This is my very first attempt writing about Gil/Oz, and I used a sentence fic to get me over the hump. There seems to be an unspoken assumption I have about a sentence fic that each sentence has to be a nugget of poetic profundity. Let's just say, "I tried."
I got the 50 words for this fic from SharkGirl's "Order and Chaos" (totally worth reading BTW if you are a Reim/Break fan). It's in my favorite stories pile if you are looking for it.
I dedicate this one to total_alias, who has been wonderful with not only reviewing my work and providing moral support, but also with dragging me into the land of Ozbert. Happy Birthday!
(cue pretentious title)
"Shards of splintered light dapple the somber shadows"
1) Motion
Alone in the carriage together, Oz pulled back his shirt to reveal that his incuse had moved; Gil became acutely aware of the motion of the carriage, but felt even more sickened by the motion of time passing, and how little control he had over it.
2) Cool
Aching with longing for his missing master, Gil rubbed his hands together to warm them – remembered how Oz used to hold his hand when they were children – and felt the cool breeze of memory chill the tear stains on his cheeks.
3) Young
There were days when Gil wished he could be as young as Oz again, and days when Oz wished he were as old as Gil, and although such days occasionally intersected, their wishes were unlikely to ever come true.
4) Opposite
They sat opposite one another in the carriage, rolling along like yin and yang – one with dark inside his light, the other with light inside his dark.
5) Last
Both Oz and Gil dreamed they were racing – against each other, against their friends, against time – Oz always came in first in his dreams; Gil always came in last, short of breath and struggling to keep up.
6) Wrong
Gil worried his feelings for Oz were wrong, but at the same time knew that feelings are feelings, and like opinions, they can never really be wrong – just disagreed with.
7) Blur
The time Gil had spent without Oz were a blur; this fact was brought sharply into focus in the cruelest of ways, when Alice shone her blinding light on them and brought a new focus to their lives.
8) Gentle
Touching Oz's hair with his gentle hands, Gil sometimes thought of himself as the father that Oz never really had.
9) Learn
Gil observed that even though Oz studied harder than most, he failed to learn that the most important truths are found within your own heart, if only you have the strength to face them.
10) Thousand
After a thousand days and nights without Oz, Gil finally almost – but not quite – forgot his master's scent.
11) King
Whether he be
a King or a beggar,
I will follow
and serve him forever,
thought Gil in one of his more poetic moods, but then chastised himself for being an ingratiating woobie who writes bad poetry.
12) Change
Like a good servant, Gil helped his master change his clothes; never wondering if someone might one day arrive who could help him change his inner self.
13) Command
Gil wanted to believe he had a good command over his emotions -that he had followed Break's advice like good subordinate -but when Oz came back and Gil renewed his vows to his master, he let Oz command him and his feelings once again.
14) Hold
Gil wanted nothing more than to hold Oz in his arms, but he also knew that if you hold on to something too tightly, it would try to escape, so he kept his desires to himself.
15) Vision
In his darker moments, Oz could still see a vision of young Gil, slashed by his own blade, and the memory never ceased to pain him.
16) Heavy
Oz was sound asleep when Gil – in a protective, motherly gesture -placed his heavy coat on top of the young man as a blanket.
17) Child
Part of what Gil loves about Oz is that he's always been more mature and smarter than his years; part of what Oz loves about Gil is that he's still a child deep inside.
18) Hide
Oz was always orchestrating games where he'd hide and Gil would have to keep secrets about his hiding place; Gil didn't mind the game, until Oz hid in Abyss for ten years.
19) Mad
Oz had his sadistic side, Gil had his masochistic side, but these ways of coping ironically helped them stay sane in a mad world.
20) Wait
"Wait here," said Gil, putting his hat on Oz's head – as if that would somehow keep the young man safe from harm.
21) Picture
The unbirthday picture showed clearly the dynamic between them: Oz smiling happily, focusing on the moment; angry-faced Gil with one hand protectively placed on Oz's shoulder, the other trying to control the wild rabbit that had burrowed a hole between them.
22) Need
I just want someone to need me, thought Gil, and if Oz doesn't need me anymore…who will?
23) Attention
Gil paid attention to his master's every mood, except when he was so caught up in his own moods, he couldn't see past the fog in front of his eyes.
