THROUGH THE AGES || A ToA One Shot Collection

R02 ⋅ Overcast Eggs (DouxAn)

Request 02: AnnieSchuyler88

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When she awoke, it was overcast and dreary outside.

It had been like this nearly all this last week. Sometimes it would rain and soothe the dull ache behind her eyes, but most of the time it was just dark and monotonous which didn't help her delicate senses.

Thankfully, Douxie and Nari have been understanding and have let her sleep in peace. Douxie gave her the strongest pain-numbing medicine he could find for her while Nari tried to heal her with her magic. The medicine helped somewhat, but Anthea felt the most relief from Nari's healing magic.

That was last night. Well, more like yesterday afternoon. It was now nine o'clock in the morning the following day.

Anthea felt much better now but she can still feel the headache behind her eyes threatening to come back at any moment. Not a very nice feeling in the least.

The blonde rolls over from her side to her back and stares up at the ceiling of her and Douxie's shared bedroom. Grey light filters through the blinds and sheer curtains covering the windows, signaling that the weather has lightened up and that the sun will hopefully break through the clouds later in the day.

She takes in a deep breath and is pleasantly greeted with the smell of greasy bacon. Douxie must have wanted to make breakfast for her this morning or he and Nari couldn't wait for Anthea to get up and cook them something. Either way, it makes Anthea smile.

Tugging her legs out from under the covers, Anthea pulls herself out of bed. Then, she straightens her sweatpants before pulling a light blanket from the ottoman at the foot of the bed and wrapping it around her shoulders.

The clatter of dishes welcomes Anthea to the short hallway decorated with several memorable moments and family photos. The extra doorways lead to a couple of other bedrooms and a bathroom meant for Nari and guests. And hopefully one day, a child or two of their own.

At the other end of the hall, Anthea catches a glimpse of Archie prancing into the kitchen followed by the sounds of Douxie and Nari's hushed voices and stifled giggles.

Anthea feels a smile dance silently on her lips as she creeps forward. The decorative, cream-colored carpet lining the hallway softens her footfalls to near silence. Perhaps she'll be able to startle Douxie or Archie (she knows she'll never be able to get Nari, so the other two are left to Anthea's mercy).

Stepping into the open space of the living and dining room, Anthea lightens her footsteps with her magic and translucent, gossamer wings as she makes her way closer to the kitchen.

Peeking in through the archway leading to the kitchen, the fae princess almost instantly is seen by Nari. However, instead of giving her away, the Primordial Being just smiles and turns back toward the stove to keep an eye on the eggs and sizzling bacon.

Anthea then spies Douxie looking through their refrigerator's contents, probably looking for the green onion to add to the eggs or the pulp-free orange juice they like to drink every so often. Archie is on his shoulder, helping him and doesn't notice Anthea sneaking up behind them.

Carefully, Anthea steps up behind them and quickly wraps her arms around Douxie's torso. He jumps and bumps his head on a shelf before turning around to see Anthea grinning up at him.

"Fuzz buckets!" He sucks in a deep breath and places a hand over his heart, "You scared me, Love."

"That was the plan," Anthea giggles, "Though, I didn't plan for you to hit your head. Are you alright?"

Douxie smiles and massages the bump on his head, "Yeah, I'm fine." He presses a quick kiss on her forehead and turns back to the fridge.

"What are you looking for?" Anthea questions, pulling the blanket tighter around her shoulders.

"Well," Douxie begins with a sigh, "I thought we had green onion for your eggs, but I can't find any."

"Have you checked the produce drawer?" Anthea asks as the man she loves glances back at her.

"The what?"

"The produce drawer," Anthea repeats, ducking to the lowest drawer in the fridge and opening it. Inside, there are a few green and red capsicums, a yellow onion, a couple of tomatoes, and a plastic produce bag of green onion.

Pulling out the green onion, Anthea hands it to Douxie with a smile.

"How do you know more about fridges than me?" Douxie asks in a tone of surprise, "I've been in the modern world much longer than you have."

Anthea grins, "I worked in a kitchen for most of my life, Douxie, I know a cold box when I see one."

"There weren't any 'cold boxes' in Camelot," He replies as Anthea closes the fridge.

"Aunt Dionysia showed me how to create a cold cellar to chill the king's wine and fruit and keep extra milk cold," Anthea explains, leaning against the counter, "We used two pots: a large one and a slightly smaller one. The smaller one went inside the large one after we added a little bit of sand or clay to the bottom of it. Once we situated the smaller pot inside the large one, we filled the walls with the same sand or clay."

Douxie steps closer to her, "So that's your secret."

"Mhmm." Anthea nods, "That's my secret."

"Alright, you two, get a room," Archie says, jumping down onto the counter.

"We can't do that, Arch," Douxie grins, "Got to keep an eye on breakfast. Speaking of which, we just got to add the green onion and it'll be done."

Nari jumps down from her stool to let Douxie access the stove.

Anthea smiles.

She can't believe that they finally got their happily ever after. Sure, it took a long, long nine hundred years (at least for Douxie) and a lot of heartaches. At first, she wasn't sure if they'd even get a happy ending. But now that they are here, it feels too good to be true.

Anthea exhales silently and runs her hand over Archie's fur. Douxie plates their food and makes small talk with Nari but Anthea isn't paying attention.

I'm happy. She thinks. I am happy.

And the sun comes out.

Edited 09/04/2023