Ficlet O'Clock Open Prompts
Mar. 13th, 2015 07:38 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
scribblemynameI've missed doing this, and when my best friend who loves these things was out of pocket for a while, I mostly didn't try. So here's the way it works. You give:
So personally I've been missing writing original fiction and Rogue/Remy fic (and Logan/Ororo and Kitty/Pyro), but prompt whatever (like Bobbi or Natasha or Skye or...), just no deathfic or supernatural please.
I dumped in a couple to start, but I'll be in and out. :)
MASTERLIST
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blamesthepen
scribble_myname
- fandom, storyworld (optional)
- character and/or pairing (optional)
- prompt
So personally I've been missing writing original fiction and Rogue/Remy fic (and Logan/Ororo and Kitty/Pyro), but prompt whatever (like Bobbi or Natasha or Skye or...), just no deathfic or supernatural please.
I dumped in a couple to start, but I'll be in and out. :)
MASTERLIST
blamesthepen- Alik + Vred, This moment, we own it.
- Katya, pillow fights
- Cadence + friend, pillow fights
- Alik + Vred, platonic soulmates
- Malina + Alik, insomnia
- Anyone But You (The Enadar Version) [Felise/Enadar + Alik]
- Disbelief (Enadar Take Two) [Felise/Enadar + Alik]
- Alik + Malina + Enadar, finding someone to love
- Clint/Natasha, Remy + OMC, I will not take from you and you will not owe
- For the Hundredth Time, I'm Not Marrying Your Brother [Lisea + Malina]
- Katya, dodging the matchmaker
- Alik + Vred, platonic soulmates + pillow fight
- Whistler + Stratford + Dare, platonic soulmates
- Cameron/Verina, trying to sleep with a new baby in the house
- Alik + Enadar, dogs and cats
- Forsythe/Stasia, a relationship in 5 kisses
- Katya, cuddles
- Katya, stealing the remote control
- Alik + Vred, a genetic recessive who doesn't have/show a soulmark
- The Danger of Discussing Marriage with Your Best Friend [Cadence/Dare]
- Another Cadence/Dare "Pillow" Fight
- My husband became a shepherd to me / I became a shepherdess to him
- Already Through [Vred/Malina]
- Cadence/Dare, You gotta make your own stuff work
- Lisea + Alik, Emotions aren't that hard to borrow / When love is a word you haven't learned
scribble_myname- Anyone But You [Felise/Enadar]
- Crazy [Agents of Shield, Bobbi/Hunter]
- Five Cups of Coffee and a Stack of Pancakes [MCU/The Unusuals, Bobbi/Walsh]
- Marrying Into the Family [Felise/Enadar + Malina + Lisea]
- It's Only Natural [X-Men, Remy + Scott]
- Speculation [MCU, Steve + Clint/Natasha]
- When All Else Fails, Walk the Dog [616, Clint]
- Burn Your Kingdoms Down [Kingdoms & Thorn, Sear]
- There Is That [Felise + Enadar]
- Mixed Feelings [Felise/Enadar]
- I'm Not a Flirt, It's Just the Way I Talk [X-Men, Rogue/Remy]
- On the Properties of Love [Kingdoms and Thorn, Justus/Rachelle]
- Toto, We're Not in the Multiverse Anymore [X-Men/Narnia, Kitty]
- Almost Soulmate [Vred + Alik]
- Secrets [The Unusuals, Walsh/Beaumont]
- Picking the Family Pet: Spouse Supervision Required [Original]
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I Shall be pathetic and answer my own prompt... 1/3
Date: 2015-03-21 07:47 pm (UTC)Lisea turned the drink around in her hands, wishing her grandmother hadn't left her alone with these people. She knew there was some kind of deal in the works, something that Grandmother thought was important because she'd come down here in person and dragged Lisea with her, but she hadn't gotten any details about it. She was here to learn, but when she thought about that, she wanted to snort in the most unladylike way possible—like Felise might—and walk away because she was still being kept from any real learning. The deal was being done in other rooms, with other people, and she didn't even think she was there to keep the ones not involved with them busy.
Though one of them, he was doing his best to keep her busy, and it made her nervous.
She'd never had much attention from anyone before, not like this, and the most she knew about people dating was the way Enadar and Felise flirted. Grandmother thought the whole thing was very undignified, and that was something that Lisea never was.
Not unless Malina was there and Lisea felt like she could breathe. Right now, she couldn't. She was so stiff she thought she should break, and she wished that she hadn't learned how not to fade because she wanted to disappear.
