Iridescent || DNF

Chapter 7: A Music Note

Visiting the horses didn't go exactly as George had anticipated. After begging the cooks for even a single drop of tea, much to his dismay, he'd made his way to the stall tea-less. Supposedly, tea was a rare drink for commoners, and only royalty had it in large quantities. George felt his heart ache, he hadn't realized how much he'd miss the sweet, warm drink. He hoped Dream would be able to find a way to buy some, but inwardly knew it would be ridiculous to ask. Why would Prince Dream go out of his way to buy one of the medics tea just because he was homesick? Ridiculous.

Next, George had forgotten the carrots. By the time he had made his way back to the stables for the second time, griping the whole way, he was shocked to open the stable door and realize he was not alone. Usually, the ranch hands did not come to the stables till much later, and most soldiers avoided the stables like the plague. It wasn't a place many wanted to spend their precious little free time.

But that lady who intruded on George's quiet morning was clearly on a mission.

"Thank goodness George, I was looking everywhere for you," Niki said in a hurry, looking frantic. "I wanted to apologize, I saw what Dream did this morning."

"Oh, um," George shifted on his feet uncomfortably. "What did you see exactly?"

"He took your flowers I gave you!" Niki sniffed, clearly enraged. "I had those shipped all the way from... anyways, it was not his place. I saw him toss them into the garden this morning. I just can't believe he won't let anyone have one ounce of joy!"

George winced, feeling awful. Something told him Niki would feel worse if she discovered the reason Dream had taken the flowers was a simple allergy.

"Well, I'm sure he had a good reason," George said. "And he was, well, nice to me. He said he'd have the cooks make me tea."

"And then promptly left," Niki muttered. "The cooks said you asked for tea this morning yourself. The least Dream could do is follow up on his promise."

"Hey, I'm sorry," George said, feeling slightly out of place. "I didn't mean to upset you, and I'm fine, I promise."

"Oh George, you have such a gentle soul. But you need to learn to not be such a doormat! Stand up for yourself for goodness sake."

Something told George this had more to do with how Niki felt about herself than George's predicament. George had never felt like much of a doormat himself, thank you very much. Following the military summons did not make him a pushover. Following law doesn't make one a coward.

"I'll do better," George noted simply. "And I'm sorry if anything that happened distressed you. I assure you that I'm more than fine, in fact I'm quite happy. I just came out here to tend to the horses. Shadow and Spirit have been getting along pretty well."

"And Dream has you care for his pet as well I see. Can't even give the poor horse the time of day," Niki shook her head. "Dream has such a big ego. I've grown up working here George, and I've seen things. Dream is not the kind, heroic soldier he pretends to be."

George nodded, wondering what side of Dream Niki had witnessed.

"Well, I've noticed you have a lot of problems with how things are being done," George said. "Have you talked to anyone about it? Maybe they could fix things for the better."

Niki rolled up her lip in disgust. "No one would listen anyways, they've all got their heads shoved too far up their ass. But I'm glad there's someone new on the medical staff, especially someone as level headed as you George. Don't tell anyone, but I think this war is pretty scummy and our government system is broke. Dream inherited the throne with no prior experience! Then he instituted a bunch of censorship laws and created a bunch of harsh sentences for minor infractions!"