Final part, I promise.
Title: A Means to an Escape, part III
Fandom: Speed Racer
Verse: The Schizo!verse
Pairing: X/Inspector, Rex/Inspector, X/Speed
Rating: 15 for nothing too awful.
Length: 1,013 words.
Notes: For a full explanation of the schizo verse and companion parts, check here. As before, dashes mark the flashbacks.
part II
Rex has a week of agony and then slinks to the back of X’s mind and stays there.
Detector’s over; he’s discussing a mission brief, tracing a finger over facts and figures, studying a map and planning an entrance. Rex sits hot and heavy between them, his anger dwelling tangibly in the air around them. Eventually he sighs, leans back in his chair and rubs the bridge of his nose with a forefinger and thumb. “Did you tell him?” he asks quietly, his accent clipping his words.
“No,” X murmurs, fingers pinching the skin around his knuckles. Rex is a thick ball of anger and hurt throbbing in the back of his head. “I said I wouldn’t.”
“Thank you,” Detector says quietly, scoops up the files and leaves.
X watches him go.
Rex, he thinks. There’s something I want to show you, Rex.
Is he gone?
Yeah, he thinks as the door clicks softly shut. He’s gone.
Rex creeps from the subconscious. He’s nervous and stinging, cautious and scared. Make it quick. Any semblance of trust, any mockery of need is gone between them, replaced by mistrust and sharp stabs of jealousy in his stomach. X closes his eyes and sits down, pulling out a memory. Rex reaches out to take it.
-
Rex fell asleep and X shot awake, adrenaline singing through his veins in a rush. The cold still clung to his sinuses, making his nose feel hot and heavy and huge in the middle of his face and his eyes were throbbing nastily. Detector seemed to start beneath him, not expecting the change, watching warily as X extracted his head from his lap and rubbed his temples with a thumb and forefinger. “X?” Detector said quietly, and X ‘hmm’d, shaking sleep from his head. Their eyes caught; they barely encroached into the personal, certainly not the tangible, and X had just been sprawled with his head intimately tangled in Detector’s lap. Detector leant forwards and softly, gently, their mouths slipped together -
-
X! Rex interjects, his voice shattered with pain. Stop it!
Trust me, X replies, calling up the memory again and handing it over. Bear with it.
-
X gasped, his hand catching on the sofa cover, curling against the corduroy backing and catching his fingers on the surface. Detector pressed harder, his own hand snaking over and grasping near X’s knee, pushing them closer. They pulled apart for the sake of air, staring at each other, X shocked and Detector regretful.
“Rex,” Detector whispered, and his eyes fluttered shut with pain. X was watching carefully; he’d known that if Detector had really wanted to jump him he would have done it a long time before. “X,” he said carefully, opening his eyes again. “Will you let me pretend?”
X’s voice cracked. “Yes,” he whispered, leaning in and kissing his throat softly.
“Thank you,” Detector breathed, his head falling back as he swore softly in German when X’s hand slipped inside his shirt. “X?” he gasped, pushing his hands away for a moment, and their eyes locked again. “Don’t tell Rex.”
“I promise,” X murmured, and leant in to kiss him again.
-
I think that’s enough, X thinks, and halts the memory, pushing it away into the recesses of his mind. Rex is there in shocked silence, numb and wondering.
He didn’t -
He wanted you. He’s always wanted you.
Then why not - ?
Don’t ask me.
There’s the sound of a key in the door and X jumps, not expecting it, and Rex takes advantage of the distraction to trickle back into control. He’s stood in the centre of the rug in a rush, staring in the doorway as Detector enters and gestures to the table. “I left my - ” He pauses, taking Rex in. “Rex,” he says quietly.
“Hi,” Rex smiles, walking across the room and pausing in front of him, pressing the abandoned notebook into Detector’s hand. “Anyone’d think you left this behind deliberately.”
Detector’s staring at him in wonderment, shocked by their proximity as Rex’s breath whispers across his mouth. “He told you,” he breathes. “That son of a bitch.”
I promised not to tell him, X thinks, amused. You didn’t say anything about not showing him.
Rex leans in and kisses him. X? he thinks as his hands slip under Detector’s jacket.
Hmm?
Shut up.
Detector’s in the kitchen, gently stirring two precariously-filled cups, one of coffee, one of tea. Rex is sprawled on his back on his bed, head hanging off the bottom, fucked to bliss, staring out of the window with nostalgia and happiness.
You gonna take good care of him for me? X teases, and Rex smiles, despite the intrusion on the desperately private moment. Sometimes, sometimes he remembers how much he loves X.
I promise, I’ll even have him home before nine on a weekday. They stare out of the window together, two minds seeing the skyline with one set of eyes. The orange is tinging the clouds, announcing daybreak and work and all things horrendous but also illuminating Detector’s back with a faint glow. Rex never thought he’d like the daybreak again. X?
Hmm?
Do you think Speed loves you?
X thinks for a moment. I think he thinks he does.
He’s young.
Not as young as when you left him, X points out, and it’s not meant as a jibe and Rex knows it.
You going to keep him safe?
I promise, X says in all sincerity, despite the fact Rex’s words echo the humorous tone his own took on moments before.
Alright. I don’t like it, but alright.
Wait, you mean - ?
Detector’s stood in the doorway, a small smile on his face. He’s upside-down to Rex, who rolls over onto his stomach to peer up at him. “It’s funny watching you two talk,” he says as he walks over, placing Rex’s tea at the foot of his bed. “You’re vacant and concentrated at the same time, it’s wonderful.”
Rex smiles and props himself up on his elbows to kiss him softly.
