Meme Ficlet Again
May. 16th, 2006 06:25 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dethoratsTitle: Dominance
Rating: PG
Pairing: Hina/Robin
Word Count: 857
Note: Per Request
The sound of heels, footsteps measured in staccato beats against the metal decking, was enough to rouse the captive in her cell. Reliant now on only a single pair of arms, of ears, of eyes, Nico Robin lifted her head from her breast in a slow motion of gathered defiance; a well practiced half-smile graced her lips as she watched the door and waited for the jailer she could hear to put in an appearance. The constricting, ebbing tug of seastone bound about her wrists, ankles, and neck was like a constant ache and a reminder that her body was no longer her own to command but she was not entirely helpless. The marines and their draining, controlling shackles could strip her of nearly everything but they could not take her mind unless she allowed it. And that was precisely what her captor would seek once again to do.
A faint rustle of clothing and the sharp, pungent smell of smoke preceded the marine’s entrance by scant seconds. Hina tugged briefly at the hem of her shirt, smoothed gloved hands over impeccably pressed slacks. The criminal waiting just out of sight in the back corner of her cell was sharp and clever. She’d been broken before and healed; mental wounds scarred over in some cases and lovingly tended to in others. This woman would not crumble or fall before the same tricks that worked so well on other captives and she did not have the leverage of her nakama to use against her. It was a challenge that was chained behind the door and it was one the captain intended to meet and overcome.
Once again there were no weapons in the gloved hands, no sign of torture implements given away as a bump or crease beneath skin-tight fabric. Only blue eyes, icy-hard with resolve and determination and glinting with undisguised intelligence and a smile small and artless enough to match her own; Nico Robin studied Hina calmly and ignored the barest quail of her heart. She was stronger than this woman, tougher and her mind more nimble. She would not break just because her interrogator was smart enough to know better than to use physical means to get what she wanted.
Silence stretched between them, gazes meeting and smiles unwavering as they stared each other down. The cigarette between two slender, leather-covered fingers smoldered and evolved into ashes, nearly burnt itself out until the corners of one pink-painted mouth quirked upward into a broad grin. Hina ground her neglected smoke out beneath her heel while Robin observed and wondered if this was yet another mind game.
It was the defiance hidden so well beneath that cool exterior that gave the captain the clue she thought she needed. If there was a truth to be found in the convoluted, violent life of Nico Robin, it was that she had had been alone for most of it. She had raised herself and taught herself and saved herself and done everything in her own power until the day she met with one notorious young pirate captain. Used to relying only on herself, even her time with the Straw Hats had not been enough to cure her entirely of that streak of independence. The younger woman knew nothing of following any order but her own, having followed them in the past only because it was a part of her own purpose. She would learn what it meant to give up control, all of it. Hina was an expert at control and even better at influence.
The marine stepped forward, every ounce of her now oozing self-confidence, and Robin barely managed not to waver in her stance. It was just another ploy, another psychological tactic meant to trick her. The leather was surprisingly warm against her cheek when Hina traced a finger delicately across it. She didn’t flinch away, though, nor lean into it nor spit nor flail nor anything else a prisoner was supposed to do. She was still and unmoving, the sphinx smile still hovering on her face. The captain’s breath was fragrant with smoke and mint as she finally broke the silence and spoke.
“You are good, Nico Robin, but Hina is better. There is a strength to be found in being led, different from what lies within, but not lesser.”
Enigmatic words to go with knowing eyes and a sly expression. Robin’s smile remained but it was wooden now, presented itself as false in the light of her confusion and Hina’s recent understanding. Still as stone the prisoner sat whilst the jailer bent forward to touch her lips to a pale, unwrinkled brow. And then Hina straightened and turned, leaving without another word or backwards glance. Robin slumped as soon as the door closed with its usual hollow echo of finality. It wasn’t the kiss nor the words that made her draw her weak and shaking knees to her chest. It was the feeling behind them, a strange mingling of affection and a sentiment her mind could only decide to call maternal. And Robin knew in an intense moment of frightened clarity that Hina would ultimately win.
