You're playing yourself now...

"Territorial Rights" — Hiruma/Kyouya

2007-03-05T10:18:08Z

Title: Territorial Rights
Fandom: Ouran High School Host Club/Eyeshield 21
Pairing: Sort of-sort of-sort of Hiruma/Kyouya? Why yes, I do have a new OTP, why do you ask? It's mostly just Kyouya being a bastard in this one, though. ♥
Rating: PG? PG-13? It's Hiruma, you know there's gonna be at least one bad word.
Disclaimer: Ouran High School Host Club and all its ideas and characters belong to Bisco Hatori. Similarly, Eyeshield 21 et all belong to Riichiro Inagaki and Yusuke Murata.

Summary/Notes: People talk about them, and not only out of fear. Random short drabble written for Word #4 at 15_minute_fic.

And yes, Eyeshield 21 is one of my new pet fandoms. Also, I'm apparently never going to stop the weird crossover pairings, and Ouran is officially the coolest thing to cross over with anything ever.

It was strange that the whole school was terrified of them; Kyouya wasn't used to the level of terror, Hiruma wasn't used to the them. But it was undeniable. The two young men just being in the same room was enough to cause some of the more delicate students to whimper in fear or flee the room entirely.

There was certainly a lot of whispering, anyway. Hiruma seemed to be used to that, but Kyouya felt strangely like one of the twins. And then he wondered where on earth that comparison had come from.

Right now the music room (third floor, sometimes various members of the club went to the wrong floor just out of confusion still) was bustling with its mild, orderly insanity, girls squealing over Hunny and the twins' crowd playing the Which One's Hikaru-kun Game and Tamaki just being Tamaki. Haruhi was not involved in Tamaki's antics this time, thankfully... he could tell just by listening, because with Haruhi involved their thrice-proclaimed king would be three levels louder. At least.

He could tell without looking, too, when the demonic quarterback entered the room, as the volume level dropped considerably for a few seconds before starting back up again in earnest and--yes--there was that whispering. And whimpering, as some of the girls were obviously wondering if Hiruma was going to shoot up the room. Again. They were doing so for good reason, and Kyouya was wondering the same thing, really, though with significantly less whimpering and significantly more financial calculations.

"Hello, Sena, Hiruma-senpai." "Ah, Haruhi-senpai, hi..." Sena was with him, Kyouya noted, not looking yet, not looking up from his clipboard. No one else, because Haruhi was polite and would have greeted them as well, but also because the more people from the team that were in one place, the louder they would be. Sena was quiet.

"Hey there, fucking imposter." And it was a good thing no one really put that one together, Kyouya reflected. Hiruma had been able to tell right off the bat that Haruhi was female, but no one else had realized it yet, even with that nickname. It was a very good thing, because Kyouya hadn't been kidding about making Hiruma pay for it if he ever revealed anything from that little black book of his that would hurt the club, and following through on something like that would be difficult at best.

"Anou, Hiruma-senpai..." one of Haruhi's customers said hesitantly, and that was when Kyouya lowered his clipboard and started to move, "the game, it's this Saturday...?"

"That's right. And I have an idea... if you--"

"Ah, I'm sorry to interrupt," Kyouya interrupted, smiling a perfectly composed smile at the girls surrounding Haruhi (and now Hiruma and Sena). As they squeaked out no-that's-okays, he turned to Hiruma, letting his smile get exactly two degrees warmer. He noticed with some satisfaction the quarterback blink.

"Could you do something for me? I was thinking we could do a sports themed day, and if you could help us find uniforms in these measurements," pressing the clipboard into Hiruma's hands, still smiling in the face of his bemused expression, hearing the whole room hold its breath, "it would be very helpful.

"I'd appreciate it... Youichi-kun."

He brushed past the other boy, letting their arms bump softly. He heard two or three other 'bump's as a few of the girls fainted, smiling and glasses flashing as the whispers started up again in earnest. He could almost sense Hiruma's gathering explosion behind him, and paused.

"If you want to be here, you're going to have to work," he stated softly, for their hearing only since he knew Hiruma's hearing was good, repeating the football player's words from when their club had gone to a football practice back at him without even turning around.

As he started moving again, he heard a short giggle from Hiruma, and wondered how the next round would go.

...I feel my Kyouya-POV-fu is weak. :/

Well.

2007-02-25T08:34:13Z

I've moved out. I no longer live with my parents.

Noooot too much to say besides that. Um, wow, my life has turned into an adventure? But a mostly boring one, now. It's very quiet, even with a roomie. :|

Return of the Prodigal ffffiiiiinally

2006-10-10T06:54:05Z

Wtf my computer DIED.

Commoners don't get new computers at the same speed some may enjoy! And then I forgot all my passwords for about a week. Way to go, me.

So I'm back! And I might just have some new fandoms to get into, because having no computer = hanging around in the mall = hanging around in the bookstore = loitering around in the aisles of said bookstore and reading their manga. At least some good has come of this!

Edited for the most useless reason ever. That sentence sounds better with that word. The rhythm is nice. :( I need sleep but I'm never leaving this damn box again.

"Flash" — Crossover!Fic

2006-07-29T19:46:23Z

Another drabble. Boy, I actually seem to be getting somewhere with this series.

Title: Flash
Fandom: Crossover From Hell
Pairing: Perhaps hinted Baron/Haruhi (which is, strangely, not one of my pairings), hinted Kyouya/Haruhi and Tamaki/Haruhi. Haruhi's just huggable in this one.
Rating: G
Disclaimer: Ouran High School Host Club and all its ideas and characters belong to Bisco Hatori. Baron von Gikkingen belongs to Aoi Hiiragi as well as the Ghibli team. (Is that it for this one? That's it.)

Summary/Notes: Haruhi is afraid of storms, and von Gikkingen is there. Random short drabble written for Word #161 at 15minuteficlets: rescue.

The lightning lights up the sky, the windows, the room, and she stiffens, eyes widening and all conscious thought leaving them, replaced by the dull sheen of fear. Suddenly the tablecloth is being pulled off the table, and she is huddling against the wall, engulfed in the white sheet, letting out a whimper when the thunder crashes its natural accompaniment.

He approaches, cautiously; she is shivering, hidden entirely in the cloth, covering her body, her head, her face. He tries to make his presence known before touching her, and she doesn't quite stiffen, but her body halts in its quaking as if shocked from it.

"Haruhi?" he coaxes softly, and he can hear her shuddering breath through the cloth, and it shifts a little, so that she can peek out. There are unshed tears in her eyes, and she looks at him helplessly, too much afraid to even be embarrassed. He looks at her for a moment, then smiles, comforting, and reaches out a hand to touch her arm.

Another bright flash, and her eyes go even wider again, and she's in his arms, pressing against him and wrapping her own arms around him. This room, he thinks, has too many windows, and he takes advantage of this new closeness to lift her, picking her up and letting her cling to him. She's smaller than him, and he's always been stronger than he looks--it's no different, now that he's mostly human--and he carries her out of the room silently, settling her back to her feet in the dark hallway.

