|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Posted: Sat Jul 23, 2016 8:46 pm
Liam paid his five dollars for parking, a small sum in the grand scheme of things, and made his way down to the beach. His memories were fading now, muddled, all his days blurring together but-- He remembered being a young man, and watching the girl he loved boulder her way up the cliffside, and hoping she wouldn't fall. Knowing she wouldn't fall. He raised a hand to shield his eyes from the midday sun. 1981 felt forever ago.
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Jul 23, 2016 9:02 pm
He waited for a good deal of time, but she showed up in the end. "Does it count against style points if you use a bird to scout your path?" Viv was nineteen and beautiful with it, before the chemo, before Liam's ring. "I suppose it'd have limited application." She didn't ask permission to climb; why would she need to? Liam obviously wasn't there to pick flowers from a thicket. She looked at him critically, the gray eyes sweeping him from head to toe. "I know I don't look like much, but I know what I'm about." She looked up at the cliffs, and started to take off her hoodie.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Jul 23, 2016 9:11 pm
"Yes," said Liam, "I think it does," and looked surprised at the sound of his own voice. He shouldn't have expected the strange self-harmony. Not now. Not after his conversation with Cam. Everything felt off-kilter. Un balanced. Like the world had wobbled too far off its axis. He looked her over, drank her in. She looked like she had when they'd met, and he wanted to warn her. Ached to warn her. But it wouldn't save her. It never would. "You look good, Viv," he said, hand clenching around the ring so the stones dug into his palm. "What's up?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Jul 23, 2016 9:23 pm
She hauled the sweater off too, folded it and put it down on top of her hoodie. Vivien shrugged. She was slim, olive skin tanned, like she'd always been after a summer at home. "I'm home for the summer and I want to climb the cliffs like I do every year. Like I said, I know what I'm doing." Vivien crossed the beach from sand to stones, peered up at the cliff face. "What's up with you, Liam?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Jul 23, 2016 9:30 pm
Liam looked down at the sweater and hoodie, then back up at the girl. "It's a... a weird day," he said, unsure of how to proceed. Vivien, to her credit, did not seem to know that she was dead. "I didn't realize you were in town," he said. "When'd you get here?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Jul 23, 2016 9:43 pm
"Today," she said. Vivien reached up, grabbed onto a deep crack in the stone and hauled herself up the first few feet. "Caught the train from Boston." She leaned sideways to look at him, one hand hooked into the cliff face. "You're here early, though. That internship ran short?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Jul 23, 2016 9:58 pm
Liam nodded. "Yeah, I-- I finished it a while ago." That was an understatement, but then, Vivien didn't seem to have noticed that he was miraculously in his fifties. "Sorry, this is gonna sound super weird, but what year is it?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Jul 23, 2016 10:07 pm
"1983," said Vivien. "You're right. That does sound weird." She dropped back down, pushing off the cliff face easily and landing lightly on the toes of her booted feet. "And that outfit. Joining the mods?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Jul 23, 2016 10:10 pm
It was late. Liam shook his head. "What," he said, "You don't like it?" He'd been a little less fashionable when he'd known her, a little more of a college-aged slob. "How's your head?" he asked, trying not to sound too ominous.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Jul 23, 2016 10:16 pm
"You look like a dink," said Vivien. She shrugged. "The migraines are worse. I took the train, because..." She looked away on a roll of her eyes. "Come on, you heard. Crashed my car 'cause I couldn't see." A blank statement of the facts. She didn't seem ashamed of it. "Did you come back early because you were worried? You need to chill out. I'm fine."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Jul 23, 2016 10:41 pm
Liam did remember that, and cringed. It was late. His eyes went to her hands. Maybe she'd taken the ring off to climb - or maybe he hadn't given it to her yet? It had been before her diagnosis, heading into senior year, when it looked like they'd both graduate together. "Sorry," he said, "slipped my mind." He opened his hand, stared down at the ring.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Jul 23, 2016 10:46 pm
Vivian's posture softened at the apology. "It's cool," she said. "No harm done. What've you got there?" She crossed back to Liam and grabbed his wrist, pulling it down to where she could see what he had in his hand. "That's pretty," she said.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Jul 23, 2016 10:56 pm
Liam very nearly fumbled the ring - hadn't it been meant to be a surprise once? "H̄̏̉̊ͬeͤ̂͑ͭ̿ͩͥẙͬͭ!̊̓͌ U̽̑̎̍̒̀h̎̃ͯ́̐. Y̿̂̃̏͆eͮ̄̂̑aͭ̌ḧ̂ͤ. Iͦt̍ ͑iṡ̅͋" It was almost comforting to hear his voice return to normal. Almost. He held the ring out for her. "I̓t͆́̒̃'̓̂͋̆̌sͫ ͊̌̈́̂̇f͌ͪ͗̄͌̂ͭǒ̉r̔̇̓͒ͣ̀ ͒͒yͨ̉̉́oͫͯ̇̌̆͊̈́u," he said.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Jul 23, 2016 10:59 pm
She picked it up. Her skin on his was warm, human, as if she wasn't thirty years dead, as if she might turn around and go back home, and Vivien examined the many tiny garnets. She didn't know she was dead. If she even was. "Oh," she said. And then she turned his hand over and ran her thumb over his wedding ring. "A new affectation, then?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Jul 23, 2016 11:03 pm
"What? Oh." He'd ******** that one up well and good, and his voice had gone strange again. "I'm on my way to a costume party," said Liam. "Hence the dink ensemble."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Reply
