More Than Meets the Eye (Babylon 5:Legend of the Rangers/Blood Ties)
Okay, I'm not actually sure if anyone's going to be familiar with either of these fandoms let alone both, but I'm posting anyway. :)
Title: More Than Meets the Eye
Fandom: Babylon 5:Legend of the Rangers/Blood Ties crossover. Kinda.
Characters/Pairing: David Martell/Dulann (can be read as gen or pre-slash, whichever your preference)
Rating: 15
AN: Unbeta'd
Eyes closed, searching for a sense of calm among the wildness of both his mind and the surrounding area, Dulann found his usual meditation techniques of little use in calming his mind. Separated from their training group, he and David had somehow become… misplaced. That wasn’t such a problem as it might seem, resolving such situations were part of their training after all. No, the problem, if one could call it that, lay with his companion. David seemed… agitated, more so than was usual. In fact, it was extremely out of character, even for someone as intemperate as David Martell.
David was pacing back and forth at the mouth of the cave they’d taken shelter in, escaping from the driving rain that had been lashing down at them. Dulann for his part was mostly dry now, unlike David, whose unruly blond hair was still wet and sticking in all directions: a state of existence not helped by the constant way he was running his hands through it. Mostly Dulann was glad that Minbari didn’t have hair, considering how much trouble it seemed to cause his human year mates, but there were admittedly times when it was oddly fascinating. How could someone believe that running their hands through their hair would change a situation? Yet it was something David often did when he was frustrated or tired, or both. With the way he was acting now, Dulann was vaguely concerned that David might actually pull his hair out if he didn’t stop anytime soon.
Turn, pace, pace, pace, turn again. Surely David would wear a groove into the floor of the cave if he continued in this way. Three days into the training assignment and David was already distinctly… twitchy, he thought was the human word? Definitely on edge over something. But what? Was he sick? If that was the case then they would just have to find their way back to camp as soon as possible so David could get some medical attention from a Healer, but David had irritably replied that he wasn’t sick when he’d inquired before and as he was not inclined to invite any outbursts from his companion, Dulann had decided not to inquire further. His resolve, however, was weakening. Something was clearly wrong and it was his responsibility, both as fellow Anla’shok and as possibly a friend, to find out what and, if possible, help resolve the problem. He couldn’t do that, though, if David remained as obstinate as he was currently being.
“David,” he said quietly, opening his eyes to see rather than hear the other man pacing incessantly. “I know you do not wish to discuss this, but something is wrong. I cannot help you if I do not know what is troubling you.”
David stared at him for a moment, then turned away from him abruptly. “Nothing’s wrong,” he replied brusquely. “Just leave it alone, Dulann.”
“I’m afraid I can’t do that,” Dulann told him firmly. “Would it not help to share the problem?”
David laughed harshly. “A problem shared is a problem halved? Not this time, Dulann. Doesn’t work that way.”
“Why not? I have rarely encountered a problem that suffered from more than one person attempting to--”
“I already told you it doesn’t work that way!” David snarled, then caught himself. “I’m sorry, Dulann,” he finished, slightly less abrasively. “But you can’t help.”
“Without giving me the option, no, I can’t. David, please. Tell me what is troubling you.”
For a moment he didn’t think David would, the man standing there, indecision written across his face before settling into resignation. “I’m… hungry.”
“Hungry?” Dulann repeated. “But… we have supplies, David. We didn’t lose that much.”
There was a flicker of something in David’s expression, something Dulann couldn’t place, before it was replaced with a smile that didn’t reach David’s eyes. “I know. Let it go, Dulann.”
“David--”
“Let. It. Go.” David was staring at him intently (were his eyes darker than usual?) and the words seemed to be imprinting on his mind, or trying to anyway. A whisper behind the eyes, registering purely on a sub-conscious level, seeming to bypass his ears entirely. It wasn’t any kind of telepathy he was familiar with, neither human or Minbari and he hadn’t thought David was a telepath anyway. Surely something like that would have come up before now? Then again, humans were commonly very quiet about their gifts, leftover fear from the time of their Psi Corps, the compulsory organisation for human telepaths, that might be why David hadn’t mentioned it. But it didn’t account for David trying to use it on him, though. That was extremely unethical and not like the David Martell he’d thought he was getting to know. Not like the person his own minor telepathic abilities told him David was. A person’s whose soul was so bright could never be truly dark, surely. Dulann believed that with every fibre of his being.
