002 | video

[dracobin]

[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.]

Comments

[dracobin]

[Temeraire's tail is lashing back and forth by now, and he makes no attempt to hide his agitation.]

I am certainly not absolving the rest of Europe of blame, as any rational person would attack someone if provoked, but what Napoleon is doing now cannot certainly be termed any kind of self-defence; not when he has spent so much time and effort trying to ferry his troops across to England, and massing all the men and dragons he can muster across the Channel. Besides, I cannot say it was his strategy which won the day at Jena, or Danzig: not when all his advice was given him by Lien, who had learned it all in China. I do not like to speak well of her, but if the good done to the military, and to unharnessed dragons, and to the state of draconic citizenship in France must be attributed to someone, it must certainly be her and not Napoleon.

As for your father, that speaks well of his character, but says nothing for that of his general; I have known plenty of honorable men who would follow orders without question, no matter how unreasonable the command. [One of whom may or may not be his captain, but shhhh.] People are so very quick to trust to king and country, but I cannot see the point of it; it is only a man who tells you what to do, in the end, and lines drawn on paper, and excuses to make other people miserable.

[He snorts.] You may keep your title, it is all stuff; I had much rather have my captain and a clear sky before me over all the titles and gold in the world.

[poeticverses]

[Jehan wasn't going to interject, but this is going nowhere fast and it's annoying him a little. When the feed cuts in, he's obviously unamused.]

Temeraire, there is no point in talking to Pontmercy about Bonaparte unless you approve of him. Nothing anyone has said has convinced him that the man was anything but a hero to the French. Remember, however, that there are not dragons in our world and any successes of Bonaparte's might easily be credited to him even if they were no doing of his.

Pontmercy, you are entitled to your opinion and it is understandable that you want to defend your father. Your father was not Bonaparte, however. What he did does not necessarily mean that Bonaparte would have done the same. I will not get into a debate on the matter--I am fairly certain Combeferre and Enjolras have said all that really needs to be said about it. Both of you, please stop this argument. There is no point to it.

[saisamour]

[Marius looks more than a little chastised, and he averts his eyes. It is then he realizes that he must have disregarded all his manners, lost face in public due to his outburst, and he feels ashamed for his conduct.

Still, he is not in the mood to apologize to Temeraire. Instead, he focuses on what Jehan had said: that his father and Bonaparte are not the same.]

He is not; I know that.

[But his voice is soft and in no ways argumentative.

(And for a short while a series of memories play before his eyes: the room filled with mourning inside a house in Vernon, late nights in a library hunched over newspaper articles, visits to a grave with a cross of black wood.)]

[lecentre]

[He should have intervened sooner. Should have kept Marius from yet another one of his Bonaparte rants. Perhaps he'd been thinking that in this life, Marius would be more sensible. Of course, he'd been wrong, but there was still time to work on that.

He should not have allowed it to spiral out of control this much, to the point where Jehan was intervening. Fiercely. In a terrible attempt to lighten the mood, he smiles slightly, fondly, at Marius and shakes his head.]

My dear Marius, I believe we've been over this already. This is not how one makes friends.

[Especially with dragons. Honestly, Pontmercy.]

[saisamour]

[But I did not speak with the intention of making friends, he wants to say, but that would have simply worsened his current impoliteness. Besides, Courfeyrac is being jovial, and he wouldn't dare ruin the mood.

...Although, he does not know exactly what to say. Being called out by two people, first the poet and now his friend, makes him turn a deep shade of red, and the need to withdraw from the problem, to shy away from everyone, threatens to overwhelm him.]

Ah, Courfeyrac...

[You'll have to forgive him, Courfeyrac, he's not exactly the most socially competent person around.]

[poeticverses]

[Jehan can tell that he's stopped the fight so he calms down a bit. He's still slightly agitated and he's not sure why]

It is wonderful that you love and defend your father--no man would hate you for that--and I am not attacking him. But your adoration for Bonaparte is...it's a bit overwhelming.

[saisamour]

I will control myself in the future.

[And, well, he's more than embarrassed for himself right now, but he's unsure of what to do. Should he disconnect? Would that be rude? He's undecided, so he keeps the feed going as he just sits there awkwardly while avoiding Jehan's eyes.]

[poeticverses]

That might be for the best. Good day, Pontmercy.

[He is so telling Courfeyrac to train you better.]

[saisamour]

[He looks almost relieved that Jehan bids him good day.]

Good day to you, as well.

[And he hurriedly shuts the feed off before he could turn even redder. Marius Pontmercy A+ social skills! Needs all the training he can get, really. Sob.]

[dracobin]

[A little taken aback by Jehan's appearance, Temeraire subsides as well, albeit with a good deal less grace. He would remind any observer of an offended tomcat, albeit a large and scaly one, were it not for the fact that a hint of chagrin enters his expression at Marius's mention of his father. He has evidently trespassed on some sensitive topic without his knowledge.]

I am not sorry for what I said about Napoleon, at all, [he mutters a little stormily,] but I suppose you are right, Jehan. I will not pursue the matter further.

[poeticverses]

No one would expect you to be sorry, Temeraire. You fought against the man--it is only reasonable that you dislike him. But, really, both of you should have known this conversation was going no where without my interjection.

[dracobin]

[He flattens his ruff in displeasure.] Well, I certainly did not expect him to react like that, after all of you seemed so pleased about Napoleon being defeated; and once I had got started it seemed quite impossible to stop. But I am very sorry to have caused you distress.

[poeticverses]

Pontmercy is...not quite in line with out beliefs for the most part. You are forgiven, Temeraire