blondecanary

The music and singing were quite audible in the corridor, and on his way out Leto stopped in the doorway, his arm leaning lightly against the door frame, grinning.

Dinah got through another verse before realizing she had an audience other than the kitten. She bopped to a stop, turning pink, then shrugged and grinned, holding out one foot. "Hey, Leto. Look, new boots!"

He eyed the boots, nodding approvingly. "Hello, Dinah. Have you recovered from yesterday?" Taking a step forward, he entered the room, glancing around and then smiling at the kitten.

Camille took this opportunity to investigate the new person and circled him, meowing as she sniffed his shoes and tried to insinuate herself onto his foot.

Dinah laughed, and twirled again, remembering rehearsal. "Mostly? Ohhh, that's going to be hard to do with an audience. But at least I kind of finally understand it now." She grinned. "Boys."

Leto raised an eyebrow and gave her an amused look in reply to the last comment. Then he crouched down, holding out a hand towards Camille.

Gently scratching Camille's head, Leto looked up at Dinah. "No? I believe you expect something else from marriage. Is not creating peace for your people a good thing? A ruler must also serve his people and make sacrifices for the protection of everyone."

"I don't think it's a bad thing-- well. I do wonder if it ever works. Or if there isn't just as much infighting with the in-laws," Dinah explained, folding herself and her new boots to sit on the floor and grin at Camille, now purring madly. And yeah, she was thinking of his step-mom poisoning his mom, even if he got along with Irulan now. "It's just... I'd fail as a king, queen, I mean, if that was my job. I'd chicken out. That's one sacrifice I don't think I could ever make." She shook her head. "So glad it's not."

Like my father did. Leto couldn't help it, the words came unbidden into his mind. He drew a sharp breath. "You should be."

Then he grinned, watching Camille enjoy the attention. "You survived the weekend. I was relieved."

Which reminded her of Ghanima and Farad'n, and not telling Leto about that engagement. And wondering if his future wife was already picked out back home too. Not to mention the whole court thing, and princes, and was he royalty like Arthur was, or what?

Distracted by his comment, though, Dinah facepalmed and laughed. "Oh, God. Right. You were still grown-up inside, weren't you? When I was falling off chairs and singing my little heart out and scared of zombies. Oh, you must have hated that the first time around."

At least she understood that. "I did. Although here no one was frightened or unnerved," he replied thoughtfully. He sat down on the floor and offered Camille his fingers to play with.

"Were you always that full of energy?" he asked with a grin.

"No? I'm glad for that, at least," Dinah said, meaning it. Even if he was almost-adult on the inside, he'd been ... short. People should have been able to deal with him being too smart and not let it get to them. "What'd you do aside from go to a bar?" She grinned at his question, then admitted, "Yes. I had two regular babysitters, and they always turned me back over to my mom with sighs of relief and said now they needed naps."

"At least I got served in the bar," he said flippantly. "And I... bartered with Turtle, had a long conversation with a lady at a tea party, tried to spar with Worf and was rejected and challenged Alice to a duel." That last part made him smile. "That wasn't meant seriously though. And you?"

"So did I. Chocolate milk and cherries." Dinah snickered. "Alice said her little self wasn't as violent, so that's probably just as well? Why were you challenging her?" She tilted her head, reaching out to untangle Camille's paws from Leto's shirt cuff. "Let's see, went running around the Preserve with Tahiri and a bunch of other kids, made milkshakes with Tony who so should've known better, joined Adora's Horde, terrified Lacey with a balloon, and played in the ball-pit with Arthur and Priestly." She grinned at that memory, then her smiled widened, remembering Monday's sparring practice.

"I meant alcohol," he laughed. "And Alice ordered me out of my room, which she thought was hers and threatened me with body guards. I think a mock challenge was an adequate response. And yes, I saw you in the ball pit. It looked like you enjoyed yourselves."