"Every Loss and Lie": explanation and Chapter 1
So, at the encouragement of my friend and cowriter of this story, limpycsiwombat, I'm posting up at least the first few chapters of our one and only cowritten story, "Every Loss and Lie" (named about two hours ago just for this posting occasion), which was inspired from watching this ridiculously awesome video. Anyways, here it is.
Fandom: creation of limpycsiwombat's and my own. Let's call it Silvermere for reference.
Characters: Matt, Luke (ALP), Penny
Rating: probably R
Spoilers/Warnings: heavy swearing. I mean, a lot. Some fighting scattered throughout, too.
Author's Note: limpycsiwombat sent me this video about five seconds after she first found it, and almost unanimously decided we both had plot ideas from the unfairly gorgeous cast, and instead of writing our own stories decided to give cowriting a shot. Since then this plot has grown to gargantuan sizes (six families totaling thirteen characters, all of which will eventually get to tell the story from their perspective) and we've cast just about every character after an actor or actress with heavy help from the above video:
+Matt Conway - Chris Pine
+Penny Conway
+Luke Conway - Andrew Lee Potts
+Ash Carter - William Moseley
+Felix Carter - Russell Tovey
+Rose Carter
+Evan Hutchinson - James McAvoy
+Adam Hutchinson - Jim Sturgess
+Peter Barlow - Charlie Hunnam
+Isaac Barlow - Eddie Redmayne
+Samantha Gracen - Kirsten Dunst
+Edith Gracen - Emilie De Ravin
+Blake Roman - Anton Yelchin
+Sierra Roman - Hannah Sperritt
Summary: The heads of the six powerful families of New York City were killed in the Silvermere Tower collapse, leaving behind their fourteen children with an ocean of unanswered questions, armies of paparrazi and a poisonous hatred for each other. Eleven years on and no reconciliation has left them bitter, but is the grudge enough to keep them silent at the news of truth of their parents' deaths?
The thick chest-smashing volume of the music washed away all traces of conversation in the club. It was too dark to read lips or expressions, leaving the only form of communication that of physical contact, and with the rich abundance of alcohol only the very gifted or the very clever survived with their dignity intact. A man feeling blessed with both swam through the crowd, riding the waves of people like a veteran out at sea. A lingering touch here, a hot whisper there, and the ocean was his. The swiveling lights flashed across his face, lighting up sharp blue eyes charged with electricity from the girls and drink, skimming the pulsing floor for the next prize. As he vanished in darkness again he worked his way slowly to the glowing bar, mooring at the first open patch of territory he could find.
“Barkeep!” he shouted, his voice and the smack of his palm against the counter lost in the din, but a black-shirted man saw him and drifted over to lean close for orders. Opening his mouth to bellow a request the blue-eyed man stopped himself, catching sight of a woman at his side peering at him from the top of her drink with eyes darker than the false night around them. With a breath of a chuckle he flicked a finger against her glass and mouthed to the bartender, “I’ll have what she’s having.”
With a nod and a trace of a grin the bartender turned and disappeared into his domain, leaving the lightning eyed man to direct all of his attention to the challenge at his side. She took another drink from her glass, tapered fingers hugging the tumbler without care as her crimson lips lingered at the brim, and he watched with intrigue her teeth nibbling at it through the distorted crystal. Licking his own lips with a grin his mouth pursed into a twisted smile as she set the drink down, and he quickly filled the small gap between them, testing the foreign waters as deep as he could go as he curled around her harbor.
“So,” he said, letting a finger trace the lines on the countertop as they sailed in her direction. “You come here often?”
She threw her head back with a laugh, pearly white teeth flashing as another swirling light crossed their path and caught upon them. In territory like this one had to learn to read lips or else drown while learning to swim. Confidence fluttered around him like gulls at a fisherman’s catch. There would be no drowning this night.
“You seriously think you’re going to get anywhere with that?” she snorted, swinging a casual hand back for her glass. Her fingers were in his grasp before she realized it, and the pitying curl to her lips was wiped clean.
