nobody mind me, i'm just assembling all the drabbles written for me in the most recent meme
lilia & nuala & nuada, by liz
The years may have passed and they may all have grown older (some more visibly than others, though Lilia could stop now if she wanted to and be perfectly twenty-three forever) but some things are still like they've always been, and one of those things is that Lilia still goes out of her way to bother Nuada.
"I'm just telling you your enchantments could be more efficient-"
"What does one of your kind know about enchantment, hedge witch-"
They glare at each other over the work table, the pieces of what will be a jewelry box strewn between them, but there's a soft knock at the door and they both freeze.
"You get it," Lilia tells him, quickly collecting the unassembled parts and hiding them in a box there specifically for that purpose, and Nuada complies only because he enjoys greeting his sister first of the two of them, to make it perfectly clear whom she loves best.
"I thought you might want to know that dinner is being served," Nuala says, softly, studiously averting her eyes from any evidence of her surprise present that they've been so keenly toiling away on. She's just pleased they're working together on anything. Still, breaks- there are many dents in this room that testify to their usefulness in preserving everyone's sanity.
rusty is trolled by alex, by claire
Sometimes people think Rusty has ESP. Just those strange moments of knowing, or when other people around him suddenly know something too, when words haven’t been uttered and there’s no other way to have come about said knowledge.
It could be ESP. (Or it could be ESPN, as Tess had pointed out. Rusty’s seen that movie. It was funny.) What it probably is, however, is just too much time and intimacy shared with a person.
“Is this your phone?”
…
“This doesn’t even look like a phone.”
…
“Who’s-Princess Sparkle? Are you losing your mind?”
…
“Okay, fine. It’s a girl. I mean obviously it’s a girl, or it’s a drag queen. It’s-okay, girl.”
…
“Right so who’re you getting all these ominous text messages from? Dad? Boyfriend? Is he the lord master of all sparkle land and fighting for the-oh, hey.”
…
“I think she likes you.”
…
“You’re way too hard on yourself sometimes, Rusty.”
Silence.
Danny sighs, and tosses the PINpoint back on the bed.
nick & alya in russia, by kay
"Don't smile too much," Alya suggests, on their way out of the airport, "and don't look anyone in the eye too often, they'll interpret that as a challenge."
Nick endures this.
At the hotel, because she isn't going to give her family access to her (essentially) human boyfriend in their own residence, she says, "Don't try to speak Russian or anything, they'll find it patronizing. And don't let my father get you into a game of chess; he gets angry if he loses and angrier if the other person doesn't beat him."
Nick also endures this, with some wryness in his expression.
She pauses by the window, an hour later, and turns toward the shower. "I should have mentioned before. Remember, don't--"
"Alya," he says, firmly, hands on her shoulders; even Nick has a tolerance point, "enough."
Her eyebrows raise, and she affixes him with an icy look.
"It's going to be fine."
"And you psychically intuited this, Nicholas?"
"As a matter of fact..."
It's only by the grace of God she doesn't hit him when he kisses her.
lucy & agent k, by traci
It's always awkward, when she meets him - almost the same routine, too, but not quite. They're sitting across from each other at a tiny bistro table and her fingers are curled around some overly-expensive iced coffee drink.
She's not really intimidated - not any more (her sunglasses are plopped firmly on her face, but that's not just for him). She says something inane and stupid about him always popping up when she least expects it - it sounds weird as soon as she says it and she wishes she hadn't. He has that weird half-smile he gets though, the one that means he knows what she means without her even having to say it.
She likes Agent K. He's nice, if not interesting as hell to talk to. He just always seems to catch her off-guard when she's doing something she shouldn't. Getting busted by Agent K with a black ski mask sticking out of your bag is kind of like getting busted by her dad, only with less house arrest.
Damn.
brody & donna ('hang on, severus snape?'), by ariel
"Yes," Donna says, and sips her coffee.
Brody considers this fact, doing his best to not imagine the mechanics. He has nothing against Severus Snape, it's just that the man is a) kind of terrifying, and b) kind of greasy. And pasty. The English kind of pasty where it's all white skin and creepy blue veins and junk. Finally he asks, "Does his wang smell like cottage cheese?"
Donna spits out her coffee.
anna & martel, by mhari
The first thing she learns is that Martel is not, like so many men, easily lulled. He knows her for a killer, to begin with; that puts her at a disadvantage-- though at the same time it's exhilarating, not to have to pretend to a spineless virtue. But even if he hadn't, Anna knows she would need to tread carefully with this man, whose dark eyes see more than she means to show.
Guile will not serve here. Neither, she suspects, will seduction, even if she were practiced in it. Instead, with conscious decision, she takes honesty for her weapon.