Today, and also writing.
May. 28th, 2008 12:44 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
firstlightI hit post on my entry and instead LJ ate it. It is not giving it back. Bastard.
Anyway, I had lots of stuff planned for today but 'cause the health centre is only open mornings I had to get bloodtests done first and now I'm woozy. Oops. Doing some serious sitting down and drinking of tea, etc. That's the blood test for coeliac disease out of the way, in any case; I've lost track of how many tubes of blood have been taken from me in the last year but I'm fairly sure it must be in double figures by now. Also, my arm hurts like a bitch. Just thought you might like to know.
And now some fic snippets while I recover myself, because I promised.
---
1. Niou and Yukimura:
Niou takes a perverse delight in being unpredictable, loves to watch people guess and second-guess and work themselves further and further from the truth. But it's always so petty about it, as though he can't quite be bothered to go that extra distance.
"If I were you," Yukimura says, "I would aim a little higher. I think you could do absolutely anything, if you wanted to."
"But you ain't me," Niou tells him, head cocked a little to the side, eyes narrowed. "Lucky for the world. Two of me's enough, right?"
"More than, some would argue." Yukimura smiles faintly. "Though I thought you were done with that particular game."
"Who knows... maybe I'm Yagyuu."
"You're not," Yukimura says, laughing, and reaches out to rub his fingers against the mole beside Niou's mouth.
Niou catches his hand, holds it there. His skin is cool, or Yukimura's hands are very warm. "Well played, captain. You always were a sharp one, huh?"
"It doesn't take a genius."
Niou smirks; Yukimura can feel the movements under his fingers.
"I'm wounded. I wonder if anyone else would agree... maybe I should try being you. Think they'd notice?"
Yukimura smiles, playing the predator, or perhaps the devil's advocate. “But then what would you do? Play a prank or two on Sanada and enjoy bossing Akaya around until he caught on? Mm. You really do lack ambition.”
“And you're trying to manipulate me into something. Don't think I can't tell.” Niou's smile is sharp and his teeth are very white.
“Only out of boredom, I promise you.”
Niou's laughter is a strange thing, a tiny bit savage, an even tinier bit amused. “Careful how far you push, Captain. Even for you I got limits somewhere.”
---
2. Rikkai IN SPACE, or something:
The craft spun downwards through the thin cloud layer in elegant free-fall, stray shafts of sunlight glinting off its silver fuselage as it fell towards the waiting blue of the ocean. It descended silently for what seemed like an impossibly long time, as though it might actually fall into the sea and be lost, and then – with a growing roar – the engines came to life, propelling it in a breathtakingly quick swoop into level flight, skimming a bare mile above the waves.
Inside the cramped cockpit Niou slumped back in his chair, gaze flicking across dials, checking readings.
"New speed record, Captain. And they said it couldn't be done. Tell the uptight ass he owes me fifty."
"Which one?" Yukimura asked, and was rewarded with a snort of laughter from his pilot.
"Yours. Yagyuu's not enough of an idiot to bet against me on shit like this."
Sanada wasn't his in the way Niou meant – only as much as everyone on this ship was. Yukimura didn't argue, though.
"I'll be sure to let him know."
Niou smirked, attention already switching back to the sky and the endless sea, and to the array of controls in front of him.
"Where next?"
"Yonabaru. But take us the long way around." Yukimura sighed and stood, hand on Niou's shoulder for a moment. "I'm sure I can trust you to find the quietest way in."
A nod of confirmation from Niou and Yukimura was gone, hurried footsteps echoing off steel walls as he made his way down towards the living quarters where Sanada and Yanagi would be waiting.
"Niou says you owe him," Yukimura told Sanada as he swung himself in through the low doorway, dropping into a chair. "Have you been making foolish bets, Genichirou? That's not like you."
Sanada glanced away, the line of his mouth hardening a little. "How long to our destination?"
"That rather depends on Niou. But not long, I think. Yonabaru is hardly renowned for being the height of security. He'll get us in fast enough."
Okinawa was a backwater planet, neglected and underfunded – too much ocean, not enough land. If you liked weird fish it was probably your idea of heaven, but no-one else gave a shit. There might be easier places to wander around without word getting back to the core, but there couldn't be many.