"I think you need a new drink."
Lisea tried to force a smile. "I haven't finished this one, Jamieson, but thank you for offering. I am fine. I do not need more."
"You need one of these," he said, setting a glass next to hers and picking the one she had out of her hands. "You'll feel more relaxed. Enjoy yourself more. Maybe tonight you'll even agree to dance with me for a change."
"I do not think I—"
"I'll just get rid of this and once you've had a taste of that, you and I will talk some more," he said, flashing her a bright smile. She nodded, though she felt sick when she saw his smile. She did not know why. Smiles were supposed to be good things.
She looked at the glass and wished she had something to pour it out in because he would be relentless until she drank it, and she did not want to drink it. Grandmother had been strict about what she could and could not drink, and what Jamieson gave her was not permitted.
She frowned as someone pushed the other glass out of the way.
"Malina wants you to come stay with us."
"What?"
"That is an official request, actually," Alik went on as she stared at him. He leaned against the table, propping his elbow on the table and his head on his hand. His hair was slicked back, and his eyes weren't shifting colors, which was so unnerving that she lowered her head. She found herself staring at his cufflinks and unable to come up with words. "She asked me if she could invite you over, so I am forwarding the message on to you."
"I... I talked to Malina yesterday. She didn't mention it," Lisea managed to say. She put a hand on the table, using it to steady herself. What was Alik doing here? Why was he dressed like—well, better than Jamieson was at this thing—and why was he talking about Malina inviting her over? "And... I have commitments here. Grandmother wants me here."
Alik pushed her sleeve over her hand and covered it with one of his own. The gesture made her tense, trying to understand what Alik was up to—this sort of strange behavior was more like Enadar than Alik, but then she didn't think Enadar would do this—but she didn't know either of them well to know what they would do. She almost pulled her hand away but Alik put his head close to her ear.
"Your new friend is Watch."
She stared at him, unable to speak. Jamieson was Watch? How did Alik know that—and why did he know—and what should she do? She hadn't faded. She knew she hadn't. She'd been good. She was safe. She had done what was expected of her.
"And that new drink he brought you has more than alcohol in it. He's not used to his charm failing to work. People don't say no to him—and he was going to include you in that."
Lisea swallowed. "How do you know that?"
"He brags." Alik lifted her hand, turning it over to where it was palm up, and she continued to stare as he traced a finger along the fabric of her sleeve. "Your grandmother will hate me for this, but I do have a way out of this for you and a place to ride out the storm."
Re: I Shall be pathetic and answer my own prompt... 2/3
Date: 2015-03-21 07:52 pm (UTC)Part of Lisea was scared. Part of her didn't believe this was happening. Alik shouldn't be here, and Jamieson was not that bad. Her grandmother would not want her talking to Alik, even, because he was unsuitable. Not that he looked unsuitable. He looked like a magazine ad—too polished and perfect to be real—not that he was real because this was not like him. Was she truly in danger? Why did that mean him dressing up and touching her like this?
"Alik," she began, but he put his lips to her covered palm, and she couldn't think. None of this made sense. Alik wasn't interested in her this way. He thought she was annoying. She'd always thought he hated her. "Don't—you—we—I..."
"Lisea?" Jamieson asked, bumping the table when he stopped, aghast. He frowned, recovering poorly from his reaction to seeing someone else next to her. He couldn't seem to believe it, but he had none of his charm when he looked at Alik. He seemed... angry, and even the smile he tried next was angry. "I'm sorry. I don't think we've met."
"We wouldn't have," Alik said, smiling in a way that Lisea knew was dangerous but managed to appear like something else to Jamieson. The other man did not seem scared, but she thought he should have been. "I'm an old... friend of the family. Well, more like black sheep, but I was always good at making the princess here blush, wasn't I?"
Lisea thought she had to be flaming red now, not just blushing. "Um... yes."
"Are you ready for your fireworks?" Alik asked her before turning back to Jamieson. "I promised her fireworks. She couldn't make up her mind about the yacht or the convertible. They keep telling me I can't have them in while in the helicopter, but it's such a waste to only use it to travel between stores."
"Stores?" Jamieson repeated. He snorted. "What, for shopping?"
"Why do I need to shop? My father owns the store," Alik said, nudging Lisea out of her chair. "Here we go, Princess. We have one little stop to make, and then it is off for fireworks and fine cuisine and the pleasure of great company."
