Fic: Unfinished Business
Title: Unfinished Business
Author: Aleia (aviss)
Fandom: The Keys to the Kingdom
Pairing: Implied Superior Saturday's Dusk/Lieutenant Keeper
Rating: PG
Summary: Saturday's Noon brings eagerly awaited news to Dusk.
Words: 790
Disclaimer: The characters belong to Garth Nix
Author Notes: So, I'm not sure of which of the demesnes is Saturday's, I don’t remember if it ever was mentioned. Any mistake, please point, I read the books a couple of months back and don't have them with me now to double check.
Unfinished Business
The tea, Saturday's Dusk felt, was what made being a denizen of the Upper House worthy. They had tea on the other demesnes, but none of it was of such high quality as the one Superior Saturday always got for her most trusted denizens.
He was enjoying his second cup of the best Earl Grey they got from one of the Secondary Realms, when the door to Saturday's Dayroom slammed open and a dishevelled Noon stomped to one of the chaise lounges and dropped like a ton of bricks.
Dusk was surprised for a second to see his usually composed brother so flustered; his clothes were askew and torn in several places, and had bloody stains on them. His wings were also ruffled, and there were feathers sticking out and falling in some places.
"Something wrong, Noon?" he drawled, looking down to his cup of tea again.
Noon huffed and closed his eyes, an expression of exhausted shock taking hold of his handsome features. Dusk was even more curious now.
"I just had a fight with the Keeper of the Front Door."
Dusk arched an eyebrow. There should be no Keeper at the Front Door at that time; he knew because he had disposed of him decades ago. It was bothersome to have someone controlling his coming and goings, and Captain Keeper had not been easy to bribe. He had not been that easy to kill either, but Dusk had never let that stop him.
"I hope that, whoever it was you fought against, you won." His tone implying that wasn't very likely.
Noon glared at him. "No, I didn't."
Dusk lifted the cup to his lips to cover his smile, and took another sip. When he put the cup down, he was still smiling. Noon scowled darkly, and then his mouth curled into a sneer.
"I wouldn't be so quick to judge, if I were you. This is no Captain Keeper we're talking about, I was lucky to escape with my life." He said, and Dusk snorted. He had wondered before why Superior Saturday would choose such a weakling as his Noon. But then, no one ever defied Superior Saturday, and he and Dawn were more than enough to deal with the few fools who tried. Noon was handsome enough to look good with them, and that probably was all the reason Saturday needed.
"Unless it's against one of Lord Sunday's High Denizens, there is no excuse to lose--and even in that case, there is no excuse to run." He sneered.
Noon refused to take the bait this time, he just smiled. "Funny you say that," and Dusk felt uneasy about that smile. "you should remember him, Lieutenant Keeper, who has taken over all the duties at the Front Door. He's doing round the clock shifts now."
"It's just a Lieutenant," Dusk said, getting up from his seat and putting his cup down, bored with that conversation. "ranked lower than Captain Keeper, he has to be weaker." The disgust was now clear in his voice. Losing to anyone was unacceptable; losing to someone who was ranked much lower than them, and was obviously weaker, was shameful. And Noon should act accordingly humbled by his own weakness.
Noon's smile only grew. "Oh, he will be so disappointed you don’t remember him. He remembered you perfectly. You spend a hundred years with a denizen in the Army, and they just forget you."
Dusk turned around to fast his vision blurred for a second. "You don't mean him, do you?" he glared at Noon, angry at him for not saying the most important thing from the beginning. "Keeper, that Keeper?"
Noon looked at him, clearly amused by his reaction. "Oh yes, that Keeper. The one you were unable to beat, not even once, during the century you spent together."
So there was where he had been hiding all that time, that was the reason Dusk had not been able to find him. But that was wrong somehow. How could he be just a Lieutenant? No wonder Noon had no chance against him; Dusk had never been able to defeat him. Keeper was insanely strong, and now… now Dusk knew where to find him.
His face showing the fist real smile in a long time, Dusk turned back to the door.
"I suddenly feel like going to the Secondary Realms." he said, more to himself than Noon, who was looking at him wearily.
There was almost a spring on his step as he left the room. Yes, the Secondary Realms, it didn't matter which. In this case, the destination wasn't important, only the route.
And this time he didn't mind if he got caught by the Keeper.
