nanowrenlet: (Winner!)
nanowrenlet ([personal profile] nanowrenlet) wrote2003-11-28 03:50 pm

(no subject)

Everyone knew.

Some folks used to say, back in the days when conventional wisdom held that the world was flat and was carried around on the backs of elephants, that when the earth shook beneath your feet it was because the very pillars that supported it were trembling. This was a little like that, in that something had disrupted the order of the reapers' strange little world, and every reaper in the area -- possibly every reaper in Pittsburgh -- had felt it when it happened.

They were waiting outside the restaurant for him, all three of the other reapers, standing on the sidewalk like they had been debating with each other whether they should go in or not and Rube could tell they were each shocked and saddened by turns. Monique had Justin's messenger bag, and was holding it tightly to her chest with her arms folded across it. Brandon spoke up first.

"I knew he'd do it."

Rube didn't want to get into that just yet, whether he could or should have kept Justin away from Brian's appointment, whether Justin might have stayed if he had seen something different when Brian's time came... or whether the whole day had just been inevitable from start to finish. So instead he shrugged noncommittally and asked, "You guys hungry, or do you think you could maybe do me a favor?"

Brandon stepped forward immediately. "Are we going to his place?"

"Yep. Just need to do a bit of cleaning up."

Monique hugged the bag in her arms and nodded, and after a quick glance back at the restaurant Pete did as well. Rube cocked his head back towards his car. "I'll drive. We can pick up sandwiches on the way or something."


When they got there, Rube did the honors. The lock gave way with a satisfying click, and Rube tucked the pick back into its slim case and swung the door open, stepping aside to the let the others pass. Brandon was first into the apartment, and he let out a low whistle.

"Holy shit. Did he ever do anything -but- draw?"

Rube snorted, amused. "Yeah, he did plenty besides that. You act like you didn't help him carry half of this up the stairs."

Brandon just shrugged. "It's different. Seeing it all in boxes and seeing them out and... all over the place, like this." Rube knew what he meant. He'd seen it for himself once or twice when he'd dropped in on Justin for whatever reason, but he could still admit that it was pretty impressive.

The three reapers stood in the middle of the front room turning in slow circles, and Rube saw that they all realized what he had already known, that they couldn't leave all of this here for just anyone to find. Pete spotted a portfolio lying open on the bar counter, and started to slowly turn the pages of it. Monique stopped in front of a sketch hanging on the wall, one of Justin's many drawings of Brian, and touched it with her fingertips. "How did he look, Rube? Before he left."

She didn't have to say that she was asking about Justin, and not Brian. Rube knew. "Good. He looked... happy."

Monique nodded at that and sniffled a little, and Pete called out, "Hey, there's one of me in here."

"Probably more than one, kid drew everything he laid eyes on."

"And we're gonna pack it all up, huh?" Rube met Brandon's eyes and nodded solemnly.

It took them the rest of the afternoon and a good part of the night, and they ate through all of the sandwiches Rube had bought and had to call for takeout as well. It was slow work, slower than it might have otherwise been because they all tended to linger over it, and Rube let them. Pete found every sketch Justin had made of his fellow reapers and pulled them aside into a little pile. Monique was most fascinated by the drawings of his family, particularly the little sister. Molly, Rube remembered that that was her name, and he told Monique so. There didn't seem to be any pattern to what caught Brandon's eye -- souls Justin had taken, waiters he had worked with, scenes of that club he went to, Babylon -- but every now and then one page would be carefully set to the side as he worked.

Rube would let them take whatever they wanted. It wasn't as if Justin was going to miss the drawings, wherever he had gone, and reapers tended to mourn their losses in their own, peculiar fashions.

Brandon leaned over and looked at the paper menu Rube was holding, with its sketch of Justin's funeral on the back. "Damn, that's good."

"Yep. He had real talent." Rube hadn't seen the drawing since Justin had finished it, adding in Brian and his tree. He looked at it for a while longer, then carefully folded it along its creases, tucked it into his jacket, and stood and announced he was making a pop run.

Rube came back thirty minutes later with two six-packs, three rolls of postal service approved carton tape and a packet of shipping labels.

Brandon's eyebrows rose. "You're gonna mail them somewhere?"

Rube nodded. "Thought I'd have 'em shipped west."

"So you're leaving now, huh." It was Pete who said it, but Monique was looking up as well, expectantly.

Rube nodded again. "Sal's on his way back, they tell me, he should be here day after tomorrow." He looked around the little apartment for a minute, noting to himself what they were taking and what they were leaving behind, and added. "It's time I went home."

