Drabble Request for Surranndie
Title: Apple Tea
Summary:
surranndie requested this in my last journal: Glitch/Cain. While watching over an injured or ill Glitch, Cain is told a story about Ambrose's past by someone (the queen, Ahamo, Tutor). It's a story that sheds new light on how Cain sees Glitch, something that changes him in some way.
Rating: G
Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by Imagiquest Entertainment. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.
Note: This didn't turn out exactly to fit the request.. and it was too long to post in a comment, so yay. :P
Word about this new flu bug going around sent everyone in the lower and upper city region in a terrible uproar, and had spread very quickly. The funny thing was, it was gone just as quick.
Little did they know it would reach at least one more person before vanish off the face of the O.Z until another year went by.
Everyone in the castle had heard of it by then, but they knew the Royals were powerful. If one of them got an illness, it was likely they could get rid of it with their magic abilities before the day was out.
Heh, well, they didn't realize not EVERYONE in their little group was magical. At least not literally, anyways..
It started one morning when everyone was supposed to be already up and going about their jobs. The Queen was walking through the main areas, checking out what everyone was doing, (Yes, mostly everyone was still working on all kinds of repairs from the witch's rein) and that's when the Queen realized someone was missing..
Crossing one arm over her thin frame and propping the other up to lightly scratch at her chin, the Queen ordered a near by Servant to go to the lower level and check out her Advisor's quarters and his laboratory to see if he was there, and if he was, to order him to get to work, telling him "We need everyone's skills to make this castle tip top like it was in it's hay day!"
When the servant returned, Advisor-less, and a hint of worry in his eyes, the Queen knew she would not like what came out of his mouth.
"When I went to the Advisor's bedroom quarters.. the..the door was locked, your majesty. I knocked and didn't hear anything at first, but then.." His eyebrows knit in confusement and he lowered his head to stare at the pearly white tiles below them, "then I heard low moaning sounds inside. I.. I didn't know how to react, or what to say.. So I just left."
The Queen of the OZ frowned at nothing and mumbled quietly "Curious. This is not like him. Not at all.." She looked back at the man before her as if she just remembered he was there.
"Bring me Wyatt Cain, he should be outside in the training field out back with the recruits in training."
And the servant was off again.
He came back with a mildly ruffled Wyatt Cain, looking upset for more reasons than one. It had been awhile since he had gotten to do any of those outdoorsey stuff. Hunting down enemies or food. And to train others just made it all the more fun! The Tin Man was also upset because the servant had blurted out why he was so needed by her majesty.
Sigh. Babysitting the Headcase just seemed like a job he'd never be out of.
He gave a brisk nod to the Queen anyways, and waited for the orders he already knew he was going to get.
"Mr. Cain, before I send you off to fetch my most important and ONLY advisor.. There is something you really need to know.."
"I know, your Majesty," Cain tried to smile half-heartedly, "Glitch would probably be lost without someone to aide him, and well.. I can tell if he's not feeling well or something, he must need twice as much help as usual."
The Queen stared. The room was oddly quiet.
The Tin Man looked around curiously, wondering what the hell had happened. Had he insulted her in some unknown way? But as he turned to look back at her, all he saw was a smooth tight-lipped smile and twinkling eyes.
"How long have you known Ambr--Er Glitch, Mr. Cain?" The Queen asked softly, not seeming frustrated or irritated with him.
"Well," Cain tried to think back, which was actually pretty hard with how much everything had been piling up for him and everyone else since they started getting the Castle back in order. "I remember knowing him as far back as when he and I met when he and DG released me from that Iron Suit the...Longcoats put me in." He frowned, not only at the memory but at trying to remember how long ago that really had been.
"Seems to me that was about almost half an Annual ago.. This Annual is coming to a quick but triumphant end, after all." He tried to sound optimistic.
The Queen nodded at that, but would not let this man sidetrack her.
"I have known Ambrose since he was a teenager, Mr. Cain." Was all she said, and then waited for his response.
