Day 11
Title: Tangled
Fandom: X-Men: First Class
Rating: PG
Word Count: 1083
Summary: Hank is trying to get used to his transformation. Charles is trying to help.
Link: Here
Title: Reanimation
Fandom: Victor Frankenstein
Pairing: Lorelei/Igor, Victor/Igor
Rating: PG
Word Count: 1954
Summary: When Lorelei sees that Victor's father is dead, she knows that it's time to let Victor into their lives again ...
Link: Here
Title: Weird Door
Fandom: Fringe
Rating: G
Word Count: 100
Summary: SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS. Lee wonders about the doorway.
Really, the door is almost too weird for Lee to think about.
A door into another universe? Another universe where there’s another him?
Weird. So, so weird.
He wonders what the other Lee is like. Is he the same? Or is he different? He must be a bit different or he wouldn’t be … well, an alternate. But Lee can’t help wondering how. Is he braver? Shyer? Does he have a girlfriend? A boyfriend? Does he like the same things? Dislike the same things?
Would they like each other if they met?
It’s a weird thing.
It only gets weirder.
Title: Companionship
Fandom: Blake's 7
Rating: PG
Word Count: 274
Summary: Jenna thinks about Blake
It’s just sex.
Jenna tells herself that quite often. It’s always best to keep expectations low when it comes to this sort of thing. There is no point getting hopes up, particularly not if you’ve lived the kind of life that she’s lived. And particularly not now she’s having sex with a rebel leader.
That’s what Blake is, she knows that. Even if there’s currently only five people for him to lead (although really, Avon is sometimes more trouble sometimes than three or four other people and Blake manages him rather well) Blake is charismatic. Blake is powerful. And Blake is going to change the universe.
Which is why it’s really quite important to remind herself that what they share is companionship, friendship and just sex.
Because one day, Blake will almost certainly have to leave her behind. And she’s ready for that. She understands that. It does bother her sometimes, of course it does. You’d be mad not to be frustrated to know that you as a person must always come second best to an ideal.
But at the same time, one of the things she likes about Blake is that he holds those ideals. That he cares so much, so deeply. That he wants and believes that he can change everything.
It would be hypocritical to be angry at him for upholding that.
And even if he does leave her behind, leaves the Liberator and leaves them all, Jenna suspects that some part of her will always be waiting for him to open the door and come back and tell her that he needs her again.
And she knows that she’ll come.
Title: The Closed Door
Fandom: Blake's 7
Rating: PG
Word Count: 191
Summary: Cally thinks about Avon.
“It’s a door. And it seems to be closed.”
Cally found she was thinking about that comment long after it had been made. Perhaps it was stupid, a foolish over-literal consideration of something. And yet it stayed in her mind, lingering on long after it had been made.
It was so easy to close doors, physically and metaphorically. She had often felt a little separate from her crew mates. It is only natural, she was Auron. She is different. And now things have changed and she is a freedom fighter without a cause with a crew of … pirates? Rebels? Explorers? She isn’t sure what they are any more but that’s all right because none of them know either, not really. Things are different now.
Lots of things are different now.
Should she risk opening a door? Letting Avon in? She wanted to, certainly. She suspected he wanted to too. But also that he would never actually do it himself. It was up to her to open that door, if she wanted it opened.
So she just had to make the decision.
Open the door fully?
Or leave it safely closed?
Title: Investigation
Fandom: Doctor Who
Rating: G
Word Count: 161
Summary: Zoe did try to tell the Doctor ...
“Doctor,” Zoe said. “That door says “Private” on it.”
The Doctor blinked at her innocently.
“Does it? Are you sure, Zoe?”
“Oh honestly Doctor, it’s right in front of your nose, look!”
The Doctor didn’t look. He looked at the door handle instead, as though the words might be written there.
“Oh, I’m sure they don’t mean us, Zoe. After all, we’ve got important things to do, haven’t we? This is obviously the quickest way! Now, come along.”
Zoe looked at Jamie who just rolled his eyes. He had long given up, it seemed. Zoe couldn’t entirely blame him.
The Doctor opened the door, then closed it very quickly as something threw itself towards them. Zoe caught a glimpse of something hairy and toothy before the Doctor had the door closed.
“Ah,” he said. “Not that way then.”
Zoe resisted the urge to say “I told you” for at least five seconds. She thought it was more than the Doctor deserved.
Title: Always
Fandom: Doctor Who
Rating: G
Word Count: 105
Summary: The TARDIS door is always open.
The TARDIS door is always open.
Sometimes, the companions don’t believe it when they leave. They think that that is it, that they’ll never see the Doctor or the TARDIS again, never live in that world again. That whatever planet and time they are on, that’s the planet and time that they’ll have forever. Some of them even hope for that at first.
