(no subject)
Cinnamon Swirl #23. Eyes Wide Open with Hot Fudge, Cookie Crumbs, and Malt
Story : knights & necromancers
Rating : PG
Timeframe : 1260 immediately follows When All Else Fails
Word Count : 1521
Cookie Crumbs : replaces Obeisance
Malt Prompt : (Summer Challenge) "Shoot me with your rubber bullets
Your fingers on the trigger, pull it,
I know you want this suffering to end
And so its forgiveable my friends" - Happier by A Fine Frenzy
I was digging through my index, looking for holes to fill. The old version of this scene has bugged me for a long time - it was one of the very first bits of Sethan & Kairn I wrote this time around, before they were as well developed as they are and before most of the other necromancers existed at all. I have had this urge to write something kind of sappy with them and so I squashed it with this.
“Sethan!” Kairn tried to correct for nearly jumping out of his skin by folding his arms and leaning as casually as he could against the wardrobe. He could hear Shasa breathing inside, swift and ragged, as if she had a hand pressed to her mouth.
Sethan shot him a puzzled look as the door swung shut behind him, and Kairn swallowed hard and willed him to need anything but a fresh set of clothes. “Kairn?” he said. “This is the last place I thought I’d find you.”
“I…I didn’t think it was me you were looking for.” Maybe he was standing a little too close to the wardrobe. Were his arms folded too tightly? He pulled them apart and shoved a hand through his hair as Sethan made his way across the room.
“True, true,” called Sethan over his shoulder. He bent over his desk to pick through a few books, and Kairn let out a breath of relief. “Of course, it seems no one has seen your sister all day.” He paused, the stack half disected, to turn Kairn’s way. “I take it you will tell me you haven’t seen her either?”
“Damn right that’s what I’ll tell you.” He swore the wardrobe shuddered, and he took a quick step away from it.
Shaking his head, Sethan turned his attentions back to the desk. “You know, Reida has half the manor convinced you’re going to sneak her out the back gate as soon as it gets dark. Ah, there it is.” He came up with a tome bound in red leather, something scrawled in black across its front. Kairn was having trouble focusing on it to read the words.
“Sh-she’s not going,” he said, and he swallowed hard as the wardrobe trembled again. He wished she would sit still. He hoped Sethan wasn’t seeing it too.
“Oh?” Sethan arched a brow and quirked his lips in that sly half-smile of his.
“No,” he stumbled on. “She thinks you love her.”
There was no answer from Sethan, just an icy blue stare. Kairn ground his fingers into his scalp and shifted his feet.
“You’ve won. I’m leaving. By myself.” Sethan blinked at that. It was almost a wince. Kairn had to remind himself to breathe. “I-I’m not going to stay and watch this. She thinks you’ll protect her. That the three of you are going to live happily ever after.” The grin was sliding back into place across Sethan’s features, and he hastily turned back to the desk. “Maybe you’ll marry her, have a few more kids,” Kairn went on.
“I did convince Berwyk not to kill her,” said Sethan with a wave of his book. “Yet. To my thinking, conception doesn’t quite cover the prophecy as well as I’d like, so-”
Kairn’s hands wound into fists. There was a gasp from behind him, and he prayed again that Sethan couldn‘t hear her. “You bastard,” he said, hoping to drown her out.
“You think names are going to hurt me?”
“I thought you were my friend.”
Sethan turned on him, his hand leveled at his chest, a cold fire in his eyes. “I am your friend. I’ve saved your neck more times than I can count. The way I see it you owe me,” he said, driving the words home with the pointed bobbing of the book.
“I owe you?” Kairn was shaking now. He backed up a pace, pressing himself against the doors again. “I owe you? So what? You figure you’ll just take my sister, rape and murder her, and we’ll call it even?”
Sethan actually looked offended at that, and Kairn swallowed a swift, shuddering gulp of air as he retreated. “I never laid a hand on her that she didn’t beg for.”
