oh. well, we can't use that one, then. too unbelievable
i'm back at my original plan live as a witch of the wilds and communicate in strange symbols and cryptic riddles only there's less risk of saying something stupid that way
( she calls him pretty fairly regularly, and paul still manages to blush, every single time. )
I'll fetch your ingredients for brews, and make sure to chase anyone you don't like off the property. And I'll hand feed you pixie sticks and gummy bears nightly, and rub your back when they give you a stomach ache. And offer my kisses as often as you'll have them. And build Sir Kettlewing his own bassinet. And do whatever you want. And say I love you every day. And
I don't know. Find a cat for you to adopt. Name it Daisy-treides.
that sounds like a good life. a happy one. i'm lucky to have such a dutiful husband just so you know, in case i don't say it enough i couldn't have asked for anyone better 🐹🐭 (that's an artistic interpretation of us in our hut) sir kettlewing told me he's grateful you're his father, too
we're going to need plenty of firewood for the hearth. i'll have to add that to your duties i've read that it's much easier to chop with your shirt off. it's a very trusted scientific method
( the one benefit of sick delirium means she's too exhausted to battle her filter for long — impossible to embarrass herself in the process of embarrassing paul, even if remembering glinda asking if she's in the family way makes her want to huddle under the blankets. so: )
you know, i was thinking paw atreides for a cat daisy is a nice name. too pretty to waste on just a pet maybe you should save it for something special
Sir Kettlewing told me he couldn't hope for a better mother. In between his wailing, of course. 🐭💙🐹
( ft. a selfie of paul posed with kettlewing wailing into his neck. his shirt is stained. )
Well, I'm all about making this easier. It's a done deal.
( it's not difficult for him to connect the lines between glinda's (extremely unhelpful!) comments, and alina bringing this up now. he hasn't given up on their dream of family, despite how much he's failed in this endeavor — so he acts like he isn't bothered she isn't in the family way, same as her. he'll keep trying, when the world stops throwing cruelty at their feet. )
Should we name them all after plant life? Our green paradise. Lady Paw Atreides will need many little supervisors, I imagine. We'll have a full house. Full hut.
( instantly saved and changed to her wallpaper — and if alina smiles doofily back at the screen, eyes feverishly bright, that's her business. )
my favorite boys in the known universe. and the cutest, if i say so myself. that stain looks messy, by the way. you should take it off so i can wash it for you. immediately, probably. you know. so it doesn't set
( haha jk unless. )
oh, many, is it? just how many are you trying to plant? sounds like you'll be hard ( pun meant ) at work, mouse duke do you have a favorite? plant, i mean. it feels strange that i've never asked
And walk home shirtless? Alina, I only want to be oogled by you.
( most people who would see him shirtless would probably try to feed him anyway, thus delaying his time in getting back to alina. unacceptable !!! )
I don't know. I didn't think about the number. Maybe two? Maybe three? I'll take as many as I can convince you to give me. Let me think. ( putting way too much thought into it part 2 ) I really like cotton. Is that a boring answer? It's one of the things that grows on Arrakis, something a Planetologist managed to cultivate during Arrakis' ecological transformation. I like incense bush too, for the scent. I also like Well, it's a fruit, but I like grape vines. Fine wines are an important export from Caladan, where I'm originally from. I guess they're very familiar, to me. Do you have a favorite plant? I know about sunflowers.
ideally, you would be taking it off here, so i can ogle you adequately have pity. i hate being so bedridden and bored. i think i might be dying, actually. fulfill my final wish.
( not to be dramatic, but also to be suitably dramatic. it's a strange feeling, regardless, like — trying to slough off the familiar feeling of sleep, the undercurrent of chronic illness. apparently, she'd taken grisha vitality for granted. )
oh, so just a small army of mice, then. i don't think we can name a child cotton, or grape, or incense bush. but it helps me know what to plant. 🌻 you and alia built it. you should both have something of your own in the garden. something familiar. something like home.
treasonous of a sun summoner to say, i suppose, but i've always liked irises best. the blue ones. or wildflowers. keramzin — where i grew up — had an entire meadow filled with them. i used to hide it in for hours until ana kuya dragged me inside. it was nice to pretend i could run away, for awhile.
