[Guilty Gear] Breathing Space
Title: Breathing Space
Fandom: Guilty Gear
Pairing: Sol/Ky
Rating: R
Contains: implied sex
Notes: A little follow up to Interlude. We had Sol's side, so you know what's the next logical choice.
Breathing Space
Among the soldiers, they say the best skills to have are the ability to instantly fall asleep on any surface, and to wake up just as quickly. If you're not a light sleeper, the field will make one out of you, jerking you awake at any tremor in the ground, at every wayward pebble shifting-and until it does, it's best to pair up with someone who already is.
Ky can't remember a time he's ever been anything else. He must have been, once upon a time, when war seemed far away, the ground a safe, sturdy thing, and there were lullabies, but now he's no longer sure how that worked, falling into a sleep so deep not even a cannon going off could wake him.
Unless, of course, one counts being unconscious.
He does remember the last time he slept in, though-a sort of parting gift from Kliff to him and the rest of the trainees in his group, a Sunday kind of sleep and a breakfast with brioche and loose-leaf Darjeeling, because it would be the last time they'd get to have either. He only slept in that day because someone-Kliff-took his alarm, but in retrospect, he's grateful for that, the memory a nice thing to have.
So this morning is a surprise.
Groping his way out of a dream, his mind slowly stretching towards wakefulness, almost reluctant to begin the day, and for the longest time, it doesn't even occur to him that this is wrong, drugged up on warmth and... he almost forgot what laziness is like.
Of course, when things finally do click, Ky's awake faster and more abruptly than ever, would have gone bolting out of bed if he hadn't been physically prevented from doing so, a heavy weight on top of his back keeping him from moving.
Oh.
"Ngh," the weight says, jostled by his sudden twitch.
/Oh./
The weight spends a minute nosing around, before settling down heavier than before, faint snores tickling the space behind his ear.
The memories come tumbling back in like loose change shaken from a pocket, rolling around a little to make sure he takes notice-kissing, lots of it, messy and utterly incompetent. Hands more or less everywhere, but memory is happy to provide specific instances, in his hair, up his back, down his pants and squeezing his-his butt... okay, there was a lot of that, moving along... some teeth, though that was mostly him, in an embarrassing bout of uninhibited enthusiasm. The first time, it was an accident, too, but Sol didn't-yeah, no, Sol didn't mind that at all.
He's pretty sure the pillow is seconds away from bursting into flames just from the heat on his face, and that wasn't even the really embarrassing part, because there were words...
"Fuck you."
"I think-that was the plan."
...and it's a bit hard to believe he really said that, to believe that he laughed, but he'd been so high-strung, and the offer-"I'll be careful"-just seemed a bit too far from what Sol was like not to laugh. It was his fault, anyway, having a moment of blind rabbit panic when it came to lying down, barely able to keep a charge from building up and ending this on a rather painful note.
He's quite sure Sol will mercilessly tease him for that level of ineptitude later. It's amazing that he hasn't already, that he didn't just take a timeout in the middle of it all, for all the times Ky put his hands in the wrong place at the wrong moment, for all the times he ran out of air, for the way he nearly-yes, nearly ended up kneeing Sol in the groin.
Brilliant. Full points for that, to be sure.
He's glad he didn't manage to ruin it completely, even though things are pretty incoherent after that point, just... just moving and grinding and grabbing whatever he could get his hands on to anchor himself because everything had suddenly jumped from good to almost too good. He remembers doing a couple of things that must have hurt, ended up pulling out bits of Sol's hair towards the end, but Sol didn't really mind that, either.
/Really/ didn't mind.
The memory rouses those strange tingles again, making him squirm a little-alright, maybe he should stop thinking about this. Better yet, maybe he should get up, get things done instead of wasting time fantasizing.
"Mrrgh."
The snoring stops, Sol slipping down a little, lips coming to rest on the nape of his neck. At least that allows Ky to free an arm, flexing to make the pins and needles feeling stop. He never realized Sol Badguy could be cuddly, of all things, when he's usually so opposed to staying in close quarters with anyone. Being warm is nice, but a part of Ky almost finds himself wishing he'd just move away in his sleep, so he won't have to wake him.
It's ridiculous, though, because he wanted this, he chose this, and stealing away like a thief in the night is for people who have something to be ashamed of, people who are running away.
He isn't, is pretty sure he never really was for all the time he spent thinking about it, about them and this strange thing that keeps jerking them together like a rubber band, although he might have wished it out of existence once or twice.
Truth be told, he's still surprised that it turned out the way it did. He didn't expect anything beyond being laughed out of the tent when he ran with his own impulse yesterday evening, and finally put a name to that thing by grabbing Sol by the collar and planting one on him in the middle of an argument. He certainly didn't expect reciprocation, not after that period of dreadful silence, and for a self-proclaimed hedonist, Sol was oddly considerate in his own crude fashion.