24) Careful
"Be more careful with yourself," said Gil to Oz. "When you put your life in danger it makes me worry."
25) Protection
Oz knew that his master owed protection to his servant, as much as a servant owed protection to his master.
26) Shadow
When Oz stood in the light of that dazzling girl, Gil was cast into shadow.
27) Torn
Even though Oz liked both Gil and Alice, he never felt torn between them, because he knew that each one had a special role to play in his life.
28) Goodbye
Gil regretted that before Oz was plunged into Abyss, he never had a chance to say goodbye, and he feared that when the incuse completed its revolution, he would again miss his chance.
29) Fool
Who was more the fool: the man who was unsteady on his feet and afraid to fall, or the one who said, "Isn't that great? Just fall down!"
30) Bother
When Oz was being honest with himself, he knew that he hated being a bother to people, and this more than anything was what compelled him to be as protective toward Gil as Gil was toward him.
31) Ghost
During those years that Oz was gone, Gil kept expecting to see him whenever he rounded a corner, but the only real ghost in his life was specter of his own conscience.
32) Eye
When Oz pointed Gil's gun at his own chin, he looked Gil in the eye and knew that the strings that bound the two of them were stronger than the ones that were binding Gil to Doldum.
33) Precognition
If Gil was honest with himself, he'd have known that things would turn out this way…but the precognition didn't settle his heart, or give him the wisdom to bring Oz any closer.
34) Safe
Oz knew that he would always be safe with Gil; he was less sure of his ability to keep Gil safe, because too many times he'd hurt his dark-haired servant, and even though it was unintentional, the scars still drew lines of hurt that wouldn't fully heal.
35) Book
For Oz, Gil was one chapter in the book of his life, but for Gil, Oz was the entire book.
36) Never
Gil would never change: not because he couldn't, but because Oz believed he had not, and if he had not become a different person during those ten years, then perhaps he never would.
37) Sudden
When all of a sudden, Gil chased after Zai in Sablier – leaving Oz to cope with his feelings alone – Oz got a taste of the abandonment Gil lived with so many days of his life.
38) Sing
Whenever Oz smiled at him, Gil's heart would sing; but for whatever reason, Oz seemed to take more joy in Gil's suffering than his happiness.
39) Stop
Gil was often yelling "Stop!" to Oz, and to the stupid rabbit and everyone else; they all moved too quickly, in space, time and emotion.
40) Wall
Oz surrounded himself with a wall of smiles; everything's just fine, he'd insist…but Gil knew that the wall of light cast a long, sad shadow.
41) Believe
Oz had an unshakable faith in Gil; to reach his full power, Gil needed to internalize that faith and believe in himself.
42) History
The pictures chronicled their history together almost as well as their elusive memories, but showed only the evidence of sight, while real memories are woven from the tapestry of all five senses.
43) Time
Time heals old wounds, but carves new ones with each ticking of the clock's hands; they spin around so fast that it makes you dizzy – especially when you are spinning the wheels of your mind and going nowhere.
44) Wash
Whenever Gil would wash the chest wound Oz had given him he felt a hurt that went deeper than words.
45) Power
Don't underestimate the dark-winged power that lurks in the shadows, just waiting and yearning for the opportunity to be useful.
46) Lost
Like the day they fell down a hole and discovered the grave and pocket watch, each of them were easily lost in the dark recesses of their respective minds, but on a good day, they could help each other stand up and carry on.
47) Drive
Gilbert's drive to obtain the power of Raven appeared to stem solely from his desire to save Oz; would he have done it merely for his own sake?
48) Harm
You can't make it through life with out doing harm: to yourself, to others, and to your relationships with others.
49) Precious
It would be cliché of me to say that Oz was Gil's precious person, and that their time together was precious…so instead I'll wonder…who or what is most precious to Oz?
50) Hunger
Everyone experiences hunger, but its how you satisfy that hunger that makes all the difference, and Oz and Gil might both need to content themselves with the realization that hunger is an instinct that can never completely be tamed.
(END)
Whew, okay. Just have to mention that #45 was written from a post-Retrace 55 point of view, and that I am curious just how much the balance of power will shift as the story unfolds, and how the relationship between Gil and Oz will evolve between now and the end of the story. It could be that by the end, some of these sentences will somehow seem quaint, but so it goes!