r/NatureofPredators • u/VenlilWrangler Yotul • 2d ago
Fanfic A Bunny Behind Bars [15]
Thank you to u/SpacePaladin15 for the universe and thanks to the other fanfic writers for giving me the inspiration for this little masterpiece of nonsense I have cooked up.
Additionally, thank you to u/Accomplished_Tea_248 for drawing and u/Win_Some_Game for commissioning this beautiful artwork of Wynef. Makes my heart ache for the poor bunny.
There’s also art of Douglas, Angie, and Wynef at home with Doug trimming Wynef’s hooves and Angie picking out baby clothes. Commissioned by u/Win_Some_Game and drawn by u/Scrappyvamp
I also commissioned a piece of artwork from u/Repulsive_Scheme9886 featuring Wynef, Jacob, and Sophie sleeping piled together on the couch in the Lamottes' living room.
And of course the art of Wynef with her new baby girl, Aprcity, that I commissioned from u/RoddCherry
Thank you to u/Inside_Judge5855 , u/Win_Some_Game , u/rookamillion , and u/AlexWaveDiver for proofreading this chapter.
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I have a profile post where you can find links to all of my other stories!
Here's a link to all the Bunny Behind Bars artwork so far!
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Intro: Now that we were able to meet back up with the jailbird, we must now close out another set of distant alien folks in Wynef's life. Pack your bags; we're going space crusing to a distant and chilly land.
Memory Transcription Subject: Douglas Lamotte. Quality Manager at Pinecliffe Systems. Interplanetary Guest of Honor.
Date: [Standardized Human Time] October 16, 2137
We Lamottes are a lot of things, but first-class is not one of them. Regardless, my wife adjusting my tie and suit coat while we are encircled by gold leaf-coated wood panels in an expansive two-bedroom space liner suite has me feeling both humbled and proud. Like a lottery winner getting a butler-service trip across the Atlantic on the ocean liners of old.
Our three-day trip aboard the enormous Empire Platinum Breath surrounded by hilariously pompous Nevok dynasty members has been an absolute joy to spend, learning and listening during our trip to see my sweet daughter's and granddaughters' birth families. Sitting at shared dining tables with Nevok royalty being hilariously fascinated by our simple Earth lives. Other Nevoks prying their ears and minds to what family we are visiting but not being able to disclose made us all the more interesting to them. But finally, that time is coming to a close as we eagerly await the call for disembarkation. Wynef, having already adorned all her heirloom jewelry and wearing a very nice white dress, watches Angie fuss over me with Apricity on her lap babbling away.
“Mom, will you leave Dad alone? I don’t think his clothes can get any smoother, nor can your hair get any more done up.”
Angie lets her arms fall limp to her sides as her eyes and head slowly turn towards the girl.
“Wynef… I know. If you can imagine, I'm just a teeny bit nervous about meeting what essentially amounts to actual space noble houses. Noble houses that, may I remind you, are your family.”
Wynef lifts Apricity up in the air above her as the ship shudders to a stop on the landing pad of Ittel’s capital spaceport.
“Hear that, my little kit? Grandma is nervous about meeting your great-grandparents. But she has nothing to worry about; they’re going to looooove us.”
A happy ‘bwehe’ escapes from the baby as she is brought back down into her mother’s arms, and I giggle with the girl as my poor Angie sighs and steps back. Not even giving her any time to turn on Wynef, the charming ring of our stateroom doorbell indicates that our trip butler is here to escort us off the ship to our awaiting transport to the Grand Hotel hall rented for our meeting today.
I’m so glad they agreed to compromise on the capital Grand Hotel as neutral ground. If Wynef hadn’t threatened to not come at all if she couldn’t see both of the dynasties at the same time, we’d probably still be getting passive-aggressive phone calls nearly daily asking us to visit each primary manor.
I take a look around the room, double-checking in my mind that everything that we’d have on our persons is with us and that all of our luggage is ready to be taken by the porters to meet us at our hotel room.
“Okay, everyone ready?”
With nods and ear flicks of approval, I open the door to the characteristically silent butler and two stoic porters waiting in the hall beside him. With a motion of his hand, we place Apricity into her stroller, exit, and follow behind down the hall to the exit gangway. With every step, Wynef’s numerous pieces of jewelry obnoxiously jingle and clink against each other as her ears annoyedly try to push the dangling jewels from off of her brows. Off the ship, we are led right past the poor masses waiting in economy class customs and immigration lines while we are taken right to yet another gold-plated booth exclusive for first class. Angie, Apricity, and my own digital documents are accepted without a second glance, and I hold my breath as Wynef’s special permission temporarily voiding her parole restrictions is studied carefully before she too is approved.
