The Peninsula

The Fiction and Poetry Archive of Liana Mir and scribblemyname

Healing Moment

Feb
20

He knew it was a bad decision the moment he did it. It had been months since the last time Rhezere contemplated the knives in the drawer with more than clinical disinterest in slicing food. Now, the blood welled up over his fingers as he cradled his arm and stared down at it.

He felt nothing, then sudden overwhelming panic flooded into the spaces where his heart was numb.

He went without thinking, moving quickly into Kasuru’s office where he was meeting with the ship builder Nanere.

She stared.

Kasuru said nothing, just pulled Rhezere to the space beside him and took down the healing scanner, a steadying hand firm on Rhezere’s shoulder.

Nanere dropped her gaze back to the plans they’d been discussing. Kasuru patiently ran over the arm until the wound no longer gaped. The flesh still looked raw and blotchy, less severe but not fully healed.

Kasuru wrapped it in bandages, then tucked his fingers under Rhezere’s chin to draw his gaze up. “We’ll let it rest overnight then look at it again.”

Nothing could be healed in a moment.

Rhezere knew that. Something inside him eased at realizing he’d been willing to be healed at all.

Daily Drabble 2018, Double Drabble, Original Fiction, Riftspace , , , , , , 0 Comment

Draw You Close

Feb
20
This entry is part 1 of 1 in the series Draw Me Closer

Some would call it the moment hovering between life and death. Dazai Osamu was under no such mistaken impression.

It was over, done, and here he was being asked who his soulmates should be.

Not soulmate, the knowing corrected.

A mark to draw him toward and a mark to push him away, to replace the emptiness on his skin he’d lived with from the beginning.

Choose.

He thought of Oda, wanted Oda, but what would he have done with even more reasons to be attached? He chose someone that might change things. Chuuya. For the other, Mori.

Then suddenly, Live!

Bungou Stray Dogs, Chapter, Daily Drabble 2018, Drabble, Fanfic , , , , 0 Comment

The Ships

Feb
19

The first time he sees the ships, he’s just a tiny thing at the edge of the wide open bay dropping out like an abyss before them. Cor is four years old and unafraid. Only his older sister’s hand keeps him from stepping too close to the edge.

He has eyes only for the ships, their graceful forms reflected in his bright blue eyes.

“Zana,” he breathes.

He’s pointing, eyes aglow, and something inside her forms into a heavy knot of dread. So young, and already he knows the riftspace singing in their family’s blood.

“Come.” She draws him away.

Daily Drabble 2018, Drabble, Original Fiction, Riftspace , , , , 0 Comment

Do It Again

Feb
19

Nanere isn’t interested in most men. They’re too high maintenance, interested in keeping her around, being there for her, and insinuating themselves into her life.

She doesn’t want that. She takes what she wants, builds the ships her queen asks of her, then moves on to the next port to bury herself anew in metal flesh.

Then there’s Kasuru.

She traces his scars at night, and he kisses her fingers without answering unspoken questions. They drink coffee, argue over designs and engineering, then separate to their work without a word or call.

It’s nice enough to do again. And again.

Daily Drabble 2018, Drabble, Original Fiction, Riftspace , , , , 0 Comment

Empty Sheets

Feb
19

Rhezere complains every single time Bhazaf takes major damage that he doesn’t act like a normal integrate and sleep in the cradle, where he can heal properly and the ship can finally shut down his extensive sensors.

It minimizes pain. It’s smart. Bhazaf never does it.

For once he has.

Rhezere remembers all the usual complaints—at having to share his bed, having to throw an arm across Bhazaf’s chest to remind him he has a human body and it’s not in critical condition.

Right now, the bed is achingly empty.

He sighs and goes to sleep by the cradle.

Daily Drabble 2018, Drabble, Original Fiction, Riftspace , , , , 0 Comment

Mutual

Feb
19

“Big sister.”

Cor hesitated, enough to make Zana stop pouring tea to narrow her eyes at him.

He squirmed despite being a teenager. “You don’t—” He huffed, then forced the words out. “You don’t have to stay here for me. Anymore.”

She stopped breathing, topped off his cup, sat. A slow inhale of steam. “I’m head of this entire training program,” she said quietly, sipped. “I’m not suffering on your account.”

