April 9, 2013: I did a prompt meme over on tumblr a little bit ago and forgot to post the results to ff_net. Oops. ^_^
For verstehen1.
Smother
by Renee-chan
Lydia was long used to the feel of people's eyes upon her. Ever since she'd been a child, her fiery hair flashing in the sun as she ran, people had watched. They admired her for her beauty, her vitality, her brilliant smile. As she aged they stared for other reasons - because they admired her wit, because she was brilliant, because they didn't dare look away for fear of missing what she would do next.
There was always something to do next.
Lydia had loved the feel of those eyes upon her, the adoration that followed her like the train of a gown, so there was always a "next," always some new thing to captivate everyone's attention, to keep them looking. Lydia loved to shine and the others - her family, her friends, the entire town - loved to watch her shine.
That was then.
Now, those eyes were different. They still watched her, still waited to see what she would do next, but now… there was nothing kind in those eyes. Those gazes were filled with the almost gleeful anticipation that comes of watching a hero about to fall. Crazy Lydia. The girl who ran naked in the woods for days. The girl who saw things. The girl who couldn't let go of what she'd once been to embrace the reality of what she was now… ordinary.
But, his eyes… they were different. When he looked upon her, his gaze held no pity, no disdain. His eyes still held admiration, wonder, anticipation. He knew that there was still something to do next… and that that something would be glorious. He alone still remembered that Lydia was capable of so much more, that she was capable of brilliance, that she could still shine like the sun.
So, though he frightened her, though he filled her dreams with nightmares and her waking hours with fear, still she returned to him, time and time again, because in his eyes, she was no mouse waiting to become dinner, not helpless prey.
She was the hunter. And she would not be cowed.
