❛january (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
acperience) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
fictionalized2012-02-20 02:36 am
acperience) wrote in fictionalized2012-02-20 02:36 am
fanfic; the bright side
Title: The Bright Side
Series: The Legend of the Legendary Heroes / Insect, Eyeball, and Teddy Bear / Tales of Legendia
Character(s): Tiir, Guriko, and Walter.
Warnings: None?
Summary: [AU, in this 'verse.] It's possible to simultaneously feel better and worse.
Dedication: Toigiko and broski.
Note: This pretty much just dissolved into crack, as you can probably tell.
—
The Bright Side
—
The world is incredibly unfair.
This is something Tiir has known for a while now. It never really hit him, per se; rather, when he stopped to think about it one day, he realized that he'd figured this some time ago. Sadly, the knowledge of this doesn't make the world any more fair.
His family in particular, he thinks, has been graced with horrendous luck. Money has always been a struggle. The town doesn't like them. His baby sister has more issues than a child should ever have but won't talk about them. His not-quite-baby brother, likewise, has problems but refuses to confide about anything with a stubbornness that frustrates Tiir.
And as for himself? Well, he's probably just as screwed up as them and equally unwilling to admit it.
Some would call him a hypocrite, but Tiir doesn't even acknowledge that thought. As far as he's concerned, he has to be a rock. He has to be the pillar of support for this dysfunctional group that's his family—these people that he'd do anything for.
And so, whereas Guriko is a child and thus should have no need to hide her wounds, and Walter is far too angry for anyone to believe that he's well-adjusted, Tiir knows how to pretend. He knows how to smile, act, and not to falter to the point where he sometimes believes it—because someone has to hold this household together.
It's been easy, if you slightly alter the definition of the word. At the very least, he's learned since long ago how to balance his duties (and perhaps that's the one benefit of not being able to attend college—that's one less thing to handle). Add to the fact that he seems to have been blessed with a remarkable immune system, and he's generally been able to deal with it all.
Unfortunately, the world is unfair.
And so, it occasionally feels the need to make things very, very difficult for him.
Though he can't bring himself to care, Tiir is aware that what he's doing right now is probably a hazard of some kind. He's having trouble telling the difference between the "3" and the "8" on the stove dial (no, 8 should be on the left half, right...?) and he's not entirely sure whether he put in salt or something else entirely. The fact that he's still standing is also vaguely impressive, especially seeing as how he ran into the bedroom wall earlier.
(He also thanked whatever gods that were listening that Walter was in the washroom at that moment.)
Damn it. It'd only been a headache last night—that, thankfully, Walter was too busy ignoring him to notice. It shouldn't have gotten this bad—it couldn't have. It's one of those rules of the world that Tiir has grown accustomed to.
Guriko has nightmares, which he hates.
Walter dislikes him as much as Tiir dislikes said fact.
He'll probably never be able to go to school.
Lafra could very well be psychic.
He doesn't get sick.
Except he obviously does now, as he belatedly notices that his shirt is adorned with egg yolk.
"Damn it," he mutters. It's probably just as well that he isn't using a knife right now, though that doesn't make this any less troublesome. Theoretically, he could go back to his room and change, but he doesn't trust his body to not pass out on the way there.
Or throw up, which is currently what it wants to do, as a wave of nausea passes over him. He can't go to the bathroom, however, as Walter is still occupying it (what does he do in there? Fix his hair?), and so Tiir merely tries to force down the bile. By the time the urge is gone, he dimly realizes that his hands are clutching the stove edge with his head bowed.
He must look pathetic.
—
Tiir doesn't know whether the gods are laughing at or helping him, because although they may have made him sick, breakfast at least turns out the way it's supposed to.
Actually, no. Right now, they're probably laughing at him, as a new problem presents himself.
"Aren't you eating, Tiir-nii?" asks Guriko, while Walter eyes him suspiciously. Though food, like most things, isn't something they have an abundance of, Tiir isn't known to skip meals.
Things tend to change when he feels vaguely like he's about to die, however.
"Ah, sorry," he replies, forcing a smile at the same time he forces down more bile. "I was just thinking about a few things."
Before either of them can ask for elaboration (not that Walter cares, likely), he excuses himself to go to the washroom (and hopefully find a way to throw up quietly, against all odds). He walks quickly, hoping that it'll hide his unsteady balance—
And crashes right into the wall.
