hellooooo, everyone
So Iambic has returned and we are back in business. Thank you, gods of charcoal pencils, as my darling Pen-chan likes to say. Anyway, here's that "Return to Sender" sidestory I promised, plus a bonus, non-RtS oneshot, to thank you all for being so very patient through these transitions and whatnot. ^__^ You are beautiful people.
Edited to add: OMG I APOLOGIZE FOR THE LACK OF AN LJ-CUT. I AM...WELL. AN IDIOT, APPARENTLY.
Title: Return to Sender: Venus Rising
Dear Doumeki-kun,
Well, I must say I am thoroughly pleased with the way things are progressing. Of course, by that I mean ‘things’ between you and Watanuki-kun. It is very satisfying to see one’s own efforts bear such lovely fruit.
I have behaved myself according to Watanuki’s demands, and have not read any of the letters exchanged between the two of you. One can only interfere so much, you know. As such, I have no idea what you two have been talking to one another about these past two weeks. Whatever it is, Doumeki-kun, it seems to have successfully bridged more than one ‘gap’ between you. In the days you have been gone, I have witnessed a change coming over Watanuki. He is less irritable than usual, though he blusters more than ever if I so much as mention your name. Why, just the other day he said the most adorable thing about you! It almost sounded as if he misses you. Of course, when I pointed it out to him, he immediately denied everything and had a panic attack and refused to listen to anything else I had to say on the subject. Sometimes I don’t know what the matter is when it comes to that boy.
I will end this letter by applauding the growth of your relationship. Deny as he may, Watanuki also seems to realize, even though he will not admit it aloud, that the ground upon which you two stand with one another has shifted. I am not certain what outcome may result from his acknowledgment of the change, but be aware that he has come to a new place, Doumeki, and that adjustments will have to be made. Also remember that Watanuki is not as adaptable to new places as you are, and so allowances will also have to be made. You have been in this place far longer than he and are more accustomed to the rough terrain. It is your responsibility, Doumeki Shizuka, to help Watanuki explore this strange new land. Hopefully, with time, even this strange ground will become familiar territory to the both of you.
Sincerely yours,
Ichihara Yuuko
And here's the oneshot! Love you guys!
Title: Trial by Fire
Doumeki Shizuka had been through enough painful times in his life to know that this one was going to linger a while.
He’d suffered through physical aches and pains-souvenirs of a lifetime spent practicing archery and a more recently acquired habit of getting into trouble with various flesh-hungry spirits and specters.
He’d also known emotional pain as well. When his grandfather died, Doumeki had wondered if the emptiness inside him would ever fade away. Years later, it still hadn’t, and probably never would have. But then one day he’d accidentally bumped into a fellow classmate in the hallway and (due to insurmountable differences in body mass, velocity, and weight ratios) sent him sprawling. He’d tried to apologize, but (due to insurmountable differences in opinion, lung capacity, and sheer volume) he and that classmate hadn’t exactly seen eye to eye on Doumeki’s motives.
And that space, that gaping hole of loss and loneliness in his heart that had been left behind after Doumeki Haruka passed away, had been slowly and completely filled with Watanuki Kimihiro ever since.
Doumeki’s quiet, deliberately solitary existence had stopped, backed up a couple of steps, then started revolving around Watanuki’s loud, unnecessarily spastic one without so much as a hiccup of protest.
Sun and moon, he thought. One the center of the other’s balance, the source of the other’s continuity. And I am never, never going to reach you.
A small voice inside him said, You should have thought of that before you decided to chase after the idiot when he ran into a burning building.
In retrospect, Doumeki thought, the voice had a point. When Watanuki had suddenly and without warning gone haring off through the crowd gathered around the blaze, Doumeki had immediately followed him-and put on an extra burst of fear-provoked speed when it became clear that Watanuki was heading for the nearest entrance to the building. Before he’d even drawn breath to forbid Watanuki from doing it, the boy had disappeared past a couple of busy firemen who, to all appearances, hadn’t even noticed him racing by them.
His heart had stopped, then started again triple-time as he determinedly shadowed Watanuki’s footsteps into the fire. The firemen did notice this time, and shouted after him to get out. He ignored them and concentrated on locating Watanuki through the thick haze.
