Beðungum (or: Tempus ut lavaretur)

[pendraeg]

Who: Uther and Chase and Eilonwy and Gwydion. And Old Lace.
What: Bathtime
When: Immediately after the Abstract discovery thread.
Where: The Castle

Comments

[chaseandoldlace]

"You're not the only one. Get in there you filthy lizard." Chase pushed a disgruntled looking velociraptor ahead of him directly into a wide shower stall, fiddled with a few knobs until the soft hiss of warm water filled the room, followed by the smell of wet earth. He placed the extra towels slung over one shoulder on the edge of a wide ceramic sink.

"I think they might have been helping OL and Adamant dig for gophers again." They'd been so distracted with the Abstract the presence of a very dirty, slightly guilty-looking dog had slipped their notice entirely. Adamant hung back now at the door to the bathroom, muddy snout lowered as she started determinedly at the floor. " Here, lemme take that."

Chase pulled his own shirt off and tossed it into the hamper, then held a hand out for Uther's just in time for the first ill-aimed splash in the nightly splash war to hit the young king square in the chest.

[pendraeg]

Well, there was nothing for it now but to join in--it was clear everyone was going to get wet, and everyone needed to be cleaned. Uther often tried to remain dry while he bathed the twins, to little avail. They were very enthusiastic; they had taken the social nature of bathing to heart.

Uther slipped his tunic over his head and handed it to Chase. A second splash of water, this time in his face. He'd missed just who it was had done the splashing, but Eilonwy was busy sorting all the toys that squirted water from all the toys that scooped water or merely floated in water. Gwydion was making a face that hovered between trying not to giggle and "uh oh".

"Uh oh" was a term that Uther had learned in the 21st century. It felt as though he used it quite a lot.

[chaseandoldlace]

"You too--" Chase ushered Adamant into the bathroom, holding the shower door open long enough to her to slip in. The twins weren't the only ones who had taken to the social aspects of things. As soon as she was inside, she started to lick the water as it beaded down Old Lace's scales.

"Okay, easy with the friendly fire, mini-majesties," Chase beamed and hunkered down beside Elionwy, taking up in one hand a bottle of children's shampoo plastered in Disney princesses. When they'd been out shopping for bathroom supplies, it had been a rather befuddling chore to explain to Gywdion why there wasn't a shampoo for princes too. Elionwy, of course, had gotten the jist immediately, proclaiming that princesses were better.

"Time to wash Rapunzel's golden locks!" He proclaimed, scooping two hands into the water to dump water over her head, which earned a delighted squeal and burbly strains of: 'Flower gleam and glow, let your power shiiine...' as the water tumbled over her head, obscuring the words as they made their way out

[pendraeg]

Trying not to laugh at Gwydion's look of disgust over Eilonwy's singing, Uther set to work washing his hair with the same pink liquid. He had a difficult relationship with soap. It was, he was more than willing to admit, very clean and--mostly--smelled pleasant, but the lather would get in his eyes or his mouth, and it was bitter! It stung; It was frothy.

The water rapidly took on a greyish tinge as all that dirt began to rinse away. Uther took up a soft cloth and wiped at the more stubborn spots between Gwydion's fingers and around his nails. Gwydion wasn't much for toys in the tub, but (once Uther had released his hand, satisfied it was clean), he dutifully took the lock of hair that Eilonwy handed him and held it over his palm.

Olim erat...

[pendraeg]

Dried, brushed, and dressed all soft and warm and clean, Eilonwy in purple and Gwydion in green, the twins had trundled into bed--somehow, they'd laid claim to Morgana's old room when they'd outgrown their cribs--and, after tucking them in, Uther had settled himself on one side of it, Adamant, more or less dry, on the rug below his feet

Re: Olim erat...

[pendraeg]

“Another time, the hero Hercules--yes, like the movie...sort of--as one of the labours given him by Eurystheus, was set to hunt the Cerynitis, sacred deer of Artemis herself. Cerynitis had antlers of gold and hooves of bronze, and was fleeter than an arrow in flight. Hercules ran and ran, chasing his quarry for a full year before he was finally able to capture it in a net while it slept. But when Artemis and her brother--”

“Apollo!”

“--when Artemis and her twin brother Apollo came upon Hercules with the deer, she was understandably angry that Hercules had desecrated her sacred animal. Hercules explained that capturing it was one of the tasks he must perform in order to atone for his previous wrongdoing against his family, and promised that he would return the deer as soon as he had shown it to the king. Artemis forgave him and allowed him to go on his way. But King Eurystheus tried to keep Cerynitis for himself, and Hercules knew that he must keep his promise, because it was his word, his fides. So when Eurystheus came to take

Re: Olim erat...

[chaseandoldlace]

Chase followed the twins into the room, Old Lace at his heels. Elbows propped childishly on the bed as Uther began his story and Chase found himself, as usual getting lost in the easy cadence of unfamiliar words overlaid with familiar places: Scotland, Spain; cool deep forests and dark green glades.

There was something achingly familiar about it it, nevermind the fact that Chase had left California all of a handful of times, nearly every time ending up in New York (present day and not, by his own will and not.) The feeling was one he'd been trying to place since story time began (or at least until he felt comfortable enough to be part of it.) Some nights it felt like a memory of deja vu, all the talk of fidelity and loyalty to king and kingdom.

'Maybe that's because it doesn't all sound like bullshit to you anymore,' Chase thought with a soft smile and a knowing, almost demure look towards Uther near the end of his stories. 'You found the one magnificent bastard on the planet who really fucking means it when he says it.'A year ago

[pendraeg]

Uther set his own hand firmly on the one Chase had placed on his shoulder, as though to seal a pact.

"I know," he said. So much there was for two small words to convey, so much appreciation and trust, faith and understanding. It seemed as though the things they had gone through were to be only the beginning, but already they were bound to one another in a way that banished doubt.

"We'll figure it out together."