Post by The Jenn on Oct 13, 2007 17:03:44 GMT -5
The winter months always left Serafino feeling terribly moody. Either he was freezing in his human form, freezing in his bipedal form, or freezing half to death in the middle of the night. No amount of blankets could ward off the chills and shivers when they hit full force. Morning, noon, and night, he was left feeling as if his extremities would never thaw again.
He knew he got it from his mother's side. That much was obvious. Cold-blooded reptiles rarely did well when there was snow on the ground and ice stuck to every surface, especially when their choices consisted of either scaly forms or a thin-skinned hairless form. The wings of the former were far too cumbersome for him to comfortably fit under any sort of blanket. As for the latter... it was thin-skinned and hairless, naked against the cold without some sort of covering. His natural dress was far too little protection and nothing else could cover him from head to toe the way he really needed while still looking in any way dignified.
A long, knee-lengthed, fur-trimmed wool coat presented the only attractive solution. It was a brilliant red with snowy white trim and looked decidedly festive, or so he had been told. When he had to go outside, a furred white muffler always went with him, and he wore a double-layer of socks inside his boots. His legs and face still froze to numbness, but there was nothing he could do to remedy that besides wearing... pants.
He would sooner eat a baby.
The biggest disadvantage was that these clothing additions didn't carry over in the transformation. He had to laboriously remove every piece not natural to his costume and then reassemble it every morning. It was a tedious process and left him annoyed that he had to go through it at all. He so preferred summer. Spring. Autumn. Anything but winter, really.
Adding insult to injury, apparently Sultana took the outerwear as a threat to her Person and sneezed incessantly whenever he wore it. He felt like sneezing back and seeing how she liked it, but that would only happen if he caught a cold. Heavens help the palace if that happened. He rarely fell ill, but when he did, his demands on staff and attendants increased tenfold. If he had to suffer then so would they. Winter was not a popular season anywhere in the palace.
One morning, he awoke to find that his bander had apparently taken her hostilities against his coat to a new degree. If he hadn't been so incensed, he would have been impressed at her ingenuity. Rather than attempting to shred the thick wool, she had dragged it to the window and forced it over the ledge. Into a pond. Which had frozen overnight. His coat was now buried under three feet of ice, leaving him shivering at breakfast and trying valiantly not to spill his cup of tea, which he clung to for its meager vestiges of warmth. Some of it ended up sloshing over the rim anyway and nearly scalding his numb hands, which he ignored.
Another two hours of attempting to deal with temperatures while someone found him another coat left his lips almost blue and body shaking uncontrollably. In the middle of a meeting, where several of the speakers watched him worriedly, he simply stood and left. He couldn't even concentrate on their words. The cold was too numbingly persistent, even with a fireplace pouring considerable warmth into the room. It felt far too feeble to do him any good.
As he attempted to return to his rooms and crawl under a blanket miserably, he passed by Dymphna, who had donned her own coat to handle the chill. He stopped, stared for a moment, and then walked up to her with an even expression. It was a feat, managing emotionlessness when he like his teeth would chatter themselves out of his skull. "Do you mind?" he asked through gritted teeth, the only way to keep his words remotely steady. She gave him an uncomprehending look, taking in the blue-tinged lips and the stiff limbs. He grimaced and reached out, yanking open her coat and plastering himself against her furred body.
The doe let out a startled 'wha?' but he ignored her completely, soaking up as much warmth as he possibly could before stepping back into the frigid air. "Find me a jacket," he snarled, then stalked off to his rooms.
He knew he got it from his mother's side. That much was obvious. Cold-blooded reptiles rarely did well when there was snow on the ground and ice stuck to every surface, especially when their choices consisted of either scaly forms or a thin-skinned hairless form. The wings of the former were far too cumbersome for him to comfortably fit under any sort of blanket. As for the latter... it was thin-skinned and hairless, naked against the cold without some sort of covering. His natural dress was far too little protection and nothing else could cover him from head to toe the way he really needed while still looking in any way dignified.
A long, knee-lengthed, fur-trimmed wool coat presented the only attractive solution. It was a brilliant red with snowy white trim and looked decidedly festive, or so he had been told. When he had to go outside, a furred white muffler always went with him, and he wore a double-layer of socks inside his boots. His legs and face still froze to numbness, but there was nothing he could do to remedy that besides wearing... pants.
He would sooner eat a baby.
The biggest disadvantage was that these clothing additions didn't carry over in the transformation. He had to laboriously remove every piece not natural to his costume and then reassemble it every morning. It was a tedious process and left him annoyed that he had to go through it at all. He so preferred summer. Spring. Autumn. Anything but winter, really.
Adding insult to injury, apparently Sultana took the outerwear as a threat to her Person and sneezed incessantly whenever he wore it. He felt like sneezing back and seeing how she liked it, but that would only happen if he caught a cold. Heavens help the palace if that happened. He rarely fell ill, but when he did, his demands on staff and attendants increased tenfold. If he had to suffer then so would they. Winter was not a popular season anywhere in the palace.
One morning, he awoke to find that his bander had apparently taken her hostilities against his coat to a new degree. If he hadn't been so incensed, he would have been impressed at her ingenuity. Rather than attempting to shred the thick wool, she had dragged it to the window and forced it over the ledge. Into a pond. Which had frozen overnight. His coat was now buried under three feet of ice, leaving him shivering at breakfast and trying valiantly not to spill his cup of tea, which he clung to for its meager vestiges of warmth. Some of it ended up sloshing over the rim anyway and nearly scalding his numb hands, which he ignored.
Another two hours of attempting to deal with temperatures while someone found him another coat left his lips almost blue and body shaking uncontrollably. In the middle of a meeting, where several of the speakers watched him worriedly, he simply stood and left. He couldn't even concentrate on their words. The cold was too numbingly persistent, even with a fireplace pouring considerable warmth into the room. It felt far too feeble to do him any good.
As he attempted to return to his rooms and crawl under a blanket miserably, he passed by Dymphna, who had donned her own coat to handle the chill. He stopped, stared for a moment, and then walked up to her with an even expression. It was a feat, managing emotionlessness when he like his teeth would chatter themselves out of his skull. "Do you mind?" he asked through gritted teeth, the only way to keep his words remotely steady. She gave him an uncomprehending look, taking in the blue-tinged lips and the stiff limbs. He grimaced and reached out, yanking open her coat and plastering himself against her furred body.
The doe let out a startled 'wha?' but he ignored her completely, soaking up as much warmth as he possibly could before stepping back into the frigid air. "Find me a jacket," he snarled, then stalked off to his rooms.
