Searching [extra]
Jan. 6th, 2011 09:42 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
esp_dragonFandom: Original
Summary: "Marland… I have a couple of questions."
Rating: T
Notes: Swearing.
So I did an OC meme. And I knew that Marland's answers would change depend on who was asking. And then this decided that it had to be fic'ed. XDD; I am so sorry, Marland.Except I'm not, because this is hilarious for me. Let's see how long it takes before this Q&A gets completely derailed. XDD
Set mid-Searching. I think just after Shodin starts practicing magic and before they meet Balt.
*cough* So much for funny – this ended up a lot more serious and pondering than I thought. ^ ^;;
Of course, the one that isn't the main storyline would come a lot easier and faster. :P
I never know quite what to call Marland's meals. Breakfast when it's seven in the evening because that's when he wakes up? Dinner because he's following what everyone else calls them and they're diurnal? Just call it a 'meal' or 'food' because thinking about this is doing his head in?
I realised after that Shodin had skipped over more than one question, but well, it wasn't like he was interested in finding out the answer to that one anyway. ...And then he skipped over more anyway, because he thought those might be a little too personal as well.
Guess I got one scene that I wanted to write anyway. :D
Genre: Urban fantasy/general
Word count: 2,200
Status: Complete
"Marland…" Shodin began slowly, as soon as Marland had stepped out of the bedroom, yawning. "I have a couple of questions."
Marland narrowed his eyes at him, suspicious, the sleepiness leaving him quickly. Shodin always had questions; that was normal, as was his look of curiosity – he almost never stopped looking curious. What was making him wary was how Shodin seemed to be attempting to make himself look innocent, wide-eyed and fighting hard to hide a smile, the corners of his lips twitching.
"Yeah?" He made his way over to the kitchen, where Shodin was having his dinner. It was too early for him to be bombarded by questions already, but it wasn't like he could stop Shodin from asking.
"Well, there was something on TV earlier, and the people were talking about how to get to know someone better…" Shodin swirled the remnants of his food on his plate, the fork scratching it annoyingly.
His ears lowered, both from what Shodin was saying and the high-pitched sound. He really was grateful for the fact that the TV was teaching Shodin about Torpin, but then it meant Shodin still had to talk to him to make sure what he'd learned was actually something resembling real life, and it wasn't like he knew everything either.
"They had a list of questions to ask someone if you wanted to know them better," Shodin finished, the innocent look fading to one of tentative hope as he peered up at Marland, his head lowered slightly.
Marland's ears flattened, and he turned away, grumbling as he searched the kitchen for something to eat. Shodin didn't ask again, didn't press, but he could feel Shodin's eyes on him, his curiosity almost tangible to him.
"Fine," he sighed once the microwave was on, the humming loud to his ears. It wasn't like they had anything else to do – the fridge was stocked and it wasn't like they could go out. Which left watching TV.
Ha.
Right. Anything to not watch that crap.
Shodin hummed as he chewed one of the last pieces of his food, one elbow on the table, the knife in his hand sketching out little shapes. "Well, I already know your name," –a quick grin and a tilt of the head- "so the next question was, do you have any siblings?"
Marland had snorted at the first question –what kind of questionnaire was it if it was asking something that basic?- but he paused at the second question. "Dunno," he admitted after being quiet for a while. His memory of his homeworld was so incredibly fuzzy that he could only remember impressions of things, possibly buildings, colours. Nothing more, like names, scents, what his people were like.
"Hey…" Shodin said softly, his hands no longer moving, the grin gone from his face. "You don't have to answer if you don't want to."
The microwave dinged and Marland used that as an excuse to turn away. "If I didn't want to answer," he said to the food in front of him, "I wouldn't've." It wasn't exactly an uncomfortable question, and it really had been a while since he'd thought about the world he'd come from. He knew that he couldn't go home anymore –he'd known that almost as soon as he'd come through and he'd resigned himself to living on Torpin until he died soon after finding himself on Torpin as well- so when he thought about his homeworld, it was just a passing 'what could have been' now rather than a definite 'what should be'.
