The Estate, After Lunch, (Morning Fandom Time)

[glacial_queen]

When Mallory had been asked by Queen Ilyse and Prince Audric to come tutor their young daughter, he had been honored and delighted. Several months later, the shiny had been rubbed off both the honor and delight, but he had become fond of enough Karla to continue to teach her for years, up until the tragic accident that had claimed her parents' lives and gotten her shipped off to live with the local Hourglass coven her aunt Kay had been a part of. When Hobart had announced Karla's 'death,' Mallory had spent a week mourning the spoiled, yes, but also sweet, imaginative, and precocious child he had taught.

In the years she'd been gone, time and nostalgia had blunted the worst of her childhood antics, helping him forget that classes were just as often characterized by biting, kicking, crying, and arguing as they were learning, studying, and behaving (Darkness bless behaving.) All that had come rushing back to him over the past four days, dealing with her much-younger self--and her much-younger friends. Even being the Steward to the headstrong and still impetuous Queen and her entire Court was easier than this.

Mallory couldn't help but reflect on these facts as he pulled Karla down the hall by her ear. He'd caught her in his office a few moments earlier "playing" some kind of game that had involved a jam sandwich and a great deal of ink all over his desk, his chair, and the floor. Coincidentally enough, those were the same places he could see much of his paperwork, also under the ink. Any last ideals he'd had about respecting the Queenly dignity she was due as an adult when flying out the window (possibly with more of his papers) as he'd grabbed her ear and began dragging Karla towards her room, a bath, and the tender mercies of anyone who was not him.

What neither of them had been expecting, however, was for the filthy, shrieking child was to suddenly return to being an equally-filthy-but-less-inclined-to-shriek adult halfway towards their destination. It was Mallory who ended up yelping when the ear he was pinching shot up two feet in the air.

"Karla!" he said, half-surprised and half-thrilled. "You're back!" Before she could respond, however, he was grasping her shoulders with a hissed, "Don't you move or I will throttle you," and running off to find Julian, Morton, and anyone else he could find. Their Queen was an adult again. They were going to get this bloody coronation over with before something else could happen, come Hell or high water.

[NFB, open for folks what are here, SP is gonna be a thing, pls to be waiting for OCD]

Comments

Re: The Coronation

[heromaniac]

Every telepath in the room could feel the huge ball of tension empty out of Momoko, thank you Dinah.

"Of course it hurts, silly." Don't DO that to me! She sighed and squeezed Dinah again. "Was it a crush or, you know, more?"

Re: The Coronation

[blondecanary.livejournal.com]

"A crush plus?" Dinah grinned a little, rueful and weak. "Gratitude and liking and attraction and... being lonely and wiped out from the war and scared about my last year at college?" Some of column A, some of column B?

Re: The Coronation

[heromaniac]

Momoko frowned a little. "Dinah. Are your feelings for the person because of the war and school, or is that just why you confessed?"

Re: The Coronation

[blondecanary.livejournal.com]

"Don't know. It was an impulse, saying it." Dinah shrugged, looking away. "And it's moot anyway, since he doesn't feel the same thing." She didn't think that was just it. But she honestly didn't want to look at it too closely. Because what did it matter?

Re: The Coronation

[heromaniac]

"It's not moot, or you wouldn't feel anything." Momoko gave her a little shake. "Are you trying to ignore it or trying to figure it out? How long have you felt this way about... Is it a him?"

Totally not judging, just looking for a pronoun!

Re: The Coronation

[blondecanary.livejournal.com]

"It is moot. It's not going anywhere. I just have to work on getting over it," Dinah pointed out. "There's nothing to figure out. He's not in the same place. He likes me lots but he's not interested. He was real clear about that."

Still no name, even if there was a pronoun now.

Re: The Coronation

[heromaniac]

"That doesn't make it moot, just something you can't work on right now. And who says you have to get over it?" Oh no. Momoko had RULES about love, Dinah. Even if she didn't always apply them to herself!

"Does it make you happy to have those feelings? You're allowed to feel however you want, Dinah. About anyone. You only have to figure out a way to not let it stop you from doing what you need to do."

...

"He actually turned you down, right? He wasn't vague about it like Jaime was?" Did she have to have WORDS with someone?

Re: The Coronation

[blondecanary.livejournal.com]

Dinah rubbed at her face, grimacing, almost close to face-palming. "Yes," she said, keeping her voice low. "I kissed him. On impulse. He didn't kiss back." She swallowed. "Then I was a lot clearer and told him how I felt, and he-- said that you know, it might happen someday. But not now. So. Friends."

She sighed. "I don't know, it doesn't make me happy to have the feelings and not have them returned, it just sort of aches and makes me feel stupid."