THE END
Final word count: 50061

[identity profile] juteux.livejournal.com 2003-11-28 02:01 pm (UTC)(link)
*MASSIVE STANDING OVATION*

Congratulations!!

[identity profile] wrenlet.livejournal.com 2003-12-01 09:49 am (UTC)(link)
Congratulations!!

Thank you :)

[identity profile] phinjay.livejournal.com 2003-11-28 02:03 pm (UTC)(link)
Damn. Just damn! Excuse the language, but how beautifully sad. This has me all sorts of mixed up. There are no words. I'll have to think about it, and give more feedback later.

[identity profile] wrenlet.livejournal.com 2003-12-01 12:38 pm (UTC)(link)
but how beautifully sad

*beams* Thank you :)

*sighs*

[identity profile] bluesmoke.livejournal.com 2003-11-28 02:07 pm (UTC)(link)
i'm gonna miss this... miss going on and reading *this*... *looks at final product*

this was one of the best readings off my life. thank you.

*joins ovation*

Re: *sighs*

[identity profile] wrenlet.livejournal.com 2003-12-01 12:44 pm (UTC)(link)
*joins ovation*

Thank you :)

[identity profile] mintwitch.livejournal.com 2003-11-28 02:07 pm (UTC)(link)
Congratulations, Wrenlet. Amazing story.

[identity profile] wrenlet.livejournal.com 2003-12-01 12:53 pm (UTC)(link)
Congratulations, Wrenlet. Amazing story.

Thank you :)

[identity profile] paddies.livejournal.com 2003-11-28 02:25 pm (UTC)(link)
Congratulations!

Really good story...I'm going to miss my daily dose...

*Sob*

[identity profile] wrenlet.livejournal.com 2003-12-01 12:54 pm (UTC)(link)
Really good story...I'm going to miss my daily dose...

Heheheh... sorry about that. Thank you :)

[identity profile] nightsister.livejournal.com 2003-11-28 02:28 pm (UTC)(link)
WOW. "Winner" is right. :D

I loved how, in the end, it wasn't The Justin and Brian Show anymore. I had this feeling that Rube had seen and experienced just about everything, and yet manages to be influenced and affected by all of it still.

This was so great. I can't start crying now -- I have to go to work in an hour...

[identity profile] wrenlet.livejournal.com 2003-12-01 01:05 pm (UTC)(link)
I loved how, in the end, it wasn't The Justin and Brian Show anymore.

*beams* Thank you. In my head this was mostly Justin's story, but in a way it was also a story of the reapers' world, and why he couldn't fit there.

[identity profile] julad.livejournal.com 2003-11-28 02:28 pm (UTC)(link)
You made it!! Congratulations!! I'm in awe. Beautiful story.

[identity profile] wrenlet.livejournal.com 2003-12-01 01:06 pm (UTC)(link)
You made it!! Congratulations!! I'm in awe. Beautiful story.

Thank you :D
ext_12410: (justin)

[identity profile] tsuki-no-bara.livejournal.com 2003-11-28 02:39 pm (UTC)(link)
you, my dear, are a fantastic writer. i laughed, i cried, i cried some more. i knew it would be wrenching from the premise, but you made it honest and good and gave it a perfect ending.

[identity profile] wrenlet.livejournal.com 2003-12-01 01:08 pm (UTC)(link)
i knew it would be wrenching from the premise, but you made it honest and good and gave it a perfect ending.

*blushes* Thank you :) The ending was just about my biggest worry overall... that it worked for so many people is just Whoo!

BravoBravoBravoBravo!!!! Encore Encore Encore!!!

[identity profile] viola69.livejournal.com 2003-11-28 02:44 pm (UTC)(link)
Congrats on finishing/Surviving/Exceling at Nano.

Just be very very Proud of this story- Excellent from start to finish.

I love that Rube brought them back to get Dead!Justin's drawings- & that they all appreciated them- and each picked out ones for themselves. Just a lovely lovely lovely scene. *sniff*
Can't believe there's not going to be more!
I shall be waiting breathlessly for whatever you write next. :-)

Re: BravoBravoBravoBravo!!!! Encore Encore Encore!!!

[identity profile] wrenlet.livejournal.com 2003-12-01 01:09 pm (UTC)(link)
Just be very very Proud of this story

I have to admit, I am pretty damn proud of it :D Thank you.