"If you're sure?"
Marland settled in the chair across from Shodin, letting his wings shrug for him. "Yeah. Ask away."
"Okay." Shodin paused, one finger tapping on his knife. "How old are you?"
…Maybe these weren't so basic questions, now that Marland thought about it. He shrugged again with his wings. "I think in my twenties. At least, here I'm in my twenties." He prodded at his food, watching the steam rise up in a large cloud. "I don't remember how old I was when I came through, and my homeworld might have had a different… what, year system?" It had used to make him really confused when he tried to work out how old he maybe was before he'd eventually just given up, the differences between the two worlds disappearing as he learned more about Torpin and what little memories he had of his old life fading even more.
Shodin was frowning slightly, his eyes not on him. Marland waited, not particularly bothered, starting on his dinner. If Shodin asked another question, then he'd answer it if he could; if Shodin didn't ask that particular batch of questions, there was always something else he wanted to know.
"Hm, I already know how tall you are," –Marland tilted his head down and pricked his ears towards him. Who exactly were you supposed to ask these questions to? Someone who you couldn't see?- "so the next question was 'are you a virgin?'"
Marland nearly swallowed the piece of food he's just bitten down on. "What?" His ears were flat on his skull as he made sure he didn't accidently begin to choke on it. What kind of question was that?
Shodin was trying his best to look innocent again, hiding his mouth from view with a cup, but the way his eyes were at the edges made it really obvious and the gesture redundant. "That was one of the questions," Shodin said unhelpfully, amusement far too clear in his voice.
To give his ears a chance to go back up again, Marland speared a few pieces of his food and ate them. He also did it to make sure he'd actually eaten something first before it started going down the wrong tube.
"Yeah, I'm a virgin." Which was a given, considering the circumstances. What were the other questions going to be like? Marland couldn't think of what question he wouldn't answer though – it wasn't like he hid anything from Shodin.
Humming again, Shodin smiled at him. "Do you have a mate or spouse?"
Marland just looked at him, head tilted down, ears pointed towards Shodin. Who the hell would be willing to tolerate spending any amount of time with him, let alone constantly and then wanting to spend even more time with him? And what was with the wording of the question? 'Mate'?
Smothering a laugh, Shodin waved a hand. "I know. I'll pass over the next question, since the answer to that is obvious so, what's your favourite food?"
He shrugged with his wings, his mouth full at that particular moment. After he swallowed, he said, "Don't have one." He wasn't buying food for the taste, just for him to live for another day; what they tasted like wasn't important. It wasn't really like he could experiment anyway.
"All right," Shodin said, nodding. "I'll skip the next question and…" Shodin grinned widely at him, his head tilted to the side. The wariness that Marland had been feeling swiftly came back. "What are your secrets?"
Marland paused with his head hovering over the plate, ears not moving. He wasn't actively hiding anything from Shodin, though, if he thought about it, there was something that he hadn't told him. "…I sketch?"
Shodin blinked, before a delighted grin grew on his face. "May I see?"
And there was the feeling of resignation, tempered with fond exasperation. He really should have expected that. Marland pointed behind himself with both a wing and his fork. "Middle bookshelf, the book with the large flowers on it."
The grin widened even more and Shodin wiped his hands on his shirt before making his way over. Ears following him, Marland continued eating, not quite sure what to label the emotions that were swirling inside him. He'd never shown anyone his sketches, had never even told anyone that he did that –who would listen to him, and who would care?- and it wasn't exactly like he was ashamed of it, but he still felt… a little apprehensive about what Shodin would think of them.
After a few seconds, Shodin came back into his field of vision and once he sat down again, he nudged his plate away, making sure the table was clear before setting the sketchbook down. Marland quirked his ears at him, amused by how gently Shodin was treating the book. He wasn't the same, just grabbing it, using his claws sometimes when he couldn't be bothered hooking his thumb under it. Yeah, the insides were better kept, but the cover was pretty damn sturdy so he never worried about piercing right through it – by the time it got close to that point, he was usually needing a new sketchbook anyway.
