Christmas gift drabbles (belated like whoa!)
Since I obviously suck, I'm only posting this now. Some of you, awesomest people in the world, have already got their cards; others haven't. But I thought you might want to have your gifts typed up too (since my handwriting is evil, after all))). I'm sorry for all the delays, typos and other issues. You guys are brilliant. May the year 2012 be as brilliant for you as all of you are in general! <333
Disclaimer: All shows, movies and books belong to their respective creators. I'm just invading their sandboxes for a while without making any profit.
Title: “The Burdens of Sin”
Author: Shaitanah
Fandom: Supernatural
Rating: G
Timeline: post-Season 5
Summary: for the prompt “sometimes Satan sins, and sometimes-” by kalliel. [Michael, Lucifer]
THE BURDENS OF SIN
Sometimes Satan sins, and sometimes it falls to his big brother to do it for him. Sin, as they both know, is subjective. Lucifer sins by his very existence, a rebel angel who denied his father’s will and was cast out. He sins by squeezing all that is good, all that pure out of God’s creations until there is nothing left but black smoke. His name is the word of warning on the lips of every righteous man in the world.
Michael’s wrongdoing is far more subtle. It ripens over the millennia until every whisper of doubt, every tingle of emotion other than his dutiful love for God crashes over him like a hailstorm. In the cage, Lucifer whose grace is blackened with malice and stained with blood is an image of wide-eyed innocence, whereas Michael is the malefactor giving in to the ultimate sin of disobedience. He no longer weeps for the absent father and his misplaced faith. He yields, and reaffirms his loyalty, and on his lips his brother’s name is a request that Lucifer is all too willing to satisfy.
Title: “In The Long Run”
Author: Shaitanah
Fandom: The Inheritance Cycle
Rating: G
Timeline: post-“Inheritance”
Summary: for the prompt “freedom” by helike. [Thorn, Murtagh]
IN THE LONG RUN
Freedom is a lonely thing. Thorn learns it when all is said done and they leave for good without so much as a farewell from those whose blood would have already run deep in the soil if he and his rider hadn’t intervened in the last minute.
Murtagh says, trust me, it’s better this way. Murtagh accepted his lot in life a long time ago. Murtagh says it’s better to be free but without a purpose than a captive and an unwilling part of a greater cause. Thorn does trust him, has always trusted him; how can he not when they are two halves of a whole and shall always be that, if nothing else? And yet, through freedom, he learns ingratitude and bitterness, the likes of which he would have never known with the safety net of Galbatorix’s conditioning over his mind. And he wonders, albeit briefly, if it was worth it in the long run.
Title: “Don’t Worry, Be Happy (According to D. Winchester)”
Author: Shaitanah
Fandom: Supernatural
Rating: G
Timeline: Episode 7x08, “Season 7, Time for a Wedding!”
Summary: for the prompt “something about that wedding” by cristo_nara. [Dean]
DON’T WORRY, BE HAPPY (ACCORDING TO D. WINCHESTER)
First, Dean thinks his brother is nuts.
No, hang on, that would be second. First, he thinks he’s nuts. Given the amount of alcohol he’s been consuming lately, everything’s possible, but Dean doesn’t really believe that - even in his worst nightmares - he could imagine his brother heading off into that beautiful, sunset-y, apple pie life with Becky “the crazy stalker who stalks” Rosen!
It’s not that Dean doesn’t want it for Sam. Family, kids that will catch the giraffe disease and eventually outgrow their Dad. Anything that doesn’t have to do with guns and guts and losing people to creepy unkillable monsters bleeding black goo. But… b-but… Becky Rosen!
The third thought in his mind is that of relief: at least he got the wedding invite, which means Sam really isn’t pissed about Amy anymore, - followed almost immediately by the fourth, not so intelligible thought:
Wha-a!?
Lately, Dean hasn’t been able to keep up the illusion of being even remotely optimistic. But the fifth thought he has does set him back on track - somewhat.
He tells himself: it could have been worse. His cuckoo’s-nested brother could have married Lucifer.
