Francois' Tutor
by Anzer'ke

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Francois had that look.

Even out the corner of her eye she could see the signs. Cheeks puffed, spindly neck straining for height and his eyes welling up with righteous fury. He had fallen behind her on the street by half a pace, as his stride stiffened and his steps inched closer to outright stomping. The fuse was lit and the explosion was quite clearly on its way, so it was time for an Undine speciality.

Mari Sto'fee put on her most imperious mask and whirled on her charge. He made to launch into his tantrum early but she cut him off, plucking the practice wand from one of his swinging fists and raising a calm eyebrow as he spluttered and gaped like a landed Snaptooth. The audacity of taking a nobleman's wand had shocked him off balance. Now for the suplex.

He would begin his standard rant on the rights of nobles and their scions in another few seconds. So she steadied her features, folded her hands together at her waist and then gave him a glare developed through a lifetime of delinquency and refined by a dozen other brats. Her previous life proved its worth as the pre-teen noble paled and went absolutely silent. Finally remembering how scary his flawlessly dignified Faerie Tutor could be.

'Yosh! Fuse successfully drenched!'

Now that the anger had been crushed, she could release the illusion of semi-maternal terror and deal with the problem. Still, she'd quickly lose control if she gave the brat an opening so she kept a firm grip on the junior magic stick.

He was too proud to cry, but a few frustrated sniffles were starting to work their way out. Still he looked her straight in the eye and pled his case.

"I have already finished all my lessons for the day; I should be allowed to have a cream bun!" He pointed furiously back at the desert stand and its bemused leprechaun proprietor. Drawing the momentary attention of everyone, Fae and Human, in the busy Arrun high street.

'Yeah, if by finish you meant; whine and complain until the Pixies almost kicked us out of the library and then "accidentally" set all your work on fire!' "What have I said about raising your voice?"

"That is not befitting of my rank, family or personal character." he recited, only stumbling a little before he continued, "I apologise Sto'fee, h-however I am sure that-"

'Rude little twit, I swear one day I'm gonna hang him over a pond and dunk him 'til he begs for mercy!' "Ahem."

"Ah, I apologise Sto'fee-Ane-son. I mean san!" He fumbled the "Faerie" suffixes for the thousandth time and then got back to his pleading with a single-minded dedication that she could just about imagine transforming into his mother's quiet willpower someday. "I promise I will still finish my supper. After all it's only a single bun, I'm sure I'll be hungry again by the time we get home."

The part of her that had drawn her to this line of work pleaded that however obnoxious he was still just a kid, one bun was hardly a big deal if it made him happy. The rest of her recalled the complete failure of his lessons that day and knew what had to be done.

"Well Francois-kun, I suppose I can get you a bun from that stand." She smiled right back at his triumphant grin, "I'll just contact your father first, I'm sure he'd want to be updated on your lessons."

"I-I-I'm sure my father wouldn't want to be bothered-"

"Don't you worry about that Francois, your father was very pleased about this trip to Arrun Library. I'm sure he'll want to congratulate you on finishing your lessons so promptly." For the first time he looked not just scared but worried, it seemed he finally remembered that his work dodging might backfire when his parents heard of it. "Why for such a performance I may have to purchase two buns."

"…No, I should not spoil my appetite before supper. I will wait until we are home tonight."

"That is wise of you Francois, however I didn't say the buns were for you in the first place. Anton! Annette!"

She was well aware that calling for the two rascals was completely unnecessary, her Tracer spells had been bound to them since the moment they left the library and she could see them shadowing her and Francois through the crowd just fine. Still, the young twins loved any scrap of adventure that they could find. So she let them think they were undetected.

Rather then respond to her call immediately, the twins opted to get as close as they could, plainly intending to try and scare her. Unfortunately for them, when they jumped out from behind a bemused looking pair of Salamanders, they found only their older brother. Then she dropped down behind them and swept them both up into her arms, taking a moment to just enjoy the open glee. After all, sooner or later she was sure their world would beat it from them, just not while she was around.

A swift bit of backtracking had them with a cream bun apiece, except Francois. Though she relented enough to pretend not to notice the twins slipping him pieces of theirs. After all, she had the entire journey back to Tristania in which to impress upon him the consequences of avoiding his lessons.