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booshslashhavenTitle: All There Is To It: Coda
Summary: That wasn’t quite all there was to it; there was this as well
Rating: G
Warnings: none
Spoilers: It’s lonely at the top
Length: 800-ish words
Disclaimer: Not mine, no profit, don’t sue, and buckwheat porridge is actually much nicer than it sounds
Notes: Don’t ask where this came from. It just popped in there!
All There Is To It: Coda
‘You again? I’d have thought catching me on my way to breakfast was enough. And then you told me you had to get home by 8.30, and rushed off again. Something about your son’s school assembly, wasn’t it?’
‘Yes, Sire. I was in plenty of time to attend the assembly – ’
‘Well, I’m glad to see that new watch of yours is working.’
‘– and I have returned with all haste to tender my humblest apologies to you.’
‘What, again?’
‘I do not think I have yet apologised nearly enough. My early departure last night was unforgivable.’
‘Be that as it may, I forgive you, Banoo, as is my royal privilege.’
‘But – ’
The King lowers his binoculars and looks sharply at the shaman kneeling at his feet. ‘Nothing is unforgivable, Banoo, if the King says that it is not.’
Banoo bows his head and is silent for all of about ten seconds as he tries to work this out. His chest is heaving with suppressed emotion; his normally sleek hair is disarrayed, sliding out of the knot at the nape of his neck. The King feels a sudden, irrational urge to kneel beside him and tidy it up.
‘I am forgiven?’ Banoo says in a small voice.
‘For about the forty-seventh time this morning, Banoo, yes. Now for heaven’s sake get up before you give yourself arthritis kneeling on these battlements. It’s perishing cold up here.’
‘Thank you, sire.’ Banoo scrambles to his feet. ‘I am undeserving of such benevolence. I – ’
‘Peace, Banoo.’ The King raises the Royal Binoculars to his eyes again and peers over the wall. ‘You were not the only one to leave the feast early. The Head Shaman’s envoys had to retire only a few minutes after you did. Pity really, I thought it was all going rather well, but I suppose they had had a rather busy day.’
Banoo shades his eyes against the mid-morning sun and looks in the same direction; together they watch the Head Shaman’s diplomatic carpet flying away over the plain.
‘They must have needed their sleep too,’ the King adds, ‘they were very late to breakfast. Missed out on the buckwheat porridge. Can’t understand it…’
A faint burst of laughter drifts back to them on the wind as the carpet rises and heads for the mountains, rather erratically.
‘Perhaps they over-indulged in the products of the Royal Breweries last night, Sire,’ Banoo suggests. ‘It doesn’t look as though either of them is fit to drive.’
The King, watching through the binoculars, can see that actually neither of the shamen on the carpet is driving; their attention seems wholly occupied by each other. Well, that would explain a lot…
‘I’m seriously thinking about asking the Head Shaman to billet his field operatives elsewhere in future.’ He lowers the binoculars; he didn’t need to see that. ‘I’ve already had the Laundry Master complaining about the state of the towels this morning. He was almost in tears, the poor man. I can’t think what those shamen can have been doing.’
Well, actually, that last statement isn’t strictly true; and judging by what he’s just seen, it looks as though they’ll be doing it again before very long. Hopefully the Head Shaman's carpet valet is of a robust constitution...
The King sighs heavily.
‘Is something wrong, my liege?’ Banoo strikes an earnest, ready-for-action pose. ‘Can I do anything to remedy it? I have kept myself in training, just in case. I am still the strongest, the fastest…’
‘Thank you, but no, nothing of that kind is wrong. It’s just… well… things didn’t turn out as I expected. I should have been a folk musician with a thriving wholefood restaurant, not a lonely old man ruling a kingdom he never asked for.’
He looks out across the majestic view of the rolling plains and the distant glitter of the river, with the mountains rising blue in the distance. He blinks; the brightness of the morning sun is making his eyes water a little.
He hears Banoo come to stand beside him.
‘Things didn’t turn out for me either,’ the shaman says quietly. ‘I should have been the amulet bearer and being all heroic on Earth, making full use of my training and magical abilities – not rushing around after six children that my fourth ex-wife can’t look after properly.’
‘You're a fortunate man, Banoo. I always wanted a partner, and it’d really brighten this moth-eaten castle up to have some youngsters about the place, but that didn’t work out either… d’you have any idea how hard it is to find a princess these days?’
They turn to each other, and their eyes meet.
‘No promises,’ the King says, ‘but… why don’t you bring the kids over next weekend, and we’ll see how it goes?’
Banoo says nothing, but his face grows bright with sudden hope.
‘I’ll take that as a yes, then,’ the King murmurs.
He puts a hand on Banoo’s shoulder, and together they watch the carpet vanish over the horizon.
