closer to the sun

[harborshore]

Tonight I went for a walk with dad, about an hour before the sunset. People were playing soccer and volleyball on the field near where we live, and the all-girl team was winning the volleyball game (much like it seems the only serious contenders in the Way-family croquet match was Alicia and Lyn-Z).

We crossed the road and sat down on the cliff, watching as the light settled over the grass and the skyline. Like being in a city and not, at once.

Then we saw hot-air balloons. Four of them, to be exact. They were coming closer, hovering over the trees, and it was beautiful, absolutely stunning. But what was initially looking like a gorgeous sunset, complete with balloons (like a movie), turned into a comedy of errors pretty soon, with some pretty scary moments.



See, the first balloon meant to go down right in front of us. Only at the last second, there was a gust of wind and it lifted again, almost ending up in the middle of the road. However, the driver managed to get it airborne again, so that it reached the field on the other side of the road, where it bounce-bounce-bounced three times before landing on its side.

The second balloon almost ran into the only building in this field, but somehow swerved and executed a fairly smooth landing, swaying with the wind before the people (and the air) were let out.

The fourth balloon was the impressive one. It was the furthest away, and we saw it start going down where we know there are no fields large enough to comfortably land on. We gulped a little, but it started rising again after being completely out of sight beyond the trees. There was barely any wind at this point, so it stood practically still in the air for about ten minutes before it started coming closer to our field. It came down fast, then, but slowed enough just before touching down that the balloon barely swayed at all. Incredibly graceful, somehow, and a fantastic thing to get to see.

On the way back, we ended up right below a kestrel, hovering in the air, preparing for a dive. Dad said he felt like it was about to dive at us, and I agreed, but we still didn't move.



Now, I'm waiting for the joint aches to subside (modern medicine is sometimes marvelous) and looking at the dark outside. We can't see the stars, yet, but the closer we get to winter, the clearer they'll become.

I'd steal the death match meme, except I'm feeling sweet and cozy tonight. I'd rather talk about cuddling.

If you feel like it, give me two characters, bandom (MCR or MSI), DCU (Birds of Prey, the Bats (especially the ladies)), and Buffy, and I'll tell you about them cuddling. Wacky crossovers are totally okay, though please don't give me Bob and Batman.

Comments

[wasoncedelight.livejournal.com]

This whole post made me feel all sweet and cozy. ♥

And I'm going to be lame and predictable and ask for Chantal and Jimmy.

[harborshore.livejournal.com]

♥, you.

And I'm sorry, they refused to cuddle properly. It's them, it turns into screwball comedy.


"Sweetums, I hate to break it to you, but you have pointy elbows. And you need to move your right one."

"I'm trying, man, it's just--"

"...maybe this whole water bed thing was not such a good idea."

"What are you talking about, I have the best ideas."

"Yeah, but Jimmy--okay, ow."

"Sorry! Sorry. Come on, if we, like, you lean on me like this--"

"Oh, that's actually, yeah, that works."

"See? I have awesome ideas."

"Jimmy?"

"...yeah?"

"Not that that, mmm, isn't actually really nice, but, um, is the bed leaking?"

[fitofpique.livejournal.com]

I hope you feel less achy soon, bb!

What about Bob and Ray? I have such a soft spot for those two and they just don't get enough love!

[wasoncedelight.livejournal.com]

Hee, I would expect nothing less from them. <333

[harborshore.livejournal.com]

Oh man, wouldn't a recast of some 40's movie work fantastically well with them? Like, one of those with rapid-fire dialogue, lots of hilarity and hijinks and fun?

[torakowalski.livejournal.com]

Hot air balloons are amazing to watch, but I always hold my breath until they've landed safely. I know they're *not* all that fragile, but they seem it!

I'm in the mood for Gerard and Mikey cuddles, please :)

[harborshore.livejournal.com]

"Bob?" Ray sounds careful, like he's trying not to spook Bob or something.

Bob rolls over so he faces away from the door. He doesn't particularly feel like looking at any of the guys, and he's hoping they're not all standing in his bedroom doorway. He has no idea why he ever gave any of them keys.

But maybe he should answer Ray. "Get lost."

"Bob, seriously, I just came to see--" Fuck, he sounds all caring and shit.

"Surgery sucks. I'm getting better. Now go away." There, that ought to do it.

Ray sighs. It's a familiar sigh, it's the way Ray sounds when Frank has injured himself again or when the Waybrothers are arguing about superheroes again or when Bob--well, he might hurt himself sometimes too.

And now Ray's sitting on the bed behind Bob. Fucking meddlesome guitarist.