The gods are definitely laughing at him.
"Tiir-nii!?" Guriko, bless her soul, calls out. Tiir can't even bring himself to turn and face them. He doesn't want to see her expression or how much Walter has figured out, as if not seeing will somehow make all... this disappear.
Slowly rising to his feet, he lets out a weak laugh that sounds fake even to his ears. "It seems that my head is rather up in the clouds today..."
That's actually a fairly accurate description of his state right now. Light-headed—and wasn't he standing? Strange, he seems to be on the ground now.
Somewhere in the distance (that, the more logical part of his brain realizes, is honestly just a few feet away), there's the sound of running feet and someone calling his name. A presence kneels down next to him, small hands gripping his shoulder.
Oh, he thinks with fading strength—he must have collapsed.
—
Tiir wakes up in the same spot where he fainted. After taking a few moments to reobtain a sense of coherency, he figures that it's because Guriko didn't have the strength to move him and Walter didn't care enough to.
Shortly after, he realizes that Guriko also hasn't moved.
"Tiir-nii!" she exclaims uponing noticing his newfound state of being conscious. "Are you okay?"
Without hesitation, he smiles, pushing himself to a sitting position despite the protest from his body.
"I'm—"
"—fine?" Walter interrupts, eliciting a frown from Tiir, both in annoyance and for the principle of the matter. "As if. You fainted."
"I did not," Tiir says with all the firmness of someone who isn't arguing a very stupid point. "I..."
Crashed into the wall.
... There isn't really anything he can say that will help him here.
Walter just stares, unimpressed. Tiir meets his gaze for a moment, before looking away.
As a result, he's caught off-guard when Guriko places her hand on his forehead.
"You're really warm. You're sick," she says.
"I'm not," Tiir says.
"There's egg yolk on your shirt," Walter says.
Tiir shoots him a glare.
Walter continues to stare. Guriko fidgets, looking at Tiir with a worried expression that he finds adorable but still wishes didn't exist. It's the kind of innocent concern that only a child can muster and that can never appear on the face of someone like Walter unless the world is ending.
"I'm fine," Tiir says, for a lack of a better argument. Apparently, everyone decides to ignore him, as Guriko jumps to her feet.
"Guriko knows! We have some cookies—Guriko will go get them."
"And how exactly are those going to help...?" Walter mutters, though fortunately Guriko doesn't hear him as she goes off to fetch said sweets. Tiir does (or at least he thinks he does, since it's hard to say) and gives him a warning look.
"At least I'm not the one denying that he's sick," Walter retorts.
"I'm not sick," Tiir denies. "And you would as well if you were in my position."
Walter merely turns his head away.
—
Five cookies later, Tiir only feels even worse and yet somehow finds himself at the park. He's fairly certain that being outside is only going to make him sicker, but he can't bear to tell Guriko this.
"This is only going to make him sicker," Walter says.
Well then.
At that, Guriko shakes her head. "And that, Ter-nii, is where you're wrong! Using her infinite wisdom, Guriko will prove that being on the swings will make Tiir-nii feel better."
Hands on her hips, she gives a confident nod. Tiir is by no means any more convinced than Walter is, but Guriko seems to be happy, and that's what matters—even if he's going to throw up by the end of this.
"So, Ter-nii," Guriko continues. "Push him."
Tiir stares.
Walter stares.
Guriko stares back.
Silence ensues.
"... I'm not pushing him," Walter finally says, crossing his arms. Tiir is rarely mortified, but this might be a good time to be (though, in all honesty, he half-feels like laughing because that would be a sight to see).
Guriko frowns, before staring at her hands, obviously uncertain of her own pushing capabilities. Nevertheless, she moves to stand behind Tiir.
"You don't have to do this for me, Guriko," he tells her gently. While he can't see it, he assumes that she's shaking her head.
"No, this for Tiir-nii."
It's unsurprisingly not a very strong push, though luckily Tiir's build doesn't allow for much weight and what she lacks in physical strength, Guriko makes up for in enthusiasm.
The wind in his face provides some relief, but really, the motion is just making him even more nauseous—but even then, his smile is unforced.
Walter is being Walter, which Tiir supposes is the most he can ask for. Guriko isn't worrying about him, caught up in her delusion that this will make him feel better.
Though, in a way, Tiir does.
—
He's right—he does throw up. Only after they get home, thankfully, as he used every ounce of his willpower to keep it down until he was safely located in front of a toilet.
