Howdy! So I promised I'd get this done this week, and I did. With one day to spare. Phew. ^^; I hope you enjoy.
So I'm really sorry, I meant for this to be a bit different than how it turned out. Can you guys forgive me? :( It was supposed to be a story for StoneByrd's drawing, 'Bribery'. (Find it and more on Deviantart.) And while I kept many of the same principles we'd discussed, a lot of it got all messed up too.
So warnings. Umm... Shoujo-Manga-style-accidental-sexual-harassment. I guess. It's clean. Sorry. And we all know Pixal, there'll be some minor swear words.
Apologize
Pixal hated parties. And why wouldn't she? Parties were silly, pointless affairs in which the wealthy merchants mingled with the nobility, vying for favor, loyalty, and more money. Sure, the King called it his chance to 'get in touch with the common man', but seriously. Did people actually buy that?
Everyone, man and woman, wore elegant clothing and jewelry. They walked elegantly. They talked elegantly. By the fourth moon, they even ate elegantly.
An orchestra played soft music on a balcony to Pixal's left. The decorations- banners, flowers, etcetera- were set tastefully around the large, windowed ballroom of King Garmadon's keep. The Shim moon was dark- about to make the transition to the Lei- so candles and torches provided the only light.
Pixal heard a laugh, and she looked up from her book to see Prince Lloyd. He was standing in the center of a group of nameless rich merchants, telling a joke of some sort. He didn't seem to notice her. Which was fine; the last thing she wanted was a conversation to distract her from her book.
Pixal took a sip of pink wine out of a cup, set it back on the floor beside her, and picked up where she'd left off.
More laughter from Lloyd's group, and a bit of shouting from Lord Kaytake as he called for a servant to fetch some more meats.
Pixal slammed the book shut with a sigh. These parties drove her insane. Too noisy for the relaxing, sleepy, nighttime ambiance they gave off. The ambiance that would have been perfect for reading, should these people all decide to leave her alone.
Grumbling, she lifted her glass again and took in a slurping mouthful. To damnation with manners, she just wanted to go home.
"Well, aren't you just a big, happy bouquet of daffodils and daisies." Lloyd was suddenly standing over her, his crowd abandoned. He wore a green tunic with a bejeweled belt; a shiny golden quarter cloak hung from his shoulders. "Hey. Isn't it a bit unladylike to sit on the floor like that? Especially in a dress."
The dress Pixal wore was white with lots of lace, long sleeves, and a plunging neckline. The skirts tangled around her feet as she sat, legs stretched out. Personally, she's hated the getup. But Father had insisted that she wear it at least once; it had been her mother's before she'd died fifteen years before.
"Oh, and you're one to talk about etiquette," Pixal replied.
"Actually, yes. I'm a prince. Etiquette is my middle name." He then dropped to the floor next to her and set his back against the wall. "Good book?"
"Yeah."
"Cool. Let me see it." Without waiting for permission, Lloyd took it from her lap and flipped through the pages. "Oh! This is that story based on legends of Songlight!"
"Yeah."
"I've read it, like, five times," Lloyd said. "It's got a lot of action in it." He drew his legs close and sighed. "Didn't like the ending, though. Kinda depressing. Don't tell my dad, but the poem made me cry a little."
"Which one?"
"You know," Lloyd said, "that one near the end. O Songlight pure, O Songlight fair, Keep you safe, that was her prayer..."
Pixal finished it. "When world is safe, when won the war, He would return, to this he swore."
Lloyd shook his head. "It was so tragic."
"I guess."
Lloyd gawked. "You guess? What kind of an answer is that? It was heartbreaking! Don't tell me it didn't make you feel at least a little bit sad."
"Not really. It was predictable."
Lloyd pulled at his hair. "Oh, the agony," he moaned. "I'm in love with a soulless psychopath."
"Get over yourself. We both know I don't love you back."
"So heartless," Lloyd said. He put his head in his hands and pretended to sob. "I have women hiding around every corner, begging me to marry them. But the one girl I like refuses to admit- Ow!"
Pixal slapped his head with the book. "Stupid," she said. "I'm not admitting anything."
Lloyd perked up. "Oh, so you admit that there's something for you to admit?"
"Wha...when..." Pixal scowled. "That made no sense. But no, I'm not admitting any nonexistent love for you, and no, I never will. Go marry that attractive little black-haired lady that's been fawning over you all evening."
"You mean Lucine?" Lloyd made a face. "Eew, no. Please. You know, her family isn't even all that important. She only got into this party because of a boon my father owed hers."
