(no subject)
Title: Fast
Author: fleeting_fancy /jabber_moose
Rating: PG
Character(s) and/or Pairing: Mereb, Radames
Spoilers: Aida
Warnings: None
Word Count: 328
Summary: comment_fic for tigriswolf : Aida, Ramades/Mereb, kindness and loyalty
Mereb was fast.
He had always been fast, quick on his feet, agile.
Growing up, he relied on his speed to get himself out of trouble as quickly as he got into it.
He won every race against the other boys, every test.
He always prided himself on this- until now.
He’d nearly escaped the courtyard when they caught him.
The men were tall, and well muscled, and they stared at Mereb as if he were an inconvenience, less than the dirt under their sandals.
Mereb drew himself up to his full height- which wasn’t much, really- and stared back.
He received an unexpected blow for his trouble, and the men laughed, uproariously, as he stumbled.
“He’s fast,” one of them said. “Scrawny as anything, but he’s quick on his feet. High Priest Zoser’s boy needs a good pair of legs to fetch, doesn’t he?”
Mereb was forced to his knees and shackled.
He was fast, but not fast enough.
‘Zoser’s boy’ was tall and lanky, with hair the color of the sand, and blue eyes. His body was toned for a boy his age, and he stood like a leader, assessing Mereb.
“Fetch me my sword,” Zoser’s boy, Radames, demanded. Mereb moved to obey, looking at Radames, curious. The words were confident enough, but there was an overlying uncertainty. Radames frowned at him. “Go!”
Mereb had no choice anymore. He ran.
He missed the look of loneliness that passed over Radames’ face in his haste.
Radames was a bit brash, but he was kind. He spoke to Mereb directly, and addressed him by name.
Mereb was his sparring partner, his racing partner, and later, his partner in crime.
Radames never needed to reprimand Mereb in public, because Mereb was always a step ahead.
Mereb didn’t so much repay Radames’ kindness and loyalty in the end, as one might think.
He protected his master, his friend. He protected his princess.
Zoser’s sword was fast.
But Mereb was faster.