But everybody misses the Doctor and the TARDIS in the end. Even if they only miss the family that they made there rather than the thrill and the fear.
But the TARDIS door is always open for them to return one day.
Title: It
Fandom: Black Books
Rating: G
Word Count: 190
Summary: Manny wonders if they had a store room ...
“Bernard, why can’t we put some of this stuff in the storeroom?” Manny asked after he’d tripped over yet another box of books.
“We don’t have a store room,” Bernard said, taking another swig of wine.
“Oh, yes we do,” Manny said eagerly, always pleased to help Bernard out. “The door at the back there, that must be the store room.”
“We don’t go in there!” Bernard snapped, his eyes going wide.
“Why not?”
“That’s where it lives.”
“What lives?”
“It,” Bernard said unhelpfully. “We don’t bother It.”
Manny stared at him, trying to work out if Bernard was telling the truth or not. Bernard just stared back at him, his eyes slightly narrowed. Sometimes Bernard said things that sounded stupid but were true, sometimes he said things that sounded true but were actually stupid. It was generally hard to tell the difference.
“Well, I’m just going to go and look,” Manny said, deciding to be brave.
“Don’t open the door, Manny!” Bernard shrieked. “You’ll be sorry!”
Manny opened the door.
Then he closed it again.
“We don’t have a store room,” he said.
“Told you so,” Bernard said, smugly.
Title: Bars
Fandom: Endeavour
Rating: PG
Word Count: 109
Summary: It's not the bars that are the worst thing ...
It’s not the cold walls or the bars or the shouting from other prisoners that really gets to him. It’s the betrayal. The unfairness. The knowledge that he should not be here, that he has done nothing wrong, that he was trying to help people. That good things have been sullied because of this. That Thursday might be dead or dying and he can’t see him, can’t tell him … anything. And nobody will tell him anything.
The knowledge that this is all his fault.
That he is trapped here and they might come and that there is nowhere to run.
He half-expects death every time the door opens.
Title: New Person
Fandom: Firefly
Rating: PG
Word Count: 130
Summary: Simon tries to adjust to who River is now.
One of the worst things is seeing how River has changed.
Simon tries not to notice all the things that are different. Tries not to pay attention when she doesn’t eat things he knows she used to like. Tries not to worry when she doesn’t remember things that they did when they were children. Tries not to be upset when she screams over something minor and meaningless.
She can’t help it. He knows that. She’s just different now and that’s all right. She’s still his sister and he still loves her. If this new River prefers doors open to closed, well, that’s fine. If she wants to pile up his belongings into peculiar teetering stacks, he will let her do that.
He will never turn his back on his sister.
Title: Communication
Fandom: X-Men: Days of Future Past
Pairing: Charles/Hank
Rating: PG
Word Count: 390
Summary: Hank learns different ways to communicate with Charles.
Hank has never realised how much you could actually say without speaking.
These days, he and Charles seem able to have entire conversations without speaking at all. Not even mind-to-mind speaking - after all, Charles can't do that any longer, not now. And in this quiet, quiet place, words sometimes seemed almost wrong, breaking a silence that Hank sometimes thinks of as hallowed.
But they talk anyway. He looks at Charles and knows without any sort of words if Charles wants him to make him any food or if he’s just planning to exist on alcohol alone that day. He knows if Charles wants him to stay in the room for a while or if Charles is hoping that Hank will go away and leave him be. Non-verbal communication, Hank supposes. It’s just something in the expression, something about the way Charles twitches his mouth or wrinkles his nose or even just the way his eyes are looking in that thin, dishevelled face.
It goes the other way too, he eventually realises. Charles looks at him and nods as though Hank had said something out-loud. He knows when Hank is worrying about Charles drinking too much (again) or when Hank is wondering if Charles needs more serum or if Hank is feeling afraid of the dark loneliness himself and just wants to spend a little time with another living, breathing person.
In the end - without ever speaking about it out-loud - they work out a code. If Charles leaves a door open, Hank knows he is welcome. If the door is closed, it’s intrusion, invasion and Hank has to decide if it was worth risking or not. Usually, these days, he decides that it isn't. What’s the point? Nothing changes. Better to only be with Charles when Charles actually wants it.
The one time that the door is almost guaranteed to be open is night time.
There are other ways to talk apart from speech and faces and knowledge. There is touch. Clinging and clutching, hands everywhere on skin. Listening to the way breath catches in the throat when you kiss. Feeling somebody hold you so tightly, like you’re the only real thing in the world.
Maybe he is the only real thing left in Charles’s world now.
Hank tries not to think about the day that might no longer be true.
