Flash Ficlet! Faction Friction!
For a Meej! FOR HER GLORIOUS NATAL DAY. Because I love Meej-bots! It's still the 18th here but it's the 19th where a Meej is.
Sweet Monkey Jesus, this makes the third (3RD!) online gift that I actually completed in time for someone's birthday. If I keep this up, one day everyone will be receiving pics'n'fics ALL THE TIME (or at least on their appropriate birthdays)! There's a worthy goal. Where the hell is my birthday list??
Anyway, THE REQUEST: OMG I would greatly enjoy the first time Nephrite ever uses a Surya to let Zoisite out of a time-out dome! (lol I am wikipedia)
THE FICLET:
Nephrite tramped through the alleyway, leaving the battlefield behind him. Neither Fighter nor Uranus had had any trouble disposing of the tiny wraiths that attacked them, and there was nothing left but to see how the team on the other side of the building was doing.
A cool breeze picked up as he stepped out into the street, accenting the relative calm of the scene. Kunzite and Galaxia were speaking (arguing?) with Mars and Tuxedo Kamen half a block away, oblivious to both the smoking crack in the asphalt and the black dome in the middle of the road. Nephrite supposed that Kunzite had caught an imp inside, though he couldn't guess why he didn't simply kill it off. Curious to see what an imp would look like in captivity, he sidled over to the dome and peered inside, careful to avoid the twists of crackling black energy that raced across its surface. He found a decidedly different sort of imp sitting there.
"Uh... right. Teaki?" Even though his friend was still wearing his glossy uniform, it felt weird calling him anything but outside the heat of battle.
Teaki jumped at the sound of his friend's voice and whirled around to face him, hope lighting up in his eyes. "Binshou! Awesome! Hey man, you have to get me out of here. NOW. This is total bullshit. Plus it's freezing in here."
Binshou had guessed as much, judging from the frost on his uniform's feathers and the way his breath crystallized when he spoke. "Sure," he said doubtfully. "Um. Why are you in there in the first place?"
His friend gave an exaggerated roll of his eyes, the injustice of the whole situation clearly too much for his sensibilities. "Listen to this, it's totally lame, okay. So, the fire dude summoned these little fire devil things, right? And Mars shot one of them with an attack, but that just made it bigger and more pissed off and it dove right for us, so I HEROICALLY pushed her out of the way! And then, get this, the old coot gets mad because I pushed her out of the way instead of Daichi! And when the battle was over he stuck me in here to 'consider my priorities'!"
"I see." Binshou nodded patiently, though he was wondering if maybe Teaki had jumped on Mars because she had nice curves, and not because she had been in danger.
"I know what you're thinking," said Teaki, and Binshou was quite sure that he did, "But she was really, actually in danger! The fire thing was flying straight towards her, and she was the one who'd pissed it off! Daichi jumped out of the way no problem, like I knew he would."
He suspected that Teaki's story was only a half-truth, but since he knew it was a half-truth, and Teaki knew he'd know it was a half-truth, didn't that sort of make it a whole truth? And Teaki did look like his pride had already been knocked down a notch, what with all the shivering he was doing. There was only one problem.
"So come on, get me out! I know you can do it, you could fry this dome like nobody's business."
"Yeah, but, Kunzite-san..." He rubbed the back of his neck in a gesture that clearly said "I'm not as flippant about getting on his bad side as you are", albeit apologetically.
Teaki wasn't phased; he'd clearly seen this coming. "Right, I know, you don't want to piss him off, but I know that even you think he goes to far sometimes! Besides, you're like his golden boy. I mean, as gold as you can get if you're not Daichi, I guess. You can afford to get into trouble once!"
"Um..." Binshou began, wondering how he could explain to Teaki that human trust didn't actually work that way.
"C'mon! Please?"
"Well..."
"Binshou!"
"I'm just..."
"BEST. FRIEND."
"Hey..."
"You can do it so easy, just like that! Just one little word and-"
"Augh, SURYA," and before Binshou's brain had even a second to process what he'd just done, he lit up like an atom bomb and burned the dome away faster than an ice cube melted on the sun. The power he was channeling distracted him for several seconds, but when it faded away and his mind was his own again, every joint in his body locked up in sheer terror. There was no way Kunzite and the others hadn't seen that. Every blind person in a two kilometer radius had probably seen that. There was absolutely no denying that he'd just defied Kunzite, and in a particularly backhanded way. His brain could not cope with that fact.
