Big Bang Fic: The Red Leather Trousers Escapade (11/17)
Title: The Red Leather Trousers Escapade (11/17)
Author: wingedflight21
Rating: K+
Word Count: ~24K
Disclaimer: The Chronicles of Narnia do not, never have, and most likely never will belong to me.
Possible Spoilers/Warnings: Occurs in an AU of The Silver Chair.
Author's Notes: A huge thanks to snitchnipped, rthstewart, and especially accidentalsquid as well as anyone else who helped me through these last few months and numerous chapters.
Summary: An assassination attempt gone wrong sends Jill and Eustace off to solve the mystery behind the attacks, all while playing dead. SCAUverse.
-X-
Chapter Ten
-X-
Rat-tat clatter-clatter.
Pause.
Rat-tat-tat clatter-clatter.
Pause.
Rat-tat clatter -
Jill lifted her head blearily at the sound of machine guns in the distance, only to realize she was lying in an inn in Halua where, to her knowledge, there was no such thing as a machine gun. Nor, she found, could she quite remember what a machine gun was, except that it was from Beyond World’s End and terribly noisy.
Rat-tat-tat clatter-clatter-clatter.
The sun was so bright - was too bright. She squeezed her eyes tight, rolled over miserably, and stifled a moan at the storm that erupted between her eyes. Oh, by Aslan, but that hurt.
Rat-tat -
Hurt, and the noise out the window didn’t help either.
There came a groan from her right and someone heavy rolled against her. She lifted her elbow to jab him and Eustace yelped in protest and rolled away. The mattress suddenly became lighter as he left the bed. Hinges squeaked as the shutters were pushed open, followed by a cry of triumph from below.
“Oi!” she heard Eustace shout irritably, “Go bother someone else at this hour.”
“But Erlian, my friend!” came the more distant and far too cheerful reply, “We have come to assist thee and thine fair lady.”
Eustace’s rude reply, while loud and unrepeatable, received another laugh from the street below.
“We’ll meet you in the tavern, then!”
Eustace cursed them all good-naturedly, and slammed the window shut.
The corner of the mattress by her feet sunk again as Eustace sat down. “Rocks at the window,” he grumbled, “as though we’re twelve years old again.” The mattress continued to depress as he apparently stretched out along it again. A moment later, he was poking at her arm.
Jill snarled at him and twisted away. Eustace poked her again. “Up you get,” he said, his voice much too cheery for such an early hour, “You’ve made it to another day.”
She flung her arm in his general direction, hoping to get a good hit in to shut him up, but apparently Eustace was better at avoiding direction-less attacks than she’d expected. Her hand landed on nothing but mattress, and a moment later, he was poking at her wrist.
“You can’t avoid it forever, Jill. You’re going to have to wake up sometime.”
With the greatest reluctance, she cracked open an eye, recoiled at the light, and tried to roll over again. He caught her shoulder. “Jill. Isak’s waiting for us downstairs.”
“Gerrido’im.”
“Pardon me?” he asked archly. She swatted at him again, aiming in the direction of his so very loud voice, and missed again.
“Look, Jill, he said he’d be willing to help us figure out what’s going on. I can’t just ‘get rid of him.’”
Not listening, she decided, Not listening not listening not -
The mattress lifted up, Eustace apparently having given up on scolding her. Maybe he would just go down and see Isak himself, leave her to her misery and much-needed sleep.
There came a sudden shock of cool air as the blanket disappeared, her head collapsing to the mattress a moment later as the pillow was pulled away. Furious, she sat up, glaring through the painful light at the smirking fiend standing at her side.
“Hate. You,” she bit out.
“Great,” Eustace responded, “Maybe your hate will give you the energy to come downstairs.”
-X-
Teriko had pressed a cup of some foul-smelling concoction into her hands the moment Jill had slumped into her chair at the corner table. She’d wrinkled her nose and nearly refused, until Tankana had explained that it was to cure the hangover. This had been followed by a skeptical half-inspection of the liquid, after which Jill had decided she didn’t really want to know what the drink was composed of after all. The taste of it was - well, it was indescribable, really. It was all she could do to not gag after she’d swallowed.
“We know everyone in this city,” Isak was saying, “Or, everyone worth knowing, really. I sent out a few of the lads-“
Tankana coughed.
“-And gals first thing this morning. Jamek was able to pinpoint a barkeep who’d heard some suspicious talk from three of the boys a few days past.” His face darkened. “Jakono, Kiliteth, and Rov. I’m gonna kill them.”
“But - there were only two on the cliff,” Eustace cut in.
“Which could mean someone chickened out.”
Jill ventured another sip of her drink and bit back a startled cough. It tasted just as bad the second time.