“I can’t do that,” he repeated. “Let me help you.” He’d always been stubborn and that had occasionally - or not so occasionally - gotten him into trouble while he was growing up. It hadn’t prepared him, though, for suddenly having David shoving him backwards into a cave wall without seeming to even move. He’d never seen anyone move that fast, he thought in the back of his mind. Not even the best instructors of the Anla’shok who had spent years honing their fighting abilities had been that quick. He was acutely aware of David’s hand fisting in his tunic, David’s mouth by his throat, lips brushing the crook between throat and shoulder, not far from his ear. Part of him was caught off guard by the fact that he couldn’t feel any breath against his skin, but the rest of him was torn between adrenaline and confusion. He should have been able to react more quickly, that was part of his training, after all, yet he couldn’t move. Time seemed to freeze, crystallising around them as his heart hammered in his chest, thrumming in his ears, so loud that surely David could hear it.
Whether he heard it or not, David pulled away as sharply as he’d pushed Dulann into the wall in the first place, walking away from him to the other side of the cave, putting as much distance between them as was possible in such a confined space; but not before Dulann saw the raw hunger in David’s gaze before he turned away. “What are you?” he asked quietly, because there was no way that David could be human like he said he was. He might look human, but no human he’d ever met possessed the kind of strength or speed David had displayed just now.
David’s head came up sharply, then turned slightly so that Dulann could see something of his face, even if only in profile. “Does it matter?”
Dulann considered the point, examining the question and looking at the answers from all of the angles before coming to a conclusion. “No,” he said finally. “I suppose it doesn’t.”
David whirled, jacket flapping with the sudden movement. “What is wrong with you?” he demanded angrily. “Why aren’t you--?”
“Why aren’t I what?” Dulann asked calmly, folding his hands in front of him.
“Afraid,” David replied after a moment’s hesitation. “Why aren’t you afraid?”
Dulann shrugged; a human habit he’d picked up after such prolonged exposure in his training. “If you wanted me dead, I would be dead,” he pointed out mildly, absolutely certain on that point. If David had wanted his life right then, Dulann would not have been able to stop him. He didn’t think anyone else would have been, either. “And if you wanted to take whatever it is you need from me by force, again, you would have done so already. Since I am both still alive and unharmed it would appear that I have no reason to fear you. So I do not.”
David stared at him blankly, mouth hanging slightly open before he recovered himself. “Well, you’re taking this a lot better than I did,” he muttered. “A lot better.”
Dulann smiled, relieved when David smiled back. “What is it you need of me, David?” he asked quietly and instantly David shut down again.
“Dulann, don’t ask me that. You don’t know what you’re asking.”
“Nor will I until you tell me.”
“Are you always like this?” David asked, amusement vying with irritation.
“Like what?”
“Like--” David gestured at him, “you.”
“Oh. Yes. I believe so.”
David ran a hand through his hair yet again. “God help me. A Minbari with a sense of irony. Now I’ve seen everything.”
“What do you need, David?”
“Dulann--”
“What do you need?”
David swallowed, then looked away. “Blood.” David’s voice was quiet and if it wasn’t for his vastly more sensitive Minbari hearing, Dulann was certain he would have missed it.
“Blood?”
“Yeah.”
“How much?”
“Dulann, no.”
“Yes. You need it, David. I am not unwilling.”
“That’s not--” David broke off. “That’s not the point, Dulann. How can you take this so calmly?”
Dulann shrugged again. “You would not harm me,” he replied confidently. “Take what you require.”
“Dulann, I…” David stopped, studying him for a long moment, looking for something, or so Dulann would guess. Signs of uncertainty perhaps. “I… Thank you.”
Dulann inclined his head, then shifted uncomfortably. “What do I do now?”
