InsaneJournal

Relationship drabbles, round 2!
There's a lot of things I'm really happy with in here. I've been wanting to get these finished so I could post them all for weeks now. Sorry it took me so long. ^^

Like last time, these are in order from the prompt post rather than sorted by fandom, since most of them are crossovers. All worksafe!


For sugared: Ion (Tales of the Abyss) and a rival from Tales of the Abyss
*** spoilers ***

He was aware of competing before he was really aware of himself. The others looked exactly the same, were exactly the same as him. Only they didn't always move and act exactly like... the him in this body.

Sometimes he thought he could feel echoes of the others' pain as they strained to gather fonons. Sometimes he thought it was just that he was so familiar with it himself. Either way, he had to do better than them. He understood that much.

And eventually, he did better - and the expression of one of the others turned his face unfamiliar.


For regicidaldwarf: Luck (Baccano!) and a partner from Persona 3

"And it appears Solidor has entered the bidding as well," Mitsuru says evenly, her eyes scanning the memo.

"What? Bastards," Luck bites out. "Just last month they agreed to work with you."

"On an entirely unrelated project. I didn't expect that agreement to have any wider scope than that. It's just good business." Her eyebrows rise. "Your reaction is intriguing. It's not as if they've ever done anything illegal."

Luck frowns. "At least my people know the value of loyalty." Mitsuru's mouth quirks. "Well, no matter. I'm sure our combined proposal will be superior in any case."

"Indeed." She smiles.


For karanguni: Keith (Baccano!) and an enemy from Baccano!

The Gandors will always have enemies - probably more enemies than they can handle. Their territory is almost nothing, really. But their father kept it, secured it, made it a quasi-neutral area among the much larger families.

That neutrality earned them a brief respite; it was several weeks after their father died before the stirrings of aggression began. But then they needed to fight decisively and firmly, and show the strength to hold their niche. No hesitation, no apologizing, no kindness.

"I want to help," Luck says, and Keith's protective instincts say no. But that sentimentality is only hurting them.


For mahokiwi: Claire (Baccano!) and a colleague from Persona 3
this one has context, if by context I mean I came up with the random idea for it a while ago and not just now

"Do you want to take this one?"

Ryoji raises an eyebrow. "Do you mean the table, the job notice, or the girl?"

Claire grins and sets his serving tray down. "I meant the job, but if you'd prefer –"

Ryoji waves a hand. "Who is it, then?"

Without even an attempt at delicacy, Claire digs his fingers through pastry crust and pulls out a stained-red slip of paper. "Looks like some lawyer. Ah, and they want it to look natural."

"I'd better take it, then." Ryoji rolls his eyes. "You can tell the pretty girl we're out of raspberry tarts."


For lassarina: Akihiko (Persona 3) and a best friend from Persona 3

Akihiko blinked. Looked at the clock, not that he needed to, when the street outside the dorm was still green-lit. Then at Shinji. "What are you doing here?"

"What," Shinji panted, "do you think?"

Akihiko frowned. "Mitsuru said your power wasn't under control enough to –"

"I can get it under control," Shinji growled, and shouldered inside.

"But –"

Shinji swung a fist at him, and Akihiko dropped his grip to block it instinctively. The door fell closed with a slam. "Like I'm going to let you join some group and fight those fucking strong monsters all by yourself? Idiot."


For redbird: Aizen (Bleach) and an ex-boyfriend from Baccano!

"And it seems there's a small group just moving into the city, as well. So far it's just robberies, some assaults. Could be just freelancing, from the behavior, but..."

"But?" The Director prompts calmly.

Elean sighs. "But we received a note from their leader, a Mr. Aizen, addressed to you personally. With exact details of their movements."

There's uncharacteristic silence for a moment. "Ah." The scratching of pen on paper. "You'll need to discard that, then."

"Director! Even if some of it is intentionally misleading, it's still valuable information!"

"No, I'm afraid it's not. Please set up an independent investigation."


For laylah: Firo (Baccano!) and a superior from Baccano!

Maiza acts strangely around him for weeks afterwards. Firo quickly guesses why, although it takes longer to discover the exact reason.

He tried to explain: Yes, he has memories from Szilard and everyone he had eaten. But they're like things from his own distant past - he only remembers them when they're triggered somehow. It's not like he has Szilard living in his head.

That made Maiza relax, but not as much as Firo expected.

It's a few days after that that Maiza smiles, a real smile, and it reminds Firo of the way he smiled before their mother died.


For mithrigil: Light (Death Note) and a subordinate from Baccano!

Senator Beriam was an easy choice. He has enough shady history to be frightened of Kira; enough arrogance to try to manipulate him anyway. Most importantly, he has the information Light needs.

Light had almost missed it. Since he's had Misa – and thus no chance of using a false name – he's been lax about verifying individual deaths. Writing circumstances of death complicates things, but he hasn't had any other criminal fail to die of a heart attack, much less one who's sitting calmly in prison. But –

"Huey Laforet is immortal," the senator says, and Light sits forward in his chair.


For white_aster: Ronnie (Baccano!) and a mentor from Fullmetal Alchemist

The humans around when he awakes are screaming, yelling "It's a demon!" and stumbling away. Well, except for one of them. She stays rather still in her pool of blood.

He's weak, too weak, and he only barely manages, "I'm…"

"Not a demon." It appears as a man dressed in leather and fur, but it has power. "I know what you are. You're one of us." It holds something out. "Come with me and see." Its grin is all sharp teeth.

Well, all right. It's power, and his options are rather limited for now. He reaches for the red stone.


For mitsuhachi: Orihime (Bleach) and an idol from Persona 3

"Nn, no, I would pick Aigis-senpai."

"…Really?" Everyone looks at her.

"Yeah!" Orihime grins. "Aigis-senpai is definitely the coolest."

"I guess she's nice and all, but don't you think she's a bit… weird? She always has all those clothes on, even when it's hot out. And she's not in any clubs or anything, and it's not because she's studying, because her grades aren't that good—"

"Exactly! Maybe she's a superhero!" Orihime exclaims, and the others just sigh, but that's what people do, right? They never acknowledge the superhero's secret identity. But that's alright. Aigis-senpai's secret is safe with her.