Post by Seek on Aug 15, 2009 20:36:57 GMT 10
Title: Uninvited
Rating: PG-13 for safety.
Length: 1839 words
Category: Tortall
Summary: Alanna has always been afraid of her friends trying to romance her. And when Alex takes an interest in her female self, she humors him a little. But his interest becomes uninvited when he continues to do so when he learns of her true gender… AU, for Peculiar Pairings fic-a-thon on Goldenlake forums.
Peculiar Pairing: Alanna/Alex
Alex
He doesn’t know why she intrigues him, and fascinates him so, this silent girl with the purple eyes. Somehow, she reminds him of Alan, and his feelings on Alan are quite clear.
He’s seen her a time or two around Court, but not often. He wonders how many noble girls there are with purple eyes, and he wonders why he’s so interested. The heir of Tirragen has his own selection of women- Tirragen is not a poor fief, and although it’s near the last pages, it’s still in the Book of Silver. Which is better than some nobles can claim.
But he isn’t interested in any of the Court beauties, and quite frankly, he thinks Delia is a whore, tossing herself at the nearest male to try to snare herself a man that will fit her desires. She is there much less for Roger’s desires than her own.
He walks over to her- she sees him, and he sees the look of fear drift quickly across her features before they vanish.
Smiling, he decides to make her acquaintance.
Alanna
She doesn’t know why Alex is fascinated by her. It seems everytime she wears her wig, Alex is there, an inscrutable smile on his face. He doesn’t try to woo her with charm, but rather, with observations and comments which are (she is forced to admit), rather witty.
He always comes upon her uninvited, nevermind the Code of Chivalry. Wherever he goes, he is there, watching, waiting. Sometimes, he speaks to her.
And yet she always remembers the disturbing look in his eyes when he looks at Squire Alan, and sometimes she wonders why she talks to Alex or keeps appearing as the brunette with purple eyes.
And then she realises the truth: she is somehow fascinated by dark, secretive Alex of Tirragen as well.
Alex
He thinks she is a mystery. She pulls away from him at times, distant- and that only serves to further interest him. He pulls her against him and she enjoys his kisses. Strange is that he enjoys them too, and when he closes his eyes, sometimes, he thinks it’s Alan who he feels against him.
Other times, he watches her. He watches, and watches, and perhaps in the action of watching, he will learn why he is so captivated by her.
She is beautiful to him, and not beautiful in a way Lady Delia is, or Lady Cythera. She is beautiful because she is mysteriously alluring in a way, and he finds she dances passably well with him.
She moves with a fencer’s grace, he finds himself thinking. She moves softly, but sometimes, he thinks her eyes burn like Alan’s.
Alanna
She doesn’t know why she lets this continue. She knows this is dangerous, like flirting with fire, and yet she cannot help it. It is a mutual attraction, and perhaps one they are both helpless or don’t want to fight it.
She is unnerved by the way he always watches, or the feel of his arms around her. They have never got beyond that- she doesn’t dare. And Jon doesn’t know, and she knows that if he does, he will be furious. Faithful doesn’t trust Alex very much, and yowls at her each time she leaves.
Perhaps there really is insanity in her family, because she goes on anyway.
And she doesn’t know why.
And isn’t that odd- that she’s somehow interested in Alex of Tirragen, the former squire of the dangerous Duke Roger of Conté.
Alex
They become closer, and not further, when he discovers her secret- when the wig slips, and he feels the calluses on her palm, sees the scar along her chest. He learns that his feelings for Alan/Alanna aren’t as clear as he believes them to be, and that perhaps he has never understood.
Now, he follows her, more than ever, watching.
There is still the attraction, and still the mystery and when he sees the echoes of Alanna in Alan, he wonders how he could have possibly ever been so blind.
Jonathan confronts him one day, unnerved, and demands he stop watching Alan. Alex suspects he knows, or perhaps he doesn’t. But it doesn’t matter- he gives one of his cat-mysterious smiles, and says nothing.
But he does not stop watching, it does not stop him from gazing at her, and feeling the mutual tug each time their eyes meet.
Alanna
Each time she thinks she can understand Alex, there is another layer revealed, signs that she has never really understood all along. He has never become intimate, beyond kisses, and he is cool, collected, always watching.
She is caught between two polar opposites- Jon’s passion in their physical relationship, and Alex’s cool distance yet fascination in another relationship too complicated to be understood. Jon takes her aside and complains about Alex always looking at her- she does not flush as she says she doesn’t really take notice of it.
That is untrue, of course.
Alex only watches Squire Alan. He is much closer to Alanna, and she can’t understand the dichotomy, save for the fact it protects her true gender. She doesn’t know why, and that worries her. Now, Faithful is silent on the subject of Alex.
