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psalm_onethirtyone) wrote2007-03-13 01:34 am
psalm_onethirtyone) wrote2007-03-13 01:34 am
"Since Daddy Had to Fly..."
This is for Nanni, because the Grailkids are always hers; and for Manon, who thinks my writing is really good. And yes, I was supposed to be in bed an hour ago. Why?
Percy and Galahad.
Galahad arrived on the tail of Percy's second quest, walking into Arthur's hall guided by the hunchbacked old man just two minutes before Percy burst in, all smiles and laughing, a long graze down his cheek and matted blood in his hair, holding the shield of the knight he'd been sent to defeat--Galahad, sitting in Siege Perilous while everyone watched his pale self with reverent astonishment, looked up and caught sight of the brightest face he had ever seen, and for the first time knew John's love for Jesus.
Immediately Bedivere broke the stunned silence by laughing. "Sit down, ye fool! Look!" and he gestured at Galahad with his handless arm.
Percy turned to Galahad and blushed. "Sorry! I didn't see you. I didn't mean to. Um." He rubbed his head with great embarrassment and hurried to his seat. Galahad couldn't take his eyes from him.
"Who is he?" he asked the knight beside him.
"Sir Percivale. He's the youngest of us. There was a lady they say had spoken not a word all her life, nor could she, until she met the dearest heart and bravest soul in Britain, and it was for him she first laughed. It angered Sir Kay very great. They speak not to one another."
He watched Percy, who had just gotten to his feet with an abrupt clatter and hurried to present the shield to King Arthur. "He is so bright. How can he be at odds with any man?"
"We are not all suited to the seat ye take, Sir," the knight answered, with a hint of a laugh on his lips.
Afterwards Galahad caught him in the gardens outside the castle. The blood had been scrubbed out of his hair and from his face, but the long cut down his cheek still was fresh and alive. Galahad touched it softly with his girlish hands. "Have ye much hurt?"
"Oh, no," said Percy. "No, I almost don't even notice. It's gettin' old." He smiled. "You're Galahad. Lucan was tellin' me that you just come to-day and all."
"It was my time to come."
"Good. I'm glad you're stayin'."
"Have ye been here many days?"
"Oh, maybe a coupla months. I just come. I used ta live in the forest, pretty far away, but Gawain, he said to come to Camelot if I wanted to be a knight, so I packed my stuff together and come. His Majesty's real nice about it, even though I'm sorta country and I think some folks don't really like it. I don't have a noble family or anything, I don't think. How 'bout you?"
"I am Sir Lancelot's son," he said, for a moment almost afraid to speak. It crossed his mind that perhaps Percy wouldn't want to talk to the son of Arthur's dearest knight, if he was just a country boy without fine parentage. Perhaps it would embarrass him, or perhaps he would think Galahad too spoiled to be worth speaking with. "I--I have just come from the monastery. God told me it was time for me, and the old man appeared to guide me."
"Does God talk to you?" Percy asked.
"Yes. He has always guided my life and instructed me. I sought to know what I should do, and angels answered me, told me I must go forth and take my sword. They told me I must take on the Quest."
"Do you know what Quest?"
"No, it has not yet come."
"Are you gonna have ta go alone? That's the only part about questin' I don't like. We're always goin' on them alone."
"I--I don't know."
"Well, if you don't have ta, maybe I can come too. I'd like to."
"I would be glad if ye did," Galahad said softly. Percy's face broke into a smile, too wide almost to be a smile, a good-natured grin that rippled the cut on his cheek; he took Galahad's hand.
"Are you okay settlin' in? Have you got a room yet or anything? I was all nerved when I first come, 'cause I use ta sleep in the woods and all. I never had a room or anything like that. If you want, you can sleep with me. But that's dumb, ain't it? I guess you wouldn't be worried."
"I wouldn't mind."
"Really? Okay. Great. C'mon, I'll show you where it is."
~~~
They always quested together. Everyone at court grew used to seeing them as a pair, two boys--for Percy was only seventeen, and Galahad only a little older--who didn't seem suited to each other at all at first; but the longer they were together the more natural it seemed, until it surprised the knights and ladies to see them apart. Percy was always laughing, talking, moving, swift on his feet and distinct among everybody else for his accent. Galahad was quiet, pale, was often praying or sitting in the gardens listening (only Percy knew that he was listening to God). They practised together and ate together and shared a room.
Sir Agrivain assured everyone else that they were sodomists, but no one listened to him. He was speaking of the two purest knights at King Arthur's table. (And once Percy kissed Galahad chastely, and Galahad smiled, and that was all)
King Arthur was proud of them both. That much was clear from watching him speak to them or of them. Percy worshipped him, spoke of him with almost equal pride; Galahad quietly esteemed him. One May he sent them out to find a unicorn for Queen Guinevere.
In the middle of the woods, Percy stopped to make camp, and looked at Galahad and laughed. "I don't think they come to fellas."
"Perhaps we shall find it another way."
"Prob'ly. I wonder where you start. I bet they're kinda like deer."
"What are deer like?"
