happy birthday, poodlecakes!
Hm, I think the nickname's amusing-ness might have worn off just a tad. *g*
Happy, happy birthday to my awesome stalker co-pilot (or, the person in our team who is made do all the groundwork), dearstranger1!
And here is where I reveal my ulterior motive for showering you guys with TV episodes - I can then impose the fic on you.
So, especially for dearstranger1, who dutifully watched Kyle XY for me and reported back favourably, here's the first little part of what I think might be a WIP (help me!).
Title: I Am a Sunflower
Show: Kyle XY
Pairing: Kyle/Diechman
Summary: Close your eyes and watch me become more.
Title and summary taken from the lovely and talented Mr Ben Lee.
Kyle wasn’t exactly sure what having a friend meant. Not really. And his foster family were not making things any easier to understand.
"Friends are people you like spending time with," Nicole had explained gently. "Usually you have something in common. Maybe you have similar hobbies or interests, or you just generally *like* them. Sometimes you don't know why, you just fit."
Kyle didn't think he had any hobbies, and he was interested in *everything*, so that wasn't much help at all. But he knew that he liked Diechman, and he liked spending time with him, so he concluded that Diechman was his friend.
They didn't fight and call each other names behind their backs like Lori did with her friends, and they didn't punch each other in the arms and gross each other out like Josh did with his, but Diechman and Kyle had a friendship that Kyle enjoyed.
Kyle asked a lot of questions. Diechman liked explaining things. Kyle liked to listen. He figured that's what Nicole meant about friends who just fit. And at that moment, it really did feel like he belonged there in Diechman's bedroom, listening to him babble about something called an "Infinite Crisis" and how much it sucked because someone called Kon had died at the end.
"...and that is why I will never read mainstream comics again, Kyle. Because they suck. And they hurt you. And the pain is never worth it."
Kyle eyed the stack of paper beside him warily. "They *hurt* you?"
Diechman twitched his mouth, like he did sometimes before explaining something to Kyle with as much patience as he could muster, and he took Kyle’s wrist. "Not physically. They hurt you here." He pulled Kyle's hand into his chest and Kyle understood. It was the same place he felt that strange tightening when he heard Amanda's sad music.
He opened up his fist and splayed his fingers against Diechman's chest, increasing the pressure until he could feel the heart beating, faster than his own. "The comics made you sad."
"Yeah," Diechman said, releasing Kyle's hand and scooting away a little. Kyle watched his throat swallow, fascinated. "Not that I'm, like, a *girl* about it or anything, but yeah."
"Only girls get sad?"
"No, guys just aren't supposed to show it."
Kyle blinked and tilted his head. "How can they not?" He thought about the way his eyes leaked when he listened to the music, and how his throat felt like it was closing up. "It doesn’t make sense."
Diechman snorted. "For an answer to that, you're better off speaking to my dad. Trust me, that guy can lecture you on his supposed ideal of masculinity for longer than I can on who would win in a Superman/Batman showdown." He grinned at Kyle like his last statement was a challenge.
Kyle paused and considered for a moment. "Superman?"
"That’s what Batman wants you all to think."
~*~
When Kyle thought about it more, he realised that he and Diechman had something else in common - drawing. Kyle was used to drawing what he saw with his eyes, pixel by pixel. Amanda had inspired him to draw what he felt, and that was interesting and new to him, but Diechman drew what he saw inside his head - fantastical characters and monsters, or seemingly ordinary people becoming superheroes. Kyle found that the most interesting of all.
"Sometimes I take what I can see," Diechman explained as his pencil flew over the page of his notebook. They were sitting underneath a big shady tree at school, and when a leaf fell onto his page, he flicked it off in annoyance, his pencil barely pausing. "and then I kind of combine it with how I feel, and a story forms in my head. And then I just try to draw the story."
Kyle watched him draw, noticing Diechman's eyes flicking up towards him and back to the page every so often. He was all jerky, hurried movements, like the skittish little birds who sang from the branches above them - never still, always moving, always aware. Kyle leaned back against the tree and smiled, enjoying the opportunity to observe his friend.
After a minute or two, Diechman held up the page for Kyle to see. "This is the story of a boy who saved the world." It was Kyle, the same boy Diechman drew the first day they met, proud and tall with his cape flying in the breeze behind him.
"I’m not a superhero," Kyle said, amused.
"Maybe not." Diechman snapped the notebook closed and stuffed it in his backpack. "But you’re special." He stood and dusted the grass from his jeans, never looking at Kyle, and by the time Kyle was on his feet, Diechman was hurrying down the path.
"So are you!" Kyle called out after him. "I think you’re special, too!"
He wondered why all the other kids in the school ground were snickering.
