hasperkynipples: * mary, + text (which then turned into)
Dean Winchester ([personal profile] hasperkynipples) wrote2014-03-18 01:55 pm

civil war au } { meddling mothers

Her son received a letter from a woman.

Not that the idea of Dean having female suitors is unheard of in the Winchester household, but before the war they weren't particularly ones to write. After the war - well, they were almost non-existent. Mary isn't one to deny the fact that her son came home different, a little bit colder but still gentle in the ways that mattered. He grew up in his time away and while the things he's seen were likely not pleasant, he isn't letting them mar him. At least, not in ways that she can see.

All the same, the letter from a woman, a Miss Christine Chapel, finds its way to their front door, and the inherent curiosity gets the better of her. She informs him of the letter, lets him read it, and waits for him to do something in response. In fact, she waits an entire week, and when he doesn't give her a return letter to put through the post, she takes matters into her own hands.

John will probably scold her for it later, but she also saw the look on her son's face when he read it. This meddling is worth doing.

It's takes some time for mail to travel, so much so that she almost completely forgot about the invitation she extended this "Christine Chapel." So when the blond woman appears at their doorstep while she's tending to the flowers in front of their home, she can't help but blink at her in surprise.

"Can I help you?"
hypospraying: (worried ○ not feeling well)

[personal profile] hypospraying 2014-08-10 07:23 pm (UTC)(link)
Though she's sitting stiffly and still appears nervous, she takes the reins and nods. The idea of falling off and hitting her head has her knuckles white around the reins. Hopefully the mare doesn't take off.

"And you will be right beside me?"
hypospraying: (calm ○ sure i'll take a look)

[personal profile] hypospraying 2014-08-12 02:56 am (UTC)(link)
"Good. Holding you to that." She smiles a little, a bit of her unease lifting away knowing he'll be close by. That doesn't mean her grip on the reins loosens any, but at least she's holding them in a way that's not yanking at the bit in the mare's mouth.

"I'm ready whenever you are."
hypospraying: (scared ○ slice through your heart)

[personal profile] hypospraying 2014-08-16 11:04 pm (UTC)(link)
Christine's eyes widen as the horse begins to move. It's somehow much different than riding in a carriage. With each leg moving forward, she can feel the horse's muscles move, and she lifts and dips slightly along with it. She feels like at any moment the jostling will cause her to slide right off and all she can do is grip tight to the reins and hope that won't happen.

She's even afraid to speak, in case it spooks the horse. She probably looks a sight, eyes wide as saucers and gripping the reins up near her chest.
hypospraying: (serious ○ we can do this)

[personal profile] hypospraying 2014-08-17 12:23 am (UTC)(link)
She exhales slowly, eyes darting over to him. She feels quite foolish at her behavior, but she hadn't expected to act this way before getting on.

"I am trying, but I fear I'll fall right off. She's never thrown anyone, has she?"
hypospraying: (think ○ calculating the survival rate)

[personal profile] hypospraying 2014-08-17 05:23 pm (UTC)(link)
"All right." She certainly isn't planning on being mean. So she focuses on how the horse moves and makes her own muscles react so that she doesn't feel like each step is about to make her fall off. Eventually her hands lower, holding the reins at a more comfortable angle.

She doesn't look like a confident horsewoman, but she looks less terrified. It's a start.
hypospraying: (smile ○ all pink and gold)

[personal profile] hypospraying 2014-08-18 12:41 am (UTC)(link)
When he moves faster, she's left with either falling behind or keeping up, so she gently nudges Impala in the side.

"Let's go, please," she says, her voice sounding less than confident. Impala doesn't even seem to notice the nudge, and Christine blows out a frustrated breath. Again she presses her foot to the horse's side. "Come on," she encourages her, and the horse finally walks a little faster, moving to catch up with Dean's horse. Christine can't help but smile proudly. It worked!
hypospraying: (pleased ○ the center of our gravity)

[personal profile] hypospraying 2014-08-18 12:59 am (UTC)(link)
"You were right," she replies, feeling better about the whole thing. The horse listening to her has really put her at ease, and now she doesn't feel like any second she'll be thrown.

"Your farm is beautiful. So peaceful."
hypospraying: (concern ○ things aren't perfect)

[personal profile] hypospraying 2014-08-18 02:35 am (UTC)(link)
"Oh, Dean," she says, before checking herself for her reaction. She looks down at her lap for a moment, collecting herself. "Did you see many battles?"
hypospraying: (concern ○ from this valley)

[personal profile] hypospraying 2014-08-25 02:37 am (UTC)(link)
"Indeed they are." Such a terrible part of war, and the part that grabs people's notice first. There's the marching, looting, starving part of it too. There's the politics and parades -- the parts she'd heard about and seen from her house in New Orleans. But it's the former that she learned about after joining them and witnessing it all firsthand.

"The medical tents were at the rear of the line," she says suddenly, before she can think better of it. "Sometimes the battles were so close that bullets would pierce the canvas. One time a patient was struck even as he waited for the doctor to see him. And one night--" She pauses, taking a moment to swallow. "One night I was sitting by the fire and I noticed what I thought was dirt on my skirt. But when I examined it, I found it was a bullet hole."

Christine hasn't thought about that day in a long time. She knew the dangers, but to see the evidence right there, to know how close she was to taking a bullet to the leg, well, she was rattled for a long time afterward. Yet she still stayed on, nursing the men back to health.

"I couldn't turn tail and leave when the men I was tending to had to feel those bullets. I was lucky."
hypospraying: (content ○ my father's father)

[personal profile] hypospraying 2014-09-08 10:52 pm (UTC)(link)
She exhales a slow breath, lifting her eyes to meet his where she gives a slight smile of remembrance.

"I often hoped that your wound caused you no lasting trouble. Sometimes men don't heal as they should."
hypospraying: (smug ○ i was a daughter)

[personal profile] hypospraying 2014-09-23 07:06 pm (UTC)(link)
His being charming has never escaped her notice and she feels that fluttering sensation in her stomach again. It's bittersweet, she feels, because he lives here and she lives in Arkansas. This visit is a once in a lifetime opportunity, but right now she wishes it wasn't. She wishes she could stay.

But a person can't make things happen on wishes alone. She knows this. Reality comes crashing down on her again as she looks out over the land, knowing she's only a visitor, not a resident. A small part of her, deep down, wants to be the latter. She wants to be asked to stay.

"I wouldn't have stood for anything less than excellent. Not for anybody, but especially not for you." The fluttering in her stomach increases, but she turns her head to look back at him. "I had to make sure you made it home. To your family, and your farm, and your mother making you pie." She remembers well asking him his favorite food and him saying it was pie.
hypospraying: (concern ○ from this valley)

[personal profile] hypospraying 2014-09-29 02:43 am (UTC)(link)
Oft times the simplest way is the best way, but Christine doesn't have the courage to say what's in her heart. It would be rude to ask to stay and it would be heartbreaking if she told him what she's feeling and he laughs at her, or simply doesn't feel it too.

"Sometimes these things don't need words," she responds. "It's all right, though. I know."
hypospraying: (smile ○ now at last)

[personal profile] hypospraying 2014-10-04 04:44 am (UTC)(link)
Christine has a harder time turning her horse, but after a moment, the horse realizes she means it and obediently turns around.

"It's perfect. Like a dream. But not a land of fairy tales or anything like that. Just a good dream."

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