Love Thy Enemy Part 2
I wrote part one a while ago, but this seemed like a perfect post to add to the fantasci community! Also, the characters now have names. General is now Vorrin and Empress is now Callista.
Part One
Vorrin awoke with a start. He didn't know at what point he drifted into real sleep, but the early morning sun now bathed the room in dull, dove-gray light. But not his room. He abruptly rolled over onto his other side. The space beside him was now empty.
He flopped onto his back with a heavy sigh. That was probably for the best. Falling asleep next to her had been hard enough, he hadn't exactly wanted to wake up next to her too. He already felt entirely too vulnerable.
"Good morning."
Vorrin yelped, shooting upright and whipping his head around the room until he landed on Empress Callista's long, slender figure lounging in one of the plush sitting chairs. She smirked and crooked one dark brow, but other than that made no comment on Vorrin's embarrassing display.
"Breakfast?"
"You're still here," Vorrin said.
"Indeed. I did say we'd be spending more time together, didn't I?" She lifted the delicate teacup from its saucer and took a long, silent sip. "You slept in a little longer than expected, but no matter. We still have about an hour."
"Before?"
"You're coming into the city with me. It's about time people saw us together publicly. Besides, the change of scenery may be good for you."
Vorrin hated how she could sound conniving in one breath and caring in the next. What was he? Her pet? Something to parade around and spoil? Did she really think that any of these luxuries or favors could change his feelings about what she'd done? Though he did not deny, that a part of him longed to leave these palace walls. It had been months since he'd been any further than the gardens.
He swung his legs over the mattress and gingerly rose to his feet. "Shouldn't I get back to my rooms? To get ready?"
"I've already requested your manservants to attend to you here. They'll bring your change of clothes and fix your hair.
"My...?" Vorrin glanced across the room into the great gold-framed looking glass overhanging the vanity and found his long, chocolate hair had decided to tangle itself into a bird’s nest on one side. The other side lay frazzled over his shoulder, like he'd taken to rubbing it between two whetstones. Probably all that tossing and turning last night.
Vorrin rapidly dragged his fingers through the mess. It didn't seem fair that Empress Callista's hair still remained tight and tidy in it's whippish tail.
"You still have a few minutes before they arrive. You should eat. Reports tell me you don't eat much, but this is your favorite breakfast."
Vorrin crept toward the spread. A kettle sat on a wooden hot plate, the scent of sweet mint escaping out it's long silver spout. Beside it sat a plate full of steaming biscuits, halved, buttered and slathered in strawberry jam.
His stomach growled traitorously.
Empress Callista waved to the open seat across from her.
Vorrin begrudgingly accepted. The bitterness only grew as the cushions sank beneath him, setting him a couple inches shorter than the empress. But he tried not to let the annoyance show on his face as he stacked three biscuits on top of each other and took a large bite. Letting her know he was upset would only give her more power.
His stomach squirmed a little as he swallowed. This really was his favorite breakfast. He wondered how much she knew about him already. He'd known all the servants in the palace were her people, but he hadn't realized that they'd been her eyes as well. How much did they report? How much of what he said, of what he did, had been repeated back to her?
"Even if you weren't from an enemy nation, I'd still have you watched," Empress Calista said. Vorrin shuddered a little at the way she seemed to read his mind. "You're my consort. It's my responsibility to ensure you are properly attended to. That means keeping you safe and meeting your creature comforts. Better if I understand what makes you happy."
"My freedom would make me happy."
Callista tapped her lips thoughtfully with the edge of her spoon before using it to scoop a couple cubes of sugar into her half-full cup. "I suppose I can arrange an armed escort every now and then if you're restless."
"That's not what I mean and you know it."
"And you know I can't let you go. So why don't we both stop pretending?"
A light rap on the door snapped the growing tension in two.
"Enter," the empress called in that gracious voice of royalty. Not too loud, not too aggressive, but commanding all the same.
