Fic: Promises Made
This story brings today's grand total of words to 6785 (and the total for this challenge to 12925 - most of which have been written this week because I was lazy). I think I am broken now! Or at least I've strained my muse. For the rest of tonight, I think I'm going to stare at my TV!
But, oh, the fun I've had!
Title: Promises Made
Prompt: 03. Kerfuffle (create disorder)
Word Count: 1411
Rating: PG
Original/Fandom: Original - Streetlight People 'verse
Pairings (if any): Lec/Aja
Warnings (Non-Con/Dub-Con/RPF etc): none
Summary: Lec and Aja finally start communicating.
"Please don't," Aja whispered from the bed. Even after a day of nothing but hot tea and even hotter soup, she still had very little power to her voice. Oddly enough, she seemed to be getting better. When pushed, she would admit that she was feeling stronger but Lec wasn't so sure. The fever had been caused by natural causes, Cyril Ann had assured him. Her body was worn down from worrying about Xie and from the three rainstorms she'd been caught in over the past week because she'd taken to refusing help of any kind. That she had let Lec stay by the side of the bed for as long as he had was a miracle, in and of itself.
But now he was getting tired of being in one place. As soon as she closed her eyes to sleep, he prowled through the apartment that had been left in quite the disarray, considering the usual order she always had everything. As he picked up a shirt to fold it, he heard her stirring in the bed.
"I'm just folding these clothes to get them off the floor."
"I wish you wouldn't."
His hands grew still as he heard the detachment. This would be the perfect opportunity for him to leave because it was clear, once again, that she didn't want him here. She'd put up with him while she was recuperating but now she was stronger and could take care of herself.
For a moment, he almost let himself give in to the urge to leave. It would be more helpful to her if he wasn't around. Instead, he pounded a fist into the wall as realization struck. "Quit, Aja. I'm not leaving. You're just going to make yourself sicker. Keep it up and I'll never leave."
She turned her head toward the wall, looking more fragile than she should. It worried him, this sudden change in her. Always before, she'd given as well as she'd taken but now she didn't appear to be doing either. Instead, she kept relying on the magic as if she was useless without it. As if she thought... and that's when he knew what he was up against.
"Damn you, Aja. You can't push me away like this without expecting a fight. I keep blaming it on you being sick but it's more, isn't it? It's not even the magic. You're doing this all on purpose. You're trying to make me angry. You're trying to make me leave."
"Is it working?" came the quiet question from the bed.
The only answer he gave her was to fold the shirt, making sure to be very definite with each move so that she would know exactly what he was doing. As he worked his way through the pile, he realized that what he was folding would fit a child. Most of them were expertly mended with tiny stitches. As he rubbed his hand over a particularly creative use of thread, his heart began to ache all over again.
"I won't let him stay in there."
"What?"
He heard her sudden interest even though he kept up his self-appointed cleaning duties. To make it seem as if he really thought she hadn't heard him, he raised his voice slightly. "I said, I won't let him stay in there. Not much longer. He'll send me the signal and I'll go in and help him out. You didn't think I'd let him rot in there, did you? Silly girl. You aren't the only one that loves him, you know."
There was a rustle of cloth but he kept his back turned to her. If she came at him with those claws of hers, he wanted to take the bulk of the damage there instead of on his front. When he felt her hand on his arm, he stiffened as he prepared himself for the onslaught of her anger.
Instead, she smoothed her hand over his back until she found the hem of his shirt. When her cold palms pressed against his taut muscles, he let out a breath through clenched teeth. She lay her cheek against him, her hands sliding around to settle against his abdomen. Because he liked them there, he placed his hands over them, as much to keep them in place as to warm them up because they really were cold.
"I don't blame you." Her strained voice rumbled through his whole body so that he couldn't help but hear it.
"Yes, you do," he answered without anger. If anything, he wished he'd seen it before this moment. He thought this whole thing was about him when really it was about Xie. She'd effectively lost someone she loved to this life they'd chosen and now, if she kept him close, she might lose two of them. The odds of Lec going to prison got higher every day but that didn't mean he was going to stop what he was doing. Not even for her would he stop. "You wonder why I didn't go get him sooner. Why I'm letting my bond brother languish in filth while I follow his sister around to make sure she doesn't stub her toe."
