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31_days2019-10-31 04:17 am
insaneladybug) wrote in 31_days2019-10-31 04:17 am
Entry tags:
[Amnesty Day] [Yu-Gi-Oh!] Puzzle Pieces
Title: Puzzle Pieces
Day/Prompt: October 1st 2019 - The love those two had shared was touching beyond all words
Fandom: Yu-Gi-Oh!
Character/Pairing: The Big Five, OC narrator
Rating/Warning(s): K
Word Count: 1,344
Summary: The Big Five, especially Lector and Nesbitt, as seen through the eyes of a bed and breakfast owner one night.
I promised I'd write for this prompt. :) But I wasn't quick enough to make the actual day, so it had to wait until now to go up.
By Lucky_Ladybug
It usually wasn't so crowded at our little bed and breakfast, but that night the storm brought everyone who could fit in our house and then some. We were working until the wee hours of the morning to get everyone settled.
The last arrivals were an oddly mismatched group of five men. The oldest seemed to be the leader; he walked in front of the others and held a mantle of authority about him, as well as a cane. Behind him, two more were supporting a third—his arms were draped around their necks and he was clearly in pain. The fifth walked behind them, observing from behind with worried, bespectacled eyes.
The leader walked up to me. "We need rooms for the night," he greeted. "Our friend is hurt, but we can't get him home or to the medical center in this storm."
"How badly hurt is he?" I asked in concern.
"Nothing life-threatening," he replied.
"It'd better not be," one of the men behind him fiercely muttered in a strong Southern accent.
"I'm . . . fine," the injured man choked out.
"And nobody believes that," the fourth man said in a gruff voice.
"Nesbitt, you can't even stand on your own right now!" the man with the glasses exclaimed. "Accept that you're hurt and that we're going to take care of you."
Nesbitt tried to straighten and hissed in pain, stumbling forward. The two men supporting him held fast.
I shifted. There was something familiar about all of them, and about that name, but at the moment I had other things on my mind. "There's only two rooms left," I said haltingly. I couldn't turn them away, surely, but how would they manage?
"Then we'll take them," the leader said immediately. He took out his checkbook and wrote one up for me. I took it and glanced at the name. Charles Gansley. . . .
Now I knew who they were. Of course; I should have placed them immediately. "You used to work for Seto Kaiba," I said in surprise.
"We work for ourselves now," Gansley grunted. "Are there any cots that can be brought in?"
"Just one," I told him. "The rest of you will have to double up on the two beds."
"I'll take the cot," the gruff man said. Crump . . . I remembered his name is Crump.
"I'll stay with Nesbitt," the Southerner said. Lector. . . . I always did find him charming at KaibaCorp press conferences. Strange, though . . . I thought he and Nesbitt didn't get along.
"And I guess that leaves us to bunk together, Gansley," said the fifth man. Johnson, the lawyer. . . .
"That's fine," Gansley grunted.
"At least the beds are king size, so you'll have some room to move around," I told them.
"Thank you," Lector said with a slight nod.
They were soon all upstairs in the rooms and settled in for bed. I was worried about Nesbitt, for two reasons—his injuries and who he was staying with. Lector was a consummate professional, of course, but I had often sensed tension between him and Nesbitt during the press conferences, and sometimes there had been some black looks. None of the others had seemed worried, so I shouldn't have been, but I was anyway. I found myself hovering around the rooms several times during the night, hoping there wouldn't be any arguments or other personal problems at a time like this. If they disliked each other so deeply, anything could set off their negative feelings even if they didn't mean it to happen.
It was in the very late hours when I heard Nesbitt give a sharp cry. At that, I had to fling the door open and look in. "Are you alright?!" I demanded.
Nesbitt was laying on his stomach on the bed. He had flung off the quilt, revealing his tank top and pajama bottoms. Lector was sitting up next to him, his eyes narrowed in concern. "Nesbitt?"
"I'm fine," Nesbitt muttered. "It wasn't more pain. . . ." But he didn't seem to want to say what it was instead.
Lector understood. "It was just a dream," he said quietly. "I'm alright; you saved me."
I turned away from the door. I had been completely wrong about them. I had to blink back tears of shame and guilt. Nesbitt was hurt because he had been protecting Lector from something. That was obvious now. And apparently he'd been having some kind of nightmare about what could have happened if he hadn't been able to do it. Lector was speaking to him so gently, so kindly, that it was clear they were close and had been for a long time.
I dared to peek in again. Lector was rubbing Nesbitt's back, still talking to him. Nesbitt responded sometimes, but other times he just grunted or said nothing. He was relaxing deeply into the bed.
"My dear, dear friend . . . you could have been hurt far worse than you were, and you still would have done what you did knowing you could have died." Lector sounded both loving and haunted now.
