Advent Day 20 (White Pine Original Fic)
Dec. 20th, 2014 06:32 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
asphaltcowgrrlTitle: Advent Day 20
Fandom: White Pine Original Fic
Pairing: Travis Murphy/Ethan McDowell
Rating: G
Word Count: 1,011
Summary: A Christmas/New Year’s fic to help bump up the word count for 1_million_words. Wherein Travis and Ethan muddle their way through December and try to stay on Santa’s Nice List.
Author’s Note: Three more cookies baked and another day of Christmas fic. Yay Sugar! Also, this is about as religious as you’ll ever see me get. Even at this time of year. Five bonus points to anyone who knows the difference between serendipity and providence.
Day 20
No one is useless in this world who lightens the burden of it to anyone else. --Charles Dickens
“There was a time, during my misguided youth, when I felt pretty worthless,” Travis said, giving Ethan a sideways look. “Mama was convinced I’d wind up in jail – for good, not just for the short time that I did wind up in the pokey – and Papa was pretty much done with the whole having a son situation.”
He had known that Travis had had a troubled past, they’d talked about it on several occasions. Murphy probably figured that, in having a cop for a boyfriend, he’d better spill his guts before he heard it all through the grapevine. Not that Ethan cared much, he’d looked into Travis’ record after the fact and hadn’t found anything out of the ordinary for a teenage boy. Now, if there’d been a murder or something, then that might’ve been a deal breaker. “So, what did you do? How’d you get yourself back on track?”
“Mama told me to use my creative talents for good and not evil,” he chuckled. “She got me some books on creative expression. While working through some of the exercises in the book, I discovered I had a talent for the written word. Got me writing a column in the local paper.”
“Your mother did that for you?” Aracely Murphy really was an amazing woman. But that didn’t come as a surprise at all.
“Yeah, she did.” He looked at Ethan fully now, “She really was worried I’d wind up in prison some day.”
“How many times did you land in the town jail?” He already knew the answer to this question, working with the man that routinely tossed his partner into said cell gave him a bit of insight into the boy he’d once been.
“Uh… four times?” Murphy’s smile was a touch sheepish in its embarrassment.
“Try again,” Ethan laughed. “McCallum’s number is a little bit higher.”
“Damn that man anyway,” Travis muttered. “Okay, okay. It was seven.”
“How did they allow you to stay in this town with seven arrests?” He shook his head, laughing.
“Eh, none of them were big issues, outside of the night McCallum thought I was high as a kite and seeing aliens.”
He’d heard that story before, both from Travis and from his boss, but it never ceased to amuse him. Ethan found it amusing that McCallum didn’t know Travis’ penchant for fibbing before that moment. “What were some of the things they picked you up for? Couldn’t have been much in a town this small.”
Travis ran his fingers through his hair, thinking. “Drunk and disorderly, twice. Disturbing the peace, twice again. The alien thing.”
“That’s five. What were the other two?” His curiosity was getting the better of him.
“Breaking and entering,” he admitted, “and speeding. Once each.”
“Wait,” Ethan said, holding a hand up. B and E, really?”
“Yeah, well, I locked myself out of the house and –”
“You were arrested for breaking into your own house? How did that happen?”
“Like I said, I got locked out and Mama and Papa were visiting my aunt. I was picking the lock on the front door when McCallum drove by.” Travis grinned at the memory. “He was new in town back then and didn’t know I lived there. Mama had to come get me from the station.”
“I bet she wasn’t happy about that,” Ethan stated.
“Nope, she was pissed, to say the least. But when she found out I was trying to get into our house, she turned her ire on McCallum and the man who was sheriff back then, Andy Andrews.”
Ethan was beside himself. The things this boy had done and said in his youth amazed him. “And what about the speeding?”
Travis shrugged. “I was fourteen and took my Papa’s truck – she’s the same baby I still drive – to the store for him. It’s common around here to do that and usually the sheriff turns a blind eye to it all.”
“But?” He raised an eyebrow.
“But, again, McCallum was new in town and had no idea how we operated here in the back forty. Papa was none too pleased to have to come get me – and the truck – out of lockup. He did let me drive home though.”
A loud burst of laughter exploded out of Ethan at that. “I bet McCallum loved that, didn’t he?”
“Not particularly,” he chuckled. “But between all of this baloney and finding my true course in life, I managed to pull it together. The column I wrote actually seemed to help people in ways I couldn’t have imagined and that changed my life.”
“What kind of column was it,” Ethan asked. Thinking it had to have been an advice column or even a commentary on local events, he was surprised by the answer.
“It was a humor column,” he admitted. “I don’t think I was all that funny, but the paper got enough letters thanking me for my honesty and the laughter. Who knew?”
Oh, he knew. Having met Travis had changed his life in a big way. Bringing humor and laughter back into it was only a small part of it. “Good question,” he said. “Must’ve been providence.”
“It couldn’t have been serendipity?” Travis loved playing word games with him, it was one of their favorite pastimes. He wasn’t going to let his lover’s extended vocabulary distract him this time, however.
“Nope, this wasn’t chance or fate, this was something more.” Because whatever it was, it directed him towards finding happiness and acceptance doing something that he wasn’t only good at, but something that he loved doing. And that right there was the cure to what ails you.
Travis had not only found something he could be proud of, but also discovered a way to share himself with the world, bringing enjoyment and respite to those in need of a brief vacation from reality. He’d been one of them not too long ago.
