Faye (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
said_scarlett) wrote2007-12-03 03:13 pm
said_scarlett) wrote2007-12-03 03:13 pm
Entry tags:
Advent Fic #3 - Old Traditions and New
Title: Old Traditions and New
Fandom: HBC/![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
damned
Pairings: Allusions to Shadow/Valyn/Shana
Word Count: 1,317
Rating: PG-13
Written For:![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
chocomimi! Who requested the prompt 'winter traditions'!
Summary: No matter how their dynamics changed, some things would forever remain the same.
It was snowing again.
Valyn could clearly see the weather through the windows of the crowded dining hall. He’d never been very fond of the cold and the wet, and had even more of a distaste for it after mucking about in the freezing woods for months. And snow had never been a pleasant substance to go out hunting in. Not that it had stopped him, of course, but he would far rather spend winter days in bed with a book and Shadow.
That wasn’t an option here. At least the human overseers didn’t seem inclined to force anyone out into the cold. Though there had been promise of ‘special activities’. That in itself was perplexing.
The predominance of red and green colored paper hung from the rafters of the dining hall were equally perplexing. This place had far too many holidays, and none of them made any sense to the young lord. But the food this morning was particularly good - some sort of sweet bread with cranberries and a pleasant spice, iced pastries and spiced sausage.
The wreaths were somewhat more familiar. There was always a desire for greenery in the depths of winter, a reminder that the cold would end and warm weather would return once more. Of course, plenty of elves simply avoided the whole mess of winter altogether. But there were traditions that came with the dead season, and even Dyran hadn’t been so very determined to show his power as to ignore them.
Though, admittedly, winter was a very short season in the Hernalth lands.
It was strange, realizing how long he’d really been here. And that this winter wouldn’t bring the familiar things. There would be no bonfires in the slaves quarters, no festival hunts, no winter fetes….
Despite his distaste for elven society, he still missed it. Or rather, some aspects of it. He felt a twinge of guilt, but how could he simply abandon those things he’d been raised with? And it wasn’t as though hunting black alicorn was somehow adding to the oppression of humans, halfbloods or women.
And the fetes… as tedious as they were, there was an undeniable beauty in the decorating for the winter galas. His father had hosted last year’s, and turned the main hall into an ice cavern. Everything had glittered with crystalline clarity, myriads of color reflecting in every spine and wall of ice….
“Hey, anyone in there?”
Valyn started, blinking as he realized he’d been staring down at his food, lost in thought.
“Mmm. I was woolgathering, sorry Shana.” Valyn offered a charming, completely fake smile. Shana would know, of course, but it didn’t matter. She knew him well enough now to tell the difference between genuine expressions and artificial.
“If you aren’t going to eat your sticky bun, I’ll take it.”
“I’m going to eat it.” As though to prove a point, Valyn cut a bit of his sweetened bread and took a bite. It tasted as good as it smelled.
“Fine. Any idea what this ‘Krissmass’ thing is? People keep mentioning it….”
“No idea.” He shook his head, glancing up as Shadow and Keman joined them, trays laden with the morning’s meal.
“Probably just some other tradition,” Shadow offered, taking the seat beside Valyn. “They’ve got a lot of them, here.”
“I think every people has some sort of winter celebration,” Valyn pointed out, thoughtfully. “I’ve found references to the humans having a rather elaborate one - vestiges of it still hold on, even today.”
“Mmhmm.” Shadow nodded. “Mid-winter night. The overseers never cared much if we celebrated, just as long as we behaved. I remember my mother always used to save me a bit of fried ham from the kitchens, and let me stay up passed midnight.”
“I didn’t know slaves had anything like that,” Keman mused. “But then again, we didn’t learn that much about humans growing up.”
“Mid-winter night was the only one,” Shadow explained. “I don’t know the history behind it, just that the fires had to go all night. It was for good luck, or something. And the bondlings drank a whole lot of mulled wine.”
“Bondlings always drink a great deal of wine when allowed,” Valyn pointed out, with a small smile.
“And you elves drink even more.” Shadow nudged Valyn in the ribs, grinning. “You should see the winter galas they put on. There’s nothing like a room full of drunk elves.”
“Oh really?” Shana raised her eyebrow, fixing Valyn with a pointed look. He cleared his throat and flushed, looking away.
