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31_days2009-07-08 04:28 pm
seta-suzume.livejournal.com) wrote in 31_days2009-07-08 04:28 pm
[July 8][Original] Don't Look Down
Title: Don't Look Down
Day/Theme: July 8, 2009 "time will kiss the world goodbye"
Series: Original
Character/Pairing: Ofika, Bashir
Rating: PG
Although it had seemed calm down in the city, at this height there was a certain amount of wind gusting around the glass of the glittering towers. Out on the balcony, with her long hair and white skirt flying around her, the jewels in her braids sparkling red and orange as they reflected the setting sun, Ofika looked delicate and exposed.
Bashir started to get up, to hold her down, afraid that she could be blown away if only the wind was that much stronger, but he managed to master his fears. He clenched his fists, feeling his fingernails dig into his palms just a little bit, before loosening his grip and letting his fingers fall open along the glass table. There was his palm, a mess of marks and lines. He usually didn't think about them. Most people didn't. It was, well according to Saselia, a "busy hand." Were Ofika's hands full like this? Did she worry like he did, agonizing over tiny things as he lay awake at night?
"There are birds flying over the other palace," she remarked, pointing out over the city to the flashing glass of the cage-like palace. It was a strange sight- birds flying free over the imperial enclosure- a structure containing its own trees, people, and birds.
This time Bashir did stand. He came over toward the balcony to look down on his old home. He had never seen it from such a height before, and the strength of the light glaring off its window panes was almost blinding even at this distance. It was no wonder that Tiokihawa's palace was the only structure in the capital taller than Ilekano's. No one else would've been able to bear that glare even if they had been permitted to.
"Won't you come out onto the balcony? You can stand here. It's solid, Shirka. It won't break."
He shook his head and moved back just half a step. "It makes me dizzy just getting this close to the edge." The cool breeze blew his bangs so that they slid over his eyes, then away, and over again whenever a gust arose.
"Ooh, Shirka's scared of heights. Never knew that. Might be good to remember."
"Don't put too much effort into it." He shrugged and went back in. At first the coolness had seemed like a good respite from the summer heat, but now it was actually getting a little colder than he liked. ...Or was the chill caused by his dizzying glance down at the city?
"You don't look so good, really. Sit back down," she sashayed back inside, closing the balcony off behind her with the white wooden door.
He felt calmer like that; safer now that they were closed inside the tower without the wind blowing through to remind him how high up they were. He took her advice and returned to his seat.
"The city below may change its colors,
And the years will shift the stones,
But the world goes on without a word
And no one knows better," she sang a little and Bashir wasn't sure she had remembered the words right, but he wasn't about to go correcting her when he hadn't thought about the song in years until this moment and could hardly be counted on to remember anything pretty or poetic.
"Do you get out much these days?" he asked instead.
"Only when I'm with you." It didn't look like she was bothered by it, which lifted his spirits somewhat.
Sometimes he worried about how she was feeling, how she dealt with all the oddities of being a part of her father's court while not really being accorded her full rights as a member of Silesia's ruling house. He wondered what would happen to her after her father died, even though that might be many years from now. There was no guarantee anyone else would be so gentle in looking after her interests. Even with all her strangeness, she might be passed off in marriage to some nobleman within in the empire, or more likely to a foreign royal who had no foreknowledge of the unusual person they would be welcoming into their household. Whether he spoke out against it or not, his words wouldn't count for much in the court of Blessed Ilekano or his sons. There really was only one solution he could create on his own. He just wasn't sure if he was willing... He just...couldn't say. He didn't want to look down that tower either.
Day/Theme: July 8, 2009 "time will kiss the world goodbye"
Series: Original
Character/Pairing: Ofika, Bashir
Rating: PG
Although it had seemed calm down in the city, at this height there was a certain amount of wind gusting around the glass of the glittering towers. Out on the balcony, with her long hair and white skirt flying around her, the jewels in her braids sparkling red and orange as they reflected the setting sun, Ofika looked delicate and exposed.
Bashir started to get up, to hold her down, afraid that she could be blown away if only the wind was that much stronger, but he managed to master his fears. He clenched his fists, feeling his fingernails dig into his palms just a little bit, before loosening his grip and letting his fingers fall open along the glass table. There was his palm, a mess of marks and lines. He usually didn't think about them. Most people didn't. It was, well according to Saselia, a "busy hand." Were Ofika's hands full like this? Did she worry like he did, agonizing over tiny things as he lay awake at night?
"There are birds flying over the other palace," she remarked, pointing out over the city to the flashing glass of the cage-like palace. It was a strange sight- birds flying free over the imperial enclosure- a structure containing its own trees, people, and birds.
This time Bashir did stand. He came over toward the balcony to look down on his old home. He had never seen it from such a height before, and the strength of the light glaring off its window panes was almost blinding even at this distance. It was no wonder that Tiokihawa's palace was the only structure in the capital taller than Ilekano's. No one else would've been able to bear that glare even if they had been permitted to.
"Won't you come out onto the balcony? You can stand here. It's solid, Shirka. It won't break."
He shook his head and moved back just half a step. "It makes me dizzy just getting this close to the edge." The cool breeze blew his bangs so that they slid over his eyes, then away, and over again whenever a gust arose.
"Ooh, Shirka's scared of heights. Never knew that. Might be good to remember."
"Don't put too much effort into it." He shrugged and went back in. At first the coolness had seemed like a good respite from the summer heat, but now it was actually getting a little colder than he liked. ...Or was the chill caused by his dizzying glance down at the city?
"You don't look so good, really. Sit back down," she sashayed back inside, closing the balcony off behind her with the white wooden door.
He felt calmer like that; safer now that they were closed inside the tower without the wind blowing through to remind him how high up they were. He took her advice and returned to his seat.
"The city below may change its colors,
And the years will shift the stones,
But the world goes on without a word
And no one knows better," she sang a little and Bashir wasn't sure she had remembered the words right, but he wasn't about to go correcting her when he hadn't thought about the song in years until this moment and could hardly be counted on to remember anything pretty or poetic.
"Do you get out much these days?" he asked instead.
"Only when I'm with you." It didn't look like she was bothered by it, which lifted his spirits somewhat.
Sometimes he worried about how she was feeling, how she dealt with all the oddities of being a part of her father's court while not really being accorded her full rights as a member of Silesia's ruling house. He wondered what would happen to her after her father died, even though that might be many years from now. There was no guarantee anyone else would be so gentle in looking after her interests. Even with all her strangeness, she might be passed off in marriage to some nobleman within in the empire, or more likely to a foreign royal who had no foreknowledge of the unusual person they would be welcoming into their household. Whether he spoke out against it or not, his words wouldn't count for much in the court of Blessed Ilekano or his sons. There really was only one solution he could create on his own. He just wasn't sure if he was willing... He just...couldn't say. He didn't want to look down that tower either.