Fic: Cake (S&S Prompt fic)
Nov. 15th, 2012 05:11 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
thisbluespiritTitle: Cake
Author:thisbluespirit
Rating: All ages
Word Count: 799
Characters/Pairings: Sapphire, Steel, Silver (mild Silver/Sapphire/Steel)
Warnings None. Fluff.
Summary: It’s been a particularly draining assignment.
(Prompt 98: silver & steel & sapphire - Comfort food & Soulmates)
***
The house is quiet now. There’s a clock ticking in the other room, but not in here. The entity has gone and the building’s misplaced occupants with it. Something is still wrong, though. Sapphire leans forward against the worktop and touches it with her fingers. (Modern, but not new. There are scratches on it. Six years old.)
Steel’s sitting on a wooden chair, his back to the cupboards and the work surface, slightly hunched and staring ahead.
“Steel,” she says, softly. “Steel.”
He glances at her and then stares ahead again. She’s not reassured. Driving it away had been difficult. He forced it back, but it has taken nearly everything from him. It’s not as bad as when he’s taken his temperature down but his strength is still at a low ebb. She doesn’t like that. She knows they’ve finished and he’ll recover, but she doesn’t like it. She twists her fingers, and waits.
“Oh, look – cake mixture,” says Silver from the other side of the kitchen, interrupting her thoughts and fears. He smiles at her and then carries his find across, dipping his finger in along the way and examining the mixture carefully before licking it with a look of pleased accomplishment.
Sapphire smiles half-heartedly and then shakes her head.
“Steel,” says Silver. “Perhaps you –?”
“He doesn’t eat.”
“It’s matter that can be converted into energy,” says Silver. “Isn’t that what we need, Sapphire?” He pushes the mixing bowl across.
She tests it herself. “Yes,” she says, but with a haughty lack of interest. “Margarine, sugar, egg, flour, vanilla extract – fat, protein, carbohydrates –”
“Vanilla sponge,” says Silver, with a reproachful look. “Sapphire.”
Sapphire laughs, and that seems to break something around them. It took something from each of them, she realises, finally tracking down the source of her unease. It’s left a mark. Her hand as it rests on the abandoned bowl is not as steady as it should be, Steel’s weakened, and Silver… She looks at him, though he’s poking about in one of the cupboards now. Whatever it is, he’s using the nearest thing to hand to try and compensate. Cake, in this case. And they’re all avoiding speaking except out loud.
She catches her breath at that thought and finds herself wary of trying, because if she can’t – if they can’t - She does not want to think of that. And yet she is sure the entity has gone. There’s only the three of them here.
No, says Silver, his hand on her arm. Not that. I think it took more than we realised to force it away. And he glances down at Steel with a passing frown.
She smiles again in relief at the contact. “But you can put everything right with cake?”
“Well, not exactly,” he says and smiles back, as if she’s caught him out somehow. “It helps a little. Very nice, too.”
Cake isn’t the answer, thinks Sapphire. The answer is obvious and easy and better than cake mixture. She’s surprised Silver hasn’t already seen that. She reaches out her hand and touches Steel’s shoulder. She doesn’t need to look. She knows exactly where he is; she always does.
Steel? And she can reach him, it’s all right. She’s a little fainter than usual, but that’s all.
Sapphire, he says. Yes. And she breathes again, now that he’s back.
Silver’s on the other side of him now, ostensibly leaning against the work surface but close enough so as to be touching him. Steel turns his head. Cake? he says and there’s a fleeting sense of amusement that passes between them before he adds: “I told you not to touch anything. Leave it as it is.”
“That won’t stay as it is, will it?” Silver sits down beside him and puts up a hand to his arm. “It’ll decay. What I’ve left will still do that, don’t worry.”
Sapphire kisses Steel’s hair and perches improbably on the stool beside him. She glances across at him with humour lurking in her face, challenging him to object. He doesn’t, of course. She doesn’t know what Silver’s doing now, but he’s there; that’s the important thing.
Sometimes she thinks it’s as if humans knew this before they ever did: they use sapphire and steel in making expensive clocks – that amuses her. Sapphires are set in silver, and steel’s strength and durability they plate with silver for a polished finish. It’s not true, of course; it’s only an indulgent fancy.
But a nice thought. Silver sounds amused again.
Sapphire closes her eyes and smiles in return. Like cake?
And Steel’s there, more and more there with every moment, as he ought to be – and then… She gives an inward shiver of anticipation.
Oh, better than cake, says Silver, and they’re all in silent agreement.
***
Author:
thisbluespiritRating: All ages
Word Count: 799
Characters/Pairings: Sapphire, Steel, Silver (mild Silver/Sapphire/Steel)
Warnings None. Fluff.
Summary: It’s been a particularly draining assignment.
(Prompt 98: silver & steel & sapphire - Comfort food & Soulmates)
***
The house is quiet now. There’s a clock ticking in the other room, but not in here. The entity has gone and the building’s misplaced occupants with it. Something is still wrong, though. Sapphire leans forward against the worktop and touches it with her fingers. (Modern, but not new. There are scratches on it. Six years old.)
Steel’s sitting on a wooden chair, his back to the cupboards and the work surface, slightly hunched and staring ahead.
“Steel,” she says, softly. “Steel.”
He glances at her and then stares ahead again. She’s not reassured. Driving it away had been difficult. He forced it back, but it has taken nearly everything from him. It’s not as bad as when he’s taken his temperature down but his strength is still at a low ebb. She doesn’t like that. She knows they’ve finished and he’ll recover, but she doesn’t like it. She twists her fingers, and waits.
