Drabbles, part 1

[shimotsuki]

Here are the first two drabbles from last night's drabble meme! It might take me a few more days to get to the rest, since I have work projects (gasp) and other things that I need to do too. But I stayed up far too late last night writing these, so I decided I might as well go ahead and post them, heh.

I meant to do exactly 100 words for each prompt, but since it's my first time playing in non-Potter ficverses, those may run longer. I'll still try to do exact multiples of 100, though.

And I, um, didn't intend to have a pregnancy theme going, but plotbunnies are plotbunnies...

[For mrstater — Harry Potter: Remus/Tonks, craving. 100 words. PG, for mild innuendo.]

Cravings
Tonks glowered at the open cupboard. "I'm a ruddy cliché."

"Mmm," said Remus, behind her. He wasn't even listening. Probably had his nose buried in his book again.

Tonks glowered harder.

She hated being predictable—and here she was, seven months pregnant, desperate for pickles and crisps. She could have done with a little sympathy.

She lumbered around to glare at her husband.

Only, Remus wasn't reading. His eyes were crinkling at the corners, taking in the full curve of her belly. And certain other curves.

Tonks caught her breath.

It was no longer pickles and crisps she was craving.

[For nfwbls — Vorkosigan saga: Cordelia/Aral, distance. 300 words. G.]

Light Years
Cordelia pushed the curtain aside with one hand. The other hand touched her stomach, experimentally, and she wondered yet again how long it would be before she felt anything growing there.

It wasn't easy to see the stars on Barrayar. When she looked out from the low rambling house at Vorkosigan Surleau, there were clouds in the sky as often as not. Water in the air. She shook her head, half laughing at herself for living in a place with such an alien climate, instead of simply swooping in with her old Survey team to catalogue it.

Here in Vorbarr Sultana, where lights from aircars and government buildings filled the sky every night, the stars could almost never be seen at all.

Not that it mattered, really. There were multiple wormhole jumps—and undoubtedly a court-martial with her (former) name right on it—between Barrayar and Beta Colony, where she had left her mother, her brother, her career, the whole of the life that she had known. So it wasn't as though she would have been able to see her home sun, even if there had been stars tonight.

"Dear Captain. You're still awake?"

She turned away from the window, letting the heavy curtain drop. Aral looked exhausted. His new role in the Imperium weighed terribly heavily on him, and he hadn't even officially assumed it yet. But he smiled for her, and it took her breath away. Just as it always did.

The distance between Beta Colony and Vorbarr Sultana, between the duties of an Astronomical Survey captain and those of the Regent Consort of Barrayar, between being a daughter and being a mother, might as well be infinite.

But Aral's warm arms pulled her close until there was no distance between the two of them at all.

.

Comments

[iamweebles.livejournal.com]

Oh, that made me so very happy :) Now I need to go and re-read Cordelia's Honor.

[shimotsuki.livejournal.com]

Thank you -- I'm so glad you enjoyed it! I had a great time writing it (and that might be dangerous, heh).

I adore that moment in Shards of Honor where Aral smiles for real for the first time and Cordelia's immediate thought is, "Oh, do that again."

[iamweebles.livejournal.com]

Yes! That's one of my favorites as well!

[mrstater.livejournal.com]

Squee!! That was delightful! I'd hoped craving might somehow inspire both pregnant and smutty thoughts, and you didn't disappoint!!! I love how in 100 words, you managed to convey lustful!Remus. And yet it's so sweet, at the same time, you get the idea that Tonks is not totally thrilled with all aspects of pregnancy and the lack of control she has over her body, but then Remus turns that all on it's head. And she's all hormonal and changeable, lol. Well done, and thank you!!

(I think you could easily expand this one into a smutty fic someday. ;))

[hrymfaxe.livejournal.com]

Oh I love Remus in all his exasperating maleness! He isn't listening, but something tells me he is about to be forgiven after all. :D Well done on the drabble!