There's a guilty look on Guriko's face when he exits the bathroom.
"Guriko is sorry," she says. Tiir smiles and ruffles her hair.
"Don't be."
"It's not your fault that he's a fool who got himself sick," Walter adds.
Tiir lets the comment slide, mainly because he's used to it and because it's for Guriko's sake.
"I had fun," he says, sitting down beside her against the wall. It's sweet, that she was waiting for him to see if he would be okay. While acts of kindness on her part are hardly a rarity, they still touch Tiir.
He glances at Walter. "I'm sure Walter did as well."
Walter makes a non-committal noise. Fortunately, it's enough to bring a small smile to Guriko's face, as she holds Tiir's hand.
Eventually, Tiir falls asleep in that position, with Guriko joining him, her head leaning against his shoulder. Meanwhile, Walter stands awkwardly. He looks at them, before glancing around the room as if someone would be watching, before moving to sit down rigidly beside Guriko.
—
Tiir decides to spare his dignity and not comment on it when he wakes up first.
—
Miraculously, despite going to bed still feeling like he was about to die, Tiir is perfectly fine the next morning. It's a good thing too, because he has work today.
"See?" Guriko says, pointing a spoon as she eats breakfast. "Guriko told you that being on the swings would make him feel better."
Walter makes a vaguely disagreeing gesture. Tiir, on the other hand, smiles as usual.
"Of course," he says. This response seems to satisfy Guriko, who continues to eat. Walter practically gives off an air of disbelief, but Tiir ignores it.
He doubts it was the swings, but Tiir is certain of one thing that helped him to recover.
For as unfair as the world may be, it gave him something to make up for all that—something that he'd willingly go through hell and back to keep.
Tiir looks at his family—at his baby sister, who's poking at the foods she doesn't like, and at his not-quite-baby brother, who's already done his meal and standing up to wash his plate.
Tiir looks at his family and smiles again.
Perhaps the gods weren't laughing at him so much after all.
Series: The Legend of the Legendary Heroes / Insect, Eyeball, and Teddy Bear / Tales of Legendia
Character(s): Tiir, Guriko, and Walter.
Warnings: None?
Summary: [AU, in this 'verse.] It's possible to simultaneously feel better and worse.
Dedication: To
igiko and broski.Note: This pretty much just dissolved into crack, as you can probably tell.
The world is incredibly unfair.
This is something Tiir has known for a while now. It never really hit him, per se; rather, when he stopped to think about it one day, he realized that he'd figured this some time ago. Sadly, the knowledge of this doesn't make the world any more fair.
His family in particular, he thinks, has been graced with horrendous luck. Money has always been a struggle. The town doesn't like them. His baby sister has more issues than a child should ever have but won't talk about them. His not-quite-baby brother, likewise, has problems but refuses to confide about anything with a stubbornness that frustrates Tiir.
And as for himself? Well, he's probably just as screwed up as them and equally unwilling to admit it.
Some would call him a hypocrite, but Tiir doesn't even acknowledge that thought. As far as he's concerned, he has to be a rock. He has to be the pillar of support for this dysfunctional group that's his family—these people that he'd do anything for.
And so, whereas Guriko is a child and thus should have no need to hide her wounds, and Walter is far too angry for anyone to believe that he's well-adjusted, Tiir knows how to pretend. He knows how to smile, act, and not to falter to the point where he sometimes believes it—because someone has to hold this household together.
It's been easy, if you slightly alter the definition of the word. At the very least, he's learned since long ago how to balance his duties (and perhaps that's the one benefit of not being able to attend college—that's one less thing to handle). Add to the fact that he seems to have been blessed with a remarkable immune system, and he's generally been able to deal with it all.
Unfortunately, the world is unfair.
And so, it occasionally feels the need to make things very, very difficult for him.
Though he can't bring himself to care, Tiir is aware that what he's doing right now is probably a hazard of some kind. He's having trouble telling the difference between the "3" and the "8" on the stove dial (no, 8 should be on the left half, right...?) and he's not entirely sure whether he put in salt or something else entirely. The fact that he's still standing is also vaguely impressive, especially seeing as how he ran into the bedroom wall earlier.
(He also thanked whatever gods that were listening that Walter was in the washroom at that moment.)
