Three Sentence Ficathon Roundup 2

[mad_madam_m]

My second roundup post for 3SF! There's 24 ficlets this time around, although just nine fandoms, including two I've never written in before and one that not only have I never written in, I haven't actually seen the canon show! *gasps*

Tiger & Bunny

Barnaby/Kotetsu, Rumor Has It
Prompt: any, any, rumors

"So, Barnaby, are the rumors true?" the interviewer asked. "Do you have a special someone in your life? One of your fellow heroes?"

Barnaby's heart stopped. He and Kotetsu had been so careful since they'd decided not to come out with their relationship yet, but had someone seen something? He gave what he hoped was a careless smile. "I'm afraid I haven't heard any rumors recently. What are they saying now?"

"That you and Blue Rose are an item, of course!"

The wave of relief was so overwhelming that Barnaby laughed. "No. No, I can assure you, those rumors are absolutely false."

Someone special in his life, certainly, and one of his fellow heroes, yes, but apparently everybody was skipping over the most obvious person: the man who'd been his partner for years already.

Barnaby/Kotetsu, Kitty Cat
Prompt: Addams Family/any, any, other fandom character raised by the Addamses

Kotetsu stepped into the guest room where Bunny's aunt had put them for the weekend and nearly jumped right back out again. "What the hell is that?!"

Bunny brushed by him and picked up Kotetsu's bag. "That's Kitty Cat."

Kotetsu stared at the fuck-off giant lion lounging in the middle of the bed. "Kitty Cat?"

"He's Aunt Morticia's," Bunny said, like that was any kind of explanation.

He dropped onto the bed beside the lion and scratched behind its ears, and the lion closed its eyes and pressed its head almost entirely into Bunny's lap and started purring.

Kotetsu took a deep breath and mentally steeled himself for sharing a room with Bunny's childhood pet for the weekend, although a lion, a tiger, and a bunny were probably too much for one room. "Your aunt and uncle are really, really weird."

Bunny laughed. "You get used to it."

Barnaby/Kotetsu, I Don't Like Fire
Prompt: any, any, power outage

"There we go." Kotetsu set the candles on the coffee table, providing them a little circle of light in the living room. "The website said the power should be back on in a couple of hours, but...Bunny?"

Bunny was drawing into himself, his shoulders rigid. "It's fine," he said tightly, which told Kotetsu it wasn't fine at all. "I just...don't like fire."

Oh, hell. Kotetsu blew out the candles and pushed them all to the opposite end of the coffee table, as far from Bunny as possible; he'd put them away once the wax was solid. He dropped onto the couch beside Bunny and put an arm around his shoulders. "Eh, we don't need candles. This is more romantic anyway." He hesitated, and then added quietly, "Sorry, Bunny. I forgot."

Bunny climbed into his lap and then Kotetsu felt long fingers on his face, tilting his head up. "It's okay," Bunny whispered. "I know what your memory's like, old man."

Kotetsu made a token noise of protest and pulled Bunny into a long, slow kiss, running a hand up and down Bunny's back until he felt the last of the tension there melt away.

Barnaby/Kotetsu, Trust
Prompt: any, any, "someone has to be the first to trust"

"After our first mission?" Barnaby sat straight up in bed, unable to believe what he'd heard. "That early? You...why?"

I was awful to you, he didn't say, because hell, if anybody knew that, it was Kotetsu.

Kotetsu reached over and took his hand. "You saved my daughter's life. You didn't arrest the kid when I asked you not to. You stayed back when I asked you to, let me give that kid a chance to be a hero. Even if you said it was for the points, even if it was partly for the points, even though we didn't get along...I knew I could trust you to do the right thing."

Barnaby absently rubbed his thumb over Kotetsu's hand. "I didn't know," he said quietly. "I didn't think you did, for the longest time."

"I know." Kotetsu pulled their hands to his mouth and kissed the back of Barnaby's. "I did a really bad job of showing you I trusted you. I'm trying to get better."

"You are," Barnaby said, and leaned over to kiss Kotetsu properly, this hopeless, ridiculous man who'd had his heart and his trust for so much longer than he wanted to admit.