[identity profile] teisfortiger.livejournal.com 2003-11-28 03:23 pm (UTC)(link)
::standing up an applauding:

Easily one of the best read of my life. Makes me wonder if I'll ever lucky enough to read something that will move me as much as this series did. *smooches and hugs*

[identity profile] wrenlet.livejournal.com 2003-12-01 01:10 pm (UTC)(link)
Easily one of the best read of my life.

*beams* Thank you :)

[identity profile] sparkledark.livejournal.com 2003-11-28 03:27 pm (UTC)(link)
*sniff*

Can't believe it's over. Congratulations!!

[identity profile] wrenlet.livejournal.com 2003-12-01 01:11 pm (UTC)(link)
Can't believe it's over. Congratulations!!

Thank you :)

[identity profile] soundczech.livejournal.com 2003-11-28 03:57 pm (UTC)(link)
One of my favourite fics. Ever. And there's no more! *cries*

You rock so hard.

[identity profile] wrenlet.livejournal.com 2003-12-01 01:12 pm (UTC)(link)
You rock so hard.

*beams* Thank you. All stories have to end some time!

Great Wrok

[identity profile] ljnewfan.livejournal.com 2003-11-28 04:05 pm (UTC)(link)
Wonderful!!!

Congratulations!

This was one of the main reasons I kept coming to the LJ world everyday. I will miss the Reaper!Justin. But I think he is much happier wherever he is. *wipes off the tears*.

I think I might need a happier icon after this.

*goes to look for together&happy!brian&justin pictures*

should have said "Great Work"

[identity profile] ljnewfan.livejournal.com 2003-11-28 04:06 pm (UTC)(link)
*turns on the spell checker*

Re: Great Wrok

[identity profile] wrenlet.livejournal.com - 2003-12-01 13:12 (UTC) - Expand

[identity profile] meimur.livejournal.com 2003-11-28 06:59 pm (UTC)(link)
That was seriously the best crossover, and probably one of the best stories I have ever read. Awesome job!

[identity profile] wrenlet.livejournal.com 2003-12-01 01:13 pm (UTC)(link)
That was seriously the best crossover, and probably one of the best stories I have ever read.

*blushes* Thank you :)

[identity profile] ranalore.livejournal.com 2003-11-28 07:09 pm (UTC)(link)
"But when you left, there fell into the scene
A ray of realness through the very gap
By which you left us...."

-Rilke

Well done, hon. Well done.

[identity profile] wrenlet.livejournal.com 2003-12-01 01:15 pm (UTC)(link)
Oooh.. *sniff* Thank you :)
ext_1850: (Righteous!)

[identity profile] claudia79ad.livejournal.com 2003-11-28 10:22 pm (UTC)(link)
Congratulations! This is quite this accomplishment, not only did you get your 50,000 words, but you also wrote a really compelling story. One that moved everybody who read it. Thank you for sharing with us.

[identity profile] wrenlet.livejournal.com 2003-12-01 01:16 pm (UTC)(link)
Thank you for sharing with us.

Heehee.. you're welcome. And thank you for coming along on my ride :)

(Anonymous) 2003-11-28 11:21 pm (UTC)(link)
Oh, no, "The End". I can't believe this is over! I'm going to really miss looking for updates. Congratulations on finishing your NaNoWriMo project, though.

This part was great, too, and I was so glad that people got to see Justin's drawings again. Because he was drawing so much, but couldn't really show them to anyone; and now his Reaper Family got to sort them out, and see his drawings of them and everyone else, and even keep some of them. Also love how Rube kept the funeral drawing - the one Brian had said Justin should draw - and had the rest shipped. And how Rube said Justin looked happy before he left.

Anyway. The whole story was excellent and I loved it. And Reaper!Justin. And everybody else - hey, whatever happened to Knox and Eric? Maybe you should write something about them wondering what had happened to Sean. Or something like that. Because that would be cool. And yes, I'm just trying to stop this from being over, though I loved the ending.

[identity profile] wrenlet.livejournal.com 2003-12-01 01:17 pm (UTC)(link)
hey, whatever happened to Knox and Eric?

Heheheh... "They lived happily ever after." :D No, sorry, no OC sequels. Thank you :)

(no subject)

[identity profile] hangebokhan.livejournal.com - 2007-11-08 03:59 (UTC) - Expand

[identity profile] brittcakes.livejournal.com 2003-11-29 05:35 pm (UTC)(link)
Fucking brilliant. Amazing. Gorgeous. Perfect. ETC. ETC.

I've loved every moment of this fic and I am so very proud of you.

[identity profile] wrenlet.livejournal.com 2003-12-01 01:24 pm (UTC)(link)
I've loved every moment of this fic and I am so very proud of you.

