Ficlets
I finished my ficlets for the drabble meme! Calling them "drabbles" seemed disingenuous, none of them are that short. >_>; But I haven't had the desire to write for so long, I couldn't bear to cut them down to size. So, without further ado~
For clean_crease:
Fandom: Star Wars
Request: "Obi/Ani, Ani being a bad boy"
Notes: I saw a really cool Japanese fanart that inspired this. I went to a weird place here and I liked it. Post-ROTS.
Title: "Military Discipline" - 371 words
“Military Discipline” by noctaval
Ramrod straight, he stood stiffly at attention as the first inspection concluded; and when Anakin himself swept past in a rustle of black cloth, Obi-Wan saluted with the rest.
He endeavored to remain utterly still, but it was fruitless. Some subtle twitch of muscle must have betrayed him, because after the Sith had looked over the line of officers from end to end, he returned to stand silently in front of his former master. Sweat trickled down the collar of Obi-Wan's gray uniform but he stared fixedly into space and did not meet Anakin's...Vader's...eyes.
The soldier to his left started violently when Vader ignited his lightsaber with a sudden snap and whipped the glowing weapon up to warm the former Jedi's clean-shaven chin.
“Have you something to say, Lieutenant Colonel Kenobi?” Vader inquired calmly, a dangerous edge lurking under the smooth tones of his voice.
“No, milord,” Obi-Wan replied shortly, struggling not to tremble from the awful intensity of the Sith's regard.
After a long, tense moment, Vader extinguished the lightsaber casually and made as if to turn away.
Without warning, he was inside Obi-Wan's guard, inches from his face, black mechanical hand wrapped around the other's throat--- and this time Obi-Wan did look at him, into his yellow, animal eyes; a terrible frustration welling up within him, that he should be reduced to this, trapped in this place, because there was no other choice.
It must have shown in his face, because Vader laughed and released him, fingers trailing along the older man's jaw in a gesture that was almost a caress.
Dimly, Obi-Wan heard himself ordered extra duty shifts for insubordination. He remained outwardly impassive, returning to attention with the ease of familiarity. He could feel Anakin watching him, and as the Sith exited phantom fingers traced a path across his taut abdomen. Unwillingly his eyes flickered to the lift; but Anakin was already gone.
Obi-Wan let out a breath as the brigadier general released the assembly, and went to receive his orders. The others whispered and stared--- he could feel their gazes on him.
He would endure this.
And he would pretend that the shivering chill coiling in his gut was only fear.
-------------
For seimei:
Fandom: Weiss Kreuz
Request: "Farfarello"
Notes: First thing that popped into my head when I thought of ol' Farfie. In between missions, he gets bored.
Title: "Dolls" - 228 words
"Dolls" by noctaval
Farfarello liked dolls. Yes he did. He liked the way they moved, exactly as he told them to, and the stiff way they crumpled when he tossed them aside. It was fun to play with them, sometimes, when there was no mission and his hands were idle, fun to cut them and string the little plastic pieces up around the base, even if they weren't as colorful as real toys.
The knife slipped in, carefully carving the mark of the cross into his newest plaything: a soft water-weighted baby. A thin curl of plastic sprang out of the doll's face as the blade withdrew, clinging to the steel, and Farfarello blew it off carefully. Then he punched out the eyes and threaded them with fishing line.
“Hey, you gonna do something about that creepy fuck?” Schuldig tossed his head to indicate the Berserker as he hung another of his creations over the doorway to the kitchen.
Crawford, for his part, shrugged and took another sip of his coffee. “Let him play.”
They thought he wasn't paying attention, but he was. He always was. He could hear it--- something in Crawford's voice. The future, just a little bit.
Farfarello smiled. Soon, he knew, he would have real toys to play with, the moving-around, flesh and blood kind. And he'd do just as he pleased with them, too.
--------------
For ad_exia:
Fandom: Star Wars
Request: "Obi-Wan, finally gets a moment to himself"
Notes: The long-suffering master rarely gets time to enjoy the simple things in life. :D
Title: "A Moment's Respite" - 206 words
"A Moment's Respite" by noctaval
With his Padawan out of the way, for the moment, Obi-Wan took advantage of the rare opportunity to seize some time for himself.
He retired to the kitchen and put a pot of tea on to boil, grumpily cleaning up several unfamiliar kitchen messes as he went. The master sighed as he scrubbed, and when the teakettle whistled he set the aromatic beverage aside to steep. After it was ready, he carefully poured a cup and settled himself in front of the living room's one large window, setting a dogeared old book of poetry on the table beside him. Obi-Wan thumbed through the paperback idly as he waited patiently for the tea to cool.
A loud thump shook the wall adjoining his apprentice's quarters, followed by a tinkling crash.
“I'm okay!” Anakin hollered through the door.