Cain, of course, had assumed she had known the man longer than he, but... A teenager? A young man? Hmm.
"How much of a teenager?"
"Seventeen."
"S-Seventeen? Annuals?!"
The Queen politely kept her amusement guarded with a mental block. "Yes. He was only seventeen when I met him on one of the Outer Zone's finest College Campuses. He had obviously graduated early. He looked much younger than seventeen though, of course."
Wyatt couldn't help trying to visualize what a seventeen year old Ambrose would look like.. Maybe have longer curly hair. Maybe a tad shorter. He knew though.. he'd probably still have the same soft and sweet face. Maybe not as many wrinkles under his eyes and at the corners of his lips. But those lips would always be still so warm to anyone. Weather it was just used for smiling or for...for..
"Mr. Cain?" The Queen's patient but curious voice broke him from his odd and un-Cain-like thoughts. He blinked hard and looked up at her like a lost puppy.
She smiled again. But this time much bigger and the amusement was much harder to hide.
"I just said you shouldn't judge someone you've just known half an Annual. Ambrose only had gotten sick once before. It was a very very cold winter night, too cold for anyone in their right mind to be out. That is why I had pleaded with him not to go to the Mystic Man and warn him about the terrible gangs that were around the area making filthy drug deals and such. I really could have waited another day, but he insisted he do it now. I remember he had clearly stated that if he came to the Mystic Man on such a dreadful night, he would know we mean business about this serious predicament. I still insisted it wasn't that serious, but he was already heading out the door.."
Her words drifted...and then she came back, eyes sparkly again.
"Four long hours passed before I sent two soldiers out to retrieve my Advisor." She said 'My Advisor' with such a deep proud tone it made Cain's lips twitch themselves into an upward position.
"If I recall, it was nearing three in the morning when they returned with a bundled up and paler than pale Ambrose. The soldiers held each arm to help him across the room to our big fireplace we had in the main room at the time, but even the soldiers' arms were shaking slightly from the effort of keeping his still. And then," The Queen closed her eyes, the memory of what happened next making her avoid showing her pained eyes to the Tin Man before her.
"He collapsed. His..his legs had locked up right there and I saw his eyes roll back into his head as his body gave in and succumbed to the pain and illness overtaking him. He had been fighting it up to that point! All the way back!"
She let out a deep sigh and opened her eyes again.
Wyatt Cain stared back, knowing..just knowing.
"Hypothermia."
The Queen nodded briskly and wiped her eyes quickly so she could continue.
"Well, after that little scene of terror, he was put to bed and checked on every few minutes. By morning.. when I came to see him, he shooing away a maid offering breakfast and telling her-- with his blanket still covering him up to his curly-haired head, mind you --that he only wanted the warmest Apple Tea she could make! So, Wyatt Cain.." She took two steps closer and reached up to put her hands firmly on his shoulders, "I am ordering you.. not just to go help my Advisor, and my close friend like a young child needs a babysitter, but to keep him company, like a companion should."
She tipped her head slightly down and whispered for only him to hear, "After all, was it not Glitch, and only Glitch that helped you when you fell into the icy snow that surrounded the Northern Island's Palace? Hmm? He kept you from having his same fate, did he not?"
The Queen was right, of course. Cain's fists tightened at his side as he stared off over her shoulder. "Should I go see him now then?" He barely could hide his irritation.
"Yes, please do, Mr. Cain."
He quickly turned and paced off to the lower level of the palace where he knew Glitch was. He walked passed his laboratory and to a smaller but still highly elaborately designed door.
By now he wasn't as ticked off as he had been back there. He had calmed down (Something he was learning to do rather well in time, he thought) and actually thought it over. After he knocked three times, loud and firm, he paced and thought more about this situation.
"Okay.. so he's not as mentally handicapped as I thought. Well, I knew he wasn't.. he is a grown man like me, for chrissakes, but really, it's only a natural and normal reaction to someone with one half a brain missing! Their supposed to need help. Their...their.." He trailed off in a mutter, getting worked up again.
