InsaneJournal

Three Hundred Ninety Two Words of Conversation on a Starry Night
Disclaimer: None of these characters are mine.

Title: Three Hundred Ninety Two Words of Conversation on a Starry Night
Rating: G Gen
Fandom: Tin Man
Word Count: 392 ;)
A/N: I was going to sketch in the dialogue then fill it out with the text, but then I thought the conversation had a certain odd charm just on its own. It’s still followable as to who’s saying what, I think.



“Mother, will you tell me a story?”

“Mother’s a little busy just at the moment, sweetheart.”

“That’s what Father said, too.”

“Did he? Well. Hmmm. Why don’t you ask Ambrose to tell you a story?”

“Me? I don’t know any stories.”

“I’m sure you can come up with something, Ambrose, dear, there’s always something whirring around in that clever brain of yours.”

“Real things! Facts! Not made-up fairy kind of stories!”

“Ambrose.”

“Yes, Your Majesty. Um. Why don’t we go out on the balcony so we don’t bother your mother, Deej.”

“It’s dark already, Ambrose, look at the fireflies over the lake!”

“DG! Please don’t hang out over the rail like that!”

“I won’t fall!”

“Just…stand here at the railing, OK? And don’t let go of my hand. If you fell in the water your mother would have my head!”

“You can’t think of any stories, can you?”

“Not really, no. Would you like to hear about how you can turn Ozidium into a power source?”

“Not really. Didn’t your mother ever tell you any stories?”

“Well, I guess she did, but I don’t really remember them. There was one about a goose, I think. And a cat that turned straw into gold. Which is alchemically impossible, of course, because everybody knows a raw metal can only transmute under…”

“Ambrose?”

“Yes, DG?”

“Is it true that all the stars have names?”

“Not all of them. I don’t think people can name that high. See that one, though? Just over the trees, that looks a little green when you squint? That’s Meliandra. That can be your star.”

“That couldn’t be my star. How can you give me a star?”

“Well, technically it’s not mine to give any more than it’s yours to take, but if they don’t belong to anybody, then they belong to everybody, right? So I’m proclaiming Meliandra your star as of tonight.”

“Ambrose? DG? What are you two doing climbing on that railing like that?”

“Sorry, Your Majesty. We were being careful, I swear.”

“DG, I’ve decided I may have time for one small story after all. But then it’s off to bed.”

“Can Ambrose come and listen too? He doesn’t have any stories.”

“Oh, I really don’t….”

“Of course he can. Come along, Ambrose. Everybody should know at least one. You never know when it might come in handy.”