Just me bugging you all again with unfinished fiction
Well, here's another fragment/spoiler of my yet to be titled fic. I have the feeling that if I ever do get to write it nobody will want to read it anymore.
Anyway, for lack of anything better to offer, I'd like to dedicate this little piece to this week's two birthday girls. I hope they'll find it the least bit to their liking.
And before I forget, many thanks to alice_montrose for suggestions and corrections. Any mistakes, I assure you, are mine.
They walked in silence for a while. It was early and the quay was quiet.
Fei Long rested his hand on the railing and let his gaze wander to the vast blue expanse stretching before his feet. He still felt a little unsteady. A street vendor nearby was selling candied fruit. Takaba reached out a handful and he accepted the offering unquestioningly.
"I never thought you'd leave Japan after that. I'd always underestimated you, I suppose."
The younger man shrugged. "I didn't really think very highly of myself back then either."
"Part of me was pleasantly surprised..."
They stood close, the tall elegant form of the Chinese and the smaller slender figure of his companion, different and somehow similar, in harmony with each other. Somehow their distance seemed less forbidding now.
"Akihito, why don't you sit this one out?"
Takaba looked away, focusing on some unknown place far away.
"You know... my life this past year and a half... Somethings don't change. I've been constantly on edge, reckless, maybe even more than before, but more conscious about it, if you know what I mean... In any case I could do my job without having to worry what I'll come up against. No second thoughts or scruples. The good guys were sometimes good, sometimes not, that's no different. But the bad guys you could rely on. They did not save your life, or claim you ass. They did not make you a plaything just to spite someone else... I'm sorry, that was low."
"It's all right, I don't blame you... But I understand what you mean, we made things too personal. In different ways and for different reasons, but it's hard to ignore..."
"And then there was Val..."
"Your lover?"
Takaba nodded. "At first it was just the sex, so no matter how bad I felt about it, in a way I was 'safe'. But I've grown more and more dependent on him. He's my grounding force, the one calming me down, the place to run to when I want to stop... Then he shows up in my town and gets blown up right before my eyes. But I'm the one tumbling. He's lying on my lap covered in blood, clutching my arm with all the strength he has and the ground is falling beneath me. And all I do is-"
"-run... Of all places to run away to..."
"In truth I don't think there's anyone else I could talk to. Who could understand... But you see why I can't let this go, don't you?"
"Yes, yes I do," he sighed. "But what after that? Do you think that by investigating the attack you're through? You'll have to make a choice eventually, and whatever you decide will be painful."
"I know... Can I please hold you a bit? Without talking..."
Fei Long's arms opened and closed around a trembling body. Takaba pressed against the older man, his face hiding in the nape of the swan neck.
The world had started moving around them but it didn't matter. In a few hours the little wildcat would be gone and the dragon's wings left empty. He preferred it that way, it was easier. But for a little longer he would indulge in the company and he would offer the young man the respite he needed.
"Come on, I need breakfast. There's a lovely little teahouse, and the bookstore..."
Anyway, for lack of anything better to offer, I'd like to dedicate this little piece to this week's two birthday girls. I hope they'll find it the least bit to their liking.
And before I forget, many thanks to alice_montrose for suggestions and corrections. Any mistakes, I assure you, are mine.
They walked in silence for a while. It was early and the quay was quiet.
Fei Long rested his hand on the railing and let his gaze wander to the vast blue expanse stretching before his feet. He still felt a little unsteady. A street vendor nearby was selling candied fruit. Takaba reached out a handful and he accepted the offering unquestioningly.
"I never thought you'd leave Japan after that. I'd always underestimated you, I suppose."
The younger man shrugged. "I didn't really think very highly of myself back then either."
"Part of me was pleasantly surprised..."
They stood close, the tall elegant form of the Chinese and the smaller slender figure of his companion, different and somehow similar, in harmony with each other. Somehow their distance seemed less forbidding now.
"Akihito, why don't you sit this one out?"
Takaba looked away, focusing on some unknown place far away.
"You know... my life this past year and a half... Somethings don't change. I've been constantly on edge, reckless, maybe even more than before, but more conscious about it, if you know what I mean... In any case I could do my job without having to worry what I'll come up against. No second thoughts or scruples. The good guys were sometimes good, sometimes not, that's no different. But the bad guys you could rely on. They did not save your life, or claim you ass. They did not make you a plaything just to spite someone else... I'm sorry, that was low."
"It's all right, I don't blame you... But I understand what you mean, we made things too personal. In different ways and for different reasons, but it's hard to ignore..."
"And then there was Val..."
"Your lover?"
Takaba nodded. "At first it was just the sex, so no matter how bad I felt about it, in a way I was 'safe'. But I've grown more and more dependent on him. He's my grounding force, the one calming me down, the place to run to when I want to stop... Then he shows up in my town and gets blown up right before my eyes. But I'm the one tumbling. He's lying on my lap covered in blood, clutching my arm with all the strength he has and the ground is falling beneath me. And all I do is-"
"-run... Of all places to run away to..."
"In truth I don't think there's anyone else I could talk to. Who could understand... But you see why I can't let this go, don't you?"
"Yes, yes I do," he sighed. "But what after that? Do you think that by investigating the attack you're through? You'll have to make a choice eventually, and whatever you decide will be painful."
"I know... Can I please hold you a bit? Without talking..."
Fei Long's arms opened and closed around a trembling body. Takaba pressed against the older man, his face hiding in the nape of the swan neck.
The world had started moving around them but it didn't matter. In a few hours the little wildcat would be gone and the dragon's wings left empty. He preferred it that way, it was easier. But for a little longer he would indulge in the company and he would offer the young man the respite he needed.
"Come on, I need breakfast. There's a lovely little teahouse, and the bookstore..."