Happy birthday! (With fic)
Mar. 17th, 2013 05:24 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
thisbluespiritHappy birthday to seriesfive! I hope you've been having a lovely day - and very much hope this next year brings better things! In the meantime, I looked to see which of my nearly-ready S&S ficlets might perhaps double up as a birthday fic & found this. (And made the ending quite a bit shippier than planned for you - which was the bit that took all day and made this late! ♥)
(And, yes. Sorry about all the Silver/Steel; it's just a weird convergence of fics that were actually written months apart and not a sudden new trend).
Title: Opposition
Author:thisbluespirit
Rating: All ages
Word Count: 2249
Characters/Pairings: Silver, Steel (Silver/Steel)
Warnings None.
Summary: There’s an entity feeding off and amplifying negative emotion and Silver and Steel have already sent all the humans out of the way. Which means there’s only one explanation for why it’s still active…
Prompt 66: steel & silver - Bad boys & Jealousy. (The random generator may be evil and partially sentient. /o\)
***
Steel?
Steel lifted his head, irritated at being interrupted as he paced around the empty living room. Silver. What is it now?
“There seems,” said Silver, suddenly appearing at his side, “to be a flaw in your plan.”
As Steel looked at Silver, the other gave a discreet nod in the direction of the hallway. “It’s still there?”
“Yes,” said Silver. “And I’m afraid it’s not noticeably weaker than it was. But Sapphire has taken everyone else, and the house is fully sealed.”
“If it’s still feeding off negative emotions, someone must have stayed.”
“I can’t find anyone,” said Silver. “And Sapphire checked. But the creature is very much there and I can’t get anywhere near the radio until it’s gone.” He opened the door out into the hallway and gestured for Steel to listen.
Steel heard the crackle of static again cutting short the snatches of resentful words that it had been repeating over and over since they had arrived here:
// I won’t tell you again – I hate you – know it was your fault – don’t touch that – that’s always your solution isn’t – I knew it was you – why did you – never were any use – go away – easy for you – //
Silver pulled the door to quietly, and turned to give Steel a questioning look.
“What do you think?” Steel asked.
Silver frowned, as he leant back against the door. “It’s storing the negative energy, not merely the words? There would be a lot of power left – it’s been here for a long time. That adds up to quite a bit of resentment, hate, jealousy –”
“No,” said Steel. “Earlier, you said –”
Silver nodded. “I know. It was echoing the argument it had just witnessed. But since it’s still here, then it must be – there’s no other source –”
“There was something new it said, in amongst the rest. Silver?”
“I’m sorry?”
Steel looked at him, and then marched over and gripped Silver’s arm. “Don’t touch that,” he said, into his ear.
“Oh!” said Silver. “I see. You mean – it’s us? We’re still here and so –”
They looked at each other.
“It doesn’t need very much to keep going now, I’d imagine,” said Steel. “If that’s all, I can try and force my way past it.”
Silver held up a hand to him and then opened the door slightly and poked his head around it, before shutting it again. “No. That really won’t do. If it’s making use of us, Steel, then to try and walk right through it –”
Steel glared at him.
“You can try,” said Silver, “but I don’t think it will be helpful. And, Steel?”
“Yes?”
“Well, it’s not much less than it was, so –” Silver shifted his position and leant nearer to Steel. “I’m not – well – I don’t –”
You don’t dislike me.
“Exactly,” Silver said, and smiled. “Quite the opposite, strange as it may seem.”
Steel didn’t move away from him; he gave him what passed for a smile in return, if a slightly grim one. “But you’re afraid I’m going to try and force my way through it anyway.”
“No,” said Silver, though he sounded less certain. “I don’t think you would – would you?”
But you don’t think so. You’re not sure. And I – Steel turned his gaze away from Silver, and stared at the opposite wall. Silver was unpredictable – too quick, too sure of himself. And there were other things – irritations – his too-easy way with technology, useful though it was – Sapphire –
Sapphire makes her own choices. Silver wasn’t teasing now. We both know that very well.
