Work Text:
My noble father,
I do perceive here a divided duty.
Othello Act 1 Scene 3
“That’s a stupid way to pick a king,” Chelsea said while adjusting her popcorn bowl.
“This whole season is the worst. Why are we watching it?” Dean asked as he leaned against Quentin.
“Because Raj hasn’t seen it yet and he has the best reactions”, Quentin explained with a nudge at Raj.
“Raj, how have you not seen this?” Chelsea asked.
“I haven’t, now be quiet. Tyrion’s being awful again. And I told Helen that I would so we could talk about it,” Raj answered with a complex sound.
“Why didn’t you watch it with her?” Chelsea sounded confused as she knew how much they did together.
“Because it didn’t happen, shut up. I wonder if there are dragons somewhere.” Now Raj was definitely pouty.
“Don’t say things like that. Toby will find them and we’ll have to fight them or befriend them, it will be a Quest,” Quentin sighed at the thought of dragons.
“There are things in the Undersea that are definitely dragon-like. Everyone does their best to avoid them and keep them happy. The Sea Witch knows,” Dean pointed out.
“No, don’t even say it. We’re not asking the Luidaeg about dragons,” Raj gave Quentin a little shove at that.
“She’d have really cool stories,” Quentin said with a grin.
“She’d want to introduce us to them and Chelsea, stop looking like that,” Raj flopped down and almost went full cat in his curling up.
“Fine, but you know you’re going to keep wondering,” She said with a smirk and settled in to watch the end of the scene. During the epilogue bits, they were all quiet until she asked Quentin, “Why don’t you want to be king? You know all the things to not do.”
“Right, be good to your people, don’t make Toby have to overthrow you,” And if it ever came to a point that Toby was against him, then he shouldn’t be anywhere near power, “But being a royal creates fucked up families.”
Raj rolled his eyes and tossed a few pieces of popcorn at Quentin, “So, everyone’s family is awful. Being a Fae means ours are bad with magic.”
Chelsea leaned back with a sigh as she tossed popcorn at both of them, “Everyone in this room has daddy issues.”
Dean made an offended sound as he leaned up from Quentin’s shoulder, “I don’t.”
Quentin said quietly, “Simon.”
“Okay, fine but never call him daddy again, that’s just wrong,” Dean ate the popcorn that had been thrown in their general direction.
“Yeah, no, no fathers are getting called daddy,” Raj agreed and then realized there wasn’t any left, “We’re out of popcorn.”
“Fine, we don’t do normal but I won’t be me. I’m not talking about this without more food. Don’t we have some ice cream?”
“And cookies, I’ll get them and then we’re not finished as you’re explaining yourself,” Then Chelsea created a doorway to slip into the Shadowed HIlls’ kitchen before coming back with pints of ice cream, bowls and homemade cookies, “These just came out of the oven.”
“Isn’t the kitchen like a hall away?” Dean asked with a laugh.
“This is quicker, don’t look a gift teleporter in the mouth or else you won’t get cookies.”
“Fine, fine,” He said as he started making up a plate for himself, “And I want to hear everything too.
“But you know what I feel,” Quentin pointed out.
“You learned how to not talk about stuff from Toby,” Raj said, “And not the only fast traveler.”
“And Raj is better at getting you to say things,” Dean said with a smile.
Raj gestured with his ice cream filled spoon, “Know all your tells. Oh this is good.”
Chelsea gave a little bow of acknowledgment before sitting down again and poking Quentin, “Now talk.”
“Okay, if I’m king then I’m not really me anymore, just the person wearing the crown. I can’t even be myself for Toby’s wedding since it's too dangerous,” His mother hides her real face since that’s not what a perfect Fae is meant to look like. He sighed and leaned back on the couch as Raj gave him a shoulder bump and Dean leaned closer.
“Hiding is tiring,” Chelsea agreed as she dipped her cookie into her ice cream, “Getting kidnapped was awful but now I’m here.”
“But you get to decide who your court is,” Dean said, “And if you don’t like them, then you can kick them out since you’re in charge.”
“That’s not how it works, not for the High Court. There are too many people who need to have a say, so there’s only space to be you hidden away in private rooms. The court’s just so big and you have to understand it and make the right choices,” Quentin closed his eyes as Dean ran his hands through his hair, “And if you do something wrong, it ripples out so far.”
“Then you change what you can and learn when to draw your claws,” Raj said as he unsheathed his.
Quentin opened his eyes at the snick of Raj’s claws, “Yeah.”
“There’s not enough hitting up here, it makes disagreements simpler,” Dean said with a smile like his mother’s.
“Court rules, too much talking, not enough slashing,” Raj agreed as Quentin looked at them both fondly.
“I’ll look into what I can do to change it though Toby won’t like more blood,” He wouldn’t either but sometimes hitting can be more effective.
“Effective use of slashing, you think too much,” Raj said with a sigh, they’d had this talk before.
“My dad would agree with that, but swords are different,” Chelsea added, “But he also trusts and believes in all the etiquette and court rules parts.”
“I think it can work, but when it doesn’t, it really doesn’t. And I don’t want to make things worse since they’re enough of a mess now,” Quentin said and ate his last cookie.
“Lucky for you, you know us to keep you from being extra stupid. And we’re playing Smash Brothers now,” Raj said as he put down his bowl and searched for the right remote.
Quentin laughed as he found the controllers, “I do.”