He didn’t mind at all.
~Fin~
Author: Aleia (aviss)
Fandom: The Keys to the Kingdom
Pairing: Implied Superior Saturday's Dusk/Lieutenant Keeper
Rating: PG
Summary: Saturday's Noon brings eagerly awaited news to Dusk.
Words: 790
Disclaimer: The characters belong to Garth Nix
Author Notes: So, I'm not sure of which of the demesnes is Saturday's, I don’t remember if it ever was mentioned. Any mistake, please point, I read the books a couple of months back and don't have them with me now to double check.
Unfinished Business
The tea, Saturday's Dusk felt, was what made being a denizen of the Upper House worthy. They had tea on the other demesnes, but none of it was of such high quality as the one Superior Saturday always got for her most trusted denizens.
He was enjoying his second cup of the best Earl Grey they got from one of the Secondary Realms, when the door to Saturday's Dayroom slammed open and a dishevelled Noon stomped to one of the chaise lounges and dropped like a ton of bricks.
Dusk was surprised for a second to see his usually composed brother so flustered; his clothes were askew and torn in several places, and had bloody stains on them. His wings were also ruffled, and there were feathers sticking out and falling in some places.
"Something wrong, Noon?" he drawled, looking down to his cup of tea again.
Noon huffed and closed his eyes, an expression of exhausted shock taking hold of his handsome features. Dusk was even more curious now.
"I just had a fight with the Keeper of the Front Door."
Dusk arched an eyebrow. There should be no Keeper at the Front Door at that time; he knew because he had disposed of him decades ago. It was bothersome to have someone controlling his coming and goings, and Captain Keeper had not been easy to bribe. He had not been that easy to kill either, but Dusk had never let that stop him.
"I hope that, whoever it was you fought against, you won." His tone implying that wasn't very likely.
Noon glared at him. "No, I didn't."
Dusk lifted the cup to his lips to cover his smile, and took another sip. When he put the cup down, he was still smiling. Noon scowled darkly, and then his mouth curled into a sneer.
"I wouldn't be so quick to judge, if I were you. This is no Captain Keeper we're talking about, I was lucky to escape with my life." He said, and Dusk snorted. He had wondered before why Superior Saturday would choose such a weakling as his Noon. But then, no one ever defied Superior Saturday, and he and Dawn were more than enough to deal with the few fools who tried. Noon was handsome enough to look good with them, and that probably was all the reason Saturday needed.
"Unless it's against one of Lord Sunday's High Denizens, there is no excuse to lose--and even in that case, there is no excuse to run." He sneered.
Noon refused to take the bait this time, he just smiled. "Funny you say that," and Dusk felt uneasy about that smile. "you should remember him, Lieutenant Keeper, who has taken over all the duties at the Front Door. He's doing round the clock shifts now."
"It's just a Lieutenant," Dusk said, getting up from his seat and putting his cup down, bored with that conversation. "ranked lower than Captain Keeper, he has to be weaker." The disgust was now clear in his voice. Losing to anyone was unacceptable; losing to someone who was ranked much lower than them, and was obviously weaker, was shameful. And Noon should act accordingly humbled by his own weakness.
Noon's smile only grew. "Oh, he will be so disappointed you don’t remember him. He remembered you perfectly. You spend a hundred years with a denizen in the Army, and they just forget you."
Dusk turned around to fast his vision blurred for a second. "You don't mean him, do you?" he glared at Noon, angry at him for not saying the most important thing from the beginning. "Keeper, that Keeper?"
Noon looked at him, clearly amused by his reaction. "Oh yes, that Keeper. The one you were unable to beat, not even once, during the century you spent together."
So there was where he had been hiding all that time, that was the reason Dusk had not been able to find him. But that was wrong somehow. How could he be just a Lieutenant? No wonder Noon had no chance against him; Dusk had never been able to defeat him. Keeper was insanely strong, and now… now Dusk knew where to find him.
His face showing the fist real smile in a long time, Dusk turned back to the door.
"I suddenly feel like going to the Secondary Realms." he said, more to himself than Noon, who was looking at him wearily.
There was almost a spring on his step as he left the room. Yes, the Secondary Realms, it didn't matter which. In this case, the destination wasn't important, only the route.
And this time he didn't mind if he got caught by the Keeper.
He didn’t mind at all.
~Fin~