Fandom: X-Men: First Class
Rating: PG
Word Count: 1083
Summary: Hank is trying to get used to his transformation. Charles is trying to help.
Link: Here
Title: Reanimation
Fandom: Victor Frankenstein
Pairing: Lorelei/Igor, Victor/Igor
Rating: PG
Word Count: 1954
Summary: When Lorelei sees that Victor's father is dead, she knows that it's time to let Victor into their lives again ...
Link: Here
Title: Weird Door
Fandom: Fringe
Rating: G
Word Count: 100
Summary: SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS. Lee wonders about the doorway.
Really, the door is almost too weird for Lee to think about.
A door into another universe? Another universe where there’s another him?
Weird. So, so weird.
He wonders what the other Lee is like. Is he the same? Or is he different? He must be a bit different or he wouldn’t be … well, an alternate. But Lee can’t help wondering how. Is he braver? Shyer? Does he have a girlfriend? A boyfriend? Does he like the same things? Dislike the same things?
Would they like each other if they met?
It’s a weird thing.
It only gets weirder.
Title: Companionship
Fandom: Blake's 7
Rating: PG
Word Count: 274
Summary: Jenna thinks about Blake
It’s just sex.
Jenna tells herself that quite often. It’s always best to keep expectations low when it comes to this sort of thing. There is no point getting hopes up, particularly not if you’ve lived the kind of life that she’s lived. And particularly not now she’s having sex with a rebel leader.
That’s what Blake is, she knows that. Even if there’s currently only five people for him to lead (although really, Avon is sometimes more trouble sometimes than three or four other people and Blake manages him rather well) Blake is charismatic. Blake is powerful. And Blake is going to change the universe.
Which is why it’s really quite important to remind herself that what they share is companionship, friendship and just sex.
Because one day, Blake will almost certainly have to leave her behind. And she’s ready for that. She understands that. It does bother her sometimes, of course it does. You’d be mad not to be frustrated to know that you as a person must always come second best to an ideal.
But at the same time, one of the things she likes about Blake is that he holds those ideals. That he cares so much, so deeply. That he wants and believes that he can change everything.
It would be hypocritical to be angry at him for upholding that.
And even if he does leave her behind, leaves the Liberator and leaves them all, Jenna suspects that some part of her will always be waiting for him to open the door and come back and tell her that he needs her again.
And she knows that she’ll come.
Title: The Closed Door
Fandom: Blake's 7
Rating: PG
Word Count: 191
Summary: Cally thinks about Avon.
“It’s a door. And it seems to be closed.”
Cally found she was thinking about that comment long after it had been made. Perhaps it was stupid, a foolish over-literal consideration of something. And yet it stayed in her mind, lingering on long after it had been made.
It was so easy to close doors, physically and metaphorically. She had often felt a little separate from her crew mates. It is only natural, she was Auron. She is different. And now things have changed and she is a freedom fighter without a cause with a crew of … pirates? Rebels? Explorers? She isn’t sure what they are any more but that’s all right because none of them know either, not really. Things are different now.
Lots of things are different now.
Should she risk opening a door? Letting Avon in? She wanted to, certainly. She suspected he wanted to too. But also that he would never actually do it himself. It was up to her to open that door, if she wanted it opened.
So she just had to make the decision.
Open the door fully?
Or leave it safely closed?
Title: Investigation
Fandom: Doctor Who
Rating: G
Word Count: 161
Summary: Zoe did try to tell the Doctor ...
“Doctor,” Zoe said. “That door says “Private” on it.”
The Doctor blinked at her innocently.
“Does it? Are you sure, Zoe?”
“Oh honestly Doctor, it’s right in front of your nose, look!”
The Doctor didn’t look. He looked at the door handle instead, as though the words might be written there.
“Oh, I’m sure they don’t mean us, Zoe. After all, we’ve got important things to do, haven’t we? This is obviously the quickest way! Now, come along.”
Zoe looked at Jamie who just rolled his eyes. He had long given up, it seemed. Zoe couldn’t entirely blame him.
The Doctor opened the door, then closed it very quickly as something threw itself towards them. Zoe caught a glimpse of something hairy and toothy before the Doctor had the door closed.
“Ah,” he said. “Not that way then.”
Zoe resisted the urge to say “I told you” for at least five seconds. She thought it was more than the Doctor deserved.
Title: Always
Fandom: Doctor Who
Rating: G
Word Count: 105
Summary: The TARDIS door is always open.
The TARDIS door is always open.
Sometimes, the companions don’t believe it when they leave. They think that that is it, that they’ll never see the Doctor or the TARDIS again, never live in that world again. That whatever planet and time they are on, that’s the planet and time that they’ll have forever. Some of them even hope for that at first.