The door creaked, and Pins poked his head through the door, a small leather bag slung over one shoulder. At the sight of the empress he immediately bent in half, folding his hands in front of him and gluing his eyes to the floor.
"We've come to prepare Royal Consort Vorrin for the day, your majesty."
"Right here, Pins," Vorrin said.
Pins's head rose a centimeter toward Vorrin's voice, then he raised up all at once with a large grin. "Good morning, Royal Consort. Your hair is exciting this morning. I've brought a brush and several accessories for you to choose from. Would you like to get started, or would you prefer to dress first?"
As if on cue, Switch slid into the room, breathing heavy and face flushed, a long red garb draped across his arms. He bowed hastily to Vorrin and then deeper to the Empress, speaking to the floor as he began profusely apologizing. "Forgive me, your majesty, Royal Consort Vorrin. The outfit selected for today had a tear. The royal tailor claims it will not be ready until this evening. I took the great liberty of selecting another outfit of a similiar style. Does it please your majesty?"
Empress Callista's sharp eyes scanned over the draping fabric in a couple seconds. "It will do."
Switch looked ready to melt with relief. He turned sharply on his heel toward Vorrin, eyes still wide, frantic, and slightly watery as if he had been, or barely held back from, crying.
"Then shall I, my lord?"
Vorrin felt all eyes on him, but most importantly he felt the gaze of Empress Callista. If her eyes seemed sharp overseeing his outfit, they were even more daggerish digging into his side profile. He gripped the neck of his nightclothes tightly, a humiliating squire's blush rising to his cheeks as he couldn't seem to make his hands take the action to undress.
After what felt like an eternal silence, she pushed smoothly to her feet. "I'll leave you to it. Remember, darling, one hour."
And with a swish of her braid and long cape, she was gone.
As soon as the door shut, Switch immediately collapsed.
"I thought I was going to be fired," he bawled, a few tears pricking the corners of his eyes.
"Empress Callista doesn't fire people for finding tears in clothes," Pins said.
Switch's head snapped up. "Don't act smart, you've only been here as long as I have. You didn't know what was going to happen either!"
For the first time, it occurred to Vorrin that the two servants may be as fresh to the royal scene as he was.
"How long have you been working in the palace?"
Switch hesitated a moment, always the suspicious one. Maybe he thought Vorrin wanted to berate him for the clothing mishap.
"A little under 6 months," he answered finally. "I applied for a position as soon as word came that the empress would be staying in Totholan. I traveled here with the rest of the serving caravan."
Vorrin had assumed after the kingdom's conquering that Empress Callista had sent for her regular palace staff. Those she most trusted. But it made sense that she would have left some to care for the homeland palace in her absence. Any person wishing to make it into the Empress's employ would seize the sudden surge of job availabilities. And all it took was a willingness to relocate.
"And you, Pins?"
"6 months and 10 days," he piped peevishly. "Switch was only mostly right when he said we've been here the same amount of time. I was hired on before we found out of the empress's success. So I've been in the palace just a teensy bit longer. Plus, my mum was a maid, so I was already used to palace walls."
"But the empress wasn't there when you started work," Switch said. "So it doesn't make you any more the expert."
"Why do you always need to be better at everything?" Pins said with a pout. "Why can't you just admit I have something on you?"
"Because you don't."
Before Pins could respond, Switch marched away, laying the clothes across the bed and stepping behind Vorrin to begin helping untie his white sleep clothes.
"I wouldn't have let her fire you," Vorrin said, sliding out of the sleeves and letting the soft linen fall into Switch's hands. "If that's of any comfort."
Switch paused, folding the nightclothes into a neat square before finally responding. "It is."
He retrieved the new outfit, blessedly allowing Vorrin to put the first part on himself. It was a little different from most of clothing he was given. Trousers for one. Impractical ones, but trousers nonetheless. Next was a long ruffled tunic that laced all the way up to his throat. Switch helped him with the long draping overcoat, a similar style to the wrapping robes, though this one had no waist tie and buttoned to the middle of his chest. For his bare feet was a pair of short soft boots, little thicker than slippers.
