| I was re-reading Elfin's CMAU fic 'Alana' for
the fiftieth time a
couple of weeks ago, and I came across a line that I had
noted before
and loved. A won't go into to detail here of the scene at
the risk of
spoiling it for those of you who haven't read it, but the
line was from
Karr when he was asked how he knew Nick was asleep. His
answer was '<_ I can feel him dreaming' I have always loved that line. It inspires an emotional image of the relationship between the two partners and its a window into an aspect of the link the two partners share. But this time it inspired something else. At the time I had been feeling rather ill and had intended on going to sleep, but inspiration struck, and for the next several hours I let Numnut out of her box and scribbled down this fic. So, Elfin, I have to thank you for the inspiration as well as the permission to post this fic. It was a joy to write, and I'm honoured to have the opportunity to play with your characters. I would also like to thank Tomy for her encouragement, her beta, and for putting up with my nutty presence haunting her for the last few weeks :D Disclaimer: Mine? You gotta be kidding! Money? Don't have any, don't bother. The android concept and this interpretation of the Fire & Ice characters belong to Elfin. The Fire & Ice Universe and it's characters belongs to Gryph. I thank both of them for allowing me to play with their toys. Elfin's wonderful Chasing Midnight AU can be found at Knight Rider Phase Two. If you haven't read it, I highly recommend that you do. Golden Eyes By Numnut 19 Aug 04 He could feel him dreaming. The room was dark with the exception of the silver glow from the unshuttered window, a square of moonlight cast over the room and slowly creeping onto the bed. The only sound was the soft breathing of his partner, his warm breath caressing the back of his neck as it set the fine hairs on his skin fluttering gently in sympathy. He had woken from a restful sleep to the tune of murmured memories refracted through dreamscape. Michael still lay snuggled up against him, one arm beneath his lover, the other wrapped lovingly around his chest, but his body twitched slightly in dream, his mind playing with images, Kitt receiving scattered fragments. It didn�t happen very often, and when it did, it was usually violent. Nightmares born of the many horrors the man had encountered, participated in, and been perpetrated upon. At those times it was Kitt who leapt to his defence, shaking him gently, restraining his flailing body, calming his shattered mind, and holding him in the aftermath. There had been tears in the past, a tender clutching, Michael clinging to Kitt as if he was his saviour. And there had been times where it was the reverse, Kitt clinging to Michael as his own horrors danced behind synthetic eyelids. But tonight was different. It wasn�t pain that woke him. Not a negative emotion. It was something else. Something warmer than the body that held him. A joy danced down the link, a happiness all encompassing. And it tantalized Kitt�s mind, luring him out of sleep, and turning his attention to his lover. Kitt didn�t move, not wanting to disturb the sleeping man. He kept still, his senses seeking information, his mind tracking the sensations and secretly revelling in their substance. Michael muttered in his sleep, his body shivering slightly, and Kitt caught the edge of the dream. Images of countryside flying by, a flash of the Trans Am�s dash, a pair of amber brown eyes. The emotion that accompanied the pictures caused Kitt to smile. Michael was obviously in the car, probably speeding. They both shared a love of breaking speed limits, and had been cursed by many a patrol officer, though only caught by a few. That thought brought another smile to his face. One thing did spark some curiosity in the AI, however. Those eyes flickered in and out of focus as Michael�s dream drifted. He had seen them before, somewhere but he wasn�t sure where. A quick direct comparison with several of the people they both knew found no correlation. And they weren�t his own. Whose were they? The dream shifted again. This time the scenery was still, a beach, waves breaking, a frisbee sailing through the air. Sensations of cold sand beneath his feet, a cool breeze raising the hair on Michael�s arms, the scent of the ocean on moisture-heavy air. Someone called Michael�s name. Kitt shivered slightly in reaction to the breeze that wasn�t there. The images were becoming clearer, the dream stronger, and Kitt put up a light block, suddenly realising he was intruding on his partner�s privacy. But the forced obstacle in the dreamscape disturbed the sleeping man, a small spike of unease translating through the link. So Kitt let it drop once again, allowing Michael access to himself, and his lover slipped back into his contented slumber. Kitt reached out and touched the amber presence, the white of himself mixing briefly with that