“I figure I can’t go too wrong with it, no,” he shrugged, brushing his thumb across the tops of her knuckles. The look remained upon her face as he brought her fingers to his lips, watching her over the small horizon as she had watched him. “The pleasantries take up so much valuable time. If I get the obligatory pickup lines out of the way right off the bat, then I can cut straight to the chase.”
“Excuse me, ma’am, is this man bothering you?” a passerby asked, his voice just loud enough to rise above the level of incoherency. A look of relief washed over the woman’s wide face, while the lightning man locked eyes with the intruder, his smirk curled with distaste.
“Your concern is quite flattering, but we’re doing fine,” he replied with a nod and smile to the man, the woman’s fingers still in his grasp. His words had fallen on deaf ears, for he did not move.
“I believe I was talking to the lady,” he answered. It was difficult to tell if he was speaking louder or if the music’s volume was being lowered. Either way, the surrounding crowd began to take notice. “Though if you’re one, then by all means, resume talking.” A whirling beam of light illuminated the glint in his eye. “Might have to cut in myself.”
A brief lull in the music let the man’s quick laugh fly through the air, and he let the woman’s fingers slip free as he spun on his chair to face the intruder and slide to his feet. He was at least a head shorter in comparison. “That’s really sweet, but you’re really not my type, sunshine.” Casting a glance back at the girl to find her focus entirely upon the new man he sighed, hitching up his pants by the belt loops before patting him on the cheek. To the girl he said, “He’s all yours, sweetheart. Be gentle with him.” Like an afterthought he eyed up the larger man, his eyes their brightest yet. “He looks like you might break him after the first round, so be careful not to break the princess.”
He knew the punch was coming before he saw the fist aimed at his skull, and ducked accordingly. As he bounced back up a second one was already on its way, clipping the edge of his jaw before he had the chance to blink. Immediately the crowd surrounding them roared to life, a cheering whirlpool that both forced them together and threatened to crush them. Catching hold of the countertop he squeezed his eyes shut, giving his head a fierce shake before whirling around, fist colliding squarely with his cheek.
It was the final straw to break. All hell broke loose, and everyone either swam to the vortex or frantically away from it. Regardless of the direction, punches were thrown, and the pitchers began to care less and less where their aim landed. A cresting swell threw a handful of people into the eye of the storm just as the bear man swung again, his fist catching the temple of an innocent to knock him into the lightning man, sending them both to the floor sprawling.
“Watch it, you twiggy little shit!” he snarled as he shoved him away, but as he caught sight of the man’s wide pale face and black eyes replaced it with a joyous whoop, pulling him under his arm just as a foot smashed into where he’d been laying stunned. “Luke! My Lucky Luke, you made it! This is one hell of a party, isn’t it?”
As they both crawled towards the shelter of the counter before scrambling to their feet Luke stared at the man, mouth set in thought before he punched him in the shoulder.
“Good job, dumbass, now we’ll both be banned from this place,” he said angrily, snaking a long arm securely around his waist before elbowing his way through the masses. “This was one of the less-shitty bars that kept the paparazzi out. Now we have to find a new one.”
“Bullshit, man, they’ll be begging us to come back,” he argued, trying and failing to gain footing against the floor. It was moving more than it had earlier, and he was fairly sure it didn’t have anything to do with the roiling clubbers. “This place was gonna get bought out to be some stupid little shop. We fucking saved it, man!”
“Fucking wonderful, we can celebrate later,” Luke spat in reply. They had slipped into the stream that was weaving towards the door, but the going was like wading through syrup. Eyes still burning with fire the man lashed out at each stray appendage that jabbed at him, though his coordination was faltering.
“Sounds good to me,” he agreed with enthusiasm, but Luke shook him hard, eyes black with poison.
“No, Matt, we’re going home,” he growled, looking away from him as the line of his mouth hardened in anger. Keeping his gaze straight ahead Luke ignored his baggage’s slurring ramblings, elbowing him whenever he tried to slip free or pick a fight with anyone who shoved past him. After he nearly escaped to raise another torrent of hell Luke twisted around to snarl at his companion when something towards the wall caught his eye. Squinting to discern its details through the darkness he saw it to be a fair head of hair, and as the man’s face nodded with a raise of his glass Luke stiffened.
