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Abierto, by LJS
Here's a little flashfic, written for heron_pose with thanks.
TITLE: Abierto
AUTHOR: LJS
RATING: General audience
LENGTH: 500 words
SUMMARY: After a mission -- Kelly, a bar in Acapulco, a neon sign, and wind chimes.
Abierto. Abierto. Abierto. The hot-red neon sign in the window of the Acapulco bar flashed its message over and over.
Open. Open. Open.
Kelly shifted uneasily in his chair, just out of the reach of the red light. Usually he didn't pay any attention to portents or weirding signs - it was enough just to read the double-messages of traitors, miscreants, or worse, bureaucrats. But he was tired from a just completed mission, sore in places he didn't like to think about, and worried about his partner.
Scotty for once had had it much worse than Kelly. Mr Scott was bandaged and drugged up now, but his recovery included lots of naps, and Kelly couldn't find a good enough lie to justify his keeping vigil at Scotty's bedside. He wanted to, but....
Abierto. Abierto. Abierto.
The open door last night had been a trap. They'd known it, of course - no flies on Senors Robinson and Scott, nossir - but the microfilm was inside, and they had a damn mission to retrieve it before those unfriendly Soviets came along. So he and Scotty had flipped a coin, and it had been Scotty through the open door first.
It had been Scotty's blood on the floor, and Kelly slipping around in the red stuff, his heart pounding so loud he couldn't hear the moans of the criminal element he'd taken care of in the corner. “C'mon, Scotty,” he'd whispered, even as he tore his partner's shirt to check the damage, stop the pain. “C'mon, man. Don't do this to me.”
Abierto. Abierto. Abierto.
Too goddamn open, sometimes. Yes indeed.
He shifted again in his chair, searched for a distraction other than the cerveza in front of him, and.... there.
Wind chimes.
They rang sweetly, stirred by sea breeze. Kelly took a deep breath of barroom air, and pretended he could smell the ocean, clean, blue, its secrets well-hidden in its depths.
“Hey, man,” Scotty said from the doorway, and Kelly startled. “You asleep on the job, Captain Marvel?”
“Thought you were, Dobbsy,” Kel said. He visually assessed Scotty's condition: halting, yes; a little stooped, yes; otherwise okay. “You were snoring like anything. I was embarrassed for you, so I let you lie.”
“You calling me a sleeping dog?” Scotty said amiably. He pulled a chair next to Kelly and sank down with a muffled groan. At the pretty waitress's approach, he smiled, asked for a Fanta Orange, and then stretched out his legs.
Kelly should have come back with a quip, of course - but somehow he didn't feel like it. Instead he slid down in his chair so that his posture mimicked Scotty's. “Nah, man. Just sitting here, looking at the lights.”
The wind chimes rang again, stirred by sea breeze. “A restful occupation, and one I shall adopt forthwith,” Scotty said. His arm rested, warm and strong, alongside Kelly's.
Warm and strong. Yeah. Everything was going to be okay this time.
Abierto. Abierto. Abierto.
TITLE: Abierto
AUTHOR: LJS
RATING: General audience
LENGTH: 500 words
SUMMARY: After a mission -- Kelly, a bar in Acapulco, a neon sign, and wind chimes.
Abierto. Abierto. Abierto. The hot-red neon sign in the window of the Acapulco bar flashed its message over and over.
Open. Open. Open.
Kelly shifted uneasily in his chair, just out of the reach of the red light. Usually he didn't pay any attention to portents or weirding signs - it was enough just to read the double-messages of traitors, miscreants, or worse, bureaucrats. But he was tired from a just completed mission, sore in places he didn't like to think about, and worried about his partner.
Scotty for once had had it much worse than Kelly. Mr Scott was bandaged and drugged up now, but his recovery included lots of naps, and Kelly couldn't find a good enough lie to justify his keeping vigil at Scotty's bedside. He wanted to, but....
Abierto. Abierto. Abierto.
The open door last night had been a trap. They'd known it, of course - no flies on Senors Robinson and Scott, nossir - but the microfilm was inside, and they had a damn mission to retrieve it before those unfriendly Soviets came along. So he and Scotty had flipped a coin, and it had been Scotty through the open door first.
It had been Scotty's blood on the floor, and Kelly slipping around in the red stuff, his heart pounding so loud he couldn't hear the moans of the criminal element he'd taken care of in the corner. “C'mon, Scotty,” he'd whispered, even as he tore his partner's shirt to check the damage, stop the pain. “C'mon, man. Don't do this to me.”
Abierto. Abierto. Abierto.
Too goddamn open, sometimes. Yes indeed.
He shifted again in his chair, searched for a distraction other than the cerveza in front of him, and.... there.
Wind chimes.
They rang sweetly, stirred by sea breeze. Kelly took a deep breath of barroom air, and pretended he could smell the ocean, clean, blue, its secrets well-hidden in its depths.
“Hey, man,” Scotty said from the doorway, and Kelly startled. “You asleep on the job, Captain Marvel?”
“Thought you were, Dobbsy,” Kel said. He visually assessed Scotty's condition: halting, yes; a little stooped, yes; otherwise okay. “You were snoring like anything. I was embarrassed for you, so I let you lie.”
“You calling me a sleeping dog?” Scotty said amiably. He pulled a chair next to Kelly and sank down with a muffled groan. At the pretty waitress's approach, he smiled, asked for a Fanta Orange, and then stretched out his legs.
Kelly should have come back with a quip, of course - but somehow he didn't feel like it. Instead he slid down in his chair so that his posture mimicked Scotty's. “Nah, man. Just sitting here, looking at the lights.”
The wind chimes rang again, stirred by sea breeze. “A restful occupation, and one I shall adopt forthwith,” Scotty said. His arm rested, warm and strong, alongside Kelly's.
Warm and strong. Yeah. Everything was going to be okay this time.
Abierto. Abierto. Abierto.