Iron Heart [2/?]
Title: Iron Heart [2/?]
Author: illocutionary
Pairing(s): Dave/Kurt
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: 1,691 [this round] ; 3,582 [total]
Summary: AU! Fairytale ; In an accident, Prince Kurt breaks his mother's favorite necklace, and goes to David, the resident blacksmith about fixing it. Neither are particularly happy with the arrangement.
Part One
Iron Heart
“Karofsky.”
David turns around, and finds the Prince crossing his arms, cutting an impressive figure by stance alone while Finnegan is behind him panting slightly, lugging a bag roughly the size of a potato sack into the smithy.
David stands up, “What’s this?”
Kurt snaps his fingers and the guard tilts the bag sideways, creating a cascade of gold coins tumbling onto the floor of the workshop, upsetting the ash and dust. David locks eyes with Kurt, wary of the haul in front of him. The repair job was relatively simple, and David was sure that the Prince knew it too.
“What’s all this for?” he ventures, trying to read Kurt's face.
Kurt shoos Hudson away, and looks down at his nails, disinterested. “Compensation,” he huffs. “Surprisingly, I found your workmanship to be particularly impeccable, and for that, you must be rewarded as such. “
David scratches the back of his head, averting his eyes. “Look, if this is really about me keeping quiet, I’m not going to breathe a w-“
“The only thing you will do, David Karofsky,” Kurt stresses, nudging the bag of gold to completely empty out all over the floor, “is accept this for what it is worth. I’m usually not this generous; I believe it’d be in your best interest to take advantage of it.”
David’s eyes flicker over the Prince’s stoic face, and he licks his lips, swallowing down his words. “I understand.”
"Good," Kurt clips, and David can't help to notice that the Prince is wearing the necklace already, winding the chain over his fingers.
“Oh, and here,” Dave fishes for something off his workbench and flings it at Kurt. The Prince flinches as something sailed into his line of view and he brought his hands up to catch the coil of rope, letting out a small 'oof'.
“What’s this?”
Dave doesn't even look up, moving back in front of the forge to resume working. “Harnesses and such. For your next escapde.”
Kurt flushes, gripping the and beating a hasty retreat.
**
He's sitting on his bed, crossed legged and in his night apparel, inspecting his newest gain. He had to admit that he was impressed. Sturdy hooks, a good grappling claw, and strong belt loops to hang anything he might need.
He doesn't understand though-- what's the point of giving these to him? Perhaps Karofsky felt uncomfortable with being compensated heavily for so little work. Kurt glowers, thinking it over. Like that could ever happen, the huge ape having things like empathy or feelings in his body was too surreal of a concept. Clearly, the blacksmith was taking him for a sniveling buffoon, and a gigantic one at that. He looks down at the coil of rope and made up his mind, running his hands over the indentations. One of the metal pieces gave in, and Kurt yelped, jumping back as a small dart flew out of a tiny compartment on the other side of the harness and embedded itself onto the opposite wall. Kurt clutches his heart, trying to force air into his lungs as he watched the dart's end vibrate feverishly.
Well that cleared things up; Karofsky wanted him dead.
**
"More?"
David looks up, a little confused. "What?" Quinnley frowns slightly, lifting the pitcher of ale up a little higher.
"Oh, oh right, sure, thanks," David mutters, still unfocused, and the barmaid tsks, filling his mug back up with mead again before moving away to attend to the other tavern patrons.
David scrubs his face, trying to rub the tiredness out and listen to Evans go on and on about how much he's been selling his firebirds for. Azimio is on his left, ready to go to sleep himself as he rests his chin on his hand, looking off at the far off distance and not paying attention to anything. David catches both Artemius' and Tyna's glances, and they give weak smiles back, before flickering back onto Evans and pretending to follow with his story.
David leans slightly towards Az, "Why did we invite him again?"
"I don't know about you," Azimio whispered back, "but this bastard is so certain that he can ride a pegasus just because he has one, and if I play my cards right, I can get a good story out of tonight if he's determined to prove it."
David grins, and shakes his head, before hearing a tremendous CRASH.
Despite himself, David looks over, getting up and joining the huge ring of rubberneckers as he looks on at the huge commotion. In the center, a maiden was completely drenched in wine, while a large man and a shorter, hooded person were engaging in a stare down. The whole tavern turned quiet, and even though the hooded man was whispering, his voice still carried out through the entire room. "I apologize, that was entirely unintentional."
