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**Learning new tricks

By: VeronicaFoxx

For: Arrow**

Angelmaris was, strangely enough, actually looking forward to going to class. Or rather, Angel Maris Hiems was. The assumed name was only slightly annoying. It did incorporate his chosen name, and the surname that Bastion had chosen meant "one who keeps and tends animals through the winter." He found it rather flattering that the half-breed dragonling sorcerer had taken such care in selecting it. It was, unfortunately, one of several reasons for him to be thankful to the Ambassador of the Dragon Flights.

Cyrillion Bastion (or, as he was often referred to behind his back, Cyrillion the Bastard) was going to be rather interesting to deal with directly, or even at a step removed. With Richard as the faerie lord's current liege, there were thankfully only a few instances in which he would need to deal with the half-breed without his pet human as a buffer. Well... not exactly pet any longer, which was also an annoyance. He was beholden to Richard, dependent on him for housing and sustenance and protection and... he shuddered at the mere thought, but guidance. It had been far too long since the small fae had spent any appreciable amount of linear time in the mortal realm. Things had moved on apace, as humans were wont to do, and Angelmaris had been left rather far behind. The modern mortal world was... very confusing, and absolutely brimming with steel. He was rather grateful to Richard (and Bastion) for allowing him the purchase of several sets elbow- and shoulder-length gloves so that he could actually handle touching things without constantly burning himself. When had iron become such a prevalent resource?

He supposed that was one of the several things that he would need to catch up on, hence his initiation into the college taking remedial classes. Remedial classes! He was a Lord of Faerie! Attendant upon both Mab and Titania! He was far older than the entirety of humanity itself. He recalled the wild times before the mortals had gained sentience, hunting in the primeval muck and jungles and seas, running wild and rampant through the world that was while knowing that it could not last. They had, of course, imported a large number of those ancient creatures into the fae realms, but the magic of the Fae Wilds had, of course, tainted them. They became something other, no longer truly mortal, faerie creatures in their own right. There were a large number of fae who still enjoyed them, enjoyed the primal wildness of them, but those were... throwbacks, in Angelmaris's opinion. They were primeval creatures themselves, uncivilized, uncultured, unimportant to the Faerie Courts. But also unchained from the politics and obligations and intrigue of the Courts. He was a bit wistful of being one of them, because it would have prevented him from landing in his current, admittedly entirely self-inflicted, predicament. If he hadn't been trying so hard to impress the Queens, and all of the other Lords and Ladies who thought him so insignificant...

Knowledge was power, or so he kept telling himself. In the fae realms, it could quite literally be true, but here it was a different tale. Still, if he were going to be spending any amount of time in the mortal realm, and it looked like he would be, then he would need to know how to move through it, how to live in it. Knowing its current history and the developments that had led to this strange metal-filled modern world would be paramount to thriving rather than merely surviving. And unless and until he could rectify his horrific missteps, he would be forced to survive here. If he ever wanted to return to the fae realms with his status still intact, he would need to find a way to weasel out of his current obligations. A stay in the mortal realm could be forgiven if he could turn the whole experience into a grand tale of intrigue, conspiracy, underhanded dealings, and misdirection with himself coming out the victor. If he could manage to snare Bastion in the web as well, it might even increase his status. But first he had to figure out how to live under the restrictions that had been placed on him...

"You okay, Angel?" the human shifter asked, his voice soft and solicitous, yet it still made the faerie jump, startled from his musings.

"Oh. Yes, yes, I am quite alright, thank you. I was simply... considering how long it has been since I attended any kind of learning. The fae tend to do things in a far more direct manner. You face a situation and learn from it, or you die. Or you find a way to learn from someone else's attempts and mistakes. Seeking advice or aid always comes at a cost these days, so it is usually preferable to learn on your own."

