a broken crown: 2/2; twilight above all - 2276 words

Bryan carefully hung up his jacket onto a blunt, metal hook, right next to Kiri's deep green coat. He took a cautious step back, as if he was going to break something if he touched it wrong, somehow. Kiri had told him to be careful in the space Caspian called home - this probably wasn't what she meant, but better be safe than sorry.

"Steve," Caspian's voice interrupted the prince's worryings.

"Make sure you don't lose anyone's clothes. I don't want to go fishing for a jacket in a Venetian canal during the Renaissance again."

"You do realize we are time locked, Sir?" Steve inquired in a mordant tone.

"No we're not, and you know that as well," Caspian pointed out, poking his finger around in the air randomly, "just because it's finicky, doesn't mean it's not there."

 

Ah, so that was Steve. It didn't make much sense, but it wasn't the weirdest thing the prince had heard from the Athos. He glanced at his sand-colored jacket longingly. Bryan hoped that the eternal and his strange friend were only joking. He didn't want to walk back anywhere without proper clothing. Wait. The prince turned to Caspian.

"Has that actually happened?" He asked with an amused smile. The Athos took a moment to ponder, and tapped his cheek with his finger. Then he shrugged.

"I honestly have no idea, but I wouldn't be surprised if-"

"Yes, it has happened twice - nearly thrice," Steve interrupted Caspian rudely, as was her habit when she was out to annoy the eternal. Bryan's gaze narrowed. He didn't really know what to make of such an answer. He inhaled deeply, and exhaled through his mouth, trying to push the image of a soaking wet man in a blizzard to the side in his mind. Placing his foot on the lowest, curved stair, he lifted his eyes from the partially cramped space, lower than the rest of the room.

 

The ship's main room and lobby opened before him. It was full of screens, dashboards, buttons, and levers, sprinkled around the various solid table-like protrusions, daises, and panels. More screens made a circle on the ceiling, seemingly only tucked away for later use. Around them, hundreds of small, softly twinkling lights against a black surface created an illusion of a night sky. The prince blinked as he tried to make sense of what was above him. No, it wasn't a dark fabric and lights - above the screens, there was no ceiling, but cosmic fog, miniature stars going in and out of existence within it. There was no way of knowing if there even was a ceiling behind them. Four metal poles stood on the perimeter of the room, almost hugging the walls. They reached up, until they seemed to disappear into the stars and the fog. Who knew how long they went on.

 

Bryan took the last steps up, and his eyes ran on the interior. The space was circular, at least somewhat. It had been separated into sections with railing, each furnished like a different room in a house. In the middle, Shikun had spread the cookware and ingredients onto the dais Steve had provided her, the Draconis clearly immersed into the cooking process. Perhaps that was the sole reason why she didn't seem fazed at all by the space around her. The solid table's surface had bright red spots, that served as hotplates for the various pots and pans. On the left of him, Bryan could see a corridor, that split into two opposite ways. Mirrored on the right, stood a similar door frame to a corridor.

 

Ungracefully the prince stumbled to Kiri, and took a seat next to her, as a second stool of solid metal rose from the floor for him. The elf let out a giggle, as she watched the man's awe.

"It's bigger on the inside," Bryan finally remarked. Caspian's brow raised for a moment in surprise, as he glanced at him.

"Huh. So that's how it feels," he muttered under his breath, and continued his search for something from the pile of various things and items, tucked away into a room on the northern wall.

 

Bryan turned to Kiri, and opened his mouth, but held his tongue as he saw what the elf had in front of her.

"What are you doing?" He asked with a puzzled expression framing his face. Kiri spun the pen in her hand, and chuckled, lifting her eyes from the pile of papers in front of her.

"I have no idea. Filling forms was not what I thought I'd do today."

Suddenly, a breeze blew the papers off the table, and both Bryan and Kiri shielded their faces with their forearms. A small fan receded quickly back into the wall.

"Steve!" Caspian exclaimed at the Artificial Interface for its antics.

"You can't make people fill papers when they visit, Sir," she replied to her spoken name, "Do you even know how people spend time together?"

Caspian shrugged, and answered:

"No."

 

Discussions bled into another, and words followed their predecessors like blind mice. It was clear that Caspian wasn't used to people in his home, let alone this many. As time went on, he had to look for words to say when speaking, unless the recipient was Steve. Even with Kiri, he became uncertain. Shy like a child.

His home was a sacred space for the eternal. He had tainted it once before with his mistakes, and he didn't want to make those same mistakes again. It took so long to get the stains in the air mostly off, that new spills would never fade. Even bringing Kiri here the first time was just a shock for them both. He still had heartburn trying to digest it.

 

Kiri got up from the table, her fork chinking against the emptied plate.

"It's really getting late. We should get going, if we want to get anywhere before morning," she stated, noting Caspian's regressing behavior with a nod into his direction. While the Athos was relieved hearing the news, he perked up instantly in excitement.

"You don't have to walk," he said through a bright grin, and sprung up from the stool. He beelined to the nearest dashboard, and was just about to push a button, as a metal cover rolled over it, making him unable to operate it.

"Steve," he spoke the interface's name in a commanding, annoyed tone.

"I can't let you touch anything, Sir. You know what happened last time," she replied. Caspian groaned, and twirled around once.

"Come ooon, it was just a crocodile!"

"An alligator, Sir, and a big one at that," Steve stated firmly. The Athos sighed.

"Fine," he accepted his defeat, and walked to the metal pole, that stood beside the western wall of the ship. He crossed his arms, and leaned against it with his shoulder.

