The Cookie Fairy (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
alcesverdes) wrote2009-07-09 03:26 pm
alcesverdes) wrote2009-07-09 03:26 pm
Entry tags:
[The Dresden Files (books)] The Toad And The Wizard
Title: The Toad And The Wizard
Fandom: The Dresden Files (books)
Characters/Pairings: Harry Dresden, an OC toad.
Rating: PG
Length: +1100 words.
Summary: Harry meets an enchanted toad who needs help.
Spoilers: None.
Author's Note: Written for the "Fairy tales & Folklore" prompt from the cliche_bingo challenge.
beyourwings has a very big hand on this one.
Around noon, Harry came back to his laboratory after a very long morning gathering materials for several kinds of potions and spells near a lake. Those were things Harry liked having fresh on the shelves, so he went replenishing them whenever he could, which wasn't as often as he would like, so he just took whatever chance he had. It was nice to get some fresh air like that, and to be able to enjoy it knowing there wasn't any immediate thread against his life made it better.
He put his bag on his working able and began to unroll the small packages. Each species of plant had been rolled up in a different sheet of newspaper, and each kind of insect were in its own bottle. Next, he'd have to prepare them, which was sort of tedious but Harry found a certain pleasure in engaging in a monotonous task once in a while: it helped him to work on his zen.
He was on the fourth roll when his bag moved on its own. It made him jump a little and forget all about his zen. He moved to reach his blasting rod when a toad walked out from the bag. "How did you get in there?" Harry asked, relaxing just a little bit. He didn't remember having seen any toads that morning but, then again, the grass had been tall and the bag was open on the groud several times, more than enough for the little thing to crawl inside. "I'll get you back to the lake," Harry said.
The toad looked up at him from the working bench. There was something in its eyes, a glint that put Harry on guard
That was no ordinary toad.
But it'd been on the outside under the sunlight and it'd passed through Harry's wards with no problem whatsoever. Granted, the toad had been inside Harry's own bag, but at least one alarm would've rang if it'd been a supernatural entity on its own.
Harry leaned down. "Are you someone's familiar?"
The toad shook its head.
Harry held his chin on his hand as he weighed the changes of the animal to be lying. There was after all another well-known --even to normal people-- reason why a toad would be smart enough to understand him and to have that sort of glint in its eye. "Are you by any chance an enchanted prince?"
The toad jumped up and down a lot as it nodded its small, ugly face. Then, it ran towards the newspaper sheets and pointed at some letters with one of its little fingers, spelling out a message.
"Help me and I will give you my kingdom," Harry read out loud. "Oh, you don't have to do that much; my usual fee will suffice..."
The toad shook its head and spelled out another message. "Will you help me?"
"Yeah, of course I will. We'll find you a nice gal and--"
It tool a moment after his sentence was interrupted for Harry to realize the toad had jumped at his face and was kissing him.
Both the surprise and the force of the spell being broken pushed the wizard backwards on his stool, so he fell down on the floor. There, on the floor, Harry felt on his lap something quite heavy. He opened his eyes to see a handsome young man in his early twenties, dressed in dark green, who was looking at Harry with longing, grateful eyes.
"Ah..." Harry mumbled.
"Thank you very much for your help, wizard!" the young man said not moving an inch. "Thank you" And now, as I promised--" he put his arms around Harry's neck, "--my kingdom will be yours."
Harry's brain took yet another moment to process what was going on. As soon as it did, though, he tried to push the prince away. "I did say my usual fee would be enough."
"But." The prince, refusing still to move away from Harry's lap, pursed his lips in a lovely pout. "Your wisdom, kindness and strength are exactly what I need in the man that will help me rule."
Harry stared. And blinked. And stare a little more. "I really, really think it'd be better if I just give you advise once in a while. I'll schedule appointments for you every five years, it's that okay?"
"No, it's not 'okay'!" the prince cried. "After I was cursed, I've seen several wizards and no of them recognized me for what I was. You were the first."
"It makes sense, otherwise you'd've been human again for a while now. Listen, Your Highness, just because I broke the curse it doesn't mean I've to--"
"Marry me?" the prince offered.
"--go with you," Harry finished as he tried not to twitch. "If I were one to do that, I'd have a very big harem by now. Besides, I'm more into, well, girls" he added.
The prince's pout grew bigger. "You are?"
"I am."
"But what about the True Love's Kiss?" the prince asked making the capitals audible.
"Well, in real life, that isn't a strict prerequisite, actually," Harry said, trying to be as soft as possible. "Could you please move now? Your royal behind is making my commoner legs fall asleep."
"Oh. Of course. I apologize." There was a certain grave dignity on the prince's face as he stood up. It'd fool anyone into thinking something far worse had happened. "I'll go now then. And I'll make sure your payment gets to you."
"I appreciate that, Your Highness," Harry said rubbing his knees.
Harry stood up slowly and picked up his stool as he made a mental note of not telling any of this to anyone. Ever. Specially not to Murphy.
The prince opened the door when he turned around. "About those appointments, I think I'm still interested." His eyes were half-closed and there was a faint-yet-hopeful smile upon his lips.
Harry's mouth formed an 'o'.
"I'll instruct my messenger to work that out with you, wizard," the prince added before closing the door behind him.