"Oh, they're easy. You find 'em by following sign. They take the bark off the baby trees. Anyway, if you catch up to 'em and all, and just sit real quiet and wait for them, they usually come right up. They always did to me, anyway. The trick's to put some salt on your hands. We got salt in the saddlebags?"
"Aye, there's some."
"Well, if you rub it on your hands and just sit tight, the deer'll come right up. They love it."
"Do you suppose it's the same for unicorns?"
"We could try. I dunno what they eat." He started to look at the trees, putting his hands on them like greetings, as if they were old friends. "I think we gotta start by lookin' for springs. They don't like still water, but they don't like it runnin' too fast, either."
"How do you know?"
"I just do," he said, shrugging his lanky shoulders with a grin. "It just come to me."
Galahad smiled back.
The first three springs Percy tracked down had no animals by them, though there were old tracks. At first they were cautious and silent, and then they began to talk; Percy told stories about living in the woods before he came, and about his sister. Galahad even remembered a few things that had happened at the monastery that made Percy laugh. By the fourth spring they'd given up on finding anything, were just lost in the joy of the clear day and the moss underfoot and their own voices.
But it was the fourth spring where the unicorn stood.
"Oh," Galahad whispered. He could say no more.
"Wow," said Percy. "Wow. Here, I'll--" He took the salt from the saddlebags slung over his shoulders (they had tethered the horses back at their camp), and spat on his hands, rubbed it in. Then he slipped through the brush like an animal. It startled Galahad, who had never seen him move so silently. The unicorn lifted its head and flicked its lion-like tail.
Percy stood by the spring now, and held out his hands. The unicorn regarded him.
Then it stepped forward and began to lick his hands.
Slowly Percy went down on his knees, and then sat, as the unicorn also lay down. Its tongue was long and searched between his fingers for the last traces of salt, and when it had finished, it lay its head in his lap. He looked toward the brush where Galahad still stood, and smiled, inviting him.
Galahad came. The unicorn watched him, but didn't move; when Galahad also sat, it flicked its tail again and closed its eyes.
He looked at Percy and the unicorn, looked at the unicorn's shining white body and its long spiralled horn, which just touched Percy's side, looked at them both and was overcome and felt he could not breathe. He wanted to lie down like the unicorn, to put his head in Percy's lap and be tame with wonder and with love. This country boy with his smile and his rumpled red hair, and the scar on his cheek that was small and white now, he was so bright, he was so beautiful--and Galahad knew suddenly how Peter felt when Jesus called him out onto the water, and for a few steps he walked upon it too.
Percy and Galahad.
Galahad arrived on the tail of Percy's second quest, walking into Arthur's hall guided by the hunchbacked old man just two minutes before Percy burst in, all smiles and laughing, a long graze down his cheek and matted blood in his hair, holding the shield of the knight he'd been sent to defeat--Galahad, sitting in Siege Perilous while everyone watched his pale self with reverent astonishment, looked up and caught sight of the brightest face he had ever seen, and for the first time knew John's love for Jesus.
Immediately Bedivere broke the stunned silence by laughing. "Sit down, ye fool! Look!" and he gestured at Galahad with his handless arm.
Percy turned to Galahad and blushed. "Sorry! I didn't see you. I didn't mean to. Um." He rubbed his head with great embarrassment and hurried to his seat. Galahad couldn't take his eyes from him.
"Who is he?" he asked the knight beside him.
"Sir Percivale. He's the youngest of us. There was a lady they say had spoken not a word all her life, nor could she, until she met the dearest heart and bravest soul in Britain, and it was for him she first laughed. It angered Sir Kay very great. They speak not to one another."
He watched Percy, who had just gotten to his feet with an abrupt clatter and hurried to present the shield to King Arthur. "He is so bright. How can he be at odds with any man?"
"We are not all suited to the seat ye take, Sir," the knight answered, with a hint of a laugh on his lips.
Afterwards Galahad caught him in the gardens outside the castle. The blood had been scrubbed out of his hair and from his face, but the long cut down his cheek still was fresh and alive. Galahad touched it softly with his girlish hands. "Have ye much hurt?"
"Oh, no," said Percy. "No, I almost don't even notice. It's gettin' old." He smiled. "You're Galahad. Lucan was tellin' me that you just come to-day and all."
"It was my time to come."
"Good. I'm glad you're stayin'."
"Have ye been here many days?"
"Oh, maybe a coupla months. I just come. I used ta live in the forest, pretty far away, but Gawain, he said to come to Camelot if I wanted to be a knight, so I packed my stuff together and come. His Majesty's real nice about it, even though I'm sorta country and I think some folks don't really like it. I don't have a noble family or anything, I don't think. How 'bout you?"
"I am Sir Lancelot's son," he said, for a moment almost afraid to speak. It crossed his mind that perhaps Percy wouldn't want to talk to the son of Arthur's dearest knight, if he was just a country boy without fine parentage. Perhaps it would embarrass him, or perhaps he would think Galahad too spoiled to be worth speaking with. "I--I have just come from the monastery. God told me it was time for me, and the old man appeared to guide me."
"Does God talk to you?" Percy asked.
