[A 99 Ways Entry]
By Lady Scarlet-Une
It was right to be here, in this place of smoke and darkness. Behind her, a woman crooned an old torch song into a microphone, swaying under the dim stage lights. Her sequined blue dress sparkled as she broke her musical heart for the entertainment of a dark audience, vague and nameless behind their cigarettes and drink glasses. A few stray couples meandered across the dance floor, dragging their soles against the scuffed floor in a slow tandem.
Relena Darlian stubbed her cigarette in an overflowing ashtray. She felt old and blowsy, a feeling she got every time she came here. It was good, in a way; it let her know that she still had the ability to feel something.
A lean hand placed a fresh drink next to her empty glass. She didn?t turn to face its owner as he sat on the stool next to hers, hooking his feet around the rungs.
?So. Is this where old heroes go to forget??
She finally looked up but pushed the drink away. ?No, this is where old has-beens go to hide.?
?Amen to that.?
He filched a cigarette from her pack on the bar. His lighter flared, illuminating a long face framed by dark shaggy hair. He put another Marlboro between her lips and she leaned over to share his flame.
?I thought you weren?t coming back here.?
He shrugged. ?Bounty hunting?s been slow lately. Got nothing to do except spend money I don?t have.? He reached over and took a sip of her untouched drink. ?I thought you weren?t coming back here, either.?
?All I have is time and money.?
?Maybe we should get married. Jet would appreciate a rich pretty woman on the ship.?
Relena snorted. ?Maybe we should. My butler would appreciate another man in the house.?
?How is Peygan, anyway??
?Worried.?
They lapsed into silence.
She had first met him three years ago on these same barstools. Her political career had just ended terribly, and in its wake she?d finally noticed the slew of broken relationships surrounding her. Zechs had long since retreated to Mars and drunken obscurity. Noin had followed him and, from what Relena had heard, was still picking up the remnants of his broken life. The Gundam pilots merely became memorable footnotes in her life as they?d drifted apart and been consumed by personal matters. Relena had her politics, and that had been enough.
Until it was gone, and all that was left was her and depressing bouts of introspection.
She?d moved onto this colony only a month after her career had withered. It was quiet and far away, and the sight of shining stars through the colony?s clear ceiling was faintly reassuring. She?d discovered the bar during one of her nightly walks.
Spike had been recovering from serious injuries when they?d first met. ?The past has sharp teeth,? he?d said during one of their earlier meetings, but he?d never elaborated. Even as she?d watched him wash down painkillers with whiskey during those first conversations, she hadn?t really cared. She?d already been there for over a year, and he was just a passing apparition. But he?d stayed there, week after week, and they?d formed a tenuous understanding that became a sort of friendship. The sex that followed had only been part of the natural progression.
Their pseudo-relationship had staggered on. He would leave for weeks to work and then return to find her sitting on the same stool. He?d buy her a drink and she?d slide it back to him. Sometimes she?d leave for awhile and find him waiting for her when she returned. The theme was the same, either way; underlying it all was a tacit agreement that everything was temporary and impartial.
Relena had been fine with things until last week, when he?d told her he wasn?t coming back. Then she?d found herself caring a bit too much. She?d always had a thing for the emotionally scarred types.
?Let?s dance.?
She gave him a startled look. He?d never asked her to dance before. Reluctantly, she stood up and let him lead her to the floor. The singer had been replaced by a grizzled black man behind a piano. He was singing a song Relena didn?t recognize, but she followed Spike?s lead as he drew her near and set a tempo, her head resting on his shoulder. He leaned his head down, so close to hers that she thought he was going to kiss her neck. He whispered small snatches of lyrics into her ear instead, intermittently humming along with the piano?s slow chords.
And as they moved, Relena almost forgot about her bitterness and old worries. She almost believed that somewhere between Spike?s voice and the world was a calm place she could sink into and leave everything else behind, where maybe she could even feel a little bit wanted. It was horribly frightening and desirable.
?Did you mean it?? she asked, interrupting his serenade. ?About us getting together. Did you mean it in a significant way.?
He didn?t respond. He continued singing instead, and she felt foolish. But he kept holding her even when the song had ended and the few other couples had straggled off the floor. She wanted to look up at him, but he had rested his head on top of hers.
?Maybe,? he said, moving his lips back to her ear.
And, sadly, that was enough for her.
***
I read fanfics all the time, but it's been a long time since I've written one. So, as I read Rose's challenge, I thought, 'Why not?' So the stars aligned just so, the moon was in its right phase, and this small fic was born. Plus, I REALLY wanted to see something that wasn't happy. And Spike's such a great character. So enjoy!
*drives back into lurkerdom*ls-u