"Cain, what... what in the OZ has crawled up your butt?"
The meek and quiet voice startled the Tin Man. He was NOT expecting to hear anything so soon!
"Glitch..!" He took one big step forward and glowered down at the zipperheaded man. "Why have you locked yourself away in your quarters all this time? The Queen was freakin' worried sick!"
"Then why are you here...and.. not her?" The shorter man was now leaning against the door frame and gracefully crossing his arms.
"She SENT me down here. Well..after going on a tangent about how you never got sick before now except one other time!"
"Really? Huh, wish I would've known that. Might've kept me optimistic while I was puking my guts out early this morning.." He sounded so casual about it, Cain felt anger brewing quickly up to it's breaking point in his mind.
"Locking yourself in didn't really help, Glitch!"
"Oh yes it did. Why, if I hadn't, possibly anyone could've came in and caught whatever it was I had.. Even you! I was doing everyone a favor!" He stood up straighter and held his head up higher, narrowing his eyes like Cain had insulted him.
Cain stared at this man.. and again tried to imagine a younger version, coming in from terrible blizzard weather.. and almost frozen stiff. but then the next day huddled in bed and giving orders.
It was really, really hard to admit.. but perhaps he needed to rethink how he approached this ill man.
Cain walked closer to the man and reached out to take one of his smaller, thinner hands and hold it between both of his warmly.
"Please, Sweetheart." He figured he'd get a positive reaction out of that, since he had in the Tower. "Can I do anything, anything at all, to make you feel better?"
"Well.." Glitch looked around the hallway, no one else was there. "Perhaps, if you come in.." He continued, looking back at the hopeful Tin Man as he took a step backward and let Cain keep holding his hand. "..I can think of something that might help."
Cain smiled a bit more and eagerly followed his friend's backward steps inside. "And maybe after that we can go to the kitchen and see if we can get a nice warm cup of Apple Tea for you."
As Glitch used his free hand to close his door, he raised an eyebrow at this suggestion.
"You can make apples into tea?"
Summary:
surranndie requested this in my last journal: Glitch/Cain. While watching over an injured or ill Glitch, Cain is told a story about Ambrose's past by someone (the queen, Ahamo, Tutor). It's a story that sheds new light on how Cain sees Glitch, something that changes him in some way.
Rating: G
Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by Imagiquest Entertainment. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.
Note: This didn't turn out exactly to fit the request.. and it was too long to post in a comment, so yay. :P
Word about this new flu bug going around sent everyone in the lower and upper city region in a terrible uproar, and had spread very quickly. The funny thing was, it was gone just as quick.
Little did they know it would reach at least one more person before vanish off the face of the O.Z until another year went by.
Everyone in the castle had heard of it by then, but they knew the Royals were powerful. If one of them got an illness, it was likely they could get rid of it with their magic abilities before the day was out.
Heh, well, they didn't realize not EVERYONE in their little group was magical. At least not literally, anyways..
It started one morning when everyone was supposed to be already up and going about their jobs. The Queen was walking through the main areas, checking out what everyone was doing, (Yes, mostly everyone was still working on all kinds of repairs from the witch's rein) and that's when the Queen realized someone was missing..
Crossing one arm over her thin frame and propping the other up to lightly scratch at her chin, the Queen ordered a near by Servant to go to the lower level and check out her Advisor's quarters and his laboratory to see if he was there, and if he was, to order him to get to work, telling him "We need everyone's skills to make this castle tip top like it was in it's hay day!"
When the servant returned, Advisor-less, and a hint of worry in his eyes, the Queen knew she would not like what came out of his mouth.
"When I went to the Advisor's bedroom quarters.. the..the door was locked, your majesty. I knocked and didn't hear anything at first, but then.." His eyebrows knit in confusement and he lowered his head to stare at the pearly white tiles below them, "then I heard low moaning sounds inside. I.. I didn't know how to react, or what to say.. So I just left."
