Temeraire summer 2025 drabbles

by sere (ThisIsSere), VerdetCadet

Summary:

Drabbles for all!

Characters and tags are given by chapter. Unless noted, they’re all T rated.

Notes:

• For AlinaBlake, AltocumulusJay, androbeaurepaire, backinyourbox, BaronetCoins, booksnchocolate, Borrowed_Voices, capsforcreatures, CaptainCupkirk, Carcharothiel, ChimaeraKitten, CompletelyDifferent, Cypress_Trees, Emmyllou, Fleetling, FromDustReturned, funktown, HermesDay, InkFire_Scribe, JtEvans, Kangoo, KJW1, ladyshadowdrake, Lordbrezel, manonisch, midnightsnapdragon, MilkAndBones, nerdy_nessie, Pathsleadingaway, PepperHoney, picatso3, revolutionarygold, RustlingLeaves, simulacrumbs, sere (ThisIsSere), Syaal (IridescentFragments), synalev, tallyquark, TanTales, tharkayseagle, TheQueenHasNoLife, VerdetCadet, Wildtornadooo, Snakespirits, BlazingArts, Thisbian, stargrazing.

Chapter 1: For AlinaBlake

Notes:

Characters & tags

Laurence/ Tom Riley, Throne of Jade

It had been unconscionable even to contemplate on past voyages, the chain of command making any improper advances unthinkable.  But they are in separate services now.  Tom, newly captain of the Allegiance, is neither subject to Laurence's will nor swayed by his influence.

China is months away. Naturally, Laurence expects his time with Temeraire to take precedence, and there's the vexing matter of Hammond's seemingly endless briefings, the strained interactions with the Chinese delegations.

But, Laurence thinks speculatively, there can be no harm, surely, in a little dalliance, an occasional tryst between friends. Tom's freckles remain as charming as ever.

Chapter 2: For AltocumulusJay

Notes:

Characters & tags

Unconventional format, Art History, POV Outsider

Locomotive Amidst the Burial Hills of Pen Y Fan (1843) J.M.W. Turner oil on canvas

Letters from Turner during his travels in Wales suggest he was greatly moved by the sight of the numerous funerary cairns from the Dragon Plague of ‘06.

Here they stand almost ethereal, gently lit by the setting sun with Turner's characteristic use of carmine red. A locomotive, loaded with coal bound for Newport, is a fierce black point against the muted softness. It drags the viewer's eye forward, towards the edge of the frame, leaving behind the last giants of a former era.

Chapter 3: For androbeaurepaire

Notes:

Characters & tags

William Laurence, precanon

The pair of midshipman are bloody-nosed and shamefaced, hunching into their collars like scuffed kittens. “—and I have placed them on bread and water rations for a fortnight,” finishes Lieutenant Gilbert.

Laurence regards the boys from behind the desk. The taller of them has two inches of knobby wrist peeking from his coatsleeve. He remembers his gnawing, aching hunger aboard the Shorewise.

He clears his throat. The pit in his stomach remains. A ship does not run without discipline. “A satisfactory essay on your duty to your comrades in arms, gentlemen, and we will discuss your return to full commons.”

Chapter 4: For Backinyourbox

Notes:

Characters & tags

William Laurence, Tenzing Tharkay, Emily Roland, Peter Dyer, Tongues of Serpents

“Mr Tharkay says he cannot attend you—you must come to him, sir,” Dyer said, a little tentatively; he had the good sense to know how his message would be received.

“What the devil—” Laurence began, before composing himself. He thought he had put an end to this aggravating shilly-shallying around from their guide.

But when he went looking, he soon discovered the reason for the man’s recalcitrance. Tharkay sat cross-legged and still, statuelike by the fire; Emily Roland’s sleeping head pillowed on his thigh.

“Story-telling before bed,” Tharkay said, smiling wryly. “But apparently the tale was not exciting enough.”

Chapter 5: For BaronetCoins

Notes:

Characters & tags

William Laurence, Tenzing Tharkay, Temeraire, Postcanon

After six months, it is still a new and disconcerting feeling to ride back into Strathvagan's grounds and find himself home. More disconcerting still when with his arrival comes the dull, unmistakable whump of mortar fire.

