Men of the Legio Custodes (Calendar)

"Do you require a response right away?" Valdor asked, looking at the two women who were standing before him. They looked very excited, or nervous, or both.
"No, lord," the older woman said. "Take your time in deciding."
"Thank you," Valdor said. "I need to meditate on this." What he meant was he needed to speak to the Emperor about it. The women left, and Valdor waited for a few moments before seeking out the Emperor.
"My lord," Valdor said when he spotted the Emperor. "I have a problem I would like to speak with you about."
"What is it?" the Emperor asked.
"A pair of women from the Departmento Munitorum approached me about doing a 'calendar',' Valdor started. "They wanted some Custodians to be the pictures. Outside of power armor, and preferably without our upper robes."
"I was wondering when this would make a come back," the Emperor said with a smile playing around his mouth.
"What?" Valdor asked.
"It was once a common practice to take pictures of fire fighters without shirts," the Emperor said. "They would be used in calendars. Typically the proceedes would be given over to a charity."
"That might not be so bad then," Valdor said. "The proceedes could go to the scholas."
"A good choice," the Emperor said. Scholas were essentially orphanages that took in children who lost both of their parents to war. They spotted the two women approaching. They looked even more nervous in the prescence of the Emperor.
"My lord," the older one said to the Emperor. "We have an idea we would like to suggest to you."
"Go ahead," the Emperor said. He had his suspicions due to Valdor's conversation.
"We are hoping to do a calendar with Lord Valdor," the younger one said, casting a quick glance towards the towering Custodian. "However, we know that there are some who would find that calendar-- distasteful. We were hoping to offer a more family-friendly one featuring the Lord Primarchs."
"I think that has merit," the Emperor said. "I will talk about it with my sons."
"Thank you, lord," the two women said together. "What of you, Lord Valdor?"
"I will present it to my men," Valdor said. He was more accepting of the idea after having spoken with the Emperor. The women departed. Valdor headed to the Tower of the Hegemon and called for an assembly of the Ten Thousand. He waited until a large group had arrived before he began.
"We have been given a proposal," Valdor began. "It would be a series of pict-captures without armor, and only partial robes. I plan to agree to this, along with anyone who wishes to volunteer."
"We volunteer!" Quellen called out. He was referring to himself and his two closest companions, Fellnor and Bryth. They were sometimes called The Abs, The Pecs, and The Biceps respectively. Valdor wasn't surprised about this, they were very friendly and worked well with the populace. He often purposefully put them on tour routes so people could see Custodians. He had been certain that the three would jump at the chance. Eleven more volunteered, allowing for the three friends to be in a photo together.

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The pict-captures were taken the next day. The Primarchs were also there, their picts would be taken after the Custodian picts. Valdor insisted on going last. Most of the picts went quite smoothly. Several were posed with their weapons. Then it was time for Quellen, Fellnor and Bryth.

They came up wearing rather tight leather outfits. The photographer was quite surprised. Valdor was amused, he hadn't told them to do this, or not to. He felt that they were more dressed than he was. The Primarchs all laughed, though the three Custodians didn't seem to mind at all.

Then it was Valdor's turn. They had told him when he had arrived that they had a special prop they wanted to use with him. As he approached the stage for the picts, he noticed a small animal carrier. He wondered what was in it. He didn't have to wait long for an answer, the photographer reached in and produced a small, orange kitten.

"Here's your prop, Lord Valdor," the photographer said. "He's name is Spot."

"What do you want me to do with him?" Valdor asked as he took the kitten in one hand. Spot the kitten mewled as Valdor held him out at arm's length.

"Please hold him closer to you," the photographer said. Valdor brought the kitten up to his chest, and unconsciously began stroking it with his thumb. He had stroked Freki and Geri that way when they were first found. The kitten began to vibrate, making a barely audible purring sound. 

"Keep doing what you are doing, lord," the photographer said and the sound of the pict-corder went off. 

"It is vibrating," Valdor said after a moment. "Why is it vibrating?"

"It's happy," the Emperor said. Valdor looked up at his master, confused. He was familiar with the happy sounds that Freki and Geri made, and this vibrating was not one of them.

"Felines have the ability to purr," the Emperor said. "Sometimes they will gently use their claws to encourage more attention."

"Why?" Valdor asked. 

"It's something that they do as kittens to encourage their mother's milk," the Emperor said. "Adult cats that interact with humans maintain it to display happiness." 

"Interesting," Valdor said, he then handed Spot back to the photographer. Then it was the Primarchs turn for picts. 

Due to their numbers there were six pairs who had to share picts. The Lion was first, posing so that he looked like he was stalking something. Fulgrim and Ferrus made the first pair, standing with their arms around each other. Perturabo and Rogal were the next pair, set back to back like they were fighting. Jaghatai and Magnus made the third pair. They had both brought manual bicycles, Magnus made them balance while standing still so that it looked like they were racing. Leman had his pict taken with Freki and Geri. Konrad was able to pose in a scary stance as he was garaunteed the month that Halloween used to be in. Sanguinius and Horus were the fourth pair, Sanguinius raised his wings and they formed a version of the sign of the aquilla. Angron was alone, with a chainaxe. 

Roboute and Lorgar were the fifth pair, they had fake podiums that they stood behind like they were in a debate. Mortarion had brought his sythe, only because he hadn't been allowed to drink paint thinner for his pict. Vulkan and Corvus made the last pair, it was the only way Corvus had agreed to be in the pict. Alpharius was last, making sure that he cast a shadow in his pict.

"When will the calendars be ready?" Jaghatai asked. He was curious to see how all the picts turned out.

"It will be a few weeks, my lord," said one of the women who had made the propsals. "We need to select the best images from the ones we got and then make the calendars."

"That shouldn't take that long," Jaghatai said. 

"Not if we could dedicate the time to it," the woman agreed. "However, we have other duties that must be performed as well."

"I guess that makes more sense," Jaghatai said. They all departed, Valdor heading off to the Tower as soon as he could. It was nearly two weeks before they received the calendars. They got one of each calender. The Primarchs all found the Custodian calendar to be funny. They especially liked the pict used for Valdor. They also liked their entire calendar. 

The calendars were meant to be spread across the Imperium as official calendars from the Munistorum. The Primarchs were happy this was happening, as the last official picts to be taken of them had been just after they picked their names. This meant that they were several years old. Ferrus was particularly pleased with the situation as he hadn't had the accident the last time his pict had been taken for formal reasons. It was good to have their official picts updated. The Custodian calendar was good to show the slightly more relaxed side of the Custodians. 

"This will be good for diplomacy," Roboute said. "Ambassadors can use them to show new worlds what we look like."

"True," the Emperor said as he hung the Primarchs calendar on the wall in the living room. The Custodian calendar went in the kitchen. 

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This is the last re-post! Starting next week there will be new stories!