Fic: Dim Amber Flame
Author: Iorhael
Title: Dim Amber Flame
Challenge: Genre Challenge
Pairing: Sean/Elijah
Rating: PG
Summary: Sean went home to an empty house. His wife and daughters were gone.
AN: My genre is "Paranormal" with prompts: attic, velvet, hand, fire, coin. My greatest thanks go to addie71 for the beta. *hugs you* And to the mods and readers, sorry if I didn’t get all the prompts into the fic. ^__^
Sean unlocked the door and walked in. His house was empty now and he didn’t know if he would ever get used to that. Christine and the kids had decided to move out despite his attempt to get them to stay and let him move out. They didn’t listen. They just didn’t seem to want to have anything to do with him or stuff that would remind them of him. Sean didn’t blame them after all that happened. One small mistake was all they needed.
Sean thought of moving out himself. It was just not necessary for him to stay in a place this big. Perhaps he could rent an apartment while putting this house on the market and looking for a more fitting location.
Right. So. Packing time.
He knew he had to have all he needed in one duffel bag and nothing more. Still he felt he needed to check everything, all the rooms, making sure nothing important was left behind, and wondered if he was kidding himself. Those rooms, his master bedroom, Ally’s and Lizzy’s, the sitting room, the study, even the kitchen, felt so bare now although most of the things remained in place. Sean felt his heart clench and he grappled for something to hold on to. The framed pictures were even still on the drawers and nightstands. It was as if no one really left; they were just at school or at the market, and would be back later. Sean almost couldn’t believe it. What had she said to the kids to have them simply ignore all those things?
Sean dragged himself up to the attic, knowing there was only stuff filled with memories stored there, but he still had to see.
The wooden floor creaked as Sean stepped on it. He clicked the lamp on and streaks of dim light bathed the small room. Tangled spider webs crisscrossed above Sean’s head forcing him to stoop a little. He spotted Ally’s wooden horse in the corner and a shelf full of books, trophies, and keepsakes collecting dusts. Sean wiped the dust off those things and sighed. Why do people tend to do this, keep things, when all they do next is lock them away and forget them? When he managed to sell the house later, he might just pack them up into boxes and store them into a warehouse somewhere.
Filling slightly dizzy with pent-up emotion, Sean made to leave the attic and he was just about to step down the ladder when a curious sight across the room caught his eyes. He halted and climbed back up again, closing the trap door.
It was tiny, dim amber flame, which was floating slightly above the floor, surrounded by the darkness around it. It stirred a little when Sean sneaked closer as if it noticed his movement and when Sean stopped, it froze, too. Sean frowned. There was no sign of fire anywhere else or a Zippo lying around that might have just turned itself on. Sean reached out and the small flame swayed again.
“What are you?” Sean whispered.
The amber flickered, and froze up. A coin rolled down toward Sean from nowhere. Sean caught his breath as he picked up the coin. It was smooth with no patterns on its two sides, unlike any other coins. He rubbed on its surface and stared back at the fire that was now dancing furiously.
“What the-” Sean stopped, tilting his head as he thought he heard banging from a door somewhere downstairs. He quickly rose, the coin forgotten, and when he turned back, the slim amber was gone. Briefly stunned, he finally shook it off and dashed out of the attic. It totally escaped him that a face had slowly appeared on the coin.
“Hey,” Sean said once he caught his breath, opening the door. “W-what are you doing here?”
Before him stood Elijah, all red-faced and sweaty, as if he had run all the way there.
“Sean! You okay?”
“Sure. Why?”
“I, uhh…” Elijah didn’t say anything more, going past Sean into the house, looking around, and turned back to Sean to hug him tight. “I’m so glad you’re okay.”
“’Lij?” Sean held him for a second before pulling back, holding Elijah’s arms. “What’s wrong?”
Elijah exhaled, his smile sad. “’Twas just a dream, Sean. But your house was burned down and I couldn’t see you anywhere.”
“Dream?” Sean checked his watch. It was two in the morning. Funny how he hadn’t realized that.
Elijah nodded.
“And my house was burned down.” Sean remembered the tiny flame.
