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jsmn_kinkmeme2015-06-06 08:02 pm
jsmn_kink) wrote in jsmn_kinkmeme2015-06-06 08:02 pm
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☆ Round One!
Welcome to the first round of the Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell Kink Meme at jsmn_kinkmeme!
Below are some basic guidelines to get started. Please make sure you also check out our complete Rules & Guidelines to minimise any confusion.
Guidelines:
■ Anonymously comment with your request – a character/pairing/nthsome, and a kink or prompt.
■ Only one prompt per post.
■ Fillers please link your fills in the Fills Post!
■ Have fun! :)
Keep in mind:
■ Any kinks welcomed!
■ The fill/request does not need to be sexual or porny.
■ Multiple fills are allowed.
■ Fills can be any sort of creative work: fic, art, song, photomanip, etc.
■ Beware of spoilers! Prompters and requesters are encouraged to warn for spoilers, but this rule is not enforced.
■ Warning for non-con, dub-con, abuse, slurs/language, and other potentially disturbing subjects is encouraged but be aware we do not enforce this.
Links:
☆ Current Prompt Post
☆ Mod Post
☆ Fills Post
☆ Discussion Post
☆ Misfire deletion requests
jsmn_kinkmeme!Below are some basic guidelines to get started. Please make sure you also check out our complete Rules & Guidelines to minimise any confusion.
Guidelines:
■ Anonymously comment with your request – a character/pairing/nthsome, and a kink or prompt.
■ Only one prompt per post.
■ Fillers please link your fills in the Fills Post!
■ Have fun! :)
Keep in mind:
■ Any kinks welcomed!
■ The fill/request does not need to be sexual or porny.
■ Multiple fills are allowed.
■ Fills can be any sort of creative work: fic, art, song, photomanip, etc.
■ Beware of spoilers! Prompters and requesters are encouraged to warn for spoilers, but this rule is not enforced.
■ Warning for non-con, dub-con, abuse, slurs/language, and other potentially disturbing subjects is encouraged but be aware we do not enforce this.
Links:
☆ Current Prompt Post
☆ Mod Post
☆ Fills Post
☆ Discussion Post
☆ Misfire deletion requests
FILL: Strange/Grant - Unconscious desire, Sleepwalking (1/?)
(Anonymous) 2015-08-29 04:25 pm (UTC)(link)(Note: I had intended to get to the sleepwalking part sooner but the set-up kind of grew legs and I wanted to include more De Lancey)
On returning from the war, Colquhoun Grant found himself at something of a loss to explain why he was feeling so disconcerted.
Sitting in his study, he reflected on his position. He had of course been expecting the sense of relief that would come with returning to England after a long campaign and finding himself free from the constant pressure of remaining alert and ready to fight. He had also fully expected to feel somewhat melancholy as the grief and exhaustion that he had automatically suppressed during his time in the Peninsula began to affect him. However, what he had not anticipated was this feeling of loneliness, this deep ache in his chest that would not go away.
He supposed that it could be explained by his failure to retain his usual distance from the men who had been fighting by his side. He had allowed himself to become somewhat attached to Colonel De Lancey and, though it amused him to think of it, to the magician, whom he could not help but think of as Merlin. Yes, he told himself, that it what it is. Being unused to having friends, I am simply unaccustomed to the feelings that arise when one is apart from them. But somehow, it felt like more than that.
Over the next few weeks, he busied himself with military affairs, focusing on the logistics involved in bringing the army back from the Peninsula even though it was not really his job and trying not to think about the constant dull pain tugging at his heart. The only time that ache seemed to go away was when he was back in the company of the men he now regarded as his friends.
The three of them spent many an evening at the Bedford, ostensibly playing billiards but really just passing the time in idle conversation and camaraderie. He felt more at ease around them than he would have thought possible with anyone else, relishing De Lancey’s impish grin and sarcastic comments as Strange tried to convince them that he was not using magic to gain an advantage in the game, which nobody was taking very seriously anyway.
