Fic: Foolish to Bait the Wounded Beast & A Moment of Despair (SP)
Excuse me while I squee for a second. It's just that G.D. Falksen just started following my pinboards on Pinterest. Not that he's some superhero or famous actor or anything. But he's a big deal around the Steampunk world and my little spat of Steampunk-inspired pinning last night must have caught his eye and now he is following... me. *grins* It's just cool.
Now for the rest of the writing for the evening. Then it is to bed I go!
Title: Foolish to Bait the Wounded Beast
Prompt: Welcoming Death
Word Count: 790
Rating: PG
Original/Fandom: Original - Streetlight People 'verse
Pairings (if any): none
Warnings (Non-Con/Dub-Con/RPF etc): none
Summary: Set while Xie is still in prison. Cyril Ann dares to ask Lec what's been bothering him.
Lec flipped the small, silver medallion between his fingers, over and over again. It was his tell that not all was so calm beneath his placid exterior. When any of the boys saw him messing with the medallion, they gave him a wide berth. So wide, in fact, that none of them were even in the building. Every single one had found something to do even though there was the threat of rain in the dark clouds looming overhead. Cyril Ann was the only one still in the room but that was because she didn't dare show her face back on campus until the day after next. She was supposed to be visiting her family, as were most all of the students.
"What's eating you?" She ran the rag over the counter even though she'd successfully wiped it was clean as it was ever going to get. Still, it helped to have something to do so she didn't have to look Lec in the eye. It helped that no one was about for her to try to convince that she wasn't scared right now because she was. She'd faced down death more times than she could count, nearly welcoming it on several occasions, but this fierce boy frightened her.
When he didn't answer, Cyril Ann glanced at him out of the corner of her eye. He looked... he looked scared.
"Things are quiet here for the time being. We don't need to intercept any more shipments until tomorrow night. Why don't you go on home? Or, better yet, stop by and check on Aja for me. I haven't been by to see her recently."
The flash of silve alerted her to the projectile a moment before she realized that his hand was suddenly extended. She ducked, not lifting her head until she heard the thunk in the wood where her hand had been. Sure enough, the silver medallion quivered, half embedded in the wood.
She shivered but stood back up, letting the rag she was still holding hide the quiver in her hands. "I'm going to assume there's trouble between the two of you? Or would you like to throw something else at me? I'd prefer you just went for a good bruise the next time. It would have looked odd if I'd walked into class with silver sticking out of my skin."
"It wouldn't have hit you," he muttered but she saw contrition in his eyes right before he let his head fall into his hands. Now, instead of a fierce fighter who was a worthy second in command to Xie, she couldn't help but see a hurting man with love held precariously in his grasp. "She won't let me in. There's a new charm on the building, right by the front door. She told me... told me she didn't want... to see me again."
"Good thing she can't see, then." They were words laced with gentle sarcasm that she knew would either send him into a frenzy of rage or break him completely. When his shoulders began to shake, she wasn't sure that she'd thought he'd go with the second option. "Want me to go see her? Give her a message from you?"
"I asked her not to go finding any more. At least not until Xie is out. She.. she's killing herself for coins that I could just give her. Free and clear. I could take care of her."
Cyril Ann flinched as he jumped to his feet, pacing back and force with all the tense passion she'd seen so often in Xie. It made her own heart ache to see him like this, only because she understood exactly what he was saying. "Let her be, Lec. It's not their way, either of them, to take charity easily. And she seems to enjoy the finding. It gives her a sense of purpose."
"It's. Killing. Her." Each word was enunciated, highlighted with rage that shouldn't have been so startling , considering who was standing in front of her. "I can't make her stop. Her sight is completely gone. Even though she won't talk about it, I can tell. Not even shadows any longer. Since Xie's been gone, she's got this urge to suddenly take care of herself completely, as if she's an orphan or something. As if she hasn't got anyone to help her without him around to force them."
She held out a hand, wanting to offer some sort of comfort even though she wasn't sure how much he was willing to accept. Sure enough, he whirled away from her before she could touch him. "Maybe I-"
But he was gone before she could finish the sentence. Gone before she could let him know that she cared about his pain.
Title: A Moment of Despair
prompt: Forgotten
Word Count: 309
Rating: PG
Original/Fandom: Original - Streetlight People 'verse
Pairings (if any): none
Warnings (Non-Con/Dub-Con/RPF etc): none
Summary: Cyril Ann goes to check on Aja.
This panic attack was bad. Maybe the worst one today and that was saying something. Since dawn, Aja had huddled in her bed, trying to come to grips with the fact that her brother was locked up tight and might not come home. If that happened, she would have nothing. No one.
Lec.
No, she would have no one. It bothered her that there was a part of her that felt compelled to remind her that Lec wanted to install himself in her life like some surrogate brother. Not that he called it that. He thought they were some sort of couple. A pair of people who felt something more for each other than obligation.
It made her angry that he dared to use that terminology against her when she was so weak. Time and time again, she'd tried to force him to see that the two of them could have something special and he'd reminded her, time and time again, that he wasn't worthy of her. Not worthy? Of her? It was laughable. But now she saw that she was the one who wasn't worthy. If Xie never came home, she might as well not be here either.
"Snap out of it." A hand wrapped in her hair and pulled so that Aja was forced to lift her head or lose a hunk of her scalp. "The least you can do is wash from time to time."
"What are you doing here, Cyr?"
The slap made her wince but she should have known that would follow the use of the shortened name that only Xie was allowed to use. All the pain brought her out of the stupor, though. Now she wanted less to die and more to kill her brother's girlfriend. All her depression was forgotten as she shaped her hand like claws and went on the attack.
