Fic: Eulogy
Sep. 8th, 2009 08:04 pm![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
nfe-gremlin.livejournal.com posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
narniaexchangeTitle: Eulogy
Author:![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
turkeyish
Recipient:caramelsilver
Rating: G
Possible Spoilers/Warnings: None
Summary: "My brothers," Susan says quietly at the funeral, "were always two bodies, one soul."
Eulogy
It would be the same at the end of the journey,
If you came at night like a broken king.
- TS Eliot
They say that Peter is day, and Edmund night.
“That’s ridiculous,” is all Peter says.
-
In Calormen, they whisper that the slim, dark-haired king is made of shadows and silence, that he hides blades on his person like street performers hide coins with nimble fingers, that he uses words the same way that an archer savours each arrow.
-
In Archenland, it is said that the tall, blond king is made of light and laughter, that he can wield any sword with equal amounts of surety and talent, that he has a particular fondness for stories and jest.
-
Once, when he is still very young, Edmund accidentally kills a bird with his new slingshot.
“It’s alright, Ed,” Peter says, after his younger brother tearfully confesses. “But now you have to remember the responsibility that you hold.”
-
In the first year of their reign, Peter organises an ambush on a dangerous band of Jadis sympathisers.
He learns the hard way that not all intelligence is reliable.
“It’s not alright, Pete,” Edmund says, sombre eyes turned towards a grieving, guilt-ridden king. “But now we have to make sure that it doesn’t happen again.”
-
The Galmians come bearing gifts. To the High King they give, among other things, an assortment of delicious sweets found only in Galma. To the Just they give, among other things, a weighty tome on Galmian law.
“We understand that Your Highness is particularly fascinated by the legal studies,” they explain.
-
Edmund’s grin is decidedly mischievous when Peter confronts him about his missing sweets, tone somewhere in between exasperation and amusement.
“What did you expect me to do?” Edmund asks, the epitome of innocence. “Eat my law book?”
-
At school, the other boys look at Peter as the epitome of the perfect student. The younger boys seek his favour, the older boys clamour to call him their friend, and the instructors never have anything but praise for the quality of the elder Pevensie’s work.
“The younger Pevensie is clever, to be sure,” an instructor says to a colleague one day, “but he does not possess the same charisma that his older brother has, nor does he possess his brother’s ability to keep out of trouble.”
-
“I can fight my own fights, you know,” Edmund drawls, tone somewhere in between exasperation and amusement.
Peter shrugs as he washes the blood off his knuckles. “You’re my brother,” is all he says.
-
Peter always has an easy smile on hand, but it never works on Edmund. It has been a week since they’ve returned home from home, one week since Peter learned the awful truth of growing up that is unique to the Pevensie children.
Edmund never utters a word, but Peter can’t shake the weight of his brother’s steady, penetrating gaze, and finally the older boy sighs and gives in.
“I didn’t really want to talk about it,” Peter begins one afternoon.
“I never said you had to.”
“Who am I without Narnia?” Peter never was one for wasting words.
Edmund studies his brother carefully for a long moment. The silence stretches itself thin between the two boys, and Peter can feel the pressure of his sadness bearing down on him with each passing second, and then –
“You’ll always be Peter Pevensie,” Edmund finally says.
Peter inhales sharply, an unreasonable fury coiling itself tight within him. He opens his mouth, not quite sure what it is he’s going to say, but Edmund isn’t yet finished –
“You’ll always be a Narnian.”
-
Jadis sometimes finds her way into Edmund’s dreams.
Peter knows when she does, because the morning after is always the same – Edmund’s eyes will be shadowed, his mouth pressed into a thin line, a fine tension visible in every long, lean limb.
“In my dreams, she tells me that I belong to her, and always will, no matter where or when I am,” Edmund murmurs after one particularly bad night.
“You don’t belong to Jadis,” Peter says automatically, and a corner of Edmund’s mouth quirks cynically.
“Don’t I?” Edmund asks, and despite the way he lounges in his chair and the lazy, careless drawl in his measured tone, there’s a burning half-pain, half-fear simmering there, just underneath the surface.
The command is etched indelibly onto Peter’s face. “You belong to Narnia.”
-
They say that Edmund is night, and Peter day.
“That’s idiotic,” Edmund says, “because you mean to say that Peter and I are completely different. But in the mornings, when you look up into the sky, you know that the moon and stars are still there. It isn’t as though they just disappear when the sun rises. It’s just that you can’t see them.”