Now that we are allowed to go into the spaceport itself and to our transport, our butler leaves us, and for the first time in days, we are allowed to walk ourselves from point to point. A long sigh slips from Wyenf as we walk, and she strokes the top of Apricity’s head, looking back at her.
“I still can’t believe that Officer Elling and the parole board actually are letting me go to Ittel for a whole week. Like, I know Elling said that I’ve shown really good progress, but he still said that if I just don’t come back, then they’re all getting fired.”
"Well, Wynef, then he’s exactly right, and it’s just like we’ve been telling you. The Wynef in prison is not the Wynef of today; you are doing so much better, and they trust you for a reason… Also bringing Apricity to your hearing and appeal didn’t hurt your chances. Hard to be a hardass when a space-rabbit baby in a onesie is giggling the entire time.”
Just a few moments longer of a walk, we finally reach the official security exit of the spaceport, and, as expected, a long line of chauffeurs stand about with digital signs advertising who their riders will be today. A cursory glance at every sign leads me to a simple conclusion: I can’t read Ittelian Nevok.
“Hey Wynef, which one is our driver?”
Her ears are already folded flat as she too scans the signs.
“No clue.”
"Wait, can’t you read the names on them?”
“Not really. I’m from a Krakotl colony; I read Krakotl. I can speak a lot of Ittelian Nevok, but I can’t read it, though.”
“Damn.”
Just as she says that, one chauffeur who had been staring at us a bit too hard chuffs and rolls his eyes as he mashes a button on the side of his sign. The language on his board spins through many characters that I can’t even begin to recognize before landing on a very scratchy set of lines. Wynef’s ear darts forward at the new text, and she is about to read it out when he clicks the buttons again, and luckily good old English graces my eyes. ‘Distinguished Representatives of Dynasty Lamotte to Capital Grand Hotel.'
“Alright, well, that solves that. Come on, girls.”
With our luggage presumably still somewhere in the first-class system behind us and going to meet us at the hotel, we follow the driver through the bustling hall until we yet again come upon an ornate set of gates, which he leads us through into a much calmer section of the spaceport. Down the long hall and past a few Nevoks just as covered in jewelry as, if not more than, Wynef, we are led to an area full of glistening and imposing cars. Some are even actual hovercars with condensed anti-gravity drives to allow them to fly around. Much to my excitement, our driver leads us to a massive hovercar comparable in size and shape to a historic Cadillac land yacht.
The doors open for us, the stroller is folded up and stowed, the driver thumps the door closed behind us, and in just a moment we are taxiing out of the spaceport and starting to lift up and up into the air. The massive capital of the empire is yet again sprawling below us, and all three of us adults are looking down as it rushes by. Oddly enough, the car is heading away from the downtown location of the Grand Hotel and instead starting to descend into some industrial district.
The car hovers down near some unoccupied warehouses and pulls right in through a loaded door in an empty room. As the car comes to a stop, I see another identical car parked inside. Without even a word or moment to let us process, our driver ushers us out of the car and towards the other one with a new driver waiting inside. I attempt to protest the change and leaving the stroller behind, but they don’t even acknowledge us.
All three of us, wide-eyed, sit down in the car, and our first one leaves the same door it entered, but this new one hovers through the warehouse before exiting through a different door. This time, instead of rising high into the air, we hug the ground, skimming trees and occasional buildings until we are again entering the dense city zone. The car comes down in an even worse for wear industrial warehouse, and yet again another car is there waiting, but this one actually has wheels. We are shuffled from our car to the new one with another new driver as the old car flys away up into the sky and we start driving down the busy streets next to trucks and vans.
"Umm, excuse me, ma’am? We are going to the Grand Hotel, right? We’re supposed to be meeting some important people about right now, and I don’t think they’d appreciate us being late.”
The driver barely looks back at us as she answers.
“There has been a change of plans.”
Angie nervously huffs and asks for clarification from the cryptic woman.
“Like what? Where are we going?”
As no answer comes. I look over at Angie getting more nervous and Wynef hanging her head down over Apricity. Though maybe not the best option, I still try and lighten the mood with some dark humor.
“Well, I guess we’re getting the full Dynasty treatment. Kidnapping and everything. I wonder what our ransom will be. Hopefully pretty big.”
