Psyche's Dilemma (Merlin, Morgana, G)briar_pipeAugust 22 2010, 01:28:36 UTC
Morgana sat on the floor in her torn dress, seeds sifting through her fingers. No magic, they'd said. You must do this yourself.
They thought the King's Ward didn't know how to work. They were wrong.
Tossing her shorn hair, she examined the room for tools she could use, tricks from her youth, when her arsenal had been her voice, the fire in her blood, and the sword hidden under her bed. She took her time, fought impatience. For Gwen's sake, and Merlin's, and Arthur's. For hers.
Finally, her eye caught on an ant seeking across the floor. Morgana smiled.
Untitled (Original, Aiden and Sylvia, G)lilian_choAugust 22 2010, 05:30:13 UTC
"I must do this myself," Aiden heard himself say, as if from a long distance.
His older sister looked at him in horror.
"You're hardly tall enough to wield a heavy axe." She tried for levity, but her voice quavered.
He glanced at her bandaged right arm, the rifle strapped to her back. "It's our only option. In stories, the hero destroys the animal form to end the enchantment. We-I need to behead the wolf."
They lapsed into silence, watching the shivering wolf at Aiden's feet.
"What if we're wrong?"
"Then I'd have killed my best friend for nothing."
- (Harry Potter, Theodore Nott, G)the_woods_August 22 2010, 19:25:18 UTC
He lapsed into silence, watching the shivering wolf at his feet. She was hurt, and if Theodore had any luck with animals, he'd guess she was tired and hungry, as well.
"Well," he spoke finally, his voice lowered and threatening. The wolf responded to his voice by straightening eerily. Those white and navy blue eyes reflected moonlight as she and stared straight through him.
He took out his wand and bent down, carefully placing his hand on her fur. She didn't retaliate, so he stroked the length of her back and murmured, "I hope you learned your lesson tonight, Hermione."
The Cobweb of Family Secrets (Sherlock, John and Harry, PG)lilian_choAugust 27 2010, 04:16:21 UTC
“Tell me about your flatmate.”
“What’d you like to know?” John asked his sister warily.
“Is he an axe murderer, is there a closet of butchered bodies…?”
“He keeps human eyeballs in a microwavable jar,” John muttered into his coffee.
“What?”
“Sherlock.” John set down his mug. “Eccentric, brilliant, plays the violin at unreasonable hours, solves crimes-he also deduced that you’re an alcoholic from the mobile phone you gave me.”
Harry’s mouth dropped open. “John, you didn’t.”
“You know I wouldn’t.”
The corner of his mouth twitched. “You don’t need to breathe for Sherlock to infer your innermost secrets.”
A weed among hothouse flowers (Original, Aram, Rubin, G)lilian_choAugust 31 2010, 02:06:28 UTC
Aram fidgeted with his gem-encrusted collar. He could get away with wearing a soldier uniform on the battlefield, but nothing less than the official Court Sorcerer garb was good enough for this occasion.
After five years at court, he still felt uncomfortable in opulent clothes, like a weed among hothouse flowers.
"Our guest of honor had finally arrived!" King Rubin lifted his cup in greeting. Everyone sitting at the long table cheered.
"I want you to dance with at least two ladies tonight, do you hear me?"
Aram gave a quick, strained smile. "I won’t disappear at midnight, Your Majesty."
Princess Lesson (Harry Potter, Harry and Lily Luna, G)lilian_choAugust 23 2010, 03:39:58 UTC
“Your lesson tonight is to sleep like a princess,” Harry said.
“Daaaaddy,” Lily whined. “I'm not five anymore.”
Harry fluffed Lily's cloud-soft pillows and put her yellow teddy bear at the headboard. “Princesses stop being royalty when they turn six? I didn't know that.”
Lily giggled. “I'm a big girl now. Not like Roxanne. She's a baby.”
Roxanne was two years old. Lily alternately loved and envied her for taking over her place as the baby of the family.
“Is this princess too big for bedtime stories now?”
Lily's eyes widened. “No, Daddy! I want to hear Sleeping Beauty again!”