"You sure about this, kid? There's half a ton of guys out there who'd be nicer to you than me."
As if he hadn't spent debating what to do for as long as he did. With Sol, there was no sugar-coating, no special role he had to assume, and if it all turned out to be a disappointment, at least there was no way he could destroy trust or morale or anything else important.
It was still awkward, though not nearly as awkward as he thought it would be, and now, there's more awkwardness waiting ahead, since they never managed to cover the part of what happens afterwards. Is that sort of thing even talked about? A 'thank you' would seem proper to him, but he's learned long ago that his ideas of propriety are different from everyone else's.
…And if he spent that much time agonizing over a decision in the field, he'd get the entire battalion killed.
Shaking off his thoughts, Ky tries to extricate more of himself in order to properly shove Sol awake. At worst, he could try a spark, but that's not really a nice gesture on top of that botched performance.
"Nnnn."
An arm loops around him, trying to reel him in again. Now he's certain that Sol is at least half awake. Nobody ever mentioned this kind of thing as part of the standard camp story for a night of sex, but he's not sure whether that is because people consider the technicalities of getting up unimportant, or whether that's because his life is, once again, spectacularly strange.
"Stop moving." Sol's voice is a hoarse moan against his shoulder.
"...It's morning."
"'S not morning."
Well, that is surprisingly juvenile.
"I already overslept." He wriggles some more, managing to half-turn around to face Sol.
"Makes it, what. Four instead of three?"
"Almost four thirty."
"Oh, for fuck." Abruptly, Sol lifts his head, bringing them nose to nose. His eyes are bleary and unfocused, the glare trying to take hold there slipping away at their sudden proximity.
"...Um." Not the most intelligent thing he's ever said, Ky is certain, but it's a little hard to come up with something more profound when the coin-memories are skittering out again, bringing back impressions of feel and taste and sound.
"Hi." In the long silence, the annoyance gives way to a grin that's probably supposed to be aggressive or lecherous, but just ends up looking slightly woozy. "Have a good time?"
"Wha- That's not something you ask."
"Oh, really. And here I was about to offer you another ride, if you liked the test drive."
"You're insufferable." He really hopes his face isn't as red as he thinks it is, the stupid stock phrase innuendo taking on an entirely different meaning now that he actually knows what it's like, knows how it feels...
"Hmm, but you knew that."
There is that, and he's getting a crick in the neck from staring at Sol over his own shoulder.
"So? How about it?"
"How about what."
"How about this. You. Me." A handwave. "A couple of nights. Some mornings. Whenever the world isn't ending."
"You want that." Even to his own ears, it comes out more suspicious than surprised, but he didn't expect such an offer. It sounds nice enough in theory, being with someone who doesn't hope for reassurance or guidance, but there's still the question of what Sol is getting out of this. After all, Ky knows the kinds of things that are being said about his person, would have to be deaf and stupid not to hear them, the rumors and the jokes passing between the tents or around the fire.
"Yeah. It'd be pretty hot, don't you think?"
"…I have a high novelty factor."
Sol blinks.
"Farm equipment?" Ky asks mildly, a joke he's quite certain he can pin on the man before him.
Shaking his head, Sol snorts. "Yeah well, I think we can summarily debunk the assumption that you're into garden hoes. You're just too uptight for your own good."
"And too picky to be human, yes. I hear I'm better in fantasy."
People's interest in him is always proportionate to the amount of stories they have heard; it's part of the job, part of what he is, but in comparison to what people imagine him to be, he's really exceptionally boring, all his sexual ponderings easily crammed into the leftover space in his overflowing outbox.
"Oh, come on. We're trying to keep this from turning into some kind of unreasonable pretend-play. So you're not into reciting Bible verses while you're screwing, that's cool. I can live with that. If it helps, I'm not exactly a fucking prize, either."
The strangely deprecating sarcasm throws him briefly, not really matching up with the boundless self-confidence from moments before. Something to be thought about later, when he isn't preoccupied with the offer and the fact that Sol is waiting for an answer.
"So?"
Closing his eyes, Ky nods, and lets the world tilt on its axis.
- Fin -
----
A/N: twigcollins, hope you don't mind those little winks. :)
Many thanks to master_kogane for her help.
I think Sol and Ky... more or less get to know one another twice, in two different ways. The first is the actual meeting that involves lots of beating up, the other... is more or less this, working towards some sort of equilibrium. XD This is supposed to be part of a bigger thing, but yeah. Anyway, C&C is appreciated.
