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

[oohforeshadowing]

"You're right," Double says, without apology, and slides another coin across the bar. "Thanks."

They head back out into an increasingly dark, foreboding sort of evening.

Watery Lane - they're almost sure they passed the end of that street, saw the sign on their way to the pub. The name rings a bell. Indeed, retracing their steps takes them to the right street, and only a couple more minutes' walk takes them into the Garrison.

[bleak_midwinter]

The atmosphere inside is possibly even worse than in the last pub. There's a few unfortunate souls hanging at the bar or huddled around a pint at a table, but everyone is staunchly ignoring a group seated in a booth at the back. They're whisper-arguing, though judging by the glasses on the table the fighting won't be quiet much longer. There are two women, one old and one younger, and a few men. One teenaged boy hangs awkwardly around the edges.

[oohforeshadowing]

Double doesn't act immediately, as much as they'd like to. They've already decided that they won't be keeping up the shift for long: they want Tommy's family to be able to trust them, and as difficult as that will be? Failing to reveal themself early on will make it impossible.

They get a drink and sit not far from the booth, lightly eavesdropping in the hope of picking up something useful.

[bleak_midwinter]

"- too dangerous," says the younger man, insistently.

"I don't bloody care how dangerous it is, they aren't taking him away from us again!"

"Arthur," snaps the older woman, "losing your head will not solve this. Calm down. And put the bloody whiskey down."

"I can ask Freddie's old mates," the younger woman says. She sounds scared and uncertain. "He had contacts, maybe some of them can at least talk to a Realmer. Ask."

"Go and do that now, Ada," the older woman says. "It's better than walking right into the lion's den."

[oohforeshadowing]

That'll do. They push their chair back, come to the booth, standing at a respectful distance but close enough to keep their voice low.

"I'm sorry - couldn't help but overhear. You need to talk to a Realmer?"

[bleak_midwinter]

"Who the fuck are you?" The older man, with a bristly mustache, looks ready to hook them.

"Arthur," hisses the older woman. But when she looks at Double she doesn't look that much more friendly.

"You couldn't help but, could you?"

[oohforeshadowing]

They look to Arthur, then back to the older woman. When they blink, the eyes they open are bright yellow-green, set in dark green corneas.

"You could say that, yes."

[bleak_midwinter]

They'll have to put their strength to the test, because Arthur isn't exactly thinking rationally anymore. The moment he sees those eyes he's up and has them by the collar.

"Where is he, you Realmer piece of shit!"

[oohforeshadowing]

For now, Double doesn't respond at all, just lets Arthur do as he will while they breathe through it and regard him coolly.

"I don't know. I'm his employer, not his kidnapper. I came looking for his family because I was hoping they would know where I could look."

[bleak_midwinter]

He just shakes them a little for now, more angry than sensible.

"His employer," the woman says. The younger one looks at them and says: "He's been gone for two days. Someone-"

"Ada. Introductions first."

[oohforeshadowing]

Double smiles at her, entirely untroubled by how close Arthur's hands are to their throat.

"Well, we're halfway there. You're Ada, this is Arthur, and - you must be Polly."

Tommy hadn't been exhaustive about naming names by any means, but one or two had slipped out.

[bleak_midwinter]

"That's right," the woman in question says, reluctant to show it but slightly taken aback.

"And Michael, and Finn." She points them out - the younger man, the boy, who must have been a toddler when Tommy was taken away.

"And you're the boss. The shifter."

[oohforeshadowing]

"I am indeed," they say, with a fleeting smile. "Call me Double. I think we're past greater formalities."

They also think they're at a point where Arthur can let them go, but don't say so.

[bleak_midwinter]

"Arthur." One word from Polly and Arthur lets them go, though he does choose to stay uncomfortably close.

"Did he tell you where we live?"

[oohforeshadowing]

"No," they say, without choosing to look at Arthur or even move away from him. "I had to use a tracing spell to get close to where he last slept, and bribed a local publican from there."

[bleak_midwinter]

Polly narrows her eyes at them, judging something. It's not clear what yet, as she just ends up saying:

"Someome saw Fae near the house the night he disappeared. We thought you lot had taken them again. But perhaps it's not your lot entirely...?"

[oohforeshadowing]

While it's not particularly constructive for her to write off the entirety of the Realmsfolk as 'your lot', Double understands why she says it. Most Realmers do the exact same thing to most humans.

They pull a chair from a nearby unoccupied table and sit down at the end of the booth.

"I know about how Thomas came into my father's employ," they say smoothly. "I don't approve of it, but the one benefit I thought it would have would be to keep other Fae away from your family. Disrupting a bond has consequences for the party doing the disruption."

Which is to say, they must have been extremely motivated, or in too much of a hurry to check him for existing magics, or both.

[bleak_midwinter]

"He told us he could come because you're allowing it, and stayed nearby," she agrees, with a frown. Arthur huffs and falls back down into his chair, slumping over his glass.

"So either you were wrong or someone, for some reason, really wanted to have him. There are hundreds of stablemasters not bound by a familial vow, surely it's not just that."

[oohforeshadowing]

"It's also not how Fae tend to recruit new staff," they say, dryness concealing their anxiety. "Were there any unpaid debts or old disputes he left behind when he was claimed?"

[bleak_midwinter]

"Between him and the Fae? No."

She's been looking into that for years.

"But there may be something along the bloodline. We don't talk to everyone, and his father passed."

[oohforeshadowing]

And not that many Fae will pursue a grudge through multiple human generations, but those who do? Will go after the offending party like bloodhounds.

"What do you know about his...disappearance? Did anyone hear or see anything?"

[bleak_midwinter]

"The Fae were seen outside our house, but whatever else happened, happened inside."

"I got home from work and there was no one there," Ada supplies. "If you were able to track him here, can't you keep doing that?"

[oohforeshadowing]

Double shakes their head.

"Just their presence would have been enough to confuse the spell," they tell her. "Their inherent magic is too powerful for a great many means by which others use it."

They look to Polly.

"The Fae who were seen - did you get a description? The colour of their clothes, their hair?"

[bleak_midwinter]

"We can ask- Finn, go and fetch the O'Donnell boy, and have him bring his friend."

Finn nods nervously and strides out.

"You think you could recognize them?"

[oohforeshadowing]

"Some clans are more distinctive than others," Double says. "If we're lucky, there's something about them which might mark them out. If they did this in daylight hours, then at least they didn't care who saw them."

And at most, they wanted to be seen, to make a statement.