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bantha_fodderNothing to Show for It by Pen
Dune, rated G. Duncan Idaho. 5 x 200 words.
I do not own Duncan Idaho. Also, section titles by Massive Attack.
For Lizzen, who requested Duncan Idaho/House Atreides OTP.
***
i. i stand (in front of you)
Though it is Gurney who trains with him each day, Gurney who yells and threatens and weaves with a knife, it is Duncan who teaches Paul the skills he needs in order to survive.
High above the waters of Caladan, on a thin rope bridge, Paul sulks as Duncan feints left. "I don't know why I learn these things. I am going to be a Duke, not a mercenary."
"You'll be nothing if the other houses assassinate you," Duncan says, and the scratch he leaves down Paul's arm is shallow, but he knows that it hurts.
Paul scowls, but lifts his knife again, and later, at their campsite, Duncan rewards Paul for his persistence with smuggled sweets and a home-made brew.
On Arrakis, Duncan thinks of Paul as he treks across the sands, and he makes note of all the things he wishes Paul could know. The rumble of the sand as the worms cross; the taste in the air above a pre-Spice mass; the smell of the desert in the morning and the feel of a Chrysknife in his hand.
The knife slides into his chest, and he takes a deep breath.
Regrets the things he never taught Paul.
ii. this girl i know
When they marry, she drapes herself in the Fremen black, and he speaks the words with his knife drawn. They stand, Stilgar before them, and the space between them is room enough for Paul. Alia bites her lip. Stilgar blesses and Irulan watches, her hands clasped together.
The Holy Mother's absence is loudest in the silence between the words, broken only by the murmuring of the twins, who are two weeks old and yet to cry. The people of Arakeen whisper in the streets of ghosts on the wind and the god who walks among them.
They marry on the steps of the palace, where her brother can see them.
The great houses send gifts, and he turns them away in the name of Atreides. The royal house does not accept gifts from traitors; does not dally with terrorists nor show lenience to those who will not obey them, and when he stamps the letter, Alia smiles at him, the first smile in weeks.
Later, in the darkness of their chamber, he kisses her tears. "You are displeased with me?" he asks.
She shakes her head. "No. But I want my brother."
Of course, he thinks, and kisses her again.
iii. she don't believe
After he finds Alia and Javid, he walks until he can forget.
It doesn't work.
The moon is high when he encounters Irulan in the throne room. "You shouldn't be here," he says, "You should be resting."
"He died here." She doesn't look at him.
"Who died?" he asks. Makes no assumptions about whom she talks; listens to her shallow breathing and the rustle of her skirts.
"Feyd," she replies. "My last lover."
Born to a royal house; trained as Bene Gesserit from childhood and bred for intrigue and beauty, Duncan finds it unlikely that her last lover was a lifetime ago. But he is mentat, and, "I remember Feyd Rautha Harkonnen," he says, instead.
Irulan presses her hands together, turns her head and meets Duncan's eyes. "I had no need to cuckold my husband. It would have gained me no power and no influence. And the thought that Paul would have killed him, had it suited him, was enough to dampen the passion I might have felt for any man."
The night is long, and dark, and Paul has been long lost in the desert, and when Duncan rests his hand on her shoulder, she does not turn away.
iv. just the way you found her
He remembers the look on her face the first time they met; remembers the cut of her hair, the pitch of her voice and the way her dress fell to the floor as he knelt at her feet. She gripped his elbows and dragged him up; when they were equal she kissed his cheek and her lips were soft.
It is a shock to meet her for the first time again, three decades later; to find that time has altered her face when her daughter's has remained the same.
"You have given up the Spice," he observes quietly, during the long flight from Arrakis to Salusa Secundus. He glances across at her, and Jessica nods.
"Yes," she replies. "I feared what it would do to me. I have seen too many fall due to their dependence on the Spice. And now Alia-" She stops short, and sighs.
“It seems a good choice,” he says, before the silence can grow too long.
“Oh, Duncan,” she says, finally. “I will die soon, and I miss the Spice.”
Duncan reaches across and grasps her hand. “You made the right choice, My Lady.”
She kisses his hand holding hers, and he holds on tight.
v. the force of the blow
He is born for the third time in a tank on Arrakis, and opens his metal eyes to find he is surrounded by unfamiliar faces. "Do you know who I am?" asks a woman he later learns is the Princess Irulan.
"Should I?" he asks her, and she frowns.
"You will," she replies. "Given time."
After his balance steadies and his skin dries, he wanders the palace. The wall is familiar outside his chambers, and the curl of Irulan's hair as she lets it grow out makes him hum. He listens to a missive from the Reverend Mother Jessica: lets her voice echo in his ears. Laughter echoes through the palace halls and he feels nothing. The sight of the Prince Farad'n makes fear coil in his gut; the sight of Stilgar makes him feel proud, and he wonders. He can feel the memories, but he cannot see them, and it is the Emperor's wish that he be told nothing.
His memory loss lasts three days; Leto Atreides sits on his throne in the golden sunlight, Ghanima to his left, and as she tilts her head to look at her brother Duncan thinks that he knows them.
