blood sweat tear

[imeanforever]

He's moving her to a different court to see if it'll improve her attitude. She's allowed to fly. It's been a long, long time since she was allowed to -

She is only allowed to fly to her destination, not anywhere else. She notices that she is not where she should be, that she cannot progress to where she was told to go, and she careens out of control when her wings won't flap anymore, and she crashes.

---

with Miles (kappa)

with Minus (kappa)

Comments

[imeanforever]

"And I'm incapable of harming you, that comes with the names-or-food thing. Which is called vassalization."

[thisvorlunatic]

"I hope you don't mind me saying that I am offended on a very fundamental level by the existence of this phenomenon," he says.

[imeanforever]

"I wasn't planning to defend it."

[thisvorlunatic]

"Well. I have no idea where to start looking for a gate to Fairyland," he says. "What can I do in the genre of seeing to your immediate comfort? I can go get you those painkillers but I confess I don't have anything that's been tested on fairies. There are plenty of spare bedrooms in this house and you are welcome to occupy one for the forseeable future."

[imeanforever]

"I don't know if the painkillers will work either. I... don't know very much about healing injuries the long way around. I can't do sorcery here but I usually heal myself that way whenever I'm allowed. I could... I could use some rest."

[thisvorlunatic]

"There's non-magical medical attention available here, potentially, but it comes with complications and I have no idea how fairy biology works so even if I procured a doctor I don't know how much good he could do for you. I can show you to the guest rooms if you'd like...?"

[imeanforever]

Nod. She wipes tears off her face with her not-broken hand.

[thisvorlunatic]

"I'm - sorry about whatever happened that got you into this state," he says, a bit helplessly. His gaze keeps flinching away from those broken bones. "The guest rooms are this way. I have no idea how to judge the risks of giving a fairy painkillers but if you want to try it I will get you some."

Off to the guest rooms.

[imeanforever]

"I'll try it. It's not like it's going to kill me." She follows him.

[thisvorlunatic]

"...yes, that is pretty unlikely..." he says, slowly, in the tone of one who perceives a deeper meaning and isn't sure how to ask after it.

[imeanforever]

"...I'm a fairy. We're immortal."

[thisvorlunatic]

"Lucky you," is the first thing that comes to mind, and he reflects on this for a moment and then adds, "probably."

[imeanforever]

"Usually. Lucky, not immortal. We're always immortal."

[thisvorlunatic]

"Yeah..."

Contemplative silence. Stairs.

[imeanforever]

She flies rather than try to walk up the stairs.

[thisvorlunatic]

The helpful mortal is at first startled by the flying, then slightly envious.

And when they reach the next floor: "Here are the guest rooms, and here," he retrieves a bottle of pills from a cabinet in the first room on the left, "are the painkillers. My wild unsubstantiated guess at what will be least dangerous and most effective."

[imeanforever]

"Thank you. ...Do you have a nickname I can use? I'm Promise."

[thisvorlunatic]

"Um, let me think," he says. "What's the error margin on names? It's surprisingly difficult to come up with something off the top of my head that bears no relation to my name whatsoever..."

[imeanforever]

"If - on purpose or by accident - I entertain the hypothesis that your name contains a syllable, I'll know if it does or not and if it does that's it. But by default when you talk I'm not paying any attention to sounds, just meanings."

[thisvorlunatic]

"...One moment while I curse the human tendency to name things after people," he says, blinking. "So no fictional characters whose name isn't mine but might be someone's, in case you run into such a person and accidentally - vassalize them. A remarkable number of towns and geographical features also out of the running for similar reasons. Um, um. How about 'Silver'."

[imeanforever]

"Didn't click into place, you're fine."

[thisvorlunatic]

"Although I probably should first have asked what specific criteria qualify a particular collection of syllables as being one's name."

[imeanforever]

"The first name you are given. I don't know very much about mortal naming customs to go into much more detail than that."

[thisvorlunatic]

"...Well that's a potentially fascinating experiment that is in no way worth the risk..." he mutters.

[imeanforever]

"I don't want to hurt anybody, but I don't blame you for not wanting to try it."