remarkable times | spring awakening
Title: Remarkable Times
Fandom: Spring Awakening
Rating: G
Characters: Hanschen/Ernst, Anna, Martha, Thea, Wendla, Georg, Otto, Ilse, Melchior, Moritz
Summary: It was raining pussycats and dogs.
Ilse was halfway across the field, wielding a stick like a sword, when it started to rain. She looked up, felt the raindrops splash on her face, and called for retreat. They scrambled back into the woods, their game of pirates over for the afternoon. Together, they tripped over fallen branches and underbrush while the sky darkened and thunderclaps made them jump.
When they arrived at Melchior Gabor's house, they were soaked to the bone and shivering. After drinking Frau Gabor's lemonade from teacups (pinkies up, as Ilse ordered) and drying off a bit, they discussed what to do with their ruined day. Wendla suggested playing fairies, and with the nods of Anna and Martha, Ernst was nearly going to put in his vote, but Georg groaned in distaste. Melchior was content to read aloud, but that particular pirate ship was sunk with ten heads vigorously shaking. Then Ilse stood up suddenly and announced that they were playing hide and seek and had one minute to hide, starting now. Anywhere inside the house was fair game.
Frau Gabor was nearly knocked over by a stampede of eight-year-olds she was trying to bring biscuits to.
Melchior shot upstairs, Moritz following closely behind him. Wendla slid into the kitchen and crawled under the table. Martha turned into the hall closet and shut the door behind her. Thea and Anna hid behind the curtains of the front window, hardly containing their giggles and peeking to see Ilse's hands over her eyes as she counted. Georg ran up to the attic. Otto careened into the parlor table, which fell to the floor with a clatter. He righted it as fast as humanly possible before sprinting off.
With Hanschen disappeared imperceptibly, Ernst stood alone, still in the parlor with Ilse nearing thirty behind him. Panicking, he bolted towards the nearest escape route: the cellar door. Filled with nervous energy, he hardly noticed the dark as he shut the door quietly behind him, not wanting to cause a ruckus. Knowing that Ilse would certainly walk down the stairs, he scrambled into a closet and slammed the door behind him.
A quarter of an hour later, Ilse still hadn't found him, and he couldn't get out. He banged on the door and called out, rattling the handle forcefully.
Half of an hour later, he was shaking. Surely they'd forgotten him. It had probably stopped raining by now, and they were probably all back outside, playing pirates. It wouldn't have been the first time they'd forgotten him. Hide and seek never lasted this long, they'd definitely forgotten him, someone should have come and found him by now. He heaved shallow breaths; he'd never been good with closed, small spaces. Or the dark. Or the always-lurking threat of spiders. Or the way it felt like the walls were closing in on him. He twisted the door handle as hard as he could, pushing at the door half-heartedly. Ilse would make so much fun of him if she saw him panicking like that, and that's what he tries to think about, not that she'd forgotten him or that he was slowly going to die down here. To calm himself, he started to sing, voice in a whisper, the songs they were singing for choir at Church.
He was contemplating his imminent death by spider and suffocation when the door handle twisted. He let out a high-pitched squeak and lurched upwards.
Standing in the doorway of the tiny cellar closet was Hanschen. Ernst took no moment to think before launching himself at him, gangly arms wrapping around him tightly.
"Oh, Hanschen! I thought I was going to die, truly, I did, it was horrible. And I think there were probably spiders in there. And probably other things, too, but I had my eyes closed and my hands over my ears so I couldn't see. Or hear, for that matter."
Arms still full of Ernst, Hanschen's response came out somewhere around his ear. "The game ended a long time ago. Ilse's too good at finding people. Didn't you hear us calling?"
Hanschen could only imagine Ernst's face in the dark, only an arm's length away now. "I thought...I thought you'd all forgotten about me."
Hanschen let out a small chuckle. "We've been looking for you for a quarter hour, Ernst. Ilse even went outside in the rain because she thought you weren't listening to the rules. Melchior and Wendla looked in the barn and Georg crawled through the attic."
He could imagine Ernst's small smile, too, because it was the only sort of smile Ernst had; timid and awkward.
"Go upstairs," he said, and Ernst didn't need telling twice.
Ilse was sitting at the kitchen table, her head in her hands, Frau Gabor petting her arm gently, when he got to the top of the cellar stairs.
"Ernst Robel!" she shrieked when she saw him. "What on earth is wrong with you? Hiding in the cellar? Ernst, you can hardly go into your room at night without a candle. I wouldn't have even thought to look for you down there. Melchior and Wendla and Georg are out in the rain and you're safe downstairs. I'm going to make you seek next time, and, let me tell you, I'm going to hide so good you won't even dream of where I am."
And then she hugged him tightly.
"Really, Ernst. You're ridiculous."
"Sorry, Ilse," he stuttered as she pulled away from him, her hand still in his. "I didn't mean to. There were spiders and it was dark. It was so awful. The door was locked and I couldn't get out and I think I might've died if Hanschen hadn't saved me."
Ilse looked Hanschen up and down once and then took his hand as well. "Thank you, Herr Rilow. Ernst and I have a party to attend with Wendla tomorrow morning, and it wouldn't have worked so well if Ernst had been stuck in the cellar forever."
Ernst blushed.
"Now," she continued, tugging on their hands. "We have to find everyone else so we can play again. I found Thea first, so she's seeking. The cellar is off-limits this round."
This fic is part of the fanfiction masterlist, found here.
SORRY, AMANDA, I COMPLETELY DID NOT LISTEN TO YOU AND WROTE ABOUT ERNST.
Really, really cutesy, but I was totally not in the mood to write about sad things.