“Yes,” Steel said, and didn’t comment on the intrusion into his thoughts. “Silver –”
Silver gave a nod and became brisk again. “So we either need to deal with it, or we need to do something about us,” he summarised. “Time to get a little better acquainted, Steel?”
Silver was right. It was the simplest way. They could deprive it of its sole source of power for long enough and get through to the radio before it came back, before it was too late. Steel glanced at Silver warily only to find the technician was looking at him with a worryingly hopeful expression.
It’s only a matter of necessity.
“Oh, quite.”
Silver.
Silver merely looked as innocent as possible – which was to say, not at all in this case – but then as they both remained standing there, he gave a slight laugh before moving nearer to Steel again. He put a light hand to Steel’s arm and paused, as if awaiting permission.
“I suppose there’s not another way?” said Steel, but he put his hands to Silver’s head without giving any chance for the other to reply. Silver shifted his position slightly and then placed his hands over Steel’s. Having got what he wanted, he was nervous, Steel realised with grim humour. Then he closed his eyes.
It was easier than he expected, but trying to find his way through Silver’s mind was irritating. Silver’s whole essence was unlike Steel’s, at least in all the surface ways that met his initial probing: rapid thoughts, irrelevant observances, passing pleasures – the small details, rather than the bigger picture that Steel refused to lose sight of. Silver seemed to elude him at every turn. Steel frowned and tried harder.
Steel –
“Stay still,” he said, concentrating.
Silver pressed himself back against the wall. Steel, stop – this isn’t supposed to be a – a –
What?
An interrogation! said Silver. It’s supposed to be an exchange of information, a two-way process, not you stamping around in my mind in hob-nailed boots.
Steel looked at him. It’s a matter of necessity, Silver. I said. Now, stand still –
Oh, very well, said Silver. Have it your own way, but don’t blame me when – well. He let himself go limp against the wall, held up by Steel’s hold on him rather than anything else.
Steel tried again, closing his eyes. They needed to understand each other better; the connection needed to go deeper – beyond the light bouncing off reflective surfaces. He thought he was almost getting somewhere, when Silver’s thoughts suddenly weren’t there, as if he’d overwhelmed him. He drew back, afraid that he had – and found that Silver himself had vanished. In the circumstances, the close contact, his absence was a sudden and sharp loss.
“Silver?” he said, turning around and searching the room with his gaze. Silver? Where are you?
Steel stepped outside into the corridor. The creature was still there, but a grey, translucent shape now, little left of it. There was nothing else – or nothing he could see or sense. Only the faint sound of the radio that had triggered all this off, still relaying its repeated complaints:
// I won’t tell you again – I hate you – know it was your fault – that’s always your solution isn’t – I knew it was you – why did you – never were any use – go away – hate you – hate you – hate you – should be the last time – easy for you – //
Steel withdrew into the room again. Had he caused Silver’s disappearance, or had it? The other possibility, he carefully did not consider. At any rate, they had got their result, but without a technician to disable that radio, it wasn’t ideal. He could try to dismantle it himself, of course, probably destroy it if necessary, but it was what Silver was here for. Annoying he might be, but he was also useful. It would be quicker with him than without him.
Yes, Silver was useful; would be useful right now, and it was – at this particular moment – very important to remember that. Steel might have smiled briefly before he stepped back out into the hallway.
The entity was shadowy, cloud-like and dispersing in wisps as Steel watched. He moved forward cautiously, mindful of things that Sapphire had said, and Silver’s warning.
Steel kept back against the wall and edged himself down the narrow hallway. He paused in his progress to try again. Silver?
There was still no reply from the technician. The place seemed very empty without him, he had to admit.
It had almost gone entirely, Steel noted as he looked at it again. He closed his eyes and wondered again what he’d done to Silver. Sapphire would be grieved if the technician had gone.
Steel opened his eyes again to see that the creature was smaller than ever. He moved past it and opened the door into the other room. The first thing he saw was Silver, already there and sitting amongst the components and wiring of the radio he was busy taking to pieces.
“Oh, Steel,” said Silver, giving a brief glance in his direction before focusing back on his work. “There you are. This won’t take a moment now…”
Before Steel could say anything, the shadow entity reappeared, inside the room this time, drifting toward Silver, gathering the last of itself to protect the malfunctioning radio that was the source of its existence in this world.
