![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Fic: AU Saiyuki part 2
The collected and final parts of the Saiyuki as British teenagers fic. 900 words.
Tim laughed more than he had for months and drove and drove. Nick got off with girls, leaving them behind with a grin. Justin was cautiously enjoying himself, turning brown in the sun. And then there was David.
David was inexplicable. The way he worshipped Justin, the aggression that displayed itself more often now, the way he'd moved into Justin's life and Justin had just let him.
Justin worried. He only really knew one thing about David, a secret confided one night: his parents had locked him up for a long time.
Now, he was sure David had run away.
Tim blinked, dazzled by the white noon light. He'd phoned home last night, the first time for weeks. Today everything seemed brittle and about to shatter.
'It's the wrong side of the road!' Nick yelled from the back, kicking his seat.
'I'm sorry, sorry,' he gasped, then groaned at the sight of blue flashing lights in the back window.
In terrible Italian, Tim tried to explain, but the policeman's gaze kept moving to David.
'What?' David said to the man, rude, squaring up. 'What's your problem?'
'Shut the fuck up,' hissed Nick.
David's face fell and it made Tim shiver.
'He's freaking me out and he's going to get us in trouble,' Nick said. 'He's not normal.'
David shouted at people, tried to get into fights. Hyperactive and intense and needy; even a smile from Justin made his day.
'Justin-- do something.'
'Why me?'
'Because-- ' he belongs to you-- 'he listens to you. He's just not normal.'
'None of us is normal, especially not you,' Tim said, savagely, 'so shut up.'
Nick stared, his face flaming.
'Sorry,' Tim mumbled and he turned away.
Nick went off into town that night and took David with him. He didn't speak to Tim.
They drove along and the blue horizon, joining sea and sky, stretched on forever. To David it looked like heaven. So much space.
But he knew something was wrong, like always. They were looking at him and not talking.
'Look, David,' Justin began, 'you've got to stop being such a shithead-- '
'What Justin means is, we know you've run away,' Tim said.
He looked wildly at Justin for help but was surprised by an arm round his neck, tight and warm and safe, then Nick spoke:
'We could get into real trouble over this. You'd better tell us.'
' ...Okay.'
He could only stutter out little fragments of his life, in the end. It hurt too much.
His parents had no idea where he was.
'We've got to tell them,' said Tim.
'No way. You heard what they're like,' Nick said, glaring at him.
'Leaving aside the lovers' tiff, I say we just make sure he gets home safely. What else can we do?' Justin lit a cigarette and looked bored.
'I don't want to got back.'
'You have to. They'll be really worried,' said Tim.
'But the rest of the trip…'
'Who said we're cutting it short?' said Justin.
They were alone, lying in the long grass with just the gulls for company. Nick's skin was brown and dusted with salt from the sea.
'I'm sorry,' Tim said into the silence.
'It's all right.'
'I'm really sorry.'
'It's really all right. It was true; I'm a weirdo.'
Tim couldn't keep the words in after that.
'I've been sleeping with Karen. She got pregnant.'
He could feel the stillness next to him and flinched, but Nick just came closer.
'Tim.'
'She hates me.' His throat ached. 'What am I going to do?'
'It's okay.'
Nick's arm curled around his shoulders.
'Want a ride, stranger?'
They'd pulled up in front of Nick, who stood clutching shopping bags to his chest in the dusty little street.
Tim hung out of the window, his eyes startlingly green against his tanned skin. Justin thought he looked happier than he had done for ages. He almost glowed.
Tim was probably as pretty as you could get without actually being a girl and from Nick's dazzled expression, as he mumbled yeah, he thought that Nick was beginning to notice.
If not, he was even more of an idiot than usual, but then that was nothing new.
One day, amazingly, Justin decided to drive.
David bounced into the front seat. Tim slumped warm against Nick in the back and they laughed at stupid things and sort of by accident, when it got dark, he put a shivery hand on Tim's waist and let his fingers graze smooth, sun warmed flesh where his t-shirt rode up.
Silent and breathless, they sat side by side until, very lightly but unmistakably, Tim settled against him. Nick hardly dared breathe, but sneaked his arm round a bit more and was grateful for the dark. They didn't move for a long time.
There were nightingales in the forest. Tim noticed them on the day it started raining.
They all sat together and listened to raindrops pattering onto the roof of the Land Rover and then Tim said the thing they'd been avoiding: 'It's time we went back.'
David sighed. 'I suppose.'
'Thing's'll be okay,' Justin said. 'Anyway, you know where I live,' he added, softly.
That made David grin.
'Going back's fine by me,' Nick said. 'We can't stay away for ever, can we.'
It sounded wistful.
'I suppose not,' Tim said, then caught his eye and smiled.
So they went home.
Tim laughed more than he had for months and drove and drove. Nick got off with girls, leaving them behind with a grin. Justin was cautiously enjoying himself, turning brown in the sun. And then there was David.
David was inexplicable. The way he worshipped Justin, the aggression that displayed itself more often now, the way he'd moved into Justin's life and Justin had just let him.