She looks up at him through the blanket, a little calmer now that they're away from the lightning, though still frightened. "I'm sorry," she says quietly, sounding miserable, and he smiles again.

"We can stay here until the storm is over," he offers, and she starts to nod, then looks past him.

He turns, too, and sees Kyouya standing there, and wonders briefly how the young man managed to get into the school after hours, but then gets rid of the thought: this is Kyouya, and nothing should be put past him. He nods, tipping his hat, and Kyouya nods back, smiling at Haruhi.

"I have a car waiting outside," he says smoothly. "We can drive you home."

She hesitates, then nods her assent, smiling a little as she says "okay."

Von Gikkingen watches them leave, tipping his hat back to its proper position, and wonders idly when Tamaki, too, will come skidding in for a belated rescue, and with a quirk to his lips decides to be somewhere else.

"The Club, And The People In It" — Crossover!Fic

2006-07-29T10:47:10Z

I'VE FIGURED OUT all the pairings that will end up being in my Crossover From Hell. I just kind of need to make note of them, so I don't forget.

Baron/Basil, Hikaru/Kaoru, and eventually Kyouya/Tamaki/Haruhi will be official. Mori/Hunny and Zorn/Thorn, ambiguously-close-friendships/brotherhoods will be hinted at. And mentions of past (and possibly future) Howl/Sophie, Captain/Schrödinger, and maybe slight Baron/Louise (and if you don't know who that is, watch Whisper of the Heart already!). Just as a note, I'm not going to bother listing any of the one-sided "pairings," because there's too damn many... and I find it inordinately amusing that I have a threesome and it doesn't involve either set of twins.

So the post isn't utterly useless, have a fic!

Title: The Club, And The People In It
Fandom: Crossover From Hell
Pairing: Slight Baron/Basil, with Howl/Sophie and possible Captain/Schrödinger mentioned. Also possibly ambiguous Zorn/Thorn. (Also, strangely enough, hinted Turnip (aka Prince Justin)/Sophie, what.)
Rating: G, maaaaybe PG
Disclaimer: Ouran High School Host Club and all its ideas and characters belong to Bisco Hatori. Howl belongs to Diana Wynne Jones; this particlar version of him belongs to Hayao Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli. Basil of Baker Street belongs to Eve Titus and Disney. Zorn and Thorn belong to Squaresoft. Baron von Gikkingen belongs to Aoi Hiiragi as well as the Ghibli team. Schrödinger belongs to Kouta Hirano.

Summary/Notes: A typical day for the new Host Club, and what they think of it, themselves, and each other. Written for Word #543 at daily15: outlet.

01. Prince
For Howl, what he's doing in the club is a harmless version of what he has been hurting girls with for years. That isn't the reason he's here, of course; he was pulled into it completely against his will, but he can't see a way back yet and he has nothing against the idea, nothing better to do. And he's good at it (they didn't say he ate girls' hearts for nothing, after all). An honest smile and a soft word can make a girl swoon, and he's perfected his smiles and his words, so they come to him as second nature, and he means them. Unlike his predecessor, he makes no false claims or promises; no words like "you're the only one" pass his lips, but the girls don't seem to care, taking what he says and does for granted and just for them.

"I don't know how to speak to boys," the girl he's with now is confessing. She looks embarrassed. "I'm not smart and I'm not very pretty..."

"Naoko," he chides, "you're beautiful." And he's telling the truth, so it doesn't come out sounding cliche, and she looks startled and embarrassed and very happy. And not only is he good at making girls happy, he likes doing it, really, likes brightening their day.

So the host smiles at his patron and compliments her, and she lowers her gaze and blushes prettily and thanks him, and he remembers another, in his eyes prettier, young girl that he loves. He wonders whether he's lost Sophie by now, with his absence; he remembers a few words, spoken by a Prince, about True Love, and he wonders if he would have lost her anyway, eventually; he smiles, and puts the wondering from his mind.

02. Cool
The club annoys Basil to no end, and what's even more annoying is that he's getting used to it.

It is nothing like what he's used to. The only people he can stand being near for any length of time are his housekeeper and his flatmate, and yet he speaks with and stays near these other "hosts" for the greater portion of every day. He is not entirely comfortable with touching and being touched by others, and he has never met anyone grabbier than that predator Schrödinger, or those Hitachiin twins for that matter. He would be the first to admit that he has little to no respect or fondness for the fairer sex, yet the entire point of the club is to make pointless small talk with females and give them flattery and "fanservice" (a word that, through Renge, he is learning to truly dislike).

Unfortunately, he's also developing a great deal of respect for Haruhi Fujioka. Fondness, even. And he's beginning to rather enjoy the company of the others (some of them, sometimes)--he gets a bit restless when he's alone here, and their presence is... calming. In a way.

He is also, he realizes, not entirely uncomfortable when it comes to physical contact. Not anymore. Howl keeps his hands to himself, the jesters are slight annoyances, Haruhi usually keeps her distance but it seems almost natural when she doesn't, Schrödinger would be less discomfiting if he didn't constantly treat Basil as some kind of prey, and von Gikkingen...

"Your collar," the Baron says then, smiling in good humour, and straightens it for him. Basil starts slightly, then gives him a quick smile in return, in thanks. He mutters something about blasted costumes, and tries not to notice that the Baron does keep making these excuses to fix his clothing, to lean close, to touch him. And Basil doesn't mind, really.

Von Gikkingen makes him wildly uncomfortable, but sometimes he's too busy being comfortable to care.

03. Little Devils

Zorn and Thorn have never, ever done anything like this, nothing even close, in their life. They've been jesters, they've been fighters, they've been something very close to scientists, they've attacked and been hurt and attempted murder and been, overall, kicked around like crazy. And they've felt a horrible aching, all of their seperated lives, until their short reprieve as Meltigemini, until their death...

Which lead here. Where they're seperate again, so it should, by rights, be just another fresh hell for them. But instead, they are suddenly surrounded by brightness and laughter and people, people that are happy and kind and, amazingly, usually happy and kind to them. And while being seperate still hurts, they're together, at least, and until they can fix it, it's kind of fun to be "normal boys," to be cooed over for the ridiculous little differences that had set them apart all their life in a decidedly less pleasant way.

"That's not what it looked like. You're doing it wrong."

"Wrong you are doing it! Right I am! What it looked like, this..."

They fight for table space, despite it being a large enough table for them both. They're drawing something they'd seen earlier, oh, it is gloriously pointless, for some little story they're telling their rapt patrons, but they love to bicker and they love to hear their voices bounce off each other and curl around, until the two very seperate patterns flowed and fit together, perfect, two halves of a whole. Like them.

They fight, and fight, but it is because they love, with a fierce protectiveness that stems entirely from self interest and pride. But it is no less love for all that, and perhaps more than anyone else can ever understand watching them bicker and scuffle, dropping their pencils on the table for the lead to break, until Haruhi finally comes over to calm them, and they settle down, settle back into this new peace.

