Fic: 04/20/2026

[fanbeatsman]

Arc: Remember That Time When
Pairing: Klavier/Daryan
Rating: ...good question. PG-13 or very light R, for language and some sexual references.
Word count: c. 2500
Summary: The night Kristoph Gavin was found guilty of the murder of Shadi Smith, the Gavinners had a promo gig scheduled.
A/N:

Comments

[cosmiko_ling]

This seriously hit the right buttons for me. For one, I love hurt/comfort. Klavier in pain and Daryan awkwardly providing comfort wrenched my heart, and I loved it. But my own weird kinks aside, I found this a very interesting read. I think it's the first time I've seen a story dealing with how Klavier and the band react in the aftermath of Kristoph being exposed as a murderer. As always, loved the way you write - the raw emotion powerfully showed, how I can see the action clearly in my mind. I can see the storyline happening - Daryan's awkwardness, the band's concern, the harassing paparazzi, and Klavier, dear Klavier, hiding behind a smile, which I certainly can see for him and liked how you wrote it. And even little details like Daryan not smoking in front of his fans (cos, coincidentally, Daryan smoking or not was something I've thought about before too). I'm glad to see mention of the coccoon business too. Hmm, "first furtive phonecall to Borginia" hm? I see Daryan as the initiator, though I've always wondered how he knew to contact Machi. Out of curiosity, when you wrote Daryan thinking "why, why does he still fucking hide behind it when he knows I speak it better than he does", what was going through your mind? A supporter of the "Klavier is an American who throws in German words into his speech to sound cool" theory?

[fanbeatsman]

First of all, thank you so much for this review! It really means a lot to me that you were interested enough in the fic to leave a comment like this, thank you. Your kind words are very much appreciated, seriously.

Now. It's funny you should mention the h/c thing, because it's not something I'm usually drawn towards - but this fic started off from the two images of Klavier bent double with Daryan's hands on his hair, and Klavier stumbling backwards against Daryan, which I just could. not. shake. (pretty much everything I write starts with an image that won't go away, haha) And in the end Daryan's awkwardness and issues about providing comfort for Klavier sort of shaped the whole fic - the fact that he feels guilty about inevitably adding to Klavier's pain, the fact that the very act of Klavier asking for something like that from him undermines some of the reasons Daryan's hiding behind for doing what he does, the fact that he feels like he can't care about Klavier and have done what he's set in motion and the inevitable cognitive dissonance that results from that. So yeah, I somehow stumbled into writing a fic where the h/c was the general informing principle :D I never expected that.

I'm glad you found the premise interesting - I was actually very surprised at the lack of fic based on this scenario, because it jumped right out at me from the game as a massively important point of tension in their relationship (whether romantic or platonic), as soon as I realised that Daryan would have already started his smuggling plan when Klavier's hit with this news. I mean, without wanting to sound excessively sympathetic towards him, that must have been one hell of an emotional punch for Daryan - how do you even deal with having to comfort a friend knowing that in a couple of months' time, you're just going to kick him again when he's down? (well, badly, I guess, if this fic's anything to go by :D) Like I said, I've been wanting to write it ever since I played the game, and I'm really pleased that you enjoyed the take on it.

As for that line - my reasoning behind it was partly yes, that Klavier primarily speaks German as an act (I haven't made up my mind yet whether he's just an American who studied in Germany, but I am convinced that it's an affectation :D) and might from time to time use it to deflect (in a characteristically showy way) from what he's actually saying - and then also that a) Klavier in game rarely shows much inclination to talk seriously about what he's feeling (most of his honest expressions of emotion are surprised out of him), so might be awkward and dissembling about it, and b) that Klavier lets his guard down sometimes with Daryan, but not entirely - and I liked the idea of Klavier knowing that Daryan will understand him but still on the surface hiding behind the language as an illustration of that. Of course, when he's reasoning to himself, Daryan puts the worst possible spin on that kind of behaviour, thinking that Klavier basically never stops being fake and a performer, but there's also a part of him that understands Klavier better than he's willing to admit (especially when he's trying to kid himself that his smuggling plot is justified), and that's why I then put in the acknowledgement that what Klavier does say affects him pretty deeply.

Ah, crap, this is why I don't usually talk about my fic :3 Pretty much every single thing I ever write has an essay twice as long justifying every line, haha. Anyway, I hope some of this was interesting, and thank you again for the comments, and the friend! I look forward to talking more with you :)

[cosmiko_ling]

Somehow, it hadn't occurred to me to think about how Daryan felt towards Klavier when the news of Kristoph hit knowing his future plans re the Borginia coccoon for all that I've thought about how Klavier himself reacted. D: One reason I found this fic cool and why I commented that I'm glad you dealt with it.

Heh, I see Klavier speaking German as an act more than anything else too. Partly because of Phoenix's comment in 4-4, and I trust Phoenix as a sharp individual. Partly because it doesn't come out as strongly in the Japanese version that Kyouya uses English on a regular basis? I agree about Klavier rarely talkign serously about his true feelings, but am not sure I agree as to what extent Klavier is himself with Daryan. I see him being more open because I think he has a certain level of trust towards Daryan, but I also can see the way you characterise him as a possibility.

Heh, the images you mentioned, well, if you meant for them to get stuck in other's heads too, I think they came out pretty strongly in the fic. though there may be some bias in that opinion, me being a h/c lover v_v I tried drawing it, but couldn't get out anything that I liked. Failed sketchy attempt, if you're interested to see.

[fanbeatsman]

I don't think it failed at all! I love Klavier's hands, and the stagger in his legs, and the hair of both of them (I, er, may have a bit of a hair thing ¬_¬) - and I'm so pleased you liked the image enough to want to draw it, thank you! I think sometimes that there's a frustrated visual artist behind a lot my writing - I've no artistic talent whatsoever, but I have a very visual imagination, sigh. It means I'm especially happy when people are about to get down in a drawing what I can see in my head - and that really is just how I saw it :)