#rue is trying to say that hob is being used and deserves better

[secondhandjokess]

"I had planned more to say, to speak to the nature of your character and the bravery that you have exhibited in this Bloom, but I now know that my stature is of a nature that those compliments would be unworthy. You deserve this more than I."

Hob is accustomed to humiliation, but it stings worse now than ever. Listening to Rue's words about how the Goblin court had used, and continued to use him to their own ends, one phrase kept repeating in Hob's mind.

Blunt instrument.

That's all he is, and he knows that, and he's made his peace with it. Or he's attempted to. He's a servant of the Goblin court, he serves at their pleasure, and he is to be used to further their aims. And what does it matter if a hammer doesn't like the tasks it is used for? It is fulfilling its purpose, and there has to be some contentment in that. There has to be. And he has often been reminded that nothing good can ever come of any attempt he might make to be anything other than a tool in the hands of his masters.

But hearing it from Rue is mortifying in new and horrible ways. He's been used, Rue said. Used in a way, judging by Rue's implication, that compromised Hob's honor. And all Hob can think is that of course he's been used, he's a blunt instrument. He is meant to be used. It shouldn't feel this shameful to hear it said out loud by someone he admires. But right now, there's no peace to be found in his purpose, in serving his betters, with no thought to his own desires. Rue implored him to protect himself, and to consider his own feelings, and he feels nothing but the humiliation of abject failure. He had only been trying not to fail his court, and now, suddenly, he realizes that he's been failing utterly to possess even a sliver of the integrity and courage and strength of character that Rue has demonstrated.

He had wanted to express his admiration for Rue's bravery. He had wanted to apologize for the role he played in instigating a false rumor. He had wanted, maybe, even though it's so far above his station as to be absurd, to express a feeling of camaraderie with Rue. But no. No, he truly has nothing in common with them. They are self-possessed, self-reliant. To express his admiration would only serve to point out the insurmountable gap between them, and to express camaraderie would likely amount to an insult to Rue. Someone as courageous as Rue could have no fellowship with someone who would allow himself to be used, again and again, by people who gave him no consideration in return.

Hob had wanted to give Rue his Medal of Courage is symbol of the esteem in which he holds them. But that thought is gone from his mind as he presses it into Rue's claws. All he can think now is that he knows what true courage is, because it stands before him, and he has never once in his life demonstrated it.

#a court of fey and flowers #battlemaster of ceremonies #k.p. hob #deloso de la rue #acofaf #this interaction made me emotional #brennan seemed so much more ashamed after Rue's speech than I expected him to be #I expected him to be taken aback and maybe upset but he seemed... almost unable to speak #and what he said wasn't 'I've never considered that before' it was 'I no longer believe myself worthy of even offering a compliment' #so I went back and watched the scene again trying to imagine what's going on in hob's head #and I kept coming back to blunt instrument #rue is trying to say that hob is being used and deserves better #and all hob hears is that being a blunt instrument is repugnant to rue #that it compromises his own honor when he lets himself be used without having any say in the matter

[theladyragnell]

Ficlet prompt: acofaf, any characters, an accidental meeting in the mortal realm

(I am not entirely sure that by "any characters" you meant "Chirp and Suntar running into each other," but this scene got stuck in my head and here we are!)

Chirp is getting very good at running errands, if she does say so herself. Why, she hasn’t brought back a tisane made of dewdrops and starflowers when Esmé just asked for bread and wine in months, or possibly weeks (she always does get those two mixed up, in the mortal realms, time always does move so strangely, straight ahead with no pauses or skipping). She even remembers to pay with money, most times! She’s practically indistinguishable from a mortal, really, nobody at any of the markets she visits has ever said otherwise.

(It does possibly help that Chirp likes to go to all sorts of markets, because she never knows when one will have some special treat for Peep or Esmé. The last time Squak came to visit they traveled for ages and brought back some very exciting things. Peep does keep asking for that candy again, Chirp had better find a way back soon. Not being able to fly on her own is very inconvenient.)

Today, Chirp is going to be especially good at errands, because she’s going to deal with an interloper. There’s another fairy in the market.

It’s not, of course, the first time. Coming to the mortal realm isn’t exactly a fad, though anything the Lords of the Wing do becomes fashionable very quickly—it takes bravery, to visit the mortal realm when Binx is very honest about what happened to the Court of Craft. Still, Andhera and Binx and the real Gwyndolin and their funny mortal friends have come to tea a time or two, and Squak visits with a lover or two at times, and even Hob and Rue have come by.

