RP: [ficlet] “Âme Sœur”
Whee, pretty much did this in a few hours! ....never again.
Description: The nightmare’s pretty much over. Still jealous, though.
A/N: Everybody that isn’t Garrett, Wu Bai, and Kyle belongs to hollsh. The dialogue is all in Norsu (French) probably. Not that it makes a difference. This is, like…right before Joe went to bed the other day?
Warning: Discusses slash, semi-incestuous behavior, and rape. Just so you know. It isn’t graphic at all. Chances are that someone that isn’t hollsh or me isn’t going to understand it, though. It's a bit lacking in description, to be honest.
“Âme Sœur”
“Please only give one to him on nights that he needs it. I don’t want them to become a habit.”
Garrett took the small bottle of sedatives from Kyle before Joe even thought about touching them. He nodded in agreement. “Thanks so much.”
“Yeah…thank you Kyle…” Joe said quietly, rubbing his eyes. It wasn’t that he was sleepy, but he was tired as all hell, if that made any sense. He wanted to just take of those pills and fall dead asleep.
Or just dead.
When he wasn’t thinking, both options sounded pretty good.
The doctor smiled faintly, though that was hard enough, considering what he’d been told a few hours prior. It wasn’t easy, either, to admit to yourself that you could hardly do anything to help when your friend was hurt in such a way. But if these got him to sleep…at least it was something. And Garrett was surely going to make sure it was taken correctly. “You don’t have to thank me at all. I’m here to help.”
Joe tried to smile, too, but it came out in the form of him just looking at his hands and swinging his feet helplessly above the floor. “Thanks again…”
Garrett looked at Kyle and he knew not to wear out his welcome. “I’ll be on my way, then. Please, take care…” he said gently before Garrett started to show him out.
“Aw…” Wu started when she saw her brother and his friend walking out. She crossed her arms and smiled almost cheekily when the latter stiffened a little at the sight of her there, just as he did when he arrived. “Leaving already?”
“Sorry to disappoint,” Garrett said flatly. “I told you, he’s not here for you.”
Kyle waved at the water demon almost timidly. “Some…some other time, Mlle. Wu.”
She grinned, showing him perfectly white teeth. They were puny human teeth at the moment, but he was unnerved just as well. “Some other time.”
Garrett rolled his eyes as made an exasperated sound. “For fuck’s sake, Wu, not now.” He opened the door for Kyle and thanked him for his time. It may have sounded brusque, but Kyle was more than glad to leave at that point.
Wu shrugged. “If not now, when?”
“When he’s single.”
“One more week…”
Garrett turned around to face her quickly, an annoyed look on his face. She put up her hands to show that there was no harm meant. “I’m joking, I’m joking, I swear to Gramps.”
“Good. God knows we need more drama…” he said tiredly as he walked into the kitchen. He got a small cup of water for Joe and went back into the bedroom. “You want to sleep now, my love?”
“Yeah…please,” Joe muttered, already between the sheets. Garrett gave him the cup and one of the pills carefully and Joe took it, quickly. Garrett stayed with his tiny husband, on top of the sheets, brushing his hair out of his well after he had fallen asleep. He’d have gone to sleep, himself, if he didn’t remember that a certain demon was waiting for him in the other room.
He gave Joe a small kiss on the cheek before scooting back out of bed. “I’ll be back in a little while…”
Joe wasn’t bothered. “Meh…”
Garrett smiled, which quickly became a frown as he walked out to the living room, where Wu was playing with a small snow cloud that she’d created with her fingertips out of boredom. He crossed his arms. “Alright.”
Wu turned her eyes slightly. “Yes?”
“Didn’t you have something to say to me?”
“I have been meaning to tell you something. I like your hair cut. I wasn’t expecting it, but it looks really good on you.”
“Why thank you, I was worried about it at-eh!” Garrett gritted his teeth at her. “No distracting me! I meant about not telling me what happened. Why I had to suffer all of that time alone…just for your amusement!”
