Post by Orca on Jun 8, 2007 10:19:58 GMT -5
Disclaimer: All canon Cars content is © Disney/Pixar. Song/lyrics are © Kevin Sharp, Joseph Richards, and Don Dubose. All original content is © Orca.
Description: This was inspired by Insane Pirate Dragon's songfic Wake Me. Shawn is the only character I've written a pretty solid background story for, so I thought I'd whip up something explaining why he is so intent on living a bachelor's life. It takes place around mid 2008, about a year after he begins visiting RS on a regular basis; on some quiet night, he laments about his old friend, Olivia Norfolks.
I apologize in advance if this isn't that well done, and given how short it turned out, it probably isn't. It's my first attempt at this kind of writing, both as a songfic and an angst/romance. Click title for MP3 of song.
That latest visit home hadn't done him any favors. In the same instance, he found himself wondering why he was letting this notion bother him at all. As far as he was concerned, he had spoken to everyone that mattered to him in the slightest. Nora was quite content with retirement. Sergeant Wolcott was still sober, and if nothing he was getting more senile with each year that ticked by. By chance, Marica had been there, and for one rare encounter her two small boys got to spend some quality time with "Uncle Mav."
All things considered, it had been a pleasant visitation. Taking the time to hunt her down would have only ruined the rest of the experience.
In her younger years, Nora hadn't been the gossipy sort. She was too regal for that nonsense, as he liked to put it. But nowadays she seemed to have adopted hearsay as her new middle name. He liked to imagine it was by default that one of their conversations had eventually turned toward her.
Developed over many years of practice, he had become skilled at keeping a blank face in the event of touchy subjects. He had, in a way, been forced to sit there and listen to all that was good that had happened to the GTX over the last decade. Even after all this time he had managed to fool his closest family. Nora hadn't known better at the beginning, and apparently she still didn't.
Good.
Or was it?
He still remembered the day the news had been broken to him. What year was it, '02? Indy had seen more than its fair share of snow that winter. It had been two days after his arrival. She had paid a visit to the Kleinsworth homestead; specifically, she said, because he had come home for the holidays. After a little practice, reading the signs had come back to him rather quickly. She had done well for herself. A home on the north side of town, a steady job at a big-time law firm. She had always been partial to playing gofer, and given her limitations, her boss understood. After six years, she was the most competent secretary there and showed no signs of quitting.
Then came the news he had started to suspect, but had hoped would not be coming.
He had put on a face then, too. He had acted as if he was happy for her, offered congratulations to him when he was finally invited in to meet the family.
Now, he sometimes wondered if she had ever noticed the hurt. Surely it had shown through somewhere.
Or maybe it hadn't.
Recounting every little detail led him to question his own behavior. Why did he keep coming back here, then? He had done the math. Over eighty percent of the town's population was paired or on its way to being so. More than once he had caught himself watching, from a distance, any one pair of lovebirds at the diner, simply enjoying one another's company. Now he knew what that feeling was called.
Envy.
Of all places, why was Radiator Springs so alluring? The people here were more like acquaintances than friends.
He had the answer. That was more than he had any other place in the country.
Or maybe he came back just to wallow in his own misery. He was just as alone here as he was in Indy, or anywhere else for that matter.
In retrospect, it made sense, and he supposed he couldn't blame her entirely. Letters could only do so much after a while. If he hadn't been so wrapped up with his own ambitions, perhaps he would have had the drive to go back and tell her the truth. That he had been stupid enough not to see how she had felt about him, that he had been blind to the fact their relationship had reached a point above that that measured them as friends. After so much time, why hadn't he seen that?
Hindsight was always perfect.
Painfully so.
That chance was long gone. He could go back and confess. It just wouldn't do anything now. She had a life of her own, and he had to come to terms with the fact he wasn't going to be that part of it. He had done what he had wanted as an aged teenager. He had made her believe, beyond all reasonable doubt, that they were friends and would never be anything more than that.
How foolish of him.
He supposed he would get over it. Like everything else, it would take time. Instead of letting it consume him, maybe he would see sense and just let it go. For all he knew, it was a fact of life; it could be something meant to happen to freaks like him. His sense of affection, his sense of expressing attraction, was just as screwed up as anything under his hood.
It would take time to accept that.
He still had the memories, and they were some of his best. He could visit them in his sleep, visit her.
He had something.
The best part?
Nothing could take those away.
Comments and constructive critique are welcome.
Description: This was inspired by Insane Pirate Dragon's songfic Wake Me. Shawn is the only character I've written a pretty solid background story for, so I thought I'd whip up something explaining why he is so intent on living a bachelor's life. It takes place around mid 2008, about a year after he begins visiting RS on a regular basis; on some quiet night, he laments about his old friend, Olivia Norfolks.
I apologize in advance if this isn't that well done, and given how short it turned out, it probably isn't. It's my first attempt at this kind of writing, both as a songfic and an angst/romance. Click title for MP3 of song.
