imagination is key

Mary Stuart in every Reign episode Season 1 Episode 12: “Royal Blood”

“When will I see you next?”

She knew it was quick to be seeing him straight away the next day but she hated the idea of waiting any longer.

“People get rejected all the time, it just means you’ll get the next one, right?” 

She looked up at Naerys and smiled softly, her face still stained with tears, “thank you, something fun tonight sounds great.”

A smile spreading over her face at the possibility of distraction and fun, Naerys wasn’t one to dwell on the negative for long, always looking for the next distraction, and ever willing to drag her twin along with her.

“God no I am not doing that again, however we could break into moms closet and try on her clothes? She just got a new dress the other day that looked amazing.”

“Probably. Anything over 200 years old probably is.”

“I love you to pluto!”  The little girl giggled while bouncing on her bed, pointing towards the glowing planets decorating the ceiling. 

“You can pick the story.”

He smiled, trying to convey the sympathy he felt for her. Since news of their relationship had been made public, she had faced far more media attention than he had. And she had not grown up expecting it. He hoped it wasn’t scaring her too much, this pressure. The people really did seem to love her, and he hoped that made it a bit easier. 

“It a more that I just want somewhere peaceful I can go, where I can’t be found by anyone but you.” She whispered, hoping he would understand.

“Naerys, tell me what’s going on?”

“I just want you and dad to realize that I’m not stupid, like, I know I suck at school sometimes and remembering to do things, I know. But I’m not totally dumb.”

“Naerys darling we know you’re not dumb or stupid, we also know that you forget things sometimes that’s why we sometimes nudge you in the right direction and remind you to do things. Why do you feel like we think you’re stupid?”

“Naerys, tell me what’s going on?”

“I just want you and dad to realize that I’m not stupid, like, I know I suck at school sometimes and remembering to do things, I know. But I’m not totally dumb.”

“Naerys darling we know you’re not dumb or stupid, we also know that you forget things sometimes that’s why we sometimes nudge you in the right direction and remind you to do things. Why do you feel like we think you’re stupid?”

nah but actually he probably gets a bit of her favorite chocolate, and some books she’s interested in and probably a lovely piece of custom jewelry that is in a timeless and elegant style, no new fads for her even though she’s a designer. 

“Well fuck. I told you not to touch it while I was touching it. Now we have to wait a day for it to recharge.” She was mad but in a way she was kind of glad. It would be nice to not be herself for a change but god she hoped he couldn’t change his age like she could, a four year old Keld in her body was not something she needed right now.

He moved each limb slowly to get better acquainted with the body he would be occupying for the next 24 hours. Reaching his awareness of her body out, he tried to focus on the part of her that felt malleable, the part that he suspected held the key to her age abilities. There! She was already mad at him he might as well have some fun. With all his concentration, he focused on making himself younger. When he opened his eyes, he was seeing the world from a much shorter hight. He looked around with amazement and then let out a giggle, almost involuntarily. The six year old body he now inhabited was having a funny effect on his thoughts, making them jumbled, hard to focus, distracted. He bounced on his toes and grinned.  “Well I’m having fun! Nessie look! Look at me!!”  

She did not need this right now, she really couldn’t be bothered with Keld as a six year old although a small part, albiet a very small part, of herself was a tiny bit excited for him to be able to relive his childhood slightly. She knew how nice it was to be able to give up all responsibilities for a short time and act like a child again but only when it was herself and she didn’t have to be the adult; obviously.

Try as he might, Finn couldn’t prevent concern and tension from creeping into his voice at her words. What did she want to tell him? His mind brought up a thousand possibilities even as his face relaxed into a grin and he turned from undressing to focus fully on her, the shirt he had just been photographed in still over his forearms. He liked working with her; he hoped whatever it was she wanted to discuss wouldn’t mean he no longer got to see her. It would be just like her boss to make her the bearer of his firing or something similar. 

“I was wondering if you would uh- well the thing is I’ve been invited to a charity ball tonight and I was wondering if you’d be my plus one.” She paused then looked at the floor, clearing her throat. “for work purposes of course.”

“ I’d be honored to be your plus one. But what’s this ball got to do with work? Am I to be a walking advertisement?”

“No, I-“ she swallowed and finally looked back up at him, “it’s a work thing because I was invited through my work but I’ve asked you to come because I like your company.” The end of her sentence getting quieter and quicker as she spoke because of her nerves. She can’t believe she’d just said that out loud.

High school au: it’s a bunch of small things that are fun and silly and fun to unwrap. And he makes sure to spend lots of time doing cute christmas things. Also always gets her brother a great gift 

“Well fuck. I told you not to touch it while I was touching it. Now we have to wait a day for it to recharge.” She was mad but in a way she was kind of glad. It would be nice to not be herself for a change but god she hoped he couldn’t change his age like she could, a four year old Keld in her body was not something she needed right now.

“I think sometimes.” 

“I can’t fucking wait for this to be over.” She looked away from him, not comfortable looking back at her own face.