Final Mocha
Mocha #18. Have I Ever Steered You Wrong?
with Hot Fudge and Whipped Cream
Story : knights
Rating : PG
Timeframe : 1240's through 70's
Word Count : 1015
So, I seem to have this thing, where the last prompt in the list is either one I started and have sitting on my computer unfinished, or it's something that just screams 'it has to be this!' and either way, it just doesn't happen and I wind up tossing out some completely unrelated idea to fill it. I started a piece about Lyssa and Mara and a poker game for this prompt back when I took this flavor last fall. Oh well, have to do soft serve eventually I suppose.
Final prompts also seem to be good for these little montage thingies. This spans most of Sethan and Kairn's relationship, the first few being when they're kids/teens, the last being after Kairn's return to the necromancers.
“One more line,” said Sethan, over the scrape of chalk against wood, “right across the middle…And there. We’re done.”
Kairn frowned at the series of stripes and swirls around him as he gingerly put his foot back over the fresh mark. “This isn’t going to hurt, is it?”
Sethan shrugged. “Not much.”
“Not m- Why aren’t you the one in the middle of it then?”
“He’ll know it was me,” said Kairn.
Arms folded, Reida was glaring at him with a look that said Sethan‘s presence, and not her own patience, was all that was keeping her from dragging him to Master Ephram‘s door herself. “Why the hell would he think that?”
“Because,” said Kairn, squaring his jaw to return the look, “he’ll suspect it was you two. But you never do your own dirty work, so he’ll know it was me.”
Reida twisted her lips, wrinked her nose, and did what she always did when there was a complication; she turned her glare on Sethan. “He’s got a point.”
Not ruffled in the least, Sethan shook his head at them both. “Ephram’s not going to suspect any of us.”
Kairn swallowed hard and Reida raised a brow. “Oh?” they both said.
With a grin, Sethan produced a pair of muddy boots from under the table and set them on its surface with a soft splat while the others stared. “Not when you leave behind Kinu-sized prints,” he said.
Reida laughed. Kairn slumped down in his seat with a groan. “So, Master Ephram’s not going to kill me, Kinu is.”
“That thing has claws. Don’t go telling me they’re dull, or that they’re not so big, because I can see them. They’re big and they’re sharp and there’s no way you’re animating that thing unless there’s a wall between it and me.”
There was a full minute of laughter from Reida in response while Kairn silently continued to fume. Finally, Sethan shot her a look and she quieted.
“Relax,” said Sethan. “You’ve got me, you’ve got Reida, and you’ve got a club. No one’s getting hurt today that isn’t already dead.”
“No one is going to stand for this .”
For once it was Sethan who was pacing, wringing his hands, looking for a way out. It didn’t take long for him to compose himself. “No one,” he said, a finger leveled at Kairn, “is going to hear about it.”
And just like that, order was restored, and Kairn was in his usual position, a hand in his hair and devoting all his effort to squeaking out a few words. “You expect me to keep my mouth shut about this?”
“You think ‘on pain of death’ are words Berwyk takes lightly?”
It was as if someone had drawn a cinch around his lungs. He forced as deep a breath as he could and returned Sethan’s accusatory finger waggling. “Apparently you do, or you wouldn’t be bedding my sister!”
There was a momentary crack in Sethan’s defences and another swift rebound, but not fast enough for Kairn to miss it. “You haven’t yet, have you? You do have some decency after all.”
Sethan laughed, and Kairn wondered if all the nerves he’d witnessed in him had been some invention of his own imagination.
“Look.” Sethan clapped a hand over Kairn’s shoulder, and Kairn swallowed hard as he gave it a squeeze. “I will take care of this. But no one is to know.”
“She’s fine.” Planted squarely in front of the door, Kairn tightened his arms across his chest and fixed Sethan with a glare.
“She had a fit in the dining hall.” Sethan kept his distance, but he wasn’t backing down. “I’d be surprised if she hasn’t had more since.”
“She’s fine,” Kairn repeated, his throat growing tight.
“Reida is familiar with her medications and she can change the doses to account for the pregnancy, and-”
“No.”
“She is not going to hurt her.”
“No.”
“Look, it’s the only way Berwyk is going to allow-”
“No.“ He took a step forward, and Sethan took a hasty one back. “For once I’m not listening to you. This is my sister, and I‘ll take care of her.”
“He turned out okay, you know.” It was still hard to tell himself that the last twelve years weren’t exactly what they seemed and the man seated next to him was not really his enemy. “For all the hell you put us through, somehow he wound up being a good kid and all.”
“I knew he would.” The tone was matter of fact, but he was staring at his hands folded in his lap, and Kairn wasn’t sure he knew how to read anything anymore, so he just stared for a moment.
“You don’t care, do you?” he said at last.
Sethan looked up at that and offered Kairn that little sniff of a laugh and twitch of a grin that made him feel like they were a couple of kids again, glibly raiding the teachers’ supplies, and not a pair of grown men with a decade of maniuplation and betrayal to put behind them. “No,” he said. “I trusted you.”
“You used me,” said Kairn.
Sethan shrugged. “You made a better father than I would have.”
It was Kairn’s turn to laugh as he wasn’t about to argue with that point. Another long moment of silence passed as he thought about the completely different person Sham might be having grown up under Sethan’s wing.
Kairn sighed. He tipped his head at the body resting on the table across from them. “So this,” he said, and he could barely find a voice for the words, “this is what it’s all for? What he’s for?”
Sethan just nodded.
“And it’s all…It’s all going to be okay?” As if a word from Sethan could banish a few hundred years of prophecy of death and destruction. As if Sethan would consider such things unreasonable costs.
What he got was another sniff, another grin. Kairn turned and met an icy blue stare.
