Life on the Edge (Babylon 5, for netgirl_y2k)

[ijemanja]

Title: Life on the Edge
Author: Ijemanja
Rating: R
Fandom: Babylon 5
Pairing: Susan/Talia
Summary: It's seductive and dangerous, and she tells herself this woman will always, always be Psi Corp.

For netgirl_y2k. Apologies for the lateness!

Comments

[thenewhope]

this is beautiful and, knowing what comes next, sad. Susan/Talia is a sorely under written pairing, so I'm very happy to see it written so well.

[ijemanja]

Thank you! My first time with this pairing, which is always a fun/nervewracking experience - glad to hear someone liked it. They're a very tragic couple. I found it's pretty much impossible to think/write about them independent of the fact that it's all about to go to hell.

[netgirl_y2k]

Wow, thank you. I loved this. I especially liked the characterisation of Ivanova, with her penchant for real coffee and all her hang ups about telepaths. Thanks again.

[ijemanja]

Thanks for the fb. I'm so glad you liked it!

[joran]

Wonderful!

Garibaldi asks her what's going on, because her mind is wandering and she's staring off into space and leaving her fork hanging in mid-air more often than not - though she guesses he's mostly just annoyed she isn't paying enough attention to him.

She tells him she has a headache.

Beautiful line.

'Strong emotions are more common. Especially if I'm... close to the subject.'

Susan has always thought of it as rape. When Talia talks about it, it sounds like sex.

Damn, there it is, right there. The whole of Talia/Ivanova canon.

'Mine,' she concedes, 'My fault.'

::sniffle::

'Thank you,' she says, her hand smoothing gently over Susan's forearm. 'You're spoiling me.'

It doesn't feel like enough, though.

::wails more::

Poor Ivanova. I love her pain.

[ijemanja]

Oh, me too. And the real kicker is that this? Is about as good as it gets for her. It's pretty much all downhill from here.

Thanks so much for the response!

[vaznetti]

Very nice--I love Susan's confusion here, how torn she feels, and of course in light of what happens, there's an extra bite to this. Thanks for writing it.

I particularly liked this line: And it is the ultimate guilty pleasure to watch those gloves come off. When those pale, slender, hands reach for her, she feels rebellious, in defiance of thirty years conditioning. That's Susan Ivanova, right there.

[ijemanja]

Thank you!

[ijemanja]

Thank you for such a thoughtful review! Especially being unfamiliar with the canon, as you say. You seem to have picked up on exactly what I was trying to do, and this pleases me. ;)