Another commentfic - mildly slashy crossover with Hellboy 2

[amedia]

ladynyks asked for "Crossover with Hellboy: The Golden Army. (Maybe) Ambrose or Glitch sparring or fighting with a realm-visiting Prince Nuada pre-series?" She had also recently posted a tantalizing piece (Silence is Golden), in which Princess Nuala visits the O.Z. and alludes to her brother Nuada's visit many years earlier, which Glitch remembers less than fondly. So I used that as a bit of a springboard.



"It's really very simple," Nuada said to the director of the palace infirmary. "You don't tell anyone that I've been visiting, and I let everyone believe that you recognized the Venenian poison on your own and formulated an antidote yourself, without any assistance from me."

An old hand at political dealings herself, the director recognized a good deal when she heard one. "Very good, Prince Nuada." She hesitated for a moment. "When you say not to tell anyone, does that include Prince Ambrose?"

Nuada fixed her with a cold stare. "Especially Prince Ambrose," he said.

She nodded and withdrew, leaving him sitting alone by Ambrose's bedside. Someone unfamiliar with the poison and its antidote would have believed there was no change, but Nuada could tell that the Queen's handsome younger brother was breathing more easily, and that a faint trace of color was returning to his pale cheeks. [Funny how when humans look normal to me, it means they're deathly ill.]

The prince had had other visitors, of course. His little nieces had been allowed in for a few minutes, and left a card on the nightstand, carefully lettered "GET WELL UNCLE BROSY" by the older one, with a crayoned picture of an epee dripping with blood by the younger one. Ambrose's sister, the Queen, was away on a diplomatic mission but sent a message that she would return as soon as decently possible; in the meantime, her husband had been stopping by nearly as often as Nuada, though more briefly.

Not for the first time, Nuada wondered who in the Queen's court had slipped up. How was it that no one had realized that Venenian courtiers earned promotions by assassinating foreign dignitaries? No one seemed to suspect that the visitor's invitation to Ambrose to join him in a practice round of fencing was anything more than flattery, or that the scratch Ambrose received when the point guard fell off was anything other than an accident. It was Nuada who had realized what was going on; without his help, Ambrose would have died and the assassin would have strolled away undetected.

The thought of Ambrose dying sent an unexpected pang through Nuada's heart, and he allowed himself another glance at the still figure on the bed. A good fighter, he privately admitted, nimble and clever, though still a trifle too cocky; Nuada made a point of kicking him whenever he let his guard down, and Ambrose did seem to be improving. Nuada was careful to show no preference, certainly no affection; he could not afford a romantic entanglement to complicate his future plans. If only he could allow himself ... he put his hand momentarily on Ambrose's, pretending even to himself to be checking the pulse.

Ambrose would never know that Nuada had visited him daily, staying longer than any of the family. But everyone had seen that it was Nuada who caught the collapsing Ambrose as the poison took effect, Nuada who had cried out for the medics and the guards, who had pointed out the assassin before he could get away, who had cradled the unconscious prince in his arms until the stretcher bearers carefully lifted him away.

He would just have to hope that Ambrose wouldn't remember.

Comments

[blackletter]

This is a fascinating xover concept. (And I've been reading more and more xovers lately. Developed a fondness for them, I have. I'll have to go read the other one now.)

I love how it starts off with Nuada seeming so sinister, making bargains about poison with the physician, then as the truth of the events reveals itself Nuada's motives become clear and sympathetic.

[ladynyks.livejournal.com]

She completely tops my meagre and pedestrian efforts at writing, as said on other sides, but if the ideas lead to this, I supppose it's enough.

Or hi, we seem to have spontaneously swapped fandoms (and I'm sure the Joe side benefits more from it). I'm not religious about slashing you-know-whos, so I took a break from that for lack of variety in pairings, and then via other routes ended up on this side. Meant to comment to some of your fic somewhere as well, but got sidetracked. Thanks for the fics in any case, and happy holidays to a passing acquaintance.

Thanks to the writer again, too. Much appreciated.

[blackletter]

Or hi, we seem to have spontaneously swapped fandoms (and I'm sure the Joe side benefits more from it). I'm not religious about slashing you-know-whos, so I took a break from that for lack of variety in pairings, and then via other routes ended up on this side.

Hello! Fancy meeting you here!

I'm a horrible fandom philanderer (philfandomer?), so I know how that goes. Even now I'm contemplating Doctor Who fic. I guess one fandom just can't satisfy me. :(

I still need to read your xover, but in any case thank you for inspiring this one.

[amedia.livejournal.com]

She completely tops my meagre and pedestrian efforts at writing

You're joking, right? I thought "Silence is Golden" brought an amazing idea to the table - the interaction of Nuada & Nuala with the OZian court both before and after the Eclipse - and did it with style and humor. The concept brings a flavor of ruthless intrigue that fits really well into the O.Z. and opens up all kinds of possible layers of interaction - brilliant!

[ladynyks.livejournal.com]

No, no, random parallel-thinking ideas and potentials I can do. It's actually painting with words for something that people would need to taste out and want to relish as a dish that I'm not practised in like some other people in this fandom (and elsewhere, in contacts last week otherwise). Like many beginners at writing there's too much dialogue reliance for one. Ruthless intrigue comes from your mind and the potentials more so, not from what is there in the actual text at that stage. ;)

Don't mind whatever I say though, I have been extremely down for months (pardon me for springing that on you and the rest of the f-list. It's why I've refrained from friending people in general. Misery isn't great to read) so it filters through to everything. I appreciated your fic also for what I suspect is its alluding to some of your previous writing in the Venenian ambassadors and poison thing. There was that one where woshername was teaching DG the etiquette and about who to give antidotes and more to, right? If Ambrose has something like this in his background, it would be even more logical for future lessons like that to exist. *thinks too much*

[amedia.livejournal.com]

This is a fascinating xover concept.

Isn't it great? I loved the Hellboy movies, but I never thought of crossing the elves' backstory with Tin Man - I'm so glad ladynyks did!

And thank you for the kind comments and insights on the story; I was so focused on Nuada trying to cover up any evidence of his feelings that it didn't occur to me how sinister that conversation would sound! It actually worked even better than I meant it to. :-)

[ladynyks.livejournal.com]

Thank madwanderer for having reminded me of Nuada's existence. ;)

[(Anonymous)]

Thank you for my morning's slashy eye-opener!

[chorale.livejournal.com]

Uh, the comment from "anonymous" was actually from me. I'm still not awake yet.

[amedia.livejournal.com]

:-) Thanks for letting me know - and thanks for the kind feedback! Much appreciated!