04. Wild

Von Gikkingen is poised, in so many senses of the word; calm and collected, and balanced on the edges of so many knives, so many precipices that he's honestly lost track, unable to tell how many important choices he's making or has yet to make, how many of these are actually seperate, how many blur together into something larger. But he's been balancing since he arrived here, so he allows himself to be calm, still, until he is forced to be otherwise.

The club sometimes reminds him of home, of the Cat Bureau and Muta and Toto, and it is sometimes so utterly different that he is stunned, that he must either be in shock or take to its intrinsic humour, and it's the latter choice he makes. He's always smiled a lot, but he laughs more now, and he's grown fond of his fellow "hosts." Howl is kind and well-spoken and a very impressive enigma; Zorn and Thorn have depths to them that many do not see, and are, despite being unsettling, good people (or one good person, split); Haruhi is intelligent and spirited, innocent and kind while still remaining rather blunt, a mix of interesting and appealing qualities; Schrödinger... needs guidance in many points, especially moral ones, but the Baron has come to see him as a kitten to guide and care for--a dangerous kitten but a kitten nonetheless; Basil... well, suffice to say that Basil is brilliant, highly eccentric, terribly attractive and a good friend.

He does not mind the costumes; he does not mind the patrons. He does not mind the problems and inanities and occasional mild insanities that come from these people. He does not mind babysitting Schrödinger (an interesting term, considering it more correctly means "making sure Schrödinger doesn't cause lasting damage to anyone"). He does not mind Tamaki, when the ex-King decides to stop by and cling to the club like he'd never left it in the first place. He could do without the Hitachiin twins disheveling his outfits and swiping his cane (and could in particular go without hearing the phrase "homo-homo line" ever again), but does not begrudge them their mischief.

"Your collar."

"I can never figure out how these blasted costumes work..."

He does not mind straightening Basil's tie or jacket or clothes, which do not always, strictly speaking, need straightening.

He does not miss home so much as he misses Muta and Toto, his friends, but he has friends here, and wishes far more for their presence here than he ever wishes to go back. And this, he muses, hand lingering for just a moment at Basil's shoulder, is a deep precipice indeed.

05. Loli-Shota

Schrödinger is made for an organization much less kind than the Host Club.

Still, sometimes he thinks this is a very nice place indeed, comfortable and without demands. Truth be told, he has a love of destruction and death, of explosions and fights and other beautiful things, of the thrill of war... but when he is apart from the Major, he has a love of other things, too. Like sweet foods. Taunting Doc. Poking fun at Rip Van. Being near the Captain and listening to his silence. The Captain in general, actually.

More recently, Schrödinger has discovered a love for causing small mischiefs with twins, for watching over-the-top "brotherly love" routines, for setting his ears back just slightly and approaching Basil and watching the not-quite-mouse tense, knowing that his fur would be raising on end if he had it, for Haruhi, for the Baron, for acting cute around girls and making them squeal.

He has to always wear hats around anyone not in the Host Club, which muffles his hearing but at least keeps people from being frightened, or at least unduly shocked. Girls, for some reason, love the hats. They love the shorts. They love the accent, and love to hear him speak.

"Ja," he's saying cheerfully now, "ist wery good. You make good cookies, fraulein. Thank you!" It's difficult for him to speak German now--Japanese comes so naturally, for all of them, as if they'd all been programmed with it when they'd just... shown up--but he is able to concentrate and throw out a word or two sometimes, and the girls coo. The one who made him cookies flushes and squeaks, "I-I'm so glad you like them, Schrö-kun!"

And as he thanks her for the cookies, he thinks of the Major, who would like them very much. And as he smiles and plays nice with today's little group of giggling girls, he thinks of home, of Germany, of the Letztes Bataillon, and wonders how Herr Major's war is coming, and kind of wishes he were there.

(I was meaning to do more about how weird it was for them being "regular teenagers," but that kind of got skipped over, and it doesn't really seem to fit the theme so well, but hey, oh well, I tried. And I rather like how it turned out.)

"Oh Romeo" — Crossover!Fic; and a Poem

2006-07-26T02:49:59Z

I finally caved and bought myself extra userpics. I have my "Sklungs" icon back, plus... oh, about 70 more. And they're all beautiful! Moving icons are my new crack, and if most of these happen to be Ouran, well, who's going to complain?

In celebration, I bring a quick attempt at poetry... and fic. Horrible fic, absolutely horrible, not in that it is badly written, but it's a horrible Crossover From Hell that has taken over my brain. You will be seeing a lot of this in the future, as well as the Baron/Basil stuff. (Hell, Baron/Basil is in this. You see how horrible it is.)

Title: Oh Romeo
Fandom: CROSSOVER FROM HELL. No. Really.
Pairing: Tamaki/Haruhi unrequited, if anything.
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: Anything and everything Ouran High School Host Club related belongs to Bisco Hatori. Howell "Howl" Jenkins belongs to Diana Wynne Jones; this version of him belongs to Hayao Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli, though, at least in part. Basil of Baker Street belongs to Eve Titus and Disney. Zorn and Thorn belong to Squaresoft and... whoever else owns Final Fantasy IX. Baron von Gikkingen belongs to Aoi Hiiragi as well as the Ghibli team. Finally, Schrödinger belongs to Kouta Hirano. (I TOLD YOU. FROM HELL.) Romeo and Juliet belongs to Shakespeare, but thankfully, it's just quoted and no characters actually make an appearance in this fic.

+++++

"But, soft! what light through yonder window breaks?"

The room ignored him. That was all right, since Tamaki was ignoring most of the room, but Haruhi was ignoring him too, and that was not going according to his plan.

"Arise, fair sun, and kill the envious..."

"You've skipped a line," the Baron commented helpfully, setting down his tea carefully (not cushioning it with his pinky first, Tamaki despaired to notice) and reaching out to move a chess piece. He was the only one who ever played against Basil any more, since he was the only one who didn't seem to mind consistantly losing.

Tamaki floundered, then rallied back, "Who is already sick and pale with grief! That you, her maid, are--"

"'Thou' and 'art,' I think," Howl said, smiling. "Shakespeare is very flowery." He was watching the impromptu performance now, while standing near enough to Schrödinger to provide a deterrent in case the cat-boy's claws "accidentally" snagged against the fabric he was inspecting. Suoh Tamaki had invaded the Host Club with Shakespearean costume in tow, proclaiming a grand scheme for their next themed day; nothing any of them said could derail his train of thought, so they'd mostly given up trying.

Mostly. Although, they were all interested to note, privately, two sets of twins were huddled, whispering, in the corner.

"Be not her maid, since she is envious!" Tamaki was speaking louder now, turning red with embarrassment and frustration. Haruhi's unfeeling poker-face would not look at him, as she gathered up discarded teacups left behind by giggling patrons. "Her beastial livery...!"