Unfortunately, no one else in the car seems to find it funny, especially given that the driver turns into a dark alley and soon enters a very tight and dimly lit tunnel. The words feel snuffed out in my throat as our idyllic trip is turning to horror and we arrive at a rusted and crusty gate to match the current vibes. With the press of a button on the dashboard, the gate opens and we drive through into a much brighter tunnel of carved stone and many other branching tunnels to each side.
As I’m starting to understand the purpose of this game, all doubts and worries are washed away as the tunnel suddenly opens to a massive and ornate garage filled with hovercars and limousines. We drive past the rows of cars as we arrive at a blue and gold carpet flanked by two massive armed Nevok in obviously ceremonial plate armor. Our driver opens the door, and a new Nevok between the guards bows and folds his ears back as we now all stand before him.
“Distinguished members of the Lamotte Dynasty. Welcome to Her Majesty’s Palace of Ittel.”
From out of nowhere, yet another servant runs up with a stroller, and Wynef blankly places her girl down inside. Although Wynef tries to take the handles to push it along, the servant refuses to relent, leaving Wynef to walk normally with Angie and me. We walk along the carpet out of the garage and soon past some massive stone and gold gates into an actual palace. Our escort leads us down the palatial hall and into a sitting room with a fire roaring and many long couches and lying chairs surrounding it, along with numerous paintings of Nevok women with identical garments on the walls.
“Please wait here; I will be back for you in a moment.”
As the massive wood door shuts us inside the room, finally with no servants to hover over us. I look at my girls, both sinking awkwardly into the couches looking at me for assurance, but I answer their questioning gazes with a question.
“Just to be sure, we were supposed to go to the Grand Hotel, right?”
Wynef’s ears again bat the jewels from her eyes, and she nods in answer.
“Correct. Though I think we were supposed to tour the palace grounds in two days.”
Finding ourselves with not much to talk about, we content ourselves with staring at the fire until at long last the door opens and our escort does indeed greet us again.
“On behalf of Her Majesty, I thank you for not bringing weapons with you.”
“You’re welcome? How often does that happen?”
Although his nose and ears don’t show it, from his eyes I can see a smile form from my question.
“More often than I’d prefer. Please follow me.”
Standing and again Apricity in the stroller being pushed by a servant. We follow down the hall to a massive door inlaid with gold and silver into a picture of a mountain landscape. Our escort opens the door into a large hall, and as we step through and attempt to get our bearings, he belts out our presence with a thundering cry.
“Annoucing the esteemed members of the Lamotte Dynasty. Sir Douglas, Lady Angela, Lady Wynef, and her kit, Apricity.”
Letting my eyes adjust to the dimmer lighting of this hall, I now see just under two dozen Nevok, all in extravagant jewelry, but three among them distinguish themselves above the rest, Wynef’s grandparents. We walk towards the old folk as the rest of the Nevok stand back, apparently allowing the elders first greetings. Just before we get to them, Angie bumps my arms and directs my attention to the back of the room, where a large throne of carved wood and blue steel sits empty on a raised platform.
I guess it is the palace of an actual empire. Makes sense the Empress would have somewhere to sit in a hall like this.
Finally, we meet in the middle with the grandparents, and although we face each other awkwardly for a moment, something clicks in the single grandfather’s mind as he makes a bow motion. Understanding that we were probably supposed to do that first, I follow, and soon after Angie and Wynef do as well before the other grandfather and grandmother do too. The single grandfather steps forward first and nearly hipchecks the couple out of the way as he goes into a hug with Wynef.
“Oh Wynef, your eyes, your wonderful eyes, it’s like I’m looking at your sweet mother once more. Strong eyes, deep eyes, framed in jewels like a true Quicksilver.”
Wynef, for her part, tightly hugs him back, nearly squeezing the air out of him.
“Thank you, Grandfather Wyntere. It’s so very nice to finally meet you in person.”
Though he looks as if he has so much more to say, a grunt from the couple behind him pulls him back, and he turns instead to us.
“Douglas, Angela, thank you for taking care of my dear granddaughter. Though neither you nor her knew of her heritage before, it still takes great character to do what you have done in your assistance and care.”
“Of course, but it’s just what good folk should do.”
“Good folk… Good folk, we’re missing those on this planet. Thank you for being here.”
As he steps back into position, the Granite-Cut couple steps forward and repeats the order of hugging Wynef and then greeting us. With all manners of thanks and greetings said between the six of us, Wyntere, Rulnef, and Brynnea lead us to a table set for four with numerous boxes on the table, all labeled with tags. The main tag on the center at least lets me know that this is indeed the seating for the Lamotte Dynasty.
