New Story: EQUALS 3/?
EQUALS…
Author: Scotianova
Beta-fairy: Carol38
Disclaimer: I don't own them and writing about them is just for fun.
Genre: A story about different shades of love
Pairing: Reid and Luke - as always
Characters: Reid Oliver, Luke Snyder, Ravi Oliver, Ruby Oliver II, Liath Orbanns, Damien Grimaldi, Henry Coleman, Kathryn Peretti, Dustin Donovan, Paul Ryan, Holly McLean…
Warning: none so far
Rating: sexual contents
Summary: On the surface they couldn’t be more different from every point of view, but if someone just looks closely at them…
AN1 : This is an attempt to invert some facts and whereabouts but I hope the character drawing is plausible- somehow at least ;)
AN2: I used the name Ruby in a story once before but I like it so much, that I named even two characters after it this time.
AN3 Orbanns is an anagram btw :)
3.
“I am tired, Daddy.”
“I know. I know, my son. So how about I sit here with you until you’re asleep?”
“Yes, I’d like that, thank you, Dad!”
“You’re welcome, Ravi.”
“Can I crawl in, too?” A small voice suddenly chimed in.
“What do you think, Ravi can she?”
The boy just smiled weakly and lifted his blanket so that the smaller girl could climb into his bed.
“When does Ravi get better, Dad? He is always tired lately!”
“I hope he’ll be better soon. Very soon!” And a lean soft hand gently ruffled her strong and wild red golden mane that was not tamed in two thick braids for once but sprawled out on the spare pillow after she’d settled in her brother’s bed.
“You’re thirsty?”
“No, just tired!” the boy answered and closed his dark-brown eyes.
“Read to me, Daddy, please!”
“What would you like to hear today?”
“Mio’s kingdom!”
“Again?”
“Yes, please!”
It was always “Mio…” lately.
Reid didn’t remember how many times he’d read the fairytale to his son, who seemed always to calm down while listening to the story of Mio finally meeting his father, the king, and Reid’s heart ached for his boy, whose strength to fight death seemed to wear down hourly.
God! Why couldn’t he trade his own life for his son’s? He would do it without blinking an eye.
Watching the precious boy fade away exceeded tolerable limits for a long time. And there was nothing Reid could do, nothing! Neither his wealth, his influence nor his medical brilliance could change the fact that one of the two persons he couldn’t bear to loose was dying.
Well, the only thing he could do was to be there for him, sit with him, hold his hand, listen to his thoughts that were beyond the thoughts of a nine year old boy, and read to him, read a story that broke his own heart because he didn’t know why Ravi was so fascinated by the almost philosophical storyline.
“’Mio, my son! Goodness, how you’ve grown again’, he says when he measures me. ‘Mio, my son,’ he says, and it sounds so warm and comforting. It turns out my real name isn’t Andy at all. ‘I searched nine long years for you’, says my father the king. ‘I used to lie awake at night saying to myself, “Mio my son.” So I’d know your name well.’… I love my father the king and he loves me.”
(Astrid Lindgren: Mio's Kingdom")
Who did his boy see in that King? For Ravi, Reid was his father. He did know that yet the boy’s fixation on that story wasn’t easy to deal with.
Maybe following Mio’s adventures and his fight against the evil Kato - was this Ravi’s way to deal with his illness? That insane illness that the boy only could have gotten from his mother made Reid almost want to shake the stupid girl for having been so incredibly irresponsible when it had come to her safety and health. Where had she gotten it from anyway? But it was pointless to be angry at her; because he had failed too, he hadn’t protected her well enough from herself and her self-destroying tendencies. And it hadn’t helped either, that he’d always looked out for the kids and wrapped them in cotton wool from the moment they were born.
Ravi was fading away in his arms and he felt the one thing he hated most, he felt helpless.
If he was a match he would rip that damn organ out of himself with his own hands and put in the boy’s worn-out body, however he wasn’t. No one in their family was. AB Rh negative, God! Why of all possibilities had his boy to have the rarest blood type at all?
It took only a few minutes of reading and Ravi was sound asleep - and so was Ruby, her still chubby arm wrapped around her brother’s right upper arm.
The redheaded man dimmed the light, gently tucked his kids in, turned the speaker on and sneaked out on his tiptoes.
It’s an eternal ritual, parents watching their children sleep, covering them not only with their blanket but with their love, dimming the light and leaving the door ajar when the little ones were sick and scared so that they could hear their parents silently move around in the house and feel safe.
“How is he?” Katie’s soft voice welcomed him in the living room.
“Not good! We’re running out of time. Not good at all! Fuck!...I should have gone there myself and dragged him here. It took Henry almost 10 days to only approach him. 10 days!”
“None of us knew that Ravi’s condition would worsen so fast, Reid. You know that!”