"Lies!" The maiden wailed, shaking the foam off of her arms and scrunching her hair up in agony. "He was out to ruin me!"
"I hardly know you, madam--"
"Do you regularly lurk around bars to harass others, good sir?"
"Just as much as you do," the stranger snaps back, and the whole tavern collectively gasped, which would've been hilarious if it wasn't for the fact that David caught a glimmer of gold from underneath the hood and Azimio could recognize that tone even half-sober.
"Haah, we've got quite a little fool here, don't we?" The huge man leered, towering over the smaller one, before plucking him up by the back of the hood. The shorter man yelped, kicking his feet as he struggled to reach the floor again. Suddenly, he was pulled out of the grip, and then buried into a pair of arms that gripped him tightly, shoving his face into the man's shoulders and effectively shielding his face from view."
"A thousand apologies, sir," David calls out, piquing the interest of even more of the tavern's customers at the newcomer, "my cousin Marion has been losing his eyesight, and has become increasingly bitter over it. It's my fault for sending him over to retrieve the mead for our table." Kurt blinks, and tries to lift his head, but David holds it down. "We'll pay for a new dress for you, miss, and the next round of ale is on me as an apology."
"As kind as your offer is," the giant groused, "I would much rather seek compensation from that little wench you have sniveling in your arms."
As if electrified, Kurt began squirming violently in David's arms, until he broke free and marched up to the huge man, fury in his eyes, "I AM NOT a girl! HOW DARE YOU INSINUATE THAT, YOU DISGUSTING SON OF A--"
The man was about to swing his fist into Kurt's face, but missed as both Azimio and David pulled Kurt out of range sharply, and dragged him all the way out of the bar, running three blocks away from the tavern before finally stopping to catch their breaths.
"Sire," Azimio starts, the first one to recover from the running, "why are you out here alone at night?"
"Am I not allowed to walk freely within my own kingdom?" Kurt sneers, pulling down his hood as he glares at the two of them. David can see a bruise forming on the Prince's cheek, and blood dripping from the side of his mouth.
"Of course you are, your majesty," Azimio agrees, trying to not sound nervous, "but normally, you would at least take Brittany or Mercy along..."
"For what? A girls' night out? A rendezvous out among the stars?"
"I..."
Kurt grabs Azimio's shirt, tugging him closer, and Azimio gulps, staring right into Kurt's bloodshot eyes, "I know this may be a difficult concept to grasp, but I am NOT. A. GIRL."
"Quit it!" David orders, pulling them apart, and grabbing the Prince's shoulders. "Girl or no girl, a member of royalty shouldn't just be waltzing about past midnight picking fights--"
"I can take care of myself!"
"We are not having this conversation again--"
"Why would you care about my wellbeing, blacksmith?" Kurt counters, "you clearly hate me!"
"This isn't a matter of caring, this is about standards and upholding a certain type of image of the Royal House--"
"Oh, right, like you know anything about standards and--"
"Is this what you want?" David breathes out, voice ragged, "To break the Queen's heart as she watches over you?"
Kurt winces, and David thinks he sees a flash of pain on Kurt's face, before a mask of calm replaces it, staring coolly up at the blacksmith.
"You don't know her."
"Highness..."
"Don't act like you know her!" Kurt cries out, leaping forward to tackle David, but was held back by Azimio before he could make it. David sighs, and looks over at his friend, who nods solemnly.
"You need help?" David asks, bringing the hoodie back up over the Prince's head to cover his eyes.
"Please." Azimio sighs, frog-marching Kurt in the direction of the castle. David grimaces and follows from behind.
--
After awhile, the Prince was exhausted from the yelling and squirming, laying in Azimio's arms as he's being brought up to his bedchambers. Noah and Michael both nod in recognition, and were about to ask questions, but halted when David shook his head and mouthed, "later."
David pulls back the covers, and Adams takes care to gently put Kurt down on the bed, arranging the pillows comfortably as he's seen Mercy and Rachael do for beds all over the castle.
"Think he'll be alright?"
"Just have to sleep it off, get all that aggression out."
Azimio shakes his head, "I honestly have never seen him do that, it looked like he was about to kill you."
"It was out of line for me though," David admits.
"For saving him?"
"No, for..." David shakes his head, "nevermind, I'll tell you later."
Az shrugs, and went out to explain to the guards what had transpired, but David lingered slightly, taking in Kurt's face, still scrunched up in misery.
"I didn't mean to upset you," Kurt mumbles, almost asleep, and David sighs, blowing out the candle next to the Prince's bed.
