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Ink, a White Collar fanfiction
Title: Ink
Characters (Pairings): Neal Caffrey, Sara Ellis (Neal/Sara)
Rating: PG
Word Count: 382
Spoilers: S02E15 (Sara's backstory)
Disclaimer: White Collar is Jeff Eastin's brainchild. Not mine.
Prompt: "The wearing of clothes is only one of many ways in which the human animal decorates itself." (Peoplewatching by Desmond Morris, page 334) (I love the tone of this book.)
Summary: Neal discovers Sara's tattoo.
Author's Note: This one's for the September Table of Doom over at![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
writerverse. More notes at the end.
They're lying in bed, exhausted enough to fall asleep but far too buzzed to even try. Sara's laughing at something, turning over so she can lean against him, when it catches his eye.
"I haven't seen that before," he murmurs, tracing the tattoo on her back with his thumb.
He sees the change in Sara's expression. It's like the drop of a shutter.
"It's on my back, Caffrey. You spend your time dazzled by my pretty face," she snarks, like a reflex. It's easy to strike out at him, at anyone who tries to get too close. She's very good with her words, that way.
"True," he says, effectively taking the edge off her words.
He shouldn't be able to do that.
"It's not very you," he says, tracing the light blues and browns, watercolours. They make an interesting contrast with Sara. "Why did you pick it?"
"It was the prettiest."
He breathes a laugh. "Why did you pick this particular species of bird?"
She doesn't want to answer. "You know me too well."
He hums his agreement and scrutinizes the tattoo the best he can from his angle.
"It's Dieffenbach's rail. I wanted a rail because they're extinct. They lost their flight and then they were killed off."
Her voice has gone soft, too soft. He hasn't noticed. He should be reading her, she wants him to read her, but he isn't. He's reading the tattoo.
He's going to see it. It's barely even there, but he's an artist. He makes a living off paying attention to fine details. Any minute now, he's going to-
"Oh," he whispers, tracing what must be, what has to be, Emily's name, with a touch so light it's barely there.
""I was going to pick the Tahiti rail. But the Tahiti rail is red and black. Those are my colours. This is more like Emily."
She doesn't know why she's telling him this. She had the out, and even if she didn't, she could have made herself an out.
"It's beautiful," he says.
He doesn't apologize. Thank god, he doesn't apologize.
She looks him in the eye. He looks... like he always does. Maybe a little softer. Maybe a lot softer.
He doesn't pity her. He gets it.
She sighs. "I know it is."
Dieffenbach's Rail | Tahiti Rail
Characters (Pairings): Neal Caffrey, Sara Ellis (Neal/Sara)
Rating: PG
Word Count: 382
Spoilers: S02E15 (Sara's backstory)
Disclaimer: White Collar is Jeff Eastin's brainchild. Not mine.
Prompt: "The wearing of clothes is only one of many ways in which the human animal decorates itself." (Peoplewatching by Desmond Morris, page 334) (I love the tone of this book.)
Summary: Neal discovers Sara's tattoo.
Author's Note: This one's for the September Table of Doom over at
writerverse. More notes at the end.-:-
They're lying in bed, exhausted enough to fall asleep but far too buzzed to even try. Sara's laughing at something, turning over so she can lean against him, when it catches his eye.
"I haven't seen that before," he murmurs, tracing the tattoo on her back with his thumb.
He sees the change in Sara's expression. It's like the drop of a shutter.
"It's on my back, Caffrey. You spend your time dazzled by my pretty face," she snarks, like a reflex. It's easy to strike out at him, at anyone who tries to get too close. She's very good with her words, that way.
"True," he says, effectively taking the edge off her words.
He shouldn't be able to do that.
"It's not very you," he says, tracing the light blues and browns, watercolours. They make an interesting contrast with Sara. "Why did you pick it?"
"It was the prettiest."
He breathes a laugh. "Why did you pick this particular species of bird?"
She doesn't want to answer. "You know me too well."
He hums his agreement and scrutinizes the tattoo the best he can from his angle.
"It's Dieffenbach's rail. I wanted a rail because they're extinct. They lost their flight and then they were killed off."
Her voice has gone soft, too soft. He hasn't noticed. He should be reading her, she wants him to read her, but he isn't. He's reading the tattoo.
He's going to see it. It's barely even there, but he's an artist. He makes a living off paying attention to fine details. Any minute now, he's going to-
"Oh," he whispers, tracing what must be, what has to be, Emily's name, with a touch so light it's barely there.
""I was going to pick the Tahiti rail. But the Tahiti rail is red and black. Those are my colours. This is more like Emily."
She doesn't know why she's telling him this. She had the out, and even if she didn't, she could have made herself an out.
"It's beautiful," he says.
He doesn't apologize. Thank god, he doesn't apologize.
She looks him in the eye. He looks... like he always does. Maybe a little softer. Maybe a lot softer.
He doesn't pity her. He gets it.
She sighs. "I know it is."
-:-
Dieffenbach's Rail | Tahiti Rail
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I'm going to go ponder this. ;)
I really really liked this - and that's saying a lot because, well, you know. See above ^^^^.
(:
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Anyway... I love how you get the angst and point across in so few words. I love how you show how well they are together - that they just get each other. And that Sara lets her walls down enough with him, and doesn't bite his head off. *sigh* I love them.
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I love tattoos, and I love how Sara chose something that reminded her of Emily. I love it's on her back and not her front, because Emily is part of her past, kind of behind her, and yet - her presence in Sara's life is indelible, like a tattoo. It's something Sara will always have with her, but she's learned to hide it, just like a tattoo. She doesn't have to see it everyday in a mirror to know it's there, and the only person who would be able to see it has to see her bare back - meaning she gave them insight to her past and that she trusts them enough to turn her back on them. I love how she lets Neal see it.
I might be seeing too much in this, but this is what I felt while reading it. By the way, this is great. Thank you for sharing :)
(And sorry for all the edits. I am a deeply inattentive person.)
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