[shimotsuki.livejournal.com]

Thanks -- I'm glad this was the kind of thing you had in mind! (Of course by now you must know I'm always going to assume you're trying to get me to write smut, heh. Maybe I'll get my courage up by, say, mid-September or so?) I'm especially happy that Tonks's mood-swinginess came through, along with Remus's very effective antidote to her irritation. :)

[shimotsuki.livejournal.com]

Aw, thanks! Yes, I think Remus is about to redeem himself very nicely for ignoring his wife. ;)

[gilpin25.livejournal.com]

The first one's lovely.:D The second is far too intriguing - I like Aral and his smile already. Drat you! ;)

I'm going to laugh when I don't get the pregnancy fic with my prompt!

[mrstater.livejournal.com]

LOL Yes, that is my one great ambition in life.

What's happening mid-September? ;)

[shimotsuki.livejournal.com]

Oh, thank you -- glad you liked and were intrigued!

I like Aral and his smile already. Drat you! ;)

Heh heh heh. But it's only Shards of Honor and Barrayar that are centered on Cordelia and Aral, by the way. The rest of the series is mostly Miles, so you could leave that for later. ;P (Although the senior Vorkosigans had several excellent cameos in Mirror Dance, the one I just read, and I was delighted to see Aral still calling Cordelia "dear Captain" almost thirty years later.)

I'm going to laugh when I don't get the pregnancy fic with my prompt!

Yep, you can see now why I was warning you about that! ;) (Also, I have a feeling that it will take more than a couple hundred words for Angua to deal with that particular issue, and royal succession, and submerging her identity, and ...yeah. But I'll come up with something!)

[shimotsuki.livejournal.com]

*whistles innocently*

[iamweebles.livejournal.com]

So seriously, I keep coming back and reading this over and over again, and now I'm itching to try my hand at some Cordelia/Aral fic - maybe during the war years that are hinted at in the Miles books (of course, this means I'll have to reread the Miles books so that I can refresh the details in my head)

[shimotsuki.livejournal.com]

Oh, you should totally write that -- that would be excellent. There is a huge canon time gap there that absolutely needs to be filled in. And there's nothing like a good excuse to reread the Miles books, heh.

I need another fandom like I need a hole in the head, but I will admit that I just poked around a little and found this: bujold_fic. They're even having a challenge that starts August 10.

*slaps wrist* I can't do this. ...But if you do, I'll be reading!

(And I can't tell you how happy I am that you liked the drabble enough to read it again!)

[katyhasclogs.livejournal.com]

Oh I love the R/T one! Really sweet. :)

[tegdoh.livejournal.com]

You are just determined to get as many of us hooked on this "Vorkosigan saga" as possible, aren't you?

The R/T drabble was perfect - sweet & funny & sexy.

[shimotsuki.livejournal.com]

Oh, thanks!

(Your icon is just great, and this is reminding me that I need to go back and enjoy your icon post, which I'd been saving for a nice long free moment.)

[shimotsuki.livejournal.com]

You are just determined to get as many of us hooked on this "Vorkosigan saga" as possible, aren't you?

Who, me? ;P (It was jncar who got me started.)

Glad you liked R/T - thanks!

[jncar.livejournal.com]

Lovely drabbles. I love how quickly Tonks turns from craving pickles to craving something else. ;)

And it was so nice to see some Aral/Cordelia love. I'd read the Miles books 2 times before getting back to the Cordelia books again, and it was so nice to be reminded where Miles got his derring-do and crazy impulsiveness. Cordelia is made of win. Plus I'm glad I've hooked you on another fandom. :) I'll use a Bujold quote icon just for you.

[shimotsuki.livejournal.com]

I'm glad you had a chance to see this -- and I'm extremely glad you got me hooked on another fandom, heh. I've been enjoying the books greatly this summer. (And as you can see, I've been trying my hardest to spread the addiction.)

it was so nice to be reminded where Miles got his derring-do and crazy impulsiveness

LOL -- that comment reminds me of a moment in Mirror Dance where Mark gets a full dose of Cordelia and suddenly realizes it's not just his father that makes Miles so manic. Cordelia is totally made of win.

I've always liked that icon of yours, but never realized it was a Bujold quote!

I've been meaning to write you a decent e-mail ever since our last comment exchange on your writing journal. Hopefully, I'll get my act together soon!