tying ribbons around grief (Narnia fic, for Kathy)

[be_themoon]

Title: tying ribbons around grief
Characters/Pairings: The Pevensies
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: Mentions of sex, there-if-you-squint incest.
When: The various England intervals.
Summary: Because he has a way / of tying ribbons around grief.
Disclaimer: The Narnia universe isn't mine.
Author's Note: For katakokk on her birthday. Happy (slightly belated) birthday, bb! Sorry, I couldn't wrap my brain around anything as complicated as politics or future-Merlin stuff, but I still wanted to write you something. I hope you enjoy it. <333 The title and summary quote is from 1999 by Kevin A. Gonzalez.

#01 - Comfort
Here in England, they trip on distances that are wrong.

#02 - Kiss
The breeze brushes his face, so familiar and far away, and he touches his cheek with his fingers.

 #03 - Soft
"Do you think we'll ever really?" Susan says, quiet in the dark, and Peter holds her close.

#04 - Pain
Lucy cuts her finger on a knife and her eyes widen in surprise.

#05 - Potatoes
Putting down the potato she had been peeling, she bursts into sudden tears.

#06 - Rain
Susan sits at the window and stares at the rain pouring down outside.

#07 - Chocolate
The Macready saves up rations and makes a cake with chocolate icing for Peter's birthday, and he thanks her with the regal air of a beloved king; it sounds wrong in the worn-out kitchen.

#08 - Happiness
Edmund thumps the bat into the ground and grins impossibly wide at Peter.

#09 - Telephone
"We're all fine, mum, really," Peter says unconvincingly.

#10 - Ears
It's not hard to hear the sound of sobs in the night.

#11 - Name
"You will always be king in my eyes," Edmund says, eyes understanding.

#12 - Sensual
Susan giggles as she twirls in her new dress, and Peter realizes she's growing up again.

#13 - Death
"Don't," Susan says tightly, "There's no use remembering that."

#14 - Sex
"Four years till I turn seventeen!" Lucy sings, and Edmund looks alarmed.

 #15 - Touch
Her fingers brush his and he startles.

#16 - Weakness
"I could never say no to you," Susan says, and Peter laughs and replies, "You're getting better at it."

#17 - Tears
If Susan cries these days, she does it where none of them can see or hear her.

#18 - Speed
"Fast work," Lucy says bitingly, and Susan looks a little guilty.

#19 - Wind
Lucy has taken to looking up old Greek legends in her spare time, and she calls the winds by their names.

#20 - Freedom
"I could run, but where would that get me?" Edmund says bitterly, and Peter doesn't answer.

#21 - Life
"Sometimes I forget where we are," Lucy admits the second time Edmund catches her talking to trees.

#22 - Jealousy
Lucy distracts Peter from his glowering loom over Susan's latest boyfriend.

#23 - Hands
They're just a handsbreadth away but it's far enough.

#24 - Taste
"I thought you liked pears," Edmund says, and Lucy shakes her head and puts it down.

#25 - Devotion
"It's a plane, not your first love," Lucy says, but Peter just strokes the nose and grins.

#26 - Forever
"If we just get young again each time," Edmund says, interested.

#27 - Blood
"Crashing your plane goes under giving me a heart attack," Susan says sternly from her seat by his bed when he wakes up.

#28 - Sickness
He can't remember there being much pneumonia in Narnia, and chalks it up to the list of ways England is worse.

#29 - Melody
Lucy hasn't heard Edmund sing in a long time.

#30 - Star
"A star's daughter?" Peter says, eyebrows raised, and laughs.

#31 - Home
They move out one after another, leaving as soon as they reach seventeen, renting flats and living together.

#32 - Confusion
"What are you doing here?" Peter says, staring up at her, and Susan sits down beside him and tucks her legs beneath her.

#33 - Fear
"I'm not losing you," he says.

#34 - Lightning/Thunder
It starts storming as he walks home, and Edmund laughs and turns his head up to the sky as it lights up with lightning.

#35 - Bonds
"I am never bailing you out again, do you understand?" Lucy says, her voice colored with annoyance, and Edmund grins.

#36 - Market
"It's like he's forgotten what morals are," Susan says, and Lucy says, "Well, this chocolate is fabulous, so."

#37 - Technology
Susan does not like riding by car or train, but there are no horses here that she can ride.

 #38 - Gift
"We get two lives," Susan says, "that's a gift."

#39 - Smile
Lucy goes to all the dances, smiling and lovely as she spins.

#40 - Innocence
"Oh, like she was ever innocent! Her best friend was a faun!" Edmund says, and Lucy grins.

#41 - Completion
It's hard to get ahold of Susan these days.

#42 - Clouds
The weather is gray and dreary; Susan wears her brightest dress and lipstick and shines in the gloom.

#43 - Sky
"It's never quite blue enough here," Lucy says, and Peter nods and lies down on the grass beside her.

