Gundam 00 (multiple)
Title: Wired
Character/Pairing: Tieria, slight Lockon/Tieria.
Rating: PG
Wordcount: 304
Notes: Set around episode 22.
Summary: Tieria puzzles over new and inexplicable feelings.
There were crossed wires in the inhuman construction that served as his brain. That was the only explanation Tieria could find to explain how he felt. The part of his brain intended to punish him with shame for failure was malfunctioning. Of course he had failed already--twice already!--but now he felt shame and anxiety not just thinking of those times, of when he had exposed Nadleeh and when he had caused Lockon's injury. He felt it also every time Lockon turned away from him.
Stranger yet, the part of his brain intended to reward him with satisfaction when he accomplished a mission satisfactorily was having errors as well. There was nothing for him to feel that sort of pleasure at here. Not with Lockon injured, Lockon needing protection and refusing to let Tieria grant it. But still, every time Lockon approached, a tiny, inappropriate joy fluttered somewhere around his viscera, where he'd heard humans experienced strong emotions. It came with fear and worry, too, and Tieria was sure that wasn't intended to happen.
Lockon told him he was human; Tieria wondered if that meant it was all right to feel these things. He was so sure it was wrong. These feelings seemed to make fractures in his skin and prepare to break him--
--and that thinking, too, was irrational and dangerous. Perhaps he would ask Lockon, later, if it was acceptable to think in such ways, despite the danger it posed of introducing fuzzy thinking. For now, Tieria made a note to himself--avoid unnecessary metaphors--and catalogued it with his other notes: return to Veda as soon as possible, and protect Lockon to the farthest extent of his ability. He could not fail again. If he did, this time he would break.
(He did not count that as an unnecessary metaphor.)
Title: Snowfall
Pairing: Lyle/Anew
Rating: PG
Wordcount: 222
Notes: Written as a holiday giftfic.
Summary: Lyle and Anew find ways to enjoy winter on Earth.
"Will you come out with me, into the snow?" Anew asks him when the flakes have been falling for a few hours, and the Ptolemy remains quiet among them. As if it's a question. As if he could do anything but.
"Only if you don't bundle up too much," Lyle says. "We don't want to take the fun out of it, now."
She flushes pink, and when they step outside she stays that way: vulnerable and new to the cold, but brightened instead of frightened by it. They have time, so he finds for them both a hidden grove where the snow spins in the air around them and they alone can see it. He can kiss her there, and he does; but that's not why he brought her. He brought her there because the shadows tint the falling snow the same color as her hair, and he watches it glitter around her like an extension of her smile. She is unearthly, and for now, he can't bring himself to mind.
She knows, of course. She knows the real reason he brought her there, and she smiles extra bright to match the snow falling around them. But even there she manages to surprise him. "I'm so glad you brought me here," she says. "You look so cute with snow in your hair."
Title: History
Characters: Lockon and Tieria
Rating: G
Wordcount: 292
Notes: Like the above, set around episode 22.
Summary: Tieria struggles to come to terms with his new humanity--and Lockon's place in it.
Lockon took to approaching Tieria often, and Tieria took to looking for signs of his approach. The windows of the Ptolemaios were perfectly constructed to withstand bombardment from space, but now Tieria found a new function in them: they showed the glint of Lockon's reflection as he came near. It was a trustworthy thing, the construction of this ship and its components--far more trustworthy than Tieria himself.
He dwelled too much on such things, he knew, but it was hard to forget them when he could see the patch where Lockon's right eye had been, even reflected in the window.
"Remember what you were like before?" Lockon finally asked him. "You can go back to some of that, you know. It's all right if you're a little too stern sometimes, so long as you know you're one of us."
Because it was Lockon, because he had all these new feelings, Tieria did not simply brush the comment off. Instead, he murmured, "There's a great deal I don't remember." He lacked a rich and full past like the others had; he'd always known this, but only now did he realize how much less than human it made him.
Lockon paused, then, and even looking in the window Tieria could see his expression soften. He felt something catch in his chest and throat. After a moment, Lockon spoke again. "Then you'll just have to make new memories," he said. "They'll be good enough."
"Lockon," Tieria said. "Will you help me make these memories?"
"You don't need my help to do it, Tieria," Lockon said.
Tieria could not form the words to say why he wanted Lockon to help him anyway. They remained caged inside him, unknown, like the past he did not have.
Title: Martial/Marital
Pairing: Kati/Patrick
Rating: PG
Wordcount: 309
Notes: Post-series.
Summary: A casual conversation over breakfast sets Kati thinking about her relationship with Patrick.
