"Fraaaaank-liiiiin! Look what I have for you!" the Librarian sang as she ran into the workroom. Clutched in her hands was a long, tube-like object she had knitted from sparkly bright red yarn. It was festooned with appliqued pagodas, chopsticks, lanterns and Chinese-language characters, all fashioned by hand using the showiest, glitteriest materials she could find and festooned with sequins and beads. Jenkins looked up from his work in time to see her hold the garish thing up in front of her; that's when he saw the four tiny sleeves, and realized with horror what it was.
"Oh, Cassandra—no!" he groaned, quickly standing up and heading towards his bubbling wife. "Please, don't tell me you've make a sweater for Franklin!" Behind him, on his desk, a sleeping Franklin stirred and yawned sleepily, then became still again. Cassandra stopped and cocked her head at Jenkins.
"Of course it's sweater for Franklin! Everyone else has a Christmas sweater, he needs one, too!" she said, and held it up even higher for him to see. "Isn't it just too cute? He'll look so adorable in it!" She swept past the immortal and made a beeline for the oblivious tea dragon.
"Look, Franklin! See what I've made for you! Let's try it on and see how it looks!" Cassandra sat in Jenkins's chair and grabbed the snoozing little animal. She plopped him into her lap and immediately began trying to pull the sweater over Franklin's long head. Startled awake and not having the slightest idea what was happening, except that something was apparently trying to smother him, Franklin began to struggle wildly and screamed in alarm.
"Cassandra, don't!" Jenkins exclaimed, and hurried over to them. "You're frightening him!"
"He'll be okay, I've got him," she replied, tightening her grip so that the panicking reptile couldn't squirm out of her grasp. "I just have to get the sweater over his head..." But she could only manage to get the garment onto his head, and not over it. Franklin knew only that he his vision was blocked and something had hold of him, and his self-preservation instinct kicked in. He lashed out in terror, swiping blindly with paws armed with surprisingly sharp claws. At the same time he screeched in fear and shot his head forward, his jaws snapping. Through the soft woolen yarn, he felt his teeth sink into soft flesh, and he instinctively clamped down on it. He heard a loud, high-pitched scream; suddenly he wasn't being held anymore, and he felt himself being swung around in the air while the "predator" that attacked him continued to scream. He heard Bái Shān yelling in alarm and the sounds of a struggle around him. His head still covered and unable to see anything, Franklin he held on, growling and sinking his teeth even more deeply into the creature's flesh.
Cassandra flinched and sucked in a sharp breath as Jenkins tried to swab her wounds with disinfectant as gently as he could.
"I'm so sorry, my dear, did I hurt you?" he asked, pausing in his ministrations for a moment. Cassandra shook her head, but said nothing. He could see the tears welling in her eyes. The immortal continued to swab her injuries, shaking his head.
"This is a rather nasty bite," he commented conversationally. "I'd forgotten how ferocious the smaller varieties of dragons can be. Franklin has been so docile and friendly until now."
Cassandra, on the verge of crying, remained silent as she watched her husband tend her wounded arm. Franklin had bitten her badly, and there were several deep scratches on her arms and hands. Jenkins glanced up in time to see a large tear slip from her eye and roll slowly down her cheek.
He sighed quietly and quickly finished his work in silence, daubing her scratches and the bite with a special salve he had created for just such injuries, then bound the bite wound on her arm. He laid aside his medicines and tools and turned to face the unhappy woman.
"Why are you so sad, my dear?" he asked gently and took her hands in his. Her lower lip quivered and she refused to meet his gaze. Tears began to fall over her pale cheeks.
"I'm so sorry, Jenkins—I didn't mean to hurt Franklin," she whispered, still keeping her eyes down. "I don't know why I did something so stupid! I'm so sorry...!" Her face scrunched up into an ugly grimace as she dropped her head, and her thin shoulders began to shake as she burst into sobs. Surprised by the outburst, Jenkins took her into his arms at once and held her.