Rating: PG
Pairing: Hina/Robin
Word Count: 857
Note: Per Request
The sound of heels, footsteps measured in staccato beats against the metal decking, was enough to rouse the captive in her cell. Reliant now on only a single pair of arms, of ears, of eyes, Nico Robin lifted her head from her breast in a slow motion of gathered defiance; a well practiced half-smile graced her lips as she watched the door and waited for the jailer she could hear to put in an appearance. The constricting, ebbing tug of seastone bound about her wrists, ankles, and neck was like a constant ache and a reminder that her body was no longer her own to command but she was not entirely helpless. The marines and their draining, controlling shackles could strip her of nearly everything but they could not take her mind unless she allowed it. And that was precisely what her captor would seek once again to do.
A faint rustle of clothing and the sharp, pungent smell of smoke preceded the marine’s entrance by scant seconds. Hina tugged briefly at the hem of her shirt, smoothed gloved hands over impeccably pressed slacks. The criminal waiting just out of sight in the back corner of her cell was sharp and clever. She’d been broken before and healed; mental wounds scarred over in some cases and lovingly tended to in others. This woman would not crumble or fall before the same tricks that worked so well on other captives and she did not have the leverage of her nakama to use against her. It was a challenge that was chained behind the door and it was one the captain intended to meet and overcome.
Once again there were no weapons in the gloved hands, no sign of torture implements given away as a bump or crease beneath skin-tight fabric. Only blue eyes, icy-hard with resolve and determination and glinting with undisguised intelligence and a smile small and artless enough to match her own; Nico Robin studied Hina calmly and ignored the barest quail of her heart. She was stronger than this woman, tougher and her mind more nimble. She would not break just because her interrogator was smart enough to know better than to use physical means to get what she wanted.
Silence stretched between them, gazes meeting and smiles unwavering as they stared each other down. The cigarette between two slender, leather-covered fingers smoldered and evolved into ashes, nearly burnt itself out until the corners of one pink-painted mouth quirked upward into a broad grin. Hina ground her neglected smoke out beneath her heel while Robin observed and wondered if this was yet another mind game.
It was the defiance hidden so well beneath that cool exterior that gave the captain the clue she thought she needed. If there was a truth to be found in the convoluted, violent life of Nico Robin, it was that she had had been alone for most of it. She had raised herself and taught herself and saved herself and done everything in her own power until the day she met with one notorious young pirate captain. Used to relying only on herself, even her time with the Straw Hats had not been enough to cure her entirely of that streak of independence. The younger woman knew nothing of following any order but her own, having followed them in the past only because it was a part of her own purpose. She would learn what it meant to give up control, all of it. Hina was an expert at control and even better at influence.
The marine stepped forward, every ounce of her now oozing self-confidence, and Robin barely managed not to waver in her stance. It was just another ploy, another psychological tactic meant to trick her. The leather was surprisingly warm against her cheek when Hina traced a finger delicately across it. She didn’t flinch away, though, nor lean into it nor spit nor flail nor anything else a prisoner was supposed to do. She was still and unmoving, the sphinx smile still hovering on her face. The captain’s breath was fragrant with smoke and mint as she finally broke the silence and spoke.
“You are good, Nico Robin, but Hina is better. There is a strength to be found in being led, different from what lies within, but not lesser.”
Enigmatic words to go with knowing eyes and a sly expression. Robin’s smile remained but it was wooden now, presented itself as false in the light of her confusion and Hina’s recent understanding. Still as stone the prisoner sat whilst the jailer bent forward to touch her lips to a pale, unwrinkled brow. And then Hina straightened and turned, leaving without another word or backwards glance. Robin slumped as soon as the door closed with its usual hollow echo of finality. It wasn’t the kiss nor the words that made her draw her weak and shaking knees to her chest. It was the feeling behind them, a strange mingling of affection and a sentiment her mind could only decide to call maternal. And Robin knew in an intense moment of frightened clarity that Hina would ultimately win.
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no subject
Date: 2006-05-17 03:02 pm (UTC)“You are good, Nico Robin, but Hina is better. There is a strength to be found in being led, different from what lies within, but not lesser.” And that as well. God, Em. You just have such a way with words.
It was the feeling behind them, a strange mingling of affection and a sentiment her mind could only decide to call maternal. And Robin knew in an intense moment of frightened clarity that Hina would ultimately win. For Robin, with the life she's had, this truly might be what would end up breaking her.
*loves*
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Date: 2008-08-28 06:31 am (UTC)