Nicholas and Anora omake
Nicholas Tasakar, nee Ladislaus, was in the middle of comparative analysis of two treatises on the archeological significance and implications concerning of a mage-era dig site found in the (former) imperial heartlands when the sound of slamming doors and the 'dulcet' tones of his recently wedded wife in full temper tantrum broke him out of his reverie.
"I! Cannot believe! The sheer! Ignorant, arrogant, obstinate! intransigence of that woman!" The young woman screeched from the antechambers of their suite within the royal palace.
Letting out a sigh of resignation at the knowledge that he would not be able to get back to work until he, yet again, managed to, as it were, 'soothe the savage beast', Nicholas looked out of the window at the position of the sun to estimate the time.
His suspicions confirmed he called out:
"Hey Ana! I take it the council meeting did not go well?"
"No, really! Whatever might give you that impression?" The crown princess fumed as she stomped into the study and then unceremoniously flung herself in Nicholas' lap.
Half-expecting something like that to happen, Nicholas was quick on the draw to catch her and encircle her slim waist in his arms.
After wriggling into a more comfortable position upon her husband's lap, Anora continued to rant.
"Gods all together, why did both of your great-grandparents have to retire. They were both clear-headed and Mama tended to listen to them. Now it is only aunt Nora and Brother Thomas of the Talon to rein in her bullheaded idiocy!"
"They are also in their eighties Ana. Even Taesta would agree that they should have retired a decade ago, and they would have if not for the realm careening from one crisis to another. But even their constitution and devotion has limits."
Nicholas very obviously refrained from pointing that Anora accusing others of bullheaded idiocy was very much a case of a kettle calling a pot black.
Anora however, was both intelligent enough, and knew Nicholas well enough, to pick up on what was left unsaid. She half turned on his lap and mock smacked him across the forehead.
"Do not try getting smart with me mister. We both know that between the two of us I am the brains of the operation... But yes, you are right. Foolhardiness is the curse of my family going all the way back to Talasin the First, if not Turgud himself. That still does not excuse the insufferable woman from refusing to listen. We 'know' we are foolish. That is the whole point of having councilors. Having someone temper down our stupid tendencies. And when I pointed that out to Mother she had the gall... The sheer GALL! to accuse ME of being too immature for the council!"
Seeing his work at soothing her down had backfired, Nicholas decided that a shift in approach was needed, and soon, before Anora worked herself back into the frothing rage.
"Nothing you can do about it right now, especially since your agitation prevents you from thinking clearly. Want to work on the next generation and burn some of that agitation away?" He asked, with a rakish wag of his eyebrows.
Anora's reaction was exactly what he expected. A flabbergasted, incredulous shock at his suggestion.
"What? I am only a man and you've been wriggling in my lap." He told her in his best deadpan.
That finally broke through her stupor. She let out a peel of laughter and leaned in to give him a peck on the lips.
"We might as well." She told him softly before an impish gleam flickered across her face.
Schooling her face into her best innocent pout and trying to make her eyes big she asked him.
"Carry me?"
Special thanks to our wonderful QM
@yannoshka for elevating this so much further than I could have hoped it to be.
