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This fic is for a few challenges. One was to write a holiday Jiri fic, for the Jirarudan fan club on dA (surprisingly, I'm not the one who runs it!). And the other was posed by a friend of mine when I said I didn't have any ideas, who dared me to put a character named "Steve" in it.
This was originally supposed to be a very lighthearted story, but somewhere it took a bit of an angsty turn, even though Jiri isn't the angsty one in it. Which is good, since his life was pretty good before the movie, I think. Anyway, on with the story!
Oh yeah, and thanks to Adenine-Thymine for the title!
Part one
Sometimes it's nice, being the servant of a man like Jirarudan. You get to see the world, exotic ports, the treasures of the four corners of the globe. But then there's times like this.
He blew into the room like the north wind. "Steve!" he addressed me buoyantly, smile beaming with that slight insanity he gets sometimes. "Tell the rest of the staff! We have a new destination!"
"And where's that, sir?" I asked with some anticipation. Perhaps we would be going to Hoenn again, or overseas to somewhere we'd never been. We as his ship staff enjoyed our travels with him, and he never failed to surprise us.
"The North Pole!"
I laughed. "Going to go see Santa, right?"
"Absolutely!" But there was something about his voice, something about his face, that made me think he wasn't joking.
"...Sir...?" We were all used to his whims, his changes of heart, and he was never the sort to play pranks. Was he serious?
"I figure it's an untapped gold vein! It's nearly Christmas, and he's sure to be running short on resources. He's bound to have ancient artifacts for as long as he's been around, right? So I'll strike a deal with him--I'll purchase some of those priceless antiques from him, and he gets to go on making toys!"
I stammered. This was crazy! Even for him it was crazy! I scoured what he had said carefully, and could feel him stare at me, although I knew my input could hardly change his mind. "Well, sir...Santa never seems to have any problems with finances. He always makes his deadline just fine. So I don't think he'd be interested in any dealings." It couldn't work, right?
He dimmed slightly and broke eye contact for just a second before regaining that aura. "Never mind that! We're off to the North Pole!" And he flounced out of the room, determined as ever.
I sighed. Working for him was always an adventure, to say the least.
Part two
We had been in flight for several days. The Hikoukyuu may be a marvel of modern engineering, but it's anything but swift. There was frost on the lower windows, obscuring the view for us servants as we tried to get a glimpse of things outside. We were only permitted in the Gallery when we were cleaning, so several of us dawdled at our tasks to look out the giant picture windows.
Jirarudan spent most of his time in the control center, and I noticed that he was talking to himself more. But that was pretty typical of his aquisition mode. He would shut out everything else but that which he was after.
Yes, we all know he's insane. But hey, what pays the bills, right?
When I was bringing him lunch, I noticed that he hadn't eaten his breakfast, so I picked up that tray to take away. "Sir, we passed the Arctic Circle this morning, and we should reach the North Pole in a few days."
He waved his hand, which I thought was a dismissal, but when I turned to go, he grabbed my arm. "We're going to find him," he said distantly. "Those treasures he hoards will be mine."
"Whatever you say, sir," I told him. I knew better than to be concerned. He gets like this before most aquisitions, and it's usually short-lived. It was nothing to be worried about, so I put it out of my mind.
And sure enough, he was right as rain the next time I saw him, which was a few days later. "Steven!" he addressed, knowing full well that it wasn't my name. But formality and presentation are everything to him. "Are you all prepared for our landing? We should be there within the day!"
"Yes sir." None of us really knew what he was planning on doing, if he really thought he'd find a workshop there or what. But we held our tongues and kept all doubt to ourselves, as we were accustomed.
"Have the Gallery cleaned from top to bottom. It's got to look tip-top for our honoured guest!" was his order as he left for the control center once again, so we did as we were told.
Part three
We closed in on the pole in the time he specified, and the few of us who were to accompany him in an entourage were given coats, ones that were perfectly acceptable where he had gotten them in Kanto, but that would be far from sufficient in the frozen North. We stood in a group in the lower part of the ship, the sub-level below the Gallery, and readied a shuttle to take us to the ice below. There was no way we were going to chance the ship sinking under the ocean, after all.
Jirarudan himself was last to arrive. "Well, gentlemen, ladies, we're about to embark on one of the greatest journeys in history. Truly, a figure of such legend and renown should easily be the most fascinating man we should ever have the honour to meet. Humble yourselves and we shall embark."
As we boarded the shuttle, Annabeth whispered to me "He never sighted anything. We'll be flying around out there for hours."
"There's no heater in the shuttle. We'll all freeze," Namid added.
Jirarudan didn't seem to notice our grumbling. He was in his own little world again, humming something to himself as he started the ship and we broke apart from the Hikoukyuu.
We flew around in silence, seeing nothing but ice for miles in every direction. Us servants huddled together in the center of the ship, but the chill didn't faze our master. He remained at the console, steadfast and unreachable, just as he usually was in times like this.