Slowly, Shodin flipped to the first page and then slowly cocked his head to the side, blinking. He turned to the next one, and then the next one. "Others?" he eventually asked.
"Yeah," Marland said, snorting. "Some just really stuck out."
Shodin chuckled, turning the page again. "I can see that." He smiled at some of the drawings, but Marland couldn't think of what ones he could possibly have that reaction to –but then, since when had he ever been right when he tried to guess how Shodin would react to something?- and he couldn't remember what was even in that book, it had been that long since he'd last looked at it. The fork in Marland's hand slowed down as he tried to think about that. When was the last time he brought it out? …Before he had met Shodin? He normally picked it up every couple of days so this was probably the longest stint he'd ever went without using it.
At least while Shodin was distracted, Marland could eat the rest of his food in relative peace. By the time Marland finished, Shodin had made his way through most of the book as well. "These are really detailed," Shodin murmured, hand hovering one drawing.
Marland shrugged. "I had a close-up of them." And had probably been really bored at that point; that was usually when his sketches got a lot more attention.
"Hmm." Smiling softly at the drawing in front of him, Shodin closed the book. "There's still a couple of questions left."
Should have known he wasn't going to be distracted for very long. "Ask 'em then," he said, a hint of a sigh behind his words.
Shodin didn't buy that he was uninterested, if the grin was anything to go by. "Boy or girl?"
Marland blinked at him, ears going back in confusion. "…What?"
"Oh." Shodin's face fell, his mouth twisting. "You don't know what that means either?"
"No." Or, that there were too many possibilities for what it was asking. Fair enough, it was asking for a preference, but preference to what?
"Ah well," Shodin sighed, lips curling again. "So, if a person were to tease you, what would you do?"
"Tease me," he repeated, trying to make his voice deadpan, but failing. His tilted his head down again, ears coming forward. "Most people would be trying to kill me."
"'Most'," Shodin pointed out, reaching out to pick up his cup again. "So, who would tease you?"
"You?" he hazarded instantly, the first person who came to mind. "Kendal." A pause. "I normally want to run when she starts teasing."
"She isn't that bad," Shodin said, shaking his head.
"The whole thing where we were in that alley and Gahn listed off my 'offences'?" Marland reminded him. Shodin nodded to show he remembered. "That's her idea of a joke; fuck, it was probably her idea in the first place." Not the newbie a twitch away from shooting him, but the rest of it was definitely Kendal's style.
One of Shodin's eyebrows was raised as he said this, and then the other one went up as well. "Huh. I see. So, what would you do if I were to tease you?"
Marland just looked at him. "You know what I do when you tease me." Stare at him, and not know what to do.
Shodin chuckled, strands of hair falling forward. "I suppose I didn't need to ask that question." He smiled into the distance, before bringing his attention back to Marland. "One last question: any bad habits?"
One ear flicked to the side. "The only one I can think of is assuming I can ever guess the way you think," he said, shrugging. He probably had things which people would consider bad habits, if the TV was to be believed, but he'd developed those habits out of self-preservation so it they weren't necessarily bad for him.
Reaching for the sketchpad again, nodding, Shodin brightened suddenly. "You can ask me the questions!"
Marland brought his ears forward. "…You don't remember anything."
Shodin flapped a hand dismissively, smile ever present. "I know that; I mean, if I get my memories back – you can ask me those questions then."
Huffing a laugh, Marland picked up his plate and started to make his way to the bin. "Yeah, all right."
"So," Shodin said once the plate was in the sink, pointing at the sketch in front of him, "tell me about this Other…"
_______________________________________________________________________________________
DDD: Waugh, why did I write this ending?!
This was a good writing exercise though. :3
Summary: "Marland… I have a couple of questions."
Rating: T
Notes: Swearing.
So I did an OC meme. And I knew that Marland's answers would change depend on who was asking. And then this decided that it had to be fic'ed. XDD; I am so sorry, Marland.