"Nobody Knows"
by Orca
by Orca
That latest visit home hadn't done him any favors. In the same instance, he found himself wondering why he was letting this notion bother him at all. As far as he was concerned, he had spoken to everyone that mattered to him in the slightest. Nora was quite content with retirement. Sergeant Wolcott was still sober, and if nothing he was getting more senile with each year that ticked by. By chance, Marica had been there, and for one rare encounter her two small boys got to spend some quality time with "Uncle Mav."
All things considered, it had been a pleasant visitation. Taking the time to hunt her down would have only ruined the rest of the experience.
I pretend that I'm glad you went away
But these four walls close in more every day
And I'm dying inside and nobody knows it
But me
But these four walls close in more every day
And I'm dying inside and nobody knows it
But me
In her younger years, Nora hadn't been the gossipy sort. She was too regal for that nonsense, as he liked to put it. But nowadays she seemed to have adopted hearsay as her new middle name. He liked to imagine it was by default that one of their conversations had eventually turned toward her.
Developed over many years of practice, he had become skilled at keeping a blank face in the event of touchy subjects. He had, in a way, been forced to sit there and listen to all that was good that had happened to the GTX over the last decade. Even after all this time he had managed to fool his closest family. Nora hadn't known better at the beginning, and apparently she still didn't.
Good.
Or was it?
Like a clown I put on a show
The pain is real even if nobody knows
And I'm crying inside and nobody knows it
But me
The pain is real even if nobody knows
And I'm crying inside and nobody knows it
But me
He still remembered the day the news had been broken to him. What year was it, '02? Indy had seen more than its fair share of snow that winter. It had been two days after his arrival. She had paid a visit to the Kleinsworth homestead; specifically, she said, because he had come home for the holidays. After a little practice, reading the signs had come back to him rather quickly. She had done well for herself. A home on the north side of town, a steady job at a big-time law firm. She had always been partial to playing gofer, and given her limitations, her boss understood. After six years, she was the most competent secretary there and showed no signs of quitting.
Then came the news he had started to suspect, but had hoped would not be coming.
He had put on a face then, too. He had acted as if he was happy for her, offered congratulations to him when he was finally invited in to meet the family.
Now, he sometimes wondered if she had ever noticed the hurt. Surely it had shown through somewhere.
Or maybe it hadn't.
Why didn't I say the things I needed to say
How could I let my angel get away
Now my world is tumblin' down
I can see it so clearly but you're nowhere around
How could I let my angel get away
Now my world is tumblin' down
I can see it so clearly but you're nowhere around
Recounting every little detail led him to question his own behavior. Why did he keep coming back here, then? He had done the math. Over eighty percent of the town's population was paired or on its way to being so. More than once he had caught himself watching, from a distance, any one pair of lovebirds at the diner, simply enjoying one another's company. Now he knew what that feeling was called.
Envy.
Of all places, why was Radiator Springs so alluring? The people here were more like acquaintances than friends.
He had the answer. That was more than he had any other place in the country.
Or maybe he came back just to wallow in his own misery. He was just as alone here as he was in Indy, or anywhere else for that matter.
The nights are lonely, the days are so sad
And I just keep thinkin' about the love that we had
And I'm missing you and nobody knows it but me
And I just keep thinkin' about the love that we had
And I'm missing you and nobody knows it but me
In retrospect, it made sense, and he supposed he couldn't blame her entirely. Letters could only do so much after a while. If he hadn't been so wrapped up with his own ambitions, perhaps he would have had the drive to go back and tell her the truth. That he had been stupid enough not to see how she had felt about him, that he had been blind to the fact their relationship had reached a point above that that measured them as friends. After so much time, why hadn't he seen that?
Hindsight was always perfect.
Painfully so.
How blue can I get, you could ask my heart
Just like a jigsaw puzzle it's been torn all apart
A million words couldn't say just how I feel
A million years from now, you know, I'll be loving you still
Just like a jigsaw puzzle it's been torn all apart
A million words couldn't say just how I feel
A million years from now, you know, I'll be loving you still
That chance was long gone. He could go back and confess. It just wouldn't do anything now. She had a life of her own, and he had to come to terms with the fact he wasn't going to be that part of it. He had done what he had wanted as an aged teenager. He had made her believe, beyond all reasonable doubt, that they were friends and would never be anything more than that.
How foolish of him.
The nights are lonely, the days are so sad
And I just keep thinkin' about the love that we had
And I'm missing you and nobody knows it but me
And I just keep thinkin' about the love that we had
And I'm missing you and nobody knows it but me
He supposed he would get over it. Like everything else, it would take time. Instead of letting it consume him, maybe he would see sense and just let it go. For all he knew, it was a fact of life; it could be something meant to happen to freaks like him. His sense of affection, his sense of expressing attraction, was just as screwed up as anything under his hood.
It would take time to accept that.
The nights are lonely, the days are so sad
And I just keep thinkin' about the love that we had
And I'm missing you and nobody knows it but me
And I just keep thinkin' about the love that we had
And I'm missing you and nobody knows it but me
He still had the memories, and they were some of his best. He could visit them in his sleep, visit her.
He had something.
The best part?
Nothing could take those away.
Comments and constructive critique are welcome.
