Whooo, I am bored and unmotivated, so therefore: meme! Stolen from just_ann_now. Tell me a little about a story I haven't written, and I'll give you several sentences from that story.
"You know," Richard said carefully, "I've just been paid. We can afford something more than fish."
"What's the matter, Richard? I thought you liked fish."
"I do like fish. I just like other things as well. I saw Helen at the market was selling chicken cheaply, and venison should be quite affordable, this time of year."
Alec glanced over his shoulder from where he knelt before their hearth, eyebrows lifted. "So eager to run to the arms of another, when the poor fish has been by your side so faithfully, shivering in a cold bed on those nights when you haven't just been paid, attempting to read in wholly inadequate candlelight, choosing to forgo those little pastries with the sugared tops so that you could buy a new scabbard..."
Richard sighed. "Fish, then."
Alec smiled smugly. "Besides, I don't know how to cook venison."
"I can't go," Tsuzuki said, reaching out for Hisoka. But he stopped the motion, leaving his inner arms displayed in the air: empty drives stood out against reddened skin, wires twisted around and led back to the machines behind him, diving under his skin in pale scars. And there were other scars too, rougher and older. "I've tried before. I can't."
"You can," Hisoka said, voice angry. The skin of his face was dark, dirty with smoke and grease, except for the circles around his eyes the goggles had covered. He snapped open the case he carried, revealing an eclectic mix of microchips, motherboards, wire-cutters, and screwdrivers. "You just have to help me."
Muraki wasn't punishment enough, but he was the closest thing to it on Chijou. He had a taste for sharp, fine pain: scalpels, needles, words. Tsuzuki had no preferences, or so at least he wished. Preferences revealed, and the more he revealed, the more Muraki refined his methods; now there were also gentle kisses and rose petals, cruel parodies of some other sort of life. Not that Tsuzuki deserved anything less. This was ultimately his choice, after all; the power to end everything never entirely slept within him. But some of what Muraki did quieted it, a little, made him for a time into something nearly human. For what was more human than to suffer?
(I don't think you know this fandom, hopefully it is enjoyable nonetheless!)
A shudder went through the boat, rocking the deck they stood on. Hannibal stumbled, and caught himself on Rose's arm; January reached for her also, though he meant to steady her. Despite their efforts, Rose kept her feet.
"What was that?" Hannibal said, straightening and stepping back.
Rose graciously reclaimed her other arm from January. "I'd say the ship struck something. Shall we go and see what it was?"
"Feels like it must have been a whole tree," January said. "It couldn't have been just a branch, not to shake the whole ship like that."
"And no meager sapling, either. He shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon.... Do they have cedars in Louisiana?"
Rose smiled at him. "Would you recognize one if you saw it?"
"Of course not. I leave the natural philosophy to you, Athene. My talent lies-" But whatever Hannibal was about to claim as his talent was to be forgotten, because that was the moment they rounded the bow of the deck and saw the pirate ship.
(With the understanding that I've still only seen the first four episodes...)
"How did you even manage this?"
"Ow–"
"Hold still, I have to clean it first." Nezumi grasped Shion firmly by the upper arm, holding him in place when Shion would have winced away. "It's just soap. We don't have all your fancy medicines down here, you know."
Shion stilled at that, looking up into Nezumi's face. "I never thought of that." Nezumi snorted but didn't answer, keeping his eyes firmly on the scrape on Shion's arm, only looking aside to rinse his cloth out in a bowl of water. The trickle of water seemed loud.
Shion touched the back of Nezumi's hand. "Do you remember when I did this for you?" he asked softly. There was a tentative smile on his face.
Nezumi looked away again. "I made a better patient."
YOU DESERVE TWO! (Also because I love both of these ideas.)
"You're on the front page," Kit said when Jude finally appeared at breakfast, his hair mussed and wearing a robe that appeared to have nothing underneath. Kit was just finishing the morning paper, so she folded the cover back and held it up to show him.
