Companion Pieces, "After the Good-Night Kiss," Dee

[kappamaki33]

Series Title: Companion Pieces
Segment Title: After the Good-Night Kiss

Author: kappamaki33
Rating: PG-13
Characters: Dee, Gaeta
Pairings: I suppose it could be Dee/Gaeta if you really squint, but I lean more towards Dee, Gaeta.  Dee/Billy and Dee/Lee in the background.
Series Summary: A series of mirror-images.  Likely to be some angst.
Spoilers:

Comments

[lorrainemarker]

This is really well done. I liked the two mirror imaged looks at the relationship after Billy's death and right before Dee's. It aches that Dee thought Felix would get over her suicide. In the series it was a clear tipping point for him followed by the Webisodes Raptor incident. I'm posting a story now where he ended up trying to kill himself just hours after her suicide. She was so very wrong and that's just so sad.

Nicely done,
Lorraine

[kappamaki33]

Thank you! Yeah, considering how intent she seemed to be on setting things as right as she could before she killed herself, especially with Lee, I couldn't believe that she killed herself knowing how badly Felix would take it. I think she had to delude herself to do it, too--if she were really thinking straight, she would've realized that Felix couldn't move very fast and would still be out in the corridor when she pulled the trigger--but I do think it was an honest belief.

[lls_mutant]

Felix and Dee friendship fic! (because that's totally how I'll read it.) I love you :)

I love this. For some reason, I've also got the impression that although Dee and Felix were very close, they really had their moments of... well, when you're stuck in such close proximity under so much stress for so long, you're bound to drive each other crazy. Plus, since everyone's life sucked, you can't always be there every time a friend has a crisis, because you're probably going through your own.

But I love this portrayal of the rough edges in their friendship at times, with the deeper undercurrent of a very strong love for each other. No wonder Felix went over the edge when he lost Dee. She really was such an anchor for him. ::sniff::

Looking forward to more!

[kappamaki33]

Thanks! :) I keep coming back to this relationship because there's so much there. And I agree, as much as these two care about each other, Felix and Dee are both opinionated and individual enough that sometimes, one of them just wouldn't be able to guess exactly what the other needed. That they loved each other so much anyway, to me, says far more about the strength of their bond than if they always perfectly understood one another. Even so, I think Felix would probably beat himself up over not noticing that something was wrong and stopping Dee from committing suicide. Everybody else would take comfort in the fact that she seemed so happy, so how could they have guessed, but I don't think Felix would.

[safenthecity]

This breaks my heart. I love how you get into Dee's head in those last minutes, because it hurts in such a right way. The "Louis would talk care of him" was such a blow to the gut. And the opening, with Dee and Felix mourning Billy together, how so much of it comes back to Lee... It's painful, and so good.

Felix's drunk little proposal made me smile, because I have a friend with whom I've made a similar joking deal, but it's so full of angst, because Dee's "who wants to live that long?" just reminds us that neither of them get to.

[kappamaki33]

I'm glad Dee's POV worked; it wasn't easy. If I'm remembering rightly, I think I had to watch the end of Dee's date with Lee through Felix hearing the shot seven or eight times to write that scene. It's a great scene, but *not fun*.

Yep, there was a bit of foreshadowing there (or aftershadowing, since we already know they die? Anyway...). It is sad that they don't get the chance to be old and gray and have to worm their way out of their deal.

Thanks for reading!

[trovia]

This was cute and sad. It had a lot of lovable moments like Felix' attempt at being casual, and the fact that he's weird when he's drunk. But I also liked how Dee didn't want to see him in the second scene, and how he annoyed her, because that felt very real, and it made a lot of sense. It was generally nice to read fic that acknowledges Billy, and how hard his death must have been for Dee.

[kappamaki33]

I always wished Dee got to mourn Billy more than just crying over his dead body in the bar. Even if she didn't want to marry the guy, she did like him an awful lot, so she deserved that much, even if her mourning is awkward and conflicted because of the terms the two of them ended on.

What is it with me and getting Felix drunk or high? I've written him high as a kite and philosophical on morpha, so drunk he'd strip in public, and now so drunk he'd propose marriage (sort of) to a woman with one sort-of-boyfriend who's barely been dead long enough for his body to be cold and another sort-of-boyfriend who could break Felix in two when he emerges from sickbay. I don't know, but it's fun. :)

Thank you!

[prophetkristy]

Oh oh oh ohhhh! I'm wanting to smish them and bursting into tears all at the same time. Him asking her to marry him when they're old and single = <3 <3 <3.

[kappamaki33]

Aw, thank you! Yes, Felix can be a sweetheart when he wants to be, eh?