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hesbuckcompton-baby · 2 years

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I Stayed There - Eugene Sledge x OFC

Chapter 6 - The Sight of Lovers Feedeth Those in Love

Chapter 1 / Chapter 2 / Chapter 3 / Chapter 4 / Chapter 5 /// Chapter 7 / Chapter 8 / Chapter 9

Summary: They talk.

Warnings: Language, mentions of death, grief, and strenuous parent relationships

Word Count: 2.4k

Tags: @cagzzz107

A/N: Character's names in bold italics indicate a change in POV

A/N 2: This one's a little shorter than usual but I really like it, and I hope you do too!

Eugene

I could see dust particles drifting on the air, catching in the light of the sun as it streamed in beams through the window. The tea in my hand was fresh, piping hot, steam wafting upwards towards my face and making me sweat, only exacerbating the already sweltering Alabama heat.

It had been years since I'd been inside Anna's house, and she wasn't even here.

Her mother had invited mine over for tea, and in those days people saw Catherine March so infrequently that no one would dare deny an invitation. We'd reschedule any other commitments we had, on the off-chance that if we said we couldn't make it we'd end up going months without seeing her again. She somehow managed to be elusive, even though we all knew where she was. Because she never left the house. Not ever.

My mother had insisted that I come, even though I didn't think it was a good idea to keep me trailing around like a trophy. Like a my son survived and yours didn't. But I know that I was the only one to whom this ever occurred. The war made me cynical about these things - as if the only options were to gloat to others about surviving or to have others gloat to you about dying. People just didn't think that way. But I did.

"You're looking well, Catherine," My mother smiled, taking a sip of her tea.

"Thank you," She replied, her lips curling slightly in the closest I'd seen to a smile since before Bobby died.

I couldn't help but feel like an intruder, sitting there, thinking that there must be more to afternoon tea than this. It was a ritual long practised by the mother of nearly every boy I'd ever known, something you stayed out of the way for, spied through passing glances through the crack in the door or through the window from out in the garden. You didn't bring your son to afternoon tea, it just wasn't the done thing. I reasoned that if I somehow found a way to shrink backwards and be devoured by the couch cushions, vanishing out of sight, then the real ritual could finally begin. That my intrusion would be forgotten and whatever mothers talk about behind closed doors where their boys can't hear could finally be divulged. It felt like storming into a church, banging a drum, in the middle of mass. It felt like I was interrupting something sacred.

"Excuse me a moment," I said suddenly, snapping myself out of my thoughts as I stood up from the couch.

"Where are you going?" My mother asked.

"I need to call Sidney," I told them, letting the first lie that came to me slip from my lips. "It's occurred to me that I won't be able to go out with him tonight, and I need to tell him if you don't mind, Mrs March."

She batted a hand in my direction. "Of course, you know where the phone is Eugene."

It wasn't until I closed to door to the sitting room behind me that I realised I had nothing to occupy myself with. Both my mother and Anna's undoubtedly knew that a phone call with Sidney was at least a half-hour commitment, no matter what the subject matter, so I had at least that long to leave them be and find something to do.

Pacing the carpeted halls felt like coming home. Standing within that big old house I'd loved so dearly as a child felt the same as it had when I'd first stepped over the mantle of my own home when I came back from the war. With every turn, every room that I passed, it was like I could hear the shrill laugh Anna had grown out of years ago, see her brothers perched in every armchair, and sat at every table. There was history embedded in those walls, and I was grateful to have been there to see it made.

But it was devastating to stand in what remained of it. Harrowing to finally have it sink in that the figures of my childhood were dead and buried and gone, and I had missed every one of their funerals. Anna seemed to be the only truly living person left here, and as I rounded the corner towards the garden patio, I wished she were here.

But then I stepped out the back door and there she was - sat out on a lawn chair, basking in the afternoon sun with her back turned to me. Her shoes had been discarded in the grass, and her head was bowed as she read the large leather-bound book in her lap. She had her heels propped up on the edge of the table beside her, a glass of lemonade half empty in the middle of it, and her skirt had ridden up to her mid-thighs, pooling in creases of fabric around her hips.

