Lalalalalala - Spring Court fic

[ayascythe]

My brain feels like a pulpy mess and I am pretty sure nothing can fit in there anymore, but I have to keep going until tomorrow afternoon. So, fitting to my current state and mood, I was crazy enough to write fic about The Spring Court. (BECAUSE WHO NEEDS REVISIONS A FEW HOURS BEFORE AN EXAMINATION.) I'm sorry, if this might be not so good. As already said, my brain lacks structure and I didn't have a beta (which reminds me: I need a good beta. Seriously.)

Characters: Ethan, Alexis
Summary: Alexis makes his first appearance.
Warnings: a bit of swearing - and I think I might have brought in some weird UST (weird because Ethan/Alexis would be a very abusive kind of relationship with lots of Stockholm-syndrome. So, yes, I think I might ship it. Hard.)

 

Takes one to know one

Ethan can feel the change of atmosphere, even before the stranger enters the stable tent or before Lizzy starts shying and huffing in anxiety. It's almost like a drop of temperature, except that it isn't, not really. It's in the middle of summer, for heaven's sake. The sun is blazing outside, the grass is dry and trampled, but his heart feels frozen to the core.

„Shush,“ he mutters to the horse, avoiding prancing hooves. „Be good, ol' lady.“

„She sure is a nervous thing, isn't she?“

The stranger is all smiles as he stands in the entrance, hands in his pockets and icy blue eyes fixed on Ethan. As he steps closer, Lizzy starts whinnying and Ethan tightens his grip on her reins.

„She's not used to strangers. You should leave.“

„But she's a circus horse, right? Strangers should be the norm.“

Not if it's someone like you.

And he's not sure whether he said that out loud or not, but the air seems to freeze in an instant. The smile fades from the stranger's face and they stare at each other for an indefinite amount of time. For a split second, Ethan thinks he can see another face behind the stranger's face. Almost not and yet there, a crack in reality that allows his true form to shimmer through.

He's one of them, Ethan thinks, horrified (as if he hadn't known already). The stranger comes closer, circling and mustering him like a rare animal he hasn't seen in a while. Maybe that's what Ethan is to him: an runaway pet that needs to be caged in.

At last, he whistles lowly and their faces are only inches away when he whispers into Ethan's ear: „Now look at what we have here. A lost sheep.“

The words hit Ethan like a punch to the gut and the fear rising up in him is almost overwhelming. They have found him. All that he has worked so hard for – his job, his disguise, this resemblance to a new life (Darcie) – all of it will be gone … and now their fingers brush against each other and Ethan just snaps.

„Fuck off! I'm a free man!“

„We'll see about that.“ The stranger chuckles. Steps back again, running a hand through his reddish-blond hair. „And ... mind you language, stable lad. You know they don't like that.“

„What do you want?“ Ethan growls, hostile and ready to fight for his freedom if he has to, but the stranger just waves his hand dismissively.

„Relax, I'm not here for you. Not today, anyway.“

„Then why-“

„I'm here to collect a debt.“

The stranger smiles like a cat that has a mouse trapped between its paws. He doesn't say more and it doesn't look like he's going to explain any further, so Ethan spares him the question. Lizzy is still nervous, whinnying restlessly and shaking her mane from time to time. Ethan would like to say he's doing better than her, being brave and such, but he's probably even more anxious than the horse. His hands are trembling so hard that he has to put an effort into keeping his grip on the reins.

And finally – finally – the stranger retreats, making his way out of the tent.

„You can call me Alexis,“ he says, raising a hand in Goodbye. „I'm sure we will be meeting again.“

„I hope not,“ Ethan mumbles as the tension slowly ebbs away, leaving him boneless and shaken. Taking a deep breath, he buries his face in Lizzy's mane and slowly starts counting. It takes him five minutes and counting up to 453 until he's calm enough to go on working.

The cold in his heart, however, doesn't go away for a long, long time.