And he does.
END
Dune, rated G. Duncan Idaho. 5 x 200 words.
I do not own Duncan Idaho. Also, section titles by Massive Attack.
For Lizzen, who requested Duncan Idaho/House Atreides OTP.
***
i. i stand (in front of you)
Though it is Gurney who trains with him each day, Gurney who yells and threatens and weaves with a knife, it is Duncan who teaches Paul the skills he needs in order to survive.
High above the waters of Caladan, on a thin rope bridge, Paul sulks as Duncan feints left. "I don't know why I learn these things. I am going to be a Duke, not a mercenary."
"You'll be nothing if the other houses assassinate you," Duncan says, and the scratch he leaves down Paul's arm is shallow, but he knows that it hurts.
Paul scowls, but lifts his knife again, and later, at their campsite, Duncan rewards Paul for his persistence with smuggled sweets and a home-made brew.
On Arrakis, Duncan thinks of Paul as he treks across the sands, and he makes note of all the things he wishes Paul could know. The rumble of the sand as the worms cross; the taste in the air above a pre-Spice mass; the smell of the desert in the morning and the feel of a Chrysknife in his hand.
The knife slides into his chest, and he takes a deep breath.
Regrets the things he never taught Paul.
ii. this girl i know
When they marry, she drapes herself in the Fremen black, and he speaks the words with his knife drawn. They stand, Stilgar before them, and the space between them is room enough for Paul. Alia bites her lip. Stilgar blesses and Irulan watches, her hands clasped together.
The Holy Mother's absence is loudest in the silence between the words, broken only by the murmuring of the twins, who are two weeks old and yet to cry. The people of Arakeen whisper in the streets of ghosts on the wind and the god who walks among them.
They marry on the steps of the palace, where her brother can see them.
The great houses send gifts, and he turns them away in the name of Atreides. The royal house does not accept gifts from traitors; does not dally with terrorists nor show lenience to those who will not obey them, and when he stamps the letter, Alia smiles at him, the first smile in weeks.
Later, in the darkness of their chamber, he kisses her tears. "You are displeased with me?" he asks.
She shakes her head. "No. But I want my brother."
Of course, he thinks, and kisses her again.
iii. she don't believe
After he finds Alia and Javid, he walks until he can forget.
It doesn't work.
The moon is high when he encounters Irulan in the throne room. "You shouldn't be here," he says, "You should be resting."
"He died here." She doesn't look at him.
"Who died?" he asks. Makes no assumptions about whom she talks; listens to her shallow breathing and the rustle of her skirts.
"Feyd," she replies. "My last lover."
Born to a royal house; trained as Bene Gesserit from childhood and bred for intrigue and beauty, Duncan finds it unlikely that her last lover was a lifetime ago. But he is mentat, and, "I remember Feyd Rautha Harkonnen," he says, instead.
Irulan presses her hands together, turns her head and meets Duncan's eyes. "I had no need to cuckold my husband. It would have gained me no power and no influence. And the thought that Paul would have killed him, had it suited him, was enough to dampen the passion I might have felt for any man."
The night is long, and dark, and Paul has been long lost in the desert, and when Duncan rests his hand on her shoulder, she does not turn away.
iv. just the way you found her
He remembers the look on her face the first time they met; remembers the cut of her hair, the pitch of her voice and the way her dress fell to the floor as he knelt at her feet. She gripped his elbows and dragged him up; when they were equal she kissed his cheek and her lips were soft.
It is a shock to meet her for the first time again, three decades later; to find that time has altered her face when her daughter's has remained the same.
"You have given up the Spice," he observes quietly, during the long flight from Arrakis to Salusa Secundus. He glances across at her, and Jessica nods.
"Yes," she replies. "I feared what it would do to me. I have seen too many fall due to their dependence on the Spice. And now Alia-" She stops short, and sighs.
“It seems a good choice,” he says, before the silence can grow too long.
“Oh, Duncan,” she says, finally. “I will die soon, and I miss the Spice.”
Duncan reaches across and grasps her hand. “You made the right choice, My Lady.”
She kisses his hand holding hers, and he holds on tight.
v. the force of the blow
He is born for the third time in a tank on Arrakis, and opens his metal eyes to find he is surrounded by unfamiliar faces. "Do you know who I am?" asks a woman he later learns is the Princess Irulan.
"Should I?" he asks her, and she frowns.
"You will," she replies. "Given time."
After his balance steadies and his skin dries, he wanders the palace. The wall is familiar outside his chambers, and the curl of Irulan's hair as she lets it grow out makes him hum. He listens to a missive from the Reverend Mother Jessica: lets her voice echo in his ears. Laughter echoes through the palace halls and he feels nothing. The sight of the Prince Farad'n makes fear coil in his gut; the sight of Stilgar makes him feel proud, and he wonders. He can feel the memories, but he cannot see them, and it is the Emperor's wish that he be told nothing.
His memory loss lasts three days; Leto Atreides sits on his throne in the golden sunlight, Ghanima to his left, and as she tilts her head to look at her brother Duncan thinks that he knows them.
And he does.
END
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