"I don't—Grandmother will—"
"Shh. Leave the old battleaxe to me," Alik said, and she frowned at him. "We'll put a big fat ring on your finger, and she can make a fuss later."
"A ring?" Lisea whispered, feeling stunned and like she must have drunk more than the sparkling water she'd been given earlier. Could Jamieson have put something in that one, too? "I don't... A ring?"
"Yes, silly," Alik said, wrapping an arm around her waist. "The kind of thing I promised you three years ago when we kissed down by that lake and you were so nervous you fell in, taking me with you."
That was not at all how Lisea remembered that trip to the lake—the time was wrong, for one thing, because it was just after Alik got his license, and someone had fallen in, but that was Enadar because Felise supposedly pushed him and then everyone got caught in the middle of it—except Alik, he stayed on the shore and did not get wet once, not besides being splashed, for which he glowered at his siblings—and no. There was no kiss, no promise. No ring.
"Excuse us," Alik said, keeping his smile on for Jamieson as he got her walking toward the door. She was a bit too dazed to stop them, and she didn't know that she should. She didn't know if she was in danger or not, but she did think she trusted Alik. Maybe. All of this was so overwhelming.
"Alik—"
"That was for his benefit. This way he thinks he lost you to an opportunistic playboy and not to someone who—someone who knew what he was doing and was there to stop it," Alik told her, letting go of her waist to open the door and usher her through it. "Relax. I have no interest in marrying anyone."
Lisea nodded, though that wasn't very comforting. "Grandmother's still going to be mad."
He pushed the button for the elevator. "I don't care. The rumors that will follow this are a lot better than letting him get what he wanted. Especially since there is no guarantee that you'd be able to hold to Brenton's training if you were drunk or drugged."
Re: I Shall be pathetic and answer my own prompt... 3/3
Date: 2015-03-21 07:54 pm (UTC)Alik let the elevator doors close, pushing the button for the bottom floor. "He was charming you. He was going to seem nice."
"I'm such an idiot."
"Naïve. There is a difference," Alik said, and she flinched. Being naïve was just as bad as being stupid. She could have lost everything just now.
"How did you know? Even if he bragged, he wasn't talking to you and—"
"The right person found out about it. Leave it at that," Alik told her, and she shivered, huddling back against the elevator wall, not speaking until it reached the bottom. She didn't think she should say anything else. This was the Alik she knew—the unapproachable almost scary one—and she didn't want to be alone with him.
The elevator stopped, and Alik pushed her forward through the doors and toward the exit to the hotel. He held the door open for her before taking a phone out of his pocket. He pushed a button and waited. "It's done. No one's going to like my methods, but it's done."
Lisea bit her lip. "Alik—"
"Oh, please. A slight blackmark on a reputation that can't be proved as more than a bit of gossip is not half as bad as what I would normally have done under the circumstances," Alik muttered. "I should have made sure I repaid him for stabbing me in the back, but as it was, he didn't recognize me. He's just pissed I stole his girl."
She pulled on his arm again, but he led her over to a car she knew wasn't his—even the elder Reventes didn't drive this kind of expensive sports car—almost shoving her in through the passenger door. She sat, twisting her hands in her lap.
"She's fine. I'll take her to see Malina, let this die down a little, and Malina can take her home." Alik hung up and shut the door, going around to the other side of the car. He got in behind the wheel and pulled away from the curb.
"I thought you were kidding about Malina wanting to see me."
"Why would that be a joke? You are her friend."
Lisea looked at her hands. Yes, she was, but this was still so strange to her. "It just... none of it was real, so I didn't think that seeing Malina was, either."
"No, I meant that. Also wasn't joking about the fireworks. My father did own the store. And we did go to a lake together once." Alik turned the corner and pulled into a rental car lot. He parked in front of the building and shut off the car. "The best lies are ones mixed with truth."
Re: I Shall be pathetic and answer my own prompt... 3/3
Date: 2015-03-23 02:24 pm (UTC)Re: I Shall be pathetic and answer my own prompt... 3/3
Date: 2015-03-23 03:58 pm (UTC)He's scary good at fake flirting, but then I think Alik is willing to master whatever it takes to keep his family alive and he'll use it and she'd it like... Well, I don't have a good metaphor, but he would.
Lisea, on the other hand, ended up kind of traumatized by the whole thing.
Re: I Shall be pathetic and answer my own prompt... 3/3
Date: 2015-03-23 04:06 pm (UTC)Re: I Shall be pathetic and answer my own prompt... 3/3
Date: 2015-03-23 04:17 pm (UTC)She is your character, though, so it's probably wrong.
