The Hillbilly Remix Challenge - Ghosts That We Knew by xbedhead

[norgbelulah]

Remixed Author: engage_protocol
Remixed Story: We've Both Believed in Mean Gods
Title: Ghosts That We Knew
Author: xbedhead
Characters: Raylan Givens, Boyd Crowder, with mentions of Arlo Givens & Johnny Crowder
Pairings: none
Rating: PG-13 (language)
Word Count: ~3,200
Spoilers: None - AU
Warnings: None
Disclaimer: Justified belongs to Elmore Leonard and Graham Yost.
A/N: This is

Comments

[engage_protocol]

There's a beat, then another. But Boyd backs off and the feeling passes and Raylan knows it's his own fault for coming out tonight, to Johnny's bar of all places. If he'd really wanted to avoid this, he could've just kept holed up in Helen's old house off Indian Line and watched I Love Lucy reruns until he fell asleep.

"That's your point makin' finger, if I recall correctly."

Boyd's a safe distance now and Raylan breathes deeper. "Yep. Got nine more, though," he explains, holding his hand up and extending his middle finger. "I'll make do."

Boyd coughs a little as he laughs and Raylan winces at the rattle.

I am so blown away, ahhhhh it's perfect!

Seriously, the what if, the old tension, I am quietly flailing.

[afiakate]

Woah. I really thought this was about Arlo, until you made it explicitly clear that this was Raylan. I think it is really beautiful and bittersweet and a perfect summation of what Raylan's life would have been had he not escaped.

[halfshellvenus]

God, this is just fantastic. The gorgeous lines of it, the subtleties that make me want to quote half of back.

I couldn't be sure whether Raylan or Boyd was the narrator, until about halfway through, which I loved-- because this could almost be either of their stories, including the loneliness and despair of that empty broken-down house (and heart) that never was a home.

men got to keep dying real slow, lungs turning to the very coal they'd scrabbled on their hands and knees for throughout the better part of the last fifteen decades.
This was a great line, especially as setup for the rattle in Boyd's laugh later that makes Raylan cringe.

So they both stayed. Each dancing around the other in this strange fashion, waltzing to a tune only they knew the steps to. Sometimes hating one another for making themselves so miserable, but unable to be the one to bare the blade and cut the cord holding them together.You always sense, watching the show, that this was possible, too. That they might have been more to each other at some time, but

[thornfield_girl]

Man, that was so sad and so good! I lived this original story so much, and I was both excited and apprehensive about reading the remix. You crushed it! (But I'm still glad they got their happy endin in the original because that's just how I am!) Beautiful job!

[norgbelulah]

UGH. This is the saddest. You've done an amazing job with Raylan's voice here, with the realities of his life and the regrets he lives with.

"that's your point making finger" OMG I love that so much.

All my tears for these sad sad boys. <333

Wonderful remix. Thanks for writing! :D