“Ain’t seen Rov nor Kiliteth in days,” Teriko brought up. “The squirrels won’t show their faces after taking a job like that.”
“Squirrels?” Jill asked.
“Cowards,” Tankana provided.
Eustace blinked. “I thought there weren’t any squirrels on the island.”
“It’s a general term. I’ve never actually seen a squirrel. Although I’ve heard they’re a lot like mongooses.”
Jill’s amused agreement was enough to overcome her fear of the hangover cure; she lifted the mug and took a big gulp, only to trigger her gag reflex and start coughing furiously.
All four faces turned to her in concern, Teriko taking the cup from her while Tankana passed over a handkerchief for Jill to wipe her mouth. She waved a hand as indication that she was all right, that the others could continue the discussion, but Eustace had already picked up her drink.
“What - Pole, what are you drinking?”
It was Teriko who answered for her. “Good ’n proper hangover cure,” she said proudly, “Made by yours truly.”
Eustace looked dubiously at the contents, dipping a finger into the mixture before bringing it tentatively to his tongue. “Is that… egg?” He made a face and took another taste. “And… merspit?” One more taste. “And mint?”
“Best cure for a hangover is getting drunk again,” Teriko answered promptly.
“No,” Tankana said in a superior voice, “It’s the fact that you think you’re drinking a cure that makes you feel better.”
“Actually, I feel like I’m going to be sick,” Jill said weakly.
Eustace rolled his eyes. “Not again.” He pushed his own cup across the table to her. Jill glanced down and saw with relief that it was nothing more than water.
“The whole point is to counter the dehydration,” he said with a knowing smirk, and Jill grabbed at the cup eagerly. It was less a desire for a real cure that motivated her now, and more the fact that she needed to rid her mouth of the taste of Teriko’s “cure.”
“Back to the issue at hand,” Isak said dryly, the corners of his mouth twitching in amusement, “Teriko, you said you haven’t seen Rov nor Kiliteth. How ‘bout Jak?”
“The Lucky Cobbler, night before last,” she answered promptly, “Hangin’ about in the darkest corner of the room. If he squirrelled out of the job, he’ll be tryin’ to keep his head low. My bet’s he’s still there.”
Prologue | Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 5 | Chapter 6 | Chapter 7 | Chapter 8 | Chapter 9 | Chapter 10 | Chapter 11 | Chapter 12 | Chapter 13 | Chapter 14 | Chapter 15 | Epilogue|
Author: wingedflight21
Rating: K+
Word Count: ~24K
Disclaimer: The Chronicles of Narnia do not, never have, and most likely never will belong to me.
Possible Spoilers/Warnings: Occurs in an AU of The Silver Chair.
Author's Notes: A huge thanks to snitchnipped, rthstewart, and especially accidentalsquid as well as anyone else who helped me through these last few months and numerous chapters.
Summary: An assassination attempt gone wrong sends Jill and Eustace off to solve the mystery behind the attacks, all while playing dead. SCAUverse.
-X-
Chapter Ten
-X-
Rat-tat clatter-clatter.
Pause.
Rat-tat-tat clatter-clatter.
Pause.
Rat-tat clatter -
Jill lifted her head blearily at the sound of machine guns in the distance, only to realize she was lying in an inn in Halua where, to her knowledge, there was no such thing as a machine gun. Nor, she found, could she quite remember what a machine gun was, except that it was from Beyond World’s End and terribly noisy.
Rat-tat-tat clatter-clatter-clatter.
The sun was so bright - was too bright. She squeezed her eyes tight, rolled over miserably, and stifled a moan at the storm that erupted between her eyes. Oh, by Aslan, but that hurt.
Rat-tat -
Hurt, and the noise out the window didn’t help either.
There came a groan from her right and someone heavy rolled against her. She lifted her elbow to jab him and Eustace yelped in protest and rolled away. The mattress suddenly became lighter as he left the bed. Hinges squeaked as the shutters were pushed open, followed by a cry of triumph from below.
“Oi!” she heard Eustace shout irritably, “Go bother someone else at this hour.”
“But Erlian, my friend!” came the more distant and far too cheerful reply, “We have come to assist thee and thine fair lady.”
Eustace’s rude reply, while loud and unrepeatable, received another laugh from the street below.
“We’ll meet you in the tavern, then!”
Eustace cursed them all good-naturedly, and slammed the window shut.
The corner of the mattress by her feet sunk again as Eustace sat down. “Rocks at the window,” he grumbled, “as though we’re twelve years old again.” The mattress continued to depress as he apparently stretched out along it again. A moment later, he was poking at her arm.
Jill snarled at him and twisted away. Eustace poked her again. “Up you get,” he said, his voice much too cheery for such an early hour, “You’ve made it to another day.”