I just stood there for a moment, frozen, as if I'd walked in on something I wasn't allowed to see.

"Come on out, Eugene," Anna called without even turning, her eyes still glued firmly to the book in her lap. I strolled out across the lawn, shoving my hands awkwardly into my pockets until I reached her and stood there briefly, hovering over her shoulder for lack of another lawn chair. She didn't say anything and after a minute I just took a seat on the grass, legs folded, the damp grass leaving dark brown splotches on the backside of my trousers.

Once I sat down there, the situation didn't feel strange to me at all. It felt like resuming sanity, getting back to all that was good about our lives before. I didn't even think about it before I leant over and rested the side of my head against her leg, feeling the flesh of her thigh squish under the weight of my skull. It was sweltering even in the shade of the great, mottled tree above us, and the sweat made her skin feel sticky, fusing itself to my temple as long as I rested there.

I felt safe out here, salvaging any moment of peace I could get my hand on since our lives were irreparably torn apart. I wanted Anna to know that no matter how much she'd changed, I'd changed too, and that new Eugene loved new Anna in just the same way old Eugene had loved old Anna. I just didn't know how to tell her, especially not with thoughts of Hank Wharton plaguing my mind.

She had liked reading to me when we were young. Being able to have me sit there and listen to the words pour from her like a fountain had made her feel intelligent, just how she'd always wanted to feel. I couldn't recall her having done it since I was fifteen, but without prompt she began again, reigniting an old habit as if it had never ebbed in the first place.

"O! come let us remove:

The sight of lovers feedeth those in love. -

Bring us to this sight, and you shall say

I'll prove a busy actor in their play."

I furrowed my brow. "Romeo and Juliet?" I guessed.

"No, As You Like It," Anna scoffed as if it were obvious. The book she held was huge, its cover scuffed, with yellowing pages and minuscule writing, that smelled like dust.

"Where did you even find that?" I asked.

"In the attic. I have a lot of time to myself these days."

"Is Hank not keeping you occupied?" I teased.

"Hank has a job. Unlike you, even though I know your Ma's been nagging you about it," She paused, then took a heaving sigh, her gaze wandering upwards towards the tree as she squinted in the light. "I don't know what I'm doing anymore, Gene."

I lifted my head to look at her, the skin of her leg peeling off my temple in the heat. "What d'you mean?"

"I just... Sometimes I get happy and then afterwards I worry it was the last time I'll ever feel it," I could feel my heart plummeting in my chest, the feeling all too familiar. "I mapped out so much of my life out around my family, it all feels like I'm just... drifting now. There's nothing holding me down, not really. The entire town sees my family as some enormous sob story, so much that I can't even leave the goddamn house without them all giving me the most withering looks, as if all their fucking sympathy will somehow resurrect my brothers and make everything great again, but if I don't go out then I just have to sit in this fucking house where everything is a constant reminder and the only person I have left..." Her eyes had started welling up, and when she paused I could see she was gnawing the inside of her cheek.

"When she looks at me, it doesn't feel like she loves me anymore, Eugene," Anna whispered, a voice coming out in a rasp.

I shifted in place, tucking my knee under myself so that I was propped up higher, closer to her. "Hey. I know that she does."

"Do you?" She asked bitterly, her eyes meeting mine. "Because for one of the only living people left in the family I sure feel like a fucking ghost when I'm in that house. We have dinner together and we just sit there in dead silence and I get this horrible thought that whenever she looks at me she's thinking of which of her kids she'd rather had lived instead."

"No, that's... that's not true, Anna. It's not. She needs time, you've gotta give it to her. I know you're in pain, I know how much it hurts for you, but neither of us can imagine what it must feel like losing a kid, let alone four. What your Ma's going through is a whole different playing field, and that doesn't make the way she makes you feel okay, but it does mean it's temporary. She loves you, I know that, she just... it must be hard for her to keep being your mother when she knows she'll never get to be their mother again."

