OCChallenge fic
Jul. 15th, 2008 07:40 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
estiroseI wanted to post these while I was remembering to update my prompt table. This is another prompt table answer, number three of five.
Title: Umbrellas, Fences, and Nonhuman Blood
Author: Estirose
Fandom: Kamen Rider Kiva
Rating: 13+
Characters: Shinoda Aya (OC), Kuramae Noboru (OC)
Prompt: Table 2, Cold
Wordcount: ~1300
Summary: Aya gets warm. And meets a fence.
Umbrellas, Fences, and Nonhuman Blood
by Estirose
c 2008
The air seemed unnaturally warm to Aya. She supposed it was always going to be that way, ever since the scientists and technicians had made her more cold-blooded to support her decreased oxygen consumption and her gills. She suspected her days on land were numbered now, at the very least she would need to stay inside. She pulled at her clothes, hoping to cool her skin.
"Uncomfortable?" Kuramae-san asked. He looked over at her from across the picnic table.
"Warm," Aya said. "I feel like I'm going to boil if I'm out here too long."
"I guess that would be a side effect," Kuramae-san said thoughtfully. "It's okay; you're here safe in the facility, we'll keep things climate-controlled for you." He took her hand and smiled gently. "I mean, someday you might be outside and we'll have to make accomodations for you, but in the meantime, you're here. You're safe."
"Some of the others don't consider this safe," Aya said, still trying to hint some sense into him. "They consider it a cage. Especially the Wolfen. I have to admit, I understand where they're coming from. Apart from Riki-san, we're all wild beings; being here can be... limiting. I think sometimes the only reason my father stands being here is because he's supplied with women. With what you've told me of your world, if he knew that finding human mates wasn't a problem, you couldn't keep him here."
He grinned. "You're accepting your heritage; you weren't doing that when you first came here."
"I liked it better when I was just Shinoda Aya, relatively normal human," Aya said. "It's a hard thing to give up."
"Aya," he said, "You were never normal. Your heritage was showing in every fiber of who you were, you just didn't want to think about it. If you were a Fandiri, we'd consider that feral behavior. Being half-Merman, it's understandable, it's just painful to us that you were going to live like that for the rest of your life. Our universe needed you; we needed you."
"You needed my father more," she pointed out. "And Riki-san and Jiro-san. Megumi and I were bonuses."
"Both Fangaire and Wolfen don't consider their crossbreeds to be lesser beings," Kuramae-san said. "Once I knew what you were, I considered you Merman, not human. I considered it an act of mercy to bring you here, in a world where you were accepted and cherished for what you were." He watched her. "Hold on a second."
Aya tried not to be visibly frustrated, to school her face at Kuramae-san's words while he took out a radio and spoke into it. From what she'd read of Fangaire relationships, they were obsessive about their children being Fangaire, and it seemed that Kuramae-san apparently viewed her as a Merman much the same way.
"Sawada-kun? I'm out at table 7-B, and Shinoda-san is getting a little warm. Could you bring her an umbrella? Thank you." He turned the radio off and faced her once more. "You all right?"
"I will be," she said. "As soon as that umbrella comes." She paused. "Do you guys have that much trouble with feral Fandiri?" Better to distract him off the subject that she didn't really want to think about.
"Not often," Kuramae-san said. "One to five per decade, usually. Most people in our dimension accept that the Fandiri are our children, but we do run across those Fandiri who have been taught to hide Fangaire heritage. My friend Naoko argues that we're pushing the Fandiri into rejecting their human heritage, but I haven't met anybody else who does so. Naoko's a little eccentric."
"As someone who spent two years as the equivalent of one of your ferals," she said, "I think she's sometimes right."
"But you're adjusting better than most Fandiri ferals," he said. "Most of them never adapt; you are adapting. I can think of one that adapted well enough to be changed into Fangaire; ironically, we snagged his equivalent when we snagged your father and the others; Naoko - the friend I mentioned - ended up with him. He seems to be adapting okay, too. I think Naoko's hoping for grandkids."