"It's not like going to college is free. At least not in America. Cy is paying for it, so you'll owe him rather than having student loans, which, let me tell you, is definitely not something you want to deal with. You think your people are serious about collecting on a debt? The only thing worse than student debt is owing the IRS. Or medical debt... which is, again, pretty much strictly an American thing... We have a lot that could be better... I'm gonna stop talking about that before I depress myself..."

"Medical debt," Angel scoffed. "Where I come from, those to whom you owe fealty are obligated to ensure your health, treatment, and recovery. Even if you managed to land yourself in the situation to begin with. Those above care for those below, and those below care for those above, and all thrive and profit from it. Simple. Elegant."

"What about all the backstabbing and whatnot? How does that factor into it?"

"Politics has nothing to do with basic wellbeing. The same lord or lady who slips the knife between your ribs may well find themselves obliged to mend the wound afterwards. The only ones who want for anything are those who choose to live outside of society, and even they care for one another. The Wild fae are... Do you smell that?"

It was a strangely familiar scent, one that tickled at his memory. Almost as if discussing it had summoned them, he saw them emerging from the side door of the building that Richard had been angling them towards. A half-breed changeling. A Wild fae changeling. There was the normal human stink overlaid by an animalistic musk, with that hint of sparkling brightness that was inherent to all fae, even the half-breeds. He couldn't keep the sneer from his lips as they turned onto the same path that Richard and himself walked as the shifter escorted him to his first class of the day. Worse, they slowed as they neared Richard and himself, glancing between himself and the shifter with a look of friendly welcome that became slightly confused concern when they saw his displeasure at their presence.

"Heeeeey, Rich. Who's your... friend?"

"Hey, Marley, this is Angel. He's new here. Both here here and the US. He came over from Greece. I'm just helping him get around campus for a few days. He's, uh... my new roommate. Angel, this is Marley. She's a friend."

Marley gave a slightly skeptical nod, staring down at the fae, then sneezed and rubbed at her nose. "Oh, well. Um. Hi, Angel."

"Hello..." the faerie greeted in return, inserting every ounce of scathing disdain that he could into his tone.

"Angel!" Richard said sharply, and he looked up to find his human liege giving him a furious glare.

"What? It's a Wildling, and a half-breed at that. Can't you smell it?"

"Angel, first off, wow, I don't even know where to begin, but that is not how you talk to people!"

"It's a Wildling! We can talk to it however we want. It's not like it matters to anyone. I haven't met a single one who knew their parentage properly, bastards one and all. At least half of them would rather fornicate with a beast than with another of their own kind, and then they insist on interbreeding with the rest of us and polluting -"

His head, already turned to the side, snapped even further around. He spun, stumbled, fell. His head rang, a fierce numbness spreading through his left cheek and radiating upwards into his skull and downwards into his neck, a numbness that threatened to become pain quite soon. He tried to thrust himself furiously to his feet and retaliate against his assaulter, but he barely got half of the way up before he wobbled and fell back onto all fours. The world spun around him, feeling like a small boat on a stormy sea. He decided that it might be better to sit, so he rolled over, propping himself up on the concrete walkway and looking around with bewildered alarm, hoping that no further attack was incoming while he was still so vigorously rattled from the first one.

He saw Richard and Marley now standing several feet away from him, off the path and onto the grass of the green that stretched out in front of and between the campus buildings. The Wildling was gesticulating vigorously and looked to be having a strange fit, the light brown of her skin flushed with a deep crimson, tears pouring down her cheeks, and seemingly caught between letting Richard comfort and calm her or fleeing from the scene. Richard seemed intent on getting himself hit by her wild flailing, his hands sliding from her shoulders down to her elbows and back up, his expression both intent and furious. Angelmaris lifted a hand to brush at his cheek as he felt the numbness turn to stinging tingles. His fingers came away with translucent pink tainting them. He was bleeding. He wished the ringing in his ears would cease so that he could understand what was going on. It was probably a good thing that they were relatively alone. There was no one very near, certainly not near enough to have seen what had happened. It was severely embarrassing to have been attacked by a Wildling half-breed and not even seen it coming. He'd never live this down if it got back to the Courts.