<< Return to Guilty Gear Index | Return to Fanfiction Index >>
Fandom: Guilty Gear
Pairing: Sol/Ky
Rating: R
Contains: implied sex
Notes: A little follow up to Interlude. We had Sol's side, so you know what's the next logical choice.
Breathing Space
Among the soldiers, they say the best skills to have are the ability to instantly fall asleep on any surface, and to wake up just as quickly. If you're not a light sleeper, the field will make one out of you, jerking you awake at any tremor in the ground, at every wayward pebble shifting-and until it does, it's best to pair up with someone who already is.
Ky can't remember a time he's ever been anything else. He must have been, once upon a time, when war seemed far away, the ground a safe, sturdy thing, and there were lullabies, but now he's no longer sure how that worked, falling into a sleep so deep not even a cannon going off could wake him.
Unless, of course, one counts being unconscious.
He does remember the last time he slept in, though-a sort of parting gift from Kliff to him and the rest of the trainees in his group, a Sunday kind of sleep and a breakfast with brioche and loose-leaf Darjeeling, because it would be the last time they'd get to have either. He only slept in that day because someone-Kliff-took his alarm, but in retrospect, he's grateful for that, the memory a nice thing to have.
So this morning is a surprise.
Groping his way out of a dream, his mind slowly stretching towards wakefulness, almost reluctant to begin the day, and for the longest time, it doesn't even occur to him that this is wrong, drugged up on warmth and... he almost forgot what laziness is like.
Of course, when things finally do click, Ky's awake faster and more abruptly than ever, would have gone bolting out of bed if he hadn't been physically prevented from doing so, a heavy weight on top of his back keeping him from moving.
Oh.
"Ngh," the weight says, jostled by his sudden twitch.
/Oh./
The weight spends a minute nosing around, before settling down heavier than before, faint snores tickling the space behind his ear.
The memories come tumbling back in like loose change shaken from a pocket, rolling around a little to make sure he takes notice-kissing, lots of it, messy and utterly incompetent. Hands more or less everywhere, but memory is happy to provide specific instances, in his hair, up his back, down his pants and squeezing his-his butt... okay, there was a lot of that, moving along... some teeth, though that was mostly him, in an embarrassing bout of uninhibited enthusiasm. The first time, it was an accident, too, but Sol didn't-yeah, no, Sol didn't mind that at all.
He's pretty sure the pillow is seconds away from bursting into flames just from the heat on his face, and that wasn't even the really embarrassing part, because there were words...
"Fuck you."
"I think-that was the plan."
...and it's a bit hard to believe he really said that, to believe that he laughed, but he'd been so high-strung, and the offer-"I'll be careful"-just seemed a bit too far from what Sol was like not to laugh. It was his fault, anyway, having a moment of blind rabbit panic when it came to lying down, barely able to keep a charge from building up and ending this on a rather painful note.
He's quite sure Sol will mercilessly tease him for that level of ineptitude later. It's amazing that he hasn't already, that he didn't just take a timeout in the middle of it all, for all the times Ky put his hands in the wrong place at the wrong moment, for all the times he ran out of air, for the way he nearly-yes, nearly ended up kneeing Sol in the groin.
Brilliant. Full points for that, to be sure.
He's glad he didn't manage to ruin it completely, even though things are pretty incoherent after that point, just... just moving and grinding and grabbing whatever he could get his hands on to anchor himself because everything had suddenly jumped from good to almost too good. He remembers doing a couple of things that must have hurt, ended up pulling out bits of Sol's hair towards the end, but Sol didn't really mind that, either.
/Really/ didn't mind.
The memory rouses those strange tingles again, making him squirm a little-alright, maybe he should stop thinking about this. Better yet, maybe he should get up, get things done instead of wasting time fantasizing.
"Mrrgh."
The snoring stops, Sol slipping down a little, lips coming to rest on the nape of his neck. At least that allows Ky to free an arm, flexing to make the pins and needles feeling stop. He never realized Sol Badguy could be cuddly, of all things, when he's usually so opposed to staying in close quarters with anyone. Being warm is nice, but a part of Ky almost finds himself wishing he'd just move away in his sleep, so he won't have to wake him.
It's ridiculous, though, because he wanted this, he chose this, and stealing away like a thief in the night is for people who have something to be ashamed of, people who are running away.
He isn't, is pretty sure he never really was for all the time he spent thinking about it, about them and this strange thing that keeps jerking them together like a rubber band, although he might have wished it out of existence once or twice.
Truth be told, he's still surprised that it turned out the way it did. He didn't expect anything beyond being laughed out of the tent when he ran with his own impulse yesterday evening, and finally put a name to that thing by grabbing Sol by the collar and planting one on him in the middle of an argument. He certainly didn't expect reciprocation, not after that period of dreadful silence, and for a self-proclaimed hedonist, Sol was oddly considerate in his own crude fashion.
