WHO Blue Sargent & Ronan Lynch WHERE The Barns WHEN Wednesday, November 11 (backdated during ghost plot) WHAT An unexpected ghost visit from Niall Lynch causes them to get real protective of each other (or aka "Niall's a dick but this friendship is A+") STATUS Complete! WARNINGS Cursing, vague threats, mentions of parental death/murder
The air felt brittle with fall chill and the wind that would be picking up any minute now. Why the fuck Ronan was even bothering to wash his car was anyone’s guess. He just felt bad, letting it go too long without a detail. He could’ve paid someone else to do it - he would have if he was at home with his big shiny banky account - but it felt better to do it himself anyway.
Even if it was getting cold as shit out here.
He was glad he’d pulled on a hoodie before dragging Blue out to help him. She’d been looking bored and he was happy to alleviate that problem. She owed him anyway, after the Burlesque shit. He handed her a bucket full of soapy water and dropped a sponge into it with a splash.
“Try not to scratch the paint with your talons.” Ronan had no idea if her nails were short or long right now; he just said it for a laugh. “And don’t hurt yourself trying to reach the roof,” he added with a smirk over the hood. “I’ll grab your side when I’m done with mine.”
The last few days had been weird for Blue. Going from a wedding to people seeing ghosts of not-dead people on the streets of Vallo seemed like whiplash. Emotional, terrifying whiplash. There were a handful of relatives and friends alike that she could do without seeing and wondering if they were actually dead at home.
And so Blue had tried to knit her way through it. Pick up extra shifts at work. Anything. Luckily for her, and maybe unluckily for Ronan, she was more than eager to assist in washing his sharky BMW in mostly cold temperatures as a good distraction. But she didn't want to admit that right away to Ronan and give him the satisfaction. Like all the men in her life, regardless of their relationship status, they needed to work for it.
Blue stared at the sponge Ronan dropped into the bucket, then back to him with the most contempt she could muster. "This is not what I thought you meant when you said 'maggot, come help me'. I was expecting at least some kind of animal to be involved. Goats, cows, sheep, the alpaca posse. I would have even settled for the chickens," Blue said, as she moved over to his car and set down the bucket, spilling more water than she intended.
She grabbed the sponge and whipped the water off it hard across the top of the car, nearly hitting Ronan from the other side. "I don't think I'll have any problems reaching the roof," Blue gave him a smartass little smile back, before actually washing at the car in earnest.
"You couldn't have picked a warmer day to do this?"
Ronan ducked to the side at the threat of water headed for his face but luckily it didn’t quite reach. “It’s November, brat. It’s only gonna get colder.”
The water in his own bucket was cold too but Ronan didn’t flinch as he soaked up a sponge and moved to the front of the car to scrub bug guts out of the front grill. Cold or not, it felt good to be taking care of this car and Blue’s cranky little company was always more welcome than he pretended it was.
“You can help me measure alpaca wool growth later if you’re so eager to do more shit with the animals.” He looked up from his crouch in front of the car to smirk at her, but fell backward onto his ass when he saw Niall Lynch standing beside her.
“Jesus Chr--”
“Oh, watch that blasphemy, boyo,” Niall said. He was all swagger and a shark’s smile as he ran a ghostly hand down over the hood of the car. “Glad to see you taking care of my beauty, though.”
Ronan couldn’t seem to catch his breath. Or take his eyes off his dad. It wasn’t supposed to happen like this. He knew it was happening to other people but he wasn’t ready. He sat up and started brushing the gravel off his hands. “Fucking fuck.”
As Ronan rattled off chores across the Barns that Blue could help with, she simply rolled her eyes, scrubbing at the window. "You could have said you wanted company while you worked on stuff around the farm, I swear I wouldn't tell Gansey we were being nice to each other. Or maybe I should, he gets very—" Blue was mimicking the patented Gansey pout when she watched Ronan go full-on fear and fall over.
Almost like he saw a ghost.
Blue was quick on the uptake, her eyes went wide with the realization. She snapped her attention to the empty space beside her, where Ronan's attention was riveted. She felt simultaneously angry that she was left out of whatever fear-monster ghost was next to her and worried that it might do something she couldn't stop. While Blue was often sensible in dangerous situations, she lived with a bunch of reckless, anxiety-driven nerds, all of who she loved dearly, and she needed to up her own mettle.
She threw the sponge at the air, unbeknownst to her that it was soaring through the intangible chest of Niall Lynch. "Who is it?" Blue whispered, fast and harsh, to Ronan. "I can't see them. Is it—" Oh, there were so many horrible options from home it could be, and she backed away a little.
Her instinct to fight was always one of Ronan’s favorite things about her. Not that he’d tell her that. The look on her face, though, like she’d just realized she might need to be scared instead of the fierce little pain in the ass that she was, made his gut twist. It helped him push to his feet and grab her by the shoulder.
“It’s okay. It’s--” A lump of emotion jammed the words in his throat. He clamped onto Blue’s shoulder a little harder on accident. “It’s my dad.”
