Fic: Judgement (Tin Man, Wyatt Cain/Glitch)

[emeraldembers]

Title: Judgement
Fandom: Tin Man
Pairing: Wyatt Cain/Glitch
Rating: PG
Word Count: 855
Summary: There was him, and then there was him-him, and deciding between the two was always going to be difficult for Glitch.
Author's Notes: Written for Obscure Fandom Week on Tumblr :).



People liked to say Wyatt Cain was a hard man to know, but that wasn't entirely true. He was easy to know; understanding him was the only tricky part, and that worked out perfectly well for Glitch all things considered he wasn't expected to understand Cain. He was very good at making guesses about him though, had started to practise guessing after he first realised his brain didn't like to remember answers, and Cain didn't seem to mind Glitch's attempts. At least, he didn't correct them as quickly or as harshly as he did other people's.

Cain didn't often offer his opinions up beyond whether someone was worth trusting or a situation was more suicidal than necessary, but he made exceptions for Glitch in this too. The effort at conversation was an effort Glitch appreciated, particularly on this occasion once he remembered why he was sitting on the floor, staring up at the missing part of his brain.

"You thinking about what'll happen if they put your brain back in?"

Glitch thought about it and nodded. "I'm just thinking - that's me in there. But it isn't me-me, you know? It's another me." Glitch hugged his knees to his chest. "And I like me-me. I don't know if I like me. Does that make sense?"

"Surprisingly, yes," Cain replied, sitting down next to him and stretching out his legs. Glitch looked at him, the pale hair and strange eyes and kind mouth, and quite forgot what he had been going to say or if, indeed, he had been going to say anything.

Cain gave him the "You're staring" stare, and Glitch looked away, cleared his throat.

"I just think that - it's Ambrose in there, and I'm Glitch, and what if Ambrose doesn't like all the Glitch parts of me? I wanted my brain back but I thought it would be my brain, you know? Not someone else's."

"You're allowed to change your mind," Cain said, reaching up and tapping Glitch's zipper. "No pun intended. No one's saying you have to do it."

"They're all thinking it."

Cain made a non-committal sound as he looked down at his boots, Glitch's eyes following his in case he could figure out what was so interesting about them. "Ambrose didn't save me from hypothermia," Cain said after a moment. "That was you."

"I saved you from hypothermia?" Glitch said, genuinely surprised for a moment before remembering dragging Cain into the wagon, and a blur of panic and lots of hugging. He blushed after another moment's thought, fairly certain the ideas that came to mind after remembering the hugging were not memories at all. "That was very sensible of me."

"I don't know what we would do without your sense," Cain said, and Glitch was hard pressed to tell if he was being sarcastic or just telling the truth in a very Cain sort of way.

"I'm not that bad with a half-empty head, am I?" Glitch asked, hoping for confirmation in a way he didn't fully understand. "I do quite well."

"I'm not going to tell you what to do," Cain said, a little stern, but allowing Glitch to uncurl and lean over to rest his head in Cain's lap.

"I wish someone would. I'm not very good at making decisions."

"You're not so bad."

Glitch smiled when he felt a strong hand start petting his hair. "I could always wait. It's just a brain, isn't it? It's not going to run away while I'm not looking."

"No. Though I'm sure if any brain could, yours would be the first." Glitch didn't need to look to know Cain was smiling, relaxed a little more. Cain's smiles were rare, and Glitch liked being one of the few who got to be around for them.

"And it's not cowardice, is it? It's a big decision. Being, er, hesitant, that's normal."

Cain tightened his grip on Glitch's hair, and Glitch followed as he was pulled up by his curls, shifting onto his hands and knees and laughing nervously as Cain's free hand caught him by the chin. "I know cowards. You're not one of them."

"Oh," Glitch said, suddenly aware that he was very close to Cain's mouth and very keen to get closer. "That's good."

So he did. Cain's lips were as generous as they looked, and Glitch shut his eyes, let himself get lost in the kiss. There were many places he'd been lost before, and this was easily the best. He wondered if he'd been lost there before, or just thought about it often enough to get confused; either way, kissing was a lot better in practise than in theory, all wet heat and constantly surprising give and take.

Cain pulled away three times, changing his mind after each break and kissing Glitch a little longer every time he did, before finally giving Glitch's hands and knees a rest on the fourth break, easing him back down into his lap.

"I think I'll, I'll wait," Glitch said, grinning wide. "I like being me a lot right now."

Cain said nothing in reply, but his laugh was commentary enough.

