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fandomweekly2024-03-11 02:12 pm
redthedragon) wrote in fandomweekly2024-03-11 02:12 pm
[211] When you find yourself in a hole... (Original Work)
Theme Prompt: #211 - Hesitation
Title: When you find yourself in a hole...
Fandom: Original Work
Rating/Warnings: PG-13 (language)
Bonus: Yes
Word Count: 798 words
Summary: Adder, angling for the position of Negotiator when the crew of his pirate ship finally turns over, aims to secure a better trade deal for his ship so his bid for new captain looks better than her potential competition. Unfortunately, this means dealing with the negotiator Zykkarkurin, who speaks for the enormous sea serpents that defend their sovereign claim to the open seas by sinking any ship they have a quarrel with... and Zykkarkurin is known for his unreasonable, aggressive dealings. No biggie, right?
Largely me making up fantasy contract law at light-speed and then not going into it at all. In editing, a lot of the more hesitant bits got cut out, so it's further from the prompt than I'd like it to be :(
"Careful," Rafi had murmured to Adder, early that morning. "Don't get in over your head."
"I won't," Adder had said back. Zahra's bid for Captaincy was a pretty damn safe bet, and so it was only logical to get in ahead of time, make his support count. After all, no one was going to want to see Nock in command. And it was clear as day to anyone looking to see it that Shalim was all but looking for an excuse to retire.
Rafi had shrugged, evidently deciding not to belabor the point. And Adder, too, had moved on without a care. They both had bigger things to worry about.
But now, here...
Adder re-read the contract. The terms weren't "bad" - they were abysmal. But Zahra had told him she needed a win here, and he was the one who could seal the deal.
"We can't do that," Adder said, circling a couple lines - exclusive trade agreement and taxation snd tithes the biggest offenders, but others among them. He slid the preliminary contract back toward Zykkarkurin. "Let's discuss these terms."
"Non-negotiable," Zykkarkurin said airily. "These are part of our standard contract. The Itkka-annat-kkyrribi do not bend to surface-dwellers."
"Okay," Adder said. "Well, the Midnight King can't agree to this, so we need to discuss these terms. Jaatka-Zykkarkurin - "
"Your captain Shelim," Zykkarkurin said, "had no trouble with the tithes."
"My captain Shelim is," Adder said, racking his brains for a diplomatic answer, "um, retiring soon? I am afraid that the tithes are not the sticking point here, Jaatka-Zykkarkurin."
"All of these terms are nonnegotiable," Zykkarkurin said. "Not the tithes nor anything else."
"Right," Adder said. "And if I were to tell you that either we negotiate on the terms or, like every other capturesail on the entire sea, the Midnight King breaks your contract when we think we can get away with it, you would say...?"
As soon as the words were out of his mouth Adder knew it was a mistake. Brilliant! Tell the unreasonable sea-warlord you've been breaking your safe-travels agreement for years. It was going to go over like gasoline on water. Volatile and poisonous.
Zykkarkurin laughed. It was not a nice laugh. "The penalty for violating your oaths is death," he said. "You would court it, little worm?"
It wasn't like Adder could take it back now. So he had to lean in. "Jaatka-Zykkarkurin. Jaatka-jattaron." Hopefully he'd gotten the archaic word right; he didn't speak du-a-kkyritiija well enough to know. "I'm the only negotiator on this ocean who respects you enough to tell you that we are all breaking the contract you made. There's not a single capturesail that is not double-dipping. The exclusive trade agreements are a joke to the surface-dwellers."
Zykkarkurin's expression darkened even further. The ribbons of light around his six eyes pulsed faster. A bad sign. "A joke."
"I want to make an agreement that works," Adder said, as earnestly as he could manage. He could taste his heartbeat on the tip of his tongue. "I'm a dragon. When we make our oaths, we mean them. I hate playing these games. I hate that when we deal with these humans, these- "
"Surface-dwellers," Zykkarkurin cut in.
"Humans," Adder stressed, "these Warists, who hate you and who hate me, these people get the iron and we're both left holding the coals."
"Explain," Zykkarkurin said, sharp. "What coals."
"Um," Adder said, suddenly off-balance, "an expression, it's - the, the valuable part is the iron, the coals are just hot and. Flammable. They light, you know, they burn. The point is, we're all getting - we're getting fucked with different ends of the same stick." Zykkarkurin scowled even harder, fins flaring. "I want to fix that, me and my new captain. Can we discuss these terms?"
"You," Zykkarkurin started. "Are an upstart. A whelp. You talk too much for what a little thing you are. You think you are so smart, no?"
Adder breathed deep, trying to avoid making it obvious. If he was going to have to fight his way out of here, he was probably going to die. He'd try it, but he'd probably die. He might be able to get Zykkarkurin on the way out, which would maybe help Zahra a little, but -
- "I will consider discussing this with the Itkka-annat-kkyrribi-ta. Explain your desired terms."
Adder did his best not to show any relief. "Okay. For starters..."
-
Zahra couldn't decide whether to yell at him or throw a party when he got back with the new contract, so Adder figured that meant he'd succeeded. Still, next time she asked him to do this...
