Sensation of Movement - Class of the Titans [AU], Archie x Theresa
The sensation of uninhibited movement-of being able to walk without gingerly testing his footing, of being able to bear weight on his right leg for more than a few moments, of dancing-that came with the brace Jay had bestowed upon him was incredible. Despite this, after dancing for so long, Archie could feel a familiar ache building in his heel and creeping up his leg, and he knew before long he would be completely useless. As the waltz (or so he assumed, as the music was the sort he'd never heard at home) ended, he offered the young woman with whom he'd been dancing a thin smile as he bowed.
The young woman curtsied in return before looking up at him with concern. "Are you alright?" Her voice was soft and beautiful, and Archie wondered what it would sound like reciting a poem.
"I am, thank you," he replied automatically before shaking the thought from his mind. He had no reason to conceal his needs and wants here. "But I'd like to rest, please?"
"Of course," she replied, showing him to a low stone bench. They sat side by side, the woman's pale red hair and cream-colored ball gown bright against the dark night sky. Privately, Archie admired her for a moment before working the white dinner gloves off his hands and easing his aching leg up onto the bench, almost sighing in relief as the pressure was alleviated.
"What's this?" Her voice drew Archie's mind back to the present, and he noticed her looking rather intently at his right leg. In fact, her fingertips hovered just a few inches over his raised trouser hem, exposing the faint glint of silver that encased his ankle and most of his calf.
"It's a brace," he answered simply.
"What happened?" she asked, the question borne of genuine curiosity. As soon as the question left her mouth, she looked almost horrified, as if she wanted to take it back. "I'm sorry-that was rude of me."
Archie chuckled and shook his head. If that was the rudest thing he heard tonight, he'd call it a red letter day. "It's alright," he replied. "When I was little, I got sick, and I barely made it out with this leg."
"The brace helps you to walk," she guessed.
Archie nodded. "Without it, I just sort of… hobble." He felt no qualms about saying this because, well… it was true.
"That's terrible." The young woman reached over and laid her hand on his. "I'm sorry."
Archie was immediately taken with how soft and cool her hands were, and he was acutely aware of how her touch made his heart race and his stomach flutter. "It's okay," he soothed, laying his hand on hers. "I've been through worse."
She opened her mouth to speak, but the distant chiming of a clock tower interrupted her. "Is it that late already?" she asked.
Late-the time! "What time is it?" Archie asked quickly.
"Midnight," she answered, looking almost confused by his sudden urgency. "Why do you ask?"
"I have to go," he said quickly, standing and fully ignoring the pain that shot up from his ankle. "Thank you for the evening."
He bowed and started to walk away, but found that the woman had caught him by the wrist. When he turned to look at her, her eyes were almost imploring. "Please don't leave yet," she asked softly.
"I have to," he insisted, letting his fingers brush against hers, briefly, as if in condolence, before pulling his hand away. "Please."
"Why so soon?" she asked, reaching out for him once more.
She didn't mean it, but the feeling of being cornered was starting to become unmistakable. "I-The princess." Thank god he remembered her. "I haven’t paid my respects to Her Highness yet."
The woman paused, her expression becoming more bemused than pleading. "But… who do you think-"
The chimes continued, and as they went on, the anxiety Archie felt at the thought of Jay's spell breaking here and now redoubled. "Thank you again-goodbye." He bowed a second time and pressed a kiss to the back of the young woman's hand before turning and doing something he'd never been able to truly do-run. He could hear the young woman calling out to him, bidding him to return-"I don't even know your name! How will I find you?"-but he could stop, not now. If she wanted introductions, she probably should have asked for them sooner.
If he looked undignified as he blindly rushed past the soldiers and nobility, he didn't pay it much mind. As little as he'd been able to move in all the years, the brace allowed him to move as quickly as a healthy teenager his age would be able to, faster than anyone who tried to stop him. Hell, if anyone tried to stop him, he lost them somewhere between the palace and the alleys that he would cut through to get home faster.
By the time he ran through the back gate of the garden at home, his chest was on fire and his legs were sore, and the effort it took to carry himself to the edge of the fountain in the center of the garden and collapse on the its edge was almost too much for him to manage.
He scooped up a handful of water and splashed it on his face before looking at his reflection. The bruises from before hadn’t returned, Jay's magic must have healed those for good, but the tattered shirt and threadbare vest and trousers he'd been wearing were back; even his shoes, the cheap leather ones he'd taken to patching himself just to avoid the trouble of trying to haggle with a cobbler, were on his feet. "Fun's over," he grumbled.
Still-it had been fun. God, being able to enjoy himself and be somewhat happy was something he'd never known before tonight, and who the hell knew when he'd know it again? And the young woman who'd made him feel so welcome, with her kind smile and gentle demeanor-maybe it was a good thing he'd not met the princess after all. She wouldn't have been able to stack up to that pretty redhead in her dreams.
Smiling slightly at the memory of her, Archie gingerly stood, and found that his leg easily held his weight. He took a wary step, then another, then he walked around the edge of the fountain. He moved as easily as he had at the palace. He stopped and knelt, tugging up his trouser leg to expose the brace. He still had it. "Jay, wherever the hell you are," he mumbled, fixing his trouser leg and standing, "…Thank you."
Title: Sensation of Movement
Author: TheCrazyAlaskan
Fandom / Setting: Class of the Titans - Folklore and Fairy Tales AU: Cinderella
Characters / Pairings: Archie Vincent x Theresa Sheridan, passing references to Jay
Rating: T
Word Count: 1126
Summary:
Locoexclaimer dragged me into this fandom and gdi why did I ever drag my feet about it. Archie and Theresa lend themselves really nicely to Disney movies, which is what spawned this general idea. Our mutual headcanon for Archie is that his homelife sucked pre-series, so I tend to think he would feel Cinderella on a pretty personal level.
The set up here is that Archie's dad treats him more like a servant and abuses him more than he treats him like a son, which certainly isn’t helping Archie's weak leg, for which he normally has no brace. With help from his fairy god…sibling? Jay, Archie is given the chance to be at the presentation ball of the princess, as well as a brace that allows him to move more freely. Spoiler alert, Theresa is the princess. <3
I'm still hammering out the details.