by impracticaldemon
for Shalily Week 2019, prompts: “Status Quo” & “Safety”
fandom: Fairy Tail
pairing: (human) Shagotte x Pantherlily
words: 1300 rating: general (historical/fantasy fluff)
[will also be available on FFnet and AO3]
~-----~
Queen and Captain
“Travel papers?”
The guard at the gate looked bored, and Pantherlily saw his eyes flick toward the horizon, and the bright orange-red glow of the setting sun. The tall former soldier had picked his time with care—no matter how much unrest remained in both the City and the country as a whole, a man who’d spent the day on gate duty in the sun would be hungry and averse to creating work for himself. Hopefully, he’d be disinclined to examine their documents too closely.
“Here.”
“Mm.” The guard scanned the artistically aged parchment with a practised eye, and Lily was glad he’d followed Lady Shagotte’s advice and spilled tea on it the day before. There was something very normal about tea stains. “Your wife, is she?”
“Yes.” He managed not to hesitate, this time. Her (former) Royal Majesty had scolded him just the day before about his reluctance to claim her—on paper!—as his bride. She’d understood his dilemma, but pointed out that she’d rather be married—on paper!—to him, than dead at the hands of the victorious invaders for the sake of royal etiquette. There was anonymity, and safety, in being a wife.
The guard smirked. “Frail little thing. Try not to break her, big man.” He gave Lily a friendly poke, and Lily tried not to scowl. He could tell he failed by the way the other man’s eyes narrowed. Then again, it would have been suspicious if he’d been happy with the comment. Or so he hoped. Acting wasn’t Lily’s strong point.
“…Yeah.” He shuffled his feet, desperately trying to look more like a big labourer than the former captain of the Queen’s Elite Corps. The dirt on his hands and face was authentic enough, as was the… odour… Lady Shagotte had insisted on rubbing into the soles of his boots.
[READ MORE BELOW]
There was a long pause while the guard made a show of rereading the documents. Pantherlily was just starting to get genuinely worried when the man stepped to one side with a shrug and a nod.
“Don’t cause any trouble. We’ll be keeping an eye on you—got it?”
“Got it.” Pantherlily gestured his ‘wife’ over, and tried to look natural about expecting her to follow him through the gates. It was killing him not to carry all her things for her, but she’d insisted it would look strange if he did. With an effort, he quelled the rage in his heart at having to watch her duck her head submissively to the annoying gate guard. Her life was more important than her dignity, as she kept telling him.
“Lily…”
A soft voice recalled him to his surroundings, and he felt heat suffuse his cheeks. Until a few days ago she’d only ever called him ‘Captain’ or ‘Captain Pantherlily’. Even if it was just for the sake of their disguise, he found it embarrassing to hear his adored Queen use his unadorned name, and a diminutive at that. Embarrassing and ridiculously charming—as if he didn’t love her enough already.
“Yes, My Qu—um, I mean, my… my dear?”
There was a gurgle of laughter from beside him. Two bright eyes peered up at him from between the wide brim of an unfashionable travel hat, and a wide scarf.
“You sound so—so unconvincing, Captain!” Then she clapped her slender hands over her mouth at her faux pas and glanced around nervously.
“Sorry,” muttered Pantherlily, also casting a wary eye over the people around them. As far as he could tell, nobody was paying them special attention except to the extent of being cautious of his size. He made an effort to slow his pace and drag his feet a little.
Lady Shagotte cleared her throat. “I’m sure it’s fine, dear. No need to look so uncomfortable just because we’re finally in the big city.”
“As you say, Sh-Shagotte.” Her name wasn’t a problem in and of itself, since many girls had been named after her while she was still a child, and even after she’d taken the throne following her parents’ tragic death. But to use such a familiar form of address—! It simultaneously lacerated Pantherlily’s sensibilities, and made heat rise to his cheeks. He was glad his skin was too dark to show any but the deepest blushes.
~-----~
They took a room at a moderately respectable inn, grateful for the chance to wash, even superficially. Pantherlily had already chosen the place as a short-term refuge during the early part of the one-sided war. Lady Shagotte’s most devious advisor—and where was that irritating man now?—had arranged things so that Pantherlily would be known as a friend of a friend when he arrived. It was fortunate that the Royal Palace was located in a town over a hundred miles from the City, though. Otherwise, it would have been too great a risk for him to travel with the Queen, even in disguise.
“You’re frowning again, Lily,” murmured Lady Shagotte, setting a cup of tea in front of him. She’d insisted on learning to make and serve ‘commoner’s tea’.
“My lady—”
“Pantherlily. You promised to try harder. We’ll never be convincing in public if we don’t practice in private!”
Lily took a sip of tea. It was an effort to drink the bitter, ill-steeped brew, but she had made it for him, and he bore it stoically. Besides, it had improved, and now resembled tea more than ditch-water.
“…I beg your pardon, my—I mean—Shagotte.”
With her hat and gauzy scarf discarded—the door had been firmly locked—Shagotte looked much more herself again. She was smiling, but her eyes were tired and sad, and Lily longed to hold her and—
“Well, I suppose I am your Shagotte at the moment.”
“Ah—er.” Her words had been light, but it had been impossible—even for him—to miss the hint of underlying sincerity, or maybe hopefulness.
They stared at each other, expressions mirroring the same rush of longing, uncertainty, and deep loneliness. Old habits and rigid principles vied with human need for love and consolation.
