Title: The Ribbon and the Ring 15?
Author: Seraphim Grace
Archive: if you want it ask, I just like to know where they are. Always appreciated and replied to.
Rating: 18 (This is an open rating so I don't have to worry).
Pairings: 1x2
Warnings: Angst. Some gore. Some incredibly bad French.

Notes: AU, and features necromancy. The boys arrive in Halcyon to meet some old friends and some new.

The golden eyed boy looked directly at Duo and then tilted his head, "I know you," he said calmly, "you were at Samrath, I stood in your shoes when I crossed the field."

Duo lowered his eyes at that, but he did answer, "I was at Samrath," he said.

"Mina has a message for you." He said stiffly, tilting his ear to better hear, Duo thought. Then the boy smiled, "I'll give it to you later," he said, "I don't think you want it across the palace even if there is only a few of us here." His smile was incandescent and playful, "all sorts of people would get jealous." The look that crossed his face then was wicked, "and you too, Hiiro," he said, copying the name and only mispronouncing it slightly, "I have a message for you from her." At that it looked as if he might out right giggle. "But I should introduce you to everyone." And that like his anger at Devlin was gone.

"This is Devlin, he is my Senshisha." He said carefully, "and the heir apparent to Amitre but his mother has a good fifty years in her yet," he winked up at the taller man, "and you know Tobin," he rolled his eyes, "everyone knows Tobin," Tobin stuck his tongue out at the boy, suggesting they had been together for years. "And this is Bunny, well Danan, but everyone calls him Bunny."

"Why?" Heero asked, "Surely Danan is a more suitable name for a young man than a contraction of rabbit?"

Bunny answered him with a rush and a grin, "well, that's a really long story but when I was born my older brother said I looked like a bunny and he'd rather have a bunny than a brother, because he already had five brothers, so I became Bunny. Everyone calls me that. I even call myself it. I don't think of Bunny being girly in any way, it's just me." Then his eyes darkened for a moment, "it was the only thing my brothers ever gave me and I'd rather use it with pride and spite them than call myself Danan and let them think for a moment it hurt me." Then he smiled again, "So that's why I'm Bunny." He said brightly.

"Energizer Bunny." Duo mumbled just low enough for Heero to hear and he had to smother a smile at the joke.

"I am Yuy Heero," Heero said with an almost completely straight face, "I am Senshisha to Shinigami no Maxwell Duo-Tennosha." He was careful to give Duo the full title that Mina had given them before. "We travelled here with some companions, we left them with Sir Gereint." At Duo's feet Fenrir growled. "And this is Fenrir," Heero said acknowledging him.

"Bless him," Bunny said, still lurking behind Devlin even though he had come to the conclusion that they meant him no further harm. "What a big dog, can I stroke him?"

Fenrir gave Heero the same look he gave him when Duo had spent hours with his face buried in his fur, it was a look that said "why me?"

"That is not a dog," Tobin said putting his hand on Bunny's shoulder, "he's a wilding, and I don't think he cares for being stroked, do you?" Fenrir's look suggested he carried the world on his shoulders.

From the main door a blonde boy burst in, he looked worried.

"Yanno," Duo said dryly, "you might as well put a revolving door in here, I don't think it would get so much traffic."

"Oh, thank the Lady," the boy said ignoring Duo entirely, "you're alright," he put his hand on Bunny's shoulder, "I honestly thought they were going to kill you."

"They didn't want me, Jored," Bunny told him with a hundred watt smile, "they wanted another Danan, we're all friends now, this is Heero and this is Duo, and look, they have a dog."

Nevertheless the blonde boy tugged Bunny into a hug, "don't you scare me like that again," he said, "just wandering off because someone asked for you, don't you remember what happened the last time?" It was clearly an admonishment, "this time they didn't want to kill you, but the time before they did, and the time before that. They'll kill you to get to me and I don't want that to happen, you're my important Bunny, you are not expendable to me." Bunny just hugged him back.

"And this," Tobin said expansively, embarrassed by the display, "is his highness Jored Baatorin, Crown prince of Aatoria."

Jored seemed to regain his composure after that and pulled back from Bunny, shaking him by the shoulders, "and they didn't call you names or anything?" Heero flicked a glance at Duo who looked around innocently.

"No, Jored," Bunny enthused, "they wanted someone else, not me, it's all really confusing, I know, we can sit down with several bottles of that wine and whatever dinner Josian has scrabbled together for us with our new friends and get royally pissed, how does that sound?"

"I," Jored said looking around, "I left some people in the south parlour," he looked as if he had been scolded, "we should include them in this welcoming." Then he looked at Duo and Heero, "I have been a lax host, I'm sorry." He bowed to them as if to an equal, "the Cadacus is trying to make it better but I am not well versed in politics. I am sorry if I have been rude, I should have met you at the gate. I am sorry." Then he turned and walked out of the room.

Duo took Heero's hand within his own and then beamed at Tobin, "well," he said with a smile, "welcome to the twilight zone."

Back in the south parlour Aia had sat herself down at Trowa's feet and was playing cats cradle with a long string she had acquired from somewhere. "I wonder what's going on?" Trowa asked Wufei. He had sat down on one of the threadbare couches where Wufei stood at the window looking out over the sea.

"Fascinating," Wufei said to himself, "the architecture of this place, it's an Aedificum."

"Yes, wall," Trowa said to the fireplace, because it was obvious that no one else was listening, "I have no idea what's going on either."

There was a short rap on the door and a young man let himself in, he looked careworn and tired and his scarlet jacket was stained with all sorts of bright colours that one did not normally associate with food, Gereint was just behind him, with another man who was built like a mountain with a great red beard. "Hallo," the man mountain said, "I'm Sir Cameron, and you're the boys that Gereint dug up in Sidi, I'll look forward to teaching you." Wufei looked at the man and his beard and then turned back to the window, even his voice boomed, "now which of you is the one that hears voices?" Trowa looked at Wufei and then pointed at Quatre with a sigh.

"I'm Danev." The tired looking young man said, "I'll get him up and ready as soon as he wakes up from the tea." His voice was soft and whispery and it was strangely reassuring, and Trowa understood that this man wouldn't hurt them, and if he did, it would be to heal them. He couldn't have said how he knew, he just did.

Author's note:

That's everyone in Halcyon except Josian and you've met him before. I hope that helps it all make sense. (grins)

I was going to have the two chapters 14 and 15 as one big chapter but there was so much info to take in I split them just to give you a breather in the middle, so two short chapters rather than one really big one.