Fic: The Dresden Files: By Any Other Name
My first Dresden Files fic, for fanfic50. I might even be brave enough to cross-post it to dresdenfic. We'll see.
Here goes.
Title: By Any Other Name
Fandom: The Dresden Files (tv-verse)
Characters: Bob the Skull, Harry, Justin Morningway
Word Count: 2,195
Rating: G
Summary: Harry Blackstone Copperfield Dresden meets Hrothbert of Bainbridge.
Disclaimer: Not mine but I can dream, can't I?
Notes: Minor spoilers for What About Bob?
The first thing that struck him about the boy was that he had his mother's eyes, bright and clear and wide open to the wonders that surrounded him. When those eyes regarded him with open curiosity, he saw no hint of Justin Morningway's avarice reflected therein. Not yet, at any rate. Perhaps one day, when the boy had been under his uncle's tutelage long enough to be seduced and corrupted by the blacker arts, but for now there was only innocence and the pain of recent loss.
Ah yes, and power as well. Even a dead and damned sorcerer could feel the promise that stirred within the youth. He suspected that Morningway could as well; else why go to so much trouble to take the boy under his wing?
Harry. His name is Harry. Harry Blackstone Copperfield Dresden. How ludicrous! But best that he get used to it sooner rather than later, since apparently he was to be the boy's tutor.
"What kind of name is Rothbert?" asked Harry.
The sorcerer regarded the child with an imperious scowl. "It's a perfectly respectable name."
Harry flinched at the sharpness of the ghost's tone. Whoa! He's cranky and touchy! "Just asking," he said, backing away from the question rather than start an argument.
"Rothbert is old English for Robert, Harry," explained Morningway.
"Oh." That made a sort of sense. They did kind of sound alike. "It's an okay name, I guess."
"And what, exactly, is that supposed to mean?" demanded the sorcerer.
"Nothing." Harry shrugged. "Rothbert just sounds kind of, you know, stuck up."
"Does it really?" He said disdainfully, flicking a glance at Morningway and meeting the dark wizard's cold gaze. "Well then, Master Dresden. Since I am your uncle's servant and he has made me your teacher, what would you rather I be called? I'm sure you can come up with something more to your liking."
The scorn was lost on Harry, who instantly replied, "Can I call you Bob?"
"Bob?"
"I had this friend once named Robert but everyone called him Bob," he explained. "The only one who called him Robert was his mom and that was when she was really mad at him."
Amused, Morningway chuckled. He rather liked the irony of calling the damned soul of one of history's most notorious sorcerers by such a mundane name. "I think that's an excellent idea."
"And you can call me Harry."
"May I indeed?" said the ghost wryly.
"Sure. That's my name. Besides, Master Dresden sounds kind of stuck up, too."
The boy's sincerity was something the sorcerer had not experienced in 800 years of hell. He scarcely knew how to respond to such a thing, except in kind.
"Very well, Harry," said Hrothbert of Bainbridge. "Henceforth, you may call me Bob."
Here goes.
Title: By Any Other Name
Fandom: The Dresden Files (tv-verse)
Characters: Bob the Skull, Harry, Justin Morningway
Word Count: 2,195
Rating: G
Summary: Harry Blackstone Copperfield Dresden meets Hrothbert of Bainbridge.
Disclaimer: Not mine but I can dream, can't I?
Notes: Minor spoilers for What About Bob?
The first thing that struck him about the boy was that he had his mother's eyes, bright and clear and wide open to the wonders that surrounded him. When those eyes regarded him with open curiosity, he saw no hint of Justin Morningway's avarice reflected therein. Not yet, at any rate. Perhaps one day, when the boy had been under his uncle's tutelage long enough to be seduced and corrupted by the blacker arts, but for now there was only innocence and the pain of recent loss.
Ah yes, and power as well. Even a dead and damned sorcerer could feel the promise that stirred within the youth. He suspected that Morningway could as well; else why go to so much trouble to take the boy under his wing?
Harry. His name is Harry. Harry Blackstone Copperfield Dresden. How ludicrous! But best that he get used to it sooner rather than later, since apparently he was to be the boy's tutor.
"What kind of name is Rothbert?" asked Harry.
The sorcerer regarded the child with an imperious scowl. "It's a perfectly respectable name."
Harry flinched at the sharpness of the ghost's tone. Whoa! He's cranky and touchy! "Just asking," he said, backing away from the question rather than start an argument.
"Rothbert is old English for Robert, Harry," explained Morningway.
"Oh." That made a sort of sense. They did kind of sound alike. "It's an okay name, I guess."
"And what, exactly, is that supposed to mean?" demanded the sorcerer.
"Nothing." Harry shrugged. "Rothbert just sounds kind of, you know, stuck up."
"Does it really?" He said disdainfully, flicking a glance at Morningway and meeting the dark wizard's cold gaze. "Well then, Master Dresden. Since I am your uncle's servant and he has made me your teacher, what would you rather I be called? I'm sure you can come up with something more to your liking."
The scorn was lost on Harry, who instantly replied, "Can I call you Bob?"
"Bob?"
"I had this friend once named Robert but everyone called him Bob," he explained. "The only one who called him Robert was his mom and that was when she was really mad at him."
Amused, Morningway chuckled. He rather liked the irony of calling the damned soul of one of history's most notorious sorcerers by such a mundane name. "I think that's an excellent idea."
"And you can call me Harry."
"May I indeed?" said the ghost wryly.
"Sure. That's my name. Besides, Master Dresden sounds kind of stuck up, too."
The boy's sincerity was something the sorcerer had not experienced in 800 years of hell. He scarcely knew how to respond to such a thing, except in kind.
"Very well, Harry," said Hrothbert of Bainbridge. "Henceforth, you may call me Bob."