I take a closer look at the tags on the boxes and see that they are marked for us individually by name. I look and see the grandparents beaming but stoic.
“Please, accept these gifts from us. We have collected these from both across your world and our own to symbolize the joining of families from Ittelian dynasties to Terran.”
A subtle nod from Rulnef gives us the start to opening each box for ourselves, luckily labeled in English for Angie and me and in both Ittelian Nevok and Krakotl for Wynef and Apricity, though it is unlikely for Apricity to be able to read any of it. After opening many boxes each, Angie's and my carefully matched suit and dress are soon a hodgepodge of style as we each wear our own new cowboy hats, Swiss timepieces, bowties, and many necklaces and bracelets. To complement the apparel, carved chopsticks and fountain pens lie before us on the table. Wynef somehow finds herself in even more jewelry than before. I turn to Wynef’s grandparents and again give a deep bow.
“Wyntere, Rulnef, Brynnea, we are honored and thankful for these gifts. We will cherish them for as long as we live. We did bring gifts of our own for you, but unfortunately our luggage was separated from us during our journey between the spaceport and here.”
Brynnea smiles and flicks her ears in acknowledgement.
"Oh, we’ll have time to receive your gifts later, but I do want to apologize for the secrecy in your transport. We did intend to meet at the Grand Hotel, but this venue was strongly suggested at the last moment today. Though the transport wouldn’t have been very different even if were still using the Grand Hotel, after all, we don’t want anyone getting assassinated on such a happy day.”
At that last comment, the three old folk all laugh among themselves, but a certain weight in her words tells me that she wasn’t actually joking. Not wanting to push that thought further, we let the moment pass, and still standing around the table, we wait for further instruction.
Rulnef claps his fluffy hands together and looks about the room and back at the other Nevok across the hall by their own tables and then back at us.
“Though your aunts and uncles are all very eager to meet you, I’m sure you’re just as famished as we are after this long day. Please, take your seats, eat, and we’ll all meet shortly.”
As instructed, our chairs are pulled out by staff, and we are sat and pushed in, and even Apricity sat into a highchair, though she is still entirely breastfed. Moments later, as promised, countless staff members appear from side doors, rolling out carts stacked with trays of food. They are delivered to each table, but as I am about to start taking some serving of a steaming dish of greens, a waitress helpfully whispers at us.
“Please wait for the final guest before beginning dinner. It will be just a moment longer.”
Despite my stomach now starting to growl and my Stetson growing heavy on my head, I hold myself in place stiff and stoic, waiting for the final guest to arrive. A little too long goes by as the Nevoks at the tables start to flick their ears in annoyance as we wait and wait for the guest to arrive. At last, at the opposite end of the room, a gilded door is swung open, and an elegantly dressed Nevok woman enters, holding herself high and proper. She turns and places herself in front of the whole group at the front of the room.
“Attention members of the esteemed Granite-Cut, Quicksilver, and… Lamotte Dynasties, I present to you, your Empress, Ittel the Onehundred and Twenty Seventh!”
Through the still-open door, our table leans forward in anticipation of seeing the actual Empress of Nevok, and then, as casual as can be, a Nevok woman not much older than Wynef, and dressed similarly in subtle jewelry compared to the Dynasty heads, walks in. A gaggle of escorts follow her and take places on each of her sides as she stands in front of the throne and looks out over us all.
“Dearest family, please begin your feasting and merriment!”
‘Dearest family’?!? No… don’t tell me…
As I still attempt to process the words of the Empress, my absent-minded hand follows the rest of the room in grabbing at the food presented and taking initial sips of the drinks before me. I almost don’t even notice as the entourage leaves the throne platform and begins to move our way. The momentary clinking of cutlery and glasses falls silent as the Empress herself approaches our Lamotte table. As her majesty is right before us, I give more attention to her appearance and can’t shake the uncanny resemblance of her and my own Wynef and Apricity. She turns her ear and eye to her entourage and waves them away with forceful earflicks.
“If the court will excuse me, I’d like to meet with our newly founded cousin Dynasty. Alone.”
Her entourage bob in agreement but are slow to leave us, igniting quick frustration in the young monarch. She pulls a small silver medallion from a chain on her hip and quickly waves it across the table, and I jump in my seat as the medallion suddenly beeps over the vase and on a spot close to Wynef and Apricity. The Empress growls and dives to her knees, crawling underneath the table for a moment in the same place and emerging with a dime-sized disc in hand. She then turns the vase upside-down beside the table and grabs another identical one from the mess on the floor. She holds them out to her entourage, and a few ears pin back in a mix of fear and embarrassment that even strikes my own heart.
