darker_london | Hope (Flynn, Spectre)

The band wasn't due to write today, but Flynn showed up at Spectre's door anyway. He walked into the house that had been his first home ever, and he went straight up to the studio where he knew Spectre would be. Spectre was sitting at his computer when Flynn entered, listening to some of the recordings the band had made for their latest song. "Hey," Flynn said by way of greeting. "I read your entry."

Spectre swiveled around in his chair and he gave his friend a sad smile. "You didn't have to come over..."

"Yeah, I did," Flynn said, moving over to Spectre's chair. He grabbed Spectre's favorite guitar with him, and sat down beside his friend. "Because you see, I was thinking? Your hands just have to remember how to move."

Spectre gave Flynn a faint smile. "I know what you're trying to do, Flynn, but I'm not entirely sure that's true."

"Well we can find out," Flynn said softly. He scooted his chair close to Spectre and then he pulled the guitar into his lap. "Was your strumming alright?"

"Well...it was fine." He hadn't had a chance to do anything fancy, since it wouldn't matter until he could finger the chords anyway.

"Good. I'm going to play right-handed, so bear with me," Flynn groaned. He was pretty left-handed, though he could play both ways. He just wasn't as quick with his right hand. That was probably better for Spectre anyway. "Put your hand on mine. We can work on the fingerings together."

Spectre bit his lip, but he inched close to Flynn and he did exactly as Flynn said. They had done something similar in the hospital, but Spectre had just let Flynn play then, his fingers resting on Flynn's. Now he was going to move along with the other man. "Alright."

"We'll play Once Upon a Time in Glasgow. You stop me if I do it wrong or go too fast!" Spectre nodded, and Flynn started to play the song. He played slowly at first, increasing the speed as the song went on. Spectre was gritting his teeth and chewing on his tongue to ignore the pain by the end of it, but they had made it through.

"Gracious that hurts," Spectre said when they had finished the song. He pulled his hand away and he cradled it close to his chest.

"But it will get easier as we go," Flynn said, pleased with his experiment. "We can try again in a minute."

Spectre gave him a dubious look and then a small smile appeared on his face. "Do I get a reward for doing well?" he asked, his tone slightly impish. "I want chocolate. And posies."

Flynn chuckled. "Chocolate posies?"

"See, now you're just being ridiculous," Spectre grinned. "Can we go again? I want to try again."

And the two of them spent the rest of the afternoon going over and over Spectre's older songs. Spectre still couldn't do it alone. It hurt too much to press down on the guitar hard enough to make a chord stick. But he was working up to it and it felt good. Flynn, in turn, was rewarded by Spectre giving him a teary hug at the end of their session.

"Thank you," Spectre whispered into Flynn's shoulder. "You've given me hope, Flynn. Thank you."

"No problem," Flynn said with a shrug. "You gave me hope once. It's my chance to return the favour."