Hunting the Minotaur (Inception, Ariadne and Arthur, G)utterlunacyAugust 22 2010, 17:45:08 UTC
'No change,' Arthur said.
Ariadne blinked slowly. Her sleep-blurred vision cleared to reveal that the figure on the nearest hospital bed was indeed still motionless.
'How many more times?' she croaked.
Arthur raised an eyebrow.
'Going down to limbo. Bringing him back up one more level each time. How many till he wakes up?'
He shrugged. 'Your father invented the Penrose Stairs labyrinth. If anyone can find him, it's you. You have to convince him to find and use his totem. We need him back.'
She fought impatience, closed her eyes and thought about the pinwheel in her dreams.
For You Once Again (Original, Aram, Rubin, G)lilian_choAugust 22 2010, 22:05:33 UTC
"Impressive," the king said, teeth glinting in the sunlight.
Aram inclined his head. "Your Majesty."
King Rubin laughed and clapped his shoulder. "We showed them, didn't we? Those weaklings could never have defeated us."
Aram smiled at his friend. It had almost cost him everything to defend the army from magical attacks. Of course, Rubin didn't know that. Rubin only saw him standing while the three enemy sorcerers crumpled to the ground.
"I chose rightly when I appointed you Court Sorcerer," Rubin continued.
His pathetic heart beat with joy at this praise. How many more times before he would learn?
Thorns for Feathers (Merlin, Gwen & others, PG13 for violence)briar_pipeAugust 30 2010, 22:48:51 UTC
"Confess," Uther demanded, but Gwen did not speak.
"Just tell me," Gaius begged, but Gwen looked away.
The guards asked nothing, except with their eyes.
She sat on the straw, wooden needles clicking. The guards had no heart to take the shirts, but still she had only five. Working through the night, her bleeding fingers flew, her ears full of the sound of rushing wings.
At dawn, guards stood her on the pyre, unbound. Bells rang, the king raised his hand...
...and down swooped a line of six swans, Morgana last. Gwen's heart beat with joy, her scarred fingers curling.
Scars (Original, Aram, Rubin, G)lilian_choSeptember 7 2010, 01:16:44 UTC
Aram had taken to wearing gloves at court. Rubin had given him an indulgent smile when he noticed, no doubt thinking that Aram had succumbed to the latest Western fashion.
In truth, his hands were criss-crossed with scars from innumerable spells. In the heat of battle, it was most practical to use his blood for payment. Personal sacrifice is best; nobody knew that better than him.
Rubin didn't care about magic beyond how it can aid his kingdom. And while Rubin regaled his audience with battle stories, Aram smiled and held his wine cup, scarred fingers curling inside pristine gloves.
They thought the King's Ward didn't know how to work. They were wrong.
Tossing her shorn hair, she examined the room for tools she could use, tricks from her youth, when her arsenal had been her voice, the fire in her blood, and the sword hidden under her bed. She took her time, fought impatience. For Gwen's sake, and Merlin's, and Arthur's. For hers.
Finally, her eye caught on an ant seeking across the floor. Morgana smiled.
Reply
His older sister looked at him in horror.
"You're hardly tall enough to wield a heavy axe." She tried for levity, but her voice quavered.
He glanced at her bandaged right arm, the rifle strapped to her back. "It's our only option. In stories, the hero destroys the animal form to end the enchantment. We-I need to behead the wolf."
They lapsed into silence, watching the shivering wolf at Aiden's feet.
"What if we're wrong?"
"Then I'd have killed my best friend for nothing."
Reply
"Well," he spoke finally, his voice lowered and threatening. The wolf responded to his voice by straightening eerily. Those white and navy blue eyes reflected moonlight as she and stared straight through him.
He took out his wand and bent down, carefully placing his hand on her fur. She didn't retaliate, so he stroked the length of her back and murmured, "I hope you learned your lesson tonight, Hermione."
Reply
'You were crying in your sleep,' he said.
She gripped his arms. 'How long was I out?'
'Minutes,' he frowned. His thumb delicately brushed her damp cheek. 'Only minutes. How long was it for you?'
