coming apart again
Drabble Dump #2
everything to return to
arashi, gen, for jade_lil . Happy birthday~ :)
There are some memories he finds too precious to contemplate more than necessary. They are blinding in their perfect brilliance, flaring in his mind like the first sparks of a fire. Safe in his self-discipline, they keep their edges like new photographs, smooth and bright as he indulges in nostalgia.
He remembers most clearly the summer spent drinking tea from lemongrass while Aiba gave himself heat exhaustion, Ohno and Nino wrestled by the riverside, and Sho waved a fan lazily of waterfalls and goldfish. It is the colours in that scene that draw him out of the dark, reminding him of a time not so very long ago. There is nothing else special about it. Nothing extraordinary happened that day; no blood or tears or biting words. They were simply together, children wavering on the line of early adulthood while bugs flew patterns around them.
There is a sense of comfort in that, a warm place that occupies the corners of his mind. And as he pulls the mask down over his face, eyes forward but seeing everywhere, he immerses himself in the recollection that there is somewhere he still needs to go.
There is still tea to drink and dry remarks to be made about Sho’s skills while Ohno leans against Nino’s shoulder, Nino rolls his eyes and Aiba giggles. There are summers yet to be spent under the sprawl of maple trees with makeshift targets and warm steel.
So he survives to go to that place, to return and see them there, vibrant and clear and very real.
"Welcome back, Jun."
And there is nothing he needs more than a place to rest his wings.
--
let go
aiba/jun
"Let go," he says.
Aiba shakes his head stiffly, fingers clenched on the top of the bookcase, the tips of his feet balanced on one of the helves. One of the boys has played a trick on him and run off with the ladder, leaving him stranded on a wall of books. He's not afraid of heights, it's just... It's so high.
"Let go," he repeats and he can tell he's getting impatient, his eyes narrowing just a bit.
He gets annoyed right back. "You don't even have your arms out," he says pointedly over his shoulder. Jun huffs quietly, a very put-upon ten-year-old.
"Why should I if you're not going to jump?"
He wrinkles his nose at him but he can't see it as he's facing the book case. (Years from now, there won't be anything he can hide from him.)
"I am so going to jump. I just..." He shifts his feet a little. "I just..."
Below him, Jun lifts his arms.
"Let go," he says again, quietly.
And he does.
--
a dream of no more
ohno/nino, gen
That night there is a storm without rain. The black sky rumbles and lightning arcs within the clouds, flashing terrible shadows along the ground and in between the trees. Ohno thinks he hears the roar of a great beast once but then dismisses it as thunder. He rests on the grassy bank beside the river while Nino takes a swim that is really a bath, the water as dark as the sky it mirrors.
"I caught Sho doing pushups today," he tells him idly, watching electricity dance silently overhead. "I made him stop at fifty."
He didn't have to say for what. It was a given that they would be going back out into the field. As long as there was a single person still bearing the sigil, they-all five of them-were still alive and fighting.
"Tomorrow." Ohno voice echoes oddly across the water. Nino nods.
"Tomorrow," he agrees.
A moment later he swims to the bank and dresses in the dark. He stands over him afterwards and Ohno smiles up at him.
"You're dripping on me."
Wordlessly, Nino holds out his hand and he takes it, letting him draw his to his feet. The kiss is slow and steady, like Nino’s heart under his palm, and he tastes river and feels lightning.
And if there are tears on his cheeks afterward, he doesn't want to remember why.
--
things to come back to (don't leave me yet)
aiba/nino
Immediately after Nino’s hand is shattered by the stage lift, Aiba sits by his hospital bed and reads to him. He brings a different book each day, some thick and dusty, others slim and new. He reminds him of foreign princes and worlds of seawater and long adventures with friends. Most of all, he reads about heroes overcoming obstacles and in each one he makes the protagonist's name ‘Nino’.
Nino never moves, never wakes. The books start to make tall piles on the floor.
Standing at his shoulder, Sho looks down at his bent head, the clear black letters on the pages in front of him. He wants to make him stop - the nurses are pestering him, complaining about the mess and are convinced that Aiba is going to do himself harm. He, too, is supposed to be recovering.
However, when he opens his mouth to tell him these things, nothing comes out.
Aiba glances up, smiles briefly. "I'm alright."
He lets him be.
The next night he meets him there, leaning against a wall, arms crossed as he reads aloud. His voice drops and rises with his words, colouring in the details, and he pauses at the end of a chapter to search Nino’s face.
Nothing.
