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ONE
Excidium did not let them leave his sight. The surgeon poked and prodded at Roland for a good hour, sewing back the large wound across her face as she sat, tense against the pain but holding herself straight, arms crossed against her chest. She shrugged him off when he was done, running her fingers along the fresh bandage wrapped about her face.
“That’s quite enough fussing now. I am dead tired and anything else can wait until I’ve had a few hours’ sleep.”
Her words were slightly slurred and she looked odd with half her face covered but Excidium was glad she was no longer covered in her own blood. He himself wasn’t unscathed. The French had been relentless in their attack and despite his formation’s best efforts one of their dragons had managed to dig his claws into Excidium’s side, hanging on long enough for a boarding party to make the jump over. They had been swiftly dealt with and Jane had been left with a permanent souvenir of the battle of the Nile, but he could not deny they had fought gloriously. He could already imagine the medal shining on Jane’s coat, a much deserved addition to her outfit.
The scene back at the covert afterwards, however, whilst buzzing with the victory, hadn’t been as glorious. He had practically collapsed on his side to allow the dragon surgeon to pad the wounds and had not moved since, not even to swallow the cow that had been brought to him. He could have fallen asleep right then if there hadn’t been Roland to see to.
Finally released by the doctor, she immediately returned to his side, gently touching around the wound to check the state of bandages as she went, before she reached young Emily who had fallen asleep from exhaustion at the base of his neck. The girl had been very brave, following her mother around whilst expertly staying out of the way of the doctor’s work. Now, Jane tenderly cradled her sleeping hatchling in her arms and settled down, leaning on the warm hide with a sigh of relief. Excidium hummed sleepily in response.
“You should both go to your own rooms, you would be more comfortable”.
“Yes, yes.” She yawned and pressed a hand on his neck again “There is no need for hurry, the weather is perfectly fine… let me make sure you’re all settled”
In all his years of battle, the exhausted post-battle lull remained almost surreal to Excidium. The rush from victory now gone there was nothing to stop him from revelling in the overwhelming relief that he had made it, safely, with his captain. He let himself doze in silence for a few minutes, half paying attention to Jane’s movements around him, before an itch at his side became too pressing to be ignored. He wriggled slightly, trying to get more comfortable and huffed when that didn’t work, preparing to roll over. Excidium twisted to peer down at Roland and let her know to get out of the way when he saw her, fast asleep with little Emily in her arms, pressed against the curve of his foreleg.
Well.
As slowly as he could without pulling at his own wound, he stretched his wing over them and laid back down to get some sleep as well. God knows they deserved it.
TWO
Augustine stayed up all night with him, fretting. Immortalis caught himself already looking over him fondly as he hovered, at first keeping himself busy with mindless work whilst throwing worried glances at him, and then trying to simply stay close by settling down in front of him to sketch.
It was a bittersweet feeling. Underneath the despair was the deep rumbling satisfaction of having one’s captain around and Immortalis desperately wanted to cradle him close whilst also longing to mourn his old captain alone, his immediate replacement too much akin to betrayal. It was clear from his behavior that Augustine was also nervous about overstepping, sometimes leaning forward affectionately only to step back again when he realised what he had done. Contradictorily this only made Immortalis like him more.
He could not help but notice all of the differences between them. Benjamin had been loud where Augustine was quiet, Benjamin had been outgoing where Augustine remained on the more private side, Benjamin had been older, more experienced when Immortalis got him and Augustine was still so very young. It was odd – and yet, so, so satisfying – that the situations would now be reversed with Immortalis acting as the mentor, although he of course knew that Augustine already showed promise to be just as competent as his uncle had been. But despite their differences, the two of them had been close. Benjamin had been the reason why he joined the service and, of course, the one to introduce them, so Immortalis knew that whatever the distinctions, both were steady, loyal companions to have.
For most of the night, he only listened as Augustine talked quietly, sharing stories of his uncle, until eventually he let himself be tempted into replying. It was comforting to have someone who genuinely liked talking about Benjamin and didn’t complain or try to change the subject when Immortalis would go on continuously about this or that adventure they had together. Augustine even pulled out a few sketches he had made of his uncle and once again, Immortalis was struck by how much he loved him already.
“This one was from last summer” said Augustine, stretching out the drawing in front of Immortalis.
It was a very nice portrait, big enough for him to see all the details. Augustine had captured Benjamin’s and Immortalis’ features exactly, Benjamin was smiling at something and the more Immortalis stared the more he expected the sketch to come alive. He remembered that day, it had been so hot the patrols had been cut short and instead they had spent the day together.