-
Edmund hates mornings, always has, whereas Peter has always loved them. This explains why Edmund is surly as they wait at the nearly empty train station, refusing to answer Peter’s light-hearted chatter with anything that isn’t monosyllabic. And then –
“I can feel them thrumming,” Peter says suddenly, weighing the small box carefully in his hands.
“Can you?” Edmund asks idly, glancing down at his watch without really seeing it. He’s already looked at it countless times in the past ten minutes, and knows what it’s going to tell him. They’re running late.
Narnia, Narnia, Narnia, his mind murmurs repeatedly, almost like a prayer. Please keep safe. Please keep breathing for at least a handful of minutes more.
“The magic is so strong,” Peter breathes. He looks at his brother, a gleam in his eye that Edmund warily recognises. “Imagine how easily we could do this ourselves, with just these rings.”
“No,” Edmund says, voice flat, even though something leaps within his chest. He imagines that he can feel the magic thrumming throughout him as well now.
And just as quickly as his excitement flared up, Peter’s entire body seems to visibly deflate. “You’re right of course, Ed,” he says ruefully. And then he laughs, a genuine laugh, even if it is tinged with pain and regret. “Lost my mind for a second there.”
“Yes, well,” Edmund says, a grin tugging at the corners of his mouth, “it’s been known to happen with you.”
Peter returns the grin, and the two men settle back into their wait.
“Isn’t it funny to think,” Peter says into the comfortable silence, “that we’ll always be kings?”
“No,” Edmund replies easily. He can just glimpse the smoke of the train in the distance. Finally, his mind sighs. Hold on, Narnia. “We’ll always be brothers.”
-
“My brothers,” Susan says quietly at the funeral, “were always two bodies, one soul.”
Fin.
Original Prompt:
What I want: Edmund and Peter. "Two bodies, one soul." Brotherfic. Doesn't matter if it's England or Narnia.
Prompt words/objects/quotes/whatever: It would be the same at the end of the journey/If you came at night like a broken king. -- T.S Eliot, Little Gidding.
What I definitely don't want in my fic: Overly sweet or fluffy. Slash.
Author:
turkeyishRecipient:
caramelsilverRating: G
Possible Spoilers/Warnings: None
Summary: "My brothers," Susan says quietly at the funeral, "were always two bodies, one soul."
Eulogy
It would be the same at the end of the journey,
If you came at night like a broken king.
- TS Eliot
They say that Peter is day, and Edmund night.
“That’s ridiculous,” is all Peter says.
-
In Calormen, they whisper that the slim, dark-haired king is made of shadows and silence, that he hides blades on his person like street performers hide coins with nimble fingers, that he uses words the same way that an archer savours each arrow.
-
In Archenland, it is said that the tall, blond king is made of light and laughter, that he can wield any sword with equal amounts of surety and talent, that he has a particular fondness for stories and jest.
-
Once, when he is still very young, Edmund accidentally kills a bird with his new slingshot.
“It’s alright, Ed,” Peter says, after his younger brother tearfully confesses. “But now you have to remember the responsibility that you hold.”
-
In the first year of their reign, Peter organises an ambush on a dangerous band of Jadis sympathisers.
He learns the hard way that not all intelligence is reliable.
“It’s not alright, Pete,” Edmund says, sombre eyes turned towards a grieving, guilt-ridden king. “But now we have to make sure that it doesn’t happen again.”
-
The Galmians come bearing gifts. To the High King they give, among other things, an assortment of delicious sweets found only in Galma. To the Just they give, among other things, a weighty tome on Galmian law.
“We understand that Your Highness is particularly fascinated by the legal studies,” they explain.
-
Edmund’s grin is decidedly mischievous when Peter confronts him about his missing sweets, tone somewhere in between exasperation and amusement.
“What did you expect me to do?” Edmund asks, the epitome of innocence. “Eat my law book?”
-
At school, the other boys look at Peter as the epitome of the perfect student. The younger boys seek his favour, the older boys clamour to call him their friend, and the instructors never have anything but praise for the quality of the elder Pevensie’s work.
“The younger Pevensie is clever, to be sure,” an instructor says to a colleague one day, “but he does not possess the same charisma that his older brother has, nor does he possess his brother’s ability to keep out of trouble.”
-
“I can fight my own fights, you know,” Edmund drawls, tone somewhere in between exasperation and amusement.
Peter shrugs as he washes the blood off his knuckles. “You’re my brother,” is all he says.
