(no subject)
Title: Taming Oneself
Author: Cael
Rating: PG
Genre: general
Pairing/Characters: Sanada, Yukimura
Short Summary/Comments: Sanada never thought that he would turn to tennis. (AN: this fic really didn't flow well for me and I haven't yet been able to figure out how to fix it and remain within the word count requirements so I gave up and this is the end result ^^;; Murr.)
When he looked back on his childhood, Sanada knew that he had never suspected that he would turn to tennis. His dreams back then consisted of one day taking over the dojo for his grandfather and winning awards and acclaim for his swordsmanship. Tennis was only something that existed out of the corner of his eyes as he walked past the public courts on his way home from school. It wasn't for him.
Instead he studied how to wield a katana, how to move gracefully and powerfully around the dojo, his small hands clasped tightly on the hilt of a practice sword. His grandfather taught him how to focus his energy and how to meditate and Sanada became a serious child as a result, careful to control his emotions. He overheard someone referring to the practice as taming oneself and immediately adopted the phrase, although he didn't mention it to anyone else. It reminded him of seeing the tigers at the zoo and associating himself with one of the big cats appealed to him.
Somehow all that changed. He suspected it had something to do with meeting Yukimura back in elementary school, in that last year before they both graduated and became junior high students. The beautiful little boy had immediately made friends with him despite the fact that others tended to avoid his company, calling him 'too serious' like it was an insult. Maybe it was.
Whatever the case, though, it didn't deter Yukimura in the least. He stole Sanada's hat on the playground that first day, hiding it behind his back with an impish grin on his face.
"What will you give me if I return the cap to you?" he asked in a sing-song voice.
Sanada's childlike mind wracked the possibilities available to him. He didn't have enough money for a bribe and he didn't think that Yukimura was looking for that sort of compensation.
"I'll show you my grandfather's dojo," he finally offered.
Yukimura paused, considering, lips curled into a small pout of concentration.
"But I don't know anything about martial arts," he protested. "Play a tennis match with me instead."
Sanada blinked, trying to equate the clumsy efforts he was used to seeing associated with the sport to the boy standing before him.
"I don't know how to play," he admitted.
Yukimura's face lit into a smile. "Then we'll both learn," he decided cheerfully, dancing forward to place Sanada's cap back on his head with a grand flourish.
Yukimura never did learn to hold a sword properly, preferring to curl up on one of the mats in the dojo and watch Sanada instead, but the tennis lessons stuck. He proved to be proficient with a racket and was intrigued by the rules and intricacies of the game. It didn't hurt that the focus and power he had learned from his grandfather were as applicable on the courts as they were in the dojo and the racket's grip felt similar in his hand to the sword hilt.
His control wasn't perfect back then though because he was still learning. Is still learning. Somewhere between the sound of balls hitting the racket strings, the burn in his arms from practicing a particular move over and over again, and the cheerful banter of his teammates, Sanada learned that taming himself was an ongoing process. Or maybe it's that he doesn't really need to tame himself to begin with, that he should learn to lighten up a little more. At least that's what others tell him.
Title: Fever Dreams
Author: Cael
Rating: PG
Genre: General
Pairing/Characters: Any
Short Summary/Comments: "He dreamt that he was falling..."
He dreamt that he was falling, tumbling over and over, spinning in a vortex of air while the ground rose up to meet him and take him deep within itself like a lover would. He watched it come with his heart pounding in his throat and woke himself with a strangled gasp. His hands automatically fisted in the sheets to keep himself from being pulled up and away again and his body trembled with delicate shivers that chased each other up and down his spine. It was only a dream like so many of the others that he'd had. He was starting to lose track of them all.
A cool hand pressed lightly on his forehead, pushing the damp hair aside and away from his eyes even though he had them shut tight against the pale light creeping in through the cracks in his curtains. He turned his face towards the comfort being offered and he must have made some sort of sound because he was answered just a moment later.
"All right, but only for a little while."
He didn't think that he had spoken aloud, couldn't quite get his thoughts into something resembling coherency. Perhaps he had.
A moment later he felt the sheets lift and another body crawled into the bed with him, carefully shifting so that he wasn't jostled or moved unnecessarily. This new figure felt so wonderful next to his fevered skin and he curled onto it in such a way as to allow the greatest amount of contact between them both. If he could have purred he would have, but his throat wasn't quite up to it.
"You should sleep now."
The words were whispered into his ear as fingers lightly rubbed his temples where a faint headache throbbed. As he slipped back into unconsciousness he thought he felt a soft kiss pressed to the top of his head, but he wasn't entirely certain. He just hoped that he would remember this when he was feeling better. Moments such as these were too precious to forget.
