Midsomer Murders: Cully/Gavin Moments Swirling Through the Air
Title: Moments Swirling Through the Air
Fandom: Midsomer Murders
Characters/Pairing: Cully Barnaby/Gavin Troy (but not really)
Prompts:For varietypack100 #54 Air
Word Count: 755
Rating: K
Summary: You think it might be a genetic fault that you are unable to say no to a Barnaby; for you know that if her father had asked you to pass up the promotion you would have.
Author's Notes: This vaguely spoils several episodes. Namely Blood Wedding, The Green Man and Death and Dreams (I think).
Dedication: For nakeisha. I’ve wanted to write a Midsomer Murder ficlet for a very long time, but I’ve always been afraid of the British English because it is so important to the feel of the series. Well, a conversation with nakeisha led to her volunteering to British proof a story for me, because she was dying to read a Cully/Gavin fic. Unfortunately, it ended up being a little angsty. I’ll do better next time I promise.
You find it hard to believe that you agreed to be in part of her wedding. You think it might be a genetic fault that you are unable to say no to a Barnaby; for you know that if her father had asked you to pass up the promotion you would have. Then perhaps this would be your wedding day as well, but you don’t like to kid yourself. You just weren’t supposed to end up with Cully Barnaby. You are grateful that her wedding isn't in an outdoor marquee, because your time with her will always be punctuated by the memories of the out of doors: crisp fall air, chilly winter evenings, cloudless starry skies, and balmy sea breezes.
The first time she wasn't the Governor's daughter Cully, but just Cully, was at the Green Man. Somehow you and a group of your mates ended up crashing a hen night that she happened to be attending. You had tried talking over the noise and smoke of the pub, but in the end found yourselves outside. You sat on the low stone wall talking about everything and nothing. She quoted plays to you and you listened with an interest that you never expected to have. Your laughter was carried away on the soft summer breezes and a friendship was formed.
You couldn't figure out if it was a date or not. She's asked you to go to a film, but only because it wasn't anything that her parents wanted to see. You had supper, but it was fish and chips as you wandered around Causton. Still, when the chips papers had been thrown into a rubbish bin, she'd wrapped her arms around your waist and snuggled underneath your arm. She said that it was because of the chilly autumn air, but you'd always wondered.
She kissed you first. You were proud of that. Proud that she found you worthy to kiss and proud that you hadn't broken first. So you were both a little tipsy and she was pulling you into trespassing on property to play on a rope course, it was still the sweetest kiss you'd ever had. Even the memory of her scream cutting through the winter air a few moments later couldn't damper that memory. You held her as the body was taken away and knew that it wasn't the weather that made her shiver. It didn't matter how many death glares her father shot at you, you held her tightly shielding her from the chilly winds and gruesome sight.
You stayed out on the patio talking and picking at Mrs. Barnaby's lopsided cake. You knew she wanted to ask you not to go, and part of you wished she would. You would have stayed, immediately and permanently, if she had just said the words. You wondered if you asked if she would have gone with you. You think she would have, immediately and permanently, if you had just said the words. Instead, you said the light hearted things that friends say and kept the lover's words silently within your hearts as you watched the fall stars shifting overhead.
She'd just shown up one day. Standing almost shyly behind your Sergeant and looking at you with doe eyes. She never told you exactly what she wanted, but asked if you were working on something important. You were headed for the coast within an hour. You spent two days in the salt air talking and loving and just being. Nothing was asked for and everything was given. She left by train back to Midsomer and you drove back to Middlesbrough with the memory of her hair blowing in the sea breeze burnt into your memory by the summer sun.
Now nearly nine months later, you stand in your awful hired morning suit and pale yellow waistcoat watching her exchange vows with Simon. You hate thinking that she's being married inside the old and stuffy church, but it is one more reminder that she isn't and never really was your Cully Barnaby. You know they are happy and despite yourself, you're happy for her. Still you want one moment, just one moment for the two of you. A moment where you can freeze your memories. So, before the confetti is thrown and they head off to their blissfully happy life, you pull her aside to the small garden between the church and the graveyard. If you must say farewell you want the memory of the scent of roses and jasmine in the spring air.
