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thesleepyfable · 2 months ago

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~ SWTD: Still Here AU Part 15: ~

You're Home:

Who's ready to meet the Muirs? This is the longest arc. I'm calling it 'Farming and Family.' If this was ever a book, yes, someone said I should publish it like Portal's Blue Sky, then these chapters would be the first novel. Also, yes, I did write this alongside all of the Operation Spy mini-arc. Next chapter might not be out till next week because of this.

Part 16:

Fiona Muir wasn't alarmed when she heard the roaring of trucks from the kitchen window. Sometimes deliveries can be made in the evening. Farming wasn't exactly a job where you could stick to a time schedule. But, when the headlights began to meet her eyes, she frowned. Her mind began to race. Were they expecting a delivery? Did Angus not tell her? Perhaps they were lost?

Then she saw the logo on the side. Cadal. Her heart sank, and her mind began to race further. She turned the tap off. She didn't notice everyone else in the house had the same reaction and began to hover. Fiona didn't wait or listen. Something in her gut told her this wasn't good. She marched to the front door, swung her oversized brown cardigan on, slipped into her muddy wellington boots, and opened the door.

'Fiona, where are you going?' her husband Logan called. She ignored him.

'Ma, wait,' her eldest Angus called. She ignored him.

'Ma,' her youngest Harris called. She ignored him.

Fiona might be a woman in her early sixties, but she still had the mental and physical energy of someone in her forties. Farming will either make you or break you. For the Muir's, it was never the latter.

Her boots crunched under the freshly layered snow. The passenger door opened, and O'Connor, Roy, and Caz jumped out. The driver kept the engine running, both for heat and to prevent it icing over. Roy, feeling like he hadn't done anything to contribute other than hide and do stock intake, took it upon himself to explain the very normalised situation. At least to everyone else on the property. They're all prepared for the reaction and it's outcomes. Caz and O'Connor went to open the van door. Roy felt like he was delivering news of Muir's death.

'Are you Fiona Muir?'

'Yes.' She took a laboured breath. 'Is this about Ewan?'

Roy nodded. Fiona's face dropped. He was quick to react. 'He's fine - don't worry - but he's - well, he's different.'

'Was it an accident?'

'Yes.' Fiona covered her mouth in shock. Her mind instantly came up with wild theories. How can Ewan even be okay if there was an accident? 'I'm sorry, but it's best you see for yourself.' The rest of the family, apart from Muir's nephew who was alseep in his crib, appeared on the doorstep. Roy noticed and made eye contact with them. 'You all can, but I must warn you, this will be a bit of a shock.'

'Well, where is-'

'I'm here, ma.' Muir's voice was weak. Shy. The usual playfulness was full of dread. It wasn't until they got into the drive that the excitement of going home became one of nerves. He was shaking, and not because of the cold. Not even Innes' touch could help. He had to let go, retreating the tendril Innes now knew every crease and line of. 'Just...Just don't scream, eh?'

The truck swung side to side, and everyone waited with baited breath. Muir's family approached, believing Ewan was going to be wheeled out on a hospital bed with 3rd degree burns or a broken bone. Why he didn't come home in an ambulance was something that didn't cross their minds. Then they saw him. His mum, dad, two brothers, their wives, and his two nieces saw what Muir had become. He towered over them, yet he felt so small. Like a toddler who's been caught drawing over the freshly painted living room walls. He couldn't look them in the eye. He felt their hearts sink and then race. What hurt was seeing Angus lightly push his nieces behind him. Muir hung his head low, as if this was all his fault.

'H-Hey, everyone. I...' What do you even say? 'I hope you had a good Christmas.' A light whimper escaped his mostly melted lips. 'I'm sorry I didn't rin-'

'Ewan?' Fiona stepped forward and gently cupped her sons face, slowly forcing him to look at her. She held back a gasp when she noticed all of his eyes moved to look at her. She began to study her middle child. From the bubbled flesh to the exposed ribs that kept his upper body from toppling over. Then she noticed his intestines hanging out. That got her to let out a deflated breath. 'I don't know where to look.' Muir's eyes filled with tears. Oddly enough, until now, he was content with his new body. He never felt ashamed, but hearing those words crushed him. He lowered his head again and silently cried. Fiona quickly knelt down to keep in his eyeline.

