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]

"Then I'll ask them," he says, determined to get as many people as he can to what he's thinking of as their show.

"Do you have much to do today?"

[oohforeshadowing]

They shake their head.

"Not at the theatre. I'm trying to keep out of their way during these last few days. Things can get a little hectic, and they're all rather anxious. So - my day is yours, if you have any use for it."

[bleak_midwinter]

He considers it, and for once just goes with the first feeling that comes up.

"...we could ride out of the city and see the country?"

He really, really misses fresh air and trees all of a sudden.

[oohforeshadowing]

Double smiles.

"I'd like that. I could certainly use some practice in the saddle, it's been a while."

And honestly, they still don't feel entirely comfortable on horseback when they're not in Tommy's company.

[bleak_midwinter]

"It has been for me, too. And I miss the horses, I miss green around me."

He feels fine in the city, but a decade living somewhere so remote has changed him. Mellowed him, maybe, at least in one way.

[oohforeshadowing]

"Even I'm getting a little nostalgic for it," says Double, who only really feels this way out of empathy with Thomas - but that's very authentic in and of itself. "When would you be ready to go?"

[bleak_midwinter]

"Just getting washed and dressed. If you don't mind waiting here a moment I wouldn't need long."

[oohforeshadowing]

"I will be the pattern of all patience," they quote lightly, and set their chin lightly on folded hands. "Take your time, darling."

[bleak_midwinter]

He gets up, glances at the door upstairs, and then leans in to briefly kiss them. It's chaste, but he means it, means to tell them how much he likes them being here with him.

He's back down twenty minutes later, dressed for an easy ride in high boots and a loose shirt and jacket. They can walk to Double's lodging and take their horses from there. Hilda is there with, as if she knew what they'd be up to, a little package of fresh bread and cheese, and two apples.

It's a really good start to a day out in the country. Tommy helps them up on their horse and asks: "Feel steady?"

[oohforeshadowing]

"...Yes," they decide, after a moment. These horses were chosen partly for being good natured at the reins as well as in harness, and she's steady as a rock under them.

"Can you navigate a quiet route?"

They'd rather take the back streets than have to tug the reins every few minutes.

[bleak_midwinter]

"Of course." He swings on and feels part of him settle down immediately. He breathes out and closes his eyes just for a second before nodding and taking off.

He keeps the pace slow and keeps them out of the busy districts. He knows how they feel about horses, and when they've crossed an unexpectedly busy intersection he tells them they're doing very well. Before long they're out of the city, smoke and smell making place for fresh air and spring flowers.

[oohforeshadowing]

It's nice, honestly. They hadn't realised they'd become somewhat accustomed to living out in the countryside until they're back there, breathing deep of the cooler, cleaner air. There are trees in blossom and new leaves unfurling, and there's birdsong in the air.

"This was a wonderful idea, Thomas."

[bleak_midwinter]

"Don't tell the others, but I do miss being in nature," he confesses, with a smile. "I can breathe again. The past years have changed me."

He tries to consciously talk about the years he knows he actually lived, not the ones he thinks he has.

[oohforeshadowing]

Double has noticed this, and it's cheering to hear every time. Every so often there's a slip, and he'll refer to something which simply never happened - but those incidents are fewer and further between with every passing day, as the years forced upon him fall deeper into the dream of the curse.

"I miss it myself," they confess. "I'd never imagined it of myself, but...it's beautiful out here. I can hear myself think."

[bleak_midwinter]

"I've often resented the countryside for it, but there are definite benefits as well. And on horseback there is freedom, too."

As much freedom as he's been able to grab onto in the past decade.

[oohforeshadowing]

As much freedom as Fae magic permits. And God knows Double wants him to feel as free as he possibly can, even if that means staying close on whatever travels he decides to take.

(The thing about these kinds of bonds is that they're ironclad, but only according to the wording they were made with. There are offices in big cities owned by Fae scholars dedicated to composing contracts which can't be squirmed out of. Double doubts that their father bothered.)

"Is there anywhere else you've ever imagined yourself visiting?" they wonder. "Overseas, perhaps?"

[bleak_midwinter]

"Overseas?"

He's clearly surprised by the question, has never allowed himself to dream of something like that. He considers the question, frowning.

"I never imagined, no. Just places out of books. France. Spain. Italy."

[oohforeshadowing]

"I hear Paris is beautiful," they murmur. "Wonderful art and culture. And that it has some very lovely countryside around it, for riding."

And as much as it sounds appealing to them personally, they're also quite invested in creating some memories for Tommy which can't be compared to anything that came before, or mistaken for them.

[bleak_midwinter]

He glances over at them with a soft smile. "I think this is starting to sound like an offer. Would you take me with you, then? "

[oohforeshadowing]

They smile back, rather sadly.

"I still don't have a choice, darling. But if I did? Yes. I would want to take you with me."

[bleak_midwinter]

"I should like to go. With you, at least, I would like to go. Maybe it's something nice to dream of, eh?"

[oohforeshadowing]

"Not in the slightest," they tut at him, but they're still smiling. "It's a very lovely thing to plan for. Next summer, I think."

It's a long journey, and they'll need to consider the logistics.

[bleak_midwinter]

"Is it very different from England? The relations between humans and Realmers?"

He takes them to a little beaten path, where past travelers have ground a way into the high grass. They'll have to duck for branches, but the sound of a creek is beckoning them closer.

[oohforeshadowing]

"Not really," they admit. "It's more or less the same across Europe and America. I hear things in Asia are a little different? The incursion of Realmsfolk happened later, your people had more warning. They could put up more...robust defences."

[bleak_midwinter]

"I don't think many people call it an incursion," he points out. "Not... your people. Though I don't like calling them that."