... well, he'd be thinking twice about it, that was for sure.
Title: When you find yourself in a hole...
Fandom: Original Work
Rating/Warnings: PG-13 (language)
Bonus: Yes
Word Count: 798 words
Summary: Adder, angling for the position of Negotiator when the crew of his pirate ship finally turns over, aims to secure a better trade deal for his ship so his bid for new captain looks better than her potential competition. Unfortunately, this means dealing with the negotiator Zykkarkurin, who speaks for the enormous sea serpents that defend their sovereign claim to the open seas by sinking any ship they have a quarrel with... and Zykkarkurin is known for his unreasonable, aggressive dealings. No biggie, right?
Largely me making up fantasy contract law at light-speed and then not going into it at all. In editing, a lot of the more hesitant bits got cut out, so it's further from the prompt than I'd like it to be :(
"Careful," Rafi had murmured to Adder, early that morning. "Don't get in over your head."
"I won't," Adder had said back. Zahra's bid for Captaincy was a pretty damn safe bet, and so it was only logical to get in ahead of time, make his support count. After all, no one was going to want to see Nock in command. And it was clear as day to anyone looking to see it that Shalim was all but looking for an excuse to retire.
Rafi had shrugged, evidently deciding not to belabor the point. And Adder, too, had moved on without a care. They both had bigger things to worry about.
But now, here...
Adder re-read the contract. The terms weren't "bad" - they were abysmal. But Zahra had told him she needed a win here, and he was the one who could seal the deal.
"We can't do that," Adder said, circling a couple lines - exclusive trade agreement and taxation snd tithes the biggest offenders, but others among them. He slid the preliminary contract back toward Zykkarkurin. "Let's discuss these terms."
"Non-negotiable," Zykkarkurin said airily. "These are part of our standard contract. The Itkka-annat-kkyrribi do not bend to surface-dwellers."
"Okay," Adder said. "Well, the Midnight King can't agree to this, so we need to discuss these terms. Jaatka-Zykkarkurin - "
"Your captain Shelim," Zykkarkurin said, "had no trouble with the tithes."
"My captain Shelim is," Adder said, racking his brains for a diplomatic answer, "um, retiring soon? I am afraid that the tithes are not the sticking point here, Jaatka-Zykkarkurin."
"All of these terms are nonnegotiable," Zykkarkurin said. "Not the tithes nor anything else."
"Right," Adder said. "And if I were to tell you that either we negotiate on the terms or, like every other capturesail on the entire sea, the Midnight King breaks your contract when we think we can get away with it, you would say...?"
As soon as the words were out of his mouth Adder knew it was a mistake. Brilliant! Tell the unreasonable sea-warlord you've been breaking your safe-travels agreement for years. It was going to go over like gasoline on water. Volatile and poisonous.
Zykkarkurin laughed. It was not a nice laugh. "The penalty for violating your oaths is death," he said. "You would court it, little worm?"
It wasn't like Adder could take it back now. So he had to lean in. "Jaatka-Zykkarkurin. Jaatka-jattaron." Hopefully he'd gotten the archaic word right; he didn't speak du-a-kkyritiija well enough to know. "I'm the only negotiator on this ocean who respects you enough to tell you that we are all breaking the contract you made. There's not a single capturesail that is not double-dipping. The exclusive trade agreements are a joke to the surface-dwellers."
Zykkarkurin's expression darkened even further. The ribbons of light around his six eyes pulsed faster. A bad sign. "A joke."
"I want to make an agreement that works," Adder said, as earnestly as he could manage. He could taste his heartbeat on the tip of his tongue. "I'm a dragon. When we make our oaths, we mean them. I hate playing these games. I hate that when we deal with these humans, these- "
"Surface-dwellers," Zykkarkurin cut in.
"Humans," Adder stressed, "these Warists, who hate you and who hate me, these people get the iron and we're both left holding the coals."
"Explain," Zykkarkurin said, sharp. "What coals."
"Um," Adder said, suddenly off-balance, "an expression, it's - the, the valuable part is the iron, the coals are just hot and. Flammable. They light, you know, they burn. The point is, we're all getting - we're getting fucked with different ends of the same stick." Zykkarkurin scowled even harder, fins flaring. "I want to fix that, me and my new captain. Can we discuss these terms?"
"You," Zykkarkurin started. "Are an upstart. A whelp. You talk too much for what a little thing you are. You think you are so smart, no?"
Adder breathed deep, trying to avoid making it obvious. If he was going to have to fight his way out of here, he was probably going to die. He'd try it, but he'd probably die. He might be able to get Zykkarkurin on the way out, which would maybe help Zahra a little, but -
- "I will consider discussing this with the Itkka-annat-kkyrribi-ta. Explain your desired terms."
Adder did his best not to show any relief. "Okay. For starters..."
-
Zahra couldn't decide whether to yell at him or throw a party when he got back with the new contract, so Adder figured that meant he'd succeeded. Still, next time she asked him to do this...
... well, he'd be thinking twice about it, that was for sure.
no subject
I'm delighted. Real dragon behaviour to go "I'm not gonna lie, we will not obey by this contract and that offends my principles so let's have a better contract instead".
no subject