well, this is awkward
Nov. 8th, 2009 12:33 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
tachycardiactitle: an hour of all this grew deeper
author:cridecoeur
pairing: chiela/terasu, pipra/nikolao
word count: 1748
rating: pg-13
Chiela wakes, disoriented and aching, on what feels like a hospital cot, lumpy and uncomfortable - which she knows about because, hey, she’s been there enough before - under thin, cheap sheets with a halogen light shining in her eyes and one motherfucking hell of a headache. Which the light was not helping with at all. She raised both hands to clutch at her head, biting down on a groan. Jesus Christ what had happened? The last she remembered they’d been standing in that orchard, beside that green-algae pond, witnessing lightning strike after lightning strike, splitting and deadening the trees, felling them. And, oh yeah, there was the little matter of Terasu glowing and levitating.
Jesus Christ.
Turning her head to one side, Chiela found she was, in fact, in an infirmary. Or what looked like an infirmary at least. There were beds lining the walls, white-sheeted and probably just as uncomfortable as the one she was in. The whole place had a very sterile air to it. She turned her head to the other side and found Terasu lying on the bed beside her, pale faced and unhappy looking, even in repose.
At least this time there was no one standing over her and asking, can you tell me your name, can you tell me where you live, can you tell me what year it is? Although, that was kind of a shame because this time she could have told them that her name was Chiela Cascade, and she lived at 1600 Round Grove Road, Apt. 213, and that it was 2010. She could even tell them that it was August 12th, not that knowing that was helping her much, as it was.
Chiela pushed herself up on her elbows and took another look around the room to find a lady in a green dress, rather lacier than Chiela thought necessary or even attractive and more elaborate than Chiela would dare to wear, much like the ball gowns she’d only seen in picture books, tipped back on her chair, reaching for something on the table behind her with slender hands.
Chiela cleared her throat, trying to get her attention. A rather dramatic part of her mind expecting the woman to windmill and go crashing backwards, but she simply let the front legs of the chair fall to the floor and - oh. Oh.
Not a lady then.
The man in the dress, his read hair tangled around his face, and something, something on his forehead like the ink dots you saw on Indian women only not, because this something was blue and crystalline (like, Chiela thought faintly, Terasu’s pendant, and how much more surreal could this possibly get? On second thought, Chiela didn’t want to know) blinked at her owlishly then smiled delightedly and said, “Hey. Hey! You’re awake!” Popping up to his feet from chair, he trotted over to the open door of the room and shouted, “Nichjo! Hey, Nikolao! Come here!”
A pause and then another man walked into the room - severe looking, straight-backed, his hair neatly parted, and wearing a uniform that looked as if he’s starched and ironed it; he has a something too, only his was blood red, dark - and said, without even looking at Chiela, “Pipra what have I told you about - ” then seemed to catch sight of Chiela and paused a moment before going on, “ah, you’re awake,” and giving Terasu a look that clearly stated that he resented her not being awake.
Chiela really wished everyone would stop stating the obvious and start telling her what the hell was going on. She made to rub her hands roughly across her face, hoping the world would make sense once she opened her eyes again, only to find scales where there should be skin and talons tipping her fingers. She arched her back and was relieved to find that the wings, at least, weren’t making an appearance.
“Where the hell am I?” she said, addressing both men. “And what the hell did you do to me?”
“You’re in space!” Pipra said, without hesitation, and Nikolao said, severely, “Pipra!”
“What? She is!”
“She is, yes,” Nikolao said, sounding as if he’d very much like to slap Pipra but wasn’t allowing himself to do so - was in fact keeping his hands clenched carefully behind his back, “But the situation calls for a bit more delicacy than that, Sergeant.”
Pipra scoffed and waved on hand, dismissively, “Delicacy schmelicacy,” which Chiela had never heard from someone who wasn’t ten. The next moment, Pipra was puckering up his lips and batting his eyelashes at Nikolao in the most exaggerated fashion and saying, “And if you’re going to pull rank on me, Captain, then this is all going to get very inappropriate.” Pipra turned to her and added, in a stage whisper, “This is why you don’t sleep with the help.”