Breathe in, breathe out. Obi-Wan paused with lips barely parted over his tea, inhaling deeply through his nose. Eyes half-closed, he exhaled just as slowly. He took a sip and let the tea warm his tongue for a moment before swallowing.
Gazing out the window, he tuned out the terrifying noises coming from the bedroom and watched the sunlight glitter off the endless skyline.
It was a nice day.
----------------
For lassarina:
Fandom: FF4
Request: "Kain"
Notes: After the game, on Mount Ordeals. Not everything is a test, but everything tests you.
Title: "Preemptive Strike" - 376 words
"Preemptive Strike" by noctaval
Night had not long fallen when a shuddering roar woke Kain from uneasy sleep. Blearily registering the noise and shaking walls, he shot from the cave mouth half on instinct and plunged into the dim twilight outside.
When the shaking had subsided and the noise was only an echo, he surveyed his surroundings. The landslide had churned up the few sad patches of snow left on the mountain and turned the path into a wet slurry of cold mud and broken rock. The cave was intact, thankfully, but downslope a cloud of dust covered the trail.
Kain waited patiently for the mountain to settle, then trudged down in the dim starlight to investigate the damage to the trail.
The dragoon nearly tumbled right off the path when an ear-piercing screech split the night. He whirled, searching for the threat, but no foe presented itself. He had just begun to relax when the awful racket struck up again suddenly, louder this time. When Kain inched his way around the rock fall, spear-point leading, he saw for the first time the source of the noise. The small dark shape croaked again, piteously insistent, and turned to fix its rheumy eyes on his dark silhouette. An infant Zu.
Kain knew better than anyone what a menace the massive birds were, strong enough to bring down a small dragon, with poisoned claws and a legendary taste for human flesh. He'd seen enough of them in battle to strenuously avoid the beasts where he could.
Certainly he should kill this one now, before it had a chance to become a threat. Kain lowered his spear, but paused.
The creature cocked its head, as if considering him. It tumbled awkwardly over the broken curve of its dead parent's neck and floundered at his feet. He looked down impassively at the mewling, hideous thing.
One stroke was all it took to splatter the bird's brain matter over the trail. Turning, Kain told himself it was merciful to spare the creature a lingering death without its mother's hunting to sustain it. Curious how reluctant he had been to end the threat. It was only a bird, after all.
In time, he was confident, the rain and wind would erase all trace of its presence.
Whew! Sorry this took so long, LJ's interface was bugging out on me so I switched to semagic. Hope you guys like your fics! :3
For clean_crease:
Fandom: Star Wars
Request: "Obi/Ani, Ani being a bad boy"
Notes: I saw a really cool Japanese fanart that inspired this. I went to a weird place here and I liked it. Post-ROTS.
Title: "Military Discipline" - 371 words
“Military Discipline” by noctaval
Ramrod straight, he stood stiffly at attention as the first inspection concluded; and when Anakin himself swept past in a rustle of black cloth, Obi-Wan saluted with the rest.
He endeavored to remain utterly still, but it was fruitless. Some subtle twitch of muscle must have betrayed him, because after the Sith had looked over the line of officers from end to end, he returned to stand silently in front of his former master. Sweat trickled down the collar of Obi-Wan's gray uniform but he stared fixedly into space and did not meet Anakin's...Vader's...eyes.
The soldier to his left started violently when Vader ignited his lightsaber with a sudden snap and whipped the glowing weapon up to warm the former Jedi's clean-shaven chin.
“Have you something to say, Lieutenant Colonel Kenobi?” Vader inquired calmly, a dangerous edge lurking under the smooth tones of his voice.
“No, milord,” Obi-Wan replied shortly, struggling not to tremble from the awful intensity of the Sith's regard.
After a long, tense moment, Vader extinguished the lightsaber casually and made as if to turn away.
Without warning, he was inside Obi-Wan's guard, inches from his face, black mechanical hand wrapped around the other's throat--- and this time Obi-Wan did look at him, into his yellow, animal eyes; a terrible frustration welling up within him, that he should be reduced to this, trapped in this place, because there was no other choice.
It must have shown in his face, because Vader laughed and released him, fingers trailing along the older man's jaw in a gesture that was almost a caress.
Dimly, Obi-Wan heard himself ordered extra duty shifts for insubordination. He remained outwardly impassive, returning to attention with the ease of familiarity. He could feel Anakin watching him, and as the Sith exited phantom fingers traced a path across his taut abdomen. Unwillingly his eyes flickered to the lift; but Anakin was already gone.
Obi-Wan let out a breath as the brigadier general released the assembly, and went to receive his orders. The others whispered and stared--- he could feel their gazes on him.
He would endure this.
And he would pretend that the shivering chill coiling in his gut was only fear.