Re: I Shall be pathetic and answer my own prompt... 3/3
Date: 2015-03-23 04:19 pm (UTC)She deals with it in the moment, which makes it seem as if it'll last, but that's actually why it doesn't and she's resilient. She copes with her emotions right away.
Part of Lisea's reaction for the sake of rightness 1/3
Date: 2015-03-23 04:42 pm (UTC)"Lisea!" Malina cried, surprised not only by Alik's quick return but who he'd brought with her. She had asked to invite Lisea over, but she'd thought he wasn't happy about it. She also hadn't thought he was leaving just for that. She could have sworn he was being called off to another emergency. "Oh, Alik. You are the best brother ever."
She hugged him, and he grunted, making her wince. She'd forgotten about his back. "I'm sorry, Alik. Your back..."
"It's fine," he said, moving her over toward Lisea. "She'd probably feel more comfortable if you gave her some of your clothes for while she's here."
Malina blinked. "You had to save Lisea?"
"Extracted her from something that might have been nothing," Alik corrected, giving Malina another nudge. "Clothes. And I did say there would be fireworks."
Malina managed to smile at that, but she didn't feel as great about her friend's visit as she had before he spoke. She went to Lisea's side, touching her arm gently. "The outside doesn't look like much, but it's a lot better inside. You should see our kitchen. It's like Mom's used to be. I've got some milk. You want a spiced one?"
Lisea nodded. "Yes... yes, that would be nice."
"You're not hurt?"
Lisea shook her head a bit too quickly. "No. I'm—I'm still confused, but I'm fine."
Malina looked over at her brother, wondering if he would tell her more or if she could get Lisea past whatever this confusion was—she seemed to be in shock—and help her because she didn't understand herself and couldn't help if she didn't know. "Alik—"
His phone rang, and he answered it immediately, shaking his head as he did. He walked away from them, leaving Malina to chew her lip for a moment before turning to her friend. "Did you hit anything or bump it or do anything that might have—something you might not have realized hurt right away?"
"No." Lisea looked at Alik and over at Malina. "He... He found me and got me away from someone who... I guess the guy trying to date me was Watch. Nothing happened, but it was... I still don't know how Alik knew. He... He did trick that guy into thinking I was..."
"You were...?"
"Can I have that spiced milk first?"
Malina nodded, ready to lead Lisea into the house when Alik returned to the car. He shut Lisea's door and took out his keys. Malina almost cursed. "You're not going again, are you? You just got back."
"I have to," Alik said. He came over and kissed the top of her head. "Watch out for little brother. He's running high."
Malina nodded, knowing whatever it was he'd been called away to do must have been bad because he wouldn't normally leave Enadar like this. "Be careful."
Alik gave her a slight smile before going around to the driver's door. The car started, spooking Lisea, and he backed it quickly out of the drive. Malina waved to him until he was out of sight, telling herself he would be fine this time and not dragged home by Vred. Again.
Lisea shivered, running her hands over her arms. "Is it it always like this?"
"No. It's just... Well, you might know more of what it's like for Alik when he's working than we do. We just know he goes with very little notice, takes care of whatever needs to be done, and comes home when he can."
"He doesn't always rescue people who can't tell a jerk from a nice guy, though. Not everyone's as stupid as I am about that kind of thing."
Re: Part of Lisea's reaction for the sake of rightness 2/3
Date: 2015-03-23 04:44 pm (UTC)Lisea made a noise that sounded kind of like a whimper. Malina stopped, putting her hands on her friend's shoulders and looking into her eyes.
"If Alik hurt you—"
"No! He didn't. It was just..." Lisea lowered her head. "It was very embarrassing for me even though Alik was... He was—He did everything. I didn't have to think. I couldn't think. I was so stunned to see him, and then when he said that the guy was Watch, I didn't know what to do, but he just... He got me out."
"And that is embarrassing... why?"
"He tricked Jamieson into thinking we were dating. Or engaged. I'm not sure what," Lisea said, rushing the words together and turning red as she spoke. "Malina, please—don't laugh. I don't think I could stand it if you did."
"I don't think I could. The idea of Alik convincing anyone that he was dating someone is enough to put me into shock," Malina told her. She shook her head. "That's like... impossible. He doesn't have the time or the personality for it, and I say that loving him more than anything. He's not someone people know or want to know—and how can they love him if they don't know him?"
"I don't know."