Steel walked across the room, barring its path. Silver didn’t even look up, merely switching tools from the small collection beside him and pulling something apart in his hands. The dark shape disappeared and the atmosphere in the room immediately lightened.
“There,” said Silver and then shifting himself back around so that he could look up at Steel from his position on the floor and gave him a bright smile.
Steel looked down at him. “Silver.”
“Yes, I know,” said Silver, getting to his feet, and brushing his suit down. “It worked though, didn’t it?”
Steel walked through the space where the thing had been and back again. “Yes, it worked.”
“I’m sorry,” added Silver, giving him a more curious look. “I knew you’d understand, of course, although, really, Steel, your clumsy efforts at –”
Steel swung around and stopped abruptly in front of Silver, causing the other to jump and look suddenly nervous. I wondered –
“Steel?”
“It isn’t important. Where were you? You couldn’t get through before – too much interference, you said.”
Silver grinned. “Don’t you know?”
“You weren’t anywhere,” said Steel. “Not anywhere I could find you.”
You might say I was with you, said Silver, and smiled back when Steel gave him a hard stare. “And, anyway, Steel, next time –”
“Next time?”
Silver looked surprised, and then leant against Steel. “Well, yes, next time,” he said, and then, murmuring into his ear, “you could use a few pointers in more – well – more delicate matters – not that your methods don’t have their own advantages, of course –”
Silver. You were being deliberately difficult.
“May I?” said Silver, moving slightly so that he was now in front of Steel. He put his hands to Steel’s head, and Steel felt something like an echo of the question in his mind.
First, Silver said, in his thoughts, you – well, you knock before entering, Steel. You don’t break down the door and burst in as if you’ve come to arrest someone in the middle of the night. Like so – gently –
The mental contact was correspondingly light, like a first few flakes of snow, or feathers, falling. As sensations went, it was not unpleasant.
Then, Silver continued, giving him an arch look, once you are inside, you pause for a moment to admire the décor and compliment your host on their new curtains –
There wasn’t time for niceties. Steel decided not to ask about the relevance or otherwise of curtains. Silver would be only too willing to explain – or confuse him further.
There’s always time for the niceties, Silver returned. And then you accept whatever the owner is willing to offer you, but no more. And you say thank you afterwards.
Steel could see more of Silver’s thoughts this time; it was much easier than it had been before, although there were moments when it was irritatingly like trying to see through a blizzard of tinsel. And with his training, his ability to pick out the important things, there were two things he saw immediately.
It wasn’t only absorbing the negative emotions; it was emitting them, Steel said and felt the other’s instant agreement.
That might explain why it was so difficult when we –
Yes. Except that you exaggerated.
Silver’s amusement became tinged with guilt. Perhaps. But there’s no harm in trying for a little finesse, after all. Then he carefully released Steel, lowering his hands, though he didn’t move away. “There. You see?”
Hob-nailed boots, you said, Steel reminded him, lifting an eyebrow. That wasn’t what you were thinking.
“Hmm?” Silver was apparently not listening. Instead, he straightened Steel’s lapels, looking far too pleased with himself. Steel watched his movements and then, when Silver stopped and faced him with a smile, Steel kissed him briefly, before walking abruptly away.
“If it’s gone,” he said, as if nothing else had happened, “we should unseal the house. Presumably, they’ll want it back.”
“Well, yes, I – yes,” said Silver, sounding slightly shaken. “Steel?”
Steel hid amusement. Perhaps his action was in part the consequence of allowing Silver into his mind in the first place, but there was something deeply satisfying about a disconcerted Silver. It never lasted, but all the same… “Then get on with it. You take upstairs, I’ll finish down here.”
… Steel?
Is there a problem? Steel headed to the door without looking back at the other.
No, returned Silver, seeming to recover himself. No, not at all, Steel. Quite the opposite, in fact.