Fandom: Spring Awakening
Rating: G
Characters: Hanschen/Ernst, Anna, Martha, Thea, Wendla, Georg, Otto, Ilse, Melchior, Moritz
Summary: It was raining pussycats and dogs.
Ilse was halfway across the field, wielding a stick like a sword, when it started to rain. She looked up, felt the raindrops splash on her face, and called for retreat. They scrambled back into the woods, their game of pirates over for the afternoon. Together, they tripped over fallen branches and underbrush while the sky darkened and thunderclaps made them jump.
When they arrived at Melchior Gabor's house, they were soaked to the bone and shivering. After drinking Frau Gabor's lemonade from teacups (pinkies up, as Ilse ordered) and drying off a bit, they discussed what to do with their ruined day. Wendla suggested playing fairies, and with the nods of Anna and Martha, Ernst was nearly going to put in his vote, but Georg groaned in distaste. Melchior was content to read aloud, but that particular pirate ship was sunk with ten heads vigorously shaking. Then Ilse stood up suddenly and announced that they were playing hide and seek and had one minute to hide, starting now. Anywhere inside the house was fair game.
Frau Gabor was nearly knocked over by a stampede of eight-year-olds she was trying to bring biscuits to.
Melchior shot upstairs, Moritz following closely behind him. Wendla slid into the kitchen and crawled under the table. Martha turned into the hall closet and shut the door behind her. Thea and Anna hid behind the curtains of the front window, hardly containing their giggles and peeking to see Ilse's hands over her eyes as she counted. Georg ran up to the attic. Otto careened into the parlor table, which fell to the floor with a clatter. He righted it as fast as humanly possible before sprinting off.
With Hanschen disappeared imperceptibly, Ernst stood alone, still in the parlor with Ilse nearing thirty behind him. Panicking, he bolted towards the nearest escape route: the cellar door. Filled with nervous energy, he hardly noticed the dark as he shut the door quietly behind him, not wanting to cause a ruckus. Knowing that Ilse would certainly walk down the stairs, he scrambled into a closet and slammed the door behind him.
A quarter of an hour later, Ilse still hadn't found him, and he couldn't get out. He banged on the door and called out, rattling the handle forcefully.
Half of an hour later, he was shaking. Surely they'd forgotten him. It had probably stopped raining by now, and they were probably all back outside, playing pirates. It wouldn't have been the first time they'd forgotten him. Hide and seek never lasted this long, they'd definitely forgotten him, someone should have come and found him by now. He heaved shallow breaths; he'd never been good with closed, small spaces. Or the dark. Or the always-lurking threat of spiders. Or the way it felt like the walls were closing in on him. He twisted the door handle as hard as he could, pushing at the door half-heartedly. Ilse would make so much fun of him if she saw him panicking like that, and that's what he tries to think about, not that she'd forgotten him or that he was slowly going to die down here. To calm himself, he started to sing, voice in a whisper, the songs they were singing for choir at Church.
He was contemplating his imminent death by spider and suffocation when the door handle twisted. He let out a high-pitched squeak and lurched upwards.
Standing in the doorway of the tiny cellar closet was Hanschen. Ernst took no moment to think before launching himself at him, gangly arms wrapping around him tightly.
"Oh, Hanschen! I thought I was going to die, truly, I did, it was horrible. And I think there were probably spiders in there. And probably other things, too, but I had my eyes closed and my hands over my ears so I couldn't see. Or hear, for that matter."
Arms still full of Ernst, Hanschen's response came out somewhere around his ear. "The game ended a long time ago. Ilse's too good at finding people. Didn't you hear us calling?"
Hanschen could only imagine Ernst's face in the dark, only an arm's length away now. "I thought...I thought you'd all forgotten about me."
Hanschen let out a small chuckle. "We've been looking for you for a quarter hour, Ernst. Ilse even went outside in the rain because she thought you weren't listening to the rules. Melchior and Wendla looked in the barn and Georg crawled through the attic."
He could imagine Ernst's small smile, too, because it was the only sort of smile Ernst had; timid and awkward.
"Go upstairs," he said, and Ernst didn't need telling twice.
Ilse was sitting at the kitchen table, her head in her hands, Frau Gabor petting her arm gently, when he got to the top of the cellar stairs.
"Ernst Robel!" she shrieked when she saw him. "What on earth is wrong with you? Hiding in the cellar? Ernst, you can hardly go into your room at night without a candle. I wouldn't have even thought to look for you down there. Melchior and Wendla and Georg are out in the rain and you're safe downstairs. I'm going to make you seek next time, and, let me tell you, I'm going to hide so good you won't even dream of where I am."
And then she hugged him tightly.
"Really, Ernst. You're ridiculous."
"Sorry, Ilse," he stuttered as she pulled away from him, her hand still in his. "I didn't mean to. There were spiders and it was dark. It was so awful. The door was locked and I couldn't get out and I think I might've died if Hanschen hadn't saved me."
Ilse looked Hanschen up and down once and then took his hand as well. "Thank you, Herr Rilow. Ernst and I have a party to attend with Wendla tomorrow morning, and it wouldn't have worked so well if Ernst had been stuck in the cellar forever."
Ernst blushed.
"Now," she continued, tugging on their hands. "We have to find everyone else so we can play again. I found Thea first, so she's seeking. The cellar is off-limits this round."
This fic is part of the fanfiction masterlist, found here.
SORRY, AMANDA, I COMPLETELY DID NOT LISTEN TO YOU AND WROTE ABOUT ERNST.
Really, really cutesy, but I was totally not in the mood to write about sad things.