“You seduced her with lies. You took her to bed knowing she’d die for it. You never cared one bit for her. It amounts to the same.” He took another deep, ragged breath and heard his sister do the same. He could just see her, huddled among the clothes and their packs, tears coursing down her cheeks as Sethan’s words hit home. He studied his former friend a moment, steadied himself, and licked his lips. “You know,” he said, slowly, “what I don’t get is this. Reida’s been throwing herself at you since we were kids.” Sethan’s features twisted in disgust as he went on. “She’d have gladly borne you a child. Hell, she’d carve it out of her own belly with a dull knife and serve it to you for dinner if you asked.’
“I would sooner take a rabid behemoth to bed than Reida,” Sethan spat.
“So you did see something in Shasa after all.”
On a roll now, Sethan took the bait easily. “Look,” he said with a sneer. “what I wanted was a girl so vapid and desperate she’d swallow any lie I fed her, so foolish she’d cling to me even if it meant her death.” He leaned in, venom in every word, and Kairn gulped when he swore the man’s eyes flicked up to the wardrobe behind him for an instant. “Your sister fit the bill. She was a little too stupid though, blurting it out in front of a whole cafeteria.”
“Shasa’s not-”
Sethan broke him off with a laugh. “You’ve tried to talk sense to her, haven’t you? Anyone with half a brain would have run by now, but not your sister. No, she’s still all cow-eyed over-”
“Shut up!”
“Gladly.” He turned back to his desk and to rifling through the books. “You think I want to stand here and discuss your dimwit sister all day? At least I don’t have to touch her anymore. Almost forgot this one.“ He snatched another from the pile and tucked it into his hand with the first. “Now go run off and find her, and when you do, be a good boy and bring her straight to me.”
Kairn flinched at the hand that made to pat his shoulder, the crooked grin flashed his way as Sethan swept past him for the door. He stood there long moments in silence after Sethan had left, listening to the pounding of his own heart and the ragged, muffled breaths from within the wardrobe.
A lump rose in his throat as he was sure he heard her sobbing. He reached for the door and threw it open.
Shasa staggered out of the wardrobe, her head bowed, one of the packs clutched to her chest. She pushed past Kairn, her shoulders shaking. He threw out an arm to catch her, to offer comfort. She brushed it off.
“Shas, look, I’m…I’m sorry you had to hear that, but at least you know the truth now.”
“He wants us to go.”
“I know it’s hard but-” He stopped dead. “What?”
She laughed, and Kairn backpeddled into the open door, blinking.
“Sethan.” She turned to face him, and there were indeed tears streaming down her cheeks, but her lips were spread wide into a smile. “He wants us to go,” she said in such awe it was as if the gods had just written the same words on a card and pressed it into her hands themselves.
Kairn nearly choked. “Were you listening-” He caught himself yelling and quickly dropped his voice. “Were you listening to a word he said?”
She shook her head at him, her smile so broad it seemed her head might crack from it, and her eyes shining with more than just the unshed remainder of her tears. “Yes, and Sethan never would have said such things if he wasn’t trying to anger me into leaving.” She gave the knapsack in her arms a fervent squeeze and Kairn wouldn’t have been surprised if she’d twirled on the spot. “He only wants me to think that’s what he feels, but I know better.”
“Shas, he didn’t even know you were listening!” He waved a hand at the open door behind him, struggling to keep his voice from rising again. “You were in the damned wardrobe for gods’ sakes!”
Shasa rolled her eyes. “Of course he knew I was listening. Do you have any idea what a terrible liar you are?”
“But-”
She fixed him with an incredulous stare, lifted a hand , and ran it animatedly through her dark hair. Kairn mouthed the air in indignant silence a moment before he pulled his hand from his own scalp and forced it down at his side.
“It doesn’t matter,” she said with another shake of her head. “I’m coming with you.” She gave his cheek a pat and he found there was nothing he could say to that either. “And Sethan-” she did twirl now, like some little girl in love for the first time, all blushing and giddy- “Sethan really loves me! And he wants me to go.”
Kairn just watched her prance about for a moment, completely dumbfounded. When he finally found his voice, he said, “How in the hell did you get that out of- Right. It doesn’t matter. We’re going. At sunfall. And no one is going to hurt you.”
