Temeraire Ficlet
Happy Birthday, vulgarweed!!!
Unbeta'd due to obvious time concerns. Sorry!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Of Dragons and Birthdays
Laurence mustered the timepiece in his hand nervously while he walked. There was not a scratch on the glass, the filigree black hands moved over a flawless white face, and he thought the finely-etched dragons on the golden casing gave it a more personal touch. No, it was not the quality of his gift that brought him such unease -- it was the question of the welcome it would receive. Dragons or none, a pocket watch seemed terribly impersonal, especially since he could not think of anything to have engraved into the cover that would neither ring hollow nor be too risqué, but the alternatives were even worse: a ring would have been too fraught, a necklace unappreciated and any sort of hair ornament plainly ridiculous.
"Ooh, Laurence, you shouldn't have!"
Laurence blinked up at Temeraire, who had half-turned his head away in a show of modesty, but whose voice practically brimmed with satisfaction.
"Temeraire, this isn't-..."
"Where is it supposed to be worn?" Head close and at a level with Laurence now, Temeraire eyed the watch critically. "It seems a bit small... but very pretty, nonetheless!" he hastened to add. "Very tasteful. It might fit around my wrist with a few... a few hundred extra chain links. Or perhaps it is to be worn attached to the harness?"
"I'm sorry, my dear, but this is not for you," Laurence said firmly, cursing himself for bringing any shiny object within a mile of the grounds without wrapping it first.
Temeraire reared back, looking beyond affronted.
Laurence winced. He really should have foreseen that. "Come now, dear, don't be jealous!" he tried in his most soothing voice.
When Temeraire's head finally swung back down, the slitted pupil facing Laurence was wide, almost fearful. "It's not another dragon, is it?"
"Don't be ridiculous!" Laurence did not even need to fake his taken aback reaction."It is a gift for Ja-- Captain Roland, on the occasion of her birthday!"
This seemed to restore him to Temeraire's good graces somewhat. "Ah, a mating gift," he said dismissively. "You could have said so." He cocked his head. "But if you take my advice, I still don't think she will want to have your eggs now, Laurence. She probably has other concerns at the moment... and it really is an awfully small ornament."
Laurence flushed and sputtered a little at this. "Gifts are not for that purpose!" He stopped and reconsidered. "Well, mostly not. At least not birthday gifts. Those are supposed to make people we care about happy, celebrate their coming into the world..."
Temeraire frowned at him sceptically. "Then why have we never celebrated my birthday?"
"Dragons do not have birthdays, my dear, I do not think..."
"Well, we should!" Temeraire said brusquely.
Brilliant, yet another injustice Temeraire would feel compelled to set right. Laurence felt a headache coming on.
Temeraire ploughed on, unheeding. "We may hatch rather than be born as such, but that should not matter! It is not fair!" He suddenly stopped dead in his ranting. His expression fell, his voice suddenly small and miserable. "Or... do you not want to celebrate my coming into this world, Laurence?"
Laurence bit his lip, immediately softened by Temeraire's concern. "Of course I do, my dear!" He pondered, but couldn't find a gracious way out. "Fine," he eventually conceded with a sigh, "we can celebrate your hatch-day if you like. If we capture a few more prizes till then, I will get you a gift as well. Something nice. With gemstones." He tried unsuccessfully to suppress the sinking feeling that he had just set another minor upheaval in His Majesty's Aerial Corps into motion.
Temeraire's eyes narrowed at Jane's watch in calculation. "Something larger than this, yes?"
Laurence rubbed his temple, but the amusement welling up and tugging at the corners of his mouth slowly won over. "Yes, my dear," he promised solemnly, "something larger."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Unbeta'd due to obvious time concerns. Sorry!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Of Dragons and Birthdays
Laurence mustered the timepiece in his hand nervously while he walked. There was not a scratch on the glass, the filigree black hands moved over a flawless white face, and he thought the finely-etched dragons on the golden casing gave it a more personal touch. No, it was not the quality of his gift that brought him such unease -- it was the question of the welcome it would receive. Dragons or none, a pocket watch seemed terribly impersonal, especially since he could not think of anything to have engraved into the cover that would neither ring hollow nor be too risqué, but the alternatives were even worse: a ring would have been too fraught, a necklace unappreciated and any sort of hair ornament plainly ridiculous.
"Ooh, Laurence, you shouldn't have!"
Laurence blinked up at Temeraire, who had half-turned his head away in a show of modesty, but whose voice practically brimmed with satisfaction.
"Temeraire, this isn't-..."
"Where is it supposed to be worn?" Head close and at a level with Laurence now, Temeraire eyed the watch critically. "It seems a bit small... but very pretty, nonetheless!" he hastened to add. "Very tasteful. It might fit around my wrist with a few... a few hundred extra chain links. Or perhaps it is to be worn attached to the harness?"
"I'm sorry, my dear, but this is not for you," Laurence said firmly, cursing himself for bringing any shiny object within a mile of the grounds without wrapping it first.
Temeraire reared back, looking beyond affronted.
Laurence winced. He really should have foreseen that. "Come now, dear, don't be jealous!" he tried in his most soothing voice.
When Temeraire's head finally swung back down, the slitted pupil facing Laurence was wide, almost fearful. "It's not another dragon, is it?"
"Don't be ridiculous!" Laurence did not even need to fake his taken aback reaction."It is a gift for Ja-- Captain Roland, on the occasion of her birthday!"
This seemed to restore him to Temeraire's good graces somewhat. "Ah, a mating gift," he said dismissively. "You could have said so." He cocked his head. "But if you take my advice, I still don't think she will want to have your eggs now, Laurence. She probably has other concerns at the moment... and it really is an awfully small ornament."
Laurence flushed and sputtered a little at this. "Gifts are not for that purpose!" He stopped and reconsidered. "Well, mostly not. At least not birthday gifts. Those are supposed to make people we care about happy, celebrate their coming into the world..."
Temeraire frowned at him sceptically. "Then why have we never celebrated my birthday?"
"Dragons do not have birthdays, my dear, I do not think..."
"Well, we should!" Temeraire said brusquely.
Brilliant, yet another injustice Temeraire would feel compelled to set right. Laurence felt a headache coming on.
Temeraire ploughed on, unheeding. "We may hatch rather than be born as such, but that should not matter! It is not fair!" He suddenly stopped dead in his ranting. His expression fell, his voice suddenly small and miserable. "Or... do you not want to celebrate my coming into this world, Laurence?"
Laurence bit his lip, immediately softened by Temeraire's concern. "Of course I do, my dear!" He pondered, but couldn't find a gracious way out. "Fine," he eventually conceded with a sigh, "we can celebrate your hatch-day if you like. If we capture a few more prizes till then, I will get you a gift as well. Something nice. With gemstones." He tried unsuccessfully to suppress the sinking feeling that he had just set another minor upheaval in His Majesty's Aerial Corps into motion.
Temeraire's eyes narrowed at Jane's watch in calculation. "Something larger than this, yes?"
Laurence rubbed his temple, but the amusement welling up and tugging at the corners of his mouth slowly won over. "Yes, my dear," he promised solemnly, "something larger."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~