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]

"Because your parents were close to him? Or is this a Fae custom?"

The longer he keeps them talking the longer he can keep their attention off of him - and honestly, despite himself, he wants to know the story here.

[oohforeshadowing]

And Double is all too aware of how easily they can be tempted into exposition. But they're not going to stop.

"More the former, I think. And simple convenience, of course. I hosted him during his stays in the city, and one doesn't go to the theatre or out to dinner alone, so - I was something of a companion for him."

They carefully trace their thumb along the shoulder seam of his jacket.

"I think to a degree I was being tested. He was feeling his age. He wanted to know that I would be a worthy heir."

[bleak_midwinter]

He can feel their touch through all the layers of clothing, and feels an odd sort of dread settle in his stomach. Something about them fascinates him, but most of him is put off by even the thought of his own interest.

"What are the requirements to being heir to the Fae? Magical ability? Vocabulary? Keeping up with the fashions?" He's joking. A little.

[oohforeshadowing]

Double chuckles softly, a low warm sound close to his ear.

"You're not altogether wrong," they permit. "I can't be an embarrassment in company, and looking the part very much contributes - though that's easier for me than most people," they tease lightly.

"But most of all, he wanted to know I could run his estate without running it into the ground. That I wouldn't go gambling his wealth into nothingness and lose his fortune to the bailiffs."

[bleak_midwinter]

"I see," he says, considering their words. Their horse is guiding them through the woods, the path a little underused. The horse seems unbothered by the loose branches and occasional bramble.

"And do you have any plans for the estate now? Outside of not gambling it away?"

[oohforeshadowing]

Double is...not entirely unbothered. It's not the more uneven footing in the woodland, per se, more the likelihood of things bursting out of it unexpectedly and startling the horse. Their hand will feel infinitesimally heavier on Thomas' shoulder.

"...Mr. Lancer seems to have things well in hand for now," they say. "But you're both far more familiar with the locale. Do you have any recommendations?"

[bleak_midwinter]

"About the Estate? I'm just the stablemaster, Your Grace. I've no opinions on how you, or anyone, ought to run the rest of the place."

Yes, he does. But he is absolutely not telling them that.

"All I can tell you is that it's good land, with good people working on it. I hope you see that."

[oohforeshadowing]

Double rolls their eyes at the obviousness of the lie. Poor man. Was the Duke so frightening as to scare him off having an opinion even when it was directly asked for? Perhaps he was. One can act very differently around one's peers and one's staff.

"I'm sure I will. Could I at least trouble you for some opinion on how to better run the stables?"

[bleak_midwinter]

"...of course. Right now?"

They make it out of the woods, and they slowly make their way to what looks like a steep drop down. It's a crumbling little cliff, and Tommy pulls the horse up short.

"The edge of the estate starts here," he says, before they can really confirm his earlier question. "If you look out there, that's the real end of it. The tenant farmers are out there, mostly."

[oohforeshadowing]

"...I see. It's quite the view, isn't it?"

The farmland is neatly patchworked, divided by fences or hedgerows, at one spot by a narrow stream. It's all terribly bucolic.

"I understand everyone's decent about paying their dues?"

And they already know the Duke was fairly forgiving, as a landlord. Some Fae are so rich that they don't really understand how money works and just wrung the blood and sweat from their tenants; Papa was slightly more humane than that.

[bleak_midwinter]

He nods. "Yes, they are. No reason not to be - harvests have been good these days, and the leaner years have never been too lean. Your Father was a good lord to them. Have you met the tenants yet?"

[oohforeshadowing]

"Some. They all seem to be perfectly fine people."

The fact is that humans have their stereotypes and prejudices about every breed of supernatural, but shapeshifters are one of the few assumed to have some inborn wickedness. Why would they be born able to deceive, if there were not something deceptive in their very nature? Some innate appetite for wrongdoing? They've certainly been aware of some of their tenants crossing themselves or bending their heads to mutter amongst one another, when they thought their new landowner couldn't see.

"I'll meet the rest in good time. They've already been told that I don't plan any huge upheavals."

[bleak_midwinter]

"I am glad to hear it," he confesses, as he turns the horse around to slowly make its way down the slope.

"There were all manner of rumors before you came, and rumors don't tend to make things easier."

[oohforeshadowing]

"Oh? Well, I'm sure you're not going to keep the specifics from me after you've so whetted my appetite," they tease. "Rumours like...?"

[bleak_midwinter]

He's audibly smiling when he replies - this game, he's willing to play.

"Would you like the common ones or the outrageous ones people make up while drunk? They may offend you."

[oohforeshadowing]

Double smiles, too, and it comes through in their voice.

"Darling, you wouldn't believe what I've overheard. Just try to outrage me."

[bleak_midwinter]

"Oh, well - suppose you're like a vampire and shift into a bat at night, and you want to convert the whole house into a dark cave? Or that you'll train all the servants and have us perform in a circus act? In this scenario, of course, we suppose everyone involved actually has talent."

[oohforeshadowing]

Double laughs, a low bell-like sound.

"Oh, it would certainly be a theatre troupe. I don't doubt for a moment that you and your colleagues would put on quite the show."

They sigh, amused.

"I can reassure you that I would struggle to become anything so much smaller than myself."

[bleak_midwinter]

"Shame. Doesn't dispell all the other creature rumors, of course - plenty left to gossip about."

He makes sure to keep his tone light. No one actually thinks they're secretly a werewolf or vampire, around here.

[oohforeshadowing]

Almost disappointing.

"Oh, of course. Maybe I should start wandering the village in a long cloak at night, or start hissing at the sound of church bells? Just to keep the rumour mill turning."

[bleak_midwinter]

"Perhaps at certain times of the month," he's willing to compromise.

"Are you planning to stay on the estate for a long time, then?"

He'd figured they'd be back to London in no time.

[oohforeshadowing]

"I thought I might," they murmur. "It seems a little crass to inherit all this and not even become familiar with it, don't you think? London will still be there when I go back."

[bleak_midwinter]

"Crass but certainly not unheard of," he comments. The way down is a little steeper, with loose rocks and small boulders making the horse's tread uneven - though steady.

"There have certainly been others without that insight, on other estates."

[oohforeshadowing]

"Oh, I can imagine." They lean closer, so although their voice has softened to a purr they'll hear him quite clearly: "More fool them. Missing all this natural beauty."

If they focus on outrageous flirting then they don't have to worry about the horse's footing.

[bleak_midwinter]

He clears his throat, loudly, and stiffens his back. He's noticing, and doesn't mind them knowing so, but he's not doing anything with it.

"You wanted to know my recommendations for the stables."