There was a crash as Haruhi dropped a teacup. She looked horrified. Her poker face seemed to have disappeared, or at least skittered off across the room, where it could now be found on von Gikkingen's face; Basil's reaction, much less composed, was to spin in his chair and give the ex-Prince a look of disbelief, and the grins on the others' faces were audible.

"Vestal," Haruhi corrected swiftly. "Tamaki-senpai, you've graduated. Even if we do this theme, you can't be there as our Romeo."

"Of course I can! It's my duty as father to guide this club, even if it's not the same club as before, through life and happiness, and I will act as an inspiration to all of your brothers by taking an active rôle--"

There was a kind of group twitch effect at being referred to, even so lopsidedly, as Tamaki's children.

"And of course, you will be Juliet..."

Haruhi stopped him there. "No."

"I've brought a gown, it's with the rest of the costumes..." (Howl and Schrödinger had wondered about that, incidentally. For about two seconds. It wasn't as if Tamaki was painfully obvious, or anything.)

"No."

"..." Tamaki deflated a bit. "No?"

"No."

Basil and the Baron turned back to the game. Schrödinger put down the costumes and sauntered over to where the twins had resumed their whispers, and Howl moved to pick up the shards of broken teacup, grinning to himself. The argument, no matter how much longer it technically stretched out, they all knew, was over.

"...Please?"

"No."

"Haruhiiiiii!"

"Grow up, senpai."

+++

The day of their theme went better than any of them would have thought, all of them taking admirably to their costumes, and if they were embarrassed or uncomfortable in complete Shakespearean garb, none of them showed it. Tamaki, of course, flitted about the room as Romeo, alternately sparkling his joy and expressing depression at Haruhi's refusal to dress up as his Juliet.

The only one surprised when Zorn and Thorn came in was Haruhi--not out of any conspiracy, but because only the twins and Schrödinger had been in on it in the first place, while the other three had guessed their plans individually--and they twirled into the room in their matching Juliet gowns, throwing prose at a horrified Tamaki (Thorn's professions of "No longer be a Capulet, I will!" and "Nor hand nor foot it is!", incidentally, charmed all the girls in the room, utterly and completely; Kyouya would have been silently impressed, had he been present).

Haruhi gaped, then laughed so hard she could hardly breathe and tears came to her eyes, collapsing onto the couch, as Tamaki sulked in a corner and drew little patterns on the floor with his finger, and as that utter joy was brought partly because of the surprise, none of them regretted not warning her ahead of time. The club is not so bad, really, they thought, and their homesickness, as it did day by day, lessened just that little bit more.

+++++

Moral of the story? Haruhi kicks ass, takes names, and wins everyone over. Also, twins are evil, all of them. Wonderfully so. (Also also, I can't write Tamaki worth a damn. Apologies.)

Now for the poetry! This comes last because it's so short.

My every waking thought resounds of you
With every single moment tortured so
I think on it, and know that if you knew
My every waking thought resounds of you
I do not think that you would see it through
I shiver at the thought that you might go
My every waking thought resounds of you
With every single moment tortured so

Could be original or for many different fandoms, so interpret it as you wish. Whatever floats your 'ship, so to speak.

God, I love these icons.

Crappy Little Icon Dump #2

2006-07-14T00:07:07Z

NOTE: These are not the icons I made for the Howl's Moving Castle/Hunchback of Notre Dame roleplay. Because I made a total of 101 of them and I am not posting them all. No, these are four of the icons I made for the roleplay, but with added crackish text. Because they really needed it.

I have too much fun with these. I need to stop putting icon dumps in my writing journal.

[4] Howl's Moving Castle

1. 2. 3.
4.

1. Text, of course, reads "Blow Baby Blow!" Because Howl's hot like that.
2. Text reads "Wait, what... just went where?" Um, yeah.
3. Text reads "nice ass." I think it's the smiley that really makes it, though.
4. Big text reads "HIDE"; little text just reads "hide away inside" over and over again. Obligatory angst.

I need more icon space. Mostly because I mourn the loss of my "Sklungs" icon. But hey, now I have this one.

Roleplay is another sort of Fanfic... Also, icons!

2006-07-12T01:34:10Z

I will continue working on fanfiction, of course, belonging to writing communities such as I do... but just as a note for anyone interested in the pairing: business_bureau is open for, well, business! Baron/Basil roleplay, with an absolutely brilliant Basil-mun, but I should probably warn you that it's not G or PG, or probably even PG-13, or it won't be for long.

Also, has anyone noticed that there's molestation in the Great Mouse Detective? Ratigan feels him up. I'm really not kidding. Watch the scene where they're tied to the mousetrap carefully.

To keep this from being a completely useless post, I made some more Baron icons... textless ones. They're under the cut.

[3] The Cat Returns (anime)
[2] Baron: The Cat Returns (manga)
[1] Whisper of the Heart
[3] Muta
[1] Toto

1. 2. 3.

1. 2.

1.

1. 2. 3.

1.

And finally... I doubt anyone will respond to this, but it's worth trying. I am, of course, loving my Ghibli/Disney crossover, and am looking towards doing another one. My mind won't let it alone... So! ~~Might anyone out there be interested in playing the Clopin to my Howl? Or vice-versa, perhaps? Yeah, I'm goin' there.~~ Never mind! Thanks so much, kuroari! (RP, so far, goes in character journal here.)

"The Jewel's Under The Microscope" — 50 Baron/Basil sentences

2006-07-06T05:06:01Z

Title: The Jewel's Under The Microscope
Fandom: The Cat Returns & The Great Mouse Detective
Pairing: Baron Humbert von Gikkingen x Basil of Baker Street
Rating: PG, maybe PG-13 to be safe?
Disclaimer: Basil, Dawson, Mrs. Judson, and Ratigan belong to Eve Titus and Disney. The Baron, Muta, Toto, and that female cat doll whose name I forget belong to Aoi Hiiragi and Studio Ghibli. Janis, unfortunately, is all mine.
Spoilers: None for GMD, but I think there may be one or two for The Cat Returns, and it's full of spoilers for the crossover I'm planning on writing (hell, it's full of practically snippets from the crossover I've started — various bits of which are up on my LJ, if anyone's interested)... These are also all out of order, not all of them are from the same storyline, and Basil thinks of the Baron as a cat before realizing/being told that he's a cat doll, so that's the reason for that.

Notes: Theme Set Beta, done for 1sentence! Which means a bunch of out of order, but still connected, sentences. Enjoy.

#01 – Walking
He walked gracefully, deliberately, each footfall clacking as the heels of his shoes hit the ground, his posture so straight and true at all times, as if he had been carved that way—which, Basil reminded himself, was practically the case.

#02 - Waltz
They were careful, exceedingly careful, in almost every aspect of their relationship, but sometimes, when the Baron held out his hand and smiled in that way, Basil took it without thought, and let him lead.