Damn it. It'd only been a headache last night—that, thankfully, Walter was too busy ignoring him to notice. It shouldn't have gotten this bad—it couldn't have. It's one of those rules of the world that Tiir has grown accustomed to.
Guriko has nightmares, which he hates.
Walter dislikes him as much as Tiir dislikes said fact.
He'll probably never be able to go to school.
Lafra could very well be psychic.
He doesn't get sick.
Except he obviously does now, as he belatedly notices that his shirt is adorned with egg yolk.
"Damn it," he mutters. It's probably just as well that he isn't using a knife right now, though that doesn't make this any less troublesome. Theoretically, he could go back to his room and change, but he doesn't trust his body to not pass out on the way there.
Or throw up, which is currently what it wants to do, as a wave of nausea passes over him. He can't go to the bathroom, however, as Walter is still occupying it (what does he do in there? Fix his hair?), and so Tiir merely tries to force down the bile. By the time the urge is gone, he dimly realizes that his hands are clutching the stove edge with his head bowed.
He must look pathetic.
Tiir doesn't know whether the gods are laughing at or helping him, because although they may have made him sick, breakfast at least turns out the way it's supposed to.
Actually, no. Right now, they're probably laughing at him, as a new problem presents himself.
"Aren't you eating, Tiir-nii?" asks Guriko, while Walter eyes him suspiciously. Though food, like most things, isn't something they have an abundance of, Tiir isn't known to skip meals.
Things tend to change when he feels vaguely like he's about to die, however.
"Ah, sorry," he replies, forcing a smile at the same time he forces down more bile. "I was just thinking about a few things."
Before either of them can ask for elaboration (not that Walter cares, likely), he excuses himself to go to the washroom (and hopefully find a way to throw up quietly, against all odds). He walks quickly, hoping that it'll hide his unsteady balance—
And crashes right into the wall.
The gods are definitely laughing at him.
"Tiir-nii!?" Guriko, bless her soul, calls out. Tiir can't even bring himself to turn and face them. He doesn't want to see her expression or how much Walter has figured out, as if not seeing will somehow make all... this disappear.
Slowly rising to his feet, he lets out a weak laugh that sounds fake even to his ears. "It seems that my head is rather up in the clouds today..."
That's actually a fairly accurate description of his state right now. Light-headed—and wasn't he standing? Strange, he seems to be on the ground now.
Somewhere in the distance (that, the more logical part of his brain realizes, is honestly just a few feet away), there's the sound of running feet and someone calling his name. A presence kneels down next to him, small hands gripping his shoulder.
Oh, he thinks with fading strength—he must have collapsed.
Tiir wakes up in the same spot where he fainted. After taking a few moments to reobtain a sense of coherency, he figures that it's because Guriko didn't have the strength to move him and Walter didn't care enough to.
Shortly after, he realizes that Guriko also hasn't moved.
"Tiir-nii!" she exclaims uponing noticing his newfound state of being conscious. "Are you okay?"
Without hesitation, he smiles, pushing himself to a sitting position despite the protest from his body.
"I'm—"
"—fine?" Walter interrupts, eliciting a frown from Tiir, both in annoyance and for the principle of the matter. "As if. You fainted."
"I did not," Tiir says with all the firmness of someone who isn't arguing a very stupid point. "I..."
Crashed into the wall.
... There isn't really anything he can say that will help him here.
Walter just stares, unimpressed. Tiir meets his gaze for a moment, before looking away.
As a result, he's caught off-guard when Guriko places her hand on his forehead.
"You're really warm. You're sick," she says.
"I'm not," Tiir says.
"There's egg yolk on your shirt," Walter says.
Tiir shoots him a glare.
Walter continues to stare. Guriko fidgets, looking at Tiir with a worried expression that he finds adorable but still wishes didn't exist. It's the kind of innocent concern that only a child can muster and that can never appear on the face of someone like Walter unless the world is ending.
"I'm fine," Tiir says, for a lack of a better argument. Apparently, everyone decides to ignore him, as Guriko jumps to her feet.
"Guriko knows! We have some cookies—Guriko will go get them."
"And how exactly are those going to help...?" Walter mutters, though fortunately Guriko doesn't hear him as she goes off to fetch said sweets. Tiir does (or at least he thinks he does, since it's hard to say) and gives him a warning look.
"At least I'm not the one denying that he's sick," Walter retorts.
"I'm not sick," Tiir denies. "And you would as well if you were in my position."
Walter merely turns his head away.