As soon as he was dressed, Pins got started brushing through his hair until it was silky.
"Which ones?" he asked, pulling a leather wrap from his bag and unfolding a display of hair ornaments. Ruby hairpins and golden chains, a net-like crown, encrusted with jewels, a gold circlet with red diamond teardrops dangling at the temples, twin clips designed to appear as sprigs of current berries, each ruby a berry on a silver branch. Vorrin chose the ruby pins. They still may have been worth more than he'd ever made in his entire career, but at least they were less gaudy than these others.
"Aw," Pins said. "I wanted to do the net and chains." Then suddenly remembering they were addressing a superior quickly added, "But the pins are lovely too!"
"You can add the chains," Vorrin sighed.
Pins perked up, plucking up the metal strings and beginning to braid them into strands of Vorrin's hair. He gathered half the hair into a bun, using the ruby pins to secure it and the gold-twined braids together.
A couple minutes later, Empress Callista pushed open the doors without a knock. She surveyed Vorrin swiftly before giving the manservants an approving nod that sent them grinning and offering her arm out to Vorrin.
"Shall we, my love?"
Vorrin gritted his teeth. Such falseness. Such lies. Such utter humiliating mockery.
He linked arms with her anyway.
If he knew one thing it was this: he couldn't win against Empress Callista with brute force. He would need another tactic. A passive one. Something that looked deceivingly like cooperation. Until the time was right to strike.
Part 3
Master Taglist: (I forgot to add it again!)
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DP x DC: Ghost x Family
So, back on my cute romcom BS
So the premise. Dani, as Danny's speed grown clone, wasn't the most physically stable. Turns out, it's really hard to speed grow a clone, and even harder when ectoplasm is involved. There's not enough time for the structures to properly stabilize and that leaves the cellular structure pretty weak and prone to breaking down into goo. The ecto dejecto was just a temporary solution and other measures were needed
aka Dani had to essentially grow a body from scratch the old fashion way, so she's now physically her actual age minus a couple months
So Danny, at the age of 20, is the father of a 4 year old Dani and is trying to keep a low profile in Gotham. His and his daughter's existence is still illegal, and being the single father of a 4 year old ghost girl isn't exactly easy. Now Danny has to deal with the very real threat of CPS being called on him by a neighbor, and trying to get Dani into school without either of them having papers for their assumed identity of Danny and Dani Nightingale and money to by fake documents. He'd ask Tucker, but that requires braking radio silence and potentially putting a target on all three of their backs.
Danny, desperate, asks his neighbor Jason to pose as his significant other for a meeting. Jason agrees, but things escalated and frankly he's now emotionally invested and committing to the bit
So now he and Danny have legally been married for about 4 months according to the papers Babs made them. The fake ID, birth certificates, SSNs, and high school diploma for the Nightingales were simple enough for her to do, but man Jason is going to owe her a BIG favor for this.
They move in together, Dani goes to a good private school, Jason is effectively Danny's sugar daddy paying for a sizable chunk of all this, and they are committing to the loving married couple bit, which is hard to do when the new in-laws are detectives
The best part?
Danny has not figured out Jason is the Red Hood, and Jason doesn't know about the ghost stuff. The only one that does? Dani, and she is physically and mentally 4 and watching Jason and Danny fall in love
oh the shenanigans
OR
I've been watching SPY x FAMILY and just need the fake relationship/family turns into a real relationship/found family dynamic. Jason is basically Loid, Danny is pretty much Yor, Dani fills the role of Anya, and uncle Dick is Yuri, except he's doting on Dani.
Dick is a smart man, but I love the headcanon that Jason is his emotional blindspot. Jason? MY Littlewing? He couldn't possibly.
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