The White Flag of a Saturday Night

Teddy. Jack was talking to her about Robin and Fergus, but Avery was thinking about the man behind them instead. Merlin help her, but it wasn't even on purpose. She tried not to, honestly, but Jack's words spoke so directly to what she was feeling about the professor and it was almost unnerving. She did miss Robin. She did. But -- she'd missed Teddy, too. Not in the same way, as they hardly knew each other yet. But a year and a half without any semblance of true understanding and interest was an eternity after what she'd had in her little family with Robin.

She liked Teddy. She liked the way he spoke, and his hugs, and the way he never quite managed a full smile. It was in there somewhere, she was sure. Avery had seen promising advances in that regard, but they hadn't made it there yet. But they would, she hoped. They hade a date coming up - on her birthday, no less. She still wasn't sure if she would tell him or not. Maybe it would just come up.

Then again, how pathetic was she to not have plans on her own birthday? It wasn't Keiran's fault, or Claire's or Bridget's. But it was exciting in some ways to have expectations - simple though they might yet be. And now was not the time to dwell on them, considering a dragon had just invited her to really say hello.

She wasn't gentle, exactly, as she tried to heed Jack's words. But she started off slow, inching towards him so she could really reach. And then it was curtain up on her emotions. Much to Avery's horror, tears began to trip down her cheeks. Jack was right. She hadn't been doing this right. But now she could.

"Hey there, sweet boy," she greeted him gently, trying to find that spot. Avery drew in a slow breath. "I'm really sorry."

She tilted her head to try and look at Fergus's expression. He seemed calm in a way she wasn't, but her attention seemed to bother him. "Sorry," she said again, straightening up again. "I know you miss Robin, but-"

Fergus pushed himself to standing so suddenly that Avery nearly tripped over herself as she backed away. She had planned on saying that she did, too. That she understood him. But maybe it hadn't come off that way to Fergus. The dragon leaned down until his nose was right in front of her, his eyes more than close enough to see her fear, her regret. And the tears. There were more of those now, from her surprise.

She held her breath, but then she felt something shift in the air. Fergus almost seemed to sigh, and Avery felt herself mirror him. Lifting a hand, slowly, she brushed her fingers across her cheeks. "It's okay, buddy. I get it. We'll work on it."

She hadn't tried to do it. Honestly, her only concern was Fergus, and she was not at all qualified to go around giving people advice on what they should do or how they should feel. Jack was tactile in the way she approached the world, dealing only with the tangible if she could get away with it. Metaphors were not friends of hers, and she had never thought to imply more than the face value of her words. It made for a less complicated life.

And Jack had not interacted much with the elder Bishop. Seen her once at a poker game, greeted her after games when she waited for Robin to finish changing. She had no loyalty to her that would make it necessary for her to try to soothe where she could.

But sometimes life had an agenda mere mortals could not fight.

Jack had stepped back to give Avery the lead but as she sensed the tremor in the blonde's voice and the tightening of her shoulders, Jack took another step away, giving her the privacy she needed. Jack supposed she was lucky. She had never been left with tangible reminders. When people left, they made sure to take everything with them.

Jack turned slowly, trying not to alert Avery. Her eyebrows lifted and met Teddy's gaze.

Teddy didn't want Jack to look at him. Especially like that. She... she wanted him to join them, didn't she? He shook his head a little helplessly, really not wanting to impede on this moment. But Jack's eyes were sliding towards Avery, and then a jerk of her head confirmed it. Jack knew what to do with the dragon but was lost as to how to handle the woman. He reached up and pushed a hand through his hair anxiously before dropping his arm uselessly next to him. Jack wasn't looking anymore. He had to go.

He took in a breath and stepped towards them, stopping once he was within arm's length of Avery. He wanted to reach out to her, but seeing as her arm was next to the snout of a dragon, he really didn't want to cause either to jump. But Jack was looking between him and Fergus now, so he took a deep breath. "Hi, Fergus. I'm Teddy. I'm a friend of Avery's. And Jack's," he added the second part a bit hastily, causing the redhead to roll her eyes.

In some ways, talking to Fergus felt like talking to Sophie. If he understood as much as Jack said he did, then his depth, range and - arguably - vocabulary were more than twice the tiny blonde's. Avery had nearly drowned out the sounds and people around her as she focused on the dragon, but if anyone could break through her haze, it was Teddy. She blinked, looking his way as Fergus looked him over.

She wasn't sure if she heard nerves or discomfort on his part, but Avery didn't know how to feel about it. So she didn't think.

She just stepped back a little, until she was standing next to him, and lifted her hand. It only flinched once, and maybe just in her mind considering how minimal the motion was. But then her fingertips ran down the back of his arm, stopping above his elbow. And she smiled a little.

And then the air around them exploded, sending her hair flying as she whipped her chin forward again.

Fergus, wings flapping, had reared back and was lifting up into the air. He let out a screech sort of sound that set her hair on end, and then Avery did something kind of stupid. Probably very stupid.

She released Teddy, but then she pushed him back and stepped herself forward, reaching towards Fergus as she did so. Avery couldn't decide if it was the wind or her own blood roaring in her ears, but all she saw was the dragon and all she listened to was the anger in his eyes. And she completely understood it. She had lived it for a year and a half. Fergus just wasn't ready yet.

Because of her.

Teddy had a knack for accumulating regrets, and the decision to approach the dragon would soon be added to the heap. One day, he would understand just how close Fergus had been to Robin and how, while the idea of affection was sort of a twisty concept to a dragon, there was a sense of loyalty that could be disrupted. Whether or not Fergus understood Avery to be Robin's former mate, and percieved Teddy as a threat, was unclear. Even Jack could not be certain that the dragon had that clear a grasp of human mating patterns, and she doubted he'd go so far as to project his own social patterns onto the two-legged species. It could have been one introduction too many. Could have been the nervous ball of energy lying in Teddy's stomach.

Whatever it was, Teddy felt awful for it.

Avery stepped in front of him as he flinched, but he immediately felt horrible for allowing her to put herself in a place of vulnerability. His hand caught her elbow, wanting to tug her away, but afraid to make any sudden moves. His hand drifted back to his pocket-

"Don't do that."

Jack had closed an eye against the torrent of wind but had remained unmoved otherwise. Now she stepped forward and cleared her throat, loudly, rough, causing Teddy to feel sympathy pains within his own throat. It caused Fergus to cock his head as Jack reached out to touch Avery's shoulder, before reaching out to touch his flicking tail. "We touch," she said, as though it were a simple explanation that he was overestimating. His eyelids slid over his eyes as they rolled, still agitated, and she dropped her hands and stepped forward, ignoring his obvious desire to take out his frustration and set to rubbing his throat again. He recoiled his head, and tightened his jaw, breathing hot air out at her. She paused and stared at him, before he finally lowered his head a bit. Then she went back to rubbing him.

She glanced back at Avery. "Might be time to call it a day," she said. "Visit while you can. Talk to him. You'll get there." She looked back at Fergus and reached up, standing on her tip-toes to reach the spot he had showed Avery. "Bye Fergus."

She dropped her hand and nodded towards Teddy, indicating that they should leave first. He glanced uncertainly towards Avery but Jack had already reached him and clapped a hand to his shoulder, leading him out so Avery could finish up her conversation.