“It’s for you” added Augustine, watching Immortalis carefully.
“Really?” he gently ran a talon along the sketch, a pleased thrill running along his spine and cupped his other talons for Augustine to step into. Finally, he allowed himself to cradle his new captain close, nosing him affectionately.
“Thank you, I will cherish it”
He instructed Augustine to roll the portrait and keep it safe for him and then lifted him up to the base of his neck where they settled in comfortable silence. The pain was still there, of course, nothing could ever erase the despair caused by a dead captain, but at least it wasn’t overwhelming and there was warmth too. Augustine loved him and was loved in return, neither of them were alone in this. Immortalis realised they had been up all night when the sun rose over the horizon, making the faint morning fog shine and suddenly felt the need to stretch his wings.
“Augustine?” he called, cheering up at the prospect of their first official flight together as dragon and captain.
He peered back at the lack of reply and was met with the sight of his new captain fast asleep. He was stretched out on Immortalis back, a hand still spread reassuringly at the base of his neck and warmth spreading from the spot he was occupying. Immortalis did not want to wake him. Looking at his new captain’s peaceful, trusting expression stirred the familiar feeling of possessiveness again and he was struck with a single certainty: Yes this one was perfect.
THREE
Spurred on by her appetite, Iskierka launched herself off the deck with a violent, energetic jump, flying straight for the bank of tunnies they had spotted not far away. Temeraire was glad for this finally meant a reprieve from her constant complaining, but also he had to admit she had the right idea since for the past hour he had felt himself getting a little hungry. He started getting up, stretching his wings to catch the wind and looked down to let Laurence know he would be back after he had had a bite - And instantly froze.
Slumped on Temeraire’s forearm his coat wrapped around his shoulders and the book he had been reading open on his lap, Laurence was, at long last, fast asleep. Temeraire peered down closely at him, watching for any hitch of breath or movement that would indicate he had disturbed Laurence from his precious sleep but he didn’t move, his eyes stayed closed and he breathed deep, continuous breaths. Temeraire sighed in relief and relaxed, shoulders loosening as he laid back on deck. He shifted as gently as possible, trying to make himself comfortable without jostling Laurence and curled himself around him to shield him as much as possible from the wind.
“Well? What are you waiting for?” asked a sudden, loud voice.
Iskierka landed back on the deck near him, making the entire ship bob in the water, her talons still covered in fresh gore from her feeding. Temeraire hunched himself over Laurence as much as possible and hissed at her, ruff flattening on his neck.
“Would you be quiet! Laurence is sleeping.”
“Oh?” She peered down at Laurence in dissatisfaction. “He certainly chose an inconvenient time to fall asleep, are you not hungry?” she pressed.
“I will go later.” He tried keeping his voice as low as possible, too aware that the sound of their arguing would be enough to wake up Laurence and who knows then when he would fall asleep again. “You wouldn’t want to move either if it were Granby” he sniffed.
She sat back on her haunches, evidently sensing there was no point in pushing. This, at least, was something she could understand.
“Does this mean you will finally stop fussing?” she asked again, still too loudly.
This time, Laurence stirred at the sound of her voice causing Temeraire to glare furiously at her as he curled himself away without answer. For once, she seemed to get the message and plopped down on the deck next to him with a huff, stretching out to take as much space as possible.
Temeraire heard her complain to Granby that he was brooding over Laurence but didn’t care to listen to her nor hear the man’s reply. He was too busy marvelling at the sight of Laurence curled up on his foreleg. For the first time since their departure for New South Wales, he was deeply asleep, face relaxed in the way Temeraire now recognised to mean there were no bad dreams. Things were looking up indeed.
FOUR
There was a prize on the horizon, yet Iskierka was not willing to move. Temeraire and the other dragons on deck shot her a few confused looks, having expected her to be on her way already, but quickly turned away again in understanding. Laid stretched out on his back in her claw, Granby was sleeping.
He had settled there to enjoy the sun and fallen asleep halfway through her explanations as to why, no matter what Temeraire had to say about it, she was a perfectly competent formation leader – just ask Arkady! She could have listed reasons all day, really, but she had been distracted by the sight of him looking so peaceful. It is wasn’t so wonderful, she’d be upset he had fallen asleep just like that.