The next moment his horse is wheeling beneath him, panicked, at the high fweeeee of a rocket and a burst of green stars high overhead. Tharkay holds fast, barely.

The culprits are in Temeraire's pavilion: a grimy pair of alchemists smelling of brimstone. Laurence is measuring copper filings into a pasteboard tube as Temeraire consults his sand table.

“I see gardening provided insufficient excitement?”

Chapter 6: For BlazingArts

Notes:

Characters & tags

Catherine Harcourt, St Germain, aviator ensemble

There is always some grumbling, but St Germain’s loud, cheerful, “Clear out lads! Unless you want us to get an eyeful,” has the desired effect: the baths are vacated in short order. Low laughter and the playful snapping of towels can be heard as the menfolk exit through the other doorway.

Aviators don’t hold much truck with tradition, it’s true, but Thursday evenings and Sunday afternoons in the baths are sacred to the distaff side of the Corps.

Catherine sinks down into the rising steam. For a precious hour or so, she need prove nothing, and be no-one but herself.

Chapter 7: For booksnchocolate

Notes:

Characters & tags

Laurence/ Tharkay, post-canon

Ever the sailor, Laurence surfaces from sleep to wakefulness in an instant. Those impossibly blue eyes are suddenly open, and a delighted smile dawns on his face.

Damn it all; Tharkay has been caught staring. (But, mayn’t he look his fill, now that everything has changed between them?)

“A penny for your thoughts, Tenzing?” Laurence teases, reaching out to tuck a strand of Tharkay’s hair behind his ear.

Warring impulses silence Tharkay. For even if he could translate this rising tide of joy into words, he fears the risk of losing all, should Laurence suspect how deep he is submerged.

Chapter 8: For Borrowed_Voices

Notes:

Characters & tags

Laurence/ Tharkay, post-canon

The stars wheel behind his eyelids, a rushing, roaring sound like a distant echo of the divine wind overwhelms him; but then Tharkay's voice, urgently calling his name, brings Laurence back to himself.

He finds he’s on his back on the library's parquet floor, head throbbing. Tharkay's face looms above, brow furrowed, and his cool palm presses against Laurence's forehead.

"You swooned—you are burning up. Must I remind you of your promise that you would rest?" he says, and Laurence hears the fear behind the scolding tone. "To bed with you, straightaway. I will fetch willow bark, and soup."

Chapter 9: For capsforcreatures

Notes:

Characters & tags

William Laurence, Tenzing Tharkay, magical AU, Tongues of Serpents

Laurence, having stumbled out of the tent to piss, rubs his eyes. Almost full dark, the merest hint of dawn tints the eastern sky, and yet—there is something sparkling, under the nearby trees.

Cautiously he approaches; but a twig cracks underfoot, and Tharkay whirls around, the glimmering extinguished.

Laurence gapes; Tharkay rearranges his face into perfect nonchalance.

Laurence had thought Tharkay’s abilities uncanny—but never suspected this. “Tenzing, you must know the magic arts are forbidden by English law.”

“Are we in England?” Tharkay gestures acerbically to the eucalyptuses. “And do you desire that I locate water, or not?”

Chapter 10: For CaptainCupkirk

Notes:

Characters & tags

John Granby, William Laurence, Tenzing Tharkay, modern AU

It's as Granby feared. This "guys' spa weekend" just isn't his scene. There's nowt to do, the clouds of steam totally concealing any half-naked guys around him.

Laurence had studied the spa guidelines with worrying intensity. Granby can almost hear him counting in his head, striving to ensure they spend the optimum eight to eleven minutes in the rose-scented steam room before proceeding to the cold plunge.

Tharkay has already disappeared; no doubt reclining, lizard-like and nude, in the hottest of the saunas, where he'll remain until Laurence drags him out to rehydrate.

So much potential, and still: Granby's bored.

