Blindsided

Dernière Danse

"This is just going to be about ten chapters" I said to myself, drinking my fourth cup of coffee crouched in a stool in front of my laptop. "This is just a short and sweet silly ship fic" I said as I pulled my hair back in a messy bun and clicked post on the first chapter of a new fic for a new fandom.

Funny how life happens and suddenly you're at the helm of a monstrosity of a fic that's currently nearly 50k words and projected to push 30 or 40 chapters long. Funny how the devs notice you and you suddenly get an influx of followers and find yourself building a community with amazing and talented people who just love four stick figures as much as you do. Funny how things work out.

I want to first and foremost thank Dotemms for her continual support and beta work. I can't do this without you. And secondly I want to thank the Hole People for their uncanny ability to listen to me vent and ramble for hours and hours while I write without getting pissed at me, you guys are troopers. Song of the day is Dernière Danse by Indila!

----------

  They were currently on their hands and knees, armed with toothbrushes, floor wax, and whatever determination they could scrounge up. Ruv was scrubbing at the grout, trying his best to not break the tool in his hands, and he paused for a moment to wipe his brow.

  "Get back to work, Ruv. The marble won't clean itself."

  Sarv was sitting in one of the pews, a book in hand and her legs propped up on the back of another row, where Selever was rubbing in wax with a soft cloth. Rasazy, being less in the wrong, had been relegated to cleaning the altar and pulpit with her toothbrush, a task made far easier by the fact one could stand instead of crawl. He gritted his teeth.

  "This is demeaning, Sarv."

  "I don't know 'de-meaning' of the word," she quipped, idly flipping to the next page. Selever snorted.

  "How much more do we have to do?" He threw down his cloth. "It was an accident!"

  "An accident where your father could have ended up in jail for his crimes," she replied stonily, snapping her book closed. "I can usually get him out of scrapes with the law but I wouldn't have been able to do anything for him this time. Your lack of foresight and his reckless behavior, while yes in the service of protecting your sister, was incredibly stupid. So I spent all last night thinking up this punishment. It's only fair that for making me worry when I was supposed to be relaxing you all do my chores today while I relax. Rasazy, you're done."

  Sarv stood and walked over to her daughter, who put down her tools and wiped her hands on her skirt. "Since you didn't help or hinder them, I'm letting you off easy. Wanna watch a movie?"

  "Can we watch Seventeen Again?" Sarv smiled indulgently.

  "Of course!"

  As the women of the family left, the door shutting behind them, Ruv stood and tossed the toothbrush across the church, where it clattered against the wall. "This is such bullshit!"

  Selever flopped over, exhausted. "My everything smells like floor wax. And I can't even play music on my phone to relieve the boredom. This sucks."

  They'd been at this since early morning, starting with the bathrooms and cloister and polishing the pews and confessional, which had taken all through the morning and through lunch. His back ached, his knees were bruised, Hell even his teeth seemed to hurt. "We really fucked up with your mom, kid. And normally I'd take whatever she wants to dish out but this is supreme bullshit."

  "What the Hell can we do about it?" Sel rolled onto his stomach. "Just wondering, since I'm expecting you to simp out and just do it because it's Mom."