“I know, I know. It’s just that I feel so useless! What if he’s a total ass and refuses…”
“What about one step at a time? First he has to get here, and then we’ll deal with everything else. Where is Ruby BTW?”
“She wanted to stay with Ravi and now they are both asleep.”
It was nice to see her best friend smile for once. So she got up and poured him hot chocolate, his favorite drink, and he thanked her silently with a nod.
“She loves him so much, her ‘big’ brother!”
“I know, … what if he doesn’t make it? How are we supposed to explain to her that her prayers didn’t help?”
“Hey, don’t do that! Don’t act as if he’s already gone! He’s still here with us, and he fights and fights - although there can’t be a lot of strength left in his small body. But you know what? He fights for you, for us, but especially you and there is something telling me he’ll make it! I have a good feeling…”
“You and your crazy optimism, Kit!”
“And what about you and your damn pessimism? Does it get you anywhere? As long as he breathes there is hope!”
Reid knew he was wearing her out with his fatalistic view of life. But what was he supposed to do?
He was so tired of losing people he loved. Incredibly tired and desperate.
He looked at Katie and saw his desperation mirrored in her eyes, yet she refused to give up on Ravi - although she was tired and exhausted too. How could she not? She wasn’t only worrying for Ravi but also for Ruby and him.
“You have to stop undertaking responsibility for everything, Reid! I know you take “diseases” as a challenge and death as a personal failure. But YOU are not responsible for Ravi’s damn disease, nobody is! You really have to stop feeling guilty for each and every thing that happens to people you love, because you are not. You hear me?”
But he just looked at her incapable of agreeing, and likewise unable to disagree.
It was only 6 pm and both felt as if they hadn’t slept in days. And actually they hadn’t slept through a night for a long time listening to their boy’s breaths. They took turns sleeping in Ravi’s room but even when they slept in their own rooms they always listened unconsciously to the intercom.
Everything was on hold since last week. Reid had cancelled his surgeries and Liath had undertaken Reid’s chair in the company.
“You know that thing Ravi has with ‘Mio’s kingdom? -It’s freaking me out!”
“I guess the idea of a world where a boy can fight an evil knight comforts him. You have to trust that he’s fighting his own evil antagonist, too! You have too, Reid!”
“What if…if…?”
“No, no ‘if’s’ tonight, please!”
Both friends were lost in thoughts for a while.
“He’s nine years old, for God’s sake, Katie. Nine! His life hasn’t even started!”
She knew there was no sense in trying to placate him, maybe it was a good thing he finally lost self-control, there was so much pressing on his shoulders so that it was only a question of time that he’d collapse.
“Maybe you should try to get some rest, too. I’ll wake you up if there is a change or if he’s asking for you, okay?”
He was tired, incredibly tired but every time he closed his eyes and tried to fall asleep his boy’s small bizarrely yellow face showed up and those huge eyes were asking him for release.
Finally nature won and Reid made himself comfortable on the broad couch, he was literally too tired to go to his room and it took only seconds until he drifted off to sleep.
It was then when Katie stood up to get a blanket for him that she heard noises in the front hall.
And she was right! There were the guys and they had a blond man with them and Henry went on and on at the reluctant and confused looking man.
“You’ve actually come!” She almost shouted.
“It’s not as if I had a choice not to come.”
But Luke Snyder smiled at the beautiful small woman approaching him offering her hand:
“Sorry for bringing you here against your will, but you have been told why we had to do this, haven’t you?”
“Yes, you are…Mrs.?”
“Oh, sorry I forgot to introduce myself - I am Kathryn Peretti.”
“Luke. Luke Snyder.”
Her green-blue eyes scrutinized him and he wondered what she saw there because they widened with excitement.
“It’s incredible…I have seen photos of you but it’s unbelievable, really astonishing to see you in person.”
Luke instantly decided to like her whoever she was. She had a vivid expression and she had open, clear eyes.
“I want to apologize for all the inconveniences you’re going through because of us, Mr. Snyder, but you know, everything is falling apart here and you’re the only hope left.”
“It’s Luke. Call me Luke please.”
“I’d be glad to, I am Katie then.
“Where is Reid?”
Henry interrupted the silent exchange between Luke and Katie, and if he hadn’t known that that snobbish playboy was gay he’d have smashed the stupid grin that he bestowed on Katie.
“He’s just fallen asleep - and I don’t want him to be disturbed. He needs some rest. You can talk to him, when he’s up again, Henry. You hear me?”
Luke couldn’t hide a smirk given the way Katie treated Henry like a petulant child and Papageno backed down immediately.
“How about I show you your room, Luke and then we could have a word with each other?”
All this was weird but Luke just indicated his agreement.
“Sure!”
“Dusty, would you please bring Mr. Snyder’s baggage to his room?”