But everybody misses the Doctor and the TARDIS in the end. Even if they only miss the family that they made there rather than the thrill and the fear.
But the TARDIS door is always open for them to return one day.
Title: It
Fandom: Black Books
Rating: G
Word Count: 190
Summary: Manny wonders if they had a store room ...
“Bernard, why can’t we put some of this stuff in the storeroom?” Manny asked after he’d tripped over yet another box of books.
“We don’t have a store room,” Bernard said, taking another swig of wine.
“Oh, yes we do,” Manny said eagerly, always pleased to help Bernard out. “The door at the back there, that must be the store room.”
“We don’t go in there!” Bernard snapped, his eyes going wide.
“Why not?”
“That’s where it lives.”
“What lives?”
“It,” Bernard said unhelpfully. “We don’t bother It.”
Manny stared at him, trying to work out if Bernard was telling the truth or not. Bernard just stared back at him, his eyes slightly narrowed. Sometimes Bernard said things that sounded stupid but were true, sometimes he said things that sounded true but were actually stupid. It was generally hard to tell the difference.
“Well, I’m just going to go and look,” Manny said, deciding to be brave.
“Don’t open the door, Manny!” Bernard shrieked. “You’ll be sorry!”
Manny opened the door.
Then he closed it again.
“We don’t have a store room,” he said.
“Told you so,” Bernard said, smugly.
Title: Bars
Fandom: Endeavour
Rating: PG
Word Count: 109
Summary: It's not the bars that are the worst thing ...
It’s not the cold walls or the bars or the shouting from other prisoners that really gets to him. It’s the betrayal. The unfairness. The knowledge that he should not be here, that he has done nothing wrong, that he was trying to help people. That good things have been sullied because of this. That Thursday might be dead or dying and he can’t see him, can’t tell him … anything. And nobody will tell him anything.
The knowledge that this is all his fault.
That he is trapped here and they might come and that there is nowhere to run.
He half-expects death every time the door opens.
Title: New Person
Fandom: Firefly
Rating: PG
Word Count: 130
Summary: Simon tries to adjust to who River is now.
One of the worst things is seeing how River has changed.
Simon tries not to notice all the things that are different. Tries not to pay attention when she doesn’t eat things he knows she used to like. Tries not to worry when she doesn’t remember things that they did when they were children. Tries not to be upset when she screams over something minor and meaningless.
She can’t help it. He knows that. She’s just different now and that’s all right. She’s still his sister and he still loves her. If this new River prefers doors open to closed, well, that’s fine. If she wants to pile up his belongings into peculiar teetering stacks, he will let her do that.
He will never turn his back on his sister.
Title: Communication
Fandom: X-Men: Days of Future Past
Pairing: Charles/Hank
Rating: PG
Word Count: 390
Summary: Hank learns different ways to communicate with Charles.
Hank has never realised how much you could actually say without speaking.
These days, he and Charles seem able to have entire conversations without speaking at all. Not even mind-to-mind speaking - after all, Charles can't do that any longer, not now. And in this quiet, quiet place, words sometimes seemed almost wrong, breaking a silence that Hank sometimes thinks of as hallowed.
But they talk anyway. He looks at Charles and knows without any sort of words if Charles wants him to make him any food or if he’s just planning to exist on alcohol alone that day. He knows if Charles wants him to stay in the room for a while or if Charles is hoping that Hank will go away and leave him be. Non-verbal communication, Hank supposes. It’s just something in the expression, something about the way Charles twitches his mouth or wrinkles his nose or even just the way his eyes are looking in that thin, dishevelled face.
It goes the other way too, he eventually realises. Charles looks at him and nods as though Hank had said something out-loud. He knows when Hank is worrying about Charles drinking too much (again) or when Hank is wondering if Charles needs more serum or if Hank is feeling afraid of the dark loneliness himself and just wants to spend a little time with another living, breathing person.
In the end - without ever speaking about it out-loud - they work out a code. If Charles leaves a door open, Hank knows he is welcome. If the door is closed, it’s intrusion, invasion and Hank has to decide if it was worth risking or not. Usually, these days, he decides that it isn't. What’s the point? Nothing changes. Better to only be with Charles when Charles actually wants it.
The one time that the door is almost guaranteed to be open is night time.
There are other ways to talk apart from speech and faces and knowledge. There is touch. Clinging and clutching, hands everywhere on skin. Listening to the way breath catches in the throat when you kiss. Feeling somebody hold you so tightly, like you’re the only real thing in the world.
Maybe he is the only real thing left in Charles’s world now.
Hank tries not to think about the day that might no longer be true.