“I’m not in the habit of getting drunk,” he muttered. Of course it had happened once or twice, but that hardly meant he made a habit of it. He ignored the snickering from Shadow, determined not to make a fuss.
“Valyn can’t hold his wine,” Shadow said. “I remember one year he couldn’t even manage to use the….”
“That’s enough.” Valyn narrowed his eyes at his cousin. “We really don’t need to drag up the past. Unless of course you’d like me to regale Shana and Keman with your own brushes with drunkenness?”
“You know, you make a good point, Val.” Shadow chuckled, but Valyn caught the faint blush on his cheeks.
“You men.” Shana shook her head. “I’ve never understood the appeal of getting drunk anyway.”
“Hey!” Keman protested, grinning. “Don’t lump me in with them. I don’t get drunk.”
“Intoxication lowers inhibitions,” Valyn explained, his tone turning slightly serious. “I can understand the appeal it has for my people. It’s a release. We don‘t have all that many of those.”
“I’d rather you were uptight than a drunken idiot,” Shana pointed out.
“I am not a drunken anything.” Valyn turned his attention to his food, deciding he’d had more than enough of this particular conversation.
“Don’t worry, Shana. Val’s learned his lesson about drinking. I’ll tell you about it later.”
“You’d better.”
“Shadow!” Valyn cast his eyes upwards, knowing he was defeated. When it came to Shana and Shadow teaming up against him, he was without any defense. “Fine. If the two of you are going to gossip, I’m going to eat my breakfast elsewhere.” He stood and picked up his tray.
“Oh, come off it, Val.” Shadow tugged his sleeve, urging him to sit back down. “You know we’re just teasing.”
“Just teasing?” he arched an eyebrow but returned to his seat.
“And there won’t be any more of it,” Shadow promised. “At least, not on the subject of your drunken antics. Or mine. Or anyone elses.”
“Keman and I don’t drink,” Shana repeated.
“We can always fix that, you know….”
Valyn just shook his head and went back to his breakfast after sharing a small look with Keman, listening to the now-familiar background sounds of Shana and Shadow as they snapped and joked and flirted back and forth across the table.
Fandom: HBC/
damnedPairings: Allusions to Shadow/Valyn/Shana
Word Count: 1,317
Rating: PG-13
Written For:
chocomimi! Who requested the prompt 'winter traditions'!Summary: No matter how their dynamics changed, some things would forever remain the same.
It was snowing again.
Valyn could clearly see the weather through the windows of the crowded dining hall. He’d never been very fond of the cold and the wet, and had even more of a distaste for it after mucking about in the freezing woods for months. And snow had never been a pleasant substance to go out hunting in. Not that it had stopped him, of course, but he would far rather spend winter days in bed with a book and Shadow.
That wasn’t an option here. At least the human overseers didn’t seem inclined to force anyone out into the cold. Though there had been promise of ‘special activities’. That in itself was perplexing.
The predominance of red and green colored paper hung from the rafters of the dining hall were equally perplexing. This place had far too many holidays, and none of them made any sense to the young lord. But the food this morning was particularly good - some sort of sweet bread with cranberries and a pleasant spice, iced pastries and spiced sausage.
The wreaths were somewhat more familiar. There was always a desire for greenery in the depths of winter, a reminder that the cold would end and warm weather would return once more. Of course, plenty of elves simply avoided the whole mess of winter altogether. But there were traditions that came with the dead season, and even Dyran hadn’t been so very determined to show his power as to ignore them.
Though, admittedly, winter was a very short season in the Hernalth lands.
It was strange, realizing how long he’d really been here. And that this winter wouldn’t bring the familiar things. There would be no bonfires in the slaves quarters, no festival hunts, no winter fetes….
Despite his distaste for elven society, he still missed it. Or rather, some aspects of it. He felt a twinge of guilt, but how could he simply abandon those things he’d been raised with? And it wasn’t as though hunting black alicorn was somehow adding to the oppression of humans, halfbloods or women.
And the fetes… as tedious as they were, there was an undeniable beauty in the decorating for the winter galas. His father had hosted last year’s, and turned the main hall into an ice cavern. Everything had glittered with crystalline clarity, myriads of color reflecting in every spine and wall of ice….