She nodded, loose strands of hair catching on the breeze and twirling around her face as a choking sound broke free from her chest, releasing a sob, her eyes red and puffy as a tear rolled down her cheek. Anna wouldn't stop nodding, up and down and up and down, until she stopped crying, sniffing loudly and roughly swiping the tears from her cheeks with the back of her hand.

I kept quiet, kept my distance. I knew what it was to grieve the dead, but Catherine March was sitting just inside, sipping tea and talking with my own mother. But it felt like mourning.

The garden fell quiet, nothing but the sound of crickets whirring away in the long grass by the farthest fence. And then she broke it.

"You've never mentioned the war to me. What happened to you out there," Her voice was hoarse. I looked up at her, squinting in the sunlight, her head only half obscuring it above us as the light shone through her hair and lit her up like a halo.

I shook my head only once, clicking my tongue. "We don't need to talk about that. You don't need to know what happened."

"I do if it'll make it easier for you to bear it."

I adore her.

"I need to learn to bear it or I'll go crazy."

Anna smiled. People always look so beautiful when they let a smile break their sorrow-stained face, their red eyes and puffy cheeks creasing with the weight of it.

"I think we're both going a little crazy, Eugene."

"I don't want you to look at me like I'm a different person to the one you used to know."

"But you are. That's okay. I am too."

She always seemed relentlessly unaffected by my sorrow in the most wonderful way possible. She made sure I knew that if I was drowning there was someone to drown with me. She kept me sane.

And then I smiled too. "I don't think I could've asked for a better friend to go crazy with."

Anna breathed out a chuckle. I kept smiling, grinning up at her like a lovestruck fool. I think I was one - it didn't matter what kind of love it was.

She put the book down on the table, the weight of it making the wicker legs wobble, a little of what was left of her lemonade sloshing over the rim of the glass and pooling around it. She pushed herself out of the chair, landing harshly on her knees, the grass staining her skin with smears of green. And then she hugged me - her arms wrapped around my neck, her cheek pressed against mine.

Her skin was warm, still sticky with afternoon sweat, and her fingers brushed against the back of my neck. I knew she belonged to someone else - to a man I didn't know, to a man Sidney thought was just fine - but when I held her back she was a lifeline in my arms, and I felt my heart take root in my body, the feeling of her skin against mine take root in my soul. There was no name for the way Anna made me feel. It felt like realising I no longer believed in God. There was another power in my life that could consume all of my belief.

It didn't matter in what way I loved her. It didn't matter if she was my best friend or if she was something bigger, scarier. It didn't matter if I wanted to ride bikes with her like we did when we were kids or if I wanted to feel that stick of her skin, see if I was still glued to it when I touched under her dress where I wasn't allowed to go.

Whatever it was, it was devotion.

#i stayed there #the pacific #eugene sledge #eugene x anna #eugene sledge x ofc #eugene sledge x oc #eugene sledge fic #eugene sledge x reader #the pacific fic #the pacific oc #hbo war fic #hbo war #oc: anna

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writerleo86 · 1 year

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Terravenger - Season 5: Part Two - Episode 418 [Ends the Cyberian Empire First Encounter Arc] (Do Not Copy)

During the late evening, the determined general -- Derrick Scorpio -- battled the stranger-looking ships while he floated in the sky. Meanwhile, the youth Beau Ravenstone had watched by the front entrance of the Midas Academy below.

The two soldiers from the future -- Mercury and Cheetah -- spotted a person walking toward the teenaged Beau. The person placed their right hand on the teen's forehead and a large pale-violet light formed around Beau's eyes.

"By the gods!" yelled Mercury.

"Dis guy did it?" cried Cheetah. "Dis guy took da Commander's memory?"

Once the light faded, the person lowered his hand. Beau lowered his head as if he was in a trance. And the mysterious person walked off.

After that, a globe of blue light quickly formed around them. And the large globe vanished along with both Mercury and his student Cheetah.

The two soldiers appeared at the same place during one beautiful evening.

"So it was dat bloke?" questioned Cheetah. "He wiped out da Commander's memories?"

A calm Mercury lowered his head and replied "I have never seen the man before, not even in past pictures from yearbooks. And he performed a type of temporal hypnosis to negate the part of the Commander's memories that would have helped us against the Machines."