"So where'd you like to go?" He asked the three collectively. They looked at each other, then again the eternal. Bryan cleared his throat.

"Uh, Soujel? I think it's our best bet," he reasoned the decision without knowing where it would lead. The aircity probably had the best connections for further travel. Caspian smiled, and hit the metal pole twice with the side of his fist. After approximately four seconds of silence, Steve's groan echoed in the lobby.

"Sir, you can't just promise that. You know it's not that simpl-" Caspian interrupted her preaching with another two hits on the metal pole. He didn't care. Just do it.

 

The Athos lifted his gaze upward, as a sharp hum filled the space. An excited smile rose to his lips, as he straightened himself, and turned to Kiri, Bryan, and Shikun.

"Hold on to something," he advised, and winked playfully. Bryan turned his panicked gaze to Kiri. The elf shook her head. She was just as clueless as he was. Shikun observed their reactions. Better hurry.

As the room started to tremble, Kiri darted to another metal pole, close to the eastern wall. Shikun chose a railing next to a dashboard, and Bryan sat back down, trying to brace for whatever the deranged eternal had in mind.

The foreboding trembles turned into violent shakes, as the hum changed to a sharp, almost painful whir. It felt like something was throwing the ship around like a baseball, as if gravity itself couldn't make up its mind, and was changing erratically in bursts. As Kiri held onto the pole for her dear life, she got a glance of Caspian in the mess - well, it wasn't a mess, really. The only things that flew around, were her, Shikun, and Bryan, and anything they had brought with them. Anything that was already there when they arrived, sat neatly on their surfaces, as if they were glued on. Caspian held onto his metal pole with one hand, arm straightened, completely unfazed by the ruckus, as he inspected his turquoise claws on his free hand. For a moment his eyes lifted to the elf from under his brows, and he flashed a smile she couldn't quite understand.

 

People of various races and species passed an apartment building on their way to their chores and pursuits. The building was as ordinary as they come, bright-colored doors standing proudly next to each other with enough space between. Black railings on both sides, and a few-stepped stairs in front of them gave each a piece of well-earned feel of individuality.

One of the door was thrown open, as Caspian ran out, holding Shikun with straightened arms in front of him. He slid to a hasty halt, and placed the Draconis down carefully, before backing away a few quick steps. Shikun giggled.

"I'm fine," she reassured the Athos, ending the statement with a burp. Caspian's nose bridge crinkled, as he set his hands onto his hips. He tried to determine the cook's words' plausibility, but not surprisingly, couldn't really make much sense of her. As if it wasn't enough that his hearing was sharper than he'd like it to, his other senses followed close behind. Vomit wasn't exactly one of the seasonal fragrances he'd like to have in his ship.

Bryan stumbled out the door and down the steps, Kiri following close behind just as ungracefully, tightly holding three jackets under her arm. She took a firm grip from the railing with her free hand, and leaned on it for a moment to get her vision to stop spinning. She watched the prince leaning onto his knees a bit further away from her, seemingly not having it much better. Kiri slowly walked over to him, and handed him his sand-colored jacket. She pulled Shikun's small coat from under her arm, and threw it at her and Caspian's direction. As the wind had other plans for the item of clothing, Caspian caught it with his tail - only to just plop it over Shikun's face. She didn't mind, and proceeded to put the coat on while giggling softly.

 

Fully dressed for the harsh cold, Kiri backed up from the door she had just came out from. She inspected the building, and its other doors with a narrowed gaze. She turned to Caspian.

"This isn't where we walked to," she noted with astonishment, and a scrape of suspicion in her voice. The Athos chuckled.

"That's kinda the idea," he spoke as he walked over to the elf, hands in his pockets, "a door is a door, after all." His smile was wide and warm, as he watched her reaction. Kiri crossed her arms, and scoffed playfully.

"You could've at least told us that we can get back like this. Or you could've been somewhere that isn't in the middle of nowhere," she stated with a smidge of disappointment framing her tone. Caspian rolled his eyes.

"It's a miracle it even worked as well as it did. We could've ended into a sunken ship, or worse," the Athos painted a picture of one of the worst scenarios into the elf's mind. Her gaze ran on the busy street behind him, as she took it in. She lifted her eyes back to the eternal.

"But why-"

Caspian replied with an interruption, as he raised his hand to silence Kiri.

"I'm not going to open that bag of worms right now," he stated flatly, clearly knowing what she was about to ask. He sighed.

"You got what you wanted," the eternal expressed his impatience for the situation, and passed the elf with a sidestep. He ended up stopping after a few steps, as he heard her turn around after him. He exhaled through his nose as a sigh.

"I'm not mad at you," Caspian said softly, "just tired."

 

Kiri watched as the Athos walked away, and disappeared behind the door they had exited. Wasn't there anything that didn't upset this man? She let out a huff, cut with anger and disappointment, towards both the Athos, and herself. Bryan noticed her underlying sadness, and walked over to her.

"Hey," he comforted her softly, and pulled her hands into his, "give him time."

Kiri lifted her eyes to the prince, and scoffed.

"Oh, so you're an expert now?" She inquired with a lighthearted tone. Obviously, he wasn't - but it was clear that Caspian did need time to digest and mull over things, today included. If he really was thousands of years old, it only made sense, too.

 

Shikun stomped her feet impatiently.

"No time for love-hugs, the port is going to close soon!" She shouted from further away, as she had taken a head start on the leaving part. Bryan cursed under his breath, and pulled Kiri after him into a fast-paced jog.