Yes. You can have Speedy.
Fandom: Speed Racer
Verse: The Schizo!verse
Pairing: X/Inspector, Rex/Inspector, X/Speed
Rating: 15 for nothing too awful.
Length: 1,013 words.
Notes: For a full explanation of the schizo verse and companion parts, check here. As before, dashes mark the flashbacks.
part II
Rex has a week of agony and then slinks to the back of X’s mind and stays there.
Detector’s over; he’s discussing a mission brief, tracing a finger over facts and figures, studying a map and planning an entrance. Rex sits hot and heavy between them, his anger dwelling tangibly in the air around them. Eventually he sighs, leans back in his chair and rubs the bridge of his nose with a forefinger and thumb. “Did you tell him?” he asks quietly, his accent clipping his words.
“No,” X murmurs, fingers pinching the skin around his knuckles. Rex is a thick ball of anger and hurt throbbing in the back of his head. “I said I wouldn’t.”
“Thank you,” Detector says quietly, scoops up the files and leaves.
X watches him go.
Rex, he thinks. There’s something I want to show you, Rex.
Is he gone?
Yeah, he thinks as the door clicks softly shut. He’s gone.
Rex creeps from the subconscious. He’s nervous and stinging, cautious and scared. Make it quick. Any semblance of trust, any mockery of need is gone between them, replaced by mistrust and sharp stabs of jealousy in his stomach. X closes his eyes and sits down, pulling out a memory. Rex reaches out to take it.
-
Rex fell asleep and X shot awake, adrenaline singing through his veins in a rush. The cold still clung to his sinuses, making his nose feel hot and heavy and huge in the middle of his face and his eyes were throbbing nastily. Detector seemed to start beneath him, not expecting the change, watching warily as X extracted his head from his lap and rubbed his temples with a thumb and forefinger. “X?” Detector said quietly, and X ‘hmm’d, shaking sleep from his head. Their eyes caught; they barely encroached into the personal, certainly not the tangible, and X had just been sprawled with his head intimately tangled in Detector’s lap. Detector leant forwards and softly, gently, their mouths slipped together -
-
X! Rex interjects, his voice shattered with pain. Stop it!
Trust me, X replies, calling up the memory again and handing it over. Bear with it.
-
X gasped, his hand catching on the sofa cover, curling against the corduroy backing and catching his fingers on the surface. Detector pressed harder, his own hand snaking over and grasping near X’s knee, pushing them closer. They pulled apart for the sake of air, staring at each other, X shocked and Detector regretful.
“Rex,” Detector whispered, and his eyes fluttered shut with pain. X was watching carefully; he’d known that if Detector had really wanted to jump him he would have done it a long time before. “X,” he said carefully, opening his eyes again. “Will you let me pretend?”
X’s voice cracked. “Yes,” he whispered, leaning in and kissing his throat softly.
“Thank you,” Detector breathed, his head falling back as he swore softly in German when X’s hand slipped inside his shirt. “X?” he gasped, pushing his hands away for a moment, and their eyes locked again. “Don’t tell Rex.”
“I promise,” X murmured, and leant in to kiss him again.
-
I think that’s enough, X thinks, and halts the memory, pushing it away into the recesses of his mind. Rex is there in shocked silence, numb and wondering.
He didn’t -
He wanted you. He’s always wanted you.
Then why not - ?
Don’t ask me.
There’s the sound of a key in the door and X jumps, not expecting it, and Rex takes advantage of the distraction to trickle back into control. He’s stood in the centre of the rug in a rush, staring in the doorway as Detector enters and gestures to the table. “I left my - ” He pauses, taking Rex in. “Rex,” he says quietly.
“Hi,” Rex smiles, walking across the room and pausing in front of him, pressing the abandoned notebook into Detector’s hand. “Anyone’d think you left this behind deliberately.”
Detector’s staring at him in wonderment, shocked by their proximity as Rex’s breath whispers across his mouth. “He told you,” he breathes. “That son of a bitch.”
I promised not to tell him, X thinks, amused. You didn’t say anything about not showing him.
Rex leans in and kisses him. X? he thinks as his hands slip under Detector’s jacket.
Hmm?
Shut up.
Detector’s in the kitchen, gently stirring two precariously-filled cups, one of coffee, one of tea. Rex is sprawled on his back on his bed, head hanging off the bottom, fucked to bliss, staring out of the window with nostalgia and happiness.
You gonna take good care of him for me? X teases, and Rex smiles, despite the intrusion on the desperately private moment. Sometimes, sometimes he remembers how much he loves X.
I promise, I’ll even have him home before nine on a weekday. They stare out of the window together, two minds seeing the skyline with one set of eyes. The orange is tinging the clouds, announcing daybreak and work and all things horrendous but also illuminating Detector’s back with a faint glow. Rex never thought he’d like the daybreak again. X?
Hmm?
Do you think Speed loves you?
X thinks for a moment. I think he thinks he does.
He’s young.
Not as young as when you left him, X points out, and it’s not meant as a jibe and Rex knows it.
You going to keep him safe?
I promise, X says in all sincerity, despite the fact Rex’s words echo the humorous tone his own took on moments before.
Alright. I don’t like it, but alright.
Wait, you mean - ?
Detector’s stood in the doorway, a small smile on his face. He’s upside-down to Rex, who rolls over onto his stomach to peer up at him. “It’s funny watching you two talk,” he says as he walks over, placing Rex’s tea at the foot of his bed. “You’re vacant and concentrated at the same time, it’s wonderful.”
Rex smiles and props himself up on his elbows to kiss him softly.
Yes. You can have Speedy.