Tweak

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Tweak says, "i'm a pirate"

Joe Russo (notalongtime) wrote in heureuxlake,
@ 2025-04-16 19:16:00

Entry tags:

Δ complete, Δ threads, → joe russo, → ram easthallow, ∞ 2001: 04

RP: Wake up!
Who: 'Joe Russo', Ram Easthallow
What: Frankie's magic worked. Kinda.
Where: Chez M
When: April 16, 2001
Warnings: Angst
Completion status: Complete

There was no gentle transition between sleep and wakefulness, no hazy inbetween stage where consciousness seeped back in and where curling back beneath the covers until the alarm went off was the only real option.

Instead there was a full body jerk with what felt like the thump to the chest, a massive inhale of breath and limbs spasming, moving entirely of their own accord for the first time in more than two weeks. Twisting in bedsheets, brain and body tried to reunite, though the process felt disjointed, like two Lego pieces that wouldn't snap together right up until they did, at which point legs and arms convulsed again and he fell out of bed.

"Ow. Fuck."

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notalongtime
2025-04-17 04:16 pm UTC (link)

A sensation like a thousand spreading needles spread across disused muscles, burning as nerve endings seemed to realize that they needed to start working again. The press of worried, helpful hands brought forth a hiss of discomfort, mouth and throat dry.

The voice and the touch managed to break through the pain of his body waking up after however long it had been. "Ram?" Holy mackerel. It was him. "Ram." He clutched at Ram's shoulders, an awareness of who he was hitting like a freight train. "Ram." He squeezed his fingers in a way he hadn't really been able to in such a long time. "Hold your horses, buddy. We got a problem 'cause I ain't Joey."

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bifoliate
2025-04-17 06:36 pm UTC (link)

At the pained hiss, Ram pulled back, not wanting to make it was worse and half-scrambling for his phone without any very clear idea of who to call. But then Joe was clutching at him and Ram practically melted in relief, hands reaching up to cup Joe's face, trying to find words for the million ways he wanted to ask if Joe was okay.

He jerked to a halt, fingers spasming in midair. Not Joe? But it looked like Joe, and sounded like Joe, and had fallen out of the bed Joe had spent the last two weeks asleep in. "What?" It took a moment to hit him that nobody Ram had ever met called his boyfriend Joey. That, more than anything, convinced him that something was deeply wrong. With short, sharp movements he shook his head. And again. And again. As if he could shake this reality out of it and go back to one that made sense.

If Joe wasn't here, and someone else was, what did that mean? A wounded noise escaped Ram's throat. "Is he-"

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notalongtime
2025-04-17 07:23 pm UTC (link)

The way Ram touched him and looked at him was so familiar but that the same time not, always experienced second-hand as though he'd only ever seen those expressions on a movie theater screen. This wasn't Technicolor, this was a living breathing person with a whole lot of feelings projected out of every line of his face.

"Ow." Muscles in his back twitched and he knew he had to move, pushing himself up to his feet and ignoring whatever hard object fell out of the tangled blankets and clattered on the floor. "He's not dead." That felt true since he knew what it was like when the guy in charge passed. Then again, this time could be different; Joey had gone so far off script that he was in a whole other play right now.

After stretching himself out to his full height, he held out his hand to Ram who was still on the floor and looking more pained than he felt. "I'm Frankie. What am I doing here?"

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bifoliate
2025-04-17 09:28 pm UTC (link)

"Okay." The single word that had come to stand for acceptance between the two of them shook a lot more than it usually did, but Ram wanted to accept that Joe was still alive. He'd take a way to do that from almost any source that offered it. "Why -" Ram almost asked why someone else had come in Joe's place, but he swallowed the words with a painfully tight throat. "Why hasn't he come home?"

Accepting the hand up, Ram gripped it too hard. Jani had held his hand, and Dagny and Frankie, but it wasn't the same. Running the other through his hair, he looked up, lips parted for a long minute before his thoughts jerked into some kind of order. "If you don't know, I don't know!"

Should he call Frankie? That was the thought that brought his attention to the introduction. It had felt important at one point to learn the names of all Joe's past lives. Maybe now, Ram was finding out why. "Caruso? But you're-" supposed to be dead.

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notalongtime
2025-04-17 11:16 pm UTC (link)

Frankie tipped his head to one side, then the other. The unpleasant prickles were subsiding now as he seemed to have full control instead of just experiencing Joe's life from the backseat. As much as he looked like Joe, somehow his posture was different, a relaxed, rakish way to how he held the new body he found himself in.