He’s just as confounded as she is.
Alex
Roger wants him to get rid of Squire Alan, the threat to his plans. Alex says nothing, but plans. There is sufficient error, of course. He dares her to skate, challenges her. He makes sure help is nearby.
And it is; it takes place before so many witnesses.
She is rescued and he is safe. He is still bound to his former knight-master, by so many reasons he cannot begin to voice them. And yet she is precious to him- enough that he doesn’t want her harmed. Not killed.
Roger is displeased, but Alex knows she is safe for now.
Alanna
Their silent foreplay lasts for the rest of her squire years, and she wonders when it will ever end, this inexorable mysterious waiting.
Alex says nothing, and never indicates he wants anything more.
It comes to a head when she calls out Duke Roger and the duel is arranged. Alex watches, eyes inscrutable and unreadable, and finally settles for, “Kill him.” The way he says it, she thinks, it is a statement, and a fact. To his mind, there is obviously no other outcome.
He brushes her lips with his, and leaves after this unsolicited intrusion. He pauses in the doorway of Alanna’s quarters for a moment.
“He never dealt with butterfly sweeps well.” He said. And then he walked away.
Alanna is left staring after him, and wondering, because he has never kissed her that way before.
Alex
The truth: Duke Roger is no duelist. And he knows- his old knight-master was good, but not in the same league as he had become. And not in the same league as Alanna.
He smiles as he watches their blades strike- flash flash flash and move.
Alanna has the disadvantage in size, but a butterfly sweep parts them again, forcing Roger back. Duke Roger has never dealt well with butterflt sweeps. His major fencing weakness, because the shift in balance of the opponent threatens Roger’s own precarious balance- the strikes he favors are effective, but play with his balance.
They part, circling, and even now, Alex watches, rapt, at the movement of muscles and blades, the focus on her face, the strands of hair.
Alanna
The night after Duke Roger’s death, the night after her identity is revealed, she finds Alex has slipped into her quarters. By now, she is used to his uninvited comings and goings, and she merely raises an eyebrow.
He makes one or two comments about the duel, but the numbness and the relief is starting to wear off for Alanna, and sometimes, she thinks she doesn’t want to think about it.
When she says as much, Alex gives her the slightest of nods.
That night, they share intimacy for the first time.
Alex
When she needs to leave the palace, and ride out as a knight for a while, Alex does the same. He doesn’t follow her, or at least he says he doesn’t, not consciously, although their paths cross so often.
They meet in the desert, fight against bandits, and then separate again.
Then they meet again, in Maren, and along the way to the Dominion Jewel.
He rides off again, one night. He doesn’t leave any trail signs, he makes no promises he will return. They both know he will, but in the silence around the campfire at night, without the words spoken by watching eyes, he knows Alanna will wonder.
Alanna
”You should leave,” He told her, when she returned to Corus. He said nothing more, and volunteered no more information. By now, Alanna knew she couldn’t get more information from Alex; he was like this, forever unexplained.
Alex
He tried to get her to leave. Perhaps that was the first time he realised how strange it was that he didn’t mean as much to her as the rest of her friends.
He wondered if that had ever been what he had wanted, when he had first strolled up, uninvited, to Alanna.
Alanna
Alex hadn’t left his old knight-master- he hadn’t left Duke Roger by any means. And so they fought, blade to blade. He blocked her from getting to Roger, and while she demanded he let her pass, his eyes glinted with something she couldn’t identify.
He said nothing, but whispered, “Guard.”
They fought in the lamplit darkness of the entrance to the catacombs, sweat dripping in the silence punctuated only by metal and the sound of feet moving and harsh breathing.
This was the cusp, the culimination of all that had happened between them, as Alex disarmed her with a sharp flick of his blade- she cursed, she’d forgotten about that stroke. He moved in, holding his blade to her throat.
Pressed against him, she did not move, and neither did he. A small smile came over his face, and Alex twisted, pushing her away. He lowered his blade, but in a rush of adrenaline, Alanna tore free at the same moment, wrest Lightning from the ground, and darted forward, putting it all into a thrusting slash.
He should have won. He could have won, even then.
Alex did nothing. Her blade rammed through his chest, protruding between his shoulder blades, he did not gasp for air.
He fell, slowly and silently.
His end was in every way in uninvited as their beginning, and yet it mattered. And yet, scrubbing sweat or tears from her eyes, Alanna knew perhaps she’d never understand what had grown from a bond she’d never wanted at first, and perhaps she’d never understand Alex.
She was used to it by now.
She went on, forward in the darkness, Lightning in hand, to confront Roger, Alex’s blood still drying on the blade, memories of Alex still pushing their way, uninvited, to the forefront of her mind.
Rating: PG-13 for safety.