#03 - Wishes
He was wishing for something, and he didn't know what; didn't have any idea until he saw von Gikkingen touch the picture gently, heard him murmur the female cat doll's name, and was hit with a jealousy so fierce and unexpected that he gasped and felt the blood drain from his face; it seemed he had grown much more than simply used to the Baron.

#04 - Wonder
He wondered at it, sometimes, this attraction where there, logically, should never have been one: another male, a different species, a predatory species, and even if he took into account that the Baron was a cat doll, not a cat, then he got into the other strange consideration that the Baron was in fact an inanimate object, which was an incredible headache of its own.

#05 - Worry
“The next time you draw on reserves of power you haven't got, I will be very cross,” Basil muttered, the dullness of the Baron's eyes softening what might have been a very sharp tone to his voice indeed.

#06 - Whimsy
While the detective's stories were full of sharp intelligence, the piecing together of threads of almost invisible information, fast chases and exhilarating captures, the Baron's were very different; a trinket could inspire Basil into a tale of danger and deceit, but he was silent when von Gikkingen held out the lapis lazuli, speaking of a young girl and a fanciful journey, a story of a very different atmosphere indeed; it was easy to see how truly different they were, at these moments.

#07 - Waste/Wasteland
The toy store was dark, and things loomed at every turn, lighthearted toys turned menacing in the shadows, and they had gone almost ten minutes in hushed silence before Basil realized that he could not hear the Baron's footsteps anymore, that his shoes had turned as silent as the night itself.

#08 - Whiskey and rum
Basil could drink straight whiskey and rum with no sign of any ill effects; Dawson could become gloriously drunk after even one glass of port; Mrs. Judson sniffed but put up with the boys' antics; but the Baron, to the surprise of everyone in 221B Baker Street, could enter the kitchen with liquor and come out with tiramisu.

#09 - War
“They are preparing for war,” the Baron murmured; Basil drew back, appalled, asking, “What war?” and the cat doll's answer was just as displeased: “Whatever one they can start.”

#10 - Weddings
They both danced with the bride at the wedding, and with several of the other guests, but Basil quickly grew tired of fighting off the inclination to cut in on the Baron and whoever his partner was at the time, and ask him to dance; he made an excuse to slip away as quickly as possible, and was pleased when von Gikkingen followed shortly after.

#11 - Birthday
“I'll be going to the Kingdom today,” he said, adjusting his tie, “to celebrate the birth of Princess Haru—I will have to tell you that story, someday,” he added, smiling at the questioning look on the mouse's face.

#12 - Blessing
“You may be a mouse...” Muta crossed his arms, “but you're his mouse, I guess, so congratulations.”

#13 - Bias
Basil had argued to himself that being attracted to another male was ridiculous and impossible... until he realized that he was, and had been for some time, biased against members of the fairer sex, preferring not to have much to do with them, and this sort of inclination actually made far more sense than suddenly falling in love with a ladymouse.

#14 - Burning
He stood measuring out the chemicals carefully, engrossed, and was not expecting a voice to address him from behind; the resulting explosion left them colored gray to the roots of their fur, regarding one another with slightly shocked expressions.

#15 - Breathing
He didn't know what possessed him, to press a hand against his shirt to check for, and find, an unexpected heartbeat; and then, well, it was only natural to check to see if he was breathing as well, and he noted that he was before he noted that he was kissing him, which surely wasn't checking for anything; and the cat doll was definitely awake now, and more startled than Basil had ever seen him.

#16 - Breaking
He couldn't breathe at the light in his eyes, the refraction and glow and unearthly power, and as the Baron snarled, “You will let us leave this place in peace!” he was not surprised to see the jewel crack; he felt as if the universe might crack.

#17 - Belief
Basil was, of course, a practicing agnostic, but he sometimes found his gaze caught by the Baron's movements, and wondered what it meant, exactly, that a doll could have a soul, and be so alive.

#18 - Balloon
It wasn't anything like riding on a swift bird's back, but it didn't need to be; and while they both knew they had things to do, that this trip wasn't for fun or leisure, the Baron leaned against the side of the hot air balloon and looked out, and Basil looked at him, and at least for right now, they had silence and peace.

#19 - Balcony
Basil left the noises of the party behind him (thankfully, he'd have to admit), closing the balcony doors softly; but before he could do more than open his mouth in preparation of asking what the Baron was doing, the cat doll had raised his hand into the air for silence, saying in low tones, “There are snakes in the garden—quiet, we don't want anyone panicking.”

#20 - Bane
“He is my greatest enemy,” he said finally, as he rested against him, “and I am the one constant thorn in his side...” and von Gikkingen stroked the fur on his back gently, realizing that despite the mildness of his voice, Basil was more frightened of this Ratigan than he was willing to admit.

#21 - Quiet
Basil gestured for silence, which he gladly gave; they stood pressed against the wall as the smoke cleared and the guards shouted their surprise, hoping that no one would come their way, the Baron regarding the thin arm flung across his chest with mild curiosity.

#22 - Quirks
He paced the room, pipe in hand, talking to himself between puffs, running through ideas and theories and trains of thought abandoned halfway, and von Gikkingen subsided, sinking into a chair and merely watching him work, bemused.

#23 - Question
It had been building up for weeks, and both of them had felt it coming; so that when Basil took a breath and started to ask, “Baron—do you—?” he hadn't even finished the question before a gloved hand was touching his cheek, and a deep voice saying, “Of course.”

#24 - Quarrel
Basil knew full well that snappishness and arguments could be caused by tension in other things, and he knew that this not-courtship was straining his patience, but he didn't really care; if anything, it caused a kind of grim satisfaction when the Baron responded in kind, his own usually calm temper fraying: Good, so it's getting to you, too!

25 - Quitting
“You don't have any place here,” Basil snapped, “this case has nothing to do with you!”; the Baron stayed calm, and merely said, “Cats hunt mice, and this has already caused strained relations; something this inexcusable cannot be allowed to continue, and I will not let this pass.”

#26 - Jump
“Let go!” the Baron shouted, and the command was so abrupt and unexpected that Basil's death grip on him loosened, and the cat slipped out of his hold and vaulted off the bird, into thin air.

#27 - Jester
The Baron motioned for him to come inside, and Basil followed, turning his back on the fight with a roll of his eyes; he'd never thought much of slapstick, and the insults being flung between cat and bird were less than clever.

#28 - Jousting
Janis twirled the needle and darted forward, lunging at the Baron; he leapt back, bringing his cane up to bear, and shouted, “Basil, take the girl; get out of here!”

#29 - Jewel
“It's impossible,” Basil proclaimed, turning the jewel over and over again in his hands, “an entire universe contained in this? Ridiculous,”; but von Gikkingen took it from him carefully, setting it on the cushions as if it were as delicate as the world: “There may be someone still inside.”

#30 - Just
He reached for Basil's tie and the mouse tensed; barely a pause, and the cat doll straightened it gently, smiling as he stood and turned to go; Basil caught at his sleeve with a murmur, looking away, “No, just... stay, please.”

