Fic: Beginnings
Jan. 12th, 2008 07:43 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
starsandseaTitle: Beginnings
Rating: PG
Characters: Pieter, Charlie
Word Count: 724
Disclaimer: I own nothing
Author's Note: For![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
jen_in_japan, who requested: a little drabble about when Charlie and Pieter first met. It grew beyond a drabble, sorry! But I don't think you'll be complaining... LOL. Unbetaed, so point and I shall correct!
Pieter sighed as he stepped out the back door of his mansion, feeling the cold wind against his face, through his hair, pulling at his clothes. It was threatening to rain, maybe thunderstorm, according to the weather reports he had heard. And he could sense it, hear the birds in the nearby woods settling down in preparation for the storm.
Pieter felt out gingerly with his stick. No one else would be out in this weather, which suited him just fine. He didn't want anyone staring at him, at the blind doctor who had broken the most important oath - both of them - to never kill. God's word and the Hippocratic Oath. He had failed them all. His blindness was punishment, no doubt, from God, as well as losing his residency. He had nothing left to lose now, except an empty shell of what was once a happy house, filled with light, but now covered in permanent shadow.
Pieter sighed again, and started to cautiously walk. He couldn't even go home, back to Norway. He would never be able to face going back there, not after the last time. When he had buried his mother after it was his fault she had caught a deadly illness, one that for all his trying, he couldn't cure.
Really, he was a poor excuse for a doctor, with all his failures.
Pieter slowed his steps as he came to the woods, the ground more uneven now, fallen branches upon the paths. He heard a far off rumble of thunder. Still far enough away. Pieter leaned against a tree, perhaps not the wisest thing to do,with a thunderstorm approaching but... he sighed again, and tried, as he did every night, to identify things by their sounds. You never knew how much you relied upon something, how much you took it for granted, until it was gone. But nothing could have prepared him for losing his sight. Nothing.
He heard an owl hooting overhead, heard its wings beating through the night. There was another rumble of thunder, louder this time. The owl hooted again, landing briefly on a tree branch, then flying again, its wing-beats loud in Pieter's ears. He felt an acute sense of frustration suddenly; anger that he couldn't see the beautiful sounding owl.
He dropped his stick, and attacked the bandages covering his eyes, tore them off, feeling the cold night air on all of his face, throwing the bandages on the ground.
Pieter opened his eyes and... saw.
He cried out in surprise. He could see! He could... he staggered, and grasped at the tree for support, his mind reeling.
He could see.
Confusions of colors swam through his mind and he frowned. No... no, he couldn't see. Not they way he used to. But... he had seen these kind of images before, images of spectrums that human eyes couldn't see. But... his frown deepened. How was this possible? How was it...? The drugs? Those cursed drugs that had given him and so many others so much grief?
The owl hooted again, and Pieter raised his head, and saw it.
It - the owl - was looking at him, otherworldly gaze upon him, staring into his soul. They stayed like that, staring at each other until a sudden, much louder rumble of thunder started him. The owl hooted at him, and Pieter smiled.
"Thank you," he murmured, aware of what this owl had done for him. The owl just hooted at him again. Pieter crouched down and picked up his cane and the discarded bandages. The owl was still looking at him. The first heavy drops of rain started to fall.
Pieter smiled again, almost shyly. "If you want, I know a place where you can have shelter from the storm..." He should feel stupid talking to a owl, but he didn't. The owl nodded at him, for all the world acting like it understood him. Pieter remembered his mentor, Dr. Charles McNider, Dr. Mid-Nite, and how he had been able to see in the dark, his stories of crime fighting with his owl, Hooty.
Pieter's smile widened. Perhaps it was time for Dr. Mid-Nite to start making rounds again.
Rating: PG
Characters: Pieter, Charlie
Word Count: 724
Disclaimer: I own nothing
Author's Note: For
jen_in_japan, who requested: a little drabble about when Charlie and Pieter first met. It grew beyond a drabble, sorry! But I don't think you'll be complaining... LOL. Unbetaed, so point and I shall correct!Pieter sighed as he stepped out the back door of his mansion, feeling the cold wind against his face, through his hair, pulling at his clothes. It was threatening to rain, maybe thunderstorm, according to the weather reports he had heard. And he could sense it, hear the birds in the nearby woods settling down in preparation for the storm.
Pieter felt out gingerly with his stick. No one else would be out in this weather, which suited him just fine. He didn't want anyone staring at him, at the blind doctor who had broken the most important oath - both of them - to never kill. God's word and the Hippocratic Oath. He had failed them all. His blindness was punishment, no doubt, from God, as well as losing his residency. He had nothing left to lose now, except an empty shell of what was once a happy house, filled with light, but now covered in permanent shadow.
