Gift-Fic: Lizzie and Bonejangles
by: Flaming Trails

“I still think it’s a shame we never got a chance to meet while we were both alive.”

Bonejangles swiveled his skull around to get a better look at his beau. “Thought we went over this already, Liz,” he commented, tilting his head. “You were what, five, six, when I kacked it? I met you back then, I would have thought you were a cute little girl, nothin’ more.”

“Yes, I know, but – I can’t stop myself wondering what would have happened if you’d survived your accident and ended up in Oxford before the whole Bumby business had a chance to kick off for me,” Lizzie said, dragging her toes through the murky water of the stream. (Which was so shallow it was really just a mobile puddle, but still.) “Would have been nice to know you while we were both still breathing. Yes, fine, there would have been an age difference, but – I can’t see you changing that much over time. You told me once that you’d intended to keep on as a traveling musician as long as you could.”

“Yeah, true…but if I’d survived getting trampled by my own spooked horse, I might not have been doin’ so much travelin’,” Bonejangles pointed out, digging his own feet into the mud. “He smashed up my legs pretty good – only reason I can walk down here is ‘cause you don’t need all your bits to be mobile. Back up there, I might have needed a chair to get around. Or at least a cane. Which kinda puts the kibosh on wanderin’ around makin’ a living performing at pubs.”

“I suppose it does…and unfortunately, I can’t think of a reason why my parents would have ever taken us to Burtonsville,” Lizzie admitted, frowning. “Not when neither the Van Dorts nor the Everglots were donors…can’t imagine why I would have gone on my own, either…” She shook her head. “Well, we’re in the realm of hypotheticals anyway – let’s talk about a world where you didn’t ride through that storm at all. And you came to Oxford one day looking for more coin to support your sisters, and we just – ran into each other. What do you think might have happened?”

“Honestly? I see it goin’ mostly like our first meeting down here went,” Bonejangles admitted, scratching his skull under his hat. “You being polite but not exactly friendly, me just trying to be nice and maybe get ya to open up a bit.”

“That’s fair – if we’d met at the time I’m thinking about, I would have had quite enough of supposedly-nice young men making eyes at me,” Lizzie allowed, pulling a face. Then she smiled. “But I think you would have still won me over, simply by being so different from the undergraduates. At least convinced me to attend one of your performances.” She grinned teasingly. “And, if you were as good alive as you are dead, I definitely would have sought you out afterward to offer up my compliments.”

“And I’m sure I would have still offered my thanks and a drink to the pretty lady,” Bonejangles said, smiling back (as he always did, but you got good at telling skeletal expressions after a while dead). “Pulled ya into another conversation, seen where things went.” He gazed thoughtfully up at the earthy sky. “You think your family would have approved of living me? I mean, I know they do now, but…”

“They would have,” Lizzie assured him. “Alice might have watched you closely for a little while – she’d heard too many of my complaints about the other men to do otherwise – but you would have won her over quickly. And my parents – they just wanted me to be happy. They would have liked you for that alone.” She took his hand. “I would have loved to run away with you. Traveling around Britain, seeing the sights, learning your music…having a life where I wasn’t afraid of having to squash myself down to fit my husband’s mold. It would have been fun.”

“Yeah.” Bonejangles pressed his forehead against hers. “Still could be, you know.”

“Mmm.” Lizzie kissed his teeth. “Maybe after Halloween this year. Just to let Victor and Alice know in person.”

“Sounds good,” Bonejangles agreed, pulling her in close. “Got all the time in the world, after all.”

The End