[The Last Remnant] A Consideration (David, Emma, G)
Title: A Consideration
Characters: Emma, David
Rating: G
Notes: There are many ways to die in a war. ALSO, I DON'T KNOW WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT AND I'VE NEVER WRITTEN THESE CHARACTERS BEFORE. For yuki_scorpio and she can take the blame as well. ~600 words.
The lords of Athlum had always been proud, with no small reason, and Emma had been proud to serve them. Whatever the price. "I remember your grandfather," she told Lord David, late one evening, a while after the chaos of Lord Ivan's death and David's ascension to his father's place had subsided. "You never knew him, did you?"
"No," David said, and looked suddenly younger again, probably younger than anyone but his closest generals really remembered him ever having been. "I think I am glad of that."
Another time, in another moment, she might have scolded him for that. But not in this quiet evening in the garden, with barely enough light to see the sadness in his expression.
"I was only just old enough to be in service when he died. It was my first action. But he was a very good man. You would have liked him."
Quiet. Insects hummed in the air around them, a background drone.
"And lost him," David said. Once he would have sounded bitter and angry. Now he just sounded a little tired. He was far too young to sound so tired.
For a long time she did not answer him.
"He died in a war," she said at length. "It's something that happens. I could not tell you if it was the Gae Bolg that killed him or the gunshot wound. He did use the Gae Bolg before he died, but no-one can know for sure." She had only been young, a little younger than David was now. Her first major action, clutching her sword so tightly her fingers turned white in case it was torn away from her, leaving her open to the chaos unfolding all around. She had understood very little of what was really going on.
"Does it matter?" David murmured.
"There are many ways to die in a war. You are from a family of rulers but also a family of warriors. The Gae Bolg is not... to blame for the deaths of your father, his father. It is only a tool. The people who fight all their lives and die old and in peace are the exceptions, not the rule."
"Very comforting." David shifted his weight, turned his face up to the silver disc of the moon. But she felt as though he had understood, a little.
"Comforting you is not my job," she said, and was rewarded with his smile at the ridiculousness of that statement after everything. If he had needed to be held right then she would have held him, and been a hypocrite without hesitation. They were alone, after all, and in this place she did not have to be a warrior and he did not have to be a lord. He was stronger now, though; enough to make anyone proud. "It is a part of you, for better or worse. I think you should not hate it." And you should not assume it will be the one to claim your soul, either.
"I have had that thought," he said, very softly, almost under his breath. "I am not sure I do hate it. Or that I can, any more. But other times I think that is all wrong, and I should hate it. Even for a weapon of war, it takes too much."
Emma laid a hand lightly on his shoulder. "You do not have to completely understand your feelings. Sometimes it is enough to consider them. That's all I wanted to let you know."
He relaxed a little, as though her approval allowed him to breathe again. "I see."
"No. But one day you might. There's no need to hurry it, I think."
Side by side they settled into the silence of the garden, its colours all silver and black in the moonlight.
Characters: Emma, David
Rating: G
Notes: There are many ways to die in a war. ALSO, I DON'T KNOW WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT AND I'VE NEVER WRITTEN THESE CHARACTERS BEFORE. For yuki_scorpio and she can take the blame as well. ~600 words.
The lords of Athlum had always been proud, with no small reason, and Emma had been proud to serve them. Whatever the price. "I remember your grandfather," she told Lord David, late one evening, a while after the chaos of Lord Ivan's death and David's ascension to his father's place had subsided. "You never knew him, did you?"
"No," David said, and looked suddenly younger again, probably younger than anyone but his closest generals really remembered him ever having been. "I think I am glad of that."
Another time, in another moment, she might have scolded him for that. But not in this quiet evening in the garden, with barely enough light to see the sadness in his expression.
"I was only just old enough to be in service when he died. It was my first action. But he was a very good man. You would have liked him."
Quiet. Insects hummed in the air around them, a background drone.
"And lost him," David said. Once he would have sounded bitter and angry. Now he just sounded a little tired. He was far too young to sound so tired.
For a long time she did not answer him.
"He died in a war," she said at length. "It's something that happens. I could not tell you if it was the Gae Bolg that killed him or the gunshot wound. He did use the Gae Bolg before he died, but no-one can know for sure." She had only been young, a little younger than David was now. Her first major action, clutching her sword so tightly her fingers turned white in case it was torn away from her, leaving her open to the chaos unfolding all around. She had understood very little of what was really going on.
"Does it matter?" David murmured.
"There are many ways to die in a war. You are from a family of rulers but also a family of warriors. The Gae Bolg is not... to blame for the deaths of your father, his father. It is only a tool. The people who fight all their lives and die old and in peace are the exceptions, not the rule."
"Very comforting." David shifted his weight, turned his face up to the silver disc of the moon. But she felt as though he had understood, a little.
"Comforting you is not my job," she said, and was rewarded with his smile at the ridiculousness of that statement after everything. If he had needed to be held right then she would have held him, and been a hypocrite without hesitation. They were alone, after all, and in this place she did not have to be a warrior and he did not have to be a lord. He was stronger now, though; enough to make anyone proud. "It is a part of you, for better or worse. I think you should not hate it." And you should not assume it will be the one to claim your soul, either.
"I have had that thought," he said, very softly, almost under his breath. "I am not sure I do hate it. Or that I can, any more. But other times I think that is all wrong, and I should hate it. Even for a weapon of war, it takes too much."
Emma laid a hand lightly on his shoulder. "You do not have to completely understand your feelings. Sometimes it is enough to consider them. That's all I wanted to let you know."
He relaxed a little, as though her approval allowed him to breathe again. "I see."
"No. But one day you might. There's no need to hurry it, I think."
Side by side they settled into the silence of the garden, its colours all silver and black in the moonlight.