Arthur And John - Tumblr Posts
Red Inktober Redemption Day 10: Father
When life gives you a little brother…
[My twitter –> @PPitteArt]
[Do not repost]
WIP Challenge
Thanks to the super lovely and talented @homiegeesus for the tag! :) Here’s a little snippet from this story I was trying to write ages ago that focused on Eliza and Arthur. It kind of fell apart, but I still go back to it occasionally. I was going to post a snippet from Memories of the West, but I’m about to post that chapter today so it felt like cheating :) So here’s some Young!John and Young!Arthur bonding (or annoying the shit out of each other).
......
“Arthur?”
He didn’t have to turn to know the voice. “Yes, John?”
“I’m bored.”
“Well, go find somethin’ to get into.”
“Hosea said I was to stay with you.”
“That’s ‘cause Hosea don’t want you kickin’ up a fuss, runnin’ your mouth to someone you shouldn’t.”
John sighed and come to stand beside Arthur on the balcony. He folded his lanky arms along the railing, rested his chin on them.
“How you manage to get your hair lookin’ like that?” Arthur asked, genuinely curious. Arthur had just recently been made to hold the kid down while Hosea chopped away at stringy, hopelessly matted hair. It was short now, almost to the scalp, but John had still managed to get it messy.
“Dunno.” John ran a hand along the top of his head idly, making it worse, a frown on his face. “Hey, let’s go to the saloon.”
“No.”
“Why not?”
“’Cause you’ll get us in trouble.”
“Me? I’m just a kid. That’s what you always say, anyway.”
“That don’t make it any less hard for you to get us in trouble. I can’t even count how many times you’ve got us in a bad way. And you only been with us six months. It really is a talent how—”
“Don’t lecture me. Please? I get enough of that from Hosea and Dutch.” John’s voice was breaking with adolescence, cracking deep and then high again. “‘Sides, Arthur, you ain’t even that much older than me.”
“I’m ten years older, John.”
“You don’t act it.”
Arthur sighed and flicked his cigarette over the rail. “I feel it.”
“Why you always so sour? Is it ‘cause of that Mary girl? I heard Hosea mention her--”
Arthur’s fingers tightened over the banister. He didn’t trust himself not to swing at John or try to pitch him over the side of the railing. “I do not wish to talk about her. Not with you. In fact, I don’t really wish to talk to you ‘bout nothin’, if we’re bein’ honest.”
John rolled his eyes and pushed off the rail. He was growing taller, but his weight wasn’t doing a good job at keeping up. He was nothing but a stretch of bony arms and legs. A real string bean but he at least had the scowl of an older man. “Hey, let’s go to that restaurant. I’m starved.”
“No goddamnit. We’ll just stay here for—”
“Come on, Arthur.”
“If you’re hungry, I can get that lady downstairs to--”
“I don’t want to stay here anymore. We been cooped up here for ages now. C’mon. Let’s just go! I ain’t never been in Missouri before.”
“It ain’t so different from Illinois. Or any of them states. Once you been to one, you been to ‘em all. Farmers and cow shit and—”
“C’mon on, Morgan!” John was bouncing up and down on the tips of his toes, nothing but energy. Arthur tried to remember if he’d ever felt like that, even at John’s age.
He decided he hadn’t.
Arthur spared a glance back to the restaurant. Through the front windows, through the swirling crowd, he thought he might have caught sight of that girl again. The one he’d been thinking about before John had come out to annoy him.
“Fine,” Arthur said. He looked back at the boy, who was grinning. “But if you even open your mouth down there—”
“I won’t! I ain’t a complete idiot, you know? I was on my own for a few years before you-all came along.”
“Yeah, and I seem to recall rescuin’ you from a hangin’.”
John glared. “I could’ve got outta that.”
“Sure.” Arthur had to laugh. “Well, next time there’s a noose ‘round your neck, maybe I’ll just stand back and watch. See this miraculous escape you got up your sleeve.”
“Shut up, Morgan.”
......
I’d like to tag @followthefreedomtrail9, @redwrites, and @reddeaddufus to give this a go if y’all haven’t already been tagged :)
Modern AU headcannons
The Vandermatthews family edition
When John was a teenager he made slime and got it in Dutch’s expensive Persian rug he keeps in the office. (Dutch was LIVID.)
Hosea reads late into the night, which caused Dutch to buy one of those clip on reading lights so he can finally sleep peacefully.
Dutch and Hosea do embarrassing dances in the kitchen/living spaces when the kids are around. Arthur and John cringe hard at this.
John was introduced to Limp Bizkit and his life was forever changed.
Arthur: “GET OUT OF MY ROOM.”
John *In the doorway*: “IM NOT IN YOUR ROOM.”
Arthur: “dinner is ready.”
John: “OKAY.”
Arthur, louder: “OKAY!”
Arthur tans at the beach, John burns
Arthur has straight A’s, John has straight C’s
John will take a (monthly) shower and get the WHOLE floor wet
John’s favorite Christmas was when he got a bass guitar, and Arthur’s favorite was when he got his blue truck.
Arthur sits on Dutch/Hosea’s bed and just spills the tea to Hosea late into the evening (Dutch wants to get ready for bed soon)
Arthur is a PC player, and John is a console player
John has to go to the mall with Arthur when he wants to go alone because “John doesn’t socialize enough”
They both got to choose their bedroom colors, however, John wasn’t allowed to do THE DARKEST black in the store, so his room is a dark grey with a black accent wall. (Arthur’s room is blue)
Branching off of that, Arthur and John could decorate their rooms HOWEVER they wanted, there was no intervention from the dads
Hosea does the “Dad hand” during road trips when the boys have a snack he wants.
Hosea is the designated driver because Dutch has terrible road rage
They live on a pond, in fact Dutch and Hosea argued over it before buying the house, so much so that Hosea threatened a divorce because the ONLY thing he wants is a pond. Dutch folded, and Hosea fishes everyday.
Arthur loved Percy Jackson and John loved Warrior Cats.
Arthur is a cereal eater, and John is a pop-tart eater
The contrast between Arthur’s masterpieces vs John’s doodles are crazy. (They’re both proudly displayed on the front of the fridge no matter what) (yes this is based on their canonical journal entries, sue me)
John and Arthur took those embarrassing Macy’s photoshoots in the early 2000’s that are out on display for everyone to see in the future.
John has an INCREDIBLY embarrassing graduation photo from when he was in his emo phase in high school, and his dads refuse to remove it. (It’s placed next to Arthur’s gleaming grad photo)
Dutch has slippers he wears around the house, and Hosea just wears his socks.
John still doesn’t know how to swim in this AU, Hosea has tried to teach him, but John refuses to get in the water.
They have taxidermy in their house from when Hosea went hunting more often when he was younger.
Somehow Hosea and Dutch’s aesthetics work so well together.
Dutch is very much old money, and maximalist, and Hosea is definitely Vintage and Woodsy (It works together if you saw their house)
You would be convinced that John’s nails were naturally black and chipped from how much he painted them.
Hosea has a “Shop” in the garage like every dad has to have. (It’s full of fishing supplies, paint cans, and other tools ofc)
John’s room is very dark, messy, and covered in posters from every movie/Tv show/video game he’s ever seen/played. Also, making the bed? What’s that?
Arthur’s room is open and airy, with his own mountain murals painted on the walls, a full art desk, and he also doesn’t know what making the bed means.