So @cinlat and @dimigex talked me into a month long prompt list a few months ago that got pushed back to May cause school and life suck. They chose dialogue prompts with a bonus word to include (that I often ignored).
Prompt: “It’ll only hurt a little, I think…” (Dance)
Characters: Bridae, Zaria and Nuada Techtmar and Ari Drellik
Story: Sithy Bunch
Word Count: 1367
A/N: Nuada and the twins are Tuahtal and Ma’at’s children, Ari is her son with Talos who is every bit a part of the family as any of them. Bonus points if you can tell which movie was an inspiration for this.
Eleven-year-old Zaria Techtmar paused at the end of the hallway to peak around the corner. Hugging a freezing cold bowl of ice to her chest, she scanned the connecting corridor for any sign of an adult that would want to know what they were doing. The Knights didn't bother them much, as long as they weren't being attacked, they were safe enough for the guard's satisfaction. It was the family that was the problem. Uncle Pierce might not ask what they were up to or might not stop them if they answered honestly. He was kind of cool like that. Almost anyone else would put a stop to their plans and this was one of those times where it was better to ask for forgiveness than permission.
Once she saw that the coast was clear she looked over her shoulder and nodded at her twin Bridae. Together they hurried around the corner and down the hall to the royal family's private apartment. Once inside they repeated the process two more times before finally reaching their bedroom.
Zaria set the bowl of ice down on her desk next to their other supplies: candles they had snuck out of their parent's bedroom, a lighter Bridae had nicked out of Uncle Andronikos' jacket, and a needle from Uncle Mal's infirmary. Bridae deposited her bowl of cut geldan sun apples pilfered during their kitchen raid next to the ice and grinned.
"That's everything!" She declared, turning to eye Zaria. "You ready? You're first."
"Who says I am going first?" Zaria stepped back from the table, eyeing their supplies warily. "Why not you?"
"Because you're the oldest remember?"
Zaria groaned at the reminder. Usually she liked to make sure her sister couldn't forget that she was older by a whole whopping 3 minutes but this time she wasn’t sure she wanted to be first.
Though, going second would mean actually preforming the act first... Zaria wasn't sure which was worse.
While she was debating about which was the lesser evil, Bridae had started playing with the lighter after lighting the candle. Both girls had always loved fire, but she was by far more enthralled by flames than Zaria. The slightly older twin was far more drawn to explosives and the rush it was to see something explode and know she had caused it.
Watching Bridae playing with the flame, playing a game of chance of whether she was moving her fingers fast enough to avoid being burned, Zaria had an idea.
"Rock, flimsi, scissors. Winner gets to wield the needle."
Bridae looked up from the fire and grinned impishly at her. "You know I always win rock, flimsi, scissors."
"Keep telling yourself that," Zaria said, holding her hand out in front of her. Bridae mimicked her gesture.
Together they pumped their fists while they chanted "rock, flimsi, scissors!" On the third word Bridae flatted her hand to make flimsi as Zaria kept her hand fisted tight as rock.
Clapping her hand on top of her sister's fist, Bridae let out a cheer. "Told ya! I always win!"
"Yeah, we both know you cheat." Zaria muttered, stomping over to the ice bowl and fishing out a cube. She pressed it to the back of her earlobe and shivered at the chill. "How bad do ya think this is gunna be?"
Bridae shrugged as she held the needle over the flame. “It’ll only hurt a little, I think…” She pulled the needle out of the flame and blew on it, "now pass me an apple and sit down."
Nodding, Zaria grabbed the biggest slice of apple in the bowl and sat down on the edge of one of the two desks in their room. Bridae moved to stand next to her, needle and apple in each hand. "Ready?"
"Yeah, on three?"
"On three."
Like the rock, paper, flimsi chant they counted in harmony. "One, two, three."
On the count Zaria pulled the ice away from her ear, Bridae replaced it with the apple and stabbed the needle through her earlobe.
Zaria bit down hard on her lip to keep from crying out as her ear started to bleed.
Bridae's eyes widened as her blood dripped down her hand. "Are you okay?"
"I think so..." Zaria said, her voice trembling slightly. "Is it bleeding a lot?”
"More than we thought it would." Carefully Bridae pulled the needle out of the apple and her ear and held her hands up to show her the blood.
Zaria grabbed a shirt off the floor and pressed it against her ear to soak up the blood. The cloth was white and immediately started to turn pink. After a moment she pulled it away and tilted her head toward her sister. "Is it still bleeding?"
Bridae was just moving into check when their door slid open. Both girls swung around to look at the door without thinking about trying to hide the evidence.
"Girls, mum says its-" Ari's words died on his lips as he took in the scene, frozen just in the doorway.
"What the hell?" Nuada snarled, pushing his brother out of the way to stalk into the room and grab Zaria to examine the damage. "What were you two doing?"
The twins exchanged a glance and their brothers knew them well enough to know it meant they weren't planning on talking. Ari moved from the door to get a closer look at his sister's ear. "You better tell us, before one of the parents finds out. And why is it always Zaria covered in blood?"
Bridae mumbled an answer that neither could remember before Nuada poked her in the shoulder to make her repeat herself.
"It looked easy in the movie and mum said we were too young for earrings."
The boys stared at them for a moment while they tried to process that explanation. Finally, Ari spoke.
"Let me get this straight. Mum said you couldn't get your ears pierced and your solution was to stab your sister in the ear?"
"Well it sounds stupid when you say it like that," Zaria muttered while Nuada tried to clean her ear with another item of clothing he found on their floor.
"No, it sounds stupid because it is," he said as he wiped the blood off her neck. Realizing it was a lost cause until her ear stopped bleeding and that he needed proper supplies Nuara sighed and took her by the arm. "C'mon let's get you patched up and then you two can tell mum about your grand idea."
Both twins protested as they were herded out of the room. Ari knew Bridae well enough to know that if he didn't take her along with Zaria to the medbay they'd have to hunt her down later.
"It could be worse," Ari said trying to offer some comfort. "We could make you go tell your dad what you did to your sister."
Zaria stopped and turned to look at him, her expression shocked as what color was in her cheeks drained.
Bridae gave him an identical look. "You wouldn't."
Tuathal Techtmar, former Emperor's Wrath of the Sith Empire, Commander of the Eternal Alliance and current Emperor of Zakuul was far more protective of his daughters than his sons. That wasn't to say he would let any harm come to either boy, just that he fretted over the twins when one was hurt or sick. He claimed it was because the boys had the Force to protect them, especially during their training sessions while he wiped the floor with them, but Ari suspected it was because he worried about their budding interest in fire, explosives and far too many of Uncle Andronikos' stories from his pirate days.
"It's your choice," Nuada said firmly, taking advantage of his position as the oldest of their generation to use what little authority that gave him with his siblings. "You come clean to mum or I'll call dad myself."
Bridae glared at him, obviously planning retribution before spitting out her concession. "Fine, but fix Zaria's ear first, she's bleeding all over her favorite shirt."
Nuada grinned triumphantly, turning back around to continue toward the medbay. "That's what I thought you'd say sis."
