Watchmen Kink Meme 2: Electric Boogaloo. Or not.
Alright, alright, I'm back now. Here ya go kids. (You're just lucky the other one didn't run out in the middle of my vacation grumble grumble)
Rules of the meme:
1. Anonymously post a pairing and prompt you would like to see written. Since this is a kink meme, there is supposted to be a kink involved, but normal well-written prompts should work ( Read more... )
He forgets his own problems when Ghost Rat's whole body locks up beside him. Edward follows his stare, and grins. "Pretty, aren't they?" Daniel prays for strength, and looks over. Really, it could be worse. Adrian has always had a tastefully restrained harem. He says that if you need more than ten, you’re not getting quality, and only two of them are bathing in the crystal clear pool, surrounded by palms. They’re both boys in that lithe, elfin range that could be anywhere from a well-grown thirteen summers or a slow sixteen, completely naked and unconcerned. One is the color of chocolate and the other is like Laurel’s flower, but about five shades lighter. They’re beautiful, and go together like carefully chosen fabrics.
"You know a man who keeps boys?!" Ghost Rat hisses, and the tone of his voice is enough to make Daniel cringe a little, glancing into his friend’s face to see the incredulous horror in those wide brown eyes. It woud be funny if he wasn’t so deadly serious.
“Yes, I do.” He sighs, rubbing at the bridge of his nose to ward off the headache that’s trying to pounce on him. “It’s traditional out here, I’ve never seen him be cruel to any of them, and the last time one of Adrian’s concubines fell tragically in love with a travelling minstrel, he let her go and gave her money to travel on, so I don’t want to hear anything about it.”
“But-“
“Ghost Rat, Thinks Ahead would be scandalous in my country.” Laurel says. “Just let it go.” She puts a hand on his arm and a little of the tension eases out of it.
“Fine.” He says, and Daniel knows that the rest is, “but I don’t have to like it” as surely as if Ghost Rat had spoken aloud. For his part, Daniel is just glad to reach Adrian’s audience chamber. One whole wall is glass, looking out over the harsh beauty of the unmodified desert in stark contrast to the lush flowering vines that were trained over the support columns, perfuming the air. The carpet they walk on is deep and plush, and Daniel smiles to see the toes of Ghost Rat’s rag-wrapped feet curling luxuriously into it when they stop in front of Adrian’s throne.
Adrian lounges at the foot of his golden throne with a massive, magecrafted lynxbeast of some kind. Daniel smiles, because Adrian has always been good at flesh-shaping and has always liked cats, and it was inevitable that the two must come together. Walter eyes it with deep mistrust, and the first thing Laurie does it tell Adrian that it’s beautiful.
Reply
Reply
Reply
Loving the imagery in this-- I was wondering what Adrian's palace was going to look like, and this fits rather well. (It reminds me of some of the more luxurious hotels here in Bangkok, actually, gardens and all.)
Reply
Reply
Reply
Reply
Oh yes, delicious characterization! Also, "a huge, pale yellow bloom" is a lovely phrase.
harem
thirteen
DDD: I mean, I know it's inevitable, but - DDD:
Loved how Dan and Laurie teamed up to ease Ghost Rat!
Daniel smiles to see the toes of Ghost Rat’s rag-wrapped feet curling luxuriously into it
I smiled too.
Man, this is just perfect.
Reply
And I'm glad you're enjoying it, and I love Walter's cashew-like Witch Baby toes as well.
Reply
And yes, I'm enjoying it so very much!
Reply
Reply
Can't wait for the next bit!
Reply
So...yeah. It's a bit odd, so if you are all "WHAT IS THIS I DON'T EVEN", I will not be offended. (Alternatively, if you like/hate anything in particular, let me know...the story's not done, and so the playlist isn't either! Expect more songs...it's fun to do.)
And author, thanks again for the epic saga of Ghost Rat and his buddies.
Reply
"He's like a panther in a new enclosure." Adrian murmurs. "Where did you find him?"
Daniel laughs softly, and tells him about the oubliette. Adrian smiles, and then sits up as Laurel comes out to join them. Even Ghost Rat had wanted a bath after their travels, even if the steep marble basins had filled him with deep mistrust. The existence of separate facilities for Laurel had calmed him a great deal, and Daniel's quiet deflection of certain aspects of regional hospitality had calmed him further.