"Ouch. Okay, then how about Ali?" Pixal pointed to a petite young woman in a lacy lavender dress.
"She's not interested."
"Well, that doesn't seem to stop you from chasing me," Pixal said. "Eh...wait. She's seriously not interested in becoming Queen?"
"Nope. Apparently she likes your brother instead."
"Zane?" Pixal barely suppressed a snort. "Oh, perish the thought. Him married?"
Lloyd shrugged.
"Well, then," Pixal said. "Uh...Nya. She's nice. Look at her, over there on the balcony. She's got a young man on her tail, probably making her uncomfortable. Oh, wait. That young man is my brother. Well, there goes that, Ali. Sorry."
"Heh," Lloyd said. "But not Ali, Pixal, I like making you uncomfortable instead."
"That's very adult of you, Lloyd."
"Thanks. I've always been very confident in my immaturity." Lloyd smirked. "But Kai is here too. He'll make sure that Nya doesn't get into too much uncomfortableness."
Pixal picked up her glass and sipped at it again. "You're not going to let me get back to this book, then, are you?"
"Wasn't planning on it." Lloyd snapped his fingers, as if remembering something. "Hey. We could go out to the garden and do some fencing."
Pixal cocked a brow. "After all that you've done to annoy me? I can't guarantee your safety."
"I'll survive," Lloyd said, standing. He held out a hand for her. "Come on. I've been dying to show you some new tricks."
Pixal eyed the open hand skeptically for a long moment. "Fine," she said, allowing him to pull her to her feet. "But I'm going to butcher you."
"Great!" Lloyd interlocked their fingers and darted for the exit doors beneath the far balcony.
Pixal blushed as she half-followed, half-resisted his pull. Moons, he was strong. And everyone- King Garmadon included- watched with some disinterest as the duo left the party.
Great. Now everyone's going to get the wrong impression, she thought as they entered the magnificent, starlit gardens. Here in the Middle, the conditions were perfect for plants of all varieties. This was made apparent by the fantastic array of flowers, bushes, and trees that swayed in the warm breeze: Lei's moon always brought the warmest spring weather.
"Now..." Lloyd released her hand and whirled to face her. "Confession. I kinda lied about us fencing."
"What?" Pixal glanced over her shoulder at the distant light from the open ballroom door. "Why?"
"Yeah, sorry," Lloyd said. "I wanted to ask you a question. Privately."
Pixal crossed her arms over her chest. "Yeah? Spit it out. If it's a decent question, I'll let you die semi-painlessly."
Lloyd blushed. "I...I noticed that you aren't really enjoying the party?"
Was this seriously his question? "Not particularly," she said.
"Why not?" Lloyd asked.
"They get a little boring after the three-hundredth one," Pixal replied.
Lloyd rubbed the back of his neck. "Yeah, I feel you there. So..."
"So, what?"
"So is that really all that's bothering you?"
"Yeah," Pixal said. "Why is this important?"
Lloyd searched her eyes for a while before answering. "Because I want to make you happy."
This provoked a response Pixal did not intend or desire. She blushed with him. To cover for the mistake, she shouted. "Go pick on someone else! Ugh, do you realize how angry you make me?"
Lloyd didn't look daunted. He squinted at her, lowered his hand, and grinned. "What does it take to make you smile?" he said, more to himself than to her. "A gift? No, you don't appreciate those. A joke? I've still got some scars from that fiasco." He went into a crouch. "There's only one thing left to try."
Pixal caught on a second too late. And then she couldn't defend herself because he already had her up against a tree, fingers digging into her sides.
"Tickle fight!" Lloyd said a little too loudly.
"Lloyd!" Pixal bellowed. She grabbed his arms and tried to push him away, but he was too strong. "Stop it! Now!" But she was laughing. Her nerves were too high-strung, and every little movement from Lloyd had her wriggling like an agitated snake.
"I did it!" Lloyd said. He backed away, beaming at his accomplishment. "Oh, yeah. I did it-"
Pixal lunged and shoved Lloyd to the ground. Her smile was sharp and cruel as the aforementioned snake's. "You," she growled, straddling his midriff, hands on his chest, "are going to die."
Her face went close to his, and she hissed the words through her teeth. "I will murder you."
The gravity of the situation seemed to dawn on Lloyd then, because his eyes went wide with panic. He pressed his palms to her chest and pushed in a mad attempt to free himself. "L-listen, Pixal," he said. "I-I'm sorry. Yeah, that wasn't very tactful of me. But please...don't do anything crazy. If my dad-"
"Pixal?" a frail voice called out. "Pixal, dear, are you out here?"
