a broken crown: 1/2; the gift of the machine - 1456 words

Caspian shoved another spoonful of yogurt into his mouth. Silence had wrapped its frosted, rigid fingers around everything in the ship only a few days prior, and it felt deafening, despite its absence. The vessel never went completely soundless, unless something was seriously wrong. Various mechanical components clicked quietly against each other, their comrades buzzing away in that very silence underneath everything else. The eternal scraped the small container's edges with his spoon, creating some sound in the void of endless, mechanical hum. He put the spoon back into his mouth, and puckered. The dairy had probably seen better days. Even for a banana flavored mess, it tasted slightly too tangy. Oh well.

A sudden knock made the eternal lose his nonexistent focus, as his whole body jerked from surprise. Proceeding to juggle the mostly empty cup of yogurt, it took him a bit to finally get his claws on it steadily. He exhaled through his nose, and placed the cup onto the surface next to him, puckering again.

"Glass of water," he commanded the ship's interface harshly and flatly. Steve's silent treatment every time this time of year irritated him, but he couldn't force her to speak. A turquoise glass filled with clean water rose from a circular hole on the platform next to him. With only a small flick of his wrist, Caspian molded the liquid under his command, bringing it to his hands. He rinsed them off, and returned the dirtied water to its vessel.

"Show the door," the eternal's stern, emotionless orders continued. He threw his feet up onto a dashboard before him, crossing them over one another. Large screens, half as tall as an average room was high, and slightly wider than their height, covering practically his whole vision, came to life after a second or two of static. Caspian shook his hands to dry them absent-mindedly, and turned his gaze to one of the screens. His eyes widened in horror, as his heart skipped a beat. He stood up in an instant, and clenched his hands into fists. The eternal leaned on the dashboard in front of him. He inhaled deeply, and gnashed his teeth.

"STEVE," for the first time in days, he spoke the name he had given to the AI, "where the FUCK did you PARK THE SHIP?"

The giggle he got as a response didn't please him.

 

Muffled shouting from behind the door made Kiri take a step back. Her face was painted with suspicion, and diluted remorse. Bryan scoffed behind her.

"I told you this was a bad idea," the prince stated. The elf wasn't going to swallow that, and shushed him sternly. Shikun practically bounced impatiently in place.

"Who is Mr. Caspian talking to?" She wondered, turning to Kiri and Bryan. The man only shrugged, with his hands in his coat's pockets, but Kiri had some idea who it might be.

"Steve," she noted. Bryan turned his narrowed eyes to her.

"Who?"

"You'll see," she reassured. The prince let out another, more quiet scoff, but didn't continue the discussion further. He eyed the long, narrow alleyway they had found themselves in, snow just trickling down from above. The whole place was shady, and just emanated something malicious. This couldn't possibly be the right address - but he had to admit: whoever was shouting, sounded like the only Athos he knew.

 

"...AND I SPECIFICALLY-"

"Calm down, Sir, please," the always friendly and warm voice of Steve echoed, trying to pacify the Athos. Caspian breathed deeply in his anger once, then twice, and lowered his raised arms, as he finally exhaled through his mouth with his eyes closed. He could hear Steve smiling.

"Don't worry, no one else will find the door. I gave them the address."

"WHY," Caspian pleaded, but got no response. They both knew why. It was so painfully obvious, it would've been hilarious, if the eternal would've taken it better.

A sudden sound made him nearly jump. Caspian turned to the door, as someone knocked a second time. The pacing of the three knocks was shorter than before, their sound impatient, and almost violent. The person clearly wasn't the same as before. Or they were in a real hurry.

 

"Bryan! Don't rush him," Kiri judged the prince's rushed actions.

"I'm sorry, Kiri, but I'm freezing," he replied as an argument, rubbing his arms in a desperate attempt to not freeze to death.

"Shikun can warm Mr. Bryan," Shikun excitedly offered her help, and hopped to the man, wrapping her small, muscular arms around his waist. Bryan's eyes turned to the elf in a voiceless cry for help, as he didn't want to push the Draconis away. Kiri snorted. This was his mess, not hers.

 

Caspian scratched the back of his neck with his claws, as he watched the door with a knot of anxiety in his stomach. He wanted to say something, but couldn't come up with anything.

"Consider it as a present, Sir," Steve chimed in between his doubt and dread, "and it's not polite to reject one's gift, now is it?"

Caspian glanced at a random spot on the ceiling, and then the door.

 

The dull red colored door was thrown open. Its sudden movement, and bright light flooding into the dark alley, surprised the three visitors, shivering in the cold. Kiri flinched. What stared back at them was something she didn't recall ever seeing before. The expression on Caspian's face was stone-cold, his eyes wide and slit pupils only thin lines. She had seen him in distress and angry, but... not like this. It didn't help that he just stood there, unmoving, only his eyes darting erratically between the intruders. He didn't even blink. Bryan inched himself behind the elf, Shikun still determinedly embracing him for warmth.

Caspian noticed the prince's discomfort, and finally blinked, then shook his head.

"Ah, sorry," he apologized, pinching his crinkled nose bridge between his fingers with eyes closed. He turned his covered eyes away.

"I'm just... used to being angry this time of year," he confessed, and turned back to the trio, still outside. Kiri gave him a small smile.

"Well, no need to be anymore. Could you let us in, please? It's," the elf glanced at Bryan, and continued, "cold here."

The prince turned his narrowed eyes to Kiri, as if she had stabbed him between the shoulder blades. Shikun suddenly gasped, letting go of Bryan, and rushing to the other side of Kiri.

"I brought roast!" The Draconis exclaimed, holding a huge, roasted pig above her head. Her grin was as wide as they come. Both Kiri and Bryan watched Shikun with eyes widened in terror. She didn't have that thing with her the whole time, or at least neither of them could notice. Where did she get it from? Where was it?

Caspian swallowed, as he could feel his face go pale.

"I, uh..." Words didn't quite find their way out of his mouth. He sighed.

"Shikun, I- I'm sorry, but I don't eat meat," he finally confessed, his voice cut with a sadness of betrayal. The small cook's ears drooped, as she lowered the roast. Guilt grasped at Caspian's heart from the inside. Suddenly, a sharp hiss interrupted the awkward and guilt-ridden exchange of words from within the ship. Caspian turned, and the other three tried their best to peek from behind him.

 

In the middle of the room, a large, circular dais rose from the floor. It clunked into place, and objects started to rise from below its surface the same way. Shikun held her breath as she started to see glimpses of the items - knives, turners, peelers, pots, pans, ingredients...

"No need to worry," Steve's warm voice echoed inside the ship, and bled into the alleyway, "I have all you require."

Shikun's eyed sparkled from pure zeal. She darted inside, asking no questions, and not taking no for an answer. Squealing, the Draconis ran laps around the platform, that would now serve as a table. Steve laughed. Caspian lifted his eyes to the ceiling, shock painting his face. He had never heard her laugh before.

Bryan rushed inside after the small cook, desperate to warm up his frozen bones. Kiri poked Caspian's side with her elbow, pulling the Athos back to this world.

"So," she started,"why don't you eat meat, then?"

Caspian shrugged with an unconcerned expression.

"It became so hard to know if I was eating human or not, so I thought I'd be sure."

Kiri's eyes widened in horror as her terrified gaze lowered to the doorstep. She didn't question it, and stepped inside. She didn't really want to know more, after all. The eternal followed her example, and the door closed after him by itself.