dump #03: requests
title. dump #03: requests
pairing. akame (je)
rating. varies (g, pg, r)
summary. the prompts: music & lyrics (inkedlink), on being "found out" (x-taintedblack), balcony. cold nights. (snowqueenofhoth), akame on the run (somaisgood), mermaid!jin (naruchu)
author's note. from that little drabble request entry i had up over here. here is a compilation of what i've written--edited or perhaps completely different. all akame. all exercises in attempting to regain writing strength--from gen to tragedy to strange to...well. you know. it's all over the place. please bear with me and hopefully you enjoy. thank you!
word count. 02190
inkedlink: MUSIC & LYRICS
Jin writes lyrics because he wants to, because he can. He's not concerned with quality, not concerned with what others think because these words are his. They are the emotions and ideas that he mulls in his mind. They are the emotions and ideas that he wants the world to see. He's not quite sure if everyone will understand, not quite sure if he will be able to convey everything properly. (But even if that's the case, somehow he thinks it will be okay.)
Music, to him, anyway, is mostly background noise. It's there to keep the silence at bay, to dance to and to sing along with. Jin is definitely not one of those kids who listens to everything indie and prides himself on being cool and underground. Hell, he has a hard enough time remembering the words to KAT-TUN's own songs.
Kame hates to write lyrics because he's afraid that they'll be bad, that they'll be too trite and too simple and too stupid and cheesy. They might be heartfelt, sure, but he's not so confident in his ability. He doesn't really practice it-not because he dislikes it, but just because it's not his thing. It's something about exposing himself, exposing what he feels that kind of freaks him out. (But even though he knows he's being paranoid, he still feels uneasy.)
Kame's tastes are pretty eclectic. He likes club music when he feels like he wants to dance. He likes crooning, weak vocals when he's feeling sad. When he's angry or pissed or frustrated, he likes music with lots of drum and lots of bass, volume turned up all the way so he can't hear his surroundings. And during those times when he's sick of All Of The Above, Kame likes to listen to Jin (though he will never admit it). But most of the time, he's not listening to music anyway. He's too busy, too rushed. It's harder to concentrate when there's something playing in the background.
x_taintedblack: ON BEING "FOUND OUT"
They think it's stupid, that they have to hide, that they can't tell anyone (despite the fact everyone kind of already knows-). They are seventeen and nineteen respectively, and they find it stupid that at this exhibitionist stage in their lives, they have to hide exactly what they want to show. And at first, it nibbles at them, a small feeling in the pit of the stomach. But the nibble became a gnaw-something stronger that makes the butterflies attack with something akin to vengeance (like they really wanted those butterflies in their stomachs in the first place). And then the gnaw becomes stronger, sharper. A bite that begins to rip into their exhausted souls. It's too much. They're too young. They have their whole lives ahead of them. And this-this young love-it's not worth the fear and the stress and worry-the secrets and tears and sweat.
So they end it.
"It's better this way," one of them chokes. Tears fall from his eyes and they are hiding in the studio bathroom. They have a photoshoot scheduled. "I mean, you know it is. I know it is. So-"
It ends with a kiss, desperate and soft and hard and gentle all at once. Something reserved only for the first love. Hands don't stray, only linger (on cheeks, on shoulders, in hair-don't forget this).
They'll never forget this.
snowqueenofhoth: BALCONY. COLD NIGHTS.
It's tradition. Whenever they're on tour, the six of them inevitably crowd in one of the rooms watching footage of their latest show. They bring in their own blankets, their own pillows, but a lot of the time, they just end up huddled together like they're having a big girly sleepover (Junno's request for a pillow fight, however, is denied by all other parties).
Today it is in Jin and Ueda's room. Jin excuses himself halfway through the first MC to go out onto the balcony. He always does things at his own pace, so no one pays him much mind.
When on screen they are saying their good-byes, when the audience begins to call for an encore is when Kame notices that Jin is still absent, that Jin is still out on the balcony (his eyes flit in that direction, and Jin leans over the railing, sweatpants and bare feet and thin cotton tee- shirt-the wind whips his hair around because they are up high, the tenth or eleventh floor).
"I'll be back," Kame says, and no one pays him much mind because they're all drifting off to sleep.
He almost trips over Koki on his way to the sliding door, wraps his blanket around himself and creates a hood over his head. He watches Jin through the glass. He's looking down-at traffic-at people- whatever. Kame knocks on the glass door and Jin turns to him, startled.
"Can I come out?" He mouths, and Jin slides open the door for him.
"You're normally one of the first to fall asleep," Jin comments, and leans his back against the railing. There is a cigarette dangling between two of Jin's fingers, an ashtray beside his left elbow and a half-empty pack of Marlboros beside that. Jin smokes all the time, but he does it more when he's nervous, anxious, worried.
Kame wants to mention it, but instead he says, "Aren't you cold?" and pulls the blanket tighter around himself. It's very very windy so high up. The edges of the blanket float around his ankles, and his bare feet are starting to numb against the cold, hard floor (he has bad circulation to begin with).
Jin takes a long drag, tilts his chin up and exposes the long line of his neck, his Adam's apple bobbing as he blows a stream of smoke into the air. "Nope," he drawls, and looks back at the other, smiles wolfishly.
Kame moves away from the door, toward Jin, until he stands directly in front of the other and can feel his body heat. He doesn't understand how someone can radiate warmth even after standing outside in this kind of weather. It must defy logic-some rule of nature and the world- -but then again-this is Jin.
It's done on impulse. Kame reaches out a hand from the depths of the comforter, hand and arm exposed to the cold air, and grabs one of Jin's hands in his own.