Indeed, on the evening when their game was rudely interrupted by two Nottinghamshire gentlemen who simply refused to believe that Strange was who he said he was, he found himself leaping rather enthusiastically to his friend’s defence, insisting that he was the ‘Greatest Magician of the Age’ and expounding upon his exploits in the Peninsula in a way that a prompted a raised eyebrow from De Lancey, who was leaning on the table watching the proceedings with an indecipherable glint in his eyes.
The increasingly heated exchange culminated in Strange passing his cue to Grant, striding purposefully towards a large Venetian mirror on the opposite wall of the room, reaching out his hand and, well, simply disappearing. De Lancey rushed over to the mirror as if he might be able to determine what had happened to Strange and then looked around with shock and confusion on his face, only to see Grant standing there as if he were highly amused by the performance and more than a little bit proud of Strange for coming up with such indisputable proof of his magical credentials.
For his part, Grant was fully expecting Strange to reemerge from the mirror at any minute with a boyish grin on his face as if to say to the two gentlemen “well, do you believe me now?” However, as the minutes ticked past, his demeanour underwent a gradual transformation, from wry amusement to barely concealed panic. The Nottinghamshire gentlemen made their excuses and departed in some haste so as to ensure they would not be associated with the disappearance of Wellington’s magician and he was left alone with De Lancey, the two of them staring at one another with bemusement and a rising sense of foreboding.
“Perhaps he has simply returned to his home rather than coming back here” said De Lancey, “after all, it is getting rather late and it would be a lot faster than waiting for a carriage.” Grant thought this made a lot of sense but nonetheless suggested that they pay a visit to Strange’s house before going home themselves. “Just to make sure he is alright” he said, eliciting a rather peculiar look from the other man.
On arriving at the magician’s house, however, they were greeted by a maid who seemed surprised to be opening the door to two strangers in military uniform rather than the not unfamiliar sight of her master fumbling in his pockets for keys that had once again managed to lose themselves at some point during the evening’s proceedings.
Having discovered that nothing sobers a man up quite as fast as the prospect of having to tell a woman that her husband has walked into a mirror and vanished without a trace, the two of them were shown into the room where Arabella Strange was waiting.
Grant found himself tapping his gloves against the palm of his hand, a nervous habit from his youth that he thought he had outgrown years before, as he approached Arabella and attempted to explain what had happened in a manner that would not give her undue cause for concern. However, as her expression changed from confusion to accusation, he realised that she actually held him responsible for the whole situation. “What on earth were you thinking?” she said, piercing him with an icy stare that felt sharper than any enemy’s blade, “goading him into performing such a risky act of magic just so that you could impress these other men?”
Grant swallowed and looked to his left, hoping for a bit of moral support, but De Lancey had his eyes turned to the ceiling and was studiously avoiding his gaze. Fortunately, before Arabella could continue her tirade, the door opened and the man in question strode into the room, his face alight with wonder.
Grant was immediately won over by Strange’s wide-eyed enthusiasm as he described his adventures beyond the mirror and puzzled that Arabella did not appear to be sharing his delight. Although he was relieved that she had turned her attention to her husband and no longer seemed to be blaming him for the evening’s events, he felt that her angry dismissal and then outright rejection of this astonishing magic was uncalled for and that he would be a whole lot more supportive if he were in her place. In her place? This unexpected and entirely inappropriate thought jolted him out of his reverie and, with an almost sarcastic “Thank you for a pleasant evening”, he turned on his heels and marched out of the room, refusing to even look at De Lancey, who he knew would be giving him another one of his wicked grins.
On returning to his own residence, he decided to retire to his room immediately, hoping that the uninvited thoughts running through his mind were due to the combination of alcohol with the rapid succession of exhilaration, fear and relief that he had experienced during the course of the evening and that they would be banished by a good night’s sleep. He was in the process of removing his waistcoat when his eye was caught by what he thought was the reflection of a flickering candle in the large, ornate mirror on the wall.