So. Did Harry had said one meeting every five years? He suddenly was sure he'd be busy enough to make it only once every decade. And even then, with his skill to make so many people angry at him, he'd probably have enough excuses to never show up.
Probably.
Fandom: The Dresden Files (books)
Characters/Pairings: Harry Dresden, an OC toad.
Rating: PG
Length: +1100 words.
Summary: Harry meets an enchanted toad who needs help.
Spoilers: None.
Author's Note: Written for the "Fairy tales & Folklore" prompt from the cliche_bingo challenge.
beyourwings has a very big hand on this one.Around noon, Harry came back to his laboratory after a very long morning gathering materials for several kinds of potions and spells near a lake. Those were things Harry liked having fresh on the shelves, so he went replenishing them whenever he could, which wasn't as often as he would like, so he just took whatever chance he had. It was nice to get some fresh air like that, and to be able to enjoy it knowing there wasn't any immediate thread against his life made it better.
He put his bag on his working able and began to unroll the small packages. Each species of plant had been rolled up in a different sheet of newspaper, and each kind of insect were in its own bottle. Next, he'd have to prepare them, which was sort of tedious but Harry found a certain pleasure in engaging in a monotonous task once in a while: it helped him to work on his zen.
He was on the fourth roll when his bag moved on its own. It made him jump a little and forget all about his zen. He moved to reach his blasting rod when a toad walked out from the bag. "How did you get in there?" Harry asked, relaxing just a little bit. He didn't remember having seen any toads that morning but, then again, the grass had been tall and the bag was open on the groud several times, more than enough for the little thing to crawl inside. "I'll get you back to the lake," Harry said.
The toad looked up at him from the working bench. There was something in its eyes, a glint that put Harry on guard
That was no ordinary toad.
But it'd been on the outside under the sunlight and it'd passed through Harry's wards with no problem whatsoever. Granted, the toad had been inside Harry's own bag, but at least one alarm would've rang if it'd been a supernatural entity on its own.
Harry leaned down. "Are you someone's familiar?"
The toad shook its head.
Harry held his chin on his hand as he weighed the changes of the animal to be lying. There was after all another well-known --even to normal people-- reason why a toad would be smart enough to understand him and to have that sort of glint in its eye. "Are you by any chance an enchanted prince?"
The toad jumped up and down a lot as it nodded its small, ugly face. Then, it ran towards the newspaper sheets and pointed at some letters with one of its little fingers, spelling out a message.
"Help me and I will give you my kingdom," Harry read out loud. "Oh, you don't have to do that much; my usual fee will suffice..."
The toad shook its head and spelled out another message. "Will you help me?"
"Yeah, of course I will. We'll find you a nice gal and--"
It tool a moment after his sentence was interrupted for Harry to realize the toad had jumped at his face and was kissing him.
Both the surprise and the force of the spell being broken pushed the wizard backwards on his stool, so he fell down on the floor. There, on the floor, Harry felt on his lap something quite heavy. He opened his eyes to see a handsome young man in his early twenties, dressed in dark green, who was looking at Harry with longing, grateful eyes.
"Ah..." Harry mumbled.
"Thank you very much for your help, wizard!" the young man said not moving an inch. "Thank you" And now, as I promised--" he put his arms around Harry's neck, "--my kingdom will be yours."
Harry's brain took yet another moment to process what was going on. As soon as it did, though, he tried to push the prince away. "I did say my usual fee would be enough."
"But." The prince, refusing still to move away from Harry's lap, pursed his lips in a lovely pout. "Your wisdom, kindness and strength are exactly what I need in the man that will help me rule."
Harry stared. And blinked. And stare a little more. "I really, really think it'd be better if I just give you advise once in a while. I'll schedule appointments for you every five years, it's that okay?"
"No, it's not 'okay'!" the prince cried. "After I was cursed, I've seen several wizards and no of them recognized me for what I was. You were the first."
"It makes sense, otherwise you'd've been human again for a while now. Listen, Your Highness, just because I broke the curse it doesn't mean I've to--"
"Marry me?" the prince offered.
"--go with you," Harry finished as he tried not to twitch. "If I were one to do that, I'd have a very big harem by now. Besides, I'm more into, well, girls" he added.
The prince's pout grew bigger. "You are?"
"I am."
"But what about the True Love's Kiss?" the prince asked making the capitals audible.
"Well, in real life, that isn't a strict prerequisite, actually," Harry said, trying to be as soft as possible. "Could you please move now? Your royal behind is making my commoner legs fall asleep."
"Oh. Of course. I apologize." There was a certain grave dignity on the prince's face as he stood up. It'd fool anyone into thinking something far worse had happened. "I'll go now then. And I'll make sure your payment gets to you."
"I appreciate that, Your Highness," Harry said rubbing his knees.
Harry stood up slowly and picked up his stool as he made a mental note of not telling any of this to anyone. Ever. Specially not to Murphy.
The prince opened the door when he turned around. "About those appointments, I think I'm still interested." His eyes were half-closed and there was a faint-yet-hopeful smile upon his lips.
Harry's mouth formed an 'o'.
"I'll instruct my messenger to work that out with you, wizard," the prince added before closing the door behind him.
So. Did Harry had said one meeting every five years? He suddenly was sure he'd be busy enough to make it only once every decade. And even then, with his skill to make so many people angry at him, he'd probably have enough excuses to never show up.
Probably.