In that case, I'll happily be your garden, semechko. I know. I think I saw her try to bathe with lily pads, once. She's so gross. Maybe we could build a pond in the garden? Give her new friends. Her old ones are in hibernation.
You learn to love the things no one else cares about, when no one cares about you. I think it's a perfect name. Iris was the goddess of the rainbow, too. She brought water from the seas to the clouds so it could always rain, and helped Leto birth her twins.
(I've been reading my husband's books so we can talk about them. Do you think he'll be impressed?)
It means you've been slacking in learning your Ravkan. Only one of us is a dedicated student, I see. "Little seed". You help me grow and flourish.
I did. Gods are as dramatic as Ravkan Saints, it turns out. Do you want to hear what else I learned? I took notes, in case you want to test me. Though I'm not sure you can handle being even more impressed.
I'd know more if I wasn't so distracted by my beautiful nastavnik.
It's interesting, isn't it? The Romans where such a militant and honor-bound group, yet religion became as important to them as oaths and duty. Soldiers first, but a spiritual people as a close second. Of course I do, I can handle it. What else did you learn?
Perhaps you'd have better incentive to focus if your hard work was rewarded. 🤔
The drüskelle are the same. Sworn to their God and their duty in the same breath. But I think you'd find their so-called honor bound oaths less honorable than your Roman Empire. Mm. Well, I learned Leto's children were Apollo and Artemis. The sun, and the moon huntress on her stag. It's a little funny, don't you think?
If you can write me one entire sentence in Ravkan, I'll let you choose.
I can tell you what little I've learned. Any Fjerdan history paints them as righteous. They worship many gods, but Djel is a father to them. He's the Wellspring, connecting the world through His water.
The first of their witch hunters believe Djel anointed them to serve his will, and destroy all offenses to the world Djel created. They honor their dead on pyres so they can join Djel in the afterlife, but Grisha aren't considered people among Fjerdans. And so we're buried in shallow graves in their country, and given no rites.
( the rest is — well. her teasing certainty dampens to shyness, suddenly. )
In a poetic way, I think. You don't agree?
Edited (dont kill me i didnt realize how UGLY and hard to read my formatting was on my phone) 2025-01-22 05:00 (UTC)
( i love you, sweet girl. will you marry me? he's learned the important parts. )
They wouldn't consider you a person? You know, we have tools and tests for questioning the humanity of a person. I have a feeling they aren't so thorough.
Well. My father was Leto, and you are the sun and stag. It does feel circular, but then, I always knew you and I were made for each other, as siblings and more. If we two are twins, I see you as Apollo, and me your Artemis. I think it's powerful, and far better than the stories of my ancestors. Have you read the tale of Agamemnon?
Don't tell me you hit your head and forgot we're already married, umnitsa. That means "good, clever boy" before you ask. What will you choose for your reward?
( she is, genuinely, a little proud — which is a good antidote against the impulse to upheave from withdrawal and the question of grisha humanity, both. )
You won't find many countries that consider Grisha people. To Ravka, we're weapons. To Fjerda, we're abominations. To my mother's country, we're bodies for their experiments. Only Novyi Zem considers us equal. Only the Zemeni treat our power as something pure, something our own.
Why would your world need a test, anyway? Isn't EVERYONE human? Even the ones who pretend otherwise.
( aleksander, especially, but it's been easier to replace the sourness of his name on her tongue with a sweeter life, here. )
Always? You couldn't have always known. You were preoccupied with not getting yourself stabbed. But no, I haven't had the chance to. I could add it to my assignments, Professor Atreides.
You should marry me again, I think. You should marry me once a week. Can I tell you in person?
What is the name of your mother's country? And — would you go to Novyi Zem? If you could?
Long before my lifetime, there was a great uprising of machines who were programmed to do the thinking for humans. To make a really long story short, the Jihad was enacted to exterminate all thinking technology and robots, though the revolt left a lot of deep scar tissue on humanity, who basically adopted this hard anti-computer and machine aspect of the shared religion. So, inheritors of great power get tested to make sure they're still human, and not a robot. I was tested. It was awful, actually.