"I've got popcorn," Enadar announced, stepping onto the front porch. "Oh. And Alik is gone again. Wonderful."
"He'll be back," Malina said, coaxing Lisea toward the house. "And I want some of that popcorn."
Lisea huddled in one of Malina's sweaters, arms wrapped around her legs as she sat on the back porch of their house. The sun hadn't set yet, and there were no fireworks, but she wasn't out here for fireworks. She just liked the peacefulness of this place. It felt like a refuge. Like safety.
"I wish I didn't have to go back," she heard herself whisper. "This place is like paradise."
Enadar snorted from the other chair. "You're calling this paradise when you could be in the decadent halls of any of the Revente manors?"
"You've been there, too," Lisea said, not looking at him.
"As an unwanted guest. You're welcome there," he said, and she jumped when she heard the popcorn popping. She didn't know where they kept that machine, but it was loud, and she didn't like how she spooked every time she heard it. "Why is this so special?"
Re: Part of Lisea's reaction for the sake of rightness 3/3
Date: 2015-03-23 04:45 pm (UTC)"It's special to you," she said, not sure she could explain—and she didn't want to explain things to Enadar. She had thought the person coming out onto the porch was Malina—she wished it had been—or she wouldn't have said anything.
"Alik made it home for us," Enadar said. He lifted up a handful of popcorn and shoved it in his mouth. "It's not the same when he's gone, but this is ours. That matters. This is where we all belong, where we are home, where we're a family. Where we're safe."
She felt that way here, too, but she didn't think Enadar would accept that. She looked up with relief when Malina opened the back door and came onto the porch. She looked at Lisea and smiled. "Oh, that's where that is."
"What?"
"Alik's shirt. I take it when he's gone so I can have something of his nearby. It smells like him. Sometimes it's easy to pretend wearing it is like having him hold me," Malina answered, taking a seat on the other side of the bench. "I shouldn't need it, but it was—It's hard to fight those fears. The ones that come when he's gone. He tried to keep us from knowing how much Grandfather hurt him, but it always seemed like... like when that door would open he wouldn't be alive or when Grandfather took him away he wouldn't ever come home again, and I can't—I've tried, but I still feel that when Alik goes. Sometimes it's not so bad."
"Other times she curls up in that sweater and cries," Enadar said, coming over to her other side. He sat down, and Malina leaned against him. "We are kind of pathetic when he's gone, aren't we?"
Lisea didn't know that she should say anything. Malina laughed, though. "Maybe I am. I don't think you are."
Enadar gave her a handful of popcorn. "I have one of his shirts, too. I just don't cry in it. I read that book of his stories you've tried to put together."
"Fine," Malina agreed. "We're pathetic."
Lisea shook her head. "I don't think it's pathetic. It's... It's beautiful."
"Beautiful?" Enadar asked like she was crazy. "How can this be beautiful? We were just discussing how lame we were when our older brother was gone, and that's not beautiful."
"It's... I just thought... What's beautiful is how much you love each other, how close you are..." Lisea trailed off, feeling uncomfortable again. "It's... rare."
"Pathetic," Enadar decreed, and Lisea lowered her head, almost jerking it back up when she remembered that this was Alik's shirt she'd borrowed, not Malina's like she'd thought. It was in with Malina's things and Malina had told her to take anything she felt like wearing, and somehow the shirt had appealed to her, but Lisea should go change now.
"It's a shame the fair ended. I'd like to see more fireworks," Malina said. She looked over at Lisea. "And I don't want you to have to go. This has been... nice."
"Like paradise?"
Lisea figured Enadar was mocking her, but the screen door slammed shut, startling all of them. Alik looked at the three of them and turned to sit on the other chair. Malina rushed over and caught his arm, dragging him over to the bench.
"There's room. And I'm glad you're back. How are you feeling?"
He shrugged, taking the middle of where she and Enadar had been, Malina climbing half into his lap when he had settled. "I'm home. That's all that matters."
"Yes," Malina said, leaning against him and humming to herself.
Lisea watched them, wondering if they knew how lucky they were. It wouldn't seem like it, not when she thought of what little Malina had told her of their Grandfather and how horrible that was, but Lisea knew what they had was different. Special. They were close, and it was beautiful. More beautiful than they knew.
She didn't ever want to leave this place, even if she wasn't one of them and couldn't be a part of what they shared, but she knew in the morning she had to go back to Grandmother and being a lady and all the things she didn't want—because what she really wanted was right here.
She fingered the cuff of the shirt and wondered if anyone would notice if she wore it home.