Summary: That wasn’t quite all there was to it; there was this as well
Rating: G
Warnings: none
Spoilers: It’s lonely at the top
Length: 800-ish words
Disclaimer: Not mine, no profit, don’t sue, and buckwheat porridge is actually much nicer than it sounds
Notes: Don’t ask where this came from. It just popped in there!
All There Is To It: Coda
‘You again? I’d have thought catching me on my way to breakfast was enough. And then you told me you had to get home by 8.30, and rushed off again. Something about your son’s school assembly, wasn’t it?’
‘Yes, Sire. I was in plenty of time to attend the assembly – ’
‘Well, I’m glad to see that new watch of yours is working.’
‘– and I have returned with all haste to tender my humblest apologies to you.’
‘What, again?’
‘I do not think I have yet apologised nearly enough. My early departure last night was unforgivable.’
‘Be that as it may, I forgive you, Banoo, as is my royal privilege.’
‘But – ’
The King lowers his binoculars and looks sharply at the shaman kneeling at his feet. ‘Nothing is unforgivable, Banoo, if the King says that it is not.’
Banoo bows his head and is silent for all of about ten seconds as he tries to work this out. His chest is heaving with suppressed emotion; his normally sleek hair is disarrayed, sliding out of the knot at the nape of his neck. The King feels a sudden, irrational urge to kneel beside him and tidy it up.
‘I am forgiven?’ Banoo says in a small voice.
‘For about the forty-seventh time this morning, Banoo, yes. Now for heaven’s sake get up before you give yourself arthritis kneeling on these battlements. It’s perishing cold up here.’
‘Thank you, sire.’ Banoo scrambles to his feet. ‘I am undeserving of such benevolence. I – ’
‘Peace, Banoo.’ The King raises the Royal Binoculars to his eyes again and peers over the wall. ‘You were not the only one to leave the feast early. The Head Shaman’s envoys had to retire only a few minutes after you did. Pity really, I thought it was all going rather well, but I suppose they had had a rather busy day.’
Banoo shades his eyes against the mid-morning sun and looks in the same direction; together they watch the Head Shaman’s diplomatic carpet flying away over the plain.
‘They must have needed their sleep too,’ the King adds, ‘they were very late to breakfast. Missed out on the buckwheat porridge. Can’t understand it…’
A faint burst of laughter drifts back to them on the wind as the carpet rises and heads for the mountains, rather erratically.
‘Perhaps they over-indulged in the products of the Royal Breweries last night, Sire,’ Banoo suggests. ‘It doesn’t look as though either of them is fit to drive.’
The King, watching through the binoculars, can see that actually neither of the shamen on the carpet is driving; their attention seems wholly occupied by each other. Well, that would explain a lot…
‘I’m seriously thinking about asking the Head Shaman to billet his field operatives elsewhere in future.’ He lowers the binoculars; he didn’t need to see that. ‘I’ve already had the Laundry Master complaining about the state of the towels this morning. He was almost in tears, the poor man. I can’t think what those shamen can have been doing.’
Well, actually, that last statement isn’t strictly true; and judging by what he’s just seen, it looks as though they’ll be doing it again before very long. Hopefully the Head Shaman's carpet valet is of a robust constitution...
The King sighs heavily.
‘Is something wrong, my liege?’ Banoo strikes an earnest, ready-for-action pose. ‘Can I do anything to remedy it? I have kept myself in training, just in case. I am still the strongest, the fastest…’
‘Thank you, but no, nothing of that kind is wrong. It’s just… well… things didn’t turn out as I expected. I should have been a folk musician with a thriving wholefood restaurant, not a lonely old man ruling a kingdom he never asked for.’
He looks out across the majestic view of the rolling plains and the distant glitter of the river, with the mountains rising blue in the distance. He blinks; the brightness of the morning sun is making his eyes water a little.
He hears Banoo come to stand beside him.
‘Things didn’t turn out for me either,’ the shaman says quietly. ‘I should have been the amulet bearer and being all heroic on Earth, making full use of my training and magical abilities – not rushing around after six children that my fourth ex-wife can’t look after properly.’
‘You're a fortunate man, Banoo. I always wanted a partner, and it’d really brighten this moth-eaten castle up to have some youngsters about the place, but that didn’t work out either… d’you have any idea how hard it is to find a princess these days?’
They turn to each other, and their eyes meet.
‘No promises,’ the King says, ‘but… why don’t you bring the kids over next weekend, and we’ll see how it goes?’
Banoo says nothing, but his face grows bright with sudden hope.
‘I’ll take that as a yes, then,’ the King murmurs.
He puts a hand on Banoo’s shoulder, and together they watch the carpet vanish over the horizon.
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no subject
Date: 2012-12-02 12:22 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-12-02 01:15 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-12-02 07:06 pm (UTC)Also, stop giving me new pairings to ship! Banoo/King is now headcanon.
no subject
Date: 2012-12-02 09:26 pm (UTC)