Aya had to wonder if he was adapting as well as Kuramae-san said, though the Fangaire that had him seemed to be sane. She'd read about how the Fangaire handled the Fandiri; it seemed a lot like how Dr. Hamagaki treated her and the others. Kuramae-san too; in a way, he had shifted from potential boyfriend to parent, and she could have told him that she had one - one that didn't like Fangaire.
A young man with an umbrella arrived, presenting it to her. "Thank you," she said, bowing slightly.
"Let's eat," he said, after the young man bowed back and left. When she fumbled trying to balance umbrella and food, he came to her side of the table and held it for her. "Here. I don't want you to go back with an empty stomach. Besides, I have a surprise for you."
Aya nodded, and ate. As Kuramae-san was tidying up, she said, "It's funny; I never thought that I was anything other than a weird human up until I met Dad."
"That may be why you're adapting," Kuramae-san said as he finished. "You didn't spend your life rejecting your Merman blood because you didn't know you had it. That's the problem with most ferals; they get taught to loathe what they are."
Aya thought it wise not to mention that she sometimes still loathed her heritage. Best for him to think she was okay.
"Shall we go?" he asked, offering his hand. She took it, and to her surprise, they headed farther away from the facility. In fact, they got beyond some trees and she could see a fence. The facility's fence. It was painted black, but with some kind of patterns that made it seem less foreboding. "See, we have a fence. And see the security precautions? Nobody's getting in or out that we don't want going that way."
She put her hand on it, tried to put her fingers through. But the holes were too narrow, even for her fingers. Security fence, though she had to still wonder if it would hold up to Riki-san. And she wasn't going to ask. "It seems very... secure."
"Keeps people who want to kidnap you out, keeps you safely in," Kuramae-san said cheerfully. He took her hand again. "You're not supposed to know this," he said, "But word that we have the five of you is out in certain circles. We're having to fight to get people to understand how few of you there are. We only have three pregnancies, and they're all thanks to your father. Okay, maybe four. It's going to be a while before we're going to have even a single Merman tribe, and we have to get the outside world to understand that."
"It's certainly a different world," she agreed, trying not to shiver at the thought. Maybe someday she'd be free, get home, go back to being plain Aya, be away from this crazy world. But she didn't hold much hope. She probably never should.
She let Kuramae-san lead her back to the facility.
-end
Title: Umbrellas, Fences, and Nonhuman Blood
Author: Estirose
Fandom: Kamen Rider Kiva
Rating: 13+
Characters: Shinoda Aya (OC), Kuramae Noboru (OC)
Prompt: Table 2, Cold
Wordcount: ~1300
Summary: Aya gets warm. And meets a fence.
Umbrellas, Fences, and Nonhuman Blood
by Estirose
c 2008
The air seemed unnaturally warm to Aya. She supposed it was always going to be that way, ever since the scientists and technicians had made her more cold-blooded to support her decreased oxygen consumption and her gills. She suspected her days on land were numbered now, at the very least she would need to stay inside. She pulled at her clothes, hoping to cool her skin.
"Uncomfortable?" Kuramae-san asked. He looked over at her from across the picnic table.
"Warm," Aya said. "I feel like I'm going to boil if I'm out here too long."
"I guess that would be a side effect," Kuramae-san said thoughtfully. "It's okay; you're here safe in the facility, we'll keep things climate-controlled for you." He took her hand and smiled gently. "I mean, someday you might be outside and we'll have to make accomodations for you, but in the meantime, you're here. You're safe."
"Some of the others don't consider this safe," Aya said, still trying to hint some sense into him. "They consider it a cage. Especially the Wolfen. I have to admit, I understand where they're coming from. Apart from Riki-san, we're all wild beings; being here can be... limiting. I think sometimes the only reason my father stands being here is because he's supplied with women. With what you've told me of your world, if he knew that finding human mates wasn't a problem, you couldn't keep him here."
He grinned. "You're accepting your heritage; you weren't doing that when you first came here."
"I liked it better when I was just Shinoda Aya, relatively normal human," Aya said. "It's a hard thing to give up."
"Aya," he said, "You were never normal. Your heritage was showing in every fiber of who you were, you just didn't want to think about it. If you were a Fandiri, we'd consider that feral behavior. Being half-Merman, it's understandable, it's just painful to us that you were going to live like that for the rest of your life. Our universe needed you; we needed you."
