Continuity: Polite Acrimony
Length: Ficlet
Pairings: 4xD
Prompt: Scarcity?"Quick, before they're all gone."
Teaser: "On the matter of marrying well, I decided not to fall for the hype of a swiftly dropping male population due to the war. Just because men were scarce didn't mean I had to settle."
Link: http://www.fanfiction.net/s/5424671/6/Polite_Acrimony
Disclaimer: GW = not mine.
Author's Note: Written because the new Frozen Teardrop novel has me mildly butthurt with all the ship sinking but, hey, Angelina seems like an awesome new addition to the canon. xD (integrates into personal fanon) Timeline is shaky because this is fanon.
Polite Acrimony
by mistress amethyst une
Scarcity?"Quick, before they're all gone."
"I met Aunt Angelina for the first and last time when I was ten," explained Dorothy. "You really shouldn't stare so hard."
The admonition was directed toward Quatre. She had lost sight of him within the sprawling mansion on the Dermail estate when they made one turn too many. Minutes later, after going down one of the darker corridors, she found him gaping at a gargantuan painting in one of the halls. Nothing interrupted idle reverie like verbal exposition. As expected, he turned on his heel to face her, mouth agape.
"That's not you?" he blurted.
Dorothy shook her head. "She taught me to marry well. All this she did without ever speaking to me. She also taught me my first cuss word."
The look on his face was doubtful. It was understandable. The resemblance between Dorothy and her aunt was uncanny.
"Also," she pressed on, "that painting is at least fifty years old. It can't possibly be me."
He gave a slight smile. "Your first cuss word?"
"I overheard an argument between her and my father. Pressed my ear against the keyhole of his war room."
"Fuck it," she sneered. "I can do better than Ein and you know it."
"So you decided to have another man knock you up? Angelina, you have to stop this stupidity. At the very least, stop flaunting your indiscretions in your husband's face."
"Van is not an indiscretion! He is MY son and that won't change just because Ein contributed nothing to his conception. Besides, that was sixteen years ago. Stop opening old wounds."
"It's news to me. What were you thinking? What about Treize?"
"The boy understands. Treize is a good boy but Van... He's something I wanted. Something I needed to have to make up for everything I lacked."
"It would be years before I realized just what that conversation meant," she sighed. "Palace intrigue of that sort is wasted on a child's ears. They used such big words. All I really understood was that she didn't like her husband."
"Quite the controversial sister your father had."
"Cousin," she corrected him. "Angelina Khushrenada, mother of Treize Khushrenada. Not a very nice lady. She turned the archetype of the tragic aristocrat's wife on its head. Cheated shamelessly on her husband and there wasn't a thing he could do about it because her blood was bluer than his. Much as I'd like to bore you with details of my family tree, it's a topic I'd rather not touch upon."
She could have sworn she saw a million questions die on his lips as her words fell upon his ears.
"I will grant you two concessions though," she smirked. "I'll tell you exactly when I first used those two things I learned from her. On the matter of marrying well, I decided not to fall for the hype of a swiftly dropping male population due to the war. Just because men were scarce didn't mean I had to settle."
"So you were waiting for me?" he prodded.
"Hardly," she chortled. "But, aside from being readily available, you had another thing going for you."
Ego deflated, his tone betrayed minor annoyance. "And that would be?"
"When I saw you cry on Libra. Crying for me. Crying because of me. I knew then that you would be the first and only person I would use my first cuss word on as more than a profanity."
Dorothy wasn't prone to fancy admissions of affection. Still, with her aunt looking down on them, the words just came so easily.
He cleared his throat, not exactly sure how to respond. "And when did you first use it? The cuss word?"
She smiled, clearly reveling in his discomfort. "The day you first put the word into action on me," she winked.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Yep, Dorothy doesn't cuss. Unless it's sex. Cuz duh. Whee, this is finished!
Also, GW math.Van = two years younger than Treize.
Treize during series = 24.
Dorothy during series = 16.
24 - 2 - 16 + 10 = 16.