Original request:
"Any/Any - Beatles songs
One-shots, drabbles, whatever, of any pairing, using Beatles songs as inspiration!
(bonus?; I said any pairing, and of course since it's the Beatles I expect lots of UsUk, but if you really want to make this requester happy... her favorite are the Nordics and Central/Eastern Europe, especially SuFin and LietPol. ;) )
Diversity is the best, so multifills with different pairings encouraged! It's not like there's not a lot of songs to choose from anyway..!"
This fill was inspired by the song "Blackbird," specifically the version from the film "Across the Universe."
Feliks awoke very suddenly, eyes opening in the dark bedroom. He lay there for a short while, piled under the blankets, wondering what it was that had stirred him. The window was closed, and it wasn't too cold, so what is the world…
And he heard it again ; a soft, small, melodic voice drifting through the house in the dead of night. He sat up, sending his blanket tumbling onto the floor, and stared at his door in amazement.
No way... I haven't heard him singing in years!
He slipped out of bed and into his slippers, padding as stealthily as he could out of his bedroom and across the hall, to the guest room. The door was open a crack, and he could hear the tune wafting through the air. It was slow and it was sad, but it was ithere/i, flowing through words so old that few understood them and even less spoke them. As far as Feliks was concerned, it was still a definite improvement from the timid silence of the last few decades.
He nudged the door gently and it swung open without a sound, revealing a small, but cozy room awash in moonlight. The window was wide open and the curtains pulled aside, letting a cool breeze, as soft and slow as the song, waft into the room.
Despite the chill, Toris was bare from the waist up, sitting on the side of his bed, staring out the window into the dark, black night. Feliks grimaced at the ragged, uneven scars criss-crossing his friend's back, but was soon distracted by his voice instead. It was practically a whisper, tiny and cautious, as if afraid that if it were too loud, it would be silenced all together, but there was strength underlying those ancient words, a determination to be heard, to prove itself.
Feliks was debating on whether he should step farther into the room or return to his own bed, when the floorboards made up his mind for him. He shifted his weight slightly and they creaked, the sound cutting through the night like a knife. The singing stopped abruptly, Toris whipping around and staring his friend in the doorway, eyes wide, before looking away quickly, ears turning pink as he stuttered an apology.
"S-Sorry, I must have woken you-"
"It's okay."
Toris glanced back up, still looking guilty and embarrassed, like he had been caught doing something shameful.
Feliks hesitated a moment, and then stepped past the door and into the room. He clambered across the bed and sat wordlessly next to his old friend, chin resting on his knees and arms curled round his legs. He felt Toris's eyes on him, but kept his gaze on the open window. Eventually, the other nation followed his line of sight and they looked out into the night together, silent.
"Haven't heard you singing in a while," Feliks murmured into the quietude.
Toris made a small, noncommittal noise, apparently still abashed.
"…You should do it more often."
By the time Feliks turned his head, Toris was already looking at him again. In the shadows of the night, his eyes looked sunken and his face much older, but there was a light in his gaze, like he seeing properly despite the gloom. Feliks's lips quirked into a smile, surprisingly shy and completely honest, and dropped a hand on top of the other's, still resting on the bed.
"I mean it, Liet. You can sing whenever you want, now."
And Toris finally smiled, the expression blossoming on his face like it had been waiting for this very moment to arise. A warm, gentle a sort of joy fluttered in Feliks's chest.
That's it, Liet. Take these broken wings and learn to fly…