That Day (PG)

[deelaundry]

Posted 7/15/06 to hugh_and_robert and fryandorlaurie

Title: That Day
Author: Dee Laundry
Pairing: implied HL/RSL
Rating: PG
Words: 167
Warnings: death, non-celebrity family member
Disclaimer:Not true, never happened, and I wish it on no one.

When Jo stepped out of the studio-provided limo, the first thing she saw was Robert. (He likes Bobby, Hugh had whispered in her ear, but she couldn’t get away from Robert.) He was standing in front of the hotel, weight on his right foot, shoulders curled. Hugh had always had hangdog down pat, but in front of her Robert was hangdog plus twenty stones on his shoulders and the camel’s straw on top. Poor dear, she thought, you’re not really a doctor – how could you have saved him?

He met her halfway across the sidewalk, and it was mother’s instinct, really, that caused her to pull him into a hug. He smells like Hugh hit her, and the collision left her dizzy. Her lips fell open, the scent filled her mouth, and the words rolled off her tongue without a thought. “Are you wearing Hugh’s shirt?”

Robert—Bobby—stiffened under her arms and let out a strangled gasp. “No.”

Her tears were hot and the world swam.

Comments

[deelaundry.livejournal.com]

I've been reading Matt Damon/Ben Affleck RPS for years, and death fics are par for the course there. That community has a ban on non-celeb family members in fics, though, so I was a little uncertain about including Jo in this one. But that's how it came to me.

And just because I'm desperate for concrit: "Stunned" in this case is good? Bad? Neutral?

[karaokegal.livejournal.com]

Stunned means...stunned. I've never seen it in RPS before and was stunned. I'm more stunned by the idea that you can do any kind of believable RPS and not deal with family members. I realize this is EXACTLY the issue that makes some people queasy, but to me it's intrinsic to doing it well.

[deelaundry.livejournal.com]

With Matt/Ben, there's the advantage that a lot of their family and friends are celebs (Casey Affleck, Jen Garner, J.Lo, Gwyneth, etc.), plus there's an "us against the world" feel to them that lets authors isolate them a bit from family considerations. The archive is here: http://www.kindafamous.org/index.php if you want to check them out.

In HL/RSL, I agree, family's a pretty big deal.