Paddock Name, or At Home With The Centaurs:
Posted: Mon Dec 14, 2015 12:42 pm
Sitting quietly in front of the fireplace, Al was nursing a cup of tea. Television did not interest him, and the hypnotic flickering of the fire was more than enough to hold his interest.
Daisy was about the house on her own tasks, and on this early January night Al had no interest in doing anything more than what he was about. Dinner was done, bed not yet and his task for the day (planning on the new engineering shop for his business) was proceeding well enough for him to not obsess over it.
Suddenly, a door slammed, and his tranquility was shattered, however in a welcome manner.
“AL! BUDDY! PAL!” boomed Buck, his brother Rowdy a step behind him. “Get your coat on, you’re coming with us.” Al, never completely relaxed, immediately went to DEFCON 1 at this pronouncement.
“And where are we going, then?”
“TRUST ME!”
All right, Al thought to himself. I am getting hazed. To be honest, he had been expecting this since the fait accompli of marrying their mother on Christmas these few weeks ago. He knew these two jokers were going to come up with some way to pay him back for not informing them – even though their own mother had dropped it on him completely unannounced (and was still unbearably smug about it).
Now, it seems was the time.
More seriously, Buck looked at him and said “Come on over to the guest house. We just want to talk – nothing serious – and we really just want a bit of male bonding. We do have one thing to talk about, though – and that’s the reason.”
Well then – he certainly wasn’t going to turn that down. In any case, he wasn’t going to get away without getting serious with them and that was just NOT on.
Putting on his elven-leather coat and fedora he walked the distance to the guest house. He was escorted into Buck’s office/den, and settled in front of the fire in one of the deep leather chairs. Buck and Rowdy settled in the others, and Katherine came in with a laden tray.
Setting the tray on the coffee table, she bowed out silently, not leaving without a grin and wink at Al on the way.
Door closed, Buck and Rowdy helped themselves to the cognac decanter on the tray, and Al to the teapot, cream and sugar. Settled back in the chairs, Al waited for the subject to come around.
However, the brothers were bound and determined not to come to it.
The tea and cognac flowed, though none to excess. Settling in, all shared stories – some appropriate to the male company but all welcome. Toasts were exchanged, and Al began to feel at home.
A signal passed between the two brothers.
“Well, now that you’re all settled, it seems you’ve got a choice that you have to make.”
Al immediately got concerned – what was this about?
“As I’m sure you’ve noticed, all of us have a “paddock name” as well as our proper names. These names are not shared except among friends, or among members of our own species. These are the names that you go by among family and friends, in short. They’re also a tribute to the equine part of our ancestry – the names that we might have had as horses. They’re very much a chosen nickname – given by those who love us.
Katherine’s is Shadowdancer for her dark eyes, Castela is known as Briar and Atsali is Flyer. Normally, your name would have come from the family and you’d just grow up with it.”
“However, with all these two-legs horning their way into the family we’ve had to do something about it.“ Rowdy grinned. “In short, we’re here to decide on your paddock name – and you don’t get to choose.”
Now Al knew he’d been set up by these two jokers.
“Buck and I have been discussing this for a while. Considering your rugged resemblance to Sean Connery“ Al choked at that one “and the Aston Martin, we’ve decided it’s going to be something Bond-ish.”
Well, that’s not too bad, Al thought. He’d heard these silly jokes ever since he’d been in the States, so not that big a deal. Hopefully it wouldn’t be anything too weird – like Dr. No.
“The first thing we thought of was Dr. No – considering how many times we heard that word when we were weapons training.”
Oh, Goddess. Nonononono….
“Then we decided perhaps Moonraker, or better yet, Thunderball. ESPECIALLY considering the damage to the North Wing, which STILL hasn’t been completely dealt with. We thought that Thunderball was JUST PERFECT.”
Nonono….anything but that…Nonono….Grandpa Thunderball was just not on….
Both of them gleefully grinning at him, he knew that this was payback time…he was going to get his for the marriage, and avoiding all of the male bonding rituals like the bachelor party.
“Okay, what HAVE you jokers got lined up for me?”
“We really didn’t like all of the ones we mentioned –- however they DID come up. Don’t be surprised if Katherine calls you Thunderball at least once in front of Momma. She’s still laughing over that choice.”
At this point both Buck and Rowdy grew more serious, and Al realized that the real choice was coming out. “We did choose one for you, though. How would you feel about Goldeneye?”
Goldeneye. Hmmm. The name Ian Fleming gave his villa in Jamaica. A beautiful place, and a very dignified name – Al had stayed there on a holiday once – it was now a hotel.
Goldeneye. He could wear that proudly.
“Done.”
With that, the three men hugged, and then Buck called out to Katherine and the children. They entered, and Buck proudly said “Meet the newest member of the family – Goldeneye!”
“Awwwww, you mean we don’t get to call him “Thunderball”?” Katherine was laughing unashamedly now, and Atsali blushed furiously. Castela walked up to Al and asked “Grampa, can I still call you Grampa Al? Thunderball is DUMB!”