#31 - Smirk
It really wasn't fair that, just when Basil had gotten used to the idea that this cat, at least, was no danger, he would get that smile, almost a smirk, and look at him with those eyes, and Basil would abruptly see him as a predator again—but a predator of a different type, and the mouse realized with a jolt that when it came to this, he didn't mind being prey.

#32 - Sorrow
“We ought to have saved the body,” the Baron said softly, and Basil turned, surprised at the sadness in the cat doll's voice and expression—but then again, perhaps even one half-mad and evil deserved better, after all; better than the betrayal of the person closest to him, the only person he still felt he was able to trust.

#33 - Stupidity
“If you do not leave at once,” the mouse squeaked in his outrage and fear, “I will consider this an act of war by the Kingdom of Cats!” and they froze, each thinking, He's not that much of a fool, surely?

#34 - Serenade
Whether the Baron loved the violin or simply loved to watch Basil play, becoming so absorbed in the music, was uncertain; but the first time Basil had noticed the cat doll's gaze trained so intently on him, he'd broken a string.

#35 - Sarcasm
“I have friends that may be able to help,” von Gikkingen said calmly, to which Basil muttered, “Oh yes, in the case of a cat murderer, what we need is more cats sticking their whiskers where they don't belong; by all means, feel free.”

#36 - Sordid
If Basil had a flaw it was in seeing things in black and white, in clear-cut good and evil; the Baron's flaw was just the opposite, it seemed, as he could look into a person, straight into the depths of their filthy, degraded soul, and see something shining and hopeful there, and that was what he held onto.

#37 - Soliloquy
They'd compare their idle accomplishments in surprise; Basil could play the violin, while the Baron was an impeccable dancer; and while Basil could toss out any number of Shakespearean lines and turns of phrase, von Gikkingen knew Faust's soliloquies by heart—in the original German.

#38 - Sojourn
They tried to make him as comfortable as they could, really, putting him into a guest room in the palace and warning all of the cats not to eat him, because he wasn't a food really, but he still tensed at the knock on his door, and only relaxed when he heard the familiar deep voice asking permission to enter.

#39 - Share
He sidled over to hold the umbrella over the both of them, trying to make it seem as if this weren't a strange and awkward thing to do, and having to keep his arm lifted in a rather uncomfortable position to account for their difference in height; the Baron looked over at him, surprised, then put his hand over Basil's with a smile, taking the umbrella from him; he let it go; all this without a word.

#40 - Solitary
He stood apart from the crowd; no, the crowd stood apart from him, murmuring and shooting him frightened, suspicious glances, and Basil found himself annoyed at their unbelievably close-minded view before he realized exactly what he was feeling, and he wondered when his own views had changed, when he'd lost his own fear and suspicion.

#41 - Nowhere
“Where do you go when you're... like that?” Basil asked, waving a hand; “Nowhere,” the cat doll said, and flashed him a smile, “I could still see you watching me.”

#42 - Neutral
The Baron held out his hand to him, and Basil simply looked at it, for a few frozen moments, before climbing onto the crow without any assistance, to which the cat nodded and lowered his hand in silent acknowledgment: You can manage by yourself, indeed.

#43 - Nuance
“Nothing could convince me otherwise,” and something in the detective's voice made him glance over, and he smiled at the look in Basil's eyes; a challenge.

#44 - Near
It was foolish, and more than that it was difficult, standing behind him and guiding his hands, coaxing the violin to produce music from such a strange angle and perspective, and even the proximity of the Baron was overwhelmed by the sheer annoyance of it all—at least until he shifted slightly in Basil's arms, his cheek almost nuzzling against Basil's, and the detective let go and stepped back so quickly he almost tripped, heart pounding.

#45 - Natural
Basil didn't believe in destiny, of course, but the Baron's presence was so comfortable, his voice so familiar, and—when they weren't dancing too lightly around the issue—his embrace so warm... it was all like a habit he just hadn't realized he'd had yet.

#46 - Horizon
He hated heights, and there was probably no power in the world that could change that for him, but the world looked different on Toto's back, arms slightly-too-tight around the Baron, and he found he could stare fixedly at the horizon and feel more wonder than fear.

#47 - Valiant
“Well, it is getting late, I suppose you had better be going,” Basil said quickly; and while the Baron acknowledged his valiant effort with a nod and a good evening, it was a bit late for cover-ups; Dawson was looking at them in surprise, then dawning comprehension.

#48 - Virtuous
He glanced around to see that there was no one near, and raised a hand to stroke the fur on Basil's cheek; “Patience,” he reminded the detective softly, “is a virtue,” to which Basil snorted and replied in low tones, “I am not a virtuous mouse.”

#49 - Victory
The Baron was versed in swordplay and could beat a much larger, armed opponent with nothing more than his cane, but Basil had his own victories, when he spotted a clue and pieced together the threads, finding strings of logic where a lesser mind would be baffled; and part of this victory, he admitted to himself, was the smile von Gikkingen got at those times, and the sense that he had impressed him.

#50 – Defeat
Basil couldn't understand him, not at all; he saw the suicide of a madman as a personal failure; he spoke little and would not meet any of their eyes; but perhaps, he thought as he laid a hand on the Baron's arm, he didn't have to understand.

"Stay the Night, It's Morning Anyway" — Baron/Basil

2006-07-01T19:19:57Z

Title: Stay the Night, It's Morning Anyway
Fandom: The Cat Returns & The Great Mouse Detective
Pairing: Baron Humbert von Gikkingen x Basil of Baker Street
Rating: PG-13, to be safe
Summary: The case is done, and there's really nothing keeping the Baron in London any more.
Disclaimer: Basil of Baker Street belongs to Eve Titus and Disney, and the Baron von Gikkingen belongs to Aoi Hiiragi and Studio Ghibli. I basically copy and paste these disclaimers.

Notes: First story for 20_songs: Billy Joel's “And So It Goes”.

But if my silence made you leave
Then that would be my worst mistake
So I will share this room with you
And you can have this heart to break...

* * * * *

After nearly four months of false leads, lost lives, searching and investigation, they had finally gathered every piece of the puzzle, had put it all together, had solved it. And now it was over.

Which was good, of course. No arguments there. But the initial case, which had started out so simple and had spiraled out of control, was the Baron von Gikkingen's sole and entire reason for being in London, and the ending of this case felt in some ways more like a curse than a blessing.

Basil was half-expecting the light knocking when it came, and opened the door to 221B Baker Street quietly; Mrs. Judson was taking a short leave to visit an old friend in the country, but it was late, and Dawson had long since retired. In fact, it was entirely too early for Basil to be answering the door, much less as quickly as he did; von Gikkingen never seemed surprised at any of his unusual habits, however, and his sleeping habits were apparently no exception. He just nodded to Basil as the mouse stepped out of the way to let him in.

