Oneshots and Other Things

Small Spaces ~ Part 1

Had a bit of a stressful day so finally got round to finishing this (I wrote most of it so long ago!) to try and relax a bit. Not sure it worked but at least I have a finished story :p

There is a panic attack in this one and descriptions of claustrophobia.

(*~*)

Ant and Dec had always found it amusing that he was claustrophobic, given a magician's tendency to force an assistant into small spaces. But when they joked about it, Stephen would just smile wryly and shrug his shoulders, always looking a little embarrassed.

"But how bad is it?" Ant had asked on one occasion; probably a break in filming on Britain's Got Talent or something. It had been impossible to miss the slight tension in Stephen's shoulders even when he made himself sound as if he was joking.

"I don't like being trapped," he'd said simply, "Even places that aren't that small; if I'm trapped in anything smaller than, well, I don't know exactly, but it doesn't end well."

For the other two, this was always just information to store away for a rainy day, a fact that they knew about their friend but never saw in real life. And if they made the connection between the claustrophobia and Stephen always choosing to take the stairs or be on the edge of a crowd they never mentioned it to him, or to each other.

(*~*)

Simon was late to the auditions. Stephen bounced on the balls of his feet impatiently, waiting at the front doors to the theatre for the elusive man to show up. He'd been late for three days in a row, meaning that his presence on More Talent was lacking to say the least and Stephen was determined to hang around as long as necessary that morning to get an interview.

When he finally turned up, tight lipped and dismissive as ever over the 45 minute delay, he at least tolerated having Stephen on his heels as he headed straight for the lift. Stephen, too wrapped up in getting through at least a few questions didn't particularly notice himself following the other man in, only feeling a little cramped when his cameraman joined them.

They talked for the duration of the lift journey and Simon ended by jokingly pressing the unused basement button and jumping out of the lift as the doors began to slide shut. Even more unfortunately, the cameraman also decided it would be funny to step out and film the closing doors, leaving Stephen on his own.

He dealt with it calmly (definitely not lifting a hand to grip the back of his hair or retreating to one corner of the metal box to give him two walls to ground himself with), watching the numbers tick down on the display and then trying not to throw up when the screen and lights flickered off. A moment later the lift shuddered to a stop, gears creaking and then falling silent. His own breathing filled the space, somehow making it seem to shrink.

(*~*)

"Oh, come on!" Ant's disbelieving voice cut through the darkness. Dec used it as a beacon, reaching subtly towards the noise and then resting a casual hand on the arm he found in the gloom. Giving Ant his usual credit, he merely stepped back, closer to Dec and kept up a stream of conversation. "First Simon, now all the power goes. Just backstage, is it?"

"Auditorium's on a different generator," one of the crew said, no doubt pointing to a pinprick of light in the distance. They'd been further away from the stage than they normally would be, just getting ready to film.

"We'll have to get everyone out while we sort the problem," the floor manager, Alan, spoke up, appearing with a handful of torches, one illuminating them as a group. "Health and safety would have a field day if they knew we were working around all of the loose wires in the dark."