Tin Man Fic: The Sky Is Over
Title: The Sky Is Over
Rating: G
Words: 766
Characters: Glitch, Lavender Eyes
Summary: Post-eclipse. Glitch is reunited with his old friend.
~~
The sky was dark over his head, only the faint light of the stars giving any hint that it was there at all. The moon had moved along after the failed attempt to lock it and the suns in place, all three setting hours ago.
Everyone else had gone inside, to scrounge up some food and clean their wounds. Leaving him alone with the balcony, the one they had all watched the eclipse from in agonizing anticipation earlier. The very same balcony where annuals ago, Azkadellia had taken him. To ask him, in the voice of the young woman he had nearly raised as his own, to join her cause and give her the sun seeder plans. Before her voice changed upon his refusal and she had him taken away.
He sat on the freezing marble floor, pulling threads from the sleeve of his jacket. Wondering where his place was now, after.
Soft, even footfalls behind him nearly brought him to the verge of tears. So familiar, their meter and rhythm, yet without the same confidence and strength they had held the last time he heard them.
Soundlessly, she settled beside him in her thin blue dress. He knew she must have been cold there with him, outside in the dark night and so little cloth to shield against the chill of the hard stone floor.
Her hand met his, palm in palm and fingers found their familiar place, woven together and tightening just once. “I asked her, only once, what had become of you.”
Flinching, Glitch held his tongue.
“I admit I was relieved when she told me she had you executed,” she continued in a haunted voice. Her hand shook minutely at her declaration. “At least then, I would not have to worry for you. Wonder at what tortures she was putting you through.”
“And now?” Glitch spoke up, voice breaking.
“Now my heart is breaking, my dear Ambrose,” she admitted, her head falling back against the outer wall. “Knowing that all this time, you were alone and persecuted. Treated as a criminal and I cannot stand to think of what horrors you have gone through in service of your kingdom.”
“Well, the good news is I can’t remember most of it,” Glitch replied glibly, his grin crooked and not quite reaching his eyes. He squeezed her hand briefly, his other hand coming up to rub at his eye.
Lavender shifted just enough so their shoulders touched, the silence stretching as she weighed his words. “You brought DG back to me.”
“It was a team effort.”
“Ambrose, do not make light of your own gallantry,” Lavender shook her head fondly at her old friend. She studied him for a long moment, sadly, until she brought her free hand up to touch his face. “You’re not the man I once knew, the man who helped raise my daughters. Who risked his life putting Ahamo into hiding and who built DG a set of parents to love her.”
Glitch turned to look at her, wondering why she was saying this. “The war changed us all,” he pointed out. “All I knew was that I had to survive. That someday, it would matter if I lived or died.”
“You always mattered,” Lavender choked, stroking his forehead and just brushing the tips of her fingers past the zipper. “We loved you. You’re part of my family and nothing will changed how much I...how much we all love you.”
“How can you still say that?” Glitch asked earnestly. “It’s been so long and I’m...nowhere near the same as I was before. For one thing, I’d make a terrible advisor nowadays.”
Lavender blinked hard, pressing her forehead to his. “I don’t need an advisor. I need my friend. Ambrose. Glitch. Whatever I have to call you. You’re my best friend and I need you.”
Glitch untangled their fingers and wrapped her in his arms, familiar and painfully strange. “I’m here,” he breathed softly.
“Thank the gods for that,” Lavender chuckled unsteadily. She pulled back then laid a hand on his cheek. “You’re cold,” she chided him gently. “Let’s go inside. I get the feeling there’s a handsome man wondering where you are.”
Blushing deeply with a self-conscious grin, Glitch awkwardly made his way to his feet on numb legs. “Why, I had no idea the gossip had begun already.”
“What is this I hear from Mr. Raw about him calling you endearments such as ‘sweetheart’?” Lavender rose more gracefully and led Glitch back into the warmth and light, teasing her friend gently as they sought out the others.
~~
End.