Five cookies later, Tiir only feels even worse and yet somehow finds himself at the park. He's fairly certain that being outside is only going to make him sicker, but he can't bear to tell Guriko this.
"This is only going to make him sicker," Walter says.
Well then.
At that, Guriko shakes her head. "And that, Ter-nii, is where you're wrong! Using her infinite wisdom, Guriko will prove that being on the swings will make Tiir-nii feel better."
Hands on her hips, she gives a confident nod. Tiir is by no means any more convinced than Walter is, but Guriko seems to be happy, and that's what matters—even if he's going to throw up by the end of this.
"So, Ter-nii," Guriko continues. "Push him."
Tiir stares.
Walter stares.
Guriko stares back.
Silence ensues.
"... I'm not pushing him," Walter finally says, crossing his arms. Tiir is rarely mortified, but this might be a good time to be (though, in all honesty, he half-feels like laughing because that would be a sight to see).
Guriko frowns, before staring at her hands, obviously uncertain of her own pushing capabilities. Nevertheless, she moves to stand behind Tiir.
"You don't have to do this for me, Guriko," he tells her gently. While he can't see it, he assumes that she's shaking her head.
"No, this for Tiir-nii."
It's unsurprisingly not a very strong push, though luckily Tiir's build doesn't allow for much weight and what she lacks in physical strength, Guriko makes up for in enthusiasm.
The wind in his face provides some relief, but really, the motion is just making him even more nauseous—but even then, his smile is unforced.
Walter is being Walter, which Tiir supposes is the most he can ask for. Guriko isn't worrying about him, caught up in her delusion that this will make him feel better.
Though, in a way, Tiir does.
He's right—he does throw up. Only after they get home, thankfully, as he used every ounce of his willpower to keep it down until he was safely located in front of a toilet.
There's a guilty look on Guriko's face when he exits the bathroom.
"Guriko is sorry," she says. Tiir smiles and ruffles her hair.
"Don't be."
"It's not your fault that he's a fool who got himself sick," Walter adds.
Tiir lets the comment slide, mainly because he's used to it and because it's for Guriko's sake.
"I had fun," he says, sitting down beside her against the wall. It's sweet, that she was waiting for him to see if he would be okay. While acts of kindness on her part are hardly a rarity, they still touch Tiir.
He glances at Walter. "I'm sure Walter did as well."
Walter makes a non-committal noise. Fortunately, it's enough to bring a small smile to Guriko's face, as she holds Tiir's hand.
Eventually, Tiir falls asleep in that position, with Guriko joining him, her head leaning against his shoulder. Meanwhile, Walter stands awkwardly. He looks at them, before glancing around the room as if someone would be watching, before moving to sit down rigidly beside Guriko.
Tiir decides to spare his dignity and not comment on it when he wakes up first.
Miraculously, despite going to bed still feeling like he was about to die, Tiir is perfectly fine the next morning. It's a good thing too, because he has work today.
"See?" Guriko says, pointing a spoon as she eats breakfast. "Guriko told you that being on the swings would make him feel better."
Walter makes a vaguely disagreeing gesture. Tiir, on the other hand, smiles as usual.
"Of course," he says. This response seems to satisfy Guriko, who continues to eat. Walter practically gives off an air of disbelief, but Tiir ignores it.
He doubts it was the swings, but Tiir is certain of one thing that helped him to recover.
For as unfair as the world may be, it gave him something to make up for all that—something that he'd willingly go through hell and back to keep.
Tiir looks at his family—at his baby sister, who's poking at the foods she doesn't like, and at his not-quite-baby brother, who's already done his meal and standing up to wash his plate.
Tiir looks at his family and smiles again.
Perhaps the gods weren't laughing at him so much after all.
no subject
I CAN'T.
I NEED MORE.
tiir is a dork
guriko is the cutest thing ever
walter is a marvelous butthead
I'm going to die I need more
no subject
laksdjlasdas see jae this is me towards your fic
no subject
laksdjf no my burning desire can't possibly be rivaled
no subject
no no you do not understand my passionate need for your fic
no subject
nor can you for mine. I burn for these three like Yukimura burns for Masamune.
no subject
no I burn harder so there
no subject
I burn so hard that I melt and evaporate.
no subject
I burn so hard that I can't come up with a proper thing
no subject
that's just you being stumped
no subject
no it's 3 AM
no subject
no subject