“Come in, good evening,” Basil said, and it was like it usually was except that his voice was low, to avoid waking his flatmate, and the Baron was equally quiet as he replied, “Good morning,” placing his hat on the hat stand and slipping out of his coat.

“Is it?” He knew perfectly well that it was; still, it was something he might, conceivably, overlook, and it was better to feign ignorance than to admit he'd been unable to sleep, some part of him expecting this visit and curling up into a knot that wouldn't let him rest.

The Baron glanced over at him, then nodded at the clock. “It is three in the morning,” he said, “You should be asleep.”

And yet you're knocking at my door, Basil thought, but aloud he just said, “Please, sit down—” and ignored the implication as best he could.

Von Gikkingen nodded and sat in one of the chairs, looking thoughtfully at some of the papers spread out on the coffee table: notes on the trajectory of bullets, Basil recalled, and chemical theorems. Basil perched on the edge of the couch, feeling... not awkward, exactly, but unsettled. Polite words and silences had already begun to stretch into the conversation, he noticed — tonight like every other time — and he was too unsure, and the Baron either too unsure or too polite, for either of them to broach the only important subject they had to talk about anymore.

The trouble with that, he brooded as they sat in a pale imitation of companionable silence in the darkened room, was that is was an important subject, breathlessly, wordlessly important, and they didn't have any time at all.

He wasn't good at relationships. He was barely versed in friendships; he had a hard time getting along with most people, let alone enjoying their company. But he wasn't completely helpless, and he was not going to let the Baron leave in silence, just because of a few misgivings.

“You could stay, you know.” It wasn't subtle, and it certainly wasn't easing into the subject. But though his voice came out hesitant, it didn't sound as hopeful as he'd expected it to, so he relaxed slightly.

“You could come with me to Tokyo,” came the quiet reply, after several long moments.

Basil had already opened his mouth to protest before he realized what von Gikkingen was saying: their jobs were indeed too important to drop on a whim. He winced, looking away. “Oh.”

A gloved hand touched his face, then, and Basil's gaze snapped back to the Baron as the cat doll stroked the fur on his cheek softly, having silently moved to the couch beside him. “I know.”

Having nearly jumped out of his skin, Basil fought back the urge to pull away, to get up and put some space in between them. He wondered when they had stopped being careful, when they had gone from hinting that maybe, maybe there was something more there than just companionship, maybe they felt much more deeply than that, to this delicate touch.

Well, if they were being honest... “This seems like a complete anticlimax,” he said in a rush of words, his hushed voice making them all seem to run together into one another. “You've been here for months, and to leave so quickly, well...” He trailed off, then tried again, “I wish...” But that didn't work either, so he fell silent.

The Baron, for his part, seemed slightly hesitant for once, and spoke again carefully, almost to himself. “It would take some time. Perhaps two months, perhaps less. The Cat Business Office, by its very nature, is... flexible. Yes, it may work.”

Most mice would have been lost at such seemingly meaningless dialogue, but Basil was not most mice. He was a detective, and it only took him a few seconds to realize what von Gikkingen was saying... and what he was offering.

The cat doll noticed the look on his face and moved his hand to lay on his shoulder. “I can't make promises. But simply moving the physical location of the Office should be simple enough. Those who need our help will find us, whether we are in Japan or England...”

“You don't have to do that,” Basil protested. Which was ridiculous, he wanted to agree to this, but... You don't have to do that for me. How attached to me ARE you?!

The Baron was quiet, and pulled his hand away, and stood. “I don't,” he agreed, sounding sad. Aware that there had been a misinterpretation somewhere, Basil grabbed his sleeve as he turned to go, and the Baron blinked down at him.

“Don't be melodramatic, Baron,” he muttered, pulling him back to sit down again.

His request, then, snapped Basil into another state of shock; he had a talent for doing that. “I want you to give me a reason to do this.”

Basil looked at him, trying to figure out if he was joking; on the contrary, he looked very serious, and he quickly switched to trying to figure out what to say about this. He wasn't sure what reason the Baron wanted to be given.

“Stay.” He was full of nervous energy, and if he couldn't move right now, he had to do something with his hands; he grasped for the Baron, found his arm and held on as he tried to clarify what he meant. “Here, I mean. Tonight.”

Von Gikkingen was silent for a moment, and Basil had the satisfaction of seeing him utterly surprised, for once. “I meant... verbally, actually,” the cat doll said once he'd regathered his wits, trying to keep amusement from his voice.

Basil could feel himself turning red. “So did I,” he snapped, then subsided a bit. “I want you to be here, that's all.”

Something glittered in the Baron's eyes, stealing and refracting the dim light of the room; jeweled eyes. He leaned forward, which Basil was half-expecting, and nuzzled Basil's cheek with his — which Basil was not expecting. His fur was soft, which was not as surprising as it perhaps should have been; he sighed and relaxed so slightly against him, closing his eyes. He was, suddenly, exhausted.

“I'll be here when you wake up,” von Gikkingen murmured. “I promise.”

“I'm not falling asleep here,” Basil said, trying to summon up enough energy to sound annoyed, and then he did.

* * * * *

In every heart there is a room
A sanctuary safe and strong
To heal the wounds from lovers past
Until a new one comes along

I spoke to you in cautious tones
You answered me with no pretense
And still I feel I said too much
My silence is my self defense

And every time I've held a rose
It seems I only felt the thorns
And so it goes, and so it goes
And so will you soon I suppose

But if my silence made you leave
Then that would be my worst mistake
So I will share this room with you
And you can have this heart to break

And this is why my eyes are closed
It's just as well for all I've seen
And so it goes, and so it goes
And you're the only one who knows

So I would choose to be with you
That's if the choice were mine to make
But you can make decisions too
And you can have this heart to break

And so it goes, and so it goes
And you're the only one who knows

—Billy Joel

Icon Dump

2006-06-30T20:23:52Z

If you can call it that when there's only seven icons. I just want to get them posted before they pile up, or, alternatively, I never make any more and forget they even exist. It's a win-win situation.

[5] The Cat Returns (Baron von Gikkingen)
[1] No Rest For The Wicked (Perrault)
[1] Panic! At The Disco (Brendon Urie)

The Cat Returns

1. 2. 3.
4. 5.

2. It's almost impossible to tell, but there's text there that reads "cooler than you."
3. Text reads "mystery"
4. Text actually reads "bored waiting"; I had an Engrish moment.
5. There was just no way I could make that icon any funnier by adding text. No way.

No Rest For The Wicked

1.

1. This is a really, really obscure Fandom Wank joke.

Panic! At The Disco

1.

1. Text is a lyric from the song "I Write Sins Not Tragedies"; it reads "Haven't you people ever heard of closing the goddamned door" (althought it should be "a goddamned door"... goddamn it).

Commenting is encouraged but not necessary, but I'd really love it if you credited please.