Jude waved a hand to shoo it away, then covered his eyes, poured a cup of coffee by feel, half-fell into a chair, took a long sip, sat in silence for several moments, and finally lowered his hand again. "I can't recall anything I've done lately that deserves 20-point headlines. Slow news day?"
"Not so slow as all that. Lord Hopeworth's son is claiming you debauched him."
"George? George was born debauched; the last time he was in Paris they said–"
"No, no, the younger son. Henry."
Jude took another drink of coffee. "I don't think I knew Hopeworth had a second son."
Kit grinned at him. "Oh yes, you do; he was at Lydia's tea party last week. The one with red hair and freckles and a conversation that centered entirely on uplifting pamphlets."
"Kit," Jude said, "I hope you believe me when I say that I have never debauched anyone with red hair."
(Splitting this into a second comment because it's easier.)
January encountered Hannibal at a ball the next day, which was rather sooner than he would have liked. He hadn't realized Hannibal had been hired as well, and when he walked into the back parlor to see the man perched on the edge of a table, tuning his violin, January lost the thread of what Jacques had been saying to him and had to ask him to repeat himself. He'd hardly come to terms with his own actions the previous night, and had wanted more time to think before he had to talk to Hannibal. He also would deeply have preferred it be somewhere less public.
January braced himself for some sort of signal, but Hannibal merely directed a smile of welcome at him, and continued his conversation with Uncle Bichet. January felt his cheeks heat, and was acutely self-conscious of his every word and action, particularly how he kept glancing over at Hannibal, who seemed blithely unaware of any awkwardness. It was strange, to just pretend nothing had happened, as though Hannibal hadn't been kissing him enthusiastically mere hours before. But when there seemed to be no indication forthcoming that they were anything other than two near-strangers, January felt his tension ease, until he felt capable of playing music without hitting the wrong keys.
A shudder went through the boat, rocking the deck they stood on. Hannibal stumbled, and caught himself on Rose's arm; January reached for her also, though he meant to steady her. Despite their efforts, Rose kept her feet.
...and this is really all you need to know about the relationship between the three of them!
no subject
Date: 2013-11-20 02:16 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-11-20 04:28 am (UTC)"What's the matter, Richard? I thought you liked fish."
"I do like fish. I just like other things as well. I saw Helen at the market was selling chicken cheaply, and venison should be quite affordable, this time of year."
Alec glanced over his shoulder from where he knelt before their hearth, eyebrows lifted. "So eager to run to the arms of another, when the poor fish has been by your side so faithfully, shivering in a cold bed on those nights when you haven't just been paid, attempting to read in wholly inadequate candlelight, choosing to forgo those little pastries with the sugared tops so that you could buy a new scabbard..."
Richard sighed. "Fish, then."
Alec smiled smugly. "Besides, I don't know how to cook venison."
no subject
Date: 2013-11-20 04:29 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-11-20 07:59 am (UTC)(what? you asked for it :D)
no subject
Date: 2013-11-20 09:22 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-11-20 09:50 am (UTC)1. Jude/Kit: "You're on the front page!"
2. Hannibal/Ben: the second time they slept together
no subject
Date: 2013-11-20 11:36 am (UTC)*spews coffee all over keyboard*
I am laughing so hard the coffee I didn't spill is coming out my nose. Brilliant!
no subject
Date: 2013-11-20 11:38 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-11-20 05:30 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-11-20 07:06 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-11-20 07:21 pm (UTC)"I can't go," Tsuzuki said, reaching out for Hisoka. But he stopped the motion, leaving his inner arms displayed in the air: empty drives stood out against reddened skin, wires twisted around and led back to the machines behind him, diving under his skin in pale scars. And there were other scars too, rougher and older. "I've tried before. I can't."
"You can," Hisoka said, voice angry. The skin of his face was dark, dirty with smoke and grease, except for the circles around his eyes the goggles had covered. He snapped open the case he carried, revealing an eclectic mix of microchips, motherboards, wire-cutters, and screwdrivers. "You just have to help me."
no subject
Date: 2013-11-20 07:22 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-11-20 07:32 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-11-20 07:35 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-11-20 07:54 pm (UTC)A shudder went through the boat, rocking the deck they stood on. Hannibal stumbled, and caught himself on Rose's arm; January reached for her also, though he meant to steady her. Despite their efforts, Rose kept her feet.