Heat. Smoke. Choking. Calling out. Eyes stinging. Hot, burning hot. Fingertips singed on a doorknob but barely noticed in the rush to seek out, to save. Watanuki. Watanuki. Empty rooms fast filling with more flames and smoke. Part of the ceiling collapsing; arm scraped by falling debris and burned by licking tongues of fire. Nothing registering except the need to follow, to focus, to find. Watanuki. Calling out again. Choking again. There. Watanuki there, crouched on the floor, fighting back flames. Grabbing. Shielding. Tugging him to the door. Trying to remember where the door was. Sudden, searing pain in his head. Eyes blurring, lungs screaming.
Screaming.
Watanuki.
* * *
When he awoke, slowly and by stages, to the sound of methodical beeping, Doumeki came to the conclusion that yes, this was probably one of the most painful moments of his life. Then again, exploring a burning building wasn’t exactly his brightest idea.
Well, it hadn’t been his idea in the first place. It had been Watanuki’s. Which explained everything, really.
“Idiot,” he murmured, eyes still closed, and his throat fairly burned at the single word being forced through his smoke-abused windpipe.
“I heard that,” muttered a voice to his right, sounding thick and choked. Watanuki had probably inhaled a lot of smoke, too. “And who asked you to follow me anyway?”
“Didn’t…need…to-” Doumeki gave up trying to talk and settled for coughing violently. His throat was hurting so badly that the coughs made him wish he were still unconscious.
“Stop talking, you-you-” Watanuki inhaled shakily, voice still odd and rough. “Anyway. The fireman who carried you out said that you breathed in a lot of smoke and got some minor burns. You’re in the hospital right now.”
Ah. The beeping sounds. Doumeki warily opened one eye and studied Watanuki’s pale face. Those too-big, bi-colored eyes were red-rimmed. The smoke, Doumeki thought again, and roused himself enough to ask, “You okay?”
The gold and blue gaze narrowed. “Asks the guy lying on a hospital bed,” Watanuki snapped. “Yes, I’ve been checked out by a nurse. I’m perfectly fine. On the other hand, you-” He stopped himself and went slightly pink when his voice caught on the last word. Obviously the nurse was incompetent if she hadn’t realized the smoke had affected Watanuki’s throat as well. He swallowed and tried again. “You, as I’ve said, are being treated for smoke inhalation and first-degree burns, plus a concussion. A plank fell from the ceiling and hit you in the head.” He clenched his teeth. “You stupid, stupid idiot.”
Doumeki blinked slowly when Watanuki’s voice broke again. “Get a…different nurse,” he managed to force past his sore throat. “You’re…not okay.”
“I’m fine, jerk!” Watanuki hissed, though his voice was shaking. “You’re the one who’s not-” His voice broke again. “Who’s not okay,” he finished in a whisper, his eyes on Doumeki’s bandaged arm.
Doumeki frowned at the boy’s stubbornness. Watanuki’s throat was paining him, it was clear. If the idiot wouldn’t go find a different nurse, Doumeki would bring one to him. He fumbled for the call button and pressed it.
Watanuki blinked when the kindly nurse bustled in. “You called for me, dear?” she asked Doumeki softly, nodding politely at Watanuki as she did so.
Doumeki tilted his head toward Watanuki. “Check him,” he said through the burning in his throat. “He’s hurt too.”
“You jerk, I told you, I’m-” Watanuki began, but the nurse’s chuckle made him stop himself and heave a huge sigh instead.
“I made sure he was fine as well, Doumeki-san,” the nurse assured him. “He’s not suffering any effects of the smoke or the fire.”
Watanuki huffed as if to say I told you so, but remained quiet until the nurse had left the room. She checked Doumeki’s machines first, nodded to herself, then with a quick glance and a small smile at the two of them, murmured something and slipped away.
There was silence between Doumeki and Watanuki for a good ten minutes. Then-
“Told you I was fine,” mumbled Watanuki.
“Needed to be sure,” Doumeki replied, and stifled a grimace. He should probably stop talking; it wasn’t doing his throat any good.