You act like the stabbing wasn't what initially endeared you to me. It's not a very good story, but Agamemnon is the son of Atreus, which is where our last name comes from.
Wouldn't the novelty wear off for you after the third week? You could, I suppose, even if it's rude manners to keep your wife in suspense.
Shu Han. The other country Ravka is perpetually at war with. It's a homeland ruled by women, for once. I've been to Novyi Zem before, for a time. But I still had to hide. I might be Grisha, but I'm not Well, I'm not Grisha to the others. Not in the same way. Power tends to separate you. And men who would use your power to elevate you — and themselves — above all others don't help matters.
That sounds more like an excuse to use history to punish anyone they fear. They do that for Grisha, too. Test children for power and potential, and then send them away. You're very human to me, Paul Atreides. For what it's worth. I don't need a test to determine that.
Your name comes from an ancient story, and you had the nerve to say mine was better?
No, it wouldn't. I'm just too awkward to put it into words.
You know, sometimes it's hard to remember you're held at this high standard of power, a Grisha and a mighty one at that. A saint. You're just Alina to me. Is it sacrilegious to be married to a saint of a different denomination? Maybe you should convert me.
( you're very human to me, paul atreides. he smiles at his phone. )
Thank you, Alina Atreides. You're human to me, too. Manipulations like that are not above the Bene Gesserit. Plans within plans, always. I probably shouldn't speak of it — somehow my mother will find out and scold me.
Read the story, then decide if it's a good namesake. The other son of Atreus is Menelaus, and that story is even worse.
You'll have to plan each one, then. I'm no good with things like that. It's only me, Paul. Does it help if I promise not to laugh?
You're the only one who lets me forget it. And I'd dare say I've converted you already. Several times over. I think you fall under my dominion, anyway, as the patron saint of orphans and those with undiscovered gifts. 😉
Well, I won't be the one to tattle on you. The Apparat gave me many of my titles. Ravka's so-called "spiritual advisor". He scurries around like a rat. Not a cute one, obviously. One who has fleas, and wants to infect everyone else with his delusions.
I don't need to read it first. I'm not going to change my mind. You gave me the name, therefore it's the better one. But I'll still read it. So I can learn about your (our?) family.
I will plan our weddings. A thousand of them. But then you aren't allowed to complain about any theming I devolve to. I only thought well, maybe I could taste you, again. If you felt like it. I know you aren't feeling well, so I can wait.
Is that so? ( paul when he's under alina's dominion. giggling, kicking his feet. ) What prayers does a loyal follower offer to their favored Ravkan saint?
Ah, I know that type, too. The Bene Gesserit is almost if you imagine a reigning government as having another council behind them pulling their strings, quietly, in the shadows. I don't remember if I've ever told you this, but I was never technically meant to be born. My mother was meant only to have daughters, but she opted to have me, because my father wanted a son. A romantic rebellion of hers. To make a long story short, I inherited much power through the Bene Gesserit's breeding program that I wasn't supposed to. They made me how and why and what I am, the accidental messiah of a prophecy they invented thousands of years ago. The Reverend Mother tested me with a poisoned needle at my throat and my hand in a box that inflicted excruciating, burning pain. The test is meant to determine whether an individual's awareness is stronger than their instincts — and so, I passed, despite the Reverend Mother's scorn at my existence.
Ours, yes. And I've stolen Starkov, because it's pretty.
Now I fear I've given you too much power. You really want to??? That sounds more like a reward for me than you. Especially when I'm this gross.
( see: feverish and flushed and incapable of wearing anything but oversized shirts she inevitably shucks off when they get sticky with sickly sweat, hair tangled and eyes bleary from sickness. not her finest hour, all in all. )
They don't pray, so much as beg. For salvation. For hope. For protection. For an end to their suffering. Are you suffering, Paul?
( created. accidental. inherited. alina wonders, fleetingly, if some part of her isn't the same — the making's mistake, placing power in the wrong vessel. she frowns, a thoughtful pause faltering between her messages, until: )
It's not an easy undertaking, to be born into the burden of so much power. I understand. Does it bother you? To know our children might one day inherit our strangeness.
