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fandomweekly2016-02-26 01:50 pm
[004] This is Normal (The Raven Cycle)
Title: This is Normal
Fandom: The Raven Cycle
Rating/Warnings: N/A
Bonus: Yes
Word Count: 767
Summary: Gansey just wants something normal
It was hot in the car. Gansey, of course, was at the wheel, with Ronan in the front passenger seat. As usual, Blue was squeezed between Adam and Noah in the back seat. She was doubly glad for Noah’s presence. It was the evening after they’d reburied his bones at the ruined church, so she was enjoying having him as physically there as he’d ever been. Also, the chill of his skin was a welcome relief from the heat of the evening.
Blue didn’t know where they were going. She had just been expected to climb in and go along with the Raven Boys, as had become her habit of late. She really hoped they weren’t planning anything too dangerous; she wasn’t in the mood for mortal peril or anything too weird tonight. She briefly wondered if any of them would ever reach the point of sitting on the front porch, regaling their grandchildren with tales that started, “I was eighteen and foolish.” Based on the past few months, she’d be grateful for any of them actually reaching eighteen in the first place. It was no longer a possibility for Noah, after all.
Adam was quiet on her other side. They still had no idea what had really happened to him in the woods that night, and it was clear that he’d changed in some fundamental way. It was equally clear that wasn’t a topic for this evening, though.
Gansey was in an ebullient mood, singing along to the songs on the radio, and driving as if it wasn’t likely the Pig might stall or break down at any moment. Ronan, of course, was scowling. He’d been silent since they’d picked Blue up, and Blue got the impression some sort of argument was brewing.
Sure enough, after a few minutes of listening to Gansey’s singing, Ronan brought his hand sharply down against the dashboard.
“Okay, enough!” he cried. “Where the hell are we going, Gansey?”
But Gansey just grinned at him sideways. “I told you, it’s a surprise.”
Ronan swiveled in his chair to face the three in the back.
“Parrish,” he growled at Adam, “do you know what’s going on here?”
Adam gave him an enigmatic smile, and echoed, “Like Gansey said, it’s a surprise.” He was clearly enjoying Ronan’s discomfiture.
Ronan turned his predatory gaze on Noah, who instinctively shrank back into the upholstery. Blue grabbed his hand and squeezed it, willing him not to disappear. They had only just got him back, and she wasn’t about to let him go again.
Ronan was such a jerk, Blue often wondered why the others put up with him. But then she thought about how he had saved Adam from his father, and how sweet he was with the baby bird, Chainsaw, and she came to the conclusion that he was just as integral a part of the group as any of the others.
Eventually, Gansey turned the Pig into a familiar opening, and pulled to a stop.
“Gelato?” Ronan said, still managing to sound aggressive. “What the hell?”
Blue was surprised as well. They hadn’t been here since that first night they’d spent discussing plans, what seemed like half a lifetime ago.
Gansey turned to face Ronan. “Now that we’re all together again properly, and we have a bit of breathing space, I just wanted to do something normal for a change. It took enough persuasion to get Adam and Noah to agree to come along, so don’t make a fuss, Ronan.”
“So, why am I the last to know?” Ronan grumbled.
“Well, I wanted it to be a surprise,” Gansey said, suddenly looking a little uncertain, “because, in part, this is to celebrate you passing all your finals.”
Ronan huffed, his shoulders hunched.
Blue spoke up. “And you weren’t the last to know. Nobody told me we were coming here, either.” She threw a pointed glance Gansey’s way.
“Now, Jane,” he said, back in full President Cellphone mode, but clearly doing it deliberately just to annoy her. “I just didn’t want to give you the opportunity to refuse. It’s going to be my treat, after all, and you’re just going to have to go along with it.” He looked at each of them in turn, his eyes beseeching. “Can’t we just eat gelato and pretend we’re normal people, for one night?”
Of course they all agreed. None of them could refuse Gansey anything when he looked at them like that. There was going to be plenty of excitement and strangeness in the weeks to come. One night of teenage normality wasn’t too much to ask.
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