"It's not federal security we need to worry about," Yanagi murmured, not looking up from his book. "I can't help but feel that Naha would be a better touchdown point. We're more likely to find any parts Marui thinks he needs, and the number of dangerous elements is—"
"Noted," Yukimura said. "But you're overestimating the risk. I feel rather sorry for the first man who tries to mug Akaya. Besides, it's rather late to change our plans. It would be impolite. We have... appointments to keep."
Yonabaru was both a city and an island, the former sprawling out even beyond the borders of the latter on stilted buildings, rafts, walkways floating or hanging between. It was sheltered from the full force of Okinawa's storms by the nearby arc of larger Naha, Seseko and Kyoda, hemming it in and taking the brunt of the waves. Yukimura knew it well enough, favoured it because he knew people there – it was convenient, small, and out of the way.
The Kigiku sped in from the far side to the trio of islands, so low that Yukimura was sure the waves must be clipping their underside, and touched down in the poor excuse for a port. There was only one other ship there, and whether it was spaceworthy seemed questionable. This place had never been a hub of activity, but it looked like its fortunes might've fallen even further in recent years.
"On your guard," Yukimura told his crew as the wide hatch opened onto a strip of cracked asphalt, heat rolling in to meet them. "We're not on a daytrip here. Be back in three hours, sharp. You all know what you need to do."
Niou gave him a lazy salute and herded Yagyuu away towards the busiest streets, and Marui, after a moment's decision, picked the exact opposite direction to walk. Jackal and Kirihara trailed after him.
"Gentlemen," Yukimura told Sanada and Yanagi, tilting his head back to stare at the brilliant blue of the sky above, "time to do business."
"Look happier," Niou drawled, leading Yagyuu along briskly down street after street, changing direction with certainty and every appearance of knowing where he was going. "Solid ground. Real light. We could even get something to eat. Might be made of genuine food, even," though around here, real food probably meant tentacles. "Ain't it great?"
"Something is going on," Yagyuu said. It wasn't the voice of someone who was looking happier. "The captain—"
"—knows what he's doing. It's the tactician I thought looked like he had a bigger stick up his ass than Sanada today, after we landed." Something was definitely going on, sure. Something was always going on. If it wasn't, it probably meant they were all dead, but still, Yagyuu had a point. He usually did. "Ok, better make the most of our time on the ground before something explodes."
Yagyuu gave a quiet chuckle, which was good enough for Niou. If their doctor wasn't in danger of worrying himself to death then they could get down to business.
"Twelve," Yagyuu said in badly accented Okinawan, pointing at one stack of medical supplies, then glanced over another and looked across at Niou. "Ask him what grade this one is?"
Niou passed the question on, listened to the answer. "The regular stuff. Apparently he's got better out the back."
"This is fine," Yagyuu shrugged, pointed. "Twenty."
"Expecting us to get beaten up a lot, Doctor Yagyuu?" Niou asked, eyeing the growing pile of drugs, surgical instruments and dressings with mock wariness.
"You've never let me down yet," Yagyuu murmured, eyes flicking briefly across to Niou and back to the shopkeeper, utterly bland in that particular way which meant the topic was bothering him. Niou thought of the long scar on his right arm, another just below his ribs to the left – it'd be enough to make him feel guilty, if he went in for that sort of thing.
They ate standing at the counter of a tiny shop selling bowls of unidentified fish and rice, jostling for space with tanned locals all speaking so fast Niou could only just have followed if he'd tried. People were throwing them looks, full of the kind of curiosity which began with wondering where they were keeping their wallets and went right the way down to calculating whether it'd be more worthwhile to ransom them off or kill them outright.
---
3. And another bit of Damage Done:
They touch down in Cecina, Firenze's most equatorial port and also its largest. In Niou's mind Firenze is mostly sprawling ranches, forests for logging, open space and greenery. Apparently, though, the bits that've industrialised have done it in earnest. Smog hangs over the buildings, turning the horizon hazy, and the streets are as noisy as any he's been in.
Or maybe he's just not used to civilisation any more. He's been cooped up on the ship for so bloody long, like an invalid. Or a headcase.
"You've got your instructions," Yukimura says, and Niou doesn't miss the twitch of his hand which means he was thinking of pulling at Niou's hair. Tweaking the fox's tail, Yukimura had said the other day, laughed when Niou suggested he'd meant tiger's tail.
No, I meant exactly what I said.
Damn him. Niou thinks that over and over, and never knows if he really means it or not.