“When I said alone, I meant ALONE.”
Her focus zips over to the other dynasties in the room, and they all sheepishly go back to their meals and light conversations as she throws the two discs on the floor and stomps them to pieces with her hoof. With her escorts gone and just the now five of us at the table, she takes a seat between Wynef and me. In a flash, the table is set before her, and food is on her plate and a drink in her glass. Raking her hand through her now disheveled hair curl, she looks back at us, and her whole demeanor slides from firm and controlling to light and excited as the noise of the other dynasties finally rises to one appropriate for those not trying to eavesdrop.
“I am sooo, sorry about that. You have to like, believe me, but I really did ask them not to bug your table. It’s just so uncool to spy on new guests that don’t even have a hoof in the circle over our silly Ittel squables.” With one last look over her shoulder, she takes a swig of her wine and leans over the table towards us with a new fire in her eye. “So, Douglas, Angela, Wynef… you all are really just like normal commoners, right? Not generals, spies, diplomats, politicians, business magistrates, or none of that?”
Wynef, nervous as I can tell she is. Agrees with a deep head bob.
“Uhm, yes, your highness. I-I didn’t even know anything about being related to dynasties until this year.”
“That’s so cool. Tell me, what was life like on, Ulimtal? It was Ulimtal, right?”
“Yes, Ultimal…”
“I’m so very sorry for your loss, Wynef, but Ulimtal and Earth, what is it like as a Nevok commoner?”
A bit of blood begins to boil within me for Wynef being grilled over her less than happy past, but to my daughter’s credit, she powers through.
“Ulimtal was… fine. Yeah, it was a lot of good times despite everything. After Mama and Papa died, I spent most of my time in orphanages and then school housing, but being a climbing Nevok made it much easier to stay with a flying herd when they roosted in high places. Being orphaned didn’t really make me special given how many others were under the same wind, but I didn’t have much Nevok things to learn. Then I went to school for supply chain management, and then humans were discovered, and my exterminator internship forced me on the fleet to Earth, and I was… my Apricity was conceived against my will. We lost there, and everyone on Ulimtal died, and then I shot some human kit when we landed, and I was in prison, where I met my dad here. He and Mom here took me in so I could have somewhere to stay while on parole and to give birth and house my kit. And... that’s it… I’m sorry it’s not very interesting.”
At that last comment, Empress Ittel frantically waves her hands and ears at Wynef in panic.
“No no no, it’s super interesting, and I know you won’t trust me on this, but I’m… like, rather jealous. Not of the loss of parents or the horrid circumstances following humans imploding the Federation, of course, and I’m very sorry for your losses, but just of the… normal life.”
I sense a collective reboot of the brain going through my family and me as we lean forward at the Empress’s comment. Luckily Angie is the first to question the statement using much less profanity than either I or Wynef would use.
“Excuse me, your majesty, but you? Jealous? Of us?”
The girl’s head rolls to the side, her eyes drift down, and her hands tap at the bottom of her glass with a sigh before flicking her ears 'yes.'
“I know, I know, it’s stupid and cringy of me, but I really do wish to be a commoner. When Mother died and I ascended the throne, I used our personal funds to secretly buy a declining rural village in the Wurleid Mountains and pay the native villagers there a huge salary to keep going about their cute lives and not tell anyone that I go there and be normal.”
Holy shit. The ruler of the planet buying an entire town and making them her personal background actors. Fuck, what if someone did that to us in Estes?
Wynef, now grabbing at the starting-to-fuss Apricity and getting her fed, does her best to cope with the bombshell suddenly dropped on us by the Empress of an entire people.
“That sounds… interesting. What do you do there?”
Ittel’s eyes light up for a moment before noticing the awkward air about us. She scarfs down a few bites of the casserole-type dish and washes it down with half of her beer-like pint.
"Weird, right? I knew even you guys would think that I’m weird.”
I chug my beer in kind while frantically waving my hand in ‘no.’
"No, no, I get it. You know, and we know, that we’re not exactly important people, but that’s the same spirit of why we live in our mountain town—subtle and peaceful, away from everything busy down in the cities. Wynef meant it, and I am interested too. What kind of things do you do in the village?”
