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turn0nthemoon · 1 year

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Thanks for the lemonade

Note: I used the idea of meeting Hoosier and Chuckler for the first time as a basis for easing myself into fanfiction writing. It’s meant as an exercise so it’s pretty tame, but read along if you like. :)

Wordcount: 1262

Warning: smoking??

Pairing: Hoosier x Reader

Summary: You’re pouring lemonade at the nurses stand when two marines take your mind off of gloomy thinking with some cheerful chatting.

The sun was burning your cheeks as you poured cups of fresh lemonade for the row of tired marines lining up at the nurses’ stand. Some were watching you with expressions of confusion, some disbelief, some amusement and some were looking right through you, making you feel as hollow as the gaze with which they beheld you.

You poured as much care and gentleness as possible into every cup while you passed them into dirty hands. Every once in a while you heard croaky voices mutter “thanks or “ma’am” in your general direction, but most marines took the cups silently. You had seen and heard the horrible aftermath of battle in your time as a military nurse, but this was your first time looking into the faces of those still stuck in the nightmare from which some never wake. Feet dragging with the heaviness of knowing that each step taken is a step closer to their doom.

You thought of all the wounds of war you had healed and how only few of them would be as crippling as the one these men already carried. A wound that in the hospitals had been masked to you by the relief of escape.

“Too lovely a day to be frownin’ on isn’t it ma’am?”

The words interrupting your heavy thoughts were spoken by a tall dark-haired man that had just taken a cup of lemonade from your hand. He looked rather too battered to be speaking of lovely days you thought, but the friendly smile that shone on his grimy face suspended your disbelief for a moment.

“oh, I don’t know” you blinked at him, not wanting to disagree and started to pour another cup.

“Not exactly a sight for sore eyes eh?” – a slightly shorter man next to first one joked as you passed him some lemonade. You let an unsure smile graze your face as you studied them both for a hint of whether the comment was an invite for pity or for fun. Despite the appearance of it, you guessed that the second man to speak had fair hair underneath all that dust and muck.

He saw you hesitate and continued to speak;

“I clean up nice believe it or not, but unfortunately for my friend here he always looks sick as a dawg” he said and slapped the tall guy on the shoulder. That got a laugh out of you and you watched the taller guy scoff and roll his eyes, looking amused.

“Lotta ladies beg to differ” he replied smugly; “Ain’t that right Hoosier?”

“Ain’t right at all” the shorter guy retorted and caught your eye as you laughed at their banter.

Your laugh was about the sweetest thing the men had heard in a long time. Especially the one called Hoosier thought so and it made him straighten up a bit. In fact your laugh was just as sweet as you looked - cheeks red from the sun and loose strands of hair tucked behind your ears… Hoosier kept his appreciation to himself and hoped that you might extend the interaction with an answer. You noticed the anticipation.

“Well…” you smiled, deciding to join in on his joke, “the lemonade was supposed to liven you up a bit, but if your friend’s looking no better by tomorrow I’ll get you your money back.” Hoosier let out a chuckle at your reply. Not a full toothy grin but an upwards tug of the corner of his lips that despite its modesty reached his eyes. Bright eyes that bored into yours with what you thought was approval and suddenly hoped was a little more than that.

“Oi!” The taller man exclaimed with a grin as you shifted your eyes to him, “the friend has a name! I’m Chuckler” he said and stretched out a dirty hand towards you, taking no notice of your joke being on his expense.

“Chuckler?” You asked and shook his hand when an officer yelled in your direction.

“You two! Quit bothering the nurse! You’re holding up the line!” Chuckler let go of your hand and eyed the officer with blatant annoyance.

“Are we bothering you Ma’m?” he asked politely.

“Not at all…” You smiled at them. “But I don’t know if the same can be said for him” you looked discretely in the direction of the officer that had yelled, and was now staring intensely at the marines in front of you.

“Guess we better get movin… Thanks for the lemonade” Hoosier said and they both quickly emptied the small cups and put them down. Chuckler started moving away to neutralise the dissatisfaction of the glaring officer. Hoosier made to follow but then leaned back and offered you a handshake.

“‘Don’t believe I gotcher name, miss?” He said. The hand open in front of you was as dirty as the one his friend had offered, with scraped knuckles and dust that had settled in to darken every fine line. You were happy to take it.

“Y/L/N” you told him. You felt a tingle up your spine as his fingers closed around your small soft hand and gave it a squeeze.

“Y/N Y/L/N” you elaborated. His head was angled so his brow shielded his eyes from the sharp sun but you thought they glimmered still.

“Pleasure to meet ya, miss Y/L/N” he said “I’m-”

“Hoosier?” You interrupted and he nodded with an amused expression. You felt the name bear a weight on your tongue as if you had spoken a big important word whose meaning you had yet to discover.

“That’s right” he said still holding your hand. He let go with a slight jolt when Chuckler grabbed onto his shoulders with a tug.

“Officer’s getting real red in the face over there buddy” he said and Hoosier looked over nonchalantly. The officers jaw was tightly clenched, apparently debating what effect repeating himself would have.

“Looks like yer right” Hoosier commented and turned back to you.

“‘Scuse us Ma’am” he said and they left you to your task. You absentmindedly continued the repetitive motion of pouring and handing over cups of lemonade as you followed the two marines with your eyes.

In the tired oncoming of battle-worn men, it lifted your spirit to see good humor among some of them. Chuckler and Hoosier had made their way to a small group of marines who you guessed might be part of their company. Some of them were laughing and a few of them looking extremely tired, but all content in each others presence as they awaited orders on where to move.

Although he had his back turned you could see Hoosier pull a cigarette from his pocket and swiftly pull out a lighter after it. He let the cigarette hang loose from this lips as he lighted it with ease. You thought he moved with a sort of careless elegance, that despite the pitiful state of his uniform and dirty skin made him look quite charming. Then he flicked the lighter closed and as he placed it back in his pocket he swung his head around and looked at you. Lightening went through you as his blue eyes met yours – caught already staring. You thought you saw the hint of a smirk on his lips before you turned your eyes down. You could feel your cheeks flush from something other than the sun.

Though intently focusing on keeping your eyes on what your hands were doing, you eventually gave in to the temptation to steal another glance at Hoosier, but when you looked up, him and his companions had gone.

#the pacific #the pacific imagine #fanfic #bill hoosier smith #hoosier #hoosier x reader #hbo war #chuckler juergens #the pacific fanfic #imagine

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