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pickledpascal · 5 days ago

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Hold Me Like Water

Chapter Seven: Fragile

Warnings: 2020 whump aka the virus, emotional talks, relationship in decline

Word Count: 2.2k

Hold Me Like Water Masterlist

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August 2020,

Quarantine was in full force. Thankfully, Maya was locked down with her family up in Canada. They knew to give her space but also when to give her things to do. However, she has been able to get some work done. Mostly voice roles. She’d lock herself in her room and record voice lines on her phone.

Other than that, it’s felt a little like her childhood again. Lots and lots of throwing snowballs at Sakari. They could go outside, their neighbors were half a mile away so they were a safe distance away. Maya’s father, Nick, has been teaching her to carve wood and antler so she’s been keeping herself busy with practicing that too.

The bad thing about being cooped up for so long is that she couldn’t see Hugh. Not in person. They would video call every so often. About once a week to check in with each other. Arlo would call too, with updates about films she was supposed to be filming for and to ask how she was doing. It was nice to know her agent cared about her well-being on top of her career. Though, Arlo was her friend first before they became her agent.

“So when are we going to meet Hugh?” Nick asked while cooking down some berries for a jam, stirring lightly.

Maya was helping her mother and Sakari put a previous batch of jam in jars. They were going to deliver them later to their neighbors. “I don’t know. He wants to visit but, obviously, he can’t right now.” She shrugged, screwing a lid closed as tightly as possible.

“Still can’t believe he worked with Baz Luhrmann. Australia was horrible.” Maya’s mother, Bea, sighed as she shook her head.

Since Maya had the time, she was going through Hugh’s filmography because she realized she hadn’t seen that much of his work beside the X-Men films and a handful of others. Seeing as she was staying with her parents, she invited them to watch his movies with her. Some were better than others.

They all had a lot of thoughts about the bad ones in particular. It had nothing to do with Hugh ever, his performance was always good no matter what. Knowing him, though, Maya would never repeat any of these things to his face. He didn’t like reading reviews, even if they were good ones.

Sakari piped up, “I can. They’re both Australian. Aussies love working with Aussies as I’m sure Maya would love working with an Inuit,” She poured jam in a jar while Maya nodded. “What I can’t get over is Nicole Kidman’s performance. So over the top.”

“Because it’s a Baz Luhrmann movie.” Maya added. She glanced back at where her father was on the stove.

“Still! She just—” Sakari recreated a few of her exaggerated huffs and moans. She wasn’t looking and nearly dropped one of the jars. Maya caught it so it didn’t shatter on the floor. “Oops, sorry.” She laughed.

Maya nudged Sakari's shoulder with hers and laughed softly. “Be a bit more careful, hm?” She winked. She looked over Nick's shoulder to check how the berries were doing.

After all the jars were filled and capped, they each delivered a few to their neighbors. They saved a few for themselves as well. Maya set two jars on a porch, they clinked together slightly as she put them down. She knocked on the door and then pressed on the doorbell before she left to do the same thing to the next neighbor. She had a bag full of jars as did Bea and Sakari.

When she finally came back home, her father had started a fire. She went up to him and kissed his cheek in thanks as she removed her beanie. She sat in front of the fireplace on the rug and warmed her hands.

“Is it just me or is it colder?” Sakari let out a puff of air when she walked through the door.

Bea rolled her eyes as she prepared some hot tea. “You're just used to New York winters now.”

“Oh, god, I'm turning white.” Sakari said in a fake-scared tone. “Next thing you know, my favorite food is gonna be poutine!” Maya laughed, shaking her head at her sister's antics.

After they all warmed up again, Maya went to her room and shed her jacket. She sipped on her tea, checking the time in Australia. It would be morning down there. She pursed her lips as she sat at her desk. Maybe it was too early in the morning for her to call Hugh? He was probably just waking up. She always had this debate in her head.

She set her phone down on the surface in front of her and then separated her hair to braid it. Even if it was her own hands, getting her hair braided always made her relax. Once she put her hair into two braids, she pushed them so they fell against her shoulders and took another sip of her tea.

She always called him anyway. If he didn't answer, he would always call back when he could. She just didn't want to bother him. Especially now with everything happening… Maybe he wanted to spend more time with his family and this was the only way he could do it. Maybe he wanted some peace and quiet away from the job. Maybe he wanted the world to stop caring about him for a while. Maya wasn't sure. These were strange times.

She set up her phone against some books as she pressed the call button. She brought her knees up to her chest, feet planted in the chair.

Hugh answered after a few rings, a light, tired smile on his face. He was in the office. It was the only private place in his house, away from his kids and Deb. “G’morning, or, uh, afternoon.” He chuckled. “I almost didn't think you were gonna call today.”

“Well, since we've been home, my dad has been putting us to work,” Maya shrugged, taking another sip of her tea. “Today we delivered homemade jam around the village.”

Hugh sighed wistfully. “That sounds delicious.” He grabbed a mug, taking a sip from it. Presumably coffee.

“You have anything planned today?” Maya asked. She set her mug down and hugged one of her legs to her chest.

“I want to read one of the books you recommended me. The poetry book by Natalie Diaz,” Hugh ran a hand through his hair, “But, I don’t know—Deb always does something. She hates doing nothing. And, well, I like doing nothing.” He chuckled dryly.