Set mid-Searching. I think just after Shodin starts practicing magic and before they meet Balt.
*cough* So much for funny – this ended up a lot more serious and pondering than I thought. ^ ^;;
Of course, the one that isn't the main storyline would come a lot easier and faster. :P
I never know quite what to call Marland's meals. Breakfast when it's seven in the evening because that's when he wakes up? Dinner because he's following what everyone else calls them and they're diurnal? Just call it a 'meal' or 'food' because thinking about this is doing his head in?
I realised after that Shodin had skipped over more than one question, but well, it wasn't like he was interested in finding out the answer to that one anyway. ...And then he skipped over more anyway, because he thought those might be a little too personal as well.
Guess I got one scene that I wanted to write anyway. :D
Genre: Urban fantasy/general
Word count: 2,200
Status: Complete
"Marland…" Shodin began slowly, as soon as Marland had stepped out of the bedroom, yawning. "I have a couple of questions."
Marland narrowed his eyes at him, suspicious, the sleepiness leaving him quickly. Shodin always had questions; that was normal, as was his look of curiosity – he almost never stopped looking curious. What was making him wary was how Shodin seemed to be attempting to make himself look innocent, wide-eyed and fighting hard to hide a smile, the corners of his lips twitching.
"Yeah?" He made his way over to the kitchen, where Shodin was having his dinner. It was too early for him to be bombarded by questions already, but it wasn't like he could stop Shodin from asking.
"Well, there was something on TV earlier, and the people were talking about how to get to know someone better…" Shodin swirled the remnants of his food on his plate, the fork scratching it annoyingly.
His ears lowered, both from what Shodin was saying and the high-pitched sound. He really was grateful for the fact that the TV was teaching Shodin about Torpin, but then it meant Shodin still had to talk to him to make sure what he'd learned was actually something resembling real life, and it wasn't like he knew everything either.
"They had a list of questions to ask someone if you wanted to know them better," Shodin finished, the innocent look fading to one of tentative hope as he peered up at Marland, his head lowered slightly.
Marland's ears flattened, and he turned away, grumbling as he searched the kitchen for something to eat. Shodin didn't ask again, didn't press, but he could feel Shodin's eyes on him, his curiosity almost tangible to him.
"Fine," he sighed once the microwave was on, the humming loud to his ears. It wasn't like they had anything else to do – the fridge was stocked and it wasn't like they could go out. Which left watching TV.
Ha.
Right. Anything to not watch that crap.
Shodin hummed as he chewed one of the last pieces of his food, one elbow on the table, the knife in his hand sketching out little shapes. "Well, I already know your name," –a quick grin and a tilt of the head- "so the next question was, do you have any siblings?"
Marland had snorted at the first question –what kind of questionnaire was it if it was asking something that basic?- but he paused at the second question. "Dunno," he admitted after being quiet for a while. His memory of his homeworld was so incredibly fuzzy that he could only remember impressions of things, possibly buildings, colours. Nothing more, like names, scents, what his people were like.
"Hey…" Shodin said softly, his hands no longer moving, the grin gone from his face. "You don't have to answer if you don't want to."
The microwave dinged and Marland used that as an excuse to turn away. "If I didn't want to answer," he said to the food in front of him, "I wouldn't've." It wasn't exactly an uncomfortable question, and it really had been a while since he'd thought about the world he'd come from. He knew that he couldn't go home anymore –he'd known that almost as soon as he'd come through and he'd resigned himself to living on Torpin until he died soon after finding himself on Torpin as well- so when he thought about his homeworld, it was just a passing 'what could have been' now rather than a definite 'what should be'.
"If you're sure?"
Marland settled in the chair across from Shodin, letting his wings shrug for him. "Yeah. Ask away."
"Okay." Shodin paused, one finger tapping on his knife. "How old are you?"
