JL Sigman (jlsigman) wrote in het_challenge, @ 2008-07-25 05:15:00 |
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Entry tags: | a: jlsigman, f: final fantasy 6, r: promptbuilding |
What Fate Might Have In Store [Final Fantasy VI, Celes/Setzer, R]
Title: What Fate Might Have In Store
Author: jlsigman
Rating: R
Warnings: beginnings of oral sex
Word count: 947
Prompt: Final Fantasy VI, Celes/Setzer: 10. Sex with (almost?) all their clothes on - 64. intoxicated as much by each other's skin as by the champagne
A/N: Title is part of the lyrics from the opera “Draco and Maria”. Set post-game.
The people of the world desperately needed normalcy, and the Opera House provided it. It also provided a refuge for people looking to start over, since what you had been before or even during the catastrophe didn't matter anymore. The conductor never lacked for bodies to put on the stage, and even found some new stars while rediscovering an old one.
When Celes had shown up one day, eyes red and face set, the conductor hadn't asked why, like he didn't ask anyone else who showed up to find work. The past was done, and he was more than willing to accept what was offered. She practiced hard, sang beautifully if not always emotionally, and never gave him any diva-like attitude problems.
The only part of her new life that Celes didn't much care for was the parties. There were parties for premeres, for final rehersals, for new hires, and on and on. She tried to avoid them as much as she could, preferring to guard her heart against further self-inflicted abuse. Everything else she embraced as fully as she could, and was greatful for it.
She had not been offereed a choice on this particular night. The conductor insisted she put in an appearance, since this was the first time they'd done “Draco and Maria” since she'd been there, and since she was playing Maria, she had to go. Her champagne glass was constantly refilled as she circled, a frozen grin eventually relaxing into a more normal one as the night went on.
Her face froze again when she saw him. Celes had been avoiding all of her comrades, because she didn't want their pity. But there was no mistaking the hair and coat, the long fingers expertly holding a glass stem out to the waiter as it was refilled. She looked around for an escape, but she heard someone say her name, and a finger pointed towards her, and she had her pride and would not be seen running, not by Setzer.
“Fancy seeing you here,” he said as he bowed to kiss the hand not in danger of breaking the fragile glass held by it.
“I could say the same for you,” she muttered, too polite to snatch her hand back. As far as she had known, he hadn't been back here since he had kidnapped her instead of the real singer. Something she had been counting on.
He straightened up with a smile, and she cursed him for being so beautiful. She didn't want to get drawn in by another smile again, someone else she couldn't protect anymore... She tried to take her hand back, blushing as she realized he was still holding it. He instead used it as an excuse to step even closer to her, and now she couldn't breathe. The feel of his hand, the callouses and soft, was intoxicating.
He leaned close to her ear. “I've been worried about you,” he breathed. “No-one's heard from you since - “
She jerked back before he could say it, nearly colliding with one of the servers. She stammered an apology and pulled her hand from Setzer's. His eyes were looking at her the exact way she had fled to not see, so she turned and walked away as fast as pride and inebriation and tears would let her.
He caught up with her as she weaved around pillars randomly standing backstage, where they had been quickly set aside after the performance by stage hands not wanting to miss an instant of the party. ”Celes,” he called, not wanting to be on the receiving end of her old miltary training against sneak attacks. “You can't hide forever, let me - ”
“Just leave me be,” she said tiredly, not looking at him. He found her with her hands clenched by her sides, holding herself rigidly still. “I don't want your pity... I don't want any of you to feel sorry for me...”
“Shhh...” he hushed her as he carefully wrapped his arms around her. “We've been worried. I've been worried, until I heard about a beautiful opera singer who had a broken heart in need of mending.”
“And you gambled on being the one?” she asked, not as bitterly as she might have since she was enjoying the warmth of his embrace much more than she expected.
He laughed. “At least I know you don't have that two-headed coin to bet with this time.” He touched her face, and she sighed and suddenly relaxed. Here was something more intoxicating than any alcohol, and she was tired of being alone.
Her first kiss was soft, tasting the champagne on his lips. The second was insistant, her fingers tangling in his hair and she pulled him closer. His hands traced paths down her neck until they could fondle her breasts through her costume. She pulled him against her, her feet stumbling backwards, both breathlessly laughing. Celes didn't realize she was being steered until something hit the back of her knees and she fell backwards in a somewhat ackward heap onto a pile of backdrop material.
She gave a frustrated squeak as she tried to fight through her heavy, ornate dress to either get back to her feet or pull Setzer down on top of her. He stood above her, rakishly wagging a finger, then knelt between her flailing knees. His hands were hot, running over her thighs and higher. She gasped as a thumb pressed against a particularly sensitive spot between her legs and stopped fighting. She felt rather than saw him lower his head, and writhed in anticipation. If he was this good with clothes on, how much better once they were off?