#different directions

We didn’t slam a door, we just stopped holding it open.

Conversations thinned like breath on cold glass still there just not enough to see through

I remember when silence meant comfort, when we could sit inside it without counting the minutes Now silence feels like distance pretending to be peace

You learned new versions of yourself that I never met I kept saving stories for a time that never came We became polite, and somehow that hurt more than being angry ever could

I still know your laugh, how it breaks before it lands. I still reach for my phone when something goes wrong then remember you’re no longer the place I go to land safely

There’s no villain here, just time, just growing in directions that stopped intersecting Like two boats once tied together now drifting, not because the rope snapped, but because neither one of us noticed it loosening

Twin Flame artwork. Just as exhausting to look at as it is to think about. I wish him well, but I am beyond ready for this to be over. More thoughts later.

Chapter 5: Time

This is the last chapter I have completely done, now I'll have to finish the next one before posting. Soooo shit has started to hit the fan, guys.

You will need CD Drama Shiritsu Horitsuba Gakuen 4 ~Ohiru no Radio: Afureru made Mattenai~ in this chapter. It's so innuendo-ed with all the finger-talk and husky voices, it's ridiculous. And I can bet whatever that Watanuki WAS is a prank with Yuuko for two reasons: a) he's not innocent in that clueless Syaoran way, in xxxholic Yuuko teases him with flirty/sexual undertones about others all the time and he reacts, flusters, or chastises her, because he GETS every innuendo and dirty joke. There was NO WAY he would innocently say all that finger stuff by chance and not die from embarrassment second later. b) at the end students say that Yuuko made them keep silent about Kurogane's voice, but puuuhhleease, when did that stop Watanuki? He has no problem with teasing Yuuko in front of customers, he cuts her alcohol to make a point. Watanuki would never give in to Yuuko's whim, if it is something that he doesn't truly approve of. He would shout his opinion proudly at her face, fully risking it to be completely destroyed by her in following moment (as usual). That's why we love our boy and that's why he had to be a part of a prank. And really, Yuuko wouldn't wire the room herself, would she? That's what she has Watanuki for.

Also Watanuki's friendship with Kurogane is something I had in mind from the very beginning, even before I got reacquainted with Horitsuba. They are just too similar in a way they react to people and event, so this friendship felt totally natural for me. Imagine my surprise, when I got to this part, when Kurogane is genuinely angry for Watanuki and how Yuuko teases him. CLAMP ladies are with me on this!

The song in this chapter is the perfect embodiment of anxiety one might have before something really bad happens. Also if never seen the music video with gorgeous Rosamund Pike, do watch! It's magnificently creepy. The sheer horror, helplessness in face of overpowering unnatural force - it's what inspired me to write the disappearing radio room act.

i drew @gavinom‘s, @mervonis‘s and my techno designs all together!!

Arranged Chapter 5 Different Directions

AO3

“You could have stayed!” she confronts him as  as she walks through the door. He looks up from his expected papers.

“Why? I couldn’t very well, do the tests for you?”

“No, but you could have been there for support.” He looks at her like she has two heads. She just sighs and walks in her room. After laying her purse down and plugging her phone in the charger, she heads to the shower, needing to wash the sweat of adrenaline and the feel off the clinic, off her.

As the hot water runs over her body, she shivers to think how she would have fared had Jamie not been there.  Would she even had the strength to press the button summoning help? She isn’t sure she would have. Yet her husband can’t even tell she is upset! 

He heads back to the warehouse with the whisky eyed Sassanach on his mind. He would have assumed she was happy, that are those that are allowed to breed, are. With a shake of his head, he tucks through the dock door.

“Where have you been Fraser? It shouldn’t have taken that long to make that delivery.” He comes back to the present with his boss’ question.

“Sorry Column, the lift got stuck again.”

He shakes his head. “They really need to fix those old lifts.”

“Aye.” He is secretly glad that one got stuck. He would have never really meet Claire if it hadn’t.

“There is a truck coming in. Need you to help unload.”