Epic Fic Post
We have some really long ongoing fics in the kinkmeme, and I thought it might be nice if we had a seperate place to keep track of them all. Any fics over 20-30ish chapters and spawning two or more memes should have links to at least the first post on each meme here. Ideally, I'd want links to every individual story thread with something saying
( Read more... )
He sighed. "I need more juice, so come with me to the kitchen and I'll explain." She leads the way, and gets him a glass without being asked, beaming when he ruffles her hair before settling at the kitchen table. "A long time ago, Walter went crazy for a while and did some bad things."
"How bad?"
"Pretty bad, but he didn't go to jail because it wasn't really his fault. You can get better from being crazy, and he has."
"Oh."
"But some people don't believe it, and some people think he did things he didn't do."
"Like what?"
"Well, just now they thought he was going to steal a little boy."
"...But you have me."
Dan grins at her. "Yeah. And Walter has always been good to children, so it would be just as silly a thing to think if we didn't."
Charlie nods, hugging her dolphin. "Were they mean to him?"
"Yes, and that's why I'm angry with them."
Satisfied, Charlie watches him finish his nasty juice (she tried some when she woke up, and it's sour and bitter) and then puts the glass in the dishwasher for him, because he's sick. She asks him if Walter is feeling better, and it's all he can do not to laugh when he says yes, thinking of Walter's speckled limbs tangled with Laurie's smooth, golden ones in a lazy, sated pile. Joining them sounds good, a sure sign that he's on the mend, but first, he has a few more calls to make.
"Daniel."
Dan jumps, then finishes hanging up the phone. "Finally awake?"
"Shouldn't be talking so much. Bad for your throat." Rorschach is lurking in a manner remarkably similar to Charlie's, wearing Laurie's bathrobe over what are probably her jeans.
"It's just a cold, and this is important." The sound of the upstairs shower running tells them both where Laurie is.
"Hrmph." Walter sits down beside Dan, then blinks, seeing which numbers Dan has pulled out of his files. "Lawyers?"
"Yeah. I'm not gonna sue anybody, but I am gonna fix it so you get everything if Laurie and I get hit by a bus."
"Don't need..."
"Everything includes custody, Walter. I'm not gonna have you tiptoeing around with the threat of Charlie being taken away over your head." He's carefully not looking at his partner, and is blindsided a bruisingly tight hug.
Reply
Reply
never leave me again
Reply
Reply
"Got it, buddy?"
"Yeah!"
Walter comes over with the massive butcher knife that will be perfect for the job and should never, ever be put into the hands of a little kid, and gets to work, following the lines. They've already piled up old newspapers, and Laurie grins as she watches the goony face with its mismatched eyes take shape. It has a massive grin, and ends up looking cheerfully demented and almost lecherous. Dan bursts out laughing, and Charlie watches in fascination as he lights the stub of an emergency candle and sets it into the hollow. She claps with delight, watching it for a while before bouncing up to help them throw out the pumpkin innards, Walter muttering vaguely about waste.
Dan rolls his eyes. "Yeah, toasted pumpkin seeds will feed Ethiopia."
Walter looks a little sheepish, and smiles. "Suppose you're right."
"You can toast pumpkin seeds?"
"Sure can." Dan says, scooping Charlie up even though she's even heavier now, growing like a weed. "They're pretty good, too, but I'm too lazy to do it this year."
"Maybe next time." Charlie says, thinking of future candy. She'll be going out tomorrow, trick-or-treating for the very first time. Before, Halloween had passed unremarked like every other holiday. She has a dim memory of Mommy giving her a dress, and figures it must've been her birthday. It had been nice, until Daddy came home mad and she had to hide. She's glad Dan and Walter don't get angry that much. Laurie does, but that's okay, she doesn't hit and she's hardly ever mad at Charlie.
"Looking forward to Halloween?" Dan asks, setting her down, and she nods. Dan will be with her, to keep her from getting lost or anything, and she'll probably run into Samantha and some of the other kids. "It was always one of my favorites."
"What do you mean 'was'? You're a total kid, Dan." Laurie says, and she's right, because there's a modified bathrobe and an improvised lightsaber resting beside Charlie's bat costume in Walter's study.
"Okay, okay, 'is'." Dan puts his hand over his heart. "But I do solemnly swear not to steal any of my kid's candy."
"Hurm. Thought it suspicious that bowl for children was loaded with your favorites."
"I regret nothing." Dan grins. "Besides, everybody likes Snickers."
Reply
Reply
Reply
She grins from ear to ear, and thanks him, running off down the sidewalk. Dan follows, brown robe flapping a little. They run into Samantha halfway down the next block, and she squeals with glee. "Your wings are so cool!"
"But they don't have glitter!"
Samantha is a fairy princess, and her sheer wings do indeed have glitter. In three colors. Charlie is suitably impressed, and the two of them make an interesting pair, running along ahead of Dan and Samantha's mom. Photo-negatives of one another, they dash from door to door, piping voices creating a duet of the old chant.