“Well, you’re the one on the hospital bed!” snapped Watanuki. “You should worry about yourself from time to time, you know! You don’t always need to-” He stopped when his voice made that funny, hoarse sound again.
Doumeki frowned. The nurse said Watanuki was fine, but he didn’t look fine. There was the matter of his reddened eyes, for one thing, and the way his voice kept going strange, as if it were choked with smoke.
Watanuki took a deep breath and began again, softly, sullenly, “You don’t always need to…to put me first, you know. I’m-” He stopped, closed his mouth, opened it, hesitated, then said even more quietly, though far less sullenly, “I worry about you, too.”
Doumeki stared at him, at the red-rimmed eyes, the clenched jaw.
Oh.
“Sorry,” he whispered, and even through his throat twinged upon uttering the word, it felt…good.
That, more than anything, seemed to snap Watanuki out of his uncharacteristic meekness. He stood up with his hands on his hips and glared at Doumeki, the effect not in the least spoiled by the redness of his eyes. “Shut up and go back to sleep,” he commanded. “You’ll never heal if you keep irritating your throat-and me-by blabbering like an idiot. Which you are,” he added, giving Doumeki a severe look, “but nonetheless. Go to sleep.” He tilted his head. “I’m going to Yuuko-san’s so I can tell her I got the box out before the building burned up completely.”
Doumeki’s eyes narrowed slightly as Watanuki prepared to leave. Neither of them had expected the place to be on fire when they agreed to go on one of the witch’s retrieval missions, but he had a feeling Yuuko probably had.
With his hand on the doorknob, Watanuki announced without turning around, “I’ll probably make something to eat while I’m there. Real food, I mean. Too bad you’re stuck eating hospital food.”
“Green tea ice cream,” Doumeki said, and even the idea of the treat soothed his burning throat.
“For me, maybe,” snorted Watanuki, turning to give Doumeki an amused glance. “You’ll probably get…gelatin or something. Yum.”
“Ice cream,” repeated Doumeki.
Watanuki rolled his eyes. “Bossy jerk.”
“Stubborn fool.”
“Oh, this coming from the guy who willingly followed me into a burning building?” As soon as the words left his mouth, Watanuki turned a faint red, made another odd sound in his throat, then yanked open the door and fled.
Doumeki smirked, settled back into his pillow, and closed his eyes to wait for his ice cream.
Edited to add: OMG I APOLOGIZE FOR THE LACK OF AN LJ-CUT. I AM...WELL. AN IDIOT, APPARENTLY.
Title: Return to Sender: Venus Rising
Dear Doumeki-kun,
Well, I must say I am thoroughly pleased with the way things are progressing. Of course, by that I mean ‘things’ between you and Watanuki-kun. It is very satisfying to see one’s own efforts bear such lovely fruit.
I have behaved myself according to Watanuki’s demands, and have not read any of the letters exchanged between the two of you. One can only interfere so much, you know. As such, I have no idea what you two have been talking to one another about these past two weeks. Whatever it is, Doumeki-kun, it seems to have successfully bridged more than one ‘gap’ between you. In the days you have been gone, I have witnessed a change coming over Watanuki. He is less irritable than usual, though he blusters more than ever if I so much as mention your name. Why, just the other day he said the most adorable thing about you! It almost sounded as if he misses you. Of course, when I pointed it out to him, he immediately denied everything and had a panic attack and refused to listen to anything else I had to say on the subject. Sometimes I don’t know what the matter is when it comes to that boy.
I will end this letter by applauding the growth of your relationship. Deny as he may, Watanuki also seems to realize, even though he will not admit it aloud, that the ground upon which you two stand with one another has shifted. I am not certain what outcome may result from his acknowledgment of the change, but be aware that he has come to a new place, Doumeki, and that adjustments will have to be made. Also remember that Watanuki is not as adaptable to new places as you are, and so allowances will also have to be made. You have been in this place far longer than he and are more accustomed to the rough terrain. It is your responsibility, Doumeki Shizuka, to help Watanuki explore this strange new land. Hopefully, with time, even this strange ground will become familiar territory to the both of you.
Sincerely yours,
Ichihara Yuuko
And here's the oneshot! Love you guys!
Title: Trial by Fire
Doumeki Shizuka had been through enough painful times in his life to know that this one was going to linger a while.
