tushanshu | Verse 04 -- Video

[Compared to Jehan's last post a week or so ago, he looks much better. He's slept, he's eaten, and he's up for trying to interact with people again. He smiles a bit shyly when the feed clicks on, blushing as he usually is]

I wanted to apologize if my...behavior last month upset anyone. I was not feeling well and wasn't thinking clearly. I hope that anyone I upset or worried can forgive me. Ah...and I wanted to thank everyone who offered assistance. I am--it was greatly appreciated.

[Understatement of the centuries. This is followed by some private messages, all of which are absurdly easy to crack. The guy's from 1832. He's just happy he can make the private.]

[Original Amis sans Marius]

[The smile's gone, and Jehan is serious]

I wanted to...to remind everyone that should you feel as I did last month I am here to listen or talk or simply keep you company. I know what happens when you shut yourself away, now. I do not want that to happen to any of you.

[Dorian Gray]

[Shyly:]

Is it too late to accept your offer of that flute, Dorian?

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

It is no trouble at all, and you need not pay me for it; not when you need to keep up your appetite, as it is. [Dragons being what they are, he wouldn't ordinarily have refused the offer of money, but by this point charging Jehan for fish seems almost as silly as charging one of his own crew. Besides, what if Jehan has a relapse?]

Then I will bring it over directly, if you do not mind?

[Jehan smiles, knowing that arguing is probably silly since Temeraire is a dragon.]

Of course I do not mind. I will see you soon.

[It's close to twenty minutes before Temeraire drops into the street outside Jehan's flat--his own residence in Fire Sector is some distance away, and he was flying under his usual pace, worried about damaging the silk-wrapped package cradled gently in his claws.

He's aware his arrival is less than inconspicuous, but he reaches out to rap on the door with one talon anyway, for politeness' sake.]

[Jehan instead opens his window]

Temeraire! Over here! I can't fit you in my apartment, I'm afraid!

[Well, it's less than ideal, but the window at least is large enough for him to poke his head through. Temeraire trots over, setting down his little package to inspect Jehan in person.

He does look better fed and rested, at least, and Temeraire nudges him carefully with his nose.] You are sure you are feeling better?

[Jehan laughs a bit, stumbling a little when Temeraire nudges him]

Yes, yes, I'm certain. Move back a little, your head is in the way of my window seat.

[Temeraire obliges, picking the package up again as he moves back. He isn't terribly used to giving things away, dragons being hoarders by nature, and now that he's actually about to give Jehan his gift, he seems suddenly uncertain. What if he doesn't like it? What if it's the wrong thing to do?

Still, there's nothing for it--and besides, other people know about his little project, too, so he will have to give it to Jehan sometime.

Carefully, he sets the package on the windowsill. It's wrapped in light blue silk and about the size of a coffee table book--which is, more or less, what it is.]

I was thinking, after our last conversation, and you mentioned your favorite poets, so I thought I might learn a little more about them, and--

[He pauses, twitching his wings a little helplessly.] You may open it, if you like.

[Jehan stares at Temeraire, confused, but he takes the package. He's careful not to ruin the silk, though it gets hard not to just tear it away when he realizes it's a book]

Is this--Temeraire, where did you find this?

[He hasn't bought it, that's for certain--the binding is of good craftsmanship, but the paper is uneven and not even of a consistent material. Temeraire won't say it, but it had taken the better part of his off-hours over the past week to trade fish for the local kedan's ink rations, to say nothing of scrounging up blank paper wherever he might find it.

Should Jehan open the book, he'll find that the lettering has been written in a slightly unsteady hand--legible, but a little messy, and there are splotches here and there where a claw might have smudged the ink. It had been difficult enough to find a bookbinder for a reasonable price; hiring a scribe had been entirely beyond Temeraire's funds. On some of the smaller pages, Combeferre's considerably neater handwriting just might be recognizable.

Temeraire wavers, uncertain, his tail lashing a little nervously.] I did not find it anywhere; I had it made. That is--well, you were saying, about Romantic poets, and I asked around, to find out what their poetry was like, and to see if any of it was like the poetry I knew.

[He taps the book carefully with a single claw.] It is only a small gift, of course, with some poems by dragons, and some by people: Lung Li Yu, and Bai Juyi, and Su Shi; they write about lost love, and emotion, and also there are some poems about how one ought to properly run a government, and social responsibility. So it is not quite like your Romantics, but some of their themes are very similar, I think.

Oh, Temeraire.

[Jehan sets the book aside carefully before wiping his eyes.]

Thank you. Thank you so very much. It is the most wonderful gift I've ever received. You did not have to do this, it must have been terribly expensive with the rations and general dislike of guests in the city.

[Temeraire twitches his whiskers, enormously pleased by Jehan's reaction, albeit a little distressed at the sudden appearance of tears.]

Oh, pray do not mention it; it was quite straightforward to make [BLATANT LIES], and Combeferre helped me, a little, and I have always wanted to try my hand at translating from Chinese to French. I only hope the meaning carries across reasonably well.

If I have any questions, I will ask you. Thank you so very much, Temeraire. This...this means quite a lot.

Verse 04 -- Video

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