Post by alexanderthegreat on Sept 28, 2010 0:39:53 GMT -5
(yep, I think I just covered every A-Z topic here.)
The long, winding staircase leading up to the northern tower of the solar castle was very dark, steps barely seen by the old lantern that Holmes carried with him as he made his way up. Reaching the large metal door at the top he gave it a swift, light knock before inviting himself inside the much brighter room. The walls were very vibrant, windows nearly lining it entirely and it was carpeted with a medium blue flooring.
Holmes remembered this room too well, it had been unoccupied for years. For the past few days, Alexander had been and still was holing himself up here to watch the events unfold northeast in Crepusculum, as much as he could see that was. The king stood leaning on one of the window's sills, a small table beside him with an empty teapot, cold half cup of tea, and a small telescope.
"I hear there are interesting things going on," Holmes spoke quietly so as not to startle the king, setting his lantern down on the table and standing next to Alexander. Alexander kept his gaze fixed on what was now a light show going on in Crepusculum's region.
"Indeed. There was a burst of light high up in the sky; now it's as though the stars are raining down onto the land," Alexander answered.
"What a spectacle. You don't suppose raining stars means the end of the world, do you?" Holmes raised an eyebrow and Alexander shook his head confidently.
"Trucido wouldn't have given us such an aesthetically appealing death and you know it," he scoffed. Holmes chuckled in response to this and stared out the window with Alexander, his arms crossed.
"Then that can only mean even better--we've won. How does it feel to have finally overcome one of the first of your biggest obstacles as king, Alexander?"
Holmes looked to Alexander when he waited half a minute and no answer came. Alexander was still leaning on the window sill, staring ahead. As Holmes continued to stare at him, Alexander's eyes met his and he immediately saw an embarrassed sort of smile pull at the king's lips. Holmes raised both of his eyebrows at Alexander and in response he immediately backed away, raising both of his hands in the air as he paced around the room.
"Alright! It wasn't as easy as Dad made it look, okay? You happy now?" Alexander blurted loudly. Holmes erupted into laughter.
"Quite! I believe that's another one for me, sire, which brings us to..." he paused to pretend he was counting on his fingers, "twenty for me and zero for you."
"Oh, shut up," Alexander ran a hand through his hair, still parading around the room as Holmes laughed in great victory.
"I think this calls for a game of chess next," Holmes grinned widely and Alexander shot him a dirty look.
"Not against you anymore I'm not! I'm not so good with that game."
"I know, that's why I love playing against you," Holmes teased before settling back into his usual, calm self, "but back to being serious, what shall we do next? If I may, I don't think Santo-Luce wants to sleep tonight; not if everyone's been watching the skies as intently as you have been, sire."
Alexander gave a hard stare at Holmes, knowing what he was getting at. Party. The one thing Alexander had for years sworn that Holmes was deathly allergic to. He never thought he'd see the day when Holmes would actually endorse one. He thought about it for a moment before shaking his head, half-shrugging as he did so.
"I...I don't know, I guess? I'm sure the people will be partying enough themselves in the streets," he said, peering outside another window to the city of Lux Lucis below. Everything was still brightly lit outside and slowly getting brighter as time went on and it wasn't because the sun was barely seen rising over the horizon either. Holmes gave him a fake shocked look.
"Alexander Frexton having second thoughts about throwing a party? Are you sure you're feeling alright?" he joked and Alexander waved his hands dismissively at him, trying to avoid getting into it. Holmes sighed then as he said, "still upset about Zeke, I see."
Alexander shook his head automatically while scooping up his cup of tea and saying, "Nope," just before he took a big gulp out of it.
"You're a terrible liar, sir."
"This tea is terrible," Alexander crinkled his nose at the cup and sat it back on the table.
"You've left it sitting for hours."
"That's not the point, it should be kept warm," Alexander crossed his arms and Holmes shook his head.
"Still a brat as always. Just like a young lad you're still avoiding having to speak to me when I start digging into something that bothers you."
Alexander stared at him again and for a long moment was silent. He bit his lip, rocked back and forth on the balls of his feet and even tried to distract himself for a short time counting bricks in the walls before he finally caved and said, "So what? I've never had so close of a friend before, it hurts to say goodbye, I wish he could have stayed. I miss him, he was one of the only people I felt like I could tell anything to."
Holmes nodded while he listened to Alexander and oddly enough made it a point to look into the now nearly empty teacup. Smiling, he approached Alexander slowly as he responded quietly, "I know exactly how that is, Alexander. I did have to say goodbye to your father not too long ago, afterall."
"At least you were expecting Dad to die. I don't even know if the guy made it back to Earth in one piece or not," the blond man shook his head and sighed deeply.
He lowered his head and stared down at the floor and as he did so Holmes moved in closer to rest a comforting hand on his shoulder.