'Oh, baby, I'm sorry.' It was genuine. Quick to correct her mistake. 'Please forgive me. I just don't-' No. No excuses. She cried with him. 'We can fix this.'

'No, you can't,' he mumbled. 'I'm stuck like this forever.' Oh, how those words were a knife to her heart, but she was a Muir. And Muirs don't break.

'Then we'll be with you every step of the way.' With one hand, Fiona stroked Muir's arm and wiped his tears with the other. 'Please don't cry. You're home.'

Logan approached and patted Muir on the side of what should have been his shoulder. He knelt down beside his wife and pulled him into a hug. 'You're my son. How can I ever stop loving you?'

'You don't find me repulsive?'

'Well, you never were the handsome one,' Harris joked, causing his wife, Moira, to lightly smack him on the arm. Muir stifled a small laugh as his worries began to leave his mind. Why would he ever think his family would reject him? They hugged Muir as he cried. He wrapped a tendril around them all in return.

Caz turned to Roy, who was crying at the sight. 'Alright, Roy?'

'Y-Yeah.' He sniffed loudly, completely killing the moment. 'Just being silly.' But he wasn't alone. O'Connor and Raffs shed a few tears, and even the driver he sat besides was openly bawling. Whilst the family had their moment, Brodie opened the second truck for Gibbo and Addair. Innes led Rennick outside, and Trots used his tendrils to not land flat on his face in the inch thick snow and slush. Getting into the truck without legs was easier than getting out. Bonnie, Muir's eldest niece from his older brother Angus, noticed them and gasped loudly.

'Mummy. Daddy!' She pulled on their sleeves, trying to pull them away as she slipped under Muir's tendril. Bonnie was the eldest, but that doesn't mean much when you're only seven. 'There's more! There's more!' She pointed at Addair, who awkwardly froze and glanced between her and her parents before giving a small wave. Now, the initial shock just became confusion.

Muir pulled away and turned for his family to see everyone. 'Ah, so, everyone.' He wiped his tears and put on a smile. 'These are me work mates.' Yes, even Rennick and Addair, who looked surprised. 'I was hoping they could stay here. Please?' He sounded like a teenager begging for his friend to sleep over on a school night, rather than a thirty-five year old man. 'They can't go back to the cities, and they can help. What about the old barn? We can all fit and-'

'Ewan.' Logan interpreted, noticing his son began to talk too fast. 'They can stay. I'm not gonna leave you lot out in the cold. But, yes, we'll need all the help we can get. After some names, though.'

'Thank you, dad.' Muir turned and gestured for the group to approach whilst he easily stepped over his family, with his back now facing the house. 'Everyone, this is me ma and pa. Fiona and Logan. Big brother Agnus. Little shit brother 'arris.'

'Ewan, stop swearing in front of-'

'Lily, wife of Angus and Moira.' Yes, Moira Muir. 'Wife of 'arris. Bonnie and-' Muir stopped and knelt down to reach his second nieces' eyes. 'I'm sorry, I always forget your name.' An obvious joke. The girl puffed out her chest and bellowed.

'I'm Amber Night. Queen on the Universe!' Grace. Her name is Grace. She's five. Roy held back a laugh. Rennick tried not to react to the ear-piercing screams from a little girl. He's just been sleeping for the past 3 hours. He didn't need that as an alarm.

'And my nephew upstairs is Oliver.'

'Quiet the family, then?' Caz joked. Being a single child, he's never known or understood what it's like to have so many relatives. Two daughters and a wife just felt right for him. 'Pleasure to meet you.' He shook Logan and then Fiona's hands. 'We'll try and,' he let out a single chuckle. 'Answer any questions you might have.'

