[Fire Emblem 10] Call it Politics
Nov. 17th, 2009 01:52 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
runicloreCall it Politics
Author: Amber Michelle
Rating: T
Warnings: n/a
Word Count: 1140
Comment!fic Prompt:
Fire Emblem 10, Lehran/older!Sanaki, Sanaki demands to know how many people he’s bedded
................................................................
"You've managed to get out of this every time I've asked, Lehran." His empress reclined against a wall of pillows atop her bed covers, a leg bent, picking at a painted nail. She crossed the other leg over her knee with no consideration for the fact he was standing there, watching the fluttery hem of her sleeping gown slide down and pool around her thighs. He started to look away, but Sanaki caught his eye and lifted a brow. "So, I'm ordering you to stand right there until you answer. If you must sleep standing up, I'll send Sigrun for a blanket-- if I feel like it."
Lehran swallowed hard, trying not to let his mouth purse or turn down. Her little bedside clock said it was half past three, and the sun slanted in through her lace curtains at a steep angle to glare on the floor and leave the rest of the room seemingly in shadow, though the back of her legs glared white enough against the cream and gold colors of her duvet and the dark pink of her gown. He hadn't wanted to find out what sort of underclothes she wore - lacy, and white - but he couldn't stop looking. It wasn't his fault - the bend of her leg obscured part of her face. Heat crept into his face. "It's a long list, my lady. I tried to be as thorough as possible in convincing your supporters to turn their backs on the senate."
Her eyes narrowed slightly. "Well then, I'll help you. Tigana," she said, abandoning her nail to spread one hand and press her fingers backward with each name. "Amelia, Helene, Juno, Louisa, we can't forget Oliver, and that's in addition to Zelgius, Catalena, Naesala--"
"T-that's absolutely incorrect!" His face flushed hot, the room cold and dark aside from the silk texture of her skin. Tightness in his back forced Lehran to shift his wings, the feathers ruffling slightly, a reaction he couldn't smooth without reaching back and drawing her attention to it. "Where did you--"
"He told me ages ago."
She was looking at him sideways, her lips hidden, so Lehran couldn't tell if she smiled or frowned. "You should know better than to listen to Kilvas," he said. "Especially when he offers the information for free."
Sanaki laughed, soft, then tried to swallow it, looking upward at the underside of her canopy. Her foot kept time with the tick of the clock. "So that's the only one you protest?"
His gaze drifted to her legs. "You're exaggerating." He ripped his eyes away and focused on the dull gleam of her brass clock.
"Hm."
Lehran heard her foot slide on the covers, heard the fabric crease each time she moved, and the sound of the second hand pursuing its relentless task. Nothing he said would budge her; she'd called him in while still reclining in the bath behind a veil of rose-scented steam, and refused to dress while he was in the room - as if it would be more compromising than receiving him while in her bare skin, or-- or reclining on the bed, putting herself on display, testing him. He didn't know what the aim of this trial was - Sanaki knew how to make him uncomfortable, how to try his patience, how to make him bow beneath the weight of his sins with just a look at the right time, in the right place. What else was there?
Rose and powdery sweetness still lingered on the air. Sanaki sat forward to pull her hair clear of her back and flung it aside so it draped over the edge of the bed, long, purple, perfectly straight. Bluntly cut at the ends, too, just like he used to insist it be done.
She sighed. "So--"
"You forgot Altina," he said. "And Dheginsea." Her foot stopped moving. A frown turned her lips down slightly. Lehran folded his hands behind his back and used his eyes to trace a lacy curve around one of her thighs. "Before them, my first wife, whose name you wouldn't recognize. Oh, and Tibarn."
Her foot thumped onto the covers. "Tibarn--!"
"And this is not mentioning the ones whose names I've forgotten--"
Sanaki kicked the covers and made a throaty noise he took for disgust. "I can't believe you!"
It was Lehran's turn to roll his eyes, and he waited until she looked at him to be sure he made an impression. "Sanaki, I'm-- old." As a matter of fact he didn't know what to call it; 'old' was an understatement, and 'ancient' was an odd attribute to assign to oneself. "It isn't as if I had all of these lovers at the same time. I--" Got bored? No, he had better rephrase that. "It's rather lonely to pass the years without companionship, even if it is only temporary."
She blew a stray hair from her face. "It isn't that." Sanaki bent her legs again, held them to her chest. "Tibarn? Really?"
Lehran shrugged. "Call it politics." He caught her frowning again and lifted his hand. "Something laguz handle much differently than you would, my lady. I don't understand why it's so objectionable to you."
"You're mine." Low, serious, her tone made his heart jump and try to suffocate him. "Not Tibarn's. Mine."
In the dimming light of the afternoon, her eyes glinted like gold coins. He held his wings in close, felt their warmth against his shoulders, and wondered if perhaps Tibarn's methods weren't beyond her after all. Sanaki had the nerve and - when compared to his own prowess - the strength. But she cajoled more often these days, charmed, whether her target was Lehran, or Oliver, or Fredric, friend or rival. Maybe she liked the game of capturing someone's attention, twisting acquaintances into admirers. Maybe it was his own doing, inadvertent. Who else would she look up to, learn from?
"That wasn't the point he--"
"Come here, Lehran." His muscles seized - but she only looked at him, her face blank, head tilted, either to beckon or simply to watch. Her tone softened. "Here." She lifted a pale hand.
Lehran took it and let himself be pulled down to the bed. "He doesn't want me."
"Good, because he isn't going to have you." Sanaki stroked his cheek with her fingers, smoothed his hair. She pulled on the front of his robe. Lehran gave in and leaned closer, bend over her, and she smiled. "That," she said, "is my privilege."