Pixal's face blanched. It was her father.
"Cyrus says he saw you and Lloyd come out here a moment ago. I just wanted to tell you, the orchestra is playing your favorite..." He saw his daughter and the Prince in the grass, and he faltered "...song. Never mind." He removed his bifocals and wiped them clean on his sleeve as he walked away.
Pixal looked down at Lloyd. He looked back up with round, panicked eyes. He removed his hands from her breasts.
Pixal widened the distance between their faces and untangled her body from his. What a mess. Oh, by the First King, what a mess.
"This is all your fault," she said, standing.
"Mine?" Lloyd lifted his shaky hands to his chest. "You're the one who attacked me."
Pixal threw her hands in the air with a sound of frustration. "Ugh! Okay, I'm going to explain this to my father before he says anything. You...you, don't ever speak to me again."
She rushed through the garden and back into the ballroom, leaving Lloyd flustered and alone.
Lloyd's palms sweated as he stepped from the carriage outside Lord Julien's mansion. This was it. He'd put it off for a week, and he knew it needed to come out in the open.
"Thanks," he said to his driver. "Just wait out here. I'll probably be back in just a few."
The driver offered Lloyd a short nod and settled into his seat, eyes drifting to the rose bushes that ran the length of the courtyard.
Lloyd swallowed, hugging his cloak close for comfort, and began the short trip across the cobblestones to the front gate. He wasn't sure what he'd say. He wasn't even sure what she'd say.
To be honest, he didn't care what she said. He just hoped that she wouldn't kill him.
He looked down at the sheathed knife in his hand- a shiny blade inlaid with red sapphires- and began to wonder whether this had been a bad idea. I mean, really. I'm bringing her a knife as a gift to appease her wrath? I feel more like a lamb stepping onto the altar.
He needed a gentler gift. One more likely to encourage peace. Why am I second-guessing myself now? I know that she collects knives, so she'd appreciate this kind of gift... Right?
He realized that he'd stopped walking beside a bush of red roses. He fingered the knife for a moment, contemplating, then sighed. Yeah. He needed a new plan.
He reached for the largest, most perfect bud on the bush, then retracted his hand with a hiss of pain. A thorn had caught his skin. The abrasion oozed blood, and he sucked at it for a moment, trying to ease the pain.
You're just killing time, Lloyd, his mind warned him. Hurry, before someone sees you.
So Lloyd unsheathed the knife and held it gingerly to the stem of the beautiful flower. It cut smoothly, and Lloyd was quick about pocketing the knife and continuing his trek down the path as if nothing had happened, rose hidden inside his cloak.
The guards at the front recognized him immediately, and he was ushered into the mansion without question. If they'd seen the cutting, they did not mention it.
"Lady Pixal is in the top room, Your Majesty," a passing servant said once he was inside.
Lloyd nodded his thanks. He was famous for his frequent visits to the Northern Lady.
"She's in one of her moods," the same servant said, smiling timidly. "Just a warning. E-excuse me, Your Majesty." She continued on her way through a door. Lloyd continued walking.
The interior of the mansion was very...modern. Lloyd wasn't sure how else to describe it. Hundreds of paintings decorated the walls between sleek white, blue, and gold tapestries. The candles sat primly in their candlesticks of iron. There weren't many, though, because sconces with electric bulbs made up most of the lighting.
Electricity. Even mentioning it gave Lloyd the chills. Since its rediscovery in textbooks Cyrus Borg had found nearly a decade ago, the only people to embrace it had been here, in the eccentric North.
Lloyd climbed the stairs, passing a few other servants as he went. Down a hall, up another flight of stairs, then into a large, abandoned, and dusty room filled with discarded furniture and miscellaneous junk. The room was bright, lit by three large windows on the south-facing wall. Sunlight poured straight through, burning Lloyd's eyes. through the windows he could see the large garden, surrounded by well-kempt ancestor trees.
Pixal's black silhouette stood at the middle window, hands clasped behind her back. She did not turn to face him.
"Why are you here?" she asked.
Lloyd approached her cautiously. "I...wanted to apologize."
"Saying sorry isn't going to cut it."
"Hey, look," Lloyd said. "It's just as much your fault as it is mine. You attacked me. My hands just-"
"Are you going to apologize or not?" Pixal asked.
"I thought you just said-"
"Apologize."
Lloyd took a deep breath, shaking his head. "I'm sorry." He pulled the knife from his pocket and went to her side. "It was immature of me to tickle you."
Pixal examined the blade from the corner of her eye. She turned up her nose, sniffing contemptuously, then picked it up. She fingered the sheath. "Very nice," she said.