This isn’t any of Chirp’s friends. That’s clear from the glare she’s getting from behind the glamour the fairy is wearing. They’ve gone for being an old woman in a threadbare cloak, which is so traditional as to be cliché, but they’re not very good at hiding there’s something odd about them, so the bowl they’ve set up looking for money is empty.

If Chirp has an enemy this close to Peep and Esmé, she wants to know who, and she goes over with a coin and drops it in the bowl. “Here for me? Or just passing through?”

“I’d have avoided this place if I’d known your shadow had ever touched it,” says Princess Suntar. “I’m begging for scraps, which you reduced me to. My beloved betrothed.”

That’s probably fair, though Chirp would contest that she was much nicer than Suntar deserved, under the circumstances. “Is that my fault? Plenty of fairies find their way here and thrive. Those of us who don’t think we’re too good to make friends with mortals, anyway.”

“Friends? With these thieves?” Suntar snorts. It is very unattractive, and Chirp would tell her so, except she suspects if Suntar gets too mad at her there might be some extremely boring swearing of vengeance and then Peep and Esmé might be in danger. Before the silence can stretch, Suntar gives her a keen look. “You didn’t push me. You know I’ve got as little power in our realm as I do here, thanks to my dear brother, but I won’t risk starving or disappearing, there. If you help me to the portal, I’ll owe you a debt.”

A debt from a princess of a powerful court, even a disgraced one, could come in handy. “The kind of debt where I could trust that you wouldn’t turn around and try closing the portal again?” Suntar may have been doing it for power, but she believes in it too, if she’s still calling the mortals thieves. “No. Not yet.”

“If not now, when?”

It’s not Chirp’s place to teach people lessons. That’s always been the Court of Wonder, only giving their miracles to the people they call worthy and apparently scheming all the while to no longer have to do that to maintain their reputation. “That doesn’t seem like my problem.”

“The Lords of the Wing are declining in power. You would have had it. The mortals matter to you so much?”

Chirp laughs. It takes more effort than she’d ever want to admit. “Goodness, rumors do soar, don’t they? Grandfather must have invented those too. I shall have to congratulate him.”

“You don’t deny it.”

“I don’t need to. I’m the one with the power right now, or you wouldn’t be asking me favors.” The bowl inviting coins isn’t, Chirp suspects, wholly for show, though it isn’t money Suntar will be missing most, it’s magic. “I’ll give you one, but not the one you want. I have alliances I care about more than I care about your favors.”

“What favor will you so graciously bestow on me, then, Lady Featherfowl? And what do you ask in return?”

That’s as familiar as bargaining for bread at the market, or maybe bargaining for bread at the market is as familiar as dealing with other archfey. Chirp smiles. “I’m going to give you a little magic. Just a little, mind, I don’t want to have to go back from my visit too early, but dear Andhera would be so disappointed if I allowed you to dwindle into a bundle of rags or a shadow on a lake or something equally lackluster.”

“And in return?” Suntar’s voice is shaking with rage. Chirp does so miss this kind of thing in the mortal realms, Esmé keeps things so quiet. “For your gracious charity?”

She could ask for any number of embarrassing things. She could ask Suntar to write Andhera note of apology, except then Andhera might actually want to speak to her, and then Binx would be mad at Chirp, so that’s an unproductive line of thought. “Stop looking for the portal until this dose of magic runs out. Pay attention to the mortals. They’re funny, but they’re not as different as you’d think. Things are changing in our realm. You’ll get along much better if you understand a few things.”

“So I’ll be no closer to home than I am now. Just a stay of execution.”

Chirp shrugs. “Maybe you’ll find another way to get some magic. Or I’ll see you again. I’m in markets in this region often enough. Do we have a deal?”

Suntar glares at her for a few seconds. “We have a deal,” she finally says.

Much as Chirp loves to make a production of things, Peep and Esmé are waiting at home, and Chirp still has to do the rest of the shopping. She doesn’t draw it out, but gives Suntar a dose of magic, a decent amount of her portion for the day while reserving enough to defend herself from any threats, Suntar included. “There. Enjoy your vacation in the mortal realms, dear. I’ll see you sometime, I’m sure.”

“Sleep with one eye open,” says Suntar, but her shoulders are relaxing and her eyes are already brighter, which in her case means more shadowy.

“Some birds do that, you know!” says Chirp brightly, and wiggles her fingers at Suntar in a wave before she goes off to do the rest of her shopping.

Esmé shakes her head when Chirp turns up with a hair ribbon made of moonlight as well as the cheese and vegetables she requested, but Chirp kisses her and ties Peep’s hair up in a bow and keeps the rest of her adventures to herself.

#answered asks #gwynnia #sometimes i write stories #acofaf