“I suppose,” said Sethan, “that you’ll just have to trust me.”
with Hot Fudge and Whipped Cream
Story : knights
Rating : PG
Timeframe : 1240's through 70's
Word Count : 1015
So, I seem to have this thing, where the last prompt in the list is either one I started and have sitting on my computer unfinished, or it's something that just screams 'it has to be this!' and either way, it just doesn't happen and I wind up tossing out some completely unrelated idea to fill it. I started a piece about Lyssa and Mara and a poker game for this prompt back when I took this flavor last fall. Oh well, have to do soft serve eventually I suppose.
Final prompts also seem to be good for these little montage thingies. This spans most of Sethan and Kairn's relationship, the first few being when they're kids/teens, the last being after Kairn's return to the necromancers.
“One more line,” said Sethan, over the scrape of chalk against wood, “right across the middle…And there. We’re done.”
Kairn frowned at the series of stripes and swirls around him as he gingerly put his foot back over the fresh mark. “This isn’t going to hurt, is it?”
Sethan shrugged. “Not much.”
“Not m- Why aren’t you the one in the middle of it then?”
“He’ll know it was me,” said Kairn.
Arms folded, Reida was glaring at him with a look that said Sethan‘s presence, and not her own patience, was all that was keeping her from dragging him to Master Ephram‘s door herself. “Why the hell would he think that?”
“Because,” said Kairn, squaring his jaw to return the look, “he’ll suspect it was you two. But you never do your own dirty work, so he’ll know it was me.”
Reida twisted her lips, wrinked her nose, and did what she always did when there was a complication; she turned her glare on Sethan. “He’s got a point.”
Not ruffled in the least, Sethan shook his head at them both. “Ephram’s not going to suspect any of us.”
Kairn swallowed hard and Reida raised a brow. “Oh?” they both said.
With a grin, Sethan produced a pair of muddy boots from under the table and set them on its surface with a soft splat while the others stared. “Not when you leave behind Kinu-sized prints,” he said.
Reida laughed. Kairn slumped down in his seat with a groan. “So, Master Ephram’s not going to kill me, Kinu is.”
“That thing has claws. Don’t go telling me they’re dull, or that they’re not so big, because I can see them. They’re big and they’re sharp and there’s no way you’re animating that thing unless there’s a wall between it and me.”
There was a full minute of laughter from Reida in response while Kairn silently continued to fume. Finally, Sethan shot her a look and she quieted.
“Relax,” said Sethan. “You’ve got me, you’ve got Reida, and you’ve got a club. No one’s getting hurt today that isn’t already dead.”
“No one is going to stand for this .”
For once it was Sethan who was pacing, wringing his hands, looking for a way out. It didn’t take long for him to compose himself. “No one,” he said, a finger leveled at Kairn, “is going to hear about it.”
And just like that, order was restored, and Kairn was in his usual position, a hand in his hair and devoting all his effort to squeaking out a few words. “You expect me to keep my mouth shut about this?”
“You think ‘on pain of death’ are words Berwyk takes lightly?”
It was as if someone had drawn a cinch around his lungs. He forced as deep a breath as he could and returned Sethan’s accusatory finger waggling. “Apparently you do, or you wouldn’t be bedding my sister!”
There was a momentary crack in Sethan’s defences and another swift rebound, but not fast enough for Kairn to miss it. “You haven’t yet, have you? You do have some decency after all.”
Sethan laughed, and Kairn wondered if all the nerves he’d witnessed in him had been some invention of his own imagination.
“Look.” Sethan clapped a hand over Kairn’s shoulder, and Kairn swallowed hard as he gave it a squeeze. “I will take care of this. But no one is to know.”
“She’s fine.” Planted squarely in front of the door, Kairn tightened his arms across his chest and fixed Sethan with a glare.
“She had a fit in the dining hall.” Sethan kept his distance, but he wasn’t backing down. “I’d be surprised if she hasn’t had more since.”
“She’s fine,” Kairn repeated, his throat growing tight.
“Reida is familiar with her medications and she can change the doses to account for the pregnancy, and-”
“No.”
“She is not going to hurt her.”
“No.”
“Look, it’s the only way Berwyk is going to allow-”
“No.“ He took a step forward, and Sethan took a hasty one back. “For once I’m not listening to you. This is my sister, and I‘ll take care of her.”
“He turned out okay, you know.” It was still hard to tell himself that the last twelve years weren’t exactly what they seemed and the man seated next to him was not really his enemy. “For all the hell you put us through, somehow he wound up being a good kid and all.”
“I knew he would.” The tone was matter of fact, but he was staring at his hands folded in his lap, and Kairn wasn’t sure he knew how to read anything anymore, so he just stared for a moment.
“You don’t care, do you?” he said at last.
Sethan looked up at that and offered Kairn that little sniff of a laugh and twitch of a grin that made him feel like they were a couple of kids again, glibly raiding the teachers’ supplies, and not a pair of grown men with a decade of maniuplation and betrayal to put behind them. “No,” he said. “I trusted you.”
“You used me,” said Kairn.
Sethan shrugged. “You made a better father than I would have.”
It was Kairn’s turn to laugh as he wasn’t about to argue with that point. Another long moment of silence passed as he thought about the completely different person Sham might be having grown up under Sethan’s wing.
Kairn sighed. He tipped his head at the body resting on the table across from them. “So this,” he said, and he could barely find a voice for the words, “this is what it’s all for? What he’s for?”
Sethan just nodded.
“And it’s all…It’s all going to be okay?” As if a word from Sethan could banish a few hundred years of prophecy of death and destruction. As if Sethan would consider such things unreasonable costs.
What he got was another sniff, another grin. Kairn turned and met an icy blue stare.
“I suppose,” said Sethan, “that you’ll just have to trust me.”