Jin just watches him from beneath half-lidded and tired eyes, cigarette dangling from his lips.
"You're still warmer than me," Kame says incredulously, and laughs.
"You're a turtle." Jin waves Kame's hand away dismissively. "You know. Cold-blooded and all that jazz." He smiles.
Kame feels a pang of isolation, of distance. He feels like he is in outer space, where it really is freezing-claustrophobic despite all that empty space (there's no air). Kame feels like he is galaxies and galaxies away from-
-Jin.
"I'm going back inside," he says, softly. "You might get sick out here. So, you know."
Jin turns back to look over the railing, to tilt his head up and look at the stars.
somaisgood: AKAME ON THE RUN
"Jin, we have to go," Kame says, tugs on the other's sleeve. "Jin, I mean it. We have to leave. Right now."
"Kame. What did I do?"
"I don't know, but we have to go."
Realization. "Kame, I did this."
Panic. "Jin, I-"
"Kame, do you see this?" Jin pulls himself out of Kame's grip. "Why are you here?" He looks at the other incredulously. "Do you see me? Do you see this? Do you see-"
"Jin, you didn't mean it. Let's go," Kame pleads, grabs his arm again. "They're going to come, Jin. And we can't afford-"
"Kame," Jin says very seriously. "Kame, I just killed a man. I just blew his head off. The walls and floor and ceiling are-"
"Jin-"
"Kame, I don't even remember it," Jin chokes, covers his mouth with his hands before turning away from the scene. Kame watches Jin rush toward a trashcan in a corner of the room, watches as the soles of Jin's trainers help smear blood across the floor in the process. Kame follows him and is there beside him as he wretches and heaves. Kame is holding back Jin's hair and rubbing gentle circles on his back.
"Let's go, Jin."
"I'm sorry," Jin says, and tries to smile.
In a blink, they are gone.
---
They are at a motel. Kame sits on the bed watching the news. Jin is in the shower, and steam drifts out from beneath the bathroom door.
"...In Roppongi this morning, Yamamoto Ryuichi was found dead in his apartment...police are quite sure that it was a homicide...evidence found at the scene..."
Kame shuts the television off and lets his body drop backwards onto the bed. He stares at the ceiling, doesn't notice that Jin is done until the other's face is hovering above him and water drips onto his face.
"Kame," Jin breathes.
"Jin," Kame says.
A knock on the door. "Police-" It's muffled.
Jin's hand goes for Kame's. He grips him strong, hard.
Kame pushes him away, moves toward their bags on the other side of the bed. "Put on some clothes, first," he hisses, throws clothing at the other as he shoves wads of cash into his pockets.
"Police-open up! We know you're in there-"
"I'm in the bathroom!" Kame calls, and he whips his head back toward Jin. "Are you ready?"
Jin nods. "You have everything?"
"Yeah," Kame says.
"We're going to come in-we have a key-"'
Jin reaches over and grabs Kame's hand, pulls him close, so they stand toe to toe. "This freaks me out, you know," he whispers, and his eyes are wide, his hair still wet.
"Close your eyes," Kame commands softly, and Jin does.
The door is opened and the cops come in, guns pulled.
All they see is a duffel bag of clothing on the ground and a towel on the bed. Steam comes from the bathroom, and a few agents cautiously inspect the small room.
"All clear, boss."
"What the hell?"
---
In Okinawa, two boys watch the sea. (The rain pours and pours and pours.)
"I'm sorry. I'm so fucking sorry."
naruchu: MERMAID JIN
Kame owns a mansion by the sea. He is in his mid-twenties and a billionaire. Occasionally, he has awesome beach parties. But usually, he goes there when he needs to get away from Tokyo, when he needs time to think and needs time to be alone (with the ocean and the sand and the seagulls).
It's one of those days. One of those days where he wants to be alone, but is too antsy to sit around and do nothing. So Kame ends up on his power boat, a kilometer or so away from shore with his hat pulled down over his eyes and a fishing pole in one hand.
(He falls asleep.)
He wakes up a little while later. It's dusk. The sky is pink and purple and orange and somehow the radio must have turned on, because he hears a pretty ballad.
He yawns, pulls his hat up, and blinks-rubs his eyes.
Wha-
He blinks. And rubs his eyes.
"What the hell are you doing on my boat?" He pauses. "-singing on my boat?"
The voice stops. The figure-who had been sitting on the railing-looks back at him quickly, eyes widening with something (maybe fear) before jumping down into the water and out of Kame's sight.
Kame rushes to the other side of the boat, peers down into the water. There's only the ripple of the current and the foamy bubbles of where the figure jumped into the ocean.
Kame looks around. He can barely see shore now. He's been drifting.
He thinks back to it. The figure he saw. The boy with wet, wavy black hair down to his shoulders. Big dark eyes and full lips, broad shoulders. He looked strange, ethereal in the evening light.
Pretty voice, too.
"Hey, you." Kame hears a voice from behind him, whips around and sees the boy. He's in the water, but he has his arms on the edge of the boat, his chin resting on his hands. "You shouldn't fall asleep all alone out here. The mermaids will get you." He laughs.
"Mermaids aren't real," Kame replies, and moves toward him. "What the hell were you doing on my boat?"
The kid bobs in the water, lets go of the side of the boat and treads a few meters away.
"Protecting you from mermaids," the kid says.
Kame laughs but the other blinks at him in confusion.
"What's so funny?"
Kame looks at him strangely. "Do you need a ride back to shore?"
"I'm good," the kid says, smiles and splashes around in the water. "I'm a pretty strong swimmer. Merpeople usually are, you know?"
"Did you smack your head against the side of my boat or something?"
2007.11.07 → 2007.12.16