For devilinthedetails, Found: One Family, G
Apr 13, 2020 21:16:28 GMT 10
Vala and devilinthedetails like this
Post by Kypriotha on Apr 13, 2020 21:16:28 GMT 10
Title: Found: One Family
Rating: G
For: devilinthedetails
Prompt: A Tobe post-Lady Knight story
Summary: Tobe returns to visit New Hope a few years after the war. Some things have changed, but the most important things are still there (with added moustache).
Notes and Warnings: I hope you are in the mood for a bit of light, found family fluff, because that is what this piece turned into (but really, what else could a Tobe fic be about?).
***
The town of New Hope was bustling, its streets full of people and wagons and horses. Market day was always busy, but today especially so. The war with Scanra may have been over for a few years now, but the people of New Hope still celebrated the day that Blayce the Gallan had been slain and their hero, the Protector of the Small, had saved the town’s children. So today’s market day was twice as big and three times as festive and about four times as busy.
Tobeis Boon strolled through the streets, paying keen attention to everything he passed. Here was a new well, that building had a new roof, this square had been taken over with flower beds that bloomed golden in the early summer’s day. Just as he had grown in the years he had been away, so had the town, and Tobe wanted to see everything. It now spilled outside the walls that had built to protect it from Scanran raiders, although the battle flags and shields still remained. The wall itself remained too – just in case there was ever a need to defend the town from attack. Tobe fervently hoped that would never be necessary.
Rounding a corner, Tobe came upon the main square, every inch of crammed with people, animals and stalls. He waved at Saefas and Fanche as he passed their stall, but didn’t stop to talk. Now that she was no longer New Hope’s headwoman, Fanche had more time to spend making bows and arrows, which were always very popular at the market. Tobe would see them later at dinner, so he decided to dodge the big crowd that had already gathered at their stall and focus on his main destination
A few turns later, he found it. Restraining himself from rushing straight over, he adopted a casual saunter, as suited his more mature age. Tobe hoped this would signal he was a man now and was to be treated as such.
He needn’t have bothered. As soon as the two girls manning the stall saw him, they gave squeals of delight and rushed to envelop him in a big, limb tangling hug. He squirmed initially, sure it was beneath his new-found teenage dignity to be treated this way, even if it was by two pretty older girls, but then he relaxed into it, hoping the passers-by couldn’t see how happy it made him. Although his life was very different now than it had been before the war, he still remembered his attention-starved childhood. To him, there was nothing more wonderful, or more precious, than the love and affection of his found family.
However, there was still a limit to how much public affection one teenage boy could cope with and so eventually he had worm his way out of Loesia and Gydane’s clutches. They didn’t seem to mind, because now they could stand there beaming at him as they each inspected the other for any changes since the last time they had all been together. This was the longest time they had been apart since the end of the war, as Lady Kel’s duties had kept them away from the north, so this reunion was extra sweet. Tobe felt that he was the one who had changed the most in the intervening time. He had grown, both in height and in facial hair. He was cultivating a moustache and he thought it was coming along well. Apparently Loey didn’t agree.
“Is that a dead caterpillar on your upper lip?” she asked with a raised eyebrow. “That’s unfortunate. You should probably do something about that.”
Gydo smacked her lightly on the arm. “Don’t listen to her Tobe. I think it looks very nice.”
Tobe surreptitiously touched his face as he followed them back around their booth. Nice wasn’t exactly the adjective he was going for, but he supposed it was better than nothing. He settled into the chair Gydo pulled out for him and smiled at them both, unable to contain how happy he was to see them, even if they didn’t appreciate his new style.
“So how are you both? How’s business? Tell me everything!”
***
The three of them chattered all afternoon, exchanging news and gossip in between serving customers. The little dolls that Gydo made had been very popular with the children of New Hope even since Meech’s had returned almost intact from Scanra. Word had spread throughout the nearby towns and homesteads and, as a result, they were almost continuously busy until they sold out in the early hours of the afternoon. Once they’d packed up the stall, Gydo and Loey grabbed Tobe by the arms and dragged him all over New Hope, pointing out the changes and introducing him to new people, stopping to chat with old familiar faces in between. By the time they made it to Saefas and Fanche’s house for dinner, Tobe was feeling tired and fuzzy and his cheeks were aching from constant smiling, but he wouldn’t change one minute of it.
