A to Z Drabbles - Master Post
Apr. 26th, 2010 01:52 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
browncoat2x2A for Again
B for Bouquet - Might-Have-Beens
C
D
E for Explanation (or Exhaustion/Exhausted) - Only So Long
F for Failed Proposal - What Still Could Be (Sequel to Might-Have-Beens)
G
H
I
J for Jellyfish
K
L
M
N
O for Oil
P
Q
R
S for Socks
T
U
V
W
X
Y
Z
A for Again – Firefly, Mal/Inara
It had to have been ten, maybe fifteen years; to be honest she’d expected them to run into each other long before now. Here he was, finally.
“Inara,” he greeted, as though he saw her every day.
“Mal,” she answered, equally nonchalant.
“Still whorin’?” he asked, though his lips were curved in a smile that was teasing, not cruel. Her lips twitched.
“Still thieving?” she countered and he grinned widely. He looked so young, she thought. Oh, there were the signs of time and she knew he was older, but the weight he’d always carried on his shoulders seemed to have lessened and he looked the younger for it.
“You stayin’ somewhere near-by? Or are you on the clock? I wouldn’t mind catching up if you have the time,” he said, open and direct; it only added to his attractiveness and she felt her heart give an almost painful thump in her chest.
“I have the time.” For you, always.
“Good, good,” he said nodding. “You look good.” He smiled.
She smiled. “So do you,” she said, feeling giddy.
Might-Have-Beens
(B for Bouquet - Firefly, Mal/Inara)
It had been a hard thing, deciding to come. Not to the wedding itself; she was delighted for River and her beau, so pleased that the girl – woman now – had found love and stability and a life as close to normal as she could.
It was knowing Mal would be here, of course.
That he’d given away the bride was no surprise, especially with Simon standing as Best Man, but the outright open affection between them, that had surprised her. Not that the affection itself was unexpected, they’d always shared a bond, the two of them, but for Malcolm Reynolds to show that much emotion, that much softness, in public…
She sat, after, idly twirling the bouquet of dried silk flowers that River had undoubtedly intentionally thrown to her, waiting. She knew he would come.
“Means a lot to her, you bein’ here,” he said as he sat beside her on the window ledge; beside but far enough away not to be considered next to her.
She could feel his eyes on the bouquet and wondered if he mourned for opportunities long past. She stilled her fingers. “Terry seems a fine fellow,” she said, lifting her gaze to find the newlyweds on the dance floor.
“Seems an awful lot like Simon, you ask me,” he groused, and it was plain in his tone that he wasn’t one hundred percent sure of the match. But it was just as obvious that River had him wound around her little finger and he would have denied her nothing her heart desired. It was a welcome glimpse of the man she preferred to remember and she smiled, forgetting for a moment.
“He reminds me of you,” she said, a touch of fondness in her voice and he looked at her, a wry smile finally curving his lips as he looked away, silently acknowledging that he’d thought as much himself.
“Think she’d have sense enough not to go marryin’ someone like me,” he said, and she steeled herself against the statement, refusing to let herself be drawn in.
“She’s so grown up,” she said instead, watching the young woman she remembered as a fragile, mostly broken girl dance with the man that was now her husband. “It’s hard to believe—“
“How long are you stayin’?” he asked, his voice harder than it had been.
She paused. “My shuttle leaves tonight,” she said, deciding in that instant to change her booking from the following morning.
Mal nodded. “Good.”
She watched him as he went, feeling a pang in her heart for their might-have-beens. Then she stood and made her farewells, the bouquet left on the ledge, forgotten.
C
D
Only So Long
E for Explanation (or Exhaustion/Exhausted) – Firefly, Mal/Inara
He watched for as long as he could.
It was hard, but he’d held back, physically restraining himself for far longer than he’d thought himself capable, knowing that any approach would be refused and unappreciated. But he could watch for only so long, pretend for only so long that he didn’t know every step was taking its toll, every action wearing her down, bringing her closer and closer to exhaustion. He could ignore for only so long the pain he saw in her eyes, growing clearer every day.
And so today, when she stumbled and he couldn’t just watch any longer, when he caught her with an arm around her waist, he didn’t care that she mightn’t want his help, didn’t care that she mightn’t want to acknowledge that she needed help.
But when she looked to him without asking for an explanation, and he saw the gratitude in her eyes, he cared.
He was never more afraid in his life.
What Still Could Be
F for Failed Proposal (Sequel to Might-Have-Beens) Mal/Inara
Notes: Happy Ending-ish Sequel to Might-Have-Beens for all those who begged for it ;o) I didn't manage to get giggling in there, but I touched on the failed proposal sorta and I got a kiss in there, so, hopefully this satisfies :o)
The docks were depressingly empty as Inara slowly made her way to where the passenger shuttle sat, waiting to take her back to her life. Sounds of merriment trailed after her, music, laughter and warm light spilling from the hall she’d left behind.
It hurt to look back.
She quickened her pace, even now feeling the pull of that world, urging her to return. All the more reason to leave now, tonight, she knew. Otherwise—
“Inara.”