Pieter sighed again, and started to cautiously walk. He couldn't even go home, back to Norway. He would never be able to face going back there, not after the last time. When he had buried his mother after it was his fault she had caught a deadly illness, one that for all his trying, he couldn't cure.
Really, he was a poor excuse for a doctor, with all his failures.
Pieter slowed his steps as he came to the woods, the ground more uneven now, fallen branches upon the paths. He heard a far off rumble of thunder. Still far enough away. Pieter leaned against a tree, perhaps not the wisest thing to do,with a thunderstorm approaching but... he sighed again, and tried, as he did every night, to identify things by their sounds. You never knew how much you relied upon something, how much you took it for granted, until it was gone. But nothing could have prepared him for losing his sight. Nothing.
He heard an owl hooting overhead, heard its wings beating through the night. There was another rumble of thunder, louder this time. The owl hooted again, landing briefly on a tree branch, then flying again, its wing-beats loud in Pieter's ears. He felt an acute sense of frustration suddenly; anger that he couldn't see the beautiful sounding owl.
He dropped his stick, and attacked the bandages covering his eyes, tore them off, feeling the cold night air on all of his face, throwing the bandages on the ground.
Pieter opened his eyes and... saw.
He cried out in surprise. He could see! He could... he staggered, and grasped at the tree for support, his mind reeling.
He could see.
Confusions of colors swam through his mind and he frowned. No... no, he couldn't see. Not they way he used to. But... he had seen these kind of images before, images of spectrums that human eyes couldn't see. But... his frown deepened. How was this possible? How was it...? The drugs? Those cursed drugs that had given him and so many others so much grief?
The owl hooted again, and Pieter raised his head, and saw it.
It - the owl - was looking at him, otherworldly gaze upon him, staring into his soul. They stayed like that, staring at each other until a sudden, much louder rumble of thunder started him. The owl hooted at him, and Pieter smiled.
"Thank you," he murmured, aware of what this owl had done for him. The owl just hooted at him again. Pieter crouched down and picked up his cane and the discarded bandages. The owl was still looking at him. The first heavy drops of rain started to fall.
Pieter smiled again, almost shyly. "If you want, I know a place where you can have shelter from the storm..." He should feel stupid talking to a owl, but he didn't. The owl nodded at him, for all the world acting like it understood him. Pieter remembered his mentor, Dr. Charles McNider, Dr. Mid-Nite, and how he had been able to see in the dark, his stories of crime fighting with his owl, Hooty.
Pieter's smile widened. Perhaps it was time for Dr. Mid-Nite to start making rounds again.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
(no subject)
Date: 2008-01-12 08:37 pm (UTC)Loved how you described what he saw when he took the bandages off, and the sounds of the storm and Charlie hooting. Very visual. Lovely!
(no subject)
Date: 2008-01-13 08:42 pm (UTC)Loved how you described what he saw when he took the bandages off, and the sounds of the storm and Charlie hooting. Very visual. Lovely!
LOL, I have lots of fun playing with Pieter's blindness, and the ways I can use it to effect! :)
(no subject)
Date: 2008-01-13 02:26 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2008-01-13 08:43 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2008-01-13 07:28 am (UTC)Thank you, thank you!
(no subject)
Date: 2008-01-13 08:47 pm (UTC)Oh, woobie-Pieter! I never knew I needed him, and yet I do! :)
Pieter really surprised me by being so woobie! All the ideas I had for this were far more light-hearted, and none of the lines Pieter (or Charlie!) had given me before I started writing made it into this.
Oh, that last line is so perfect for a JSA character, heroic and wry at the same time. :)
LOL, I couldn't resist that line! :)
Thank you for giving me such a fun request, Jen! :D
(no subject)
Date: 2008-01-14 01:55 am (UTC)The owl hooted again, and Pieter raised his head, and saw it.
It - the owl - was looking at him, otherworldly gaze upon him, staring into his soul.
You made this such a fated and wonderful moment, like in slow motion. I'm so glad for Pieter, finding his purpose again :) Thank you for sharing, Star! I love your Pieter stories :)
(no subject)
Date: 2008-01-14 07:46 pm (UTC)Whee! I'm really glad you liked it, Mina! :D Pieter found his familiar, hee! *glomps* You'll be seeing a lot more Pieter stories, since I've got 20 to write for him for
(no subject)
Date: 2008-01-14 02:26 am (UTC)You have a really good touch with the JSA characters, and especially Charlie! ;)
(no subject)
Date: 2008-01-14 07:48 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2008-08-13 10:10 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2008-08-14 06:11 pm (UTC)Thank you for commenting! :)