Wu waved the snow cloud away, sitting up straight. “I told you. I hated you at first. Then..I didn’t know how to tell you for a while. Then it wasn’t amusing.”
“‘Because you were jealous.’ Right. Jealous of what? You’re my sister, for god’s sake! …Unless…” Garrett took a small step back and wrinkled his nose. “Uh. Not into that, thanks.”
She didn’t look amused. “Shut up. That’s not what I want. Well…mostly. No, definitely. Ugh.” When Garrett didn’t look too reassured, she stood up and walked past him, towards the balcony on the other side of the kitchen. She explained on the way. “You…know what soulsibs are, right? What started that whole thing?”
“Yeah, it’s because of the story of Gara Din and Gara Fin. Siblings…best friends, partners for life. That’s what makes the Gharadynian version so tragic.”
“Yeah, that. Well…” She leaned against the railing. “You guys down here take it seriously, yes. Can’t fault you on that. Us dragons…we take it really seriously, too. It’s what we all want…and when a dragon is selected to be on the Council, there are eight of them rather than four, because each takes their partners with them. And whoever is most recently chosen to be God…well, they do the same. Not just because they want to acknowledge what came before, I guess, but because they want to.”
“One is the white dragon and one is…black.” Garrett looked down at his hands, suddenly thinking of his parents. His mother was a normal human servant in WesCon and his father was the Black Dragon of Space. And if what Wu was saying about taking this soulsib business seriously were true and Donatien got himself banished…Wu’ s mother must have been crushed. Somehow, it hit him more now than it did just thinking that she’d been his wife. He certainly didn’t know the woman, but his heart ached just a little knowing that. It was a silly concept to him, but that must’ve hurt. “I see. I’m sorry.” He looked up. “But what does that have to do with you did to me?”
“Isn’t it obvious, now?”
“Just tell me.”
“Garrett…you’re my brother. I’ve gone over two hundred years without a soulsib, chances are I’m not going to find him anywhere else.” She looks at him with a faint, hopeful smile on her face. “I mean…I thought I had. But…the way you treat Joe… I guess the better word here is ‘envy’, not ‘jealousy’. It’s good that you have Joe, but if something happened to me, your sister, you wouldn’t give a shit, would you?”
“…” Garrett looked angry and he blew some smoke out of his nose. He reached onto and end table and took out a cigarette and his elegant holder. “How dare you?”
“Excuse me?”
He snapped his fingers and a small flame appeared over his nail to light the cigarette. “You may have hated me, but my feelings were genuine. I wanted a sister by blood, I really did… And though I already kind of do, now-by blood and by marriage…” His tail flicked Wu Bai’s ankle briefly; her face lit up in faint hope. “I kind of still want another one. I’m used to having a bitch for a sister.”
She sniffed a little. “…thanks…I know I did wrong by you, but I’m really sorry.”
Garrett put his hand on her shoulder. “I know…better later than not at all.”
“Yes...but I’m going to do what you want me to so I can help. I promise, I really do.”
He paused a moment, thinking back on the tapes that Bart made. They’d be so hard to track, even with him and Sally on the case. And like hell he was letting Balthasar help. “…let me get back to you on that.”
“Fair enough. So…” Wu held out her hand. “Okay?”
He looked at it for a moment before taking it with his own. “…okay. For now.”
“It’s all I’m asking.”
Garrett just nodded and let go of her hand, turning back around to lean on the railing. He looked like he was concentrating on smoking, though that was probably the last thing on his mind. Wu looked uncomfortable for the second time that he had known her. “So…” she started, twiddling her thumbs. “Do you think…Joe’ll be okay?”
He didn’t answer, and they were silent for a long time. They looked over the street, dark except for the street lamps and a neon sign or two. Just a pair of dragons, far from sentinels.
“I wish…” Garrett began slowly after the long silence, taking the holder away from his lips only slightly. “…that he would realize that I have to heal…just as much as he does.”
Wu frowned, which she had been used to doing during all of that day. “What do you mean? It didn’t happen to you.”
