BadFic from the M_A contes
Jun. 1st, 2005 03:34 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
valarltdSo, ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
mrshamill conned me into writing Q/O for a badfic contest.
Enjoy. Or not.
Marching Home.
May Resu Jinn sighed sadly. She drooped dejectedly under the
daphne laurel. Her daddy was lonely. He was very, very
lonely and there was no one to love him since her mama had
died, closing her beautiful violet-silver eyes for the last
time. Now Mama was buried under the big willow tree, and her
daddy was lonesome.
"Tramp, tramp, tramp, the boys are marching,
Cheer up, comrades, they will come.
And beneath the starry flag we shall breathe the air again,
Of the free land in our own beloved home."
The fine clear voice cut through the humid Illinois air, and
May hopped her ten year old self off the bench she'd been
sitting on. The young man swaggered down the road, the blue
uniform faded and tattered.
"Hello little lady," he said, sweeping off his forage cap.
"Hello yourself."
"Could I get dinner at your house, on my way home?"
"Dadddddeeeeee!" May yelled.
"What is it sweetheart?" Quintien Gonril Jinn was an
imposing man, and his long legs ate the dooryard like it was
a piece of rhubarb pie. Looking up at his rugged face with
its hawklike nose that had obviously been broken once, Ben
wasn't sure he wanted to stay. This big mountain of a man
looked like pictures of lions Ben had seen in his books as a
child, the kind that gobbled up missionaries and heathen
cannibals like.
"Soldier wants to stay to dinner, daddy. Can he?" The
girl's eyes were the same blue as her father, and Ben knew
at once she had him completely ensorcelled.
"We have plenty. It's not fancy."
"Captain Ben Kenobi, Badger State Flying Artillery
unit out of Racine, Wisconsin. I'm on my way home from
Memphis. The grateful nation gave me an honorable discharge,
but no trip home."
Jinn laughed. "I've finished harvesting for the day. Come on
in and we'll have a wash and some supper."
There was a pot of ham and beans on the stove and a rhubarb
pie on the windowsill. While her daddy and the soldier
washed, May stirred the egg and milk and salt into some
cornmeal. She carefully added two spoons of sugar and put it
in a skillet to bake while she set the table.
It wasn't uncommon for traveling soldiers to ask a night's
stay. The Jinn farm was the only thing on the ten mile
stretch between Virden and Thayer.
They ate quietly. May watched the handsome young soldier.
Ben watched Quintien. Quintien watched his food. There was
much to do tomorrow. Acres of corn to pull, garden to tend,
supper to start before he left.
"Mr. Jinn, if I could stay the night, I'd be happy to help
you in the morning."
"All right. You can sleep in the barn. There's some good hay
in there. May'll find you a quilt." Wearily, the big man
rose and started clearing the table.
"Daddy, I'll get that. I've got the eggs already, and fed
the animals. All you have to do is milk the cow." May
gathered the plates and started washing them in the water
she'd put on the stove earlier.
"Where's your mom, little May-day?" Ben asked as he brought
his plate to the dishpan.
"Under the willow all last winter and all spring and summer
too."
"Your daddy could use some help, couldn't he?"
"Can't afford any, Ben. He does it all and I do what I can."
She put the clean dishes away neatly and started to sweep
the floor.
"You're a good girl, May."
Quin came in with the milk, and May set it aside to make
butter tomorrow. She went to get Ben his quilt.
The young soldier worked hard in exchange for the night's
lodging, but it was a large farm and when they finished,
there was no time for him to move on before dark, so he
stayed the next night. Two nights became a week, a week
became a month, and soon it was October.
"Don't get any finer traveling weather than this, pretty
May-day," Ben said as they sat on the front porch swing. "I
guess I'll be moving on after the apples are picked."
"Ben, I like having you here. I know Daddy does too. Please
stay?"
"Maybe for the winter, little May-day,. But I'll be gone
before your namesake comes round."
In late October, they heard bells. May knew who it was. Yoda
the Peddler had traveled the roads every year at this time.
She knew what they needed. The little dwarf hopped off his
wagon and began sorting things for her.
"Mmm, hmm. Bigger you get every year, May. Soon, a woman
will you be. Run the house like a woman you already do.
Needles and pins and cloth, yes. And a new ladle. Tell your
father I gave you this, you will not," he said as he slipped
a piece of barley sugar into her hand. "Now, your love I
must have, three dozen eggs, a pound of butter and two
dollars in cash money."
May gave him the requisite hug, along with the produce and
money. When she took the goods in the house, she saw the
cart had not moved. Yoda sat in his seat, ready to drive on,
but saw her in the curtains and beckoned her out.
"A word of advice I give you. Young soldier, very handsome
he is, very sweet voice. Believe nothing he tells you about
anything other than cooking."
In late November, there was snow and ice. Quin invited Ben
in from the barn, to sleep near the fire. And Christmas too
came round as it always did.
May was singing to herself as she made pancakes on Christmas
morning. She was almost eleven now. She turned each pancake
just as it was ready. There were three tall stacks, and
butter and rhubarb jam. She went to wake her daddy.