The faerie's hearing was returning at about the same rate as the left side of his face became hot and agonizing, pain throbbing through his cheek in a steady pulse that beat a hammer against his brain. He could feel it swelling. His teeth felt loose, as well, everything on that side of his face seeming strangely wobbly and jelly-like. He needed to heal himself, just a minor incantation would do. He tried to get himself upright once more, and he more or less succeeded. He was still unsteady on his feet, but he managed a determined, if wobbly, stride towards the pair. Marley saw him coming and threw up her hands, gesturing towards the faerie then slapping her hands against her thighs before striding off and away. Probably afraid of the righteous retribution that Angelmaris would inflict once he got leave to return the favor.

Except Richard turned towards him with a look of absolute rage, and he knew instinctively that it was directed at him rather than on his behalf. He paused in his own approach as the shifter began stomping towards him. He now considered it rather unfortunate that his hearing had recovered, and he considered feigning a swoon, but he doubted that would inspire much in the way of pity with the human's current mood.

"I can't believe you!" Richard hissed as he drew near. "Jesus! I knew you thought humans were beneath you, but I thought you were starting to get over that. I guess not-quite-a-month was a bit much to expect that in, but you were acting almost decent, and now blatant, outright racism? What do you have against black people? Or mixed ones?"

"Black?" Angelmaris was even more confused. "What?"

The human slapped a hand over his eyes, wiped it down his face, took a deep breath, and huffed out a long, disgusted-sounding sigh. "Okay. Explain to me, right now, in as few words as possible, why you so completely and unforgivably rude to Marley. I want to know why you were acting that way so that I know how to address this. Whatever your reasons, you are going to behave differently from now on, but knowing the root cause will help me figure out how to get you to change the unacceptable behavior."

The faerie eyed him askance. Bastion had lent the human several books regarding both animal training and child rearing, for one reason or another, and the shifter had begun using language that he seemed to have picked up for them whenever he found a situation untenable where either the fae lord or the pet harpy were concerned. Angelmaris did his best to compose himself and walk the silly human through the very simple reasoning as to why this Marley was unworthy of their attention, respect, or acknowledgement.

"It's a Wildling, as I was -"

"STOP." Richard was quite firm, and the small faerie came to an immediate halt in his explanation. "Marley is not an 'it.' Marley is a 'she.' Marley is human, and I thought you understood that you..." The human paused to let out another frustrated sigh. "She. Continue."

"She is a Wildling, then. A half-breed Wildling."

"Stop. Explain why you keep calling her that. What's a Wildling? And I get the idea that you don't mean the same thing by half-breed as I think you do."

Angelmaris sighed in turn, reminding himself to have patience. Humans were so unbearably ignorant of the fae, but it tended to work out better for everyone that way. "A Wildling is one of the Wild fae. They're a group unbeholden to either Queen or King, aside from their Erlking, part of neither Court. They're neither Winter nor Summer, nor even Spring or Fall. They live... wild. They're uncivilized. The Queens treat with their leader as an equal, even accord him respect and rank just below their own, but everyone knows that they only humor him. He's nothing, and the Wildlings are nothing. They're barely worth calling faeries. They're savages, barely above animals. They -"

Richard held up a hand, and he paused. "I think I get the idea. You think they're, like, living in the third world or something. But, let me make sure I understand this correctly, they choose to live like that. Right? You said that they cared for each other and all. They're not forced to live that way because of lack of resources or technology or... well, I guess magic not technology, but you get where I'm going. They live like that because they want to, right?"

"Well yes, but what kind of being chooses to live like a beast, in the dirt and muck and elements, barely clothed, and -"

"Okay, that's enough of that. Explain the half-breed thing."

