#yhelm 8

[autumnbrambleagain]

Yhelm p8 - readmore for full

It was an especially busy day! It was an especially coffee-hungry day.

See, whenever it rained you could say Drizzle was visiting, because that was the god that was made of rain, it was a fair turn-of-phrase. Sometimes Drizzle actually was visiting, though. Especially here in Flyhhnemonia, where at least two gods lived full-time already, you sometimes had other gods stop in. Was good for business. Lots of people coming around to see who'd show up! But Drizzle, she was on day-3 of her visit. Meadoe knew what she and Flyhh were doing to enjoy one another's company so long but it had been raining the entire time.

But that cool dreary gray weather on an otherwise hot summer week? You know what was a good pick-me-up from that? Coffee. To be fair, Afternoon Sale thought coffee was the solution to nearly everything, which was a luxury of perspective afforded to her by being the unannounced god of coffees. So to be fair, there were three gods living in Flyhhnemonia at all times, and she was one of them, and she was a god of coffee, but she was not a god of customer service, and so she had done the unthinkable and hired on a little victim waitress for the duration of the rains.

Possibly longer. She was coffee colored and flavored and had the right head about her. Afternoon Sale's first Servant, in the prehistoric sense of a subordinate identity of a god formed back before time began. Still needed to be trained though. Still needed to be taught The Secret Arts. Like how to tell from a glance exactly what was going on with every party they were entertaining, how to tell what they all needed to drink (not what they wanted, irrelevant, useless factoids that). How to tell, with a mere look of her expert button eye, ah, how you could read the mood like a rabbit on the walk!

"See that group there," Afternoon Sale whispered down to Nel, "that's trouble."

"Oh!" Nel said, in her smart little voice. "How can you tell, Prim'ent?"

Afternoon Sale crossed her lace-drenched arms and lifted her mouthless face so the light played a smile across its fabric. "You see, Nel, you must always Know with a Glance-like surety why everyone has come in. Mostly everyone here today is looking for an excuse out of the rain. Those four! Look at the strong resemblance between the two freepeople, and how they sit on just one side, together. Note closely how the adversary looks just similar enough to the freepeople, but oh, oh you can see it can't you? Half. Siblings! And what's that? A phanteasel at her side? A stiffness to everyone's posture? This, Nel! This. This is a family reunion. And a rocky one at that. So we'll need to provide the best service possible. If their lives are ruined it's our fault, Nel! Entirely on us! The Rose Knights will come to take us away and by Attic Door I will fight my best but we mustn't let it come to that."

This was a family reunion. Seated as far from the asylum-seeking coffee-drinkers as possible, Yhelm was, for the first time in several years, seeing her younger brother. Family. It was Latti's insistance they do it. She and Yhelm had been meeting on the regular since summer'd started and she'd finally convinced Yhelm it was time to make amends with the family. To rebuild bridges.

So yeah okay. Here Yhelm was. She was in her leather jacket, because she needed to feel some kind of protection between her and everything else around her? And Madrigal was here, wearing very a respectable phanteasel-style mantle-and-skirt combo, patterned and adorned. And across from them, Latti, ever clean and pretty, wearing a heavier dust-blue mantle for the rain this time.

And Bodo.

The youngest sibling. The little brother.

The child Yhelm's parents had brought into the world as a do-over, because Yhelm was the consequence of mom being raped, and gosh, they sure couldn't let their last child be a rape-baby, could they? And an adversary at that. No, no. Better to have another freeperson child. Better to have another baby that was both of theirs. That was like them. Better to invent a reason to ignore Yhelm except also maybe Yhelm could go be super successful to justify her own existence? But we still get to ignore her because we have Bodo now? Both? Yes, both.

Yhelm sighed. They'd been sitting here for less than the count of an entire minute and she was already in a bad mood. That was the problem with families, the problem with family reunions. You could never have them alone. Your parents were always in the room even if they weren't. And their problems, their, massive, heavy palanquin of problems, all three siblings had borne their own corner of the weight and now by their struggles combined a lifetime of context had joined them for coffee and just, Flyhh preserve it had real shitty table manners.

Bodo was the same light color fur as Latti. The same blue eyes. The same fluffy leaf-ears. But he had changed too, in the years since Yhelm had seen him. He was taller now. He was, what? 16? Ten years younger than her? He had been a child last she'd seen him. He was an adult now. He was tall. He was still somewhat pudgy, but in that way dad--the dad that wasn't actually Yhelm's dad, but was Latti and Bodo's dad--in the way their dad wore it respectfully. Bodo had been a little goof. He'd been the baby.

