Tea Time with the In-Laws 1/2contrary_izybelMarch 7 2012, 06:20:49 UTC
In the palace tea time was always at three fifteen in the afternoon, come rain or shine or the new Prince’s attempts at playing keep away with his wife’s crown. No matter the circumstances the maids would set out a pot of the kingdom’s finest tea and the royals would drink it quietly, while reflecting on their day. At least, sometimes they were quiet. The Princess had brought a breath of fresh air and chatter to tea time and her parents couldn’t find it in them to silence her. But it was still a calm event and it was always a three fifteen.
Out in the Princess’s cottage, located about a day’s travel from her parents’ castle, tea time was whenever she felt like it. Or whenever her husband came tromping in from his explorations of the forest. Or when her guards knocked on the door just before lunch, presenting them with two strange men.
“Using the guards to find my father? Why would you do that? Why wouldn’t you tell me?”
“I just thought it’d be a nice surprise. Like meeting my parents. And you did say you wanted to meet him.”
“Him, not them.”
“Please, just give them a chance.”
And then, because even Rapunzel realized a thick wood door could only keep so much of their hissed conversation private from their surprise guests, she rushed about making tea and hunting through the basket of scones for a few that hadn’t been burned. Not her fault her husband was determined to distract her from her baking. The two men, meanwhile, sat awkwardly at the table. The blond would occasionally try to speak up, only to be silences by his dark haired companion.
And that was how tea time went the first day.
The next day Rapunzel found her potential father-in-law (the blond one) trying to make his own tea. And of course she had to help him, and of course she had to sip politely while he talked, even if the pot had been a lost cause before she’d ever intervened. But despite the bitter taste that wasn’t at all covered by the hefty doses of sugar she sipped and smiled and waited until he wasn’t looking before dumping her cup out the window.
“So…Eugene…he seems nice.” Miguel tried after about twenty minutes of forced small talk. She followed his eyes out the window where Eugene and Tulio were mucking about near the edge of the forest. “And a prince too. Kid did well for himself.”
Rapunzel nodded, unsure of how to launch into the story of their unorthodox rise to Prince and Princess. “He’s happy you’re here. I think. I mean, he seems happy.”
“He seems confused.” Miguel said honestly, fingers carding through graying blond hair.
“There seems to be a lot of that going around.”
On the third day during a tea time that would have been better off calling itself lunch, they finally tackled the subject. Or more aptly Eugene just asked. “So, are either of you my father or what?”
The two shared a look, the kind of look Rapunzel sometimes saw her parents share when she mentioned Mother Gothel or the tower. Or maybe it was closer to the look they gave each other when she asked why they had never found her. That question had only been asked once so she didn’t have much experience with that look. Neither did Eugene because he just looked between them, obviously trying to not look like a scared little boy and failing miserably.
Re: Tea Time with the In-Laws 2/2contrary_izybelMarch 7 2012, 06:21:17 UTC
As she hunted for some with the good frosting she could hear the two men coughing and choking and generally making noise to cover their lack of a proper answer. By the time she returned with the cookies they seemed to have come to some kind of silent agreement. Or maybe they were just tired of pretending they didn’t have an answer.
“Eugene, we don’t think you’ll like this answer, but it’s the truth and we ask you to respect that.” Tulio looked at Miguel who was busy sighing dramatically and sipping his tea like he had grown up in a palace. “When we arrived in your village we were…not getting along.”
“We were having a fight which was completely his fault.” Miguel added, not at all helpfully.
Tulio rolled his eyes and adjusted his glasses, which Rapunzel suspected he only wore to look wiser. It didn’t work. “The point is, we were having a fight and ended up in different ends of a bar with this pretty girl running about playing messenger with our insults. I think she started making stuff up, stuff like how sorry I was and how much Miguel loved my smile. Stupid things.”
Miguel smiled dreamily. “Romantic things.”
“So that night…” he sighed, not at all dramatically, “she ended up in our bed.”
“Not just that night. For about a month afterwards.”
Tulio nodded, mostly to himself. “We left the village not long after and didn’t learn until later that she’d even been pregnant. By the time we found out she had died and we thought you have died with her. But…she was lovely. Your mother was a wonderful woman.”
Eugene shrank back on himself, arms wrapped around him in a protective motion. “So either of you could be my father?”
The men sent another silent look at one another before nodding. “We’re sorry, kid.”
Without another word Eugene left and Rapunzel set about making another pot of tea for her guests who were silent for the rest of the night.
