1Notes:
This my second fic for this prompt, if you'd like to read the first fic I wrote for it, it's called "Seven Years Bad Luck... or Maybe Just a Moment." But the fics themselves are unrelated, so you don't have to have read it to understand this one!
I'm trying to push myself to write some shorter, fluffier fics, and I remembered I'd started this but never done anything with it back when I wrote Seven Years Bad Luck, I thought this would be a perfect prompt to return to during this time!
I'm also trying to teach myself not to be so perfectionistic, so I apologize if the language, or the experiment they're doing at the end, is/are inaccurate to the time period. I decided not to scour the internet to double check XD And I have no idea if Cassiopeia is actually on their ceiling.
Also, yes, I am aware there's more to the Cassiopeia myth than I said. I might be able to get to that later...
I got an angsty idea for an extra scene, but a) I promised myself to write something truly fluffy with this, and b) it wasn't ready by the time the rest of the fic was, so i didnt include it. Depending on how it turns out, I might add it to this later, or add it as a second chapter, or another fic in this series, but I made sure to keep this one truly fluffy because that's what we all need during this time (and after S3...).
I thought we all needed some good fluff in our lives during this time, I hope you enjoy!
Please don't hesitate to leave a comment to let me know! They really do cheer me up a lot!
"What about that one?" Adrian points to a collection of stars.
"That's Cassiopeia." Lisa answers.
The two of them are laying, not, in fact, on a moonlit patch of grass, but on the floor of the boy's room, looking up at the ceiling. Unlike most ceilings, which are plain and boring, this one is littered with stars. They're no glow-in-the-dark stick-ons either. Vlad and Lisa once painted these stars, and they were meticulous; making as sure each constellation was in its proper place.
"It was said she was a vain queen, who once boasted her daughter was more beautiful than all the nymphs. To punish her Poseidon tied to a chair in the sky, making her hang upside down for half the year."
Adrian makes a face. "That sounds …ridiculous."
"Which part?"
Adrian thinks for a moment. "All of it. Why would she boast like that? Didn't people in Ancient Greece know how jealous the gods could get?"
"Maybe not. Or maybe she knew, and boasted anyway. Maybe she was trying to spite him."
"Probably not the best idea."
"No, I wouldn't say so either."
"And why would Poseidon punish her so harshly, just for saying that? Didn't he know she was just being vain, and the nymphs really were more beautiful? Couldn't he have let her off with a warning?"
"Who knows, maybe they weren't as beautiful as everyone thought, and she touched a nerve. Or maybe he was just insecure. And, well, the gods aren't known for their merciful punishments."
"But they're the gods. Isn't it their job to be infallible?"
"As you so expertly pointed out, the Greek gods weren't infallible at all, in fact they were jealous, petty, and vain themselves… amongst other things. In other words, they were very human."
Adrian ponders it.
"And, I don't know," Lisa considers, "I can kinda see where Cassiopeia was coming from."
"What do you mean?"
She turns over to look at her son more closely, brushing a strand of gold behind his ear.
"It wouldn't take much for me to say my son is more beautiful than all the nymphs."
"Ugh, mother, stop!" he turns away, and she laughs.
"I can understand both sides, myself." Vlad's footsteps sound around them.
They sit up, startled.
Vlad continues as he walks into the room, (avoiding the patches of waning sunlight on the floor). "On one hand, your mother has a point. On the other, one ought not disrespect that which a king considers beautiful. She was asking for trouble at that point." He steps over to the desk in the corner, picking up the papers on it and thumbing through them, continuing, "When you have all that power, it's easy to forget that your punishments are cruel."
"So," he changes the subject abruptly, "You hypothesize that the copper sulfate is going to burn the same as the salt?"
Adrian nods excitedly. Pyrotechnics are a favorite past-time of nine-year-old boys (well, in this case, not actually nine. But it's a past-time of boys, and sometimes girls, of any age, nonetheless.)
Vlad raises an eyebrow, smirking slightly. "Let's go and see, shall we?"
Adrian looks at his mother, who smiles and nods. Vlad hands him his notes, and the boy takes them, bustling down the staircases—his parents following more slowly, chuckling to themselves at their son's eagerness. They soon reach the large room downstairs where they do most of their experiments; shimmering with golden light, full of bubbling beakers and bottled lightning.
Lisa hands him gloves, warning him to stay safe—which he can't get on fast enough. Vlad gives his son each of the supplies as he needs them. Adrian consults his notes, setting up the experiment; rolling the salt on the end of one skewer, the copper sulfate on the other (more carefully).
"Shall we go outside and test these?" Vlad puts his hand on his shoulder.
They make their way through the hall, Adrian scampering out the door; the sun went down while they set up.
Vlad sets down the bucket of water he brought, and asked if Adrian was ready. When he nods, Dracula holds up his hand, a small flame appearing in the air by his fingers.
Adrian holds up the two skewers. His father steps forward and lights the salted ends of each, (reminding him not to breathe in the fumes from the copper sulfate).
They light, a little orange flame sitting at the top of each. Adrian examines the flames, then holds them each up to the one Vlad is still holding to get a closer look.
"I was right!"
Dracula holds up a finger on the other hand to call for patience.
Adrian watches as the orange on the copper sulfate flame becomes dotted with...green? Was he mistaken? It becomes clear he isn't, as the green streaks multiply, as if rushing by, until the entire flame has turned a light green color. He smiles in awe. Then holds it back up to the other flame, making sure of what he's seeing.
He holds onto the them as long as he can, but when the flames reach the actual skewer Adrian reluctantly drops them in the bucket of water, where they sizzle and die (and Vlad drops his arm, extinguishing the magic flame too).
"That was magnificent!" Adrian grins.
"Now don't forget to write the results down in your journal."
"Ugh, alright…" he mutters as he picks up the bucket to take the supplies back inside the castle. Clearly he'd rather continue to play with fire with his parents, than finish his homework for his teacher.
Vlad puts his arm around his wife, and they watch him go. Lisa rests her head on his chest.
"He's the most beautiful thing I've ever seen," Lisa murmurs softly.
"Careful, or you might to bring the gods' wrath upon us."
She pushes him playfully.
"He's growing up too fast." She continues as she intertwines her arm back around his. "I just want to smush him in a bottle and keep him young forever."
"Well, some famous humans would say that's what makes things like him so beautiful; they don't last forever. A flower that blooms eternally would lose its luster."
"I think I'd always see him as beautiful, no matter how much time I watched him."
Vlad chuckles, brushing his hand through her hair. "No, I don't think I would ever stop either."
They pause for a moment, and Vlad holds her tighter.
"But," he adds, "I still want to see what an amazing person he'll grow up to be."