He looked so serious. In a proper suit. A red bowtie. The little nubs of his antlers. The, the absolute displeasure he was looking at Madrigal and Yhelm with.

"So wow!" Latti said chipperly. "Isn't this amazing? The three of us in the same room? Almost four years?"

Bodo spoke, and his voice was so much deeper than Yhelm felt it should be. This was so bizarre. "It could have been less if Yhelm hadn't thrown us out of her life."

Latti grimaced. Yhelm kept her card face. Straight, angular, red eyes narrowed, relaxed. She wasn't sure if Latti had confirmed for Bodo the rumors that she was a professional criminal or not. He’d probably heard. He would probably assume it if he hadn’t. That was fine. She actually was a Guild enforcer. She dealt with actually dangerous people daily. She wasn't going to show a single crack in her armor to a 16 year old brat.

Fuck this was off to a bad start.

♥This is off to a real bad start,♥ Yhelm sent Madrigal across their shared Love connection.

♥Are you joking? No one's even yelling yet. This is going great.♥ Their wordless voice was a comfort.

♥Haha.♥

Afternoon Sale appeared at the table. She arrived like a late train, instantly becoming the center of attention, the center of frustration. She was not a god of customer service but she prided herself an expert at it all the same, even if, especially if, it meant interrupting tense moments and making them about her instead. "Helllooooo! Lattiiii, Yhelmmm, Maddie, so good to see you three again! Drizzle didn't give you too wet of a time out there? And you little mister, you're new! Let! Me guess. Little brother. And by your dress… law… clerk. Am I right? You must tell me!"

Law clerk? What? Afternoon Sale was on the nose almost always but what? Since when was he into Law?

Bodo looked up at the lace-soaked knicknack with the same annoyed face he'd been giving Yhelm and Madrigal. Maybe that was just how his face was now? "I am a junior law clerk of the out-city court Cabdrydal," he said, as if he were correcting her. Law? Since when was Bodo into Law!?

"Well hey isn't that fun!" Afternoon Sale said! "You have a lawizard, an acadamage, and a mathemagician all in the same family! Preeeeetty magical!" She had leaned in over the table, right in the way. Yhelm couldn't see Bodo now. This was the best cafe. "So I think for my usuals it's their usuals, although Yhelm needs hers a tad more bitter than normal, and Latti a tad more sweet, and Maddie, oh, honestly, raspberry in with the honey, what an ailment for you to need such a prescription! But you! My little law clerklet!"

Yhelm couldn't see through Afternoon Sale but Bodo made an annoyed noise. Yhelm could imagine his face, but she'd already forgotten what he looked like as an adult. He was still 12 years old in her head. She couldn't shake it. "It's not clerklet--" he tried.

"A very serious black coffee for a very serious little man, then. Oh, don't worry. I will not tell your sisters, not the oldest you're trying to impress nor the middle child you're here to get angry at, oh! Doctor-patient confidentiality, I will not tell them you want cinnamon and sugar in it because you can't handle the bitter! Which is the same as your sister Yhelm here, who also needs it bitter even though she'd much rather have it sweet. Well! That's settled, I'll be out of your way."

And with that, she was, and Bodo and Yhelm could see one another again. It had worked. Bodo looked like he was more confused and annoyed at Afternoon Sale than at Yhelm now. Yhelm wondered if he understood what the knicknack had said. Yhelm had.

Latti tried to excuse the coffee god. "Afternoon Sale has her own unique way of doing things, but she's always exactly on the mark for her orders! I don't think I've ever heard a single customer want to send a cup back. Oh, she does the most amazing blends. I hear she gets some of her coffee from as far out as the Sclera."

Yhelm needed to say something. Other than her hellos when they had come in she hadn't, she hadn't even said anything yet. She had to at least try, right? "Her coffee is unreasonably good. I didn't even especially like coffee before Latti showed me this place."

"Mmm," Bodo said helpfully.

Madrigal's thoughts vibrated at the edge of Yhelm. ♥I'm going to try to talk to Bodo.♥

♥Okay,♥ she answered. ♥Good luck.♥

"Law clerk, though, that's really good work," they said.

Bodo glared at them. Just, wow, that was a full on glare. That was the kind of look that'd start a bite-fight in less polite company. Yhelm had seen a guy get stabbed for making that face before. "Unfortunately for you, I'm not for sale."

Holy shit. Yhelm leaned forward just a little bit. "What does that mean?" She hadn't meant for her voice to be somewhat growly but here it was anyway.