Title: “It Just Goes With the Fashion”
Author: Shaitanah
Fandom: Merlin
Rating: G
Timeline: indefinite future
Summary: for the prompt “chaos” by eaivalefay. [Merlin, Arthur]
IT JUST GOES WITH THE FASHION
“I think it’s safe to say,” and it’s anything but safe when Arthur’s voice is all toned down and deliberate like that, “that this is all your fault, Merlin.”
Technically, the fault is Arthur’s. All Merlin wanted to do was show the king that magic could be safe and harmless if used by a skilled practitioner for, well, safe and harmless purposes. It was Arthur who, having raised Merlin from manservant to court sorcerer after magic was legalized (which actually meant more responsibility, less spare time and next to no improvement in his social status), suddenly decided to throw a feast in Merlin’s honour. Needless to say, a lot of ale was consumed, so it’s little wonder that the demonstration Arthur requested afterwards went a little awry.
“A little?” Arthur fumes. Okay, that’s probably an understatement. “You turned my betrothed into a rabbit!”
Oh, so that’s what he’s mad about!
“That was an accident,” Merlin says, shuffling his feet and trying to look as guilty as possible. At least she got a better deal than-.
“You turned my knights into frogs!” Arthur goes on, completely insensitive to Merlin’s attempts at guilt admission. “What am I supposed to do with them now? Kiss them back to being good fighters?”
“I think they’re doing pretty well with that even now,” Merlin comments sheepishly as he watches Sir Percival trying to fit back into his trademark sleeveless hauberk. Even in frog form, Percival is so much larger than an average specimen that he might as well succeed.
“Clean up this… this chaos at once!” Arthur demands. “Or I’ll have you put in stocks like good old times. It’s a miracle you haven’t done anything to me, you clumsy dolt. Can’t believe that with coordination like that you’ve managed to save my life so many times.”
Arthur’s voice warms unconditionally when he mentions that, and Merlin knows that at least half of that anger is all pretend. So he decides not to tell the king that his skin is currently the most inappropriate hot pink colour imaginable. Best not to fuel the fire just yet.
Title: “Entourage”
Author: Shaitanah
Fandom: Thor
Rating: G
Timeline: post-movie
Summary: for the prompt “bittersweet” by amcw177. [Thor/Loki]
ENTOURAGE
Falling through an inter-dimensional wormhole is not unlike falling into perfect despair. And that is the feeling Loki has long since come to associate with Thor.
Humans - puny little creatures - have managed to change his oaf of a brother so completely. Oh yes, Thor is a real hero now, and like every real hero, he has to have a huge sacrifice-shaped hole in his heart. He took care of that when he destroyed the rainbow bridge. But that is just entourage - like Loki’s meaningless little mind games and magic tricks have been his entourage. It is not what he and Thor are about.
A sacrifice is something a hero can (and must) live with. A nemesis is something he cannot do without. Nothing short of a miracle can bring Thor and Loki together now, not the way they were together before. And yet, a hero always comes for his villain.
All Loki has to do is play the part.
Title: “Because”
Author: Shaitanah
Fandom: Supernatural
Rating: G
Timeline: early Season 6
Summary: for the prompt “One peaceful moment in the middle of the chaos of war” by gwaevalarin. [Castiel, Balthazar]
BECAUSE
The silence on the battlefield is terrifying. Castiel watches from afar, from the shadowy crossroads where the lines of multiple heavens blur, allowing them to spill over into each other. This is not the first time he’s had to kill his brothers, but it is the first time he has slaughtered them en grand for the greater good - which doesn’t seem that good all of a sudden.
“Come now, Cassie,” a familiar voice reaches him. “You’ve been challenging our estranged Daddy so expertly. Don’t stop now.”
Balthazar. Reading his mind as always.
“I thought you were gone.”
“What with this captivating reality show Apocalypse Now And Without Lucifer you’ve got going on?” A snort. “Please. I’ve missed the premiere, true, but I think I’m staying for the rest of the run.”
It must be Castiel’s luck that every time he wants to ask “why bother?” someone always hits him over the head with a heavy, peremptory “because!”
“So, my brave warlord.” Balthazar somehow manages a wheedling bow that, in Castiel’s opinion, should only be possible in a human body. “Lead me to glory, victory and due spoils of war!”