There are still things to come back to, Nino, Aiba thinks. He flips a page and goes on.
everything to return to
arashi, gen, for jade_lil . Happy birthday~ :)
There are some memories he finds too precious to contemplate more than necessary. They are blinding in their perfect brilliance, flaring in his mind like the first sparks of a fire. Safe in his self-discipline, they keep their edges like new photographs, smooth and bright as he indulges in nostalgia.
He remembers most clearly the summer spent drinking tea from lemongrass while Aiba gave himself heat exhaustion, Ohno and Nino wrestled by the riverside, and Sho waved a fan lazily of waterfalls and goldfish. It is the colours in that scene that draw him out of the dark, reminding him of a time not so very long ago. There is nothing else special about it. Nothing extraordinary happened that day; no blood or tears or biting words. They were simply together, children wavering on the line of early adulthood while bugs flew patterns around them.
There is a sense of comfort in that, a warm place that occupies the corners of his mind. And as he pulls the mask down over his face, eyes forward but seeing everywhere, he immerses himself in the recollection that there is somewhere he still needs to go.
There is still tea to drink and dry remarks to be made about Sho’s skills while Ohno leans against Nino’s shoulder, Nino rolls his eyes and Aiba giggles. There are summers yet to be spent under the sprawl of maple trees with makeshift targets and warm steel.
So he survives to go to that place, to return and see them there, vibrant and clear and very real.
"Welcome back, Jun."
And there is nothing he needs more than a place to rest his wings.
--
let go
aiba/jun
"Let go," he says.
Aiba shakes his head stiffly, fingers clenched on the top of the bookcase, the tips of his feet balanced on one of the helves. One of the boys has played a trick on him and run off with the ladder, leaving him stranded on a wall of books. He's not afraid of heights, it's just... It's so high.
"Let go," he repeats and he can tell he's getting impatient, his eyes narrowing just a bit.
He gets annoyed right back. "You don't even have your arms out," he says pointedly over his shoulder. Jun huffs quietly, a very put-upon ten-year-old.
"Why should I if you're not going to jump?"
He wrinkles his nose at him but he can't see it as he's facing the book case. (Years from now, there won't be anything he can hide from him.)
"I am so going to jump. I just..." He shifts his feet a little. "I just..."
Below him, Jun lifts his arms.
"Let go," he says again, quietly.
And he does.
--
a dream of no more
ohno/nino, gen
That night there is a storm without rain. The black sky rumbles and lightning arcs within the clouds, flashing terrible shadows along the ground and in between the trees. Ohno thinks he hears the roar of a great beast once but then dismisses it as thunder. He rests on the grassy bank beside the river while Nino takes a swim that is really a bath, the water as dark as the sky it mirrors.
"I caught Sho doing pushups today," he tells him idly, watching electricity dance silently overhead. "I made him stop at fifty."
He didn't have to say for what. It was a given that they would be going back out into the field. As long as there was a single person still bearing the sigil, they-all five of them-were still alive and fighting.
"Tomorrow." Ohno voice echoes oddly across the water. Nino nods.
"Tomorrow," he agrees.
A moment later he swims to the bank and dresses in the dark. He stands over him afterwards and Ohno smiles up at him.
"You're dripping on me."
Wordlessly, Nino holds out his hand and he takes it, letting him draw his to his feet. The kiss is slow and steady, like Nino’s heart under his palm, and he tastes river and feels lightning.
And if there are tears on his cheeks afterward, he doesn't want to remember why.
--
things to come back to (don't leave me yet)
aiba/nino
Immediately after Nino’s hand is shattered by the stage lift, Aiba sits by his hospital bed and reads to him. He brings a different book each day, some thick and dusty, others slim and new. He reminds him of foreign princes and worlds of seawater and long adventures with friends. Most of all, he reads about heroes overcoming obstacles and in each one he makes the protagonist's name ‘Nino’.
Nino never moves, never wakes. The books start to make tall piles on the floor.
Standing at his shoulder, Sho looks down at his bent head, the clear black letters on the pages in front of him. He wants to make him stop - the nurses are pestering him, complaining about the mess and are convinced that Aiba is going to do himself harm. He, too, is supposed to be recovering.
However, when he opens his mouth to tell him these things, nothing comes out.
Aiba glances up, smiles briefly. "I'm alright."
He lets him be.
The next night he meets him there, leaning against a wall, arms crossed as he reads aloud. His voice drops and rises with his words, colouring in the details, and he pauses at the end of a chapter to search Nino’s face.
Nothing.
There are still things to come back to, Nino, Aiba thinks. He flips a page and goes on.