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au_bingo - another first scene, otherwise I'm never going to get anywhere before the round 1 prompts run out!
Title: Crossing the Divide
Fandom: Criminal Minds
Prompt: Other: Slaves
Words: 750
Pairing: Morgan/Reid (eventually)
Warnings: None
Summary: Sometimes it's an auspicious day for more things than you might think...
All of the signs told him it was an auspicious day for adding a new member to his household; not to mention it was well past time that his son had a Tutor rather than the Nursemaid who'd looked after him till now, since his mother died. Morgan himself would be responsible for some of his son's education, ensuring he was brought up in a way befitting the heir to the Household, but the Tutor would play a significant role in helping that heir become the man who would inherit it all.
It seemed that everyone had pretty much the same idea, about the day being auspicious. By the time Morgan arrived at the marketplace, there were only two Tutors left; the first was a dour looking grey-haired woman, the second much younger and skinnier, leaning against a wall while a mop of hair effectively hid his face.
The woman's credentials were good, the comments from her last owner mostly positive, but there was something about her that Morgan didn't like. Something that meant he couldn't quite see her as part of his Household, no matter how good a Tutor she might be. Maybe his standards were too exacting, but everyone in the Morgan compound was part of the family, that was always the way it had been since the family had crossed the Divide and he had no intention of changing that.
After all, he wasn't selling his son's Nursemaid, just passing her on to one of his sisters - there was no chance of Morgan having another child, not now he was a widower, and his sisters both showed every sign of wanting a houseful of their own. Plenty of work for a Tutor, one way or another, assuming Morgan could find one who worked out.
He turned his attention to the other on offer, who shifted his weight uncomfortably under Morgan's scrutiny. His face was still mostly hidden, piqueing Morgan's interest; he moved till he had a better look, even though the Tutor moved too, as far as he could. It was as Morgan had suspected - one side of the Tutor's face was heavily bruised, his eye swollen shut.
It wasn't illegal to treat someone below the Divide that way, of course, but that didn't mean it was right. That was one of the first things Morgan had learned from his own Tutor, that difference between legality and morality; he'd spent the past couple of years hoping Gideon would return to teach his son, the way he'd taught Morgan, but he had to accept now that was never going to happen.
Assuming he hadn't brought the beating on himself, the marks a sign of his being a troublemaker, the main downside of taking on this particular Tutor might be his age. He looked like he was barely a man himself, but then Morgan knew well enough that looks could be deceiving. He wouldn't be here, in the Tutor section, if he hadn't at least enough experience to be worth selling.
Close up, the Tutor looked even worse. The bruises were fresh, though the paleness of his complexion made Morgan wonder just how easily he bruised in the first place; nobody expected any Tutor to be tanned, but this one took the usual book-loving pallor to extremes. He was also skinny enough to cause concern, his cheekbones sharply defined beneath the skin. The overall picture wasn't helped by his coveralls, which hung off him and clung nowhere, emphasising his height and skinniness. At least his previous owner hadn't been foolish enough to damage his Tutor's hands, the long fingers still intact despite the rough handling he'd clearly otherwise received.
Morgan reached out for the Tutor's credentials; the way he flinched at the sudden movement told him much more than he needed to know about what his life had been like, in recent days at least.
"No comments from your current owner?"
The Tutor's expression, what there was of it unmarred by bruising, became mutinous and that told him everything he needed to know. Unable to say anything positive and still hope for a successful sale, his previous owner let the lack of comment speak for itself.
The credentials were otherwise in order, though it was clear from them that while the Tutor - the paperwork said his name was Reid - was older than he looked, his experience was somewhat limited. And his time in his previous Household, by the look of his face, had been anything other than positive.
au_bingo - another first scene, otherwise I'm never going to get anywhere before the round 1 prompts run out!Title: Crossing the Divide
Fandom: Criminal Minds
Prompt: Other: Slaves
Words: 750
Pairing: Morgan/Reid (eventually)
Warnings: None
Summary: Sometimes it's an auspicious day for more things than you might think...
All of the signs told him it was an auspicious day for adding a new member to his household; not to mention it was well past time that his son had a Tutor rather than the Nursemaid who'd looked after him till now, since his mother died. Morgan himself would be responsible for some of his son's education, ensuring he was brought up in a way befitting the heir to the Household, but the Tutor would play a significant role in helping that heir become the man who would inherit it all.
It seemed that everyone had pretty much the same idea, about the day being auspicious. By the time Morgan arrived at the marketplace, there were only two Tutors left; the first was a dour looking grey-haired woman, the second much younger and skinnier, leaning against a wall while a mop of hair effectively hid his face.
The woman's credentials were good, the comments from her last owner mostly positive, but there was something about her that Morgan didn't like. Something that meant he couldn't quite see her as part of his Household, no matter how good a Tutor she might be. Maybe his standards were too exacting, but everyone in the Morgan compound was part of the family, that was always the way it had been since the family had crossed the Divide and he had no intention of changing that.
After all, he wasn't selling his son's Nursemaid, just passing her on to one of his sisters - there was no chance of Morgan having another child, not now he was a widower, and his sisters both showed every sign of wanting a houseful of their own. Plenty of work for a Tutor, one way or another, assuming Morgan could find one who worked out.
He turned his attention to the other on offer, who shifted his weight uncomfortably under Morgan's scrutiny. His face was still mostly hidden, piqueing Morgan's interest; he moved till he had a better look, even though the Tutor moved too, as far as he could. It was as Morgan had suspected - one side of the Tutor's face was heavily bruised, his eye swollen shut.
It wasn't illegal to treat someone below the Divide that way, of course, but that didn't mean it was right. That was one of the first things Morgan had learned from his own Tutor, that difference between legality and morality; he'd spent the past couple of years hoping Gideon would return to teach his son, the way he'd taught Morgan, but he had to accept now that was never going to happen.
Assuming he hadn't brought the beating on himself, the marks a sign of his being a troublemaker, the main downside of taking on this particular Tutor might be his age. He looked like he was barely a man himself, but then Morgan knew well enough that looks could be deceiving. He wouldn't be here, in the Tutor section, if he hadn't at least enough experience to be worth selling.
Close up, the Tutor looked even worse. The bruises were fresh, though the paleness of his complexion made Morgan wonder just how easily he bruised in the first place; nobody expected any Tutor to be tanned, but this one took the usual book-loving pallor to extremes. He was also skinny enough to cause concern, his cheekbones sharply defined beneath the skin. The overall picture wasn't helped by his coveralls, which hung off him and clung nowhere, emphasising his height and skinniness. At least his previous owner hadn't been foolish enough to damage his Tutor's hands, the long fingers still intact despite the rough handling he'd clearly otherwise received.
Morgan reached out for the Tutor's credentials; the way he flinched at the sudden movement told him much more than he needed to know about what his life had been like, in recent days at least.
"No comments from your current owner?"
The Tutor's expression, what there was of it unmarred by bruising, became mutinous and that told him everything he needed to know. Unable to say anything positive and still hope for a successful sale, his previous owner let the lack of comment speak for itself.
The credentials were otherwise in order, though it was clear from them that while the Tutor - the paperwork said his name was Reid - was older than he looked, his experience was somewhat limited. And his time in his previous Household, by the look of his face, had been anything other than positive.