Shagotte cleared her throat and looked down, eyes once more veiled by long, near-white lashes. “Captain, I—”
Her words were abruptly muffled as Lily pulled her across the short distance into his lap, and pressed her tightly against his solid chest. Large, capable hands stroked her back, and caressed her damp, tangled hair. He was very strong, but she was the most precious being in the world to him, and his touch communicated both love and desire—he would never hurt her, even by accident. The gate guard had risked his life by implying otherwise.
“My Queen… Let’s just pretend… for a while…” He pressed his lips to her forehead, marvelling at how warm and supple she was, despite the superficial frailty that had caused such anxiety to her court officials. They had not understood her brilliance and strength, and their fear had led to disaster.
“…Mmm… Lily…” Shagotte leaned away from him a little, just enough so that she could glimpse his face. “Let’s—let’s stop pretending for a while. Shall I tell you how I really feel about you?”
“No—I don’t know if I could go back to… how it must be… if you did that.”
In response, Shagotte wrapped her arms around Lily’s neck, and pulled his face down to hers. Her beautiful eyes were brighter than ever before.
“Then I’ll show you, dear captain, dear Lily, so that you’ll never forget.” She whispered the words against his lips, before kissing him as passionately as innocence and inexperience would allow.
“My Queen…” Minutes passed, and when they finally needed air, Lily corrected himself, murmuring the words into her ear, while his sword-worn hands explored her soft skin: “Shagotte, my dearest, only love…”
[END]
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~ Imp
He immediately saw, that she was happy. How could you not see it? A broad grin graced her lips, her eyes shone with unconcealed rapture, her whole face beaming, and even the aura he could truly feel of her was nothing but excitement.
Pantherlily was glad that he had suggested going into a butterfly house and looking at the colorful butterflies, perhaps even feeling them close up. He had made her put on an orange top. It was not her favorite color, but he knew butterflies were magically attracted to these colors.
Of course he could have suggested pink, purple or red to her, but ... he wanted to see her in something other than ther usual colors. He chuckled softly. He could not even feel guilty, when he saw her excitement as the first animal settled on her shoulders.
She hardly dared breathe, let alone move. Still, he carefully took his camera out to take pictures of her because he was sure she wanted a lasting memory of it.
Shagotte beamed at him as if she were the sun herself and his heart was melting.
Sorry for the inactivity ç__ç really
To make up for it I want to share a “old” drawing.
"White" and "Black" can love deeply each other. I want only to give a message of peace, tollerance and love. In particular after bad news from USA about the people that were dead at the hands of the police.
Happy looks so genuinely touched that Natsu wants his help
.
Gajeel is getting his fucking cat whether the cat likes it or not
.
Lucy, please, use the last of your magic power to do that insane thing you do sometimes where you just summon EVERYONE, cause that'd be REALLY FUCKING HELPFUL RIGHT ABOUT NOW
.
"Throwing stones... Is... Dangerous..."
"But she's a Fallen!"
That isn't an excuse. Throwing stones is fucking dangerous.
.
Y'know what? At least Shagotte told the truth at some point. Took her way too fucking long, but at least she did it eventually. She only did it because she thought they were gonna die, but... She did it. It wasn't ENTIRELY her fault either, she didn't start this lie.
She did say things like "Don't hate me" while telling them she'd lied to them their entire lives though, which does kinda lessen how forgiving I'm willing to be
.
"Hey daughter, I know we just met, but just fUCKING KILL ME"
.
Y'know what, if I were Carla I wouldn't have not killed her because I wanted to tell that she can't give up yet and be inspiring, I'd have not killed her cause she doesn't deserve to die. Not in a "no one deserves death" way, in a "you don't deserve such an easy way out" way.
.
............. If Shagotte was thought to be God, and Panther Lily is the earliest "Fallen" we know of, was he their Satan?
.
Speaking of Lily, HE'S SO PURE AND I LOVE HIM. HE WAS BANISHED FOR SAVING A LIFE. IMAGINE THAT. IMAGINE BEING BANISHED FROM YOUR COUNTRY BECAUSE YOU SAVED A KID.
AND THEN BUSTING THE FUCK BACK IN YEARS LATER TO SAVE THE QUEEN AND IMMEDIATELY ROAST HER BEFORE GOING BACK TO BEING THE PUREST LITTLE PUFFBALL
.
The pushing is all well and good, but couldn't Gray be around the other side trying to destroy the chain? Not saying it would work, just saying that the last time he was told his ice couldn't break something (the key) it was total bullshit. Also, couldn't the Dragon Slayers be pushing with their physical strength and hitting the Lacrima with their magic?
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The fucking face on the Exceed that saved Erza, that's so fucking funny
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MYSTOGAN, AYYYY, MY BITCH
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IT WAS MYSTOGAN THAT LILY SAVED??? HOW THE FUCK DID I FORGET THAT
At least I remembered the whole Prince thing
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WHOMST'D'VE THE FUCK THINKS THEY CAN HURT MY BABY???? KNIGHTWALKER, I WILL BEST YOUR ASS
And I swear to gods that the man looks like the human decriptions of Pantherlily from any Fairy Tail modern day AU fanfic. An older man who's tall, bald, and with a white goatee. It's even wilder that my co worker is an older woman with white hair.
