Ch. 1 – Little surprises
Hi everyone, look who's back! :D
Here I present you the sequel of "New notes over old memories"
It takes place almost a year after the end of the previous work (without counting the Epilogue) where we see Lucien and Willy at the beginning of their new life as ranchers and club managers.
After I wrote that (let's be honest, kinda awful) epilogue, I thought that maybe it was better if I did something separated to not have too many things mixed up and rushed. So I started this new fanfiction.
I'm not planning it to be as big as the predecessor, not in length nor in content, just wanted to write this for simple fun with fluff and adding old characters of mine aka resuscitate them from the dead lol
Jean-Claude and L.J. (Lawrence James) are my first Spy and Sniper, both from my very first unfinished fanfiction. I adore those two and I didn't want them to be forgotten. Today they are quite different from the original thought due to their development in my RPs with Anoown from Tumblr (we're friends irl and we live just 2 hours from each other xD), so I'll try to keep everything updated and I'll explain their "were"-selves later on.
I hope you'll enjoy this little thing and feel free to share your comments, I always like chatting around x3
"Eggs or toast?" Willy asked from the kitchen.
"Eggs, thank you."
Lucien was sitting at the table in the living room, lazily reading the newspaper and petting Fantôme, who was rolled up on his lap, purring and nibbling his fingers once a while.
"Anything new?" His companion asked him as he joined him holding two plates, sitting down and then filling their glasses with fresh water.
"The old 3 Palms club closed down." Lucien answered not hiding a bit of sadness in his words. "Quite a pity. Apparently the son couldn't handle the father's job." The old owner of the club was known to be very passionate in what he did, entertaining people with quality music shows and trying new interesting things whenever he could. It was quite innovative, but unfortunately as the old owner went missing and the management passed on to his son, things started tumbling down in just few months.
"Not surprised," said Willy, "that guy never liked his father's way. Too many changes. A pity indeed."
Lucien folded the newspaper, put it aside and sadly moved Fantôme off his legs, gently putting her on the chair next to him. The lady protested and even tried to get back to her rightful place just to be shooed again. As she finally settled down, Lucien joined Willy in lunch.
"Let's go down to the river later?" Willy offered after a while. Lucien considered it for a bit, then agreed.
The two ranchers got their hats and gears ready and moved out to the horse fence. Lucien whistled and Sunshine was the first to arrive. She was always happy to see him and always happy to try stealing his hat.
"Girl, don't you start." He petted her nose and gave her a sugar cube. "Spoiled overgrown filly." He said to the mare and chuckled, he then started to buckle her up with the saddle.
Willy did the same as the big black stallion reached him and nosed at his face. "Yeah, yeah, I'm happy to see you too, Mac." He laughed since they met just before lunch. Right behind the big horse there was young colt Coffee Bean, who of course wanted attention too.
The couple hopped on their respective mounts and Lucien patted at the colt's head. "Come on, follow us, Bean." He smiled and pushed Sunshine into a gallop out of the ranch.
The river wasn't very far, about 10 minutes down the valley. Once there, they let the horses enjoy the fresh water of the shallow stream, free from their gear, while they rested under the shade of their favourite willow. Sunshine was splashing happily around playing with her son, while Big Mac simply rested on the shore with just his hooves in the water.
Lucien leaned his back against the back allowing Willy to lie down and use his leg as pillow. Around them there was a humming peace, breeze brushing the long branches around them, birds singing springs songs and insects buzzing in their first flights of the year. The blondie had his eyes closed and seemed to listen to everything around him. After a while, he took out a notebook and a pen from his bag.
"Feeling inspired?" Willy whispered, as if to not disturb his lover.
Lucien nodded in a "Mhm." and started scribbling down notes on the pentagram, humming them as he went on, stopping time to time to reconsider a part of his song. Willy could just smile and enjoy the private little show, he adored when Lucien tried new compositions and couldn't wait to see him trying the results on his beloved piano at home.
They remained like that for some time with Lucien asking a couple of times what tune sounded better to him and with Willy happy to contemplate and pick. They managed to fill 3 pages and once Lucien was satisfied with the results, they were ready to head back home.
"Willy, come check this out a moment."
Willy removed the saddle from Big Mac and put it away before joining Lucien at Sunshine's booth. "What is it?"
Lucien was patting Sunshine's side and holding the belt of the saddle, which was still on her back. "Three weeks ago I had to buckle it up on the 2nd hole of the belt, now on the 3rd. She got bigger…"
Willy frowned. "Or we feed her too much or she's pregnant…?"
They looked at each other in confusion then at Sunshine who simply cared for munching her apple.
Lucien sighed. "I'll call Theo for a check-up. You never know." He looked at her again, scolding. "Always causing troubles, uh?"
Willy chuckled and put an arm around his waist, pulling him close. "Haha, come on, let's go have a cup of tea."
Within an hour the weather turned from sunny to stormy, with dark heavy clouds thundering over the ranch, yet not raining. Luckily the ranchers had done all their chores in the morning and had no fruit crates to deliver to the bakery downtown, business partner of theirs. Since they moved from the city to the ranch, their lives became busier and both of them felt the change, taking care of a whole ranch with 3 horses, a cow, 5 chickens and modestly big orchard wasn't as easy as they first thought, but they still managed quite well to keep everything tidy, balanced and safe. Surprisingly even Lucien, who always looked like a grumpy dandy, showed to be ready to get his hands dirty if needed and never complained. He was good with animals and found the life of a farmer pretty full and satisfying. Willy on the other hand was pretty used to that kind of life and for him was even easier to get used to. He even found it therapeutic for his conditions, the big scar covering his back kept reminding him of the past and giving him terrifying nightmares once a while, but there he looked more relaxed than when he lived in the city. Mostly thanks to Lucien's care, though.
Willy was resting on the couch with Fantôme against his cheek rolled up in a purring pillow while Lucien was sitting at the piano nearby, trying the notes he wrote earlier, fixing few things here and there and listening to the new melody. It was coming out pretty lovely, with a nice happy rhythm and easy to remember tune, and Willy was loving it. He actually couldn't wait to join with his sax after Lucien was done.
The phone eventually rang and it was Lucien who went to pick up, he didn't want Willy to get up and be bothered. He thought it was Theo calling back, he called him earlier for the horse check-up, but got no answer, yet instead of the medic, he found another familiar voice. "Oh hi, Jean!" Willy looked at him surprised as well. "Tomorrow? Hold on." He opened the little agenda he always kept next to the phone and checked for the next day. "It's Saturday," He whispered to himself. "I can just after 5pm, after teaching." He chuckled at something Jean-Claude told him and he shook his head. "Sure, sure, you wish, mon amì. Ok, ok, see you two tomorrow. Bye."
"The bat and the wolf are back? Holey Dooley, that was unexpected!"
Lucien leaned against the cupboard, crossing his arms, and nodded at him. "Looks like it, darling. We'll need to get a nice amount of sweets and pastries then, damn Jean-Claude and that huge sweet tooth of his!"
