(no subject)
Title: Poison
Fandom: Tales of the Abyss
Characters: Jade, Peony
Themes: hurt/comfort, about as much slash as canon, poison, angst, fluff
Notes: The second fic I wrote for the hurt/comfort challenge I started ages ago and never finished. The first paragraph lingered for months before I finally got around to writing down the rest.
The sight of Peony sleeping peacefully, sheets flat and undisturbed, made Jade's stomach twinge strangely. Peony did not sleep peacefully. Peony flopped across his bed like a dying fish over the course of the night, as often as not waking up upside-down with his sheets tied in knots. He talked in his sleep. In the mornings, his hair was a mess, and half his face was covered with pillow-creases and drool. To see him like this, looking as solemn and imperial as any well-wisher could expect, was a mockery of everything Jade knew his emperor - his friend - to be.
It had technically been Peony’s own fault, Jade knew. As Emperor, he should certainly have known better than to take candy from strangers, even if the stranger was an adorable little girl who had smiled so brightly when he told her it was his favorite. Questioning the sobbing child after the incident had revealed that some man had given her the candy and informed her that it was Peony’s favorite - as one of his loving subjects, the gullible little girl had been only too eager to give it to him after that.
As he settled into the chair at Peony’s bedside, he was deeply relieved to see Peony stir, and purple eyes open hazily to look in his direction. “...Jade?” Peony slurred weakly. “...’m feelin’ funny.”
“It’s a natural hazard of the way you look, I’d imagine,” Jade replied cheerfully, refusing to let his relief show on his face. “But if you’re talking about the symptoms of illness, well, that’s what happens when you take poisoned candy from strangers. Honestly, I’d have thought even you were more intelligent than that.”
“Poison...?” Peony frowned, his brow furrowing as he worked this information through the fog covering his mind. “...that girl...she wouldn’t...”
“Try not to strain yourself thinking about it just yet,” Jade instructed him. “I realize that the idea of someone not being overwhelmed by your charms is a difficult concept for you to grasp, and I wouldn’t want to deprive the populace of their beloved Emperor because he’d overtaxed his weary mind working out an idea I’d presented him. I might well be tried for treason!”
That made Peony smile and close his eyes. “...always lookin’ after me,” he murmured. “...it was you with th’ antidote, huh?”
It had, in fact, been Jade who was first on the scene with a quick curative. He’d taken to keeping a few simple remedy bottles in his pockets in case he decided to take a walk in the forest, and he’d never been more grateful for the habit than that day. “It could have been anyone,” he said rather than admitting it. “In all the confusion after you collapsed, it’s hard to say who was offering which solution.”
Peony snorted derisively at the denial, and fell silent for a long moment. Just as Jade thought he’d fallen back asleep, and was about to go inform the doctors that he seemed to be out of danger, he spoke up again. “...how is she?” he asked.
It took Jade a moment to realize that he meant the little girl. “Distraught,” he replied coolly. “As anyone might be, having become an unwitting pawn in a plot to assassinate their ruler. I imagine she’ll think twice from now on before doing anything so deeply foolish.”
There was a melancholy sigh from Peony. “...’ll talk to her later. ‘s not her fault.” He still seemed downcast, and Jade took a guess at the direction of his thoughts.
“Does that mean, by any chance, that you’ve reconsidered your own foolishness?” Jade shrugged as if it didn’t matter. “I don’t mind, of course, carrying a full stock of antidotes around with me, but we’re fortunate that the cure for monster poison had any effect at all on the dose you were given. I wouldn’t count on it a second time.”
Peony sighed heavily again. “...I know. ...it’s just...” He made a frustrated noise. “...they love me, and I love them. ...there shouldn’t have to be that...distance. ...I don’t want to be...”
“But whether you like it or not, you are above them,” Jade replied evenly. “And if you’re going to keep being there for them...”
“...then I gotta act like it.” Peony grimaced. “...I know.”
Jade sighed. It was painful, he had to admit, bringing home these realities to Peony, and not just because it was simple things that shouldn’t need to be said. He knew that it hurt Peony to be forced to mistrust the people he cared for, and he cared for everyone. It was foolish and hopeless, and Jade couldn’t imagine him any other way. But it did mean that he was going to keep getting hurt, if not physically then emotionally.
On the other hand, the only other possibility was becoming as ruthless as the scheming nobility below him, or as cold-hearted as Jade himself. Jade looked at Peony’s melancholy frown, and resolved to stand between his friend and as much of that pain as he could manage.
And that meant smiling even through the darkness. “Well, since Your Majesty clearly needs a babysitter, and your guards are outside the door watching every passing maid and butler like a hawk, I suppose I’ll have to stay here and keep you from drinking any cleaning chemicals,” he said cheerfully. “Sleeping might be a better solution to the pain in your head, but I know better than to think you’d take any of my carefully considered suggestions.”
“...yeah, yeah.” Peony’s faint smile was back, though. “...you gonna read me bedtime stories, too?”
“I suppose I could come up with a few if pressed,” Jade smiled. “I’m afraid I only know the older versions of fairy tales, though, so they might be a touch gruesome for modern sensibilities...”
“...remind me when I wake up to hit you with a pillow.”
“Of course.” The mocking condescension in Jade’s tone was mostly feigned. “Sleep well, Peony.”
