Flashback chapter! That's how everything will play out as things keep going. Not much to say on this chapter
Robbie Rotten was something of an enigma to LazyTown. The man rarely left his home and nobody could ever figure out where he lived in the first place. Following him was impossible; he would turn a corner and just disappear. When he was seen on the streets it was always going from one place to another or doing nothing at all. Just standing around watching the townsfolk go about their days. Though, finding him snoring on a bench was a rather fun game the children often played.
And the junk food. Oh the junk food. The bakery was practically kept in business by his constant trips to buy enough sweets for ten people. Then he'd come back the next day for just as much!
He was always sucking on some sort of candy or nibbling on a pastry. He only offered his loot to the children of LazyTown and, despite how creepy it was that nobody really knew him, none of the parents ever worried about their kids taking candy from this particular stranger.
Perhaps the strangest thing that some few noticed was that he didn't visibly have a job. Some believed him to work from home, while others thought he was rich. It was only the richest family in town that actually knew something of the truth.
The Nískis had been a part of LazyTown since its very founding, along with the Meanswells. Unlike the other family they kept their family history and stories close even when time passed and the tales stopped making sense. While the Meanswells disregarded certain stories and legends about LazyTown because they were too fantastical, the Nískis remembered.
So when one year a Níski child was born and complications arose as he grew older, the Níski family knew who they had to go to.
Robbie blinked and frowned at the old lady who had walked into the bakery and offered to pay for his order.
"Excuse me, ma'am, but I'd like to just get my cakes and be on my way." He sneered at her and tried to hand the cashier his card.
"I insist, Mister Glæpur." The wrinkled old crone's hand covered his and she smiled as he stiffened up. "I've lived in LazyTown my whole life. You look very much so like Glanni did, many years ago."
"It's Rotten." Robbie replied in stumbled Icelandic, nowhere near as smooth as hers.
"Of course, dear." She pat his hand. "I've got something I dearly wish to discuss with you. It is of great importance and only one of your kind can help."
Robbie gave the old woman a measured look. She didn't seem dangerous. He could sense no glamours or spells on her. She smiled at him.
'Of course Glanni let it slip to someone in town that he was fae. Of COURSE he did.' Robbie sighed and looked at his cakes dreamily. He'd wanted to get back home quickly so he could try replicating that new Triple Chocolate Mint with Oreo filling.
"Of course, I would not dream of keeping one of the huldufólk without recompense." The lady continued, and Robbie was interested. "If you would allow me I would pay for your pastries here, it is no burden on MY wallet, and I request that you come with me to attend a brief luncheon to hear me out. There is no catch. If you hear us out and do not wish to assist, that is all that will be done. If you choose to assist we will discuss the matter further in privacy."
She finished her selling speech and fell silent, watching him expectantly. For all her fancy words he knew she dearly wanted his help with whatever was going on.
Robbie took another look at his stack of cakes and tapped his lip with one finger. He smirked briefly. "Well I can't turn down a free meal." The woman tried to not show her relief but Robbie's keen eyes caught the look on her face before it was masked with cool acceptance.
"Uh. I don't speak Irish, or whatever, but uh, you're kind of holding up the line." The dull-witted cashier blinked at them, unsure which of them he should talk to.
Robbie wasn't sure who was more offended at "Irish"; him or the crone.
Robbie dabbed at his mouth with a napkin, careful to not smear his lipstick.
He'd maybe demanded he be allowed to take his cakes back to his lair before attending the "luncheon" in order to have time to freshen up and look a little nicer than his average everyday wear. It had taken almost an hour. He'd snickered at the look of thinly veiled frustration on the old lady's face.
"My compliments to the chef~." Robbie downright purred. He'd recognized the limo that drove him here as belonging to the Níski family and they did not disappoint. Every dish that had come out was some variation of sweet and sugary and he hadn't had such exquisitely prepared food in ages.
Now though he was stuffed and ready to hear what the humans had wanted him here to talk about.
"Thank you, Robbie Rotten, for coming to meet with us." The 'head of the family' was a serious looking man who in no way kept his grandmother-in-law from her role as the family's true head. Robbie had forgotten his name sometime after the clafouti. "I'm afraid I don't know the entire scope of the situation, so I'll let my wife explain."
His wife was a real piece of work. She did more than her husband when it came to running the family. She also knew her savory sweets and Robbie was certain she was the reason their personal chef was so skilled with them. She also had a quick tongue and a harmless exterior that made him cackle internally. He didn't remember her name either. Something truly horrible for a human to have.
The brunette took a calm breath and began, hands folded neatly on the table in front of her.
"The Níski family has been in LazyTown since its founding. Our lineage goes back generations and we can trace it back several hundred years. It has come to our attention that a certain contributor to our pedigree has caused a recent resurgence in… inhuman traits."