Well, jeez. If Ram didn't know how he'd got here, Frankie didn't have a hope in hell of having answers for him. "Damn. I figured you'd have a better chance of knowing what the deal is." He quirked an eyebrow, glad that Ram had been paying attention so that he didn't need to give him a history lesson on the past lives. "A dish?" Frankie's cocky smirk was literally right at home on Joe's face, but even his voice was different; Frankie was born and raised in Brooklyn and it was obvious in every dropped R and elongated vowel.

Fascinated by the idea of being in an actual body, Frankie wandered to the mirror that Ram usually used to style his hair. "How long's Joe been out? 'Cause we can't keep track of time in there." He remembered now that it had felt like it had been a lot longer than one night, his memories of the white space coming in clearer now the more awake he was.

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bifoliate
2025-04-18 06:32 am UTC (link)

Despite having just stood up, Ram sat heavily back amidst the rumpled sheets where Joe had slept. He wanted to curl into their residual warmth, as if the comforting arms of his Joe might still be found there to hold him and help him know what to do with this stranger that wore his soulmate's face.

"Frankie cast a spell. Uh. My Frankie, not you." Had Joe met Frankie? He would definitely have heard Ram talk about them, even if Ram wasn't sure he'd ever got around to the story of how they met. "I guess that's what brought you here?" But what Frankie was doing here, Ram had absolutely no idea. It hurt his head to even think about the choices they would have to make now, and he pushed that aside as a problem to deal with when he felt more like there was enough oxygen.

The smirk made Ram's heart tumble, the way it always did, but a split second later it felt as though it had landed in his stomach with a queasy splash. Of course Frankie was attractive - he was Joe, right down to Joe's crooked nose. Except at the same time, he wasn't. "You-" Where had all Ram's word's gone? Reaching for his phone, he checked the date and focused on the easier question. "15 days. 16?" Because Joe was still... not here. And presumably there was no chance of getting him back while Frankie was taking his place.

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notalongtime
2025-04-18 10:17 am UTC (link)

"Yeah, your guess is as good as any. I didn't do anything to bring myself here." Frankie examined said crooked nose in the mirror. "Why'd it hafta be boxing, Joey?" he grumbled, though he had lived in Joe's head for years and knew exactly why. A solo sport, no need to rely on teammates or make connections. Catching sight of Ram's dejected reflection in the mirror, he was reminded that love wasn't a solo sport. This was why none of the rest of them committed themselves to anyone, except little Enzo who'd been just as idealistic as Ram. Eventually, everything was going to be FUBAR and it wasn't fair of Joe to knowingly subject Ram to that.

He stepped back to get a better look of his whole body in the mirror, mentally cataloging the differences between his and Joe's. "Two weeks? Hot dog." It had felt like a long time, but it was impossible to tell. Normally, when Joe woke up and their consciousnesses were entwined once again he knew what Joe had been doing in the white place, but that didn't seem to be the case right now. Joe wasn't entirely missing from Frankie's memories, but it felt like there was a wall up around those two weeks. The last memory of Joe's he could summon up was sleepily talking in bed after making love - Frankie definitely thought it was a load of hooey that Joe refused to call it that, but that wasn't the point right now.

Frankie squatted in front of Ram, muscles only protesting a little. "Look, don't flip your lid. We'll figure this out." His expression grew pensive as he combed through what he now knew was two weeks. No wonder they'd all been going stir crazy. "Joe's been keeping to himself. He's built this tower. When we went lookin' for him, we couldn't get in. I think he's trapped." It still didn't answer the question of why Frankie was here now in the real world.

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bifoliate
2025-04-19 05:50 am UTC (link)

"It was supposed to bring Joe home." Under other circumstances, Ram wouldn't have been so obviously disappointed. Under other circumstances, Ram would've been fascinated to meet one of Joe's past lives. The last two weeks had drained Ram's usual enthusiasm and left behind dry earth in which the only 'positive' emotions he could cultivate were determination and the smallest, most tenacious shoots of hope. If Frankie had brought Frankie - was that why? like calling to like - maybe Frankie could do the spell again and bring the right person? But not today. They would need more crystals, and rest.

When Frankie came to squat before him, Ram's fingers twitched with the instinct to curl his hand around the back of Joe's neck. He wedged them under his thigh instead, where they couldn't go reaching towards someone that wasn't his. For two weeks, Ram had been hearing 'it'll be alright' and 'he'll wake up' so often that they'd lost all meaning. Hearing reassurance in another voice made it feel real again, Ram's shoulders softening like a weight had been partially lifted. It was further solidified by Frankie's next words, and Ram let out an audible breath. "You know where he is." Which meant that Joe was somewhere. If he was somewhere, he could be reached.

