Fic: Spin Recovery, Part Twenty
Jan. 30th, 2008 08:35 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jeriendhalNote: I honestly didn't mean for Rufus' mom to the villian of this story. It just seems to be working out this way.
Three days later, Rufus went to his weekly appointment with Dr. Redfur. His began the session by saying, “I invited a vixen I met recently and her father to dine with myself and my family.”
Dr. Redfur, notepad in hand as always, raised her eyebrows in appreciation, “That’s excellent, Mr. Shorttail.”
“Not really. I ended up insulting her and she stomped off before we even got a chance sit down for the salad.”
“Oh, for what reason?”
“We had a political disagreement. She didn’t agree with my… er, the Lady Brushtail’s policies towards the lands she and several of her neighbors rent. They’re being encouraged to move for a Brushtail development project and aren’t too happy about the situation.”
“What was your take on it?”
Rufus shrugged his shoulder. “One must follow the dictates of one’s leigelady, if you’re a commoner, or else move to greener hunting grounds. That’s the way the system works.”
Dr. Redfur made another note. “Let me rephrase the question. What is your moral opinion, of someone being asked to move from their family’s home?”
“Well…” He wondered for a moment, where the question was coming from. Just who exactly was Hazel’s therapist anyway? Surely she had one for her own addiction. If it were Dr. Redfur, could he arrange for a message to be passed to her? “When I was a boy, I would have said they would have had to follow their liegelady. When I was a young man, I would have said just the opposite. That’s one of the reasons I left home so long ago, because I didn’t care for our way of doing things. But rather than try to change things, I just chose to turn my back on others’ problems.”
“And now?”
“Now… things are much more complicated than when I was younger. Or perhaps I’m more complicated. It is wrong to ask these commoners to move, but the disruption of a few lives would be for the benefit of the entirety of Lady Brushtail’s demesne. Neither is completely wrong, but I can argue that neither is completely right. Either way, someone is going to come out of this sorely disappointed.”
“I see.” More notes. “How is your health, Mr. Shorttail?”
“Well enough. I’ve started exercising, doing 5k runs to build up my stamina.”
“And how is that going?”
He fought the sudden urge to sneeze. “I think if I keep at it, I might be able to jog the entire first kilometer without losing my breath in at least a month.”
“That’s a good start at least. I encourage you to keep it up. The more endurance you can build, the easier your eventual operations to have your new arm installed will be.” She made yet another note. “Have you made any use of recreational pharmaceuticals since our last session?”
“No,” he answered quickly. Too quickly, apparently, for she raised an inquiring eyebrow towards him. Finally, he admitted. “I had a bad moment, the first day I started jogging. I felt so sick and out of shape, I just thought that I needed to get home and have a spike of Juno to make everything better.”
“And did you?”
“No! But for a moment, just for a few moments, it seemed like the most reasonable thing in the world.”
“How did that make you feel?”
He sighed. “Ashamed. I thought I was doing so well.”
“Mr. Shorttail, you [i]are[/i] doing well. You’ve been clean of Juno for over a month.”
“But not of alcohol.” He felt his face flush as he remembered waking up from that particular debacle, Whitebrow standing over him like a disappointed guardian spirit.
Dr. Redfur tapped her notepad with her stylus. “Mr. Shorttail, your bit of binge drinking was a disappointment to you, I’m sure. But I must point out that you have successfully resisted falling back onto the harder drugs that you did before. The recidivism rate for users of illegal drugs is unfortunately high, even among people who have the support of their families. You haven’t attempted to use alcohol since that one incident, have you?”
“Well, no.”
“Then I would judge you to be progressing in your recovery. Keep up the good work.”
“Thank you, Madame Physician.”
* * *
He was emerging from the clinic, feeling a bit more cheered, when he happened to spot Hazel coming down the corridor towards the clinic’s entrance. “Hello, Hazel! May I speak to you a moment?”
“I’m late,” she said gruffly, brushing past him and stepping inside. He sat and waited for her to emerge again. When she came out, looking less ragged out, she walked straight past him again without acknowledging his presence.
“Hazel, may I speak to you for a moment?” he asked, jogging to catch up with her as she paced on her crutches down the corridor.
“No, you may not,” she answered, not looking in his direction.
“I wanted to apologize to you for that incident at dinner earlier this week.” She kept on moving, not even slowing down to pretend to listen to him. “I admit I acted like a bit of an ass. I couldn’t figure out a way to get my point across to you and I apologize for my ill considered words.”
“Duly noted,” she replied tonelessly, turning at the cross corridor and heading towards the train platform.
“Hazel, would you please stop and talk to me?”
She kept moving. “I’ve got a train to catch. You’ll forgive me if I don’t wish to ride with you again.”
“Fruit! Would you stop being a stiff tail for a moment? I’m trying to help you!”
Finally she did stop to turn and face him. “Stop it, just stop it,” Hazel said. “You've got what you wanted. Just leave me alone.”
