Disclaimer: I do not own Infinite Undiscovery. Cotton darnit.
Chapter 4
As Subtle as Tomorrow
As subtle as tomorrow
That never came,
A warrant, a conviction,
Yet but a name
by Emily Dickinson
They say time flies when you're having fun. The same seems to apply when you wish time would simply stop. The past two days had passed in a hectic blur, signing papers, attending endless meetings, organising entertainment, organising food, informing the local traders of the unofficial holiday, letting the neighbouring kingdoms, dukedoms and relevant parties know of the congestion that was soon going to be bombarding all of the major routes in and out of Burgusstadt, designating areas for camping, setting up extra facilities...the list seemed endless. If Edward had been angry that he'd sent Vic on holiday before, he was practically livid now. If anyone knocked on his office door he had to hold back the litany of creative swearwords clamouring to escape his mouth, just in case it was someone important. Of course, being a King, Edward had people to deal with organising all of these things for him so that he didn't have to worry about the little details. Only problem was that they all wanted to consult him on something: would this be enough? Should we order more? I can't contact so-and-so, who should I inform in their stead? Edward's favourite sayings had become,
"Work it out for yourself!" and "What the hell do I pay you people for!?"
Lila had taken to falling asleep at her desk so people had begun randomly walking into the Kings office hoping to catch him off guard and force him to answer their request. What they received instead was generally a mouthful of abuse and a request not to be so goddamn unintuitive in future.
During lunchtime he escaped to the nearby cliffs that overlooked the Luce Plains. The gargoyles never ventured up here and he generally got some peace and quiet. Anyway, he'd brought his Karathos Blade with him in case there was any trouble. Usually the mere sight of it was enough to have monsters fleeing for their lives. Today was a day Edward wished it didn't inspire as much fear as it did. Hacking a few beasts into unidentifiable masses of meat would have done wonders for his anger issues.
"Thought I might find you out here," a familiar voice surprised him.
Edward looked up over his shoulder into the smiling face of Dominica. Her hair was loose and flowing around her smiling face. Edward looked her up and down and then stared at her for a long silent moment, too long to be polite, bordering on just damn rude.
"Well," Dominica's smile dissolved into a frown, "that's no way to greet a lady."
Edward looked back up to her face and then back out over the plains again.
"I don't know what you expect me to say," Ed said with a shrug, ripping out handfuls of lush grass with his right hand, "you're wearing a dress."
"Well, it's not exactly an unbelievable feat you know, I do wear them when I have to" Dominica huffed, walking over to sit down beside Edward; as much as she seemed to believe in her statement she still sat with her legs apart.
"Well," Ed said purposefully not looking at her exposed legs, shaking his head, "it's kind of...creeping me out."
"Hey!" she hit him playfully for that one, "not you to! That's just what that brat Capell said."
Oh great, he'd come out here to get away from the stress and now Dominica had brought it with her. Edward felt his shoulders tense up and tried to forcibly relax. Strangely enough, even though he supposed they had sat through enough awkward silences together to last them a lifetime, Dominica still managed to posses the uncanny ability to pick out the exact reason for his discomfort.
"Worried huh?" she said with a sympathetic look, patting him on the shoulder, "You shouldn't be. He's fine. I mean, heaven knows how he got back but...he's fine. And he remembers yo..."
"Please, just stop," Edward stood up so fast he made himself dizzy, which wasn't the best thing to be on when standing on top of a cliff.
He backed away from the edge and turned for the view, from Dominica. The wind picked up and blew his hair into his eyes. It felt...nice, being out here. His office became so stuffy, despite it being winter. Perhaps it was all of those oil lamps, he should tell Lila to stop lighting them so early and...
"Stop retreating into your own head," Dominica was in front of him now.
She really did look odd in that dress, not ugly, just out of place. In fact Ed was so used to seeing her in armour that even seeing her in trousers made him stare. A dress was just too much. It was a nice dress though. White, with printed flowers, long sleeves and a hem that finished above the knee. He wondered why she wasn't shivering, considering the wind. The weak winter sun did little to warm at this time of year.
"It's safer in there," Edward snorted, trying to make light of the situation as he turned from her all too knowing eyes.
"Yeah, well, it's also where all the crazy thoughts live," Edward scowled as she smiled, "I know that much about you anyway."
"You really don't," Ed said defensively, crossing his arms and shifting on his feet, "when did you get here anyway?"
"Oh, we arrived an hour or so ago," Dominica shrugged, "I was sent ahead with the security detail. We're here to help set up security precautions, you know."
