Prompt Fic: Here There Be Dragons

[charisstoma]

Title: Here There Be Dragons
Author: charisstoma
Word count: 674
Fluffy, meep said. I tried.


“Sorry sprout,” Merick looked over his shoulder, “Can’t take you to school. Sign says No entry for delivery vehicles and you’re not visiting.” There was a snort from the side seat.

“Da-ad,” was said with the full weight of youthful impatience with adult joking. “Ian, can’t you make him behave?”

“Now, Gerry, you know that tasering a driver while he’s driving is a bad idea. Can cause all sorts of bad things like pants wetting and car through school sign impacts. Not to mention screaming. That’s hard on the ears inside an enclosed space.”

With great restraint and through clenched teeth without a hint of smoke because too many times he’d been told about no smoking in the van, to his father, “You… are visiting.”

“Oh,” Merick said in surprised innocence, “so we are. I guess that we can follow the informative arrow to the left then.”

There was a worried, “you are going to pick me up at the end of the day though, aren’t you?”

“Yes, son. Some one of us will take you home, this is only the first day after all. We’re not going to throw you off a cliff to see if your wings will pop out.”

Grinning and reaching back to ruffle Gerry’s hair, Ian said, “You did bring the bread crumbs and were dribbling them out the window as I told you to do just in case, right?”

“Is that why there were pigeons following us all the way here,” Merick exclaimed.

Sternly through clenched teeth, Gerry’s “take him home and beat him,” was ruined by vulnerable eyes pleading that they wouldn’t forget him. “Pleeeeease.”

Ian laughed, “That’s the spirit, Son. Stand up against your oppressors.”

By this time the van had pulled into the lot for visitors under the watchful guard of a stone dragon gargoyle on the parapet over the front entrance to the school, the van neatly fitting itself between one set of white lines delineating a space for vehicle parking. There was much opening and slamming of doors and Ian went to the rear of the van to take a backpack and a briefcase out from the back. Merick was fiddling with his mobile phone.

“There,” Merick turned the screen of the phone around to show Gerry. “I put in a reminder to return here to get you.”

“That’s the wrong time,” Gerry said stolidly.

Merick turned the screen back, read it and gave another, “Oh. So not 8 o’clock at night?” He grinned and walked over to hug his son, whispered, “You’ll do fine Love,” in Gerry’s ear.

Ian gave Gerry his backpack, hugged him and then went over to his husband wrapping an arm around his waist. “See you are 4:30 ‘this’ afternoon. Be good at school,” he continued, “don’t let the big kids bully you. You’re bigger than they are. Show them the trick with small flames coming out of your mouth and smile showing your teeth if need be.” As Ian kissed Merick, he brought his hand down smartly on lower ass cheeks. “That’s for being mean to our son on his first day of school here.” More quietly, “Go pick on students your own size,” was said with a grin against his mouth and another quick kiss.

“Right,” turning his attention back to Gerry who was trying to sink through the tarmac while not noticeably scanning to see if anyone was watching, Ian said, “Let’s all go face our dragons, shall we,” and as he and Gerry walked towards the entrance, he playfully bumped Gerry with his hip and continued walking on as if nothing happened.

Doing another quick scan for watchers, Gerry glanced back at his father as Merick got into the van and pulled out, on his way to his own school of higher education, giving Gerry a cheery wave as he did. Gerry really hoped that when he was old enough to enter those hallowed halls where his other parent was a professor, that his parents would have grown up or could fake it better.

Comments

[frogs_of_war]

The long suffering child. Sorry, kid, your parents will never grow up.

Are both his dads professors? That last paragraph says, "to his own school of higher education" of Merrick, then "his other parent was a professor". Is that still Merrick or Ian?

[charisstoma.livejournal.com]

Don't think they call the teachers at lower levels professors. Ian would be an instructor. *grins* Both parents are in the education field just different age levels of students. Merick is in the higher level, as Ian is walking in with Gerry into Gerry's new school. Kids really hate having their parent as a teacher in the school they're going to. They get away with almost nothing. Then again if you don't feel well, my Librarian's kid suffered acid reflux, we'd often have the kid in the back workroom lying down (and why that worked I do not know. She should have been upright.)

[frogs_of_war]

Ok. I was trying to reconcile Ian walking toward the entrance and Merrick getting in the car. But then way was Gerry acting worried that he wouldn't get picked up?

My daughter's boyfriend's dad was a much beloved teacher (he's retired now). As he was growing up EVERYONE knew who his father was. He got tired of always being known as his father's son.

[charisstoma.livejournal.com]

Ian has been an instructor there for a while. There's a joke that goes around school just before vacations and Fridays and such; teachers are forbidden to knock the students down in their rush to escape the building to get to their cars.
First day of school. Gerry has heard this joke. I'm surprised that Gerry didn't tie a string around Ian's finger, so Ian would remember him on the way out. *shakes head* Odd how a character can seem real when explaining.

Small town where your daughter's boyfriend was raised? That or his dad made a big impact in other ways than just teaching.

[frogs_of_war]

Well since Merrick is driving and not coming until 4:30 (45 min later than I've heard of a school letting out), all Gerry has to do is wait by the parking lot.


A suburb, but pretty small and he was the band teacher. I believe he worked at the middle and high schools.

[mee-eep.livejournal.com]

You wrote it *snuggle*

I'm v.tired but I had trouble figuring out who was who in relation to the others. I'll read again after work, sleep and painkillers.