Happy Valentine’s day! i dug through my planning document for The Crooked Kind (wow tabby, your self-promo is really subtle) and found two vaguely romantic scenes I cut because they didn’t fit the overall tone of the story or Frank’s perspective on it. Now seems as good a time as any to share them! Very short Lernest and Kewey scenes under the cut.
From age 15, chronologically after Ernest comes out
Frank has always done his best to keep Ernest’s secrets for him, no matter how dreadful they may be, so it’s almost a relief that the biggest thing he’s currently hiding is that Ernest has a boyfriend. He’s not an idiot. He knows VFD discourages them having relationships- it’s distracting and dangerous, but he isn’t sure what they’ll do to stop them.
Whatever they would do, Ernest is trusting him to keep his secret, so he will.
It’s rather interesting to look in on their group with this little morsel of knowledge. He catches more details now, flashes of Ernest’s life he might never have noticed before. The way Ernest sits closer to Larry so that their shoulders are touching and their knees must be too should have been a dead giveaway, as well as the small uptick of a smile at the edge of his mouth when Larry is talking, a far cry from his usual wide grin that doesn’t always reach his eyes.
Ernest whispers to them one night that he loves him, and Dewey laughs a little nervously like it’s the biggest thing they’ve ever been entrusted with. It sometimes feels that way.
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From age ??, chronologically after the hotel is opened
He doesn’t like to admit how emotionally invested he is in Dewey’s life, but with Ernest burning houses and his bridges, Frank is starting to rely on his youngest brother for some kind of vicarious life more than either of them necessarily like.
(The irony of living vicariously through a person who is legally dead strikes him many times, but he chooses to ignore it.)
Dewey is everything Ernest was supposed to be, and everything Frank wishes he was. He is kind and smart and brave. Whatever qualms he has about VFD, he never turns on them. This is probably why Kit loves him.
It’s painful for Dewey to live like this, unable to show his relationship or even go out on proper dates with her. There are moments when the strain shows and Frank sees utter exhaustion and pain in his little brother’s eyes when Kit leaves the hotel on another mission and he returns to his secret library alone.
Frank loves his brother and respects Kit Snicket immensely, however much her blasé attitude to life and death continues to astound him, so he does what he can to ease the pain. He clears halls and dining rooms for them, inventing meetings that aren’t happening so they can spend time together above ground, has concierges send messages from ‘him’ back and forth, sometimes even lets Dewey step into his shoes and go out with Kit, provided they don’t do anything Frank wouldn’t.
It’s the best he can offer and Dewey comes back a little brighter each time.
