Author's Note: keeps screwing up my formatting; I apologize for the lack of dividers between note and text in the previous section. Maybe it will actually work this time, hope springs eternal. Anyway, this is a random snippet of nothing. Shou is On Something. Probably something illegal. An unpleasant start to the new Emperor's first day on the job. You probably shouldn't have been up drinking with Shouka so late, Ryuuki . . .
"Wake up, Your Majesty!"
Ryuuki groaned and levered one eyelid open. The weak dawn sunlight streaming through the eastern window showed him a foggy vision of Shou Taishi's wrinkled, bearded face.
I must still be dreaming, Ryuuki thought muzzily, and closed the eye again. No more manjuu just before bed. Or maybe no more alcohol just before bed.
"Come, Your Majesty!" That rumbling voice was disgustingly cheerful and Ryuuki groaned. He wasn't dreaming; he was having a nightmare. "Since the Emperor is like the sun to his people, ordering their days and lending brilliant luster to their world, it stands to reason that the Emperor should rise when the sun does!"
"I'm not the Emperor," Ryuuki mumbled. "Not yet."
"Your coronation is this afternoon, Your Majesty. You must be ready."
"Go 'way." The inside of Ryuuki's mouth felt fuzzy and foul, as if some small animal had curled up and died inside. "Lemme sleep."
"Is that an order, Your Majesty?"
The arch tone of voice cut through his head like a saw through green wood. "Yes, dammit."
"As my Emperor commands," Shou Taishi said, sounding far too energetic and pleased with himself.
Ryuuki buried his head under the pillow, trying to block out the painful morning light. At least it was quiet; it was sufficiently early that no one in the residential wing of the palace was awake and moving around yet. Slowly, he drifted back towards the gentle fog of oblivion . . .
"Rise and shine, Your Majesty!"
Ryuuki groaned. "Didn't I order you to go away?"
"You did, indeed. Your Majesty neglected to say for how long, though. Come!"