Gen, Alone
Prompt: any, any, feeling alone

Kotetsu sat alone in the cable car, sipping a drink, doing his best to put the closing ceremony—the public mockery, the rankings, Ben's scolding, the new guy with the same damn powers as him—out of his mind.

If Tomoe were still here, she'd be waiting for him when he got home; she'd take his hands and tell him it was all right, that he was helping people and that was the most important thing, and to hell with everything else.

But she wasn't here, and he would go home to a dark, silent apartment like he had every night for the past five years, and he'd have to figure out a way to pull himself out of this black headspace alone.

He wasn't sure how much longer he could do this.

Barnaby/Kotetsu, Scarred
Prompt: Any, Any, the existential dread of finding a scar and not knowing how it got there

"I don't remember," Barnaby says tightly, his hand curling over the scar on his side, such a small thing and yet... "I don't—"

With anyone else, he would have to make something up or brush it off, hide the fact that he has so many moments like this, ones that leave him feeling unsettled in his own skin and distrustful of his own memories.

But Kotetsu only nods, an understanding look in his eyes, and slides his arm around Barnaby's shoulders to pull him close, anchoring him in the present just like he always does.

Barnaby/Kotetsu, Read the Manual
Prompt: any, any, fine print

Barnaby inhaled deeply, pressing his fingers to the bridge of his nose, and counted to five so he wouldn't start yelling.

"It's not my fault!" Kotetsu said before Barnaby could utter a word. "Saito modified the suit and didn't tell me!"

Barnaby grabbed a file out of his desk and slapped it into Kotetsu's chest. "Our suits come with an instruction manual, old man. Maybe you should read it sometime."

Gen, Talking
Prompt: Any, any character who clearly needs therapy, they actually get therapy omg

Barnaby glanced out the window over the city. "I don't understand why you're asking me why I'm here. I'm sure you can guess."

"I can't, actually," the doctor said with a small smile. "I'm a therapist, not a psychic."

Barnaby huffed. "It might make things easier if you were."

"Well," she crossed her legs and leaned back in her chair, "until that happens, why don't we just try talking the old-fashioned way?"

Karina/Pao-lin, Blue Roses for Blue Rose
Prompt: any, any, unusual roses

Karina gasped at the bouquet. "You found blue roses?!"

Pao-lin ducked her head and rubbed the back of her neck. "Well, they're not real blue roses—those don't exist—so technically they're white roses dyed blue, but I saw them at the flower stall and I hoped you might like them? Since, you know..." She waved her hand over Karina.

Karina gently touched the soft petals, and then impulsively kissed Pao-lin on the cheek. "They're perfect."

Castlevania (Netflix)

Trevor/Alucard, A Lack of Hygiene
Prompt: any, any, tangled hair

"What was the last time you bothered to wash your hair?" Alucard muttered, gingerly poking at the tangled mats on the back of Trevor's head.

Trevor batted his hand away. "I'm so sorry our daily routine of fighting demons and running for our lives doesn't give me enough time to keep my hair groomed to your exacting standards."

Alucard rolled his eyes and stopped his inspection. "The day you discover basic hygiene will be a cold day in hell indeed."

Trevor/Alucard, Fast Enough
Prompt: any, any, "it looks worse than it is"

Trevor coughed, blood staining his teeth red. "It looks worse than it is. I'll be fine."

Alucard shared a tense look with Sypha, who sat on Trevor's other side, trying as Alucard was to staunch the blood. "No, Belmont, I can assure you, it is absolutely as bad as it looks."

"How fast can you get us back?" Sypha asked softly.

Alucard considered the distance to the castle and his own speed, and then threw the considerations out the window because there was only one answer. "Fast enough."

Trevor/Alucard, Forgetting
Prompt: Any, any, Why the hell are you awake!?

"Because every time I close my eyes, I see my mother burning alive or me stabbing my father in the heart," Alucard snapped. "Why the hell are you awake, Belmont?"

Trevor very carefully took a seat beside Alucard; he had been drinking for a while and everything was wobbly. "Because being so close to my home has me remembering things I spent a lot of time forgetting." He held out the bottle of wine he'd swiped. "This helps with the forgetting."