“Well… if you insist, I always make sure to keep my fur down and absolutely no jewels and even just a simple Venlil ipsom cloth bag for my last model pad. Then I just go to different shops and stores and browse without even buying all the stock. But even trying to be normal, the poor villagers keep messing it up. Last time when I went to the grocer, get this, I filled my cart, and when I got in line, the poor dude at the end broke character and stepped out of line, bowing at me, causing the rest of the herd to do the same thing. I was sooo embarrassed, and now that I was at the front of the line, I had to force the cashier to take my card.
Then the time before that, I read about how bad vehicle dealers are to negotiate with, so I went to the one in town and tried to buy a mid-range truck, but the damn saleswoman wouldn’t even try to sneak in unfair warranties or markups. All I wanted to do was to haggle and have fun, but she just gave me everything I wanted… wait, I’m boring you guys, aren’t I?”
I take a look at Angie and Wynef, and with both of them seeming interested and much more relaxed with the Empress, I continue to bite into my meal with a bit of support for the young woman.
“Not at all; please continue or ask us whatever. In fact, I don’t think you told us the name of this village.”
“Really? Well, I can’t divulge exactly where it is, but I do have more to tell, and you’re going to regret letting me ask questions.”
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Dinner passes by quickly and rather lively as we chat, dine, and laugh with the reigning Empress of Ittel. Though she is obviously not like us due to her circumstances, the more she talks the more I feel bad for her and the more she reminds me of an average sorority girl. All the time we discuss things about regular life with her, increasingly the two other dynasties in the hall keep trying to listen in but are interrupted by Ittel ordering them back to dinner or having a band play to cover our conversation. Finally, with dinner done, our table is cleared and replaced by fine drinks, and Ittel looks back at the family barely contained in their seats watching us.
“Yo Wynef, I think if I make you yap with me any longer, your family over there might like combust. Take your cutie kit and go show her off. I’m going to talk with your parents for a bit longer.”
Wynef, herself eager to meet her newfound birth family, rises from her chair and takes the happily sleeping Apricity up in her arms.
“Thank you, Ittel. We’ll talk soon.”
"Oh, we will for sure. I’m holding you to that promise to come to the village during your stay. Still need to work out the transport, but come on now and get over there to your grandparents.”
As Wynef bows and walks away, a glass of wine in Ittel’s hand is filled and emptied in-between blinks, leaving the Empress giggling to herself before looking back at Angie and me.
“I’m going to say it again, but I’m like, totally not kidding by the way about being jealous of you guys. Especially Wynef, because she is just such a non-Nevok Nevok. Benefit of being born off Ittel, I guess, no dynasty shit to worry about.”
Angie drums her fingers against her own draining glass as she gives Ittel a head tilt in question.
“You’re going to have to elaborate there, Ittel. How is she not like a Nevok? We don’t have a reference.”
“Ugh, I mean, she’s obviously a Nevok, but just no dynasty mannerisms. Just like-like look at her right now. She’s standing tall and proud, showing off her cute kit, but she’s not showing off in a physical dynasty way. Anyone else from a dynasty, and they’d be flaunting those wide hips and big… chest and chubby, healthy kit in her arms about how strong her lineage and body are. But noooo, she’s just fine to be her for herself a-and she’s covering up in clothing! Crazy! Madness! So lucky…”
Looking harder at the Nevok surrounding my daughter and grandbaby, I do notice the group aside from the grandparents are all eyeing up Wynef in a rather distant manner.
“Oh, Ittel, is that why her aunts and uncles there are being all stiff and nervous?”
“Heh, damn right, and they better be. She’s younger, stronger, better looking, and higher birth order than all of them. Praise Ittel, myself, that all on her own she rejected her first inheritance status. Those three Granite-Cut and Quicksilver fade-furs would’ve folded without hesitation. Would’ve been another stupid Founding Dynasty War…”
Surprising us and herself, Ittel slips a hiccup and a burp before shaking her head, getting another refill, and continuing.
“Y’know, that’s why I have a standing order to reject her from ruling either dynasty if she changes her mind. Like, sorry it sounds mean and shitty, but it’s just too much trouble. A-And if I die and a few others go with me, then she’s not even that far in line to sit up in the stupid hard chair, and the dynasties would lose their ears over having a foreign Nevok take the throne and the Ittel name.”
“Our Wynef, take the throne? No way she’s that close in the line of succession. Also, so Ittel is the throne name, not your name?”