Bob starts to roll over again, but a hand on his hip stops him. Then he hears Ray kick off his shoes and feels him lie down on the bed. Fucking meddlesome guitarist who likes to cuddle. It's not like it actually solves--

"You're being an idiot again, you know," Ray says, mouth against Bob's neck.

"Ray--"

"No, lie still and shut up for a while. Come on, like this--" Ray coaxes Bob to lie back against him and falls silent. Bob somehow can't think of anything to say in return, to get Ray to move or leave him alone.

"Fine," he mutters, and fine, yeah, maybe he relaxes a little.

[fitofpique.livejournal.com]

Ahahahaha! I was actually totally imagining dub-con cuddling! Oh, Bob. Your grumpyface isn't fooling any of us.

Thank you so much, bb!

[yan-tan-tether.livejournal.com]

I almost feel bad asking for more cuddle fic from you after pestering you into writing that great Bob/Brian....but Frank/Gerard cuddles never go amiss!

[absenteye.livejournal.com]

Oh man, what are the odds of seeing all those hot air balloons land? That sounds really awesome *__*

Oh! I am missing my sister a lot today for no especial reason, so if you would like to tell me about smelly teenage Mikey and Gerard cuddling that would be really really nice and also! I think I had a dream where you were a black floofy little cat snuggling me. :DDD

[softlyforgotten.livejournal.com]

We can't see the stars, yet, but the closer we get to winter, the clearer they'll become
♥ Ah, I love the way you phrase things.

Tell me about Spike and Frank! :D (And uh, I'm only just finished the fifth season of Buffy, so please no spoilers? *g*)

[wasoncedelight.livejournal.com]

They would be so perfect for that! *____*

[harborshore.livejournal.com]

"Gee?" That's definitely Mikey and not the vampire he was dreaming about.

Gerard yawns. He'd just gone to sleep, too, fuck. Waking up feels like his bones are made of quicksand, which is actually kind of a cool feeling.

For a second, he considers pretending to not have heard Mikey, but--

"Whatcha want, Mikeyway?" He can't keep the exhaustion out of his voice (college finals suck a hell of a lot more than high school ones did).

"Nothing, sorry, you were asleep." Mikey sounds--Mikey sounds sad, and that's not fucking on.

"No, shut up." Gerard struggles into a seated position and flails out an arm at Mikey, who apparently takes that as the come-here signal it's meant to be and shuffles over from the doorway. When he's within reach, Gerard pulls him down on the bed by his t-shirt. "Tell me what's up."

"It's stupid."

"I'll bet you it's not."

Mikey shakes his head. "It's totally fucking stupid."

"It's totally not; you're sad, it's not stupid." Gerard wonders briefly whether he was this much of a pain as a teenager, but then he remembers that he definitely called home in tears from being out of coffee last week. Fine.

Mikey's tracing the pattern of the bedspread with his right hand. "I just--" he starts, then stops.

"You just what?"

"I just, it's like, it's weird in school, without you. And I dreamed you hadn't come home--anyway, I told you it was dumb."

"No it's not, Mikey, I miss you too. All the fucking time. But I'm totally here now, see?" Gerard pokes Mikey, getting a half-smile out of him. "Come on, stay here tonight. I didn't tell you about my final project yet."

Mikey nods, wiping at his face quickly and squirming in under the covers. "Was it more pictures of what's-her-name? Because I don't wanna hear about that."

Gerard pulls the blanket up over both of them. "Deanna, and no, it wasn't. I drew a fucking comic, Mikey, it was awesome."

[harborshore.livejournal.com]

It was amazing, it really was. But I've actually seen this once before--I wrote about it somewhere in the early days of this journal, but I can't find the entry now. It was a lot less dramatic and more graceful that time, but the light felt the same.

Someone else wanted that, darling: here, so feel free to request something else, if you want. ♥

[torakowalski.livejournal.com]

!!! ♥♥♥ !!! Gerard dreams about vampires and Mikey's nightmares involve Gerard not having come home! Hearts in my eyes, seriously.

[bunnymcfoo.livejournal.com]

*TOE SCUFF*

TIM/KON. I'm sorry, I have this never-ending love affair with those two. OTHERWISE - Lyn-Z & Gerard & Bandit

[harborshore.livejournal.com]

Also, I think that sounds like a wonderful dream. Were you also a cat? *snuggles*

[absenteye.livejournal.com]

Maaaaan, I have never seen a hot air balloon land! I remember when I was a kid my mom and dad got to go on a trip in a hot air balloon and I had to stay with granma and grandpa, I was so angry because HOT AIR BALLOON. THEY COULD TAKE ME WITH THEM, I WAS TINY. lolol, I am still butthurt about that!