Dan smiles, and turns to Mrs. Sinacore, who seems to have followed a similar route of bathrobe conversion, winding up as an angel instead of a Jedi knight. "Well, fancy meeting you here."
She laughs softly, glowstick halo shining yellow. "Nice costume. Where did you get Charlie's?"
"Walter made it."
"He did?" She's doing her best to keep the surprise and curiosity out of her voice, and he appreciates the effort.
"Yeah. They said 'unskilled' in all the reports, and it kinda bugged me, since he really does have talent. He makes some of her school clothes, too."
"Wow. I mean, Samantha isn't completely pre-fab, but it's mostly modification."
"It's good, though." They watch the kids bound onto a porch one house ahead, ringing the bell. "Where's Peter?"
"At home, helping Daddy hand out candy. He's still too little to really go a route that would satisfy Samantha. I took him around my mother's apartment complex this afternoon, though."
"What'd he go as?" And Dan feels like he's given himself away as a perpetual kid, but dammit, that's always the first question about Halloween: what are you going as?
"He only said he wanted to be orange, so we went with a pumpkin costume. He's adorable."
"Orange, huh?"
Samantha and Charlie take hours to tire out, sometimes joining groups of other kids from school, but mostly remaining a pair, leaping and running along, ringing bells and filling their own containers and parental pockets as well. It's an avalanche of candy, and Dan and Samatha's parents are as one in their resolve to keep the girls from eating themselves sick. Naturally, they insist on hitting each other's houses. The Sinacores are closer, so they stop there first, to get cups of cider from Darth Vader and the pumpkin. The girls are both drooping, but when Mrs. Sinacore offers Dan and Charlie a ride home, Samantha insists on coming along.
Reply
"Pick it up." Walter sounds deadly, but reasonable. The kid twists around to regard this pint-sized, apparently crazy adult, half-assedly dressed like a pirate from things Laurie had found lying around the house, and seems to see something in his eyes that forestalls further argument. He kneels on the sidewalk before God and everybody, and scoops everything back into the pumpkin. "Fix the dent." Walter is unrelenting, and Dan wants to burst out laughing at how little some things change. The kid is pale as he pops the dent out of the side of the pumpkin, but Dan can't muster up much sympathy. The miniature fireman who takes his candy back with timid, slightly pudgy hands can't be more than seven, and the punk has to be about twice his age and size. "Now apologize."
"Sorry." He mutters, staring at the ground.
"Shameful." Walter adds, disgustedly. "Next year pick on someone your own size." The kid makes no response, running off. Walter shakes his head. "Very bad. I despair, sometimes."
"Nk you, Mr. Kovacs."
"You're welcome."
He runs off as well, in what Dan is glad to note is the opposite direction of the bully. Charlie laughs and runs to hug Walter's legs, effectively breaking the tension by dubbing him the hero of the night, and dragging her friend in to tell Laurie all about their adventures. She saw all the action from the front window, and grins under the brim of her witch hat. "Really, it was just a matter of which of us was closer to the door. Nice touch making him fix the pumpkin, though."
"Seemed appropriate."
At about midnight they finally get all the candy sorted and swapped, and all adventures and cool costumes encountered rehashed, and then Mrs. Sinacore thanks them all for their hospitality carries her comatose daughter out to the car. Walter watches them, and Dan knows it's creeping her out, but his unconscious sigh of relief when they're safely on their way makes him squeeze Walter's hand. It's so hard for him sometimes, living here. He smiles a little, and carts Charlie upstairs, helping her out of the bat costume and into bed.
"W'lt'r?"
"Yes. Have a good Halloween?"
"Yeah." She yawns and falls asleep to dream of dolphins in the wake of a pirate ship.
Reply
Ahhhh~! I love this verse, anon! <3 I look forward to future dribblets, because I don't think any one of us is ever going to tire of Charlie fic <3 <3 <3
Reply
Reply
Reply
Reply
It's gotten colder, but Walter still walks her home. He's learning to knit, and the scarf she loops around her neck on the way out is the first fruit of his labor, soft and a pretty royal blue. With her jacket and its hood, along with her mittens and boots, she's quite warm enough. Walter hardly seems to feel the cold, in an old bomber jacket and tennis shoes, but he's submitted to the season enough to add a stocking cap. Charlie grins and takes his hand, showing him her turkey. He is suitably impressed, and swings her into his arms for part of the journey. Shadow and Spike aren't out when they pass the Henderson's, and Charlie is glad.
"We also talked about what we're thankful for."
"Oh?"
"And I said I was thankful for you and Dan and Laurie and Samantha."
"Well, we're all thankful for you." He says quietly, and she beams at him. When they get home, she shows everyone her turkey and tells about her day, and then goes to play with her shark.
Walter sighs, slumping into a seat by the kitchen table. "You all right?" Dan asks, settling beside him.
"Could still lose her."
"Man, don't think like that. There's no reason for it to happen."
"...Bad things don't need a reason."
"Walter, I know you can't help but worry, but for god's sake. We feed her, clothe her, love her, and would rather kill ourselves than abuse her."
