Note: Crackfic, if you will. Humor.
Liquid Therapy
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Kalasin is lying in bed, tangled in the covers and sheets. Half of her body is dangling off the bed, and she has propped a pillow over her face, in an attempt to keep the light away from her eyes.
Kaddar pokes her in the cheek several times. "Wake up, woman."
Her fingers tighten around the blanket, and she drools a little.
Making a face, Kaddar storms away, in the direction of the kitchens.
--
Kalasin wakes (reluctantly) to a repeated, unpleasant prodding sensation in her ribs. She whimpers, drawing her knees to her chest and pulling the covers closer around her body.
A pair of strong hands suddenly takes hold of the top of the blankets, where she's holding them. Kaddar pulls; Kalasin pulls back.
The imperial couple scuffles for a few moments, but in the end sheer size and strength outmatches Kalasin's determination. Kaddar flings the blankets across into an armchair, and his shivering wife pulls herself up into a sitting position, before giving him a baleful glare.
"Have you no conscience?" she mumbles, rubbing at her tired eyes. "It's only about nine…"
"And our meeting with the Gallan diplomats is only about an hour away," is his exasperated reply.
Before Kalasin can close her eyes again and fall asleep sitting up, a large cup of something very fragrant is thrust into her face.
Cross-eyed, she blinks at it. "And what's this?"
"Imported from the Southern Lands. Something called coffee."
Kalasin shies away, giving it a suspicious look.
"Drink it. It's supposed to help…people like you…function in the mornings."
Kalasin takes it tentatively. "Are you sure?"
"Of course I am. Now, drink."
Kalasin takes the cup from him, sniffs the coffee one more time, before taking a cautious sip. Her eyes widen.
"Well?"
She glares at him for a moment. "I'm considering this."
The empress takes another sip, and this time her eyes close, and she exhales slowly, an expression of bliss slowly spreading over her face.
Kaddar stares. Normally, she wanders around until about noon looking like death warmed over, and this is such uncharacteristic behavior for her that it makes him look at the cup of coffee askance.
"This is good," she says at last. "This is really good."
"Oh…that's, ah, that's nice."
Kalasin drains the last drops of coffee from the mug, and beams.
Kaddar backs away slowly.
Kalasin slides out of bed, fairly skips over to give him a good morning kiss, and trots into her dressing room, humming a cheerful, if slightly off-key, tune.
The emperor stares after her, before approaching the empty cup of coffee. He picks it up gingerly, and, holding it in front of him, makes his way to Zaimid's office, determining to have it analyzed for some sort of mind-altering poison.
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end
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And for anyone who was wondering, the "mind-altering poison" bit was a quote from one of my coffee-hating friends. Psh.