"Hold Tight and Don't Fall" — Baron/Basil drabble

2006-06-30T02:10:36Z

Title: Hold Tight and Don't Fall
Fandom: The Cat Returns & The Great Mouse Detective
Pairing: Baron Humbert von Gikkingen x Basil of Baker Street
Rating: G, maybe PG for the mere suggestion of more-than-friendly feelings.
Disclaimer: Basil of Baker Street belongs to Eve Titus and Disney, and the Baron and Toto belong to Aoi Hiiragi and Studio Ghibli. I don't own a thing.

Notes: Written for Word #513 at daily15: flight.

“Are you all right, Basil?” the Baron called over his shoulder, when the mouse's grip on him tightened.

“Hm? Oh, fine, fine,” Basil replied distractedly. His eyes were pressed shut and his hold on the cat doll remained a little too tight, a little too close. He knew why they flew on these journeys — Toto was a much more efficient transport than Toby could hope to be, after all — and he even understood why they had to fly so fast, but some of the sharp turns and sudden plunges were entirely unnecessary, he felt.

“We're going to land,” Toto cautioned, and Basil opened his eyes as they dropped down, the crow landing on the grass gracefully. The Baron shifted and he let go, letting the cat doll drop off Toto's back, lightly to the ground, turning to offer his assistance.

He ignored the proffered hand and slipped off the bird himself, landing not quite as gracefully as the Baron had. “Are all of those maneuvers entirely necessary?” he asked, brushing himself off as Toto flapped away.

The Baron smiled slightly. “You're not going to fall.”

“I know that,” Basil snapped, a bit annoyed. “I'd apologize for holding on so tightly, but if I didn't know better I'd think that was the point—” He would know better than to say this, most times, but his guard was down, and he cut off abruptly, mouth open, when von Gikkingen replied:

“You don't know better, do you?” He caught the shocked look on Basil's face and his smile quirked a bit, before he turned away, adding, “That isn't the reason, of course. But you do know I don't mind.”

The Baron started walking across the lawn, but Basil stood there for a moment, gathering his wits — usually so sharp, but at this moment, hopelessly scattered. I do know, he thought, and followed, belatedly, making a mental note to keep his mouth shut from now on.

In Which My Writing Journal is Used for Writing, Time the First

2006-06-29T09:04:53Z

Title: Basil and the Cat Business Office
Fandom: The Cat Returns & The Great Mouse Detective
Pairing: Baron Humbert von Gikkingen x Basil of Baker Street
Rating: G (for the chapter; overall PG-13 for the “book”)
Summary: A string of mousy murders is being perpetrated by a cat... and another cat shows up to put a stop to them; then, Baron and detective work together against a plot being hatched by poisonous snakes.
Disclaimer: Basil of Baker Street belongs to Eve Titus and Disney, and the Baron belongs to Aoi Hiiragi and Studio Ghibli. I don't own anything but the story, and even that ran away from me...
Author Notes: This is the start of what will very shortly be a very strange series, and probably the strangest pairing I've ever thought up, much less written. It doesn't entirely make sense, and I've had to shuffle times and sizes around: so that Sherlock Holmes and Basil are bumped up closer to the current time, and the Baron and the Cat Office were bumped back slightly, and so that Basil would reach up to the Baron's shoulder and not, you know, his waist. This is either laziness or artistic license, call it what you will.

And, in summary: first chapter, first draft, needs ~~some~~ a lot of work. Blech.

(I feel as if I'm inventing an entirely new fandom, or at least a new, albeit crossover OTP — an “OTP WTF,” if you will — and it's a strange, intimidating feeling. *laughs* Here's hoping the idea isn't too strange to catch on, a little at least.)

The mice had been killed by a cat; not hunted down, not eaten, but murdered.

That much was certain. What cat, and where it was hiding, and why, were questions yet to be answered; but Basil of Baker Street knew how to find answers better than any mouse, living or dead, and he would solve this case, like he did every other case put before him.

“You see the lacerations on the back, side, and arms,” Basil half-murmured, raising the dead mouse's arm almost fastidiously by the wrist. “He tried to defend himself. He'd been backed into a corner, and it struck... and the way his neck was broken, it must have picked him up and shaken him...”

“Basil, please,” Dawson admonished, looking slightly ill. Doctor or not, there was a world of difference between surgery and autopsy.

“This is important, Dawson,” Basil insisted. “Where was I, I was just getting to... Ah, yes. You see where the cat's claws rended, and you see the fatal blow... and that's it. Not one other action was taken against this mouse, once he was dead. He was not prey, doctor. This was no hunt. It was a murder.”

“Surely not?”

“There is no other explanation.” Basil straightened up, leaving the corpse and beginning to pace the room. “It was like this with all the bodies. No, Dawson, this cat, wherever it is and whatever its motives, isn't merely a predator — it's a true killer, a murderer... It isn't killing for food; it isn't even killing for the thrill of the hunt, or it would have continued toying with the corpse. It's just killing to kill. It wanted these mice dead, for whatever reason.”

“What reason could a cat possibly have just to murder mice?”

“Ah, that's the question! Well, one of them, at any rate.” His pacing took him back within range of the corpse, and he swooped down suddenly, plucking something from the dead mouse's hands. He held up a strand of fur for Dawson to see. “You see? He resisted. Good mouse.” He gave the body a regretful look, then slipped the fur into a baggie and shoved it into his pocket with a sigh.

“You'll get him,” Dawson said encouragingly, for he could sense his friend's mood beginning to plummet.

“I don't doubt it,” Basil said darkly. “But after how long, and how many more will have to die before I do?”

* * * * *
Three more deaths, three more bodies, and no real leads; Basil was becoming discouraged. But when they went to investigate the fourth new murder, they found that someone had gotten there first.

Basil entered firs

Test Post

2006-06-29T00:44:10Z

Testing the colors and layout... this post will, eventually, be deleted. I just need a goodish chunk of text here to give me a good idea of what an entry will look like.

I am not resigned to the shutting away of loving hearts in the hard ground.
So it is, and so it will be, for so it has been, time out of mind:
Into the darkness they go, the wise and the lovely. Crowned
With lilies and with laurel they go; but I am not resigned.

Lovers and thinkers, into the earth with you.
Be one with the dull, the indiscriminate dust.
A fragment of what you felt, of what you knew,
A formula, a phrase remains, --- but the best is lost.

The answers quick & keen, the honest look, the laughter, the love,
They are gone. They have gone to feed the roses. Elegant and curled
Is the blossom. Fragrant is the blossom. I know. But I do not approve.
More precious was the light in your eyes than all the roses in the world.

Down, down, down into the darkness of the grave
Gently they go, the beautiful, the tender, the kind;
Quietly they go, the intelligent, the witty, the brave.
I know. But I do not approve. And I am not resigned.

Edna St. Vincent Millay writes gorgeous poems. Everyone knows "Love is not all; it is not meat nor drink," but I think this is one of her best pieces, even above that one.

So anyway. This post may or may not be deleted in the near future. Decision is pending.