Little Death (Killing Time Challenge) PG-13

[librarian_7]

Disclaimer, etc: This is another entry for the challenge...a bit late, but hey. As usual I don't own anything. Well, okay, I own some stuff, just not the stuff we all know I don't.


Little Death (Killing Time Challenge)

Pressed against him, skin to skin, my warm to his cool, I move my hand a little, seeking that temperate zone between us, the line where our natures have touched long enough to equalize. I never warm him completely, nor can he truly chill me. The compromise between us is enough.

He’s staring at the ceiling again, though. He does that, sometimes, when we are together. I can feel his attention turning, away from me and back to his sleeping princess. His true love, lying so far away, and yet ever so close to his heart.

I tell myself—again—that he is here with me because he wants to be. That no power on earth, no pity, no duty, or perceived obligation, could put him here unless he wished to be.

But I have to wonder, even if I’m afraid I know the truth, what would happen to me, to him and me, if she awoke. Because there’s a little part of me that knows, no matter what he says or does, that with any other woman, he’s only killing time.

I guess the real question is, not that I’d ever ask, when you kill time, what other things die, too?

[Lucy]

[Moonlighter]

Uh...wow! What a thought to be hanging over your head -- and heart -- whether you want it to or not. Nice, Lucky!

[jen]

Lucky

This is elegant in its brevity and very, very powerful in its impact.

So even though Mick has chosen to be with Beth, she feels that she has lost him to Coraline.

Brava!

Jenna

[jenstc2003]

BEAUTIFUL!! *Applauds*

[Luxe de Luxe]

this is great, Lucky. she's a realist, your Lucky. the question that Lucky asks, what else dies when you're with someone who is only killing time? - is a very powerful one for her to answer for herself. I wish her luck coming to some sort of answer.

[librarian_7]

So even though Mick has chosen to be with Beth, she feels that she has lost him to Coraline.

Well, umm, I suppose you could read it that way, although I really had Josef and Freshie Lucky in mind.

And thanks to all for the comments. This is a really complex relationship, between these two.

Lucky

[allegrita]

Lucky, this is a wonderful and very thought provoking story. Freshie Lucky's got every reason to wonder and worry. After all, this phase of her relationship with Josef began with her willingness to be a surrogate for Sara way back in "Comfort." And even though she can be sure that he sees her for herself now, she knows where his heart truly lies. I don't think I could do what Lucky is doing. I don't think I could stand it.

And that question? I'm not sure I'd want to know the answer...

[eris]

*kicks Josef*

(You realize how hard it is to get to that point, right?)

*kicks him again*

[darkstarrising]

God, how I love Lucky, all the while having my heart break for her....

I guess the real question is, not that I’d ever ask, when you kill time, what other things die, too?

Even if she hasn't asked the question, I fear she knows the answer.

[Lilly]

The first time I read through this, that last line just broke my heart. But then, I was drawn up to the beginning again and the part that jumped out at me on that second look was this...

I never warm him completely, nor can he truly chill me. The compromise between us is enough.

Sadly, that may sum up their entire relationship, and that truth runs much deeper than body temperature. This is just exquisite in its simplicity.

[cassysj]

I'm with eris here. I want to kick Josef. The last line really hits me though.

[MoonShadow]

reading this piece made me study it and pause, there is a level of anquish, anger, and aching hollowness that resounds between the lines.

this one a work to read and re-read,

thank you Lucky

[LadyAilith]

Oh my... My heart breaks for Lucky because she already knows the answer to that question.

Nicely done!

LadyAilith

[librarian_7]

You know, I have never written anything from Lucky's POV before...now I'm beginning to think this may be why. The poor girl is really struggling with the realities of her relationship. And I think this kind of difficulty may be a core problem at the heart of every vampire/human relationship. But if your heart breaks for Freshie Lucky, shouldn't it break for Josef, too? They are both caught in this, and neither deserves the pain of it.

Lucky