"Fuck, I should've had Frankie send me." Because Joe was there and Ram was here and how was he supposed to go about getting Joe out of a trap Ares had sprung on him when he wasn't even in the right realm?

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notalongtime
2025-04-19 09:16 pm UTC (link)

Of course whatever Ram had done was supposed to bring Joe home, Frankie wouldn't have expected anything less. From what he'd seen, Ram would move Heaven and Earth for his man and Frankie couldn't fault him for that. "I know, buddy. And I betcha Joe wants to get back home to you too, one day closer to that cottage with 'Easthallow' on the mailbox."

Frankie knew two things: one, Joe didn't want to share that idea just yet and two, it was unlikely that cottage would ever exist given the track record of their past lives. But he also knew which one would actually reassure Ram, so carpe diem.

"Kind of. It's not like there's a map." His gaze dropped to Ram's arm. "But there's a path. Looks a whole lot like that." Frankie tapped Ram's tattoo, then stood stepping away to give Ram space. "Same flowers growing by it and everything." He smiled crookedly. "When it comes to you, I don't think there's any limit on his imagination."

Frankie flexed his knees gently, kind of distracted by the strength of his own thighs for a minute. They might have technically had the same body, but Joe worked his in a way Frankie never had.

"And got you lost in there? That wouldn't have helped. Your pal Frankie did you a favor not sending you in."

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bifoliate
2025-04-20 08:30 pm UTC (link)

The idea of Joe trapped, as desperate to get back as Ram was to have him, sent a chill down through Ram's body. Joe might not need people the way Ram did, but he deserved love, and Ram had always hated the spectre of loneliness in Joe's past, present or future. Even the mention of their mailbox couldn't distract him much. A memory called itself forth: agreeing that they had time to think about the wording. For Ram, their eventual marriage was as certain as anything could be with the curse hanging over their heads. It didn't surprise him Joe had thought about it, only that Joe would want to be the one to take his name. "Joe Easthallow." Giovanni Easthallow. Would Joe's parents ever accept that? The Gio they loved marrying someone like Ram?

When Ram had encouraged Joe to build something, they'd agreed that whatever it was needed to be Joe's decision. Yet he'd still chosen something inspired by Ram. It only proved what Joe himself had said: they were fated. After two weeks apart, it was a much-needed reminder they were still twined around one another. "He loves me," Ram said simply, glad to be able to say it to someone after keeping it so carefully hidden since Donna's arrival.

Frowning, Ram pointed out, "I wouldn't get lost. You just said there's a path!" Flexing his fingers under his thighs, he watched Frankie's fascination with Joe's body. "How do you suggest we get him back? If none of you could get in, who can?" Ram, obviously. He needed to be in the dream place as soon as Frankie could arrange it.

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notalongtime
2025-04-20 09:59 pm UTC (link)

Hearing the name that Frankie knew Joe had been thinking about for a long time be finally said aloud made Frankie smile. Joe Easthallow. "He thinks Giovanni Easthallow sounds like a badass wizard from that game you play - his words, not mine." Joe might resent him for sharing secrets, but Frankie was secure in the knowledge that he would never resent him as much as he did Domenico. "But he always pictures a cloak and a goatee, I don't know why." This was weird having Joe's thoughts and memories in his head in a way that he'd never had before. Neil's memories were there too, lingering darkly. During his lifetime, Frankie had only had three past lives to contend with.

Frankie shook his head with a sort of fondness. "Don't ever doubt it, buddy." Joe might not be sure that he would ever truly break the curse, but he was sure of his feelings for Ram.

"Assumin' you can even find the path! You don't know where you'd enter the white space." Frankie sighed. "I don't know what to suggest. But I know you're gonna try to get in there whatever I say."

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bifoliate
2025-04-22 05:51 am UTC (link)

"I just assumed I'd be Rampion Russo." Joe had two living biological parents, not to mention being a straight man who'd presumably grown up with the assumption his eventual wife would take his name. That he wanted, instead, to join Ram in his witch two-person family made him feel as precious and accepted as so many of Joe's little phrases and gestures. "How do I -" He cut off those thoughts, having learned quickly over the last two weeks that thinking too hard about just how much he loved Joe only led to tears which didn't help anybody. "I don't care what name we use, as long as we're together." And they would be, because Ram would find a way to bring Joe back.