“Lukey, come on, it’s too early to go home,” Matt argued, and Luke snapped back to attention, blinking out of his stupor and looking away from the blond man before focusing on his cargo yet again.
“You made it your bedtime when you decided to start hitting people,” Luke told him flatly, and Matt laughed.
“The world has gone mad, my baby brother is mothering me,” he giggled. The grim line to Luke’s mouth deepened, and a crease formed between his eyebrows as they neared the door. As it bounced open and shut the occasional flash of camera lights lit up the escapees, and he swore to himself.
“Matt, when we get outside, for the love of God, keep your fucking mouth shut, okay? They’re gonna have a field day anyways with your fight, they don’t need anything else.”
Matt didn’t have a chance to agree or object as they fell into the slipstream that shot them to the door, and before they could blink they were blinded by the roaring storm of lights.
“If you sneak off, I will leave you with these dogs, got it?” Luke deadpanned in his brother’s ear as they ducked their heads against the glare and camera lenses. As Matt had rendered his motor skills useless Luke was left with the task of carving a path through the shouting paparazzi. Through the stars in his eyes he saw a hand flapping through the air, and recognizing the black cap on the owner’s head gave a laugh of relief and redirected their route.
This of course was easier said than done. About six feet separated the two of them from the street where safety waited with four wheels and thick doors, and the battalion was growing fiercer. A brave and foolish soldier reached out to try and pry Luke’s arm free to expose his brother’s face, but the blood was just as hot in his veins and his elbow managed to find its way into his person. The man in the black hat took the opportunity to peel the intruder aside and guide Matt towards the silently waiting black car, and in no time at all the three were fastened in place and tearing off through the city.
“A pleasant evening, sirs?” the hatted man inquired politely from the driver’s seat, glancing in his rear view mirror to casually survey his passengers. Luke glanced back and caught sight of his reflection in the tiny pane and grimaced at the raw patch of skin at his temple.
“Not the best, no,” Luke replied tersely as he surveyed Matt at his side. Despite the fact that his jaw was now swollen to twice its normal size and his right eye was more lidded than the left, the grin on his face spoke that he would do it again in a heartbeat.
“Are you kidding? I haven’t had that much fun in years,” Matt laughed, hooking his hands behind his head as he leaned back in his seat to gaze out the window, the bright lights in the black city flashing across his face.
“Yeah, remind me to get him checked for concussions and the like, okay, Charlie?” Luke sighed with a look to their driver, who smiled impishly in reply. “He’s got to live till morning so I can kill him tomorrow for ruining our lives, again.”
“Don’t be like that,” Matt objected with a click of his tongue, head swiveling loosely on his neck to watch his brother’s dark look. “Despite getting kicked out, you know that went well. Come on, you had to have gotten some numbers,” he reasoned. Luke turned away to look out his own window, hot forehead resting against the cool glass as the neon lights washed out his eyes.
“It’s hard to be taken seriously with the Conway name on your ass.”
“Bullshit, Luke, you’re a king with that title!” he exclaimed, whipping his hands free to hang in his lap as he leaned forward to chastise properly. “When Zeus was given those lightning bolts, he didn’t just sit on his hands and save them for the last minute just before all hell broke loose. No, he flung those mothers out whenever he damn well pleased, and you know why? It was because he was Zeus. Everyone else on that mountain of his stayed the fuck out of his way when he was pissed, and everyone down below learned to fear his name before they ever even saw him. With his name, Luke, with his fucking name!”
“Sorry, exploiting the family name is a bit dirty for my tastes,” he replied coldly. “I’d rather make progress the old fashioned way, without referencing the family line.”
“Jesus Christ, Luke,” Matt exclaimed, throwing his arms up as he fell back against his seat. “You’re too young to be counting the grey hairs on your head. Just pull on your hat and jump in, you’ve got nothing to lose.”
“I’m sure that’s what they thought back then as well, and look what happened,” Luke answered quietly. He didn’t need to look at his brother to convey the weight of his words; they sunk to the core without effort.