"Morning, Daddy! Merry Christmas."
Quin sat up and his first instinct was to draw the
featherbed up higher. The beautiful green-eyed soldierboy in
his bed was not something May needed to see. It was too
late. "Ben, Ben, wake up!" She was bouncing on that side of
the bed.
"The pancakes are ready and there are presents."
Quin dressed quickly, but Ben stretched slowly. While he was
not yet uncovered, Quin grabbed May and hustled her to the
livingroom.
"How did you know Ben was with me?"
"Daddy, he's been sleeping on Mama's side of the bed since
you both got tiddly on Thanksgiving. Are you going to marry
him?"
"Man can't marry another man, May. It's not right."
"Do you love him? Like you loved Mama?"
"Never like I loved your mother. But Ben is a good man, a
good help and a good friend."
"I saw you kiss him. Not like you kiss me." May was certain
in her almost-eleven judgment. "If Reverend Brown won't let
you get married, maybe I should just make you married."
Ben was out of the bedroom. "Who's getting married?"
"You and daddy. Stand together now and repeat after me:"
Amused, the men stood together. Quin took Ben's right hand
in his own. May continued, "I Quintien Gonril Jinn take you
Ben Owan Kenobi to be my husband. To love forever and ever."
Quin repeated the words at her instance. She turned to Ben.
"I Ben, Owan, Kenobi take you to be my husband. To love
forever and ever." When he hesitated, May prompted "Say
it."
Ben complied.
"Now kiss."
With a half-raised eyebrow, Ben stood on tiptoe to press a
kiss to Quin's mouth.
"Good. You're married. And I take you both to be my
daddies. Now the pancakes are getting clod, and afterwards
there's presents."
That night, after May had been packed off to bed, Ben sat
beside his husband on the settee in front of the fire. He
looked at the rings on their hands, rings May had bartered a
quilt of her own making to Yoda for.
"I never expected to get married," he said, leaning up and
kissing Quin under the chin, letting the fine beard tickle
his mouth.
"I never expected to love anyone again after Susie Marie
went." Quin turned Ben to cuddle in his arms, and kissed
him properly.
"I always wanted to make love in front of a fire," Ben said.
"I used to spy on my folks in the winter when they did."
So they made love in front of the fire as husband and
husband, and raised May to womanhood. When she was old
enough, they married her to Andy, the boy from the Walker
farm across the way. And everyone lived happily ever after.
mrshamill conned me into writing Q/O for a badfic contest.Enjoy. Or not.
Marching Home.
May Resu Jinn sighed sadly. She drooped dejectedly under the
daphne laurel. Her daddy was lonely. He was very, very
lonely and there was no one to love him since her mama had
died, closing her beautiful violet-silver eyes for the last
time. Now Mama was buried under the big willow tree, and her
daddy was lonesome.
"Tramp, tramp, tramp, the boys are marching,
Cheer up, comrades, they will come.
And beneath the starry flag we shall breathe the air again,
Of the free land in our own beloved home."
The fine clear voice cut through the humid Illinois air, and
May hopped her ten year old self off the bench she'd been
sitting on. The young man swaggered down the road, the blue
uniform faded and tattered.
"Hello little lady," he said, sweeping off his forage cap.
"Hello yourself."
"Could I get dinner at your house, on my way home?"
"Dadddddeeeeee!" May yelled.
"What is it sweetheart?" Quintien Gonril Jinn was an
imposing man, and his long legs ate the dooryard like it was
a piece of rhubarb pie. Looking up at his rugged face with
its hawklike nose that had obviously been broken once, Ben
wasn't sure he wanted to stay. This big mountain of a man
looked like pictures of lions Ben had seen in his books as a
child, the kind that gobbled up missionaries and heathen
cannibals like.
"Soldier wants to stay to dinner, daddy. Can he?" The
girl's eyes were the same blue as her father, and Ben knew
at once she had him completely ensorcelled.
"We have plenty. It's not fancy."
"Captain Ben Kenobi, Badger State Flying Artillery
unit out of Racine, Wisconsin. I'm on my way home from
Memphis. The grateful nation gave me an honorable discharge,
but no trip home."
Jinn laughed. "I've finished harvesting for the day. Come on
in and we'll have a wash and some supper."
There was a pot of ham and beans on the stove and a rhubarb
pie on the windowsill. While her daddy and the soldier
washed, May stirred the egg and milk and salt into some
cornmeal. She carefully added two spoons of sugar and put it
in a skillet to bake while she set the table.
It wasn't uncommon for traveling soldiers to ask a night's
stay. The Jinn farm was the only thing on the ten mile
stretch between Virden and Thayer.
They ate quietly. May watched the handsome young soldier.
Ben watched Quintien. Quintien watched his food. There was
much to do tomorrow. Acres of corn to pull, garden to tend,
supper to start before he left.
"Mr. Jinn, if I could stay the night, I'd be happy to help
you in the morning."