( does it make you want our future less? she can't bring herself to type. )
I suppose that's fair. I stole you because you're pretty, after all.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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i'm back at my original plan
live as a witch of the wilds and communicate in strange symbols and cryptic riddles only
there's less risk of saying something stupid that way
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hm
i'll have to consider it
what will you do to earn your keep in my hut?
aside from giving me something pretty to look at, obviously
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I'll fetch your ingredients for brews, and make sure to chase anyone you don't like off the property. And I'll hand feed you pixie sticks and gummy bears nightly, and rub your back when they give you a stomach ache.
And offer my kisses as often as you'll have them. And build Sir Kettlewing his own bassinet. And do whatever you want. And say I love you every day. And
I don't know. Find a cat for you to adopt. Name it Daisy-treides.
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just so you know, in case i don't say it enough
i couldn't have asked for anyone better 🐹🐭 (that's an artistic interpretation of us in our hut)
sir kettlewing told me he's grateful you're his father, too
we're going to need plenty of firewood for the hearth. i'll have to add that to your duties
i've read that it's much easier to chop with your shirt off. it's a very trusted scientific method
( the one benefit of sick delirium means she's too exhausted to battle her filter for long — impossible to embarrass herself in the process of embarrassing paul, even if remembering glinda asking if she's in the family way makes her want to huddle under the blankets. so: )
you know, i was thinking paw atreides for a cat
daisy is a nice name. too pretty to waste on just a pet
maybe you should save it for something special
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🐭💙🐹
( ft. a selfie of paul posed with kettlewing wailing into his neck. his shirt is stained. )
Well, I'm all about making this easier. It's a done deal.
( it's not difficult for him to connect the lines between glinda's (extremely unhelpful!) comments, and alina bringing this up now. he hasn't given up on their dream of family, despite how much he's failed in this endeavor — so he acts like he isn't bothered she isn't in the family way, same as her. he'll keep trying, when the world stops throwing cruelty at their feet. )
Should we name them all after plant life? Our green paradise.
Lady Paw Atreides will need many little supervisors, I imagine. We'll have a full house.
Full hut.
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my favorite boys in the known universe. and the cutest, if i say so myself.
that stain looks messy, by the way. you should take it off so i can wash it for you.
immediately, probably. you know. so it doesn't set
( haha jk unless. )
oh, many, is it? just how many are you trying to plant? sounds like you'll be hard ( pun meant ) at work, mouse duke
do you have a favorite? plant, i mean. it feels strange that i've never asked
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( most people who would see him shirtless would probably try to feed him anyway, thus delaying his time in getting back to alina. unacceptable !!! )
I don't know. I didn't think about the number.
Maybe two? Maybe three? I'll take as many as I can convince you to give me.
Let me think. ( putting way too much thought into it part 2 ) I really like cotton. Is that a boring answer? It's one of the things that grows on Arrakis, something a Planetologist managed to cultivate during Arrakis' ecological transformation. I like incense bush too, for the scent. I also like
Well, it's a fruit, but I like grape vines. Fine wines are an important export from Caladan, where I'm originally from. I guess they're very familiar, to me. Do you have a favorite plant? I know about sunflowers.
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have pity. i hate being so bedridden and bored.
i think i might be dying, actually. fulfill my final wish.
( not to be dramatic, but also to be suitably dramatic. it's a strange feeling, regardless, like — trying to slough off the familiar feeling of sleep, the undercurrent of chronic illness. apparently, she'd taken grisha vitality for granted. )
oh, so just a small army of mice, then.
i don't think we can name a child cotton, or grape, or incense bush. but it helps me know what to plant. 🌻
you and alia built it. you should both have something of your own in the garden.
something familiar. something like home.
treasonous of a sun summoner to say, i suppose, but i've always liked irises best. the blue ones.
or wildflowers. keramzin — where i grew up — had an entire meadow filled with them.
i used to hide it in for hours until ana kuya dragged me inside. it was nice to pretend i could run away, for awhile.