of his partner, the colours merging together. He was so amazed at what they were to each other. For himself it was simple, he had been programmed for Michael, and Michael alone. There could be no one else. Not without a major reprogramming of himself, and then he would no longer be who he was, and would cease to exist. The phrase �til death do us part� had so much more meaning for him than it did for the average person. But Michael had had choice. The world was his oyster, as it could have been said. But he had chosen him. His car. Kitt smiled at himself. He was so much more now than he had been. Those first few years he was really just a car. A computer inside a car. His self image corrupted by the Trans Am shell that held him. But somehow, Michael had seen him differently, seen beyond the computer components and digital readouts. Michael, despite his early shortcomings, had come to speak to him as something more, as an equal, as his partner, his friend, and, ultimately, perhaps inevitably, his lover. And no one had been more shocked than Kitt himself. The link had been a major contributor. Suddenly all barriers to communication had been cut down and their points of reference had been merged. An understanding of each other that had been growing before hand now suddenly connected like a plug into a power socket, and they were both reeling from the electrical intake. It was both beautiful and horrifying to feel the feelings of another. They had learnt, they had grown, and with the help of their closest friends, they had blossomed into what they were now. In love. Content. Happy. Michael called his name in his sleep, a soft sigh that formed the word �Kitt�. And immediately the AI�s attention was back on his partner. Those eyes appeared again, golden flecks in their warm brown presence, and they were smiling. He could feel Michael returning the emotion, a wave of pleasure washing across the link, and an echo of a love Kitt usually found directed at himself. Kitt�s mind froze. He studied the image he had received, every detail of those eyes etching into his mind. Who did they belong to? Part of him suddenly wanted to worry, but the rest of him stubbornly refused. This was Michael. They shared everything. Loved one another and no other. Laughter bounced down the link, bright sparks of humour, sand between toes, saltwater in hair. A flash of the dash appeared again, dancing red light of his former voice box chatting away without sound, quickly followed once again by those eyes. Kitt wriggled in Michael�s slumbering embrace, edging his body slowly around until he was facing his sleeping partner. He frowned slightly at the smile on Michael�s lips, his features cast in shades of milk by the full moon draping silver over the bed. His face twitched as the images changed in his mind, Kitt receiving some, but only indications of others, nibbling fantasies at the edge of consciousness. Who did those eyes belong to? Michael looked so young in sleep. He always had. Time after time, Kitt had watched over him while he rested in the car. Sometimes injured, sometimes not. He used to gaze up from the dash, from the overhead monitors, interrogating his vital signs indicators for information on those times he was unwell, and sometimes those he wasn�t, simply seeking out the steady rhythm of his driver�s heartbeat for company. While that heart beat, he was alive. That one heart sustained both of them, and he cherished it so. Without thought, Kitt gently reached up a hand from under the covers and touched his palm to where that pulse laboured away. Soft but wiry hair curled under his fingers, warm skin radiated heat, and Michael�s chest moved with every breath. A soft steady throb beat under his hand. Michael didn�t stir. His face still snuggled slightly into the pillow, still smiling, still dreaming of something happy. A clearer image suddenly landed in Kitt�s mind. The dash again, the flashing red voice box, ocean, and speeding waves. A coastline. It all suddenly snapped into place. It was a memory. Kitt finally placed it. An afternoon at the beach. Before the link, before the android. They had been granted a day off and had chosen to spend it together, taking the highway up the coast to a deserted beach. There had been cliffs, and it had been rather difficult for Kitt to get the Trans Am onto the sand, but with a little determination and innovation, the two of them had made it down there in one piece and spent the afternoon lazing around in the sun. It hadn�t been until later that day Michael had suggested they go for an ocean cruise. Kitt was fully capable of travelling on water, but it wasn�t something they did on a regular basis. It had been the conspiring grin on his driver�s face that had led him to acquiesce. And he hadn�t regretted it. They had gone surfing together. Well, not necessarily body boarding type surfing, but an adaptation of the sport all of their own making. Michael