Chapter 11: For Carcharothiel

Notes:

Characters & tags

William Laurence, Sutton, His Majesty's Dragon

“Laurence, might I have a word?” Sutton asked, and Laurence, rising from the breakfast table to follow the rest of the departing aviators, sat.

“I heard you have taken up with Captain Roland,” Sutton said casually. He seemed unaware of the startled look Laurence sent him. Instead he pressed on. “Are you taking precautions?”

“I beg your pardon,” said Laurence, broadsided entirely.

“The ladies are all quite good with knowing their calendars—” Laurence blinked, nonplussed “—but the man must do his part too. Not a lot of women in the Navy, eh? Come then, and tell me what you know.”

Chapter 12: For ChimaeraKitten

Notes:

Characters & tags

William Laurence & Temeraire, post-canon

Laurence tried hard, very hard, to dismiss the thought from his mind; but it was impossible not to be recalled to that moment, sitting injured at the farmhouse table outside Vilna, when he had heard the great downdraft of Temeraire’s takeoff and known himself utterly bereft.

This parting was, of course, different: Temeraire for London and Parliament, and Laurence to remain in Scotland for a mere three days before following on by courier.

And yet: the sight of Temeraire’s wide black wings, now oddly tiny as they dwindled into the distant clouds, was harder to bear than Laurence had anticipated.

Chapter 13: For CompetelyDifferent

Notes:

Characters & tags

Tenzing Tharkay, Blood of Tyrants, whump

He is desperately thirsty, but they give him only bitter poison.

In his fleeting lucid moments, Tharkay considers matters. His hands blaze with pain, a hot, bone deep ache that does not ebb. He has lost track of how long it has been: Weeks? Months? No rescue is coming.

But when his fever rages and they try again to slip the choking brew past his lips, something else rages up within Tharkay; he turns his head, spits.

“Tenzing —please— Tenzing, you will die of thirst.”

Another strange piece of cruelty. Where have they found someone who sounds like William Laurence?

Chapter 14: For Cypress_Trees

Notes:

Characters & tags

William Laurence/ Tenzing Tharkay, modern AU, meta, crack

Laurence winces at the tension evident in the set of Tharkay’s shoulders. He is hunched shrimplike over his laptop, peering with irritation at an enormous spreadsheet. Laurence cannot make head nor tail of its complex colour-coding.

“Are you sure that volunteering to moderate the exchange was wise?” he ventures. “And hand-matching the prompts is surely going above and beyond.”

Tharkay looks up and grins, his face suddenly transformed from its earlier scowl. “Oh, but it’ll be totally worth it, Will. Just you wait: we can watch everyone scheme and misdirect and engage in subterfuge, but I’ll hold all the secrets.”

Chapter 15: For Emmyllou

Notes:

This drabble is rated Mature

Characters & tags

John Granby/Tenzing Tharkay/William Laurence, League of Dragons

Granby was going to disgrace himself, right here, flat on his back and now twice captive in the middle of this spun-sugar boudoir in Fountainbleau.

He tried opening his eyes but Tharkay's face above him, eyes dark and focused intently on him, was worse. He closed them again desperately. “Fuck, Tenzing. Fuck!”

“No, not yet.” Tharkay’s voice was cool in his ear. His hand did not stop. “Take a deep breath. Think of something else.”

He had a moment's gasping reprieve as Tharkay shifted. “Will, are you watching how this is done? A mouth may be used as well. Attend.”

Chapter 16: For fleetling

Notes:

Characters & tags

William Laurence, Tenzing Tharkay, Tongues of Serpents

Laurence rolled his shoulders, wincing.

"I learned a technique, in Siam," Tharkay announced, as if Laurence were perfectly familiar with his travels in Siam; in truth, this was the first he had ever heard of them. Tharkay's next words were even more astonishing: "Take off your shirt, Will."

Something in his tone had Laurence stripped to the waist almost before he was conscious of it. Tharkay applied his thumbs, hard, to the muscle of Laurence's back, fingers hot on his bare skin.

Laurence could only hope that the soughing of the waves against the Allegiance's hull overrode his involuntary moan.

