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deemoyza_archiveChapters: 3
Fandom: Final Fantasy VI
Rating/Warnings: Teen / Implied sexual content
Character(s): Daryl, Setzer Gabbiani
Relationships: Daryl/Setzer
Summary: It was a simple dalliance, the kind to which neither of them was a stranger. So why does she still haunt his heart, and why does he make her want to give her heart away?
Chapters
Chapter 1: Lucky Break
Chapter 2: Seeing Red
Chapter 3: Flying High
Chapter 1: Lucky Break
She'd always had a weakness for overconfident men with no discernable reason to be, so when the slim-hipped, silver-haired stranger approached her in the tavern and promised her a night to remember, she accepted immediately. Perhaps a bit too eagerly, as well, judging by not only his expression in the moment, but also his expression come daylight.
"Who are you?" he asked, still tangled in bedsheets, his hair mussed, a series of love bites blooming purple against his skin.
"Daryl," she replied, slipping on her favorite red overcoat and lifting her hair free of the collar. "Though I can't believe you've forgotten, as often as you screamed my name last night."
"No," he replied, reaching for his own clothes. "Who are you? I've never met anyone like you."
"Because there isn't anyone like me." She knelt on the foot of the bed and leaned close. "I'm not a delicate flower, or some wide-eyed ingenue. I know what I want, and I know how to get it." She ran her hands over his bare arms, and he shivered. "These calluses are real; I've worked on airships since I was a teenager, and I plan to be the first woman—the first person—to reach the stars, someday."
He smiled and kissed her. "I've no doubt you will. But still I wonder, where have you been my whole life?"
She laughed, straightening. "I've been here, there, around the world, all along. The question is, Setzer, why haven't you been looking for me?"
"I never knew you existed."
"Then I guess last night was your lucky break."
"I don't believe in luck."
"Perhaps you'd better start, because I'm not easy to land, even when I want to be caught." Winking, she turned and walked out of the room, overcoat billowing dramatically around her.
Chapter 2: Seeing Red
She was gone. No matter how quickly he dressed and stumbled out of the room, Setzer could not catch her. The innkeeper said only that he saw her turn right as she left the inn, but that information was useless on the crowded street outside. Sighing, Setzer turned his attention toward the field south of town where his own airship was anchored and watched, shirtless in the morning sun, until he saw another airship lift off. He strained his eyes and swore he could see her, a flash of red at the controls.
Over the next few weeks, his eyes became attuned to red, seeking out the color in crowds, or on the periphery of his vision. But every time he turned his head, every time he placed his hand on an unsuspecting stranger's shoulder, he was disappointed. Daryl was nowhere to be found, and he sometimes wondered if she was ever real to begin with, or simply a figment of his imagination brought to life by good drink and a willing woman.
But the feeling of her rough hands lingered on his skin, and he knew she was out there, somewhere. He searched ports and airfields and taverns for her, with no luck, and sank, bit by aching bit, into a new kind of despair, one that left not only his heart empty, but his hands and body, as well.
The sky was overcast when he landed in Jidoor some months later, delivering a shipment of goods from South Figaro. The grass and trees and tiled roofs were vibrant in the gloom, but none so bright as the red overcoat on the woman walking past the opera house, none so dazzling as her smile when she saw him.
She laughed and ran to hug him. "Well, it's about time!"
Chapter 3: Flying High
"I asked about you in the towns I passed through," Daryl admitted over the rumble of gears inside the engine room of her own airship, her overcoat tossed over the door. "Turns out you're quite notorious."
"Not the word I'd use." Setzer handed her a wrench.
"An ambitious pilot, an incorrigible flirt, and a gambler…who doesn't believe in luck?"
"There are games of chance, I concede, but the real money is in the games of skill. Knowing how to play your hand…and your opponents."
"Meaning?"
"Everyone has a tell."
"I could've told you that." Daryl tightened a bolt, listened to the engine, then, satisfied it was running well, rose and faced him. "Negotiating jobs and haggling for spare parts requires a similar art. How about you teach me something I don't know?"
"Like what?"
"Like how to relax after a hard day of repairs." She sidled up to him, her skin glistening with sweat, her face and arms streaked with grease. Setzer swallowed hard, the engine room suddenly far too hot and small for comfort.
"Or how to let down my guard." She exited the engine room, grabbing her overcoat, then headed toward the deck. Setzer followed with mincing steps, his head light and his trousers too tight. Daryl emerged into the damp air and stood at the controls. Casting a mischievous glance at Setzer, she retracted the airship's anchor, and the Falcon began to rise.
"Or how to give away my heart," she continued at last, slipping her arms around his waist, "and receive someone else's in return."
He gave no answer but to pull her close and kiss her deeply, at once consuming and surrendering to the fire that was Daryl, the flickering red flame that burned in his heart, and now, sighed in his arms.