Nikolao had a look on his face like he was going to give in and slap Pipra after that - whether he would have or not, though, he never got the chance because the next moment Terasu was groaning and stirring in her bed, raising one hand to shield her eyes from the light as she opened them - if she had a headache anywhere near as bad as the one Chiela had, that light had to be killing her.
“Jesus,” she said, as she pushed herself up on one elbow - Chiela could tell the moment Terasu registered what she looked like, or possibly just where they were and went immediately wide-eyed, looking shocked-open, and, shit, she had a something too, only hers was the white-polished crystal she’d worn on the chain around her neck - which was no longer in evidence, as far as Chiela could see.
“What the hell,” she said, sounding faint, and Chiela rushed to assure her that, “Hey, I don’t know,” although it was so much assurance as it was - well, panic, frankly because she knew she was Chiela Cascade, and she knew that she lived at 1600 Round Grove Road, Apt. 213, and she knew that today was August 12, 2010, but that didn’t mean a thing next to you’re in space! And, shit, her headache was only getting worse.
Then, just as she thought that things couldn’t possibly get any weirder, Terasu turned towards Nikolao and Pipra and said, faintly, again, “Nichjo? Pipra? What the hell happened?” Then, while Chiela was still processing that - she knew them? how the hell could she know them? - Terasu’s face morphed into an expression that could really only be called fury, and she shouted, “You mind wiped me, asshole!”
“He totally did!” Pipra said, sounding delighted - Chiela was getting the impression that he didn’t have a setting aside from exuberant - just as Nikolao was saying, “I only did what was necessary,” but it was too late for words, apparently, because Terasu was up and off her bed in a second, taking a swing at Nikolao before Chiela had even fully registered what had happened. Holy shit, she had ringside seats to what looked to be a pretty heated fight - judging, at least, by the underscoring of profanity from Terasu, and Chiela had never seen her get angry like this. Granted, she’d never seen her wake up in the infirmary of a spaceship - or a satellite; whatever, a thing that was in space, that was really all that mattered - with a girlfriend who was turning into a lizard, and - mind-wiped? Seriously? This had just turned into the bad kind of science fiction.
Either Nikolao had been expecting Terasu to blow up, or else he was just used to people taking a swing at him - the second was certainly the more entertaining option. Whichever it was, he managed to catch Terasu’s first blow in one hand and to duck under the second, wilder swing once she’d jerked away. He was apparently the kind of guy who knew how to use your own momentum against you because he was, upon Terasu’s third swing, spinning her around and locking one of her arms behind her back.
“Calm down,” he said, “Or I’m really going to have to hurt you.”
“Like hell,” Terasu said, and apparently Terasu also knew how to turn a body against itself because, before Chiela had even really realized what had happened, they were both tumbling roughly to the floor, Terasu rolling to straddle Nikolao and taking a swing at him that actually connected this time and resulted in Nikolao knocking his head back against the floor with a rather painful sounding thud. He bucked up and managed to toss Terasu off of him - which wasn’t really a surprise; Terasu may have been wiry with muscle, but it was ballet muscle, not street fighting muscle - and suddenly there were shadows gathering in the room, though the lights hadn’t faded at all, sliding across the floor and converging on Terasu, then swallowing her, as if she were falling into inky water. The air was suddenly crackling with electricity - Chiela could feel her hair standing on end - and the ship or satellite or whatever was shuddering, suddenly, rocking violently back and forth, and Chiela heard what couldn’t be, mustn’t be, but was thunder, coming not from outside the ship but from within it.