***
seriesfive! I hope you've been having a lovely day - and very much hope this next year brings better things! In the meantime, I looked to see which of my nearly-ready S&S ficlets might perhaps double up as a birthday fic & found this. (And made the ending quite a bit shippier than planned for you - which was the bit that took all day and made this late! ♥)(And, yes. Sorry about all the Silver/Steel; it's just a weird convergence of fics that were actually written months apart and not a sudden new trend).
Title: Opposition
Author:
thisbluespiritRating: All ages
Word Count: 2249
Characters/Pairings: Silver, Steel (Silver/Steel)
Warnings None.
Summary: There’s an entity feeding off and amplifying negative emotion and Silver and Steel have already sent all the humans out of the way. Which means there’s only one explanation for why it’s still active…
Prompt 66: steel & silver - Bad boys & Jealousy. (The random generator may be evil and partially sentient. /o\)
***
Steel?
Steel lifted his head, irritated at being interrupted as he paced around the empty living room. Silver. What is it now?
“There seems,” said Silver, suddenly appearing at his side, “to be a flaw in your plan.”
As Steel looked at Silver, the other gave a discreet nod in the direction of the hallway. “It’s still there?”
“Yes,” said Silver. “And I’m afraid it’s not noticeably weaker than it was. But Sapphire has taken everyone else, and the house is fully sealed.”
“If it’s still feeding off negative emotions, someone must have stayed.”
“I can’t find anyone,” said Silver. “And Sapphire checked. But the creature is very much there and I can’t get anywhere near the radio until it’s gone.” He opened the door out into the hallway and gestured for Steel to listen.
Steel heard the crackle of static again cutting short the snatches of resentful words that it had been repeating over and over since they had arrived here:
// I won’t tell you again – I hate you – know it was your fault – don’t touch that – that’s always your solution isn’t – I knew it was you – why did you – never were any use – go away – easy for you – //
Silver pulled the door to quietly, and turned to give Steel a questioning look.
“What do you think?” Steel asked.
Silver frowned, as he leant back against the door. “It’s storing the negative energy, not merely the words? There would be a lot of power left – it’s been here for a long time. That adds up to quite a bit of resentment, hate, jealousy –”
“No,” said Steel. “Earlier, you said –”
Silver nodded. “I know. It was echoing the argument it had just witnessed. But since it’s still here, then it must be – there’s no other source –”
“There was something new it said, in amongst the rest. Silver?”
“I’m sorry?”
Steel looked at him, and then marched over and gripped Silver’s arm. “Don’t touch that,” he said, into his ear.
“Oh!” said Silver. “I see. You mean – it’s us? We’re still here and so –”
They looked at each other.
“It doesn’t need very much to keep going now, I’d imagine,” said Steel. “If that’s all, I can try and force my way past it.”
Silver held up a hand to him and then opened the door slightly and poked his head around it, before shutting it again. “No. That really won’t do. If it’s making use of us, Steel, then to try and walk right through it –”
Steel glared at him.
“You can try,” said Silver, “but I don’t think it will be helpful. And, Steel?”
“Yes?”
“Well, it’s not much less than it was, so –” Silver shifted his position and leant nearer to Steel. “I’m not – well – I don’t –”
You don’t dislike me.
“Exactly,” Silver said, and smiled. “Quite the opposite, strange as it may seem.”
Steel didn’t move away from him; he gave him what passed for a smile in return, if a slightly grim one. “But you’re afraid I’m going to try and force my way through it anyway.”
“No,” said Silver, though he sounded less certain. “I don’t think you would – would you?”
But you don’t think so. You’re not sure. And I – Steel turned his gaze away from Silver, and stared at the opposite wall. Silver was unpredictable – too quick, too sure of himself. And there were other things – irritations – his too-easy way with technology, useful though it was – Sapphire –
Sapphire makes her own choices. Silver wasn’t teasing now. We both know that very well.
“Yes,” Steel said, and didn’t comment on the intrusion into his thoughts. “Silver –”
Silver gave a nod and became brisk again. “So we either need to deal with it, or we need to do something about us,” he summarised. “Time to get a little better acquainted, Steel?”
