Work Text:
Shipment
Demons
Flower
Death
Brain
Meat
Shipment
All those played in his head like a broken record, and he so badly wanted to take the record, replacing it with a new one, but alas his stupid mind heeded to the horrifying truth, to be hones he was afraid of the word; Shipment, and predominantly he was afraid to die, afraid to have that flower pierced through his oh-so cold heart, his blue eyes dilating at the sharpness a stem of a flower can wield, opaque, red fluid slowly leaving his system and onto - what he observes back then - the petals of the flower
He can only hope, hope that Emma would still have the flame inside her, the flame that kept her going forward, the flame of her determination to escape with everyone, but he was afraid and begrudging that he would have to extinguish it tomorrow night, he suppresses to shiver but he does so anyways
He pushes- finally - those thoughts away, for fear that he would be overwhelmed with his petty emotions interfering with the plan he had perfectly orchestrated, it wasn't apart of his plan to put himself in the equation, he doesn't want to be in the equation but be more of an answer,
Smiling sadly, today was his last night being alive for he will be escorted to the gates of death by tomorrow night, then he wants to make this night special, he takes a deep breath and closes the book he had been reading before he entered his legion of thoughts, standing up he goes to the infirmary to check up on her
Twisting the knob carefully and quietly, he enters the infirmary, he presses his back to the adjacent wall and his blue eye sees the girl resting, a relieved look finally smoothed on her face after looking at him with a pained and melancholic expression, approaching her, he gazes at her lovingly and gently, he faintly slid his hand across her hair 'maybe later' he exits and decides to prepare dinner
Oh what twist did that word do to my stomach
Finally in the cafeteria, he waves at Shelly, who held the plates, beams back at him, next thing he knew cold hands are placed in his shoulders and he flinches when he takes a look; Isabella with the usual, a fake smile on her face, it sometimes looked so real that it wasn't fake anymore, it was as if she was definitely pleased to see him cower before her, knowing that she won their game of chess once again, claiming the title of the true prodigy of GraceFIeld
Just you wait Mama
He of course composes the same smile, (there was nothing to smile about), Isabella happily announced his "adoption" he pays no attention to it, but to her tone, is this what Ray felt like? To feel disgusted by Isabella's ersatz demeanor, probably, he is pulled out of his reverie when Shelly drops the plates and is already on the verge of tears
Breaking out of the ice which is Isabella's hands, he crouches to the younger kids and holds them close to him and his heart, thanking them for their wishes even if it was never going to happen, how gullible they were, he yearns to be one of them again, happy, innocent, gullible, playing with Emma and Ray, but the ignorance of people dying by the time they take a step outside with Isabella, suitcase and fancy clothes made his stomach do another twist only it was tighter this time
I'll miss you all
By the time he was finished eating, he volunteers to bring Emma her food, Isabella complies with narrowing eyes, Taking the tray he goes to the infirmary yet again, Emma is awake and is awaiting for her food, she beams, her antennae spiking up when she sees him "Norman!" she takes the food and starts munching, he sits on the stool and observes how messy she still is when eating
"Emma" he finally speaks "Yes?" crumbs fell out of her mouth and he chuckles, wiping them out of her mouth "can you meet me tonight around 9?" She gives an inquisitive look but nonetheless replies "Okay!"
"Thank you"
Blue eyes are opened and he gets out of his bed carefully with a lamp, It's only 8:59, he makes sure to avoid the creaky floorboards that would create noises, He opens the door when he spots Emma also exiting the infirmary with her crutches "Thank you" He opens the lamp bringing the light to their features "Where are we going?" she said a little bit loud, Norman brought a finger to his lips, He picks the lock at the always-locked door and Norman goes outside, Emma trailing behind him
The two are met by the quiet, lush green field, the moon shining so bright; a full moon, he places the lamp on the grass and extends his hand to her, Emma is definitely confused but she takes it, he carefully discards her crutches and slid his hand around her waist, he swore he could see her becoming red, Pretending to ignore it, with all of his strength he lifts her up and places her feet over his
"Norman!" she whisper-shouts, she is astounded and surprised the strength the frail boy exhibited but she slowly wraps her arms around his neck, He stiffens but quickly relaxes, Norman takes a deep breath and glides his foot, They laugh quietly as they did it or Norman did it clumsily, "What are we doing?" she says in between laughing "Dancing of course"
She looks at him again flabbergasted "I didn't know you could dance" he smiles "I've just read a book earlier on how to dance" Emma snorts "Genius" His smile turns into a smirk and Emma's heart melts, while it was always nice to see Norman smile at her with his spring smile it would be more nice if he smirks at her like he won a game of chess
Resting her head on his neck, she frowns "You don't have to die, you know" her breath hits the side of his neck "Emma" he sighs, not wanting to discuss the topic "It isn't everyone if you're not there, you promised me we would escape together" he sighs once more "I know but like i said if i don't get shipped off and escape, one of our siblings would have to take my place and i don't want to see that" As he lets go of those words, her grip tightens around his neck
"You've gotten strong" she changes the conversation feeling melancholic at his intention, she touches his arms and that of course made him flustered "y-yeah" Emma smirks at that, Norman seems to notice it and he glided both of his feet, she perks up, surprise at the movement, Norman chuckles "Norman!" "Sorry"
Silence befalls on them, Emma closes her eyes to relax, Norman squishes his cheek on the Emma's shoulder, his arms still around her waist as he adroitly and gracefully glides around the green field, Emma laughs, enjoying this moment the gods have given her, the moment where she and Norman could just be out in the field, be free, dancing
No declarations of love were spoken but the movements and their little banter were enough to show that the two were in love with each other
Though it seemed like they were birds in the cage, the one was going to have to fly and escape while the other remains
It was Emma who had a broken leg but it was Norman who was the flightless bird