Post by Rosie on Dec 13, 2010 6:14:07 GMT 10
To: Ren
Message: Hi! Obviously I am in fact your Secret Santa, and I may have fibbed a little bit to you I agonised over this and watched a lot of Castle for it, and when it all clicked, I had a huge amount of fun - and I hope you enjoy it too! Merry Ficmas!
From: Rosie
Title: Patrol Partners
Rating: PG
Wishlist Item: #1 Clary/Mattes
Summary: Tunstall finds a familiar face out on patrol this Midwinter.
--
Mattes Tunstall liked walking the streets, baton in hand. True, he'd rather have a pretty but tough girl by his side, but at least he was on the way to collect such a girl.
It wasn't so much the status his position as a Dog gave him that he liked. He did appreciate walking right into the lion's den of the Court of the Rogue and not only coming out unharmed, but coming out with money. Beka had taken all of the fun out of that when she had introduced Rosto to him as a breakfast companion, however. It was all so much less dangerous when you'd shared bread with the Thief King himself.
(Not that Mattes saw breakfast often when Sabine was in the capital, of course).
Working with Beka had a completely different tone to working with Clary. Where Clary had the ability to know what he was going to say or do - and what he shouldn't say or do, more to the point - Beka was usually focused on her own agenda. It didn't make her a bad partner, it was just difficult to adjust to, in the beginning. Mattes would open his mouth to say something rude, and then realise it had been hanging open for a few seconds whilst he waited for the interruption that never came.
There was a particular reason partnerships were playing on his mind this morning, as he trudged through the compacted snow, which had turned smooth as ice in some parts. Well, maybe two reasons; Sabine had turned Dog last night, and commandeered his baton. That wouldn't be practical on a day to day basis, though. Certainly not on a day like today; he'd freeze to death.
"You're tardy, Tunstall," noted a sharp, clear voice, right outside Jane Street Kennels. Clary stepped out of the shadows - she'd planned this, he could tell from the smirk playing over her lips - and folded her arms, giving him her best disapproving look. She'd had years to cultivate it, after all, and he was more used to that than her smile by now. "Surprised to see me?"
"Shouldn't you be getting splinters in your bum?" he asked nicely, grinning at her. "Back inside, Goodwin, some of us have to do some real work!"
She pulled a baton out from behind her back, and tapped him on the chest with it. "That's enough cheek from you, Tunstall, or I'll make sure you get boot-cleaning duties. After I've whipped you with this thing."
"It's called a baton," Mattes said smugly. "Obviously you quill-pushers don't see them often, but it's how we proper Dogs dispense justice in our districts."
"I sarden know what it is, Tunstall," she rapped out, tapping him lightly (lighter than he was expecting) on the shoulder with it. "You're wasting time. Beka's taking-" she hesistated, her eyes slipping away from his, and she twirled her baton in her fingers unconsciously. "I'm going to be your partner again. For a bit. Beka's - well, we talked it over, and she's going to be better off- well, she's got my job."
"I've never seen you trip over your own tongue so many times, Goodwin," Mattes said delightedly. "The word you're looking for is 'pregnant'. It's when two people love each other very much, and they-"
The baton hurt rather more the second time.
Clary looked triumphant. "All right, time to scrape your jaw off the cobbles. Let's get moving; rushers don't wait for slow Dogs."
Mattes agreeably set off at a steady pace. "Beka didn't give you Achoo, then? That's odd, it seemed she was leaning towards that when we talked about this."
Although he couldn't see her face, he knew that Clary being that quiet meant he had well and truly got her. After a while, she managed, "You already knew? And you let me go on like a-"
"Sarden looby," Mattes put in helpfully. "I figured it might be fun. It was. Anyway, you'd prepared your entrance; I didn't want to disappoint you."
Silence passed between them, at odds with the merriment of the locals outside the tavern they were passing. Tunstall nodded to a few of them, his eyes on the lookout for unrest, but he spotted none.
"Come on, Clary, don't sulk. It's so dark that I'll trip over your bottom lip in a second."
"I'm not sulking," she said through gritted teeth. "I just- I've missed out on a lot, you know? Time at home - well, I wouldn't have passed that up for anything. But coming back on patrol with you, it's like skipping back in time, only everything's different. I feel like I'm on Beka's territory."
"Were you trying to impersonate her, then?" Mattes wanted to know, peering down an alleyway. "She's a lot more talkative nowadays, and Achoo is always with us. Maybe you should sneeze like a dog a few times, and then I'll feel more comfortable on patrol with you."
She raised her baton to whack him with, and then something caught her attention in the distance. They exchanged glances, and crept down the street wordlessly, towards the rusher who was sneaking out a ground floor window.
Tactfully, Tunstall hung back for a moment, letting Clary make the arrest. The rusher wasn't big, and he knew she'd be well able to handle it herself.
Once the Rat had been safely delivered to Jane Street, she turned on him, however. He should have known the silence was Clary biding her time, and nothing to do with Beka anymore.
"Pox rot you, Tunstall," she snapped. "I don't need you to throw me a bone by stepping back. I'm just as good at this as I've always been."
He shrugged at her. "Fine," he agreed, not bothering to waste breath on the fact that he had only been letting her prove it to herself. "Welcome back, Goodwin. I missed you."
Unexpectedly, Clary smiled at him, and he had a feeling he might have been issued a hug, had they not been on duty. "I missed you too."
