SASO Referees (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
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sportsanime2016-07-21 08:53 pm
referees) wrote in sportsanime2016-07-21 08:53 pm
Entry tags:
Bonus Round 5: Myth & Lore
This round is CLOSED as of 7PM on August 4 EDT. Late fills may be posted, but they will not receive points.
RULES
- This round does not have prompts. Instead, we ask you to draw inspiration from the wide pool of mythology, fantasy, folklore, and fable. An urban fantasy or supernatural AU? A re-imagining of your favorite folk tale? Characters swapping ghost stories or playing D&D? As long as your fill in some way incorporates the fantastical and/or supernatural, it's welcome here.
- Your fill still has to be about a ship from one of our nominated fandoms. What ships you create work for is up to you, though.
- To submit your fill, simply leave it as a comment as a reply to this post.
- Remember to follow the general bonus round rules, outlined here.
FORMAT
Bonus round shenanigans all happen in the comments below. Brand-new works only, please.Required Work Minimums:
- 400 words (prose)
- 400px by 400px (art)
- 14 lines (poetry)
Remember, this is a NO-PROMPT round. Format your fill comment in one of the following ways:
| If FILLING: | If FILLING as a TEAM GRANDSTAND participant: |
FILL: TEAM [YOUR SHIP], [RATING]
| FILL: TEAM GRANDSTAND, [RATING]
|
Posts not using this format will be understood to be unofficial discussion posts, regardless of what they contain. They, like all comments in this community, are subject to the code of conduct.
SCORING
These numbers apply to your team as a whole, not each individual teammate. Make as many fills as you want!For fills:
First 3 fills by any member of your team: 20 points each
Fills 4-10: 10 points each
Fills 11-20: 5 points each
Fills 21+: 2 points each
All scored content must be created new for this round.
Etc.
If you're hunting through the prompts looking for what to fill, a good trick is to view top-level comments only.Have a question? Check The FAQ first. If you still need help, feel free to contact the mods. Happy fanworking!
FILL: Team Shimizu Kioko/Yachi Hitoka, M
soupyun, dialovers au
1765 words
--
The moon hangs in the sky like a lantern, tinting the land below into a crimson sea of blood. The cloud cover gives the moon the appearance of an eye, lid heavy with sleep. But the moon is ever watchful, especially so on a full moon like tonight. On nights like this, the air is thicker than usual with magic, so thick that even normal creatures feel compelled to seek shelter as soon as possible. On nights like this, flashes of lightning are more likely to be summons for covens and demons than they are signs of impending rain.
Sousuke wakes up in a cold sweat, struggling to catch his breath. His limbs are like heavy, immobile weights when he tries to move, and his panic rises for a moment before he realizes that he is alone in the room. He tries to regulate his breathing whilst waiting for the sleep paralysis to pass, trying to sort out his thoughts as he does so.
Strange dreams have plagued him since he started living in this manor. They have nothing to do with his living conditions - materially speaking, he can’t exactly complain about the manor: the grounds are large, the buildings beautifully designed, and the rooms luxuriously appointed. It’s a huge upgrade from the humble wooden houses of the port town he grew up in. However, for all the manor’s opulence, it lacks hospitability, the high ceilings heightening his sense of insignificance, and the sparkling clean rooms giving a sense of unfriendly sterility.
His breathing evens out, and movement returns to his body. He heaves himself off the bed and walks towards the balcony, wiping an arm across his forehead, hand lingering to massage his temples. He stops before the glass doors and gazes up at the moon.
At first, he didn’t remember anything of the dreams at all; would only wake with a lingering sensation of terror. But as time passes, more images and sensations stay with him. There are recurring flashes of red, and though he cannot yet distinguish what they are, they leave him full of nostalgia, tenderness, and sorrow. The white he sees is more or less in focus now: more often than not, it’s a flash of fangs peeking out from a smile. And lately, there’s an outstretched hand, and a voice that whispers into his ear, calling his name, telling him…
Sousuke shivers and closes his eyes, shaking his head firmly. When he opens his eyes again, he sees a bat flying into the sky towards the moon. Seconds later, more bats follow suit. He counts the bats – one, two, three… Twelve bats have left the manor. There’s a smaller creature trailing after them. Sousuke rushes to his desk and grabs his binoculars. It’s a bit hard to tell, but he thinks it’s a stag beetle. He runs the numbers through his head. Twelve bats and one stag beetle. That’s all the… people living in this manor, isn’t it? He sighs, relieved that he’s been left alone during a time so dangerous for a non-magical being such as himself.
He feels completely alert; it’ll be a while before he can fall asleep again. Sousuke weighs his options: he could get back in bed and wait for sleep to come, or he could take the chance to walk around the manor undisturbed. He recalls being told that there’s a swimming pool indoors. His shoulder hasn’t exactly healed yet, but if he takes it easy, it should be fine. Besides, he misses swimming.
He finds the pool area with relative ease, considering his complete lack of sense of direction and the manor’s vastness. He’s pleased that it’s a normal Olympic-sized pool, though the lane dividers aren’t in place. He quickly strips down and jumps in. The water is cool against his skin, and it’s comforting to swim again after so long. After two laps, he feels his shoulder start to ache in complaint, and he stops to stretch.
He’s about to push off for another lap when he feels something on the back of his neck. The next moment, he’s crashing headfirst into the water, drinking huge gulps of pool water as he struggles against the person sitting on his head, holding him down in the pool.