"Yeah," he say, stops staring into space. "You only told me fifty times. Sure it's enough?"
"You never got on well with instructions. I prefer to make sure you can't claim you forgot anything."
"Watch me," Niou says, gives a half-hearted smirk. He feels out of his depth here, back in reality with the wrong person standing next to him.
"We've got other jobs to get on with. Be quick. Meet us back at the ship as soon as the job's done or..."
"What, you'll leave without me?"
Yukimura raises an eyebrow. "Don't tempt me. Sanada wouldn't miss you."
Niou catches the words he doesn't say, far more clearly than he's really comfortable with; gives a lazy salute and steps away into the crowds, losing Yukimura - or losing himself.
He doesn't leave with any clear idea of whether he honestly intends to do his job and get back before the deadline or not. He thought he knew, before they arrived, but in that moment he's just not sure.
His feet carry him along more or less on autopilot. It turns out they're taking him in what Yukimura would call the right direction.
Today the job is distraction and strategic removal of security systems and personnel. His instructions are non-specific as to which he should distract and which he should remove, so long as he is discreet about it.
It's a real job, and an important one; when Yukimura wants to test someone, he doesn't screw around. And a test is what this is. Experimental bail. A psychological assessment. Fuck knows what else.
Fine. He's on.
Anyway, I had lots of stuff planned for today but 'cause the health centre is only open mornings I had to get bloodtests done first and now I'm woozy. Oops. Doing some serious sitting down and drinking of tea, etc. That's the blood test for coeliac disease out of the way, in any case; I've lost track of how many tubes of blood have been taken from me in the last year but I'm fairly sure it must be in double figures by now. Also, my arm hurts like a bitch. Just thought you might like to know.
And now some fic snippets while I recover myself, because I promised.
---
1. Niou and Yukimura:
Niou takes a perverse delight in being unpredictable, loves to watch people guess and second-guess and work themselves further and further from the truth. But it's always so petty about it, as though he can't quite be bothered to go that extra distance.
"If I were you," Yukimura says, "I would aim a little higher. I think you could do absolutely anything, if you wanted to."
"But you ain't me," Niou tells him, head cocked a little to the side, eyes narrowed. "Lucky for the world. Two of me's enough, right?"
"More than, some would argue." Yukimura smiles faintly. "Though I thought you were done with that particular game."
"Who knows... maybe I'm Yagyuu."
"You're not," Yukimura says, laughing, and reaches out to rub his fingers against the mole beside Niou's mouth.
Niou catches his hand, holds it there. His skin is cool, or Yukimura's hands are very warm. "Well played, captain. You always were a sharp one, huh?"
"It doesn't take a genius."
Niou smirks; Yukimura can feel the movements under his fingers.
"I'm wounded. I wonder if anyone else would agree... maybe I should try being you. Think they'd notice?"
Yukimura smiles, playing the predator, or perhaps the devil's advocate. “But then what would you do? Play a prank or two on Sanada and enjoy bossing Akaya around until he caught on? Mm. You really do lack ambition.”
“And you're trying to manipulate me into something. Don't think I can't tell.” Niou's smile is sharp and his teeth are very white.
“Only out of boredom, I promise you.”
Niou's laughter is a strange thing, a tiny bit savage, an even tinier bit amused. “Careful how far you push, Captain. Even for you I got limits somewhere.”
---
2. Rikkai IN SPACE, or something:
The craft spun downwards through the thin cloud layer in elegant free-fall, stray shafts of sunlight glinting off its silver fuselage as it fell towards the waiting blue of the ocean. It descended silently for what seemed like an impossibly long time, as though it might actually fall into the sea and be lost, and then – with a growing roar – the engines came to life, propelling it in a breathtakingly quick swoop into level flight, skimming a bare mile above the waves.
Inside the cramped cockpit Niou slumped back in his chair, gaze flicking across dials, checking readings.
"New speed record, Captain. And they said it couldn't be done. Tell the uptight ass he owes me fifty."
"Which one?" Yukimura asked, and was rewarded with a snort of laughter from his pilot.
"Yours. Yagyuu's not enough of an idiot to bet against me on shit like this."
Sanada wasn't his in the way Niou meant – only as much as everyone on this ship was. Yukimura didn't argue, though.
"I'll be sure to let him know."
Niou smirked, attention already switching back to the sky and the endless sea, and to the array of controls in front of him.