Chapter 17: For FromDustReturned

Notes:

Characters & tags

Emily Roland & John Granby, Black Powder War

Her hair is ragged, just brushing her shoulders; it’s been neglected for months. Emily wears it in a too-short queue, which Granby suspects is in unconscious imitation of their captain. But strands are always falling loose, and Granby notices how often she pushes them irritably out of her eyes.

Laurence is endlessly patient and encouraging with the squeakers, but it seems haircare is not his forte.

Granby beckons Emily over one evening after dinner (camel, again). “Mr Roland. Don’t mind the name, it’s nowt to do with the Frogs; but let me teach you how to French braid your hair.”

Chapter 18: For Funktown

Notes:

This drabble is rated Mature

Characters & tags

John Granby/William Laurence

Incredibly, even now as they are fucking, they are still arguing.

In desperation, Granby picks up a discarded bit of harness, slips it between Laurence's teeth when he begins his next harangue. “Just five minutes of quiet, please, sir.”

Later, as they dress, Granby runs a thumbnail along the unmistakable crescent of gouges in the leather. Laurence will have to comprehensively ruin it to take it to the harness master with a straight face.

“Sloppy,” he says, tossing it next to Laurence. "An aviator lives or dies by their straps. I hope you will take more care in the future.”

Chapter 19: For HermesDay

Notes:

Characters & tags

John Granby, His Majesty's Dragon

“Leave the beasts to their captains, John.”

The captains do not like Granby's easy familiarity with their dragons. He means no interference, only enjoys their queer notions and manners, but he suspects is is why he was turned off first Actionis, then Laet.

"Temeraire is excessively fond of you," Captain Laurence says one evening, and Granby braces for the rebuke.

Laurence only continues, "Would you consent to keep him company while I am away this evening? You are under no obligation," he adds when Granby looks at him askance.

How odd, this Navy man. "No, I am quite pleased to."

Chapter 20: For InkFire_Scribe

Notes:

Characters & tags

Maximus, Temeraire, His Majesty's Dragon

Rum fellow, this new Chinese dragon, with his odd starts and queer ways. Not what anyone would call a large heavyweight, but his flying was none too shabby, and Celeritas would probably find a use for that uncanny trick of hanging in the air. And Maximus had to admit, Temeraire's suggestion of bathing sounded perfectly appealing.

And it was: that first moment of launching into the loch was almost like flying, but without the effort of using wings; the water stroking along his flank like Berkley used to pet him, when he’d been small and fresh out of the shell.

Chapter 21: For JtEvans

Notes:

Characters & tags

Augustine Little/John Granby, aviator ensemble

“You must not tarry if you hope to find him still awake,” Sutton teases as Little rises from his seat beside the fire. “That poor fellow looked dead on his feet.”

Little winces. Has he not waited enough time since Granby made his yawning goodbyes? Have they become so obvious since they've been stationed at Loch Laggan?

“Pay this gossiping fishwife no mind,” Warren says with a wave of his hand. “He merely hopes no one will ask next how Mrs. Thompson has made him such a swain.”

“Oh the devil take you, Micah!”

“Go,” Warren mouths with a wink.

Chapter 22: For Kangoo

Notes:

Characters & tags

John Granby

“Huh,” Granby says as the first needle goes into the shell of his ear. “If this is medicine, I should hate to be dealt your warfare.”

The acupuncturist only gives him a pained, polite nod, and Granby, chagrined, closes his mouth, determined to tolerate this witchery without further rudeness.

But as he lays in the dim room, feeling like a pincushion, or a butterfly on a card, incredibly, unfathomably, he feels the tight claw of his phantom hand relax.

“I cannot credit it,” he says, hoarse, when the man returns to pluck the needles from him. “Nor thank you enough.”

Chapter 23: For KJW1

Notes:

Characters & tags

Granby & Iskierka, Blood of Tyrants

Granby sighed, setting his sketchbook aside. He could never be satisfied with his attempts to capture Iskierka's likeness: she was more vibrant, more vivid, more fully alive than any other dragon he'd ever known, and all his sorry efforts missed, he felt, some essential element.