He’d suffered through physical aches and pains-souvenirs of a lifetime spent practicing archery and a more recently acquired habit of getting into trouble with various flesh-hungry spirits and specters.
He’d also known emotional pain as well. When his grandfather died, Doumeki had wondered if the emptiness inside him would ever fade away. Years later, it still hadn’t, and probably never would have. But then one day he’d accidentally bumped into a fellow classmate in the hallway and (due to insurmountable differences in body mass, velocity, and weight ratios) sent him sprawling. He’d tried to apologize, but (due to insurmountable differences in opinion, lung capacity, and sheer volume) he and that classmate hadn’t exactly seen eye to eye on Doumeki’s motives.
And that space, that gaping hole of loss and loneliness in his heart that had been left behind after Doumeki Haruka passed away, had been slowly and completely filled with Watanuki Kimihiro ever since.
Doumeki’s quiet, deliberately solitary existence had stopped, backed up a couple of steps, then started revolving around Watanuki’s loud, unnecessarily spastic one without so much as a hiccup of protest.
Sun and moon, he thought. One the center of the other’s balance, the source of the other’s continuity. And I am never, never going to reach you.
A small voice inside him said, You should have thought of that before you decided to chase after the idiot when he ran into a burning building.
In retrospect, Doumeki thought, the voice had a point. When Watanuki had suddenly and without warning gone haring off through the crowd gathered around the blaze, Doumeki had immediately followed him-and put on an extra burst of fear-provoked speed when it became clear that Watanuki was heading for the nearest entrance to the building. Before he’d even drawn breath to forbid Watanuki from doing it, the boy had disappeared past a couple of busy firemen who, to all appearances, hadn’t even noticed him racing by them.
His heart had stopped, then started again triple-time as he determinedly shadowed Watanuki’s footsteps into the fire. The firemen did notice this time, and shouted after him to get out. He ignored them and concentrated on locating Watanuki through the thick haze.
Heat. Smoke. Choking. Calling out. Eyes stinging. Hot, burning hot. Fingertips singed on a doorknob but barely noticed in the rush to seek out, to save. Watanuki. Watanuki. Empty rooms fast filling with more flames and smoke. Part of the ceiling collapsing; arm scraped by falling debris and burned by licking tongues of fire. Nothing registering except the need to follow, to focus, to find. Watanuki. Calling out again. Choking again. There. Watanuki there, crouched on the floor, fighting back flames. Grabbing. Shielding. Tugging him to the door. Trying to remember where the door was. Sudden, searing pain in his head. Eyes blurring, lungs screaming.
Screaming.
Watanuki.
* * *
When he awoke, slowly and by stages, to the sound of methodical beeping, Doumeki came to the conclusion that yes, this was probably one of the most painful moments of his life. Then again, exploring a burning building wasn’t exactly his brightest idea.
Well, it hadn’t been his idea in the first place. It had been Watanuki’s. Which explained everything, really.
“Idiot,” he murmured, eyes still closed, and his throat fairly burned at the single word being forced through his smoke-abused windpipe.
“I heard that,” muttered a voice to his right, sounding thick and choked. Watanuki had probably inhaled a lot of smoke, too. “And who asked you to follow me anyway?”
“Didn’t…need…to-” Doumeki gave up trying to talk and settled for coughing violently. His throat was hurting so badly that the coughs made him wish he were still unconscious.
“Stop talking, you-you-” Watanuki inhaled shakily, voice still odd and rough. “Anyway. The fireman who carried you out said that you breathed in a lot of smoke and got some minor burns. You’re in the hospital right now.”
Ah. The beeping sounds. Doumeki warily opened one eye and studied Watanuki’s pale face. Those too-big, bi-colored eyes were red-rimmed. The smoke, Doumeki thought again, and roused himself enough to ask, “You okay?”
The gold and blue gaze narrowed. “Asks the guy lying on a hospital bed,” Watanuki snapped. “Yes, I’ve been checked out by a nurse. I’m perfectly fine. On the other hand, you-” He stopped himself and went slightly pink when his voice caught on the last word. Obviously the nurse was incompetent if she hadn’t realized the smoke had affected Watanuki’s throat as well. He swallowed and tried again. “You, as I’ve said, are being treated for smoke inhalation and first-degree burns, plus a concussion. A plank fell from the ceiling and hit you in the head.” He clenched his teeth. “You stupid, stupid idiot.”
