ToS ficlet, Yuan/Botta.
I felt like writing but couldn't make myself continue my old WIPs, so I was cruising around the net, searching for interesting writing challenges. I came across FlashSlash, a community where each week four words are posted as prompts and you have eight minutes to write a slash fic containing those words. I found the idea interesting but couldn't have cared less for the time limit; eight minutes is barely enough for me to get started on a fic if I want it to make any sense. :P I've written some ficlets using prompts from the community, but none of them were completed in under 30 minutes. Then again, I should hope that's a good thing. Judge for yourself. Feedback would be lovely. ♥
EDIT: Now hopefully more readable with actual linebreaks! That should teach me to code entries by hand. *grumbles*
PAPERWORK
Fandom: Tales of Symphonia
Disclaimer: Symphonia and its characters aren't mine. I'm just playing with 'em. :3
Date Finished: September 2010
Word Count: 1,170.
Inspired By: FlashSlash prompt 14, set 1
Prompt: Include these words in the fic: happy, file, enormous, click.
Pairing: Yuan/Botta.
Genre: Romance/humor. Or maybe it would be more accurate to call it fluff/WAFF.
Rating: PG.
Contains: Sickeningly sweet and silly slash. Very little actual plot. Really weird allusions to knights and dragons, for some reason.
Warnings: Crude language. I can't write Yuan not using such words, it seems.
Author's Notes: This turned out... weird, I think. I hate the pacing; it doesn't work here at all. Otherwise, I was pleasantly surprised at how this turned out, despite the fact that the whole thing wanted to derail itself at the end. I had no choice but to stick along for the ride, so you'll have to do the same. :P
Summary: Botta's mood: accomplished. Yuan's mood: mischievous. Result? A silly, light-hearted conversation and maybe something more.
Botta leaned back in his chair with a satisfied look on his face. He allowed his eyes to drift shut for a moment. By the goddess, had he really just accomplished the impossible? No, it couldn't be true. It would be far too good to be real.
He opened his eyes and let a small smile settle on his features. Unbelievable. It wasn't a dream after all. He had done the impossible.
"You look happy."
Botta visibly jumped at the sound of another person's voice. He hadn't heard the click and whoosh of the door opening, but then, he wouldn't have: Yuan rarely bothered to use doors if he could get to his destination quicker by teleporting. Still, Botta hadn't expected to see him there in his office -- indeed, not even at the base yet. He tried to collect his jumbled thoughts. "I -- you -- what are you doing here this early? I thought Yggdrasill sent you to Sybak."
Yuan waved the question away as he walked into the office proper. His demeanor was more relaxed than in weeks. "I finished that little errand already. I recovered the items Yggdrasill wanted returned." He smiled crookedly. "The good news for us is that it's bad news for the Desians, seeing how it was their Grand Cardinal who went and lost them in the first place."
"That's good to hear." Botta gave him a slight smile as he sat on the edge of the desk. It had recently become a favorite spot of his. Botta certainly didn't mind.
"Yeah. So, what's got you in such a good mood then?" Yuan asked.
"I just finished that enormous mountain of paperwork I've been trying to conquer for the past few weeks." Botta gestured at the impressive pile of files and folders organized at the edge of the desk not occupied by Yuan at the moment.
Yuan was clearly surprised at the news as he turned around partially to stare at the papers. "Are you serious?" At Botta's nod, which he registered in his peripheral vision, he shook his head in wonderment. "There's never such a thing as 'no paperwork' around here."
Botta's expression turned wry. "I'm sure that if we just wait here long enough, someone is going to turn up at the door with an urgent report."
"No doubt." Yuan smirked and turned back around to look at Botta. "Would this be a good time to don the role of the shining knight and rescue you from the evil paperwork-to-come?"
"A fascinating thought and a rather gallant proposal," Botta said, deadpan, but Yuan could see the amusement he fought so hard to hide. He sobered up almost immediately, though. "However, I don't think it's good protocol to cut work for that."
"What work?" Yuan asked, pointedly glaring at the 'things requiring immediate attention' in the room -- that was to say, at nothing. "You've taken care of all the pressing matters, your shift's up in less than thirty minutes, and despite all appearances you're not the only commanding officer who can run this place for half an hour. Besides, I don't know if you've taken a look at the logs lately, but you've put in enough overtime hours to justify cutting work for --"
Suddenly, he found himself being kissed thoroughly enough that it was impossible to keep talking. Once Botta pulled back enough to allow him to form coherent words, he finished, "--two entire shifts."
Botta looked sort of like he wanted to hit him. Or maybe throw a folder in his face. (He hoped it wasn't the latter -- those things were heavy and getting hit in the face with one was not exactly fun. Never mind how he had come to possess that knowledge in the first place.) Botta didn't do either, thankfully, and only regarded him silently for a moment before sighing heavily.
"You do know that if someone kisses you to shut you up, you're not supposed to continue talking right afterwards anyway?"
"I do, but I'm not sure why you'd think that would work on me," Yuan said and smiled in a frighteningly sweet way.
Botta didn't bother answering as he rose to his feet. He hoisted the multitude of papers, files and folders he had worked on previously into his arms, and then, without ceremony, he dropped them in Yuan's lap.
"Hey!" Only Yuan's superhuman reaction skills kept the papers from falling off and fluttering every which way. Once he had secured the papers so that they weren't in immediate threat of falling off his lap, he gave Botta a scathing glare. "What was that for?"
Botta was actually smirking -- well, technically speaking. He didn't really wear his emotions on his sleeve, but Yuan had learned to read him well enough, and right now, the bastard was positively oozing smugness. He leaned forward just a bit, enough to crowd Yuan's personal space but still staying far enough that he could dodge if Yuan decided to hit him over the head with the paperwork.
"I'm done with the paperwork. You are going to have to go over it at some point and sign the documents." He straightened his back, standing up to his full height. Yuan didn't particularly appreciate that at the moment. Botta was a head taller even when they were both standing up; the fact that Yuan was now sitting down only served to make Botta even more imposing. Not that Yuan would admit to thinking that, of course. Before he had a chance to come up with a retort, Botta stepped away.
"I suppose I can take twenty minutes off, just this once. I'm heading to my quarters," Botta said with a slight, relaxed smile. It turned into a teasing one almost immediately as he looked at Yuan. "Shall I rendezvous with my shining knight there?"
Yuan gave the papers he was holding an exaggeratedly suspicious look as though they might in fact sprout a head or ten and start breathing fire at him. "Sounds like a plan. If I don't get eaten first."
Botta snorted and suppressed another smile. "I have faith in your victory. I promise to attend your funeral, though, if it proves that taking care of this task is beyond your power."
With that he walked out of his office, ignoring Yuan's indignant protests. As the door clicked shut behind him, Yuan shook his head to himself and slid off the desk to stand up properly. He rearranged the (rather impressive) stack of papers so that he could carry it on one arm. He bit back a stupid grin as he, too, exited the office to drop off the documents in his own office. As corny as the discussion had ended up being, he was looking forward to tonight.
It was good to be home... even if that meant having to deal with a mountain of paperwork.
But he would take care of it in the morning. Right now, he had better things to do.