Gydo and Loey left him in the front room while they helped Saefas in the kitchen. Tobe offered to help too, but Fanche waved him into a chair by the fire.
“You look dead on your feet, my boy. Lady Kel told me how you rose early and rode ahead to be here in time for the market, so you can take it easy tonight. There’ll be plenty of other opportunities to help us around the house during your stay.”
Tobe’s beloved Mistress was already seated in the chair on the other side of the fire and she smiled over at him now. “I still can’t convince her to drop the honorific and just call me Kel. She’s just as stubborn as you are.”
Fanche snorted as she settled into one of the other chairs. “I told you, the people of this town will never call you anything but our Lady. We will never forget what we owe you and we will honour you as such.”
Lady Kel sighed and raised her arms in silent supplication, even as she ducked her head in embarrassment. Tobe was pleased Fanche was on his side on this one. His Lady had saved him and he would never dishonour her by not acknowledging her title, even if she was still the most unconventional noble he’d ever met. The fact she was using her rare and well-deserved time off to take her servant to visit his commoner friends in New Hope was proof of that. She would protest that they were her friends too, which just further underscored how different she was to other nobles, and Tobe loved her all the more for it. He worshipped the ground on which she walked just as much as he had when he was ten.
Soon they joined the others at the big dining table where Saefas had served up a meal fit for a whole company of nobles. Seated between his Lady and Gydo, Tobe felt the contentment well up inside him. Afraid it might come pouring out if he opened his mouth, he said little and focussed on absorbing the whole atmosphere. He couldn’t even rustle up his usual protests when Saefas teased him about the two pretty girls he had hanging off his arms all day, although both Loey and Gydo groaned and Loey threw a roll at him. Everyone at the table knew that the two girls were Tobe’s sisters. Being romantically involved with one of them would be just as weird as if Gydo and Meech announced they were getting married. But Tobe knew that Saefas was just playing up to his jovial uncle role. Everyone at that dining table was his family and he had loved every single minute since he had found them all.
Rating: G
For: devilinthedetails
Prompt: A Tobe post-Lady Knight story
Summary: Tobe returns to visit New Hope a few years after the war. Some things have changed, but the most important things are still there (with added moustache).
Notes and Warnings: I hope you are in the mood for a bit of light, found family fluff, because that is what this piece turned into (but really, what else could a Tobe fic be about?).
***
The town of New Hope was bustling, its streets full of people and wagons and horses. Market day was always busy, but today especially so. The war with Scanra may have been over for a few years now, but the people of New Hope still celebrated the day that Blayce the Gallan had been slain and their hero, the Protector of the Small, had saved the town’s children. So today’s market day was twice as big and three times as festive and about four times as busy.
Tobeis Boon strolled through the streets, paying keen attention to everything he passed. Here was a new well, that building had a new roof, this square had been taken over with flower beds that bloomed golden in the early summer’s day. Just as he had grown in the years he had been away, so had the town, and Tobe wanted to see everything. It now spilled outside the walls that had built to protect it from Scanran raiders, although the battle flags and shields still remained. The wall itself remained too – just in case there was ever a need to defend the town from attack. Tobe fervently hoped that would never be necessary.
Rounding a corner, Tobe came upon the main square, every inch of crammed with people, animals and stalls. He waved at Saefas and Fanche as he passed their stall, but didn’t stop to talk. Now that she was no longer New Hope’s headwoman, Fanche had more time to spend making bows and arrows, which were always very popular at the market. Tobe would see them later at dinner, so he decided to dodge the big crowd that had already gathered at their stall and focus on his main destination
A few turns later, he found it. Restraining himself from rushing straight over, he adopted a casual saunter, as suited his more mature age. Tobe hoped this would signal he was a man now and was to be treated as such.
