(no subject)

[amicably_absent]

Glitch had swum for hours, chasing fish and insects and bubbles and sunbeams. Eventually, worn out and tired, he had swum to shore and curled up on the bank on the sun warmed pebbles, grumbling about his lack of coat until he fell asleep.

He woke up with Rennie shaking him, a scolding voice telling him he had to come in, he was all wet and dirty and needed a bath and clean clothes, and was she going to have to strap him in the chair.

Glitch reacted predictably.

He screamed at her, judo flipped her while sitting down, dove into the water, swam to a far edge and took off.

Rennie asked Cain to go find Glitch and bring him in before he froze or hurt himself.

Glitch had retreated to the rotunda, sitting on the seat and swinging himself back and forth, watching the sun setting on the lake. He was soaking wet again, but his trembling didn't seem to worry him at all.

Comments

[less-hugging.livejournal.com]

He could kiss that smile. Yes, he could.

"You could use a few lessons in humility, O Smartest Man of the O.Z." He's just teasing, and the wink he shoots Glitch's way should be proof enough even without the tone of voice.

"Better part of your brain's right here, if you ask me. But maybe I'm biased."

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"Why should I be humble? I'm the luckiest guy in the O.Z. and brains had nothing to do with that."

He beams happily. "And be careful there with my hand, Tin man, you might spill that muglug on it."

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Twin suns, red and soft around the edges, take their place on Cain's cheeks.

"I thought I got it back, fair and square. And what's a bit of muglug on a big, strong hand?"

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Glitch climbs over the chair to perch on the arm of Cain's chair, taking his hand and looking at it. "It might burn. And I did warn you that of all my hands, it is my favourite."

He remembers.

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He remembers.

Muglug forgotten the moment realization hits, Cain sits staring up at his friend, stupefied. It's only now that it hits him - it's been quite some time since they had this conversation the first time. Glitch hasn't forgotten.

He says nothing. His jaw works silently; his eyes grow momentarily brighter. Finally, he nods.

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Glitch cants his head, blinks and isn't sure why Cain is so quiet for such a long moment. "Wyatt? Are you okay," he asks softly. He keeps holding the hand he picked up.

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He takes another sip of soup/stew, to help ridding himself of his heart setting up camp in his throat. Down it goes, back to where it belongs.

He smiles (not entirely effortlessly), looking up and misty eyed, and not technically afraid to show it. "You remember."

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"Of course I do... Oh." He gets it. He remembers something from a significant time ago. "You gave me your hat." He slides down into Cain's lap, because it's more comfortable than perching.

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He doesn't object. What he does do is set the mug on the table so he can wrap his arm around Glitch. He hides his face in the folds of his fresh, clean shirt before the tears start to fall and holds on tight, for dear life.

He nods, unable to speak for the way his throat's tightened almost completely shut.

He sighs, then mumbles something not at all intelligible.

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Glitch has no idea what just happened, but he's fairly certain it's not entirely about what just happened... whatever it was.

Wrapping his arms back, Glitch holds onto Wyatt, staying quiet and just holding him, letting him cry.

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It's everything rushing out of him, everything from losing his family to not remembering anything past being shut in an iron suit, it's losing so many years to nothingness and inescapable pain, it's the fear that moving on is somehow wrong of him, fear that his friendship with Glitch will be a series of events that have no connection. That he'll feel the passing of time and Glitch won't. They'll stay in solitary confinement, far removed from the outside world.

Just like he was. The Longcoats would've ruined both their lives, and it would never stop.

It's the tiniest little grain of hope that things will change for the better. That's what hit him the hardest.


"I just wanted you to remember me. I thought maybe, if you had the hat..."

[amicably-absent.livejournal.com]

Glitch holds him, not sure if he's ever held another adult like this. There's something about it, it's intimate, more intimate than Ambrose ever let himself get if he's honest. Ambrose wasn't comfortable with people because every word and gesture lingered forever in his memory.

He doesn't have that fear now. Each cut won't last forever and a day.

"I did, didn't I? I remembered. I haven't forgotten you for longer than the blink of a glitch."

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Dimly, he wonders why the world is shaking. He hasn't heard of an earthquake in Lake Country in decades.

Yet more dimly, he thinks maybe it's him. It needs to stop. No matter how good it feels, how safe, to just be held like this. Nothing can touch him, nothing can hurt him but his own imagination.

"I know."

[amicably-absent.livejournal.com]

There's a soft click as the door shuts, Rennie gone.

Glitch just hums agreeably and keeps holding Wyatt, tight and close and not letting go.

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Rennie. He'd forgotten all about her, and now she's left. Thinking who knows what, about him, about the two of them.

He sighs; there's no use worrying about what other people think. More accurately, he doesn't have the strength left for it.

"I'm sorry. I don't know what came over me."

[amicably-absent.livejournal.com]

"It's okay," Glitch whispers. "The last ten years just started catching up, I think." He keeps holding Wyatt. "I'm here."

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He swallows tightly, leaning away to wipe at his face. "Doesn't make it any less embarrassing."

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"Why's it embarrassing?" Glitch tries to not let him move, but eventually relents.

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"Macho complex."

It's fine. He isn't going anywhere, he's fine, and he won't let Glitch escape either. The moment he's done, he's right back there, cheek pressed to Glitch's chest, arms wrapped snugly around his too thin frame.

"I don't want you to think I'm weak."

[amicably-absent.livejournal.com]

Glitch giggles and hugs him again, the broad shoulders almost too much for him to wrap his arms around. "Weak? The man who survived ten years in the iron suit, who was shot, drowned and still climbed out of the lake again and refused to give in to hypothermia, who faced his nemesis and came out on top, morals uncompromised... weak?"

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"Yeah."

Okay, so that puts things in a different perspective like nothing else. A smile tugs at his heartstrings, mirrored in the corners of his mouth.

"You know what I almost told you that day, about my hand and trading it for something else of equal or greater value?"

[amicably-absent.livejournal.com]

Glitch smiles slightly and leans his head on the wing of the chair. "No. What did you almost tell me?"

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"That you're not the best of tradesmen if you don't know what you already have. You don't need my hand when you already have my heart."

He shrugs, thinking back. "It was silly, and the more I thought about it, the weirder it felt, and I just couldn't say it."

[amicably-absent.livejournal.com]

"Might've been a bit odd then," Glitch agrees. "Now I'm just going to blush and be all stammer and ramble because you're saying those lovely things again no one has ever said before."

[less-hugging.livejournal.com]

He smiles, breathing deep, just letting another wave of comfort slip over him like a blanket.

"It's about damn time."