malapropism: (creep inside you)
malapropism ([personal profile] malapropism) wrote in [community profile] rainbowfic2012-10-02 10:12 pm

Harvest Gold 10, Mouse Grey 16, Alice Blue 15

Title: As I Lay Here Gazing
Canon: The Lethean Glamour
Colors: Harvest Gold 10 (giving thanks), Mouse Grey 16 (let me be good to you), Alice Blue 15 (remember who you are)
Supply: canvas (near the end of the War of Ascension)
Characters: Valentio Melman, Cygnelius Corvo
Rating: PG
Summary: Valentio and Cygnelius, the night before Lysandro took back the throne.
Notes: Val/Cyg heavily implied, but they're not together yet. Watch out for the diabeetus.

Tonight, as far as Valentio was concerned, was the first perfect night of his life. All those other perfect nights were small, indistinct points in the back of his mind. The constellations hung in bright portraits across a gallery of black and blue sky, the slow chill of early autumn helped along by soft winds which served an occasional counterpoint to the symphony of night bugs. And there was Cygnelius at his side, warm and comfortable, valiantly pretending not to be just as enthralled with it as he was. Valentio remembered every awed word Cygnelius would slur the rare nights he let himself get drunk, how he spoke of revolutions and entropy and star stuff like some spoke of their patron gods.

"There, you see that one there? It appears briefly on the horizon for about a month near Eula, then disappears from the view of the castle," Valentio said, his voice swimming in the wine he’d had earlier. "Its name is Orpheo. Every five years Eula and Orpheo forget why they repel each other and are drawn back into each other. They have their own fest in Dannareth - not really for the stars, as such, as much as for the idea of them. Gravity that pulls in spite of everything."

"You should know better than most that gravity is never in spite of," Cygnelius said, lightly reprimanding, and Valentio laughed and pulled him closer. "I guess I do," he said.

"I don’t know why I bother with you when you so egregiously twist scientific fact to the purposes of gross sentimentality," Cygnelius sniffed, adjusting himself to Valentio’s proximity. "I presume it’s safe to assume that Orpheo and Eula’s fest is tonight, then."

"Through sleet, snow, plague, and kings who rule from the gallows," Valentio said.

"He'll hang from his ridiculously morbid throne tomorrow if all goes well," Cygnelius said. "And, well, if things go poorly, trust the chosen of Death when I say the dead have their own concerns. Not that I'll let either of us die. I refuse to give the universe the satisfaction. It'd be a pretty awful world without you, anyway."

"And here I was thinking you didn't approve of gross sentimentality," Valentio said.

"Tonight may be my last chance to let you know," Cygnelius said. "This plan wasn't my first choice. It wasn't even my fifth; there's too much left to the whims of fate. I want you to know that you've been a worthier friend than any I've known and a good man and," Cygnelius paused, the words on his tongue thorned and bitter with truth. "What we are - it isn't and has never been an in spite of. I'm glad you saw whatever you did in me that first week. Whether we live or die tomorrow, don't you ever forget that. Especially since I'm not repeating it."

"Don't worry, I'll be loud and repetitive enough about it for the both of us," Valentio grinned. "We're binary, and you can never take that back."
isana: Stocking with sword (badass)

[personal profile] isana 2012-10-03 04:32 am (UTC)(link)
It's like fantasy and 1930s/1940s film got together and had a baby! A FANTASTIC BABY.

I love it. I love how sharp and witty both these guys are, with their unabashed knowledge, and I can see them staring out at the sky, speaking in vintage actor voices, and it's amazeballs.
finch: (Default)

[personal profile] finch 2012-10-03 05:49 am (UTC)(link)
That is some high quality diabeetus right there. I like how they're aware things could go badly but they're not... wrapped up in it, if that makes sense. And I second Isana, it sounds very much like a war movie, in a good way.
kay_brooke: A forest corridor in autumn, the path carpeted with leaves (autumn)

[personal profile] kay_brooke 2012-10-03 07:43 pm (UTC)(link)
Love the conversation here, the nonchalant sentimentality that is still sentimentality nonetheless. [personal profile] isana is right, it's like old movie dialogue. Well done!
settecorvi: (Default)

[personal profile] settecorvi 2012-10-04 02:33 am (UTC)(link)
You've packed a lot into such a short scene. The tonal shift from the rather lighthearted and almost romantic opening to Cygnelius's pre-revolution confession is amazing. Their easy banter is so enjoyable to read, and it gave us the background on their relationship and the political situation and worldbuilding without sounding forced.
bookblather: A picture of Yomiko Readman looking at books with the text "bookgasm." (Default)

[personal profile] bookblather 2012-10-04 06:53 am (UTC)(link)
Amaaaaaazing omg. Just. The emotions. That aren't stated because CYG WOULD NEVER. And Valentio being his irreverent self and the two of them just slotting so neatly together. AMAZING. Great job.
novel_machinist: (Vincent: out of my head)

[personal profile] novel_machinist 2012-10-04 05:38 pm (UTC)(link)
I love conversations like these. When relationships reach a level of reading between the lines it feels really sweet and comfortable to me. I love the sort of anticipation that's lased in this as well.
clare_dragonfly: woman with green feathery wings, text: stories last longer: but only by becoming only stories (Default)

[personal profile] clare_dragonfly 2012-10-06 01:33 am (UTC)(link)
OMG, awesome. They're talking about killing a king! And then they're all "I love you" without saying that. Aww.