bakerstreet | I'll Look Out for Them

✖ I'll Look Out for Them ✖
a "secondhand" shipping meme

They were your best friend, your comrade, or even someone you simply owed a debt to. Or maybe, unfortunately, you were the one that put them in danger that lead to their demise. No matter what they were to you in life, in their death, you feel as if you have one duty to them. They left behind someone, someone they loved more than anything. This was their significant other, yet you promised your dying companion (or you discerned yourself) that you would look after them. Take care of them, maybe, but at least look after them; it's the least you can do.

It will not be easy, especially not at first. The one left behind will be grieving, of course, and, so, perhaps, will you. There may be some contention, depending on the situation, and, if you did not know each other well before, some awkwardness. Still, in this time where there is nothing and no one to cling to, when the world has been thrown off its axis for them, both of you may find a sort of comfort and solace in this new routine.

That will not last, either.

Soon, feelings begin to change towards each other. Edges soften, people are seen in a new light. A small warmth blossoms between the two of you in this cold world. It takes root and grows, and grows, and grows...

Until you're left with questions and possibly even guilt at this arrangement. How much of this is real and how much is the grieving process? Are you just a replacement for the one they lost?

Is this what their lost love would have wanted?

✖ Comment with your character, canon, and preferences, including preferred role.
✖ Reply to others and use the RNG.
✖ Feel free to be as liberal with the interpretations of pretty much anything in this meme. Make it AU. Make up somebody they both know. Have them be total strangers. There's options for everything.

Promise ✖ You told them you would take care of their lover, no matter what. You intend to follow through with that.
Close ✖ What are friends for if not taking care of unfinished business?
Debt Owed ✖ Kindness or favor has to be repaid, even if it's an investment in someone else.
Atonement ✖ Whether or not you particularly cared for the person who's gone is irrelevant. You just need to make up for past sins.
No Good ✖ You're taking care of the one left behind, but not out of good intentions. There may be ulterior motives here - no, there are definitely ulterior motives here. Or maybe this is the one good thing you've done in your life.
Guilt ✖ It's your fault that you're here and their significant other isn't. It's a paltry repayment.
Bearer of Bad News ✖ You can't blame them for wanting to shoot the messenger. You are telling them their lover is dead.
Related ✖ In days past, the living partner would be cared for by their dead partner's family. As a sibling or cousin of the deceased, you want to continue that tradition and take care of "family."
Wo/man Up ✖ Actually, their lover isn't dead, they're just dead to you, unable or unwilling to take care of business. You're stepping up.
Friends ✖ You were all friends before, so it's only natural for you to want to look out for them now.
Derisive ✖ ...this is the person they loved so much? This is who you're supposed to protect? Pathetic.
Resentful ✖ You can never forgive them. They're the reason your lover is dead, no matter how they treat you.
What They Saw in You ✖ You're beginning to see why someone would love them, how they'd want to give up their old ways and change. It's almost...nice.
Warming Up ✖ If you didn't get along at first, the claws are being put away now. It's better to at least be civil, isn't it?
Still in Danger ✖ Whatever killed one half of the pair is still out there, and the other half is in danger themselves.
Other Complications ✖ Not only did your mutual acquaintance leave behind a lover, but also children. You find yourself getting closer and closer to them, too, even if they aren't yours.
Compromised ✖ You can't look after them with a level head. You love them.
Can't Love Again ✖ You've lost before. You can't risk losing again, can you?
Out of the Dark ✖ One or both of you find yourselves in a hole. You can barely eat, hardly sleep, and depression has taken hold of you. Together, though, you may find the light and a way out of despair.
First Time ✖ Simply what it says. You two have taken your relationship to the next level.
Changed ✖ Before, you were bitter. Hard. Jaded. Now, helping someone - specifically, helping this person - has brought a new kind of joy into your life. You could get used to it. Easily and dangerously used to it, to be brutally honest. You shouldn't allow it.
Living Together ✖ You can take care of them more throughly if you're in the same place as they are, obviously.
Hidden Jealousy ✖ When their lover was alive, you were jealous of everything they had - including the fact that they had the person you're looking after now. Admitting this may make you feel like the most awful person in the world.
Secrets Revealed ✖ Eventually, your involvement with the death of their beloved will come out, and they will never be able to look at you the same way.
Dependent ✖ Replacing one unhealthy habit with another, you've become utterly dependent on your relationship with your caretaker, your guardian, your lover.
Won't Be a Replacement ✖ You can't help but feel as if you're merely serving as a stand in for what they've lost. It's understandable, yet you still can't allow yourself to be that and only that.
Not Really Gone ✖ What is dead should stay dead, but what if who you thought was gone isn't really out of the picture? Will they be happy with finding someone else so cozy and in love with their special someone?
The Same Mistakes ✖ You're falling into the same patterns that lead to their death. Will you meet the same fate?
Who's Helping Who ✖ You think you're taking care of them and helping them through their loss. Is that the case? But who's never been this happy before in their life?
Move On ✖ It's time to put ghosts to rest and let old demons go. You can't let your life become a graveyard.
Tragedy ✖ The ending is unhappy or even deadly for both of you.
Happy Ending ✖ In contrast to the above, you're both able to live as together as happily as you possibly can, whatever can be allowed.
WILDCARD