"Oh don't I just," Edward said as he rubbed the bridge of his nose and stared at the ground; if he never heard the words health and safety again in his life he'd be a happy man, "the councillors are all for their security. So, Aya sent you on ahead?"
When Dominica didn't reply Edward looked away from the grass to see what was wrong. She was smiling one of those know it all smiles and her eyes were twinkling. She smirked as Ed practically growled.
"You are so worried about this aren't you?" she sniggered, dancing away as he advanced on her, "come on, I know that it must have been a shock but surely you're over it now, right?"
"Over it now? Why should I be over it now?" he forced out so harshly that it made her smirk waver; unfortunately now that he'd started, Ed found he couldn't stop himself, "You've seen him, Eugene's seen him, and you both agree I should calm down, that I should get over it!? Why the hell should I get over the fact that my best friend has miraculously come back to life and all I have is second hand information! Oh, he's fine, he's good, he's just like the same old Capell, well how can that be, huh? You have no idea how af..."
Perhaps it was the fact he'd been about to say that word that stopped him. Of course Edward got afraid, but he would be damned if he was going to admit it to anyone. He reigned in his temper, swallowed and turned away from Dominica's amazed expression. Why was he having such trouble controlling himself recently? He had been through events just as stressful during their time as the Force and he'd been more level headed than this.
And that was really saying something. Really.
"Ed," he'd never heard Dominica sound unsure about anything, until now, "are you okay?"
"I'm fine," he said, deadpan, "it's just work, stress, you know. All that planning really took it out of me, I haven't been sleeping well..."
"Insomnia?" she asked.
"Nightmares," Ed clarified, quietly.
There was another awkward silence. Ed was afraid that if this one kept up Dominica would somehow, with her almost telepathic abilities, figure out what was really bothering him. Thankfully she was the one to break the silence, offering to spar, let off some steam, it would do him good, maybe help him sleep. He'd hesitated, actually tempted, but he was too tired. She hit him properly this time when he told her he didn't want to because he was worried he'd see her underwear and be scarred for life.
His feelings of tension only heightened throughout the rest of the day. He felt like he was having constant déjà vu. Wake up exhausted, eat breakfast, become steadily enraged until lunchtime, escape for an hour, lose his temper at everyone until dinner, put up with conversation until he couldn't stand it anymore, sneak off to bed, have repeating nightmares until he woke up again. Only now there was a different angle on tonight because when he woke up tomorrow things couldn't continue on their weird repetitive pattern.
Tomorrow. They were due tomorrow around noon. Everything was ready, the food, the guest quarters, the bunting, the welcome committee, the main hall, the bed sheets, the fireworks, the oil for the outdoor lamps, the security (damn and blast it), the speeches, the flowers and everything else imaginable.
Everything except Edward.
When he slept he dreamt of Aya turning up alone. He dreamt that none of it had been true, that he'd imagined the whole thing. He woke up crying and for once gave in and wept silently with his face pressed against the pillow. He wasn't even sure why. He felt drained, exhausted, miserable. He didn't want tomorrow to ever arrive. He couldn't explain this feeling, stirring down at the pit of his stomach, and it scared him. He didn't want it, he didn't like it and it could all just go to hell!
The drawing looked oddly old by the light of the oil lamp. His fingers traced the edges carefully, eyes scanning the happy faces. Would everything really be like everyone kept insisting it would? Would it all be just like Capell had never been gone? Somehow Ed couldn't accept that. Even if Capell hadn't changed, Edward had. They all had, they were a year older, it was impossible for them not to. The world had moved on, governments had fallen and reformed and hell even the weather had changed. If Capell was the exact same man he'd known and cared for, this world he'd fallen back into wasn't what he would expect. Wouldn't that be hard to accept? Wouldn't that be hard on him? It was the norm for everyone else, but for him...Edward sighed. He was over analysing again. Anything but deal with the real problem, right?
Edward replaced the drawing and the book on their shelf and tried to get back to sleep.
Tomorrow.
Tomorrow.
He'd see him tomorrow.
AN: Ugh, I can't get this damn story out of my head. Any spare moment and my bloody muse pops up with the next chapter, all chirpy and happy, making me type until two in the fecking morning! Bastards! So...tired...urk. Okay, so please review and that, I hope you're still enjoying it. Sorry if it seems I've spun out the run up to Capell's arrival, I hope I'm pacing it well. Okay, have to go before I fall asleep on my keyboard!
Maiko