He’s about to lose consciousness when he feels firm hands pulling him out of the water. He coughs violently when he resurfaces, choking and spitting up water and bile. His ears are ringing and he’s making too much noise to hear what’s going on around him, but he can feel the vibrations of laughter from the person holding him up in the pool. When he’s not coughing or choking anymore, he pushes out of their grip and turns around to face them. He feels the blood drain from his face.
‘Hello, Sousuke. Did you miss me?’ When Sousuke doesn’t immediately reply, the man clutches a hand to his chest in mock hurt. ‘You wound me. And here I stayed behind in the manor, thinking I would keep my favourite meal company.’
‘You- I thought you-‘
‘Left? How could I leave, when you always find ways to get into trouble? If I’d left, who would have saved you from drowning just now, hmm?’
‘In the first place I started drowning because you-‘ Sousuke starts to retort, but he bites back his words before he can complete his sentence. Nevertheless, the damage is done. He gulps and takes a step back when he sees the dark fury flash across the man’s eyes.
‘Yes? Because I?’ The man matches every step Sousuke takes backwards with a step forward. At Sousuke’s silence, he sighs. ‘Oh, Sousuke. I remember when you would talk to me about everything; when you would hold me in your hands and let me crawl around on your body. What’s happened to us? Is it me?’
Yes it is, Sousuke wants to scream, but by now, he knows better. So instead, he keeps his mouth closed, hoping that the man will have his fun and leave as soon as possible. He’s focusing on keeping distance between them when he hits the edge of the pool. Shit.
‘Yes, shit indeed.’ The implication of the man’s words makes Sousuke’s chest constrict in terror as the man brings his face close to Sousuke’s, their noses touching. He peers into Sousuke’s eyes, humming contemplatively. Then he rests his head against Sousuke’s, hands gripping the concrete surface behind Sousuke, effectively boxing Sousuke in. When he speaks, his words are hot breaths against Sousuke’s pool-chilled skin, and Sousuke tries not to shudder at the contrast.
‘You know, Sousuke, I don’t think it’s me, after all. I think it’s you. You’ve been having bad thoughts about me since I arrived, haven’t you? You never used to be like this… You won’t even call me by my name anymore, not since I started taking this form more often. Could you be a speciesist?’ At this, the man transforms into the stag beetle Sousuke had had to learn to love, but recently had come to fear. He tries to keep completely still as the stag beetle navigates his skin. His vision flashes white when horns dig viciously into the tender flesh of his injured shoulder, and he struggles not to scream.
The man is before him again, stroking his chin thoughtfully. ‘See, you’re not happy with me whether I’m a man or a beetle. I do think it’s you, Sousuke. What can we do about that?’
‘Please, just stop-‘
‘Stop?’ A loud smack reverberates through the pool area, and Sousuke is clutching his mouth, looking dumbly at the blood that’s dripping into the water and diffusing concentrically. The pale wisps surrounding the roundish red drop in the center reminds Sousuke of the moon. He closes his eyes.
‘You should learn your place, human. Especially when we’re doing you a favour by letting you live. Here I even thought that I’d reward you with some pool time. And this is how you repay me?’
What did he just say? Sousuke’s eyes widen, and the man starts laughing. ‘What, did you really think that it’s possible for you to find this place so easily? With a sense of direction like that? Funny, Sousuke, you’re funny!’
He stops laughing and pushes Sousuke against the pool wall, holding their bodies flush together. When he speaks, his voice is a low purr. ‘Well, play time’s over.’
He starts to bring his mouth to Sousuke’s injured shoulder. ‘What… are you doing?’
The man looks up at Sousuke, annoyed. ‘Don’t interrupt me, Sousuke. I’m about to have a pleasant meal.’
‘You… you usually drink from-‘
‘Yes, yes, your neck or thighs, but novelty is essential to every relationship, isn’t it?’
‘But my shoulder-‘
‘Since when did you care about your shoulder? When I found you, weren’t you taking a rest because you’d been swimming until it hurt? Enough talking.’
The compounded pain that sears across Sousuke’s body when the man’s fangs pierce his injury is intense enough that Sousuke thinks he’s seeing light in a tunnel for a while. It’s so overwhelming that he struggles to control himself, and he can hear himself panting, ‘Please, stop, forgive me, god help me,’ repeatedly.
The man lifts his head from Sousuke’s shoulder and looks him in the eye. ‘I’ll stop if you call me by my name.’
The man’s true vampire name is too complicated to pronounce, and Sousuke will definitely get punished if he messes up. But Sousuke knows what the man really wants.
‘I can’t… You’re not… Pyunsuke was my friend. You’re…’ Deep down, Sousuke knows that Pyunsuke and this sadistic vampire are one and the same, but he doesn’t want to acknowledge that. The name Pyunsuke doesn’t belong here; it belongs in a better time, a time somehow still wrapped in the gentle cloth of sentimentality despite all that has happened during Sousuke’s stay so far.
‘Save the excuses. If you can’t, you know what happens.’ He leans down and sinks his fangs in again, rougher than before. He’s noisier this time, and quicker, and the pain is more intense than before.
If I just call him Pyunsuke, this could be over… I could go back to my room and rest... No. Sousuke would not yield. He closes his eyes and tries to think of greener pastures to distract himself until the ordeal is over. His mind turns back to the red of his dream; to its warmth and nostalgia and other myriad sensations.
He turns the feelings over and over in his head until his consciousness fade away.