Author: Scotianova
Beta-fairy: Carol38
Disclaimer: I don't own them and writing about them is just for fun.
Genre: A story about different shades of love
Pairing: Reid and Luke - as always
Characters: Reid Oliver, Luke Snyder, Ravi Oliver, Ruby Oliver II, Liath Orbanns, Damien Grimaldi, Henry Coleman, Kathryn Peretti, Dustin Donovan, Paul Ryan, Holly McLean…
Warning: none so far
Rating: sexual contents
Summary: On the surface they couldn’t be more different from every point of view, but if someone just looks closely at them…
AN1 : This is an attempt to invert some facts and whereabouts but I hope the character drawing is plausible- somehow at least ;)
AN2: I used the name Ruby in a story once before but I like it so much, that I named even two characters after it this time.
AN3 Orbanns is an anagram btw :)
3.
“I am tired, Daddy.”
“I know. I know, my son. So how about I sit here with you until you’re asleep?”
“Yes, I’d like that, thank you, Dad!”
“You’re welcome, Ravi.”
“Can I crawl in, too?” A small voice suddenly chimed in.
“What do you think, Ravi can she?”
The boy just smiled weakly and lifted his blanket so that the smaller girl could climb into his bed.
“When does Ravi get better, Dad? He is always tired lately!”
“I hope he’ll be better soon. Very soon!” And a lean soft hand gently ruffled her strong and wild red golden mane that was not tamed in two thick braids for once but sprawled out on the spare pillow after she’d settled in her brother’s bed.
“You’re thirsty?”
“No, just tired!” the boy answered and closed his dark-brown eyes.
“Read to me, Daddy, please!”
“What would you like to hear today?”
“Mio’s kingdom!”
“Again?”
“Yes, please!”
It was always “Mio…” lately.
Reid didn’t remember how many times he’d read the fairytale to his son, who seemed always to calm down while listening to the story of Mio finally meeting his father, the king, and Reid’s heart ached for his boy, whose strength to fight death seemed to wear down hourly.
God! Why couldn’t he trade his own life for his son’s? He would do it without blinking an eye.
Watching the precious boy fade away exceeded tolerable limits for a long time. And there was nothing Reid could do, nothing! Neither his wealth, his influence nor his medical brilliance could change the fact that one of the two persons he couldn’t bear to loose was dying.
Well, the only thing he could do was to be there for him, sit with him, hold his hand, listen to his thoughts that were beyond the thoughts of a nine year old boy, and read to him, read a story that broke his own heart because he didn’t know why Ravi was so fascinated by the almost philosophical storyline.
“’Mio, my son! Goodness, how you’ve grown again’, he says when he measures me. ‘Mio, my son,’ he says, and it sounds so warm and comforting. It turns out my real name isn’t Andy at all. ‘I searched nine long years for you’, says my father the king. ‘I used to lie awake at night saying to myself, “Mio my son.” So I’d know your name well.’… I love my father the king and he loves me.”
(Astrid Lindgren: Mio's Kingdom")
Who did his boy see in that King? For Ravi, Reid was his father. He did know that yet the boy’s fixation on that story wasn’t easy to deal with.
Maybe following Mio’s adventures and his fight against the evil Kato - was this Ravi’s way to deal with his illness? That insane illness that the boy only could have gotten from his mother made Reid almost want to shake the stupid girl for having been so incredibly irresponsible when it had come to her safety and health. Where had she gotten it from anyway? But it was pointless to be angry at her; because he had failed too, he hadn’t protected her well enough from herself and her self-destroying tendencies. And it hadn’t helped either, that he’d always looked out for the kids and wrapped them in cotton wool from the moment they were born.
Ravi was fading away in his arms and he felt the one thing he hated most, he felt helpless.
If he was a match he would rip that damn organ out of himself with his own hands and put in the boy’s worn-out body, however he wasn’t. No one in their family was. AB Rh negative, God! Why of all possibilities had his boy to have the rarest blood type at all?
It took only a few minutes of reading and Ravi was sound asleep - and so was Ruby, her still chubby arm wrapped around her brother’s right upper arm.
The redheaded man dimmed the light, gently tucked his kids in, turned the speaker on and sneaked out on his tiptoes.
It’s an eternal ritual, parents watching their children sleep, covering them not only with their blanket but with their love, dimming the light and leaving the door ajar when the little ones were sick and scared so that they could hear their parents silently move around in the house and feel safe.
“How is he?” Katie’s soft voice welcomed him in the living room.
“Not good! We’re running out of time. Not good at all! Fuck!...I should have gone there myself and dragged him here. It took Henry almost 10 days to only approach him. 10 days!”
“None of us knew that Ravi’s condition would worsen so fast, Reid. You know that!”