Throwing back her words always made her take notice. He thought it was because she liked that he was listening to her but he did it because she was usually right. Not that he would ever tell her that, though. If this lovely found out just how tightly she had him wound around her little finger, there would be no telling what she demanded of him.
"I don't like him being there but I don't blame you. I don't blame Cyril Ann. I don't even blame him." She placed a soft kiss where she could reach without moving. "Those clothes you're folding are his. When we were younger. He thinks I sacrificed everything for him but he's wrong. I sacrificed everything because I was stupid. I did this to myself and there's not anything I can do to undo it. I just... I don't want him to do the same thing."
"He's a grown man now."
Her fingers pressed in on his tight muscles, making his stiffen up again. "Who should listen to his older sister. As should his handsome lieutenant."
"I don't have an older sister," Lec retorted as he tried to pry her fingers away from where they were pressing into his body. Her laughter rumbled through his body, a smile emerging on his face where one hadn't been for a long time. It didn't matter that she wasn't blaming him because he already did enough of that for the both of them. "And who told you I was handsome? They're obviously lying."
Aja slide along his body until she was in front of him, his arms wrapped securely around her. It was impossible to tell if she was still smiling because she was keeping her face very successfully averted from him. "I have it on good authority that you're considered very handsome."
"Cyril Ann open her big mouth again?"
"Nope. Several of the shopkeepers around my corner like to come gossip about you when they see you skulking about. How do you think I kept noticing that you were around even though I was very firm with my directions that you weren't to bother yourself with my daily life?"
He had the good sense to look chagrined. Of course the people around her kept tabs on her. He'd known that but he still didn't believe it enough to be able to leave her alone. The group needed him more now that Xie was gone but he couldn't just stop shadowing her. Not without some reassurance that she wasn't getting herself into trouble. Of course, what the two of them considered trouble kept differing but he was going to take a stab in the dark and assume that would continue for as long as the two of them had breath in their lungs.
"I will always bother myself with your daily life. That's not going to change. I can't stop. I won't stop. You can't make me. Not even with your magic which better not find itself directed at me again or we're going to have words."
"Heard and understood," she whispered but it didn't matter that she hadn't yelled out the words. He could tell that she had heard him. Maybe now, finally, they could start learning to trust the other with the more important things.
This entry was cross posted at dreamwidth - where the cool kids hang out.
But, oh, the fun I've had!
Title: Promises Made
Prompt: 03. Kerfuffle (create disorder)
Word Count: 1411
Rating: PG
Original/Fandom: Original - Streetlight People 'verse
Pairings (if any): Lec/Aja
Warnings (Non-Con/Dub-Con/RPF etc): none
Summary: Lec and Aja finally start communicating.
"Please don't," Aja whispered from the bed. Even after a day of nothing but hot tea and even hotter soup, she still had very little power to her voice. Oddly enough, she seemed to be getting better. When pushed, she would admit that she was feeling stronger but Lec wasn't so sure. The fever had been caused by natural causes, Cyril Ann had assured him. Her body was worn down from worrying about Xie and from the three rainstorms she'd been caught in over the past week because she'd taken to refusing help of any kind. That she had let Lec stay by the side of the bed for as long as he had was a miracle, in and of itself.
But now he was getting tired of being in one place. As soon as she closed her eyes to sleep, he prowled through the apartment that had been left in quite the disarray, considering the usual order she always had everything. As he picked up a shirt to fold it, he heard her stirring in the bed.
"I'm just folding these clothes to get them off the floor."
"I wish you wouldn't."
His hands grew still as he heard the detachment. This would be the perfect opportunity for him to leave because it was clear, once again, that she didn't want him here. She'd put up with him while she was recuperating but now she was stronger and could take care of herself.
For a moment, he almost let himself give in to the urge to leave. It would be more helpful to her if he wasn't around. Instead, he pounded a fist into the wall as realization struck. "Quit, Aja. I'm not leaving. You're just going to make yourself sicker. Keep it up and I'll never leave."
She turned her head toward the wall, looking more fragile than she should. It worried him, this sudden change in her. Always before, she'd given as well as she'd taken but now she didn't appear to be doing either. Instead, she kept relying on the magic as if she was useless without it. As if she thought... and that's when he knew what he was up against.
