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aldersprigFrom an anonymous prompt.
This story comes after Brothers and Brotherhood (LJ) & ...and Sisterhood. (LJ).
Tír na Cali has a landing page here (and on LJ).
The title is from this song.
“Where’s your companion?”
Simeon let himself into Caleb’s room and flopped into a chair, putting his feet on a desk full of papers. Caleb, who had more than a little practice dealing with his older brother, ignored it. Everything that actually mattered was hidden away anyway, put where neither Simeon nor their mother’s majordomo Cotswald were likely to “accidentally run across” it.
“Cye’s down in the kitchen,” he answered mildly.
“Heh, piss you off already? I told the Lady Mum she ought to get you a real companion, you know, a girl. Not just a kitchen boy.”
“Did you want something?” Caleb asked, rather than answering the slur.
“Yeah. I figured…” Suddenly, Simeon wasn’t as comfortable. “Look, we did the family thing, but you know how the Lady Mum can get.”
Caleb nodded. They all did, of course. She was their mother, after all, and their Baroness.
“So I got you something down there that she couldn’t complain about.” A wool scarf and matching hat, and a book on etiquette through the ages. It hadn’t been a bad gift, but it hadn’t been exciting. Caleb nodded.
“Thanks. She can get…”
“Yeah. But here’s the rest of it.”
“Rest?” he blinked. “Sim…”
“Dude, you’re still my kid brother. Shut up and take the present.” He passed over a small box; cautiously, Caleb opened it.
A studied history of the exodus of the Tuatha de Danaan stared up at him in ancient gold leaf on slightly-cracked leather. His jaw dropped.
“It looked like your sort of thing,” Simeon muttered.
“It…” Caleb shook his head. “Goddess and Consort, Sim, thank you.”
“This is for your boy, too,” he added uncomfortably, passing over a smaller box. “Both of you should start dressing better.”
Caleb set the other box aside; Cye would be back from his family Yule celebrations in a while. “Thank you, Sim.” He smiled uncertainly at his big brother, who launched himself across the room to hug him.
“I might not be here much longer,” he muttered into Caleb’s shoulder. “I gotta take care of you while I am.”
This story comes after Brothers and Brotherhood (LJ) & ...and Sisterhood. (LJ).
Tír na Cali has a landing page here (and on LJ).
The title is from this song.
“Where’s your companion?”
Simeon let himself into Caleb’s room and flopped into a chair, putting his feet on a desk full of papers. Caleb, who had more than a little practice dealing with his older brother, ignored it. Everything that actually mattered was hidden away anyway, put where neither Simeon nor their mother’s majordomo Cotswald were likely to “accidentally run across” it.
“Cye’s down in the kitchen,” he answered mildly.
“Heh, piss you off already? I told the Lady Mum she ought to get you a real companion, you know, a girl. Not just a kitchen boy.”
“Did you want something?” Caleb asked, rather than answering the slur.
“Yeah. I figured…” Suddenly, Simeon wasn’t as comfortable. “Look, we did the family thing, but you know how the Lady Mum can get.”
Caleb nodded. They all did, of course. She was their mother, after all, and their Baroness.
“So I got you something down there that she couldn’t complain about.” A wool scarf and matching hat, and a book on etiquette through the ages. It hadn’t been a bad gift, but it hadn’t been exciting. Caleb nodded.
“Thanks. She can get…”
“Yeah. But here’s the rest of it.”
“Rest?” he blinked. “Sim…”
“Dude, you’re still my kid brother. Shut up and take the present.” He passed over a small box; cautiously, Caleb opened it.
A studied history of the exodus of the Tuatha de Danaan stared up at him in ancient gold leaf on slightly-cracked leather. His jaw dropped.
“It looked like your sort of thing,” Simeon muttered.
“It…” Caleb shook his head. “Goddess and Consort, Sim, thank you.”
“This is for your boy, too,” he added uncomfortably, passing over a smaller box. “Both of you should start dressing better.”
Caleb set the other box aside; Cye would be back from his family Yule celebrations in a while. “Thank you, Sim.” He smiled uncertainly at his big brother, who launched himself across the room to hug him.
“I might not be here much longer,” he muttered into Caleb’s shoulder. “I gotta take care of you while I am.”
