FIC: What She Needs (AB)
Oct. 27th, 2005 09:28 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
mhalachaiThis one totally kicked my ass. Asher and I are still having issues. Anyway, the last one for the night.
Title: What She Needs
Fandom: Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter (master list here)
Characters: Jean-Claude, Asher, Anita (mentioned)
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fanfic100 Prompt: 047 -- Heart
Word Count: 706
Disclaimer: Laurell K. Hamilton owns all things Anita Blake. Only the story is my own.
Rating: PG
Notes: Set between the last chapter and the epilogue of Cerulean Sins. There are tiny hints of slashiness, but it's canon slashiness, so I'm happy. This one's all about Anita.
~~*~~
"What sort of a woman is Anita?"
Jean-Claude looked up from where he was lounging artfully on Asher's silk sheets. "How do you mean?"
Asher frowned at his book collection, brushing his fingers over the worn covers. "What sort of woman is she? What flowers does she like? Does she require gifts on a date?"
Jean-Claude lifted himself off the bed. "Are you speaking of tomorrow night?" he asked, referring to the first date they were both to have with Anita. It was almost a week after Musette's visit, and it had taken that long for Anita to agree to the date, which Jean-Claude had subtly been pushing once their enemies left town and their people were safe.
Asher nodded, feeling his hair slide in front of the scarred side of his face. The motion was something he had practiced for so long, he didn't even think about it any longer.
"Anita is not like any woman you have ever known," Jean-Claude began, pretending to ignore Asher's muttered agreement. "She appreciates flowers, as would any woman, but she is quite impossible otherwise. She accepts gifts badly, always questioning my motives."
"Chocolates?" Asher pressed, casting his mind desperately around.
"Non." Jean-Claude leaned against the wall, watching Asher. "The only thing she will require, Asher, is you."
Asher laughed bitterly. "This cannot be what she requires," he spat, pushing his hair back off his face, to bare his scars to the light.
Suddenly, Jean-Claude was in front of him. "She does not give her affections lightly," he said, the power in his voice pushing at Asher. "She came to you willingly, and with you she remains. Do not think that she has any ulterior motives."
Asher was the first to look away. Truthfully, he was still waiting for Anita to tire of the idea of him, to realize that the scars and his disfigurement were not going to go away. The longer he was with her, he knew that her rejection would be that much harder when she left.
Jean-Claude sighed and stepped back, going over to Asher's closet. "She might like flowers," he conceded, sorting through Asher's clothes. "She does like roses."
Asher watched as Jean-Claude pulled out a shirt and held it up to examine it closer. "How did you do it?" he asked.
Jean-Claude stilled. "How did I do what?"
"Win Anita's heart." Asher had heard the rumours of Anita and Jean-Claude's bizarre relationship, how Jean-Claude had been celibate for her, had endured her constant refusals, until finally she had fallen into his bed. No one, however, would tell Asher what had transpired to make her change her mind.
Laying the shirt on the bed, Jean-Claude said, "The key to loving Anita is to be what she needs."
"And what does she need?" Asher felt as if he was a hair's-breadth away from understanding a large part of the puzzle that was Anita Blake, but everything was still so uncertain.
"She needs truth," Jean-Claude said. "No lies, no artifice. She needs someone to tell her the truth, no matter how painful, but also someone who knows when to keep those truths hidden, if only for a little while."
The Master fell silent. Asher waited as Jean-Claude rummaged around in the closet until he found a pair of Asher's pants, which he then laid beside the shirt on the bed.
"She needs someone who knows her, and is not afraid of her," Jean-Claude finally said. "But she needs to be afraid, sometimes. To be reminded that what she is doing is real, that the fangs are not a simple mask."
"She needs someone that she can be afraid of?" Asher asked, growing more confused. That seemed the opposite of what he had seen of Anita.
"Not of who we are," Jean-Claude corrected. "Of what we are."
He crossed the room and put his hands on Asher's shoulders. It was the closest they had been since that night in Jean-Claude's room, when they both loved Anita, and Asher felt the other man's presence like flame. Tomorrow night, they would be together again, with Anita, loving them and drawing them together.
"She has decided that she needs you, Asher," Jean-Claude said. "She does not need easily. Remember that."
--fin
Title: What She Needs
Fandom: Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter (master list here)
Characters: Jean-Claude, Asher, Anita (mentioned)
fanfic100 Prompt: 047 -- HeartWord Count: 706
Disclaimer: Laurell K. Hamilton owns all things Anita Blake. Only the story is my own.
Rating: PG
Notes: Set between the last chapter and the epilogue of Cerulean Sins. There are tiny hints of slashiness, but it's canon slashiness, so I'm happy. This one's all about Anita.
"What sort of a woman is Anita?"
Jean-Claude looked up from where he was lounging artfully on Asher's silk sheets. "How do you mean?"
Asher frowned at his book collection, brushing his fingers over the worn covers. "What sort of woman is she? What flowers does she like? Does she require gifts on a date?"