"Me neither."\
--
Part Three
Author: illocutionary
Pairing(s): Dave/Kurt
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: 1,691 [this round] ; 3,582 [total]
Summary: AU! Fairytale ; In an accident, Prince Kurt breaks his mother's favorite necklace, and goes to David, the resident blacksmith about fixing it. Neither are particularly happy with the arrangement.
Part One
Iron Heart
“Karofsky.”
David turns around, and finds the Prince crossing his arms, cutting an impressive figure by stance alone while Finnegan is behind him panting slightly, lugging a bag roughly the size of a potato sack into the smithy.
David stands up, “What’s this?”
Kurt snaps his fingers and the guard tilts the bag sideways, creating a cascade of gold coins tumbling onto the floor of the workshop, upsetting the ash and dust. David locks eyes with Kurt, wary of the haul in front of him. The repair job was relatively simple, and David was sure that the Prince knew it too.
“What’s all this for?” he ventures, trying to read Kurt's face.
Kurt shoos Hudson away, and looks down at his nails, disinterested. “Compensation,” he huffs. “Surprisingly, I found your workmanship to be particularly impeccable, and for that, you must be rewarded as such. “
David scratches the back of his head, averting his eyes. “Look, if this is really about me keeping quiet, I’m not going to breathe a w-“
“The only thing you will do, David Karofsky,” Kurt stresses, nudging the bag of gold to completely empty out all over the floor, “is accept this for what it is worth. I’m usually not this generous; I believe it’d be in your best interest to take advantage of it.”
David’s eyes flicker over the Prince’s stoic face, and he licks his lips, swallowing down his words. “I understand.”
"Good," Kurt clips, and David can't help to notice that the Prince is wearing the necklace already, winding the chain over his fingers.
“Oh, and here,” Dave fishes for something off his workbench and flings it at Kurt. The Prince flinches as something sailed into his line of view and he brought his hands up to catch the coil of rope, letting out a small 'oof'.
“What’s this?”
Dave doesn't even look up, moving back in front of the forge to resume working. “Harnesses and such. For your next escapde.”
Kurt flushes, gripping the and beating a hasty retreat.
**
He's sitting on his bed, crossed legged and in his night apparel, inspecting his newest gain. He had to admit that he was impressed. Sturdy hooks, a good grappling claw, and strong belt loops to hang anything he might need.
He doesn't understand though-- what's the point of giving these to him? Perhaps Karofsky felt uncomfortable with being compensated heavily for so little work. Kurt glowers, thinking it over. Like that could ever happen, the huge ape having things like empathy or feelings in his body was too surreal of a concept. Clearly, the blacksmith was taking him for a sniveling buffoon, and a gigantic one at that. He looks down at the coil of rope and made up his mind, running his hands over the indentations. One of the metal pieces gave in, and Kurt yelped, jumping back as a small dart flew out of a tiny compartment on the other side of the harness and embedded itself onto the opposite wall. Kurt clutches his heart, trying to force air into his lungs as he watched the dart's end vibrate feverishly.
Well that cleared things up; Karofsky wanted him dead.
**
"More?"
David looks up, a little confused. "What?" Quinnley frowns slightly, lifting the pitcher of ale up a little higher.
"Oh, oh right, sure, thanks," David mutters, still unfocused, and the barmaid tsks, filling his mug back up with mead again before moving away to attend to the other tavern patrons.
David scrubs his face, trying to rub the tiredness out and listen to Evans go on and on about how much he's been selling his firebirds for. Azimio is on his left, ready to go to sleep himself as he rests his chin on his hand, looking off at the far off distance and not paying attention to anything. David catches both Artemius' and Tyna's glances, and they give weak smiles back, before flickering back onto Evans and pretending to follow with his story.
David leans slightly towards Az, "Why did we invite him again?"
"I don't know about you," Azimio whispered back, "but this bastard is so certain that he can ride a pegasus just because he has one, and if I play my cards right, I can get a good story out of tonight if he's determined to prove it."
David grins, and shakes his head, before hearing a tremendous CRASH.
Despite himself, David looks over, getting up and joining the huge ring of rubberneckers as he looks on at the huge commotion. In the center, a maiden was completely drenched in wine, while a large man and a shorter, hooded person were engaging in a stare down. The whole tavern turned quiet, and even though the hooded man was whispering, his voice still carried out through the entire room. "I apologize, that was entirely unintentional."
"Lies!" The maiden wailed, shaking the foam off of her arms and scrunching her hair up in agony. "He was out to ruin me!"