“Space storm!” Pipra cried, clapping his hands together and looking delighted - though why Chiela hadn’t the faintest idea - and Nikolao was rolling to his feet and shouting, “Terasu, stop!” which only seemed to make the turbulence worse. Chiela gripped the sides of her bed as the ship (satellite, whatever) lurched sickeningly to one side, so she wouldn’t be thrown out. Then the ship (satellite, whatever) lurched again, this time in the other direction, and gripping the bed or not, Chiela got tossed off and onto the floor just as Pipra and Nikolao dropped to their knees, hands flat on the floor.
author:
cridecoeurpairing: chiela/terasu, pipra/nikolao
word count: 1748
rating: pg-13
Chiela wakes, disoriented and aching, on what feels like a hospital cot, lumpy and uncomfortable - which she knows about because, hey, she’s been there enough before - under thin, cheap sheets with a halogen light shining in her eyes and one motherfucking hell of a headache. Which the light was not helping with at all. She raised both hands to clutch at her head, biting down on a groan. Jesus Christ what had happened? The last she remembered they’d been standing in that orchard, beside that green-algae pond, witnessing lightning strike after lightning strike, splitting and deadening the trees, felling them. And, oh yeah, there was the little matter of Terasu glowing and levitating.
Jesus Christ.
Turning her head to one side, Chiela found she was, in fact, in an infirmary. Or what looked like an infirmary at least. There were beds lining the walls, white-sheeted and probably just as uncomfortable as the one she was in. The whole place had a very sterile air to it. She turned her head to the other side and found Terasu lying on the bed beside her, pale faced and unhappy looking, even in repose.
At least this time there was no one standing over her and asking, can you tell me your name, can you tell me where you live, can you tell me what year it is? Although, that was kind of a shame because this time she could have told them that her name was Chiela Cascade, and she lived at 1600 Round Grove Road, Apt. 213, and that it was 2010. She could even tell them that it was August 12th, not that knowing that was helping her much, as it was.
Chiela pushed herself up on her elbows and took another look around the room to find a lady in a green dress, rather lacier than Chiela thought necessary or even attractive and more elaborate than Chiela would dare to wear, much like the ball gowns she’d only seen in picture books, tipped back on her chair, reaching for something on the table behind her with slender hands.
Chiela cleared her throat, trying to get her attention. A rather dramatic part of her mind expecting the woman to windmill and go crashing backwards, but she simply let the front legs of the chair fall to the floor and - oh. Oh.
Not a lady then.
The man in the dress, his read hair tangled around his face, and something, something on his forehead like the ink dots you saw on Indian women only not, because this something was blue and crystalline (like, Chiela thought faintly, Terasu’s pendant, and how much more surreal could this possibly get? On second thought, Chiela didn’t want to know) blinked at her owlishly then smiled delightedly and said, “Hey. Hey! You’re awake!” Popping up to his feet from chair, he trotted over to the open door of the room and shouted, “Nichjo! Hey, Nikolao! Come here!”
A pause and then another man walked into the room - severe looking, straight-backed, his hair neatly parted, and wearing a uniform that looked as if he’s starched and ironed it; he has a something too, only his was blood red, dark - and said, without even looking at Chiela, “Pipra what have I told you about - ” then seemed to catch sight of Chiela and paused a moment before going on, “ah, you’re awake,” and giving Terasu a look that clearly stated that he resented her not being awake.
Chiela really wished everyone would stop stating the obvious and start telling her what the hell was going on. She made to rub her hands roughly across her face, hoping the world would make sense once she opened her eyes again, only to find scales where there should be skin and talons tipping her fingers. She arched her back and was relieved to find that the wings, at least, weren’t making an appearance.
“Where the hell am I?” she said, addressing both men. “And what the hell did you do to me?”
“You’re in space!” Pipra said, without hesitation, and Nikolao said, severely, “Pipra!”
“What? She is!”
“She is, yes,” Nikolao said, sounding as if he’d very much like to slap Pipra but wasn’t allowing himself to do so - was in fact keeping his hands clenched carefully behind his back, “But the situation calls for a bit more delicacy than that, Sergeant.”
Pipra scoffed and waved on hand, dismissively, “Delicacy schmelicacy,” which Chiela had never heard from someone who wasn’t ten. The next moment, Pipra was puckering up his lips and batting his eyelashes at Nikolao in the most exaggerated fashion and saying, “And if you’re going to pull rank on me, Captain, then this is all going to get very inappropriate.” Pipra turned to her and added, in a stage whisper, “This is why you don’t sleep with the help.”
