that still had all the protective padding strung up around them.

Exhaling, she shut her mouth and frowned, dropping her gaze from his and centering it to the floor. There was a string on the floor and her eyes fixated on that, so she could focus her thoughts. As she lifted her head, she took another breath and shifted her weight a bit on her feet.

"Look, I know you gotta work and I know that your days are long and they keep you up and down this state nine times outta ten, but that doesn't mean I can't be here trying to make someplace for you to stop when you walk in the door."

[iwasjustified]

He pursed his lips.

"Okay. How about I go get the boxes out of the living room and we'll go through them?" He turned his palm up, thumb and forefinger touching. "Together."

Maybe that was it. Maybe it was leaving her here while he did his thing and she did hers. Lord knew there had been plenty of that; her getting the house for them, closing out Gary's, arranging the movers... He hadn't stopped long enough to really contribute much.

Raylan pointed his thumb back towards the other end of the house. "You want anything out of the kitchen? I'm gonna grab something to drink real quick."

[victory_laps]

Her posture relaxed a bit, amused at the slight gesture. Letting her shoulders drop slightly, she nodded, rubbing her fingertips to the small of her back.

"Just some water'd be nice," she replied as she moved toward the stack of boxes.

[iwasjustified]

A glimmer of hope. He relaxed just a little, and went to the kitchen, leaving his hat on the island in the middle. Raylan returned sans jacket, shirt tight on his shoulders and arms but loose at the waist. He offered her the glass of ice water while keeping a cold beer for himself.

"Where do you wanna start?" he asked, looking around the room at the boxes already stacked before turning an expectant gaze on her.

[victory_laps]

Glass in hand, she takes a slow sip before clearing her throat, "I've been working with the bigger boxes. Figure they've got the bigger things. More set spots to be placed in. It's the little pieces that'll get me hung up."

She'd end up sitting and staring at a photo or a small stub of something. Little keepsakes of her life that were now looking for a new place to collect dust.

[iwasjustified]

"Okay."

He shifts, going to find something large that he can begin with. It's odd, building a nest again. They haven't done this in a while and he wonders distantly if things will be the same as last time. It will be easier to start with the big things and work to the little ones, maybe ease into that like they're finding their way around together again.

"How bout we start easy." He sipped his beer, set it aside, and pried open a box containing a lamp. So maybe that feeling of being overwhelmed (and a little scared) had had him avoiding this. "Living room."

[victory_laps]

Nodding, Winona moves to take a seat in a chair that was near the boxes. She sips at the water, glancing at him.

"You're alright with this, right?" She's concerned now, wondering if this was all a mistake of some sort. Not that she believes it is, but she's pretty sure all of this is making him uncomfortable.

[iwasjustified]

Raylan's attention was still on the box with the lamp inside.

"I hadn't intended on putting it anywhere else..." he said, reaching in to shuffle it out of the box.