The Queen of the OZ frowned at nothing and mumbled quietly "Curious. This is not like him. Not at all.." She looked back at the man before her as if she just remembered he was there.
"Bring me Wyatt Cain, he should be outside in the training field out back with the recruits in training."
And the servant was off again.
He came back with a mildly ruffled Wyatt Cain, looking upset for more reasons than one. It had been awhile since he had gotten to do any of those outdoorsey stuff. Hunting down enemies or food. And to train others just made it all the more fun! The Tin Man was also upset because the servant had blurted out why he was so needed by her majesty.
Sigh. Babysitting the Headcase just seemed like a job he'd never be out of.
He gave a brisk nod to the Queen anyways, and waited for the orders he already knew he was going to get.
"Mr. Cain, before I send you off to fetch my most important and ONLY advisor.. There is something you really need to know.."
"I know, your Majesty," Cain tried to smile half-heartedly, "Glitch would probably be lost without someone to aide him, and well.. I can tell if he's not feeling well or something, he must need twice as much help as usual."
The Queen stared. The room was oddly quiet.
The Tin Man looked around curiously, wondering what the hell had happened. Had he insulted her in some unknown way? But as he turned to look back at her, all he saw was a smooth tight-lipped smile and twinkling eyes.
"How long have you known Ambr--Er Glitch, Mr. Cain?" The Queen asked softly, not seeming frustrated or irritated with him.
"Well," Cain tried to think back, which was actually pretty hard with how much everything had been piling up for him and everyone else since they started getting the Castle back in order. "I remember knowing him as far back as when he and I met when he and DG released me from that Iron Suit the...Longcoats put me in." He frowned, not only at the memory but at trying to remember how long ago that really had been.
"Seems to me that was about almost half an Annual ago.. This Annual is coming to a quick but triumphant end, after all." He tried to sound optimistic.
The Queen nodded at that, but would not let this man sidetrack her.
"I have known Ambrose since he was a teenager, Mr. Cain." Was all she said, and then waited for his response.
Cain, of course, had assumed she had known the man longer than he, but... A teenager? A young man? Hmm.
"How much of a teenager?"
"Seventeen."
"S-Seventeen? Annuals?!"
The Queen politely kept her amusement guarded with a mental block. "Yes. He was only seventeen when I met him on one of the Outer Zone's finest College Campuses. He had obviously graduated early. He looked much younger than seventeen though, of course."
Wyatt couldn't help trying to visualize what a seventeen year old Ambrose would look like.. Maybe have longer curly hair. Maybe a tad shorter. He knew though.. he'd probably still have the same soft and sweet face. Maybe not as many wrinkles under his eyes and at the corners of his lips. But those lips would always be still so warm to anyone. Weather it was just used for smiling or for...for..
"Mr. Cain?" The Queen's patient but curious voice broke him from his odd and un-Cain-like thoughts. He blinked hard and looked up at her like a lost puppy.
She smiled again. But this time much bigger and the amusement was much harder to hide.
"I just said you shouldn't judge someone you've just known half an Annual. Ambrose only had gotten sick once before. It was a very very cold winter night, too cold for anyone in their right mind to be out. That is why I had pleaded with him not to go to the Mystic Man and warn him about the terrible gangs that were around the area making filthy drug deals and such. I really could have waited another day, but he insisted he do it now. I remember he had clearly stated that if he came to the Mystic Man on such a dreadful night, he would know we mean business about this serious predicament. I still insisted it wasn't that serious, but he was already heading out the door.."
Her words drifted...and then she came back, eyes sparkly again.
"Four long hours passed before I sent two soldiers out to retrieve my Advisor." She said 'My Advisor' with such a deep proud tone it made Cain's lips twitch themselves into an upward position.
"If I recall, it was nearing three in the morning when they returned with a bundled up and paler than pale Ambrose. The soldiers held each arm to help him across the room to our big fireplace we had in the main room at the time, but even the soldiers' arms were shaking slightly from the effort of keeping his still. And then," The Queen closed her eyes, the memory of what happened next making her avoid showing her pained eyes to the Tin Man before her.
