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[DMBJ novels] Behind the Door (snippet)
Oct. 15th, 2021 11:32 pmOK, I know it’s stupid late to be posting a fic snippet, and it's been a very long time since I've posted fic from this blog, but I need to do something to make myself feel better and tumblr is... let's just say I'm not trusting them to protect my stuff at the moment, so here we are. Hopefully people will find it?
This snippet takes place during the last chapters of “Ten Years Later” and will eventually follow the Iron Triangle as they recover from that separation. Enjoy? ^_^ (And yes, the below gif is mine; I did not repost it. I’m just... hopefully temporarily locked out of my main blog. :P)
"What will you do? When this is all over?"
Pangzi turned his head, catching just a glimpse of the man sitting beside him. Pangzi didn't need more than that to know that he had his attention. "Will you go back to the life you knew before? Always chasing the next tomb, the next mystery?" He bumped their shoulders together. "Or do you think you'll be ready to try something new?"
"Something new…?"
Pangzi nodded. "He's going to need time when he comes out. Time to readjust. To remember what it's like to be human and not… whatever it is that he became…"
"Behind the doors."
A soft sigh. "Yeah. We can't expect him to just pick up and go haring off into tombs with us again without missing a beat. Even he may not bounce back from 10 years of solitary confinement so quickly. So what will you do? Leave him somewhere to work it out for himself while you go off having adventures? Or…"
The barest quirk of lips gave him away long before the words emerged. "Or try something new."
A quiet laugh followed those words—breathless, almost mirthless—but it cheered Pangzi to hear it just the same. It had been a long time since he'd heard his friend laugh, seen him smile. The journey up the mountain had taken its toll on all of them, even him. Pangzi nudged his shoulder again. "Well?"
A deep breath, only slowly released, and with it, much of the tension in that lithe frame eased. That tiny quirk of a smile widened, just a hint, just enough. "Would it be premature to retire at my age?"
( The rest behind a cut so I don't kill anyone's reading page... )
This snippet takes place during the last chapters of “Ten Years Later” and will eventually follow the Iron Triangle as they recover from that separation. Enjoy? ^_^ (And yes, the below gif is mine; I did not repost it. I’m just... hopefully temporarily locked out of my main blog. :P)
"What will you do? When this is all over?"
Pangzi turned his head, catching just a glimpse of the man sitting beside him. Pangzi didn't need more than that to know that he had his attention. "Will you go back to the life you knew before? Always chasing the next tomb, the next mystery?" He bumped their shoulders together. "Or do you think you'll be ready to try something new?"
"Something new…?"
Pangzi nodded. "He's going to need time when he comes out. Time to readjust. To remember what it's like to be human and not… whatever it is that he became…"
"Behind the doors."
A soft sigh. "Yeah. We can't expect him to just pick up and go haring off into tombs with us again without missing a beat. Even he may not bounce back from 10 years of solitary confinement so quickly. So what will you do? Leave him somewhere to work it out for himself while you go off having adventures? Or…"
The barest quirk of lips gave him away long before the words emerged. "Or try something new."
A quiet laugh followed those words—breathless, almost mirthless—but it cheered Pangzi to hear it just the same. It had been a long time since he'd heard his friend laugh, seen him smile. The journey up the mountain had taken its toll on all of them, even him. Pangzi nudged his shoulder again. "Well?"
A deep breath, only slowly released, and with it, much of the tension in that lithe frame eased. That tiny quirk of a smile widened, just a hint, just enough. "Would it be premature to retire at my age?"
( The rest behind a cut so I don't kill anyone's reading page... )