'Oh! Oh!' Grace yelled as she jumped up and down to get everyone's attention as she held Moira and Bonnie's hand. 'Uncle Ewan. Why are you a crab?'

'Grace!' Moira snapped. 'Don't be rude.'

'No, it's fine, Moira.' Because Muir was quick to think of an explanation a child could understand. He grinned. 'You see. I've been cursed.' Cue the dramatics. 'Cursed by the sea for stirring its waters. But, you know what's worse?'

'What?'

'I must feed. And do you know what on?'

'What?'

Muir leaned in close. Three tendrils from each side of his body sprouted and slowly reached for them. 'Children.' Cue the girls running, and Muir giving chase across the 5 acres of snowy garden before reaching the fields, laughing like a sterotypical villain from a children's show. 'You can't escape me!' Well, they're happy to have their favourite uncle back.

Caz's eyes matched Angus, and he noticed that star-struck look in his eye. Yep. Another fan. 'Wait. You're Caz McLeary.' Rennick, who was rolling his eyes to the moon and back, was right. He really was the height of shite on shore. He didn't give Caz time to answer. 'Okay. Wow. I wondered what happened to you after you retired.'

'Eh. It just felt right. Met me wife, and I could feel me body telling me to stop.' Suze. 'Oh, do you have a phone we can borrow?'

'Of course.' He turned to Logan. 'Dad.' He turned to Angus. 'I'll take who I can inside. You set Ewan and his friends up with the barn.'

The barn sat just after the cattle guard that joined the field to the garden. Logan led the infected and Innes, who should be there for Muir, but he was still too busy playing pretend with his nieces. Currently, he hung Bonnie by her ankle above his head, pretending he was going to eat her alive. Grace tapped his leg with a makeshift stick she used as a sword to save her cousin. He lightly dropped Bonnie into the snow and acted as if they had found his weak spot. Now, he was the one being chased, begging for mercy.

'So, let me get this straight.' Logan opened the barn doors, where they were greeted to stacks of hay and several barn cats. Rennick's eyes widened because that man adored cats, but he didn't want anyone to know. He lingered at the back, but he could see a couple of calico kittens as clear as day. Whatever conversation was happening around completely went in one non-existent ear and out the other. 'You drilled into something living in the oil?'

'That's the gist of it,' Addair replied. 'We came into contact with it, so we look like this now.'

'But, it suddenly died,' Trots continued.

Logan raised a brow. 'Just like that?'

'Just like that. It came from the sea, so maybe it couldn't breathe?' Trots didn't know, and he didn't care. 'It turned to dust before we could ask it anything.'

'Well, I'm sorry for what you blokes have gone through. Now,' Logan banged the door and went inside. 'We'll bring blankets. Give ye a tour if you want. Watch out for the barn cats. They hide in here most days.' Not that Rennick minded. 'It's early for bed, so please, come and sit with us. Got a lot to talk about.'

'You're too kind, Logan,' Gibbo's warm smile dropped when he heard Muir drop into the snow besides him. By now, everyone else had gone inside. He turned and saw his co-worker reaching out with a look of pain. Bonnie and Grace had somehow managed to get onto his back, where they began to tickle him. He wasn't ticklish but anything for his nieces' playtime.

'Gib...bo...Avenge me...'

Gibbo raised a brow, smiled, and turned away. 'Keep up the good work, girls.' And with that, he walked inside, leaving him to his fate.

Gently, Muir hoisted his nieces up, rolled onto his back, and set the girls down on his chest. They hugged what they could of him. Muir smiled and looked up at the clear night sky. The waning crescent moon shone brightly, and Muir's mind was at peace with himself. Despite everything that's happened to him, from the pain of transforming and losing himself to The Shape, to finally being one with Innes, he felt better than he had in months. Of course, he didn't know what was coming next, but he was ready because Ewan Derek Muir was finally home.

#Still Wakes the Deep #Still Wakes the Deep: Still Here AU #My Writing

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