Fic: Out for a Walk
Title: Out For a Walk
Prompt: The Unforgiven III lyrics for the writerverse Pen to Paper challenge
Was he the one causing pain
With his careless dreaming?
Been afraid
Always afraid
Of the things he's feeling
Word Count: 1007
Rating: PG
Original/Fandom: Original - Streetlight People 'verse
Pairings (if any): none
Warnings (Non-Con/Dub-Con/RPF etc): none
Summary: Sometimes, when Tevan can't sleep, he wanders the campus in an attempt to reconcile with his past.
It was bitter cold but Tevan just pulled his cloak closed and pulled up the hood he seldom wore. He was not hiding his face, he told himself, even though he pulled the edges further down than most people would wear it. He was not being ridiculous even though he could hear Rika, in his head, berating him for a fool and not staying in bed where he should have been. Really, doing foolish things was right up his alley these days. Better to be doing a ridiculous thing for a good cause than for something that could have been classified as reckless and wrong. It was about time he finally started doing something different for a change.
Rika's voice grew more insistent as his path took him ever closer to Yunnic Hall. She'd been noticeably upset with him lately, enough that even Ki noticed. For all his stupidity, he could be forced to notice the strained atmosphere if it was as bad as the last couple of days had been. Tevan thought he understood why Rika was angry. It was more than obvious that this had started with the girl. The one with the colored hair. The one he didn't dare name in his mind for fear of making it all a little too real.
He vaguely remembered his mother having a streak of color in her hair. It had been so long ago so he wasn't sure if he hadn't put it there in his memories or if it had really existed. For so long, he had opted not to think about his mother. It was easier to suppress those memories.
When he'd been a child, he had pretended his mother had never existed. He lived with his grandparents until he came of age and was sent to school. That he ended up at Grantson Academy was a given, seeing as his bloodline was still excellent, even with his family's funds taking a turn for the worse just before he was born. No one mentioned it, but he had his suspicions why he was put in Jutla instead of Yunnic. No one ever forgave his mother for marrying a man beneath her, who had ultimately failed to keep his income at a respectable level.
This was not his first excursion through the darkened campus to stare at the brick walls that should have been his home. He had never cared about any of the people there, though. Knowing that... the girl...
Call her by her name. You aren't really hiding anything by keeping her name silent.
He had to mentally shrug away from Rika's irritable tone. Before he had met Rika, his mental haranguing had come with the voice of his grandmother. She had been a gray-haired giant of a woman with a voice that was like gears without proper lubrication, nothing at all like his best friend whose voice was more like a well-played concerta. It was soothing to listen to her, especially when he was struggling to control his temper. As he raged, she would talk him down and then, when he grew calmer, she would touch his arm with her hand as if to say I'm here with you.
I've never left you. Not like the others.
"Quit." Tevan hit his forehead with the heel of his hand. "Quit talking to me. Quit making me hear you like this. You know I don't like it."
But there was no one there to hear his irritation. Not really. She was just a voice in his head. Like his grandmother had been all those years ago. He remembered when he'd told Rika about the voices he heard sometimes. How they kept him calm or admonished him when he was thinking of doing something wrong. She had just smiled. He'd figured she would think he was insane. It had been disconcerting to know that she didn't mind that his inner voice sounded like hers.
It's okay, Tevan. You aren't crazy. Remember? It's just your subconscious talking with her voice.
"Sometimes I wonder," he murmured as he began moving again. He knew better than to stand outside the building too long. The Honor Guard always checked this area of the campus more often than the other parts, seeing as there were more important people to protect. He figured that a run-in with the Guard wouldn't do him any harm right now. They considered him pretty harmless about the after few run-ins.
And you're better off for it, aren't you? Please don't give them any reason to rough you up, Tevan.
"You need your beauty sleep, Rika. Stay out of my head." But she wouldn't. Not until he got safely home. If he stayed out much later, she was going to be too tired to get up for class in the morning. He and the other boys never cared if they slept through their classes, seeing as how much of them were redundant these days. Tevan could care less about most of the stuff they were learning but Rika liked it. She liked it all. "Information is always good, isn't that right, pretty girl?"
She didn't answer him. Maybe she'd stopped listening in on his thoughts or maybe she was angry at him for calling her the nickname she despised. "Stop making fun of me," she said every time he used the words against her. It was true, of course. She was one of the most beautiful girls on the campus. Even prettier, dare he say it, than Pliya. He had trouble telling if she was prettier than the blue-haired girl but that was only because he didn't see beauty in her. That was something completely different. Something he hadn't thought much about.
"Rika?" he whispered in the darkness, as if she would start talking to him because he acknowledged her out loud. No, she was gone. Now was the perfect time for further exploration before he was put on the leash that his friend kept him on. Instead, he turned back the way he came and headed toward Jutla Hall.
This entry was cross posted at dreamwidth - where the cool kids hang out.