"You needed my father more," she pointed out. "And Riki-san and Jiro-san. Megumi and I were bonuses."
"Both Fangaire and Wolfen don't consider their crossbreeds to be lesser beings," Kuramae-san said. "Once I knew what you were, I considered you Merman, not human. I considered it an act of mercy to bring you here, in a world where you were accepted and cherished for what you were." He watched her. "Hold on a second."
Aya tried not to be visibly frustrated, to school her face at Kuramae-san's words while he took out a radio and spoke into it. From what she'd read of Fangaire relationships, they were obsessive about their children being Fangaire, and it seemed that Kuramae-san apparently viewed her as a Merman much the same way.
"Sawada-kun? I'm out at table 7-B, and Shinoda-san is getting a little warm. Could you bring her an umbrella? Thank you." He turned the radio off and faced her once more. "You all right?"
"I will be," she said. "As soon as that umbrella comes." She paused. "Do you guys have that much trouble with feral Fandiri?" Better to distract him off the subject that she didn't really want to think about.
"Not often," Kuramae-san said. "One to five per decade, usually. Most people in our dimension accept that the Fandiri are our children, but we do run across those Fandiri who have been taught to hide Fangaire heritage. My friend Naoko argues that we're pushing the Fandiri into rejecting their human heritage, but I haven't met anybody else who does so. Naoko's a little eccentric."
"As someone who spent two years as the equivalent of one of your ferals," she said, "I think she's sometimes right."
"But you're adjusting better than most Fandiri ferals," he said. "Most of them never adapt; you are adapting. I can think of one that adapted well enough to be changed into Fangaire; ironically, we snagged his equivalent when we snagged your father and the others; Naoko - the friend I mentioned - ended up with him. He seems to be adapting okay, too. I think Naoko's hoping for grandkids."
Aya had to wonder if he was adapting as well as Kuramae-san said, though the Fangaire that had him seemed to be sane. She'd read about how the Fangaire handled the Fandiri; it seemed a lot like how Dr. Hamagaki treated her and the others. Kuramae-san too; in a way, he had shifted from potential boyfriend to parent, and she could have told him that she had one - one that didn't like Fangaire.
A young man with an umbrella arrived, presenting it to her. "Thank you," she said, bowing slightly.
"Let's eat," he said, after the young man bowed back and left. When she fumbled trying to balance umbrella and food, he came to her side of the table and held it for her. "Here. I don't want you to go back with an empty stomach. Besides, I have a surprise for you."
Aya nodded, and ate. As Kuramae-san was tidying up, she said, "It's funny; I never thought that I was anything other than a weird human up until I met Dad."
"That may be why you're adapting," Kuramae-san said as he finished. "You didn't spend your life rejecting your Merman blood because you didn't know you had it. That's the problem with most ferals; they get taught to loathe what they are."
Aya thought it wise not to mention that she sometimes still loathed her heritage. Best for him to think she was okay.
"Shall we go?" he asked, offering his hand. She took it, and to her surprise, they headed farther away from the facility. In fact, they got beyond some trees and she could see a fence. The facility's fence. It was painted black, but with some kind of patterns that made it seem less foreboding. "See, we have a fence. And see the security precautions? Nobody's getting in or out that we don't want going that way."
She put her hand on it, tried to put her fingers through. But the holes were too narrow, even for her fingers. Security fence, though she had to still wonder if it would hold up to Riki-san. And she wasn't going to ask. "It seems very... secure."
"Keeps people who want to kidnap you out, keeps you safely in," Kuramae-san said cheerfully. He took her hand again. "You're not supposed to know this," he said, "But word that we have the five of you is out in certain circles. We're having to fight to get people to understand how few of you there are. We only have three pregnancies, and they're all thanks to your father. Okay, maybe four. It's going to be a while before we're going to have even a single Merman tribe, and we have to get the outside world to understand that."
"It's certainly a different world," she agreed, trying not to shiver at the thought. Maybe someday she'd be free, get home, go back to being plain Aya, be away from this crazy world. But she didn't hold much hope. She probably never should.
She let Kuramae-san lead her back to the facility.
-end
