Slowly

Date/Timing: 12 January 2007
Setting: outside Berlin, Germany
.
Hermann bounces his heel on the floor of the hire car's backseat.
„You're off-beat, Manny.“
Hermann huffs, forces his foot still.
Dee catches his eye in the rear-view mirror. „We'll be there soon.“
Hermann takes a deep breath, tugs at his cuffs.
Bastien asks, „Do they still itch?“
Hermann startles—„No.“—sits on his hands.
The car takes a banked turn as the traffic thins out.
„You're doing it again,“ whispers Bastien.
Hermann stops, presses his forehead to the window, watches the countryside flow by.
Soon enough, Dee pulls them into a lay-by at the edge of a large park.
Hermann gets his door open—
Sabine's out, quilts under her arm, and heads across the grass at a jog. „I'll find us the best spot~!“
„Don't go too far!“ calls Dee.
„„I won't~!““ She vanishes from sight.
Hermann levers himself to his feet, grimaces at the stiffness in his knee, limps in pursuit of Sabine.
Dee falls into step on one side, Bastien on the other.
Hermann grits his teeth, increases his pace.
„You don't have to—“
„I don't want to waste time.“
Dee sighs as they crest a little rise.
Sabine, at the front edge of the ridge, lays out one quilt, then a second atop it.
Even so, the ground is cold under his bum after Hermann lowers himself to sitting.
Bastien tucks up against his side—he's so /warm; Dee floats a third quilt down over their legs.
„Thank you,“ murmurs Hermann, tugging it up to his chin, digging his arms underneath it.
Dee settles in on his other side—he's /warm, too, and Sabine's beyond him—and Hermann sighs.
„Ohmy/God it's /bright!“ squeaks Bastien, pointing.
„Because the city lights aren't blunting it.“ Hermann tilts his head back, soaks in the sweep of the sky and the thousands of stars in his vision.
A wing twitches and he doesn't care.
„It's magnificent. The brightest comet to visit in our lives so far.“
„Cool,“ breathes Bastien.
„It'll probably be /the brightest comet of our lifetimes.“
„Whoa, really?“
Hermann hums an affirmative, then sighs.
Dee says, „He's watching—“
„Of course he is,“ sniffs Hermann. „He's probably pitched a tent on Ben Lomond to get as close to it as he can.“
„On who now?“
„It's a mountain. 'Ben's a corruption of the Gaelic word for 'mountain'.“
Bastien rubs the back of his neck. „Oh, uh, sorry.“
Hermann takes a deep breath, exhales through his nose. „It's alright. I'm apparently more on edge than I thought.“
„Because you miss him.“
Hermann pretends not to hear.
„Manny?“
„We should be together for this,“ Hermann mumbles. „This is the sort of thing I've always dreamed of sharing with a partner and to come so /close and to lose ....“
Bastien presses himself tighter against Hermann. „You haven't lost, you know.“ Nudges his ribs. „You're winning, really slowly.“
Hermann snorts a laugh. „I suppose we are.“ Bumps Bastien's side. „Thanks for pointing it out.“
„You're welcome.“
„Now that you have my priorities properly aligned, let's enjoy the comet of a lifetime.“
„Let's!“
Category:Ficlet
Category:Berlin (setting)
Category:Hermann
Category:Hermann's POV
Category:Hermann has wings
Category:Hermann (ficlet)
Category:Dietrich
Category:Dietrich's POV
Category:Sabine
Category:Sabine (ficlet)
Category:Bastien
Category:Bastien (ficlet)
Category:Edan
Category:Ficlets with images
2007 01 12
Category:Celestial Mechanics
Category:Pages with comments