Garrett gave her a sideways look. His sister, however, didn’t have a look of disdain or anything-just one of concern. It was kind of sad, really. Maybe she was so used to being a bitch she couldn’t show concern with her words very easily. Genuinely, anyway. Since it seemed to be authentic, he answered without any venom in his voice. “I mean…we’re used to sex. Lots and lots of it…”
“You’re starting to sound like an asshole, just so you know.”
“Then let me finish. I was just going to say that him needing space doesn’t bother me. I need some, too. I couldn’t touch him now even if he said that it was okay.” He grasped the cigarette holder tightly in his fingers. “Not when he’s like this…not knowing that Bart made him this way just so he could…”
“I see…so that’s why you wanted him to change back so badly this time? You prick.”
“You’re really not helping me, sister dear.”
“Well that is pretty selfish, in my opinion…” she starts whilst leaning on the railing. “And believe me, I know all about being selfish. I mean…either you’re lying to him, especially about being attracted to him anymore, or you just care more about healing yourself without telling him anything at all. How do you expect him to understand that?”
Garrett hissed a little. “Okay, maybe I am! With the first part. But I can’t help it, that would just make things more difficult for him and god knows he doesn’t need that kind of grief. But as for being more worried about myself…no, you’re wrong.” He blows a smoke ring into the air without taking a drag on his cigarette, trying to calm down. “I’ve already told him my reasoning for thinking he’d want to change back to normal-not for my sake, but for his, I swear. I wouldn’t jump on him just as soon as he’s normal like that. But…I thought that what he thought of himself…well, in short, it’d be easier for him. No one that’s raped gets the chance to look in the mirror and actually see someone different, so why isn’t he taking that chance?”
Wu twirled her finger around and created a small ice cube. She sucked on it in an effort to not get so dry from Garrett’s cig. “I can only see two reasons for that.”
“Not that I was really asking, but what do you think?”
“One, he doesn’t think it would matter that his outside changed. He’d still see that when he looked in the mirror…”
Garrett didn’t look very convinced. He wrinkled his nose. “And the second?”
“He really is happier this way? And you’ve got to either live with it or pluck up some courage and tell him on no uncertain terms that you don’t like it.”
“I really do want him to do what he’s comfortable with, though, not impose my will.”
“Then suck it up,” Wu said dryly without a hint of sympathy. “But then again…Joe’s a wimp. You could impose your will, anyway.”
Her brother growled.
“Don’t. Because you know it’s true. You used to do things that were for his own good all the time.”
“Not ones that were so…so…”
“And if he whines too much, we can do whatever to change him back. I said that earlier, it looked like nobody paid attention.”
“That’s true…I guess…in a way.” Garrett sighed, letting out a huge puff of smoke and his sister made another ice cube. “I’m afraid this is something about which we’ll never agree. Yeah, it was happy before-I was happy to have him at all, and I didn’t know what had happened. But he should know that I’ve never been content with the change itself, or I never would have asked about it after the first time. Of course I think he’s cute in the clothes I got for him this time, but my god. They’re just clothes. He didn’t like how we hugged before…?” He lets out a small whine and hangs his head low. “If only he knew what he was saying…”
“Hmmm…” Wu Bai tapped on her chin, looking thoughtful. “Maybe he’s dumb.”
“Joe isn’t stupid!”
“Unobservant, then…or in denial. Who knows? You’re sure as hell not getting the answer by talking to me. I’ve done a lot of stuff for you and your friends today, and that snack Beo made isn’t going to keep cutting it. I’m not reading his mind.” She pointed at him. “And before you say anything, demons aren’t omniscient. Gramps…that would be a nightmare. Everyone thinks of sex all the time…”
“I wasn’t thinking of it…I just feel horrible.”
Wu’s icy looks softened and she hugged Garrett gently about the shoulders. He was better at withstanding her cold skin, but he wasn’t the best, yet. “Brother dear. You know you’re not horrible. Not completely honest, but no one can blame you for that.”
“You just did.”
“I’m doing what sou…well…sisters are supposed to do. Just being hard on you. You’re not a prick.”