Message: Hi! Obviously I am in fact your Secret Santa, and I may have fibbed a little bit to you I agonised over this and watched a lot of Castle for it, and when it all clicked, I had a huge amount of fun - and I hope you enjoy it too! Merry Ficmas!
From: Rosie
Title: Patrol Partners
Rating: PG
Wishlist Item: #1 Clary/Mattes
Summary: Tunstall finds a familiar face out on patrol this Midwinter.
--
Mattes Tunstall liked walking the streets, baton in hand. True, he'd rather have a pretty but tough girl by his side, but at least he was on the way to collect such a girl.
It wasn't so much the status his position as a Dog gave him that he liked. He did appreciate walking right into the lion's den of the Court of the Rogue and not only coming out unharmed, but coming out with money. Beka had taken all of the fun out of that when she had introduced Rosto to him as a breakfast companion, however. It was all so much less dangerous when you'd shared bread with the Thief King himself.
(Not that Mattes saw breakfast often when Sabine was in the capital, of course).
Working with Beka had a completely different tone to working with Clary. Where Clary had the ability to know what he was going to say or do - and what he shouldn't say or do, more to the point - Beka was usually focused on her own agenda. It didn't make her a bad partner, it was just difficult to adjust to, in the beginning. Mattes would open his mouth to say something rude, and then realise it had been hanging open for a few seconds whilst he waited for the interruption that never came.
There was a particular reason partnerships were playing on his mind this morning, as he trudged through the compacted snow, which had turned smooth as ice in some parts. Well, maybe two reasons; Sabine had turned Dog last night, and commandeered his baton. That wouldn't be practical on a day to day basis, though. Certainly not on a day like today; he'd freeze to death.
"You're tardy, Tunstall," noted a sharp, clear voice, right outside Jane Street Kennels. Clary stepped out of the shadows - she'd planned this, he could tell from the smirk playing over her lips - and folded her arms, giving him her best disapproving look. She'd had years to cultivate it, after all, and he was more used to that than her smile by now. "Surprised to see me?"
"Shouldn't you be getting splinters in your bum?" he asked nicely, grinning at her. "Back inside, Goodwin, some of us have to do some real work!"
She pulled a baton out from behind her back, and tapped him on the chest with it. "That's enough cheek from you, Tunstall, or I'll make sure you get boot-cleaning duties. After I've whipped you with this thing."
"It's called a baton," Mattes said smugly. "Obviously you quill-pushers don't see them often, but it's how we proper Dogs dispense justice in our districts."
"I sarden know what it is, Tunstall," she rapped out, tapping him lightly (lighter than he was expecting) on the shoulder with it. "You're wasting time. Beka's taking-" she hesistated, her eyes slipping away from his, and she twirled her baton in her fingers unconsciously. "I'm going to be your partner again. For a bit. Beka's - well, we talked it over, and she's going to be better off- well, she's got my job."
"I've never seen you trip over your own tongue so many times, Goodwin," Mattes said delightedly. "The word you're looking for is 'pregnant'. It's when two people love each other very much, and they-"
The baton hurt rather more the second time.
Clary looked triumphant. "All right, time to scrape your jaw off the cobbles. Let's get moving; rushers don't wait for slow Dogs."
Mattes agreeably set off at a steady pace. "Beka didn't give you Achoo, then? That's odd, it seemed she was leaning towards that when we talked about this."
Although he couldn't see her face, he knew that Clary being that quiet meant he had well and truly got her. After a while, she managed, "You already knew? And you let me go on like a-"
"Sarden looby," Mattes put in helpfully. "I figured it might be fun. It was. Anyway, you'd prepared your entrance; I didn't want to disappoint you."
Silence passed between them, at odds with the merriment of the locals outside the tavern they were passing. Tunstall nodded to a few of them, his eyes on the lookout for unrest, but he spotted none.
"Come on, Clary, don't sulk. It's so dark that I'll trip over your bottom lip in a second."
"I'm not sulking," she said through gritted teeth. "I just- I've missed out on a lot, you know? Time at home - well, I wouldn't have passed that up for anything. But coming back on patrol with you, it's like skipping back in time, only everything's different. I feel like I'm on Beka's territory."
"Were you trying to impersonate her, then?" Mattes wanted to know, peering down an alleyway. "She's a lot more talkative nowadays, and Achoo is always with us. Maybe you should sneeze like a dog a few times, and then I'll feel more comfortable on patrol with you."
She raised her baton to whack him with, and then something caught her attention in the distance. They exchanged glances, and crept down the street wordlessly, towards the rusher who was sneaking out a ground floor window.
Tactfully, Tunstall hung back for a moment, letting Clary make the arrest. The rusher wasn't big, and he knew she'd be well able to handle it herself.
Once the Rat had been safely delivered to Jane Street, she turned on him, however. He should have known the silence was Clary biding her time, and nothing to do with Beka anymore.
"Pox rot you, Tunstall," she snapped. "I don't need you to throw me a bone by stepping back. I'm just as good at this as I've always been."
He shrugged at her. "Fine," he agreed, not bothering to waste breath on the fact that he had only been letting her prove it to herself. "Welcome back, Goodwin. I missed you."
Unexpectedly, Clary smiled at him, and he had a feeling he might have been issued a hug, had they not been on duty. "I missed you too."