"We gotta tell da Commander!" cried Cheetah. "He's gotta know! Maybe he can get more memories about dat time!"

Mercury shook his head and responded "Or course. We should inform the General to come as well. He would certainly like to learn about our findings."

Terravenger -- Season 5: Part Two -- Episode 418: First Encounter -- The Child Behind the Rows

Moments later, the pair stood in the Principal's Office at the Midas Academy as Mercury reported to his commander Beau Ravenstone.

Beau wore a light-blue shirt underneath a buttoned white top that had his MAF badge placed on the front left side. He had on a pair of long blue pants and black boots. And he had on his thick golden cuff which was attached to each wrist of his top.

Standing by the seated commander's right side was the general of the Midas Armed Forces. Kastano was an older man with pale skin, blue eyes, and a strong face. And his long dark hair was wrapped into a high bun. He wore a long white dress-coat with long sleeves along with blue and golden designs. And he had a blue pad on the top of each shoulder. Underneath was a white shirt with a collar covering his neck. He had on a thick light-blue sash around his waist. He also had a thick dark ring around his left finger. And he wore a pair of white kung-fu shoes. On the top of his head was a rectangular crown with white at the top and blue at the bottom that had a golden design at the center.

The person standing at the other side of Beau was his lieutenant, Victoria Sidney. She had on black eyeliner and peach lipstick. She wore a blue tailcoat with yellow linings underneath a black top. She also had on a pair of white leggings, white gloves, and long burgundy boots. And her MAF badge was placed on the front left side of her coat.

After he heard everything that was said by his counselor, Beau stood up and faced the back while his arms were folded behind him.

"It was a man?" He asked. "He erased the memory I had about the night when the city was attacked by them?"

"Both Mr. Hall and I see it," answered Mercury. "This man... He used a temporal form of hypnosis which blocked you from recovering that memory."

"And you both are certain this man never worked here at the Academy?" asked Kastano.

"Dat guy!" Cheetah told them. "I can tell he ain't a soldier from da start. Dis guy was a pro too."

"Too bad my father is no longer with us," implied Victoria. "He probably could have helped identify him. This man was probably a sworn enemy to the Midas Armed Forces."

Then Beau faced Cheetah and ordered him "Find Lady Sanyo. Bring her here at once."

A few minutes later, the psychic Alexis Sanyo walked into the office and stood at the left side of the counselor Mercury. Alexis had golden skin and purple eyes. The top of her curly brown hair was tied into two tails while the bottom part was worn down. She had on black eyeliner, brown shadow on the top of each eye, and dark-purple lipstick. She wore a tan-colored outfit with dark-brown at the bottom and long golden-yellow sleeves. She also had on brown leggings and a thick golden-yellow belt with a MAF badge as a buckle. And she wore a pair of short black boots.

"I apologize for this, Lady Sanyo," Beau told her. "But this is an urgent matter."

Alexis calmly shook her head and asked "Have you found answers about what had happened to you long ago?"

Beau sat at his desk while both Victoria and Kastano remained by him.

And the commander reported "Counselor Fakinos and Mr. Hall had discovered the reason why the particular memory from my past was erased... It appeared that someone performed hypnosis on me to block out that event."

"Hypnosis?" implied Alexis. "The person must have performed the Temporary Human Paralysis to secure you. Next, Mind Scramble was used to alter your memory from the event."

"But with little power and effort?" cried Mercury. "The man must have been a formidable psychic."

"The man used little of his ki?" asked Alexis.

Cheetah informed her "It was like dat man did nothin' while da Commander's mind was messed up."

Suddenly, a fearful Alexis wrapped her arms around her as she lowered her head.

"Lady Sanyo?" questioned Kastano. "Do you know?"

Alexis quickly sat across from Beau and she said "With your permission Sir, I would like to perform Mind Reader on you."

"Permission granted," answered Beau.

"Lady Sanyo?" asked Mercury. "Should we be worried about dangers that may have been set up to block others from unlocking any of his memories?"