"Yes. He has always guided my life and instructed me. I sought to know what I should do, and angels answered me, told me I must go forth and take my sword. They told me I must take on the Quest."
"Do you know what Quest?"
"No, it has not yet come."
"Are you gonna have ta go alone? That's the only part about questin' I don't like. We're always goin' on them alone."
"I--I don't know."
"Well, if you don't have ta, maybe I can come too. I'd like to."
"I would be glad if ye did," Galahad said softly. Percy's face broke into a smile, too wide almost to be a smile, a good-natured grin that rippled the cut on his cheek; he took Galahad's hand.
"Are you okay settlin' in? Have you got a room yet or anything? I was all nerved when I first come, 'cause I use ta sleep in the woods and all. I never had a room or anything like that. If you want, you can sleep with me. But that's dumb, ain't it? I guess you wouldn't be worried."
"I wouldn't mind."
"Really? Okay. Great. C'mon, I'll show you where it is."
They always quested together. Everyone at court grew used to seeing them as a pair, two boys--for Percy was only seventeen, and Galahad only a little older--who didn't seem suited to each other at all at first; but the longer they were together the more natural it seemed, until it surprised the knights and ladies to see them apart. Percy was always laughing, talking, moving, swift on his feet and distinct among everybody else for his accent. Galahad was quiet, pale, was often praying or sitting in the gardens listening (only Percy knew that he was listening to God). They practised together and ate together and shared a room.
Sir Agrivain assured everyone else that they were sodomists, but no one listened to him. He was speaking of the two purest knights at King Arthur's table. (And once Percy kissed Galahad chastely, and Galahad smiled, and that was all)
King Arthur was proud of them both. That much was clear from watching him speak to them or of them. Percy worshipped him, spoke of him with almost equal pride; Galahad quietly esteemed him. One May he sent them out to find a unicorn for Queen Guinevere.
In the middle of the woods, Percy stopped to make camp, and looked at Galahad and laughed. "I don't think they come to fellas."
"Perhaps we shall find it another way."
"Prob'ly. I wonder where you start. I bet they're kinda like deer."
"What are deer like?"
"Oh, they're easy. You find 'em by following sign. They take the bark off the baby trees. Anyway, if you catch up to 'em and all, and just sit real quiet and wait for them, they usually come right up. They always did to me, anyway. The trick's to put some salt on your hands. We got salt in the saddlebags?"
"Aye, there's some."
"Well, if you rub it on your hands and just sit tight, the deer'll come right up. They love it."
"Do you suppose it's the same for unicorns?"
"We could try. I dunno what they eat." He started to look at the trees, putting his hands on them like greetings, as if they were old friends. "I think we gotta start by lookin' for springs. They don't like still water, but they don't like it runnin' too fast, either."
"How do you know?"
"I just do," he said, shrugging his lanky shoulders with a grin. "It just come to me."
Galahad smiled back.
The first three springs Percy tracked down had no animals by them, though there were old tracks. At first they were cautious and silent, and then they began to talk; Percy told stories about living in the woods before he came, and about his sister. Galahad even remembered a few things that had happened at the monastery that made Percy laugh. By the fourth spring they'd given up on finding anything, were just lost in the joy of the clear day and the moss underfoot and their own voices.
But it was the fourth spring where the unicorn stood.
"Oh," Galahad whispered. He could say no more.
"Wow," said Percy. "Wow. Here, I'll--" He took the salt from the saddlebags slung over his shoulders (they had tethered the horses back at their camp), and spat on his hands, rubbed it in. Then he slipped through the brush like an animal. It startled Galahad, who had never seen him move so silently. The unicorn lifted its head and flicked its lion-like tail.
Percy stood by the spring now, and held out his hands. The unicorn regarded him.
Then it stepped forward and began to lick his hands.
Slowly Percy went down on his knees, and then sat, as the unicorn also lay down. Its tongue was long and searched between his fingers for the last traces of salt, and when it had finished, it lay its head in his lap. He looked toward the brush where Galahad still stood, and smiled, inviting him.
Galahad came. The unicorn watched him, but didn't move; when Galahad also sat, it flicked its tail again and closed its eyes.
He looked at Percy and the unicorn, looked at the unicorn's shining white body and its long spiralled horn, which just touched Percy's side, looked at them both and was overcome and felt he could not breathe. He wanted to lie down like the unicorn, to put his head in Percy's lap and be tame with wonder and with love. This country boy with his smile and his rumpled red hair, and the scar on his cheek that was small and white now, he was so bright, he was so beautiful--and Galahad knew suddenly how Peter felt when Jesus called him out onto the water, and for a few steps he walked upon it too.
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...Percy's Dickon. You do know this, I hope.
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Women: WE LOVE YOUUUUUUU!
Men: WE LOVE YOUUUUUUU!
Ywain: AUGH.
Gawain: *poinks A. on the head* You're a pill.
A.: But I'm right.)
I do. ^___^
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So I was telling miss Hails... ... I kind of want Martha on DF, right? ... ... I want a Dickon. I don't want me to play a Dickon, cause it'd get weird once I start being Martha for the show, but I want someone to play Dickon on DF. ....
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...
...Maybe. XD
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