Justin worried. He only really knew one thing about David, a secret confided one night: his parents had locked him up for a long time.
Now, he was sure David had run away.
*
Tim blinked, dazzled by the white noon light. He'd phoned home last night, the first time for weeks. Today everything seemed brittle and about to shatter.
'It's the wrong side of the road!' Nick yelled from the back, kicking his seat.
'I'm sorry, sorry,' he gasped, then groaned at the sight of blue flashing lights in the back window.
In terrible Italian, Tim tried to explain, but the policeman's gaze kept moving to David.
'What?' David said to the man, rude, squaring up. 'What's your problem?'
'Shut the fuck up,' hissed Nick.
David's face fell and it made Tim shiver.
*
'He's freaking me out and he's going to get us in trouble,' Nick said. 'He's not normal.'
David shouted at people, tried to get into fights. Hyperactive and intense and needy; even a smile from Justin made his day.
'Justin-- do something.'
'Why me?'
'Because-- ' he belongs to you-- 'he listens to you. He's just not normal.'
'None of us is normal, especially not you,' Tim said, savagely, 'so shut up.'
Nick stared, his face flaming.
'Sorry,' Tim mumbled and he turned away.
Nick went off into town that night and took David with him. He didn't speak to Tim.
*
They drove along and the blue horizon, joining sea and sky, stretched on forever. To David it looked like heaven. So much space.
But he knew something was wrong, like always. They were looking at him and not talking.
'Look, David,' Justin began, 'you've got to stop being such a shithead-- '
'What Justin means is, we know you've run away,' Tim said.
He looked wildly at Justin for help but was surprised by an arm round his neck, tight and warm and safe, then Nick spoke:
'We could get into real trouble over this. You'd better tell us.'
' ...Okay.'
*
He could only stutter out little fragments of his life, in the end. It hurt too much.
His parents had no idea where he was.
'We've got to tell them,' said Tim.
'No way. You heard what they're like,' Nick said, glaring at him.
'Leaving aside the lovers' tiff, I say we just make sure he gets home safely. What else can we do?' Justin lit a cigarette and looked bored.
'I don't want to got back.'
'You have to. They'll be really worried,' said Tim.
'But the rest of the trip…'
'Who said we're cutting it short?' said Justin.
*
They were alone, lying in the long grass with just the gulls for company. Nick's skin was brown and dusted with salt from the sea.
'I'm sorry,' Tim said into the silence.
'It's all right.'
'I'm really sorry.'
'It's really all right. It was true; I'm a weirdo.'
Tim couldn't keep the words in after that.
'I've been sleeping with Karen. She got pregnant.'
He could feel the stillness next to him and flinched, but Nick just came closer.
'Tim.'
'She hates me.' His throat ached. 'What am I going to do?'
'It's okay.'
Nick's arm curled around his shoulders.
*
'Want a ride, stranger?'
They'd pulled up in front of Nick, who stood clutching shopping bags to his chest in the dusty little street.
Tim hung out of the window, his eyes startlingly green against his tanned skin. Justin thought he looked happier than he had done for ages. He almost glowed.
Tim was probably as pretty as you could get without actually being a girl and from Nick's dazzled expression, as he mumbled yeah, he thought that Nick was beginning to notice.
If not, he was even more of an idiot than usual, but then that was nothing new.
*
One day, amazingly, Justin decided to drive.
David bounced into the front seat. Tim slumped warm against Nick in the back and they laughed at stupid things and sort of by accident, when it got dark, he put a shivery hand on Tim's waist and let his fingers graze smooth, sun warmed flesh where his t-shirt rode up.
Silent and breathless, they sat side by side until, very lightly but unmistakably, Tim settled against him. Nick hardly dared breathe, but sneaked his arm round a bit more and was grateful for the dark. They didn't move for a long time.
*
There were nightingales in the forest. Tim noticed them on the day it started raining.
They all sat together and listened to raindrops pattering onto the roof of the Land Rover and then Tim said the thing they'd been avoiding: 'It's time we went back.'
David sighed. 'I suppose.'
'Thing's'll be okay,' Justin said. 'Anyway, you know where I live,' he added, softly.
That made David grin.
'Going back's fine by me,' Nick said. 'We can't stay away for ever, can we.'
It sounded wistful.
'I suppose not,' Tim said, then caught his eye and smiled.
So they went home.
no subject
You've got them! They're, what, a few hundred years out of context, and you still got them just so. Oooh, I like.
no subject
I really pleased you think they work - it's kind of a strange exercise, transmuting them into modern teenagers. But lots of fun.
no subject
Final Parts?? ~ wails uncontrollably ~
Just so you know... if you decided to make this an on-going thing... well, I'ld be one very happy camper. XD
no subject
no subject
no subject
no subject
~ hopeful ~
no subject
part 1 = http://www.livejournal.com/users/louiselux/256871.html
part 2 = http://www.livejournal.com/users/louiselux/258062.html