Disembarking for miss_morland

[nfe-gremlin.livejournal.com]

Title: Disembarking
Author: therck
Recipient: miss_morland
Rating: G
Content/Warnings: No warnings apply
Summary: Coming home was a shock to Eustace.
Author’s Notes: I found the ending of this story earlier than I expected to, but I think it was the right point to stop. I hope you all agree.


Disembarking

After the glory of Aslan, Lucy's bedroom was painfully dingy and commonplace. All three children turned at once to look at the painting that had started their adventure.

"Those seas look nothing like where we were," Eustace observed.

"Narnian time is funny," Edmund responded. "It could have been weeks for them already. Who knows where they are now?"

"Strange to be thinking of 'them' when not long ago it was 'us,'" Lucy said. She walked over to the wall and pressed her fingers against the picture. "Nothing but paint and canvas."

Eustace crouched and touched the floor. Then he reached over and touched the bed. "Dry," he said. "Are you sure no time has passed?" He looked at his hand then at his arm. "And I'm pale again, like I was never in the sun."

Edmund took two steps and put a hand on Eustace's shoulder. "It's like none of it ever happened. You'll find you're nothing like as strong now as you were in Narnia. You'll have to start building up from the beginning again."

Lucy seated herself on the floor next to Eustace. "As to time, all our other trips took no time at all here, in our world. I don't see why this time should be different. Aslan wouldn't do that."

"So Alberta won't even have noticed we were gone?" Eustace shut his eyes. "How ever am I going to explain?"

"You mustn't!" Lucy exclaimed. "You mustn't tell anyone! They wouldn't believe you. They'll think you're just making it up."

Eustace opened his eyes and stared at Lucy. "Alberta knows I don't tell lies, and anyway, how can I hide something this important? I've changed so much."

"Eustace," Edmund said, "what you do is up to you. Just think about Aunt Alberta and Uncle Harold. How do you think they'll react? I mean, it sounds like we're inventing stories. That's what you thought when you heard us talk about Narnia."

Eustace poked at the toe of his shoe. "It is impossible, and I've no proof at all."

"Peter and Susan and Professor Kirke and Miss Plummer will believe you," Lucy assured him. "We'll introduce you to the Professor and Miss Plummer as soon as we can."

Eustace recognized Professor Kirke's name. He knew Peter was studying with a professor for an important exam. "Who is Miss Plummer?"

"She and the Professor went to Narnia when they were children," Lucy explained.

"I didn't think we'd ever get back," Eustace confessed. He didn't look at his cousins. "It seemed so terribly permanent."

Edmund and Lucy exchanged a glance over Eustace's head. Edmund shrugged minutely.

"Well, we are back," Lucy said brightly. "Maybe you should go have a walk or something, just to let it sink in. Don't talk to Aunt Alberta until you're quite sure of yourself."

"Did you tell your parents?" Eustace sat on the floor and, wrapping his arms around his legs, put his chin on his knees.

"No," Edmund replied.

"Even if we'd wanted to, it was during the war, and we didn't see them for quite some time after." Lucy sounded apologetic.

"They'd have said, 'Aren't you a little old for such fancies?' And that's just talking to me and Lucy. Peter and Susan--" Edmund shook his head. "It doesn't bear thinking about."

"Alberta says fiction is for those who can't cope with the real world," Eustace admitted.

"Do you have any place you like to go to think or anything you do that helps that way?" Lucy asked. "You need time to think."

"Maybe not," Edmund said. "Maybe we've been gone so long that you've forgotten what being here is really like." He put his hands in his pockets. "Talk to Aunt Alberta. Don't tell her anything about Narnia, just talk about other things. You've all the time in the world."

Eustace considered that for a moment then nodded. He unfolded himself and got to his feet. "You'll help me, Edmund, Lucy, if I'm tempted to be awful again? I'm not sure the new ways will come as easily here."

Edmund and Lucy both nodded. "We both know about coming back from Narnia," Lucy said.

"We do," Edmund agreed. "It's hard when your old life doesn't fit any more, but you don't have anywhere else to be. I'd suggest seeking out new things and new people when you have the choice. New people won't expect the old you."

Eustace made a face. "Things'll be right nasty at Experiment House this fall. Everyone there expects me to-- Well, never mind." He nodded once and squared his shoulders. "For now, Alberta." He walked over and opened the door.