Robbie frowned thoughtfully, steepling his fingers while he lounged in the luxurious chair. He eyed a cream tart. "Since you obviously know my heritage I'm assuming I'm here because, essentially, some old fae blood in your family tree popped up and is causing problems. Am I right?" He raised a finely sculpted eyebrow.
"Exactly." She said. Her lips pressed into a thin line.
Possessia! That was it. That was her name. Such a weird name for a human.
"What precisely are these 'inhuman traits'? I can't do much at all for any physical problems that can't be solved by human surgery-"
"That's not it at all," Possessia interrupted. "It's… my son. He just recently turned four years old. We thought he was simply a little spoiled at first, but it's continued escalating until we had no idea what to do. He's chased off so many nannies and minders that we just don't know what to do. We certainly have no idea how to handle him."
She looked tired. Exhausted, even, with a tinge of despair.
"Are you certain it's a fae thing?" Robbie said suspiciously. "Sometimes kids are just plain brats and that's it."
"Ah but you see, dear Mister Rotten, these young ones don't know our family history as well as I do." The old woman hobbled in with her cane. She hadn't eaten with them. "The Nískis have always been named after a certain trait. My name is Parsimony. My granddaughter's name is Possessia. My great-grandson is named Stingy. All synonyms for a very fae trait indeed, that has a unique habit of popping up in this family at inhuman levels every few generations." She waved her cane at him as his eyes widened in understanding.
"Fae possessiveness." Robbie muttered, rubbing his chin. "Of course. No human child would learn how to manage the possessive instincts fae are taught to. It's so much more than merely being greedy, but working purely on instinct a human child would turn into… quite the little terror." Parsimony smiled crookedly.
"Yes, I'd heard that the particularly 'mad' members of our bloodline who inherited those genes eventually found instruction from a fae. And I knew immediately that who better to approach on such a matter than LazyTown's fae himself?"
'Oh, flattery will get you everywhere you crazy old coot.' Robbie closed his eyes and hummed, basking in the acknowledgement that LazyTown was His.
Could he teach a child? For that matter could he even stand being around a wild, unmanageable, fae-instinct driven child? It would be immensely difficult to get a human toddler to think past basic wants and needs to any form of higher thought processes. This would be a long time Deal that he would have to keep up with for probably a large part of the kid's - Sticky? No, Stingy, the whole family theme going on - life up until he was a functioning adult with control over his instincts.
What kind of bullshit even was this? Inheriting fae possessiveness was perhaps the worst throwback heritage Robbie had ever heard of. That wasn't even a power, mostly just a territorial drive to keep and protect. Absolutely useless to a human with no magic to back it up.
After a few minutes of hearing them squirm Robbie opened his eyes lazily, and slid his outer glamours off. They all stiffened at the instinctual hair raising sensation of fae. Parsimony, surprisingly, merely looked him over curiously as their very perception of him changed now that his nonhuman side was so much more evident.
"I've considered your predicament. I have no desire to teach some snot nosed brat-" They grew panicked and he held a hand up. "Which means whatever I receive in return will have to be very much so worth it. Not to mention that this will take up a great deal of my time and I'm a very busy man. Or, well, fae. You get the gist." He picked up his glass of sparkling wine and sipped it. "This isn't just a 'come in for tutoring sessions every week for a few months' situation either." He didn't quite sneer at them, but gave them a serious look to make sure they understood exactly how big this Deal was. They were His People in His Town so cheating them in a Deal was not really an option, but they didn't know that, and if they ever came into contact with another fae they'd be sorely unprepared. "This will require years of my time to ensure the proper teachings have been passed on." The humans all paled slightly. Ah, good, so they weren't idiots.
"Perhaps we… downsize this." Possessia recovered first, quick mind working fast. "Instead of doing it all at once, we… simplify. Say we start with five lessons. Once those have passed, we will extend."
Robbie was thrilled. That was actually quite clever. He was the fae of LazyTown, he wasn't exactly going anywhere, so they had no need to worry about him skipping town. And they would have more time to contemplate their sides of Deals before agreeing to them. There were innumerable advantages to this sort of system.
There were also, of course, several disadvantages. But Robbie didn't bother flicking through them mentally like he wanted to. They were His People. His fae urge to take advantage of the Deal settled down at the reminder.
"That will be satisfactory." Robbie grinned impossibly wide and felt his teeth stretch into fangs. "I will return tomorrow at this time to discuss the finalities. For now I should make my leave. Thank you for this delicious meal." Robbie stood up, nodding his head. He snapped his fingers and the fae was gone.
The Níski family nearly fell apart at the release of tension. They were still for one moment, Possessia about to speak, when Robbie snapped back in.
He picked up the cream tart, winked, and disappeared again.