“I know, I know. It’s just that I feel so useless! What if he’s a total ass and refuses…”
“What about one step at a time? First he has to get here, and then we’ll deal with everything else. Where is Ruby BTW?”
“She wanted to stay with Ravi and now they are both asleep.”
It was nice to see her best friend smile for once. So she got up and poured him hot chocolate, his favorite drink, and he thanked her silently with a nod.
“She loves him so much, her ‘big’ brother!”
“I know, … what if he doesn’t make it? How are we supposed to explain to her that her prayers didn’t help?”
“Hey, don’t do that! Don’t act as if he’s already gone! He’s still here with us, and he fights and fights - although there can’t be a lot of strength left in his small body. But you know what? He fights for you, for us, but especially you and there is something telling me he’ll make it! I have a good feeling…”
“You and your crazy optimism, Kit!”
“And what about you and your damn pessimism? Does it get you anywhere? As long as he breathes there is hope!”
Reid knew he was wearing her out with his fatalistic view of life. But what was he supposed to do?
He was so tired of losing people he loved. Incredibly tired and desperate.
He looked at Katie and saw his desperation mirrored in her eyes, yet she refused to give up on Ravi - although she was tired and exhausted too. How could she not? She wasn’t only worrying for Ravi but also for Ruby and him.
“You have to stop undertaking responsibility for everything, Reid! I know you take “diseases” as a challenge and death as a personal failure. But YOU are not responsible for Ravi’s damn disease, nobody is! You really have to stop feeling guilty for each and every thing that happens to people you love, because you are not. You hear me?”
But he just looked at her incapable of agreeing, and likewise unable to disagree.
It was only 6 pm and both felt as if they hadn’t slept in days. And actually they hadn’t slept through a night for a long time listening to their boy’s breaths. They took turns sleeping in Ravi’s room but even when they slept in their own rooms they always listened unconsciously to the intercom.
Everything was on hold since last week. Reid had cancelled his surgeries and Liath had undertaken Reid’s chair in the company.
“You know that thing Ravi has with ‘Mio’s kingdom? -It’s freaking me out!”
“I guess the idea of a world where a boy can fight an evil knight comforts him. You have to trust that he’s fighting his own evil antagonist, too! You have too, Reid!”
“What if…if…?”
“No, no ‘if’s’ tonight, please!”
Both friends were lost in thoughts for a while.
“He’s nine years old, for God’s sake, Katie. Nine! His life hasn’t even started!”
She knew there was no sense in trying to placate him, maybe it was a good thing he finally lost self-control, there was so much pressing on his shoulders so that it was only a question of time that he’d collapse.
“Maybe you should try to get some rest, too. I’ll wake you up if there is a change or if he’s asking for you, okay?”
He was tired, incredibly tired but every time he closed his eyes and tried to fall asleep his boy’s small bizarrely yellow face showed up and those huge eyes were asking him for release.
Finally nature won and Reid made himself comfortable on the broad couch, he was literally too tired to go to his room and it took only seconds until he drifted off to sleep.
It was then when Katie stood up to get a blanket for him that she heard noises in the front hall.
And she was right! There were the guys and they had a blond man with them and Henry went on and on at the reluctant and confused looking man.
“You’ve actually come!” She almost shouted.
“It’s not as if I had a choice not to come.”
But Luke Snyder smiled at the beautiful small woman approaching him offering her hand:
“Sorry for bringing you here against your will, but you have been told why we had to do this, haven’t you?”
“Yes, you are…Mrs.?”
“Oh, sorry I forgot to introduce myself - I am Kathryn Peretti.”
“Luke. Luke Snyder.”
Her green-blue eyes scrutinized him and he wondered what she saw there because they widened with excitement.
“It’s incredible…I have seen photos of you but it’s unbelievable, really astonishing to see you in person.”
Luke instantly decided to like her whoever she was. She had a vivid expression and she had open, clear eyes.
“I want to apologize for all the inconveniences you’re going through because of us, Mr. Snyder, but you know, everything is falling apart here and you’re the only hope left.”
“It’s Luke. Call me Luke please.”
“I’d be glad to, I am Katie then.
“Where is Reid?”
Henry interrupted the silent exchange between Luke and Katie, and if he hadn’t known that that snobbish playboy was gay he’d have smashed the stupid grin that he bestowed on Katie.
“He’s just fallen asleep - and I don’t want him to be disturbed. He needs some rest. You can talk to him, when he’s up again, Henry. You hear me?”
Luke couldn’t hide a smirk given the way Katie treated Henry like a petulant child and Papageno backed down immediately.
“How about I show you your room, Luke and then we could have a word with each other?”
All this was weird but Luke just indicated his agreement.
“Sure!”
“Dusty, would you please bring Mr. Snyder’s baggage to his room?”