It was at this low ebb that one of the Chinese aviators approached him; bowing, she presented a scroll.

He caught his breath as he unrolled it. There she was, his impossible darling: her sinuous energy captured in flowing, almost calligraphic brushstrokes.

He hoped his face expressed his fervent thanks, for his Chinese could not.

Chapter 24: For ladyshadowdrake

Notes:

Characters & tags

OC, pre-canon

Hiort has ever been free of dragons, of course; two days' sailing from the Outer Hebrides, and that only on the rare seasons when the weather allows it. No dragon could fly it easily—even if they could, they'd find bare pickings: under a hundred souls, a handful of sheep.

Do dragons eat puffins, or gannet, or fulmar?

But Morag has always dreamed of dragons. She daren't tell anyone; they'd say it was the devil's work, remind her that a dragon tempted Eve. But oh! to see a dragon in the wide bright sky! That would be worth almost anything.

Chapter 25: For Lordbrezel

Summary:

Characters & tags

Lung Tien Ning, post-canon

She is learning to be more subtle, as she ages. Vexatious, but she has found that appeals to rational utilitarianism do not answer, in all cases; in fact, as far as humans are concerned, such arguments rarely answer at all.

Instead, she is becoming adept at finding the ploy that will work with each interlocutor: whether they are motivated by self-interest, or fear, or the desire for fame and glory. And then she may marshal her tactics to suit.

Ning knows herself to be a being of logic, of course. Whatever her irksome sire may mutter about her “showing away”.

Chapter 26: For manonisch

Chapter by sere (ThisIsSere)

Notes:

Characters & tags

William Laurence/John Granby

"John," Laurence began, and Granby watched in fond delight as his lover’s cheeks pinked.

"It is an indelicate matter, but I find I must know: have you known many men?" Laurence was barely able to meet Granby's eye.

Granby resisted, barely, the temptation to reply with a quip, some wisecrack about his being a friendly sort, a social animal with extensive acquaintance; but he could see what it had cost Laurence to even voice the question.

"A handful," he responded, "no more than you've known women, I'd wager. But truly cared for? Will, there has only ever been one."

Chapter 27: For Midnightsnapdragon

Notes:

Characters & tags

William Laurence & Tenzing Tharkay, modern AU

“Work for?” Tharkay’s face was perfect innocence as he took another bite of sole meunière. “I've told you: I’m a DEI consultant.”

Laurence scowled. There were two men in practical black suits weaving towards them.

“Kindly don't misrepresent yourself as a fool. Six happenstance dinner dates in three countries in four months; a different name on every credit card. You speak at least French, Italian, and possibly Cantonese.”

A shot rang out. Laurence dragged Tharkay, unresisting, behind the overturned table and pressed a gun to his ribs. “Who do you work for?”

Tharkay's eyes were wide as dinner plates. “Michelin!”

Chapter 28: For MilkAndBones

Notes:

Characters & tags

Tenzing Tharkay/William Laurence, Modern AU

“Take your time; we have all night—” Tharkay's voice is low, sending a shiver down Laurence's neck.

But the brief fantasy ends when Tharkay continues on with an arch drawl “—or we can finish this at a reasonable hour and go home.”

Laurence sighs. This project will be the death of him, crucified between his rising annoyance with Tharkay's smug, supercilious attitude, and his own growing fascination with the slips of inked skin that peek from beneath the edge of Tharkay's rolled cuffs.

He pulls Tharkay's meticulously prepared report forward: Fig. a1-g9 GPR renderings of historical sewers. Possible egress points.

Chapter 29: For nerdy_nessie

Notes:

Characters & tags

Tenzing Tharkay, precanon

There is a brief flash of pain and a disconcerting tugging sensation against his ear. Tharkay is suddenly all over hot, even in the cool greenery of the garden. There is a queasiness in the pit of his stomach and a roaring in his ears. The horizon tips.

When his eyes open again, he is lying on the bench. Sara helps him sit up, dark eyes crinkled with amusement.

