Title: The Truth in the Lines
Author: Bee
Disclaimer: I only own a copy of Tin Man on DVD - not even the idea is mine.
Prompt: Normally it's a word from my list, but Celia Stanton said "I want!" and I can't deny her anything really. So the prompt is Effie.
Word Count: Hardly important this time, although each is a sentence long.
Summary: Everyone's doing the sentences, so like a good little sheep, I'm doing the sentences too. As this series is a CDG-centric one, most of these will be about them, but a couple of them are not…fair warning.
1. Pride
She was proud of what she'd been in Kansas - a waitress, a student - it was better than what she'd been in the OZ: destruction and pain.
2. Prejudice
He couldn't help his smirk when he heard she'd decked the aristo-brat that had called him 'common.'
3. Date
She gives him a wink and a smile and he's suddenly very afraid of this thing called 'a date.'
4. Courage
He's never felt more a coward than when she's looking up at him with tears and rejection in her eyes and he chooses to do nothing but stand there.
5. Passion
He thinks that it was not so much her opening the suit, but her fiery indignation that set him on the path to reconstruction.
6. Emotion
She's gotten good at reading the emotions in his eyes - but for all her efforts, she simply cannot tell if he's lying when he says he doesn't love her back.
7. Hide
When the suns' light is just right, she can disappear among the shadows and wallow in the despair of a thousand begging screams.
8. Hot
She can feel the heat under her collar, and she's willing to bet her motorcycle that it's not from the double suns beating down on them.
9. Secret
There is never time for quiet simplicities when you're breaking the rules - and yet she wishes that he didn't have to love her behind closed doors.
10. Sexy
She'd never thought a formal moniker could sound so sexy than when he says "Hey there, Princess" as his lips are dancing against her neck.
11. Lust
She looked far too much like a woman, and far too little like a girl, in that party dress than was good for his health.
12. I
They don't often talk about themselves; choosing to fight the other's demons is so much easier than trying to ward off their own.
13. Orange
He doesn't stop her when she places a chain of orange blossoms around his neck - despite the glare he levels at the snickering guards - because he doesn't hear her laughter enough anymore.
14. Buy
"It's just an expression," she explains with a laugh, and yet he still doesn't understand the legality of a team paying their way through the first round of a tournament.
15. Truth
He tells her to trust no one but the truth is: he doesn't want her to trust him; he's not sure he can survive failing someone else.
16. Real
None of it was real until she saw him kneeling in mud and tears, and then her notion of a fairytale ending was revealed as another immature illusion.
17. Snow
She sees his reluctant smile, and she feels absolute peace - and then she is spluttering the wet snow from her eyes and cursing him under her breath.
18. Unity
Jeb is saying something in his ear but he doesn't hear it - he's too focused on the woman walking toward him down the aisle.
19. Jargon
Cain glared at her when she asked Glitch to repeat the technical instructions for the fifth time with an all-too amused smile on her face.
20. Maybe
Maybe usually meant no; she wondered if he knew that as her heart broke a little.
21. Forbidden
It's times like these that he wishes he didn't pretend to be so honorable.
22. Baby
She adamantly refuses any pet names from her parents - either set - and he can't help the feeling in his chest when she doesn't stop him from calling her 'Sweetheart.'
23. Think
She is tired of thinking everything through and longs for the careless freedom that pervades her little sister's person.
24. Go On
She says it with a smile and the lingering hope that he won't listen - that he'll stay with her and chase away the shadows when the Light she saved slips from her grasp once more.
25. Soul
He'd left his soul in that suit - but she'd handed it back to him with the honest belief that he was not a killer.
26. Impress
He's never tried to impress her but when dozens of charming, young suitors come flocking to the steps, he finds himself competing for her attention with them.
27. Two
He finds salvation not in the punishment of his enemies - but in the two tiny fingers that try to wrap around one of his.
28. Garden
They are most frequently in the gardens because he craves the fresh air and she can't stand keeping him in even the most gilded of cages.
29. Stare
He stares at her often and she thinks she should feel uncomfortable under his careful scrutiny; instead she finds it calming to know someone cares what's behind the innocent expression.
30. Accident
So many things in her life had been accidents; but falling in love - that had been the biggest accident of all.
31. Lifetime
It was a lifetime ago, but as he looks at her, he can see the girl in the red dress - and a deep pain eases in his chest knowing she is alive.
32. Excuse
Age, station, experience, propriety - she sighs and wonders which excuse he'll give her today.
33. Speech
She's never found talking difficult until he says he's leaving - only then cannot she not call out to stop him.
34. Know
He knows, he can see it in her eyes, but he can't make himself hate her for loving him.
35. Tell
She hopes she'll be able to discover his tells before she bets it all and loses everything.
36. Costume
He feels like this life is all just a costume he's wearing - covering up the truth with romantic ideals.
37. Heart
He hated breaking her heart when she was the one who'd put his back together.
38. Pain
She's never known pain like realizing Popsicle was helping the Sorceress.
39. Stage
He hates the theater but accompanies her anyway because he loves watching her face as she stares at the stage.
40. Blush
He's come to believe she enjoys making the tips of his ears tinge in embarrassment.
41. Scene
It's when he sees her break away from her family's hug that he realizes he's not meant to share this happily ever after with her.
42. Tall
He's marked nearly every inch Sophie's ever grown, hoping one day that DG will be able to share in the tradition with him.
43. Tale
She thinks that if she hadn't lived it, she'd never believe the twisted fairytale she'd stumbled into.
44. Destroy
She's afraid of saying anything to him - too worried about destroying another life with her recklessness.
45. Dress
He knows he's lost when even the most garish of dresses looks absolutely stunning on her.
46. Smoke
Though the bar is thick with smoke and people, she finds him almost immediately and loses herself in the sight of his fedora.
47. Talent
She has an annoying talent for getting into trouble, but he's not sure what he would do if she didn't let him rescue her all the time.
48. Imagine
Az is beginning to think she's no longer imagining the looks she sees between her sister and the Tin Man.
50. Gift
There were no grand proposals, no bended knees, no white doves, no professions of devotion or undying love; he'd never given her flowers or jewelry or chocolate, all he'd ever given her was his heart - but it was all she'd ever wanted.
A/N: Mmkay, so there are some obscure references here - at least I think so - and as such, I've got explanations for some of them.
No. 7 Hide and 23 Think are both Az-centric. She's the only other character who snuck in here, the others were playing in their own sandboxes across the playground.
No. 14 Buy is a reference to the "first-round by" in relation to basketball tournament. Yes, I know they're two different words, but I couldn't get it out of my head.
No. 27 Two and 42 Tall are both references to my seperate one-shot Relativity.
No. 31 Lifetime is the much-anticipated (at least by Effie) shout-out to Faces of Saints. And for all those who are waiting for a follow-up to that, I have some ideas floating around in my brain, so remain patient and hopeful.
No. 48 Imagine is a loose reference to Inevitable Future where Az is writing fanfics about Cain and DG.
And I'd say that's it. Any other questions, feel free to ask!