Happy New Year & Drabble
Happy New Year! Here, have a drabble. ^__^
Beauty and the Beast 'verse. The things that pop into my brain in the middle of a shower... *headshake*
Purity
Some might say it was an arcane sixth sense that allowed him to break off what he was doing just before Herb burst through the door to his workroom. If asked - which he wasn't - Beldon would simply point out that it was prudent to maintain an early warning spell when certain people had an incurable tendency to arrive unannounced with all the subtlety of a thunderstorm.
So he was in the middle of turning around, project put on hold for the time being, when Herb arrived and called out breathlessly, "Beldon, Beldon! I found a new pet!"
Beldon hid a wince. "Dare I ask what followed you home this time?"
"He's beautiful!" Herb exclaimed, grabbing Beldon's hand and tugging him toward the door. "I was riding in the forest and kind of fell into a pond and he helped me out and showed me how to get home and can I keep him? Please?"
Already wary, Beldon stopped dead when he saw what was waiting for them just outside the door.
"Herb... that's a unicorn."
Herb positively beamed.
Beldon reached up and rubbed his temples, briefly closing his eyes and reopening them. The unicorn was still there, and alternating between fawning over Herb and shooting dark looks at Beldon. Well, as dark as unicorns could manage, anyway.
"It followed you home? You didn't put a golden bridle on it, by any chance, did you?" he asked.
Herb gazed at him in puzzlement. "Why would I do that? He came just fine all by himself."
"So I see," Beldon said dryly. "But unicorns are very particular in whom they follow, and you... don't exactly qualify." As Beldon was in the position to know, most intimately.
"Why not?" Herb asked, bewildered.
Beldon eyed the unicorn again. "Because unicorns are only drawn to those who are pure. Apparently this one is confused."
Herb seemed to wilt. "I'm not pure?"
"Pure of heart, maybe," Beldon replied absently, still eying the unicorn, "but pure of body hasn't applied to you for a long time." He smiled with a touch of possessiveness.
Herb considered. "So I'm one kind of pure and not another? Do I have to have both?"
Beldon regarded Herb, then the unicorn, then Herb again. "Apparently not."
Herb beamed brightly and enfolded Beldon in his arms, leaning down to take an enthusiastic kiss. "So I can keep him!"
Well, it wouldn't be the first time one of Herb's pets despised Beldon. Though not usually for this particular reason.
"I suppose."
Herb treated him to another kiss, then happily ran off to go introduce the unicorn to the rest of his zoo. Beldon turned back to what he'd been working on before the interruption, smiling ever so slightly.
Well, at least he'd have a consistent supply of unicorn hair on hand.
Beauty and the Beast 'verse. The things that pop into my brain in the middle of a shower... *headshake*
Purity
Some might say it was an arcane sixth sense that allowed him to break off what he was doing just before Herb burst through the door to his workroom. If asked - which he wasn't - Beldon would simply point out that it was prudent to maintain an early warning spell when certain people had an incurable tendency to arrive unannounced with all the subtlety of a thunderstorm.
So he was in the middle of turning around, project put on hold for the time being, when Herb arrived and called out breathlessly, "Beldon, Beldon! I found a new pet!"
Beldon hid a wince. "Dare I ask what followed you home this time?"
"He's beautiful!" Herb exclaimed, grabbing Beldon's hand and tugging him toward the door. "I was riding in the forest and kind of fell into a pond and he helped me out and showed me how to get home and can I keep him? Please?"
Already wary, Beldon stopped dead when he saw what was waiting for them just outside the door.
"Herb... that's a unicorn."
Herb positively beamed.
Beldon reached up and rubbed his temples, briefly closing his eyes and reopening them. The unicorn was still there, and alternating between fawning over Herb and shooting dark looks at Beldon. Well, as dark as unicorns could manage, anyway.
"It followed you home? You didn't put a golden bridle on it, by any chance, did you?" he asked.
Herb gazed at him in puzzlement. "Why would I do that? He came just fine all by himself."
"So I see," Beldon said dryly. "But unicorns are very particular in whom they follow, and you... don't exactly qualify." As Beldon was in the position to know, most intimately.
"Why not?" Herb asked, bewildered.
Beldon eyed the unicorn again. "Because unicorns are only drawn to those who are pure. Apparently this one is confused."
Herb seemed to wilt. "I'm not pure?"
"Pure of heart, maybe," Beldon replied absently, still eying the unicorn, "but pure of body hasn't applied to you for a long time." He smiled with a touch of possessiveness.
Herb considered. "So I'm one kind of pure and not another? Do I have to have both?"
Beldon regarded Herb, then the unicorn, then Herb again. "Apparently not."
Herb beamed brightly and enfolded Beldon in his arms, leaning down to take an enthusiastic kiss. "So I can keep him!"
Well, it wouldn't be the first time one of Herb's pets despised Beldon. Though not usually for this particular reason.
"I suppose."
Herb treated him to another kiss, then happily ran off to go introduce the unicorn to the rest of his zoo. Beldon turned back to what he'd been working on before the interruption, smiling ever so slightly.
Well, at least he'd have a consistent supply of unicorn hair on hand.