The silver ring in his earlobe is an unfamiliar weight, more tender than he expected as he worries it gingerly with his fingers.

“Il faut souffrir pour être belle,” Sara quips.

Chapter 30: For pathsleadingaway

Notes:

Characters & tags

William Laurence/Tenzing Tharkay, postcanon

It is Laurence's meticulous folding and careful setting aside of Tharkay's neckcloth that does it. "This is the politest ravishing I have ever submitted to," Tharkay mutters.

Which is how he finds himself abruptly drawn up bodily from the settee and pressed against the wall, so close he can smell the fresh wallpaper paste, with an arm behind his back and his feet kicked apart. Laurence tugs, and three waistcoat buttons go clattering to the floor.

"Why Tenzing," There is a thrilling note of exasperation in Laurence's voice. "If you would like some rougher trade I am happy to oblige.”

Chapter 31: For PepperHoney

Notes:

Characters & tags

Billy Forthing, Forthing

Billy Forthing checks his boots for any scuffs, smooths a nervous hand along the pressed edge of his neckcloth, watching Temeraire spiral down. He feels scrubbed pink, starched within an inch of his life, and very fine indeed.

His father flies hand-over-hand down the rigging as smooth and fast as anything, faster than any of Billy's instructors. He catches Billy up when he reaches him, swinging him into an embrace that crumples Billy's coat and streaks his own trousers with bootblack.

Billy, laughing, clings to him as his father ruffles his hair and presses his scratchy cheek close. “My boy!”

Chapter 32: For picatso3

Notes:

Characters & tags

Granby & Iskierka

“Tell me again,” Iskierka urges, low. Steam hisses quietly from her spines.

“The most splendid thing I am ever like to have,” Granby says, smiling up at her, “is a Kazilik dragon, dear one.”

The words are a tradition for them now, but each time he recites the well-worn formula he feels an indescribable fondness.

The rest of the world might consider her difficult, intractable, arrogant. Hatched on a battlefield, lauded and dragged around the world to be her country’s saviour: she cannot, will not show the world her vulnerable underbelly, her deep need for reassurance. It’s for Granby alone.

Chapter 33: For revolutionarygold

Notes:

Characters & tags

Catherine Harcourt, Tenzing Tharkay, Victory of Eagles

They've barely exchanged three words before this. He doesn't treat her like an idiot, as so many men do; but he's tolerably transparent, more than he imagines.

"Might I trouble you for an introduction?" he asks, as if she is some society lady, exchanging polite conversation over tea. "For I have business that would take me to Terra Australis."

Indeed. Catherine's not so easily fooled. She may be immune to broad shoulders, but she's heard enough of Jane's sordid tales, and the jesting speculation of the other female aviators, to know she's in the minority. Tharkay, she thinks, is hooked.

Chapter 34: For RustlingLeaves

Notes:

Characters & tags

Laurence & Tharkay & Temeraire, post-canon

Tharkay had considered himself worldly-wise; but this is beyond imagination. Next to him, Laurence makes a brief strangled squawk of surprise, or possibly anguish.

Temeraire has the grace to sound a touch defensive. "It is not meant for humans to see."

The men make their awkward recusals, withdrawing from the pavilion hastily. Both face resolutely forward as they stride downhill; but eventually Tharkay catches Laurence's eye. Laurence, too, is red-cheeked with embarrassment.

"I had not thought ..." Laurence ventures.

"That dragons had their own indecent engravings?" Tharkay replies. "And of such prodigious size?"

Suddenly they are both laughing breathlessly, like lunatics.

Chapter 35: For sere

Notes:

Characters & tags

Granby/Tharkay, Tongues of Serpents

Tharkay comes hard enough to see stars.

This was a terrible idea. This might be his worst idea yet. It was supposed to be a bit of diversion, a quick fuck in the desert. Tharkay had not planned to be left with the air punched out of his lungs and a sudden headache from his clenched teeth.

Next to him Granby grins, smug, and rolls to the edge of the bedroll to paw about for his breeches amongst the puddled mess of their clothing while Tharkay fights for his life.