Oh no. Her breath caught, her feet stumbling to a stop. Traitors. She closed her eyes, willing him to just let her go, knowing he never would. She sighed. “Must we always do this Mal?” she asked wearily, turning to face him.
“’You really just gonna leave?” he retorted angrily, stepping into her space.
“What else am I supposed to do?” she hissed through clenched teeth, refusing to back away.
“Stay,” he whispered, the anger leaving him in a desperate plea, his hand searching out hers entreatingly.
She felt her chest grow tight. Oh no. “Mal…” She pulled her hand away and shook her head in hopeless exasperation, turning for the shuttle.
“Inara!” He caught her wrist, pulling her back to him, his eyes imploring. “You asked me once why I didn’t stop you. Seems to me that meant you wanted me to.”
“That was a long time ago. Mal,” she said beseechingly. “It’s too late for the might-have-beens.”
“Ain’t interested in what might have been,” he said stubbornly, his hand squeezing hers. “‘s what still could be that matters. Back then I weren’t brave enough to stop you from goin’, an’ you weren’t brave enough to stay. But now I’m here, an’ so are you.”
“Mal—“
“You don’t wanna get married, we don’t get married. That ain’t what’s important. But I love you, Inara,” he said with absolute conviction. “An’ I know you love me. That’s all that matters. We make the rest work.”
“But it never works, Mal,” she said, despairing. “Every time, we end up right back here.”
Mal nodded. “An’ we probably will again. But that’s okay. It’s okay, Inara,” he said fervently. “An’ when you leave again, I’ll let you go. Until the next time. An’ then we’ll do it all over again. An’ we’ll do it all over again the time after that. An’ the time after that, an’ the time after that, for as long as we can. Because that’s what matters. You an’ me, an’ takin’ every scrap of happiness we can in this ‘verse, for however much time we can take it.”
She searched for an argument, for the words to refute what he was saying; her eyes closed in defeat.
He stepped closer. “You know I’m right,” he said, breath hot on her ear sending shivers down her spine, just like always.
“It’s crazy,” she whispered, protesting weakly.
“Conjure it is,” he agreed and she could hear the smile in his voice.
Buddha help me, she thought, shaking her head. “I can’t believe I’m doing this aga—“
Her words were silenced by the press of his lips.
G
H
I
J for Jellyfish – Firefly, Kaylee/Simon
“Ain’t they beautiful, all floaty and glowin’?” Kaylee said, gazing into the tank that teemed with luminescent creatures. Of all the cargos they’d hauled in Serenity, she thought these ‘jellyfish’ were some of the most fine-looking. “Sometimes I imagine they’re like living nebulas, just floatin’ in the black,” she said in hushed tones. “Or aliens maybe, they’re so strange and different.” She turned to Simon, smiling. “You ever see anything so pretty?”
Simon stared back, his eyes never leaving hers. “Every day,” he said, answering before he thought too much about it. And for once, he said the right thing.
K
L
M
N
O for Oil - Doctor Who -
“Amy,” the Doctor’s voice came with calm urgency, “don’t step in that puddle.”
“What? Oh, the oil, thanks,” Amy replied, sidestepping the pool of black, colour-swirled liquid on the ground. She stopped, bending to get a closer look. It was rather pretty, actually, now that she saw it, all those colours swimming, around and around, swirling, swirling—
The Doctor’s hand came down on her shoulder and she startled, blinking.
“That’s not oil,” he said in her ear gravely, but he didn’t have to tell her. She could still feel the slippery, slick probing of the thing’s mind in hers, slithering about.
“Doctor, that…thing,” Amy said, horror-struck. “It’s alive.”
“They all are,” he said, and she realized with sudden horror that the puddles were everywhere around them, as far as the eye could see. “I think we’d best get back to the TARDIS now,” he suggested, eyes darting about.
One of the puddles slithered towards them. Amy shrieked, pressing back into the Doctor.
“Doctor!?”
“Amy,” he said abruptly, “Run!”
P
Q
R
S is for SOCKS / Twin Peaks / Cooper/Audrey
“Hello Audrey,” Special Agent Dale Cooper said as he answered the knock and invited the girl in.
“Are you busy?” she asked, slipping past him, catching her bottom lip between her teeth as she turned, one foot lifting to its toe as she swayed side to side slightly. Cooper found his eyes drawn, as they always were, to her black and white mary janes and those short, ankle height, lace-trimmed bobby socks--
“So I was thinking,” Audrey said, in her earnestly coy manner, “now that you know who killed Laura, I mean, doesn’t that mean your investigation is over?”
“Yes, Audrey, yes it does,” Cooper agreed, nodding distractedly.
“So, I’m no longer involved in one of your investigations,” she stated, bending slightly to catch his gaze.
He pulled his eyes from those socks, alllll the way up to her face, smiling as her words, and the meaning behind them, sank in. He grinned sharply.
“You wanna play with fire, little girl?”
---
(Notes: Okay, so it doesn't really work unless this is post Season 2, which makes the idea a bit dicey, as we don't know Audrey's fate, or what happens after they get in that bathroom and see Cooper, but it's a drabble and I'm playing, so nyah! ;o)
T
U
V
W
X
Y
Z
no subject
Date: 2010-05-15 01:14 pm (UTC)