Ilovethizsomuch Thiz Piece Of Art Feed My Soul

Ilovethizsomuch thiz piece of art feed my soul

Ralph tucked his knees up to his chin and shivered.

He supposed that he had brought it upon himself, going out on the deck on a Winter night. Or, at least, he thought it was Winter. It was rather hard to tell, and none of the boys had thought to ask, not that Ralph would've retained it anyway.

Too much had happened – his brain was too full of events he'd rather not think about, and revelations made far earlier than he should've as a twelve year old boy. Was he still twelve? Lord, he didn't even know what year it was.

Ralph tore his eyes away from the strangely peaceful view and buried his face in his crossed arms. He wasn't crying, he'd done too much of that already.

He tried not to think about the hunters, who had mercifully been given a different room to himself and a few others (Although only after one of the younger Marines had begged the Captain to do so. In his own words “The blond one might go loopy”.)

He was half surprised Jack hadn't already sought him out, although he did think it made some sense. All those games seemed so silly now in the face of real, proper grown-ups.

And anyway, he was glad of the fact. Right now, he mostly wanted to be alone. He didn't want to see another person from the island. Not now, not ever.

That island had taken so much from him, from all of them, and he'd never dare say it aloud, but he had the awful feeling that a part of him would never leave, no matter how far he travelled.

Ralph felt a presence behind him and tensed up, but didn't raise his head, even though the gash on his stomach was starting to sting from his position.

He subconsciously held his breath as the faint footsteps approached, bracing to be hit or kicked or thrown overboard. Instead, he felt a slight weight around his shoulders and a much heavier one thumping down beside him.

He lifted his head (and definitely did not have to wipe his eyes), turning to the boy sitting beside him. The moonlight reflected off his broken (now Sellotaped) glasses as he stared directly at Ralph.

“Hi. I thought you'd be cold,” said Piggy.

Ralph made a faint noise of confirmation, looking down at the scratchy Navy issue blanket draped over his body. He wrapped it around himself.

“You were right,” said Ralph, “But I can't think that this is helping.”

Piggy pulled his own threadbare blanket tighter and surreptitiously shifted slightly closer to Ralph, who found that he didn't mind.

“You know,” said Piggy, changing the subject, “Penguins huddle together for warmth. The whole flock. Body heat, an’ that.”

“I'm sure the others would love that suggestion.”

As usual, Piggy seemed not to notice that sarcastic, bitter edge to Ralph's voice, opting to smile softly at him. Ralph couldn't help but give a small one back.

“Who cares what they think? It's you and me, now. We ought to look after each other,” said Piggy. He paused, then added a muttered “ ‘sides, there's no one around.”

Ralph considered this, checked for himself and realised that Piggy was right. He shuffled towards the tantalising warmth of the boy sat beside him until they were pressed against each other, shoulder to shoulder. With barely a second thought, Ralph let his head drop down to rest against Piggy, who started, then tentatively wrapped an arm around Ralph.

They stayed like that for a few seconds, before Piggy spoke up, free hand fiddling with the frayed edge of his blanket.

“Are we gonna… you know, talk about this?”

Ralph didn't respond, so Piggy sighed.

“ ‘spose that's a no, then.”

Ralph weighed his options. He'd left much of himself on that island, many thoughts and emotions unfit for polite society, but in that moment he suddenly realised just how desperately he wanted to take this piece of the island with him.

“We will talk. But it's gonna be ages ‘til we get back home. For now, let's just… sit. OK?”

Piggy nodded, accidentally jolting Ralph, who was still resting his head on Piggy’s shoulder.

“OK.”

They both stared out at the skyline, entranced by the gently rolling waves and glimmering moonlight. There was absolutely no land in sight.

Ralph's eyes slowly began to shut, and he was only vaguely aware of how awful his neck would feel tomorrow if he dozed off like this.

“Ralph?”

Ralph opened his eyes sleepily.

“Yeah, Piggy?”

“It… it's Peter.”

Ralph pressed his head further against the other boy’s neck, until he all he could smell was regulation bath soap, the lingering scent of gunk and grime, and something sweet he couldn't quite place. He shut his eyes once more, mumbling something before he fell into a proper sleep.

“Love you, Peter.”

4/3/25

I'M STILL INSANE ABOUT THEM!!!!!!!!!!! Had this fic idea in my head since Jan/Feb, but didn't start writing until today, when I banged it all out in one sitting as basically an uninterrupted stream of consciousness.

I was really debating about whether to keep Piggy's death, but I genuinely just wanted to write some fluff, so, fix-it fic I guess! I still really love them nooo