“What are you talking about?” It dawned on Rufus that something was very wrong with Hazel, something beyond her injuries and addiction. The combative edge in her voice was gone, as was the prickly defensive air she usually projected. Now she looked tired, worn and defeated.
“Don't play the fool, milord. You can't possibly be as blind as you pretend to be,” she said bitterly. “You and your mother have won. We're leaving our homes so you can dig up the precious dirt and get what you want.”
“You and your neighbors have come to an agreement with my House?”
“Agreement, what agreement? There's no “agreement” Lord Ru Ofanius. We just can't afford to stay there any longer. So we're moving. Everyone will be out of there by the end of the year I expect, before the rent increase kicks in.”
“Hazel, what rent increase? By the Holy Den Mother, tell me what's going on!”
Her voice gained a little of its original biting edge. “Our rents have been raised. Quadrupled, as a matter of fact.”
“'Quad--' that's ridiculous!” His jaw dropped open in sheer shock at the idea of a farmer lord, any farmer lord, much less his mother, attempting such an outrageous maneuver.
“That's not the word I'd use. I guess your lady mother decided that if she wasn't going to make a profit from mining our land, she'd have to get it by mining our pocketbooks. So we're leaving before it kicks in. Enjoy your victory, Lord Ru Ofanius.” She turned away from him and started stumping down the corridor again.
“Hazel, I knew nothing of this, I swear!”
She didn't other to answer, only snorting in disbelief. She kept her back turned to him, until she disappeared through the station gates, leaving Rufus alone in the corridor.
TBC
Three days later, Rufus went to his weekly appointment with Dr. Redfur. His began the session by saying, “I invited a vixen I met recently and her father to dine with myself and my family.”
Dr. Redfur, notepad in hand as always, raised her eyebrows in appreciation, “That’s excellent, Mr. Shorttail.”
“Not really. I ended up insulting her and she stomped off before we even got a chance sit down for the salad.”
“Oh, for what reason?”
“We had a political disagreement. She didn’t agree with my… er, the Lady Brushtail’s policies towards the lands she and several of her neighbors rent. They’re being encouraged to move for a Brushtail development project and aren’t too happy about the situation.”
“What was your take on it?”
Rufus shrugged his shoulder. “One must follow the dictates of one’s leigelady, if you’re a commoner, or else move to greener hunting grounds. That’s the way the system works.”
Dr. Redfur made another note. “Let me rephrase the question. What is your moral opinion, of someone being asked to move from their family’s home?”
“Well…” He wondered for a moment, where the question was coming from. Just who exactly was Hazel’s therapist anyway? Surely she had one for her own addiction. If it were Dr. Redfur, could he arrange for a message to be passed to her? “When I was a boy, I would have said they would have had to follow their liegelady. When I was a young man, I would have said just the opposite. That’s one of the reasons I left home so long ago, because I didn’t care for our way of doing things. But rather than try to change things, I just chose to turn my back on others’ problems.”
“And now?”
“Now… things are much more complicated than when I was younger. Or perhaps I’m more complicated. It is wrong to ask these commoners to move, but the disruption of a few lives would be for the benefit of the entirety of Lady Brushtail’s demesne. Neither is completely wrong, but I can argue that neither is completely right. Either way, someone is going to come out of this sorely disappointed.”
“I see.” More notes. “How is your health, Mr. Shorttail?”
“Well enough. I’ve started exercising, doing 5k runs to build up my stamina.”
“And how is that going?”
He fought the sudden urge to sneeze. “I think if I keep at it, I might be able to jog the entire first kilometer without losing my breath in at least a month.”
“That’s a good start at least. I encourage you to keep it up. The more endurance you can build, the easier your eventual operations to have your new arm installed will be.” She made yet another note. “Have you made any use of recreational pharmaceuticals since our last session?”
“No,” he answered quickly. Too quickly, apparently, for she raised an inquiring eyebrow towards him. Finally, he admitted. “I had a bad moment, the first day I started jogging. I felt so sick and out of shape, I just thought that I needed to get home and have a spike of Juno to make everything better.”
“And did you?”
“No! But for a moment, just for a few moments, it seemed like the most reasonable thing in the world.”
“How did that make you feel?”
He sighed. “Ashamed. I thought I was doing so well.”
“Mr. Shorttail, you [i]are[/i] doing well. You’ve been clean of Juno for over a month.”
“But not of alcohol.” He felt his face flush as he remembered waking up from that particular debacle, Whitebrow standing over him like a disappointed guardian spirit.
Dr. Redfur tapped her notepad with her stylus. “Mr. Shorttail, your bit of binge drinking was a disappointment to you, I’m sure. But I must point out that you have successfully resisted falling back onto the harder drugs that you did before. The recidivism rate for users of illegal drugs is unfortunately high, even among people who have the support of their families. You haven’t attempted to use alcohol since that one incident, have you?”
