voidtreckerexpress | On men and monsters [closed]

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On men and monsters [closed]

Who: Romeo, Khardeen and Elfnein
Where: Quiet coach
When: Egret day 4
What: Romeo agreed to training with Khardeen and also suggested some friends who would want training too. But then dreams happened and he needs to talk to Khardeen.
Warnings: There will be talk of violence and death, child slavery and all the myrid warnings that come with the Black Jewels series. I will add anything else specific if it comes up.

It's been a little while since the day they all had weird dreams and Romeo has mostly put them out of his mind. Some of them had been fun, like dancing on the big stage with Hibiki and some of them had been scary.

But mister Khardeen wanted to start teaching him. Romeo had said Elfnein, Madoka and Joss might like lessons too. But in his dream Khardeen had been very very scary. So now Romeo was worried. Because he didn't want to learn bad things and he didn't want his friends to learn off a bad person.

So he had some questions and had asked mister Khardeen to meet him in one of the quiet coaches. Asking big questions of grown ups was a scary thing but Romeo was determined to be brave and keep his spirits up.

He had asked Elfnein to go with him, because she was his god, she was good at knowing good and bad things and because his dream was very much like the memory dream he had and he knew he shouldn't try and talk about things like that without her there.

"... So I think he is a good person, but we just got to check. Because I don't want to learn bad things." He explained as they walked towards the quiet carriage.

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"I think the intentions they have are good? If it ends up becoming a bad situation we'll just run out of the carriage"

Asking questions that grown ups could answer was part of learning things outside of what the two of them could figure out on their own.

As they had agreed to meet up, Khary was in the car waiting for them, sitting in a seat as he studied a chess board floating in the air before him. Romeo would recognize it of course, but to Elfnein it might look a little odd. Not the usual size, the squares are light and dark opal, as are the pieces.And those pieces aren't the normal ones at all. A Queen he never met had once said of chess "there are no pawns", and she was right in many ways. There were however pawn like pieces that someone like him could and would sacrifice if needed to protect the vulnerable and the precious.

Hearing them he stood, the chess set vanishing. He gave Romeo a smile and a nod before giving Elfnein a deep bow that was not sarcastic, though there was amusement in his blue eyes when he rose. And then he waited for Romeo to do the introductions. And if the boy did not, he would gently explain the proper Protocol.

Romeo nodded to Elfnein, agreeing with her. If it turns bad they could run out of the carriage. He grinned at Khardeen as they entered the carriage and stood next to Elfnein as Khardeen stood up, made the chess set disappear and bowed to Elfnein.

He knows Khardeen well enough to know he is very formal sometimes and the hazy memories of the dream give him some context for that. Even though there were situations in the heavens where formality was important they weren't situations that Romeo found himself in often and Elfnein's temple was just the two of them, so no reason to be strict at all. But he knows how to be polite.

"Elfnein this is mister Khardeen! Um Lord Khardeen I think!" He grinned at her, "And this is Elfnein-sama, my god!"

She's still not very good at acting calm and collected when Romeo calls her that. It's why she always insisted that there wasn't need to formalities but, this seemed to be the time for it.

"You can just call me Elfnein! "

He gave a small approving nod to Romeo. "Lady Elfnein, it is an honor to make your acquaintance." He offered his hands out in front of him, palms up, to her.

Romeo smiled at them, his smile much brighter for Elfnein. He knows she gets embarrassed when he calls her that, which is why he only does it when it is very important that he is formal, or when she is really mad at him but that had only happened once!

He was quiet though as mister Khardeen said hello to Elfnein.

"It's nice to make your acquaintance as well, Romeo's told me a little bit about what happened during the dreams but meeting in person is quite different."

Elfnein held her hands out and tried to do a hand shake, though she wasn't really the best with physical greetings.

He seemed confused by what she was trying to do, so there was probably some odd physical comedy awkwardness as they each tried to use different hand greetings. "Ah..." he said with a laugh. "In my culture the one who serves puts their hands palms up, the one who rules places their hands atop, palms down. In the absence of a relationship of ruling and serving directly, if one is male and the other female, the male offers his palms up, an acknowledgment of the strength inherent in the distaff gender."

This was as much an explanation to Elfnien as it was a lesson in Protocol for Romeo.

"Among those of the same gender, generally it goes by Jewel rank or social rank depending on the situation."

And then a rueful smile. "Well yes, let us hope that we never have so dark a situation here as we had during that dream. Though I am pleased that he was able to briefly meet Jaenelle."

Romeo watched them, it was always tricky when people from different worlds used different gestures. But they figured it out in the end and Khardeen explained why his gesture was the way it was.

It was very strange but Romeo knew his world was strange and had strange ideas so he wasn't too surprised, he just moved over to stand next to Elfnein.

"I hope not as well sir."

"I've never heard of such a greeting before. It's quite interesting, using rank like that in how you greet people."

Now she just feels really embarrassed for not picking up on it sooner, thinking it was a standard handshake wasn't the right thing to do.

"It's still important for us to be able to take on situations like that so we're not blindsided if it happens."

"Yes, the more we can learn about each other's culture and Protocol the easier it will be to ensure that we can keep safe those we wish to protect. How is the greeting that you were attempting meant to go?"

"Yes, I think mister Khardeen's world is really different than the heavens and probably very different to your first world as well!"

Elfnein was right, it was important they were able to learn quickly in situations like this, then they could learn more things and work together better!

"Handshakes are when you grip each other's hands firmly and shake."

Elfnein was gesturing to Romeo to help show it off, her right hand out and ready.

"Yes sir! Just like this!"

He stuck his right hand out as well and gave Elfnein's hand a shake. "It's a polite way to say hello or goodbye... Or thank you I think."

