Drabbles
By spheeris1
Pairings: Multiple…
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[A Funny Thing Happened On the Way To Get the Spice]
Kiryuu Nanami has pictured her life before.
The first days, the full life, the mourned ending.
And she could have never, ever--in a million, billion years--have pictured *this* occurring.
Looking for a spice in the middle of the ocean with her trusting trio...well, maybe it is rather dramatic, to be doing this--a quest for her dear dear oniisama--yes, that makes this somewhat better.
But then, Nanami could not wrap her mind around three elephants on surf-boards...barrelling down on her with obvious intent to kill.
Maybe it was karma. Or just bad luck. Or fate...yes, Nanami believed it was fate that brought these elephants into her life to torment her and block her path.
They didn't understand that it would just make her work harder.
-
[A Day in the Life]
There had to be more than this to life, Akio thought idly as he rang up dish detergent and ramen noodle packages and cigarettes.
All the girls at the other counters were always 'checking' him out...Akio knew he was good-looking.
Too good looking to be in this small town, working in a stupid Walmart, going nowhere.
His mother always said he had a model's face. His father always beat him for being too 'pretty'.
But still, here Akio was, ringing up shit for customers and sipping a flat Coke.
A sudden pat on the back startled him and Akio turned around to be face-to-face with the manager.
'Congratulations, son. You are employee of the month.'
And Akio looked at his picture being nailed to the wall, along with the others before him.
Is this as close to fame as he would ever get?
-
[I'll Be Your Mick Ronson]
If beautiful is a word, then in between the letters--we can all see you, standing against the sun and gorgeous.
Just as worshiped, just as adored, just as needed.
And me, being a creature of the night, I merely skulk around the edge of you...merely try to touch you, merely try to soak up a bit of your wonderfulness...
You are a star.
And we are not friends.
I am the sidekick, the stand-in, the one you fuck with and leave behind when new personas call, when a new bed opens, when new arms await.
-
[Seen And Heard]
He had been sitting for hours, staring at the stark white of canvas.
And the piano gathered dust. The keys had edges of brown on them now and were chipped.
Miki knew it was wrong to ignore it, to abandoned that which carried him for so long.
Like a bad lover, Miki stopped touching and caressing.
The brush is frozen in his hand. All the ideas of paint and creation seem stunted now, faced with the opportunity to actually do something about these feelings.
Miki wants to be seen and not heard.
That way...that way....
A car backfires in the alley below and Miki drops the brush to the floor.
....that way, he cannot be found ever again....
-
[The Lost & the Found]
No one would ever be around to ask, of course...not in this world anyway. And Anthy did not think she could truly articulate her feelings anyhow--even if every one of the students got free from Ohtori and seek her out, just to question her broken heart.
How can she explain the emotions, those kept in check for so long and now free?
That is was like coming home, but being too late--the place is empty. All that is left are the dusty pictures on the wall and the musty curtains and the bed that looks like it was just vacated by its owner...sheets rumpled and covers thrown back in haste, vaguely warm to the touch...
If asked, Anthy could maybe say those things about it all, about finally finding her prince in this waking world.
About walking down the little paths in between tombstones, about her eyes turning to liquid glass without her consent, about the mocking white roses in her hands, about the very happy sun in the very happy blue sky.
Maybe she could say those things...if asked at all.
But no one says a word here that Anthy wants to listen to.
All is quiet for this reunion.
Anthy lays the flowers down and sinks to her knees, the grass below a soft cushion to her weary body. She runs her fingers over the name and the date--not at all shocked that her prince, her Utena, died years and years ago.
I found you at last, my prince...what was lost is now found, what was shattered is now whole...Anthy said inwardly, trying with everything to be what Utena wished for her to be.
Strong. Independent. Eager to be alive.
'Oh Utena...but what good is being alive if I am without you?' Anthy whispered aloud.
No one answered.
-
[Child of the Trees]
She dreamed up a story about a boy lost, growing up without parents in the green of the forest. And he lived in the treetops, he lived off of river-water and slept on beds of moss. But he died without love, without arms to hold him or words to soothe him.
Kozue had a funny feeling that she killed the boy in reality, for he was her--hanging from the vines, twisted up in the brambles of a fading youth and an illusion of family--the boy had to die. Just as she, too, must perish in order to survive.
-
[What Price Forgiveness?]
And so she kept very still, fear of moving and drawing that old familiar gaze her way...it paralyzed her, it made her muscles freeze and turned her bones to granite.
And what would Juri give up this time for her?
Another cheap picture in another gold locket? Another orange rose upon her breast? Another heavy sword in her hand?
What would Juri let go of once more to satisfy that dark desire within? Her heart and soul? Her will and strength?
Everything...?
-
[No Real Importance]
Juri was looking for Miki, but found the sister. And those eyes were sharp enough to cut mere mortals. Not that Juri noticed, not that Juri cared.
Kozue was waiting for her latest boyfriend and he was late when Juri walked in. And those eyes were so cold, they could freeze weaker people. Not that Kozue noticed, not that Kozue cared.
It was no accident though, that they both ended up there...by that stupid piano, alone, with the sounds of Ohtori muted just for them.
'Are you looking for someone?' Kozue asked with a small grin. Juri looked away.
'It's of no real importance.' Juri replied.
-
[You Mentioned A Thing Called Agony]
Not because it was like this, not because she did not want it....Utena trembled like a child caught naked by icy wind because it was too much.
