Sympathy
TITLE: Sympathy
FANDOM: Neverwhere, by Neil Gaiman
PAIRING: Hunter/Door
Hunter rarely slept, but she knew it was essential to do so sometimes. She had to rest herself in order to stay alert. It was Door who pointed this out. It was Richard who volunteered to keep guard while she had her “nap”. Hunter had given Richard a long, withering look that left him embarrassed and slightly cross. Even so, she nodded her agreement.
Always, as Hunter’s consciousness drifted, her thoughts would turn to the women she’d known. It was the last grasp of the waking mind. These were the beings she wanted to dream of. At her call, they appeared. At first. But by the time she was fully asleep, they would be gone. They faded into the darkness and, this time, all that she was left with were three rheumy red eyes peering at her from behind steamy breath.
Hunter tightened the fingers that held her spear. Every night her adversary came. The adversary varied. Tonight it was the lizard she had met beneath Tokyo. His long, black tentacles stretched forward, more like a yawn than an attack. He was taking his time.
Hunter could read this creature’s mind. She could feel the signals running through the nerves in his tense, powerful body. He was the kind Hunter could understand. The girls. The women. They were different. They broke your heart, or you broke theirs, and neither of you understood why.
There was another figure, who appeared to Hunter’s eyes as they became accustomed to the darkness. It was small. It stared. It made Hunter feel uncomfortable, but she stared back. Their eyes met in one natural movement - wide, white eye on wide, white eye.
Hunter knew that she would not be looking into the eye of the beast when the blood burst from her skin. She would be looking into the eyes of that pale, elfin face.
In her dream, that was how events unfurled.
When Hunter woke, she was still standing. Richard Mayhew, however, was propped up against a wall, clearly asleep.
The Lady Door was lying next to him, knees tucked up close to her chin and barely visible amid her own clothes. Hunter stood and watched her for the twenty seconds or so it took for her to fully wake. Then she returned to her job.
FANDOM: Neverwhere, by Neil Gaiman
PAIRING: Hunter/Door
Hunter rarely slept, but she knew it was essential to do so sometimes. She had to rest herself in order to stay alert. It was Door who pointed this out. It was Richard who volunteered to keep guard while she had her “nap”. Hunter had given Richard a long, withering look that left him embarrassed and slightly cross. Even so, she nodded her agreement.
Always, as Hunter’s consciousness drifted, her thoughts would turn to the women she’d known. It was the last grasp of the waking mind. These were the beings she wanted to dream of. At her call, they appeared. At first. But by the time she was fully asleep, they would be gone. They faded into the darkness and, this time, all that she was left with were three rheumy red eyes peering at her from behind steamy breath.
Hunter tightened the fingers that held her spear. Every night her adversary came. The adversary varied. Tonight it was the lizard she had met beneath Tokyo. His long, black tentacles stretched forward, more like a yawn than an attack. He was taking his time.
Hunter could read this creature’s mind. She could feel the signals running through the nerves in his tense, powerful body. He was the kind Hunter could understand. The girls. The women. They were different. They broke your heart, or you broke theirs, and neither of you understood why.
There was another figure, who appeared to Hunter’s eyes as they became accustomed to the darkness. It was small. It stared. It made Hunter feel uncomfortable, but she stared back. Their eyes met in one natural movement - wide, white eye on wide, white eye.
Hunter knew that she would not be looking into the eye of the beast when the blood burst from her skin. She would be looking into the eyes of that pale, elfin face.
In her dream, that was how events unfurled.
When Hunter woke, she was still standing. Richard Mayhew, however, was propped up against a wall, clearly asleep.
The Lady Door was lying next to him, knees tucked up close to her chin and barely visible amid her own clothes. Hunter stood and watched her for the twenty seconds or so it took for her to fully wake. Then she returned to her job.