Fertile as his imagination was, Ram could picture no scenario in which Joe would let Ram doubt his love. Ram could feel it in every touch, hear it in every pet name, see it when Joe listened to him babble on about things Joe was only half interested in. "Never."

Much as Frankie raised a good point, he was also right thot Ram would try anything he could think of. "I'm not just going to leave him there." A layer of anger brimmed under the surface, not at Frankie but at Ares who had orchestrated this whole thing for the bullshit reason of using innocent men to punish one asshole who had to live through their misery. "He belongs here. At home. With me."

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notalongtime
2025-04-23 07:12 pm UTC (link)

"Yeah. If there's one thing I've learned, it's not to underestimate what our Joe wants to do with his life." Frankie paused, frowning. "Sorry. Your Joe." That my Joe/my Ram thing wasn't something he wanted to tread on, even if Joe was as much a part of him as he was of Joe. By all expectations, Joe should have been the most rigid and militaristic of them all, a third generation soldier who grew up on Army bases. Instead, he seemed to flow through life with a certain east, adapting easily to new ideas and situations; Joe himself had even suggested that Ares must have been trying extra hard to make the curse stick.

Frankie pressed a palm to his temple, a headache starting to set in, not unlike the one that had lasted for three days after he'd enlisted and suddenly found all those extra memories in his head.

Jesus Christ, it was hard not to resent Joe a little for putting Ram through all of this. He should have just called it quits after that one night. "I never said you should. But he'd never forgive himself if something happened to you."

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bifoliate
2025-04-23 09:01 pm UTC (link)

Ram felt a surge of pride at that, believing that he'd at least had a hand in helping Joe realise the future he wanted to build for himself. Though he hesitated over it for a moment, he finally answered, "He's yours, too. Differently." Just as Joe belonged to his parents and Giulia and Cris and Judd and the rest of his army buddies. "Anyone who wants to help him get that future." Which meant not Ares and not Domenico, no matter how much those figures had shared and shaped Joe's experiences.

Breath deflating out of him, Ram bowed his head again. Did everybody think he was going to get himself hurt if he tried to rescue Joe himself? Judd certainly had, and now Frankie. Jerking his chin back up, he met Frankie's eyes and said, "Then you'll have to tell him it's not his fault." It wasn't very clear in Ram's mind what situation would arise in which he was hurt and Frankie was back in Joe's head, but he didn't care. "This is already happening to me. And I can't think of any other way to stop it." Accepting that Joe was gone was not an option Ram would even consider.

The more he watched and listened, the less convincing was the resemblance between Joe and Frankie-in-Joe's-body. Which raised a question Ram didn't have an answer for. "What do we do about Joe's mom? She doesn't know about the curse." Which meant they couldn't tell her the truth. On the other hand, even if Frankie pretending to be Joe was enough to fool her, what if they were giving her false hope that her son had recovered? Ram had so far upheld his position of not telling Joe's parents actual lies, though with as much as he was omitting, it wasn't a very stable line in the sand.

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notalongtime
2025-04-24 06:18 pm UTC (link)

It shouldn't be happening to Ram, Frankie thought. No one should have to deal with this curse. Joe was the first of them who could actually tell other people about the curse without worry that they would be committed to an asylum or something similar. Not that attempts to do so would actually work - the curse bent fate to ensure they would stay in the Army. From what Frankie could see, telling people about the curse just brought misery to everyone who knew.

Maybe that was just a new part of the curse.

"Joe's mom?" Frankie asked, eyebrows raising. "Whaddya mean Joe's mom?"

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bifoliate
2025-04-24 07:07 pm UTC (link)

For an unreasonably long moment, the only conclusion Ram could draw was that Frankie didn't know what a mom was. Except he knew that Frankie did, because he'd had one. Ram even remembered she'd had an unusual name, though not what it was. It was only after blinking several times that Ram realised Joe hadn't been here to make memories of Donna's arrival, so there was no way Frankie could have shared them.

"She's here." Not in the room, or even in the house. Glancing around to check the time, Ram clarified, "She's staying with Joe's grandparents. She comes over after breakfast." Could Frankie just pretend to be asleep? Even Ram could see that wouldn't work, nobody could feign that kind of unnatural stillness for long. "I don't want her to think Joe's okay when he's -" But they couldn't just refuse to let her in, either.

