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rainbowfic2021-02-08 08:58 pm
thisbluespirit) wrote in rainbowfic2021-02-08 08:58 pm
Ecru #3, Vienna Orange #14 [Divide and Rule]
Name: Taboo
Story: Divide & Rule/Heroes of the Revolution
Colors: Ecru #3 (discuss); Vienna Orange #14. (So change these rules and let’s cross all the sacred boundaries we’ve overgrown)
Supplies and Styles: Eraser + Novelty Beads (Paint by Numbers: YOLO)
Word Count: 702
Rating: G
Warnings: Trope subversion, because Julia. (It occurred to me that she would be the worst person to put in a sedoretu, or at least one that also involved Edward, so it had to be done.)
Notes: From the giant list of AUs – Sedoretu. Edward Iveson/Julia Graves.
Summary: Julia wasn’t made for custom, or custom wasn’t made for Julia.
***
Edward made his way up the hill, keeping to the dirt track, until he saw Julia. She was sitting on the rocks just shy of the summit, and he left the path to cross over and sit beside her.
“I suppose you’re disgusted with me,” said Julia. “Come up here to lecture. And I should be sorry, I know, but I’m not. Well, all right, I apologise about Amyas. That was going too far, I’ll admit.”
Edward’s mouth twitched, but he managed not to laugh. She was right, of course. He should be angry at her outrageous behaviour, but he wasn’t. Perhaps he was as bad as she was. “Quite. Still, he’ll recover.”
“The thing is,” said Julia, turning to face him, “I couldn’t bear it last night – you being with him and not with me. And I couldn’t go through it again tonight.” She pressed her hands hard against her eyes at the first sign of tears. “Oh, damn. What a selfish beast I am.”
Edward cautiously put a hand to her arm. “Next time you feel like that, try saying something. There are ways these arrangements are supposed to go, but the details are our private concern, not anyone else’s. We can work something out. Giving poor Amyas a laxative –” his mouth quivered again – “is not the solution.”
“It was only a small dose,” said Julia. “Practically good for him, really.” She sighed and leant against Edward. “I know, I know. It was dreadful of me. I’m sorry.”
Edward put his arm around her and kissed her hair. He stared out with her at the fields and woods and houses stretching out below them. The afternoon light was shifting, taking on the first orange-edge of dusk.
“I do like Diana and Amyas,” said Julia eventually, “and I know how it should be, but just now, I don’t want to be with anyone but you.”
Edward’s heart seemed to expand a little. He’d had the opposite trouble before with Caroline, and a whole painful mess to untangle. Julia’s confession didn’t seem half so terrible in comparison. “Darling, I’m sorry, too. We should have thought this through.” He and Diana and Amyas had been talking of marriage of convenience anyway – the others both insisted it would be play better at the polls. Edward had then found Julia again in Paris, and roped her into this in order to extricate her from a precarious situation there. They’d both wanted each other and it had been so easy to rush in, using Diana and Amyas’s plan as an excuse. “It was too soon, wasn’t it?”
“Yes. No,” said Julia and then shrugged. “Amyas treats it as if it’s a game. That’s what made it worse.” She stared out over the countryside. “Well, all right, perhaps I’d have been as bad if it had been Diana – she’s known you for far longer. Oh, why can’t I behave?”
“We’ll work something out,” said Edward. One didn’t enquire too hard into other people’s private affairs, but he was aware that most of his family had never been entirely conventional when it came to these marriage arrangements. Besides, Diana and Amyas were like him – they’d both been through earlier, disastrous arrangements and didn’t hold marriage as sacred as they should. “We’ll stay together, but you and me, and Diana and Amyas to begin with. How the rest of us fit together, we’ll decide between us in time.”
“I thought you’d be shocked. I seem to be made all wrong.”
“Julia, darling, you married three politicians. Provided you stop trying to poison Amyas, none of us are going to tell tales of your scandalous behaviour to the press. And, honestly, Amyas isn’t going to complain if you monopolise me. This is an odd affair for all of us, and, unlike you, I’m not sure he’s convinced he’s got the best end of the bargain. Diana will, I think, be a little disappointed – but she’ll wait if she needs to.”
Julia put her hand to his chest and curled her fingers around the edges of his shirt. “If Amyas doesn’t appreciate you properly, then maybe he deserved what I did.”
