(no subject)
Title: "Christmas Preparations"
Author: Ish
Rating: G
Word count: 437 -- way over the word count this time. But it may have been necessary to tell the story I wanted. We'll see.
Pairings/characters: Sofu D, Papa D, an innkeeper
Notes: Challenge #41: Christmas preparations. In my mind it takes place sometime before D's birth. The idea just hit me as soon as I read the challenge, but it took some time to work out the details. Please enjoy!
“Christmas Preparations”
The desert air did little to cool the patrons who sat in the inn. But the two foreign cattle traders, with their pale skin and strange eyes, seemed unaffected. Despite this, one groused non-stop in his native language. The words themselves had sounded lyrical but his tone and the disdain he wore across the bridge of his nose made his feelings plain. The one with irises the color of coin was apparently the elder - though how one could tell the innkeeper didn’t know. But he seemed to have some authority over the other and made the claim to have traveled a great distance on some sort of business. What sort was anyone’s guess as the only business anyone had seen him conduct was the sale of some sheep to a couple of the local shepherds and an ass to a merchant from Nazareth. In the end however, the innkeeper was a business man and if nothing else the fine clothes and bearing of the two men indicated breeding and wealth.
“Sirs! Be at ease! You are in the city of the great king and the recipient of all the hospitality we can offer.” The innkeeper cajoled the two foreigners, gesturing a small girl forward. Her eyes were deep and dark as mahogany. “Drink deeply. This water comes from the very same well brought forth by the prophet himself!” His daughter poured carefully into the elder’s cup. When she was done she whispered into his ear.
“I added a spoonful of honey. It makes the water sweeter.”
After the two had departed, the violet-eyed one scoffed.
“These desert nomads and their prophets. Father, if we remain here much, I fear I shall go as mad as they are!”
Sofu merely smiled and sipped his water.
That night an uncommonly strong wind rose up. Morning found the innkeeper’s wife distraught over the remains of a large myrtle that her great, great grandfather had planted to shade his new bride. The golden-eyed man gave the tree a long look as he stood by the innkeeper, as the man tried to comfort the grieving woman.
“You should make good use of the wood. A jewelry box, a new chair. Perhaps a feeding trough for the animals with what’s left-over.” That same evening the two men departed. The younger seemed happy only to return homewards but the elder gave the innkeeper his best bull and his best cow as payment. To his daughter he gave only two dove-white eggs and a wink. She waved as she watched them depart under a star that seemed to grow brighter with every passing night.
Author: Ish
Rating: G
Word count: 437 -- way over the word count this time. But it may have been necessary to tell the story I wanted. We'll see.
Pairings/characters: Sofu D, Papa D, an innkeeper
Notes: Challenge #41: Christmas preparations. In my mind it takes place sometime before D's birth. The idea just hit me as soon as I read the challenge, but it took some time to work out the details. Please enjoy!
“Christmas Preparations”
The desert air did little to cool the patrons who sat in the inn. But the two foreign cattle traders, with their pale skin and strange eyes, seemed unaffected. Despite this, one groused non-stop in his native language. The words themselves had sounded lyrical but his tone and the disdain he wore across the bridge of his nose made his feelings plain. The one with irises the color of coin was apparently the elder - though how one could tell the innkeeper didn’t know. But he seemed to have some authority over the other and made the claim to have traveled a great distance on some sort of business. What sort was anyone’s guess as the only business anyone had seen him conduct was the sale of some sheep to a couple of the local shepherds and an ass to a merchant from Nazareth. In the end however, the innkeeper was a business man and if nothing else the fine clothes and bearing of the two men indicated breeding and wealth.
“Sirs! Be at ease! You are in the city of the great king and the recipient of all the hospitality we can offer.” The innkeeper cajoled the two foreigners, gesturing a small girl forward. Her eyes were deep and dark as mahogany. “Drink deeply. This water comes from the very same well brought forth by the prophet himself!” His daughter poured carefully into the elder’s cup. When she was done she whispered into his ear.
“I added a spoonful of honey. It makes the water sweeter.”
After the two had departed, the violet-eyed one scoffed.
“These desert nomads and their prophets. Father, if we remain here much, I fear I shall go as mad as they are!”
Sofu merely smiled and sipped his water.
That night an uncommonly strong wind rose up. Morning found the innkeeper’s wife distraught over the remains of a large myrtle that her great, great grandfather had planted to shade his new bride. The golden-eyed man gave the tree a long look as he stood by the innkeeper, as the man tried to comfort the grieving woman.
“You should make good use of the wood. A jewelry box, a new chair. Perhaps a feeding trough for the animals with what’s left-over.” That same evening the two men departed. The younger seemed happy only to return homewards but the elder gave the innkeeper his best bull and his best cow as payment. To his daughter he gave only two dove-white eggs and a wink. She waved as she watched them depart under a star that seemed to grow brighter with every passing night.