-
Peter always has an easy smile on hand, but it never works on Edmund. It has been a week since they’ve returned home from home, one week since Peter learned the awful truth of growing up that is unique to the Pevensie children.
Edmund never utters a word, but Peter can’t shake the weight of his brother’s steady, penetrating gaze, and finally the older boy sighs and gives in.
“I didn’t really want to talk about it,” Peter begins one afternoon.
“I never said you had to.”
“Who am I without Narnia?” Peter never was one for wasting words.
Edmund studies his brother carefully for a long moment. The silence stretches itself thin between the two boys, and Peter can feel the pressure of his sadness bearing down on him with each passing second, and then –
“You’ll always be Peter Pevensie,” Edmund finally says.
Peter inhales sharply, an unreasonable fury coiling itself tight within him. He opens his mouth, not quite sure what it is he’s going to say, but Edmund isn’t yet finished –
“You’ll always be a Narnian.”
-
Jadis sometimes finds her way into Edmund’s dreams.
Peter knows when she does, because the morning after is always the same – Edmund’s eyes will be shadowed, his mouth pressed into a thin line, a fine tension visible in every long, lean limb.
“In my dreams, she tells me that I belong to her, and always will, no matter where or when I am,” Edmund murmurs after one particularly bad night.
“You don’t belong to Jadis,” Peter says automatically, and a corner of Edmund’s mouth quirks cynically.
“Don’t I?” Edmund asks, and despite the way he lounges in his chair and the lazy, careless drawl in his measured tone, there’s a burning half-pain, half-fear simmering there, just underneath the surface.
The command is etched indelibly onto Peter’s face. “You belong to Narnia.”
-
They say that Edmund is night, and Peter day.
“That’s idiotic,” Edmund says, “because you mean to say that Peter and I are completely different. But in the mornings, when you look up into the sky, you know that the moon and stars are still there. It isn’t as though they just disappear when the sun rises. It’s just that you can’t see them.”
-
Edmund hates mornings, always has, whereas Peter has always loved them. This explains why Edmund is surly as they wait at the nearly empty train station, refusing to answer Peter’s light-hearted chatter with anything that isn’t monosyllabic. And then –
“I can feel them thrumming,” Peter says suddenly, weighing the small box carefully in his hands.
“Can you?” Edmund asks idly, glancing down at his watch without really seeing it. He’s already looked at it countless times in the past ten minutes, and knows what it’s going to tell him. They’re running late.
Narnia, Narnia, Narnia, his mind murmurs repeatedly, almost like a prayer. Please keep safe. Please keep breathing for at least a handful of minutes more.
“The magic is so strong,” Peter breathes. He looks at his brother, a gleam in his eye that Edmund warily recognises. “Imagine how easily we could do this ourselves, with just these rings.”
“No,” Edmund says, voice flat, even though something leaps within his chest. He imagines that he can feel the magic thrumming throughout him as well now.
And just as quickly as his excitement flared up, Peter’s entire body seems to visibly deflate. “You’re right of course, Ed,” he says ruefully. And then he laughs, a genuine laugh, even if it is tinged with pain and regret. “Lost my mind for a second there.”
“Yes, well,” Edmund says, a grin tugging at the corners of his mouth, “it’s been known to happen with you.”
Peter returns the grin, and the two men settle back into their wait.
“Isn’t it funny to think,” Peter says into the comfortable silence, “that we’ll always be kings?”
“No,” Edmund replies easily. He can just glimpse the smoke of the train in the distance. Finally, his mind sighs. Hold on, Narnia. “We’ll always be brothers.”
-
“My brothers,” Susan says quietly at the funeral, “were always two bodies, one soul.”
Fin.
Original Prompt:
What I want: Edmund and Peter. "Two bodies, one soul." Brotherfic. Doesn't matter if it's England or Narnia.
Prompt words/objects/quotes/whatever: It would be the same at the end of the journey/If you came at night like a broken king. -- T.S Eliot, Little Gidding.
What I definitely don't want in my fic: Overly sweet or fluffy. Slash.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
(no subject)
Date: 2009-09-08 06:54 pm (UTC)OH, Edmund and Peter! They are so very very fabulous. I love the repetition, with their tones the same and the way others place them against each other and they come together all the time, and how everyone says how different they are. And they are like 'psh, we're awesome together, you can't deny it.' I would quote things, but I think I would end up quoting way too much, so. :P But the Galman gifts! OH EDMUND. And at the train station, with Edmund's prayer, which is more to Narnia than for it, or at least that's how I see it. Peter shrugs as he washes the blood off his knuckles OH PETER. OH MY HEART.