"Colonel," he said to her one day over an orderly breakfast, "did you know that in English, only the position of two letters separates a word about warfare and a word about marriage? Don't you think that's fitting, for a pair such as us?"
"I wouldn't say so," she said, and if anyone would know about such a thing, it was Brigadier General Kati Mannequin, who had commanded troops against many enemies, including Celestial Being and A-LAWS, and who was married to one of the most celebrated (in his own mind) veterans of such wars. She did not elaborate, trusting Patrick to either know exactly what she meant or be hopelessly unable to comprehend it in any case. It didn't matter much either way. She wondered, briefly, if he'd come up with this observation on his own. It was just possible; the absurd insight of it suited him.
"Oh, well, that's fine," he said, graciously accepting her judgment. "I am the Immortal Colasour in battle after all, and the lucky Patrick Mannequin in love."
"What a fool," Kati murmured. "They're both the same man." But she wondered, for a moment, what had changed her world more: ending the fighting and oppression that had plagued the world for years, or marrying Patrick Colasour. She could not tell. They were intertwined: she'd protected him for as long as she could, and then she'd settled down with him when she no longer needed to shield him as much. No, she thought, surely it had been the end of the fighting that had changed more. Patrick was simply part of her world; he had always been there, giving her a reason to keep fighting.
Now he laughed. "Then that man is a lucky fool, Colonel!"
She let it stay at that--even if he was using the wrong title. Some things wouldn't change.
Title: Learning to Smile
Pairing: Lyle/Anew
Rating: G
Wordcount: 175
Notes: None.
Summary: Anew studies Lyle's smiles, and she learns things from them.
His smile was special. This Anew knew right from the start, when he looked at her differently than the others did, with surprise in his eyes, as if something had gone off in his head.
That was almost the first time she saw him smile: the corners of his mouth curved up just a little as he set eyes on her, as if he hadn't realized himself. Then he shut it down, and she had to content herself with the tight-lipped, smug grins he gave the rest of the crew for a little while. Even they were fascinating: Anew wanted to know, more than anything, what lay behind them.
When he introduced himself to her, gave her the true name of Lyle, she soon found out. He had a real smile like the first stars in the sky at night, small and vulnerable but all the more precious for it.
She did not know why, but she knew she had never seen a smile like that before, and she was glad to see it now.
Character/Pairing: Tieria, slight Lockon/Tieria.
Rating: PG
Wordcount: 304
Notes: Set around episode 22.
Summary: Tieria puzzles over new and inexplicable feelings.
There were crossed wires in the inhuman construction that served as his brain. That was the only explanation Tieria could find to explain how he felt. The part of his brain intended to punish him with shame for failure was malfunctioning. Of course he had failed already--twice already!--but now he felt shame and anxiety not just thinking of those times, of when he had exposed Nadleeh and when he had caused Lockon's injury. He felt it also every time Lockon turned away from him.
Stranger yet, the part of his brain intended to reward him with satisfaction when he accomplished a mission satisfactorily was having errors as well. There was nothing for him to feel that sort of pleasure at here. Not with Lockon injured, Lockon needing protection and refusing to let Tieria grant it. But still, every time Lockon approached, a tiny, inappropriate joy fluttered somewhere around his viscera, where he'd heard humans experienced strong emotions. It came with fear and worry, too, and Tieria was sure that wasn't intended to happen.
Lockon told him he was human; Tieria wondered if that meant it was all right to feel these things. He was so sure it was wrong. These feelings seemed to make fractures in his skin and prepare to break him--
--and that thinking, too, was irrational and dangerous. Perhaps he would ask Lockon, later, if it was acceptable to think in such ways, despite the danger it posed of introducing fuzzy thinking. For now, Tieria made a note to himself--avoid unnecessary metaphors--and catalogued it with his other notes: return to Veda as soon as possible, and protect Lockon to the farthest extent of his ability. He could not fail again. If he did, this time he would break.
(He did not count that as an unnecessary metaphor.)
Title: Snowfall
Pairing: Lyle/Anew
Rating: PG
Wordcount: 222
Notes: Written as a holiday giftfic.
Summary: Lyle and Anew find ways to enjoy winter on Earth.
"Will you come out with me, into the snow?" Anew asks him when the flakes have been falling for a few hours, and the Ptolemy remains quiet among them. As if it's a question. As if he could do anything but.
"Only if you don't bundle up too much," Lyle says. "We don't want to take the fun out of it, now."