“Yes.”
“It’s weird, but…” Sean gently ushered Elijah to the back of the house. “I wanna show you something.”
“Sean, are you all right?”
“Yeah.”
“I’m sorry about your family, man.”
Sean went silent.
“Sean?” Elijah turned to look at him.
“’Lij, are you sorry about us?”
“Huh?”
“What we did - do you regret it?”
“Man… your wife and daughters - I can’t even begin to imagine how you feel.”
“Have you ever thought that you might be the best thing that’s ever happened to me?” Sean carried on as if he didn’t hear Elijah’s words. “My family left me because - because people change, ‘Lij.”
“You love your family.”
“Of course I do but it won’t stop me from loving you, too. And if they can’t accept that, it’s their problem, not mine.”
“Sean, don’t. You don’t mean that.”
“Of course I do.”
“No. Just look at this place. It’s still full of them. I can feel it. They will be back.”
Sean hung his head. “What do I do?” He felt lost, and was totally grateful when Elijah gathered him into his arms. Sean felt Elijah's lips graze his hair.
“You will stay here and wait for them.”
“But-” He looked up, and frowned at Elijah’s smile.
“With me,” said Elijah. “Now, what was it that you wanted to show me?”
Warmth washed over Sean’s heart. He wouldn’t be alone. And to his complete relief, he didn’t have to move out of the house, something he hadn’t realized he was dreading. He took Elijah’s hand.
“Come on. It’s in the attic. There was this flame…” But then Sean realized that the flame had disappeared. He felt himself blush, realizing how ridiculous he must look. “Umm, nothing,” he mumbled.
But Elijah had beaten him to it and climbed up into the attic himself.
“Hey, Sean,” he called from upstairs. “Where did this come from?”
What? Sean thought and went up the ladder.
Elijah showed him a coin he found, and Sean’s jaw dropped as he saw the familiar face carved on one of its sides.
“How can it be?” Sean muttered as he picked the coin and looked more closely. His heart pounded hard at the sheer resemblance between the handsome profile on it and Elijah’s lovely features.
~~~
Title: Dim Amber Flame
Challenge: Genre Challenge
Pairing: Sean/Elijah
Rating: PG
Summary: Sean went home to an empty house. His wife and daughters were gone.
AN: My genre is "Paranormal" with prompts: attic, velvet, hand, fire, coin. My greatest thanks go to addie71 for the beta. *hugs you* And to the mods and readers, sorry if I didn’t get all the prompts into the fic. ^__^
Sean unlocked the door and walked in. His house was empty now and he didn’t know if he would ever get used to that. Christine and the kids had decided to move out despite his attempt to get them to stay and let him move out. They didn’t listen. They just didn’t seem to want to have anything to do with him or stuff that would remind them of him. Sean didn’t blame them after all that happened. One small mistake was all they needed.
Sean thought of moving out himself. It was just not necessary for him to stay in a place this big. Perhaps he could rent an apartment while putting this house on the market and looking for a more fitting location.
Right. So. Packing time.
He knew he had to have all he needed in one duffel bag and nothing more. Still he felt he needed to check everything, all the rooms, making sure nothing important was left behind, and wondered if he was kidding himself. Those rooms, his master bedroom, Ally’s and Lizzy’s, the sitting room, the study, even the kitchen, felt so bare now although most of the things remained in place. Sean felt his heart clench and he grappled for something to hold on to. The framed pictures were even still on the drawers and nightstands. It was as if no one really left; they were just at school or at the market, and would be back later. Sean almost couldn’t believe it. What had she said to the kids to have them simply ignore all those things?
Sean dragged himself up to the attic, knowing there was only stuff filled with memories stored there, but he still had to see.
The wooden floor creaked as Sean stepped on it. He clicked the lamp on and streaks of dim light bathed the small room. Tangled spider webs crisscrossed above Sean’s head forcing him to stoop a little. He spotted Ally’s wooden horse in the corner and a shelf full of books, trophies, and keepsakes collecting dusts. Sean wiped the dust off those things and sighed. Why do people tend to do this, keep things, when all they do next is lock them away and forget them? When he managed to sell the house later, he might just pack them up into boxes and store them into a warehouse somewhere.
