tushanshu | 005

[The feed opens on Temeraire's apartment, which looks a great deal gaudier now thanks to the recent yard sale and the salvage found in Sinbrilee. Rich tapestries hang from the railings surrounding the central open space, and piles of interesting metal are neatly arranged within sight. Temeraire, for his part, seems oblivious to his growing hoard; he looks determined, if not a little worried.]

I am not going to ask you if you have found any turtle eggs; it is better, I think, if that is kept a secret. If--our enemy does not know who has one, it would be stupid to tell him; if he already knows, there is no point in telling him again, and refreshing his memory. Nor do I need to tell you how important they are; that, I think, is obvious enough.

[He shifts a little, looking down for a moment and collecting his thoughts before he begins again.] Turtle eggs are not the same as dragon eggs, of course, but I should think there are enough similarities to offer some advice, and if you have never taken care of eggs before, there can certainly be no harm in what I am about to tell you.

It is best to keep your egg warm at all times. At Loch Laggan, we used old Roman bath-houses, such as you might have seen in Sinbrilee, but covering your egg with blankets may suffice. Care must be taken so that the egg does not grow too hot, and the temperature should be constant throughout. Pray do not jostle your egg, or move it overmuch; it is very uncomfortable, and you run the risk of cracking the egg.

Dragon eggs harden, just before they hatch, and I cannot say the same will be true for these eggs, but it may be something to look out for, all the same. I do not think it will be very long before they do hatch, if they are already beginning to communicate from within the shell: half a year at the most. But since they can hear us, it is therefore very important that you speak to your egg, or play music to it, or read to it: anything which you yourself might like to hear, if you were cooped up in a small room with nothing to do, and could not come out for a very long time.

And of course you will feel very protective of the egg, and you ought to, but it is also very important to remember that it is not your pet, nor some unthinking beast; if your turtle does hatch, pray give it an opportunity to choose its own name before offering your own suggestions, and do not take advantage of it. If you do, I shall find you, and I shall sit on you, and it shall be very unpleasant for everyone involved.

[Pause as he realises, perhaps a little belatedly, that he might have crossed a line there. Hurriedly he adds:] And if you have any further questions, you may of course ask me--or any of the other dragons here--at any time, [and cuts the feed.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[The problem with being a son of Poseidon without being able to read all that well is that most of your knowledge tends to be gained on the fly. Percy has never had to look after turtle eggs before]

Oh man, this is a good idea. Thanks, Temeraire. [a beat] Uh, talking to them is definitely something they'd like. They're really curious. And if anyone wants to know like, a general idea of how their turtle's feeling, I don't mind talking to them. [There's an understatement. And Percy hasn't spoken to the dragon as much as he might have liked since his arrival, so he has no idea if Temeraire actually knows that he can talk to sea animals or not. DETAILS]

[He leans forward, immediately interested.]

Percy! You can speak to them, as well? I know there are a few foreigners who can, I saw a few messages on the network to that end, but I was not certain--

Sort of. They're definitely the same kind of turtles as Asti is, so their minds are kind of...complicated is probably the easiest way of putting it. I can't really talk to them like I can talk to horses or other sea creatures [yes, horses] but I can get impressions from them. I guess they're still too young to really blow me over like Asti did.

Oh, yes, I should imagine so--but even some manner of response, however vague, is certainly better than none at all. You must be sure to inform me if they contradict anything I have said, whether by emotion or by specific response; advice aside, I cannot assume these eggs will behave the same as dragon eggs, at all.

I definitely will! I don't know, most of what you said seems like it should be right? Turtles usually bury their eggs, so if these aren't underground, they probably need to be kept warm somehow.

[There's a pause.] So we're you're from, dragons are just - normal to have around? Like, there's nothing that hides them from the population, or anything?

Well, it depends greatly on the country; in China dragons are citizens, and have the same rights as people do. In Britain it is another matter entirely: we are not hidden as much as we are a great inconvenience to have around, and they keep us in coverts outside cities, presumably so as not to frighten people, and we do not even have the vote.

[His tail twitches a little; clearly it is something he feels quite strongly about.]

[Percy frowns] But - you're dragons. [His tone makes in clear that dragons are Totally Awesome and how could you think of them as inconvenient???] I mean, yeah I guess you could be kind of scary, but it's not like you're in a world where people don't know about dragons. No one's going to be like, 'oh gods, a dragon, I had no idea they existed!' How're people supposed to know that you're not that scary unless they can actually get to know you??

[And then Percy's mouth twitches a little inappropriately, because the image of Temeraire trying to squeeze into a voting booth is kind of hilarious. He clears his throat, trying not to let it show] That's stupid.

[He is going to interpret that mouth-twitch as a sign of Percy's rising indignation, because that ought to be the natural reaction to dragons not having the vote, of course.] It should be very obvious, should it not? But in Europe, at least, the prevailing idea is that we are little better than very large parrots, trained to speak as some sort of party-trick, and with so few people beside our captains willing to approach us, it is quite difficult to change public opinion.

--Which is not to say that I am not trying to change it, at least, but a great many dragons do not know better, either, and are quite content to have an open patch of field to sleep in, and a regular supply of cows.

[Percy is quiet for a moment] I guess…if you’ve never known anything different, it can be kind of hard to question the status quo. It’s good that you’re working to change things, though. You deserve to be treated the same as any human person, Temeraire.

[Temeraire emits a soft, pleased rumble.] Well, I am certainly glad you think so; if only there were more like you in Britain.

Everything has to start off small, right? The more people know that there's a problem, the more people will help. Sometimes they even surprise you. /[He makes a bit of a face] Sorry, I know it's probably not much help.`

It is, more than you think. Perhaps you are right; perhaps the problem is simply that not enough people in cities have the necessary information.

[You can practically see the gears turning in his head. Posters. Newspaper articles. Inflammatory pamphlets. What could possibly go wrong?]

[Percy can see the gears turning, sort of, but not the extent. Honestly, he's pretty into the idea himself; there's a lot of idealism in Percy Jackson] Right! Especially if they're not used to seeing you guys around. I wouldn't suggest like, just slamming into the cities all of a sudden or anything, but the more information people have, the better they're able to make decisions. [A beat, and then he kind of rolls his eyes at himself] I've been spending a lot of time around Annabeth.

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