“Hey, anyone in there?”
Valyn started, blinking as he realized he’d been staring down at his food, lost in thought.
“Mmm. I was woolgathering, sorry Shana.” Valyn offered a charming, completely fake smile. Shana would know, of course, but it didn’t matter. She knew him well enough now to tell the difference between genuine expressions and artificial.
“If you aren’t going to eat your sticky bun, I’ll take it.”
“I’m going to eat it.” As though to prove a point, Valyn cut a bit of his sweetened bread and took a bite. It tasted as good as it smelled.
“Fine. Any idea what this ‘Krissmass’ thing is? People keep mentioning it….”
“No idea.” He shook his head, glancing up as Shadow and Keman joined them, trays laden with the morning’s meal.
“Probably just some other tradition,” Shadow offered, taking the seat beside Valyn. “They’ve got a lot of them, here.”
“I think every people has some sort of winter celebration,” Valyn pointed out, thoughtfully. “I’ve found references to the humans having a rather elaborate one - vestiges of it still hold on, even today.”
“Mmhmm.” Shadow nodded. “Mid-winter night. The overseers never cared much if we celebrated, just as long as we behaved. I remember my mother always used to save me a bit of fried ham from the kitchens, and let me stay up passed midnight.”
“I didn’t know slaves had anything like that,” Keman mused. “But then again, we didn’t learn that much about humans growing up.”
“Mid-winter night was the only one,” Shadow explained. “I don’t know the history behind it, just that the fires had to go all night. It was for good luck, or something. And the bondlings drank a whole lot of mulled wine.”
“Bondlings always drink a great deal of wine when allowed,” Valyn pointed out, with a small smile.
“And you elves drink even more.” Shadow nudged Valyn in the ribs, grinning. “You should see the winter galas they put on. There’s nothing like a room full of drunk elves.”
“Oh really?” Shana raised her eyebrow, fixing Valyn with a pointed look. He cleared his throat and flushed, looking away.
“I’m not in the habit of getting drunk,” he muttered. Of course it had happened once or twice, but that hardly meant he made a habit of it. He ignored the snickering from Shadow, determined not to make a fuss.
“Valyn can’t hold his wine,” Shadow said. “I remember one year he couldn’t even manage to use the….”
“That’s enough.” Valyn narrowed his eyes at his cousin. “We really don’t need to drag up the past. Unless of course you’d like me to regale Shana and Keman with your own brushes with drunkenness?”
“You know, you make a good point, Val.” Shadow chuckled, but Valyn caught the faint blush on his cheeks.
“You men.” Shana shook her head. “I’ve never understood the appeal of getting drunk anyway.”
“Hey!” Keman protested, grinning. “Don’t lump me in with them. I don’t get drunk.”
“Intoxication lowers inhibitions,” Valyn explained, his tone turning slightly serious. “I can understand the appeal it has for my people. It’s a release. We don‘t have all that many of those.”
“I’d rather you were uptight than a drunken idiot,” Shana pointed out.
“I am not a drunken anything.” Valyn turned his attention to his food, deciding he’d had more than enough of this particular conversation.
“Don’t worry, Shana. Val’s learned his lesson about drinking. I’ll tell you about it later.”
“You’d better.”
“Shadow!” Valyn cast his eyes upwards, knowing he was defeated. When it came to Shana and Shadow teaming up against him, he was without any defense. “Fine. If the two of you are going to gossip, I’m going to eat my breakfast elsewhere.” He stood and picked up his tray.
“Oh, come off it, Val.” Shadow tugged his sleeve, urging him to sit back down. “You know we’re just teasing.”
“Just teasing?” he arched an eyebrow but returned to his seat.
“And there won’t be any more of it,” Shadow promised. “At least, not on the subject of your drunken antics. Or mine. Or anyone elses.”
“Keman and I don’t drink,” Shana repeated.
“We can always fix that, you know….”
Valyn just shook his head and went back to his breakfast after sharing a small look with Keman, listening to the now-familiar background sounds of Shana and Shadow as they snapped and joked and flirted back and forth across the table.
no subject
Thats as coherent as I get after that. XD
no subject
no subject
no subject
Thank you so much.
no subject
no subject
no subject
no subject