Teaki stared at him with some kind of awe scattered amidst the frantic blinking and eye-rubbing, but he didn't move to thank him or pat him on the back. He heard the steady clopping of Kunzite's boots behind him, and he had no desire to incriminate his friend any further. Noting that Binshou's brain and most of his body seemed to have shut down, he moved to stand beside him instead. Just in case he passed out.
Kunzite halted in the middle of the road where the dome had been, and favored the pair with his usual zen smile. Mars and the others came up behind him. She was giving Teaki a look of white-hot fiery death, though Teaki for the life of him couldn't imagine why. Tuxedo Kamen wore an expression of mingling concern and amusement, and Galaxia was looking at Binshou with what she probably thought was pity but was really more like intense speculation, because "pity" was something her face just couldn't manage.
It would have been difficult not to pity Binshou at that point, who was making a horrified sputtering noise as mechanically as he breathed.
Kunzite took less than a minute to survey the damage and reformat the situation on his august-drive. "Nephrite-san..."
Teaki could hear a universe of deeper meanings in that "san", though he wasn't exactly sure what they were. Binshou would have known if his mind wasn't mush.
"We are most pleased with your concern for your teammate's well being. It would be a disgrace to Our Prince if he should become ill with prolonged exposure to the cold. It was well within your sphere of duty as second in command to enquire as to his physical status, and, seeing that We were otherwise occupied, to terminate his disciplinary exercise at your discretion."
"I... you... just... uh...?"
"And surely Zoisite-kun recognizes this as a prime opportunity to put Our lesson into practice."
"Oh, surely," Teaki agreed, with no small amount of sarcasm. "Faction loyalty and all that good stuff. C'mon Binshou, let's go sit down."
With that, Teaki grabbed his friend by the arm and gently led him away. Once he was sure he was out of earshot (though with Amakusa-jii, you never could tell), he leaned in towards his friend and whispered, "That was AWESOME. Thanks!"
"You're welcome," Binshou replied instinctively. He'd finally stopped sputtering. "What just happened?"
"I'll tell you later."
P.S. I should title this somthing starting with E. Nephrite needs an E story for Connect Five.
Sweet Monkey Jesus, this makes the third (3RD!) online gift that I actually completed in time for someone's birthday. If I keep this up, one day everyone will be receiving pics'n'fics ALL THE TIME (or at least on their appropriate birthdays)! There's a worthy goal. Where the hell is my birthday list??
Anyway, THE REQUEST: OMG I would greatly enjoy the first time Nephrite ever uses a Surya to let Zoisite out of a time-out dome! (lol I am wikipedia)
THE FICLET:
Nephrite tramped through the alleyway, leaving the battlefield behind him. Neither Fighter nor Uranus had had any trouble disposing of the tiny wraiths that attacked them, and there was nothing left but to see how the team on the other side of the building was doing.
A cool breeze picked up as he stepped out into the street, accenting the relative calm of the scene. Kunzite and Galaxia were speaking (arguing?) with Mars and Tuxedo Kamen half a block away, oblivious to both the smoking crack in the asphalt and the black dome in the middle of the road. Nephrite supposed that Kunzite had caught an imp inside, though he couldn't guess why he didn't simply kill it off. Curious to see what an imp would look like in captivity, he sidled over to the dome and peered inside, careful to avoid the twists of crackling black energy that raced across its surface. He found a decidedly different sort of imp sitting there.
"Uh... right. Teaki?" Even though his friend was still wearing his glossy uniform, it felt weird calling him anything but outside the heat of battle.
Teaki jumped at the sound of his friend's voice and whirled around to face him, hope lighting up in his eyes. "Binshou! Awesome! Hey man, you have to get me out of here. NOW. This is total bullshit. Plus it's freezing in here."
Binshou had guessed as much, judging from the frost on his uniform's feathers and the way his breath crystallized when he spoke. "Sure," he said doubtfully. "Um. Why are you in there in the first place?"
His friend gave an exaggerated roll of his eyes, the injustice of the whole situation clearly too much for his sensibilities. "Listen to this, it's totally lame, okay. So, the fire dude summoned these little fire devil things, right? And Mars shot one of them with an attack, but that just made it bigger and more pissed off and it dove right for us, so I HEROICALLY pushed her out of the way! And then, get this, the old coot gets mad because I pushed her out of the way instead of Daichi! And when the battle was over he stuck me in here to 'consider my priorities'!"
