Day 25 - Fic: Team Time: Riverside

[rsgamesmods]

Team: Time

Title: Riverside

Rating: R

Warnings: attempted suicide, chronic illness, talking about bodily harm

Word Count: 2400

Summary: When Remus considers his time to be over, he meets Sirius, whose consideration of time is just somewhat different.

Notes: Thank you to my awesome beta.

Prompt: #69) - "Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the

Comments

[museinabsentia]

For as many times as I've seen illness used as a muggle interpretation of Remus being a werewolf, I've rarely seen it as the focus of the story. And even less so from Remus' POV. It's usually all about how others handle it, not how he himself comes to terms with it. This was a lovely take on letting us see inside his head.

Particularly this:
Pizza was easy to eat. Not being forced to use any cutlery, not having to worry that he wouldn’t be able to cut something or that food would fall off his fork. Eating with his hands, even if they were shaking was so much easier.
What a simple thing to take for granted, eating, and the perfect way to give us a look at what Remus is coping with, at how strong he is to keep coping with it, despite his momentary belief that he couldn't.

Also, it says a lot about Sirius, that he was willing to stop and help a complete stranger. You did an incredible job letting us see so much of them in so few scenes. This was a lovely read.

[abyss_valkyrie]

Awwwh,how sad and vulnerable Remus sounds here when miraculously Sirius finds him. I like how you wrote this from Remus' view, while to many his situation doesn't seem like a reason to commit suicide, only he knows his own pain and his own worries and just how serious things are for him. I loved how this had an underlying message of 'don't judge people when you're on the outside'.

James and Sirius were both great here, Sirius is such a sweetheart. Though his explanation for the falling was rather spectacular. :)

[sub_etheric]

You really conveyed Remus' mindset here, not just in his actions but in his thoughts too, and how they were influenced by events and by Sirius. Sirius' direct but then gentle easing of him back into living was lovely.

[bookgrrrl2006]

wow... you really captured something here that is difficult for me to put into words, but i loved it, so i shall try. my sister quit nursing to raise her kids, but now volunteers at this place, kind of like a hospice for the living, where she and others help people with chronic conditions learn to more fully live their lives. i tried to go a few times, but confess that, unlike my sister and sirius, i really couldn't cut it. and yet i met many a sirius there, many a person who is totally willing to give of themselves to help a perfect stranger (or at least someone they just met) adjust to the realities of living with an illness. i also met many a remus there, people whose lives have felt shattered by a recent or worsening diagnosis and who are reluctant or frightened to begin to rebuild. i know i talked about myself here more that this really, really lovely story, but i just wanted to say how perfectly you captured this situation and the sorts of people in it. it was truly on point.

[huldrejenta]

This fic really shows us the level of devastation that illness can cause; no matter how 'strong' you are. I agree with muse_in_absentia over here that it's not all that often I've seen this handled from Remus' POV, not to such an extent as it is here, and it became very powerful. It's wonderful to see, then, that Remus does have friends who're willing and able to do what they can to make his situation easier to deal with, no matter what universe they're in. Great job!