“Same time tomorrow?” Granby fastens his belt, whistling cheerily.

Christ.

Chapter 36: For simulacrumbs

Notes:

Characters & tags

William Laurence & Temeraire

“Laurence? Would you still love me if I were a worm?” Temeraire asks, a query that nearly makes Granby lose a mouthful of his beer straight back into the glass, but Laurence has already turned to Temeraire to give him due consideration.

“I should certainly miss flying together, but consider the ease with which I could convey you to the theater, or the Royal Society meetings; and I am certain that we could devise some form of writing for you,”

“and,” Laurence adds dryly. “We might finance a very grand pavilion, for a worm.”

Granby's beer is a lost cause.

Chapter 37: For Snakespirits

Notes:

Characters & tags

Sipho Dlamini, Tenzing Tharkay, post-canon

It's hard to reconcile the weather—damp, grey—with everyone's assurances that Ayrshire is experiencing a delightful summer. The July sun lingers until a surprisingly late hour, but its light falls weak and insipid on Sipho's skin.

It’s his first visit to Scotland; Tharkay says, gravely, "I hope you will feel quite at home." Already a bedroom is set aside for his use, and he's invited to have free run of the library.

Perhaps he could settle here? There’s talk of Oxford—which apparently Tharkay may fund—and Sipho feels unexpectedly calm here, after the constant storms of his past.

Chapter 38: For stargrazing

Notes:

Characters & tags

Laurence/ Tharkay/ Napoleon/ Anahuarque, League of Dragons

Altogether too much champagne; he’s been a fool, to let his guard down so. Tharkay wakes to a sour taste on his tongue, louring pressure behind his eyes.

The bedroom is frowsy, close with the smell of bodies and sweat. Tharkay squints at the light, wincing at the clatter as someone yanks the drapery aside and throws the terrace doors wide.

Dawning, horrifying recollection: the someone is the Emperor of France. His Empress smirks at Tharkay; and sprawled prone alongside her, sleeping still is—oh god—Laurence.

If Tharkay closes his eyes again, perhaps none of it will have happened.

Chapter 39: For Syaal

Notes:

Characters & tags

Temeraire & Laurence & Tharkay

"I am not sure that the Church has a settled opinion," said Laurence doubtfully. Always utterly confounded by these conversations, his certainty that Tharkay was smirking behind his back only made matters worse.

"That is perfect nonsense," Temeraire retorted, "when they have had centuries to examine their doctrine, and consider whether dragons are subject to original sin."

"The Tswana, of course, have a clear place for dragons in their theology," Tharkay interjected, unhelpfully. "And recall that Buddhists consider dragons to be beings who may attain enlightenment."

"Laurence, could we not convert, perhaps?" Temeraire asked. "Enlightenment sounds perfectly splendid."

Laurence sighed.

Chapter 40: For synalev

Notes:

Characters & tags

John Granby & William Laurence,

“A Bengal,” Granby said in awed disbelief, still bent over his work at his little scrap of a sketch. He had only pencil and no paints, of course, but he was making prodigious, if illegible, notes as to coloring and pattern and scale. “You must be the only living Englishman to have seen one so closely. Pray, were the fangs a full foot in length? Or somewhat less?”

Laurence, who possessed a fervent wish to never inspect such jaws so closely ever again, could muster little good grace for his answer. “Can you credit it, John, I did not measure.”

Chapter 41: For tallyquark

Notes:

Characters & tags

Temeraire & William Laurence, His Majesty's Dragon

”And you are quite sure?” Temeraire asked mulishly.

Laurence laughed, always an encouraging sound. He set aside their book and petted Temeraire’s nose. “My dear, although the novel may make it sound exceedingly romantic, a pirate is nothing more than a thief who happens to have a ship. It is no honourable pursuit.”

How to persuade him? Temeraire thought it better not to mention the vast treasure that he might accrue; Laurence strangely did not seem to consider it of great import.

“I think you would make a very fine pirate, though, Laurence. Why, you might have a gold tooth!”