“Oh, look – cake mixture,” says Silver from the other side of the kitchen, interrupting her thoughts and fears. He smiles at her and then carries his find across, dipping his finger in along the way and examining the mixture carefully before licking it with a look of pleased accomplishment.
Sapphire smiles half-heartedly and then shakes her head.
“Steel,” says Silver. “Perhaps you –?”
“He doesn’t eat.”
“It’s matter that can be converted into energy,” says Silver. “Isn’t that what we need, Sapphire?” He pushes the mixing bowl across.
She tests it herself. “Yes,” she says, but with a haughty lack of interest. “Margarine, sugar, egg, flour, vanilla extract – fat, protein, carbohydrates –”
“Vanilla sponge,” says Silver, with a reproachful look. “Sapphire.”
Sapphire laughs, and that seems to break something around them. It took something from each of them, she realises, finally tracking down the source of her unease. It’s left a mark. Her hand as it rests on the abandoned bowl is not as steady as it should be, Steel’s weakened, and Silver… She looks at him, though he’s poking about in one of the cupboards now. Whatever it is, he’s using the nearest thing to hand to try and compensate. Cake, in this case. And they’re all avoiding speaking except out loud.
She catches her breath at that thought and finds herself wary of trying, because if she can’t – if they can’t - She does not want to think of that. And yet she is sure the entity has gone. There’s only the three of them here.
No, says Silver, his hand on her arm. Not that. I think it took more than we realised to force it away. And he glances down at Steel with a passing frown.
She smiles again in relief at the contact. “But you can put everything right with cake?”
“Well, not exactly,” he says and smiles back, as if she’s caught him out somehow. “It helps a little. Very nice, too.”
Cake isn’t the answer, thinks Sapphire. The answer is obvious and easy and better than cake mixture. She’s surprised Silver hasn’t already seen that. She reaches out her hand and touches Steel’s shoulder. She doesn’t need to look. She knows exactly where he is; she always does.
Steel? And she can reach him, it’s all right. She’s a little fainter than usual, but that’s all.
Sapphire, he says. Yes. And she breathes again, now that he’s back.
Silver’s on the other side of him now, ostensibly leaning against the work surface but close enough so as to be touching him. Steel turns his head. Cake? he says and there’s a fleeting sense of amusement that passes between them before he adds: “I told you not to touch anything. Leave it as it is.”
“That won’t stay as it is, will it?” Silver sits down beside him and puts up a hand to his arm. “It’ll decay. What I’ve left will still do that, don’t worry.”
Sapphire kisses Steel’s hair and perches improbably on the stool beside him. She glances across at him with humour lurking in her face, challenging him to object. He doesn’t, of course. She doesn’t know what Silver’s doing now, but he’s there; that’s the important thing.
Sometimes she thinks it’s as if humans knew this before they ever did: they use sapphire and steel in making expensive clocks – that amuses her. Sapphires are set in silver, and steel’s strength and durability they plate with silver for a polished finish. It’s not true, of course; it’s only an indulgent fancy.
But a nice thought. Silver sounds amused again.
Sapphire closes her eyes and smiles in return. Like cake?
And Steel’s there, more and more there with every moment, as he ought to be – and then… She gives an inward shiver of anticipation.
Oh, better than cake, says Silver, and they’re all in silent agreement.
***
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2012-11-15 06:18 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-11-16 07:54 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-11-17 11:02 pm (UTC)Since I spend a great deal of time wondering what on earth I'm on, I doubt I'm going to worry too much about anyone else. Heh.
no subject
Date: 2012-11-18 12:42 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-11-18 04:09 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-11-16 05:58 am (UTC)I'll get back to you later...
no subject
Date: 2012-11-16 07:55 pm (UTC):-D
no subject
Date: 2012-11-17 04:11 am (UTC)Though admittedly I was even more enamoured by the centre-piece of the story.
Oh, Sapphire, you might be right, but it can be such a wonderful addition!
You know, sometimes it almost spooks me (pardon the pun) how similar our take on these three is. :D This is wonderfully written.
no subject
Date: 2012-11-17 08:23 pm (UTC)You know, sometimes it almost spooks me (pardon the pun) how similar our take on these three is
Heh, yes. Except I was far more innocent about the cake...! And it's spooky, but very nice. Like cake. ;-)
no subject
Date: 2012-11-19 05:22 am (UTC)*goes back to watching it, with the thought that it is indeed very beige, and that the grown-up baby being uber-creepy more than makes up for the Evil! Pillow!*
no subject
Date: 2012-11-19 05:52 pm (UTC)I just love the way they interact, the three of them. And the first time round, I realised I had an OT3 at a certain point in Part 5 and by the end was helplessly left drawing mental hearts around them and needing icons. Heh.
I said it was beige. It's sort of freaky rather than creepy, this one - and, yes, nothing more so than that accidentally grown-up baby...
no subject
Date: 2012-11-15 07:45 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-11-15 08:00 pm (UTC)Thank you.
no subject
Date: 2012-11-16 07:43 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-11-16 07:43 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-11-16 01:11 am (UTC)And just what I needed at the moment I needed it. :)
no subject
Date: 2012-11-16 07:44 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-11-16 03:07 am (UTC)Om nom fluff. ♥
no subject
Date: 2012-11-16 07:46 pm (UTC)*a thousand hugs*
And thank you.
(I originally typed a million hugs, but thought that might take a long time and our arms might fall off. Better not.)