Glancing at Elfnein there, to check he was right.

"That is quite interesting. What is the significance over who extends their hand first, how long it is held, pressure...?"

"There really isn't any significance over who extends hands first as far as I know?. It's as Romeo says it's a polite way to say hello, goodbye and just as introducing yourself to someone."

Romeo nodded, he didn't think there was any significance either. It was quite a grown up thing to do, but there was no rules that said kids couldn't shake hands either.

"Then how do you show proper respect in the greeting?"

Elfnein blinks, not really knowing how to answer the question.

"I don't know unfortunately"

"I don't know either, sir." He glanced at Elfnein, it seemed she didn't know either. No one had really ever explained handshakes to him.

"Odd. I wonder how such a greeting began then. For the Blood, nearly everything indicates who we serve and how. It is key to know that to know how to handle any given person you meet. For example, had I come to the greeting as dominant, you would have had warning that I did not respect you, since unless there is a preexisting relationship that changes their power structure, a male showing that he respects the female's power is expected."

"I would have to research the origins of it, I'm sure there's a history book in the library that I could use."

She didn't really understand how you express not respecting you in a greeting like that. Maybe it was just the lack of knowledge on it.

Romeo nodded, he didn't know either. He couldn't think of how you would not respect someone in a handshake. He already knew mister Khardeen's world was very complicated though so he wasn't surprised.

"Mister Khardeen's world is very different to the heavens, they do lots of things different."

He nodded. "I have offered to teach those who wish to learn, not just Protocol, but other subjects as well. In my world Protocol is one of the most important things we learn and it is taught practically from he moment we are born until well into adulthood." And for some people that was over a thousand years. "Protocol handles everything from how to properly show respect in a wide range of situations, to how to talk someone down from the killing edge, or how to convince someone that you mean no harm. There is Protocol for offering your life in service and for offering your hand in marriage. Part of Protocol also is learning the times when it must be strictly observed, when the spirit matters more than the form, when the form matters more than the spirit, and when it can be put aside altogether. My friend's cousin has recently become Queen in a realm where Protocol was butchered and discarded for thousands of years. Her Court is learning as adults what my people have learned all our lives. I have been helping her and her Court some. I would be happy to help here as well. While I am no as dangerous as some from my world, I may no remain the only one present. And even if I am, the more people who know how to properly handle me the rare times my temper slips the leash, the better off we all will be." He ruffled Romeo's hair affectionately. "I also will find it easier to find someone I can serve in the interim until I can return home, if I know that she will be able to hold my leash properly."

"So, it's a set of rules that govern how you act if I'm understanding right?"

The way Khardeen explained it sounded like it's more complex rules and ways to live compared to what they were used to.

Romeo nodded, it did just sound like a lot of rules. Which was fine, he was good at learning rules. He had had to learn lots of rules in heaven.

It's scary to hear though that there are other people more dangerous than mister Khardeen that could come here but good to know that there was ways to help him when he got mad. Maybe he just couldn't help it.

"I didn't know there was lots of rules sir. If I had... If I knew all those protocol rules would I have been able to st... help you. In that dream."

Because that had been scary. And he never wants Khardeen doing anything like that in real life ever.

"Perhaps," he said gently to Romeo. "Except that those people in the dream needed to be stopped and you and your friend needed to be save. I do not regret for a second what I did, I regret only that you had to suffer through seeing it. I will not allow anyone to remain a slave if I can stop it, least of all someone I care about," he said his voice cold, his eyes hard. Not glazed as they had been in the dream, thankfully. He was struggling to keep control. Despite that, the air around him chilled considerably.

"I can understand where you're coming from, no one should be a slave or a tool."

Elfnein knows first hand how being a thrown away took is, and that being a slave to a predetermined life span can be extremely painful.

"I've been trying to talk things out with people instead of fighting more, I don't want Romeo or myself to see more suffering."

Romeo nodded, because no one should get hurt like that. Not ever. But he still didn't think killing people was very good either, even if those people were bad people. It's the sort of thing that needs a lot of thinking and he shivers a bit as the air goes colder, he shied closer to Elfnein a little. But his eyes didn't leave Khardeen. Worried about him.

"In general I would prefer to talk as well, but there are times when doing so puts those you choose to protect at risk. That was such a time. In the absence of a Queen I serve to make her wishes known I did what I was trained to do. What I would do again."

"Have you stopped to think about how their wishes might not align with what you personally think?

Romeo was silent, still sat near Elfnein as he listened to them talk, he was still thinking but he knew he had to listen, to hear what Khardeen had to say. Because if he understood then things wouldn't be so scary.

A small dark chuckle and his shook his head. "I put myself in danger, of course they'd snarl at me. If Karla, for example, had been there, her wishes would have been for me to hang back while she dealt with it. Thankfully there is no way in ***** to give me an order to that extent I have to obey. As a race, Lady Elfnein, most of us are protective and would a million times over rather be hurt than let those we care about be hurt."

He ran a hand through his curls to mess them rakishly to give himself something safe to focus on as he spoke. "Please understand, not a single person I love and respect from home, not a single one of those Queens would object to having saved Romeo and the other child, nor would they have been upset to see the slavers killed. Frankly, I was kinder than many of them would be. The only disagreements would be over who went in and how they were destroyed. Frankly, I have the easiest temper among any of the Blood I've ever met, save a very few."

Tersa. Oh, he knew Tersa had her shape edges, but that was her secret to keep if she wished. Most people mistook her madness for weakness and inability. The family knew better. After the Spooky house, they all knew better.

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On men and monsters [closed]

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Hello!

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slips in a tag as it makes narrative sense!

That works! :D

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