"Where next?"
"Yonabaru. But take us the long way around." Yukimura sighed and stood, hand on Niou's shoulder for a moment. "I'm sure I can trust you to find the quietest way in."
A nod of confirmation from Niou and Yukimura was gone, hurried footsteps echoing off steel walls as he made his way down towards the living quarters where Sanada and Yanagi would be waiting.
"Niou says you owe him," Yukimura told Sanada as he swung himself in through the low doorway, dropping into a chair. "Have you been making foolish bets, Genichirou? That's not like you."
Sanada glanced away, the line of his mouth hardening a little. "How long to our destination?"
"That rather depends on Niou. But not long, I think. Yonabaru is hardly renowned for being the height of security. He'll get us in fast enough."
Okinawa was a backwater planet, neglected and underfunded – too much ocean, not enough land. If you liked weird fish it was probably your idea of heaven, but no-one else gave a shit. There might be easier places to wander around without word getting back to the core, but there couldn't be many.
"It's not federal security we need to worry about," Yanagi murmured, not looking up from his book. "I can't help but feel that Naha would be a better touchdown point. We're more likely to find any parts Marui thinks he needs, and the number of dangerous elements is—"
"Noted," Yukimura said. "But you're overestimating the risk. I feel rather sorry for the first man who tries to mug Akaya. Besides, it's rather late to change our plans. It would be impolite. We have... appointments to keep."
Yonabaru was both a city and an island, the former sprawling out even beyond the borders of the latter on stilted buildings, rafts, walkways floating or hanging between. It was sheltered from the full force of Okinawa's storms by the nearby arc of larger Naha, Seseko and Kyoda, hemming it in and taking the brunt of the waves. Yukimura knew it well enough, favoured it because he knew people there – it was convenient, small, and out of the way.
The Kigiku sped in from the far side to the trio of islands, so low that Yukimura was sure the waves must be clipping their underside, and touched down in the poor excuse for a port. There was only one other ship there, and whether it was spaceworthy seemed questionable. This place had never been a hub of activity, but it looked like its fortunes might've fallen even further in recent years.
"On your guard," Yukimura told his crew as the wide hatch opened onto a strip of cracked asphalt, heat rolling in to meet them. "We're not on a daytrip here. Be back in three hours, sharp. You all know what you need to do."
Niou gave him a lazy salute and herded Yagyuu away towards the busiest streets, and Marui, after a moment's decision, picked the exact opposite direction to walk. Jackal and Kirihara trailed after him.
"Gentlemen," Yukimura told Sanada and Yanagi, tilting his head back to stare at the brilliant blue of the sky above, "time to do business."
"Look happier," Niou drawled, leading Yagyuu along briskly down street after street, changing direction with certainty and every appearance of knowing where he was going. "Solid ground. Real light. We could even get something to eat. Might be made of genuine food, even," though around here, real food probably meant tentacles. "Ain't it great?"
"Something is going on," Yagyuu said. It wasn't the voice of someone who was looking happier. "The captain—"
"—knows what he's doing. It's the tactician I thought looked like he had a bigger stick up his ass than Sanada today, after we landed." Something was definitely going on, sure. Something was always going on. If it wasn't, it probably meant they were all dead, but still, Yagyuu had a point. He usually did. "Ok, better make the most of our time on the ground before something explodes."
Yagyuu gave a quiet chuckle, which was good enough for Niou. If their doctor wasn't in danger of worrying himself to death then they could get down to business.
"Twelve," Yagyuu said in badly accented Okinawan, pointing at one stack of medical supplies, then glanced over another and looked across at Niou. "Ask him what grade this one is?"
Niou passed the question on, listened to the answer. "The regular stuff. Apparently he's got better out the back."
"This is fine," Yagyuu shrugged, pointed. "Twenty."
"Expecting us to get beaten up a lot, Doctor Yagyuu?" Niou asked, eyeing the growing pile of drugs, surgical instruments and dressings with mock wariness.
"You've never let me down yet," Yagyuu murmured, eyes flicking briefly across to Niou and back to the shopkeeper, utterly bland in that particular way which meant the topic was bothering him. Niou thought of the long scar on his right arm, another just below his ribs to the left – it'd be enough to make him feel guilty, if he went in for that sort of thing.
