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31_days2013-06-07 07:55 pm
whuffle.livejournal.com) wrote in 31_days2013-06-07 07:55 pm
[June 7] [Singularity North (original world)] The Taste of Ashes, Phoenix Bitter
Title: The Taste of Ashes, Phoenix Bitter
Prompt: Free to go and be wherever they chose
Fandom: Singularity North (original world)
Characters: Jamie Sorenson, Mace Graham
Summary: No one ever told Jamie this would be easy, but he still wishes that it were.
Jamie looked down into his half full, lukewarm cup, and grimaced. “It’s hard,” he said, the objection coming out as a not-quite-whine.
Chancing a glance up at the woman across the table from him he saw that same calm accepting serenity he’d seen every other time they’d had this conversation. Sun-streaked brown hair fell in a wave across one side of her face as she sipped from her own cup. Eyes so blue they were almost turquoise held just a hint of fond amusement. And perhaps that was the part that got under his skin the most; the fact that Mace could be amused by all this. She had someone! She’d won this fight already! Yes, he knew that she’d had her own struggles along the way, but it still infuriated him, listening to her give advice when she’d already succeeded. Okay, so he’d asked for that advice, asked to have someone he could talk to comfortably, but still …
It took an act of will for Jamie to squash the irritation back down again. He knew that she didn’t deserve it. Mace was only doing what he’d asked of her. He should be grateful for it. Was grateful for it. But it still required an active choice on his part not to snap at her and be short tempered during these chats.
“You still want it, right?” Mace asked, continuing to go after the point she’d been trying to make relentlessly. “If you want to be able to find the right person, someone with whom you can build an honest, open, trusting relationship, you’ve got to stop hiding half of who you are each time you go out meeting new people.”
“But I can’t -” Jamie argued, fingers burrowing into blond curls to tug at them in frustration.
“You can. Or you’ll make yourself do it anyways. Or you might as well just give up now,” Mace fired back, her voice becoming even firmer. “What you’re asking for, what you claim to want, people can’t give that to you when you only give the half of yourself in return. Just look at what happened with Eddie? What would have happened if you’d told him the whole truth from the start?”
Forehead pressed into his palms, Jamie refused to look up at her this time. “I don’t know,” he bit out sullenly.
“Yes, you do. Eddie’s a good guy, not a monster. He wasn’t trying to hurt you and you damned well know it. He’s my friend, Jamie. So if you’re expecting me to side with you or pretend that he did something horrible and made this happen to you, you’re shit out of luck. If you’d told him the truth, let him see the whole of who you are and what you want in a partner, things might have worked out between you.”
Jamie’s head snapped up from his hands.
“I said might, Jamie. And that’s strictly speculation. And you’re not going to go trying to get back what you’ve lost with him or so help me I’ll let the others beat you black and bloody the next time we’re due for a sparring session.”
Prompt: Free to go and be wherever they chose
Fandom: Singularity North (original world)
Characters: Jamie Sorenson, Mace Graham
Summary: No one ever told Jamie this would be easy, but he still wishes that it were.
Jamie looked down into his half full, lukewarm cup, and grimaced. “It’s hard,” he said, the objection coming out as a not-quite-whine.
Chancing a glance up at the woman across the table from him he saw that same calm accepting serenity he’d seen every other time they’d had this conversation. Sun-streaked brown hair fell in a wave across one side of her face as she sipped from her own cup. Eyes so blue they were almost turquoise held just a hint of fond amusement. And perhaps that was the part that got under his skin the most; the fact that Mace could be amused by all this. She had someone! She’d won this fight already! Yes, he knew that she’d had her own struggles along the way, but it still infuriated him, listening to her give advice when she’d already succeeded. Okay, so he’d asked for that advice, asked to have someone he could talk to comfortably, but still …
It took an act of will for Jamie to squash the irritation back down again. He knew that she didn’t deserve it. Mace was only doing what he’d asked of her. He should be grateful for it. Was grateful for it. But it still required an active choice on his part not to snap at her and be short tempered during these chats.
“You still want it, right?” Mace asked, continuing to go after the point she’d been trying to make relentlessly. “If you want to be able to find the right person, someone with whom you can build an honest, open, trusting relationship, you’ve got to stop hiding half of who you are each time you go out meeting new people.”
“But I can’t -” Jamie argued, fingers burrowing into blond curls to tug at them in frustration.
“You can. Or you’ll make yourself do it anyways. Or you might as well just give up now,” Mace fired back, her voice becoming even firmer. “What you’re asking for, what you claim to want, people can’t give that to you when you only give the half of yourself in return. Just look at what happened with Eddie? What would have happened if you’d told him the whole truth from the start?”
Forehead pressed into his palms, Jamie refused to look up at her this time. “I don’t know,” he bit out sullenly.
“Yes, you do. Eddie’s a good guy, not a monster. He wasn’t trying to hurt you and you damned well know it. He’s my friend, Jamie. So if you’re expecting me to side with you or pretend that he did something horrible and made this happen to you, you’re shit out of luck. If you’d told him the truth, let him see the whole of who you are and what you want in a partner, things might have worked out between you.”
Jamie’s head snapped up from his hands.
“I said might, Jamie. And that’s strictly speculation. And you’re not going to go trying to get back what you’ve lost with him or so help me I’ll let the others beat you black and bloody the next time we’re due for a sparring session.”