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Less a small army, more a hopeful bouquet, I think.
I know Alia likes lilies, and lily pads.
Iris is a good name, too. Male or female.
Wildflowers are very you, I couldn't think of a better answer. Loving the orphaned flowers of the world.
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I know. I think I saw her try to bathe with lily pads, once. She's so gross.
Maybe we could build a pond in the garden? Give her new friends. Her old ones are in hibernation.
You learn to love the things no one else cares about, when no one cares about you.
I think it's a perfect name. Iris was the goddess of the rainbow, too.
She brought water from the seas to the clouds so it could always rain, and helped Leto birth her twins.
(I've been reading my husband's books so we can talk about them. Do you think he'll be impressed?)
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She is, and bitey. I'll do some research and we can make it happen.
( ok so
he discovered a new kink of his today )
I think he'll be extremely, incandescently in love with you. And impressed, yes.
Did you like the book?
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Only one of us is a dedicated student, I see.
"Little seed". You help me grow and flourish.
I did. Gods are as dramatic as Ravkan Saints, it turns out.
Do you want to hear what else I learned?
I took notes, in case you want to test me. Though I'm not sure you can handle being even more impressed.
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It's interesting, isn't it? The Romans where such a militant and honor-bound group, yet religion became as important to them as oaths and duty. Soldiers first, but a spiritual people as a close second.
Of course I do, I can handle it. What else did you learn?
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The drüskelle are the same. Sworn to their God and their duty in the same breath.
But I think you'd find their so-called honor bound oaths less honorable than your Roman Empire.
Mm. Well, I learned Leto's children were Apollo and Artemis. The sun, and the moon huntress on her stag.
It's a little funny, don't you think?
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I wish there was a book on drüskelle history I could read. I'll have to hunt for one, and teach myself the language.
Funny in what way?
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I can tell you what little I've learned. Any Fjerdan history paints them as righteous.
They worship many gods, but Djel is a father to them. He's the Wellspring, connecting the world through His water.
The first of their witch hunters believe Djel anointed them to serve his will, and destroy all offenses to the world Djel created. They honor their dead on pyres so they can join Djel in the afterlife, but Grisha aren't considered people among Fjerdans. And so we're buried in shallow graves in their country, and given no rites.
( the rest is — well. her teasing certainty dampens to shyness, suddenly. )
In a poetic way, I think. You don't agree?
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( i love you, sweet girl. will you marry me? he's learned the important parts. )
They wouldn't consider you a person?
You know, we have tools and tests for questioning the humanity of a person. I have a feeling they aren't so thorough.
Well. My father was Leto, and you are the sun and stag. It does feel circular, but then, I always knew you and I were made for each other, as siblings and more. If we two are twins, I see you as Apollo, and me your Artemis.
I think it's powerful, and far better than the stories of my ancestors. Have you read the tale of Agamemnon?
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That means "good, clever boy" before you ask. What will you choose for your reward?
( she is, genuinely, a little proud — which is a good antidote against the impulse to upheave from withdrawal and the question of grisha humanity, both. )
You won't find many countries that consider Grisha people.
To Ravka, we're weapons. To Fjerda, we're abominations. To my mother's country, we're bodies for their experiments.
Only Novyi Zem considers us equal. Only the Zemeni treat our power as something pure, something our own.
Why would your world need a test, anyway? Isn't EVERYONE human? Even the ones who pretend otherwise.
( aleksander, especially, but it's been easier to replace the sourness of his name on her tongue with a sweeter life, here. )
Always? You couldn't have always known. You were preoccupied with not getting yourself stabbed.
But no, I haven't had the chance to. I could add it to my assignments, Professor Atreides.
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Can I tell you in person?
What is the name of your mother's country?
And — would you go to Novyi Zem? If you could?
Long before my lifetime, there was a great uprising of machines who were programmed to do the thinking for humans. To make a really long story short, the Jihad was enacted to exterminate all thinking technology and robots, though the revolt left a lot of deep scar tissue on humanity, who basically adopted this hard anti-computer and machine aspect of the shared religion.
