SquidgeWorld Archive

This is a collection of short H/C ficlets (they were supposed to be drabbles but I'm terrible at writing short things) from various fandoms. I asked on one of my LiveJournals for one word for each letter of the alphabet, as well as a fandom and/or pairing. Here's what my friends gave me to work with:
A- Allergy- Angel/Collins (RENT)
B- Brothers- Bill & Charlie (Harry Potter)
C- Chicken Soup- Don & Charlie (Numb3rs)
D- Denial- Hornblower & Bush (Horatio Hornblower)
E- Exhaustion- Ro & Dan (Lord of the Rings)
F- Fever- Legolas/Gimli (Lord of the Rings)
G- Galu- Thranduil & a very young/small Legolas (Lord of the Rings)
H- Honor- Duncan (Highlander)
I- Indecision- Claire/Charlie (LOST)
J- Jetlag- Wolverine/Nightcrawler (X-Men)
K- Kite- Remus/Sirius (Harry Potter)
L- Lonely- Tatsumi/Watari & Tatsumi/Tsuzuki (Yami No Matsuei)
M- Midnight- Cedric/Oliver (Harry Potter)
N- Naughty- Percy/Oliver (Harry Potter)
O- Oblique- Willow/Spike (Buffy the Vampire Slayer)
P- Pain- Obi/Qui (Star Wars)
Q- Quiet- Legolas/Elrohir (Lord of the Rings)
R- Rain- Sirius/Remus (Harry Potter)
S- Sleep- Legolas/Aragorn (Lord of the Rings)
T- Torn- Daniel & Jack (Stargate SG-1)
U- Understanding- James/Lily (Harry Potter)
V- Veritaserum- Snape/Dumbledore (Harry Potter)
W- Whipped- Nagi/Omi & others (Weiß Kreuz)
X- Xebec- Horatio/Archie (Horatio Hornblower)
Y- Yearning- Legolas/Gimli (Lord of the Rings)
Z- Zealous- Snape/Filch (Harry Potter)

The numbers slowly blurred on the page before Tatsumi. They grew so fuzzy he could not make them out until he lifted his head, rubbed thumb and forefinger at his eyes beneath the glasses, and then gave the figures a fresh look. Seeing them clearly, however, did not necessarily mean they made sense.

A piece of paper slid on top of the mess of papers he had spread out upon his desk. He only had to glance at it to know whose reimbursement sheet it was. And the once glance was enough to make his already throbbing head hurt all the more. "He spent *this much* on one meal?" Tatsumi groaned, looking up at Hisoka, hoping against hope that the figures might be slightly exaggerated. Though, if they were, it wasn't a very nice joke.

Hisoka looked apologetic, his eyes big. "Tsuzuki's just been so spirited since..." Hisoka didn't like to talk about it because of the emotions evoked on both sides, but sometimes he would dance around the subject when talking with Tatsumi. "I didn't have the heart to remind him he shouldn't be ordering thirds."

"Thirds," Tatsumi sighed. He took off his glasses and set them on his desk. With his elbows on the desk and his head hung, he rubbed his both hands at his eyes, tiredly. Then he took a deep breath in through his nose and let it out through his mouth. He lifted his head, looking up at Hisoka again. "It's all right. I understand. I'll work something out with the budget."

Hisoka broke into a wide smile.

"Now go," Tatsumi said, making a motion to shoo him away. He looked into Hisoka's eyes as he said quietly, "Tsuzuki will be waiting for you."

Hisoka nodded in understanding and left.

Tatsumi gave him a ten-count to be sure he was gone, before hanging his head again and burying his face in his hands. He scrubbed at his face at first, but then just sat with his face covered, thankful the peace and quiet the darkness brought. Thankful, but not exactly pleased.

Seeing Hisoka so happy brought out a whole host of emotions. The guilt alone was almost paralyzing. As desperate as Tatsumi was to see Tsuzuki with someone who could make him happy, he wished he could be that person. Instead, he had paperwork to keep him company. Mounds and mounds of paperwork. It was always so much easier to lose himself in the paperwork and distract himself by micromanaging every single line item. He could obsess over the numbers enough to forget that he could be of no help to Tsuzuki... and forget that no one was there to be of any help to him.

Of late, however, he had been unusually lax some of his duties at the Shokan Division. And, apparently, people were beginning to notice. "Tatsumi?"

He lifted his head, looking up to see the smiling face of Watari, with 003 hovering over his shoulder.

"I came to find out about that purchase order you said you'd send out last week. I really need those new microscope lenses. I need them for inspecting the samples we found in what remained of Muraki's laboratory."

Tatsumi groaned to himself as he swept the papers on the top to a stack on the side, looking under them as though he expected to see the purchase order beneath with the word 'SUBMITTED' stamped across the top. But he had no such luck, in part because he had absolutely no memory of writing the order or even Watari's request. This wasn't like him at all. "I'm sorry," Tatsumi said, maintaining eye-contact with his papers. He could not work out how new lenses would fit into the budget which was already so far into the red he feared they would never get out again. But if it had to do with Muraki, it would have to be purchased. That took priority.

"Tatsumi?"

Tatsumi sighed again. "I'm so sorry... I can't seem to find... I'll write another one up immediateâ€"" he stopped as he felt a hand on his shoulder and breath on his cheek. He turned his head towards the warmth and found a gentle pair of lips upon his own, kissing so softly that he felt no reluctance to return it in the same way. As he did, he felt just a little of his stress melting away.

"You've had a lot on your mind lately," Watari said once he'd pulled back from the kiss. "And you've been working so hard." He straightened Tatsumi's askew tie, refolded his dress shirt collar and readjusted his brown suit jacket to sit neatly on the man once more. "If you don't get some rest soon, you'll get ill and be no good to any of us."

Tatsumi sighed as the man's hand ran up and down his back. "I know you have a lot to do, but how about we go get some Italian food?" He held up both hands in front of him, shaking them. "No pressure."

The thought of spending money unnecessarily was not precisely comforting, but he could hardly deny the smiling man with his sparkling eyes and soft, flowing blond hair. Tatsumi was not the only one in the division who could be convincing. "All right," he said finally, pushing back from the desk and waiting for the rolling chair to glide to a halt. "All right. But I get to pick the restaurant."

"Oh certainly! I'd be honored." Watari bent his elbow and presented it. Tatsumi paused, debating, then slipped his arm through.