A Newborn Phoenix
Apparently, the Neta X Birger fic I once promised a long time ago...never bloody happened. Well! That changes today! It’s probably not what I had planned to write back in the day, but I’m still quite proud of this. I accidentally made it parallel a certain other fic, but it’s all right. It’s still very much it’s own thing, and I am quite pleased.
Happy birthday, Neta! @thesciencegoose
@patricia-von-arundel
“You won’t hurt her, you know.”
Elsa watched Birger paced wildly and gnashed his teeth, but didn’t respond. He had all but worn a trench in the stone of the courtyard by now. He’d grown, large and fluffy and mighty, his antlers well on their way to becoming a proper rack. Birger’s growth had all but become a mythical visual marker for everyone else’s, it seemed.
As, after all, her baby sister had just had a baby, herself.
You don’t know that, Elsa.
She frowned and crossed her arms.
“Don’t I?” She shook her head. “Come now, Birger, you know better than to succumb to such a pitfall.”
I could hurt the pup by simply breathing on her, Elsa. I shouldn’t be allowed near her, not yet, maybe not ever.
Elsa sighed and brought a hand to massage her temple. Though Birger had been a great source of support as she struggled to tame her own anxieties, dealing with his were an entirely different beast. His self-loathing was oddly sharp and secular, focused harshly on his being a dragon, living in a land of humans. When it came to the humans he cherished, specifically, Elsa noticed that Birger’s fears worsened.
And now, one of his most cherished humans had a child, one that he clearly saw himself as a danger to.
“Birger, please, you are no more or less a danger to Neta than…” Elsa paused, and took a deep breath before she finished. “Than I am.”
He whirled on her, then, his pacing swiftly ended as he brought his great head down and glared at her.
You could never harm the pup.
Elsa simply glared back. “And neither could you.”
Birger snarled, great white canines and molars shining in the sunlight, his sabers their twin cornerstones.
I am a dragon! A beast, a vessel of feral magic and rage! I am fully capable of harming her, and I would prefer the risk to be avoided all together!
Elsa’s glare strengthened as she stepped close to his nose, and poked it hard.
“Then you will find a way to tell Anna to her face why you refuse to meet her daughter.”
His snarl froze, all growls and hisses gone, as he stared at her then.
…I…cannot.
“You will.”
No.
“She deserves an explanation from you.”
She deserves the world, not me.
“She wants you to meet Neta.”
What she wants is impossible.
“You’re the one being impossible!”
You’re the one who won’t listen!
Elsa grabbed his nose, then, and forcefully pushed it earthward so that his eyes were closer to hers. She shouldn’t have been able to manipulate the dragon so, but Birger was always weak when it came to the woman who shared his heart. Ironically, he melted at her touch, and let her bring his face close. Even if it meant coming so near to her furious glare.
“You know full well that I always listen to you. I’m the only one who truly can, and you’ve always done right by me and listened in return. Now, you will be silent, and you will hear my words and feel my heart. Do I make myself clear?”
Birger gulped, but obediently said nothing and kept his heart open.
Elsa sighed then, and took a moment to gather herself.
“You have had every opportunity to cause me and Anna harm. So many moments, don’t you remember? When your wounds healed, and you pulled me and Anna to your chest? You rolled onto your back, and pinned us against your fur.”
Birger felt more than heard Elsa’s silent command, and slid a paw up to settle beside her. She rested her hand on it, and smiled.
“With these great big paws of yours, tipped with mighty and sharp claws. You held us both close, and did anything happen to us?”
Birger meekly shook his head, eyes still locked on hers.
“Exactly, you did not. Even when you sensed Alan’s intrusion, and rolled back onto your belly, you still kept us safe. Even when those wolves ambushed Anna later, your rage never came near me.”
His ears pinned back at the memory of that painful moment, but she simply stroked his nose and sent warmth and love through their bond.
“Birger, you could never hurt us, and you will never hurt Neta. You will be just fine, and she could be no safer than in your very paws.”
Birger was silent for some time, and Elsa patiently waited. She could still feel him, open and bare, and how he agonized. It was better than before, now, at least. Now, he agonized over convincing himself, over accepting her words and taking in the reality of them. Finally, he heaved a great sigh, and nuzzled his nose to her.
Very well…I concede, my heart.
Elsa smiled, and let a burst of frost sparkle in his fur. She turned away, then, and called out to the nearby castle door.
“Anna! He’s better now, you can bring her out.”
Elsa felt more than heard Birger’s surprise, as he backpedaled away. He clearly hadn’t expected for the subject of their discussion to have been waiting nearby that entire time. The doors were opened by guards waiting on the inside, and Anna emerged and approached them.
She was dressed lightly, no doubt still somewhat in recovery, though it had been a couple of months. Anna bore a great sunny smile as she neared the frosty pair. In her arms, tightly held and protected, was a blanketed bundle. Though not too terribly cold outside, it was far nippier than any baby would like.
Birger stood ramrod straight before them, head drawn high and back by his great neck. His ears, at least, were high and at attention, and his wide azure eyes were locked on the bundle in Anna’s arms. His tail swayed about slowly behind him, almost like a focused cat’s, and Elsa struggled not to giggle at the sight.
Anna smiled gently up at him, and carefully hefted the silent bundle as she nodded to him.
“Are you ready?”
Slowly, carefully, Birger lowered himself and laid down. He hovered his head near, ears still high and eyes still wide. His tail swung around to settle beside them, its long and fluffy length easily doubling back along his form. Anna, almost too excited to wait, bounced happily as she carefully pulled at the edges of the blanket.
Elsa almost stumbled at the sheer force of the pride and adoration that struck her through their bond.
Birger brought his large, fluffy nose close to the bundle as he looked at the wee baby nestled in them. The little one, her so dark now but with promise to brighten, stretched as the close confines of the blanket were loosened. The dragon simply watched, enthralled, as little bright eyes blinked open. To his shock, ears pinned back, those little eyes looked right up to his great big azures.
Birger stared, and Elsa could feel him get antsy, could almost feel the tension in his legs as he prepared to vault away as if they were her own. He held, though, to Elsa’s pride and satisfaction, Birger held his ground and brought his nose ever closer. Little Neta, for all her too-much youth, reached out and clumsily gripped the fur of Birger’s nose.
Anna laughed, even Elsa couldn’t help a giggle, at the sight. It got ever sweeter, though, as Neta seemed to pull on the fur. Though her mother stayed close, and stepped closer to allow her baby to get near the great fluffy beast. Birger’s ears flicked impossibly more forward, and Elsa could feel him relax and settle as he began to thrum.
The deep sound thundered out of his chest, and the sisters could all but feel it in their feet. Neta seemed to just adore it, little high cackles of a baby breaking the gentle silence of the moment. Birger’s thrum strengthened, its note higher, as a close-mouthed but wide grin took to his lips.
The pup is warm, my heart. She is a phoenix like her mother, burning and strong. Her father, for what it’s worth, has only made the little one all the mightier.
Elsa smiled, gentle and proud, and glanced over at her sister. Anna was beaming, herself, as she held up her little girl still to Birger’s great nose. The deep thrums of Birger continued to rumble from his chest as the three of them simply stood there, together, and basked in the joyous sound of a little Neta’s happy laughter.