Author: Cael
Rating: PG
Genre: general
Pairing/Characters: Sanada, Yukimura
Short Summary/Comments: Sanada never thought that he would turn to tennis. (AN: this fic really didn't flow well for me and I haven't yet been able to figure out how to fix it and remain within the word count requirements so I gave up and this is the end result ^^;; Murr.)
When he looked back on his childhood, Sanada knew that he had never suspected that he would turn to tennis. His dreams back then consisted of one day taking over the dojo for his grandfather and winning awards and acclaim for his swordsmanship. Tennis was only something that existed out of the corner of his eyes as he walked past the public courts on his way home from school. It wasn't for him.
Instead he studied how to wield a katana, how to move gracefully and powerfully around the dojo, his small hands clasped tightly on the hilt of a practice sword. His grandfather taught him how to focus his energy and how to meditate and Sanada became a serious child as a result, careful to control his emotions. He overheard someone referring to the practice as taming oneself and immediately adopted the phrase, although he didn't mention it to anyone else. It reminded him of seeing the tigers at the zoo and associating himself with one of the big cats appealed to him.
Somehow all that changed. He suspected it had something to do with meeting Yukimura back in elementary school, in that last year before they both graduated and became junior high students. The beautiful little boy had immediately made friends with him despite the fact that others tended to avoid his company, calling him 'too serious' like it was an insult. Maybe it was.
Whatever the case, though, it didn't deter Yukimura in the least. He stole Sanada's hat on the playground that first day, hiding it behind his back with an impish grin on his face.
"What will you give me if I return the cap to you?" he asked in a sing-song voice.
Sanada's childlike mind wracked the possibilities available to him. He didn't have enough money for a bribe and he didn't think that Yukimura was looking for that sort of compensation.
"I'll show you my grandfather's dojo," he finally offered.
Yukimura paused, considering, lips curled into a small pout of concentration.
"But I don't know anything about martial arts," he protested. "Play a tennis match with me instead."
Sanada blinked, trying to equate the clumsy efforts he was used to seeing associated with the sport to the boy standing before him.
"I don't know how to play," he admitted.
Yukimura's face lit into a smile. "Then we'll both learn," he decided cheerfully, dancing forward to place Sanada's cap back on his head with a grand flourish.
Yukimura never did learn to hold a sword properly, preferring to curl up on one of the mats in the dojo and watch Sanada instead, but the tennis lessons stuck. He proved to be proficient with a racket and was intrigued by the rules and intricacies of the game. It didn't hurt that the focus and power he had learned from his grandfather were as applicable on the courts as they were in the dojo and the racket's grip felt similar in his hand to the sword hilt.
His control wasn't perfect back then though because he was still learning. Is still learning. Somewhere between the sound of balls hitting the racket strings, the burn in his arms from practicing a particular move over and over again, and the cheerful banter of his teammates, Sanada learned that taming himself was an ongoing process. Or maybe it's that he doesn't really need to tame himself to begin with, that he should learn to lighten up a little more. At least that's what others tell him.
Title: Fever Dreams
Author: Cael
Rating: PG
Genre: General
Pairing/Characters: Any
Short Summary/Comments: "He dreamt that he was falling..."
He dreamt that he was falling, tumbling over and over, spinning in a vortex of air while the ground rose up to meet him and take him deep within itself like a lover would. He watched it come with his heart pounding in his throat and woke himself with a strangled gasp. His hands automatically fisted in the sheets to keep himself from being pulled up and away again and his body trembled with delicate shivers that chased each other up and down his spine. It was only a dream like so many of the others that he'd had. He was starting to lose track of them all.
A cool hand pressed lightly on his forehead, pushing the damp hair aside and away from his eyes even though he had them shut tight against the pale light creeping in through the cracks in his curtains. He turned his face towards the comfort being offered and he must have made some sort of sound because he was answered just a moment later.
"All right, but only for a little while."
He didn't think that he had spoken aloud, couldn't quite get his thoughts into something resembling coherency. Perhaps he had.
A moment later he felt the sheets lift and another body crawled into the bed with him, carefully shifting so that he wasn't jostled or moved unnecessarily. This new figure felt so wonderful next to his fevered skin and he curled onto it in such a way as to allow the greatest amount of contact between them both. If he could have purred he would have, but his throat wasn't quite up to it.
"You should sleep now."
The words were whispered into his ear as fingers lightly rubbed his temples where a faint headache throbbed. As he slipped back into unconsciousness he thought he felt a soft kiss pressed to the top of his head, but he wasn't entirely certain. He just hoped that he would remember this when he was feeling better. Moments such as these were too precious to forget.