To be held down, to be shoved around, to be pushed until bruises spread over her arms in delicate shades of blue and purple...like flowers, like buds opening under heat...
Juri kissed her until her lips began to bleed.
And the older girl did not wipe it away, did not ask forgiveness, did not put on kid-gloves.
She took and ripped it out and pulled it down.
And Utena let her.
She would have to clean up her broken body later.
-
[Morning Finds You]
After living somewhere for years, it loses its beauty.
Even the City of Lights, with the crumbling brick-work and cobblestone back alleys, stone monuments of angels with crystal clear water pouring out of their cold lips.
Yes, all that can get...mundane.
Miki has been up since dawn.
He watched the sun crest up in the sky, chasing away dusky blue and smearing the world with yellow-orange cellophane.
And then, as if to show Miki up in his own thoughts, those bright colors shot through the window.
A shaft of incandescent light hit a pool of red hair upon a white pillow, making it burn like a coal in a fire. And it graced this man's bare shoulders, outlining them with sun.
Touga always slept in late.
And if Miki thought that perhaps he was growing tired of mornings in this life, all he had to see was this imagery to change his mind.
-
[One Star Awake]
For a brief second, Utena felt her world dissolve under her feet and felt all she held dear crumble in her fingers.
Like sand in the ocean, like dirt passing through the air.
She was little, too little to understand the pain of death or the anguish of loss.
She was so young, too young to be so alone and too young to be so desperate.
And Utena crawled into a warm place of hiding, side by side with the only ones who loved her, the only ones she loved. She turned her cheek to the white satin and began her sleep of the dead.
Now, struggling at the end of it all, wounded and weak and used, Utena still cannot believe that this is her time to die.
A voice inside her--no longer a trapped Dios, no longer a wish maker Akio--calls to her and urges her to rise.
'...there's always one star awake...' It says softly and Utena, for all she has seen, still believes.
-
[Layers]
He could be very smart most times. Maybe not book smart, for that bored him most times. He liked, when younger, to play baseball and run through the woods with his friends.
He liked to climb trees and get cut and not cry.
He did not feel important, but he is a boy--and boys, no matter how popular or obscure--do not cry when bleeding.
As the days grew longer, he became taller and his body was stretching outward, bones reaching out and voice changing.
He did not feel like a prince, like someone who a pretty girl could love...like a pretty special girl with chestnut hair could love...
Tatsuya ate all things to grow up strong.
But never onions, never those.
-
[And Galaxies Above]
'It is a bit cold...don't you think?' Anthy murmured against Utena's neck.
'Yea. A little.' Utena answered back softly.
'Maybe we should go inside?' Anthy questioned, wrapping her arms more securely around Utena's neck.
'Maybe...' Utena hushed out, tightening her hold about Anthy's waist.
They had been dancing for hours it seemed, from the last moments of the sun and now way into the early morning. Time, of course, had no meaning.
They had talked and laughed as they moved around the top of this building, swaying to music only the two of them could hear.
And the both of them offered the other their coat at various points in the evening, to ward off the chill that floats throughout the city.
But here they were, still waltzing around and letting words die on their lips.
Letting dawn come slowly in this world made of eternal bliss.
-
[Rain Was Present]
It was raining.
A grey sheet of cold water that you could not see through. A metal wall surrounding the day, blocking out any bit of sun or warmth.
Utena was cold as she dashed around the corner and into another person running as well, both of them dodging raindrops and eager to reach an eave for safety.
Juri shook her umbrella and felt the water curl over her sunset ringlets, slip down her face.
Utena apologized for almost sending the both of them to the soggy and hard pavement.
'That's okay.' Juri answered quietly.
'Good...that's good then.' Utena said breathlessly, from the cold and the quick movements and from..., from something else she did not understand and could never be explained.
The rain did not let up, only got stronger in its assault on the world.
And they traded information lightly. Oh this job...oh this town...oh this car...oh damn this weather...so on and so forth.
The more they talked, the more they moved closer to one another.
It was a shock, then, for Juri to look over and study Utena's face...wondering idly if maybe they had met before.
Utena stared back, unafraid of scrutiny--unafraid of those eyes like the ocean looking into her own eyes of now clouded blue.
'Let's get a cab or something...maybe one can see us under here?' Utena suggested. Juri stepped out into the storm, waving her hands and Utena did the same, grinning wide.
This felt familiar to Utena, standing beside this woman and feeling an understanding pass through her body.
No cab stopped. Even the pull of money was not enough to brave busy streets with no vision. They were wet once more.
'We should just make a run for it. I have a room close by..you could dry off...' Juri said, scanning a non-existent horizon.
'After you.' Utena said with a smile as they darted out, weaving in and out of cars, skin numb to more water now, avoiding people in much the same predicament.
As they walked in the lobby, Utena felt the air leave her lungs in heated breath. Juri felt her muscles tighten as they stood silent in the elevator.
Once in the room, nothing was said. It was as if neither woman was there at all.
Utena felt the towel first, upon her wet head and then felt the pressure behind it....rubbing the pink locks dry, slow and sure. And Utena leaned back, felt Juri's body solid against her.
Solid, strong, perfect. It felt like a version of home--a moment of peace and comfort.
'Stay if you want.' Juri said quietly, letting the towel drop.
'I want.' Utena replied.
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END [for now…]