Alucard hesitated only a second before taking the proffered bottle and downing half of it in one go.

Voltron: Legendary Defender

Keith/Shiro, Historical Romance
Prompt: Voltron Legendary Defender, Keith/Shiro, romance novel AU

"Keith, isn't that...?"

Keith followed Hunk's gaze and his heart stopped. Shiro strode into the ballroom, the medals on his uniform gleaming in the light of the gas lanterns, the right sleeve of his jacket pinned up neatly. At least half the ballroom gasped, and the footman announcing each of the attendees faltered mid-word.

He's alive, was all Keith could think, the words thrumming steadily under the roar of blood in his ears.

Hunk touched his arm. "Go on, go get your man."

Keith/Shiro, Bedtime Stories
Prompt: Voltron Legendary Defender, Keith/Shiro, the kind of bedtime stories their kid(s?) gets

"So after the spaceship crashed, I broke into the high-security offsite military facility they'd set up around it and knocked all the guards unconscious, and that was when I found your daddy—"

"Keith," Shiro cut in, eyeing the way their kids were clinging to his every word with a mixture of fear and anticipation. "Maybe a different story? Like one that doesn't revolve around you breaking into Garrison property?"

Keith frowned. "Oh. Right. Hey, so do you two want to hear about how Daddy and Papa got the Red Lion back from the Galra?"

Shiro facepalmed.

Keith/Shiro, Engaged
Prompt: Any, any, 'anyway, long story short, we're engaged now.'

"Keith's joking." Shiro had to shout to be heard over Lance, Allura, and Coran. Hunk and Pidge were only a fraction quieter. "He's joking. We're not actually engaged."

He met Keith's eyes and winked. "We're married."

The renewed yelling was one hundred percent worth it.

Leverage

Gen, Rude Customer
Prompt: Leverage, Eliot, his protective instinct keeps kicking in

Alec wove through the crowd in the pub to the asshole currently berating one of their best servers. "Sir, you need to leave."

The guy turned around and snarled, "What, before you call the cops? You think I'm scared of them?"

"No." Alec hooked his thumb over his shoulder, where Eliot was already stomping out of the kitchen, murder in his eyes. "But I think you're about to be terrified of our chef."

Parker/Eliot/Hardison, Spencer's Coffee
Prompt: any, any, coffee shop on a space station AU

"Okay, so, this guy's a real piece of work. He's got a dozen shell companies, most of which are running weapons across half the damn galaxy."

Parker leaned over Hardison's shoulder, looking at the data scrolling across the screen. "We're going to take him down."

"You got a plan for that just yet, baby girl?" Hardison asked.

A commotion from behind the counter of Spencer's Coffee (owned by Leverage Holdings, LLC—well, once you dug deep enough, anyway) interrupted them, and they looked up to see Eliot hauling out two aliens by their ears. At least, Parker assumed it was their ears; she didn't recognize the species.

Eliot tossed the both of them out of the shop and into the station's concourse. "If I ever catch you sniffing around after them again, I'm gonna break every bone in your bodies."

One of the aliens protested.

"Then I'll find something else to break!" Eliot shouted. "They've told you a dozen times they're not interested. Now out."

Hardison raised an eyebrow. "Everything cool?"

Eliot tied his hair back out of his face. "Yeah. Everything's fine. You guys need me yet?"

Parker shook her head. "Not yet. Soon, though."

"Good, it'll give me time to get these muffins in the oven."

Parker grinned; running Leverage out of a coffee shop had been the best idea. She turned back to Hardison. "Now, where were we?"

Gen, A Way Out
Prompt: Any, any, the only person with any damn sense.

Parker's eyes lit up. "I've got a way out!"

Eliot groaned; he knew where this was going. "Parker, no, wait for—"

But Parker was already running to the edge of the building, screaming in glee right before she swan-dived over the side of the roof.

Man from U.N.C.L.E.

Gen, It Doesn't Have to Match
Prompt: Man from UNCLE (2015), Illya, Gabby, Napoleon, clothes shopping

"Cowboy, I have told you a dozen times, that tie does not suit that vest."