"I see." Binshou nodded patiently, though he was wondering if maybe Teaki had jumped on Mars because she had nice curves, and not because she had been in danger.
"I know what you're thinking," said Teaki, and Binshou was quite sure that he did, "But she was really, actually in danger! The fire thing was flying straight towards her, and she was the one who'd pissed it off! Daichi jumped out of the way no problem, like I knew he would."
He suspected that Teaki's story was only a half-truth, but since he knew it was a half-truth, and Teaki knew he'd know it was a half-truth, didn't that sort of make it a whole truth? And Teaki did look like his pride had already been knocked down a notch, what with all the shivering he was doing. There was only one problem.
"So come on, get me out! I know you can do it, you could fry this dome like nobody's business."
"Yeah, but, Kunzite-san..." He rubbed the back of his neck in a gesture that clearly said "I'm not as flippant about getting on his bad side as you are", albeit apologetically.
Teaki wasn't phased; he'd clearly seen this coming. "Right, I know, you don't want to piss him off, but I know that even you think he goes to far sometimes! Besides, you're like his golden boy. I mean, as gold as you can get if you're not Daichi, I guess. You can afford to get into trouble once!"
"Um..." Binshou began, wondering how he could explain to Teaki that human trust didn't actually work that way.
"C'mon! Please?"
"Well..."
"Binshou!"
"I'm just..."
"BEST. FRIEND."
"Hey..."
"You can do it so easy, just like that! Just one little word and-"
"Augh, SURYA," and before Binshou's brain had even a second to process what he'd just done, he lit up like an atom bomb and burned the dome away faster than an ice cube melted on the sun. The power he was channeling distracted him for several seconds, but when it faded away and his mind was his own again, every joint in his body locked up in sheer terror. There was no way Kunzite and the others hadn't seen that. Every blind person in a two kilometer radius had probably seen that. There was absolutely no denying that he'd just defied Kunzite, and in a particularly backhanded way. His brain could not cope with that fact.
Teaki stared at him with some kind of awe scattered amidst the frantic blinking and eye-rubbing, but he didn't move to thank him or pat him on the back. He heard the steady clopping of Kunzite's boots behind him, and he had no desire to incriminate his friend any further. Noting that Binshou's brain and most of his body seemed to have shut down, he moved to stand beside him instead. Just in case he passed out.
Kunzite halted in the middle of the road where the dome had been, and favored the pair with his usual zen smile. Mars and the others came up behind him. She was giving Teaki a look of white-hot fiery death, though Teaki for the life of him couldn't imagine why. Tuxedo Kamen wore an expression of mingling concern and amusement, and Galaxia was looking at Binshou with what she probably thought was pity but was really more like intense speculation, because "pity" was something her face just couldn't manage.
It would have been difficult not to pity Binshou at that point, who was making a horrified sputtering noise as mechanically as he breathed.
Kunzite took less than a minute to survey the damage and reformat the situation on his august-drive. "Nephrite-san..."
Teaki could hear a universe of deeper meanings in that "san", though he wasn't exactly sure what they were. Binshou would have known if his mind wasn't mush.
"We are most pleased with your concern for your teammate's well being. It would be a disgrace to Our Prince if he should become ill with prolonged exposure to the cold. It was well within your sphere of duty as second in command to enquire as to his physical status, and, seeing that We were otherwise occupied, to terminate his disciplinary exercise at your discretion."
"I... you... just... uh...?"
"And surely Zoisite-kun recognizes this as a prime opportunity to put Our lesson into practice."
"Oh, surely," Teaki agreed, with no small amount of sarcasm. "Faction loyalty and all that good stuff. C'mon Binshou, let's go sit down."
With that, Teaki grabbed his friend by the arm and gently led him away. Once he was sure he was out of earshot (though with Amakusa-jii, you never could tell), he leaned in towards his friend and whispered, "That was AWESOME. Thanks!"
"You're welcome," Binshou replied instinctively. He'd finally stopped sputtering. "What just happened?"
"I'll tell you later."
P.S. I should title this somthing starting with E. Nephrite needs an E story for Connect Five.