~*~
Hope you had the fantastic day you so truly deserve!
Happy, happy birthday to my awesome stalker co-pilot (or, the person in our team who is made do all the groundwork), dearstranger1!
And here is where I reveal my ulterior motive for showering you guys with TV episodes - I can then impose the fic on you.
So, especially for dearstranger1, who dutifully watched Kyle XY for me and reported back favourably, here's the first little part of what I think might be a WIP (help me!).
Title: I Am a Sunflower
Show: Kyle XY
Pairing: Kyle/Diechman
Summary: Close your eyes and watch me become more.
Title and summary taken from the lovely and talented Mr Ben Lee.
Kyle wasn’t exactly sure what having a friend meant. Not really. And his foster family were not making things any easier to understand.
"Friends are people you like spending time with," Nicole had explained gently. "Usually you have something in common. Maybe you have similar hobbies or interests, or you just generally *like* them. Sometimes you don't know why, you just fit."
Kyle didn't think he had any hobbies, and he was interested in *everything*, so that wasn't much help at all. But he knew that he liked Diechman, and he liked spending time with him, so he concluded that Diechman was his friend.
They didn't fight and call each other names behind their backs like Lori did with her friends, and they didn't punch each other in the arms and gross each other out like Josh did with his, but Diechman and Kyle had a friendship that Kyle enjoyed.
Kyle asked a lot of questions. Diechman liked explaining things. Kyle liked to listen. He figured that's what Nicole meant about friends who just fit. And at that moment, it really did feel like he belonged there in Diechman's bedroom, listening to him babble about something called an "Infinite Crisis" and how much it sucked because someone called Kon had died at the end.
"...and that is why I will never read mainstream comics again, Kyle. Because they suck. And they hurt you. And the pain is never worth it."
Kyle eyed the stack of paper beside him warily. "They *hurt* you?"
Diechman twitched his mouth, like he did sometimes before explaining something to Kyle with as much patience as he could muster, and he took Kyle’s wrist. "Not physically. They hurt you here." He pulled Kyle's hand into his chest and Kyle understood. It was the same place he felt that strange tightening when he heard Amanda's sad music.
He opened up his fist and splayed his fingers against Diechman's chest, increasing the pressure until he could feel the heart beating, faster than his own. "The comics made you sad."
"Yeah," Diechman said, releasing Kyle's hand and scooting away a little. Kyle watched his throat swallow, fascinated. "Not that I'm, like, a *girl* about it or anything, but yeah."
"Only girls get sad?"
"No, guys just aren't supposed to show it."
Kyle blinked and tilted his head. "How can they not?" He thought about the way his eyes leaked when he listened to the music, and how his throat felt like it was closing up. "It doesn’t make sense."
Diechman snorted. "For an answer to that, you're better off speaking to my dad. Trust me, that guy can lecture you on his supposed ideal of masculinity for longer than I can on who would win in a Superman/Batman showdown." He grinned at Kyle like his last statement was a challenge.
Kyle paused and considered for a moment. "Superman?"
"That’s what Batman wants you all to think."
~*~
When Kyle thought about it more, he realised that he and Diechman had something else in common - drawing. Kyle was used to drawing what he saw with his eyes, pixel by pixel. Amanda had inspired him to draw what he felt, and that was interesting and new to him, but Diechman drew what he saw inside his head - fantastical characters and monsters, or seemingly ordinary people becoming superheroes. Kyle found that the most interesting of all.
"Sometimes I take what I can see," Diechman explained as his pencil flew over the page of his notebook. They were sitting underneath a big shady tree at school, and when a leaf fell onto his page, he flicked it off in annoyance, his pencil barely pausing. "and then I kind of combine it with how I feel, and a story forms in my head. And then I just try to draw the story."
Kyle watched him draw, noticing Diechman's eyes flicking up towards him and back to the page every so often. He was all jerky, hurried movements, like the skittish little birds who sang from the branches above them - never still, always moving, always aware. Kyle leaned back against the tree and smiled, enjoying the opportunity to observe his friend.
After a minute or two, Diechman held up the page for Kyle to see. "This is the story of a boy who saved the world." It was Kyle, the same boy Diechman drew the first day they met, proud and tall with his cape flying in the breeze behind him.
"I’m not a superhero," Kyle said, amused.
"Maybe not." Diechman snapped the notebook closed and stuffed it in his backpack. "But you’re special." He stood and dusted the grass from his jeans, never looking at Kyle, and by the time Kyle was on his feet, Diechman was hurrying down the path.
"So are you!" Kyle called out after him. "I think you’re special, too!"
He wondered why all the other kids in the school ground were snickering.
~*~
Hope you had the fantastic day you so truly deserve!