"You'll never know. Call it tactless if you will, your majesty, but it's pointless to worry yourself over something that you will never know and on top of that have no control over. If anything, let's just appreciate what we do have right now, shall we?" as he spoke he saw Alexander slowly nod his head in agreement. He wasn't happy, he probably didn't fully agree but at the moment he was choosing to no longer make a fuss of it and that was good enough for now. From there Holmes smiled, patted the king on the back and began to guide him to the door, grabbing the lantern along the way.
"Very good. We'll head back down to the great hall, I'm sure you'll be looked for by an enthusiastic bunch and we can work out things from there."
"I'm just glad to be out of here, finally. I hate this damn tower," Alexander grumbled as they closed the door behind them and started walking carefully down the stairs.
"You would only because I remember your father locking you up here once. If I recall, you were quite irate about the whole ordeal."
"Had he locked me in the eastern tower instead I'd have been able to climb out and take off--joke would have been on him, then," Alexander responded quite arrogantly and Holmes shook his head.
"And that is the very reason why he had chosen the north tower. But you know it isn't an entirely bad place; it's the most lavishly decorated just like your mother had wanted it. She used to sit up there all the time knitting and quite enjoyed it," he spoke warmly, kind memories of old days treating his mind as they made their way to the bottom of the tower. Alexander had kept quiet after this and spent the rest of the trip down trying to avoid slipping and falling, only opening his mouth briefly once they reached the final door, just before Holmes went to turn the knob.
"...What was Mother like?"
Holmes stopped and glanced up at the young man, unable to recall any time when he'd asked about the woman. He'd argued far too frequently with Bradley to ever hear stories from him, and even then Bradley was too concerned with a lot of other things to sit and share any. Even Alexander and Holmes for years never gotten along and it wasn't until they were made to work with each other recently that things started to work out between the two--the king never really had much time nor the thought to ever bring it up before.
Letting go of the knob Holmes paused for a moment to think of a quick and accurate summary of the boy's mother, something that would undoubtedly only have to suffice for now as he was certain it would come up again in the future. After a few moments Holmes looked up at him with a knowing smile and answered simply, "She was just like you, Alexander. Everything from your looks to your strange love of the beach."
Through the dim light he could barely make out the king's features giving him a confused stare, though the nodding motion that was made afterward was enough to tell him that it'd do for now. With that, Holmes opened the door and out walked the both of them into what was going to be a very long day of celebrating.
The long, winding staircase leading up to the northern tower of the solar castle was very dark, steps barely seen by the old lantern that Holmes carried with him as he made his way up. Reaching the large metal door at the top he gave it a swift, light knock before inviting himself inside the much brighter room. The walls were very vibrant, windows nearly lining it entirely and it was carpeted with a medium blue flooring.
Holmes remembered this room too well, it had been unoccupied for years. For the past few days, Alexander had been and still was holing himself up here to watch the events unfold northeast in Crepusculum, as much as he could see that was. The king stood leaning on one of the window's sills, a small table beside him with an empty teapot, cold half cup of tea, and a small telescope.
"I hear there are interesting things going on," Holmes spoke quietly so as not to startle the king, setting his lantern down on the table and standing next to Alexander. Alexander kept his gaze fixed on what was now a light show going on in Crepusculum's region.
"Indeed. There was a burst of light high up in the sky; now it's as though the stars are raining down onto the land," Alexander answered.
"What a spectacle. You don't suppose raining stars means the end of the world, do you?" Holmes raised an eyebrow and Alexander shook his head confidently.
"Trucido wouldn't have given us such an aesthetically appealing death and you know it," he scoffed. Holmes chuckled in response to this and stared out the window with Alexander, his arms crossed.
"Then that can only mean even better--we've won. How does it feel to have finally overcome one of the first of your biggest obstacles as king, Alexander?"
Holmes looked to Alexander when he waited half a minute and no answer came. Alexander was still leaning on the window sill, staring ahead. As Holmes continued to stare at him, Alexander's eyes met his and he immediately saw an embarrassed sort of smile pull at the king's lips. Holmes raised both of his eyebrows at Alexander and in response he immediately backed away, raising both of his hands in the air as he paced around the room.
"Alright! It wasn't as easy as Dad made it look, okay? You happy now?" Alexander blurted loudly. Holmes erupted into laughter.
"Quite! I believe that's another one for me, sire, which brings us to..." he paused to pretend he was counting on his fingers, "twenty for me and zero for you."
"Oh, shut up," Alexander ran a hand through his hair, still parading around the room as Holmes laughed in great victory.
"I think this calls for a game of chess next," Holmes grinned widely and Alexander shot him a dirty look.
"Not against you anymore I'm not! I'm not so good with that game."
