Fic: With a Little Help
Oct. 12th, 2014 06:19 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
meridian_roseTitle: With a Little Help
Fandom: Original
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: 528
Prompt: For the![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
therealljidol LCI Week 3 prompt "We are all in the gutter"
Summary: Clues, quotations, and co-operation.
Content Notes: No standard warnings apply.
"We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars," Evan said, tapping the pen against his chin, the newspaper carefully folded and balanced on one knee.
"Wilde," Tessa said, glancing up from her e-reader to look over at the armchair that Evan had long ago claimed for his own.
"Not Shakespeare? Not that it would fit."
She rolled her eyes. "Not every answer to a literary clue is Shakespeare."
"I figure about fifty-five per cent of them are," Evan said. "The odds are in my favour. Anyway, I don't think Wild fits either. I need five letters."
"It's got an 'e' on the end. Honestly. Where did you go to school?"
"In the gutter, apparently," Evan said, adding the letters to the grid with smooth strokes. "It's a bit depressing, isn't it? That we're all in the gutter."
Sitting next to Tessa on the leather sofa, brushing Whisky, their Labrador retriever, with practised ease, Col said, "It's about perspective. We might all be the same, struggling with real life problems, but some people look to the sky and admire the view. Instead of harping on about how they're miserable or they're awful or they're useless, or the world is dreadful, they chose to see the stars and say how life can be beautiful, and the starlight makes the night bearable."
Tessa blinked a few times, surprised by Col's literary outpouring. Evan frowned.
"Like in The Secret or whatever that book is? You get what you're expecting, and if you keep expecting more gutter instead of starlight, that's what you get?"
Tessa cleared her throat. "I suppose that's another interpretation," she said. "For me, it's flawed though. It's not enough just to see the stars. You have to reach for them. That's what can pull you out of the gutter." She closed her eyes and recited, "Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss, you'll land among the stars."
Evan looked impressed. "Even I know that's not Shakespeare."
"Peale, I think," Tessa said. She reached down to pet Whisky's nose and he nuzzled her. "How many more clues have you got left to solve on that thing?"
"Loads," Evan said. He grinned. "But I bet you and Col know most of the answers without Googling them."
Evan felt asking people for answers wasn't cheating whereas resorting to a search engine was. Tessa wasn't certain if she felt the same, but nevertheless she smiled at the compliment.
"You know, sometimes if you're in the gutter," Evan said thoughtfully, "what you need is someone to help you up." He whistled a few bars of With a Little Help From My Friends. Musical questions he often knew the answer to. "I mean, it's no good shooting for the moon if you haven't got a clue about being an astronaut."
Col laughed. "You're stretching the metaphor now."
"Stretching metaphors, bending rules, breaking conventions…it's my thing." Evan tapped the page. "What about this one? I must be cruel only to be kind."
Col stifled a giggle.
"What?" Evan asked.
"Fifty-five per cent," Tessa said.
Evan beamed. "Told you, didn't I? Now, remind me, how do you spell Shakespeare?"
Fandom: Original
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: 528
Prompt: For the
therealljidol LCI Week 3 prompt "We are all in the gutter"Summary: Clues, quotations, and co-operation.
Content Notes: No standard warnings apply.
"We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars," Evan said, tapping the pen against his chin, the newspaper carefully folded and balanced on one knee.
"Wilde," Tessa said, glancing up from her e-reader to look over at the armchair that Evan had long ago claimed for his own.
"Not Shakespeare? Not that it would fit."
She rolled her eyes. "Not every answer to a literary clue is Shakespeare."
"I figure about fifty-five per cent of them are," Evan said. "The odds are in my favour. Anyway, I don't think Wild fits either. I need five letters."
"It's got an 'e' on the end. Honestly. Where did you go to school?"
"In the gutter, apparently," Evan said, adding the letters to the grid with smooth strokes. "It's a bit depressing, isn't it? That we're all in the gutter."
Sitting next to Tessa on the leather sofa, brushing Whisky, their Labrador retriever, with practised ease, Col said, "It's about perspective. We might all be the same, struggling with real life problems, but some people look to the sky and admire the view. Instead of harping on about how they're miserable or they're awful or they're useless, or the world is dreadful, they chose to see the stars and say how life can be beautiful, and the starlight makes the night bearable."
Tessa blinked a few times, surprised by Col's literary outpouring. Evan frowned.
"Like in The Secret or whatever that book is? You get what you're expecting, and if you keep expecting more gutter instead of starlight, that's what you get?"
Tessa cleared her throat. "I suppose that's another interpretation," she said. "For me, it's flawed though. It's not enough just to see the stars. You have to reach for them. That's what can pull you out of the gutter." She closed her eyes and recited, "Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss, you'll land among the stars."
Evan looked impressed. "Even I know that's not Shakespeare."
"Peale, I think," Tessa said. She reached down to pet Whisky's nose and he nuzzled her. "How many more clues have you got left to solve on that thing?"
"Loads," Evan said. He grinned. "But I bet you and Col know most of the answers without Googling them."
Evan felt asking people for answers wasn't cheating whereas resorting to a search engine was. Tessa wasn't certain if she felt the same, but nevertheless she smiled at the compliment.
"You know, sometimes if you're in the gutter," Evan said thoughtfully, "what you need is someone to help you up." He whistled a few bars of With a Little Help From My Friends. Musical questions he often knew the answer to. "I mean, it's no good shooting for the moon if you haven't got a clue about being an astronaut."
Col laughed. "You're stretching the metaphor now."
"Stretching metaphors, bending rules, breaking conventions…it's my thing." Evan tapped the page. "What about this one? I must be cruel only to be kind."
Col stifled a giggle.
"What?" Evan asked.
"Fifty-five per cent," Tessa said.
Evan beamed. "Told you, didn't I? Now, remind me, how do you spell Shakespeare?"
no subject
Date: 2014-10-12 06:55 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2014-10-20 10:32 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2014-10-14 07:16 pm (UTC)You just know people like this exist--and as you pointed out, Evan seems to absorb the musical factoids just fine. But literary? Not so much.
Me, I pull Mel Ott and Bobby Orr out all the time, and I like neither baseball nor hockey. Nor Brian Eno! But the NY Times lurves them all. ;)
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Date: 2014-10-20 10:34 am (UTC)no subject
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Date: 2014-10-20 10:35 am (UTC)Lj idol second chance, rec post
Date: 2014-10-14 10:14 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2014-10-15 02:10 am (UTC)Cruel to be kind it's a very good sign
Cruel to be kind means that I love you
Baby, you gotta be cruel to be kind
I do the music questions, like Evan does.
Nicely woven tale
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Date: 2014-10-20 10:35 am (UTC)no subject
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Date: 2014-10-20 10:36 am (UTC)