Post by wordy on May 29, 2013 13:41:10 GMT 10
Title: Problems
Rating: G
Word Count: 444
Pairing: Alanna/Jonathan
Round/Fight: 3A
Summary: The beginning of the charade.
A/N: AU. Part of my Duplicity series: Alanna goes to the convent…until Thom begs her to swap places with him. Pretending to be a boy is difficult enough, but pretending to be her brother? A whole ‘nother story.
The letter was signed your loving sister. Alanna grimaced, then sighed. Thom could amuse himself however he liked as long as they didn’t get found out. She hoped he was safe, wherever he had gone; the letter only said that he was well, and glad to be away from the palace.
She folded the piece of paper and slipped it between the pages of her mathematics work, and was extremely grateful that she had when, a moment later, Prince Jonathan appeared.
“Gary said I’d find you here,” he said taking a seat across from her.
“I had some problems to finish,” she muttered, avoiding his very blue eyes as she picked up her pencil. She had decided it would be wise to copy some of Thom’s mannerisms for a while—which included numerous visits to the library, when she had even the barest amount of free time—but now she was glad that her brother had spent so much time by himself. All of the pages seemed to know each other. Perhaps if she had started with the rest she would feel more comfortable by now; it was like reading a book that had the first few pages torn out.
Prince Jonathan cleared his throat. “I know you’re worried—”
Alanna’s head shot up; her grip on the pencil tightened. What did he know?
“—but Ralon will get what’s coming to him, eventually,” he finished, and Alanna felt herself relax. “He’s failing too many of his academic classes, and we don’t let him bully the other pages if we can help it.”
Alanna thought of Gary—her sponsor—and his friend Raoul. They were big lads, and would only grow bigger with time. The thought of Ralon up against those two made her want to grin, but she knew that sooner or later she would have to deal with the boy on her own terms.
She could feel the prince watching her, so she muttered a quiet, “Thank you,” and pretended at filling in some numbers.
She heard him sigh.
His chair scraped back and he stood. “You’re not so—just, try not to talk back so much, okay, Thom?”
Alanna ducked her head and listened to the sound of his footsteps as he walked out of the library. Her face and ears felt hot—from anger or embarrassment, she wasn’t sure. Being a page was different than she had imagined. But she wouldn’t give up. And Thom seemed to have more friends here than he had implied; if Prince Jonathan was willing to help ‘Thom’, then perhaps when the time came….
Alanna sighed, and brushed away her daydreams, returning to her mathematics.
Rating: G
Word Count: 444
Pairing: Alanna/Jonathan
Round/Fight: 3A
Summary: The beginning of the charade.
A/N: AU. Part of my Duplicity series: Alanna goes to the convent…until Thom begs her to swap places with him. Pretending to be a boy is difficult enough, but pretending to be her brother? A whole ‘nother story.
The letter was signed your loving sister. Alanna grimaced, then sighed. Thom could amuse himself however he liked as long as they didn’t get found out. She hoped he was safe, wherever he had gone; the letter only said that he was well, and glad to be away from the palace.
She folded the piece of paper and slipped it between the pages of her mathematics work, and was extremely grateful that she had when, a moment later, Prince Jonathan appeared.
“Gary said I’d find you here,” he said taking a seat across from her.
“I had some problems to finish,” she muttered, avoiding his very blue eyes as she picked up her pencil. She had decided it would be wise to copy some of Thom’s mannerisms for a while—which included numerous visits to the library, when she had even the barest amount of free time—but now she was glad that her brother had spent so much time by himself. All of the pages seemed to know each other. Perhaps if she had started with the rest she would feel more comfortable by now; it was like reading a book that had the first few pages torn out.
Prince Jonathan cleared his throat. “I know you’re worried—”
Alanna’s head shot up; her grip on the pencil tightened. What did he know?
“—but Ralon will get what’s coming to him, eventually,” he finished, and Alanna felt herself relax. “He’s failing too many of his academic classes, and we don’t let him bully the other pages if we can help it.”
Alanna thought of Gary—her sponsor—and his friend Raoul. They were big lads, and would only grow bigger with time. The thought of Ralon up against those two made her want to grin, but she knew that sooner or later she would have to deal with the boy on her own terms.
She could feel the prince watching her, so she muttered a quiet, “Thank you,” and pretended at filling in some numbers.
She heard him sigh.
His chair scraped back and he stood. “You’re not so—just, try not to talk back so much, okay, Thom?”
Alanna ducked her head and listened to the sound of his footsteps as he walked out of the library. Her face and ears felt hot—from anger or embarrassment, she wasn’t sure. Being a page was different than she had imagined. But she wouldn’t give up. And Thom seemed to have more friends here than he had implied; if Prince Jonathan was willing to help ‘Thom’, then perhaps when the time came….
Alanna sighed, and brushed away her daydreams, returning to her mathematics.