She flushes pink, and when they step outside she stays that way: vulnerable and new to the cold, but brightened instead of frightened by it. They have time, so he finds for them both a hidden grove where the snow spins in the air around them and they alone can see it. He can kiss her there, and he does; but that's not why he brought her. He brought her there because the shadows tint the falling snow the same color as her hair, and he watches it glitter around her like an extension of her smile. She is unearthly, and for now, he can't bring himself to mind.
She knows, of course. She knows the real reason he brought her there, and she smiles extra bright to match the snow falling around them. But even there she manages to surprise him. "I'm so glad you brought me here," she says. "You look so cute with snow in your hair."
Title: History
Characters: Lockon and Tieria
Rating: G
Wordcount: 292
Notes: Like the above, set around episode 22.
Summary: Tieria struggles to come to terms with his new humanity--and Lockon's place in it.
Lockon took to approaching Tieria often, and Tieria took to looking for signs of his approach. The windows of the Ptolemaios were perfectly constructed to withstand bombardment from space, but now Tieria found a new function in them: they showed the glint of Lockon's reflection as he came near. It was a trustworthy thing, the construction of this ship and its components--far more trustworthy than Tieria himself.
He dwelled too much on such things, he knew, but it was hard to forget them when he could see the patch where Lockon's right eye had been, even reflected in the window.
"Remember what you were like before?" Lockon finally asked him. "You can go back to some of that, you know. It's all right if you're a little too stern sometimes, so long as you know you're one of us."
Because it was Lockon, because he had all these new feelings, Tieria did not simply brush the comment off. Instead, he murmured, "There's a great deal I don't remember." He lacked a rich and full past like the others had; he'd always known this, but only now did he realize how much less than human it made him.
Lockon paused, then, and even looking in the window Tieria could see his expression soften. He felt something catch in his chest and throat. After a moment, Lockon spoke again. "Then you'll just have to make new memories," he said. "They'll be good enough."
"Lockon," Tieria said. "Will you help me make these memories?"
"You don't need my help to do it, Tieria," Lockon said.
Tieria could not form the words to say why he wanted Lockon to help him anyway. They remained caged inside him, unknown, like the past he did not have.
Title: Martial/Marital
Pairing: Kati/Patrick
Rating: PG
Wordcount: 309
Notes: Post-series.
Summary: A casual conversation over breakfast sets Kati thinking about her relationship with Patrick.
"Colonel," he said to her one day over an orderly breakfast, "did you know that in English, only the position of two letters separates a word about warfare and a word about marriage? Don't you think that's fitting, for a pair such as us?"
"I wouldn't say so," she said, and if anyone would know about such a thing, it was Brigadier General Kati Mannequin, who had commanded troops against many enemies, including Celestial Being and A-LAWS, and who was married to one of the most celebrated (in his own mind) veterans of such wars. She did not elaborate, trusting Patrick to either know exactly what she meant or be hopelessly unable to comprehend it in any case. It didn't matter much either way. She wondered, briefly, if he'd come up with this observation on his own. It was just possible; the absurd insight of it suited him.
"Oh, well, that's fine," he said, graciously accepting her judgment. "I am the Immortal Colasour in battle after all, and the lucky Patrick Mannequin in love."
"What a fool," Kati murmured. "They're both the same man." But she wondered, for a moment, what had changed her world more: ending the fighting and oppression that had plagued the world for years, or marrying Patrick Colasour. She could not tell. They were intertwined: she'd protected him for as long as she could, and then she'd settled down with him when she no longer needed to shield him as much. No, she thought, surely it had been the end of the fighting that had changed more. Patrick was simply part of her world; he had always been there, giving her a reason to keep fighting.
Now he laughed. "Then that man is a lucky fool, Colonel!"
She let it stay at that--even if he was using the wrong title. Some things wouldn't change.
Title: Learning to Smile
Pairing: Lyle/Anew
Rating: G
Wordcount: 175
Notes: None.
Summary: Anew studies Lyle's smiles, and she learns things from them.
His smile was special. This Anew knew right from the start, when he looked at her differently than the others did, with surprise in his eyes, as if something had gone off in his head.
That was almost the first time she saw him smile: the corners of his mouth curved up just a little as he set eyes on her, as if he hadn't realized himself. Then he shut it down, and she had to content herself with the tight-lipped, smug grins he gave the rest of the crew for a little while. Even they were fascinating: Anew wanted to know, more than anything, what lay behind them.
When he introduced himself to her, gave her the true name of Lyle, she soon found out. He had a real smile like the first stars in the sky at night, small and vulnerable but all the more precious for it.
She did not know why, but she knew she had never seen a smile like that before, and she was glad to see it now.