Fic: Reflections (S&S Prompt fic)
Title: Reflections
Author: lost_spook
Rating: All ages
Word Count: 879
Characters/Pairings: Sapphire, Copper (slight Sapphire/Copper)
Warnings None. Pre-canon, 1760s.
Summary: The assignment’s all but over, so Sapphire finds other ways to amuse herself. (Prompt 19: copper & sapphire - Pre-canon & Parallel universes)
***
Now that they have located the source, the connecting factor, there’s not very much that Sapphire can do. She leans back against the plaster of the wall and, sidelong, watches Copper as he works.
The technician is focused on the mirror panel in front of him. Through it they can see the ballroom, but it’s not the simple reflection it should be: the mirror image is brightly lit by chandeliers while they have only lamplight here in the gloom. The other ballroom is full of dancers while this is empty. Every now and then those dancers make their ghostly way into this reality and then glide away into nothing again, translucent.
Sapphire crouches down close to Copper and guides his hand to where the disturbance is the strongest and then she straightens up and moves away to circle the room one more time, keeping an eye on the other mirrored panels, but they have identified the right one. There’s no movement anywhere else.
She returns to Copper and smiles to herself. She’s always ready to know more of her colleagues, and in Copper’s case, she wonders about something Silver has said. (Although she’s learned that what Silver says about Copper is rarely reliable - at least, not any more than what Copper says about Silver.)
So she sits against the wall, next to him, while he works and smiles when he glances across at her. When something moves across the room, she puts a warning hand to his arm. Copper.
Copper lifts his head, gives her an enquiring look.
I’ll look, she says, still in his mind and then smiles again, more briefly, before she gets up and walks across the darkened ballroom. Something in the distance scurries away.
“An animal?” Copper asks.
She nods. Yes. A mouse, I think, not a rat.
Then she takes her time making her way back over and alters her costume twice as she walks. She’s been wearing a plain grey dress, less awkward and bulky than the gowns that this room would often see; a dress for working in - appropriate for the task in hand. She knows Copper prefers not be conspicuous. Now she tries something that matches the ballroom: an impossibly elaborate dress with gold and silver edged lace and trimmings and a tall wig to match. The wide skirts sweep the floor and she smiles to herself. Then as she nears Copper, she changes her mind again and switches to a man’s outfit and touches the lace at her throat. She never ceases to be amused that such a simple thing can cast humans into confusion. She’s still the same, after all.
“Sapphire,” says Copper without turning his head. “It’s closed. If you would make certain…?”
Of course. Then, as she kneels down to do so, she borrows another outfit, this time a dress in satin but relatively simple in cut and width, midnight blue in colour, but striking enough. She returns her attention to the mirror. All she can see this time is her own reflection and she smiles at that with satisfaction. Then she puts out her hand to touch the polished metal, to be completely sure.
“Yes,” she says as she stands again. “It’s done.”
Copper puts his few neat tools back into his pocket and then pauses as he looks back at her and at the mirror. “I think the image was from the future.”
“The future?”
“Yes,” says Copper and moves back towards her. “Not the past. The dance was not one I recognise.”
Sapphire breaks into a smile, not having expected that and she’s pleased to be surprised by him. “The dance?”
“Dancing has set rules and patterns - unlike most activities they engage in,” Copper explains and she isn’t sure that he isn’t hiding amusement at her. “I find that… pleasing.” Then he holds out his hand with a characteristic gravity to his movements and leads her into a silent dance, in mimicry of the mirror dancers they have banished from the room.
Sapphire directs an amused look at him as they dance. “I didn’t think that you…” She smiles again. I didn’t think you would do something like this. After all, Silver says -
“Ah, yes,” says Copper and breaks into a rare, full smile. “But I’ve always thought it good for Silver to be wrong every now and then.”
Sapphire lets him lead her on, takes in the knowledge of the new dance he has observed while working. There are patterns, she thinks, he’s right, although that’s not all the movements are. “And is Silver wrong about… other things?”
“Perhaps,” says Copper, ceasing the dance. (After all, a dance from the future is a risk, even for them.) He raises her hand to kiss it and steps back as he releases her. “However, I do think that unnecessary distractions while on assignment are dangerous.”
Sapphire’s mouth twitches at the corners. “Oh?”
“Quite. Charming as you are, Sapphire,” he says, facing her and seeming somehow taller than before, “if I did allow… Well, if so, I would prefer not to be merely an object of curiosity.”
Sapphire is unperturbed; her gaze now an amused challenge back at him. “Oh, not merely, Copper,” she says. “Never that.”
