Patterns (Jing Theme #13 - Introspection)
Community: 50_themes
Characters: Jing + Kir (friendship category)
Fandom: King of Bandits Jing
Full list of themes can be found HERE. X-posted to 50_themes, ankhutenshi, kingofbandit
*
Title: Patterns
Theme: #13 - Introspection
Notes: 438 words, finished Feb 22/07. Written for atemu_girl. Kudos for those who get the cross-series reference!
The sensation of waking to an empty bed was an unfamiliar one, Kir decided, as he cracked his eyes open sleepily to find the blankets tucked snugly around him, but his human companion conspicuously not present. The room was dark, which meant it wasn't worth trying to start looking around -- he swore his nyctalopia got worse every year -- and so he listened instead.
Heartbeat. There. In the room. At the window.
"Did I wake you, partner?" Jing's voice sounded from the unlit corner.
"No, you didn't. How'd you know I was awake?" Kir asked wryly.
"Because you snore when you're asleep, and you stopped," the bandit laughed softly in the shadows before adding, "And I can feel you listening. I've always been able to."
"We established back on Day 1 that you are a weird human," the albatross retorted, and moved from the impersonal warmth of the quilt to the much preferred crook of Jing's arm. "What're you doin' up in the middle of the night?"
"Just working on this," Jing answered, resettling into a comfortable position on the bench of the bay window. His fingers picked up an oddly shaped piece of gold, turning it over and over as though memorizing the sharp angles. "Haven't even got one piece to fit together yet. Strange, huh?"
"They call it the Unsolvable Puzzle for a reason, you know."
"So?"
Kir shook his head, watching Jing's nimble hands dart over the smooth, three-dimensional puzzle pieces, as though searching for a hidden means of finding that first crucial interlock. He worked in silence, and since the bird hadn't withdrawn his listening yet, he could hear the calm pace of the thief's heart. Finally. The quiet will be good for him.
Rare were the nights anymore that Jing seemed so peaceful.
Sitting in the moonlight, enjoying the warmth of his companion's arm, Kir felt himself once more grow drowsy. He stared at the puzzle pieces without really seeing them, his mind wandering. Jing was a lot like a puzzle. He'd started whole, but at some point, had fallen apart. Once the pieces had been separated, the original shape had been lost. People who tried to put him together again often become stumped by the challenge, most of them didn't even know where to begin.
As unsolvable as the object he currently handled.
"What're you thinking about, partner?" Jing murmured questioningly, when his companion had fallen silent yet not resumed his normal sleeping habit.
"Hm? Oh... nothing much," Kir replied. "Just about how things fit together."
The thief smiled in the darkness, and two pieces locked together with a soft click.
---
Notes:
The title and LJ cut text come from Paul Simon, the complete text of which is below:
Up a narrow flight of stairs
In a narrow little room,
As I lie upon my bed
In the early evening gloom.
Impaled on my wall
My eyes can dimly see
The pattern of my life
And the puzzle that is me.
From the moment of my birth
To the instant of my death,
There are patterns I must follow
Just as I must breathe each breath.
Like a rat in a maze
The path before me lies,
And the pattern never alters
Until the rat dies.
Characters: Jing + Kir (friendship category)
Fandom: King of Bandits Jing
Full list of themes can be found HERE. X-posted to 50_themes, ankhutenshi, kingofbandit
*
Title: Patterns
Theme: #13 - Introspection
Notes: 438 words, finished Feb 22/07. Written for atemu_girl. Kudos for those who get the cross-series reference!
The sensation of waking to an empty bed was an unfamiliar one, Kir decided, as he cracked his eyes open sleepily to find the blankets tucked snugly around him, but his human companion conspicuously not present. The room was dark, which meant it wasn't worth trying to start looking around -- he swore his nyctalopia got worse every year -- and so he listened instead.
Heartbeat. There. In the room. At the window.
"Did I wake you, partner?" Jing's voice sounded from the unlit corner.
"No, you didn't. How'd you know I was awake?" Kir asked wryly.
"Because you snore when you're asleep, and you stopped," the bandit laughed softly in the shadows before adding, "And I can feel you listening. I've always been able to."
"We established back on Day 1 that you are a weird human," the albatross retorted, and moved from the impersonal warmth of the quilt to the much preferred crook of Jing's arm. "What're you doin' up in the middle of the night?"
"Just working on this," Jing answered, resettling into a comfortable position on the bench of the bay window. His fingers picked up an oddly shaped piece of gold, turning it over and over as though memorizing the sharp angles. "Haven't even got one piece to fit together yet. Strange, huh?"
"They call it the Unsolvable Puzzle for a reason, you know."
"So?"
Kir shook his head, watching Jing's nimble hands dart over the smooth, three-dimensional puzzle pieces, as though searching for a hidden means of finding that first crucial interlock. He worked in silence, and since the bird hadn't withdrawn his listening yet, he could hear the calm pace of the thief's heart. Finally. The quiet will be good for him.
Rare were the nights anymore that Jing seemed so peaceful.
Sitting in the moonlight, enjoying the warmth of his companion's arm, Kir felt himself once more grow drowsy. He stared at the puzzle pieces without really seeing them, his mind wandering. Jing was a lot like a puzzle. He'd started whole, but at some point, had fallen apart. Once the pieces had been separated, the original shape had been lost. People who tried to put him together again often become stumped by the challenge, most of them didn't even know where to begin.
As unsolvable as the object he currently handled.
"What're you thinking about, partner?" Jing murmured questioningly, when his companion had fallen silent yet not resumed his normal sleeping habit.
"Hm? Oh... nothing much," Kir replied. "Just about how things fit together."
The thief smiled in the darkness, and two pieces locked together with a soft click.
---
Notes:
The title and LJ cut text come from Paul Simon, the complete text of which is below:
Up a narrow flight of stairs
In a narrow little room,
As I lie upon my bed
In the early evening gloom.
Impaled on my wall
My eyes can dimly see
The pattern of my life
And the puzzle that is me.
From the moment of my birth
To the instant of my death,
There are patterns I must follow
Just as I must breathe each breath.
Like a rat in a maze
The path before me lies,
And the pattern never alters
Until the rat dies.