This entry was cross posted at dreamwidth - where the cool kids hang out.
Now for the rest of the writing for the evening. Then it is to bed I go!
Title: Foolish to Bait the Wounded Beast
Prompt: Welcoming Death
Word Count: 790
Rating: PG
Original/Fandom: Original - Streetlight People 'verse
Pairings (if any): none
Warnings (Non-Con/Dub-Con/RPF etc): none
Summary: Set while Xie is still in prison. Cyril Ann dares to ask Lec what's been bothering him.
Lec flipped the small, silver medallion between his fingers, over and over again. It was his tell that not all was so calm beneath his placid exterior. When any of the boys saw him messing with the medallion, they gave him a wide berth. So wide, in fact, that none of them were even in the building. Every single one had found something to do even though there was the threat of rain in the dark clouds looming overhead. Cyril Ann was the only one still in the room but that was because she didn't dare show her face back on campus until the day after next. She was supposed to be visiting her family, as were most all of the students.
"What's eating you?" She ran the rag over the counter even though she'd successfully wiped it was clean as it was ever going to get. Still, it helped to have something to do so she didn't have to look Lec in the eye. It helped that no one was about for her to try to convince that she wasn't scared right now because she was. She'd faced down death more times than she could count, nearly welcoming it on several occasions, but this fierce boy frightened her.
When he didn't answer, Cyril Ann glanced at him out of the corner of her eye. He looked... he looked scared.
"Things are quiet here for the time being. We don't need to intercept any more shipments until tomorrow night. Why don't you go on home? Or, better yet, stop by and check on Aja for me. I haven't been by to see her recently."
The flash of silve alerted her to the projectile a moment before she realized that his hand was suddenly extended. She ducked, not lifting her head until she heard the thunk in the wood where her hand had been. Sure enough, the silver medallion quivered, half embedded in the wood.
She shivered but stood back up, letting the rag she was still holding hide the quiver in her hands. "I'm going to assume there's trouble between the two of you? Or would you like to throw something else at me? I'd prefer you just went for a good bruise the next time. It would have looked odd if I'd walked into class with silver sticking out of my skin."
"It wouldn't have hit you," he muttered but she saw contrition in his eyes right before he let his head fall into his hands. Now, instead of a fierce fighter who was a worthy second in command to Xie, she couldn't help but see a hurting man with love held precariously in his grasp. "She won't let me in. There's a new charm on the building, right by the front door. She told me... told me she didn't want... to see me again."
"Good thing she can't see, then." They were words laced with gentle sarcasm that she knew would either send him into a frenzy of rage or break him completely. When his shoulders began to shake, she wasn't sure that she'd thought he'd go with the second option. "Want me to go see her? Give her a message from you?"
"I asked her not to go finding any more. At least not until Xie is out. She.. she's killing herself for coins that I could just give her. Free and clear. I could take care of her."
Cyril Ann flinched as he jumped to his feet, pacing back and force with all the tense passion she'd seen so often in Xie. It made her own heart ache to see him like this, only because she understood exactly what he was saying. "Let her be, Lec. It's not their way, either of them, to take charity easily. And she seems to enjoy the finding. It gives her a sense of purpose."
"It's. Killing. Her." Each word was enunciated, highlighted with rage that shouldn't have been so startling , considering who was standing in front of her. "I can't make her stop. Her sight is completely gone. Even though she won't talk about it, I can tell. Not even shadows any longer. Since Xie's been gone, she's got this urge to suddenly take care of herself completely, as if she's an orphan or something. As if she hasn't got anyone to help her without him around to force them."
She held out a hand, wanting to offer some sort of comfort even though she wasn't sure how much he was willing to accept. Sure enough, he whirled away from her before she could touch him. "Maybe I-"
But he was gone before she could finish the sentence. Gone before she could let him know that she cared about his pain.
Title: A Moment of Despair
prompt: Forgotten
Word Count: 309
Rating: PG
Original/Fandom: Original - Streetlight People 'verse
Pairings (if any): none
Warnings (Non-Con/Dub-Con/RPF etc): none
Summary: Cyril Ann goes to check on Aja.
This panic attack was bad. Maybe the worst one today and that was saying something. Since dawn, Aja had huddled in her bed, trying to come to grips with the fact that her brother was locked up tight and might not come home. If that happened, she would have nothing. No one.
Lec.
No, she would have no one. It bothered her that there was a part of her that felt compelled to remind her that Lec wanted to install himself in her life like some surrogate brother. Not that he called it that. He thought they were some sort of couple. A pair of people who felt something more for each other than obligation.
It made her angry that he dared to use that terminology against her when she was so weak. Time and time again, she'd tried to force him to see that the two of them could have something special and he'd reminded her, time and time again, that he wasn't worthy of her. Not worthy? Of her? It was laughable. But now she saw that she was the one who wasn't worthy. If Xie never came home, she might as well not be here either.
"Snap out of it." A hand wrapped in her hair and pulled so that Aja was forced to lift her head or lose a hunk of her scalp. "The least you can do is wash from time to time."
"What are you doing here, Cyr?"
The slap made her wince but she should have known that would follow the use of the shortened name that only Xie was allowed to use. All the pain brought her out of the stupor, though. Now she wanted less to die and more to kill her brother's girlfriend. All her depression was forgotten as she shaped her hand like claws and went on the attack.
This entry was cross posted at dreamwidth - where the cool kids hang out.