Bodo gave her the same look. "I'm not stupid, Yhelm. Mother and father aren't stupid, either. We know what you do. We know where your money comes from."

"And where," Yhelm asked, "is that?"

"Crime." Bodo said the word with a grevious weight, as if it was a legal pronouncement that would draw Aiax down from the stars to pass judgement himself. "Maybe Latti can pretend to ignore it because you're ostensibly family, but you and your weasel are criminals. Or did you really think I wouldn't know? Do you really think you're that clever?" There was a mocking, triumphant little giggle to his words. It was a child winning an argument. He was still 12.

"Bodo!" Latti said. Scandalized. "They aren't trying to bribe you! We're family, Flyhh's love we can't be fighting like this!"

Bodo looked sideways, slyly, at Latti, like he was an actor broadcasting his actions so the people in the back could see them. "Is she our sister? Or is she just our half-sister?"

Madrigal pinged again. ♥Hey uh. Does Bodo know why you're an adversary and no one else in the family is?♥

♥I have no clue,♥ she sent back.

"Bodo!" Latti was actually looking fairly pissed off now. At least, Yhelm thought, she was on their side? That was neat? To have family defending her for once? "I honestly did not expect this from you--"

"Why?" Bodo said, and now he was done with the cool act and his ears were folded back and, honestly, he just looked like he was 12. "Do you think I'm stupid?" he laughed. "That only you two can be the smart ones? I figured it out years ago. I figured out why they never want to talk about where Yhelm came from. Go ahead and tell me it was just an affair! You know it, I know it, and I bet damn well she knows it! She's the issue of a crime. How fitting that she turns back to her birthright."

♥Welp,♥ Yhelm and Madrigal simultaneously sent to one another.

Bodo drew himself up all proud and delighted. Latti's face--well that was sure a mixture of devastated and frustrated all at once. She was half-standing up. She sat back down. She looked at the table and not at anyone else at all. She was muttering something Yhelm couldn't hear. Bodo, though, he smiled with just this, this look of supreme victory at Yhelm and Madrigal. Like he'd won. Oh no. Of course.

"Oh no," Yhelm said, and her voice was soft and not a growl now. "Oh no Bodo you're the same. That's what Afternoon Sale meant."

"You and I are nothing--"

"You have to showboat and show me up and humiliate and threaten me so you can justify to mom and dad that you're better than me so they can feel better about themselves. So they can feel like you were worth it. You want to be able to go back to them today and say, you saw Yhelm, and you really let her have it for being a disappointment. With the unspoken coda of, please love and respect me and tell me I deserve to exist. Yeah. No. Sorry, Bo. They're putting you through everything they put me through. It's your turn. They sent you to law school didn't they? That was their idea? Their plan for you?"

Bodo didn't answer verbally. Every individual fur on his body shouted yes though.

♥Good job mom and dad,♥ Yhelm sent to Madrigal. ♥That's two lives they basically fucked up in their mad dash to deal with their trauma.♥

♥This is real shitty,♥ Maddie agreed. ♥I'm also worried he's too young to really get the--♥

"They paid for my law apprenticeship," Bodo said, and Madrigal stopped messaging. He leaned over the table without any kind of proper lawizard dignity. 12 years old. "Do you know what I didn't do? I didn't throw all of it away so I could go waste my life on something," he gestured an angry paw at Madrigal, "trivial!"

Wow.

"Bodo--" Latti started,

and Yhelm finished, "--this is the City of Love. Our princess is literally made of Love, Bodo. Love is one of the twelve original elements that the world grew out of, Bodo. Don't act like you don't know this, I helped you walk the Wall when you were a child, Bodo. Nothing done for Love is trivial. You can talk whatever shit you want about me but you can leave my partner of eleven years out of it. Thanks."

"Honestly," Madrigal said, their voice soft and little, "I think you're just jealous Yhelm got away and is living how she wants."

At that exact moment Afternoon Sale arrived with everyone's drinks. Bodo tried to explode but oh, Afternoon Sale had so very much to say about the quality of her coffee and the specific location of the beans and by the time she was done everyone was quiet again.

Yhelm's was really bitter. Bodo's clearly was, too. He drank it angrily, like getting it all down would show them a thing or two, threw far too much money on the table, dropped out the chair onto his fours, and just like that he was pushing his way out the door and into the rain.

"Well fuck me," Yhelm said quietly.

"I am--so sorry, Yhelm!" Latti apologized superfluously. "I can't believe he would come just for a chance to yell you out."

"Mom and dad aren't great people, huh."

#autumn writes things #autumn draws things #series tag yhelm #yhelm 8