"I'm going to be alright," Nesbitt mumbled. "And so are you. That's what's important."
"When I saw you laying there, I thought you were dead," Lector said. "And I . . . I didn't know how I was going to go on."
". . . I still had to do it," Nesbitt said. "But . . . I'm sorry. I knew you'd feel that way. I would too. If the situation had been reversed, I would probably be screaming at you. Instead, you . . . you've been nothing but kind. You always treat me better than I deserve."
Lector looked shocked. "Nesbitt, you would have given your life for me! There aren't many people who would do that. You honestly still think of yourself as such a terrible person?"
"It takes a lot of courage to die," Nesbitt said. "But I think it can take more to live. Especially when we still have our problems. . . ."
"We don't have as many anymore," Lector said. "You have truly been improving yourself, as I have also been trying."
"You didn't have much you needed to change," Nesbitt said. "I had a lot."
"And that makes it all the more moving that you've been able to do so much," Lector said.
He smiled and continued rubbing Nesbitt's back. Nesbitt sank into the mattress, seeming content.
I left them alone.
I don't know when they finally drifted back to sleep, but in the morning I found them both at peace in the bed. Lector was on his back and Nesbitt was still on his stomach next to him. Nesbitt had draped an arm around Lector's upper torso, while Lector had done likewise with Nesbitt.
"Is Nesbitt alright?"
I turned at the sound of Gansley's voice. He didn't seem surprised to see me there, looking in at his friends.
"Yes." I managed a nod.
Gansley looked in and gave a nod and a faint smile of approval.
I pulled the door shut. "I feel horrible," I confessed to him. "I thought they didn't like each other. I remember the tension between them at press conferences in the past. . . ."
"They didn't like each other," Gansley said. "They started out unable to stand being around each other more than absolutely necessary. And now . . ." He looked back at the closed door. "Now each will absolutely shatter if anything happens to the other." His voice caught slightly.
"I started to wonder a little if they were . . . together," I admitted.
"No." Gansley shook his head. "That isn't the nature of their relationship at all. If you want something to compare it to, try brothers. They couldn't love each other more if they were related. Although that's the case with all five of us," he added. "We're not just business partners. We long ago progressed beyond that."
I turned away with a smile. "All of you have something very special," I said sincerely. "I'll get breakfast ready."
I walked down the stairs with a swelling heart. I had never known what had happened to the Big Five after their departure from KaibaCorp. Discovering their fate is something I will never forget.
Day/Prompt: October 1st 2019 - The love those two had shared was touching beyond all words
Fandom: Yu-Gi-Oh!
Character/Pairing: The Big Five, OC narrator
Rating/Warning(s): K
Word Count: 1,344
Summary: The Big Five, especially Lector and Nesbitt, as seen through the eyes of a bed and breakfast owner one night.
I promised I'd write for this prompt. :) But I wasn't quick enough to make the actual day, so it had to wait until now to go up.
By Lucky_Ladybug
It usually wasn't so crowded at our little bed and breakfast, but that night the storm brought everyone who could fit in our house and then some. We were working until the wee hours of the morning to get everyone settled.
The last arrivals were an oddly mismatched group of five men. The oldest seemed to be the leader; he walked in front of the others and held a mantle of authority about him, as well as a cane. Behind him, two more were supporting a third—his arms were draped around their necks and he was clearly in pain. The fifth walked behind them, observing from behind with worried, bespectacled eyes.
The leader walked up to me. "We need rooms for the night," he greeted. "Our friend is hurt, but we can't get him home or to the medical center in this storm."
"How badly hurt is he?" I asked in concern.
"Nothing life-threatening," he replied.
"It'd better not be," one of the men behind him fiercely muttered in a strong Southern accent.
"I'm . . . fine," the injured man choked out.
"And nobody believes that," the fourth man said in a gruff voice.
"Nesbitt, you can't even stand on your own right now!" the man with the glasses exclaimed. "Accept that you're hurt and that we're going to take care of you."
Nesbitt tried to straighten and hissed in pain, stumbling forward. The two men supporting him held fast.
I shifted. There was something familiar about all of them, and about that name, but at the moment I had other things on my mind. "There's only two rooms left," I said haltingly. I couldn't turn them away, surely, but how would they manage?
"Then we'll take them," the leader said immediately. He took out his checkbook and wrote one up for me. I took it and glanced at the name. Charles Gansley. . . .
Now I knew who they were. Of course; I should have placed them immediately. "You used to work for Seto Kaiba," I said in surprise.
"We work for ourselves now," Gansley grunted. "Are there any cots that can be brought in?"
"Just one," I told him. "The rest of you will have to double up on the two beds."