She’d promised not to leave him.

“Little brother.” Zana waited for him to look up. “I’m fine.”

Cor finally nodded. His shoulders relaxed as he reached for tea.

Daily Drabble 2018, Drabble, Original Fiction, Riftspace , , , , , 0 Comment

Safety Net

Feb
18

Catch me.

A breath, poised on the edge of the precipice. To fall and to dream and to lose the ability to wake of himself.

Catch me, partner.

Corruption was a long, long fall into an abyss where he could not see the bottom. He saw the light in Dazai’s eyes, the hopeless look of a man who was not desperate to find hope, and thought even his partner saw the death at the bottom of the fall.

He fell, not flinging himself but simply letting go, hands outstretched and waiting in the darkness.

Dazai, who couldn’t be trusted, caught.

Bungou Stray Dogs, Daily Drabble 2018, Drabble, Fanfic , , , , , 0 Comment

Sync

Feb
16

Sume curled up beside Konot on the sofa in the ship’s lounge. He didn’t do more than breathe in response, still staring at something in his own mind, his body remaining at rest.

She was a lot smaller (younger) than a normal pilot, and she wasn’t fitted like a normal pilot. She wasn’t a pilot at all.

For all that, she felt his welcome thrumming inside her bones, felt the way he settled into her presence, the way he felt her and it calmed the hyperactive thought processes spinning through his brain, feedback from the ship body around them.

Sync.

Daily Drabble 2018, Drabble, Original Fiction, Riftspace , , , 0 Comment

Like Raising a Kitten

Feb
16

Raising a little boy as rambunctious and eager as Cor was an exercise in the fine art of not screaming.

Zana took another deep breath. The four-year-old clung to the top of a teetering bookcase. Ijeve was a space station, occasionally subject to turbulence, and furniture was lashed to walls. Only that had saved Cor from crashing to the floor with the books.

“Little brother—”

“I’m sorry!” He whined as he scrabbled to maintain his grip.

She reached up and snatched him down, making him yelp, then held him tightly to her chest. “You are in so much trouble.”

Daily Drabble 2018, Drabble, Original Fiction, Riftspace , , , , 0 Comment

Don’t Go Away

Feb
16

The tiny boy hit Zana like a missile, waking her out of a sound sleep.

“Cor?” she demanded. “Little brother, what’s wrong?”

He was trembling, clinging to her, arms around her waist tight enough to hurt. He shook his head but said nothing.

Zana thought about turning on the light but didn’t. Instead she settled one hand on his back, the other his hair and stroked through the soft strands. “I’m here,” she whispered softly.

Her shirt was damp from his face, and he shuddered at the words. “Promise you won’t go away?”

Their mother had.

“Yes, Cor. I promise.”

Daily Drabble 2018, Drabble, Original Fiction, Riftspace , , , , 0 Comment

Looking Good

Feb
15

“Are you even listening?” Chuuya demanded.

Dazai blinked. “I can’t hear you from all the way down there, you’re so short!”

He said it by rote, spewing the first common refrain between them he could say on autopilot, and it had the desired effect of distracting Chuuya from where Dazai’s attention had really been.

Chuuya fumed and sputtered. Dazai went back to staring at the new choker that had shown up on his partner’s neck.

“Your necklace makes you look like a girl.” Dazai poked it.

Chuuya growled and swore.

Dazai smiled, knowing Chuuya would wear it forever from spite.

On AO3

Bungou Stray Dogs, Daily Drabble 2018, Drabble, Fanfic , , , , 0 Comment

Knives

Feb
04

Sometimes Misaki counts his knives.

He doesn’t touch them, Saruhiko notices, just drops his head down to note them under a piece of furniture or gently shakes the harness out of the laundry, numbers mouthed noiselessly. If a knife is missing, he shakes the uniform again.

It’s not that Misaki wasn’t there, didn’t know Saruhiko always had knives, or even that he didn’t benefit when they faced down an enemy together.

Sometimes, his fingers rub over a scar just below his right shoulder, something noiseless on his lips.

Saruhiko leans over, glad that Misaki allows him to kiss it away.

Daily Drabble 2018, Drabble, Fanfic, K , , , , , , 0 Comment