"I am sure Lady Sanyo can go through every barrier," Beau told the counselor. "She is probably the most powerful psychic in the universe after all."

"I believe Lady Sanyo can find out about this man as well," said Kastano.

After that, Beau relaxed once he closed his eyes. Alexis placed her right hand toward his forehead. And the seer closed her eyes.

"I will begin opening every door..." She informed Beau. "...until I have entered the room that has the event locked within your mind."

A circle of golden light appeared around both her and the commander. Surrounding the circle was a large ring that was also made of golden light with the twelve signs of the Zodiac. Then wind started blowing from the glowing circle.

"Constellation Crisis," She called.

Inside a large place full of darkness, a large wave of golden energy which had the face of the determined Alexis Sanyo at its head had raced forward. One-by-one, the energy blew through each large door which was made of the greatest metal. She soon found another door. But this door was made of rusty black metal. And made at the center of the door was a large black square that had a white skull at the middle.

Inside the Principal's Office, Alexis placed her hands on each side of her as a fiery golden light rose from her body.

"What is happening?" cried Victoria.

"The last door," reported Alexis. "It is mightier than the others."

Next, a small globe of golden energy formed from each palm as sweat started falling from the forehead of the struggling Alexis.

"I will get in," She told them.

Inside the dark area, the large golden wave with her face at the front had grown a pair of arms. And a small globe of golden energy appeared on each hand.

Meanwhile, the fiery light had vanished from the true body of Alexis.

"I have entered," She reported.

And a large white light formed around the golden wave that blew through Beau's mind.

Then Alexis opened her eyes. Beau began to open his eyes as the barrier surrounding them had faded away.

"No!" She cried. "It cannot be him! It is not possible!"

"Do you know the man who attacked Beau?" asked Kastano.

After she rose from her chair, Alexis looked around as she looked fearful.

Beau stood up as he cried "Who was the one that erased that memory from my mind?"

Alexis faced the commander and responded "He truly has returned."

"Who?" asked Kastano.

Beau slowly lowered his head and answered "She is referring to Him, He Who Brings Chaos To Those Deserving."

A spooked Mercury cried "The Bringer of Light is behind this!"

"Yes," answered Alexis.

"Do you mean it was Him who wiped out Beau's memories?" questioned Kastano.

"No," reported an emotional Alexis. "He may possess that power. But it was not Him that did that to you."

Alexis's thoughts:

During one calm evening, someone wandered into a small village and was confronted by its people that stared in awe.

This was a small girl with purple eyes, purple skin, and long hair that was colored bright brown. And she wore only a long white skirt which had no sleeves.

A long brown tail emerged toward her head as the girl stared at each person as she displayed no emotion.

"It is a beast!" yelled a male voice. "A monster!"

Before a young man could throw a rock at the strange girl, someone else held his hand.

"Stop!"

Everyone including the young man turned around and found another person staring at the girl with a welcoming smile.

This was a young man with purple eyes and fair skin. He was a strong figure with a handsome face and short dark hair that had the front part slicked back. And he had pale-violet lips. He wore a gray shirt with long sleeves, dark-yellow pants, and dark-brown boots.

Alexis placed her hands on her head and called out "Goran!"

"Goran?" asked Beau. "Who is that?"

A calm Alexis lowered her hands and responded "Goran is an agent. He must had sent Goran to target you that long ago. Goran... He was proven to be one of the most skilled psychics employed by the Light-Bringer."

"The Bringer of Chaos..." replied Victoria. "He was behind this the entire time."

Alexis lowered her head once again and added "Goran was the man who had taught those abilities to me."

"Your psychic abilities?" questioned Mercury. "They were all taught to you by this man?"

And Alexis replied "He was also the one who first introduced me to Him."

Alexis's thoughts:

Two clouds of purple smoke had arrived in a cave of darkness.

The cloud floating at the left side had formed into the charming man called Goran. He wore a gray shirt with long sleeves, black pants, and black boots.

The other formed into his young student, Alexis Sanyo. She had on a light-gray dress with long sleeves and short dark-brown boots.