had had so much fun. His driver had laughed and sported, relaxation in every line of his body, simple excitement in his yells of triumph as they caught wave after wave. Kitt had to admit to being a little on the nervous side. He didn�t really take to water like a duck, but it had been worth it to see the reaction of his driver. If he had to drain his wheel hubs of saltwater, then so be it. The subject of that afternoon had never come up since the link had activated, so they had never discussed it, but the emotions he was receiving from the dream his partner was having only confirmed his impressions of his reactions on the day. But who did those eyes belong to? What could have been a slight spark of worry only morphed into one of puzzlement as he tried to connect the events of that day with the owner of those eyes. The only people they had encountered on their outing had been the shop assistant Michael had bought his lunch from on the way down. The entire day had been spent at the beach, even to the point of Michael drifting off to sleep on the drive home. Kitt had ended up parking in his garage, darkening the windows, keeping his driver warm the rest of the night. It had been a wonderful day and it made a beautiful memory. Michael squirmed in his sleep, his arm clutching at Kitt, drawing him closer. The AI went willingly, his head curling into the crook beneath his lover�s chin, his ear taking the place of his hand and receiving that reassuring pulse as Michael�s breathing brushed his chest hair against his cheek. He loved this man more than life itself. �Kitt.� The voice was breathy, and for a moment Kitt thought Michael was waking, but no, he was still asleep his mind still dreaming of surf and surfing. Just mumbling his lover�s name. Those eyes appeared again, and this time with a wash of tenderness that Kitt could not ignore. It was so familiar, so normally aimed at him. Golden sparkles, almost miniature suns shimmered in those auburn depths. But something wasn�t quite right. It suddenly clicked. It was not a memory. Michael was imagining those eyes, sketching them out in his mind. They were not a memory, they were a creation. But before Kitt could collate this new piece of information the image changed, blurring slightly, morphing into a more familiar sight. The eyes he saw every morning in the bathroom mirror. Kitt�s own. �Kitt.� The murmur was accompanied by yet another wave of beloved tenderness, Michael again pulling him in close in his sleep. Relief mixed with a realisation as the gold-flecked eyes appeared again. Michael�s mind provided the link, connecting the image with the emotion, guiding his lover subconsciously to the correct conclusion. Sea, sun, surf, the Trans Am dashboard, his flickering voice box, the golden eyes, and his own android whiskey brown pupils. Dreams warped reality, and time was not a factor. Kitt knew that before the android, Michael had always seen him as a person, a self aware entity that inhabited his car, but it wasn�t until this moment that he realised that Michael had had an image of him in his mind. Michael must have stared down at that dashboard many times swapping jokes with him, arguing with him, even occasionally shouting at him, but at all times interacting with him as he would another human being. It had never occurred to Kitt that he would see him that way literally. If he focussed on the images Michael�s dream was producing he could gather more information. Sometimes the golden eyes were accompanied by elements of his modern appearance, but at other times fragments of personality, hair colour, a smile, a grin, a blatant frown, or a scolding look would skitter across the dreamscape. This was how Michael had seen him. This was the human Kitt he had been interacting with when he interpreted the responses from the voice box. Michael�s mind had had only a voice to play with, but had created the rest to fill in the blanks. Kitt�s virtual jaw dropped. This was how his friend had seen him back then? He felt nothing but honour. The few scattered images he received showed that the created appearance was not so far from his current appearance, a few differences here and there, including the colour of his eyes, but essentially the core of his personality was there. Michael had known him better than he had thought. He was in Michael�s dreams. And Michael had loved him even then. He had the sudden urge to wake his partner and return that love that very moment, but rational thought intruded. Michael needed his sleep, tomorrow would be another long and arduous day. So he settled in closer, pulling the man to him, feeling his heart beat, and projecting his own images across the link, gently caressing the sleeping mind with a tenderness that reflected a passion he could not express. Eyes flickered in his mind. As he drifted back to sleep himself, he projected back a pair he knew oh so well. And their blue sparkled in the dark. |