We're all fine here, and my new OTP
We’re all fine here. For the first time since 1995, we did not lose power during a major weather event. Thank you for the good wishes.
Because I could not resist and I now ship Peter and a camel.
( Peter had a love-hate relationship with camels )
"We don't discuss it, Asim," Eustace said. "But you know the truth. You've known for years. But you've never told Mary?"
Asim shifted and removed his wooden recorder from a pocket of his robe. He settled against the bedroll and positioned his fingers over the polished instrument. "I believe the correct response there is that it is not my story to tell."
"Probably not," Eustace had to admit.
Mary's laughter drifted across the sands, followed by a grumbling complaint of Peter and the contented snort of a camel.
Asim took a breath and began to play for his God. To the gentle, haunting tune, the dust dervishes rose and began their night dance, following the commands of the music Asim made.
Overhead the stars, undimmed by city light, stretched from one end of the desert to the other. He had met stars and Eustace had to admit even they were not as beautiful as these.
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Later...
"How was Marrakech?" Edmund asked as he watched his brother unpacking his suitcase.
"A lot like Tashbaan, actually." He lifted a shirt from the top of the stack and after taking a step back, shook it to and fro. A cloud of golden dust soared around him before the granules of sand fell to the wooden floor. "It was hot, colourful, and smelled of sun and spices."
"Another similarity between Here and There, I suppose."
Peter paused briefly and set the shirt aside. "Yes, very much so. The Lion's paw reaches everywhere, not just in England. I heartily recommend a visit should the opportunity arise."
"A Calormen that is not, and without Taarkans and Tisrocs following our movements about the city," Edmund said, a small smile forming on his lips. "Are you certain it was not duller than Tashbaan, brother? Marrakech must have been less exciting with its lack of political intrigue and no courtly poetry and maxims being spouted at every corner."
Peter reached for his pillow and threw it towards the foot of the bed. Edmund raised his arm and easily caught it, setting it on his knees as he grinned at his brother.
"I did not get a chance to peruse the booksellers at the souk and so missed learning of their literature," Peter replied as he returned to emptying his suitcase. "As for political intrigue, I think Asim would be better suited to answer that. He seemed to have many connections in Morocco and I left procuring equipment and supplies to him and Mary. While they went about with the preparations, Eustace and I explored some of the museums and gardens of the city."
"Procurement," Edmund sighed. "Are you sure I haven't been replaced in that position, Peter?"
"Never, brother," Peter firmly assured him. "With regards to that, there is at least one thing you excel at over our friend the spy."
"Oh?" Edmund sat up and looked at him, one eyebrow arched in curiosity. "And what might that be?"
"Unlike Asim, you know better than to hire camels for any desert expedition I would partake in."
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“Eustace has to present his paper to his committee and Mary needs to settle the remainder of Richard’s estate. After that, they are not in agreement,” Peter said with a shrug. “I do not much care, so long as there are no camels.”
“There was talk of the Kenya colony?” Edmund asked. “Wasn’t Richard’s other wife Kikuyu? I remember Mary saying something about owing his family a visit?”
“If my irresistible attraction to even-toed ungulates persists, I may avoid the Great Rift Valley, and I don’t if there are sufficient reptilian remains in West Africa to entice Eustace unless they can work in a trip to Tendaguru.”
Peter would never mock Mary over the pervasive invasiveness of sand again. It was everywhere. Standing over a dustbin, he shook out a dusty boot. No scorpions, at least. “Sorry,” he said, as Edmund coughed again.
“So where do Mary and Eustace want to go?” Edmund handed him a mop. If Peter had made the ruin, Peter could clean it up.
“Mary found more of those giant crocodile teeth, so she wants to go the Everglades of Florida and look for alligators. Eustace has heard about cannibal dinosaurs in New Mexico.”
“The Everglades?” Edmund exclaimed. “But that would mean…”
“I’m afraid so,” Peter replied with an air of great misery. “Boats.”
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Later, the others begin to notice Eustace's strategic deployment of archeological topics to manage Mary's mood and attention, and come to the conclusion that perhaps he has learned something about human interaction after all.
In particular, he has learned to be sparing and precise about the deployment of conversations on the topic of hips. Richard would be proud.
-H
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-H
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Marry me. Oh wait a minute, I perceive some impediments. Never mind. Better yet, come out here and clean my laptop of the Diet Coke I just spit up when I read that. And if we throw Peter into the mix, I suppose it becomes an unrequited love quadrilateral? I think maybe I'll stick to swamp boats, alligators, and camels. Maybe prong-horned antelope develop a similar affection for Peter.
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BTW, hippos are also even-toed ungulates. Far more comedic potential than antelopes.
-H
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