***
Author: lost_spook
Rating: All ages
Word Count: 879
Characters/Pairings: Sapphire, Copper (slight Sapphire/Copper)
Warnings None. Pre-canon, 1760s.
Summary: The assignment’s all but over, so Sapphire finds other ways to amuse herself. (Prompt 19: copper & sapphire - Pre-canon & Parallel universes)
***
Now that they have located the source, the connecting factor, there’s not very much that Sapphire can do. She leans back against the plaster of the wall and, sidelong, watches Copper as he works.
The technician is focused on the mirror panel in front of him. Through it they can see the ballroom, but it’s not the simple reflection it should be: the mirror image is brightly lit by chandeliers while they have only lamplight here in the gloom. The other ballroom is full of dancers while this is empty. Every now and then those dancers make their ghostly way into this reality and then glide away into nothing again, translucent.
Sapphire crouches down close to Copper and guides his hand to where the disturbance is the strongest and then she straightens up and moves away to circle the room one more time, keeping an eye on the other mirrored panels, but they have identified the right one. There’s no movement anywhere else.
She returns to Copper and smiles to herself. She’s always ready to know more of her colleagues, and in Copper’s case, she wonders about something Silver has said. (Although she’s learned that what Silver says about Copper is rarely reliable - at least, not any more than what Copper says about Silver.)
So she sits against the wall, next to him, while he works and smiles when he glances across at her. When something moves across the room, she puts a warning hand to his arm. Copper.
Copper lifts his head, gives her an enquiring look.
I’ll look, she says, still in his mind and then smiles again, more briefly, before she gets up and walks across the darkened ballroom. Something in the distance scurries away.
“An animal?” Copper asks.
She nods. Yes. A mouse, I think, not a rat.
Then she takes her time making her way back over and alters her costume twice as she walks. She’s been wearing a plain grey dress, less awkward and bulky than the gowns that this room would often see; a dress for working in - appropriate for the task in hand. She knows Copper prefers not be conspicuous. Now she tries something that matches the ballroom: an impossibly elaborate dress with gold and silver edged lace and trimmings and a tall wig to match. The wide skirts sweep the floor and she smiles to herself. Then as she nears Copper, she changes her mind again and switches to a man’s outfit and touches the lace at her throat. She never ceases to be amused that such a simple thing can cast humans into confusion. She’s still the same, after all.
“Sapphire,” says Copper without turning his head. “It’s closed. If you would make certain…?”
Of course. Then, as she kneels down to do so, she borrows another outfit, this time a dress in satin but relatively simple in cut and width, midnight blue in colour, but striking enough. She returns her attention to the mirror. All she can see this time is her own reflection and she smiles at that with satisfaction. Then she puts out her hand to touch the polished metal, to be completely sure.
“Yes,” she says as she stands again. “It’s done.”
Copper puts his few neat tools back into his pocket and then pauses as he looks back at her and at the mirror. “I think the image was from the future.”
“The future?”
“Yes,” says Copper and moves back towards her. “Not the past. The dance was not one I recognise.”
Sapphire breaks into a smile, not having expected that and she’s pleased to be surprised by him. “The dance?”
“Dancing has set rules and patterns - unlike most activities they engage in,” Copper explains and she isn’t sure that he isn’t hiding amusement at her. “I find that… pleasing.” Then he holds out his hand with a characteristic gravity to his movements and leads her into a silent dance, in mimicry of the mirror dancers they have banished from the room.
Sapphire directs an amused look at him as they dance. “I didn’t think that you…” She smiles again. I didn’t think you would do something like this. After all, Silver says -
“Ah, yes,” says Copper and breaks into a rare, full smile. “But I’ve always thought it good for Silver to be wrong every now and then.”
Sapphire lets him lead her on, takes in the knowledge of the new dance he has observed while working. There are patterns, she thinks, he’s right, although that’s not all the movements are. “And is Silver wrong about… other things?”
“Perhaps,” says Copper, ceasing the dance. (After all, a dance from the future is a risk, even for them.) He raises her hand to kiss it and steps back as he releases her. “However, I do think that unnecessary distractions while on assignment are dangerous.”
Sapphire’s mouth twitches at the corners. “Oh?”
“Quite. Charming as you are, Sapphire,” he says, facing her and seeming somehow taller than before, “if I did allow… Well, if so, I would prefer not to be merely an object of curiosity.”
Sapphire is unperturbed; her gaze now an amused challenge back at him. “Oh, not merely, Copper,” she says. “Never that.”
***