David scratched at the nape of his neck, head tilted to the side as he studied him. “Hold out your arm.”
Dulann did so, holding his right arm out in from of him. David came back across the floor of the cave to stand next to him, hand circling his wrist. “I’m not sure this will work,” David said quietly. “Minbari have a different blood type to humans so this might all be for nothing.”
“Understood.”
David paused, then lifted Dulann’s arm slightly and bent his head down. Dulann sucked in a breath as sharp teeth pierced his skin, then shuddered at the wave of pleasure that slowly began engulfing him, building inexorably, blocking out any residual pain he might have had in his arm. Time ceased having any meaning until suddenly harsh reality intruded, leaving him strangely bereft. He blinked, trying to take a moment to gather his scattered wits, but he staggered backwards anyway, light-headed from more than one cause.
“I’m sorry, Dulann,” David said awkwardly, voice seeming to come from far away. “I should have warned you that might happen.”
Dulann waved him off, sliding down the side of the wall until he was very firmly seated on the floor, from where he did not plan on moving until the world decided to stop spinning quite so intrusively. On the other hand, David seemed a lot calmer now, that was a good thing. “It worked, I assume.”
David smiled, a smile that lit up his face and warmed Dulann considerably. “More than I expected,” he replied. “Thank you, Dulann. I really don’t know what else to say.”
“You needed my help,” Dulann replied simply. “I could give it. What else was I to do?”
David sighed. “Never mind.”
“Will you tell me now?”
“Tell you what?”
“What you are.”
David sighed again. “That’s… a long story. And really complicated.”
Dulann shrugged once more - it really was a convenient gesture, he thought; it said so much without actually having to use words - settling back and closing his eyes as if preparing for meditation once more. “Time is something we do not lack.”
“True,” David conceded and Dulann heard the soft sound of David’s footsteps as the human moved to stand next to him, then sat down beside him, David’s arm brushing against his. “Okay,” David said thoughtfully. “Where to start.”
“At the beginning?” Dulann suggested and was rewarded with a soft chuckle.
“Alright, at the beginning it is. I was born Michael Celucci in 1969, Earth calendar…”
Title: More Than Meets the Eye
Fandom: Babylon 5:Legend of the Rangers/Blood Ties crossover. Kinda.
Characters/Pairing: David Martell/Dulann (can be read as gen or pre-slash, whichever your preference)
Rating: 15
AN: Unbeta'd
Eyes closed, searching for a sense of calm among the wildness of both his mind and the surrounding area, Dulann found his usual meditation techniques of little use in calming his mind. Separated from their training group, he and David had somehow become… misplaced. That wasn’t such a problem as it might seem, resolving such situations were part of their training after all. No, the problem, if one could call it that, lay with his companion. David seemed… agitated, more so than was usual. In fact, it was extremely out of character, even for someone as intemperate as David Martell.
David was pacing back and forth at the mouth of the cave they’d taken shelter in, escaping from the driving rain that had been lashing down at them. Dulann for his part was mostly dry now, unlike David, whose unruly blond hair was still wet and sticking in all directions: a state of existence not helped by the constant way he was running his hands through it. Mostly Dulann was glad that Minbari didn’t have hair, considering how much trouble it seemed to cause his human year mates, but there were admittedly times when it was oddly fascinating. How could someone believe that running their hands through their hair would change a situation? Yet it was something David often did when he was frustrated or tired, or both. With the way he was acting now, Dulann was vaguely concerned that David might actually pull his hair out if he didn’t stop anytime soon.
Turn, pace, pace, pace, turn again. Surely David would wear a groove into the floor of the cave if he continued in this way. Three days into the training assignment and David was already distinctly… twitchy, he thought was the human word? Definitely on edge over something. But what? Was he sick? If that was the case then they would just have to find their way back to camp as soon as possible so David could get some medical attention from a Healer, but David had irritably replied that he wasn’t sick when he’d inquired before and as he was not inclined to invite any outbursts from his companion, Dulann had decided not to inquire further. His resolve, however, was weakening. Something was clearly wrong and it was his responsibility, both as fellow Anla’shok and as possibly a friend, to find out what and, if possible, help resolve the problem. He couldn’t do that, though, if David remained as obstinate as he was currently being.