Aw, jeez, I should really learn to check out the other comments before! /o\ ALSO AWWWWWWWWWWWWWW ♥_____♥ THAT IS SO ADORABLE, OH GOD. :DDDD DID I MENTION YOU ARE MY FAVORITE? BECAUSE FAAAAAAAAVORITE!

[absenteye.livejournal.com]

It was a very snuggly comfortable dream of awesome! I was me, but I was kind of a cat lady, and you were my favorite kitty because you always tucked your nose under my chin and fell asleep on my chest! :DDDD FAVORITE. Also there was a seriously ugly pug-face orange cat that got cuter when I petted its face, that was pretty sweet too! I'm pretty sure that was actually just my step siblings' horribly fat fug cat, though. :D

[blindmouse.livejournal.com]

Oh, this post makes me think of Georgette Heyer books about balloon ascensions and pain-in-the-neck boys stowing away in them and breaking their legs on the descent. I've never seen a balloon land.

I love all of these snippets. Jimmy and Chantel with elbows! Bob and dubcon snuggles! Gerard and Mikey, oh *man*. Gerard wonders briefly whether he was this much of a pain as a teenager, but then he remembers that he definitely called home in tears from being out of coffee last week. ♥ ♥

Could I have Lindsey & Kitty?

[harborshore.livejournal.com]

Dude, that Bob/Brian is turning into an actual story, so I'm glad you pestered me into it. *grins*


Frank is feeling kind of irritated.

No, scratch that, Frank is really fucking annoyed. This, this broken toe thing, is bullshit. Absolute bullshit. And not even the fact that they're in an actual hotel room tonight helps.

"You should really elevate your foot, you know," Gerard says absently. He's rifling through his bag, probably looking for the comic he was reading earlier. Frank's not going to tell him that the comic is still on the bus, because Gerard is an absentminded motherfucker and left it in the kitchen, and Frank rescued it from catching on fire when Mikey was making toast.

"Doesn't help," he says instead, glaring balefully at his foot. It's hurting a lot, actually, and he's out of painkillers. He could go get some (someone always has them, Bob definitely does), but he doesn't feel like hobbling down the hall right now.

Gerard makes an impatient noise and pushes his bag away. "Stop being such a brat, fucker," he says and walks over to the bed.

Frank looks up at him, unconsciously pushing into it when Gerard gets a hand in his hair. "I just--" he says, losing some of his irritation just from having Gerard close, warm and smiling.

"Shhh," Gerard says and kisses him.

He pulls away and grins at Frank's protesting noise, then he gets on the bed and sits, leaning against the headboard.

"Come on, asshole," he says warmly and gets Frank to sit with his back against Gerard's chest, leaning into him. Frank tries to get a hand between them (seriously, it's a hotel night), but Gerard holds him still. "Just sit for a minute," he says, and Frank settles.

They end up watching Ghostbusters, which is somehow always on, and Frank drifts off between one scene and the next, Gerard's arms anchoring him.

[harborshore.livejournal.com]

♥, you, even if your wacky crossovers are fiendish.

Well, then. For the purposes of this snippet, Oz's cousin was not named Jody and was not five years old. Also, I have paid no attention whatsoever to timelines. And technically there's no cuddling. *hands*


Frank tilts his head and looks at the Brit sitting next to him at the bar. "You're really fucking drunk. Like, really. Also, your hair looks like--you look like my lead singer does, actually."

The Brit (vampire, Frank's nose reminds him), lifts his head from the bar desk and looks at him blearily. "Obviously I'm pissed. Or there'd be something wrong with all this bloody alcohol I drank. And my hair is bleached because--nah, you wouldn't know anything about real punk. Wanker." He puts his head back down on the bar desk.

Frank blisters. "I wouldn't--" but then he takes a deep breath. No getting angry, right. (Oz's exercises are so difficult; Frank hardly ever makes them work.) "You're Spike, right? I'm supposed to take you home."

Or so Buffy had said. Frank's not too sure about why they need this guy, but whatever. He's stranded in Sunnydale until Brian can get him out of here; he'll help out the local do-gooders while he's waiting. Which apparently means he'll go to the local demon's bar and pick up drunk vampires. His life, seriously. The fact that Gerard'll be jealous as hell is small comfort.

Spike looks a little more attentive. "I'm not--not going home with you. Don't sleep with men."

Frank snorts. "But you should get home before sunrise, right?"

"Sun," Spike says, and would have fallen off his stool if Frank hadn't caught him. "Sun, I don't like sun."

"Burns, right?" Frank says, staggering under the weight of drunk vampire suddenly standing upright. Or trying to.

"Yes, burns." Spike says solemnly, and then slumps against Frank's shoulder.

