#FFF199 didn't mean it

[sam-glade]

He Didn't Mean It

@flashfictionfridayofficial gave me an excuse to practice writing arguments, since most of the time my characters are too good at communicating.

Characters: Lissan, Gullin Setting: Sunblessed Realm WC: 570 CW: just some swearing

Please help me get these characters out of my head; I should be writing stuff with the TTT cast.

“He didn’t mean it.”

“Yes, he did!” Lissan snapped back before seeing the averted eyes and the tightening of the jaw. Gullin’s tone was also wrong - it wasn’t the raised, argumentative tone that Lissan had expected at this point. No, it was quieter, and pitched low with tension, not hostility. The realisation stopped him from further angry words. For now.

Gullin wasn’t replying though, and he wasn’t looking at Lissan. He probably searched for a way to escape the conversation. Tough, Lissan wasn’t going to let him slip away this easily.

“Okay, fine, he didn’t mean for his words to hurt you, but they still did,” he elaborated.

“It’s fine.”

“No, it’s fucking not!” Lissan shouted at the side of his face.

Finally Gullin looked at him, taken aback - by his tone or words, Lissan wasn’t sure. Maybe Lissan shouldn’t have shouted like this, but hell, nothing else was getting through to him. Gullin’s mouth opened then closed again. The wind picked up, cold and ragged. Go on, scream at me, Lissan wanted to say. Tell me what you really think. Gullin’s hands balled into fists; Lissan didn’t think that Gullin would punch him, but if he did, so be it.

Gullin looked away again. Damn it.

“You’ve known him for decades, so I thought fuck it, I should trust you two to work it out between yourselves. I’m now realising: no, that won’t happen. Because you’re an idiot!”

Gullin’s eyes flashed at the insult. Good.

“Lay off,” he warned in the tone of a senior officer expecting nothing but obedience.

“No.”

The wind was strong enough to make Lissan squint. He crossed his arms and faced Gullin straight on, keeping his shoulders squared. Gullin’s mouth twisted into a grimace.

“You’ve correctly observed that you’re butting in, and that this is between me and Ianim. So lay off.”

“But he keeps hurting you! Unintentionally. And I’m sure he’ll stop as soon as you tell him why. He’d want to. I mean, to stop and to learn that–” That what to Ianim sounded like utter misery was way more than Gullin could have dreamt of as a kid. That Ianim was so gratingly oblivious at times. “He’s the fucking Prince Successor! He shouldn’t be this oblivious, and you should stop enabling him!”

“No.” The gust of wind, laced with Gullin's energy, chilled Lissan to the bone. "Ianim believes that the world's beautiful. He'll look at the pitch-black sky and point out the one visible star, however dim. So you'll not say a word to him about this. You will let him be wrong. Do you understand?"

The wind pelted Lissan’s face with dust and grains of sand. The warning was about to become a threat. Lissan braced himself against it, but it was Gullin’s tone that made him pause. Elements, he’d meant every word, and Lissan didn’t dare to imagine how much it would break his heart, if Lissan went against his wishes.

“All right,” he conceded with a sigh. “I’ll agree on one condition.” Gullin glared. Lissan took the lack of protest as an agreement. “You can hide from him whatever you want, but you’ll always be honest with me.”

Gullin worked his jaw, still glaring. Lissan’s heart fell.

“Just… don’t lie to me?”

He waited with bated breath for a few more seconds. Gullin grabbed his wrist and shook it not at all gently.

“Deal.”

Days of Dusk taglist: @acertainmoshke