chicken war

prompt was “ i’m not going anywhere. ”

after so many years waking before the sun had risen, even in the summer, neither eliane nor roman were particularly good at sleeping in. whoever woke first would prepare a simple breakfast of eggs, toasted bread, and coffee, and then the other would arrive at the table soon after. they managed a few hours of calm and quiet before the inevitable whirlwind that was their four year old child woke.

“i made breakfast for us, you have to feed the endless pit,” eliane said, looking smug as she took another sip of her coffee. roman shot her a withering look as the young child began jumping up and down by him, shouting, “pojej, pojej! i wan’ pojej an’ berry!”

“there is no way it just happens that you wake up before me four days in a row, eliane,” roman said, mixing the porridge grains in with a short pour of milk that had been dropped off just this morning. he added a small amount of brown sugar to sweeten, and laid out the remaining berries from their most recent visit to the berry field nearby. hela grabbed a fistful of the berries, mashing them into her mouth alongside heaping spoonfuls of porridge. “you’re plotting against me, somehow. i’ll find out, and then you’ll be making ‘pojej’ for the endless pit,” roman added, imitating the way their child said the word.

“oh roman, you really think i’d do that? little old me? why, i just want to make my loving husband a good breakfast!” the retired general said, feigning innocence. he rolled his eyes as sat, taking a sip of his coffee. they fell into a content silence, both watching with mild exasperation mixed with amusement as the four-year old somehow managed to get more food on herself and the table than her mouth.

“alright, tiny terror. we’ll leave your poor father to finish his coffee, and go get you wiped off. then you can go play in the yard as long as you don’t pass the fence.” eliane said once the bowl was more or less empty. miraculously, hela stayed still long enough for her to wipe the child’s face and then set her free, hela running out the door yelling gibberish.

“you know, i almost think it was easier to do paperwork and train cadets,” she said, clearing the table and sitting back down, laying her hand on the table for roman to hold. he obliged, putting their hand in hers and holding his coffee with the other. the quiet was broken only by the faint sound of hela playing in the yard, and the cluckling of the chickens as they likely followed her around. at the doorway lay their dog, an old, heavyset battle dog, watching the play.

“part of me still can’t believe the peaceful life we have right now,” eliane said softly. she was right in front of them, yet the look in her eyes revealed that she was far away, deep in memory. roman hummed softly in response, threading his fingers in between her own. they knew what she meant, though she’d experienced a loss he hadn’t. the missing limb still ached where it no longer was, pins and needles in a hand that was there only in memory.

“my love,” roman started, a gentle tug on her hand to bring her back to the present, “i am not going anywhere. we have a yard of chickens, and a patient mutt that lets our four-year old ride him like a horse. i would do it all again- even the stacks of paperwork- if it meant i could have this ending once again.” they spoke quietly, words for only her ears. she blinked thankfully at him, and got up with a sigh.

“i suppose we have morning chores to take care of, commander. then, what do you say we sit out in the sun for the day? the market will wait for another day, i think we should just enjoy what we have.” finished with her coffee, she left the mug in the dishtub with the other morning dishes.

“is that an order, general?” roman teased, following after her with his still half-full mug. eliane rolled her eyes, and elbowed them, and they pretended to be wounded. roman staggered outside, and the chickens clucked louder at the intruder in the yard. eliane smiled to herself, speaking to nobody in particular as she patted the dog, “somedays that man is a completely different person than the arrogant one i did paperwork with all those years ago. his sword stuck up his whole ass, as rol’ya had put it.” the dog whuffed in response, and licked her hand.

“eliane, come feed the chickens before they eat me!” roman shouted, disrupting the moment. snorting, she looked up to see the chickens surrounding him, pecking at their feet. a final pat, and off she went to save the man who had served alongside her in war, from chickens.