Unexpected Realizations
"Mipsy noticed."
Mipsy watched as her Master blinked and feigned nonchalance, as if he had not nearly jolted out of his skin when he turned to face her. "At least one of us did." He responded, as she placed a cup of tea with no milk and some sugar in front of him. Both of them fell quiet for a bit, as the Lord of the House drank his tea, pretending he wasn't watching Mipsy from the corner of his eyes as she cleaned.
Mipsy pretended not to notice, and simply waited.
"Did I do the right thing? Bringing Tom here, I mean." Her Master questioned, breaking the silence and placing his cup down with a small clink. "I'm not going to dump him somewhere else, not after taking him in, that would just be horrible and prone to causing even more psychological and emotional difficulties than he already has. But this house and family is..." He went quiet again, hesitating to speak, but Mipsy knew what he meant. Her Master's Family was great and powerful, but it came with such high costs, such is the way of the Froslands.
She still remembered the day when her Lord's Family Gift activated for the first time. Everyone had to vacate the house, despite him locking himself in his office the entire day. Such a strong reaction meant a strong connection to the Gift. In the average Pureblood Home, it would have made anyone proud.
All it did for their family was leave them wringing their hands and ears with worry, waiting for a signal through their bond, helpless once again as their Master was in pain. All it did was leave her Master devastated when he gazed out at the small wave of Elves who wailed in relief when he called them in, frantic and lost in his attempts to calm them all down and vow he'd learn to get it under control, so they would never have to leave him alone again.
Mipsy loved the Frosland family, and the home they gave her, but she didn't think she could ever forgive their Gift for causing all of them, House-Elf and Human alike, such heartache.
"Maybe." The Elf responded, "Maybe Not. There be always goods and bads when we make choices. Especially reckless ones." She gave him a pointed look, causing her Young Lord to quickly dip his head sheepishly. Young Master Tom's room, while wonderfully decorated, had been very last minute. They didn't even know he was adopting until Pippy had been called and hastily asked to set one of the rooms.
"I couldn't stand the thought of leaving him there any longer, and neither would you, if you saw the state of that place. I had to get him out of there."
"And Yous did." She agreed, "Just not the Frosland way."
Mipsy regretted her words immediately the moment she spoke them, and winced. Phoenix's sudden shift away from family traditions had been a sore subject and a matter of protest for ages when her Lord decided to start going out of the house to make connections the first time. They stopped, however, when it became clear that all they were doing was making things worse for him. The way his enthusiasm would drop, and his smile would lessen, hurt them far worse than any slap across the head would.
She watched as her Lord tensed a bit, and sighed, his mood dropping and her heart twisting. He ruffled his bangs and stared at his unfinished thesis, acting like it was the cause of his problems, when they both knew fully well that he could finish it in a heartbeat if he wanted.
"I haven't felt much like a Frosland, these last few years." He admitted finally, quietly, and Mipsy froze.
Oh, Mipsy Knew. Mipsy knew this man who wore Her Young Master's face was not really him. The others might have been happy to ignore the sudden changes in their Master, putting the blame on the sudden loss of his Mother and Fathers' and Brother, but Mipsy had raised Phoenix all his life. Her Young Master, who used to cry at the thought of a butterflies' lifespan. Her Young Master, who used to take his tea with Cream and Little Sugar. Her Young Master, who hated History Classes and learned but never retained enough to remember much of it.
Her Master, Her Little Bird, who fought for his life and ultimately failed before he could even become a man.
Oh, she knew, from the moment he opened his eyes, that her Little Master wasn't coming back.
But she never asked, and He never answered, and now his words now were probably the closest she would ever get to a confirmation. Mipsy's heart wouldn't be able to take it if they said anything more, nor could his, she thinks, because that would be acknowledging things neither of them wanted to admit to.
Yet...
She thought about her Late Lords and Lady. How Her New Master had Delphinus' kindness, her little smile that she shared when she helped those who needed it. Her Late Lord Galen's habit of rambling about subjects because he had too much to say and not enough ways to say it clearly, and Lord Cygnus' silent determination, and Lord Mateo's Heart and Angry, rapid swearing in Spanish. How he had Little Master Orion's energy, and Little Master Phoenix's gentleness. Her Lord had so many of the qualities of the family he didn't know, in all the ways that made him different from her Little Bird.
Different, but not Bad.
"Mipsy believes." She whispered softly, and took her New Master's hand, the same hand that was held out for the small boy sleeping in a room he never thought he'd have. "Mipsy believes Her Lord is more Frosland than he thinks."