[ Wash isn't of much help when it comes to helping to rebuild the village, but he damn well tries. Eventually his lack of familiarity with doing this kind of hands-on work kind of wins over regardless of how earnest he is in his effort, and he just relegates himself to doing what he can, which turns out to mostly just be manual labor and helping to move heavy things around, salvaging building materials from the houses too ruined to repair. Regardless of how unhelpful he is, Wash at work is surprisingly calm and relaxed, and even if it doesn't help much to busy his mind, something to busy his hands is appreciative enough. He pushes along another load of salvaged stonework in a cart the villagers have provided, wiping the sweat from his brow, nodding a little in your direction and just gesturing with a hand. How's the work coming along?

Whoever happens to be around a little later in the day might happen to see something interesting, though. Wash is working away, dismantling a wall from a ruined house because if he can't help build he might as well help take down, when someone comes up behind him, immediately puts him into a headlock. The gesture is aggressive, but Wash seems surprisingly calm, even when one hand moves up to curve over Maine's arm, even as Maine makes that strange harsh, growling-hissing sound right against his ear. Wash does answer him ( not that old just yet, kiddo ), but then he's being literally dragged off, and even if you attempt to follow, Maine's apparently much faster and sneakier than he looks, even hauling Wash in tow.

After that? He turns back up at the ruined buildings, a few hours later, and gets right back to work. He doesn't look injured or hurt, but there's something in his eyes, distant, quiet, and he doesn't look up to meet anyone's eye. Approach him then if you want, but he sure doesn't look like he's in much of a mood to talk, anymore. ]

[ Over the years Wash has gotten quite a lot better at not letting himself be easily provoked, at not letting his anger get the better of him. But it's the way these soldiers tend to insult not just him but the outsiders altogether and even the General along with them that has Wash on edge, that has him whirling around and standing his ground a lot more often than he usually would. This isn't the first time he's ended up in some altercation or the other, and this one had maybe been a little his fault, because he'd noticed that the group of soldiers wandering around camp had to be Dorca's or Vorvolk's, and he'd been lingering close, watching them, trying to listen in.

He looks unarmed, but he really isn't, and those soldiers staring him down are definitely armed, too. The one particular soldier he's looking at just sneers, remarks something about how these damned outsiders should mind their own fucking business, should've been left out to die where they found them, some of them even came from the Cetagandan base, women and mutants, was Piotr out of his damn mind. ]

We've done a lot more to help than you. [ Just so pointedly, and he looks calm enough, but anyone who knows him well would be able to read the tension in his shoulders, the slight tick in his jaw, the way his fingers twitch slightly at his side. This could really go either way, and Wash might be glad for the release of an actual fucking fight but he'd be glad to be talked down from something, too. ]

[ The more comfortable and familiar he gets around the horses, the more he's started to find spending some time with them helping around the stables a welcome respite from everything else in camp. Mostly, though, he slips over when he has some spare time, with some treat he'd managed to get from the village or the mess. Moonfire's the horse he tends to spend most of his time with, Sonia's own, stroking a hand down her nose and offering her a treat, and with Beth missing from the camp, too, Wash figures that Moonfire could use the company.

He doesn't usually take a horse out from the stables all that often save to practice a bit of riding, but this time especially with the warming weather he decides that Moonfire could do with a slight walk around the yard. He's quiet when he leads her out into the yard, staying on her left, just like Beth had taught him to. ]

Easy. [ Soft, gentle, holding out a hand to let the mare lip at some treat he has in his palm. ] I'm worried, too.

[ Wash is back to his regular pattern of not-sleeping rather than the distressing-even-for-him lack of sleep, but that still does mean he spends a most time at night idly wandering around the camp or settled next to a quiet fire. There's a lot on his mind these days, isn't there always, but with Yuri and Dorca in camp he can't help the constant tension in his shoulders, not to mention how he casts a wary eye at every soldier who wanders past.

Not enough just to be alone with his thoughts, this time, and no practicing cyrillic in the dirt, either. Instead you're most likely to find him hunched over a foldable chessboard he'd managed to bargain out of the villagers some time ago in exchange for help, and yes. Yes, he is just playing against himself. Quite intently.

Sit down and play with him so he'll be less pathetic. Or make fun of him. He's apparently surprisingly engrossed, brow creased in thought as he taps his fingers against a white rook already taken from the board, and he might not actually say anything until you do, though. ]

[ As always Wash can be found wherever around camp and the village, still looking tired as fuck and also looking warily at things. Hit me up at dragonpunch or disc@valonqar#1048 for anything specific! ]