Length: 1839 words
Category: Tortall
Summary: Alanna has always been afraid of her friends trying to romance her. And when Alex takes an interest in her female self, she humors him a little. But his interest becomes uninvited when he continues to do so when he learns of her true gender… AU, for Peculiar Pairings fic-a-thon on Goldenlake forums.
Peculiar Pairing: Alanna/Alex
Alex
He doesn’t know why she intrigues him, and fascinates him so, this silent girl with the purple eyes. Somehow, she reminds him of Alan, and his feelings on Alan are quite clear.
He’s seen her a time or two around Court, but not often. He wonders how many noble girls there are with purple eyes, and he wonders why he’s so interested. The heir of Tirragen has his own selection of women- Tirragen is not a poor fief, and although it’s near the last pages, it’s still in the Book of Silver. Which is better than some nobles can claim.
But he isn’t interested in any of the Court beauties, and quite frankly, he thinks Delia is a whore, tossing herself at the nearest male to try to snare herself a man that will fit her desires. She is there much less for Roger’s desires than her own.
He walks over to her- she sees him, and he sees the look of fear drift quickly across her features before they vanish.
Smiling, he decides to make her acquaintance.
Alanna
She doesn’t know why Alex is fascinated by her. It seems everytime she wears her wig, Alex is there, an inscrutable smile on his face. He doesn’t try to woo her with charm, but rather, with observations and comments which are (she is forced to admit), rather witty.
He always comes upon her uninvited, nevermind the Code of Chivalry. Wherever he goes, he is there, watching, waiting. Sometimes, he speaks to her.
And yet she always remembers the disturbing look in his eyes when he looks at Squire Alan, and sometimes she wonders why she talks to Alex or keeps appearing as the brunette with purple eyes.
And then she realises the truth: she is somehow fascinated by dark, secretive Alex of Tirragen as well.
Alex
He thinks she is a mystery. She pulls away from him at times, distant- and that only serves to further interest him. He pulls her against him and she enjoys his kisses. Strange is that he enjoys them too, and when he closes his eyes, sometimes, he thinks it’s Alan who he feels against him.
Other times, he watches her. He watches, and watches, and perhaps in the action of watching, he will learn why he is so captivated by her.
She is beautiful to him, and not beautiful in a way Lady Delia is, or Lady Cythera. She is beautiful because she is mysteriously alluring in a way, and he finds she dances passably well with him.
She moves with a fencer’s grace, he finds himself thinking. She moves softly, but sometimes, he thinks her eyes burn like Alan’s.
Alanna
She doesn’t know why she lets this continue. She knows this is dangerous, like flirting with fire, and yet she cannot help it. It is a mutual attraction, and perhaps one they are both helpless or don’t want to fight it.
She is unnerved by the way he always watches, or the feel of his arms around her. They have never got beyond that- she doesn’t dare. And Jon doesn’t know, and she knows that if he does, he will be furious. Faithful doesn’t trust Alex very much, and yowls at her each time she leaves.
Perhaps there really is insanity in her family, because she goes on anyway.
And she doesn’t know why.
And isn’t that odd- that she’s somehow interested in Alex of Tirragen, the former squire of the dangerous Duke Roger of Conté.
Alex
They become closer, and not further, when he discovers her secret- when the wig slips, and he feels the calluses on her palm, sees the scar along her chest. He learns that his feelings for Alan/Alanna aren’t as clear as he believes them to be, and that perhaps he has never understood.
Now, he follows her, more than ever, watching.
There is still the attraction, and still the mystery and when he sees the echoes of Alanna in Alan, he wonders how he could have possibly ever been so blind.
Jonathan confronts him one day, unnerved, and demands he stop watching Alan. Alex suspects he knows, or perhaps he doesn’t. But it doesn’t matter- he gives one of his cat-mysterious smiles, and says nothing.
But he does not stop watching, it does not stop him from gazing at her, and feeling the mutual tug each time their eyes meet.
Alanna
Each time she thinks she can understand Alex, there is another layer revealed, signs that she has never really understood all along. He has never become intimate, beyond kisses, and he is cool, collected, always watching.
She is caught between two polar opposites- Jon’s passion in their physical relationship, and Alex’s cool distance yet fascination in another relationship too complicated to be understood. Jon takes her aside and complains about Alex always looking at her- she does not flush as she says she doesn’t really take notice of it.
That is untrue, of course.
Alex only watches Squire Alan. He is much closer to Alanna, and she can’t understand the dichotomy, save for the fact it protects her true gender. She doesn’t know why, and that worries her. Now, Faithful is silent on the subject of Alex.
He’s just as confounded as she is.