“David,” he said quietly, opening his eyes to see rather than hear the other man pacing incessantly. “I know you do not wish to discuss this, but something is wrong. I cannot help you if I do not know what is troubling you.”
David stared at him for a moment, then turned away from him abruptly. “Nothing’s wrong,” he replied brusquely. “Just leave it alone, Dulann.”
“I’m afraid I can’t do that,” Dulann told him firmly. “Would it not help to share the problem?”
David laughed harshly. “A problem shared is a problem halved? Not this time, Dulann. Doesn’t work that way.”
“Why not? I have rarely encountered a problem that suffered from more than one person attempting to--”
“I already told you it doesn’t work that way!” David snarled, then caught himself. “I’m sorry, Dulann,” he finished, slightly less abrasively. “But you can’t help.”
“Without giving me the option, no, I can’t. David, please. Tell me what is troubling you.”
For a moment he didn’t think David would, the man standing there, indecision written across his face before settling into resignation. “I’m… hungry.”
“Hungry?” Dulann repeated. “But… we have supplies, David. We didn’t lose that much.”
There was a flicker of something in David’s expression, something Dulann couldn’t place, before it was replaced with a smile that didn’t reach David’s eyes. “I know. Let it go, Dulann.”
“David--”
“Let. It. Go.” David was staring at him intently (were his eyes darker than usual?) and the words seemed to be imprinting on his mind, or trying to anyway. A whisper behind the eyes, registering purely on a sub-conscious level, seeming to bypass his ears entirely. It wasn’t any kind of telepathy he was familiar with, neither human or Minbari and he hadn’t thought David was a telepath anyway. Surely something like that would have come up before now? Then again, humans were commonly very quiet about their gifts, leftover fear from the time of their Psi Corps, the compulsory organisation for human telepaths, that might be why David hadn’t mentioned it. But it didn’t account for David trying to use it on him, though. That was extremely unethical and not like the David Martell he’d thought he was getting to know. Not like the person his own minor telepathic abilities told him David was. A person’s whose soul was so bright could never be truly dark, surely. Dulann believed that with every fibre of his being.
“I can’t do that,” he repeated. “Let me help you.” He’d always been stubborn and that had occasionally - or not so occasionally - gotten him into trouble while he was growing up. It hadn’t prepared him, though, for suddenly having David shoving him backwards into a cave wall without seeming to even move. He’d never seen anyone move that fast, he thought in the back of his mind. Not even the best instructors of the Anla’shok who had spent years honing their fighting abilities had been that quick. He was acutely aware of David’s hand fisting in his tunic, David’s mouth by his throat, lips brushing the crook between throat and shoulder, not far from his ear. Part of him was caught off guard by the fact that he couldn’t feel any breath against his skin, but the rest of him was torn between adrenaline and confusion. He should have been able to react more quickly, that was part of his training, after all, yet he couldn’t move. Time seemed to freeze, crystallising around them as his heart hammered in his chest, thrumming in his ears, so loud that surely David could hear it.
Whether he heard it or not, David pulled away as sharply as he’d pushed Dulann into the wall in the first place, walking away from him to the other side of the cave, putting as much distance between them as was possible in such a confined space; but not before Dulann saw the raw hunger in David’s gaze before he turned away. “What are you?” he asked quietly, because there was no way that David could be human like he said he was. He might look human, but no human he’d ever met possessed the kind of strength or speed David had displayed just now.
David’s head came up sharply, then turned slightly so that Dulann could see something of his face, even if only in profile. “Does it matter?”
Dulann considered the point, examining the question and looking at the answers from all of the angles before coming to a conclusion. “No,” he said finally. “I suppose it doesn’t.”
David whirled, jacket flapping with the sudden movement. “What is wrong with you?” he demanded angrily. “Why aren’t you--?”
“Why aren’t I what?” Dulann asked calmly, folding his hands in front of him.