Closing the door gently behind him, Eustace walked down the hall to the stairs. He came down the stairs slowly, stopping on each step as if giving each a chance to speak. He hesitated at the bottom. Assuming that Lucy was right and that no time had passed, Harold would still be at work, designing some sort of new building for the University. Alberta was almost certain to be in the kitchen. At least, she'd said something at breakfast about lentils for dinner, and Eustace had the vague impression that those took time.

He smiled at the thought of familiar food, vegetarian food. He'd learned, in Narnia, to eat what was available (he'd been sick a time or two, getting used to the food available aboard the Dawn Treader), but his time as a dragon had made him more aware of the messy business involved in procuring meat. His parents had talked of the inefficiency of meat production and how each bit of meat meant lots of food spent that could have been better used to feed the hungry. They never mentioned what Eustace now knew, that meat meant a life ended. He valued his own life more than he did that of some dumb animal, but he wondered, in a world with Talking Animals, that more Narnian humans weren't vegetarians.

He vaguely supposed that the return to Cambridge and Alberta's cooking might not be so welcome to his cousins. For them, vegetarian fare was alien, something to be endured. He supposed, too, that many of the things that made this home for him were different from what Edmund and Lucy were accustomed to. He wondered if staying here was as difficult for them as those first weeks on board the Dawn Treader had been for him.

He shook himself, reminding himself that he had things to do. There was no point putting it off further. No, there was every point in doing so. He felt that something irrevocable would happen when he saw Alberta again. He squared his shoulders and raised his chin. Surely, talking to his mother couldn't be harder than being a dragon or fighting a sea serpent.

Original Prompt that we sent you: What I want: I love missing scenes/takes on canon scenes from alternate perspectives -- the Professor telling the Pevensies about his own adventures in Narnia? Eustace meeting his parents again after the events of Dawn Treader? The last meeting between Rilian and Caspian at the end of Silver Chair from either's POV? That sort of thing, either for the events I suggested or for others, would be lovely. I'm mostly interested in genfic for this fandom, but if you want to write romance I do like Edmund/Caspian and Aravis/Cor.

Prompt words/objects/quotes/whatever: See "what I want" section.

Comments

[jn208505.livejournal.com]

I really liked this story! Fit right in! Love those missing scenes! Loved the flow and descriptions! Good work!

[the_rck]

Thanks for letting me know that you liked the story!

[autumnia]

This fits so well into the end of VDT! i love how this story just fills out the conclusion of their journey a little more. Hopefully, Eustace won't have too difficult a time talking with Alberta!

[the_rck]

Thanks for letting me know you enjoyed the story!

I suspect that Eustace will have trouble talking to his mother. He's been away from her for so long that his habits of interacting with people have changed, and she'll expect him to be who he was before. Canon's not encouraging on this point, unfortunately. I like to think that Harold and Alberta aren't as awful as Lewis seemed to think they were, but there's no room for Narnia in their view of the world. I imagine they might acknowledge that other worlds were possible, but that would be theoretical, and they'd expect other worlds to conform to the rules that their world does.

[moriwen1.livejournal.com]

Great story! I like the discussion of vegetarianism -- I think there's a fic there all on its own, if you ever wanted to explore that further. And I love this little exchange:

"Even if we'd wanted to, it was during the war, and we didn't see them for quite some time after." Lucy sounded apologetic.
They'd have said, 'Aren't you a little old for such fancies?' And that's just talking to me and Lucy. Peter and Susan--" Edmund shook his head. "It doesn't bear thinking about."

It's really poignant in a subtle way; the voices are very strong, and you can hear how Lucy and Edmund are a little sad about not being able to share their lives with their parents. And then you echo that with

He felt that something irrevocable would happen when he saw Alberta again.

which is true, really. I mean, the Pevensies were already grown up when they came back, but it's really the end of an era of childhood to have to hide something that significant from your parents, and despite Narnia Eustace is still a child.

I find myself wishing you'd written more (which of course is my usual reaction to good writing) but I think have of the power of what you've written is what's between the lines. Great job.

[the_rck]

Thanks for letting me know that you enjoyed the story!

I thought that vegetarianism wouldn't necessarily be something Eustace would give up permanently. Lewis seems not to have approved of it, but I think it makes a lot of sense in a world where there are Talking Animals.

Eustace is still a child, and Harold and Alberta, whatever their flaws or ideology, are his parents. They seem to have taken trouble over him, but I'm not sure they really know what to do with a child. They seem to have encouraged him to be a miniature adult without necessarily explaining to him what things meant.