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Thanks.

[ It's an automatic reply generated from years and years of training in being polite more than it is anything else. He's not all here right now, his mind still generating electric pulses and searching for Yancy, synapses short circuiting when they find nothing. ]

You don't have to do this.

Rals....

[ She gives a glance to him from over her shoulder. While it was true that she didn't have to do this, she still felt somehow obligated to it. To make sure that the promise he made to Yancy was fulfilled. Not to mention living alone for either of them was probably not the best idea. At least not until the strain of losing Yancy had passed. If it ever did. ]

Don't say that.

[ The walk is over not too long after it began and she pushes the door open to the bedroom he choose. It has the essentials; bed, dresser, closet and a desk. ]

[ Pretty standard. He doesn't have much stuff so it helps that there's already furniture in here. ]

I mean it. I could get a place close.

No, this is fine. Really.

[ She steps back giving him access to his new room. A hand moving up to run through her hair. ]

[ He glances over his shoulder to give her a long look, but eventually nods and steps into the room, letting his bag fall from his shoulder to settle on the floor. ]

If you're sure.

[ She nods while moving her hands to fall into the back pockets of her jeans. Watching as he moves into the room a faint smile falls over her lips for a split second. ]

I'm sure Raleigh. I think this is a good idea.

[ He takes a cursory look over everything and figures she's probably right. ]

Mind if I hang some pictures?

Your room now, you can do what you please. If you plan to walk around naked though, I'd like a memo.

[ She smirks slightly. ]

[ He huffs, a quiet noise. Not quite a laugh, but close. ]

Yeah. I'll be sure to let you know.

[ She moves from his room and down the hall, toward her own vanishing for a bit, only to return a few minutes later with a shoe box in her hand. ]

Here. Maybe you could put some of these up if you wanted.

[ Inside the box are some different pics of the three of them. Some that she's saved over the years and that Yance had hidden away. ]

[ He's dragging out his pack when she comes back, and he looks warily at the box before opening it, silence encompassing him as he flips through a couple. ]

Yeah. I will. Thanks.

[ Once the box is fully in his hands, she silently watches as he opens it and flips through a couple of the photos. ]

Welcome. I'll let you get situated.

[ With that she moves off toward the living room and just flops herself down on the couch. ]

[ He just nods at her, nothing else to say - not really. She leaves him be and he unpacks what few things he has, makes a mental note to take some of the benefits he'd gotten and go shopping.

Eventually he comes back out and sits in the chair opposite her, elbows on his knees. ]

[ When he joins her in the living room, she's sprawled out on the couch with her focus on the television absently flipping through the few channels she got.

Her gaze travels over to him a couple times before she sits up. ]

You alright?

[ Dumb question, is dumb. ]

[ Yeah, it might be a dumb question but it filles the void that silence brings. ]

I've been better.

[ She pulls herself up fully, moving so she's just sitting on part of the couch instead of taking up the whole thing. ]

I know.

[ After a moment she gestures to the now open space beside her. ]

I'll Look Out for Them

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