Work Text:
the hat, bright new straw the color of treasure and sunshine, is placed for the first time on a head
something shifts
(it fits perfectly)
it had never expected to have a two
(had never expected one to be one)
two is too small, the hat slips and sloshes off his head
but he smiles and laughs and loves and it is not so different after all
one is near, after all
one is dead
gone
two is crying
the world shatters, and the hat does its best to hold new-worn straw together
suspension between action and grief
two waits
the hat waits with him
two contemplates, staring at the child as he boasts and the hat
anticipates
fingers, wind
two drops it on a head it does not know
no.
three
the hat knows, two knows, the waiting is done
two's equal (petty now) snatches and scars and stabs it
the hat witnesses three's rage and
loves
three's new two repairs it, thread through worn straw
(still the color of treasure and sunshine but heavy now with promises)
wind whistles, and the hat does not have to wait because here and now
it can love
its weight settles onto three's two for a comfort
(it does not like being apart from three, too much like a memory of one , but)
it is safety-warmth-home for three and three's two is
loved
needs
the wait is short, three's two will keep it safe
they name three "straw hat"
the only one prouder than the hat is two
it hangs from three's neck, or it sits on his head (better)
three wears it as a crown and laughs and laughs and laughs and laughs
it sees two again
(where is three why has it been separated from him)
two looks and looks with warm affection, the hat remembers years
and then two makes sure the hat returns to three again, as it should be
three places it on (the only safe place on the island, the hat is fond) and leaves —
waiting waiting waiting waiting two years of waiting
(it has waited before the years and years with two were joy and then waiting waiting waiting but this is different, this is lonely)
nobody comes near, not three or one's one, not even the nameless-unimportant creatures all over
safe, but lonely
and then
and then
three comes back, and whispers a greeting, and places the hat (and all its promises and treasures and sunshine) on his head
two years is too long to wait
three is smiling
the hat fits perfectly