It definitely was providence.
Fandom: White Pine Original Fic
Pairing: Travis Murphy/Ethan McDowell
Rating: G
Word Count: 1,011
Summary: A Christmas/New Year’s fic to help bump up the word count for 1_million_words. Wherein Travis and Ethan muddle their way through December and try to stay on Santa’s Nice List.
Author’s Note: Three more cookies baked and another day of Christmas fic. Yay Sugar! Also, this is about as religious as you’ll ever see me get. Even at this time of year. Five bonus points to anyone who knows the difference between serendipity and providence.
Day 20
No one is useless in this world who lightens the burden of it to anyone else. --Charles Dickens
“There was a time, during my misguided youth, when I felt pretty worthless,” Travis said, giving Ethan a sideways look. “Mama was convinced I’d wind up in jail – for good, not just for the short time that I did wind up in the pokey – and Papa was pretty much done with the whole having a son situation.”
He had known that Travis had had a troubled past, they’d talked about it on several occasions. Murphy probably figured that, in having a cop for a boyfriend, he’d better spill his guts before he heard it all through the grapevine. Not that Ethan cared much, he’d looked into Travis’ record after the fact and hadn’t found anything out of the ordinary for a teenage boy. Now, if there’d been a murder or something, then that might’ve been a deal breaker. “So, what did you do? How’d you get yourself back on track?”
“Mama told me to use my creative talents for good and not evil,” he chuckled. “She got me some books on creative expression. While working through some of the exercises in the book, I discovered I had a talent for the written word. Got me writing a column in the local paper.”
“Your mother did that for you?” Aracely Murphy really was an amazing woman. But that didn’t come as a surprise at all.
“Yeah, she did.” He looked at Ethan fully now, “She really was worried I’d wind up in prison some day.”
“How many times did you land in the town jail?” He already knew the answer to this question, working with the man that routinely tossed his partner into said cell gave him a bit of insight into the boy he’d once been.
“Uh… four times?” Murphy’s smile was a touch sheepish in its embarrassment.
“Try again,” Ethan laughed. “McCallum’s number is a little bit higher.”
“Damn that man anyway,” Travis muttered. “Okay, okay. It was seven.”
“How did they allow you to stay in this town with seven arrests?” He shook his head, laughing.
“Eh, none of them were big issues, outside of the night McCallum thought I was high as a kite and seeing aliens.”
He’d heard that story before, both from Travis and from his boss, but it never ceased to amuse him. Ethan found it amusing that McCallum didn’t know Travis’ penchant for fibbing before that moment. “What were some of the things they picked you up for? Couldn’t have been much in a town this small.”
Travis ran his fingers through his hair, thinking. “Drunk and disorderly, twice. Disturbing the peace, twice again. The alien thing.”
“That’s five. What were the other two?” His curiosity was getting the better of him.
“Breaking and entering,” he admitted, “and speeding. Once each.”
“Wait,” Ethan said, holding a hand up. B and E, really?”
“Yeah, well, I locked myself out of the house and –”
“You were arrested for breaking into your own house? How did that happen?”
“Like I said, I got locked out and Mama and Papa were visiting my aunt. I was picking the lock on the front door when McCallum drove by.” Travis grinned at the memory. “He was new in town back then and didn’t know I lived there. Mama had to come get me from the station.”
“I bet she wasn’t happy about that,” Ethan stated.
“Nope, she was pissed, to say the least. But when she found out I was trying to get into our house, she turned her ire on McCallum and the man who was sheriff back then, Andy Andrews.”
Ethan was beside himself. The things this boy had done and said in his youth amazed him. “And what about the speeding?”
Travis shrugged. “I was fourteen and took my Papa’s truck – she’s the same baby I still drive – to the store for him. It’s common around here to do that and usually the sheriff turns a blind eye to it all.”
“But?” He raised an eyebrow.
“But, again, McCallum was new in town and had no idea how we operated here in the back forty. Papa was none too pleased to have to come get me – and the truck – out of lockup. He did let me drive home though.”
A loud burst of laughter exploded out of Ethan at that. “I bet McCallum loved that, didn’t he?”
“Not particularly,” he chuckled. “But between all of this baloney and finding my true course in life, I managed to pull it together. The column I wrote actually seemed to help people in ways I couldn’t have imagined and that changed my life.”
“What kind of column was it,” Ethan asked. Thinking it had to have been an advice column or even a commentary on local events, he was surprised by the answer.
“It was a humor column,” he admitted. “I don’t think I was all that funny, but the paper got enough letters thanking me for my honesty and the laughter. Who knew?”
Oh, he knew. Having met Travis had changed his life in a big way. Bringing humor and laughter back into it was only a small part of it. “Good question,” he said. “Must’ve been providence.”
“It couldn’t have been serendipity?” Travis loved playing word games with him, it was one of their favorite pastimes. He wasn’t going to let his lover’s extended vocabulary distract him this time, however.
“Nope, this wasn’t chance or fate, this was something more.” Because whatever it was, it directed him towards finding happiness and acceptance doing something that he wasn’t only good at, but something that he loved doing. And that right there was the cure to what ails you.
Travis had not only found something he could be proud of, but also discovered a way to share himself with the world, bringing enjoyment and respite to those in need of a brief vacation from reality. He’d been one of them not too long ago.
It definitely was providence.