"Thanks," Lloyd said, relieved. "I'm glad. For a while I thought that maybe-"
Before he could finish the thought, the knife was bared at his throat, glimmering in the yellow afternoon light.
"You think that all it takes to woo me is a pretty tool?" she asked, looking into his eyes for the first time. The hard eyes of a beautiful, dazzling, stunning...
Wow. Just looking at her made Lloyd swoon.
"I am a woman," Pixal said. "Tell me you had a plan B."
Lloyd held up the rose. "See? I'm serious about this. Are we good?"
Pixal lowered the knife and took the rose bud from him. Her fingers lingered on his for a moment, and her frown eased.
I did it, Lloyd thought, unable to believe his luck. I can't believe I did it.
"You're an idiot," Pixal said. "Did you think I wouldn't notice? You took this from my father's bushes."
"What?" Lloyd laughed nervously. "No. What gave you that idea?"
Pixal fingered the wet stem of the rose. "It was cut just a few minutes ago," she said. "And my new knife has streaks of green on it. You also have that fresh scratch on your hand."
Lloyd promptly hid his hands behind his back. "Okay," he said. "Yeah...sorry. Will your father mind?"
Pixal looked up from the rose, smiling. "Are you kidding?" she said. "He'll throw a fit. Thanks."
"You're...welcome?"
"And I forgive you."
"Thanks."
Pixal filled her chest with air, then released it loudly. "Phew. Glad that's off my chest."
"No kidding," Lloyd said. "So did anyone else see us?"
"Besides my father? I don't think so. And I explained the situation to him. He laughed it off. We're safe."
"Good." Lloyd could feel his body relax. For days he had been stressing over this incident. Now, it looked like they could put it behind them.
"Hey, Pix," he said.
"Hmm?" Pixal had set down the knife and was holding the rose to her nostrils.
"I really am sorry."
"I know. It's all right." She gestured to an old couch. "Sit down."
Lloyd did, holding his breath so the dust he'd kicked up wouldn't enter his lungs.
Pixal swung Lloyd's legs up onto the mattress, then sat herself between them. She pulled her golden hair out of its tie and let it cascade down her shoulders and back. "Go on. Get to work."
Lloyd ran his hands through her hair, working out the tangles. "Your hair is so gorgeous," he said. "And soft. Like horse hair."
"Horse hair isn't soft," Pixal said. She sounded hurt. "It's thick and coarse."
"Not if you comb it," Lloyd said. "Then it's like petting cotton."
"You're weird," Pixal said. Lloyd could almost hear her rolling her eyes.
"So are you, Princess," Lloyd said. "That's why we make such a lovely couple."
Pixal elbowed his chest.
"Ow!"
"Quit whining, you deserved it." She swatted his hands out of her hair and leaned back, settling her head on his collarbone.
Lloyd wrapped his arms around her middle in a loose embrace. Whatever Pixal said, Lloyd knew that she loved him. For some reason, she just didn't want to admit it.
This was Lloyd's goal. To, as Pixal herself had put it, 'woo' her. Because he loved her and would not give up until she admitted her love, too. Would it be easy? No. Would he have better luck pursuing other girls? Most likely, but he wanted her, and no other woman would do.
I'll fight for you, he thought. I'll always be there. I'm your knight in shining armor. No man will ever touch you as long as I'm alive. "I promise."
"What was that?" Pixal asked.
"N-nothing," Lloyd said, realizing that he'd said that last part out loud.
"Nothing," Pixal repeated. "I like that. Let there be nothing, for a while, Prince. I'm busy listening to the birds."
"Of course, Milady." Lloyd made himself as comfortable as he could- this couch had some missing ribs, to be sure- and tightened his grip on her. "Whatever you say."
So... Does anyone want a different GreenCircuit one-shot? I'll write a cleaner one if you guys can give me some ideas. :D Or we could call this story complete and be done with it. I'm fine either way.
UGH THE ENDING WAS SO CHEESY! I'm sorry! Unalloyed romance just isn't my forte.
Thanks for reading! If you can, please drop me a few words below, and have a great week!
Oh! Um...so, I haven't started writing the next chapter of True Grit yet. I'll get to work on it today maybe (I'm having some trouble starting it out) but just a warning, the next chapter has a good chance of being late by a few days. Sorry. I've been busy with writing this and that chapter of NY (WREN!) and I REALLY just want to work on my Amnesia crossover right now...so...sorry. I'm throwing my schedule to the wind next week. Expect a Confusion for a Companion update. You don't mind, right?