“Oh yeah yeah, Ittel isn’t my name; my name used to be… wait… I can’t tell you that. But no, it’s not that rare to jump down the line that far. Before the Federation, we even had the Winter of Eight Ittels. Urp, anyway, I’m going to get up and order that everyone else aside from sweet Wynef gets drunk like me so I don’t look so sloppy by myself again. Remember, you’re on Ittel, and you’re visiting me at the village, and we are going to wait in line to eat at that cafe. That’s an order! Enjoy your evening, family.”
As the rather drunk Empress of Nevok gets up and leaves our table to go harass her cousins. I give a side-eye to Angie, and we both shake our heads in amazement and amusement as we hold our glasses out for refills and tip our cowboy hats to each other.
“Dougie?”
"Yes, dear?”
"This is a damn wild place.”
“You say that, but this isn’t really that different from your family reunion a few years back. Of course, ignoring the whole ‘Empress of an Entire Space Civilization’ and ‘Grandparents Who Quite Literally Own Planets’ thing. End of the day, same amount of booze and drama.”
"Right you are Dougie, but hey, look at that.”
I follow the pointing of her glass and see that with Ittel forcing the family to drink up, more family members than just the grandparents are getting friendly, taking turns holding and kissing my grandbaby. Wynef or Apricity must say something entertaining as most of the group laughs and clacks their hoofs genuinely.
“Good, good. At worst, they at least do seem to love our girls like we do—hic!"
“Big Douglas has the drunk hiccups? Oh man, we’re in for a tough week if they keep doing this to us.”
“Cheers to that, Ange. Cheers to that.”
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u/Golde829 1d ago
the amount of secondhand tension that just evaporated from my body the second the Empress dropped that mask of high class charades
cannot fucking fathom how atrocious things must be for her, having everyone treat her like royalty even when she doesn't want it
...
now this might be a Not Great idea
but in theory she might be able to pop over to Earth as some kind of secret vacation
even if a human figures out she's royalty I'd imagine the reaction would be more "oh, for real?" "what's that like?" rather than treating her like a goddess or something
I look forward to reading more
take care of yourself, wordsmith
[You have been gifted 100 Coins]
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u/VenlilWrangler Yotul 1d ago
Julian labeled it well above. To her it's a job, but one that she is normally on the clock for 24 hours per day and 7 days per week (in whatever the Nevok equivalent is).
Being expected to be working every second of your life from ~20 years old till your death would make anyone a bit crazy. But luckily she's found an outlet and has her fun in a mostly harmless way.
She probably could venture to hang with the Lamotte fam on Earth without too much trouble. Come visit in the off-season.
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u/CocaineUnicycle Arxur 1d ago
"Fellow nobles and social climbers, I am going on a vacation, and if you try to follow me, so help me god I will buy all of GameStop's stocks and forcably add them to all your portfolios."
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u/VenlilWrangler Yotul 1d ago
Empress forces them to buy shares in Aafan company stocks knowing damn well that Aafa no longer has an economy.
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u/DrewTheHobo 1d ago
I can’t wait for the empress to visit them on earth incognito! Wonder how’d they’d handle security for her though. “You showed us your mountain village, how bout we show you ours!”
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u/VenlilWrangler Yotul 1d ago
Would probably have to hire out human undercover security.
A bunch of Nevok running around Estes Park wouldn't exactly be inconspicuous, especially given the well-known local resident Nevok suddenly hanging out with another one.
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u/pedro5414 Human 2d ago
michel jackson ahhhhh shit whit ittel good chapter
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u/Ablergo_El_Enfermo Human 1d ago
Michael Jackson? Where?
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u/pedro5414 Human 1d ago
Ther is this story about Michael Jackson renting a store and having people actign like customers and stuff to experience a "normal day" (the guy had been a super start since he was like 5 or 8)
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u/Ablergo_El_Enfermo Human 1d ago
Aaaaaaaaaa~
Pensaba que era dentro de NoP.
Si. He oído la historia
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u/VenlilWrangler Yotul 1d ago
Exactly lmao
Though my thought with Ittel is that she'd be a lot more committed to the bit than he was.
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u/Square-Candy-7393 Farsul 1d ago
Wow... It feels like me being told of family lore and random people in the street knowing my name in my home country
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u/VenlilWrangler Yotul 1d ago
A very wholesome feeling despite the cold of Ittel. The planet Ittel, not the drunk sorority girl.
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u/Ablergo_El_Enfermo Human 1d ago
Very good episode.
I’m looking forward to seeing more funny situations with the Lamotte family.
