Warnings: None Themes: Family, found family, dreaming, magic
Memory One A bright square illuminated the night as you check your phone. You were looking for a response to your last text to MANAGEMENT. You could see the wall of text that you had sent about Bryde, and then, on its own line, where you had texted Tamquam. It was marked unread.
You put the phone away.
You had been hoping for a reply before you did this.
Memory Two You point at the cart. "Get in there."
"What?"
You just continue pointing.
Adam says, "Give me a break. This is a public parking lot."
"Don't make this ugly, Parrish."
As an old lady heads past you, Adam sighs and climbs into the basket of the shopping cart. He draws his knees up so that he fits.
[...]
You gripp the handle with the skittish concentration of a motorcycle racer and eye the line between you and the BMW parked on the far side of the lot. "What do you think the grade is on this parking lot?"
"C plus, maybe a B. Oh. I don't know. Ten degrees?" Adam holds the sides of the cart and then thinks better of it. He holds himself instead.
With a savage smile, you shove the cart off the curb and belt towards the BMW. As you pick up speed, you call out a joyful and awful swear and then jump on to the back of the cart yourself. As you hurtle towards the BMW, you, as usual, have no intention of stopping before something bad happens. Adam cups a hand over his nose just as you glance off the side of the BMW. The unseated cart wobbles once, twice, and then tips catastrophically on to its side. It keeps skidding, you skid along with it.
The three of you come to a stop.
"Oh, God," Adam says, touching the road burn on his elbow. "God, God. I can feel my teeth."
You lie on your back a few feet away. A box of toothpaste rests on your chest and the cart keels beside you. You feel profoundly happy.
"You should tell me what you've found out about Greenmantle," you say, "so that I can get started on my dreaming."
Adam picks himself up before he gets driven over. "When?"
You grin.
Memory Three “Ronan,” said Declan. The word was loaded with additional meaning: I see you’ve only just come out of school and already your uniform looks like hell; nothing is shocking here. He gestured to the Volvo. “Join me in my office.”
Ronan did not want to join him in his office. Ronan wanted to stop feeling like he had drunk battery acid.
“What do you need with Ronan?” Gansey asked. His “Ronan” was loaded with additional meaning, too: Was this prearranged and tell me what is happening and do you need me to intervene?
“Just a little family chat,” Declan said.
Ronan looked at Gansey entreatingly.
“Is it a family chat that could happen on the way to Fox Way?” Gansey asked, all polite power. “Because he and I were just headed over there.”
Ordinarily, Declan would have stepped off at the slightest pressure from Gansey, but he said, “Oh, I can drop him off there after we’re done. Just a few minutes.”
“Ronan!” Matthew reached his hand out the window towards Ronan. His ebullient “Ronan” was another version of please.
Ronan Lynch | r
Themes: Family, found family, dreaming, magic
Memory One A bright square illuminated the night as you check your phone. You were looking for a response to your last text to MANAGEMENT. You could see the wall of text that you had sent about Bryde, and then, on its own line, where you had texted Tamquam. It was marked unread.
You put the phone away.
You had been hoping for a reply before you did this.
Memory Two You point at the cart. "Get in there."
"What?"
You just continue pointing.
Adam says, "Give me a break. This is a public parking lot."
"Don't make this ugly, Parrish."
As an old lady heads past you, Adam sighs and climbs into the basket of the shopping cart. He draws his knees up so that he fits.
[...]
You gripp the handle with the skittish concentration of a motorcycle racer and eye the line between you and the BMW parked on the far side of the lot. "What do you think the grade is on this parking lot?"
"C plus, maybe a B. Oh. I don't know. Ten degrees?" Adam holds the sides of the cart and then thinks better of it. He holds himself instead.
With a savage smile, you shove the cart off the curb and belt towards the BMW. As you pick up speed, you call out a joyful and awful swear and then jump on to the back of the cart yourself. As you hurtle towards the BMW, you, as usual, have no intention of stopping before something bad happens. Adam cups a hand over his nose just as you glance off the side of the BMW. The unseated cart wobbles once, twice, and then tips catastrophically on to its side. It keeps skidding, you skid along with it.
The three of you come to a stop.
"Oh, God," Adam says, touching the road burn on his elbow. "God, God. I can feel my teeth."
You lie on your back a few feet away. A box of toothpaste rests on your chest and the cart keels beside you. You feel profoundly happy.
"You should tell me what you've found out about Greenmantle," you say, "so that I can get started on my dreaming."
Adam picks himself up before he gets driven over. "When?"
You grin.
Memory Three “Ronan,” said Declan. The word was loaded with additional meaning: I see you’ve only just come out of school and already your uniform looks like hell; nothing is shocking here. He gestured to the Volvo. “Join me in my office.”
Ronan did not want to join him in his office. Ronan wanted to stop feeling like he had drunk battery acid.
“What do you need with Ronan?” Gansey asked. His “Ronan” was loaded with additional meaning, too: Was this prearranged and tell me what is happening and do you need me to intervene?
“Just a little family chat,” Declan said.
Ronan looked at Gansey entreatingly.
“Is it a family chat that could happen on the way to Fox Way?” Gansey asked, all polite power. “Because he and I were just headed over there.”
Ordinarily, Declan would have stepped off at the slightest pressure from Gansey, but he said, “Oh, I can drop him off there after we’re done. Just a few minutes.”
“Ronan!” Matthew reached his hand out the window towards Ronan. His ebullient “Ronan” was another version of please.
Trapped.
“Miseria fortes viros, Ronan,” Adam said.
When he said “Ronan,” it meant: Ronan.