…Maybe these weren't so basic questions, now that Marland thought about it. He shrugged again with his wings. "I think in my twenties. At least, here I'm in my twenties." He prodded at his food, watching the steam rise up in a large cloud. "I don't remember how old I was when I came through, and my homeworld might have had a different… what, year system?" It had used to make him really confused when he tried to work out how old he maybe was before he'd eventually just given up, the differences between the two worlds disappearing as he learned more about Torpin and what little memories he had of his old life fading even more.
Shodin was frowning slightly, his eyes not on him. Marland waited, not particularly bothered, starting on his dinner. If Shodin asked another question, then he'd answer it if he could; if Shodin didn't ask that particular batch of questions, there was always something else he wanted to know.
"Hm, I already know how tall you are," –Marland tilted his head down and pricked his ears towards him. Who exactly were you supposed to ask these questions to? Someone who you couldn't see?- "so the next question was 'are you a virgin?'"
Marland nearly swallowed the piece of food he's just bitten down on. "What?" His ears were flat on his skull as he made sure he didn't accidently begin to choke on it. What kind of question was that?
Shodin was trying his best to look innocent again, hiding his mouth from view with a cup, but the way his eyes were at the edges made it really obvious and the gesture redundant. "That was one of the questions," Shodin said unhelpfully, amusement far too clear in his voice.
To give his ears a chance to go back up again, Marland speared a few pieces of his food and ate them. He also did it to make sure he'd actually eaten something first before it started going down the wrong tube.
"Yeah, I'm a virgin." Which was a given, considering the circumstances. What were the other questions going to be like? Marland couldn't think of what question he wouldn't answer though – it wasn't like he hid anything from Shodin.
Humming again, Shodin smiled at him. "Do you have a mate or spouse?"
Marland just looked at him, head tilted down, ears pointed towards Shodin. Who the hell would be willing to tolerate spending any amount of time with him, let alone constantly and then wanting to spend even more time with him? And what was with the wording of the question? 'Mate'?
Smothering a laugh, Shodin waved a hand. "I know. I'll pass over the next question, since the answer to that is obvious so, what's your favourite food?"
He shrugged with his wings, his mouth full at that particular moment. After he swallowed, he said, "Don't have one." He wasn't buying food for the taste, just for him to live for another day; what they tasted like wasn't important. It wasn't really like he could experiment anyway.
"All right," Shodin said, nodding. "I'll skip the next question and…" Shodin grinned widely at him, his head tilted to the side. The wariness that Marland had been feeling swiftly came back. "What are your secrets?"
Marland paused with his head hovering over the plate, ears not moving. He wasn't actively hiding anything from Shodin, though, if he thought about it, there was something that he hadn't told him. "…I sketch?"
Shodin blinked, before a delighted grin grew on his face. "May I see?"
And there was the feeling of resignation, tempered with fond exasperation. He really should have expected that. Marland pointed behind himself with both a wing and his fork. "Middle bookshelf, the book with the large flowers on it."
The grin widened even more and Shodin wiped his hands on his shirt before making his way over. Ears following him, Marland continued eating, not quite sure what to label the emotions that were swirling inside him. He'd never shown anyone his sketches, had never even told anyone that he did that –who would listen to him, and who would care?- and it wasn't exactly like he was ashamed of it, but he still felt… a little apprehensive about what Shodin would think of them.
After a few seconds, Shodin came back into his field of vision and once he sat down again, he nudged his plate away, making sure the table was clear before setting the sketchbook down. Marland quirked his ears at him, amused by how gently Shodin was treating the book. He wasn't the same, just grabbing it, using his claws sometimes when he couldn't be bothered hooking his thumb under it. Yeah, the insides were better kept, but the cover was pretty damn sturdy so he never worried about piercing right through it – by the time it got close to that point, he was usually needing a new sketchbook anyway.
Slowly, Shodin flipped to the first page and then slowly cocked his head to the side, blinking. He turned to the next one, and then the next one. "Others?" he eventually asked.
"Yeah," Marland said, snorting. "Some just really stuck out."