Chapter 42: For TanTales

Notes:

Characters & tags

Sipho Tsuluka Dlamini & Temeraire

He is very small.

All men are, even Laurence, but little Sipho is the smallest, smaller than any of the runners ever were, and without all the noisy peeping and clattering about to remind him of their presence.

He is rather like an egg, in some ways, especially now that his brother has swathed him rotund in coats.

It feels only natural to tuck him into the crook of his foreleg, warm and safe from being overlooked and squashed, and then only natural to recite a little Chinese poetry for him.

Sipho, intrigued, repeats it back; Temeraire swells with pride.

Chapter 43: For tharkayseagle

Notes:

Characters & tags

William Laurence & Tenzing Tharkay, postcanon

“Silence!” Laurence strikes the dining room table so firmly that the cutlery bounces. Tharkay, anticipating the explosion, has already lifted his wine glass to safety. “You are a guest in this home, and damn you, you will comport yourself as such!”

Cousin Ambrose has blanched fish-belly pale in the full broadside of Laurence's fury.

Tharkay supposes he should be more piqued; Laurence, too, is a guest in his house, albeit a hopefully permanent one. Tharkay will accept his apology later, quietly, beside the fire.

For now, Tharkay takes a sip of rescued wine and enjoys his cousin's open mouthed goggle.

Chapter 44: For TheQueenHasNoLife

Notes:

Characters & tags

William Laurence, Tenzing Tharkay, hanahaki disease

Laurence plucks rose petals from his tongue.

Confounding, nonsensical: it is years since he has seen Edith, and he and Jane are fast friends only these days. There is no other woman who could be the catalyst for his early morning coughing fits, the wild foliage that forces its way between his teeth and steals his breath.

Tharkay leans towards him solicitously, bright eyes and handsome face alive with concern. “Will?”

Laurence waves him off. While he’s sensible of his fortune in having such a trusted, intimate friend, still he cannot admit to this mysterious weakness. “It is nothing, Tenzing.”

Chapter 45: For Thisbian

Notes:

Characters & tags

Edith Galman/Jane Roland

In her earliest memories Jane is in flight; it's impossible to imagine a time when she has not known the exhilarating rush of the big swoop and then the soar, and the roaring wind.

Edith's hand finds hers as she leans forward against the straps and into the wind. Her pink dress snaps and billows and her hair is already shedding pins until it’s a golden froth around her face. She is grinning, the wind whipping tears from the corners of her eyes.

“Oh, Jane!” She cries, merry, and the bottom falls out of Jane’s stomach in a swooping rush.

Chapter 46: For VerdetCadet

Notes:

Characters & tags

Granby & Tharkay (or possibly Granby/ Tharkay), Black Powder War

Studied insouciance, and beneath that his characteristic concealed amusement; but Granby could read, in the shadows under Tharkay’s eyes and the greyish pallor of his skin, the man’s bone-deep fatigue.

And no wonder. Granby knew, viscerally, the day-and-night exhaustion that accompanied captaining one ungovernable dragon. He could hardly imagine Pied Piper-ing twenty across half Europe.

They’d exchanged loaded looks only, in the Taklamakan and Istanbul, recognizing their mutual interest without the remotest possibility of pursuing it. Granby clasped Tharkay’s hand in welcome, and took a moment to regret that the chaos of siege-bound Danzig would likely permit no greater intimacies.

Chapter 47: For wildtornadoooo

Notes:

Characters & tags

Ferris/ Forthing, League of Dragons

“Adelheid,” Ferris says, half-proud, half-diffident. “She only speaks German, but I’ve a first who can translate from French for me.”

“She’s gorgeous,” Forthing says admiringly. Ferris, despite his anxiety, can sense no envy in his tone.

“Of course it’s only an acting-captaincy,” Ferris says, still trying to soothe the blow.

Forthing gives him a shrewd look. “You think I can’t be happy for you? I’m not such a churl as all that.”

Forthing looks up at Adelheid again. “Take good care of Hal now, will you?” Then, because he knows she will not understand, “Bring him back safe to me.”