What am I saying? There was never a time like this before. He's had his grand schemes, but this was just crazy.
Finally, after several hours, we returned to the Hikoukyuu; empty-handed, as we knew we would. But Jirarudan was resolute, it was in his posturing and in his face. We were all familiar with this. He was about to do something foolhardy.
He patted Annabeth on the shoulder, causing our group to stop in the midst of disembarking. "I'm setting out on my own. I'll be back within the day." And he herded us out of the shuttle and closed the doors behind us before any of us could protest. Not like we would second guess him to his face, of course, but we all had that creeping dread.
The shuttle flew off without us, and we all watched him go. I caught myself sighing, and I couldn't help but wonder if this would be the last time we would see him.
Part four
The rest of the day was tense. We were all halted and nervous as we went about our regular tasks, and I caught my hands shaking as I dusted a tablet. I told myself that it was the cold, but I knew in my heart what it was.
The kitchen staff prepared dinner as usual, and we ate in silence. He often prefered to conduct business by himself, but we were at the top of the world, and everything outside looked the same. Granted, he had the coordinates for the Hikoukyuu, but even so. His tendancy to block out the outside world did not bode well for him in this situation.
Finally, at about ten till midnight, we recieved an incoming transmission. We scrambled to the command station and switched on the reciever. Jirarudan's smile greeted us, and we all felt better. "I'm returning back now," he said with a twinkle in his eye. "Aquisition made. Jirarudan out."
The image cut out, and we all wondered what he could have meant by that. He couldn't possibly have found Santa, could he? But I think we were all too happy that he was all right to think much on it.
He returned and docked, as a group of us had gathered to greet him. With an elaborate wave of his arm, he burst from the shuttle with a grand smile. "You won't believe this! It was incredible! He was more than amenable to my offers, and loaded me down with treasure!"
We peeked past him at the shuttle, but saw nothing. There was silence for a moment until Richard asked "Where is it?"
Jirarudan whirled around. "It's right--what?" Freezing mid-gesture, his eyes widened. "No! They were right here! I loaded them myself! There were gems and books and sculptures--no!"
'Of course there were' was the unspoken sentiment of the group, but we just looked sympathetic, and Namid took him by the arm and guided the still-stammering man upstairs to his private quarters.
We set out back for home, having all we could stand of the North Pole. Jirarudan kept insisting that he had indeed met Santa, but having nothing to show for it, we simply nodded our heads.
But come Christmas, we had to wonder who had filled our stockings when none of us had put any up.
This was originally supposed to be a very lighthearted story, but somewhere it took a bit of an angsty turn, even though Jiri isn't the angsty one in it. Which is good, since his life was pretty good before the movie, I think. Anyway, on with the story!
Oh yeah, and thanks to Adenine-Thymine for the title!
Part one
Sometimes it's nice, being the servant of a man like Jirarudan. You get to see the world, exotic ports, the treasures of the four corners of the globe. But then there's times like this.
He blew into the room like the north wind. "Steve!" he addressed me buoyantly, smile beaming with that slight insanity he gets sometimes. "Tell the rest of the staff! We have a new destination!"
"And where's that, sir?" I asked with some anticipation. Perhaps we would be going to Hoenn again, or overseas to somewhere we'd never been. We as his ship staff enjoyed our travels with him, and he never failed to surprise us.
"The North Pole!"
I laughed. "Going to go see Santa, right?"
"Absolutely!" But there was something about his voice, something about his face, that made me think he wasn't joking.
"...Sir...?" We were all used to his whims, his changes of heart, and he was never the sort to play pranks. Was he serious?
"I figure it's an untapped gold vein! It's nearly Christmas, and he's sure to be running short on resources. He's bound to have ancient artifacts for as long as he's been around, right? So I'll strike a deal with him--I'll purchase some of those priceless antiques from him, and he gets to go on making toys!"
I stammered. This was crazy! Even for him it was crazy! I scoured what he had said carefully, and could feel him stare at me, although I knew my input could hardly change his mind. "Well, sir...Santa never seems to have any problems with finances. He always makes his deadline just fine. So I don't think he'd be interested in any dealings." It couldn't work, right?
He dimmed slightly and broke eye contact for just a second before regaining that aura. "Never mind that! We're off to the North Pole!" And he flounced out of the room, determined as ever.
I sighed. Working for him was always an adventure, to say the least.
Part two
We had been in flight for several days. The Hikoukyuu may be a marvel of modern engineering, but it's anything but swift. There was frost on the lower windows, obscuring the view for us servants as we tried to get a glimpse of things outside. We were only permitted in the Gallery when we were cleaning, so several of us dawdled at our tasks to look out the giant picture windows.
Jirarudan spent most of his time in the control center, and I noticed that he was talking to himself more. But that was pretty typical of his aquisition mode. He would shut out everything else but that which he was after.