'Months,' she laughed, or perhaps it was a sob.
He smiled, a small quirk of the corner of his mouth that was more relief than mirth, and some of the lines in his forehead relaxed. 'Miss me?'
She kissed him for her answer.
Reply
“What’d you like to know?” John asked his sister warily.
“Is he an axe murderer, is there a closet of butchered bodies…?”
“He keeps human eyeballs in a microwavable jar,” John muttered into his coffee.
“What?”
“Sherlock.” John set down his mug. “Eccentric, brilliant, plays the violin at unreasonable hours, solves crimes-he also deduced that you’re an alcoholic from the mobile phone you gave me.”
Harry’s mouth dropped open. “John, you didn’t.”
“You know I wouldn’t.”
The corner of his mouth twitched. “You don’t need to breathe for Sherlock to infer your innermost secrets.”
Reply
Ariadne shook her head and frowned in confusion. 'What was what like?'
'Cobb's subconscious. Word has it you've been down there.'
She shook her head again, this time in negation. She turned back to watching the doorway for Cobb to return.
'Was it Bluebeard's chamber, then? Full of butchered bodies?'
Full of butchered memories. 'Something like that,' she said with a quick, strained smile.
He looked at her, got the message and shut up.
Reply
After five years at court, he still felt uncomfortable in opulent clothes, like a weed among hothouse flowers.
"Our guest of honor had finally arrived!" King Rubin lifted his cup in greeting. Everyone sitting at the long table cheered.
"I want you to dance with at least two ladies tonight, do you hear me?"
Aram gave a quick, strained smile. "I won’t disappear at midnight, Your Majesty."
Reply
“Daaaaddy,” Lily whined. “I'm not five anymore.”
Harry fluffed Lily's cloud-soft pillows and put her yellow teddy bear at the headboard. “Princesses stop being royalty when they turn six? I didn't know that.”
Lily giggled. “I'm a big girl now. Not like Roxanne. She's a baby.”
Roxanne was two years old. Lily alternately loved and envied her for taking over her place as the baby of the family.
“Is this princess too big for bedtime stories now?”
Lily's eyes widened. “No, Daddy! I want to hear Sleeping Beauty again!”
Reply
Ariadne blinked slowly. Her sleep-blurred vision cleared to reveal that the figure on the nearest hospital bed was indeed still motionless.
'How many more times?' she croaked.
Arthur raised an eyebrow.
'Going down to limbo. Bringing him back up one more level each time. How many till he wakes up?'
He shrugged. 'Your father invented the Penrose Stairs labyrinth. If anyone can find him, it's you. You have to convince him to find and use his totem. We need him back.'
She fought impatience, closed her eyes and thought about the pinwheel in her dreams.
Reply
Aram inclined his head. "Your Majesty."
King Rubin laughed and clapped his shoulder. "We showed them, didn't we? Those weaklings could never have defeated us."
Aram smiled at his friend. It had almost cost him everything to defend the army from magical attacks. Of course, Rubin didn't know that. Rubin only saw him standing while the three enemy sorcerers crumpled to the ground.
"I chose rightly when I appointed you Court Sorcerer," Rubin continued.
His pathetic heart beat with joy at this praise. How many more times before he would learn?
Reply
"Just tell me," Gaius begged, but Gwen looked away.
The guards asked nothing, except with their eyes.
She sat on the straw, wooden needles clicking. The guards had no heart to take the shirts, but still she had only five. Working through the night, her bleeding fingers flew, her ears full of the sound of rushing wings.
At dawn, guards stood her on the pyre, unbound. Bells rang, the king raised his hand...
...and down swooped a line of six swans, Morgana last. Gwen's heart beat with joy, her scarred fingers curling.
Reply
In truth, his hands were criss-crossed with scars from innumerable spells. In the heat of battle, it was most practical to use his blood for payment. Personal sacrifice is best; nobody knew that better than him.
Rubin didn't care about magic beyond how it can aid his kingdom. And while Rubin regaled his audience with battle stories, Aram smiled and held his wine cup, scarred fingers curling inside pristine gloves.
Reply
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