When no extra snap shot from Matt’s lips Luke called to Charlie to take them home, by whatever shortcuts necessary. There was no objection from anyone, and the rest of the ride was in silence.
Fandom: creation of limpycsiwombat's and my own. Let's call it Silvermere for reference.
Characters: Matt, Luke (ALP), Penny
Rating: probably R
Spoilers/Warnings: heavy swearing. I mean, a lot. Some fighting scattered throughout, too.
Author's Note: limpycsiwombat sent me this video about five seconds after she first found it, and almost unanimously decided we both had plot ideas from the unfairly gorgeous cast, and instead of writing our own stories decided to give cowriting a shot. Since then this plot has grown to gargantuan sizes (six families totaling thirteen characters, all of which will eventually get to tell the story from their perspective) and we've cast just about every character after an actor or actress with heavy help from the above video:
+Matt Conway - Chris Pine
+Penny Conway
+Luke Conway - Andrew Lee Potts
+Ash Carter - William Moseley
+Felix Carter - Russell Tovey
+Rose Carter
+Evan Hutchinson - James McAvoy
+Adam Hutchinson - Jim Sturgess
+Peter Barlow - Charlie Hunnam
+Isaac Barlow - Eddie Redmayne
+Samantha Gracen - Kirsten Dunst
+Edith Gracen - Emilie De Ravin
+Blake Roman - Anton Yelchin
+Sierra Roman - Hannah Sperritt
Summary: The heads of the six powerful families of New York City were killed in the Silvermere Tower collapse, leaving behind their fourteen children with an ocean of unanswered questions, armies of paparrazi and a poisonous hatred for each other. Eleven years on and no reconciliation has left them bitter, but is the grudge enough to keep them silent at the news of truth of their parents' deaths?
The thick chest-smashing volume of the music washed away all traces of conversation in the club. It was too dark to read lips or expressions, leaving the only form of communication that of physical contact, and with the rich abundance of alcohol only the very gifted or the very clever survived with their dignity intact. A man feeling blessed with both swam through the crowd, riding the waves of people like a veteran out at sea. A lingering touch here, a hot whisper there, and the ocean was his. The swiveling lights flashed across his face, lighting up sharp blue eyes charged with electricity from the girls and drink, skimming the pulsing floor for the next prize. As he vanished in darkness again he worked his way slowly to the glowing bar, mooring at the first open patch of territory he could find.
“Barkeep!” he shouted, his voice and the smack of his palm against the counter lost in the din, but a black-shirted man saw him and drifted over to lean close for orders. Opening his mouth to bellow a request the blue-eyed man stopped himself, catching sight of a woman at his side peering at him from the top of her drink with eyes darker than the false night around them. With a breath of a chuckle he flicked a finger against her glass and mouthed to the bartender, “I’ll have what she’s having.”
With a nod and a trace of a grin the bartender turned and disappeared into his domain, leaving the lightning eyed man to direct all of his attention to the challenge at his side. She took another drink from her glass, tapered fingers hugging the tumbler without care as her crimson lips lingered at the brim, and he watched with intrigue her teeth nibbling at it through the distorted crystal. Licking his own lips with a grin his mouth pursed into a twisted smile as she set the drink down, and he quickly filled the small gap between them, testing the foreign waters as deep as he could go as he curled around her harbor.
“So,” he said, letting a finger trace the lines on the countertop as they sailed in her direction. “You come here often?”
She threw her head back with a laugh, pearly white teeth flashing as another swirling light crossed their path and caught upon them. In territory like this one had to learn to read lips or else drown while learning to swim. Confidence fluttered around him like gulls at a fisherman’s catch. There would be no drowning this night.
“You seriously think you’re going to get anywhere with that?” she snorted, swinging a casual hand back for her glass. Her fingers were in his grasp before she realized it, and the pitying curl to her lips was wiped clean.
“I figure I can’t go too wrong with it, no,” he shrugged, brushing his thumb across the tops of her knuckles. The look remained upon her face as he brought her fingers to his lips, watching her over the small horizon as she had watched him. “The pleasantries take up so much valuable time. If I get the obligatory pickup lines out of the way right off the bat, then I can cut straight to the chase.”