Alex
Roger wants him to get rid of Squire Alan, the threat to his plans. Alex says nothing, but plans. There is sufficient error, of course. He dares her to skate, challenges her. He makes sure help is nearby.
And it is; it takes place before so many witnesses.
She is rescued and he is safe. He is still bound to his former knight-master, by so many reasons he cannot begin to voice them. And yet she is precious to him- enough that he doesn’t want her harmed. Not killed.
Roger is displeased, but Alex knows she is safe for now.
Alanna
Their silent foreplay lasts for the rest of her squire years, and she wonders when it will ever end, this inexorable mysterious waiting.
Alex says nothing, and never indicates he wants anything more.
It comes to a head when she calls out Duke Roger and the duel is arranged. Alex watches, eyes inscrutable and unreadable, and finally settles for, “Kill him.” The way he says it, she thinks, it is a statement, and a fact. To his mind, there is obviously no other outcome.
He brushes her lips with his, and leaves after this unsolicited intrusion. He pauses in the doorway of Alanna’s quarters for a moment.
“He never dealt with butterfly sweeps well.” He said. And then he walked away.
Alanna is left staring after him, and wondering, because he has never kissed her that way before.
Alex
The truth: Duke Roger is no duelist. And he knows- his old knight-master was good, but not in the same league as he had become. And not in the same league as Alanna.
He smiles as he watches their blades strike- flash flash flash and move.
Alanna has the disadvantage in size, but a butterfly sweep parts them again, forcing Roger back. Duke Roger has never dealt well with butterflt sweeps. His major fencing weakness, because the shift in balance of the opponent threatens Roger’s own precarious balance- the strikes he favors are effective, but play with his balance.
They part, circling, and even now, Alex watches, rapt, at the movement of muscles and blades, the focus on her face, the strands of hair.
Alanna
The night after Duke Roger’s death, the night after her identity is revealed, she finds Alex has slipped into her quarters. By now, she is used to his uninvited comings and goings, and she merely raises an eyebrow.
He makes one or two comments about the duel, but the numbness and the relief is starting to wear off for Alanna, and sometimes, she thinks she doesn’t want to think about it.
When she says as much, Alex gives her the slightest of nods.
That night, they share intimacy for the first time.
Alex
When she needs to leave the palace, and ride out as a knight for a while, Alex does the same. He doesn’t follow her, or at least he says he doesn’t, not consciously, although their paths cross so often.
They meet in the desert, fight against bandits, and then separate again.
Then they meet again, in Maren, and along the way to the Dominion Jewel.
He rides off again, one night. He doesn’t leave any trail signs, he makes no promises he will return. They both know he will, but in the silence around the campfire at night, without the words spoken by watching eyes, he knows Alanna will wonder.
Alanna
”You should leave,” He told her, when she returned to Corus. He said nothing more, and volunteered no more information. By now, Alanna knew she couldn’t get more information from Alex; he was like this, forever unexplained.
Alex
He tried to get her to leave. Perhaps that was the first time he realised how strange it was that he didn’t mean as much to her as the rest of her friends.
He wondered if that had ever been what he had wanted, when he had first strolled up, uninvited, to Alanna.
Alanna
Alex hadn’t left his old knight-master- he hadn’t left Duke Roger by any means. And so they fought, blade to blade. He blocked her from getting to Roger, and while she demanded he let her pass, his eyes glinted with something she couldn’t identify.
He said nothing, but whispered, “Guard.”
They fought in the lamplit darkness of the entrance to the catacombs, sweat dripping in the silence punctuated only by metal and the sound of feet moving and harsh breathing.
This was the cusp, the culimination of all that had happened between them, as Alex disarmed her with a sharp flick of his blade- she cursed, she’d forgotten about that stroke. He moved in, holding his blade to her throat.
Pressed against him, she did not move, and neither did he. A small smile came over his face, and Alex twisted, pushing her away. He lowered his blade, but in a rush of adrenaline, Alanna tore free at the same moment, wrest Lightning from the ground, and darted forward, putting it all into a thrusting slash.
He should have won. He could have won, even then.
Alex did nothing. Her blade rammed through his chest, protruding between his shoulder blades, he did not gasp for air.
He fell, slowly and silently.
His end was in every way in uninvited as their beginning, and yet it mattered. And yet, scrubbing sweat or tears from her eyes, Alanna knew perhaps she’d never understand what had grown from a bond she’d never wanted at first, and perhaps she’d never understand Alex.
She was used to it by now.
She went on, forward in the darkness, Lightning in hand, to confront Roger, Alex’s blood still drying on the blade, memories of Alex still pushing their way, uninvited, to the forefront of her mind.
You wrote the deepness and the angst so well too. And a great way to look at the skating incident's angle in this light!
Maybe once we'd have seen it during Smackdown!