The next day she was almost tempted to forgo tea time completely until she found Eugene yelling insults at the kettle and pointing out how the tea was lucky he was even thinking about drinking it. From the doorway she watched Tulio show him how to properly handle the kettle, while effectively keeping Miguel away from the snacks she had made the day before. It wasn’t perfect. Eugene’s shoulders still tensed when either man got too close and Tulio and Miguel kept sharing those parent looks, so no it wasn’t perfect.
Out in the Princess’s cottage, located about a day’s travel from her parents’ castle, tea time was whenever she felt like it. Or whenever her husband came tromping in from his explorations of the forest. Or when her guards knocked on the door just before lunch, presenting them with two strange men.
“Using the guards to find my father? Why would you do that? Why wouldn’t you tell me?”
“I just thought it’d be a nice surprise. Like meeting my parents. And you did say you wanted to meet him.”
“Him, not them.”
“Please, just give them a chance.”
And then, because even Rapunzel realized a thick wood door could only keep so much of their hissed conversation private from their surprise guests, she rushed about making tea and hunting through the basket of scones for a few that hadn’t been burned. Not her fault her husband was determined to distract her from her baking. The two men, meanwhile, sat awkwardly at the table. The blond would occasionally try to speak up, only to be silences by his dark haired companion.
And that was how tea time went the first day.
The next day Rapunzel found her potential father-in-law (the blond one) trying to make his own tea. And of course she had to help him, and of course she had to sip politely while he talked, even if the pot had been a lost cause before she’d ever intervened. But despite the bitter taste that wasn’t at all covered by the hefty doses of sugar she sipped and smiled and waited until he wasn’t looking before dumping her cup out the window.
“So…Eugene…he seems nice.” Miguel tried after about twenty minutes of forced small talk. She followed his eyes out the window where Eugene and Tulio were mucking about near the edge of the forest. “And a prince too. Kid did well for himself.”
Rapunzel nodded, unsure of how to launch into the story of their unorthodox rise to Prince and Princess. “He’s happy you’re here. I think. I mean, he seems happy.”
“He seems confused.” Miguel said honestly, fingers carding through graying blond hair.
“There seems to be a lot of that going around.”
On the third day during a tea time that would have been better off calling itself lunch, they finally tackled the subject. Or more aptly Eugene just asked. “So, are either of you my father or what?”
The two shared a look, the kind of look Rapunzel sometimes saw her parents share when she mentioned Mother Gothel or the tower. Or maybe it was closer to the look they gave each other when she asked why they had never found her. That question had only been asked once so she didn’t have much experience with that look. Neither did Eugene because he just looked between them, obviously trying to not look like a scared little boy and failing miserably.
A good time for her to find more cookies.
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“Eugene, we don’t think you’ll like this answer, but it’s the truth and we ask you to respect that.” Tulio looked at Miguel who was busy sighing dramatically and sipping his tea like he had grown up in a palace. “When we arrived in your village we were…not getting along.”
“We were having a fight which was completely his fault.” Miguel added, not at all helpfully.
Tulio rolled his eyes and adjusted his glasses, which Rapunzel suspected he only wore to look wiser. It didn’t work. “The point is, we were having a fight and ended up in different ends of a bar with this pretty girl running about playing messenger with our insults. I think she started making stuff up, stuff like how sorry I was and how much Miguel loved my smile. Stupid things.”
Miguel smiled dreamily. “Romantic things.”
“So that night…” he sighed, not at all dramatically, “she ended up in our bed.”
“Not just that night. For about a month afterwards.”
Tulio nodded, mostly to himself. “We left the village not long after and didn’t learn until later that she’d even been pregnant. By the time we found out she had died and we thought you have died with her. But…she was lovely. Your mother was a wonderful woman.”
Eugene shrank back on himself, arms wrapped around him in a protective motion. “So either of you could be my father?”
The men sent another silent look at one another before nodding. “We’re sorry, kid.”
Without another word Eugene left and Rapunzel set about making another pot of tea for her guests who were silent for the rest of the night.
The next day she was almost tempted to forgo tea time completely until she found Eugene yelling insults at the kettle and pointing out how the tea was lucky he was even thinking about drinking it. From the doorway she watched Tulio show him how to properly handle the kettle, while effectively keeping Miguel away from the snacks she had made the day before. It wasn’t perfect. Eugene’s shoulders still tensed when either man got too close and Tulio and Miguel kept sharing those parent looks, so no it wasn’t perfect.
But it was a start.
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