The Borgias Fic: Safe From the Storm

[meridian_rose]

Title: Safe From the Storm
Fandom: The Borgias
Pairing/Characters: Lucrezia/Cesare
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: 255
Prompt: For the writerverse prompts 'Brother/Sister' and 'Better in Red'
Summary: She loves him more than she should, in ways she knows she should not.
Notes: Probably takes place early first season.
Warnings: Incest (no sexual scenes)
Also @ AO3


She loves him more than she should, in ways she knows she should not. She cannot help but adore her beloved Cesare, with his luscious dark locks and smouldering brown eyes.

Her brother has always been her protector and confidante. He was there for her when their mother was busy with their younger brother Joffre. He always had time for her when their father was wrapped up in his clerical duties. It was his bed she always climbed into after a nightmare or during thunderstorms.

At some point she stopped going to his bed during storms because she was afraid, and started climbing under the covers simply because it was a wonderful excuse for cuddling up against him.

To have his strong arms around her is the one thing in the world that never fails to make her feel safe and loved. He quickens her heart in a way that no other man has.

She knows he feels constrained by the clerical robes and duties their father – their Holy Father, now – has bestowed upon him. Yet she adores the robes, the femininity of them covering his masculine form. She loves the red that makes him appear even more authoritative, more powerful. She finds him handsome in whatever he wears, but, God help her, he's even better in red.

A distant rumble of thunder sounds and Lucrezia smiles to herself. Tonight she shall tiptoe, barefooted, into the bedroom of her Cardinal Borgia and slip beneath his sheets. She'll sleep in his arms, safe from the storm.

Comments

[eternal-moonie.livejournal.com]

Amazing fic!

[meridian_rose]

Thank you! *hugs*

[reina-ursa.livejournal.com]

Beautiful!

[meridian_rose]

Thank you :D

[lemessiah.livejournal.com]

Aw, this is you then. I've seen it on FF.Net.
Being a huge Lucrezia/Cesare supporter from Borgias to Historical and everything, it was a delightful surprise to see another piece of work, seeing that there are not many.
It was short, yes, but sweet. Typical LB!

[meridian_rose]

Yes, I try to crosspost often and to keep the same username everywhere and leave links in my profile pages :D

I'm so glad you liked it! I do much better with short pieces - they tend to get finished and posted rather than remaining WiP languishing on my hard drive - though writing ficlets has its own challenges. Thanks so much for finding me here and reviewing :D

[unwritten-muse.livejournal.com]

Character sketches can often be tricky, especially in shorter works, but I liked how you drew her here; I got a really good sense of this character's voice. I get this sense of a romantic soul, drawn to something she knows is forbidden but which she'll still try and have. What I thought worked particularly well was her saying how safe she feels when she's with him. I like that it seems to be of equal importance to her as her physical attraction to him.

[meridian_rose]

Thank you very much! I was nervous about writing her the first time but this is the second Lucrezia POV I've written and I feel more confident about getting her voice right, so that's lovely to hear.

For me non-sexual intimacy (ie everything in a relationship that's not about sex) is more about than sex itself, including things like trust and the feeling of being safe. That's the angle I was going for, and I'm thrilled it came across.

Thanks for such a lovely review :D

[sherrilina.livejournal.com]

Waaay late here (only now catching up on some older C_L entries I missed) but I love this, the image of little!Lucrezia crawling up into her brother's bed when she had a nightmare and needed comfort--perfect! :D (I love seeing moments from childhood in fic, I wish we could have flashbacks on the show!)

[meridian_rose]

It's never too late to get a great review! Thank you very much :D Flashbacks would be lovely - but there's already so much to squeeze into each episode!