InsaneJournal

Ironman week 7 - writer's choice
Woo! Done! \o/ Will probably have a reflection post up in a bit, because I like analyzing myself after the fact.

This week was surprisingly hard. I'm not sure I do well with lots of options. ^^;; Also, I've been exhausting my idea pool pretty thoroughly. But! Nevertheless, completed! \o/

god prefers an atheist
Death Note, Light/pretty much everyone in one way or another. 500 words. Significant spoilers for much of the series. Not worksafe.
Preferences

Light is so close to having everything. Months, days, any minute now all of his enemies will fall before him, and no one will be left to challenge his reign over the world. Things will be better then, he thinks. When he can afford to relax.

That it's not good now bothers him slightly, like the niggling itch of some forgotten fact waiting for the right cue to fall into its proper place.

Misa and Takada both worship him, in the very literal sense of the word. Misa in particular takes his every word as law, and she welcomes him home looking like a centerfold lingerie model – because she is a centerfold lingerie model, of course. And yet he finds himself wondering, when her tiny body moves under him on the nights when he can't pull away from her for work, how much longer she can possibly have to live, with her remaining lifespan quartered. She has really outlived her usefulness already.

Takada is more clever, and if it was most natural for their spoken meetings to lead to sex, that is what would have to happen. Fortunately, since he controls what they say, it doesn't. It's easy to lie with his voice, his penned words, even both at once, but he can't take the chance of his body making Takada suspect he doesn't care for her as much as he says.

He had begun to wonder, years ago, in a clinical way, if in fact he was simply not physically attracted to women. There were ways test if his preference lay with men, of course, but he had to avoid those which anyone else might find out about. It would be a stupid thing to risk the balance of his life on.

He could try fantasies, of course, but for a long time he had no interest. Mikami broke that trend. He was attractive and competent, and his worship went beyond anything Misa had ever considered. Light had known it, it was what he was working for, but there was nothing comparable to hearing himself addressed as God over the phone.

So out of curiosity late one night, as he strokes himself in the bathroom, Light finds himself bringing up Mikami's face and the sound of that voice. He could feel the blood pulse under his hand at the thought, so he continued as he brought himself to full hardness. Mikami would do anything he asked—would know what needed to be done before he asked. If they ever – and circumstances now meant it was impossible, but after the new world came it could happen – if they ever met in person, Light could probably have Mikami on his knees with a look.

The image of that – strong body, sharp mind, reduced to dark hair and a mouth around Light's cock as he looked down – is enough to bring Light to climax.

Light makes a decision not to think about the phantom sensation of cool metal around his wrist.



I'm impressed -- don't like you, but I'm impressed
Magna Carta, Rianna & Raul. 400 words.
Steady Enough

Rianna grinds her teeth. It's never a good idea to agree to let someone fight along with you before you've even seen them unsheathe their sword. It's downright stupid to recruit a man you meet collapsed in the road, no questions asked. This Raul is likely to be drunk and incompetent, a complete leech on their resources. In fact, he seems to be making no effort to hide that fact.

Well, no matter. Rianna can handle most threats around here by herself. As long as Raul manages to hold his sword steady enough to not chop her head off, they should be okay for long enough for Reith to realize what a liability he is.

Her heart sinks slightly when they run into a pack of monsters. The things look fragile, but there are three of them, and she knows from experience that earth or mountain attacks from don't tend to be very effective. Reith's ice is helpful, but – she glances sideways at Raul – she won't be able to use it much if she has to spend her time keeping their leech alive.

Dammit. Well, no use worrying now.

She strikes twice at one of the beasts, and winces when it doesn't seem terribly fazed by it. It leaps to bite her, and pain lances through her arm where it manages to get teeth in past her block. Reith steps forward and rains down ice shard in front of Rianna. It means she's powered up for her wider spell –

Instead, Raul steps forward. Rianna opens her mouth to tell him to stay out of the way, but then chi starts to gather, and it's too late anyway.

"Dragon… Descent!"

Rianna's groan is cut off by a choking sputter as Raul transitions from his ridiculous drama into a flurry of smooth efficient strikes with his sword. Its – well, okay, it's damned impressive. Rianna's no expert, but it's a better display of swordsmanship than she's seen in a long time, at least, and the untouched creature in front of him is utterly overwhelmed.

She suppresses her surprise as, between them, they finish off the other two monsters with only minor injuries.

"That was amazing!" Reith says happily when they regroup. Rianna presses her lips together to keep from smiling.

"Thank you. It did, however, make me somewhat hungry. Could I…"

"Oh, deal with it; you've eaten half our provisions already." Rianna snaps.



walk around me, not before me, I'll pretend not to ignore ye / but I'll compromise when I realize you can do something for me
Final Fantasy XII, Vossler, Balthier. 400 words. Spoilers through Leviathan.
A Distasteful Price

Vossler stands close to Ashe when they pause.

It's quite reasonable, really—the creatures here can show up unpredictably, and that is far from the only factor that makes this setting hostile. Still, it's habitual enough he doesn't even consider it—as is the way he keeps her in the corner of his vision as he scans the area. And, he suspects the way Ashe's weight shifts toward him as she does the same. Their proximity is not particularly notable until Balthier strides up from behind them and jostles them both as he moves to inspect something.