"All right. You can sleep in the barn. There's some good hay
in there. May'll find you a quilt." Wearily, the big man
rose and started clearing the table.
"Daddy, I'll get that. I've got the eggs already, and fed
the animals. All you have to do is milk the cow." May
gathered the plates and started washing them in the water
she'd put on the stove earlier.
"Where's your mom, little May-day?" Ben asked as he brought
his plate to the dishpan.
"Under the willow all last winter and all spring and summer
too."
"Your daddy could use some help, couldn't he?"
"Can't afford any, Ben. He does it all and I do what I can."
She put the clean dishes away neatly and started to sweep
the floor.
"You're a good girl, May."
Quin came in with the milk, and May set it aside to make
butter tomorrow. She went to get Ben his quilt.
The young soldier worked hard in exchange for the night's
lodging, but it was a large farm and when they finished,
there was no time for him to move on before dark, so he
stayed the next night. Two nights became a week, a week
became a month, and soon it was October.
"Don't get any finer traveling weather than this, pretty
May-day," Ben said as they sat on the front porch swing. "I
guess I'll be moving on after the apples are picked."
"Ben, I like having you here. I know Daddy does too. Please
stay?"
"Maybe for the winter, little May-day,. But I'll be gone
before your namesake comes round."
In late October, they heard bells. May knew who it was. Yoda
the Peddler had traveled the roads every year at this time.
She knew what they needed. The little dwarf hopped off his
wagon and began sorting things for her.
"Mmm, hmm. Bigger you get every year, May. Soon, a woman
will you be. Run the house like a woman you already do.
Needles and pins and cloth, yes. And a new ladle. Tell your
father I gave you this, you will not," he said as he slipped
a piece of barley sugar into her hand. "Now, your love I
must have, three dozen eggs, a pound of butter and two
dollars in cash money."
May gave him the requisite hug, along with the produce and
money. When she took the goods in the house, she saw the
cart had not moved. Yoda sat in his seat, ready to drive on,
but saw her in the curtains and beckoned her out.
"A word of advice I give you. Young soldier, very handsome
he is, very sweet voice. Believe nothing he tells you about
anything other than cooking."
In late November, there was snow and ice. Quin invited Ben
in from the barn, to sleep near the fire. And Christmas too
came round as it always did.
May was singing to herself as she made pancakes on Christmas
morning. She was almost eleven now. She turned each pancake
just as it was ready. There were three tall stacks, and
butter and rhubarb jam. She went to wake her daddy.
"Morning, Daddy! Merry Christmas."
Quin sat up and his first instinct was to draw the
featherbed up higher. The beautiful green-eyed soldierboy in
his bed was not something May needed to see. It was too
late. "Ben, Ben, wake up!" She was bouncing on that side of
the bed.
"The pancakes are ready and there are presents."
Quin dressed quickly, but Ben stretched slowly. While he was
not yet uncovered, Quin grabbed May and hustled her to the
livingroom.
"How did you know Ben was with me?"
"Daddy, he's been sleeping on Mama's side of the bed since
you both got tiddly on Thanksgiving. Are you going to marry
him?"
"Man can't marry another man, May. It's not right."
"Do you love him? Like you loved Mama?"
"Never like I loved your mother. But Ben is a good man, a
good help and a good friend."
"I saw you kiss him. Not like you kiss me." May was certain
in her almost-eleven judgment. "If Reverend Brown won't let
you get married, maybe I should just make you married."
Ben was out of the bedroom. "Who's getting married?"
"You and daddy. Stand together now and repeat after me:"
Amused, the men stood together. Quin took Ben's right hand
in his own. May continued, "I Quintien Gonril Jinn take you
Ben Owan Kenobi to be my husband. To love forever and ever."
Quin repeated the words at her instance. She turned to Ben.
"I Ben, Owan, Kenobi take you to be my husband. To love
forever and ever." When he hesitated, May prompted "Say
it."
Ben complied.
"Now kiss."
With a half-raised eyebrow, Ben stood on tiptoe to press a
kiss to Quin's mouth.
"Good. You're married. And I take you both to be my
daddies. Now the pancakes are getting clod, and afterwards
there's presents."
That night, after May had been packed off to bed, Ben sat
beside his husband on the settee in front of the fire. He
looked at the rings on their hands, rings May had bartered a
quilt of her own making to Yoda for.
"I never expected to get married," he said, leaning up and
kissing Quin under the chin, letting the fine beard tickle
his mouth.
"I never expected to love anyone again after Susie Marie
went." Quin turned Ben to cuddle in his arms, and kissed
him properly.
"I always wanted to make love in front of a fire," Ben said.
"I used to spy on my folks in the winter when they did."
So they made love in front of the fire as husband and
husband, and raised May to womanhood. When she was old
enough, they married her to Andy, the boy from the Walker
farm across the way. And everyone lived happily ever after.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2005-06-01 10:58 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-06-01 11:14 pm (UTC)That's Anakin Skywalker she's marrying, not Andy Taylor.