14valentines Day Seven: Domestic Violence
Today's 14valentines is about Sexuality. Please click on the link to read the essay and browse the other contributions.
Soooooooo busy! Soooooooo tired! Almost halfway there, though, and almost halfway done with the non-baking parts of tomorrow. (Sorry, guys, no cookies or cupcakes for the gig. Too tired!)
***
There Must Be Fifty Ways to Leave Your Lover
twenty-two;
Title: Leaving on a Jet Plane
Fandom: In Plain Sight
Pairing: Raphael/Mary
Rating: G
Summary: Mary has her priorities sorted. Maybe it's time Raph sorted his.
Raphael loves Mary. He's known this for a long time. He's done his best to hide it, but she was going to find out. He always assumed that underneath her prickly exterior, she loved him too.
He still thinks that.
He has no reason to think it--Mary made it clear she didn't want to get married, she didn't want romance, she didn't want tradition. She's told him she has a list of priorities and he's never going to be higher than two. But she's been with him a long time and she's happy, she cares for him, and he's almost certain she loves him.
That didn't his heart from breaking.
When she calls and tells him to wait, he can't help but feel a spark of hope. The more time goes by, the more he starts to wonder. Her job is more important to her than he is. Why should his job be less important than her? Why should he have to wait around when she made it clear she doesn't want commitment?
Raphael loves Mary. But he can't let that stop him from living life. He boards at the final call and tries to think about something else on the long trip to Florida.
***
twenty-three;
Title: Drifting
Fandom: The West Wing
Pairing: Charlie/Zoey
Rating: G
Summary: It doesn't happen all at once.
It doesn't happen all at once, which makes it hard to pinpoint the blame.
Charlie does his best at first. The President is in the midst of a maelstrom of contention, but he's Zoey's father and she feels responsible. It's hard to make time for her, but Charlie tries. He skips going home, leaves from work for her dorm room and spends the night. Sometimes he just holds her while she cries or listens while she rages. Sometimes they pretend nothing's happened and watch a movie.
It gets more complicated. Longer hours at work, prepping for reelection. Then Deanna gets sick and Charlie tries to be home for her. It takes him hours to return Zoey's calls and when he does, she's not up for talking. He walks in on her arguing with her father one day, begging for him to give Charlie some free time. They both stare at him, shamed, when they realize he's there. He leaves before he can hear anything else.
It's gradual. One day he's eating pizza on the floor with Zoey, the next thing he knows it's been three weeks and he hasn't seen her.
It's no one's fault. It's circumstance.
That doesn't mean he doesn't miss her.
***
twenty-four;
Title: Loyalty
Fandom: Torchwood
Pairing: Emily Holroyd/Alice Guppy
Rating: PG
Summary: Her contract was to the Queen, but Emily had her loyalty.
After the disaster of the HMS Hades, Alice asked Emily about the future. Hers was a pragmatic mind and she needed to know. It was easy to look at it as another duty to the Institute, as a primer in procedure in the event of her superior's demise. She didn't--couldn't think of it as losing her lover.
London would send someone, Emily murmured into her hair that night. Whether it was a leader or field agent was uncertain.
"But I have faith in you and Gaskell," she said. "You can manage whatever London offers."
Alice didn't voice her disagreement. Her contract was to the Queen, but Emily saved her from prison. Emily gave her a new life and showed her a new world. It was Emily who had her loyalty.
It was easier, then, to step in front of the bullet meant for Emily. Easier to die for someone she loved and admired than be executed for treason if she couldn't profess her loyalty to a new leader.
She tried to say so while Emily held her and brushed back her hair, but the words were lost in the blossoming pain, and when the pain receded it was only because the darkness had taken over.
Soooooooo busy! Soooooooo tired! Almost halfway there, though, and almost halfway done with the non-baking parts of tomorrow. (Sorry, guys, no cookies or cupcakes for the gig. Too tired!)
***
There Must Be Fifty Ways to Leave Your Lover
twenty-two;
Title: Leaving on a Jet Plane
Fandom: In Plain Sight
Pairing: Raphael/Mary
Rating: G
Summary: Mary has her priorities sorted. Maybe it's time Raph sorted his.
Raphael loves Mary. He's known this for a long time. He's done his best to hide it, but she was going to find out. He always assumed that underneath her prickly exterior, she loved him too.
He still thinks that.
He has no reason to think it--Mary made it clear she didn't want to get married, she didn't want romance, she didn't want tradition. She's told him she has a list of priorities and he's never going to be higher than two. But she's been with him a long time and she's happy, she cares for him, and he's almost certain she loves him.
That didn't his heart from breaking.
When she calls and tells him to wait, he can't help but feel a spark of hope. The more time goes by, the more he starts to wonder. Her job is more important to her than he is. Why should his job be less important than her? Why should he have to wait around when she made it clear she doesn't want commitment?
Raphael loves Mary. But he can't let that stop him from living life. He boards at the final call and tries to think about something else on the long trip to Florida.
***
twenty-three;
Title: Drifting
Fandom: The West Wing
Pairing: Charlie/Zoey
Rating: G
Summary: It doesn't happen all at once.
It doesn't happen all at once, which makes it hard to pinpoint the blame.
Charlie does his best at first. The President is in the midst of a maelstrom of contention, but he's Zoey's father and she feels responsible. It's hard to make time for her, but Charlie tries. He skips going home, leaves from work for her dorm room and spends the night. Sometimes he just holds her while she cries or listens while she rages. Sometimes they pretend nothing's happened and watch a movie.
It gets more complicated. Longer hours at work, prepping for reelection. Then Deanna gets sick and Charlie tries to be home for her. It takes him hours to return Zoey's calls and when he does, she's not up for talking. He walks in on her arguing with her father one day, begging for him to give Charlie some free time. They both stare at him, shamed, when they realize he's there. He leaves before he can hear anything else.
It's gradual. One day he's eating pizza on the floor with Zoey, the next thing he knows it's been three weeks and he hasn't seen her.
It's no one's fault. It's circumstance.
That doesn't mean he doesn't miss her.
***
twenty-four;
Title: Loyalty
Fandom: Torchwood
Pairing: Emily Holroyd/Alice Guppy
Rating: PG
Summary: Her contract was to the Queen, but Emily had her loyalty.
After the disaster of the HMS Hades, Alice asked Emily about the future. Hers was a pragmatic mind and she needed to know. It was easy to look at it as another duty to the Institute, as a primer in procedure in the event of her superior's demise. She didn't--couldn't think of it as losing her lover.
London would send someone, Emily murmured into her hair that night. Whether it was a leader or field agent was uncertain.
"But I have faith in you and Gaskell," she said. "You can manage whatever London offers."
Alice didn't voice her disagreement. Her contract was to the Queen, but Emily saved her from prison. Emily gave her a new life and showed her a new world. It was Emily who had her loyalty.
It was easier, then, to step in front of the bullet meant for Emily. Easier to die for someone she loved and admired than be executed for treason if she couldn't profess her loyalty to a new leader.
She tried to say so while Emily held her and brushed back her hair, but the words were lost in the blossoming pain, and when the pain receded it was only because the darkness had taken over.