So, inheritors of great power get tested to make sure they're still human, and not a robot. I was tested. It was awful, actually.
You act like the stabbing wasn't what initially endeared you to me.
It's not a very good story, but Agamemnon is the son of Atreus, which is where our last name comes from.
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You could, I suppose, even if it's rude manners to keep your wife in suspense.
Shu Han. The other country Ravka is perpetually at war with. It's a homeland ruled by women, for once.
I've been to Novyi Zem before, for a time. But I still had to hide. I might be Grisha, but I'm not
Well, I'm not Grisha to the others. Not in the same way. Power tends to separate you.
And men who would use your power to elevate you — and themselves — above all others don't help matters.
That sounds more like an excuse to use history to punish anyone they fear.
They do that for Grisha, too. Test children for power and potential, and then send them away.
You're very human to me, Paul Atreides. For what it's worth. I don't need a test to determine that.
Your name comes from an ancient story, and you had the nerve to say mine was better?
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I'm just too awkward to put it into words.
You know, sometimes it's hard to remember you're held at this high standard of power, a Grisha and a mighty one at that. A saint. You're just Alina to me.
Is it sacrilegious to be married to a saint of a different denomination? Maybe you should convert me.
( you're very human to me, paul atreides. he smiles at his phone. )
Thank you, Alina Atreides. You're human to me, too.
Manipulations like that are not above the Bene Gesserit. Plans within plans, always. I probably shouldn't speak of it — somehow my mother will find out and scold me.
Read the story, then decide if it's a good namesake. The other son of Atreus is Menelaus, and that story is even worse.
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It's only me, Paul. Does it help if I promise not to laugh?
You're the only one who lets me forget it. And I'd dare say I've converted you already. Several times over.
I think you fall under my dominion, anyway, as the patron saint of orphans and those with undiscovered gifts. 😉
Well, I won't be the one to tattle on you.
The Apparat gave me many of my titles. Ravka's so-called "spiritual advisor". He scurries around like a rat.
Not a cute one, obviously. One who has fleas, and wants to infect everyone else with his delusions.
I don't need to read it first. I'm not going to change my mind. You gave me the name, therefore it's the better one.
But I'll still read it. So I can learn about your (our?) family.
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I only thought
well, maybe I could taste you, again. If you felt like it. I know you aren't feeling well, so I can wait.
Is that so? ( paul when he's under alina's dominion. giggling, kicking his feet. ) What prayers does a loyal follower offer to their favored Ravkan saint?
Ah, I know that type, too.
The Bene Gesserit is almost if you imagine a reigning government as having another council behind them pulling their strings, quietly, in the shadows. I don't remember if I've ever told you this, but I was never technically meant to be born. My mother was meant only to have daughters, but she opted to have me, because my father wanted a son. A romantic rebellion of hers.
To make a long story short, I inherited much power through the Bene Gesserit's breeding program that I wasn't supposed to. They made me how and why and what I am, the accidental messiah of a prophecy they invented thousands of years ago. The Reverend Mother tested me with a poisoned needle at my throat and my hand in a box that inflicted excruciating, burning pain. The test is meant to determine whether an individual's awareness is stronger than their instincts — and so, I passed, despite the Reverend Mother's scorn at my existence.
Ours, yes.
And I've stolen Starkov, because it's pretty.
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You really want to??? That sounds more like a reward for me than you. Especially when I'm this gross.
( see: feverish and flushed and incapable of wearing anything but oversized shirts she inevitably shucks off when they get sticky with sickly sweat, hair tangled and eyes bleary from sickness. not her finest hour, all in all. )
They don't pray, so much as beg. For salvation. For hope. For protection. For an end to their suffering.
Are you suffering, Paul?
( created. accidental. inherited. alina wonders, fleetingly, if some part of her isn't the same — the making's mistake, placing power in the wrong vessel. she frowns, a thoughtful pause faltering between her messages, until: )
It's not an easy undertaking, to be born into the burden of so much power. I understand.
Does it bother you? To know our children might one day inherit our strangeness.
( does it make you want our future less? she can't bring herself to type. )
I suppose that's fair. I stole you because you're pretty, after all.
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