Manners, m'lady [Open]

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That did it. Those girls on the other side of the courtyard were giggling again, and pointing at some of the boys. They had been causing all sorts of problems recently, and Akinyi was getting tired of it. Why was no one trying to stop them?

"Where is my stick?" she asked, looking around herself. She'd found a large stick in the forest that served as something that looked like a walking stick but was mostly used to threaten to beat people up. She liked carrying it around when she was working with Vimes, though he didn't really approve.

Finding her staff she picked it up and began marching across the courtyard, determined to knock some sense into the giggly girls.

"Just because I grew up in a little village doesn't mean I don't know what manners means," she grumbled to herself. "And yet you come here and all you find are girls who are really rich but don't know the meaning of the word."

[flora]

Flora had been watching the little girl for a few days, which was kinda weird but she would just have to get over it. Frankly, Flora didn’t really know what to do at first. Something just felt right with her, like Flora knew Akinyi was supposed to be her charge. But honestly, nothing confirmed the fact. She just felt like she had to protect Akinyi.

So when the stupid girl picked up a big stick and started marching towards another group of girls, Flora just sort of…sprang into action. She darted into front of Akinyi, disapproving hands on her hips as she looked down at the little girl’s brown eyes.

“Dude…what the heck are you doing?” Flora asked skeptically, her cigarette smoking in the holder that dangled in her fingers.

[Deleted]

Akinyi looked up (and up) at the girl standing in front of her. She was so...pink.

Scrunching her eyebrows together, Akinyi shouldered her stick. "I am not a 'dude,'" she said, scratching her nose. "I am a girl. And I am going to stop those girls," she pointed with a finger toward the cluster of gigglers "from making fun of all those boys." She moved her finger so she was pointing toward the group of guys, who strangely enough did not seem all that upset by the attitude of the girls.

"You should move. Unless you want to help me?" She wasn't sure exactly what kind of person she was dealing with here. But she was willing to give her a chance. "My name is Akinyi." She thrust her hand out. "I am one of the security people here. And it is my job to make sure there are no fights on campus. That's why I have to go beat them up before a fight breaks out."

[flora]

“You’re not a biological, dude.” Flora corrected. “Everyone is a dude it’s like a slang term. Geeze, girl. Pay attention.” Flora said with a heavy sigh. She watched as Akinyi pointed out those she was protecting and those she planned to beat up. It was really difficult for her not to bust up laughing. She was expecting Akinyi to be young, but not this naïve.

“I am helping you, trust me.” Flora explained with a snort. The fairy flinched back slightly as Akinyi thrust out her hand for a shake. She was really going to have to teach this kid to be cool. Flora slapped the girl’s palm, sliding her own palm along the girls tiny hand until she could grip her fingers. She shook once and winked. “I’m Flora. One of your fairy godmother’s.” She introduced.

Yes. That was cool. Akinyi would really have to watch and learn.

Rolling her eyes, Flora scratched the back of her head. “You’ve been hanging out with Vimes, haven’t you?” big mistake. “And don’t you think beating up those girls is the exact opposite of making sure there are no fights? I mean you’re basically starting a fight.” Not that she normally minded that kind of thing…maybe they deserved it? “So what did those girls do to deserve to get beat up, huh?”

[Deleted]

"I do not know what slang is," Akinyi said slowly. "Some words, I think, do not translate right when I try speak. I do not know the language just right yet. I will try to learn. Everyone is a dude, is that correct?" When she was put here she somehow had received a basic understanding of English, but it left her far from proficient. She would appreciate having someone tell her what was good or bad to say. Captain Westley was good at that; maybe this pink girl was, too.

"Thank you for the help...Flora." She was confused by the new handshake, and it took a moment before the rest of the introduction sunk in. "You are a fairy?" she asked, completely confused. She looked up at the girl with confusion and slight dismay. "But you are...you...I thought fairies were supposed to be older," she finally settled for. At least, the only magical creature she had ever met was a lot older. "Why do I have a fairy godmother? I am not very important."

She nodded firmly. "Yes. I work for Mr. Vimes. He let me be one of his security people so that I can help around school. I told him I had to work for the school to help pay for everything they are giving me." She wasn't sure what exactly Flora was intimating about starting a fight. Akinyi didn't start fights. She ended them. And quickly.