"He collapsed. His..his legs had locked up right there and I saw his eyes roll back into his head as his body gave in and succumbed to the pain and illness overtaking him. He had been fighting it up to that point! All the way back!"
She let out a deep sigh and opened her eyes again.
Wyatt Cain stared back, knowing..just knowing.
"Hypothermia."
The Queen nodded briskly and wiped her eyes quickly so she could continue.
"Well, after that little scene of terror, he was put to bed and checked on every few minutes. By morning.. when I came to see him, he shooing away a maid offering breakfast and telling her-- with his blanket still covering him up to his curly-haired head, mind you --that he only wanted the warmest Apple Tea she could make! So, Wyatt Cain.." She took two steps closer and reached up to put her hands firmly on his shoulders, "I am ordering you.. not just to go help my Advisor, and my close friend like a young child needs a babysitter, but to keep him company, like a companion should."
She tipped her head slightly down and whispered for only him to hear, "After all, was it not Glitch, and only Glitch that helped you when you fell into the icy snow that surrounded the Northern Island's Palace? Hmm? He kept you from having his same fate, did he not?"
The Queen was right, of course. Cain's fists tightened at his side as he stared off over her shoulder. "Should I go see him now then?" He barely could hide his irritation.
"Yes, please do, Mr. Cain."
He quickly turned and paced off to the lower level of the palace where he knew Glitch was. He walked passed his laboratory and to a smaller but still highly elaborately designed door.
By now he wasn't as ticked off as he had been back there. He had calmed down (Something he was learning to do rather well in time, he thought) and actually thought it over. After he knocked three times, loud and firm, he paced and thought more about this situation.
"Okay.. so he's not as mentally handicapped as I thought. Well, I knew he wasn't.. he is a grown man like me, for chrissakes, but really, it's only a natural and normal reaction to someone with one half a brain missing! Their supposed to need help. Their...their.." He trailed off in a mutter, getting worked up again.
"Cain, what... what in the OZ has crawled up your butt?"
The meek and quiet voice startled the Tin Man. He was NOT expecting to hear anything so soon!
"Glitch..!" He took one big step forward and glowered down at the zipperheaded man. "Why have you locked yourself away in your quarters all this time? The Queen was freakin' worried sick!"
"Then why are you here...and.. not her?" The shorter man was now leaning against the door frame and gracefully crossing his arms.
"She SENT me down here. Well..after going on a tangent about how you never got sick before now except one other time!"
"Really? Huh, wish I would've known that. Might've kept me optimistic while I was puking my guts out early this morning.." He sounded so casual about it, Cain felt anger brewing quickly up to it's breaking point in his mind.
"Locking yourself in didn't really help, Glitch!"
"Oh yes it did. Why, if I hadn't, possibly anyone could've came in and caught whatever it was I had.. Even you! I was doing everyone a favor!" He stood up straighter and held his head up higher, narrowing his eyes like Cain had insulted him.
Cain stared at this man.. and again tried to imagine a younger version, coming in from terrible blizzard weather.. and almost frozen stiff. but then the next day huddled in bed and giving orders.
It was really, really hard to admit.. but perhaps he needed to rethink how he approached this ill man.
Cain walked closer to the man and reached out to take one of his smaller, thinner hands and hold it between both of his warmly.
"Please, Sweetheart." He figured he'd get a positive reaction out of that, since he had in the Tower. "Can I do anything, anything at all, to make you feel better?"
"Well.." Glitch looked around the hallway, no one else was there. "Perhaps, if you come in.." He continued, looking back at the hopeful Tin Man as he took a step backward and let Cain keep holding his hand. "..I can think of something that might help."
Cain smiled a bit more and eagerly followed his friend's backward steps inside. "And maybe after that we can go to the kitchen and see if we can get a nice warm cup of Apple Tea for you."
As Glitch used his free hand to close his door, he raised an eyebrow at this suggestion.
"You can make apples into tea?"