Re: The Coronation

[heromaniac]

"You're not stupid." Momoko sighed and handed Dinah back the alcohol. "And like everyone keeps telling me, it's totally not your fault some guys are idiots."

Though...

"Uhm," she frowned and gave Dinah a look of confusion. "It doesn't sound like just a crush if you're aching and feeling lonely because of it. Unless it just happened?"

Re: The Coronation

[blondecanary.livejournal.com]

Dinah shrugged, looking away. "Three weeks ago, or so? Four, I guess. And..." And she missed being around her best friend more. But it didn't seem like a good idea to call and talk to him as much right now. It had taken a couple months to get over the break-up with Jaime; it couldn't take as long to get over this.

"It's more everything else, too. I didn't think it would be a good idea to be in contact for a while, and I miss him."

Now take a look around, Momoko. Who's not at this Coronation?

"It's not a big deal. I've gotten over stuff like this before, you know."

Re: The Coronation

[heromaniac]

"Weeks..." Momoko was usually done grieving by then! She'd taken longer for Warren and Jaime, sure, but...

"Weeks?!?!" Dinah!!

"And you're avoiding him, too? You totally sound like me when Jaime and I broke up. Are you sure you're okay?" Wait a minute... "What guy friend are you avoiding that you would suddenly kiss?"

Re: The Coronation

[blondecanary.livejournal.com]

Erm. Um. Well. "You promised not to freak out. Remember that, right?"

Re: The Coronation

[heromaniac]

Dinah's hesitation could only mean one thing...

And Momoko couldn't believe it...

...

...

"YOU KISSED MISTER ALFRED?!??!??!??!??!??!??!?"

No. Sorry. There was a limit to even BFF support, Dinah.

Re: The Coronation

[blondecanary.livejournal.com]

Dinah's head reared back in shock. As did her brain. "What?! Momo, you're insane. He's like my grandpa! And he's about eighty! No no no no no oh my god no. It's Priestly, you doofus."

Re: The Coronation

[heromaniac]

And again with a flood of relief for all the psychics in the vicinity.

"Well, I didn't think so! But there are only so many guys you're close to that you would consider a friend that you could kiss on impulse. Especially lately, with the war and school and work and stuff? So it wouldn't be someone from school. And then to feel lonely when you avoid them, they totally have to be close, and it can't be any of the guys here since you're not avoidi...

click click click

Oh. Oh no.

"Oh Dinah. I'm... Oh no."

Re: The Coronation

[blondecanary.livejournal.com]

"It isn't a big deal," Dinah insisted. "I'm fine. Okay, mostly fine. I just... don't wanna be teased about it for a while, okay? Usually it's funny, when you guys do that, but right now, uh. It isn't."

Re: The Coronation

[heromaniac]

"It's not really teasing, you know. We really do mean it," Momoko was trying to get the look of intense sadness off her face, honest. "You do have feelings for him, right? You didn't do it just because of Karla and me?"

Re: The Coronation

[blondecanary.livejournal.com]

Dinah laughed without any embarrassment at that question. "No! Really. Don't worry about that. I wasn't thinking about that at all. It just snuck up on me because he was so sweet to me this whole last summer."

Re: The Coronation

[heromaniac]

Well, that was confusing. "But he's always sweet to you. How was the summer any different?"

Re: The Coronation

[blondecanary.livejournal.com]

"Maybe I just needed it more. Or maybe... I don't know. It felt more like he was just on my side."

Instead of having to be fair to Karla, or anyone else about what was going on. Dinah had needed that then.

"Or maybe it was the beard." Dinah was kidding. "You never know what that'll do for a girl."

Re: The Coronation

[heromaniac]

"... Beard?" Excuse Momoko a moment while she considers that... and then someone else in a beard... "Beard. That could totally do it, yes."

"But seriously, are you really okay? I mean, avoiding Priestly? Isn't that hurting twice as much?"

Re: The Coronation

[blondecanary.livejournal.com]

Dinah snickered at Momoko's expression, then winced at her next question.

"It's not like it's difficult to accomplish. Living in different cities and all. And I've got so, so much to do, including getting an internship-- things are better than they were." Dinah sighed. "Really. I'm mostly okay, I swear."

Re: The Coronation

[heromaniac]

"Don't lie to me, silly." Momoko eyerolled at her. "But I'll let it go for now. Do you want me to talk to him? Maybe have a dinner or something so you two can be together in a comfortable space?"

Re: The Coronation

[blondecanary.livejournal.com]

"Aaaaah no. At least. Not yet." Dinah was quiet a minute. "If it's not better by Christmas, maybe. Maybe." She leaned her head on Momoko's shoulder. "Just tell me it'll work out with somebody, someday. Please?"

Re: The Coronation

[heromaniac]

"It will work out with someone, Dinah. I promise." Even if she had to scour all the worlds out there.

Though she was still kind of set on Priestly...