“You play the part well,” he said quietly. He stood up straight and looked into the apartment. “I should go inside…he’s asleep, but he doesn’t want to be alone.”
“I…understand.”
Garrett took her by the arm and started to lead her out of the flat. “Do you have far to go? I mean…Heaven and all…”
She smiled a little. “I am staying at the temple about two blocks over. It’s Gharadynian, but the nuns use shitty wards and are very nice to guests.”
Garrett raises an eyebrow. “Why the hell are you going there? A temple is a shelter…”
Wu shrugged. “I’m tired, hungry, and have no money. I’m not going to ask you for any and I don’t feel like rousing anyone to get me just now. It’s late.”
“There are time zones in Heaven?”
“We’re going to talk about this view of Heaven you have. If you’re going to ever visit me, you can’t stare at everything and look stupid. You’d be at enough of a disadvantage.” Once they were at the door, she leaned up to give him a peck on the cheek. “Good night.”
Garrett nodded a little. “We will…and good night,” he said as he let her go on her way. Once she was but a speck in his sight, he went back inside, into the bedroom. He got into a pair of pajama pants quickly enough, but it took him some actual thought to bother with the top or not. Damn you, Bart, he thought, resenting the idea that he even had to think about something like partial nudity with his husband now. I wish there were a Hell so you could rot in it.
“Oh, wishful thinking…” Garrett scooted into bed and watched his husband sleep. He thought about what Wu Bai had to say before she recanted for a few minutes. Was it more selfish to say your feelings straight out and probably hurt someone you love really badly or just keep quiet and feel hurt that you’re not being understood? They both seemed so bad. And just making yourself like something you didn’t was even more horrible.
“Gramps damn it,” he murmured into Joe’s hair, lifting Wu’s silly, yet accurate, phrase. “Why does this have to be so difficult?”
The title’s “Soul Mate” though literally it looks like “Soul Sister”. I’ve got “Lady Marmalade” stuck in my head. “Hey sista, go sista, soul sista, flow sista…”
EDIT: More appropriate icon is more appropriate.
Description: The nightmare’s pretty much over. Still jealous, though.
A/N: Everybody that isn’t Garrett, Wu Bai, and Kyle belongs to hollsh. The dialogue is all in Norsu (French) probably. Not that it makes a difference. This is, like…right before Joe went to bed the other day?
Warning: Discusses slash, semi-incestuous behavior, and rape. Just so you know. It isn’t graphic at all. Chances are that someone that isn’t hollsh or me isn’t going to understand it, though. It's a bit lacking in description, to be honest.
“Âme Sœur”
“Please only give one to him on nights that he needs it. I don’t want them to become a habit.”
Garrett took the small bottle of sedatives from Kyle before Joe even thought about touching them. He nodded in agreement. “Thanks so much.”
“Yeah…thank you Kyle…” Joe said quietly, rubbing his eyes. It wasn’t that he was sleepy, but he was tired as all hell, if that made any sense. He wanted to just take of those pills and fall dead asleep.
Or just dead.
When he wasn’t thinking, both options sounded pretty good.
The doctor smiled faintly, though that was hard enough, considering what he’d been told a few hours prior. It wasn’t easy, either, to admit to yourself that you could hardly do anything to help when your friend was hurt in such a way. But if these got him to sleep…at least it was something. And Garrett was surely going to make sure it was taken correctly. “You don’t have to thank me at all. I’m here to help.”
Joe tried to smile, too, but it came out in the form of him just looking at his hands and swinging his feet helplessly above the floor. “Thanks again…”
Garrett looked at Kyle and he knew not to wear out his welcome. “I’ll be on my way, then. Please, take care…” he said gently before Garrett started to show him out.
“Aw…” Wu started when she saw her brother and his friend walking out. She crossed her arms and smiled almost cheekily when the latter stiffened a little at the sight of her there, just as he did when he arrived. “Leaving already?”
“Sorry to disappoint,” Garrett said flatly. “I told you, he’s not here for you.”