Fandom: Tales of the Abyss
Characters: Jade, Peony
Themes: hurt/comfort, about as much slash as canon, poison, angst, fluff
Notes: The second fic I wrote for the hurt/comfort challenge I started ages ago and never finished. The first paragraph lingered for months before I finally got around to writing down the rest.
The sight of Peony sleeping peacefully, sheets flat and undisturbed, made Jade's stomach twinge strangely. Peony did not sleep peacefully. Peony flopped across his bed like a dying fish over the course of the night, as often as not waking up upside-down with his sheets tied in knots. He talked in his sleep. In the mornings, his hair was a mess, and half his face was covered with pillow-creases and drool. To see him like this, looking as solemn and imperial as any well-wisher could expect, was a mockery of everything Jade knew his emperor - his friend - to be.
It had technically been Peony’s own fault, Jade knew. As Emperor, he should certainly have known better than to take candy from strangers, even if the stranger was an adorable little girl who had smiled so brightly when he told her it was his favorite. Questioning the sobbing child after the incident had revealed that some man had given her the candy and informed her that it was Peony’s favorite - as one of his loving subjects, the gullible little girl had been only too eager to give it to him after that.
As he settled into the chair at Peony’s bedside, he was deeply relieved to see Peony stir, and purple eyes open hazily to look in his direction. “...Jade?” Peony slurred weakly. “...’m feelin’ funny.”
“It’s a natural hazard of the way you look, I’d imagine,” Jade replied cheerfully, refusing to let his relief show on his face. “But if you’re talking about the symptoms of illness, well, that’s what happens when you take poisoned candy from strangers. Honestly, I’d have thought even you were more intelligent than that.”
“Poison...?” Peony frowned, his brow furrowing as he worked this information through the fog covering his mind. “...that girl...she wouldn’t...”
“Try not to strain yourself thinking about it just yet,” Jade instructed him. “I realize that the idea of someone not being overwhelmed by your charms is a difficult concept for you to grasp, and I wouldn’t want to deprive the populace of their beloved Emperor because he’d overtaxed his weary mind working out an idea I’d presented him. I might well be tried for treason!”
That made Peony smile and close his eyes. “...always lookin’ after me,” he murmured. “...it was you with th’ antidote, huh?”
It had, in fact, been Jade who was first on the scene with a quick curative. He’d taken to keeping a few simple remedy bottles in his pockets in case he decided to take a walk in the forest, and he’d never been more grateful for the habit than that day. “It could have been anyone,” he said rather than admitting it. “In all the confusion after you collapsed, it’s hard to say who was offering which solution.”
Peony snorted derisively at the denial, and fell silent for a long moment. Just as Jade thought he’d fallen back asleep, and was about to go inform the doctors that he seemed to be out of danger, he spoke up again. “...how is she?” he asked.
It took Jade a moment to realize that he meant the little girl. “Distraught,” he replied coolly. “As anyone might be, having become an unwitting pawn in a plot to assassinate their ruler. I imagine she’ll think twice from now on before doing anything so deeply foolish.”
There was a melancholy sigh from Peony. “...’ll talk to her later. ‘s not her fault.” He still seemed downcast, and Jade took a guess at the direction of his thoughts.
“Does that mean, by any chance, that you’ve reconsidered your own foolishness?” Jade shrugged as if it didn’t matter. “I don’t mind, of course, carrying a full stock of antidotes around with me, but we’re fortunate that the cure for monster poison had any effect at all on the dose you were given. I wouldn’t count on it a second time.”
Peony sighed heavily again. “...I know. ...it’s just...” He made a frustrated noise. “...they love me, and I love them. ...there shouldn’t have to be that...distance. ...I don’t want to be...”
“But whether you like it or not, you are above them,” Jade replied evenly. “And if you’re going to keep being there for them...”
“...then I gotta act like it.” Peony grimaced. “...I know.”
Jade sighed. It was painful, he had to admit, bringing home these realities to Peony, and not just because it was simple things that shouldn’t need to be said. He knew that it hurt Peony to be forced to mistrust the people he cared for, and he cared for everyone. It was foolish and hopeless, and Jade couldn’t imagine him any other way. But it did mean that he was going to keep getting hurt, if not physically then emotionally.
On the other hand, the only other possibility was becoming as ruthless as the scheming nobility below him, or as cold-hearted as Jade himself. Jade looked at Peony’s melancholy frown, and resolved to stand between his friend and as much of that pain as he could manage.
And that meant smiling even through the darkness. “Well, since Your Majesty clearly needs a babysitter, and your guards are outside the door watching every passing maid and butler like a hawk, I suppose I’ll have to stay here and keep you from drinking any cleaning chemicals,” he said cheerfully. “Sleeping might be a better solution to the pain in your head, but I know better than to think you’d take any of my carefully considered suggestions.”
“...yeah, yeah.” Peony’s faint smile was back, though. “...you gonna read me bedtime stories, too?”
“I suppose I could come up with a few if pressed,” Jade smiled. “I’m afraid I only know the older versions of fairy tales, though, so they might be a touch gruesome for modern sensibilities...”
“...remind me when I wake up to hit you with a pillow.”
“Of course.” The mocking condescension in Jade’s tone was mostly feigned. “Sleep well, Peony.”