olden times for Tommy

[oohforeshadowing]

The great country pile isn't their speed, really.

Double had their lovely house in London, bought and paid for by their adoptive father - a High Fae of some high regard, who'd been fretting about their lands and accounts falling into strangers' hands when he passed on. It was a heartrending story, of course, and Double was...well, positively delighted to be anything the old man wanted them to be. For the right price.

Shapeshifters have long since had a bad reputation for sliding into the upper echelons this way. They hadn't been in penury to begin with, by any means, but 'lovely house in London' money and 'vast estates with mining wealth and hundreds of rate-paying tenants' money is not the same by some order of magnitude.

The old man died peacefully in his bed, well over a century old, and left the manor house and everything that went with it to their sole heir. Who is going to sell it all, eventually, but it feels tasteless not to even let their 'father's' body grow cold.

They move in after the last of their furniture has been transported, and lets the housekeeper give them the tour. They cut quite the figure: long blond hair pinned up in curls, a jacket and blouse tailored tightly to a corseted waist, the snug high-waisted breeches favoured by most males. Their tail is the most exposed part of them and the woman they're following keeps eyeing it like she's not sure if it's obscene or not.

"...show you the stables, your grace," she says, as she walks ahead to the outbuildings.

"Ah. I suppose we ought."

Comments

[bleak_midwinter]

"Oh, yeah?" He turns his head on his arms so he can briefly look at them, eyes glittering.

"I could do. I have done. You like getting thrown around as much as you like throwing?"

[oohforeshadowing]

"I've...had less experience of it," they admit. "But I've always enjoyed it immensely."

[bleak_midwinter]

"Why have you had less experience with it? Not enough people daring enough to do so?"

[oohforeshadowing]

"Not enough people who appreciate that their role comes to an end when the game is done," is the nuance they add. "I've been beaten and degraded and humiliated by partners and it is delicious in the moment, but...not so much over the breakfast table the next morning."

[bleak_midwinter]

"I just plan to be very smug over breakfast tomorrow," he promises them. "And wince every time I shift on the journey home."

[oohforeshadowing]

"And I plan not to demean you in the slightest, darling," they tell him, with a small solemn smile. "If anything, I admire you all the more."

[bleak_midwinter]

"How lovely to have been admired in the first place. I'm not usually the type to be appreciated, let alone admired."

[oohforeshadowing]

"I find that hard to believe. Even when I first saw you with your - how did you put it? 'Boots full of horse shit', you were quite the sight to behold."

They top up the salve on their hands for another pass, moving down to his thighs.

"I'm shocked that you aren't married, frankly. Or are women not to your taste?"

[bleak_midwinter]

"No, they are. Anyone that catches my fancy is, really. But being physically appealing is not the same thing as being admired for other qualities."

[oohforeshadowing]

"Well, I shall be selfishly rather pleased to have been a standout in that respect," they tell him, and bend down to press a kiss between his shoulderblades. "Can you stay like this a little while to let it take?"

[bleak_midwinter]

"Yes. As long as you stay and entertain me."

That little kiss spreads warmth throughout his body.

"Would you tell me where you grew up?"

[oohforeshadowing]

They are not only prepared to do this, but also to feed him a piece of chocolate.

"When I was young? Italy. Sicily, the little island in the sea? A beautiful place. Much warmer than here. Lemon trees and olive groves, and ancient cities."

[bleak_midwinter]

He takes it, happy to lie there and be pampered for just a moment.

"It sounds like a dream. Why did you leave it?"

[oohforeshadowing]

They smile faintly.

"Business. What else? My parents had, ah, concerns in London which needed their closer attention, or they believed they did. We moved when I was - perhaps twelve years old? That was when I first met the Duke."

[bleak_midwinter]

"I realize now I don't know how old you are?"

He reaches a hand out for another sweet.

[oohforeshadowing]

They give him a delicate little biscuit, sparkling with crystallised sugar.

"I turned twenty-five not long before moving here. And yourself? I struggle to guess."

[bleak_midwinter]

"Well, all humans look alike." He takes a biscuit and happily pops it into his mouth.

"Thirty-two, I think. Around there."

[oohforeshadowing]

They hum thoughtfully - then give him a teasing little pinch on the ear.

"You do not at all look alike. I'm just used to spending time around Fae, and you simply cannot tell."

[bleak_midwinter]

He chuckles and closes his eyes.

"How did you come to meet them, then? The Fae, your father, society."

[oohforeshadowing]

"Well, my parents had had links to London society for their whole lives. They'd moved away to Sicily for a while, then returned to the same circles they'd always moved in. Not just Fae, but fauns, goblins, elves - they were on good terms with the Thames naiads, as memory serves. I was introduced to Papa shortly after we moved back to England."

[bleak_midwinter]

"What was it like for you, to come from the olive groves and move right into the city?"

[oohforeshadowing]

"It was..."

They pause, and chuckle.

"It's worth knowing that you wouldn't have recognised me, as a child. I was...quiet, withdrawn, studious. The quiet rolling hills and ancient ruins suited me very well. And at first the city was...absolutely overwhelming. Nothing but noise and dirt and so many people. A diversity of humans and Realmsfolk like I'd never seen."

[bleak_midwinter]

"It sounds overwhelming. Cities can be so grating to the senses of a child used to nature. Was there anything you liked?"

[oohforeshadowing]

"At first? I liked the museums. The libraries." They nibble a piece of chocolate. "Then my mother took me to the theatre for the first time, and it was as if the world had opened. The music, the costumes, the emotion. It was glorious. I couldn't get enough."

[bleak_midwinter]

He smiles at them, happy to stay where he is while they talk, even if the salve has mostly done its work by now.

"Did you ever act yourself?"