“The house looks good. Almost like new,” Niall announced. He pointed at Ronan. “Ronan,” he said in that particular way, like it was one of his favorite words. “I knew you’d figure it out and find your way home.”
“Yeah, no thanks to you,” Ronan snapped. Guilt instantly followed and his face fell. His dad was dead. He’d found his body in this driveway. What good did it do to disrespect him now? He shook his head and dropped his hand from Blue’s shoulder. “You don’t have to stick around for this, Sargent.”
It's my dad made all of Blue's fight-or-flight instincts come to a tumbling halt. She didn't miss the hand on her shoulder going tighter, and she had reached for Ronan only for him to have dropped it away too soon. The look she gave him was briefly of deep concern; Blue had never met Niall, but found there was held-back contempt whenever Gansey happened to bring him into conversation. It was easy to piece the feelings together.
Ugh, dads.
Blue gave a quick glance to the space where Ronan was fixated, but she was more focused on him, watching his profile, full of fierce determination. "I'm not leaving unless you want me to. The last time I left you alone it was in an underground cave in the dark and—" She had never forgiven herself for doing that even if he had said it was okay. That memory of a scared Ronan Lynch haunted her. "Just no."
She grabbed his arm, and shook a little. Either to get his attention or remind him that she was still there. "I'm only getting half of the conversation. What's he saying? If he's being a dick, I can throw another sponge." Blue glanced down to her shoes painted with Ronan originals, then sharply to where Niall was supposedly standing. "Or my boots. I'll do it."
Mentioning the cave snapped Ronan out of his daze a little. That and the shaking. He pulled his arm away out of reflex but immediately reached to wrap it around her head instead. “Jesus, Blue, downshift. He’s not...being anything.” The headlock was really more of a hug than anything else but he just needed her to hold still for a second so he could sort through the racing thoughts in his head.
Niall’s Irish lilt was stronger when he was confused. “Is this wee spitfire your lass?”
That made Ronan bark out a laugh that faded into slightly delirious giggles as he loosened his grip on Blue. “No, Dad. This isn’t my lass.” He gave Blue a quick noogie, knowing she was probably about to get indignant. “This is Blue Sargent. She’s a friend.” Ronan scowled. That word wasn’t good enough. “She’s family. She helps run this place like a real fucking farm now.”
Normally Blue might have weaseled her way out of Ronan's head hug—mostly because it felt like a reminder that she was annoyingly shorter than him. But this close to Ronan she could hear his heart pounding right next to the rushing blood in her ears. This ghost business had everyone's nerves at an all time high, and Blue didn't feel equipped to be the person to help Ronan. Her knowledge of Niall was limited. But she was here now, and Ronan had her unending support.
But that didn't stop her from scowling so hard at lass. Niall Lynch was going down for that one. She could fight a ghost, right? "Ugh, is that what he called me?" Blue asked, post-noogie, not bothering to fix the mess in her hair. The more wildly feral she looked, the better. Lass.
"Ronan runs the farm," Blue corrected to the nothingness, quick to defend her family right back. "I'm freeloading off the wool from the sheep. And he's done a damn good job." Blue started taking a step toward Niall, like a protective barrier for Ronan.
"So maybe you should ask him how he's doing! Ask him if he's happy! He's come a long way since he's seen you, and you owe him to not waste whatever is happening right now."
Niall looked like he really wanted the tiny hurricane to stop blowing hot air at him, but he was listening and that did something strange to Ronan’s heart. He didn’t stop Blue - nothing could stop Blue ever, in his experience. He just watched his dad’s face.
The last time Ronan had seen that face outside of a dream, it had been covered in blood and face down in the gravel at their feet, the back of his skull a ruined mess. It was impossible to forget. And yet to look at him now, looking like an older Ronan with handsome curly hair and broader shoulders, it didn’t sting as much as it would’ve three years ago.
It mostly made him miss his stupid brother. Declan would hate this.
“Are you?” Niall asked.
Ronan frowned, trying to catch back up now that his emotions were settling. “Am I what?”
“Happy, Ronan.”
“Oh.” Ronan looked at Blue and thought about how she was just one of many reasons he was doing so fucking good here. “Yeah.” He thought about Noah alive, Gansey alive, Adam alive and thriving, not eight fucking hours away either. He looked out at the farm and thought about everything he’d done in the ten months they’d been here. “Yeah, I’m happy. More than I thought I’d ever be allowed to be again. I think you’d hate some of the reasons. Well mostly I think you’d hate how many people walk around this farm every week.”
Sure enough, Niall’s face scrunched in distaste. Ronan shrugged.
“It’s dangerous, son.”
“You think I don’t fucking know that? I’m the one that found your body.” Ronan glanced at Blue, suddenly self-conscious. Not because he didn’t trust her with this shit, but just that she was having to watch it at all. “Things are different here. And I can’t live like you did.”
Blue felt confident that her continual nagging would come in handy one day. And right now, with even just Ronan's side of the conversation, she knew she had gotten through. Blue was beaming as Ronan said he was happy, and tucked away that little nugget of information to share with Gansey. After she told him that Niall Lynch paid them a visit while she willingly washed a foreign luxury car.
