Title: Silence
Pairing: Max/Tom (HAHAHAHAHAHAHA WUT? IDEK. THERE IS A BACKSTORY TO THIS.)
Rating: G?
Word Count: 640
Summary: Tom misses Ben. Max misses Tom. Ben misses all the fun.
A/N: Cracky commentfic accidentally launched by the To-Do List here, and the awesome icons by vitacrudelis which can be found here. (And I'd like to say that I was pimping these two things, but I'm not - I'm actually just making excuses for the fact that this story, you know, exists. *facepalm* Also, I know NOTHING about kendo, so feel free to mock me relentlessly if something's wrong.) This is AU on like seven different levels and to think I never wrote crack before this awesomely ridic fandom swallowed my brain whole.




Max revelled in the sound as the shinai whooshed gracefully through the warm air of the ballet room. It was one of his favourite things about kendo - that the silence went unbroken save for his own breath, his own motion. He'd never had enough silence in his life; silence that he could control.

He took half a step forward, positioning his feet without thought, and raised his arms again, only to be drawn to a halt mid-way. He looked up and the previous concentration was gone, the tension in his arms and shoulders with it, and he lowered the shinai.

Tom leaned a shoulder against the doorway with a faint, familiar smile on his lips, head cocked slightly to the side, blonde curls falling easily with every movement.

Max smiled back silently, but he could see the sadness in Tom's eyes, the sadness that most people overlooked. Tom was so outwardly happy, so childlike in some ways that even his sister often failed to recognise his moods. Somehow, though, Tom had been like an open book to Max from the beginning, to the point where he knew, with utter certainty, that despite Tom's relationship with Ben, he really did love Max. And that frustrated and elated Max in almost equal measure.

"You're getting better."

Max almost started at the sound, not expecting Tom to actually say anything. Usually, he just came to the studio, sat and watched in total silence, face and expressions intent and beautiful. But it had been a long time since Tom had come - the last time was before that wedding which now seemed much longer ago than it was. Tom's smile widened a little, and Max realised that he hadn't responded.

"Thank you," was all he could think to say and Tom chuckled. "Why are you here?"

Tom's face fell, and Max almost jumped to apologise. He was beaten to it when Tom answered.

"I'm lonely," he said, accompanying laugh not quite reaching his eyes. Max took a few steps closer as he continued. "Ben's gone, with Isabelle. And besides, it's been a while."

At the last, Max smiled. "Yes, it has." He remembered that night quite well. As Tom had left, he'd moved with him to the doorway, and when Tom turned to say goodbye, Max had found himself so close. So close that he'd almost kissed him, the mixture of the adrenaline from the sport and the simple fact that this was Tom almost pressed against his front...

He felt that again tonight. That draw, pull, whatever, towards Tom, only this time from more than two feet away. He took a step closer and Tom's expression shifted subtly into one laced with confusion and question. The added vulnerability just pushed Max over the edge, and he raised his hand almost automatically, touching his fingertips to Tom's cheek. He felt the warm flush of blood that Tom's fair skin allowed so prettily.

"It will be better," he heard himself say, and Tom leaned into his hand just a fraction. He didn't appear to believe what Max was saying - and it wasn't like Max was really trying - but his smile did flicker a little brighter for just a second.

Tom took the small step forward that would bring the two of them together, and before Max could analyse anything, he felt Tom's mouth on his. His lips were unmoving, soft, but pressed hard against his own - it was desperate, this kiss, and he couldn't decide whether or not he really cared.

Blood rushed in his ears as Tom deepened the kiss and spun Max backwards into the mirror, all childishness well and truly gone. The sound of their combined breath filled the room, and Max heard the shinai hit the floor, shattering the relative silence.

He found that he didn't mind.



Uhm, okay, so I think that we all went totally stark-raving mad over the past few weeks, what with all the bizarro inter-shipping and AU-inventing and combining and bouncing-off of each other's madness. It's like one giant web of interconnected nonsense, and I heart it!