“Excuse me, ma’am, is this man bothering you?” a passerby asked, his voice just loud enough to rise above the level of incoherency. A look of relief washed over the woman’s wide face, while the lightning man locked eyes with the intruder, his smirk curled with distaste.
“Your concern is quite flattering, but we’re doing fine,” he replied with a nod and smile to the man, the woman’s fingers still in his grasp. His words had fallen on deaf ears, for he did not move.
“I believe I was talking to the lady,” he answered. It was difficult to tell if he was speaking louder or if the music’s volume was being lowered. Either way, the surrounding crowd began to take notice. “Though if you’re one, then by all means, resume talking.” A whirling beam of light illuminated the glint in his eye. “Might have to cut in myself.”
A brief lull in the music let the man’s quick laugh fly through the air, and he let the woman’s fingers slip free as he spun on his chair to face the intruder and slide to his feet. He was at least a head shorter in comparison. “That’s really sweet, but you’re really not my type, sunshine.” Casting a glance back at the girl to find her focus entirely upon the new man he sighed, hitching up his pants by the belt loops before patting him on the cheek. To the girl he said, “He’s all yours, sweetheart. Be gentle with him.” Like an afterthought he eyed up the larger man, his eyes their brightest yet. “He looks like you might break him after the first round, so be careful not to break the princess.”
He knew the punch was coming before he saw the fist aimed at his skull, and ducked accordingly. As he bounced back up a second one was already on its way, clipping the edge of his jaw before he had the chance to blink. Immediately the crowd surrounding them roared to life, a cheering whirlpool that both forced them together and threatened to crush them. Catching hold of the countertop he squeezed his eyes shut, giving his head a fierce shake before whirling around, fist colliding squarely with his cheek.
It was the final straw to break. All hell broke loose, and everyone either swam to the vortex or frantically away from it. Regardless of the direction, punches were thrown, and the pitchers began to care less and less where their aim landed. A cresting swell threw a handful of people into the eye of the storm just as the bear man swung again, his fist catching the temple of an innocent to knock him into the lightning man, sending them both to the floor sprawling.
“Watch it, you twiggy little shit!” he snarled as he shoved him away, but as he caught sight of the man’s wide pale face and black eyes replaced it with a joyous whoop, pulling him under his arm just as a foot smashed into where he’d been laying stunned. “Luke! My Lucky Luke, you made it! This is one hell of a party, isn’t it?”
As they both crawled towards the shelter of the counter before scrambling to their feet Luke stared at the man, mouth set in thought before he punched him in the shoulder.
“Good job, dumbass, now we’ll both be banned from this place,” he said angrily, snaking a long arm securely around his waist before elbowing his way through the masses. “This was one of the less-shitty bars that kept the paparazzi out. Now we have to find a new one.”
“Bullshit, man, they’ll be begging us to come back,” he argued, trying and failing to gain footing against the floor. It was moving more than it had earlier, and he was fairly sure it didn’t have anything to do with the roiling clubbers. “This place was gonna get bought out to be some stupid little shop. We fucking saved it, man!”
“Fucking wonderful, we can celebrate later,” Luke spat in reply. They had slipped into the stream that was weaving towards the door, but the going was like wading through syrup. Eyes still burning with fire the man lashed out at each stray appendage that jabbed at him, though his coordination was faltering.
“Sounds good to me,” he agreed with enthusiasm, but Luke shook him hard, eyes black with poison.
“No, Matt, we’re going home,” he growled, looking away from him as the line of his mouth hardened in anger. Keeping his gaze straight ahead Luke ignored his baggage’s slurring ramblings, elbowing him whenever he tried to slip free or pick a fight with anyone who shoved past him. After he nearly escaped to raise another torrent of hell Luke twisted around to snarl at his companion when something towards the wall caught his eye. Squinting to discern its details through the darkness he saw it to be a fair head of hair, and as the man’s face nodded with a raise of his glass Luke stiffened.
