FIC: the room to breathe despite her (the white birds/ted tonks)
TITLE: The Room to Breathe Despite Her
AUTHOR: eudaimon
PROMPT:: The White Birds (I mixed and matched my own set).
RATING:: none.
WORD COUNT:: 478 words.
A/N: A note. It's communiquills canon that Ted Tonks and Marlene McKinnon dated during their time in Hogwarts. She was a year older than him, and joined the Order of the Phoenix at the beginning of the war. Ted did not.
What happened to Marlene McKinnon is a matter of public record.
Africa was a continent honeycombed with tombs. Africa had magic in its bedrock. In the North, the pharoahs slumbered or did not slumber, their spirits haunting corridors padded by tourists...in the South, the Queen of Sheba had started her epic journey north. He liked to imagine her, the most beautiful woman who had ever lived, swaying with a camel's steps against the washed-out too hot blue of the sky. His father had told him stories about her, who went to seduce a King in Jerusalem. He looked back over his shoulder. In the heat of the orange sun, the Bedouin were putting their camp together. Ted sat on the sand with his feet buried half in the sand, worn work boots, khaki and cotton which was almost faded through. He hadn't wanted to come. He wasn't strong enough for Africa, just then. Ever since he was first working, Ted had felt like Africa took up all of his head, his heart. He had to concentrate to be in Africa. He had to concentrate, so as not to be swallowed whole.
He twisted the cap off one of the bottles, carried carefully in his rucksack from Leeds to London to Luxor and beyond. He contemplated burying the cap in the sand, but decided against it, slipped it into his pocket. Those trousers had holes in the knees, against the seams. Andy hated those trousers. The beer was cold, which made him think of Andromeda's hands (bad circulation), Andy in Leeds with Dora; just this job, and I'll be there with you, safe there with you. Hadn't wanted to be safe, just yet. Felt like such a coward.
I told you. I did.
He didn't look behind him but he knew that she was there. He hadn't come so far to leave her behind so much as to find the room to breathe despite her. He'd expected her to follow, so he lead her a dance through the dunes. All that magic, in the sand, in the dust. All that work for him to and, in September, he'd go back to England, and put his wand away and never speak of these things again, probably. He'd do what was expected of him. He'd do what he had to do.
"I told you," he said, sipping the beer, not looking at her. "I did. What did I say, Len? Didn't I? Didn't I fucking tell you?"
No answer, but a flock of white birds taking to the air from somewhere. The colour of them against the sky felt like love and loss of love as they winged away, beyond his will to catch them.
Ted nodded, and passed the bottle behind him, getting up and walking down the dune without a word. The bottle sat in the sand for a week and then was gone, and nobody noticed or nobody said.
AUTHOR: eudaimon
PROMPT:: The White Birds (I mixed and matched my own set).
RATING:: none.
WORD COUNT:: 478 words.
A/N: A note. It's communiquills canon that Ted Tonks and Marlene McKinnon dated during their time in Hogwarts. She was a year older than him, and joined the Order of the Phoenix at the beginning of the war. Ted did not.
What happened to Marlene McKinnon is a matter of public record.
Africa was a continent honeycombed with tombs. Africa had magic in its bedrock. In the North, the pharoahs slumbered or did not slumber, their spirits haunting corridors padded by tourists...in the South, the Queen of Sheba had started her epic journey north. He liked to imagine her, the most beautiful woman who had ever lived, swaying with a camel's steps against the washed-out too hot blue of the sky. His father had told him stories about her, who went to seduce a King in Jerusalem. He looked back over his shoulder. In the heat of the orange sun, the Bedouin were putting their camp together. Ted sat on the sand with his feet buried half in the sand, worn work boots, khaki and cotton which was almost faded through. He hadn't wanted to come. He wasn't strong enough for Africa, just then. Ever since he was first working, Ted had felt like Africa took up all of his head, his heart. He had to concentrate to be in Africa. He had to concentrate, so as not to be swallowed whole.
He twisted the cap off one of the bottles, carried carefully in his rucksack from Leeds to London to Luxor and beyond. He contemplated burying the cap in the sand, but decided against it, slipped it into his pocket. Those trousers had holes in the knees, against the seams. Andy hated those trousers. The beer was cold, which made him think of Andromeda's hands (bad circulation), Andy in Leeds with Dora; just this job, and I'll be there with you, safe there with you. Hadn't wanted to be safe, just yet. Felt like such a coward.
I told you. I did.
He didn't look behind him but he knew that she was there. He hadn't come so far to leave her behind so much as to find the room to breathe despite her. He'd expected her to follow, so he lead her a dance through the dunes. All that magic, in the sand, in the dust. All that work for him to and, in September, he'd go back to England, and put his wand away and never speak of these things again, probably. He'd do what was expected of him. He'd do what he had to do.
"I told you," he said, sipping the beer, not looking at her. "I did. What did I say, Len? Didn't I? Didn't I fucking tell you?"
No answer, but a flock of white birds taking to the air from somewhere. The colour of them against the sky felt like love and loss of love as they winged away, beyond his will to catch them.
Ted nodded, and passed the bottle behind him, getting up and walking down the dune without a word. The bottle sat in the sand for a week and then was gone, and nobody noticed or nobody said.