Laurel had surprised herself at how nice it was to wear a gown again, and to arrange her hair instead of just knotting it up and hiding it. She's pleased to see the difference in their faces, and sits down cross-legged on the rug, the kohl around her eyes making her look like a cat.
"I'm glad the women could find something suitable."
She smiled. "Well, I try to be cosmopolitan but going bare-breasted is a sticking point with me." Daniel quietly choked on melted ice.
"The closest I've come to giving up is that whole matter of having to wear trousers in the East. But discomfort is easier to bear than vulnerability." She smiles, and then looks past him. He glances along her line of sight to see a slender figure speaking earnestly and inaudibly to Ghost Rat. "Ah, that's Byron, my political prisoner."
"I thought you didn't hold with imprisoning dissidents."
Adrian sighs. "I don't." Seeing the quizzical looks he's getting from both sides, he explains. "Byron was part of the Iron Moth insurgency in the North."
"You mean that group that thought that a king ought to be a leader instead of a bloated tick and that women ought to have feet?"
"Just as you say, your Highness."
Daniel shudders. "Hollis worked with them for a while. He's still got the scars from the time he was captured and interrogated."
Adrian nods. "Byron seems unable to realize that he's my guest. He likes it here, but sometimes he thinks it's all still going on and gets very distressed." He smiles as a massive, graceful form comes into view. "Which is why I'm glad I found William." William is also from the North, a wild place with many warring tribes and cruel customs, among them the practice of castrating every fourth son and giving him up to particular secret society. "Apparently the trick of stabling a gelding with a stallion to calm him works with humans as well. In the beginning, Byron was actually dangerous, and I needed someone huge and even-tempered to look after him." He smiles as William puts a soothing hand on the back of Byron's neck, gently taking his hand and leading him away as Ghost Rat stares after them.
Laurel calls to him to come up, laughing when he simply springs up and scales the vines, crouching on the railing.
Reply
"The closest I've come to giving up is that whole matter of having to wear trousers in the East. But discomfort is easier to bear than vulnerability."
Ahahaha, Adrian. I'm reminded of the bass player from U2, who went through a sarongs-only period, and when asked, was quoted as saying, "Men should not be forced to wear pants when it's not cold." Works for me.
Reply
"Adrian, you've met with the Emperor."
"I have." He yawns. "Truthfully, she could do worse. When he can be bothered to feel anything at all, he's kind."
"That's not enough for Laurel, Adrian. And she's only going to be his second wife. It's half a step above being a concubine."
"And is there something wrong with that?" Adrian murmurs. "The Isle of Storms still exists because of my intervention, and I only knew it was in danger because they had sent me a girl two years before."
"...What do you know that I don't?"
"It's what I hear, not what I know." He looked at him, his eyes silver and sad in the moonlight. "And Sarah loves her girl too well to send her so far away without good cause."
Dan groans, slumping on the railing in defeat. "I can't turn her in peacefully, if that's what you're thinking about."
Adrian smiles. "You? Never." And then the matter is dropped, and everyone gets to relax for the next week. They spend most of their time in the gardens, only Ghost Rat sanguine. He enjoys being around trees again, he trusts both of his companions to choose where they go next, and he will fight to the death if anyone comes for either of them. It makes him marvelously incapable of worrying. Daniel finds him restful to be around, and is surprised that Byron is the same.
He's charming when lucid, and sort of gentle and harmless when not. He trusts them, so it's easy to hold his hand while the other fetches Will, if he isn't there already. He can perform beautiful feats of sleight of hand, and can juggle Ghost Rat's war fans without mishap.
He seems almost normal when he's stretched out beside Daniel on the ground, teaching him some of the picture-words his people use, each one complex and intricate, representing an entire idea. There are star-shaped white scars on his wrists, and the last two fingers of his left hand are neatly bandaged together because he can't feel them, and would otherwise accidentally wound them. When he's feeling particularly communicative, he'll look at them and tell the story of how they came to be as they are now. It's something he's proud of. Two of his comrades escaped over the mountains because he wouldn't talk. He smiles and says there aren't many people who can say each of their two least fingers is worth a human life.
Reply
Leave a comment