"I'm still a menace to society."
Laurie rolls her eyes from where she's prodding at the stew in the crockpot. "You haven't been one for years, Walter."
"People don't seem too convinced."
"If you mean those fucks at the grocery store..."
"Not what I was thinking of, but good example."
"Walter. Buddy. Leprechaun-like light of my life. We'll be fine."
"Am not a leprechaun."
"I dunno, if you wore more green..."
"Laurel."
"Seriously, though. You're great with that kid, and you haven't hurt a fly in years."
Walter just sighs. "At least we have Thanksgiving. Trust turkey has thawed?"
"Yep. All the way through, I checked."
"Wonderful."
Reply
"Got those broken up, buddy?" Dan asks. "We don't want them too small, remember."
They're not too small, and she watches with pride as he mixes them in. She's only had the stovetop kind of stuffing that's never even seen a bird, and they all assure her that the real kind is better. Dan crams it in, making faces at how icky it is, exaggerating them to make Charlie and Laurie laugh. She looks around at the soft thump of Walter hopping onto the counter to get a mixing bowl of his own, the way she does when she needs something. Dan and Laurie are trying to keep her from climbing on things, and shake their heads at him for being a bad example. "Shelves are too high," is all Walter says, smiling softly.
"Yeah, they're too high, we're not too short." Charlie bounces over to hug his leg, and he laughs.
"Exactly." He's making the filling for pies, and Charlie is fascinated, sampling a sugary pecan to make sure she'll like the finished product. She already knows she likes pumpkin pie, they made some for a bake sale before Halloween. Walter doesn't them the way Dan makes stuffing, like he's just remembering how. He reads the directions on the can of pumpkin and the bottle of Karo, and helps Charlie to do the same. After he's done, he posts himself by the oven, basting the turkey for hours with Rorschach's inhuman patience. Charlie sits with him for some of the time, and fetches Laurie's tonic water for some of the time, and helps Dan to peel potatoes.
There's only one peeler, and she gets it because it has a plastic guard that makes it hard to hurt yourself. Dan uses a real knife, and she's fascinated by the neat strips of skin he makes with no guide. He tells her about his mother teaching him to do it, and she can feel Walter listening too. In the other room Laurie is chinking the ice in her glass and flipping through the channels on tv. "You guys need any help in there?" She calls.
"I think we've got it for now."
And they do, but Laurie comes back in to make the green beans while Dan mashes the potatoes. The green beans are her job because she's the worst at cooking and they're the easiest, like when all of them go shopping and it's Walter's job to move and carry things while Dan and Laurie talk to people, because he's the worst at being in public. Dan uses the electric mixer on potatoes, which is just bizarre to watch, and Walter teaches Charlie how to make gravy. Dan says it's an honest-to-god miracle when they get everything on the table at the same time, and then Laurie runs off and they can hear the can opener.
Dan laughs. "Right, cranberry sauce."
Reply
They all sit down and Laurie lights some candles, Charlie staring in fascination at the flame. There's a funny moment of silence, and then Walter coughs and admits that he'd like to say grace in the tone of voice he uses when he's embarrassed about something, and Dan says he doesn't see why not. Charlie knows some families pray before every meal, but doesn't really know how to do it. Still, she has the vague idea that everyone bows their heads, which they do, and they they clasp their two hands together, which they don't. Without any discussion, everyone clasps each other's instead, making a circle around the table. Because it was Walter's idea, he's the one who talks.
"Lord," he says, as though God is standing next to them, "we thank You for what we are about to receive and ask only to stay together. Amen."
Dan and Laurie echo the last word, so Charlie does to. She almost doesn't want to let go, but she's hungry, so she does, and Laurie laughs softly and says they're already been a miracle she is very thankful for, and that's the turkey cooking evenly. Dan adds that he's thankful he remembers how to carve, despite having Chinese takeout for years of Thanksgivings, alone or with Walter.
"Ick, really?"
"We were younger, it was different. But yeah, ick. You want white or dark meat, buddy?"
Charlie always takes dark, as does Walter. The turkey isn't dry, thanks to his constant attention, and they're right about the stuffing. Dan had assured her earlier that the point of the holiday was to eat as much as you possibly could, and she puts herself to the task with a will. There's still a lot left over when they all finally shuffle off to the living room to attempt to recover, watching the parade on tv. Apparently it's in New York, where all three of them used to live. She's seen it before, but this is much better, sleepy and stuffed and tucked in between Walter and Dan on the couch. She actually does doze off for a little while, and apparently Walter accompanies her, because Laurie shakes them both awake for dessert. Walter sits up really fast muttering about the pies, and Laurie laughs.
"It's okay, Dan got them into the oven and whipped cream and everything. Come on."
Home made whipped cream is amazing. It's not sweet like the regular kind, but that doesn't matter because the pie is. Pecan pie is also amazing, and she and Walter make a very respectable dent in the total amount before they have to quit and go back to the couch.
Reply
Leave a comment