Ashe starts at the bump, and Vossler glowers at the pirate's back. Then she presses her lips together and pulls herself straight.

"Any luck?" she asks, and Balthier sighs.

"I think we should try the other corridor again," he says resignedly.

The comment causes groans from the children, but they begin walking immediately, the viera in the lead. Ashe and Basch follow, but Vossler holds his ground as Balthier checks the shot for his gun.

"Have significant experience in pilfering sacred tombs, do you?" Vossler growls.

"It's a boon to you that I do, it would seem, as your princess seems well-set on pilfering this one," the pirate says mildly, not meeting Vossler's eyes.

The statement is truth, of course. Ashe has made the right choice in hiring this pirate, for without him they would be very unlikely to retrieve the Dawn Shard. Without the Dawn Shard, his plans come to nothing, and Dalmasca is lost. But when it's at the price of letting this vagabond –

It is perhaps not fair to criticize when you have set your own distasteful price, some dark corner of his mind interjects.

I will do what I do for the good of Dalmasca, he thinks, like a mantra.

You have set a distasteful price for Dalmasca, then.

Vossler scowls at himself and moves to walk away. A slim arm shoots in front of him, and he pauses more out of surprise than anything.

"Things are not going to work like this," Balthier says. "You don't have to like me, but I can't have you scowling back at me and missing a trap or a zombie."

For the good of Dalmasca, he thinks, and looks forward at Ashe.

"Fear not," he says, more calmly, but still with an edge. "I shall be focused on our goal."



only cowards stay, while traitors run
Bleach, Soi Fong->Yoruichi. 300 words. Backstory spoilers, I suppose.
Coward

Sometimes, Soi Fong hates herself. She'd been happy – giddy, for weeks – after she talked with Yoruichi that night. Close to her, like a younger sister? It was more than Soi Fong ever could have asked for. She still occasionally thinks of herself as a child, knowing that she Yoruichi would be her god all her life. It makes her reel at the impossibility of Yoruichi smiling at her.

To even get used to this is too much. There is no way she should ever want more.

And yet, lately, she finds herself looking at Yoruichi, and… adoring her, as usual, but also feeling warm, and not entirely because of embarrassment. Somehow, she wishes Yoruichi would touch her more often.

She takes to training with the sword in all her spare moments, and doesn't think too hard about the hope that Yoruichi will guide her strokes again. Her focus backfires, of course; before too long Yoruichi declares her technical skills adequate and tells her to ease off.

Then one day, while Yoruichi is lounging around and trying to provoke Soi Fong into conversation, she pauses mid-tease to grin – and Soi Fong realizes that she really wants to kiss her.

She blushes hard and can't form words without stammering until Yoruichi dismisses her.

It's ridiculous, of course. It's inappropriate – it's so beyond her place that she can barely comprehend it. Besides that, Yoruichi sees her as a sister. If Soi Fong lost Yoruichi –

Well, she'd have no one. She'd have no lady to follow, her family would disown her, and –

She shakes at the very idea and resolves to never think of it again.

A month later, Yoruichi is gone. Soi Fong is beyond dizzy with grief and betrayal, and still she can't help but think that she's a coward to have not done something.


I get knocked down, but I get up again / you're never gonna keep me down
Bleach, Ikkaku and others. 300 words. Warnings for 2nd person POV and randomness. >_>
Disruptive
You're sure there's been someone new staying next door recently. Usually when that happens it's just one of Mizuho's boyfriends, but never before have they been this disruptive at late hours of the night.

It's when you see them – two young men walking back with Keigo – that you decide to pay them a visit. Cordially, of course. Just introducing yourself to the new neighbors.

You bring a gift to ease the way if you should happen to mention your expectations that they be more quiet in the future.

It's Keigo who answers the door. Slightly. "Ah, hello," he says nervously.

"I've seen that you have some new guests. I've come to introduce myself." You peer curiously into the room.

"Hah – er, yes. They're… transfer students. They're staying here for a while."

"Hmm?" A figure seems to rise further in the apartment, and Keigo jumps nervously. "Who's that?"

The man who approaches looks even worse than he had from afar. In addition to the shaved head, and the wooded sword, he has several bruises on the visible parts of his body, and – are those tattoos by his eyes?

"Ikkaku-san, you should be resting, you could have died," Keigo says, sounding more pleading than concerned.

"Bah," Ikkaku growls.

"Ikkaku-san, this is my neighbor – "

"Damn! You brought sake? Give it here, man," Ikkaku snaps, and you comply without thinking. "Nice to meet you and everything," he says, opening the bottle immediately.

Keigo winces. "Sorry. Ikkaku-san –"

"Oi! Yumichika! C'mere!"

"Perhaps I should come back later," you say nervously.

"Um, yeah, sorry," Keigo sputters. "Right now we're a little –"

"What now, Ikkaku?" Another man rounds the corner, and Ikkaku grins lopsidedly.

"Some other time," you say, and the door is closed before you've finished deciding that this time was quite enough.