"You sure about this, kid? There's half a ton of guys out there who'd be nicer to you than me."
As if he hadn't spent debating what to do for as long as he did. With Sol, there was no sugar-coating, no special role he had to assume, and if it all turned out to be a disappointment, at least there was no way he could destroy trust or morale or anything else important.
It was still awkward, though not nearly as awkward as he thought it would be, and now, there's more awkwardness waiting ahead, since they never managed to cover the part of what happens afterwards. Is that sort of thing even talked about? A 'thank you' would seem proper to him, but he's learned long ago that his ideas of propriety are different from everyone else's.
…And if he spent that much time agonizing over a decision in the field, he'd get the entire battalion killed.
Shaking off his thoughts, Ky tries to extricate more of himself in order to properly shove Sol awake. At worst, he could try a spark, but that's not really a nice gesture on top of that botched performance.
"Nnnn."
An arm loops around him, trying to reel him in again. Now he's certain that Sol is at least half awake. Nobody ever mentioned this kind of thing as part of the standard camp story for a night of sex, but he's not sure whether that is because people consider the technicalities of getting up unimportant, or whether that's because his life is, once again, spectacularly strange.
"Stop moving." Sol's voice is a hoarse moan against his shoulder.
"...It's morning."
"'S not morning."
Well, that is surprisingly juvenile.
"I already overslept." He wriggles some more, managing to half-turn around to face Sol.
"Makes it, what. Four instead of three?"
"Almost four thirty."
"Oh, for fuck." Abruptly, Sol lifts his head, bringing them nose to nose. His eyes are bleary and unfocused, the glare trying to take hold there slipping away at their sudden proximity.
"...Um." Not the most intelligent thing he's ever said, Ky is certain, but it's a little hard to come up with something more profound when the coin-memories are skittering out again, bringing back impressions of feel and taste and sound.
"Hi." In the long silence, the annoyance gives way to a grin that's probably supposed to be aggressive or lecherous, but just ends up looking slightly woozy. "Have a good time?"
"Wha- That's not something you ask."
"Oh, really. And here I was about to offer you another ride, if you liked the test drive."
"You're insufferable." He really hopes his face isn't as red as he thinks it is, the stupid stock phrase innuendo taking on an entirely different meaning now that he actually knows what it's like, knows how it feels...
"Hmm, but you knew that."
There is that, and he's getting a crick in the neck from staring at Sol over his own shoulder.
"So? How about it?"
"How about what."
"How about this. You. Me." A handwave. "A couple of nights. Some mornings. Whenever the world isn't ending."
"You want that." Even to his own ears, it comes out more suspicious than surprised, but he didn't expect such an offer. It sounds nice enough in theory, being with someone who doesn't hope for reassurance or guidance, but there's still the question of what Sol is getting out of this. After all, Ky knows the kinds of things that are being said about his person, would have to be deaf and stupid not to hear them, the rumors and the jokes passing between the tents or around the fire.
"Yeah. It'd be pretty hot, don't you think?"
"…I have a high novelty factor."
Sol blinks.
"Farm equipment?" Ky asks mildly, a joke he's quite certain he can pin on the man before him.
Shaking his head, Sol snorts. "Yeah well, I think we can summarily debunk the assumption that you're into garden hoes. You're just too uptight for your own good."
"And too picky to be human, yes. I hear I'm better in fantasy."
People's interest in him is always proportionate to the amount of stories they have heard; it's part of the job, part of what he is, but in comparison to what people imagine him to be, he's really exceptionally boring, all his sexual ponderings easily crammed into the leftover space in his overflowing outbox.
"Oh, come on. We're trying to keep this from turning into some kind of unreasonable pretend-play. So you're not into reciting Bible verses while you're screwing, that's cool. I can live with that. If it helps, I'm not exactly a fucking prize, either."
The strangely deprecating sarcasm throws him briefly, not really matching up with the boundless self-confidence from moments before. Something to be thought about later, when he isn't preoccupied with the offer and the fact that Sol is waiting for an answer.
"So?"
Closing his eyes, Ky nods, and lets the world tilt on its axis.
- Fin -
----
A/N: twigcollins, hope you don't mind those little winks. :)
Many thanks to master_kogane for her help.
I think Sol and Ky... more or less get to know one another twice, in two different ways. The first is the actual meeting that involves lots of beating up, the other... is more or less this, working towards some sort of equilibrium. XD This is supposed to be part of a bigger thing, but yeah. Anyway, C&C is appreciated.
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