Story : knights & necromancers
Rating : PG
Timeframe : 1260 immediately follows When All Else Fails
Word Count : 1521
Cookie Crumbs : replaces Obeisance
Malt Prompt : (Summer Challenge) "Shoot me with your rubber bullets
Your fingers on the trigger, pull it,
I know you want this suffering to end
And so its forgiveable my friends" - Happier by A Fine Frenzy
I was digging through my index, looking for holes to fill. The old version of this scene has bugged me for a long time - it was one of the very first bits of Sethan & Kairn I wrote this time around, before they were as well developed as they are and before most of the other necromancers existed at all. I have had this urge to write something kind of sappy with them and so I squashed it with this.
“Sethan!” Kairn tried to correct for nearly jumping out of his skin by folding his arms and leaning as casually as he could against the wardrobe. He could hear Shasa breathing inside, swift and ragged, as if she had a hand pressed to her mouth.
Sethan shot him a puzzled look as the door swung shut behind him, and Kairn swallowed hard and willed him to need anything but a fresh set of clothes. “Kairn?” he said. “This is the last place I thought I’d find you.”
“I…I didn’t think it was me you were looking for.” Maybe he was standing a little too close to the wardrobe. Were his arms folded too tightly? He pulled them apart and shoved a hand through his hair as Sethan made his way across the room.
“True, true,” called Sethan over his shoulder. He bent over his desk to pick through a few books, and Kairn let out a breath of relief. “Of course, it seems no one has seen your sister all day.” He paused, the stack half disected, to turn Kairn’s way. “I take it you will tell me you haven’t seen her either?”
“Damn right that’s what I’ll tell you.” He swore the wardrobe shuddered, and he took a quick step away from it.
Shaking his head, Sethan turned his attentions back to the desk. “You know, Reida has half the manor convinced you’re going to sneak her out the back gate as soon as it gets dark. Ah, there it is.” He came up with a tome bound in red leather, something scrawled in black across its front. Kairn was having trouble focusing on it to read the words.
“Sh-she’s not going,” he said, and he swallowed hard as the wardrobe trembled again. He wished she would sit still. He hoped Sethan wasn’t seeing it too.
“Oh?” Sethan arched a brow and quirked his lips in that sly half-smile of his.
“No,” he stumbled on. “She thinks you love her.”
There was no answer from Sethan, just an icy blue stare. Kairn ground his fingers into his scalp and shifted his feet.
“You’ve won. I’m leaving. By myself.” Sethan blinked at that. It was almost a wince. Kairn had to remind himself to breathe. “I-I’m not going to stay and watch this. She thinks you’ll protect her. That the three of you are going to live happily ever after.” The grin was sliding back into place across Sethan’s features, and he hastily turned back to the desk. “Maybe you’ll marry her, have a few more kids,” Kairn went on.
“I did convince Berwyk not to kill her,” said Sethan with a wave of his book. “Yet. To my thinking, conception doesn’t quite cover the prophecy as well as I’d like, so-”
Kairn’s hands wound into fists. There was a gasp from behind him, and he prayed again that Sethan couldn‘t hear her. “You bastard,” he said, hoping to drown her out.
“You think names are going to hurt me?”
“I thought you were my friend.”
Sethan turned on him, his hand leveled at his chest, a cold fire in his eyes. “I am your friend. I’ve saved your neck more times than I can count. The way I see it you owe me,” he said, driving the words home with the pointed bobbing of the book.
“I owe you?” Kairn was shaking now. He backed up a pace, pressing himself against the doors again. “I owe you? So what? You figure you’ll just take my sister, rape and murder her, and we’ll call it even?”
Sethan actually looked offended at that, and Kairn swallowed a swift, shuddering gulp of air as he retreated. “I never laid a hand on her that she didn’t beg for.”