-------------
For seimei:
Fandom: Weiss Kreuz
Request: "Farfarello"
Notes: First thing that popped into my head when I thought of ol' Farfie. In between missions, he gets bored.
Title: "Dolls" - 228 words
"Dolls" by noctaval
Farfarello liked dolls. Yes he did. He liked the way they moved, exactly as he told them to, and the stiff way they crumpled when he tossed them aside. It was fun to play with them, sometimes, when there was no mission and his hands were idle, fun to cut them and string the little plastic pieces up around the base, even if they weren't as colorful as real toys.
The knife slipped in, carefully carving the mark of the cross into his newest plaything: a soft water-weighted baby. A thin curl of plastic sprang out of the doll's face as the blade withdrew, clinging to the steel, and Farfarello blew it off carefully. Then he punched out the eyes and threaded them with fishing line.
“Hey, you gonna do something about that creepy fuck?” Schuldig tossed his head to indicate the Berserker as he hung another of his creations over the doorway to the kitchen.
Crawford, for his part, shrugged and took another sip of his coffee. “Let him play.”
They thought he wasn't paying attention, but he was. He always was. He could hear it--- something in Crawford's voice. The future, just a little bit.
Farfarello smiled. Soon, he knew, he would have real toys to play with, the moving-around, flesh and blood kind. And he'd do just as he pleased with them, too.
--------------
For ad_exia:
Fandom: Star Wars
Request: "Obi-Wan, finally gets a moment to himself"
Notes: The long-suffering master rarely gets time to enjoy the simple things in life. :D
Title: "A Moment's Respite" - 206 words
"A Moment's Respite" by noctaval
With his Padawan out of the way, for the moment, Obi-Wan took advantage of the rare opportunity to seize some time for himself.
He retired to the kitchen and put a pot of tea on to boil, grumpily cleaning up several unfamiliar kitchen messes as he went. The master sighed as he scrubbed, and when the teakettle whistled he set the aromatic beverage aside to steep. After it was ready, he carefully poured a cup and settled himself in front of the living room's one large window, setting a dogeared old book of poetry on the table beside him. Obi-Wan thumbed through the paperback idly as he waited patiently for the tea to cool.
A loud thump shook the wall adjoining his apprentice's quarters, followed by a tinkling crash.
“I'm okay!” Anakin hollered through the door.
Breathe in, breathe out. Obi-Wan paused with lips barely parted over his tea, inhaling deeply through his nose. Eyes half-closed, he exhaled just as slowly. He took a sip and let the tea warm his tongue for a moment before swallowing.
Gazing out the window, he tuned out the terrifying noises coming from the bedroom and watched the sunlight glitter off the endless skyline.
It was a nice day.
----------------
For lassarina:
Fandom: FF4
Request: "Kain"
Notes: After the game, on Mount Ordeals. Not everything is a test, but everything tests you.
Title: "Preemptive Strike" - 376 words
"Preemptive Strike" by noctaval
Night had not long fallen when a shuddering roar woke Kain from uneasy sleep. Blearily registering the noise and shaking walls, he shot from the cave mouth half on instinct and plunged into the dim twilight outside.
When the shaking had subsided and the noise was only an echo, he surveyed his surroundings. The landslide had churned up the few sad patches of snow left on the mountain and turned the path into a wet slurry of cold mud and broken rock. The cave was intact, thankfully, but downslope a cloud of dust covered the trail.
Kain waited patiently for the mountain to settle, then trudged down in the dim starlight to investigate the damage to the trail.
The dragoon nearly tumbled right off the path when an ear-piercing screech split the night. He whirled, searching for the threat, but no foe presented itself. He had just begun to relax when the awful racket struck up again suddenly, louder this time. When Kain inched his way around the rock fall, spear-point leading, he saw for the first time the source of the noise. The small dark shape croaked again, piteously insistent, and turned to fix its rheumy eyes on his dark silhouette. An infant Zu.
Kain knew better than anyone what a menace the massive birds were, strong enough to bring down a small dragon, with poisoned claws and a legendary taste for human flesh. He'd seen enough of them in battle to strenuously avoid the beasts where he could.
Certainly he should kill this one now, before it had a chance to become a threat. Kain lowered his spear, but paused.
The creature cocked its head, as if considering him. It tumbled awkwardly over the broken curve of its dead parent's neck and floundered at his feet. He looked down impassively at the mewling, hideous thing.
One stroke was all it took to splatter the bird's brain matter over the trail. Turning, Kain told himself it was merciful to spare the creature a lingering death without its mother's hunting to sustain it. Curious how reluctant he had been to end the threat. It was only a bird, after all.
In time, he was confident, the rain and wind would erase all trace of its presence.
Whew! Sorry this took so long, LJ's interface was bugging out on me so I switched to semagic. Hope you guys like your fics! :3