"What was that?" Hannibal said, straightening and stepping back.
Rose graciously reclaimed her other arm from January. "I'd say the ship struck something. Shall we go and see what it was?"
"Feels like it must have been a whole tree," January said. "It couldn't have been just a branch, not to shake the whole ship like that."
"And no meager sapling, either. He shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon.... Do they have cedars in Louisiana?"
Rose smiled at him. "Would you recognize one if you saw it?"
"Of course not. I leave the natural philosophy to you, Athene. My talent lies-" But whatever Hannibal was about to claim as his talent was to be forgotten, because that was the moment they rounded the bow of the deck and saw the pirate ship.
no subject
Date: 2013-11-20 08:56 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-11-20 10:13 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-11-20 10:13 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-11-20 10:31 pm (UTC)"How did you even manage this?"
"Ow–"
"Hold still, I have to clean it first." Nezumi grasped Shion firmly by the upper arm, holding him in place when Shion would have winced away. "It's just soap. We don't have all your fancy medicines down here, you know."
Shion stilled at that, looking up into Nezumi's face. "I never thought of that." Nezumi snorted but didn't answer, keeping his eyes firmly on the scrape on Shion's arm, only looking aside to rinse his cloth out in a bowl of water. The trickle of water seemed loud.
Shion touched the back of Nezumi's hand. "Do you remember when I did this for you?" he asked softly. There was a tentative smile on his face.
Nezumi looked away again. "I made a better patient."
no subject
Date: 2013-11-20 11:14 pm (UTC)"You're on the front page," Kit said when Jude finally appeared at breakfast, his hair mussed and wearing a robe that appeared to have nothing underneath. Kit was just finishing the morning paper, so she folded the cover back and held it up to show him.
Jude waved a hand to shoo it away, then covered his eyes, poured a cup of coffee by feel, half-fell into a chair, took a long sip, sat in silence for several moments, and finally lowered his hand again. "I can't recall anything I've done lately that deserves 20-point headlines. Slow news day?"
"Not so slow as all that. Lord Hopeworth's son is claiming you debauched him."
"George? George was born debauched; the last time he was in Paris they said–"
"No, no, the younger son. Henry."
Jude took another drink of coffee. "I don't think I knew Hopeworth had a second son."
Kit grinned at him. "Oh yes, you do; he was at Lydia's tea party last week. The one with red hair and freckles and a conversation that centered entirely on uplifting pamphlets."
"Kit," Jude said, "I hope you believe me when I say that I have never debauched anyone with red hair."
no subject
Date: 2013-11-21 01:25 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-11-21 01:43 am (UTC)January encountered Hannibal at a ball the next day, which was rather sooner than he would have liked. He hadn't realized Hannibal had been hired as well, and when he walked into the back parlor to see the man perched on the edge of a table, tuning his violin, January lost the thread of what Jacques had been saying to him and had to ask him to repeat himself. He'd hardly come to terms with his own actions the previous night, and had wanted more time to think before he had to talk to Hannibal. He also would deeply have preferred it be somewhere less public.
January braced himself for some sort of signal, but Hannibal merely directed a smile of welcome at him, and continued his conversation with Uncle Bichet. January felt his cheeks heat, and was acutely self-conscious of his every word and action, particularly how he kept glancing over at Hannibal, who seemed blithely unaware of any awkwardness. It was strange, to just pretend nothing had happened, as though Hannibal hadn't been kissing him enthusiastically mere hours before. But when there seemed to be no indication forthcoming that they were anything other than two near-strangers, January felt his tension ease, until he felt capable of playing music without hitting the wrong keys.
no subject
Date: 2013-11-21 04:50 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-11-21 05:40 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-11-21 10:20 pm (UTC)...and this is really all you need to know about the relationship between the three of them!