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English
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Published:
2016-07-22
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1,165
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1/1
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A Strong, Independent Dragon (who only needs his Laurence)

Summary:

Laurence is a dragon and Temeraire has a crush.
More added if I decide to continue.

Notes:

(See the end of the work for notes and other works inspired by this one.)

Work Text:

When Temeraire hatched, he found himself on what he later learned to be a boat in the middle of an ocean. He found that after being generally unresponsive to the quavering overtures of the sailors, they chained him down which he found very unpleasant and told them so. The journey was quite uncomfortable what with being bound as he was and the food barely acceptable until they hit upon the idea of fishing for him. By the time the ship reached Funchal, both parties were very glad to be rid of each other.

Temeraire found it unfair that he who was stronger should be chained by those weaker but was persuaded, after demonstrating that he could free himself, to stay by the ship’s doctor who pointed out the dangers of the open sea. After having spent some weeks in this way, he was indignant to be told upon reaching land that he should stay put for longer and permitted the chains to stay with the promise of meeting more dragons. After being put on another transport (still chained) to ----, he found himself decidedly underwhelmed by his meeting with Volatilus. Then he was inundated by several rather presumptuous lieutenants who tried to entice him with food and cheap trinkets as though he was one of the four legged creatures he saw begging at the doors of houses. By this time, he was mostly determined to fly off and try his luck elsewhere when Captain James interrupted the debate on whether to send him off to the breeding grounds or continue to try and match him with a captain with what Temeraire later considered a most sensible suggestion.

“He is intelligent and can be persuaded to be cooperative. It would be a shame to lose a fighting beast with the war on, so let us sent him to Laurence.”

After more debate as well as some derogatory references toward Laurence’s breeding, it was agreed that the best possible solution would be to send Temeraire on to Laurence at Loch Laggan.

Laurence was wonderful.

(Temeraire was very impressed by the wisdom of Captain Langford James and was especially kind to Volatilus afterwards, going so far as to offer him a whole cow.)

Laurence spoke so gently with such mild manners that Temeraire was, at first, rather thrown after weeks in company with rough sailors. He worried over the calluses that Temeraire had after being chained down and insisted on a surgeon seeing to them. He admitted that he was no great scholar but had some rather practical knowledge of mathematics and the stars and divulged all he knew to a spellbound Temeraire. He was, by his rather sweet manner, a great favorite of the runners and students and encouraged them to read their lessons aloud to him and Temeraire. Temeraire felt it a great shame that a dragon as lovely as Laurence was not adorned in gold and gems as he saw some of the other more fortunate dragons wearing about their necks. Laurence explained that those fortunates had captains and further explained the process by which captains were matched to dragons. Although Temeraire coveted jewelry of his own to wear and gift to Laurence, he refused to be separated from his mentor. When asking why Laurence was without a captain of his own to spoil him, Laurence admitted quietly that he was an unprecedented hybrid between a Parnassian and a sea serpent, and there had been some concern that his sire’s more feral nature might assert itself which Temeraire remembered an admiral make reference to and felt so aggrieved by this unfair assessment that he had to be talked down from rushing off to complain in very vehement terms to the ignorant.

Laurence was a very striking dragon. He was a very light cream with the bold black markings and blood-red spots of a Parnassian and a slight iridescence like a pearl, courtesy of his mixed heritage. He had long black back-facing horns, slightly curved upwards and a cream frill marked in black and red. His eyes were large and orange, set in a rather long arrow shaped skull. His length was surprisingly overlong for a heavyweight so that his large wings looked almost comical. Temeraire felt that there was no other dragon as beautiful as Laurence. None other shone so with such delicate translucent scales and he felt rather plain with his flat dark coloring. Even the other English dragons had quite colorful markings but Laurence assured him that he looked very well, unique to anyone around, and was very striking and beautiful in form besides. Temeraire felt so happy and buoyed by his words that he preened for three days afterward and was prone to doing so whenever he caught sight of his reflection in the lake. At six months, he sprouted whiskers unlike any of the other dragons and was only consoled by the appearance of a ruff about his head like Laurence’s own. Temeraire felt very happy and asked if he could also be part sea serpent which Laurence admitted was very possible considering their rather oblong bodies and fastidious way of whipping their tail behind instead of letting it drag, though tests proved that though Temeraire could swim, he could not breathe underwater as Laurence did.

Life at Loch Laggan was not all conversation. Laurence also tutored Temeraire in formations and flag signals with Celeritas, the dragon training master who wore a gold collar with a jade piece. Temeraire’s progress in his studies was highly praised and he felt that there was not greater happiness than to have Laurence turn to him and say warmly, “Well done, well done indeed.” After Temeraire was put through his paces in the air, it was revealed that another reason Laurence had been allowed to be without a captain and crew was, that when he flew, his body was so long as to require him to make rather elegant undulations in the air which were supposedly very disorienting to passengers. When Temeraire attempted to fly in this way, he was unsuccessful, his body not suited, and he was scolded by Celeritas who sharply told him that he was to play in his own time and not during training. Temeraire sulked afterwards and only finished training with the sympathetic encouragement of Laurence. After, Laurence nuzzled Temeraire’s whiskers which felt very nice indeed in ways he could not describe and gently explained why training for war was so important and why he must pay every attention and respect to Celeritas, who Temeraire felt was far too familiar with Laurence, going so far as actually lay beside him when Laurence was not in the air with Temeraire. Well, he could only console himself that Laurence was not laying by Celeritas now but was instead laying by Temeraire and making him feel so lovely besides. He felt a strange urgency within him but, unwilling to move or alarm Laurence in anyway, he instead stayed as he was, content and unsatisfied.

Notes:

This was an inspired spur of the moment snippet written and posted. Not sure if the inspiration will last.
This is only because I am firmly convinced that all dragons and captains have an ace relationship that is never openly referred to because, well, species.