Kyle waved at the water demon almost timidly. “Some…some other time, Mlle. Wu.”
She grinned, showing him perfectly white teeth. They were puny human teeth at the moment, but he was unnerved just as well. “Some other time.”
Garrett rolled his eyes as made an exasperated sound. “For fuck’s sake, Wu, not now.” He opened the door for Kyle and thanked him for his time. It may have sounded brusque, but Kyle was more than glad to leave at that point.
Wu shrugged. “If not now, when?”
“When he’s single.”
“One more week…”
Garrett turned around to face her quickly, an annoyed look on his face. She put up her hands to show that there was no harm meant. “I’m joking, I’m joking, I swear to Gramps.”
“Good. God knows we need more drama…” he said tiredly as he walked into the kitchen. He got a small cup of water for Joe and went back into the bedroom. “You want to sleep now, my love?”
“Yeah…please,” Joe muttered, already between the sheets. Garrett gave him the cup and one of the pills carefully and Joe took it, quickly. Garrett stayed with his tiny husband, on top of the sheets, brushing his hair out of his well after he had fallen asleep. He’d have gone to sleep, himself, if he didn’t remember that a certain demon was waiting for him in the other room.
He gave Joe a small kiss on the cheek before scooting back out of bed. “I’ll be back in a little while…”
Joe wasn’t bothered. “Meh…”
Garrett smiled, which quickly became a frown as he walked out to the living room, where Wu was playing with a small snow cloud that she’d created with her fingertips out of boredom. He crossed his arms. “Alright.”
Wu turned her eyes slightly. “Yes?”
“Didn’t you have something to say to me?”
“I have been meaning to tell you something. I like your hair cut. I wasn’t expecting it, but it looks really good on you.”
“Why thank you, I was worried about it at-eh!” Garrett gritted his teeth at her. “No distracting me! I meant about not telling me what happened. Why I had to suffer all of that time alone…just for your amusement!”
Wu waved the snow cloud away, sitting up straight. “I told you. I hated you at first. Then..I didn’t know how to tell you for a while. Then it wasn’t amusing.”
“‘Because you were jealous.’ Right. Jealous of what? You’re my sister, for god’s sake! …Unless…” Garrett took a small step back and wrinkled his nose. “Uh. Not into that, thanks.”
She didn’t look amused. “Shut up. That’s not what I want. Well…mostly. No, definitely. Ugh.” When Garrett didn’t look too reassured, she stood up and walked past him, towards the balcony on the other side of the kitchen. She explained on the way. “You…know what soulsibs are, right? What started that whole thing?”
“Yeah, it’s because of the story of Gara Din and Gara Fin. Siblings…best friends, partners for life. That’s what makes the Gharadynian version so tragic.”
“Yeah, that. Well…” She leaned against the railing. “You guys down here take it seriously, yes. Can’t fault you on that. Us dragons…we take it really seriously, too. It’s what we all want…and when a dragon is selected to be on the Council, there are eight of them rather than four, because each takes their partners with them. And whoever is most recently chosen to be God…well, they do the same. Not just because they want to acknowledge what came before, I guess, but because they want to.”
“One is the white dragon and one is…black.” Garrett looked down at his hands, suddenly thinking of his parents. His mother was a normal human servant in WesCon and his father was the Black Dragon of Space. And if what Wu was saying about taking this soulsib business seriously were true and Donatien got himself banished…Wu’ s mother must have been crushed. Somehow, it hit him more now than it did just thinking that she’d been his wife. He certainly didn’t know the woman, but his heart ached just a little knowing that. It was a silly concept to him, but that must’ve hurt. “I see. I’m sorry.” He looked up. “But what does that have to do with you did to me?”
“Isn’t it obvious, now?”
“Just tell me.”
“Garrett…you’re my brother. I’ve gone over two hundred years without a soulsib, chances are I’m not going to find him anywhere else.” She looks at him with a faint, hopeful smile on her face. “I mean…I thought I had. But…the way you treat Joe… I guess the better word here is ‘envy’, not ‘jealousy’. It’s good that you have Joe, but if something happened to me, your sister, you wouldn’t give a shit, would you?”