“Now I am shocked,” said Edward, but he kissed her.
***
Story: Divide & Rule/Heroes of the Revolution
Colors: Ecru #3 (discuss); Vienna Orange #14. (So change these rules and let’s cross all the sacred boundaries we’ve overgrown)
Supplies and Styles: Eraser + Novelty Beads (Paint by Numbers: YOLO)
Word Count: 702
Rating: G
Warnings: Trope subversion, because Julia. (It occurred to me that she would be the worst person to put in a sedoretu, or at least one that also involved Edward, so it had to be done.)
Notes: From the giant list of AUs – Sedoretu. Edward Iveson/Julia Graves.
Summary: Julia wasn’t made for custom, or custom wasn’t made for Julia.
***
Edward made his way up the hill, keeping to the dirt track, until he saw Julia. She was sitting on the rocks just shy of the summit, and he left the path to cross over and sit beside her.
“I suppose you’re disgusted with me,” said Julia. “Come up here to lecture. And I should be sorry, I know, but I’m not. Well, all right, I apologise about Amyas. That was going too far, I’ll admit.”
Edward’s mouth twitched, but he managed not to laugh. She was right, of course. He should be angry at her outrageous behaviour, but he wasn’t. Perhaps he was as bad as she was. “Quite. Still, he’ll recover.”
“The thing is,” said Julia, turning to face him, “I couldn’t bear it last night – you being with him and not with me. And I couldn’t go through it again tonight.” She pressed her hands hard against her eyes at the first sign of tears. “Oh, damn. What a selfish beast I am.”
Edward cautiously put a hand to her arm. “Next time you feel like that, try saying something. There are ways these arrangements are supposed to go, but the details are our private concern, not anyone else’s. We can work something out. Giving poor Amyas a laxative –” his mouth quivered again – “is not the solution.”
“It was only a small dose,” said Julia. “Practically good for him, really.” She sighed and leant against Edward. “I know, I know. It was dreadful of me. I’m sorry.”
Edward put his arm around her and kissed her hair. He stared out with her at the fields and woods and houses stretching out below them. The afternoon light was shifting, taking on the first orange-edge of dusk.
“I do like Diana and Amyas,” said Julia eventually, “and I know how it should be, but just now, I don’t want to be with anyone but you.”
Edward’s heart seemed to expand a little. He’d had the opposite trouble before with Caroline, and a whole painful mess to untangle. Julia’s confession didn’t seem half so terrible in comparison. “Darling, I’m sorry, too. We should have thought this through.” He and Diana and Amyas had been talking of marriage of convenience anyway – the others both insisted it would be play better at the polls. Edward had then found Julia again in Paris, and roped her into this in order to extricate her from a precarious situation there. They’d both wanted each other and it had been so easy to rush in, using Diana and Amyas’s plan as an excuse. “It was too soon, wasn’t it?”
“Yes. No,” said Julia and then shrugged. “Amyas treats it as if it’s a game. That’s what made it worse.” She stared out over the countryside. “Well, all right, perhaps I’d have been as bad if it had been Diana – she’s known you for far longer. Oh, why can’t I behave?”
“We’ll work something out,” said Edward. One didn’t enquire too hard into other people’s private affairs, but he was aware that most of his family had never been entirely conventional when it came to these marriage arrangements. Besides, Diana and Amyas were like him – they’d both been through earlier, disastrous arrangements and didn’t hold marriage as sacred as they should. “We’ll stay together, but you and me, and Diana and Amyas to begin with. How the rest of us fit together, we’ll decide between us in time.”
“I thought you’d be shocked. I seem to be made all wrong.”
“Julia, darling, you married three politicians. Provided you stop trying to poison Amyas, none of us are going to tell tales of your scandalous behaviour to the press. And, honestly, Amyas isn’t going to complain if you monopolise me. This is an odd affair for all of us, and, unlike you, I’m not sure he’s convinced he’s got the best end of the bargain. Diana will, I think, be a little disappointed – but she’ll wait if she needs to.”
Julia put her hand to his chest and curled her fingers around the edges of his shirt. “If Amyas doesn’t appreciate you properly, then maybe he deserved what I did.”
“Now I am shocked,” said Edward, but he kissed her.
***
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also lol Julia, darling, you married three politicians.
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