He needn’t have bothered. As soon as the two girls manning the stall saw him, they gave squeals of delight and rushed to envelop him in a big, limb tangling hug. He squirmed initially, sure it was beneath his new-found teenage dignity to be treated this way, even if it was by two pretty older girls, but then he relaxed into it, hoping the passers-by couldn’t see how happy it made him. Although his life was very different now than it had been before the war, he still remembered his attention-starved childhood. To him, there was nothing more wonderful, or more precious, than the love and affection of his found family.
However, there was still a limit to how much public affection one teenage boy could cope with and so eventually he had worm his way out of Loesia and Gydane’s clutches. They didn’t seem to mind, because now they could stand there beaming at him as they each inspected the other for any changes since the last time they had all been together. This was the longest time they had been apart since the end of the war, as Lady Kel’s duties had kept them away from the north, so this reunion was extra sweet. Tobe felt that he was the one who had changed the most in the intervening time. He had grown, both in height and in facial hair. He was cultivating a moustache and he thought it was coming along well. Apparently Loey didn’t agree.
“Is that a dead caterpillar on your upper lip?” she asked with a raised eyebrow. “That’s unfortunate. You should probably do something about that.”
Gydo smacked her lightly on the arm. “Don’t listen to her Tobe. I think it looks very nice.”
Tobe surreptitiously touched his face as he followed them back around their booth. Nice wasn’t exactly the adjective he was going for, but he supposed it was better than nothing. He settled into the chair Gydo pulled out for him and smiled at them both, unable to contain how happy he was to see them, even if they didn’t appreciate his new style.
“So how are you both? How’s business? Tell me everything!”
***
The three of them chattered all afternoon, exchanging news and gossip in between serving customers. The little dolls that Gydo made had been very popular with the children of New Hope even since Meech’s had returned almost intact from Scanra. Word had spread throughout the nearby towns and homesteads and, as a result, they were almost continuously busy until they sold out in the early hours of the afternoon. Once they’d packed up the stall, Gydo and Loey grabbed Tobe by the arms and dragged him all over New Hope, pointing out the changes and introducing him to new people, stopping to chat with old familiar faces in between. By the time they made it to Saefas and Fanche’s house for dinner, Tobe was feeling tired and fuzzy and his cheeks were aching from constant smiling, but he wouldn’t change one minute of it.
Gydo and Loey left him in the front room while they helped Saefas in the kitchen. Tobe offered to help too, but Fanche waved him into a chair by the fire.
“You look dead on your feet, my boy. Lady Kel told me how you rose early and rode ahead to be here in time for the market, so you can take it easy tonight. There’ll be plenty of other opportunities to help us around the house during your stay.”
Tobe’s beloved Mistress was already seated in the chair on the other side of the fire and she smiled over at him now. “I still can’t convince her to drop the honorific and just call me Kel. She’s just as stubborn as you are.”
Fanche snorted as she settled into one of the other chairs. “I told you, the people of this town will never call you anything but our Lady. We will never forget what we owe you and we will honour you as such.”
Lady Kel sighed and raised her arms in silent supplication, even as she ducked her head in embarrassment. Tobe was pleased Fanche was on his side on this one. His Lady had saved him and he would never dishonour her by not acknowledging her title, even if she was still the most unconventional noble he’d ever met. The fact she was using her rare and well-deserved time off to take her servant to visit his commoner friends in New Hope was proof of that. She would protest that they were her friends too, which just further underscored how different she was to other nobles, and Tobe loved her all the more for it. He worshipped the ground on which she walked just as much as he had when he was ten.
Soon they joined the others at the big dining table where Saefas had served up a meal fit for a whole company of nobles. Seated between his Lady and Gydo, Tobe felt the contentment well up inside him. Afraid it might come pouring out if he opened his mouth, he said little and focussed on absorbing the whole atmosphere. He couldn’t even rustle up his usual protests when Saefas teased him about the two pretty girls he had hanging off his arms all day, although both Loey and Gydo groaned and Loey threw a roll at him. Everyone at the table knew that the two girls were Tobe’s sisters. Being romantically involved with one of them would be just as weird as if Gydo and Meech announced they were getting married. But Tobe knew that Saefas was just playing up to his jovial uncle role. Everyone at that dining table was his family and he had loved every single minute since he had found them all.