'Answer' Drabbles
Okay, so I sat down. I was maybe gonna do two or three drabbles, max. And discovered ‘Answer’ to be one of the easiest prompts I’ve written for. I think I may have gotten a little carried away.
But hey, you got ten… um… bugger… eleven drabbles out of it. LMAO. Warnings: A touch of slash around the end, a lot of language, and a dash of violence. Also, the final one is more or less as close as I ever get to smut...
Timeline: ‘Stance’ is before ‘Walking Out’. ‘Ethan’ is around ‘Bridge’ (Please note: ‘First Time…’ was G/OC, rather than G/E). ‘Not Running’ is in the time-frame after it. ‘Importance’ comes before ‘Eyghon I’. ‘Answer To Everything’ follows ‘Talking Helps’. ‘Solutions’ is before ‘Fond Thoughts’. ‘Contradiction’ is after ‘Back II’ and the rest follow that, here and there.
Stance
Eyes narrowing, I glared.
“Don’t you answer me back, Rupert Adrian Giles. You’ll show me the respect I deserve.”
Kept my voice even, though I was shaking.
“I already do show you the fucking respect you deserve. And I can assure you you’ve earned every single bloody iota of it.”
“I…”
“You’ve no damned right to try and tell me how I ought to be living my life, you old bastard. So what if I’m not the perfect fucking drone you envisioned? It’s my bloody life, and I’ll do whatever the hell I want with it. With whoever I want.”
Ethan
The streets of London weren’t the most pleasant place, but even they felt more like home than my old house.
I tugged my jacket tighter, offered the slightly younger man sitting across from me a wiry grin, and took a sip of the whisky he’d payed for, for me.
“So, where’d you say you were staying, anyway?”
“I didn’t. I ah… that is to say that I’m not really staying anywhere. Not at the moment.”
“Well I’ve an answer. For tonight, at least.”
“Yes?” I hardly dared to hope.
“You can come home with me.”
“Thanks. Ah, Ethan wasn’t it?”
Not Running
It was a good three months that I spent living out in the world, free and under my own steam, before he tracked me down for the first time.
I was sitting on the front step of our current dive and letting the dull morning sun warm me, as I nursed a coffee.
“Rupert.”
I jumped, and looked up, “Bloody hell.”
“I’ve been worried.”
“I couldn’t give a shit.”
“Did you really think just running away would solve all your problems, Rupert? Do you?”
“I never run away. Not from anything. Just wanted to put some space between us. Father.”
Importance
“Oh, go ahead Rue. Tell us. Please?” Randal cocked his head, and stared at Giles, intense blue gaze giving the moment more relevance than it really deserved.
I leaned against the wall, crossing my arms.
“It’s stupid…” muttered, twisting away.
“Even Dee’s said her bit. Shallow bint that she is…” cut in Phillip.
“Hey…” she glared.
The topic of conversation - how one would spend one’s last day in this world.
“Fine, then… I…” he caught my gaze, “I’d spend it with someone important to me.”
Only I felt safe answering that one. I shot him a ribald grin, “Bloody sap.”
Answer To Everything
I opened the door.
He spun.
“Where the hell were you last night?”
If I wasn’t inebriated I’d have been more cautious, “What makes you think you’re my fucking lord and master, Ripper?”
“I’ve a bloody mind to thrash you, Rayne. Teach you some fucking respect.”
“Bring it. Think your fists are the answer to everything. ” I challenged. Unwisely.
The backhand that came from no-where knocked me to the ground.
Copper tang - blood in my mouth. As I spat, a chunk of white hit the floor, too.
I was sure I felt a rib fracture under the first kick.
Solutions
“I don’t know what the answer is, but I do know that isn’t it. Please Rupert, be sensible.”
It’d been a long time since Ethan had used my given name. And the note of pleading was almost enough to make me reconsider.
But it wouldn’t work. All that we’d do was tear one another apart.
“I am being sensible, Ethan. I go back, and they’ve offered to clear both our records. No-one else ever has to know.”
“Please. Don’t.”
I didn’t answer. Couldn’t, otherwise I was sure my resolve would crack.
Tonight would be the last night we spent together.
Contradiction
Eyes narrowed, lip curled. Hatred-cum-anger radiated, made the air feel thicker somehow, made it hard to draw breath. Still, I did so, trying not to choke.
Met a dark, steel gaze.
“No, I don’t wish I’d never met you. I wish that I’d met you years ago. Maybe then I’d have never fucken fallen in love with you. Because this -this is killing me.”
No answer.
I sighed. Why could I say it alone, or to my reflection, but never to his face?
Ripper would be my death.
There was crushed glass in my chest.
Bloody cunt.
I missed him.
Outlet
Almost poetic, the way it was a good three months before he tracked me down.
I’d just started to settle back into my school-work, although I still had no intention of ever going back to my fathers again.
Ethan’s presence was unmistakable. His scent, his thrum charged the very air.
A hand clamped onto my shoulder, and spun me.
I could see fire in his eyes.
“Think you’re so fucking perfect, Ripper Giles? Do you really think running away is the answer to all your fucking problems?”
I knew I shouldn’t do it. But I was aching for an outlet.
Hiding Concern
“Why are you here?”
I could see his thinly restrained rage, but I didn’t answer.
This wasn’t Rupert. This was the man that no-one had dared to cross.
This was Ripper. And the truth was, I was glad to see that he still had it in him, because it meant that there would be a chance that he’d survive. The last thing that I wanted, was to see him softened.
This time I saw the backhand coming, and although the world exploded behind my eyes, I stayed standing.
“Lost your touch, love?” I grinned, mocking.
Seconds later, I was down.
Surprise
“Why are you here?”
I drew him into deeper shadow.
“Think I’d forget your birthday?” I shrugged. It was hopeless to tell myself that the lack of Ripper was anything less than agony.
“I’d hoped you would.”
He glanced around, although I’d already made sure it’d be just us, and the look in his eyes was more anticipation, than anger.
Grasped the side of my face, drove a thumb hard into the flesh just behind my jaw -just the right side of painful, and slowly brought his lips to mine.
I closed my eyes.
More like the answer I wanted.
Advice
“Anything in particular in mind?” He tried for a deadpan tone.
My hands were steady as I undid his zip, and slipped a hand into the gap, drawing him out. He was already hard, anticipation having worked it’s own unique brand of magick.
Gracefully I closed my eyes, and slipped to my knees, his hand tangling in my hair, pushing my head towards him, as his hips moved forward at the same time.
“Eager, aren’t we?” I grinned to myself.
I felt his groan, “For once in your life do shut up.”
I didn’t answer.
Instead, I took his advice.