Jean-Claude lifted himself off the bed. "Are you speaking of tomorrow night?" he asked, referring to the first date they were both to have with Anita. It was almost a week after Musette's visit, and it had taken that long for Anita to agree to the date, which Jean-Claude had subtly been pushing once their enemies left town and their people were safe.
Asher nodded, feeling his hair slide in front of the scarred side of his face. The motion was something he had practiced for so long, he didn't even think about it any longer.
"Anita is not like any woman you have ever known," Jean-Claude began, pretending to ignore Asher's muttered agreement. "She appreciates flowers, as would any woman, but she is quite impossible otherwise. She accepts gifts badly, always questioning my motives."
"Chocolates?" Asher pressed, casting his mind desperately around.
"Non." Jean-Claude leaned against the wall, watching Asher. "The only thing she will require, Asher, is you."
Asher laughed bitterly. "This cannot be what she requires," he spat, pushing his hair back off his face, to bare his scars to the light.
Suddenly, Jean-Claude was in front of him. "She does not give her affections lightly," he said, the power in his voice pushing at Asher. "She came to you willingly, and with you she remains. Do not think that she has any ulterior motives."
Asher was the first to look away. Truthfully, he was still waiting for Anita to tire of the idea of him, to realize that the scars and his disfigurement were not going to go away. The longer he was with her, he knew that her rejection would be that much harder when she left.
Jean-Claude sighed and stepped back, going over to Asher's closet. "She might like flowers," he conceded, sorting through Asher's clothes. "She does like roses."
Asher watched as Jean-Claude pulled out a shirt and held it up to examine it closer. "How did you do it?" he asked.
Jean-Claude stilled. "How did I do what?"
"Win Anita's heart." Asher had heard the rumours of Anita and Jean-Claude's bizarre relationship, how Jean-Claude had been celibate for her, had endured her constant refusals, until finally she had fallen into his bed. No one, however, would tell Asher what had transpired to make her change her mind.
Laying the shirt on the bed, Jean-Claude said, "The key to loving Anita is to be what she needs."
"And what does she need?" Asher felt as if he was a hair's-breadth away from understanding a large part of the puzzle that was Anita Blake, but everything was still so uncertain.
"She needs truth," Jean-Claude said. "No lies, no artifice. She needs someone to tell her the truth, no matter how painful, but also someone who knows when to keep those truths hidden, if only for a little while."
The Master fell silent. Asher waited as Jean-Claude rummaged around in the closet until he found a pair of Asher's pants, which he then laid beside the shirt on the bed.
"She needs someone who knows her, and is not afraid of her," Jean-Claude finally said. "But she needs to be afraid, sometimes. To be reminded that what she is doing is real, that the fangs are not a simple mask."
"She needs someone that she can be afraid of?" Asher asked, growing more confused. That seemed the opposite of what he had seen of Anita.
"Not of who we are," Jean-Claude corrected. "Of what we are."
He crossed the room and put his hands on Asher's shoulders. It was the closest they had been since that night in Jean-Claude's room, when they both loved Anita, and Asher felt the other man's presence like flame. Tomorrow night, they would be together again, with Anita, loving them and drawing them together.
"She has decided that she needs you, Asher," Jean-Claude said. "She does not need easily. Remember that."
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no subject
Date: 2005-10-28 04:54 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-10-28 03:14 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-10-28 09:39 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-10-28 03:16 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-10-28 08:01 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-10-28 08:13 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-10-29 03:18 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-10-28 10:23 am (UTC)And a somewhat nervous Asher before the first date was wonderful.
no subject
Date: 2005-10-28 03:20 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-10-29 02:57 pm (UTC)And Asher would be concerned about a "date" with Anita, wanting to get it right, since her happiness holds such sway with Jean-Claude.
no subject
Date: 2005-10-28 02:02 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-10-28 03:22 pm (UTC)Trying to find what he would say in this situation was a bit hard. How much does he say, will it satisfy Asher's curiosity, will it piss Anita off... all those things. He's a master at juggling all these things.
no subject
Date: 2005-10-28 04:20 pm (UTC)It certainly doesn't show. That was an awesome drabble. Very insightful.
no subject
Date: 2005-10-28 04:53 pm (UTC)At least, that's my take.
no subject
Date: 2005-10-28 05:43 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-10-28 06:10 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-10-29 01:55 am (UTC)Yeah, they have a LOT in common.
no subject
Date: 2005-10-28 08:03 pm (UTC)and this quote was my favorite:
"Anita is not like any woman you have ever known," Jean-Claude began, pretending to ignore Asher's muttered agreement.
no subject
Date: 2005-10-28 08:18 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-10-28 08:12 pm (UTC)It was the closest they had been since that night in Jean-Claude's room, when they both had loved Anita.
Could it be correct either way? I dunno. I shall go on a quest, The Quest for the Holy Grammar!