"Damn you, Aja. You can't push me away like this without expecting a fight. I keep blaming it on you being sick but it's more, isn't it? It's not even the magic. You're doing this all on purpose. You're trying to make me angry. You're trying to make me leave."
"Is it working?" came the quiet question from the bed.
The only answer he gave her was to fold the shirt, making sure to be very definite with each move so that she would know exactly what he was doing. As he worked his way through the pile, he realized that what he was folding would fit a child. Most of them were expertly mended with tiny stitches. As he rubbed his hand over a particularly creative use of thread, his heart began to ache all over again.
"I won't let him stay in there."
"What?"
He heard her sudden interest even though he kept up his self-appointed cleaning duties. To make it seem as if he really thought she hadn't heard him, he raised his voice slightly. "I said, I won't let him stay in there. Not much longer. He'll send me the signal and I'll go in and help him out. You didn't think I'd let him rot in there, did you? Silly girl. You aren't the only one that loves him, you know."
There was a rustle of cloth but he kept his back turned to her. If she came at him with those claws of hers, he wanted to take the bulk of the damage there instead of on his front. When he felt her hand on his arm, he stiffened as he prepared himself for the onslaught of her anger.
Instead, she smoothed her hand over his back until she found the hem of his shirt. When her cold palms pressed against his taut muscles, he let out a breath through clenched teeth. She lay her cheek against him, her hands sliding around to settle against his abdomen. Because he liked them there, he placed his hands over them, as much to keep them in place as to warm them up because they really were cold.
"I don't blame you." Her strained voice rumbled through his whole body so that he couldn't help but hear it.
"Yes, you do," he answered without anger. If anything, he wished he'd seen it before this moment. He thought this whole thing was about him when really it was about Xie. She'd effectively lost someone she loved to this life they'd chosen and now, if she kept him close, she might lose two of them. The odds of Lec going to prison got higher every day but that didn't mean he was going to stop what he was doing. Not even for her would he stop. "You wonder why I didn't go get him sooner. Why I'm letting my bond brother languish in filth while I follow his sister around to make sure she doesn't stub her toe."
Throwing back her words always made her take notice. He thought it was because she liked that he was listening to her but he did it because she was usually right. Not that he would ever tell her that, though. If this lovely found out just how tightly she had him wound around her little finger, there would be no telling what she demanded of him.
"I don't like him being there but I don't blame you. I don't blame Cyril Ann. I don't even blame him." She placed a soft kiss where she could reach without moving. "Those clothes you're folding are his. When we were younger. He thinks I sacrificed everything for him but he's wrong. I sacrificed everything because I was stupid. I did this to myself and there's not anything I can do to undo it. I just... I don't want him to do the same thing."
"He's a grown man now."
Her fingers pressed in on his tight muscles, making his stiffen up again. "Who should listen to his older sister. As should his handsome lieutenant."
"I don't have an older sister," Lec retorted as he tried to pry her fingers away from where they were pressing into his body. Her laughter rumbled through his body, a smile emerging on his face where one hadn't been for a long time. It didn't matter that she wasn't blaming him because he already did enough of that for the both of them. "And who told you I was handsome? They're obviously lying."
Aja slide along his body until she was in front of him, his arms wrapped securely around her. It was impossible to tell if she was still smiling because she was keeping her face very successfully averted from him. "I have it on good authority that you're considered very handsome."
"Cyril Ann open her big mouth again?"
"Nope. Several of the shopkeepers around my corner like to come gossip about you when they see you skulking about. How do you think I kept noticing that you were around even though I was very firm with my directions that you weren't to bother yourself with my daily life?"
He had the good sense to look chagrined. Of course the people around her kept tabs on her. He'd known that but he still didn't believe it enough to be able to leave her alone. The group needed him more now that Xie was gone but he couldn't just stop shadowing her. Not without some reassurance that she wasn't getting herself into trouble. Of course, what the two of them considered trouble kept differing but he was going to take a stab in the dark and assume that would continue for as long as the two of them had breath in their lungs.
"I will always bother myself with your daily life. That's not going to change. I can't stop. I won't stop. You can't make me. Not even with your magic which better not find itself directed at me again or we're going to have words."
"Heard and understood," she whispered but it didn't matter that she hadn't yelled out the words. He could tell that she had heard him. Maybe now, finally, they could start learning to trust the other with the more important things.
This entry was cross posted at dreamwidth - where the cool kids hang out.