After the War... There is Peace

Dorian&Josefin

It had been such a stressful and tiring day. Dorian had never known how hard it was to be King when his dad had the role, but then again he was under the control of a demon. As he was  pinching the bridge of his nose, trying to rid of the oncoming headache, a small knock sounded on his door. He smiled despite the work pile in front of him, and got up to open the door. Standing in front of him was Josefin, now 5 years old, grinning mischievously up at him.

"Hi, Uncle Dorian, what are you doing?" Josefin slipped through his legs, ran to his desk, and crawled up into his chair. He turned around shaking his head. She had not reached the "chubby" stage yet, and was as skinny as a stick. He leaned against the doorframe.

"Well, Jose, I was working, until a certain little rascal came bombarding into my office like a madman."

Jose began to giggle as Dorian walked over and ticked her. She screamed and fell out of his chair, overcome by laughter. He scooped her up into hers and spinned her around until she was dizzy.

"Wanna do something fun today, Jose?"

"You already know I do, Uncle Dorian!" Josefin giggled.

They were nose to nose as if they were sharing in some big secret.

"Where to, darling?"
                                     
                                      ~~

Dorian would prefer spending every afternoon like this, reading novels with Jose curled up at his side, rather than doing paperwork and attending various different meetings. He and Josefin had went to the library to fish out a ton of books to read later that day, and afterwards had snuck into the kitchen to retrieve a dozen or so treats. I mean, sure, he could have just had one his maids bring some dessert up to his room but where's the fun in that?

Unfortunately, even awesome people like Dorian and Josefin tire of reading all afternoon and find themselves in search of a another adventure. Dorian has the perfect idea.

Dorian knows that Yrene and Chaol have started to teach Jose, so she doesn't have a lot of opportunities to go running around the palace. Which is why he has lead his niece right to the dog pens, where one of his *female dogs'* has given birth to a new litter. She yelps in delight of the sight before her, which makes Dorian's heart flutter. 

Yrene is out leading a group of new healers in hopes of starting her very own Torres Cesme in Rifthold. Chaol has also been very busy as the King's Hand making sure everything is running smoothly. Although he's gotten a multitude a different, new tasks, it wouldn't hurt to see what Dorian and Jose were up to. He'd noted the King's empty desk and room and it didn't take much to put two and two together : that Dorian and Jose were somewhere goofing around. Despite the lack of work on Dorian's end, it made him feel good to know that they had such a strong bond. Josefin absolutely adored her Uncle Dorian, and the King definitely tried to spoil her every chance he got.

It didn't take long to find them, not with Jose's big, hearty laugh guiding the way. "Of course, they are in the dog pens, Chaol chuckled to himself, where else would they be?" Chaol's grin slackened, though, as he beheld the scene before him. Josefin was surround by a whole litter of fluffy, tail-wagging puppies. She only had one in her lap, who was currently profusely licking her face. Dorian was nowhere in sight.

"Josefin, where's your uncle?"

Josefin couldn't hear him over her own laughter. She was so engrossed over the small pup in her arms that she hadn't even noticed him standing there.

"Josefin!" Chaol said raising his voice. She stopped to look up at him in surprise.

"Daddy," she said in between laughs, you're here."

"Yes, but apparently your uncle isn't"

"Yes, he is," Josefin chuckled and held up the chubby, little puppy in her arms.

"I get it, darling, the puppy's very cute, but where is-"

It had suddenly struck Chaol so hard that he stumbled back and tried his best not to bark out a laugh. How he didn't see it at first was beyond him. He smirked at the little rascal, who no doubt, had smirked right back before turning into flash of light leaving Dorian sitting cross legged in the puppy's place.

"Don't tell me you're here to drag me back into that horrid office," Dorian groaned and Chaol just rolled his eyes.

"One or these days you're gonna wish you had handled business instead of playing doggie with Jose," Chaol stated matter-a-factly.

Dorian just shook his head and smiled as Jose planted a big smooch on his check, and returned to playing with the other pups.

"No, Chaol, I don't think I will."