"I know, that's why I love playing against you," Holmes teased before settling back into his usual, calm self, "but back to being serious, what shall we do next? If I may, I don't think Santo-Luce wants to sleep tonight; not if everyone's been watching the skies as intently as you have been, sire."
Alexander gave a hard stare at Holmes, knowing what he was getting at. Party. The one thing Alexander had for years sworn that Holmes was deathly allergic to. He never thought he'd see the day when Holmes would actually endorse one. He thought about it for a moment before shaking his head, half-shrugging as he did so.
"I...I don't know, I guess? I'm sure the people will be partying enough themselves in the streets," he said, peering outside another window to the city of Lux Lucis below. Everything was still brightly lit outside and slowly getting brighter as time went on and it wasn't because the sun was barely seen rising over the horizon either. Holmes gave him a fake shocked look.
"Alexander Frexton having second thoughts about throwing a party? Are you sure you're feeling alright?" he joked and Alexander waved his hands dismissively at him, trying to avoid getting into it. Holmes sighed then as he said, "still upset about Zeke, I see."
Alexander shook his head automatically while scooping up his cup of tea and saying, "Nope," just before he took a big gulp out of it.
"You're a terrible liar, sir."
"This tea is terrible," Alexander crinkled his nose at the cup and sat it back on the table.
"You've left it sitting for hours."
"That's not the point, it should be kept warm," Alexander crossed his arms and Holmes shook his head.
"Still a brat as always. Just like a young lad you're still avoiding having to speak to me when I start digging into something that bothers you."
Alexander stared at him again and for a long moment was silent. He bit his lip, rocked back and forth on the balls of his feet and even tried to distract himself for a short time counting bricks in the walls before he finally caved and said, "So what? I've never had so close of a friend before, it hurts to say goodbye, I wish he could have stayed. I miss him, he was one of the only people I felt like I could tell anything to."
Holmes nodded while he listened to Alexander and oddly enough made it a point to look into the now nearly empty teacup. Smiling, he approached Alexander slowly as he responded quietly, "I know exactly how that is, Alexander. I did have to say goodbye to your father not too long ago, afterall."
"At least you were expecting Dad to die. I don't even know if the guy made it back to Earth in one piece or not," the blond man shook his head and sighed deeply.
He lowered his head and stared down at the floor and as he did so Holmes moved in closer to rest a comforting hand on his shoulder.
"You'll never know. Call it tactless if you will, your majesty, but it's pointless to worry yourself over something that you will never know and on top of that have no control over. If anything, let's just appreciate what we do have right now, shall we?" as he spoke he saw Alexander slowly nod his head in agreement. He wasn't happy, he probably didn't fully agree but at the moment he was choosing to no longer make a fuss of it and that was good enough for now. From there Holmes smiled, patted the king on the back and began to guide him to the door, grabbing the lantern along the way.
"Very good. We'll head back down to the great hall, I'm sure you'll be looked for by an enthusiastic bunch and we can work out things from there."
"I'm just glad to be out of here, finally. I hate this damn tower," Alexander grumbled as they closed the door behind them and started walking carefully down the stairs.
"You would only because I remember your father locking you up here once. If I recall, you were quite irate about the whole ordeal."
"Had he locked me in the eastern tower instead I'd have been able to climb out and take off--joke would have been on him, then," Alexander responded quite arrogantly and Holmes shook his head.
"And that is the very reason why he had chosen the north tower. But you know it isn't an entirely bad place; it's the most lavishly decorated just like your mother had wanted it. She used to sit up there all the time knitting and quite enjoyed it," he spoke warmly, kind memories of old days treating his mind as they made their way to the bottom of the tower. Alexander had kept quiet after this and spent the rest of the trip down trying to avoid slipping and falling, only opening his mouth briefly once they reached the final door, just before Holmes went to turn the knob.
"...What was Mother like?"
Holmes stopped and glanced up at the young man, unable to recall any time when he'd asked about the woman. He'd argued far too frequently with Bradley to ever hear stories from him, and even then Bradley was too concerned with a lot of other things to sit and share any. Even Alexander and Holmes for years never gotten along and it wasn't until they were made to work with each other recently that things started to work out between the two--the king never really had much time nor the thought to ever bring it up before.
Letting go of the knob Holmes paused for a moment to think of a quick and accurate summary of the boy's mother, something that would undoubtedly only have to suffice for now as he was certain it would come up again in the future. After a few moments Holmes looked up at him with a knowing smile and answered simply, "She was just like you, Alexander. Everything from your looks to your strange love of the beach."
Through the dim light he could barely make out the king's features giving him a confused stare, though the nodding motion that was made afterward was enough to tell him that it'd do for now. With that, Holmes opened the door and out walked the both of them into what was going to be a very long day of celebrating.