“…” Garrett looked angry and he blew some smoke out of his nose. He reached onto and end table and took out a cigarette and his elegant holder. “How dare you?”
“Excuse me?”
He snapped his fingers and a small flame appeared over his nail to light the cigarette. “You may have hated me, but my feelings were genuine. I wanted a sister by blood, I really did… And though I already kind of do, now-by blood and by marriage…” His tail flicked Wu Bai’s ankle briefly; her face lit up in faint hope. “I kind of still want another one. I’m used to having a bitch for a sister.”
She sniffed a little. “…thanks…I know I did wrong by you, but I’m really sorry.”
Garrett put his hand on her shoulder. “I know…better later than not at all.”
“Yes...but I’m going to do what you want me to so I can help. I promise, I really do.”
He paused a moment, thinking back on the tapes that Bart made. They’d be so hard to track, even with him and Sally on the case. And like hell he was letting Balthasar help. “…let me get back to you on that.”
“Fair enough. So…” Wu held out her hand. “Okay?”
He looked at it for a moment before taking it with his own. “…okay. For now.”
“It’s all I’m asking.”
Garrett just nodded and let go of her hand, turning back around to lean on the railing. He looked like he was concentrating on smoking, though that was probably the last thing on his mind. Wu looked uncomfortable for the second time that he had known her. “So…” she started, twiddling her thumbs. “Do you think…Joe’ll be okay?”
He didn’t answer, and they were silent for a long time. They looked over the street, dark except for the street lamps and a neon sign or two. Just a pair of dragons, far from sentinels.
“I wish…” Garrett began slowly after the long silence, taking the holder away from his lips only slightly. “…that he would realize that I have to heal…just as much as he does.”
Wu frowned, which she had been used to doing during all of that day. “What do you mean? It didn’t happen to you.”
Garrett gave her a sideways look. His sister, however, didn’t have a look of disdain or anything-just one of concern. It was kind of sad, really. Maybe she was so used to being a bitch she couldn’t show concern with her words very easily. Genuinely, anyway. Since it seemed to be authentic, he answered without any venom in his voice. “I mean…we’re used to sex. Lots and lots of it…”
“You’re starting to sound like an asshole, just so you know.”
“Then let me finish. I was just going to say that him needing space doesn’t bother me. I need some, too. I couldn’t touch him now even if he said that it was okay.” He grasped the cigarette holder tightly in his fingers. “Not when he’s like this…not knowing that Bart made him this way just so he could…”
“I see…so that’s why you wanted him to change back so badly this time? You prick.”
“You’re really not helping me, sister dear.”
“Well that is pretty selfish, in my opinion…” she starts whilst leaning on the railing. “And believe me, I know all about being selfish. I mean…either you’re lying to him, especially about being attracted to him anymore, or you just care more about healing yourself without telling him anything at all. How do you expect him to understand that?”
Garrett hissed a little. “Okay, maybe I am! With the first part. But I can’t help it, that would just make things more difficult for him and god knows he doesn’t need that kind of grief. But as for being more worried about myself…no, you’re wrong.” He blows a smoke ring into the air without taking a drag on his cigarette, trying to calm down. “I’ve already told him my reasoning for thinking he’d want to change back to normal-not for my sake, but for his, I swear. I wouldn’t jump on him just as soon as he’s normal like that. But…I thought that what he thought of himself…well, in short, it’d be easier for him. No one that’s raped gets the chance to look in the mirror and actually see someone different, so why isn’t he taking that chance?”
Wu twirled her finger around and created a small ice cube. She sucked on it in an effort to not get so dry from Garrett’s cig. “I can only see two reasons for that.”
“Not that I was really asking, but what do you think?”
“One, he doesn’t think it would matter that his outside changed. He’d still see that when he looked in the mirror…”
Garrett didn’t look very convinced. He wrinkled his nose. “And the second?”