Pointing at the boys again, Akinyi tried to explain. "They were just standing there," she said, swinging her finger around to the girls. "And they were laughing. I don't like it when people laugh at others. They make fun out of others, and it is not fair. We should not laugh at others." This was her very firm viewpoint after a few days in class with some of these students.

[flora]

“Well yeah, that’s what slang is. The words that don’t translate.” Flora put her hands on her hips, chuckling slightly. “It’s sorta like that. Dude has two meanings. It can mean ‘boys,’ or it can be a name to refer to people by. Don’t worry, you’ll get it.” She assured the young girl.

Dubiously, Flora raised her eyebrows. Not very important. Uhhh…no. “Well maybe not yet. But you will be someday.” Flora said cryptically. There was probably a reason or something that Akinyi didn’t know she was a princess. She’d figure it out soon enough, the fairy was sure of it. “And yeah I’m a fairy. And I guess I’ll get old someday but we don’t just pop out of the either as old bitties, now do we?” Flora wasn’t offended at the expectation that she should be old. Not in the least.

Flora blinked. She worked for Vimes. Oh no, she was too late. “Well don’t listen to everything Vimes says, he’s a cop after all. Cops can’t be trusted.” Flora enthused with a moody sulk. Man she really disliked that guy. What a stick in the mud.

Her eyes followed the girl’s finger, her grin spreading as she realized what was happening.
“You’re right, we really shouldn’t laugh at others. But I don’t think that what you think is going on is actually going on. Tell me something…do those boys look upset that they’re being laughed at?” She asked, resisting the urge to devolve into giggles at her little charge who wanted to beat up a group of coquettish girls.

[Deleted]

"I am...a dude," Akinyi tried, "but I am not. This does not make sense." She looked up at Flora. "I hope the other slang is easier to understand." Even the word 'slang' felt strange in her mouth. She rolled it around for a moment in her head before tucking it away with the rest of the words she was learning.

"Ether...bitties..." These words were not making sense. Akinyi frowned and looked up at Flora. "You...pop? From chaos like old...women. Or you don't do that. I am confused." And all of this had distracted her momentarily from one of the earlier points made. "Wait, so I get to be important?" she asked, beginning to smile. "I'm going to be a hero!" Clearly she would rise to the head of her village, defeat an evil monster, and rule them all as the best war leader ever known. This was exciting, and only proved that she needed to work harder at learning her hunting and fighting skills.

"Why shouldn't we trust our leaders?" Akinyi asked, tilting her head. "They are there to help us. If we do not trust them, they cannot do their jobs." Flora seemed very upset over this fact, but Akinyi wasn't about to allow her to judge someone just because of what he was. "Vimes is a good person. He is helping me to learn at this school. You should not say mean things about him just because you don't like, uh, cops." And if she had a problem with that, well, she was just going to have to learn to accept others.

Akinyi frowned as she observed the boys. "Well, no. But maybe they didn't notice..." Though that didn't really make sense. Some of the boys seemed to be glancing over at the girls and making strange faces. Akinyi looked up at Flora. "I don't understand. What are they doing?"

[flora]

As Akinkyi struggled with the new words, Flora’s smile softened. “Hey we’ll sit down and have a little lesson on it later. it’s really not that important. You’ll get used to the way people talk, don’t worry about it.” Flora was sure that any charge of hers was going to be as sharp as a tack. Akinyi would pick it up, she was positive.

Flora looked at Akinyi blankly. Hero? Did she even…Flora just shook her head slowly. She couldn’t decide if she should tell Akinyi that she was a princess or just let her go. Fortunately the young girl moved on quickly with the conversation and Flora didn’t have to make that decision. Not yet, anyway.

“We shouldn’t trust cops.” Flora corrected. “Just trust me on this. I’m not saying anything mean about Vimes, just that you should take everything everyone says with a grain of salt.” She looked to the sky for a moment. “Except me. You should totally trust me. I’m here to help.” The fairy completely ignored the flaw in her logic and kneeled next to Akinyi.

“I think they’re flirting. You’re a little young to understand, but I think those girls,” she pointed to the girls, who were still giggling. “Think that those boys,” she pointed to the boys. “Are handsome and that’s why they’re giggling because they just can’t think of anything else to do. And those boys probably think those girls are pretty, but they don’t know how to tell them, so they just make faces.” Flora shrugged. “It’s complicated.”