Different AU
It is ALL Darian's fault, and four-star General or no, Diwaniya is going to kick the man's ass as soon as he gets back to San Ru.
If he ever gets back to San Ru. Because when the smoke from the explosion in the Shaping chamber clears, he's standing in the middle of Lord Rahul's throne room, a good hundred and fifty miles away from where he just ( Read more... )
If he ever gets back to San Ru. Because when the smoke from the explosion in the Shaping chamber clears, he's standing in the middle of Lord Rahul's throne room, a good hundred and fifty miles away from where he just ( Read more... )
Elizabeth Weir (Weir? Are you sure) comes bustling into the room, her slightly rounded belly pushing against the confines of a traditional Elizabeth Weir outfit; red tshirt, black yoga pants, and a black Lululemon top. "Malaika Ma--what the hell?"
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"Dr. Weir? Why...are you in my universe?"
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"...but--"
"That means now, little miss."
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"Sweet god." Things are starting to click.
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"There was this...it was a Shaping accident...it was completely Darian's fault! He was trying to shape a few extra security bugs and I just provided some auxiliary power and...something exploded."
There is something about Elizabeth that always kind of reduces him to stammering-schoolboy status, unless she's really pissing him off, which she isn't here.
"Oh god, I hope I'm not dead," he says weakly. He's too young to die! He's only 27!
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Elizabeth is not in the best of moods, apparently, but she's also not being deliberately unkind.
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He wants Lizbet. His Lizbet, who isn't older than he is or pregnant or (very)scary and who only treats him like he's done something stupid when he actually has.
Although agreeing to help Darian with any kind of Shaping project is pretty damn stupid, so he supposes he can't argue.
He follows for a bit, but pauses.
"Look, I--really, I know this is an extreme situation, but I can't just walk right into Lord Rahul's chambers. It's not right."
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Although Diwaniya's not angry about being told that.
He's just pausing to laugh his ass off.
"No. No way. They only let me keep my post in San Ru because they couldn't afford to lose any Shaper Masters during wartime! They'd never put a bleeding-heart liberal upstart like me in charge of the Ashen Isles."
He runs a hand through his hair.
"I blame you, actually. I was a proper Shaper before you came along with all that 'democracy' and 'equality' stuff."
He wouldn't say such a thing to Lizbet, or at least not in those terms, but he always feels as though he has to be snarky with adult Elizabeth because it's the only way he can think of to not seem like a stuttering, terrified eight-year-old.
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Partly because she knows exactly what she does to him, and it's fucking hilarious, thanks.
"Diwaniya, do you really think I would walk straight into someone else's study without permission and rummage through their things?"
She does walk like she owns everywhere she walks, but that's entirely a different thing.
"Besides which -- just imagine the things you could accomplish with me. Is it really that hard to believe?" she raises her eyebrow, briefly, and then turns and continues to walk, clearly expecting him to follow. She doesn't wait.
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"YES IT IS," he calls indignantly after her. He is not following. Just to be spiteful. And also because he doesn't want her to see him looking all sulky and chagrined.
He wonders what the Council had to say about his marrying a non-Shaper. It's not unheard-of, but it can't have done wonders for his political career.
Although he doesn't doubt she could have kicked a few Council asses.
He shoves his hands into his pockets and follows her into the study.
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She was sixteen and he was pretty. Right.
The study is obviously Diwaniya's; things with his handwriting, and photographs. Aleksandr, already taller than his mother, and Malaika, bouncing around. Pictures of the two of them. There are some technologies that Elizabeth has simply refused to part with.
Meanwhile, Elizabeth is...rummaging through her husband's things.
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He's just staring at the pictures. Lizbet's shown him how cameras work; it isn't that. It's not even the irrefutable evidence that she's not shitting him. It's the wedding picture he's looking at--the two of them together, her face somewhere between the young Lizbet he knows now and the stern woman in front of him.
He swallows, puts it down and gingerly reaches for the picture of Aleksandr. Indisputably his son--he looks like his father, though he has Elizabeth's eyes. He's already seen Malaika--he doesn't know where she's gone at the moment. He has a brief thought--it's kind of a pity that they both inherited my nose.
"What's his name?" he asks quietly.
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"He's our eldest. I got pregnant just out of college."
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He fights back a moment of fear--he shouldn't know this yet, shouldn't be privy to any information about the future, but he can't keep his curiosity under control and she doesn't seem to be afraid of telling him. As irritated as he can get with her, he still trusts her judgement.
"He'll be at the Academy, then," he murmurs, half to himself. He's always worried about that, that he'll have to send his children off to be Shapers.
He doesn't know why Malaika seems to have chosen a different career path--perhaps she'd rather work in her mother's world, for which he can't blame her. He's glad he won't have to sacrifice both his children to the Shapers. He shouldn't be thinking that way--doesn't know how he'll ever manage to become Lord of Dhonal thinking that way--but he's glad Malaika won't be a Shaper.
He stares at Elizabeth's belly for a moment. "Do you know if that one's a boy or a girl?" he asks, his voice a little embarrassingly husky.
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