Prompt: The Unforgiven III lyrics for the writerverse Pen to Paper challenge
Was he the one causing pain
With his careless dreaming?
Been afraid
Always afraid
Of the things he's feeling
Word Count: 1007
Rating: PG
Original/Fandom: Original - Streetlight People 'verse
Pairings (if any): none
Warnings (Non-Con/Dub-Con/RPF etc): none
Summary: Sometimes, when Tevan can't sleep, he wanders the campus in an attempt to reconcile with his past.
It was bitter cold but Tevan just pulled his cloak closed and pulled up the hood he seldom wore. He was not hiding his face, he told himself, even though he pulled the edges further down than most people would wear it. He was not being ridiculous even though he could hear Rika, in his head, berating him for a fool and not staying in bed where he should have been. Really, doing foolish things was right up his alley these days. Better to be doing a ridiculous thing for a good cause than for something that could have been classified as reckless and wrong. It was about time he finally started doing something different for a change.
Rika's voice grew more insistent as his path took him ever closer to Yunnic Hall. She'd been noticeably upset with him lately, enough that even Ki noticed. For all his stupidity, he could be forced to notice the strained atmosphere if it was as bad as the last couple of days had been. Tevan thought he understood why Rika was angry. It was more than obvious that this had started with the girl. The one with the colored hair. The one he didn't dare name in his mind for fear of making it all a little too real.
He vaguely remembered his mother having a streak of color in her hair. It had been so long ago so he wasn't sure if he hadn't put it there in his memories or if it had really existed. For so long, he had opted not to think about his mother. It was easier to suppress those memories.
When he'd been a child, he had pretended his mother had never existed. He lived with his grandparents until he came of age and was sent to school. That he ended up at Grantson Academy was a given, seeing as his bloodline was still excellent, even with his family's funds taking a turn for the worse just before he was born. No one mentioned it, but he had his suspicions why he was put in Jutla instead of Yunnic. No one ever forgave his mother for marrying a man beneath her, who had ultimately failed to keep his income at a respectable level.
This was not his first excursion through the darkened campus to stare at the brick walls that should have been his home. He had never cared about any of the people there, though. Knowing that... the girl...
Call her by her name. You aren't really hiding anything by keeping her name silent.
He had to mentally shrug away from Rika's irritable tone. Before he had met Rika, his mental haranguing had come with the voice of his grandmother. She had been a gray-haired giant of a woman with a voice that was like gears without proper lubrication, nothing at all like his best friend whose voice was more like a well-played concerta. It was soothing to listen to her, especially when he was struggling to control his temper. As he raged, she would talk him down and then, when he grew calmer, she would touch his arm with her hand as if to say I'm here with you.
I've never left you. Not like the others.
"Quit." Tevan hit his forehead with the heel of his hand. "Quit talking to me. Quit making me hear you like this. You know I don't like it."
But there was no one there to hear his irritation. Not really. She was just a voice in his head. Like his grandmother had been all those years ago. He remembered when he'd told Rika about the voices he heard sometimes. How they kept him calm or admonished him when he was thinking of doing something wrong. She had just smiled. He'd figured she would think he was insane. It had been disconcerting to know that she didn't mind that his inner voice sounded like hers.
It's okay, Tevan. You aren't crazy. Remember? It's just your subconscious talking with her voice.
"Sometimes I wonder," he murmured as he began moving again. He knew better than to stand outside the building too long. The Honor Guard always checked this area of the campus more often than the other parts, seeing as there were more important people to protect. He figured that a run-in with the Guard wouldn't do him any harm right now. They considered him pretty harmless about the after few run-ins.
And you're better off for it, aren't you? Please don't give them any reason to rough you up, Tevan.
"You need your beauty sleep, Rika. Stay out of my head." But she wouldn't. Not until he got safely home. If he stayed out much later, she was going to be too tired to get up for class in the morning. He and the other boys never cared if they slept through their classes, seeing as how much of them were redundant these days. Tevan could care less about most of the stuff they were learning but Rika liked it. She liked it all. "Information is always good, isn't that right, pretty girl?"
She didn't answer him. Maybe she'd stopped listening in on his thoughts or maybe she was angry at him for calling her the nickname she despised. "Stop making fun of me," she said every time he used the words against her. It was true, of course. She was one of the most beautiful girls on the campus. Even prettier, dare he say it, than Pliya. He had trouble telling if she was prettier than the blue-haired girl but that was only because he didn't see beauty in her. That was something completely different. Something he hadn't thought much about.
"Rika?" he whispered in the darkness, as if she would start talking to him because he acknowledged her out loud. No, she was gone. Now was the perfect time for further exploration before he was put on the leash that his friend kept him on. Instead, he turned back the way he came and headed toward Jutla Hall.
This entry was cross posted at dreamwidth - where the cool kids hang out.