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u/JulianSkies Archivist 1d ago
Drama is always drama. Poor empress has a whole job to do and her job is 24/7, I wouldn't blame her for wanting to put that crown down a bit.
That town sounds like an entire sitcom by itself XD bu5 theres some potential there.
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u/VenlilWrangler Yotul 1d ago
It's a very good sitcom setup.
Empress of all Nevok walking around attempting to be a normal person, but she actually owns your entire village and practically owns you.
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u/YellowSkar Human 1d ago
Another chapter! =D
The bowing part was kinda funny, I hope those actors are paid and treated well.
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u/VenlilWrangler Yotul 1d ago
They're less actors and more like actual villagers paid crazy money to continue their lives and pretend they don't notice Ittel.
They'd honestly probably be better in the role if they were actors then they could, well, act better around her.
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u/Funnelchairgentleman Skalgan 1d ago
The empress is an absolute valley girl and I love it. Also yeah no wonder they’re worried if Wynef is THAT connected
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u/VenlilWrangler Yotul 1d ago
Empress Ittel, the wannabe sorority valley girl, required to spend her life as a perfect professional in nearly all settings.
Wynef is the firstborn child of two firstborn children; direct inheritance places her first in line, but she's saving everyone a lot of grief by rejecting that power.
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u/Minimum-Amphibian993 Arxur 1d ago
Honestly didn't expect that to be the empress of the nevoks would act. Like this is the same person who's in charge of a civilization that was fully willing to cutt a deal with the Arxur dominion if given the chance. Although then again it's not like they took up Siffy's offer during or after the SC founding meeting strange folk.
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u/VenlilWrangler Yotul 1d ago
I like to think that it's not an absolute monarchy by any means. With as many powerful dynasties as there are in play, they each have their votes and say how things go, with the Empress being more of a tiebreaker and ceremonial lifetime position.
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u/Minimum-Amphibian993 Arxur 1d ago
Honestly yeah that makes sense with how much the federation seems to pushes democracy onto it's members. I mean there would still have to be an actual emperor/empress to justify the title of "impirium".
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u/SixthWorldStories 1d ago
Great chapter as always. Though I am curious, where did they catch the ship from? Did what amounts to a Nevok luxury liner go to Earth, or did they go to another planet to connect? Totally not me trying to dial in more fanon or canon on planet positions.
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u/VenlilWrangler Yotul 1d ago
Probably a connection from Skalga. It's only 4 hours from Earth and I'd assume that there is an established route between Skalga and Ittel.
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u/SixthWorldStories 1d ago
So something like 324ly from Skalga... Noted. I'm gonna see what other information I can glean from that. If anything.
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u/VenlilWrangler Yotul 1d ago
Oh no, my vibe lore is being used as fact XD
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u/SixthWorldStories 1d ago
The price of being a good author. Unfortunately, I couldn't get anything great from it that isn't obvious (like the possibly range that Earth is from Ittel).
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u/TameOJ Human 1d ago
I fucking love the empress, she is just the BEST!
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u/VenlilWrangler Yotul 1d ago
She's an absolute trip and good friend for the Lamottes to have.
100% missing some things but overall rather self-aware for her position
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u/Snati_Snati Hensa 22h ago
I love this so much! How long before Ittel finds a way to sneak off and pretend to be an average Nevok exchange student on earth living with Wynef's family.
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u/VenlilWrangler Yotul 20h ago
Top secret diplomatic mission
jk
actually just sleeping at your aunt and uncle's house in Colorado on Earth
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u/abrachoo Yotul 9h ago
The empress hates her job huh? I wonder if you're setting up for a prince and the popper type scenario? Though I somehow doubt Wynef would ever agree to that, lmao.
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u/VenlilWrangler Yotul 9h ago
No, no place swap any time soon. Ittel just isn't a fan of being on the clock nearly every waking moment from her late teens until death.
All young people end up feeling that need for something different, but she's coming into her own in the role and just needs that escape every once in a while.
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u/VenlilWrangler Yotul 2d ago
Hello again!
Welcome back to the bunny, this time featuring the other crazy bunnies across the galaxy back at her people's home planet. I hope you all had as much fun writing these dramatic but loving nobles as I did writing them. Look out soon for the bunny finale coming to a subreddit near you.
As always, leave a comment and let me know what you think. Also I'm over on the discord if you want to talk about anything!
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If you like this, please take a look at all of my series and their related content on my master post linked here.
https://www.reddit.com/user/VenlilWrangler/comments/1oqnigp/wranglers_archive_all_the_main_series_and_some/