“Lukey, come on, it’s too early to go home,” Matt argued, and Luke snapped back to attention, blinking out of his stupor and looking away from the blond man before focusing on his cargo yet again.
“You made it your bedtime when you decided to start hitting people,” Luke told him flatly, and Matt laughed.
“The world has gone mad, my baby brother is mothering me,” he giggled. The grim line to Luke’s mouth deepened, and a crease formed between his eyebrows as they neared the door. As it bounced open and shut the occasional flash of camera lights lit up the escapees, and he swore to himself.
“Matt, when we get outside, for the love of God, keep your fucking mouth shut, okay? They’re gonna have a field day anyways with your fight, they don’t need anything else.”
Matt didn’t have a chance to agree or object as they fell into the slipstream that shot them to the door, and before they could blink they were blinded by the roaring storm of lights.
“If you sneak off, I will leave you with these dogs, got it?” Luke deadpanned in his brother’s ear as they ducked their heads against the glare and camera lenses. As Matt had rendered his motor skills useless Luke was left with the task of carving a path through the shouting paparazzi. Through the stars in his eyes he saw a hand flapping through the air, and recognizing the black cap on the owner’s head gave a laugh of relief and redirected their route.
This of course was easier said than done. About six feet separated the two of them from the street where safety waited with four wheels and thick doors, and the battalion was growing fiercer. A brave and foolish soldier reached out to try and pry Luke’s arm free to expose his brother’s face, but the blood was just as hot in his veins and his elbow managed to find its way into his person. The man in the black hat took the opportunity to peel the intruder aside and guide Matt towards the silently waiting black car, and in no time at all the three were fastened in place and tearing off through the city.
“A pleasant evening, sirs?” the hatted man inquired politely from the driver’s seat, glancing in his rear view mirror to casually survey his passengers. Luke glanced back and caught sight of his reflection in the tiny pane and grimaced at the raw patch of skin at his temple.
“Not the best, no,” Luke replied tersely as he surveyed Matt at his side. Despite the fact that his jaw was now swollen to twice its normal size and his right eye was more lidded than the left, the grin on his face spoke that he would do it again in a heartbeat.
“Are you kidding? I haven’t had that much fun in years,” Matt laughed, hooking his hands behind his head as he leaned back in his seat to gaze out the window, the bright lights in the black city flashing across his face.
“Yeah, remind me to get him checked for concussions and the like, okay, Charlie?” Luke sighed with a look to their driver, who smiled impishly in reply. “He’s got to live till morning so I can kill him tomorrow for ruining our lives, again.”
“Don’t be like that,” Matt objected with a click of his tongue, head swiveling loosely on his neck to watch his brother’s dark look. “Despite getting kicked out, you know that went well. Come on, you had to have gotten some numbers,” he reasoned. Luke turned away to look out his own window, hot forehead resting against the cool glass as the neon lights washed out his eyes.
“It’s hard to be taken seriously with the Conway name on your ass.”
“Bullshit, Luke, you’re a king with that title!” he exclaimed, whipping his hands free to hang in his lap as he leaned forward to chastise properly. “When Zeus was given those lightning bolts, he didn’t just sit on his hands and save them for the last minute just before all hell broke loose. No, he flung those mothers out whenever he damn well pleased, and you know why? It was because he was Zeus. Everyone else on that mountain of his stayed the fuck out of his way when he was pissed, and everyone down below learned to fear his name before they ever even saw him. With his name, Luke, with his fucking name!”
“Sorry, exploiting the family name is a bit dirty for my tastes,” he replied coldly. “I’d rather make progress the old fashioned way, without referencing the family line.”
“Jesus Christ, Luke,” Matt exclaimed, throwing his arms up as he fell back against his seat. “You’re too young to be counting the grey hairs on your head. Just pull on your hat and jump in, you’ve got nothing to lose.”
“I’m sure that’s what they thought back then as well, and look what happened,” Luke answered quietly. He didn’t need to look at his brother to convey the weight of his words; they sunk to the core without effort.
When no extra snap shot from Matt’s lips Luke called to Charlie to take them home, by whatever shortcuts necessary. There was no objection from anyone, and the rest of the ride was in silence.