Shodin chuckled, turning the page again. "I can see that." He smiled at some of the drawings, but Marland couldn't think of what ones he could possibly have that reaction to –but then, since when had he ever been right when he tried to guess how Shodin would react to something?- and he couldn't remember what was even in that book, it had been that long since he'd last looked at it. The fork in Marland's hand slowed down as he tried to think about that. When was the last time he brought it out? …Before he had met Shodin? He normally picked it up every couple of days so this was probably the longest stint he'd ever went without using it.
At least while Shodin was distracted, Marland could eat the rest of his food in relative peace. By the time Marland finished, Shodin had made his way through most of the book as well. "These are really detailed," Shodin murmured, hand hovering one drawing.
Marland shrugged. "I had a close-up of them." And had probably been really bored at that point; that was usually when his sketches got a lot more attention.
"Hmm." Smiling softly at the drawing in front of him, Shodin closed the book. "There's still a couple of questions left."
Should have known he wasn't going to be distracted for very long. "Ask 'em then," he said, a hint of a sigh behind his words.
Shodin didn't buy that he was uninterested, if the grin was anything to go by. "Boy or girl?"
Marland blinked at him, ears going back in confusion. "…What?"
"Oh." Shodin's face fell, his mouth twisting. "You don't know what that means either?"
"No." Or, that there were too many possibilities for what it was asking. Fair enough, it was asking for a preference, but preference to what?
"Ah well," Shodin sighed, lips curling again. "So, if a person were to tease you, what would you do?"
"Tease me," he repeated, trying to make his voice deadpan, but failing. His tilted his head down again, ears coming forward. "Most people would be trying to kill me."
"'Most'," Shodin pointed out, reaching out to pick up his cup again. "So, who would tease you?"
"You?" he hazarded instantly, the first person who came to mind. "Kendal." A pause. "I normally want to run when she starts teasing."
"She isn't that bad," Shodin said, shaking his head.
"The whole thing where we were in that alley and Gahn listed off my 'offences'?" Marland reminded him. Shodin nodded to show he remembered. "That's her idea of a joke; fuck, it was probably her idea in the first place." Not the newbie a twitch away from shooting him, but the rest of it was definitely Kendal's style.
One of Shodin's eyebrows was raised as he said this, and then the other one went up as well. "Huh. I see. So, what would you do if I were to tease you?"
Marland just looked at him. "You know what I do when you tease me." Stare at him, and not know what to do.
Shodin chuckled, strands of hair falling forward. "I suppose I didn't need to ask that question." He smiled into the distance, before bringing his attention back to Marland. "One last question: any bad habits?"
One ear flicked to the side. "The only one I can think of is assuming I can ever guess the way you think," he said, shrugging. He probably had things which people would consider bad habits, if the TV was to be believed, but he'd developed those habits out of self-preservation so it they weren't necessarily bad for him.
Reaching for the sketchpad again, nodding, Shodin brightened suddenly. "You can ask me the questions!"
Marland brought his ears forward. "…You don't remember anything."
Shodin flapped a hand dismissively, smile ever present. "I know that; I mean, if I get my memories back – you can ask me those questions then."
Huffing a laugh, Marland picked up his plate and started to make his way to the bin. "Yeah, all right."
"So," Shodin said once the plate was in the sink, pointing at the sketch in front of him, "tell me about this Other…"
DDD: Waugh, why did I write this ending?!
This was a good writing exercise though. :3
no subject
Date: Jan. 8th, 2011 08:22 am (UTC)*flails* Marland's hobby! XD Though he answered with that for the secret question. XD
no subject
Date: Jan. 13th, 2011 05:30 pm (UTC)Yep. I was going to have Shodin read off a piece of paper, and then I remembered that he can't read or write. *facepalm* So that was scrapped. Yeeah, Shodin was intending this to be a light-hearted, maybe-teasing-if-possible (but definitely an attempt just to get Marland to open up more) session than actually getting information about Marland, so finding out stuff like who he hated wouldn't really help.
:3
XDD I was kinda surprised he answered with that too.
no subject
Date: Jan. 14th, 2011 10:26 am (UTC)