Goran walked two more steps and pointed his two right fingers forward. A small ball of purple energy formed from the fingers. And two candles on tall silver poles that stood apart from each other lit small fire before the pair.

After that, Alexis spotted a large pool of black liquid lying at the center of the black candles. And the energy from his fingers faded as Goran walked toward the pool.

Goran soon waved his left hand before the dark liquid inside the pool. Then bubbles rose from the pool.

"This is how I communicate with him," He told the girl. "Others and myself have always made contact with our lord using these. We have collected information for him for many centuries. I have also informed him of you."

At the quiet desert during one night, a person walked into a small room.

Sitting on a large chair in a small throne room was another figure that leaned their head on their left hand while the elbow was placed on the left handle of the old chair.

This was a male individual with bright-blue skin and long purple horns. The top part of his long pale-blue hair was tied into a low pony-tail as the bottom part remained down. He also had a thick beard of the same color along with a thick mustache. And he had long nails on his fingers. He had worn a gray shirt with long sleeves and a long V-neck. Over it was golden armor covering both his chest and back. He had on a large purple pad over each shoulder, a thick dark strap around his waist, and a long white cloth wrapped below. He also had on black pants and purple pads protecting his ankles. And his feet with long nails were exposed.

He said in a calm voice "They have discovered that was you who arranged the memories of the Midas Commander, with the help of Alexia Palatinate."

The newcomer replied in a calm male voice "She may have surprised even me. But she still has not revealed the true goal behind our plan."

Then he said "It appears he did what he could do to keep her silent while he stays as a teacher at the Midas Armed Forces."

The figure lifted his head and called out "Thomas Leon Faust."

"Brother Merlin was right to pull him out," The newcomer implied. "Thomas was a wild card. He knows many secrets, including those about yourself and the Magician."

"Mercury Fakinos is the key to our plan," responded the figure. "We must do what we can to keep him well until it is time."

And the follower revealed themselves. It was a young-looking man with fair skin and purple eyes. He had a well-built body and a strong face. And he had dark hair with a two-horned style at the top. He wore a collared black shirt, black pants, and brown boots. He also had on an opened black coat that had long sleeves. And placed on the front left side of his coat was a large black square with a white skull at the middle.

The follower who was revealed as Goran listed "Mercury Fakinos is the perfect candidate. He was a knight of Morah and Armor Champion. He is a Tao wizard, a child of a former demon, and once a victim of Sirbo Kaballa who is a child of a deity -- an Olympian."

Then he told his master "We will do what can to monitor Fakinos, but from a distance of course."

"I have sent Merlin to watch over the entire city," informed the master.

Walking in another hallway was the young man known as Merlin. He had light skin, clear blue eyes, short dark-blue hair, and a thin beard. He had on a collared black shirt, black pants, and short black boots. He also wore a buttoned long dark-blue coat with lighter outlines on certain parts. And he wore a pair of thick black glasses with black lens.

A pair of large doors opened as he walked toward them. Then he walked through and found himself in a large bedroom. Inside the room was another person hurrying to the young wizard.

This was a teenaged boy with pale skin, light-blue eyes, short blond hair, and a slender body. He wore a sky-blue T-shirt, a pair of long white pants, and a pair of long gray socks.

Merlin lowered on his right knee as the boy ran to him. And the boy gave a large smile.

"Mr. Merlin!" He greeted. "You came!"

Merlin gave a kind smile and said "Of course I did. I will always make time for my favorite man."

The boy held his hands behind him and asked "Did Master Mephisto send you on a mission?"

The blue-garbed wizard placed his right hand on the top of the boy's head.

And Merlin responded "I am only doing some spying on people. It's an easy and swift job."

The worried boy lowered his head and told him "Just come back. I don't want anything bad to happen to you."

Then Merlin held the boy in his arms and replied "Count on it. It will only be a few days. Once I have collected enough, I will report everything to Him. And I'll come and see you again."

"Promise?" cried the boy.

"I wouldn't lie to you Little Man," answered Merlin. "I'll be back before your mission comes."

And the boy told him "I... I love you so much, Mr. Merlin."

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