Grimlock ♥ Ultra Magnus

"Before the reply could even be translated, Temeraire sat up indignantly.   'Laurence is not riding any other dragon,' he said, putting out a possessive claw and nearly knocking Laurence off his feet, herding him closer..."

So I confessed to my sister that this seems oddly like a really controlling relationship, on both ends.   Not really: if Temeraire decided to go by the name Lung Tien Xiang and set up in China, Laurence might be heartbroken, but he would allow Tememaire to go.   There isn't even light stalking, but I think it would be considered such if they were actually in an actual romantic relationship: the sneaking around, the slight, little white lies - like Laurence saying 'don't have kids, no clue where they come from!', and the instance that they don't do things that put them in danger?   I think it all comes from the fact that they have not only a military relationship, but one that we don't have in our world.   That is, the devotion between a Captain and dragon is so extreme that the only real way to hold a dragon, or force them to do something, is to threaten their Captain with death.    When it seems as if Temeraire will be forced back to China, and forced to be separated from Laurence, Temeraire threatens anyone who dares to take Laurence from him while Laurence falls into a deep depression.   And it's partly this 'I can't live without you - at least not well, at least not in a manner I can conceive of,' or Temeraire's attitude that Laurence is more important than his whole crew, and the fate of Britain, and that he will save Laurence and damn all those other people and/or things that gives this a weirdly relationship-y slant.   (I actually think this is why Laurence calling Temeraire my dear bugs me so damn much: he couldn't have chosen anything that implied less of a romantic relationship?   My dear is also usually something a man says to a woman, in my experience, and not the other way around or something a man says to a man.)

Also, Temeraire questions if he is a slave because he is not a man, and can't choose to live a life outside The Corps.   Laurence explains as best he could that human nature causes them to fear dragons, and concedes it's not fair, but also argues it's not slavery: Temeraise has options.   (Breeding grounds, living feral, or in their case they have enough money to live on their own because, yeah, Laurence does and he'd take care of Temeraire.)   Still, dragons are referred to as 'beasts' at least a couple times already in the series, and it's clear that they are not men.   They get no salary, they have little conception of property - or decorum for that matter, and they have rages that are more bestial than human in nature.   It's a fine line to tread: they have so very many human qualities that go beyond speech, and yet they are other.   I'm just glad that Novik has created a main character, and a companion, who can contemplate these things, have different takes on them, but not allow this to fray at the relationship.   And she doesn't shy away from any of these implications, either.   Still, the dragons have shown no romantic interest, or sexual interest for that matter, in the humans, and the humans seem to feel the same way.   Their relationship is intense, and intensely personal, but not romantic in the least despite seeming to mimic a romantic relationship, at times so much that I had to snort out loud.   (It makes sense: my review of book one goes over why the Aviators can't really sustain romantic relationships themselves.   The relationships with their dragons are so all-encompassing and take up so much time and energy that they act as de facto relationships, without the romance or sex.)   Still, the differences in sizes, ways of thinking, body types, so on and so forth make it clear that Novik may not shy away from a lot - but she's going to shy away from this.   It's a good call: it would be shocking for no real reason, and unnecessary.   This series is beautiful and having such a controversial element would distract from how perfect this series is. 

And I think we should remember how young Temeraire is: he's less than a year old, and while he was in many ways fully formed from the shell - he could speak and he had the reason of an adult, somewhat - he's not an adult.   He doesn't have the life experience to fully understand the nuances of the world.   While he's voraciously curious, he just doesn't know or understand it all yet.   And this would add another level of creepiness to a relationship between him and Laurence.   

I actually feel creepy for bringing up these points, but the relationship is weird to me, if only because it's new.   It's a mix of romantic without actually being romantic.   It all makes sense: an Aviator, particularly the Captain of a dragon, lives a life centered around their dragon.   They have no real other life, social, or romantic, or familial, outside of The Corps.   (Usually.   The Rolands aren't atypical, but they aren't exactly the norm either, and arguably don't have a real familial relationship as the mother and daughter can be separated for a year or more at a time.)  The relationship with their dragon has all the intense passion, and care, of a romantic relationship, and yet it's not.   And the more I read the more I think about this.   I'm fairly certain I'm not the first person to think about, or talk about, this, but it's been on my mind a lot the past couple of days.