Drabbles. Again.
Apr. 27th, 2006 04:06 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
itsallovernowFor ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
monanotlisa wanted John/Chiana friendship. This is...kinda that:
They're buried in a sea of taffeta and tulle, Livvy lounging against the pillows in her old bedroom, Chi pulling the dresses onto her body, where they'd slip and slide over her slim form instead of clinging tight.
"I got in on the tail end up big hair and poofy prom dresses," Livvy says, winking at him as John lounges in her desk chair, arms over the back.
"Lotsa dresses," Chiana grins, rubs a piece of bright blue sateen against her cheek, twirls in the mirror, looking beautiful and alien in the sunny room.
"Lotsa dances," John adds, looks around the room at pictures of his smiling sister, at remnants of her past – ribbons and trophies, old posters and a shredded pompom.
She shoots John a wicked look. "I was the kid sister of the school's golden boy. My friends wanted to date him. Hell, my dates wanted to date him."
He sticks out his tongue, and Chiana giggles, sounding terribly young. "So you lied," she breathes, flipping back the overskirt of a particularly hideous dress of pink and lace, pulling at the underskirt. "You've always been Mr. Popularity."
"Football star and homecoming king," Liv presses. "Smart to boot, although he was always a dumb ass."
John turns down his mouth, glares at his sister. "Small town, not much to do, and I was homecoming king 'cause I was nailin' the homecoming queen."
Liv puts her head in her hands. "I didn't need to know that," she says, mock wailing. "I dated her brother."
Chiana wolf whistles like he taught her. "Was she pretty?"
He's embarrassed now, ashamed, didn't think of old girlfriends that way, didn't think of his old life that way, but it feels so … clean, so removed. He wants to strip away the whitewash, talk about fear and loss and helping DK cheat on the SAT's, and the fights with his father, and Susan getting knocked up her first year of med school, and Leslie dying, and Livvy getting suspended for smoking pot in the girl's locker room and all the other things… Maybe if life on Earth sounds a little messier, he'll stop missing it so much. But it all feels so innocent in the face of his life now, seems so sweet somehow. Worth keeping. What's a little sex, a little pot, a little death in the face of monsters, and the bitterness of true love, and the destruction of the universe?
"Yeah," he answers softly,"She was pretty." Changes his path, tacking into the wind. "Liv was on the court as well. Bet she's got her tiara around here somewhere." Chi lets the dress shimmy to the floor, skimming over her jeans, steps out and walks lightly on bare feet over to where he sits.
She runs a hand through his hair, and pats him on the cheek, pats again and it feels more like a slap. Short and sharp and stinging.
Livvy bites out a laugh. "They wanted to take it away after I got caught with Freddy Insuelos' hand down the front of my dress at the dance, but it didn't seem worth the effort. Besides, everyone knew mom was dying and…" her voice trails off. She shrugs, looks at her brother, at the alien girl standing next to him.
"It's in the drawer there," she says carefully and sits up, pulling one of the dresses onto her lap.
Chiana turns, pulls open a drawer in the small wooden desk, and pulls out the delicate silver tiara. Holds it between her fingers. John takes it from her with a smile, tucks it into the fluff of her white hair.
"This is what you guys do? As narls? You pretend to be royalty? You dance? You play pretend."
Her eyes are dark, luminous and yearning in the dusty light. She's been on the run through most of her adolescence, has seen death and destruction, has loved and lost and killed and never had much room for innocence.
Livvy bites her lip, eyes flicking up to the girl wearing her homecoming crown.
"Yeah," she says. "We pretend until it's real."
"And then we make our own way," John whispers.
monanotlisa wanted John/Chiana friendship. This is...kinda that:They're buried in a sea of taffeta and tulle, Livvy lounging against the pillows in her old bedroom, Chi pulling the dresses onto her body, where they'd slip and slide over her slim form instead of clinging tight.
"I got in on the tail end up big hair and poofy prom dresses," Livvy says, winking at him as John lounges in her desk chair, arms over the back.
"Lotsa dresses," Chiana grins, rubs a piece of bright blue sateen against her cheek, twirls in the mirror, looking beautiful and alien in the sunny room.
"Lotsa dances," John adds, looks around the room at pictures of his smiling sister, at remnants of her past – ribbons and trophies, old posters and a shredded pompom.