Castiel almost asks, what? But this is just Balthazar, this (as Dean would say) is how he rolls.
And this is enough to keep Castiel going.
Disclaimer: All shows, movies and books belong to their respective creators. I'm just invading their sandboxes for a while without making any profit.
Title: “The Burdens of Sin”
Author: Shaitanah
Fandom: Supernatural
Rating: G
Timeline: post-Season 5
Summary: for the prompt “sometimes Satan sins, and sometimes-” by kalliel. [Michael, Lucifer]
THE BURDENS OF SIN
Sometimes Satan sins, and sometimes it falls to his big brother to do it for him. Sin, as they both know, is subjective. Lucifer sins by his very existence, a rebel angel who denied his father’s will and was cast out. He sins by squeezing all that is good, all that pure out of God’s creations until there is nothing left but black smoke. His name is the word of warning on the lips of every righteous man in the world.
Michael’s wrongdoing is far more subtle. It ripens over the millennia until every whisper of doubt, every tingle of emotion other than his dutiful love for God crashes over him like a hailstorm. In the cage, Lucifer whose grace is blackened with malice and stained with blood is an image of wide-eyed innocence, whereas Michael is the malefactor giving in to the ultimate sin of disobedience. He no longer weeps for the absent father and his misplaced faith. He yields, and reaffirms his loyalty, and on his lips his brother’s name is a request that Lucifer is all too willing to satisfy.
Title: “In The Long Run”
Author: Shaitanah
Fandom: The Inheritance Cycle
Rating: G
Timeline: post-“Inheritance”
Summary: for the prompt “freedom” by helike. [Thorn, Murtagh]
IN THE LONG RUN
Freedom is a lonely thing. Thorn learns it when all is said done and they leave for good without so much as a farewell from those whose blood would have already run deep in the soil if he and his rider hadn’t intervened in the last minute.
Murtagh says, trust me, it’s better this way. Murtagh accepted his lot in life a long time ago. Murtagh says it’s better to be free but without a purpose than a captive and an unwilling part of a greater cause. Thorn does trust him, has always trusted him; how can he not when they are two halves of a whole and shall always be that, if nothing else? And yet, through freedom, he learns ingratitude and bitterness, the likes of which he would have never known with the safety net of Galbatorix’s conditioning over his mind. And he wonders, albeit briefly, if it was worth it in the long run.
Title: “Don’t Worry, Be Happy (According to D. Winchester)”
Author: Shaitanah
Fandom: Supernatural
Rating: G
Timeline: Episode 7x08, “Season 7, Time for a Wedding!”
Summary: for the prompt “something about that wedding” by cristo_nara. [Dean]
DON’T WORRY, BE HAPPY (ACCORDING TO D. WINCHESTER)
First, Dean thinks his brother is nuts.
No, hang on, that would be second. First, he thinks he’s nuts. Given the amount of alcohol he’s been consuming lately, everything’s possible, but Dean doesn’t really believe that - even in his worst nightmares - he could imagine his brother heading off into that beautiful, sunset-y, apple pie life with Becky “the crazy stalker who stalks” Rosen!
It’s not that Dean doesn’t want it for Sam. Family, kids that will catch the giraffe disease and eventually outgrow their Dad. Anything that doesn’t have to do with guns and guts and losing people to creepy unkillable monsters bleeding black goo. But… b-but… Becky Rosen!
The third thought in his mind is that of relief: at least he got the wedding invite, which means Sam really isn’t pissed about Amy anymore, - followed almost immediately by the fourth, not so intelligible thought:
Wha-a!?
Lately, Dean hasn’t been able to keep up the illusion of being even remotely optimistic. But the fifth thought he has does set him back on track - somewhat.
He tells himself: it could have been worse. His cuckoo’s-nested brother could have married Lucifer.
Title: “It Just Goes With the Fashion”
Author: Shaitanah
Fandom: Merlin
Rating: G
Timeline: indefinite future
Summary: for the prompt “chaos” by eaivalefay. [Merlin, Arthur]
IT JUST GOES WITH THE FASHION
“I think it’s safe to say,” and it’s anything but safe when Arthur’s voice is all toned down and deliberate like that, “that this is all your fault, Merlin.”
