I was so thrilled when I saw the notification for this pop up and it was so hard to wait to get off work to get home to read it. Thank you so much for this gorgeous gift – not only is it for a fandom I never dreamed I'd actually get, but it's so beautifully written and just captures the feel of the drama so perfectly! I love how it naturally seems to flow from the canonical ending, as if it was a bit that just got truncated for time. Your Martin is perfect – that blend of concerned paternalism mixed with the absolute horror he inflicts upon George, which was just what I was looking for. And George, oh, you paint such a sweet, chilling picture of what he's become that makes it wonderfully clear how Martin couldn't help but be drawn to him.
If only you saw him, doctor, I could make you understand. George was beautiful. The boy’s long, slim body had once been light and wasted enough for a dwarfish thing like me to have laid over the back of my horse — he must have been a well-made youth once, even an athlete. It took weeks and weeks for the color and fullness to return to his face; just the same, he still wore the same intent and haunted look as when I first saw him face to face that Sunday afternoon in Marsh Hills. And the overlay of memory: the dry blood caking his mouth as he sucked at the wound in Marion's breast, the absolute amorality of appetite. It's so very difficult to find parts to quote because I adore them all so much, so I'll start with the beginning. I love the contrast between George and Martin that even Martin acknowledges, the strength and beauty that's still evident even in George's weakened condition, while Martin can only envy, but not long for, for it is impossible to miss what you never possessed. And of course, the breaking point for them both, what happened to Marion, which led to jagged halves coming neatly together, adhered by their actions with the cave.
The young man ate at my table, and slept in my bed — I slept on the floor, or in the leather easy chair. I played records for him, shared with him from my books by long-dead authors, and day by day I watched him grow stronger. I bought him shirts and razors and all the things a young man ought to have, and he showed his gratitude through his glances and through his abiding silence. I brought him cigarettes, and a heavy silver lighter. I couldn't stand to see him with a lit match between his fingers. This is exactly what I was hoping for when I requested this – the cozy domesticity, the “normal” actions such as sharing music or reading together or eating a meal, with the shadows creeping underneath it all that no light can entirely chase away. (And that line about Martin buying George all the things a young man ought to have, well, that's the sort of thing that dreams are made of.)
I reached for him in the dark, gripping him by the shoulder — I'm here, I could have said, I'm here, but I couldn't say a thing. It was dark, entirely dark, and I felt his strong young body trembling. No one had reached for me in twenty-five years — even longer than that. I opened my mouth as if to speak, longing to speak, and he kissed me. He kissed me, and he clung to me, and for a terrible moment I no longer felt my own deficiency, only the heat of his long limbs laid over mine. I'm ashamed to say what the press of his body did to me. He treated me with the same gentleness I'd imagined him showing his own sweetheart — no soft words but soft touches, like some strange unspoken agreement had been reached and he in his ruthless innocence knew everything I wanted. Oh, this is just so perfect for them and I love that George is the one that takes charge of it all, shows Martin all that has been missing in his life, and that Martin cannot help but go along with it, lost in the luxury of touch. One of the things I love so much about this drama is the way it cleverly upends the listener's expectations at the end, that George may be the one that's led off to a new life after his old one is so devastated, but Martin turns out to be the one that's lost, unable to know what to do now that he's realized the consequences of his actions. You've captured that feeling so well throughout this story, leading to this lovely, hot scene between the two of them.
What more could I give him? Perhaps I owed him this much, to let him drink. And then this killer line, the ending that deserves just as much of a musical sting as the original radio program. Just a fabulous note to go out on.
I just want to say once again, how absolutely amazing this is! I was so delighted when I saw that you had written for this fandom, and then to open it up and read this gem... Thank you so much for giving me this exquisitely written story!
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psychomachia Thu 15 Feb 2024 07:31AM UTC
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