She flung her arm in his general direction, hoping to get a good hit in to shut him up, but apparently Eustace was better at avoiding direction-less attacks than she’d expected. Her hand landed on nothing but mattress, and a moment later, he was poking at her wrist.
“You can’t avoid it forever, Jill. You’re going to have to wake up sometime.”
With the greatest reluctance, she cracked open an eye, recoiled at the light, and tried to roll over again. He caught her shoulder. “Jill. Isak’s waiting for us downstairs.”
“Gerrido’im.”
“Pardon me?” he asked archly. She swatted at him again, aiming in the direction of his so very loud voice, and missed again.
“Look, Jill, he said he’d be willing to help us figure out what’s going on. I can’t just ‘get rid of him.’”
Not listening, she decided, Not listening not listening not -
The mattress lifted up, Eustace apparently having given up on scolding her. Maybe he would just go down and see Isak himself, leave her to her misery and much-needed sleep.
There came a sudden shock of cool air as the blanket disappeared, her head collapsing to the mattress a moment later as the pillow was pulled away. Furious, she sat up, glaring through the painful light at the smirking fiend standing at her side.
“Hate. You,” she bit out.
“Great,” Eustace responded, “Maybe your hate will give you the energy to come downstairs.”
-X-
Teriko had pressed a cup of some foul-smelling concoction into her hands the moment Jill had slumped into her chair at the corner table. She’d wrinkled her nose and nearly refused, until Tankana had explained that it was to cure the hangover. This had been followed by a skeptical half-inspection of the liquid, after which Jill had decided she didn’t really want to know what the drink was composed of after all. The taste of it was - well, it was indescribable, really. It was all she could do to not gag after she’d swallowed.
“We know everyone in this city,” Isak was saying, “Or, everyone worth knowing, really. I sent out a few of the lads-“
Tankana coughed.
“-And gals first thing this morning. Jamek was able to pinpoint a barkeep who’d heard some suspicious talk from three of the boys a few days past.” His face darkened. “Jakono, Kiliteth, and Rov. I’m gonna kill them.”
“But - there were only two on the cliff,” Eustace cut in.
“Which could mean someone chickened out.”
Jill ventured another sip of her drink and bit back a startled cough. It tasted just as bad the second time.
“Ain’t seen Rov nor Kiliteth in days,” Teriko brought up. “The squirrels won’t show their faces after taking a job like that.”
“Squirrels?” Jill asked.
“Cowards,” Tankana provided.
Eustace blinked. “I thought there weren’t any squirrels on the island.”
“It’s a general term. I’ve never actually seen a squirrel. Although I’ve heard they’re a lot like mongooses.”
Jill’s amused agreement was enough to overcome her fear of the hangover cure; she lifted the mug and took a big gulp, only to trigger her gag reflex and start coughing furiously.
All four faces turned to her in concern, Teriko taking the cup from her while Tankana passed over a handkerchief for Jill to wipe her mouth. She waved a hand as indication that she was all right, that the others could continue the discussion, but Eustace had already picked up her drink.
“What - Pole, what are you drinking?”
It was Teriko who answered for her. “Good ’n proper hangover cure,” she said proudly, “Made by yours truly.”
Eustace looked dubiously at the contents, dipping a finger into the mixture before bringing it tentatively to his tongue. “Is that… egg?” He made a face and took another taste. “And… merspit?” One more taste. “And mint?”
“Best cure for a hangover is getting drunk again,” Teriko answered promptly.
“No,” Tankana said in a superior voice, “It’s the fact that you think you’re drinking a cure that makes you feel better.”
“Actually, I feel like I’m going to be sick,” Jill said weakly.
Eustace rolled his eyes. “Not again.” He pushed his own cup across the table to her. Jill glanced down and saw with relief that it was nothing more than water.
“The whole point is to counter the dehydration,” he said with a knowing smirk, and Jill grabbed at the cup eagerly. It was less a desire for a real cure that motivated her now, and more the fact that she needed to rid her mouth of the taste of Teriko’s “cure.”
“Back to the issue at hand,” Isak said dryly, the corners of his mouth twitching in amusement, “Teriko, you said you haven’t seen Rov nor Kiliteth. How ‘bout Jak?”
“The Lucky Cobbler, night before last,” she answered promptly, “Hangin’ about in the darkest corner of the room. If he squirrelled out of the job, he’ll be tryin’ to keep his head low. My bet’s he’s still there.”
Prologue | Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 5 | Chapter 6 | Chapter 7 | Chapter 8 | Chapter 9 | Chapter 10 | Chapter 11 | Chapter 12 | Chapter 13 | Chapter 14 | Chapter 15 | Epilogue|