“You seduced her with lies. You took her to bed knowing she’d die for it. You never cared one bit for her. It amounts to the same.” He took another deep, ragged breath and heard his sister do the same. He could just see her, huddled among the clothes and their packs, tears coursing down her cheeks as Sethan’s words hit home. He studied his former friend a moment, steadied himself, and licked his lips. “You know,” he said, slowly, “what I don’t get is this. Reida’s been throwing herself at you since we were kids.” Sethan’s features twisted in disgust as he went on. “She’d have gladly borne you a child. Hell, she’d carve it out of her own belly with a dull knife and serve it to you for dinner if you asked.’
“I would sooner take a rabid behemoth to bed than Reida,” Sethan spat.
“So you did see something in Shasa after all.”
On a roll now, Sethan took the bait easily. “Look,” he said with a sneer. “what I wanted was a girl so vapid and desperate she’d swallow any lie I fed her, so foolish she’d cling to me even if it meant her death.” He leaned in, venom in every word, and Kairn gulped when he swore the man’s eyes flicked up to the wardrobe behind him for an instant. “Your sister fit the bill. She was a little too stupid though, blurting it out in front of a whole cafeteria.”
“Shasa’s not-”
Sethan broke him off with a laugh. “You’ve tried to talk sense to her, haven’t you? Anyone with half a brain would have run by now, but not your sister. No, she’s still all cow-eyed over-”
“Shut up!”
“Gladly.” He turned back to his desk and to rifling through the books. “You think I want to stand here and discuss your dimwit sister all day? At least I don’t have to touch her anymore. Almost forgot this one.“ He snatched another from the pile and tucked it into his hand with the first. “Now go run off and find her, and when you do, be a good boy and bring her straight to me.”
Kairn flinched at the hand that made to pat his shoulder, the crooked grin flashed his way as Sethan swept past him for the door. He stood there long moments in silence after Sethan had left, listening to the pounding of his own heart and the ragged, muffled breaths from within the wardrobe.
A lump rose in his throat as he was sure he heard her sobbing. He reached for the door and threw it open.
Shasa staggered out of the wardrobe, her head bowed, one of the packs clutched to her chest. She pushed past Kairn, her shoulders shaking. He threw out an arm to catch her, to offer comfort. She brushed it off.
“Shas, look, I’m…I’m sorry you had to hear that, but at least you know the truth now.”
“He wants us to go.”
“I know it’s hard but-” He stopped dead. “What?”
She laughed, and Kairn backpeddled into the open door, blinking.
“Sethan.” She turned to face him, and there were indeed tears streaming down her cheeks, but her lips were spread wide into a smile. “He wants us to go,” she said in such awe it was as if the gods had just written the same words on a card and pressed it into her hands themselves.
Kairn nearly choked. “Were you listening-” He caught himself yelling and quickly dropped his voice. “Were you listening to a word he said?”
She shook her head at him, her smile so broad it seemed her head might crack from it, and her eyes shining with more than just the unshed remainder of her tears. “Yes, and Sethan never would have said such things if he wasn’t trying to anger me into leaving.” She gave the knapsack in her arms a fervent squeeze and Kairn wouldn’t have been surprised if she’d twirled on the spot. “He only wants me to think that’s what he feels, but I know better.”
“Shas, he didn’t even know you were listening!” He waved a hand at the open door behind him, struggling to keep his voice from rising again. “You were in the damned wardrobe for gods’ sakes!”
Shasa rolled her eyes. “Of course he knew I was listening. Do you have any idea what a terrible liar you are?”
“But-”
She fixed him with an incredulous stare, lifted a hand , and ran it animatedly through her dark hair. Kairn mouthed the air in indignant silence a moment before he pulled his hand from his own scalp and forced it down at his side.
“It doesn’t matter,” she said with another shake of her head. “I’m coming with you.” She gave his cheek a pat and he found there was nothing he could say to that either. “And Sethan-” she did twirl now, like some little girl in love for the first time, all blushing and giddy- “Sethan really loves me! And he wants me to go.”
Kairn just watched her prance about for a moment, completely dumbfounded. When he finally found his voice, he said, “How in the hell did you get that out of- Right. It doesn’t matter. We’re going. At sunfall. And no one is going to hurt you.”