[tiabolt.livejournal.com]

I really, really adored Eustace-his inner discussion over his family's reasons for being vegetarian and his time as a dragon-and how that might change his reasons for being vegetarian now was really interesting. Lovely!

[the_rck]

Thanks for letting me know that you enjoyed the story!

I thought that Eustace's vegetarianism deserved a little attention. Being a dragon and killing to eat would be a big deal even if he weren't a vegetarian.

[animus-wyrmis.livejournal.com]

Oh this is really quite nice! I like that there's a suggestion of loss, because of course Eustace will never have the same relationship with his parents, but also so much has been gained. And who knows, perhaps he does find a way to tell her. :)

[the_rck]

Thanks for letting me know that you enjoyed the story!

Yes, nothing will ever be quite the same again, and his parents won't know why unless he finds a way to tell them. I suspect that they might accept, in theory, that other worlds are possible, but Narnia is simply too fantastical for them. (I theorized that Harold is an architect or an engineer of some sort. I think Alberta volunteers a lot. She might even work when Eustace is at school.)

[edenfalling]

I really like that you take Eustace's vegetarianism seriously, not just as a faddish thing his parents do (though it may have started that way) but as a choice he is now making for himself based on his own experiences with killing his own meals as a dragon. He may change his mind later on, since I vaguely recall him eating meat in subsequent adventures, but even so, it's good to see him thinking about the issue instead of just taking things for granted.

The awkward balance between Eustace wanting to tell his parents what happened and knowing they likely wouldn't believe him rings very true, as does the way Lucy and Edmund try to give him the benefit of their own previous returns from Narnia. The suddenness of that jump between worlds must have been even more shocking at the end of VDT, given how far away from the mundane and into the mystical/spiritual the ship and crew had sailed -- I mean, to go from drinking liquid light to eating lentils is quite a jarring shift. And yeah, even without telling Alberta anything about magical journeys, it will do Eustace good to settle in and remind himself of home and family.

I also like the little reference to Experiment House and the call-forward to the way Jill mentions Eustace's changes at the start of SC... and the way that it's Edmund who advises Eustace to find new situations and new people. He probably knows that from experience, considering Lewis said his school was where he'd started turning away from his family pre-LWW.

[the_rck]

I think Eustace realizes that, under some circumstances, vegetarianism is a luxury. I can't entirely reconcile vegetarianism with all of Eustace's food choices in The Silver Chair. Of course, finding out that he's eaten a talking Stag while they're staying with the giants would incline him more toward vegetarianism. It's the only way to be sure.

Fitting back into everyday life has always seemed to me to be a challenge after a trip to Narnia. The worlds are so different, most especially in what they expect of the children-- Narnia seems to expect them not to be children in the same way that our world does. The books imply that the characters find their truer selves in Narnia. Holding onto that can't be anything but difficult.

Thanks for letting me know that you liked the story!

[gingicat]

I agree with the previous commenters -- can't think of anything to add! Wanted to make sure that I added my voice to the chorus of people who like the story.

[the_rck]

Thanks for letting me know that you enjoyed the story!

[miss-morland.livejournal.com]

Eeeeee, thank you so much! This is exactly the sort of gap-filler I love, picking up a situation where the canon left it off and using it to explore character in a thoughtful way. I really enjoy the way you've written the characters; especially the way Eustace has grown and changed -- but not enough to be immune to the dangers of sliding back to his old, unpleasant self -- is very well handled, like the fact that he is now engaging with moral questions (such as vegetarianism) himself instead of just accepting other people's attitudes.

Eustace made a face. "Things'll be right nasty at Experiment House this fall. Everyone there expects me to-- Well, never mind."

Like edenfalling, I love the foreshadowing of Silver Chair here, and I appreciate that he's not wallowing in self-pity -- another sign of his character growth.

Thank you so much, again! This was a great gift. <3

[the_rck]

I'm really glad you enjoyed the story! I was originally intending to write Eustace's interaction with his mother, following one of your suggestions. The story just seemed to finish before I got there. Perhaps I started in the wrong place for my intentions-- Eustace completed a movement of sorts here.

I wanted to show Eustace as a more thoughtful child than he used to be. The text implies that his parents are fairly awful, but a lot of their beliefs are things that a reasonable person might choose. As any child must do eventually, Eustace will have to decide which of them to keep.