Filling slightly dizzy with pent-up emotion, Sean made to leave the attic and he was just about to step down the ladder when a curious sight across the room caught his eyes. He halted and climbed back up again, closing the trap door.
It was tiny, dim amber flame, which was floating slightly above the floor, surrounded by the darkness around it. It stirred a little when Sean sneaked closer as if it noticed his movement and when Sean stopped, it froze, too. Sean frowned. There was no sign of fire anywhere else or a Zippo lying around that might have just turned itself on. Sean reached out and the small flame swayed again.
“What are you?” Sean whispered.
The amber flickered, and froze up. A coin rolled down toward Sean from nowhere. Sean caught his breath as he picked up the coin. It was smooth with no patterns on its two sides, unlike any other coins. He rubbed on its surface and stared back at the fire that was now dancing furiously.
“What the-” Sean stopped, tilting his head as he thought he heard banging from a door somewhere downstairs. He quickly rose, the coin forgotten, and when he turned back, the slim amber was gone. Briefly stunned, he finally shook it off and dashed out of the attic. It totally escaped him that a face had slowly appeared on the coin.
“Hey,” Sean said once he caught his breath, opening the door. “W-what are you doing here?”
Before him stood Elijah, all red-faced and sweaty, as if he had run all the way there.
“Sean! You okay?”
“Sure. Why?”
“I, uhh…” Elijah didn’t say anything more, going past Sean into the house, looking around, and turned back to Sean to hug him tight. “I’m so glad you’re okay.”
“’Lij?” Sean held him for a second before pulling back, holding Elijah’s arms. “What’s wrong?”
Elijah exhaled, his smile sad. “’Twas just a dream, Sean. But your house was burned down and I couldn’t see you anywhere.”
“Dream?” Sean checked his watch. It was two in the morning. Funny how he hadn’t realized that.
Elijah nodded.
“And my house was burned down.” Sean remembered the tiny flame.
“Yes.”
“It’s weird, but…” Sean gently ushered Elijah to the back of the house. “I wanna show you something.”
“Sean, are you all right?”
“Yeah.”
“I’m sorry about your family, man.”
Sean went silent.
“Sean?” Elijah turned to look at him.
“’Lij, are you sorry about us?”
“Huh?”
“What we did - do you regret it?”
“Man… your wife and daughters - I can’t even begin to imagine how you feel.”
“Have you ever thought that you might be the best thing that’s ever happened to me?” Sean carried on as if he didn’t hear Elijah’s words. “My family left me because - because people change, ‘Lij.”
“You love your family.”
“Of course I do but it won’t stop me from loving you, too. And if they can’t accept that, it’s their problem, not mine.”
“Sean, don’t. You don’t mean that.”
“Of course I do.”
“No. Just look at this place. It’s still full of them. I can feel it. They will be back.”
Sean hung his head. “What do I do?” He felt lost, and was totally grateful when Elijah gathered him into his arms. Sean felt Elijah's lips graze his hair.
“You will stay here and wait for them.”
“But-” He looked up, and frowned at Elijah’s smile.
“With me,” said Elijah. “Now, what was it that you wanted to show me?”
Warmth washed over Sean’s heart. He wouldn’t be alone. And to his complete relief, he didn’t have to move out of the house, something he hadn’t realized he was dreading. He took Elijah’s hand.
“Come on. It’s in the attic. There was this flame…” But then Sean realized that the flame had disappeared. He felt himself blush, realizing how ridiculous he must look. “Umm, nothing,” he mumbled.
But Elijah had beaten him to it and climbed up into the attic himself.
“Hey, Sean,” he called from upstairs. “Where did this come from?”
What? Sean thought and went up the ladder.
Elijah showed him a coin he found, and Sean’s jaw dropped as he saw the familiar face carved on one of its sides.
“How can it be?” Sean muttered as he picked the coin and looked more closely. His heart pounded hard at the sheer resemblance between the handsome profile on it and Elijah’s lovely features.
~~~