#44 - Heaven
"What do you think would have happened if we'd died in Narnia?" Edmund says suddenly, and Lucy looks at him in surprise.

#45 - Hell
Some days here are worse than others.

#46 - Sun
It's a perfect summer's day, one of a rare few, and Lucy drags Peter to the park.

#47 - Moon
Peter only sees Susan at nights now, in the bars he and his RAF friends frequent, or when they pass in the streets, turning away in silence.

#48 - Waves
Edmund kicks the water and splashes Peter, and Lucy shrieks as Peter ducks behind her and she gets the full brunt of the cold.

#49 - Hair
Lucy picks flowers and Edmund braids them into her hair

#50 - Supernova
"The sun isn't going to blow up, Edmund," Lucy scoffs, looking over his books.

Comments

[katakokk.livejournal.com]

BETSY. OH BETSY. I LOVE YOU TO BITS. *glomps*

#11 - Name
"You will always be king in my eyes," Edmund says, eyes understanding.
OH ED. OH PETER.

#14 - Sex
"Four years till I turn seventeen!" Lucy sings, and Edmund looks alarmed.
OH LUCY! I can totally picture this, and Edmund just shuddering and imagining having to deal with her morning-after detailed reports again.

#20 - Freedom
"I could run, but where would that get me?" Edmund says bitterly, and Peter doesn't answer.
POOR ED. D:

#23 - Hands
They're just a handsbreadth away but it's far enough.
PETER&SUSAN. OH YES. Any reservations I had before have been completely erased by this sentence. Seriously. <333333

#24 - Taste
"I thought you liked pears," Edmund says, and Lucy shakes her head and puts it down.
I just may be over-thinking things, but this. OH. Are they forgetting? Or is it just not the same as it was in Narnia?

#29 - Melody
Lucy hasn't heard Edmund sing in a long time.
I really want to hear Skandar sing now. XD

#34 - Lightning/Thunder
It starts storming as he walks home, and Edmund laughs and turns his head up to the sky as it lights up with lightning.
That is a chillingly beautiful picture. *loves*

#47 - Moon
Peter only sees Susan at nights now, in the bars he and his RAF friends frequent, or when they pass in the streets, turning away in silence.
But there is secret angsty sex afterwards, right? Right? Please tell me there is. *hopeful*

I love the way each tidbit is only a sentence or two but it all flows SO WELL. Especially love the way that heaven & hell are by each other, the irony that dying in Narnia would be heaven compared to living in England. MY POOR PEVENSIES. *hugs them* I love the characterizations. Peter and Susan's drift apart is really sad and I've always liked the idea of Edmund taking up science in a very pessimistic and morbid fashion and that totally fits Skandar's Darwin ancestry, and not-so-innocent!Lucy is awesome.

THANK YOU. SO MUCH. <33333333333333

Basically, YOU ARE AMAZING and have officially made my evening (which previously was going to be filled with Chemistry and Algebra II D:). Thank you so much, bb! ♥

[be-themoon.livejournal.com]

YOU KIND OF MADE MY EVENING WITH THIS COMMENT. And my morning too! So yay for that! <333333333333

PETER/SUSANNNNN. I LOVE THEM SO MUCH.

I think my original thought for the pears one was that they don't quite taste as good here as they do in Narnia, so Lucy doesn't like them anymore.

EDMUND. SKANDAR. SINGING IN THE RAINNN! Man, I want to hear him singing so much. I hope someone captures him singing during Dawn Treader and it makes it onto the extras! *crosses fingers*

PROBABLY NOT. They are angry at each other at this point! LATER THERE IS TOTALLY DUST, THOUGH. (I, um, don't really acknowledge LB.)

I'm actually really happy with it, and I'm glad you are too. I'm so glad you like it! Edmund/Science! SUPERNOVAS. Lucy's non-innocent scoffing at him! Peter and Susan pretending they don't know each other in bars! Man, I love the Pevensies SO MUCH.

THANK YOUUUU! I'M GLAD YOU LIKED IT, BB. HAPPY BIRTHDAY AGAIN!

[katakokk.livejournal.com]

I AM GLAD I MADE YOUR EVENING, BB!

THEY ARE SO TRAGIC. Also, plot bunny alert! Have you ever heard of Jhumpa Lahiri? Well, she wrote a short story called "A Temporary Matter," and OH MY GOODNESS PETER/SUSAN plot bunny sprung from it! You can find it in her short story collection Interpreter of Maladies.

THAT WOULD BE AWESOME. They better have him singing in the extras where they just goof around on set! CHECK THE GATE.

Awwww. BUT YES. DUST. I LOVE DUST.

I really, really like it. So this is a little redundant, but I just can't get over the fact that it flows SO WELL. <3333333333333

[be-themoon.livejournal.com]

THEY ARE, THEY ARE. So tragic! D: (I shall have to look it up sometime.)

CHECK THE GAAAAAATE. <333