Professor Keyes' Office
"Uh... thanks for that. I'll um... get it cleaned and gotten back to you?" he suggested, feeling like it was something he was meant to say but not entirely sure that it was his place. He was just a passive, who was he to put on all these airs and graces like he was a proper little scion; that was Oísin these days because Fionn was heir to nothing. He squirmed in his seat, giving a little sniffle and let his gaze flick to the water on the desk, considering.
After all his sobbing, he really was quite thirsty, an uncomfortable scratchiness that wasn't dispelled no matter how many times he swallowed; gulping felt awful as well, pained as if someone had rubbed something rough on it and made it raw. Fingers crept out and encircled the jug's handle, brown gaze flicking to her, eyeing her warily. Eyes darted from the jug to her and back again, meaning that getting a drink took far longer than it should have; it was like he expected her to snatch it away again and in truth, he didn't know what to expect from her so it seemed like it could be a possibility.
Once he had it filled, he brought it back to his lips, gulping it down and looking like he was ready to swallow the glass and all. He set it down on the desk, a sharp clink on wood that made him wince; he hadn't meant to put it down so hard. The boy mouthed an apology, hand rubbing over the back of his neck, fingers massaging taut muscles. If the situation had been initially awkward, it had grown much, much more so now.
Fionn cleared his throat, readying himself to speak and then said nothing, no words coming to his lips.
A shock.
Was that really the right word for what he'd experienced? It seemed so mundane, such an insignificant little word for the monumental effect it had had on him. It had been world shattering, tearing apart the reality he'd always known. He hadn't known about Mugroba. Admittedly, his education on the Kingdom had been sparse. His father might have been an Incumbent but he hadn't learned a great deal about other nations. There had been a lot of assumptions made in his household, mainly that there were things that could be learned later in life. Brunnhold should have helped with that education by providing him by both secular and magical classes; that plan hadn't worked out too well. Oh he'd picked up a little bit here and there about the 'darkies' as Toibin so often termed them, mainly because he liked to complain about their diplomats from time to time. Apparently, their society was to be envied and his father hadn't liked the fact that they could do some things better than Anaxas, especially as he'd also expressed some distaste that they'd managed it with their 'odd views'.
With this little nugget of information dropped in his lap, the young man wondered if their treatment of passives was the sort of oddity in outlook to which his father had referred. If they treated passives so differently, allowed them to be educated and have jobs, was that why their society did better?
Fionn didn't know what to think. It was too much and just thinking about it made him want to start crying again because it wasn't fair. What was more, it had been kept from him. It made sense that those in Brunnhold would want to keep the passives ignorant but he had allies here. Why hadn't Niamh told him? Had she kept this from him on purpose? Why would she have done such a thing?
"Maybe it was better for me not to know," the servant said aloud, answering his own question aloud, frowning. Already, it was plaguing his thoughts and he was sure that it was certain to run around his head from henceforward, ready to grate on him and potentially make him more bitter in the long run. But no matter how cruel the truth, he should have been told; Niamh should have told him.
"It's not fair, you know? I shouldn't have to live like this because I was born in the wrong place. But I can see why no one would want me to know. I don't know if any of the others have heard but..."
He trailed off, shaking his head. He didn't know how to finish that thought. Maybe some of the passives did know. Maybe that was why some of them lost the plot entirely. It was the sort of knowledge that could drive you mad he suspected.
Brown eyes were fixed sullenly in his lap, finger tracing a random pattern on his leg as she shrugged off his mild cursing.
"It's a matter of good manners. Least that's what my sister says. She... thinks it's crass, especially around ladies. Passive women don't count as that."
It was a quiet admittance, the boy letting one shoulder rise and fall. Bloodshot eyes rose, his look a dull one as she rattled on about what he should do. Rest with cold towels on his face. As if any galdor would allow a passive to just loll about worrying about making their face clean and pretty; it was laughable. However, he could only sigh rather than get angry, given that she'd already demonstrated her utter innocence in the matter. She couldn't be blamed for her rather impractical views - impractical in an Anaxi setting of course.
"I'll probably have work to do, yeah. I'm a passive, it's... what I'm here for. If my leg was hanging off then people would understand me taking time off to get treatment. I don't think having a blotchy face is cause for special treatment," he remarked dryly, running a hand through his hair, ruffling the blond strands further. At this point, he was rather rougher in his appearance than was typical for him these days, the passive rather dishevelled. Together with the blotchiness of his face, it gave him a truly boyish appearance, a childish vulnerability in his features as he gazed at Melody.
Fingers moved together aimlessly, Fionn making a soft popping sound with his mouth at her question.
"Well, he doesn't like to be called Professor Keyes. He prefers Gustav or Gus and um... he's not like the other galdori?" he offered, brows tugged together. "He doesn't look down on me or um... treat me like being passive might be catching. He's nice. Seems nice to other galdori too. Bit gruff maybe but not in a rough way, he's not... uh... what's the word? Unrefined? I don't know. I take in words sometimes but don't always... remember how to use them right. Wouldn't you just wait and see what he's like? He still treats me differently so I'm not the best source of information on him."
The blond cocked his head towards the door.
"Do you mean to wait for him to come back?"