Yes, we all know he's insane. But hey, what pays the bills, right?
When I was bringing him lunch, I noticed that he hadn't eaten his breakfast, so I picked up that tray to take away. "Sir, we passed the Arctic Circle this morning, and we should reach the North Pole in a few days."
He waved his hand, which I thought was a dismissal, but when I turned to go, he grabbed my arm. "We're going to find him," he said distantly. "Those treasures he hoards will be mine."
"Whatever you say, sir," I told him. I knew better than to be concerned. He gets like this before most aquisitions, and it's usually short-lived. It was nothing to be worried about, so I put it out of my mind.
And sure enough, he was right as rain the next time I saw him, which was a few days later. "Steven!" he addressed, knowing full well that it wasn't my name. But formality and presentation are everything to him. "Are you all prepared for our landing? We should be there within the day!"
"Yes sir." None of us really knew what he was planning on doing, if he really thought he'd find a workshop there or what. But we held our tongues and kept all doubt to ourselves, as we were accustomed.
"Have the Gallery cleaned from top to bottom. It's got to look tip-top for our honoured guest!" was his order as he left for the control center once again, so we did as we were told.
Part three
We closed in on the pole in the time he specified, and the few of us who were to accompany him in an entourage were given coats, ones that were perfectly acceptable where he had gotten them in Kanto, but that would be far from sufficient in the frozen North. We stood in a group in the lower part of the ship, the sub-level below the Gallery, and readied a shuttle to take us to the ice below. There was no way we were going to chance the ship sinking under the ocean, after all.
Jirarudan himself was last to arrive. "Well, gentlemen, ladies, we're about to embark on one of the greatest journeys in history. Truly, a figure of such legend and renown should easily be the most fascinating man we should ever have the honour to meet. Humble yourselves and we shall embark."
As we boarded the shuttle, Annabeth whispered to me "He never sighted anything. We'll be flying around out there for hours."
"There's no heater in the shuttle. We'll all freeze," Namid added.
Jirarudan didn't seem to notice our grumbling. He was in his own little world again, humming something to himself as he started the ship and we broke apart from the Hikoukyuu.
We flew around in silence, seeing nothing but ice for miles in every direction. Us servants huddled together in the center of the ship, but the chill didn't faze our master. He remained at the console, steadfast and unreachable, just as he usually was in times like this.
What am I saying? There was never a time like this before. He's had his grand schemes, but this was just crazy.
Finally, after several hours, we returned to the Hikoukyuu; empty-handed, as we knew we would. But Jirarudan was resolute, it was in his posturing and in his face. We were all familiar with this. He was about to do something foolhardy.
He patted Annabeth on the shoulder, causing our group to stop in the midst of disembarking. "I'm setting out on my own. I'll be back within the day." And he herded us out of the shuttle and closed the doors behind us before any of us could protest. Not like we would second guess him to his face, of course, but we all had that creeping dread.
The shuttle flew off without us, and we all watched him go. I caught myself sighing, and I couldn't help but wonder if this would be the last time we would see him.
Part four
The rest of the day was tense. We were all halted and nervous as we went about our regular tasks, and I caught my hands shaking as I dusted a tablet. I told myself that it was the cold, but I knew in my heart what it was.
The kitchen staff prepared dinner as usual, and we ate in silence. He often prefered to conduct business by himself, but we were at the top of the world, and everything outside looked the same. Granted, he had the coordinates for the Hikoukyuu, but even so. His tendancy to block out the outside world did not bode well for him in this situation.
Finally, at about ten till midnight, we recieved an incoming transmission. We scrambled to the command station and switched on the reciever. Jirarudan's smile greeted us, and we all felt better. "I'm returning back now," he said with a twinkle in his eye. "Aquisition made. Jirarudan out."
The image cut out, and we all wondered what he could have meant by that. He couldn't possibly have found Santa, could he? But I think we were all too happy that he was all right to think much on it.
He returned and docked, as a group of us had gathered to greet him. With an elaborate wave of his arm, he burst from the shuttle with a grand smile. "You won't believe this! It was incredible! He was more than amenable to my offers, and loaded me down with treasure!"
We peeked past him at the shuttle, but saw nothing. There was silence for a moment until Richard asked "Where is it?"
Jirarudan whirled around. "It's right--what?" Freezing mid-gesture, his eyes widened. "No! They were right here! I loaded them myself! There were gems and books and sculptures--no!"
'Of course there were' was the unspoken sentiment of the group, but we just looked sympathetic, and Namid took him by the arm and guided the still-stammering man upstairs to his private quarters.
We set out back for home, having all we could stand of the North Pole. Jirarudan kept insisting that he had indeed met Santa, but having nothing to show for it, we simply nodded our heads.
But come Christmas, we had to wonder who had filled our stockings when none of us had put any up.