Title taken from The Sky Is Over by Serj Tankian.
Rating: G
Words: 766
Characters: Glitch, Lavender Eyes
Summary: Post-eclipse. Glitch is reunited with his old friend.
~~
The sky was dark over his head, only the faint light of the stars giving any hint that it was there at all. The moon had moved along after the failed attempt to lock it and the suns in place, all three setting hours ago.
Everyone else had gone inside, to scrounge up some food and clean their wounds. Leaving him alone with the balcony, the one they had all watched the eclipse from in agonizing anticipation earlier. The very same balcony where annuals ago, Azkadellia had taken him. To ask him, in the voice of the young woman he had nearly raised as his own, to join her cause and give her the sun seeder plans. Before her voice changed upon his refusal and she had him taken away.
He sat on the freezing marble floor, pulling threads from the sleeve of his jacket. Wondering where his place was now, after.
Soft, even footfalls behind him nearly brought him to the verge of tears. So familiar, their meter and rhythm, yet without the same confidence and strength they had held the last time he heard them.
Soundlessly, she settled beside him in her thin blue dress. He knew she must have been cold there with him, outside in the dark night and so little cloth to shield against the chill of the hard stone floor.
Her hand met his, palm in palm and fingers found their familiar place, woven together and tightening just once. “I asked her, only once, what had become of you.”
Flinching, Glitch held his tongue.
“I admit I was relieved when she told me she had you executed,” she continued in a haunted voice. Her hand shook minutely at her declaration. “At least then, I would not have to worry for you. Wonder at what tortures she was putting you through.”
“And now?” Glitch spoke up, voice breaking.
“Now my heart is breaking, my dear Ambrose,” she admitted, her head falling back against the outer wall. “Knowing that all this time, you were alone and persecuted. Treated as a criminal and I cannot stand to think of what horrors you have gone through in service of your kingdom.”
“Well, the good news is I can’t remember most of it,” Glitch replied glibly, his grin crooked and not quite reaching his eyes. He squeezed her hand briefly, his other hand coming up to rub at his eye.
Lavender shifted just enough so their shoulders touched, the silence stretching as she weighed his words. “You brought DG back to me.”
“It was a team effort.”
“Ambrose, do not make light of your own gallantry,” Lavender shook her head fondly at her old friend. She studied him for a long moment, sadly, until she brought her free hand up to touch his face. “You’re not the man I once knew, the man who helped raise my daughters. Who risked his life putting Ahamo into hiding and who built DG a set of parents to love her.”
Glitch turned to look at her, wondering why she was saying this. “The war changed us all,” he pointed out. “All I knew was that I had to survive. That someday, it would matter if I lived or died.”
“You always mattered,” Lavender choked, stroking his forehead and just brushing the tips of her fingers past the zipper. “We loved you. You’re part of my family and nothing will changed how much I...how much we all love you.”
“How can you still say that?” Glitch asked earnestly. “It’s been so long and I’m...nowhere near the same as I was before. For one thing, I’d make a terrible advisor nowadays.”
Lavender blinked hard, pressing her forehead to his. “I don’t need an advisor. I need my friend. Ambrose. Glitch. Whatever I have to call you. You’re my best friend and I need you.”
Glitch untangled their fingers and wrapped her in his arms, familiar and painfully strange. “I’m here,” he breathed softly.
“Thank the gods for that,” Lavender chuckled unsteadily. She pulled back then laid a hand on his cheek. “You’re cold,” she chided him gently. “Let’s go inside. I get the feeling there’s a handsome man wondering where you are.”
Blushing deeply with a self-conscious grin, Glitch awkwardly made his way to his feet on numb legs. “Why, I had no idea the gossip had begun already.”
“What is this I hear from Mr. Raw about him calling you endearments such as ‘sweetheart’?” Lavender rose more gracefully and led Glitch back into the warmth and light, teasing her friend gently as they sought out the others.
~~
End.
Title taken from The Sky Is Over by Serj Tankian.