Doumeki blinked slowly when Watanuki’s voice broke again. “Get a…different nurse,” he managed to force past his sore throat. “You’re…not okay.”
“I’m fine, jerk!” Watanuki hissed, though his voice was shaking. “You’re the one who’s not-” His voice broke again. “Who’s not okay,” he finished in a whisper, his eyes on Doumeki’s bandaged arm.
Doumeki frowned at the boy’s stubbornness. Watanuki’s throat was paining him, it was clear. If the idiot wouldn’t go find a different nurse, Doumeki would bring one to him. He fumbled for the call button and pressed it.
Watanuki blinked when the kindly nurse bustled in. “You called for me, dear?” she asked Doumeki softly, nodding politely at Watanuki as she did so.
Doumeki tilted his head toward Watanuki. “Check him,” he said through the burning in his throat. “He’s hurt too.”
“You jerk, I told you, I’m-” Watanuki began, but the nurse’s chuckle made him stop himself and heave a huge sigh instead.
“I made sure he was fine as well, Doumeki-san,” the nurse assured him. “He’s not suffering any effects of the smoke or the fire.”
Watanuki huffed as if to say I told you so, but remained quiet until the nurse had left the room. She checked Doumeki’s machines first, nodded to herself, then with a quick glance and a small smile at the two of them, murmured something and slipped away.
There was silence between Doumeki and Watanuki for a good ten minutes. Then-
“Told you I was fine,” mumbled Watanuki.
“Needed to be sure,” Doumeki replied, and stifled a grimace. He should probably stop talking; it wasn’t doing his throat any good.
“Well, you’re the one on the hospital bed!” snapped Watanuki. “You should worry about yourself from time to time, you know! You don’t always need to-” He stopped when his voice made that funny, hoarse sound again.
Doumeki frowned. The nurse said Watanuki was fine, but he didn’t look fine. There was the matter of his reddened eyes, for one thing, and the way his voice kept going strange, as if it were choked with smoke.
Watanuki took a deep breath and began again, softly, sullenly, “You don’t always need to…to put me first, you know. I’m-” He stopped, closed his mouth, opened it, hesitated, then said even more quietly, though far less sullenly, “I worry about you, too.”
Doumeki stared at him, at the red-rimmed eyes, the clenched jaw.
Oh.
“Sorry,” he whispered, and even through his throat twinged upon uttering the word, it felt…good.
That, more than anything, seemed to snap Watanuki out of his uncharacteristic meekness. He stood up with his hands on his hips and glared at Doumeki, the effect not in the least spoiled by the redness of his eyes. “Shut up and go back to sleep,” he commanded. “You’ll never heal if you keep irritating your throat-and me-by blabbering like an idiot. Which you are,” he added, giving Doumeki a severe look, “but nonetheless. Go to sleep.” He tilted his head. “I’m going to Yuuko-san’s so I can tell her I got the box out before the building burned up completely.”
Doumeki’s eyes narrowed slightly as Watanuki prepared to leave. Neither of them had expected the place to be on fire when they agreed to go on one of the witch’s retrieval missions, but he had a feeling Yuuko probably had.
With his hand on the doorknob, Watanuki announced without turning around, “I’ll probably make something to eat while I’m there. Real food, I mean. Too bad you’re stuck eating hospital food.”
“Green tea ice cream,” Doumeki said, and even the idea of the treat soothed his burning throat.
“For me, maybe,” snorted Watanuki, turning to give Doumeki an amused glance. “You’ll probably get…gelatin or something. Yum.”
“Ice cream,” repeated Doumeki.
Watanuki rolled his eyes. “Bossy jerk.”
“Stubborn fool.”
“Oh, this coming from the guy who willingly followed me into a burning building?” As soon as the words left his mouth, Watanuki turned a faint red, made another odd sound in his throat, then yanked open the door and fled.
Doumeki smirked, settled back into his pillow, and closed his eyes to wait for his ice cream.