InsaneJournal

Fic: Relationship drabbles!
I had really ridiculous amounts of fun with these, you guys. Probably my favorite set of drabbles I've done. You may see this or a similar format again.

...There's really no good way to organize these by fandom, though, since 9/12 of them are crossovers. So I'm just putting them in the order they were in the prompt post.

And these are all worksafe! And mostly gen. (A few vague implications.)

for nanthimus: Aang (Avatar), and a partner from Avatar

Aang brings it up during a break. He's not stupid.

"What is your problem with dancing, anyway?"

"Problem?" Zuko looks up. "There's no problem. It's not a dance. It's a powerful firebending form."

"But it could be a dance," Aang pushes. "The movements are the same. Why do you care – wait, I forgot. Dancing was outlawed, right?"

"That's not why," Zuko says, teeth grit.

Aang's not convinced. "You know, I bet a lot of dances started out as bending forms."

"Really?" Now Zuko actually sounds interested.

"Yeah!" Aang grins. "And you're in luck. I know several classic Fire Nation dances."


for ilyat: Light (Death Note), and a teammate from Bleach

"Captain… Tousen… why?" The shinigami chokes out before he collapses. Tousen flicks off the blood and resheaths his sword.

"I'm sorry. It couldn't be helped; I have business with this one, and there was no other way."

Then he turns. "Yagami Light. Why did you kill them?"

The boy's spirit stares for only a second before he composes himself. "By killing them I've saved far more. They were evil and needed to be judged."

"Yes." Tousen says. He was right about this boy. "Follow me. I can keep you out of hell, and there is still justice to be served."


for shiegra: Orihime (Bleach), and an enemy from Baccano!

"Master Szilard," the man – a new follower, still trying to prove himself for the elixir – opened the door, breathless. "We've got the girl."

"Oh?" Szilard thumped his cane once. "Bring her in."

The girl was younger and prettier than he'd expected. They always were. Szilard drew his gun as she stared, her eyes bright with anger and tears.

Then he shot the man who had brought her in, once in the middle of his chest, and walked forward to pull off the girl's gag.

"Now, heal him." Szilard commanded. "Let's see if that power of yours makes you useful, girl."


for lassarina: Zuko (Avatar), and a rival from Final Fantasy XII

It's not that Larsa's better at the double broadswords than him. He's not. But he shouldn't even be close – fourth son of a noble family and a year younger than Zuko. And Zuko shouldn't care, should just be focused on firebending, but he tries to do that and Azula's just better than him. The swords are his. He does care.

Their teacher looks on as Larsa picks out the huge ornate things he favors, and Zuko chokes back the usual disgust and disbelief that the kid can even lift them.

"Match form seven?" Larsa says lightly.

"Fine," Zuko bites out.


for sheffiesharpe: Shinjiro (Persona 3), and a rival from Final Fantasy XII

"A boy will never get anywhere just standing around, you know."

Shinjiro looks up. "Fuck you, Jules. You know my contacts work at night."

"And that – perhaps you should consider appearing a bit more respectable. Appearances can open doors, you know - or close them."

"Tch. Respectable like you?" His disdain is unmistakable. "I don't need your damned advice. If it was valuable it wouldn't come for free."

"Perhaps I am making an investment."

"Or maybe you just don't like people knowing things you don't, and you're expecting me to share." He grins. "Save it for your gullible gentry, Jules."


for mahokiwi: Ryoji (Persona 3), and a best friend from Baccano!

"Don't you worry that your scarf will catch fire?" Claire asks out of the blue.

Ryoji's used to this by now. "Don't you worry that you'll fall and crack your head open? That seems a little more concerning. I'd might get a few burns and look silly. You could die."

"No," Claire says simply. "But other people worry about those things. Why don't you?"

"Fire twirling looks more dangerous than it is," Ryoji says wryly, then sighs. "And there's no sense worrying about it, anyway. Death will come when it will."

"Or it won't," Claire says, and Ryoji just smiles.


for laylah: Firo (Baccano!), and a roommate from Persona 3

"Hey. How was practice?" It's Thursday, which means sparring day. He can already tell from the quirk of Akihiko's lips that it went well.

"Good. The guys are improving a lot." Of course. Akihiko never comes home looking like he lost a fight. "I'm hitting the shower." Firo nods and deliberately turns back to his book.

Firo's just here as a student. He shouldn't want to ask Akihiko for a match. He really shouldn't want to see what he would do with a knife.

He also shouldn't look back up as Akihiko sheds his shirt, but that's a different problem.


for regicidaldwarf: Yoruichi (Bleach), and a superior from Baccano!

"Eh?" Yoruichi said, lifting her head from its tilt back over the top of the couch. Of course, she could only stare at the mountain of papers obscuring the desk, as usual. "You want me to do what?"

"Track a famous assassin," said the Director. "I trust your skills are up to the task?"

"Of course they are. But I wouldn't think you'd have figured that out yet."

"I'm a good judge of character," the voice said mildly. "Though you may find it more difficult than you think. Vino moves quickly."

"Ha! Well, I'm quicker. I'll find him." She grinned.


for sugared: Akihiko (Persona 3), and a subordinate from Persona 3

"This way," Akihiko says. Junpei just follows. The fog is completely gone from his head but he still can't think, nothing but what was… did we… It's a good thing Akihiko-senpai seems to be doing better.

"Get that one," Akihiko orders, moving for another Shadow himself, and Junpei obeys instantly.

Then Akihiko meets his eyes when the Shadows vanish, and his look makes Junpei think Akihiko really isn't taking this any better. It's comforting, somehow.

"Let's keep moving," he says, rough.

It's nothing like listening to Minato, and Junpei wonders if he'd do better if it was always like this.


for white_aster: Iroh (Avatar), and a business associate from Baccano!

"I have to tell you, Maiza Avaro, I am not terribly intent on turning my tea shop into a bar."

The man smiles, but it doesn't reach his eyes. "The shop would merely serve sake in addition to tea. The Martillos would like to keep the same atmosphere."

Iroh sighs and glances at his pai sho board longingly. He'd meant to get some quality time in today.

Maiza follows his gaze. "You play? Would you mind a game?"

That's surprising. "I'd love to."

Maiza take the first move, and Iroh's eyebrows shoot up when he plays the white lotus tile.


for threewalls: Vossler (Final Fantasy XII), and a business associate from Final Fantasy XII

Vossler will never like large galas like this one. Security's always a bitch – too much going on, too many variables to plan for properly. But it helps that this dinner's in celebration of the joint creation of Nethicite Alternative Power Corp., which means the only others in attendance are Solidor Company people and the press.

And he's gotten used to working with Solidor's security force.

Gabranth taps a finger on the floorplan. "Can one of yours patrol the upper balconies? The way up should be blocked off, but –"

"Much better safe. Yes, I can spare a patrol." Vossler smiles.


for puella_nerdii: Luck (Baccano!), and a mentor from Persona 3

"And you hold down the left one to switch weapons," Junpei says. "So then – have you ever played any kind of shooter before?"

"I," the man in the suit pauses, smiles. "I suppose I do have a bit of experience in that area."

And, okay, that's a weird response, but the guy picks up and aims the controller like he knows what he's doing, at least.

"So yeah – just pick up any ammo you see and keep shooting. We'll totally cream them." And by the look in the guy's eye as he sights, Junpei actually thinks it might be true.