Fandom: Midsomer Murders
Characters/Pairing: Cully Barnaby/Gavin Troy (but not really)
Prompts:For varietypack100 #54 Air
Word Count: 755
Rating: K
Summary: You think it might be a genetic fault that you are unable to say no to a Barnaby; for you know that if her father had asked you to pass up the promotion you would have.
Author's Notes: This vaguely spoils several episodes. Namely Blood Wedding, The Green Man and Death and Dreams (I think).
Dedication: For nakeisha. I’ve wanted to write a Midsomer Murder ficlet for a very long time, but I’ve always been afraid of the British English because it is so important to the feel of the series. Well, a conversation with nakeisha led to her volunteering to British proof a story for me, because she was dying to read a Cully/Gavin fic. Unfortunately, it ended up being a little angsty. I’ll do better next time I promise.
You find it hard to believe that you agreed to be in part of her wedding. You think it might be a genetic fault that you are unable to say no to a Barnaby; for you know that if her father had asked you to pass up the promotion you would have. Then perhaps this would be your wedding day as well, but you don’t like to kid yourself. You just weren’t supposed to end up with Cully Barnaby. You are grateful that her wedding isn't in an outdoor marquee, because your time with her will always be punctuated by the memories of the out of doors: crisp fall air, chilly winter evenings, cloudless starry skies, and balmy sea breezes.
The first time she wasn't the Governor's daughter Cully, but just Cully, was at the Green Man. Somehow you and a group of your mates ended up crashing a hen night that she happened to be attending. You had tried talking over the noise and smoke of the pub, but in the end found yourselves outside. You sat on the low stone wall talking about everything and nothing. She quoted plays to you and you listened with an interest that you never expected to have. Your laughter was carried away on the soft summer breezes and a friendship was formed.
You couldn't figure out if it was a date or not. She's asked you to go to a film, but only because it wasn't anything that her parents wanted to see. You had supper, but it was fish and chips as you wandered around Causton. Still, when the chips papers had been thrown into a rubbish bin, she'd wrapped her arms around your waist and snuggled underneath your arm. She said that it was because of the chilly autumn air, but you'd always wondered.
She kissed you first. You were proud of that. Proud that she found you worthy to kiss and proud that you hadn't broken first. So you were both a little tipsy and she was pulling you into trespassing on property to play on a rope course, it was still the sweetest kiss you'd ever had. Even the memory of her scream cutting through the winter air a few moments later couldn't damper that memory. You held her as the body was taken away and knew that it wasn't the weather that made her shiver. It didn't matter how many death glares her father shot at you, you held her tightly shielding her from the chilly winds and gruesome sight.
You stayed out on the patio talking and picking at Mrs. Barnaby's lopsided cake. You knew she wanted to ask you not to go, and part of you wished she would. You would have stayed, immediately and permanently, if she had just said the words. You wondered if you asked if she would have gone with you. You think she would have, immediately and permanently, if you had just said the words. Instead, you said the light hearted things that friends say and kept the lover's words silently within your hearts as you watched the fall stars shifting overhead.
She'd just shown up one day. Standing almost shyly behind your Sergeant and looking at you with doe eyes. She never told you exactly what she wanted, but asked if you were working on something important. You were headed for the coast within an hour. You spent two days in the salt air talking and loving and just being. Nothing was asked for and everything was given. She left by train back to Midsomer and you drove back to Middlesbrough with the memory of her hair blowing in the sea breeze burnt into your memory by the summer sun.
Now nearly nine months later, you stand in your awful hired morning suit and pale yellow waistcoat watching her exchange vows with Simon. You hate thinking that she's being married inside the old and stuffy church, but it is one more reminder that she isn't and never really was your Cully Barnaby. You know they are happy and despite yourself, you're happy for her. Still you want one moment, just one moment for the two of you. A moment where you can freeze your memories. So, before the confetti is thrown and they head off to their blissfully happy life, you pull her aside to the small garden between the church and the graveyard. If you must say farewell you want the memory of the scent of roses and jasmine in the spring air.