...
Author: Amber Michelle
Rating: T
Warnings: n/a
Word Count: 1140
Comment!fic Prompt:
Fire Emblem 10, Lehran/older!Sanaki, Sanaki demands to know how many people he’s bedded
................................................................
"You've managed to get out of this every time I've asked, Lehran." His empress reclined against a wall of pillows atop her bed covers, a leg bent, picking at a painted nail. She crossed the other leg over her knee with no consideration for the fact he was standing there, watching the fluttery hem of her sleeping gown slide down and pool around her thighs. He started to look away, but Sanaki caught his eye and lifted a brow. "So, I'm ordering you to stand right there until you answer. If you must sleep standing up, I'll send Sigrun for a blanket-- if I feel like it."
Lehran swallowed hard, trying not to let his mouth purse or turn down. Her little bedside clock said it was half past three, and the sun slanted in through her lace curtains at a steep angle to glare on the floor and leave the rest of the room seemingly in shadow, though the back of her legs glared white enough against the cream and gold colors of her duvet and the dark pink of her gown. He hadn't wanted to find out what sort of underclothes she wore - lacy, and white - but he couldn't stop looking. It wasn't his fault - the bend of her leg obscured part of her face. Heat crept into his face. "It's a long list, my lady. I tried to be as thorough as possible in convincing your supporters to turn their backs on the senate."
Her eyes narrowed slightly. "Well then, I'll help you. Tigana," she said, abandoning her nail to spread one hand and press her fingers backward with each name. "Amelia, Helene, Juno, Louisa, we can't forget Oliver, and that's in addition to Zelgius, Catalena, Naesala--"
"T-that's absolutely incorrect!" His face flushed hot, the room cold and dark aside from the silk texture of her skin. Tightness in his back forced Lehran to shift his wings, the feathers ruffling slightly, a reaction he couldn't smooth without reaching back and drawing her attention to it. "Where did you--"
"He told me ages ago."
She was looking at him sideways, her lips hidden, so Lehran couldn't tell if she smiled or frowned. "You should know better than to listen to Kilvas," he said. "Especially when he offers the information for free."
Sanaki laughed, soft, then tried to swallow it, looking upward at the underside of her canopy. Her foot kept time with the tick of the clock. "So that's the only one you protest?"
His gaze drifted to her legs. "You're exaggerating." He ripped his eyes away and focused on the dull gleam of her brass clock.
"Hm."
Lehran heard her foot slide on the covers, heard the fabric crease each time she moved, and the sound of the second hand pursuing its relentless task. Nothing he said would budge her; she'd called him in while still reclining in the bath behind a veil of rose-scented steam, and refused to dress while he was in the room - as if it would be more compromising than receiving him while in her bare skin, or-- or reclining on the bed, putting herself on display, testing him. He didn't know what the aim of this trial was - Sanaki knew how to make him uncomfortable, how to try his patience, how to make him bow beneath the weight of his sins with just a look at the right time, in the right place. What else was there?
Rose and powdery sweetness still lingered on the air. Sanaki sat forward to pull her hair clear of her back and flung it aside so it draped over the edge of the bed, long, purple, perfectly straight. Bluntly cut at the ends, too, just like he used to insist it be done.
She sighed. "So--"
"You forgot Altina," he said. "And Dheginsea." Her foot stopped moving. A frown turned her lips down slightly. Lehran folded his hands behind his back and used his eyes to trace a lacy curve around one of her thighs. "Before them, my first wife, whose name you wouldn't recognize. Oh, and Tibarn."
Her foot thumped onto the covers. "Tibarn--!"
"And this is not mentioning the ones whose names I've forgotten--"
Sanaki kicked the covers and made a throaty noise he took for disgust. "I can't believe you!"
It was Lehran's turn to roll his eyes, and he waited until she looked at him to be sure he made an impression. "Sanaki, I'm-- old." As a matter of fact he didn't know what to call it; 'old' was an understatement, and 'ancient' was an odd attribute to assign to oneself. "It isn't as if I had all of these lovers at the same time. I--" Got bored? No, he had better rephrase that. "It's rather lonely to pass the years without companionship, even if it is only temporary."
She blew a stray hair from her face. "It isn't that." Sanaki bent her legs again, held them to her chest. "Tibarn? Really?"
Lehran shrugged. "Call it politics." He caught her frowning again and lifted his hand. "Something laguz handle much differently than you would, my lady. I don't understand why it's so objectionable to you."
"You're mine." Low, serious, her tone made his heart jump and try to suffocate him. "Not Tibarn's. Mine."
In the dimming light of the afternoon, her eyes glinted like gold coins. He held his wings in close, felt their warmth against his shoulders, and wondered if perhaps Tibarn's methods weren't beyond her after all. Sanaki had the nerve and - when compared to his own prowess - the strength. But she cajoled more often these days, charmed, whether her target was Lehran, or Oliver, or Fredric, friend or rival. Maybe she liked the game of capturing someone's attention, twisting acquaintances into admirers. Maybe it was his own doing, inadvertent. Who else would she look up to, learn from?
"That wasn't the point he--"
"Come here, Lehran." His muscles seized - but she only looked at him, her face blank, head tilted, either to beckon or simply to watch. Her tone softened. "Here." She lifted a pale hand.
Lehran took it and let himself be pulled down to the bed. "He doesn't want me."
"Good, because he isn't going to have you." Sanaki stroked his cheek with her fingers, smoothed his hair. She pulled on the front of his robe. Lehran gave in and leaned closer, bend over her, and she smiled. "That," she said, "is my privilege."
...
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Date: 2009-11-17 10:30 pm (UTC)Thank you. XD
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