“He really is happier this way? And you’ve got to either live with it or pluck up some courage and tell him on no uncertain terms that you don’t like it.”
“I really do want him to do what he’s comfortable with, though, not impose my will.”
“Then suck it up,” Wu said dryly without a hint of sympathy. “But then again…Joe’s a wimp. You could impose your will, anyway.”
Her brother growled.
“Don’t. Because you know it’s true. You used to do things that were for his own good all the time.”
“Not ones that were so…so…”
“And if he whines too much, we can do whatever to change him back. I said that earlier, it looked like nobody paid attention.”
“That’s true…I guess…in a way.” Garrett sighed, letting out a huge puff of smoke and his sister made another ice cube. “I’m afraid this is something about which we’ll never agree. Yeah, it was happy before-I was happy to have him at all, and I didn’t know what had happened. But he should know that I’ve never been content with the change itself, or I never would have asked about it after the first time. Of course I think he’s cute in the clothes I got for him this time, but my god. They’re just clothes. He didn’t like how we hugged before…?” He lets out a small whine and hangs his head low. “If only he knew what he was saying…”
“Hmmm…” Wu Bai tapped on her chin, looking thoughtful. “Maybe he’s dumb.”
“Joe isn’t stupid!”
“Unobservant, then…or in denial. Who knows? You’re sure as hell not getting the answer by talking to me. I’ve done a lot of stuff for you and your friends today, and that snack Beo made isn’t going to keep cutting it. I’m not reading his mind.” She pointed at him. “And before you say anything, demons aren’t omniscient. Gramps…that would be a nightmare. Everyone thinks of sex all the time…”
“I wasn’t thinking of it…I just feel horrible.”
Wu’s icy looks softened and she hugged Garrett gently about the shoulders. He was better at withstanding her cold skin, but he wasn’t the best, yet. “Brother dear. You know you’re not horrible. Not completely honest, but no one can blame you for that.”
“You just did.”
“I’m doing what sou…well…sisters are supposed to do. Just being hard on you. You’re not a prick.”
“You play the part well,” he said quietly. He stood up straight and looked into the apartment. “I should go inside…he’s asleep, but he doesn’t want to be alone.”
“I…understand.”
Garrett took her by the arm and started to lead her out of the flat. “Do you have far to go? I mean…Heaven and all…”
She smiled a little. “I am staying at the temple about two blocks over. It’s Gharadynian, but the nuns use shitty wards and are very nice to guests.”
Garrett raises an eyebrow. “Why the hell are you going there? A temple is a shelter…”
Wu shrugged. “I’m tired, hungry, and have no money. I’m not going to ask you for any and I don’t feel like rousing anyone to get me just now. It’s late.”
“There are time zones in Heaven?”
“We’re going to talk about this view of Heaven you have. If you’re going to ever visit me, you can’t stare at everything and look stupid. You’d be at enough of a disadvantage.” Once they were at the door, she leaned up to give him a peck on the cheek. “Good night.”
Garrett nodded a little. “We will…and good night,” he said as he let her go on her way. Once she was but a speck in his sight, he went back inside, into the bedroom. He got into a pair of pajama pants quickly enough, but it took him some actual thought to bother with the top or not. Damn you, Bart, he thought, resenting the idea that he even had to think about something like partial nudity with his husband now. I wish there were a Hell so you could rot in it.
“Oh, wishful thinking…” Garrett scooted into bed and watched his husband sleep. He thought about what Wu Bai had to say before she recanted for a few minutes. Was it more selfish to say your feelings straight out and probably hurt someone you love really badly or just keep quiet and feel hurt that you’re not being understood? They both seemed so bad. And just making yourself like something you didn’t was even more horrible.
“Gramps damn it,” he murmured into Joe’s hair, lifting Wu’s silly, yet accurate, phrase. “Why does this have to be so difficult?”
The title’s “Soul Mate” though literally it looks like “Soul Sister”. I’ve got “Lady Marmalade” stuck in my head. “Hey sista, go sista, soul sista, flow sista…”
EDIT: More appropriate icon is more appropriate.