"Peril, do you really think I don't know how to put together a suit? This tie is fine; it's your belt that's a travesty."

Gabby slipped away from them and grabbed the first clerk she saw. "Hi, excuse me. Do you happen to know if there's a liquor store nearby?"

The woman drew back, blinked. "A liquor store?"

Gabby nodded back to Illya and Solo, who were still on about the tie. "Trust me. If you want them out of here in the next hour, we're going to need some vodka."

Behind her, Illya started swearing in Russian.

Gabby forced a smile to her face. "Make that a lot of vodka."

Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries

Jack/Phryne, Protection
Prompt: Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries, any, “speak softly and carry a sharp stick” could be translated as “meet me at the speakeasy and bring a knife,” right?

Jack took a deep breath to steel himself for an answer that he very much did not want to hear, and yet he still had to ask the question. "Miss Fisher, dare I ask what you're doing at the speakeasy with a knife?"

Phryne—Miss Fisher flashed him that bright smile. "Because they don't allow guns at the speakeasy, Jack, and I needed some way of protecting myself from any potential assailants."

"Is it really you that needs the protection?" Jack asked, and Phryne threw back her head and laughed.

Good Omens

Aziraphale/Crowley, Sway
Prompt: any, any, dance with me

"I can't dance, angel," Crowley protested. "Unless you want to disco."

"But it's a very simple dance, Crowley." Aziraphale looked at him with wide, pleading eyes. "All you have to do is hold each other and sway."

Really, at this point, Crowley had realized he couldn't say no to that face (or his desire to be close to Aziraphale), so he sighed and rolled up off the couch to hold his angel and sway.

Aziraphale/Crowley, Carmen
Prompt: Any, any, ways to pass time when you’re immortal

Aziraphale pouted. "Oh, but they're doing Carmen again this weekend!"

Crowley sighed. "Aziraphale, we saw it last month. And the month before that. And several times a year before that, for several years before that, all the way back to the 1950s. And I know for a fact you were at the premiere in Paris in 1875!"

"But the music is just wonderful." Aziraphale turned wide, pleading eyes on Crowley. "And the costumes are glorious and this is a production we haven't seen before. Besides, don't you just love 'Votre toast, je peux vous le rendre'? And 'L'amour est un oiseau rebelle'?*"

Six thousand years of knowing each other, and Crowley had yet to develop the ability to say no to Aziraphale when he looked like that. "Oh, fine, I'll get us tickets."

Teen Wolf

Gen, A Good Start
Prompt: Any, any, making amends

"I'm sorry," Allison said tightly. "I know it's not enough, I know I can't make up for it, but...I really am sorry."

Erica's first instinct was to walk away; there were some things you couldn't come back from and as far as she was concerned, a barrage of arrows was one of them. But they were trying to be a pack now, trying to make amends, and...

With a sideways glance at Boyd, Erica cautiously held out her hand. "You're right. You can't make up for it," she said to Allison. "But trying is a good start."

Gen, Arrows
Prompt: Any, any, a better archer than Cupid

Stiles scrambled backward and stumbled over a tree branch, convinced this was his last 15 seconds on Earth.

Suddenly, all three werewolves chasing him jerked and dropped like rocks, each with an arrow sticking out of their throat.

"Allison, I love you so much I could marry you right now," he called behind him.

She ran past him and fired another arrow, taking down a fourth rogue wolf without breaking a sweat. "Sorry, I'm already engaged."

Gargoyles

Gen, Assumptions
Prompt: Any, any villain, "do you really believe everything you're told?"

"Stop covering for him!" Detective Maza slammed her hands on the desk. "I know that Xanatos is involved, and—"

"You do not know that," Owen cut in icily, stopping the rant in its tracks. "You assume, because that is what your friends have told you is the case."

Detective Maza stared at him, for once apparently speechless. Would wonders never cease.

Owen fixed the papers that had been displaced by her outburst and pushed his glasses back up his nose. "I know this will shock you, detective, but Mr. Xanatos is not always on the side of wrong. And your gargoyle friends are not always on the side of right." He stood and collected his briefcase. "I have a meeting. Please see yourself out."