He found himself drawn towards the mirror, reaching out his hand as Strange had done earlier, but then saw how ridiculous he looked and dropped his arm to his side, chiding himself for acting so foolishly and sighing “Oh Merlin, what notions have you put in my head?” On finding those notions compounded by the fancy that he could actually see the magician’s face in the mirror, he turned away and continued to unbutton the waistcoat, only to turn back with a startled gasp as Strange materialised out of the mirror before his very eyes.
“Merlin?” he stammered when he was finally able to speak “what in the name of…?” His words trailed off as he realised that Strange was standing quite still, his eyes wide open but seemingly focused on something in the far distance that only he could see. “Oh,” Grant lowered his voice, recognising that this was a manifestation of the somnambulism phenomenon he had read about, and his ever-practical mind tried to recall what would be considered the best course of action in such a situation. He vaguely remembered reading that one was not supposed to awaken a sleepwalker for fear of inducing some manner of fit, so when Strange gave a little shake of his head and started walking towards him he simply stepped out of the way to let him pass, watching with fascination as this slightly dishevelled man, clothed only in a nightshirt, got into his bed, curled up on his side and let out a contented sigh.
I suppose it cannot do any harm to let him sleep there a while, he thought as he pulled the sheets up over the prone form and settled himself into an armchair by the window, doing his utmost to convince himself that the urge to climb into the bed and wrap his arms around the other man was nothing but a side effect of the magic that Strange had used to make his unexpected appearance.
He must have dozed off because the next thing he knew he was being shaken awake by Strange, who was now fully conscious and seemed to be in a state of some distress.
“Grant? Is this your house? Did I have so much to drink last night that you thought it best to let me sleep it off here rather than returning home to Belle in such a state?”
Tempted as he was to reassure Strange that this was indeed the case and that he was simply looking out for his best interests, Grant felt compelled to reveal the truth. “No, Merlin,” he said “I’m rather afraid you have been sleepwalking on the King’s Roads and that your nocturnal wanderings brought you here for some reason. I did not wish to wake you so I …”
“How odd,” Strange’s brow furrowed in confusion, “I determined earlier that in order to navigate those otherworldly paths, it is necessary to concentrate very hard on a specific destination. Still, I suppose when one is asleep, one simply ends up in the place one most wishes to be.”
Grant felt a jolt of elation at this unexpected conclusion, and yet his head took control of his heart and he found himself saying in a not altogether kind tone of voice “Perhaps you should return home before you are missed. I have already been blamed for your disappearance once tonight and a second time would be entirely unacceptable.”
This reaction seemed to surprise Strange and the look of hurt that passed over his face caused a painful tightening in Grant’s chest, but before he could apologise, the tall figure had crossed the short distance to the other side of the room and disappeared once more into the mirror.
Re: FILL: Strange/Grant - Unconscious desire, Sleepwalking (1/?)
(Anonymous) 2015-09-01 11:31 pm (UTC)(link)A!A, THIS IS FABULOUS! I love your take on this prompt so much and the way you write Grant (ham sleeping in a chair, adorable!) and interactions between Strange and Grant, I hope the fact that kinkmeme has been a bit dead lately won't stop you and you will continue on with your story! Please please please! (And I think you were going for a bit oh a happier ending? I SO WISH FOR IT. I am ready to leave you several comments at once if only you just continue writing!)
Oh Grant, Merlin was perhaps trying to TELL YOU SOMETHING, but you are so noble...
Re: FILL: Strange/Grant - Unconscious desire, Sleepwalking (1/?)
(Anonymous) 2015-09-01 11:38 pm (UTC)(link)Re: FILL: Strange/Grant - Unconscious desire, Sleepwalking (1/?)
(Anonymous) 2015-10-05 06:24 am (UTC)(link)The beginning is just wonderful.
I really hope you haven't forgot about this one, A!A...