OMG meme!

[keire_ke]

Stealing meme from kirathaune, because... well, it beats doing actual work. XD

Name me one of my fics and the prompt--before, after, in-between. I'll write a ficlet about something that happened just before, just after, or during the course of the fic's events.

edit: Also, a fun exercise: when writing, pause and explain the canon basis of the characterisation. Particularly interesting to consider when writing for a children's franchise which is best known for its magic and lol!Christianity content, as opposed to psychological profiling.

Comments

[keire_ke]

*****

Kouryuu disappeared through the door, hopefully to find the maid and request the dinner to be served early. Koumyou considered calling him back, as the guest’s hunger was unlikely to be an issue, but resolved against it. The child was well mannered, if a touch sour for his young age. It would behove him to practice his hospitality.

“He is a very beautiful child,” Ukoku said, seating himself by the window.

“I cannot take credit, I’m afraid.” Koumyou delved into the cabinet cleverly hidden by the bookcase. “I have some excellent whiskey. I do recall you don’t care for tea.”

“Whiskey would do fine.”

“I have been saving it since your last visit.”

“I am flattered.”

“As you should.” Koumyou poured the whiskey and took his seat. “So what brings you to my humble parish?”

“Need I a reason to visit and old friend?” Ukoku smiled behind the whiskey glass and Koumyou laughed.

“Need you a reason to do anything you ever do?”

Ukoku considered and raised his glass in toast. “To visiting old friends, then.”

“To cherished guests.” Koumyou sipped his whiskey, letting his mind overflow with the sensation of rich aroma tickling his nose. Drinking fine liquors was so much more than mere alcohol intoxication, he always believed.

“I must admit I am touched you’d hold on to this bottle, after so long.”

“Why shouldn’t I?”

“I seem to recall our first meeting was unsatisfactory.”

“I had been a child,” Koumyou reminded him with a laugh.

“You ran.”

“You terrify me.”

“Surely you mean I terrified you.”

“Do I? Forgive the slip of tongue. I am getting on in years.”

“Perhaps that is the case,” Ukoku mused, tapping the glass with a slender finger. Behind his back the sky split, revealing, for a brief second, the blinding white glory of heaven.

“You certainly chose a turbulent time to return.”

“Such is my nature to arrive in thunder, lighting or in rain.” Ukoku leaned forward to knock his glass against Koumyou’s.

“Interesting. Have you come to prophesise my imminent kingship and subsequent doom?”

Ukoku’s answer, if he offered any, was lost in the roar of thunder. Koumyou found it was just as well. He enjoyed the company of the man, though, or perhaps because, of the horror it implied.

Koumyou was considered a wise man, though which incautious soul attributed that quality to him he didn’t know – his only talent was to see people’s hearts as they were, unhidden by they words or visages. What he saw in Ukoku’s veiled offers quite rightly terrified him. What he saw in Ukoku fascinated him endlessly.

“I am no saint,” Koumyou said. “The temptation of kingship may well prove too great.”

“Woe to the land which crowns you as its king.”

“I suppose that is a real concern.” Koumyou laughed, because the mere idea of himself in the kingly robes was hilarity no jester could top. “I would spend my days planning my escape.”

Ukoku looked away and Koumyou turned to the door, hearing the footsteps of a child.

“Father,” Kouryuu said, “The dinner is served.”

“Splendid. Shall we dine?” Koumyuu asked his guest.

“Gladly.”

[kis]

Excellent! I really like the way you played the line between friendship, competition and danger between these too. Your Ukoku was truly menacing in a wonderfully underplayed way. Really good stuff.

[keire_ke]

Ukoku has this tendency to dominate the scene when written and Koumyou is pretty epic in his own right. :D Thank you!