Silver was right. It was the simplest way. They could deprive it of its sole source of power for long enough and get through to the radio before it came back, before it was too late. Steel glanced at Silver warily only to find the technician was looking at him with a worryingly hopeful expression.
It’s only a matter of necessity.
“Oh, quite.”
Silver.
Silver merely looked as innocent as possible – which was to say, not at all in this case – but then as they both remained standing there, he gave a slight laugh before moving nearer to Steel again. He put a light hand to Steel’s arm and paused, as if awaiting permission.
“I suppose there’s not another way?” said Steel, but he put his hands to Silver’s head without giving any chance for the other to reply. Silver shifted his position slightly and then placed his hands over Steel’s. Having got what he wanted, he was nervous, Steel realised with grim humour. Then he closed his eyes.
It was easier than he expected, but trying to find his way through Silver’s mind was irritating. Silver’s whole essence was unlike Steel’s, at least in all the surface ways that met his initial probing: rapid thoughts, irrelevant observances, passing pleasures – the small details, rather than the bigger picture that Steel refused to lose sight of. Silver seemed to elude him at every turn. Steel frowned and tried harder.
Steel –
“Stay still,” he said, concentrating.
Silver pressed himself back against the wall. Steel, stop – this isn’t supposed to be a – a –
What?
An interrogation! said Silver. It’s supposed to be an exchange of information, a two-way process, not you stamping around in my mind in hob-nailed boots.
Steel looked at him. It’s a matter of necessity, Silver. I said. Now, stand still –
Oh, very well, said Silver. Have it your own way, but don’t blame me when – well. He let himself go limp against the wall, held up by Steel’s hold on him rather than anything else.
Steel tried again, closing his eyes. They needed to understand each other better; the connection needed to go deeper – beyond the light bouncing off reflective surfaces. He thought he was almost getting somewhere, when Silver’s thoughts suddenly weren’t there, as if he’d overwhelmed him. He drew back, afraid that he had – and found that Silver himself had vanished. In the circumstances, the close contact, his absence was a sudden and sharp loss.
“Silver?” he said, turning around and searching the room with his gaze. Silver? Where are you?
Steel stepped outside into the corridor. The creature was still there, but a grey, translucent shape now, little left of it. There was nothing else – or nothing he could see or sense. Only the faint sound of the radio that had triggered all this off, still relaying its repeated complaints:
// I won’t tell you again – I hate you – know it was your fault – that’s always your solution isn’t – I knew it was you – why did you – never were any use – go away – hate you – hate you – hate you – should be the last time – easy for you – //
Steel withdrew into the room again. Had he caused Silver’s disappearance, or had it? The other possibility, he carefully did not consider. At any rate, they had got their result, but without a technician to disable that radio, it wasn’t ideal. He could try to dismantle it himself, of course, probably destroy it if necessary, but it was what Silver was here for. Annoying he might be, but he was also useful. It would be quicker with him than without him.
Yes, Silver was useful; would be useful right now, and it was – at this particular moment – very important to remember that. Steel might have smiled briefly before he stepped back out into the hallway.
The entity was shadowy, cloud-like and dispersing in wisps as Steel watched. He moved forward cautiously, mindful of things that Sapphire had said, and Silver’s warning.
Steel kept back against the wall and edged himself down the narrow hallway. He paused in his progress to try again. Silver?
There was still no reply from the technician. The place seemed very empty without him, he had to admit.
It had almost gone entirely, Steel noted as he looked at it again. He closed his eyes and wondered again what he’d done to Silver. Sapphire would be grieved if the technician had gone.
Steel opened his eyes again to see that the creature was smaller than ever. He moved past it and opened the door into the other room. The first thing he saw was Silver, already there and sitting amongst the components and wiring of the radio he was busy taking to pieces.
“Oh, Steel,” said Silver, giving a brief glance in his direction before focusing back on his work. “There you are. This won’t take a moment now…”
Before Steel could say anything, the shadow entity reappeared, inside the room this time, drifting toward Silver, gathering the last of itself to protect the malfunctioning radio that was the source of its existence in this world.
Steel walked across the room, barring its path. Silver didn’t even look up, merely switching tools from the small collection beside him and pulling something apart in his hands. The dark shape disappeared and the atmosphere in the room immediately lightened.