Technically, the fault is Arthur’s. All Merlin wanted to do was show the king that magic could be safe and harmless if used by a skilled practitioner for, well, safe and harmless purposes. It was Arthur who, having raised Merlin from manservant to court sorcerer after magic was legalized (which actually meant more responsibility, less spare time and next to no improvement in his social status), suddenly decided to throw a feast in Merlin’s honour. Needless to say, a lot of ale was consumed, so it’s little wonder that the demonstration Arthur requested afterwards went a little awry.
“A little?” Arthur fumes. Okay, that’s probably an understatement. “You turned my betrothed into a rabbit!”
Oh, so that’s what he’s mad about!
“That was an accident,” Merlin says, shuffling his feet and trying to look as guilty as possible. At least she got a better deal than-.
“You turned my knights into frogs!” Arthur goes on, completely insensitive to Merlin’s attempts at guilt admission. “What am I supposed to do with them now? Kiss them back to being good fighters?”
“I think they’re doing pretty well with that even now,” Merlin comments sheepishly as he watches Sir Percival trying to fit back into his trademark sleeveless hauberk. Even in frog form, Percival is so much larger than an average specimen that he might as well succeed.
“Clean up this… this chaos at once!” Arthur demands. “Or I’ll have you put in stocks like good old times. It’s a miracle you haven’t done anything to me, you clumsy dolt. Can’t believe that with coordination like that you’ve managed to save my life so many times.”
Arthur’s voice warms unconditionally when he mentions that, and Merlin knows that at least half of that anger is all pretend. So he decides not to tell the king that his skin is currently the most inappropriate hot pink colour imaginable. Best not to fuel the fire just yet.
Title: “Entourage”
Author: Shaitanah
Fandom: Thor
Rating: G
Timeline: post-movie
Summary: for the prompt “bittersweet” by amcw177. [Thor/Loki]
ENTOURAGE
Falling through an inter-dimensional wormhole is not unlike falling into perfect despair. And that is the feeling Loki has long since come to associate with Thor.
Humans - puny little creatures - have managed to change his oaf of a brother so completely. Oh yes, Thor is a real hero now, and like every real hero, he has to have a huge sacrifice-shaped hole in his heart. He took care of that when he destroyed the rainbow bridge. But that is just entourage - like Loki’s meaningless little mind games and magic tricks have been his entourage. It is not what he and Thor are about.
A sacrifice is something a hero can (and must) live with. A nemesis is something he cannot do without. Nothing short of a miracle can bring Thor and Loki together now, not the way they were together before. And yet, a hero always comes for his villain.
All Loki has to do is play the part.
Title: “Because”
Author: Shaitanah
Fandom: Supernatural
Rating: G
Timeline: early Season 6
Summary: for the prompt “One peaceful moment in the middle of the chaos of war” by gwaevalarin. [Castiel, Balthazar]
BECAUSE
The silence on the battlefield is terrifying. Castiel watches from afar, from the shadowy crossroads where the lines of multiple heavens blur, allowing them to spill over into each other. This is not the first time he’s had to kill his brothers, but it is the first time he has slaughtered them en grand for the greater good - which doesn’t seem that good all of a sudden.
“Come now, Cassie,” a familiar voice reaches him. “You’ve been challenging our estranged Daddy so expertly. Don’t stop now.”
Balthazar. Reading his mind as always.
“I thought you were gone.”
“What with this captivating reality show Apocalypse Now And Without Lucifer you’ve got going on?” A snort. “Please. I’ve missed the premiere, true, but I think I’m staying for the rest of the run.”
It must be Castiel’s luck that every time he wants to ask “why bother?” someone always hits him over the head with a heavy, peremptory “because!”
“So, my brave warlord.” Balthazar somehow manages a wheedling bow that, in Castiel’s opinion, should only be possible in a human body. “Lead me to glory, victory and due spoils of war!”
Castiel almost asks, what? But this is just Balthazar, this (as Dean would say) is how he rolls.
And this is enough to keep Castiel going.