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notalongtime
2025-04-25 06:29 pm UTC (link)

Donna was here in Tarrytown? Damn, that wasn't something that even Joe could have predicted, despite having family so close by in Sleepy Hollow. Frowning, he pinched the bridge of his nose, the headache turning into a pressure behind his eyes. He couldn't just pretend to be asleep, though laying down in a dark room was sounding pretty good right about now.

Joe didn't want his parents to know about the curse and Frankie was a lot more inclined to keep that secret than Joe's desire to be Mr. Easthallow one day. "Okay, buddy. I guess your life's going to be a helluva lot easier if she's gone? Which means Joe's going to need a miraculous recovery."

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bifoliate
2025-04-25 07:12 pm UTC (link)

The idea of letting Joe's parents believe their son had recovered moved like aphids under Ram's skin. He hated it. The only way to articulate why would be to admit to himself that the chance that Joe would never recover, that either Frankie would have to pretend until the curse reclaimed him or else they would have to explain the full truth, and why they'd hidden it. Choices were hard at the best of times, and nothing about the last two weeks had left Ram anywhere close to his best. Trying to make the right decision was too exhausting to contemplate.

"What would Joe want us to do?" Frankie had been in Joe's life a lot longer than Ram had, he'd been able to witness Joe's interactions with his parents rather than only hear about them. Despite all that, Ram was very nearly certain that Joe would rather his parents believe him recovered than have to hear the truth about who Frankie was and where he had come from. Ram didn't agree, but even if he'd felt up to it, it wasn't his place to step in and make that call.

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notalongtime
2025-04-25 09:31 pm UTC (link)

Ram looked like he was going to vomit, Frankie thought, remembering how much he disliked making decisions. This was one situation where there was no 'both' option. He knew a dozen ways to comfort Ram, a dozen ways that he knew would work, but they were all things that Joe should do, not him.

"I like Joe's mom," he offered. "Reminds me of my ma. One of the good ones, as far as our parents go." Some of their other lives hadn't really been so lucky in that department. Frankie sat down heavily on the bed next to Ram, leaning forward, his hands clasped together between his spread knees. "Joe..." He sighed. "Joe wants to preserve the relationship he has with his parents for as long as he has left." For all the hope that Ram had given him, Frankie knew Joe had never truly lost that sense of having a ticking clock over his head. "So either we betray him and tell her the whole damn truth or we lie."

As much as Joe's thoughts were often so in sync with Ram's, Frankie's turned out to be the opposite. "Look, this isn't my life. I died a long time ago. I'm just visiting and I'd think it was a dream if it didn't hurt so fuckin' much. It's your choice, buddy. He trusts you. For better or worse."

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bifoliate
2025-04-25 11:26 pm UTC (link)

Every fibre of Ram's body wanted to lean into the man beside him, feel that familiar arm go around his shoulders and the warm weight of a kiss against his temple. Instead, he twisted his hands into each other, keeping his nails out of the meat of his palms only because he could hear Joe's gentle admonishment not to hurt himself ringing through layers of memory.

Lying to people wasn't how you preserved relationships, not good ones. The thought lasted less than a minute before Ram's shoulders slumped under the realisation that it was exactly how Joe chose to 'preserve' things with his parents. It was why he wouldn't tell them about Ram, even after Donna had already suspected.

It felt so wrong that if it were truly Ram's choice, he'd have to tell them. Or tell them he couldn't tell them. Anything other than letting them believe everything was back to normal when it so very clearly wasn't. "I can't betray him." Ram would rather make himself miserable, just as he'd rather pretend to be straight than give away Joe's secrets. "It won't hurt them. Not really." Ram could believe that lie, as long as he believed Joe would eventually wake up. If he didn't, everything else ceased to matter anyway.

If he couldn't lean into ~~Joe~~ Frankie, Ram's second choice was curling up beneath the sheets like a child afraid of the dark. Maybe one of the witches could illusion Ram's body to look like Joe? Except he needed to be able to come and go freely to keep looking for ways to bring Joe back. For the first time, Ram wondered if Joe should trust him. If it weren't for Ram, he'd be here, preserving his relationships the way he wanted to. Maybe he'd done more harm than good, giving Joe faith there was a way to challenge the curse.

Hot tears spilled down Ram's cheeks as he clutched his arms tighter into himself and his voice broke as he asked, "Then why can't I get him back?" Why had he failed when Joe needed him, unless that was all he'd ever been capable of?

