tushanshu | 002

[Live from the Fire Sector, it's a large black dragon with a very nice necklace! He is seated in his three-story suite, the intervening floors of which have mostly been removed thanks to the expertise and efficiency of Javert's construction team. What parts of it are visible onscreen give the suite a far more spacious appearance than it did previously, which serves to make Temeraire look a little smaller and (hopefully) a little less intimidating.]

It has come to my attention that my appearance has caused some of you distress in the past few days. I should not like to alarm anyone further, so I suppose I had better introduce myself now and clear away any more misconceptions before they have had a chance to start.

I suppose I cannot blame you for your reactions, since I am given to understand many of you are unfamiliar with dragons, save from various legends, most of which sound farfetched at best and highly offensive at worst. But I do not breathe fire, and I am not feral, and I would certainly never do anything as rude as try to kidnap and eat any of you, regardless of whether or not you are a young lady; I cannot imagine it would make much difference in taste, besides. Of course I would not object to having a great pile of gold to sleep on, but as I do not have one at present I am certainly not going to steal yours, unless you are such a booby as to leave it lying around for anyone to take.

[He huffs slightly, then settles back on his haunches, somewhat mollified.] So there we have it: you know that I am here, and that I am not going to accidentally squash you, or eat you, and with that out of the way, I have have noticed a few things which I suppose everyone should be aware of.

Firstly, there seem to be a great number of you from the twenty-first century at least, which I thought was very exciting at first; but now I realize I must have missed a great many things over the course of the last two hundred years, particularly in the realm of the sciences, and I should like to catch up on whatever I have missed. If you are not averse to discussing any of it with me, I should very much like to listen to all you have to say.

Secondly, whatever miasma has afflicted the other sectors is present here in the Fire sector as well; it has grown cold these past few days, and our suites are poorly lit besides. I am certain the damage must have spread elsewhere, and I would like to propose a small expedition of perhaps two or three others, to the outer reaches of the shell. I am curious to see if the disease has also affected what local wildlife remains, and if there is some aspect of its process that we may have overlooked. It will be no great inconvenience to take you on my back; I expect we will be able to get around faster and more comfortably than most, if we fly directly. Of course anyone may come, if they like, but I think it would help very much if you are a scientist, and not afraid of heights.

Pray inform me if you have any questions. [He pauses, then switches off the feed.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Here. Have a vaguely nonplussed Jason. 'Cause that dragon probably just said more words in one go than he has in the past six weeks. ~~Or for his past two films.~~]

Oh. So that was you at the snowball fight.

['cause what else do you say to the air support that so thoroughly creamed Fort Sassmaster?]

[sob it's true he doesn't shut up

Temeraire at least has the good grace to look a little guilty--at least for a moment.] Yes, that was me, although to be fair, Gavroche is very small, and there were more of you, so it was not as if it was unsporting.

[Bourne cracks a grin at that. That was the first actual fun - not revenge-fun, real fun - he'd had in a while, come to think of it.]

I guess all's fair in war.

I'm no scientist, but I'd be interested in checking out the far edges of the shell. I'm good at finding things.

[He relaxes noticeably, less worried now that it appears the man isn't going to hold it against him.] Well, you certainly should not have left your heads exposed like that.

Then of course you may come along. I expect we shall be making more than one trip as it is; there are a great many scholars aboard the turtle, it seems.

Yeah, well, snow's not the best material for building a bunker. Any ceiling probably would have caved in on us. [And the end result would probably have been the same.]

Sounds good. Let me know when you'll be making a trip and I'll be there.

Then you should have stationed lookouts at the very least--Gavroche caught all of you quite unawares. Unless you are unused to aerial combat?

I plan to leave tomorrow afternoon, and we should be gone for at least two or three days. I should not like to keep anyone too long from their work, with rationing as short as it is.

[At that, Bourne grimaces. Getting chastised by a dragon kind of sucks!] I know I'm not. I do much better dealing with people on the ground. But I'll keep that in mind.

Sounds like a plan.

Oh, I did not mean to offend--only offer advice. It seems to me there are a great deal of people here who do not have dragons in their world, so of course the thought would not have occurred to you.

[He pauses, clearly thinking.] Are you a soldier of some sort? All three of you seemed to move as if you were quite used to combat.

[He smiles.] That's still something I ought to keep in mind. Especially because there's at least one dragon here.

[There are many ways he could answer the dragon's question. Most of which are even true.] I used to be.

[Simplicity is usually the best way.]

Well, you certainly gave Les Amis a run for their money, and I expect you would have held the fort if I had not stepped in. [Dignified headbob. Yes, you are a worthy opponent.] So it is no surprise I see you know how to fight. Might I ask your name?

[Huh. Would you look at that. Not every day you get paid a compliment on your martial prowess by a dragon.]

Jason Bourne. Might I ask yours?

I am Temeraire. It is nice to meet you properly, Mr. Bourne.

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