She shoots John a wicked look. "I was the kid sister of the school's golden boy. My friends wanted to date him. Hell, my dates wanted to date him."
He sticks out his tongue, and Chiana giggles, sounding terribly young. "So you lied," she breathes, flipping back the overskirt of a particularly hideous dress of pink and lace, pulling at the underskirt. "You've always been Mr. Popularity."
"Football star and homecoming king," Liv presses. "Smart to boot, although he was always a dumb ass."
John turns down his mouth, glares at his sister. "Small town, not much to do, and I was homecoming king 'cause I was nailin' the homecoming queen."
Liv puts her head in her hands. "I didn't need to know that," she says, mock wailing. "I dated her brother."
Chiana wolf whistles like he taught her. "Was she pretty?"
He's embarrassed now, ashamed, didn't think of old girlfriends that way, didn't think of his old life that way, but it feels so … clean, so removed. He wants to strip away the whitewash, talk about fear and loss and helping DK cheat on the SAT's, and the fights with his father, and Susan getting knocked up her first year of med school, and Leslie dying, and Livvy getting suspended for smoking pot in the girl's locker room and all the other things… Maybe if life on Earth sounds a little messier, he'll stop missing it so much. But it all feels so innocent in the face of his life now, seems so sweet somehow. Worth keeping. What's a little sex, a little pot, a little death in the face of monsters, and the bitterness of true love, and the destruction of the universe?
"Yeah," he answers softly,"She was pretty." Changes his path, tacking into the wind. "Liv was on the court as well. Bet she's got her tiara around here somewhere." Chi lets the dress shimmy to the floor, skimming over her jeans, steps out and walks lightly on bare feet over to where he sits.
She runs a hand through his hair, and pats him on the cheek, pats again and it feels more like a slap. Short and sharp and stinging.
Livvy bites out a laugh. "They wanted to take it away after I got caught with Freddy Insuelos' hand down the front of my dress at the dance, but it didn't seem worth the effort. Besides, everyone knew mom was dying and…" her voice trails off. She shrugs, looks at her brother, at the alien girl standing next to him.
"It's in the drawer there," she says carefully and sits up, pulling one of the dresses onto her lap.
Chiana turns, pulls open a drawer in the small wooden desk, and pulls out the delicate silver tiara. Holds it between her fingers. John takes it from her with a smile, tucks it into the fluff of her white hair.
"This is what you guys do? As narls? You pretend to be royalty? You dance? You play pretend."
Her eyes are dark, luminous and yearning in the dusty light. She's been on the run through most of her adolescence, has seen death and destruction, has loved and lost and killed and never had much room for innocence.
Livvy bites her lip, eyes flicking up to the girl wearing her homecoming crown.
"Yeah," she says. "We pretend until it's real."
"And then we make our own way," John whispers.
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no subject
Date: 2006-04-27 11:35 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-04-27 11:52 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-04-27 11:56 pm (UTC)GoodBad Thea!no subject
Date: 2006-04-28 12:03 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-04-28 12:21 am (UTC)Weird how tonight I had a conversation with my almost 16 year old who declared that I have absolutely no undersanding of what it is like to be a 16 year old in 2006 because I'm old. I told her that that was true, but then she should teach me. Sigh. Strange how your story resonates here tonight.
no subject
Date: 2006-04-28 04:42 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-04-28 05:02 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-04-28 04:44 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-04-28 02:02 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-04-28 04:46 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-04-30 08:09 pm (UTC)wanted to comment earlier but now wanted to take the time for it.
One of the reasons I'm so fond of the John/Chiana relationship is that their dynamics always seem to echo something more, something less romantic and dramatic but very deep still. John/Aeryn is its own thing, brilliant and dazzling and heartbreaking, and I adore that, but all the quiet notes, the sibling touches, the sort of bickering that stems from affection yet a foundation of understanding...yeah.
You really nailed that here, and adding Livvy to the mix -- lovely. So well-done!
Chiana turns, pulls open a drawer in the small wooden desk, and pulls out the delicate silver tiara. Holds it between her fingers. John takes it from her with a smile, tucks it into the fluff of her white hair.
"This is what you guys do? As narls? You pretend to be royalty? You dance? You play pretend."
God, I can't tell you how PERFECTLY Chiana this sounded.
Thank you so much.
no subject
Date: 2006-05-01 04:06 am (UTC)