LASTLY, OMG YOU SLIPPED EDMUND/JADIS IN I LOVE YOU FOR INFINITY AND ETERNITY. EEEEE! I LOVE how you write those two, how you never see Jadis but you see the absence of her, the imprint she leaves behind, and it's kind of scary. <333 FABULOUS AS USUAL, BB.
(no subject)
Date: 2009-09-08 07:19 pm (UTC)Okay. This is absolutely fantastic. I love how they are just brothers. They don't need to explain anything to each other, because the other one understands!
My favorite part is this: In Calormen, they whisper that the slim, dark-haired king is made of shadows and silence, that he hides blades on his person like street performers hide coins with nimble fingers, that he uses words the same way that an archer savours each arrow. So so nice! I just completely love it. And the KNIVES! since I apparently have a thing for knives, so any mention of hidden knives just makes me squee!!
And the fight! Edmund's all like 'I don't need help, I can handle it myself' and Peter's all like 'yeah I know that, but you don't have to.' Oh, Pevensie boys, how I love you!
And yeah! Edmund can't eat his lawbook! They should just learn right away that Edmund the Just likes sweets! Give him some, or he'll steal his brother's!
I love the all the contrasts, how people think they're so different and they're all like, Um... NO.
*Hugs fic* Just!! GAH, I LOVE THIS SO MUCH! *goes to re-read*
You did a brilliant job with the prompt. It's so so great! (If you can't already tell with all my flailing.)
(no subject)
Date: 2009-09-08 07:20 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2009-09-08 07:21 pm (UTC)But anyways, great job. I love the way you conveyed their relationship in small moments. =)
(no subject)
Date: 2009-09-08 08:23 pm (UTC)Fantastic job. I hope you keep up your writing!
(no subject)
Date: 2009-09-08 10:48 pm (UTC)“Isn’t it funny to think,” Peter says into the comfortable silence, “that we’ll always be kings?”
“No,” Edmund replies easily. He can just glimpse the smoke of the train in the distance. Finally, his mind sighs. Hold on, Narnia. “We’ll always be brothers.”
!!!!!!!!!! I loooove this, it's so perfect, it's so them. This works so well with PC, when Ed's so worried Peter will die. <3333
That last line! :D :D :D :D :D
(no subject)
Date: 2009-09-09 12:20 am (UTC)Oh this is so beautiful and absolutely heartwrenching! And I love that there's this quirky humor to it, but at the same time it's tinged over with so much SADNESS that makes me want to just take the both of them and hug them very, very tight.
And the repetition! The shadow back to the whole night & day thing, and how both Peter and Edmund dismiss it as something silly.
Also, THE GALMANS. I LOVE THEM. ♥
“What did you expect me to do?” Edmund asks, the epitome of innocence. “Eat my law book?”
OH EDMUND. SUCH A BOY. *wibbles*
I love these guys. Because they are such brothers and you write them PERFECTLY.
AWESOME POSSUM. <333333 (yes, i just went there)
(no subject)
Date: 2009-09-09 04:35 am (UTC)I think you hit all the right notes and more, and I love seeing them through their professors' eyes
(no subject)
Date: 2009-09-09 08:32 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2009-09-09 07:28 pm (UTC)OMG EDMUND/JADIS, I JUST COULDN'T RESIST. is it bad that i haven't written narnia in aaages, but one of the first things i thought before i started this fic was "hmmm, edmund & peter brotherfic...how can i slip jadis in there?" :D
(no subject)
Date: 2009-09-09 07:33 pm (UTC)BY THE WAY, you are the most amazing, most understanding, most patient mod EVER, and thank you so much for enduring my deadline issues. :P
(no subject)
Date: 2009-09-09 07:33 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2009-09-09 07:35 pm (UTC)thank you so much! :)
(no subject)
Date: 2009-09-09 07:36 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2009-09-09 07:38 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2009-09-09 07:39 pm (UTC)thank you, bb! i'm happy you liked it!
(no subject)
Date: 2009-09-09 07:40 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2009-09-09 07:41 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2009-09-10 01:36 pm (UTC)I loved the ending - Edmund's little prayer, Peter's passing temptation, and then Susan's eulogy - they all built to the perfect end.
Thanks for sharing this!
(no subject)
Date: 2009-09-10 09:58 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2009-09-19 04:56 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2009-09-25 01:33 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2009-09-27 05:33 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2009-09-28 03:22 am (UTC)thank you so much for reading and reviewing!