Iskierka found herself looking at him – truly looking at him – for the first time since he had lost his arm. He wasn’t wearing his gold hook – though she knew it was packed up somewhere minus the diamonds that had tragically been sold – but a simple, silver hook with a solid wood base and leather straps. He had assured her repeatedly that it was a fine, high quality one, though she had trouble seeing how that could be since there was no shine to it at all.
Still, Granby looked a lot better now and if bland hooks made him happy then … she supposed she could accept that. She had worried a lot about him. Worse, she had felt guilty. Guilty of having been unable to protect him properly – it had been the first time she had failed like that – what kind of dragon was she if she could not protect her captain properly? All the while waiting for Granby to recover, the thought had made her stomach ache. That had been a new feeling. She hadn’t like it at all.
Iskierka lowered herself to the deck so she could be head level with Granby and watch him more closely. It was a long process, she had to move very slowly and very carefully. An initially abrupt movement caused Granby to stir which resulted in her having to wait, half hunched over, for him to settle again. It took considerably more patience than she was usually willing to have, but it was worth it: she really did not want Granby to wake up.
Because well, it was nice to have him so close again. She had been a little worried, barely at all worried really, that he was still mad at her so it was a relief to see him so comfortable again. He never would have stayed mad for long, he loved her too much, of course, but a small part of her had thought that these moments were over now that he had promised not to indulge her. But no, of course her Granby would never have done that. She was no longer a dragonet, she should know better by now.
Perhaps she could admit he didn’t need that many fine pieces of clothing. Or at least not that many fine new hats. She was sure Granby would see the sense in always having a beautiful coat. In any case, the prizes could wait until Granby woke up, because the most splendid thing of all that she would ever have was her captain. Iskierka watched the prizes sail away without an ounce of regret.
+ One time they adopted another human
Tharkay woke to the sight of the blue, slited pupil of Temeraire’s eye staring right at him which was very disquieting for a man used to sleeping on his own in the wild. The great dragon head was titled to the side to observe him more closely, so close that Tharkay could feel his warm breath surrounding him and see the sun shine off his very sharp teeth. Still, it wasn’t the most uncomfortable awakening he had ever experienced and he didn’t even bother trying to move away.
“Temeraire” he greeted dryly.
“Tharkay!”
Temeraire greeted him enthusiastically, moving even closer to nose at him affectionately, causing him to lose his balance. Swaddled in blankets as he was, Tharkay was unable to catch himself and simply bowled over. Not for the first time he spared a sympathetic though for Laurence and Granby who bore the brunt of draconic affections and wondered why he suddenly found himself also subject to them. He tried to untangle himself from the mess of blankets, but there were a lot more than he remembered actually having on him before he fell asleep, and his hands still had too little strength to close and pull properly. He sighed in exasperation.
“Laurence! Tharkay is awake!”
“My dear, pray let Tenzing have some air”
The sound of Laurence’s voice was a relief and the next moment, the man had climbed next to him and was helping him out of the blankets.
“Temeraire and I are going to the springs for a bath, would you like to come?” he asked.
Only then did Tharkay notice that he was still strapped in onto Temeraire’s harness, having apparently never made it down before he fell asleep, and that Temeraire was looking expectantly at him, still covered in dirt from their travelling and gore from his dinner. Still groggy with sleep and unwilling to make them wait any further whilst he made the perilous climb down, Tharkay assented.
They sat on the stone benches near the hot springs whilst Temeraire dived in, loudly expressing his satisfaction. Tharkay had kept one of the blankets over his shoulders to ward off the cold that seemed to cling to his very bones but the sun was shining brightly, keeping him warm and making Laurence’s hair shine very pleasantly.
“You should have woken me up” said Tharkay.
Laurence shook his head, smiling faintly.
“Temeraire assured me that he could wait. Besides, I must admit that I was also of the opinion that you needed the rest, Tenzing.”
Tharkay had of course noticed Temeraire’s tendency to brood over the amount of sleep Laurence would get and more than once he had witnessed a dragon refusing to move because their captain was taking a nap. He was well past the point of finding odd that a beast the size of a frigate would find themselves so enamored with sleeping humans but he hadn’t expected it to extend to him. It was endearing just as much as it was infuriating.
“I do not understand why I would be at the mercy of Temeraire’s codling” he drawled, trying not to sound like he was whining.
Laurence laughed shortly, Temeraire turning at the sound to look at them fondly from the water.
“You get used to it” promised Laurence.
His eyes gleamed with something like mirth, and Tharkay thawed, shifting closer so they were shoulder to shoulder and he could feel the warmth of Laurence’s body. It felt a bit like coming home.