"I hardly know you, madam--"
"Do you regularly lurk around bars to harass others, good sir?"
"Just as much as you do," the stranger snaps back, and the whole tavern collectively gasped, which would've been hilarious if it wasn't for the fact that David caught a glimmer of gold from underneath the hood and Azimio could recognize that tone even half-sober.
"Haah, we've got quite a little fool here, don't we?" The huge man leered, towering over the smaller one, before plucking him up by the back of the hood. The shorter man yelped, kicking his feet as he struggled to reach the floor again. Suddenly, he was pulled out of the grip, and then buried into a pair of arms that gripped him tightly, shoving his face into the man's shoulders and effectively shielding his face from view."
"A thousand apologies, sir," David calls out, piquing the interest of even more of the tavern's customers at the newcomer, "my cousin Marion has been losing his eyesight, and has become increasingly bitter over it. It's my fault for sending him over to retrieve the mead for our table." Kurt blinks, and tries to lift his head, but David holds it down. "We'll pay for a new dress for you, miss, and the next round of ale is on me as an apology."
"As kind as your offer is," the giant groused, "I would much rather seek compensation from that little wench you have sniveling in your arms."
As if electrified, Kurt began squirming violently in David's arms, until he broke free and marched up to the huge man, fury in his eyes, "I AM NOT a girl! HOW DARE YOU INSINUATE THAT, YOU DISGUSTING SON OF A--"
The man was about to swing his fist into Kurt's face, but missed as both Azimio and David pulled Kurt out of range sharply, and dragged him all the way out of the bar, running three blocks away from the tavern before finally stopping to catch their breaths.
"Sire," Azimio starts, the first one to recover from the running, "why are you out here alone at night?"
"Am I not allowed to walk freely within my own kingdom?" Kurt sneers, pulling down his hood as he glares at the two of them. David can see a bruise forming on the Prince's cheek, and blood dripping from the side of his mouth.
"Of course you are, your majesty," Azimio agrees, trying to not sound nervous, "but normally, you would at least take Brittany or Mercy along..."
"For what? A girls' night out? A rendezvous out among the stars?"
"I..."
Kurt grabs Azimio's shirt, tugging him closer, and Azimio gulps, staring right into Kurt's bloodshot eyes, "I know this may be a difficult concept to grasp, but I am NOT. A. GIRL."
"Quit it!" David orders, pulling them apart, and grabbing the Prince's shoulders. "Girl or no girl, a member of royalty shouldn't just be waltzing about past midnight picking fights--"
"I can take care of myself!"
"We are not having this conversation again--"
"Why would you care about my wellbeing, blacksmith?" Kurt counters, "you clearly hate me!"
"This isn't a matter of caring, this is about standards and upholding a certain type of image of the Royal House--"
"Oh, right, like you know anything about standards and--"
"Is this what you want?" David breathes out, voice ragged, "To break the Queen's heart as she watches over you?"
Kurt winces, and David thinks he sees a flash of pain on Kurt's face, before a mask of calm replaces it, staring coolly up at the blacksmith.
"You don't know her."
"Highness..."
"Don't act like you know her!" Kurt cries out, leaping forward to tackle David, but was held back by Azimio before he could make it. David sighs, and looks over at his friend, who nods solemnly.
"You need help?" David asks, bringing the hoodie back up over the Prince's head to cover his eyes.
"Please." Azimio sighs, frog-marching Kurt in the direction of the castle. David grimaces and follows from behind.
--
After awhile, the Prince was exhausted from the yelling and squirming, laying in Azimio's arms as he's being brought up to his bedchambers. Noah and Michael both nod in recognition, and were about to ask questions, but halted when David shook his head and mouthed, "later."
David pulls back the covers, and Adams takes care to gently put Kurt down on the bed, arranging the pillows comfortably as he's seen Mercy and Rachael do for beds all over the castle.
"Think he'll be alright?"
"Just have to sleep it off, get all that aggression out."
Azimio shakes his head, "I honestly have never seen him do that, it looked like he was about to kill you."
"It was out of line for me though," David admits.
"For saving him?"
"No, for..." David shakes his head, "nevermind, I'll tell you later."
Az shrugs, and went out to explain to the guards what had transpired, but David lingered slightly, taking in Kurt's face, still scrunched up in misery.
"I didn't mean to upset you," Kurt mumbles, almost asleep, and David sighs, blowing out the candle next to the Prince's bed.
"Me neither."\
--
Part Three