Handwritten Copy

by Tastes of Strawberries

[Frances Hardinge] A collection of Fly By Night drabbles. May contain slash, age differences, excessive fluff, and general nonsense. Each chapter can stand alone, and each has a different rating, but none will exceed the rating of the collection.

Complement, Copperback/Pertellis, K+.

"I was going to say something to you earlier, you know. But I didn't want to upset you. And I was afraid you might tell someone else."

"Do I seem like that kind of person to you?" Pertellis asked. He sounded shocked, and more than a little hurt, and Copperback had to tear his eyes away from the younger man's face.

"No," he said at last. "But I couldn't be sure. People can be funny about...people like me. Like us."

"They shouldn't be. I would never be. Even if I weren't the way I am. I thought you knew that."

"I did- I mean, I do," Copperback replied. "It's just...people gossip, and people judge, and it gets to me. Changes me. I let them scare me. I know they're wrong, but that doesn't change a thing."

Pertellis nodded. "You care too much about what people think, and I- well, sometimes I think I might care too little." His cheeks turned slightly red, and Copperback knew he was thinking about the incident with the Locksmiths. There was a long pause, and at last Pertellis broke the silence.

"But it works," the younger man said brightly. "It works because we complement each other."