“Castela sweetie, you can call me whatever you want, as long as I get my hugs.” Al reached down, picked her up, hugged her and all was very right in his world.
Daisy was about the house on her own tasks, and on this early January night Al had no interest in doing anything more than what he was about. Dinner was done, bed not yet and his task for the day (planning on the new engineering shop for his business) was proceeding well enough for him to not obsess over it.
Suddenly, a door slammed, and his tranquility was shattered, however in a welcome manner.
“AL! BUDDY! PAL!” boomed Buck, his brother Rowdy a step behind him. “Get your coat on, you’re coming with us.” Al, never completely relaxed, immediately went to DEFCON 1 at this pronouncement.
“And where are we going, then?”
“TRUST ME!”
All right, Al thought to himself. I am getting hazed. To be honest, he had been expecting this since the fait accompli of marrying their mother on Christmas these few weeks ago. He knew these two jokers were going to come up with some way to pay him back for not informing them – even though their own mother had dropped it on him completely unannounced (and was still unbearably smug about it).
Now, it seems was the time.
More seriously, Buck looked at him and said “Come on over to the guest house. We just want to talk – nothing serious – and we really just want a bit of male bonding. We do have one thing to talk about, though – and that’s the reason.”
Well then – he certainly wasn’t going to turn that down. In any case, he wasn’t going to get away without getting serious with them and that was just NOT on.
Putting on his elven-leather coat and fedora he walked the distance to the guest house. He was escorted into Buck’s office/den, and settled in front of the fire in one of the deep leather chairs. Buck and Rowdy settled in the others, and Katherine came in with a laden tray.
Setting the tray on the coffee table, she bowed out silently, not leaving without a grin and wink at Al on the way.
Door closed, Buck and Rowdy helped themselves to the cognac decanter on the tray, and Al to the teapot, cream and sugar. Settled back in the chairs, Al waited for the subject to come around.
However, the brothers were bound and determined not to come to it.
The tea and cognac flowed, though none to excess. Settling in, all shared stories – some appropriate to the male company but all welcome. Toasts were exchanged, and Al began to feel at home.
A signal passed between the two brothers.
“Well, now that you’re all settled, it seems you’ve got a choice that you have to make.”
Al immediately got concerned – what was this about?
“As I’m sure you’ve noticed, all of us have a “paddock name” as well as our proper names. These names are not shared except among friends, or among members of our own species. These are the names that you go by among family and friends, in short. They’re also a tribute to the equine part of our ancestry – the names that we might have had as horses. They’re very much a chosen nickname – given by those who love us.
Katherine’s is Shadowdancer for her dark eyes, Castela is known as Briar and Atsali is Flyer. Normally, your name would have come from the family and you’d just grow up with it.”
“However, with all these two-legs horning their way into the family we’ve had to do something about it.“ Rowdy grinned. “In short, we’re here to decide on your paddock name – and you don’t get to choose.”
Now Al knew he’d been set up by these two jokers.
“Buck and I have been discussing this for a while. Considering your rugged resemblance to Sean Connery“ Al choked at that one “and the Aston Martin, we’ve decided it’s going to be something Bond-ish.”
Well, that’s not too bad, Al thought. He’d heard these silly jokes ever since he’d been in the States, so not that big a deal. Hopefully it wouldn’t be anything too weird – like Dr. No.
“The first thing we thought of was Dr. No – considering how many times we heard that word when we were weapons training.”
Oh, Goddess. Nonononono….
“Then we decided perhaps Moonraker, or better yet, Thunderball. ESPECIALLY considering the damage to the North Wing, which STILL hasn’t been completely dealt with. We thought that Thunderball was JUST PERFECT.”
Nonono….anything but that…Nonono….Grandpa Thunderball was just not on….
Both of them gleefully grinning at him, he knew that this was payback time…he was going to get his for the marriage, and avoiding all of the male bonding rituals like the bachelor party.
“Okay, what HAVE you jokers got lined up for me?”
“We really didn’t like all of the ones we mentioned –- however they DID come up. Don’t be surprised if Katherine calls you Thunderball at least once in front of Momma. She’s still laughing over that choice.”
At this point both Buck and Rowdy grew more serious, and Al realized that the real choice was coming out. “We did choose one for you, though. How would you feel about Goldeneye?”
Goldeneye. Hmmm. The name Ian Fleming gave his villa in Jamaica. A beautiful place, and a very dignified name – Al had stayed there on a holiday once – it was now a hotel.
Goldeneye. He could wear that proudly.
“Done.”
With that, the three men hugged, and then Buck called out to Katherine and the children. They entered, and Buck proudly said “Meet the newest member of the family – Goldeneye!”
“Awwwww, you mean we don’t get to call him “Thunderball”?” Katherine was laughing unashamedly now, and Atsali blushed furiously. Castela walked up to Al and asked “Grampa, can I still call you Grampa Al? Thunderball is DUMB!”
“Castela sweetie, you can call me whatever you want, as long as I get my hugs.” Al reached down, picked her up, hugged her and all was very right in his world.