Thank you :)

[identity profile] aoibh.livejournal.com 2003-11-30 11:47 am (UTC)(link)
This is one of the best stories I have read in a long time. It really was beautiful, and something you are probably very proud of.

Congratulations on finishing your Nanowrimo project.

[identity profile] wrenlet.livejournal.com 2003-12-01 01:25 pm (UTC)(link)
It really was beautiful, and something you are probably very proud of.

I am, and thank you :)

[identity profile] runswithhorses.livejournal.com 2003-11-30 05:52 pm (UTC)(link)
I had to come back and reread.

Just gorgeous. I love it.

[identity profile] wrenlet.livejournal.com 2003-12-01 01:26 pm (UTC)(link)
Just gorgeous. I love it.

Thank you :)

[identity profile] rikkrp.livejournal.com 2003-12-01 08:35 am (UTC)(link)
You very much succeeded.

In a crossover that worked.

In an ending that wasn't too schmoopy but believable.

In breaking the fandom.

Um, very very very good. I enjoyed muchly.

[identity profile] wrenlet.livejournal.com 2003-12-01 01:28 pm (UTC)(link)
In an ending that wasn't too schmoopy but believable.

*beams* Thank you :)

[identity profile] xanphibian.livejournal.com 2003-12-03 11:18 pm (UTC)(link)
Oh! My! I ... didn't expect a happy ending!

Yay!

And wow, congrats on meeting your word count and finishing! Amazing job.

Happy! But it's over! So ... not as happy! Oh, man. I really shouldn't have read this all at once, my emotions are all over the place.

And yay!

*licks you*

[identity profile] wrenlet.livejournal.com 2003-12-04 09:24 pm (UTC)(link)
Heee! It's a hell of a ride all at once, is what I'm hearing ;) It was so cool to find your comments -- all of them! -- this morning. I'm glad you enjoyed it, sorry about Curt/Riley ;) and yes... if Sisabet didn't warn you, she really really should have: I'm totally evil.

(no subject)

[identity profile] xanphibian.livejournal.com - 2003-12-04 21:36 (UTC) - Expand
ext_22513: (Default)

Absotively, Posolutely Love This!

[identity profile] qafhappy.livejournal.com 2003-12-16 01:29 pm (UTC)(link)
Man, this was a GREAT cross-over fic. I really don't watch much TV except QAF, but did watch about 4 episodes of Dead Like Me and really loved it. You got Rube's voice down so well, congratulations.

I have to say, the next to last chapter actually made me cry... and that hasn't happened in forever! I mean, tears rolling uncontrollably down my face, the SO looking at me like I'm crazy....

Has to definitely be one of the best, definitely the most moving story I've read in a long time.

Any ideas of what you're going to do next?

Happy

Re: Absotively, Posolutely Love This!

[identity profile] wrenlet.livejournal.com 2003-12-25 01:39 pm (UTC)(link)
You got Rube's voice down so well, congratulations.

Thank you :) This is... really a tearjerker fic, isn't it? Not everybody cries, but a lot of people do. As for what's next, I never really know. I entered the SeSa and those get revealed tomorrow, and I posted a sweet, fluffy sequel to one of my earlier fics. My next long fic will probably either be... not to everyone's taste but not disturbing, or somewhat disturbing. Dunno yet :)

Wrenlet so rocks

[identity profile] greygallows.livejournal.com 2003-12-21 10:37 pm (UTC)(link)
You really like to kick the shit out of Justin and your faithful readers, don't ya? Pain feels so gooood. How about you write a happy one now? Brian and Justin get married and adopt a pregnant vampire bat who just so happens to be evil evil Ethan in disguise. Justin just so happens to find pregnant vampire bats named Ethan sexy and falls in love love love. Brian, realizing he doesn't deserve his little Sunshine, gives them his blessing and they all live happily ever after. The End. I know, I'm brilliant.

*running away while everyone throws rotten eggs*

Okay, I'm going to go burn my unpublished Polish drivel now.

Re: Wrenlet so rocks

[identity profile] wrenlet.livejournal.com 2003-12-25 01:41 pm (UTC)(link)
Heheh.. it's not so much that I like to hurt him, that's just where the fic went. I dunno, I suppose if I didn't like hurting him at all I'd have dropped this idea when it occurred to me. So there's that.

*cough* Uhm... pregnant vampire bats are a little out there even for me. But hey, feel free to write that one yourself ;)

Thank you :)

[identity profile] altricial.livejournal.com 2004-01-01 03:55 pm (UTC)(link)
Good god, you are amazing. I go die now.

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