"Motherfucking fucking fuck," Frank says, steadies himself, and pokes at Spike. "Let's go. You have a bed somewhere, I know it."

Spike nods.

Frank stops, swears again, and continues, "If you don't get your mouth away from my neck, I'm going to damn well leave you in the street."

"Don't have to be nasty about it," Spike mutters, slurring his syllables.

"Come on," Frank says, and they get going, Spike clinging to him to stay upright, and Frank vowing to lift some weights. Or something. He realizes he's out of practice at this, lugging around falling-down drunk people, and he's suddenly fiercely glad, even though his shoulders hurt and his knee is protesting.

There's two weeks until full moon, but he kind of feels like howling and running until he falls over. He'll take it out on stage (take it out on Gerard), but for now he settles for smiling and humming. Don't go around tonight...there's a bad moon on the rise.

[harborshore.livejournal.com]

Wait, Georgette Heyer has books with balloon ascensions? *beams* Which ones?

Hee, thank you! I had a lot of fun with them. You can't go wrong with cuddles (except I'm really glad no one gave me Bob and Batman, because, hmm). And of course you can have Lindsey and Kitty! In a balloon, even. (This is wildly AU.)


"Fucking fucked-up piece of shit navigation system." Lyn-Z kicks at it for good measure, and swears again.

"This was not where we were supposed to land." Kitty sounds tired, and no wonder. Fucked-up ankles (possibly broken) will do that to you.

Lyn-Z looks around the deserted beach, notes that she can't see smoke anywhere close, so presumably this island isn't even inhabited. Fun. And their rations will last them precisely three days. Double fun.

"How's your ankle?" she says instead of yelling again.

"Oh, you know," Kitty smiles a little. "Could be worse, could've been both ankles."

"Always look on the bright side of life, right?"

"Of fucking course."

They smile at each other (some things are always the same, and at least they're here together) and settle in for the night. Lyn-Z unwraps the ration bar with a flourish and presents it to Kitty.

"Your meal, mylady. The finest cardboard money can buy."

"Now now," says Kitty, taking it. "Don't forget the delicate fruits, freeze-dried until they resemble little tiny flecks of mold."

"Of course," Lyn-Z grins, "how could I forget?"

After they eat, Lyn-Z makes Kitty lie down with her head on Lyn-Z's lap. "You need to sleep," she says, talking over Kitty's protest that they can at least trade watches. "I'll sleep during the day, but you're the wounded one."

"Damsel in distress," Kitty mumbles into Lyn-Z's thigh.

Lyn-Z sweeps Kitty's hair away from her forehead. "Whatever you want to be," she says quietly, looking out into the night.

[harborshore.livejournal.com]

My preemptive apologies for not knowing nearly enough about DCU canon to do this justice. Like, at all.



"You're doing it again."

Tim lifts his head out of his hands and turns around to look at Kon. "What?" He winces at his tone. Really, he used to be able to sound calm even when he wasn't.

Kon's lounging on Tim's bed, keeping a pillow hovering in the air. Tim thinks he's going to throw the pillow at him, but instead, Kon sits up, looking unusually serious.

"You're doing it again. Like, you caught the guy. He's not gonna hurt anybody else, so why are you still looking at the file?"

Tim closes his eyes briefly and opens them again. "I have to make sure I don't make the same mistake next time."

"Oh, for--" and then Kon yanks on the chair, tipping Tim out, and then yanking him onto the bed. Tim only has time to think, Damn, he's gotten fast, but his surprise doesn't mean he isn't ready to break the grip the second Kon puts him down on the bed.

But he subsides and relaxes when Kon puts a hand on his wrist. He knows that look, it's the lie-the-fuck-still-or-I'll-get-mad look, and while he's not scared of it, he hasn't had Kon back for all that long. So he exercises some patience, waiting for Kon to speak.

"You need to sleep," Kon says, and Tim blinks in surprise. "You need to sleep, because normally, you would have noticed me being about to do that and dodged. So lie still, okay? We're gonna cuddle."

And Tim's stuck there on his back, Superboy half on top of him, arm across his body. He can't do this, he has simulations left to run--

"Stop thinking," Kon says, mouth on Tim's shoulder.

Tim supposes he can maybe do that. Just for a little while. This bed (Kon) is really warm, and, yeah. That. He takes a deep breath and then another one, and, yeah.

[blindmouse.livejournal.com]

YOU ♥ ♥

"Whatever you want to be," she says quietly, looking out into the night.

Exactly. Yes.

Wait, Georgette Heyer has books with balloon ascensions? *beams* Which ones?

They crop up as window dressing in quite a few young-lady-being-squired-about-town storylines, but the one where it's actually a plot point is Frederica. There is a mad carriage journey across England to catch the balloon :DD