Comments

[stephantom.livejournal.com]

Eeee! I love this. I'm so happy to see a new Cain/Glitch fic. They remain my OTP. And this is such a lovely and plausible snapshot of them after the end of the movie. I think you nailed their voices and way of interacting. I love Glitch getting distracted and Cain giving him "the 'You're staring' stare." Perfect.

[emerald-embers.livejournal.com]

Thank you very much <3! I only watched the show very recently and I instantly fell in love with their dynamic - I loved Glitch pretty much the moment he first opened his mouth, but more than anything I loved how with Cain and Glitch they felt like they had been a couple for a long time, the casual touching and the snarky bitching and little moments of genuine affection.

I can totally see why you would OTP them :D. I think I OTP them for the show, definitely!

[stephantom.livejournal.com]

I only saw it about half a year ago, actually. It's such a silly thing, I wasn't even sure if I really liked it at first, but then, idk, I just fell hard for it, lol. And I think the dynamic you just described between Glitch and Cain played a big part of that. (This fanvid I recced here (http://stephantom.livejournal.com/315395.html#cutid2) probably played a role in solidifying my love for this fandom too. (Btw, someone points the way to a couple really great Tin Man communities in the comments there.))

You should probably post this to glitch_wyatt and tin_and_straw, if you haven't already. I bet there are people still following those that would be really happy to read this fic.

Also, if you're looking for good reading for this fandom/pairing, this rec post (http://kseda.livejournal.com/521463.html) is a handy place to start, along with all those comms.

[emerald-embers.livejournal.com]

Thank you for the suggestions! I've crossposted the fic to glitch_wyatt now, though for some reason LJ doesn't want me to post to tin_and_straw XD.

And thank you extra for the recs - I've already read every Cain/Glitch fic I could find on Archive Of Our Own so it's good to have more to look through :D!

[surranndie.livejournal.com]

Oooh, this was a lovely scene! I loved the way Glitch was trying to convince himself while trying so hard to get Cain to help him decided. Cain's reactions were perfect and so very 'Cain.'

The way their conversation naturally led to such sweet, easy kisses was just so beautiful. Thank you for writing this moment in their post-series lives!

(And welcome to the Glitch/Cain world! I...actually have been in the fandom since the original airing of the series almost 4 years ago. I always love to see new faces!)

[emerald-embers.livejournal.com]

Thank you so much! I love the way Cain has this sort of... laid back way of being stubborn, it's sweet. And I kept thinking back to when Glitch was talking at him in the show about rhythm, where even though it was pretty much a monologue, it was pretty clear he wanted Cain to appreciate him for it ;).

I got the feeling throughout the show, especially towards the end, that Cain and Glitch were basically a couple who hadn't quite realised they were a couple, so they were wonderfully easy to write get-together fic for on account of their pretty much already being together!

(And thank you very much :D! I'd heard people talking about Tin Man a few years back and kept meaning to watch it at some point due to adoring Alan Cumming, but somehow forgot to until they re-ran it on SyFy recently. I fell instantly in love <3)

[avari-maethor.livejournal.com]

This was so perfect. It sent me into a fit of fangirl glee. I could see them sitting there having this conversation.

[emerald-embers.livejournal.com]

Oh, thank you <3! I think what I loved so much about them in the show was it felt at parts like they already were a couple, they'd just somehow forgotten to get around to kissing. I wanted to try and keep that feeling at the beginning of this because it's such a gorgeous dynamic I didn't want to change it much!

[lionille.livejournal.com]

Eee, I enjoyed this so much! I liked Glitch's view of Cain:

the pale hair and strange eyes and kind mouth


And Glitch's thoughts while being lost in the kiss:

There were many places he'd been lost before, and this was easily the best.

^^

Lovely fic.

[emerald-embers.livejournal.com]

Thank you very much! I find Cain fascinating to look at so it was fun to write how Glitch sees him, and I just adore Glitch's wandering but usually linked in a strangely logical way thought patterns :).

I'm glad you liked this, thanks for commenting <3!

[hsavinien.livejournal.com]

Aww, that's nice.

[emerald-embers.livejournal.com]

Thank you very much :).

[emerald-embers.livejournal.com]

You're very welcome :), and thank you for your comment! There was something so sweet about these two I instantly became smitten with them when watching the show, and couldn't resist writing something for them <3.

[emerald-embers.livejournal.com]

The honest answer is I'm not sure - some fandoms I only ever end up writing one or two things! I hope I get inspired for something more for them but I can't guarantee it.

Thank you for asking though <3!

[the-watched-pot.livejournal.com]

Hooray! Someone else who came to Tin Man late! This is lovely, and your Glitch is excellent. The worry about not liking his Ambrose-self, or his Ambrose-self not liking him is something my Glitch always worried about, too.

Fabulous.