"Oh, Cassandra, my love, don't cry!" he said soothingly. "Franklin is just fine, he's not hurt at all. He was only frightened, that's all, you know that!" He pulled away and lifted her face between his hands so he could see her.
"Why are you really crying?" he asked. Cassandra snuffled noisily.
"B-because I know how much you love him," she whimpered. "And I'm afraid you would hate me if I ever did hurt him, and I...I just can't bear the thought of you hating me for anything!" The misery in his wife's voice tore at Jenkins's heart. He gathered her up in his arms again and hugged her tightly.
"Cassandra, my love, you have nothing to be afraid of!" he said softly. "I love you! Yes, I love Franklin, very much—but you're my wife! I love you more than anything else in the world, and there is nothing you can do that will ever change that!" He raised one hand to stroke the back of her head.
"Y-you're not angry with me, then?" she asked, her voice muffled slightly. Jenkins shook his head and chuckled softly.
"Of course not, my love! I know you didn't mean any harm to Franklin," he assured her. "And you didn't harm him, not at all. Except for perhaps giving him a lifelong phobia of Christmas sweaters..." Cassandra couldn't help the harsh bark of laughter that slipped through her tears. Jenkins smiled and rubbed her back.
"That's better," he murmured, nuzzling her soft red hair. "I love to hear you laugh." She laughed again, more naturally and more cheerful-sounding this time. She leaned back from him and looked up at him, a penitent expression on her face.
"So you forgive me?" she asked. Jenkins gave her a reproving look.
"Of course I do, my love," he said, smiling. "I'm afraid the one you actually have to make amends to is Franklin." Cassandra made a face of distaste.
"Poor little guy," she said. "He's probably never going to let me near him ever again!"
"Nonsense, my dear," Jenkins said warmly, patting her hand. "Franklin loves you very much. And I think that he'll actually enjoy your gift, we just need to be a little more careful in how we introduce it to him." The immortal stood up and held out his hand to the Librarian.
"Fortunately, you very eye-catching creation wasn't damaged in the first go-around. So let's you and I go now and see if we can coax that little rapscallion into trying it on, hmm?" Cassandra stood up and placed her hand in his, her tears gone and her mood much lighter now. As they headed back to the workroom, the Librarian's natural bubbly personality began to reassert itself.
"I hope the LED lights weren't damaged!" she said.
"LED lights?" Jenkins repeated, careful to keep his tone nondescript. Cassandra giggled.
"Yes!" she answered with enthusiasm. "The sweater seemed a little plain after I finished making it, so I thought adding a bunch of tiny little red and gold LED lights that blink would give it a little extra oomph!" The Caretaker threw back his head and genuinely laughed.
"I think you succeeded admirably in your mission, then, my dear," he said. "That sweater is the very definition of 'oomph', I think!" The young woman grinned, pleased with his praise. She turned to look up at her husband.
"Speaking of sweaters," she said. "You're going to wear your Christmas sweater, right? The one I made for you last Christmas?" Jenkins's eyes widened slightly in sudden panic.
"Oh! Yes! Yes! Of course!" he stumbled a little too loudly, and plastered a wide, false smile onto his face. He shuddered mentally at the memory of the very flashy "Sir Galahad" knight-themed garment.
"I haven't worn it yet, in fact, only because I worry that I may damage it somehow—spill tea on it or something like that, and that would be a terrible shame!" he said, hoping to put off the inevitable for at least a few more days. Cassandra smiled up at him.
"Don't worry about that, sweetie!" she said cheerfully. "I made sure to use stain-resistant yarn, and I can always replace any of the sequins or beads that might come off! Why don't you go ahead and wear it tomorrow?" Jenkins smiled stiffly as he looked down into his wife's eager face.
"Wonderful!" he replied, forcing cheerfulness into his voice. "I can hardly wait!"
The smile that lit up his beautiful wife's face and the accompanying squeal of delight was worth every second of the relentless teasing he knew he was going to receive from the others the next day. And Jenkins was perfectly content with that.