"Very well..." Angelmaris said after a frustrated pause. "Honestly, the best thing you humans ever did was invent civilization. We simply perfected it. But! Yes, yes, half-breed, I know. She's a half-breed. What more is there to say? Obviously one of her parents was a Wildling, and the other human. Since she's here, I'd suspect the sire to be fae rather than the mother. At least the rest of us look after our changelings. Mostly. Usually. It's considered rather poor form not to, unless it was done as revenge or a prank or some other scheme to begin with. Then it all depends on how that works out on whomever was the intended victim..."

"Okay, a changeling, as I understand it, is a faerie child that takes the place of a human one or something like that?"

"Sort of? Sometimes? Technically, it's any kind of fae creature which chooses to exile itself from Faerie in favor of living in the mortal realm. They give up much of what makes them fae in order to do so. Or, in the case of half-breeds, they rarely ever had that to begin with. I am not a changeling, in case you were intending to make that argument, as I fully intend to return to the realms of Faerie at my earliest opportunity to do so without incurring further debts and having shed the ones that currently shackle me. If I gave up on that desire, then I would become one, which I shall not do."

"Okay. So... Point one." Richard crouched down to make himself more on the faerie's level and held up fingers to count on. "Just because people live differently than you do, whether they chose to live that way or not, it does not make you better than them or them less than you. It just makes them different. Point two. Marley does not, so far as I'm aware, know that her father was fae. She doesn't know who her father was, and that's a really sore point, as you might have figured out. Third point. She's black. Or half black. African-American. And you just came off as oh-my-GOD-so-racist that you're honestly lucky she only punched you once. The fact that you look like a little girl in that dress probably helped, and the fact that you went down like a sack of potatoes. Point four. You are absolutely going to never say those things again. No one here is less than you. Hell, a lot of them are better people than you are right now, or might ever be.

"And, here's the kicker, Angel. Point five. You have embarrassed me. Publicly. In front of my peers, and you may have completely ruined a friendship. You've made me less in her eyes, made me lose prestige or whatever, because of the fact that I have actively chosen to associate myself with you, at least so far as she understands. So you're going to be better, and you're going to apologize to her after giving her a few days to cool down. And you're going to be sincere in that apology. You're going to explain that you understand how wrong the things you said were. If she asks what you meant about half-breed and Wildling, you can make up a convincing lie. Angelmaris, you have disappointed me, and you have hurt me, both in and of myself and my standing with someone whom I care about. Do you understand?"

The faerie gulped. It was like being hit a second time, but even worse because it struck at the strands of magic that sang through his entire being, and it stuck a rather discordant set of notes in the doing. He had embarrassed his liege. That was far, far worse than anything else he could have done. It would have been less damaging had he simply murdered the human shifter. Betrayal, backstabbery, conniving, scheming; all those were forgivable. Even embarrassment was forgivable if it had been done intentionally, but this had not been. He had quite firmly placed Richard in a position of obligation to Marley, which tripled his own obligation to Richard in order to repair the damage done. And he felt the snarl that had begun to twist against itself within him since he had been forced to give his fealty to Richard tighten and squirm. It was rather unpleasant, but his severely increased obligation was even more so.

"I understand, Richard. I apologize to you for my faulty behavior, and I shall mend my ways as best I can. I promise that I shall provide all those here with every courtesy due to one whom you consider a peer. As my liege, that places them above my station, and I shall accord them the respect due that position."

The shifter looked like he was going to say something else, but he let out a long huff instead. "Good enough for now. Okay, you really don't need to show up to class looking like that. So, I'm going to give you leave to use some magic, but only a very little amount. You can cast a glamour to make your face look normal, but you don't get to heal it. You deserved that, and you can let it heal naturally. That won't make anything better, but maybe it'll teach you a lesson."

The fae sighed, but his blood sang with joy as he was allowed to finally use his power again, even for something so minor. He was going to have to make things right, and try very hard not to screw things up so severely again, if he wanted to be able to ever use it freely once more.

The End

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