Maya frowned slightly, pursing her lips. Hugh thought he was boring because he always compared himself to Deb and the fact that she could ‘have fun in a paper bag’ as he’d say. “You just have lower energy when you’re in private and she has higher energy. I don’t think that’s a bad thing.” She reasoned gently.

“Yeah but it was fun at the beginning of all this, now it’s just a bit too tiring.” Hugh ran a hand up his face, letting out a breath.

Maya had never seen Hugh so—sad wasn’t the right word. Upset? Tired? No, he was exhausted. “Look, this won’t last forever. It’s just because you’re trapped together. You’ve never experienced anything like this before, most people haven’t. It’ll get better once this all goes away. You just have to wait it out.” She sympathized with him.

Although Hugh loved Deb deeply and tried to bring her nearly everywhere he went, he was as free as a bird. He’d fly from place to place and be totally fine with performing the next day. Under quarantine laws, he was caged and he hated it. He had nothing to keep himself busy. Nothing quite satisfied him like acting.

Seeing him more vulnerable was a sight, though. To Maya, even when he talked about his feelings or heavier topics, he seemed so put together and like he knew what he wanted to say and the exact way he was going to say it. Now, he stumbled over his words.

She was glad he trusted her with this—his grievances, his worries, his hopes, what was in his brain and what was in his heart. She wasn’t sure if he relayed all this to Ryan but it still made her feel like she was important in Hugh’s life.

“I hope you’re right.” He murmured, glancing down at something off-screen before he focused on Maya again. A soft, genuine smile appeared on his lips when he looked at her. “You do anything else today?”

Maya ran her hand up and down her shin absentmindedly, thinking for a few seconds. “Well, this morning we gathered berries for the jam. It hasn’t snowed here yet so it wasn’t too bad getting enough for the village.” She hummed.

Nunavut wasn’t as populated as the southern provinces so they could go places without running into people. Her family always brought masks just in case. They were always careful.

“Damn, I wish I could do something like that here.” Hugh laughed softly.

“I’m lucky my village doesn’t fucking care how famous I am. I can’t imagine the amount of pictures that would be taken if you went berry picking down under.” Maya laughed along with him.

The paps loved Hugh, especially in his home country. They never left him alone. Maya wondered if they secretly put a tracker on him and he just didn’t know. She wouldn’t put it past them. The amount of beach pictures he’s had taken of him… She wondered how they never got tired of it. Hugh was never doing anything scandalous in public unlike some other celebrities.

He shook his head, “I try not to even focus on that stuff anymore. Pictures are going to be taken of me no matter where I go.” Hugh scratched against his neck.

“I guess, yeah.” Maya pursed her lips into a thin line.

Even after six years, she was not used to it nearly as much as he was. To be fair, he’d been in the spotlight for a little over twenty years. He had more time to accept a lack of privacy.

“No new pictures because of quarantine, though.” Maya joked softly. “A win is a win.”

Hugh chuckled. “I suppose so. However will the gossip magazines survive?”

“Who knows and who cares?” Maya hummed, rolling her eyes.

Maybe her sister was rubbing off on her a little bit. Although they lived together back in New York, Sakari was always out of the apartment doing something. Maya didn’t always ask. So now that they were forced to be inside, she might’ve been picking up a few things from Sakari��s personality.

Maya and Hugh talked until the sun went down. She filled him in on the week she had since they last called and he did the same, though he was much more interested in hearing her talk about herself.

“You really do have a beautiful voice.” Hugh hummed as he pressed his face against his hand. His coffee had gone cold. Her tea did too.

Maya flushed slightly at the compliment. “Well, I—Thanks.”

“Oscar was playing whatever game you’re in—”

“God of War?”

“Yes! I was listening to the game and you really do have the voice of a goddess. It has an ethereal quality to it. It’s so soothing yet you can make it cut like a knife.” Hugh scratched at his eyebrow as he leaned back into his chair. “I don’t know how you do it.”

Maya shrugged, “Blame the voice coach.”

“I wish you would take credit for something for once.” Hugh pushed softly.

“I wish you would too.” Maya pushed back, “You really hate taking compliments.”

Hugh chuckled nervously, knowing he was caught. Compliments always made him shy as well. Much like her, he believed filmmaking was a group effort. Even if he gave a stellar performance, it was on the cinematographer to frame it correctly, on the editor to make sure they could hear his dialogue, all these little things that came together which could make him stand out.

Maya looked out the window, realizing it was dark. “Anyway, I think I’ve talked your ear off for today.”

“You know I always have time for you, darling.” Hugh said sincerely.

“Mm, maybe but it’s night now.” Maya chuckled. “And I’d like to get some sleep.”

Hugh breathed then nodded. “That’s a good excuse.” Sometimes he forgot they were sixteen hours away. He blew a kiss to the camera. “Goodnight. Love you.”

“Love you too.” Maya waved before she ended the call.

She ran a hand up her face, rubbing at her eyes. Without Hugh in front of her, she could feel the tiredness seep into her all the sudden. She changed for bed and got under the covers.

She really hoped everything would work out for Hugh. He seemed so terminally exhausted that it made her heart ache…

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