Title: Will not redo Ship/Character: Nagisa & Rei Additional Characters: none Fandom: Free! Major Tags: None Other Tags: Angst-ish Word Count: 462 Remix Permission:see permissions sheet Link to Original Fill:here
End of season 1. Written from Rei's perspective. I loved this fill so much my immediate thought was apparently 'can I make this worse?'
***
Nagisa hasn’t said a word since they parted ways with their upperclassmen. He won’t even look at Rei, a fact that’s making Rei increasingly uncomfortable by the minute.
Rei thought he was doing the right thing when he let Rin take his place in the relay. He wasn’t just thinking it was something that needed to happen for Haru and Rin and Makoto, but something that Nagisa must have wanted as the fourth in their old team. Nagisa had certainly looked happy when he glomped onto Rin. He would have liked to take that as proof that he made the right decision.
Well, apparently not. Nagisa clearly isn’t happy now, and Rei can’t shake the feeling that it’s his fault.
Does Nagisa have any idea how much he wanted to be in that relay with them, or does he think Rei stepped down because he didn’t actually want to be there? Or worse, because he doesn’t care? What if Nagisa thinks he doesn’t want to be part of their team? Nagisa was the one to recruit him. Nagisa chose him for some reason he still doesn’t understand and locked on to him in an unrelenting pursuit. He’s the reason Rei had a chance to fall in love with swimming. Does he know how much Rei loves the swim club?
As he darts a glance at Nagisa’s profile, Rei is running circles inside his head trying to put together words. Should he start by saying, ‘thank you for pulling me into this?’ Nagisa has all the subtlety of a hurricane forming over a swimming pool. He has to know what he’s capable of. Maybe Rei needs to explain that Nagisa’s persistence isn’t the only reason he’s with the club.
“I’m sorry,” Nagisa says.
“It’s okay,” says Rei, even though he won’t swear he knows what Nagisa is apologizing for.
Rei lets himself move a little bit closer. He’s so used to Nagisa being in his personal space that the distance between them is starting to nag at him. Nagisa lets him, at least. If Rei hurt his feelings it’s not so raw that he wants to move away.
They can’t go back and relive that last hour of their lives, and Nagisa runs so much on impulse and emotion it’s difficult to talk to him about things after the fact. Rei takes a deep breath and lets it out slowly. He will tell Nagisa in no uncertain terms that he loves their team and he would never make such a decision lightly. He was willing to step down once to put what he thought they needed above what he wanted, but he won’t do it again. He’s sure once he explains it was not an escape but a sacrifice, Nagisa will feel better.
Fill: Team Grandstand, G
Ship/Character: Nagisa & Rei
Additional Characters: none
Fandom: Free!
Major Tags: None
Other Tags: Angst-ish
Word Count: 462
Remix Permission: see permissions sheet
Link to Original Fill: here
End of season 1. Written from Rei's perspective. I loved this fill so much my immediate thought was apparently 'can I make this worse?'
***
Nagisa hasn’t said a word since they parted ways with their upperclassmen. He won’t even look at Rei, a fact that’s making Rei increasingly uncomfortable by the minute.
Rei thought he was doing the right thing when he let Rin take his place in the relay. He wasn’t just thinking it was something that needed to happen for Haru and Rin and Makoto, but something that Nagisa must have wanted as the fourth in their old team. Nagisa had certainly looked happy when he glomped onto Rin. He would have liked to take that as proof that he made the right decision.
Well, apparently not. Nagisa clearly isn’t happy now, and Rei can’t shake the feeling that it’s his fault.
Does Nagisa have any idea how much he wanted to be in that relay with them, or does he think Rei stepped down because he didn’t actually want to be there? Or worse, because he doesn’t care? What if Nagisa thinks he doesn’t want to be part of their team? Nagisa was the one to recruit him. Nagisa chose him for some reason he still doesn’t understand and locked on to him in an unrelenting pursuit. He’s the reason Rei had a chance to fall in love with swimming. Does he know how much Rei loves the swim club?
As he darts a glance at Nagisa’s profile, Rei is running circles inside his head trying to put together words. Should he start by saying, ‘thank you for pulling me into this?’ Nagisa has all the subtlety of a hurricane forming over a swimming pool. He has to know what he’s capable of. Maybe Rei needs to explain that Nagisa’s persistence isn’t the only reason he’s with the club.
“I’m sorry,” Nagisa says.
“It’s okay,” says Rei, even though he won’t swear he knows what Nagisa is apologizing for.
Rei lets himself move a little bit closer. He’s so used to Nagisa being in his personal space that the distance between them is starting to nag at him. Nagisa lets him, at least. If Rei hurt his feelings it’s not so raw that he wants to move away.
They can’t go back and relive that last hour of their lives, and Nagisa runs so much on impulse and emotion it’s difficult to talk to him about things after the fact. Rei takes a deep breath and lets it out slowly. He will tell Nagisa in no uncertain terms that he loves their team and he would never make such a decision lightly. He was willing to step down once to put what he thought they needed above what he wanted, but he won’t do it again. He’s sure once he explains it was not an escape but a sacrifice, Nagisa will feel better.