[Baccano!] Refuge in Audacity (~600)
Jul. 21st, 2009 12:48 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
joiedecombatMore Luck/Eve while I am on a roll. No sex this time.
This will possibly end up as part of Fortune Favors the Brave, because, well.
omg I love them so much
----
The bullet plinks on the floor at Luck's feet, the sound of it disproportionately loud in the echoing space of the warehouse. There is a bullet hole in the shoulder of his jacket, and there are half a dozen guns pointed at him in the hands of half a dozen tense and wary men, and the air around him seems drawn so tight that he can almost hear it humming, but even so Luck can't bring himself to feel more than a weary resignation.
This is going to be messy, he thinks, but before anyone can make a move, a clear feminine voice breaks the tension like the chime of a bell: "Excuse me."
And there she is, small and neat and pretty and entirely out of place in the midst of all these dangerous men in this filthy warehouse. "I'm here to collect my husband," Eve says, and wearing her composure like a fur coat she walks towards him, ignoring the guns as though she knows no one will dare shoot.
He'd almost like to just stand back and enjoy the dumbfounded and mostly reflexive way the men part to let her by, but she's protected by nothing more than sheer audacity, by the fact that the past few seconds have gone so wildly off script that nobody is quite sure what's just happened or what to do about it. If her poise falters, if even one man recovers enough to regain a little confidence, the spell will break.
He very much doubts men like these have any particular scruples about harming a young woman. She'll be lucky to die quickly.
So as she comes nearer Luck holds out his hand to her. "Eve," he says, calm and gracious and unconcerned. "What are you doing here?"
She places her hand in its clean white glove lightly upon his and smiles up at him. "You were taking too long."
"Was I? My apologies."
He takes up her arm in his, feeling as he does how her pulse flutters in her wrist where it rests against the heel of his hand, like a moth trapped in a lamp.
They begin to walk out together.
Out of the corner of his eye Luck can see one of the men make as if to move, and he draws himself taut, surreptitiously gauging the remaining distance towards the exit and their chances if he makes a rush for it. But the spell does not break. Outside there is a car waiting; he helps Eve into it politely and with a trace of bemusement recognizes one of his own people behind the wheel.
He's going to have to have a talk with the man about just who he takes orders from, Luck reflects. But that's for later. For now, as the car rumbles away from the curb, he looks to Eve. "If you ever do anything like that again," he says mildly, "our business arrangement is over."
She starts a little, but lifts her chin in polite defiance. "Even so, I won't apologize."
He regards her for a moment, then lets it go, sitting back against the seat. Beside him, the breath goes out of her in a shaky little sigh; he leans his head back and closes his eyes as the car motors steadily along. Really, it was an incredibly foolish thing for her to do, but he can at least admire that she did it with such conviction.
A thought occurs to him and he sits up a little to look towards her again, brows lifting. "Your husband?"
"Ah," she says, and blushes charmingly. "It seemed like the best thing to say at the time."
Luck smiles a little and settles back against the seat again. "Ah."
----
This flurry of fic inspiration is brought to you mostly courtesy of my finally finding an online translation of the epilogue of Drugs & Dominoes, which has further cemented my love for this pairing forever.
Summed up: after regaining consciousness from his bout of Post Dramatic Stress Disorder, Luck gives Eve the location where they dumped Dallas. But does not actually tell her 'fine go get him,' because that would be too easy. Instead he says 'if you ever feel like his suffering has been enough to make up for my anger, then do what you want, and don't say anything else because whether you thank me or curse me it's just going to make me mad,' and then he goes home and broods about it a lot.
And Eve goes home and frets about how if she rescues Dallas it might hurt Luck.
o-otpppp
Apparently she does eventually turn Dallas into a decent human being, too.
This will possibly end up as part of Fortune Favors the Brave, because, well.
omg I love them so much
----
The bullet plinks on the floor at Luck's feet, the sound of it disproportionately loud in the echoing space of the warehouse. There is a bullet hole in the shoulder of his jacket, and there are half a dozen guns pointed at him in the hands of half a dozen tense and wary men, and the air around him seems drawn so tight that he can almost hear it humming, but even so Luck can't bring himself to feel more than a weary resignation.
This is going to be messy, he thinks, but before anyone can make a move, a clear feminine voice breaks the tension like the chime of a bell: "Excuse me."
And there she is, small and neat and pretty and entirely out of place in the midst of all these dangerous men in this filthy warehouse. "I'm here to collect my husband," Eve says, and wearing her composure like a fur coat she walks towards him, ignoring the guns as though she knows no one will dare shoot.
He'd almost like to just stand back and enjoy the dumbfounded and mostly reflexive way the men part to let her by, but she's protected by nothing more than sheer audacity, by the fact that the past few seconds have gone so wildly off script that nobody is quite sure what's just happened or what to do about it. If her poise falters, if even one man recovers enough to regain a little confidence, the spell will break.
He very much doubts men like these have any particular scruples about harming a young woman. She'll be lucky to die quickly.
So as she comes nearer Luck holds out his hand to her. "Eve," he says, calm and gracious and unconcerned. "What are you doing here?"
She places her hand in its clean white glove lightly upon his and smiles up at him. "You were taking too long."
"Was I? My apologies."
He takes up her arm in his, feeling as he does how her pulse flutters in her wrist where it rests against the heel of his hand, like a moth trapped in a lamp.
They begin to walk out together.
Out of the corner of his eye Luck can see one of the men make as if to move, and he draws himself taut, surreptitiously gauging the remaining distance towards the exit and their chances if he makes a rush for it. But the spell does not break. Outside there is a car waiting; he helps Eve into it politely and with a trace of bemusement recognizes one of his own people behind the wheel.
He's going to have to have a talk with the man about just who he takes orders from, Luck reflects. But that's for later. For now, as the car rumbles away from the curb, he looks to Eve. "If you ever do anything like that again," he says mildly, "our business arrangement is over."
She starts a little, but lifts her chin in polite defiance. "Even so, I won't apologize."
He regards her for a moment, then lets it go, sitting back against the seat. Beside him, the breath goes out of her in a shaky little sigh; he leans his head back and closes his eyes as the car motors steadily along. Really, it was an incredibly foolish thing for her to do, but he can at least admire that she did it with such conviction.
A thought occurs to him and he sits up a little to look towards her again, brows lifting. "Your husband?"
"Ah," she says, and blushes charmingly. "It seemed like the best thing to say at the time."
Luck smiles a little and settles back against the seat again. "Ah."
----
This flurry of fic inspiration is brought to you mostly courtesy of my finally finding an online translation of the epilogue of Drugs & Dominoes, which has further cemented my love for this pairing forever.
Summed up: after regaining consciousness from his bout of Post Dramatic Stress Disorder, Luck gives Eve the location where they dumped Dallas. But does not actually tell her 'fine go get him,' because that would be too easy. Instead he says 'if you ever feel like his suffering has been enough to make up for my anger, then do what you want, and don't say anything else because whether you thank me or curse me it's just going to make me mad,' and then he goes home and broods about it a lot.
And Eve goes home and frets about how if she rescues Dallas it might hurt Luck.
o-otpppp
Apparently she does eventually turn Dallas into a decent human being, too.