Nikolao had a look on his face like he was going to give in and slap Pipra after that - whether he would have or not, though, he never got the chance because the next moment Terasu was groaning and stirring in her bed, raising one hand to shield her eyes from the light as she opened them - if she had a headache anywhere near as bad as the one Chiela had, that light had to be killing her.
“Jesus,” she said, as she pushed herself up on one elbow - Chiela could tell the moment Terasu registered what she looked like, or possibly just where they were and went immediately wide-eyed, looking shocked-open, and, shit, she had a something too, only hers was the white-polished crystal she’d worn on the chain around her neck - which was no longer in evidence, as far as Chiela could see.
“What the hell,” she said, sounding faint, and Chiela rushed to assure her that, “Hey, I don’t know,” although it was so much assurance as it was - well, panic, frankly because she knew she was Chiela Cascade, and she knew that she lived at 1600 Round Grove Road, Apt. 213, and she knew that today was August 12, 2010, but that didn’t mean a thing next to you’re in space! And, shit, her headache was only getting worse.
Then, just as she thought that things couldn’t possibly get any weirder, Terasu turned towards Nikolao and Pipra and said, faintly, again, “Nichjo? Pipra? What the hell happened?” Then, while Chiela was still processing that - she knew them? how the hell could she know them? - Terasu’s face morphed into an expression that could really only be called fury, and she shouted, “You mind wiped me, asshole!”
“He totally did!” Pipra said, sounding delighted - Chiela was getting the impression that he didn’t have a setting aside from exuberant - just as Nikolao was saying, “I only did what was necessary,” but it was too late for words, apparently, because Terasu was up and off her bed in a second, taking a swing at Nikolao before Chiela had even fully registered what had happened. Holy shit, she had ringside seats to what looked to be a pretty heated fight - judging, at least, by the underscoring of profanity from Terasu, and Chiela had never seen her get angry like this. Granted, she’d never seen her wake up in the infirmary of a spaceship - or a satellite; whatever, a thing that was in space, that was really all that mattered - with a girlfriend who was turning into a lizard, and - mind-wiped? Seriously? This had just turned into the bad kind of science fiction.
Either Nikolao had been expecting Terasu to blow up, or else he was just used to people taking a swing at him - the second was certainly the more entertaining option. Whichever it was, he managed to catch Terasu’s first blow in one hand and to duck under the second, wilder swing once she’d jerked away. He was apparently the kind of guy who knew how to use your own momentum against you because he was, upon Terasu’s third swing, spinning her around and locking one of her arms behind her back.
“Calm down,” he said, “Or I’m really going to have to hurt you.”
“Like hell,” Terasu said, and apparently Terasu also knew how to turn a body against itself because, before Chiela had even really realized what had happened, they were both tumbling roughly to the floor, Terasu rolling to straddle Nikolao and taking a swing at him that actually connected this time and resulted in Nikolao knocking his head back against the floor with a rather painful sounding thud. He bucked up and managed to toss Terasu off of him - which wasn’t really a surprise; Terasu may have been wiry with muscle, but it was ballet muscle, not street fighting muscle - and suddenly there were shadows gathering in the room, though the lights hadn’t faded at all, sliding across the floor and converging on Terasu, then swallowing her, as if she were falling into inky water. The air was suddenly crackling with electricity - Chiela could feel her hair standing on end - and the ship or satellite or whatever was shuddering, suddenly, rocking violently back and forth, and Chiela heard what couldn’t be, mustn’t be, but was thunder, coming not from outside the ship but from within it.
“Space storm!” Pipra cried, clapping his hands together and looking delighted - though why Chiela hadn’t the faintest idea - and Nikolao was rolling to his feet and shouting, “Terasu, stop!” which only seemed to make the turbulence worse. Chiela gripped the sides of her bed as the ship (satellite, whatever) lurched sickeningly to one side, so she wouldn’t be thrown out. Then the ship (satellite, whatever) lurched again, this time in the other direction, and gripping the bed or not, Chiela got tossed off and onto the floor just as Pipra and Nikolao dropped to their knees, hands flat on the floor.
