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Until We Meet Again [Lalli/Emil]
Title: Until We Meet Again
Characters/Pairing: Lalli/Emil
Rating: 10+; contains non-graphic references to death in a fire.
Length: 600
Summary: They didn't get a chance the first time around. But maybe here, maybe now, they can try again together.
Other: This was originally flashfic in response to a challenge on![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
fail_fandomanon. The challenge was to write 3-5 sentences in response to a prompt; this prompt was: "Reincarnation; one remembers and the other doesn't". I then took it and expanded it a little. Original version of this fic in all its run-on-sentence glory is here.
Future-Lalli's name suggested by Laufey. Thanks, mate!
Until We Meet Again
That face was familiar. Lauri had seen it in his dreams, in his memories, slipping into his mind along with names and thoughts and voices that lingered like a bright light's after-image when he closed his eyes. Now, he saw it again, on the street of the Swedish city he had only reached days ago, following a dream like a fool.
His breath caught. He stopped. Stared.
The name was on the tip of his tongue. The old name. It threatened to spill from his lips, his voice threatened to call it out, and he clamped his teeth down tight to keep it in. It wasn't the name that this person used now, he was sure, just as his old name wasn’t his own. It wouldn't be. Not now. Not in this life.
Emil. That was the name and face he remembered. And Lalli, his own name, himself. Emil and Lalli, who had died together in the silent world, falling together in flames and smoke as their mission failed and their attempted escape went horribly wrong. There was nothing that could be brought back except their crew’s tales and tears.
Lauri knew this. He had seen it in his memories, experienced it in his dreams. Felt the smoke choking his lungs and stinging his eyes, felt a familiar broad hand holding his own. Heard the voice coughing, calling him Lalli, trying to pull him toward an exit that wasn't there any more. Then he turned to look, and he saw the danger trapped with them: not the flames, but something else, something rising and twisting and following them, a horror that was alive and dark and angry and desperate.
There were other memories, too. Softer memories. Moments that were cool and quiet, moments stolen on early mornings when he returned and before they became mobile. Hands on his head, fingers in his wet hair. Or snaps of sleep stolen at odd moments, collapsing next to one another in exhaustion, staying near one another with their hands close but not touching. Even in those memories, those dreams, there was an ache that he could not define.
Lauri had taken a chance. Learned the language. Arranged for work. Travelled there. Sweden. Farther away from home than he had ever expected to be. It was foolish, a chance and risk taken due to memories that belonged to someone else. But there he was, and there was that face, that young man he recognized.
Watching, Lauri took in the soft hair framing that round, confident face, the familiar sound of his voice as he parted from the person he had been talking to, waving as they left him. He must have been watching and listening for too long, as the Emil who was no longer Emil turned to look at him, raising an eyebrow as if asking what this stranger was staring at. Then he said, just loud enough to be heard over the low bustle of the street, "I'm sorry, what? Is something wrong?"
There was no recognition on his face, not a scrap of it. Lalli who was no longer Lalli sucked in a breath, thought of pretending that he had been looking at nothing. It would be so easy, Lauri thought, to act as if he had just been staring off into space. He did that often enough. It would hardly be a lie. But he had come all this way, hadn't he.
Somehow, Lauri found his voice and went to him. "You look familiar," he said. "I think I've seen you before."
Maybe, in this life, it could be different.
Characters/Pairing: Lalli/Emil
Rating: 10+; contains non-graphic references to death in a fire.
Length: 600
Summary: They didn't get a chance the first time around. But maybe here, maybe now, they can try again together.
Other: This was originally flashfic in response to a challenge on
fail_fandomanon. The challenge was to write 3-5 sentences in response to a prompt; this prompt was: "Reincarnation; one remembers and the other doesn't". I then took it and expanded it a little. Original version of this fic in all its run-on-sentence glory is here.Future-Lalli's name suggested by Laufey. Thanks, mate!
Until We Meet Again
That face was familiar. Lauri had seen it in his dreams, in his memories, slipping into his mind along with names and thoughts and voices that lingered like a bright light's after-image when he closed his eyes. Now, he saw it again, on the street of the Swedish city he had only reached days ago, following a dream like a fool.
His breath caught. He stopped. Stared.
The name was on the tip of his tongue. The old name. It threatened to spill from his lips, his voice threatened to call it out, and he clamped his teeth down tight to keep it in. It wasn't the name that this person used now, he was sure, just as his old name wasn’t his own. It wouldn't be. Not now. Not in this life.
Emil. That was the name and face he remembered. And Lalli, his own name, himself. Emil and Lalli, who had died together in the silent world, falling together in flames and smoke as their mission failed and their attempted escape went horribly wrong. There was nothing that could be brought back except their crew’s tales and tears.
Lauri knew this. He had seen it in his memories, experienced it in his dreams. Felt the smoke choking his lungs and stinging his eyes, felt a familiar broad hand holding his own. Heard the voice coughing, calling him Lalli, trying to pull him toward an exit that wasn't there any more. Then he turned to look, and he saw the danger trapped with them: not the flames, but something else, something rising and twisting and following them, a horror that was alive and dark and angry and desperate.
There were other memories, too. Softer memories. Moments that were cool and quiet, moments stolen on early mornings when he returned and before they became mobile. Hands on his head, fingers in his wet hair. Or snaps of sleep stolen at odd moments, collapsing next to one another in exhaustion, staying near one another with their hands close but not touching. Even in those memories, those dreams, there was an ache that he could not define.
Lauri had taken a chance. Learned the language. Arranged for work. Travelled there. Sweden. Farther away from home than he had ever expected to be. It was foolish, a chance and risk taken due to memories that belonged to someone else. But there he was, and there was that face, that young man he recognized.
Watching, Lauri took in the soft hair framing that round, confident face, the familiar sound of his voice as he parted from the person he had been talking to, waving as they left him. He must have been watching and listening for too long, as the Emil who was no longer Emil turned to look at him, raising an eyebrow as if asking what this stranger was staring at. Then he said, just loud enough to be heard over the low bustle of the street, "I'm sorry, what? Is something wrong?"
There was no recognition on his face, not a scrap of it. Lalli who was no longer Lalli sucked in a breath, thought of pretending that he had been looking at nothing. It would be so easy, Lauri thought, to act as if he had just been staring off into space. He did that often enough. It would hardly be a lie. But he had come all this way, hadn't he.
Somehow, Lauri found his voice and went to him. "You look familiar," he said. "I think I've seen you before."
Maybe, in this life, it could be different.