But the shift in the conversation made her frown. Ronan went from happy to cursing and that never felt like a good sign. Blue whipped around, away from the space occupying ghost!Niall, and decided she had enough of this. She couldn't help Ronan if she didn't know what things Niall was saying.
She grabbed Ronan's hand, her grip tight so he couldn't pull away. "Just—let me." Blue made a harumph noise, and let amplification flood her senses. She had it off so often, more often than not, that it felt like opening a dam. Mixed with Vallo magic and the residual energy from the Barns, Niall Lynch coalesced almost immediately a little off-center from where she had been yelling.
Holding back an obvious comment—you look just like him—Blue straightened up as tall as she could go. All five feet of her.
"We know about the dreaming," Blue said, to Ronan first, then to Niall who looked ready to interrupt her. "I'm talking.” Blue’s eyes narrowed, like try me. "We know, and keeping the secret was worse for him than letting people know. Not everything has to be done your way. Not everyone is the same. So you can either be proud of him and what he’s accomplished, or you can keep your bad hot takes on his life to yourself."
They’d avoided Blue using her ability on Ronan in the past - dreams were volatile to begin with - so Ronan had no idea what to expect. It didn’t feel like anything creepy, just her small hand and her intense grip. But his dad definitely looked more there and Ronan could tell as soon as Blue could see him.
“Keeping the secret was the only thing that kept us safe. I slipped up and got cocky and look what happened,” Niall gestured at the driveway.
Ronan felt fucking faint for a second. “The Greenmantles paid for that,” he said, quiet but fierce. He didn’t mention Mr. Gray. “And most of the people pulled into this mess have magic of some kind or another. If we go home, we’ll...I don’t know, we’ll make a new plan. But I’m not living in fucking fear and selling off pieces of myself just for profit. I’m not you.”
Niall stayed quiet for a long moment, looking at his son, looking at Blue. Then his shoulders sagged and he turned towards the renovated farmhouse.
“I can see that. I hope your gamble pays off, son.” It was clear he didn’t think it would, but Ronan figured that was fair. “Will the little spitfire let me take a look around my--your farm?”
Even if Blue had said her piece without consent, and could see Niall's form while he told his son the secret kept us safe, she felt out of place in the conversation. There were too many layers to the Lynch family that even she couldn't comprehend, but Blue was adamant that Ronan's safety was always in jeopardy regardless of keeping it a secret or not.
She still clung to him though, for the amplification, sure. But staying close by for solidarity felt more important. "If it were up to just me, you would only be allowed through by a guided tour. No wandering off. But you're lucky that I'm not the only one who gets a say about the Barns," Blue said, trying to remain stern but not overstepping. It was hard though when Niall Lynch called her spitfire and she actually liked the nickname.
Blue glanced up to Ronan for confirmation, for approval, for whatever he needed. She'd go back to throwing things if that helped somehow. But Ronan ultimately needed to call the shots. She had outed his dreaming to his father, but there was a ton more that required tact and not her business to say during this reunion.
"Are you okay with this?" Blue asked Ronan, in that way that meant are you okay? and will you be?
A smirk twitched at Ronan’s mouth. He would never get tired of Blue’s take-no-shit attitude, but hearing her guard the Barns added something to it. Even if she was guarding it from the man who dreamt a lot of it into being.
Maybe because she was guarding it from the man who dreamt a lot of it into being.
“I’m okay with it,” he answered, in that way that meant I’ll be okay even if it doesn’t go well. “There’s some stuff I want him to see.” He plopped a hand on her head, just a steady weight for a second before he dropped his hand away. “Can you just...ask Adam to come find us?”
They were a unified front. Blue may have been worried, but if Ronan said he was okay—and they would read between the lines later of this whole situation—then she wasn't going to question him in front of his dad.
Blue let out a deep breath, before pulling he metaphorical plug on her amplifying, which simply was letting go of Ronan. Niall disappeared from her sight almost immediately. She felt a little tired, but it had been worth looking Niall Lynch in the face and telling him to be proud of Ronan. It wore the same satisfaction of yelling at the tree on the Barns property that may or may not house her own father.
"Consider it already done," Blue said. She pointed at her eyes, then to Niall, the universal threat of I'm watching you. "No matter what he says, we—" And Blue knew Ronan knew who was included in that we. "—are always going to be here for you."
The Blue Sargent way of saying that she was proud of him. That she was lucky to know him. Despite or in spite of the choices he made here or home. It was important Ronan was reminded of that as she slowly started to back away toward the main house to grab her phone.
“Yeah, yeah, me too, sap.” Ronan gave a great big roll of his eyes. He had to ignore the uncomfortable flood of warmth in his chest and the urge to chase after Blue to give her a noogie. “You still owe me help with this car later!” he shouted after her.
Niall looked mildly annoyed by all this affection that wasn’t aimed at him. If he were less devoted to coming off charismatic, maybe he’d have said something snarky about it. Instead, he just lifted one sharp eyebrow. “Where are your brothers?”
Ronan’s expression fell and he turned to lead Niall out towards the alpaca pens. “I’ll explain on the way.”