“There,” said Silver and then shifting himself back around so that he could look up at Steel from his position on the floor and gave him a bright smile.
Steel looked down at him. “Silver.”
“Yes, I know,” said Silver, getting to his feet, and brushing his suit down. “It worked though, didn’t it?”
Steel walked through the space where the thing had been and back again. “Yes, it worked.”
“I’m sorry,” added Silver, giving him a more curious look. “I knew you’d understand, of course, although, really, Steel, your clumsy efforts at –”
Steel swung around and stopped abruptly in front of Silver, causing the other to jump and look suddenly nervous. I wondered –
“Steel?”
“It isn’t important. Where were you? You couldn’t get through before – too much interference, you said.”
Silver grinned. “Don’t you know?”
“You weren’t anywhere,” said Steel. “Not anywhere I could find you.”
You might say I was with you, said Silver, and smiled back when Steel gave him a hard stare. “And, anyway, Steel, next time –”
“Next time?”
Silver looked surprised, and then leant against Steel. “Well, yes, next time,” he said, and then, murmuring into his ear, “you could use a few pointers in more – well – more delicate matters – not that your methods don’t have their own advantages, of course –”
Silver. You were being deliberately difficult.
“May I?” said Silver, moving slightly so that he was now in front of Steel. He put his hands to Steel’s head, and Steel felt something like an echo of the question in his mind.
First, Silver said, in his thoughts, you – well, you knock before entering, Steel. You don’t break down the door and burst in as if you’ve come to arrest someone in the middle of the night. Like so – gently –
The mental contact was correspondingly light, like a first few flakes of snow, or feathers, falling. As sensations went, it was not unpleasant.
Then, Silver continued, giving him an arch look, once you are inside, you pause for a moment to admire the décor and compliment your host on their new curtains –
There wasn’t time for niceties. Steel decided not to ask about the relevance or otherwise of curtains. Silver would be only too willing to explain – or confuse him further.
There’s always time for the niceties, Silver returned. And then you accept whatever the owner is willing to offer you, but no more. And you say thank you afterwards.
Steel could see more of Silver’s thoughts this time; it was much easier than it had been before, although there were moments when it was irritatingly like trying to see through a blizzard of tinsel. And with his training, his ability to pick out the important things, there were two things he saw immediately.
It wasn’t only absorbing the negative emotions; it was emitting them, Steel said and felt the other’s instant agreement.
That might explain why it was so difficult when we –
Yes. Except that you exaggerated.
Silver’s amusement became tinged with guilt. Perhaps. But there’s no harm in trying for a little finesse, after all. Then he carefully released Steel, lowering his hands, though he didn’t move away. “There. You see?”
Hob-nailed boots, you said, Steel reminded him, lifting an eyebrow. That wasn’t what you were thinking.
“Hmm?” Silver was apparently not listening. Instead, he straightened Steel’s lapels, looking far too pleased with himself. Steel watched his movements and then, when Silver stopped and faced him with a smile, Steel kissed him briefly, before walking abruptly away.
“If it’s gone,” he said, as if nothing else had happened, “we should unseal the house. Presumably, they’ll want it back.”
“Well, yes, I – yes,” said Silver, sounding slightly shaken. “Steel?”
Steel hid amusement. Perhaps his action was in part the consequence of allowing Silver into his mind in the first place, but there was something deeply satisfying about a disconcerted Silver. It never lasted, but all the same… “Then get on with it. You take upstairs, I’ll finish down here.”
… Steel?
Is there a problem? Steel headed to the door without looking back at the other.
No, returned Silver, seeming to recover himself. No, not at all, Steel. Quite the opposite, in fact.
***
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2013-03-17 06:54 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-03-17 07:20 pm (UTC)And, yes, it was going to be the other way around, but it didn't work, whereas this tipped things back towards Steel and kept more of a balance. But it was a surprise to me, too. Heh.
no subject
Date: 2013-03-17 07:23 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-03-17 07:51 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-03-18 04:49 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-03-19 05:44 pm (UTC)