Prompt# 117 - Claddagh - Longing - Tekia - original

[tekia.livejournal.com]

Title: Longing
Fandom: Original
Prompt: Claddagh
Warnings: none?
Rating: G
Summary: Rurik isn't there just for show. He's got plans of his own.
Part one
Part two
Part three
Part four

Rurik had his back to her, his head bent over something Saya couldn’t see. She slipped off the heeled shoes the lady insisted she wear and lifted her skirts to her knees to still as much of their rustling as she could. Not that it would matter. Rurik was oblivious to all around him save for whatever he currently had his attention on.
Merlin had warned him against that time and again, so it was up to Saya to teach him a lesson. Grinning, she inched closer. Once she was right behind him, she dropped her skirts and raised her hands high over her head, fingers curved like claws.
“Boo!”
“Ah!” Rurik leaped to his feet, one hand at his chest as he spun about to face her, his eyes wide and mouth opened. “D-don’t scare me like that!”
Saya laughed, rocking forward and holding her sides. “You’re too easy.”
He huffed at her, angry, before suddenly he realized, “I lost it!” He began frantically searching the dirt under the bench, shoving aside Saya’s bare feet in his haste. Pulling her knees to her chest, she watched him scrounge in the dirt.
“Lost what?”
She couldn’t see his face, but she could see how his ears suddenly turned a bright red. Intrigued, she leaned over, putting her weight on one arm as she tried to see his down turned face. She grinned.
“You are blushing!”
“I’m not, so go away.” He turned away from her. Still smiling, Saya got to her feet and started walking away.
“If you say so. But please do remember, I love secrets.” She grinned at him over her shoulder. “That is, I love to ferret them out.”
The look of horror on his face was wonderful. He really was too easy. She spun on her heel, letting her skirts bellow out around her ankles. “Don’t forget; Merlin wants us in his tower before sunset.”
Rurik cast a glance at the darkening sky and nodded before returning to search for whatever it was he lost in the dirt.
When dusk fell and Rurik showed up at the tower late, Saya suddenly felt bad for him. Maybe she had been too mean. Then she shrugged, it was his own fault for being so absentminded. With idle fingers, she traced patterns that Merlin swore would lead to magic on the table before her as he droned on about a history that had shaped the known world.
Rurik was silent, as he often was, but instead of awe and hero worship, his face held nothing but sadness and defeat. Biting her lip, Saya wondered what it was that he had lost. Had it been so precious to him, then?
After a long silence, Saya realized with a jolt that she had been woolgathering and Merlin was glaring at the two of them. She matched his glare and finally he rolled his eyes and slammed a rather large book on the table. That shook Rurik out of his sulk as well.
“You two seem to be useless today.” He waved his hand, “Off with you.”
Saya grinned. “We’re free?”
One white brow rose gracefully, “Until tomorrow when you two make up for your lax attention with field practice.”
Rurik moaned, his head dropping forward and Saya’s eyes sparked. Last field practice had been brilliant fun, but from the look in Merlin’s eyes, this one wasn’t going to compare. Ah well, that’s only what he thinks. For all the legends, Merlin couldn’t see the future.
She followed Rurik’s slumped shoulders out of the tower, and once again felt that guilt weighing her down.
“Look, I’m sorry for frightening you.”
He shrugged. “It doesn’t matter. You always do.”
She pursed her lips. “That’s right. I always do. So, what’s got you so glum this time.”
“I couldn’t find it.” He paused next to a window, looking out at the court yard bathed in moonlight.
“Oh.” She bit her lip. “Was it important?”
“Very.”
“What was it?”
“Nothing.” He shoved away from the window and quickly disappeared behind a closed door. She made a face at the door.
“If it wasn’t anything, it wouldn’t be important.” She rolled her eyes and leaned against the window, letting the cool breeze lift her hair from her shoulders. She turned her face up to the moon and smiled. She always like the cool nights.
With a final look around the court yard, she suddenly caught sight of the bench Rurik had been sitting on. She fought with herself for a moment before she suddenly cursed and stormed out of the castle and toward the bench. Stupid conscience.
She stood next to the bench, eyeing the dirt. So, whatever he had lost was small. She gathered her skirts around her knees and plopped down in the dirt and started shifting through it.
After a bit, she grew frustrated with the lack of light, so she called forth a candle from her rooms with a snap of her fingers and set the wick ablaze. Settling the candle next to her, she resumed her search.
It was near dawn, and away from the bench, when she found the ring. Slipping it on her finger, she dusted it off and marveled over the tiny design.
With the light of first dawn creeping over Rurik’s bed, Saya jumped on the straw mattress and shook him awake.
He sat up, tugging the blankets close as he turned scarlet from ear tips to bare chest. She sat on his legs and held out her fist, head tilted to one side.
“You’ve got a girl.”
He made a strangled noise in the back of his throat and reached for her fisted hand.
“Give it back.”
“Not until you tell me who she is.”
Was it healthy for someone to turn that red? He caught her hand and tried to pry her fingers apart. Struggling against him, she laughed.
“Give it back.”
“Spill.”
He clutched her hand between his hands and chest, head turned down once again and mumbled low enough that she had to lean in to hear him. “No.”
“Aw, come on. Who’s the lucky girl?”
He flinched and she shoved him away from her, holding the ring over his head. “Come on, tell me.” He lunged for it, but she danced off the bed and slipped the ring on her finger. “Ah, Rurik, how sweet,” she exaggerated, fluttering her lashes. “You’ve spoken with my father, haven’t you?”
He growled at her, shifting on the bed, but unwilling to expose himself, which she knew, which made him even more angry. “Stop. Give it back.”
“You have to tell me who it’s for.” She took on a parental voice. “I have to make sure she’s good enough for you. You know, of good stalk and all.”
Defeated, Rurik sighed and threw himself back on the bed. Saya blinked at him. That wasn’t how the game was played. She went to stand over him, arms akimbo.
Suddenly, with a speed she didn’t know he could possess, he reached out and captured her hand. Startled, she didn’t fight to hold on to the ring, but he didn’t fight to pull it off either.
“The Claddagh ring,” he murmured, one blunt finger tracing the tiny heart and crown. “It stands for loyalty and friendship and love.” Ever so slowly, he pulled the ring off her finger and twisted it about until the design was facing away from her body. “Worn thusly, means one is engaged to be married.”
He didn’t say anything after that, but then, he didn’t have to. He was still holding her hand.
Butterflies suddenly took up residence in her stomach and she felt a blush coming to her own cheeks.
“Oh.”

Comments

[muccamukk]

Awww. That's very cute. I love how Saya, for all her wits, just didn't see that coming.

[tekia.livejournal.com]

Thanks! When thinking up a plot for this prompt, this one came to me via that last line. I just loved having Rurik trumping her, at least once.
Thanks for reading!