They ate standing at the counter of a tiny shop selling bowls of unidentified fish and rice, jostling for space with tanned locals all speaking so fast Niou could only just have followed if he'd tried. People were throwing them looks, full of the kind of curiosity which began with wondering where they were keeping their wallets and went right the way down to calculating whether it'd be more worthwhile to ransom them off or kill them outright.
---
3. And another bit of Damage Done:
They touch down in Cecina, Firenze's most equatorial port and also its largest. In Niou's mind Firenze is mostly sprawling ranches, forests for logging, open space and greenery. Apparently, though, the bits that've industrialised have done it in earnest. Smog hangs over the buildings, turning the horizon hazy, and the streets are as noisy as any he's been in.
Or maybe he's just not used to civilisation any more. He's been cooped up on the ship for so bloody long, like an invalid. Or a headcase.
"You've got your instructions," Yukimura says, and Niou doesn't miss the twitch of his hand which means he was thinking of pulling at Niou's hair. Tweaking the fox's tail, Yukimura had said the other day, laughed when Niou suggested he'd meant tiger's tail.
No, I meant exactly what I said.
Damn him. Niou thinks that over and over, and never knows if he really means it or not.
"Yeah," he say, stops staring into space. "You only told me fifty times. Sure it's enough?"
"You never got on well with instructions. I prefer to make sure you can't claim you forgot anything."
"Watch me," Niou says, gives a half-hearted smirk. He feels out of his depth here, back in reality with the wrong person standing next to him.
"We've got other jobs to get on with. Be quick. Meet us back at the ship as soon as the job's done or..."
"What, you'll leave without me?"
Yukimura raises an eyebrow. "Don't tempt me. Sanada wouldn't miss you."
Niou catches the words he doesn't say, far more clearly than he's really comfortable with; gives a lazy salute and steps away into the crowds, losing Yukimura - or losing himself.
He doesn't leave with any clear idea of whether he honestly intends to do his job and get back before the deadline or not. He thought he knew, before they arrived, but in that moment he's just not sure.
His feet carry him along more or less on autopilot. It turns out they're taking him in what Yukimura would call the right direction.
Today the job is distraction and strategic removal of security systems and personnel. His instructions are non-specific as to which he should distract and which he should remove, so long as he is discreet about it.
It's a real job, and an important one; when Yukimura wants to test someone, he doesn't screw around. And a test is what this is. Experimental bail. A psychological assessment. Fuck knows what else.
Fine. He's on.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2008-05-28 03:11 pm (UTC)2. Someone needs to make a joke about cockpit. I mean, COCKPIT! Come on!
3. Skipped this one. I WANT THE WHOLE THING NOT LITTLE BITS.
no subject
Date: 2008-05-28 10:20 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-05-28 04:57 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-05-28 10:17 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-05-28 05:16 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-05-28 10:16 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-05-28 06:07 pm (UTC)I hope you can complete one of them, if not all, I'd love to read them :)
no subject
Date: 2008-05-28 10:16 pm (UTC)Hopefully I can manage to finish something sometime soon. *laugh* I mean I guess I shouldn't complain, I did manage almost 7000 words of SanaYuki not so long ago. But still. XD;
no subject
Date: 2008-05-28 08:15 pm (UTC)2. RIKKAI IN SPACE. <333! I like your Yukimura~
3. ..this would probably make more sense if I read/remembered Damage Done, right? O-or I'm just being silly again. :|| *goes to rind*
no subject
Date: 2008-05-28 10:15 pm (UTC)2. I just can't resist. >>
3. Yeah, well. I didn't update it since last year. *facepalms*
no subject
Date: 2008-05-29 06:13 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-06-02 07:06 pm (UTC)2. First thought: "Too many space series!" But you piqued my interest. ope you can rescue this and show us more later.
3. This one needs a bit of dusting indeed. ^^;;
no subject
Date: 2008-06-23 01:18 pm (UTC)Your Niou is so Niou and your Yukimura is so Yukimura. And that's all I can say, really.
no subject
Date: 2008-07-27 12:45 pm (UTC)The second one intrigued me... Too bad there wasn't much plot information-- but the ways you slipped in the
"situational details"?background for the AU made me grin as they usually do on your fic :D. I love your style.Also, outtake for Damage Done, yay!
I noticed I still have mixed feelings about the premise for that whole [series of fic? insert right word here]. It's sad. :(