Title: Imperfect Moments
Fandom: Loveless
Pairing: Ritsuka/Soubi pre-slash
Genres: Hurt/Comfort
Length: Medium (7,396 words)
Warnings: Past child abuse

Author on LJ: N/A
Author Website: who_la_hoop @ AO3

Author's Summary:
In which Ritsuka learns more secrets than he wanted to know, grows up faster than is good for anybody, and discovers that you don't always have to like someone, to love them with all your heart.

Review:
So recently I remembered that Loveless existed and decided to try and find some good fic for it. Unfortunately, there doesn't seem to be much fic for this fandom at all, but I was lucky enough to find this gem, written by the same author whose great Pet Shop of Horrors fic I recced a while ago. This fic is achingly sweet and at the same time painfully realistic, with the childish and yet wise beyond his years Ritsuka unable to understand Soubi's complete lack of self-worth. Confronted with the realities of Soubi's past, he tries to understand why he seems so accepting and calm about what Ritsuka clearly sees as abuse. It's definitely a fic that pulls on your heartstrings, but also makes you smile. Love it.

"Ritsuka allows himself to be comforted, even though it’s dumb, because he thinks he should be comforting Soubi. Soubi holds him too tight, and Ritsuka bears it because it distracts him from the pain Soubi should be feeling – which Ritsuka seems to have taken into himself because his stomach aches and he feels a bit like he’s going to be sick. And to his shame he melts into helpless tears – but it’s okay, he supposes, because someone needs to cry about it, and Soubi’s evidently too much of a dummy to know that it should be him."

Imperfect Moments