"I'll take the cot," the gruff man said. Crump . . . I remembered his name is Crump.
"I'll stay with Nesbitt," the Southerner said. Lector. . . . I always did find him charming at KaibaCorp press conferences. Strange, though . . . I thought he and Nesbitt didn't get along.
"And I guess that leaves us to bunk together, Gansley," said the fifth man. Johnson, the lawyer. . . .
"That's fine," Gansley grunted.
"At least the beds are king size, so you'll have some room to move around," I told them.
"Thank you," Lector said with a slight nod.
They were soon all upstairs in the rooms and settled in for bed. I was worried about Nesbitt, for two reasons—his injuries and who he was staying with. Lector was a consummate professional, of course, but I had often sensed tension between him and Nesbitt during the press conferences, and sometimes there had been some black looks. None of the others had seemed worried, so I shouldn't have been, but I was anyway. I found myself hovering around the rooms several times during the night, hoping there wouldn't be any arguments or other personal problems at a time like this. If they disliked each other so deeply, anything could set off their negative feelings even if they didn't mean it to happen.
It was in the very late hours when I heard Nesbitt give a sharp cry. At that, I had to fling the door open and look in. "Are you alright?!" I demanded.
Nesbitt was laying on his stomach on the bed. He had flung off the quilt, revealing his tank top and pajama bottoms. Lector was sitting up next to him, his eyes narrowed in concern. "Nesbitt?"
"I'm fine," Nesbitt muttered. "It wasn't more pain. . . ." But he didn't seem to want to say what it was instead.
Lector understood. "It was just a dream," he said quietly. "I'm alright; you saved me."
I turned away from the door. I had been completely wrong about them. I had to blink back tears of shame and guilt. Nesbitt was hurt because he had been protecting Lector from something. That was obvious now. And apparently he'd been having some kind of nightmare about what could have happened if he hadn't been able to do it. Lector was speaking to him so gently, so kindly, that it was clear they were close and had been for a long time.
I dared to peek in again. Lector was rubbing Nesbitt's back, still talking to him. Nesbitt responded sometimes, but other times he just grunted or said nothing. He was relaxing deeply into the bed.
"My dear, dear friend . . . you could have been hurt far worse than you were, and you still would have done what you did knowing you could have died." Lector sounded both loving and haunted now.
"I'm going to be alright," Nesbitt mumbled. "And so are you. That's what's important."
"When I saw you laying there, I thought you were dead," Lector said. "And I . . . I didn't know how I was going to go on."
". . . I still had to do it," Nesbitt said. "But . . . I'm sorry. I knew you'd feel that way. I would too. If the situation had been reversed, I would probably be screaming at you. Instead, you . . . you've been nothing but kind. You always treat me better than I deserve."
Lector looked shocked. "Nesbitt, you would have given your life for me! There aren't many people who would do that. You honestly still think of yourself as such a terrible person?"
"It takes a lot of courage to die," Nesbitt said. "But I think it can take more to live. Especially when we still have our problems. . . ."
"We don't have as many anymore," Lector said. "You have truly been improving yourself, as I have also been trying."
"You didn't have much you needed to change," Nesbitt said. "I had a lot."
"And that makes it all the more moving that you've been able to do so much," Lector said.
He smiled and continued rubbing Nesbitt's back. Nesbitt sank into the mattress, seeming content.
I left them alone.
I don't know when they finally drifted back to sleep, but in the morning I found them both at peace in the bed. Lector was on his back and Nesbitt was still on his stomach next to him. Nesbitt had draped an arm around Lector's upper torso, while Lector had done likewise with Nesbitt.
"Is Nesbitt alright?"
I turned at the sound of Gansley's voice. He didn't seem surprised to see me there, looking in at his friends.
"Yes." I managed a nod.
Gansley looked in and gave a nod and a faint smile of approval.
I pulled the door shut. "I feel horrible," I confessed to him. "I thought they didn't like each other. I remember the tension between them at press conferences in the past. . . ."
"They didn't like each other," Gansley said. "They started out unable to stand being around each other more than absolutely necessary. And now . . ." He looked back at the closed door. "Now each will absolutely shatter if anything happens to the other." His voice caught slightly.
"I started to wonder a little if they were . . . together," I admitted.
"No." Gansley shook his head. "That isn't the nature of their relationship at all. If you want something to compare it to, try brothers. They couldn't love each other more if they were related. Although that's the case with all five of us," he added. "We're not just business partners. We long ago progressed beyond that."
I turned away with a smile. "All of you have something very special," I said sincerely. "I'll get breakfast ready."
I walked down the stairs with a swelling heart. I had never known what had happened to the Big Five after their departure from KaibaCorp. Discovering their fate is something I will never forget.