[aurilly.livejournal.com]

This was so lovely and thoughtful. Love all the hints to what Edmund and Lucy have already gone through, and also to how Eustace will be going forward when Jill sees him at the beginning of the next book. I also like how he isn't all woefully depressed; his attitude is more productive and actually happy to see the old familiar things. It's all very well-adjusted, which is believable for what Aslan wanted for these kids.

[the_rck]

Thanks for letting me know that you enjoyed the story!

I thought that becoming well-adjusted made sense for Eustace. He spent a lot of time in the book wanting to be home, so I thought that being pleased, on some level, made sense. Without a doubt, he misses the adventure, but the ordinary is valuable, too.

[rthstewart.livejournal.com]

This is a great character piece and a great response to the prompt. It is nice that you suggest that Eustace has a good relationship with Alberta and you get the sense that there is s respect and even regard; maybe love. I really like that Edmund is advising in how Eustace will need to move forward and how. And here is a thought- for the madness round could you give us some discussion between Alberta and Eustace maybe even about Narnia! I would love to see that and don't think I've ever seen it before! Well done!!

[the_rck]

Thanks for letting me know that you enjoyed the story!

I think Eustace's parents have flaws (though they may not be the things Lewis pointed at as flaws), and Eustace is going to have to learn to live with being aware of his parents as human beings. He's very young for that realization, but I don't see a way around it, given how he's changed.

I wanted to get to Eustace and Alberta talking, but the place where I ended the story made sense. Perhaps I'll write more at some point later. I'm curious, too, about what they'd say to each other.

[heliopausa.livejournal.com]

:D Well, first up, hooray for vegetarianism making a calm, thoughtful entrance!! :D
Ahem! (switches to proper review mode.) Nice work! I especially liked the little touches - Eustace checking the dryness of the floor as solid empirical evidence, Edmund's sober wisdom, the brief glance he and Lucy exchanged that spoke volumes. And especially the end, with the lovely evocation of Eustace facing ordinary daily life as heroic venture (very Narnian! :) ).

[snitchnipped.livejournal.com]

Ahahahaha! I love the last line!

There's never enough stories/scenes of when Those Who Went immediately return from Narnia, and usually they're about the Pevensies. Thank you for tackling Eustace! He may not be as strong as we was in Narnia, and certainly paler, but he's definitely grown some. Perhaps that would be difficult to explain to his parents and those at school! See, he's smarter and wise enough to recognize this.

Thanks for the story!

[nasimwrites.livejournal.com]

Aww poor Eustace... You captured his feelings so perfectly: the nostalgia, sadness, reflection yet joy that he lived through what he did... And the Pevensies' quiet acceptance of what had happened, and how in a way you redeem the Scrubbs through Eustace's eyes and he suddenly seems to make sense of his life. Everything was so real and sad yet happy at the same time.

[pencildragon11.livejournal.com]

It's great that, even knowing he can't tell her what's happened to him, Eustace still goes to talk to his mother. Somehow I imagine they were the sort of mother and son who had intellectual conversations about modern art and socialism. As Moriwen said, it really is the end of a childhood to have to hide something like that, but I get the sense that he intends to work through the disorientation and find a new equilibrium for his relationship with his mother. He's still Eustace—I really like how his vegetarianism survives and is even bolstered by his Narnian experiences—and he's moving forward. Great job!

[starbrowsings.livejournal.com]

I really liked how this story shows Eustace's takeaway from Narnia in action; he's really gained moral courage and fibre, something we see in SC and LB too, and so that was just lovely seeing it unfold as he goes to talk with Alberta. Edmund and Lucy sharing their experience in how to deal with post-Narnia relatives was a very sweet touch, one that new-Eustace seems to appreciate. It hasn't struck me before how weird being a carnivorous dragon would have been for Eustace, but now that I think about it, what an awkward time that must have been for him! The thoughtful reflection on how he can still relate to his parents on this (and we may assume other topics as well) was a great way to wrap up the story. A great little look at post-VDT Eustace.

[turkeyish.livejournal.com]

Wonderfully short but impactful insight into Eustace, which I feel like I don't see enough of. And I love the glimpses into Edmund and Lucy that you treat us to. And yes, I do think you ended it at just the right moment. :) Well done!

[deepdarkwaters.livejournal.com]

I always love stories about what it's like to come back to England after being in Narnia, but they're usually about the Pevensies so it's really good to see a Eustace take on it <3