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notalongtime
2025-04-26 01:57 pm UTC (link)

Oh, Jesus Christ. A crying dame was hard enough to deal with but seeing another man cry? Frankie didn't know how to handle that. But he did know how to comfort Ram through all those layers of Joe's memories that had now settled in his head. He couldn't bring himself to hug Ram and hold him close, not the man who could tell him just to let it all out. Ram needed his own mom, Frankie was sure.

"Because we're just human and Ares is a fucking god." Maybe if he ignored the tears they would just go away? Frankie wanted to tell Ram that if he really wanted to marry Joe one day then he was going to be his next of kin and he might have to be responsible for making decisions for him. That or if Joe trusted Ram enough to do some of the things they did in this bedroom, then Joe would trust him to make the right choice. But neither option would get any kind of traction with the state Ram was in.

"Whaddaya need, Ram? You need me to tell Donna Russo what's really going on? Take all the blame from Joe when he's back?"

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bifoliate
2025-04-26 06:25 pm UTC (link)

It was not the first time Ram had been asked that question, and his answer was the same as it had been to Dagny, and as useless. What he needed was the one thing that was beyond his reach. With a note of panic threaded through his voice, he answered, "No!" Allowing Frankie to betray Joe was no better than Ram doing it himself. No matter how much the situation had changed, how much Joe might feel differently about it if he were here to know the truth, Joe wasn't here; they had to go with his wishes as well as they knew them, not assume they'd transform into whatever was most convenient.

Wiping ineffectually at his cheeks, Ram forced himself to sit up a little straighter. "We'll just - we'll tell her Joe woke up." And then they'd send Ram into the void to make sure that Joe did wake up. That way they weren't lying, they were just... telling Donna Russo the truth a little early.

Ram didn't consider his ability to tell that lie convincingly. But then, Ram was just about the only person who thought he was fooling Joe's mom that they were just friends.

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notalongtime
2025-04-26 08:32 pm UTC (link)

Despite everything, Frankie cracked a grin as Ram managed to tap into a feeling that wasn't sadness or disappointment. Fear, he knew from his days on the battlefield, would go some way to keeping him smart.

"Okay, so you can make a decision. Good to know." Frankie clapped Ram on the shoulder and stood up, stretching again. At least they'd made one choice. "Guess I'm doing my best Joe impression." Just without looking at Ram like he had hung the moon or personally invented flowers. "But first, I'm going to need coffee and a shower."

He could pull this off. He had to.

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bifoliate
2025-04-27 11:26 am UTC (link)

Ram had time neither to flinch away from or lean into the touch before Frankie had pulled away, the grin so fucking out of kilter with Ram's own feelings that it hurt. "Your best straight, not-cursed Joe impression who doesn't think of Giulia and Cris as siblings." The words were hollow, some part of Ram's mind carefully not letting him consider the number or the depth of the lies Joe was telling. Now was not a time Ram could afford to wonder if Joe would ever be able to undo that deception, if he would ever truly want to. No matter what happened, Ram had decided months ago that he would live those lies with Joe if that was what it took to keep him, his own pride in his sexuality be damned.

At least the coffee was familiar. Ram could handle that, though it wouldn't occur to him until it was too late that he didn't know whether or not Frankie took it with cream. "Shit, I think I left the shower on." Had he? Or had he turned it off when he'd come back to grab a towel? Ram honestly couldn't remember. At least, unlike a bath, it couldn't flood as a consequence of Ram's carelessness, and Barrett would probably forgive him when he discovered that Joe had woken up. Or Frankie had? It was obvious to Ram that they'd tell Cris and Giulia the truth, but he didn't know which was worse: lying to Barrett or asking him to lie to Donna. Why did one choice have to lead to more impossible choices?

Focusing on more immediate concerns, Ram found a towel and held it out. "You know where everything is?"

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notalongtime
2025-04-27 01:57 pm UTC (link)

Frankie took the towel, nodding. "Yeah, I remember." He remembered everything, though he wasn’t sure Ram could truly comprehend what that meant. Frankie remembered which of Ram's shampoos Joe liked to use, how to get the shower to the right temperature and Joe’s usual routine. He remembered which was the most comfortable pillow on the bed, the layout of the drawer where Ram kept lube and condoms, and what it was like to wake up with Ram's hair tickling his nose. He wasn’t just Frankie's mind in Joe's body, he was simply one of the layers that made Joe the man he was.

"I’ll be quick. Then we’ll figure out what we’re gonna say and who we’re gonna say it to." The hot water might ease his headache and the tension building in his shoulders. It would at least give him time to adjust to simply being alive and conscious after 55 years before he was thrown into the current maelstrom of Joe’s life.

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