FIC: Like Water (AB)

[mhalachai]

Just a quick note: I'm way behind on replying to comments, but I'll get to it! Just... not today or tomorrow. But soon! Keep commenting! Enough exclamation marks!

Title: Like Water
Fandom: Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter (master list here)
Characters: Anita, Nathaniel
fanfic100 Prompt: 098 -- Author's Choice (Money)
Word Count: 499
Disclaimer: Laurell K. Hamilton owns all things Anita Blake. Only the story is my own.
Rating: PG

~~*~~

I was grumpy. This wasn't a new turn of events, but in this situation, I was grumpy over something I couldn't fight with a gun or a cross.

I really hated paying the bills.

My pen dug deeply into the paper of the check as I signed my name. Three down, only ten to go, I thought morosely as I surveyed the mess on the kitchen table. All these bills, for the phone and the electricity and the gas and the rent. I was twenty-seven and hunted preternatural baddies for a living, but only paying bills made me truly dislike being a grown-up.

I was frowning at my check book when I heard footsteps behind me. Warm hands rested on my shoulders, and I felt my tension easing off, just a little. "How's it going?" Nathaniel asked.

I slumped back dramatically. "Horrible," I said, tilting my head back to look at Nathaniel upside down. He smiled down at me, and I melted just a little more. "I think I'll be done soon."

"Good," he said, and pulled up a chair right next to me. With a sigh, I went back to my checks.

It took me a minute to realize that Nathaniel was silent. Not happy silent, or curious silent, or even bored silent. He was silent and still, the way he got when he was thinking about unhappy things. Once upon a time, it might have freaked me out that I could tell someone's mood just by their silence. Not now.

I turned my head. Nathaniel's eyes were focused on the check book, where I was balancing the numbers. I probably didn't need to bother with the math; I regularly pulled in more than ten grand a night when I was working, so money wasn't a problem; but it somehow made me feel like I had gained the upper hand against the bills.

He blinked slowly and moved his eyes to meet my gaze. I let the silence sit between us, not sure what to say, not sure what was bothering him.

Finally, he said, "Money's a strange thing, isn't it?"

"I guess," I said.

He shook his head and looked at his hands, lying in his lap. "It doesn't make any sense. When you have it, it doesn't matter, and when you don't, it's all that matters."

I put my pen down and laid my hands over his. "Is something wrong?" I asked. He couldn't be having money problems. I paid for almost everything, and I knew he made good money at Guilty Pleasures. It couldn't be that. Maybe it had something to do with a long time ago, when he was living on the street?

When he looked back up at me, there was the tiniest hint of something haunted, lurking in his eyes. I raised his hands to my lips and gently kissed one hand, then the other. The haunted look faded away.

"No," Nathaniel whispered. "Nothing's wrong. Not anymore."
--fin

Comments

[fancyfirefly.livejournal.com]

*squee* I so love it when you write!

[mhalachaiswords.livejournal.com]

Thanks! As usual, even when I try to write fluffy about Anita, it turns all character development.

Also, Anita and Nathaniel are currently my OTP. I do seem to write a lot with them as the main pairing...

[catherinecookmn.livejournal.com]

The things rushing through Nathaniel's mind! And how well how show them by not showing them.

[catherinecookmn.livejournal.com]

Errgh -- that should be "how well you show them..."

[mhalachaiswords.livejournal.com]

I do sometimes aim for subtlety. I thought about having him explain, but then, Nathaniel never would. So.

I so need me a Nathaniel icon.

[sabriel-0405.livejournal.com]

Nathaniel's growth in the books, not just from submissive to less-so, but from side-character to main player, has been interesting. Your fic makes it more so by exploring those little points that the books simply can't make time for anymore. I enjoyed your Anita/Nathaniel shorts for that reason.

[mhalachaiswords.livejournal.com]

I think that's why I enjoy writing Nate so much. We know how Anita sees him, and his little forays at being less submissive always catch her by surprise. Then her little realization in ID showed us how different he really is, from what Anita sees, at times.

So, um, yeah. I love Nathaniel.

[celeste-506.livejournal.com]

He shook his head and looked at his hands, lying in his lap. "It doesn't make any sense. When you have it, it doesn't matter, and when you don't, it's all that matters."

Such a perfect sentence to describe Nathaniel's life before and after Anita and company. A sad but simple truth.

[mhalachaiswords.livejournal.com]

His life really has changed, hasn't it? He could be talking about money, or safety. That's why I called the story "Like Water". If you don't have it, it's all tht matters.

[mlady-rebecca.livejournal.com]

Love it. Most of us are so fortunate we never stop and think about those things.

[mhalachaiswords.livejournal.com]

Indeed. Nathaniel is an interesting character, inasmuch as he makes Anita think about things that otherwise would never have occured to her.