“Well, no.”
“Then I would judge you to be progressing in your recovery. Keep up the good work.”
“Thank you, Madame Physician.”
* * *
He was emerging from the clinic, feeling a bit more cheered, when he happened to spot Hazel coming down the corridor towards the clinic’s entrance. “Hello, Hazel! May I speak to you a moment?”
“I’m late,” she said gruffly, brushing past him and stepping inside. He sat and waited for her to emerge again. When she came out, looking less ragged out, she walked straight past him again without acknowledging his presence.
“Hazel, may I speak to you for a moment?” he asked, jogging to catch up with her as she paced on her crutches down the corridor.
“No, you may not,” she answered, not looking in his direction.
“I wanted to apologize to you for that incident at dinner earlier this week.” She kept on moving, not even slowing down to pretend to listen to him. “I admit I acted like a bit of an ass. I couldn’t figure out a way to get my point across to you and I apologize for my ill considered words.”
“Duly noted,” she replied tonelessly, turning at the cross corridor and heading towards the train platform.
“Hazel, would you please stop and talk to me?”
She kept moving. “I’ve got a train to catch. You’ll forgive me if I don’t wish to ride with you again.”
“Fruit! Would you stop being a stiff tail for a moment? I’m trying to help you!”
Finally she did stop to turn and face him. “Stop it, just stop it,” Hazel said. “You've got what you wanted. Just leave me alone.”
“What are you talking about?” It dawned on Rufus that something was very wrong with Hazel, something beyond her injuries and addiction. The combative edge in her voice was gone, as was the prickly defensive air she usually projected. Now she looked tired, worn and defeated.
“Don't play the fool, milord. You can't possibly be as blind as you pretend to be,” she said bitterly. “You and your mother have won. We're leaving our homes so you can dig up the precious dirt and get what you want.”
“You and your neighbors have come to an agreement with my House?”
“Agreement, what agreement? There's no “agreement” Lord Ru Ofanius. We just can't afford to stay there any longer. So we're moving. Everyone will be out of there by the end of the year I expect, before the rent increase kicks in.”
“Hazel, what rent increase? By the Holy Den Mother, tell me what's going on!”
Her voice gained a little of its original biting edge. “Our rents have been raised. Quadrupled, as a matter of fact.”
“'Quad--' that's ridiculous!” His jaw dropped open in sheer shock at the idea of a farmer lord, any farmer lord, much less his mother, attempting such an outrageous maneuver.
“That's not the word I'd use. I guess your lady mother decided that if she wasn't going to make a profit from mining our land, she'd have to get it by mining our pocketbooks. So we're leaving before it kicks in. Enjoy your victory, Lord Ru Ofanius.” She turned away from him and started stumping down the corridor again.
“Hazel, I knew nothing of this, I swear!”
She didn't other to answer, only snorting in disbelief. She kept her back turned to him, until she disappeared through the station gates, leaving Rufus alone in the corridor.
TBC
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2008-02-01 12:19 am (UTC)Intrigue!
hmm
Didn't his mother give him the task to deal with that (if I remember correctly)?
Waiting for more...
mjkj
Re: hmm
Date: 2008-02-01 02:36 pm (UTC)Re: hmm
Date: 2008-02-01 02:39 pm (UTC)Hehehe, hm
I believe that she went back to handle it herself.
But now she has to deal with an angry son...
I do not know if that is better. *grins*
mjkj
Re: hmm
Date: 2008-02-02 10:43 am (UTC)"Oh. Hello Mother. I must apologize. It seems I failed to handle the task you gave me to your satisfaction. But do not worry. It won't happen again. As soon as I finish packing I shall remove myself from your home."
"What do- How- Ru-Ofanius, I do not find this joke amusing."
"No joke Mother. You have shown you do not feel I can be trusted to work for you. So I shall seek to find means of providing useful service elsewhere. Admittedly the rooms shall not be so nice, but even a shack here is better than most of the places I've lived for the last few years."
"Ru-Ofanius Brushtail, if you think a childish plea for attention is going to impress me you are wrong."
"I am not trying to impress you Mother. You have shown there is no chance of that. Now please, I have packing left to do and I am sure you have more important things to do than argue with a useless son. Goodbye Mother."
Well, probably not going to go like that. However, I wonder if there shall be fireworks. She did after all give the job to him, and then apparently decide to handle it on her own without even so much as telling him she was taking the job away. A rather nasty betrayal of trust, to be compounded by her deciding to solve the problem in a manner he finds troubling.
Re: hmm
Woah, that is great...
Yeah, really a break of trust - but he was not at the meals, where she could have told him...
...but that is no excuse.
I am sure that would give the whole story a different turn...
Great one, LF =)
mjkj
Re: hmm
Date: 2008-02-03 12:49 am (UTC)Heh.
Nice one, lilfluff!