“Afraid,” David replied after a moment’s hesitation. “Why aren’t you afraid?”
Dulann shrugged; a human habit he’d picked up after such prolonged exposure in his training. “If you wanted me dead, I would be dead,” he pointed out mildly, absolutely certain on that point. If David had wanted his life right then, Dulann would not have been able to stop him. He didn’t think anyone else would have been, either. “And if you wanted to take whatever it is you need from me by force, again, you would have done so already. Since I am both still alive and unharmed it would appear that I have no reason to fear you. So I do not.”
David stared at him blankly, mouth hanging slightly open before he recovered himself. “Well, you’re taking this a lot better than I did,” he muttered. “A lot better.”
Dulann smiled, relieved when David smiled back. “What is it you need of me, David?” he asked quietly and instantly David shut down again.
“Dulann, don’t ask me that. You don’t know what you’re asking.”
“Nor will I until you tell me.”
“Are you always like this?” David asked, amusement vying with irritation.
“Like what?”
“Like--” David gestured at him, “you.”
“Oh. Yes. I believe so.”
David ran a hand through his hair yet again. “God help me. A Minbari with a sense of irony. Now I’ve seen everything.”
“What do you need, David?”
“Dulann--”
“What do you need?”
David swallowed, then looked away. “Blood.” David’s voice was quiet and if it wasn’t for his vastly more sensitive Minbari hearing, Dulann was certain he would have missed it.
“Blood?”
“Yeah.”
“How much?”
“Dulann, no.”
“Yes. You need it, David. I am not unwilling.”
“That’s not--” David broke off. “That’s not the point, Dulann. How can you take this so calmly?”
Dulann shrugged again. “You would not harm me,” he replied confidently. “Take what you require.”
“Dulann, I…” David stopped, studying him for a long moment, looking for something, or so Dulann would guess. Signs of uncertainty perhaps. “I… Thank you.”
Dulann inclined his head, then shifted uncomfortably. “What do I do now?”
David scratched at the nape of his neck, head tilted to the side as he studied him. “Hold out your arm.”
Dulann did so, holding his right arm out in from of him. David came back across the floor of the cave to stand next to him, hand circling his wrist. “I’m not sure this will work,” David said quietly. “Minbari have a different blood type to humans so this might all be for nothing.”
“Understood.”
David paused, then lifted Dulann’s arm slightly and bent his head down. Dulann sucked in a breath as sharp teeth pierced his skin, then shuddered at the wave of pleasure that slowly began engulfing him, building inexorably, blocking out any residual pain he might have had in his arm. Time ceased having any meaning until suddenly harsh reality intruded, leaving him strangely bereft. He blinked, trying to take a moment to gather his scattered wits, but he staggered backwards anyway, light-headed from more than one cause.
“I’m sorry, Dulann,” David said awkwardly, voice seeming to come from far away. “I should have warned you that might happen.”
Dulann waved him off, sliding down the side of the wall until he was very firmly seated on the floor, from where he did not plan on moving until the world decided to stop spinning quite so intrusively. On the other hand, David seemed a lot calmer now, that was a good thing. “It worked, I assume.”
David smiled, a smile that lit up his face and warmed Dulann considerably. “More than I expected,” he replied. “Thank you, Dulann. I really don’t know what else to say.”
“You needed my help,” Dulann replied simply. “I could give it. What else was I to do?”
David sighed. “Never mind.”
“Will you tell me now?”
“Tell you what?”
“What you are.”
David sighed again. “That’s… a long story. And really complicated.”
Dulann shrugged once more - it really was a convenient gesture, he thought; it said so much without actually having to use words - settling back and closing his eyes as if preparing for meditation once more. “Time is something we do not lack.”
“True,” David conceded and Dulann heard the soft sound of David’s footsteps as the human moved to stand next to him, then sat down beside him, David’s arm brushing against his. “Okay,” David said thoughtfully. “Where to start.”
“At the beginning?” Dulann suggested and was rewarded with a soft chuckle.
“Alright, at the beginning it is. I was born Michael Celucci in 1969, Earth calendar…”