You look so sad, why do you laugh?
"Because as much as they hurt me, they needed me far more than I needed them."
What happened?
"I walked away, and while I did not hurt them, exactly, I also refused to let them hurt me anymore."
And then?
"They hurt themselves instead. I do not laugh because I am happy of it. But rather, because I refuse to let them make me cry anymore." -- Anon Guest
Officially homeless, Ihagrah carried her most treasured items on her back, under her arms, and in bags dangling from her hands. Nevertheless, she was laughing all the way to the Unwelcome People's ghetto. She was glad to see the back of that horrible place, no matter what it cost her in pay, accommodations, and social standing.
Not that a Harukh had much of a good reputation anyway.
The local Kobold nest greeted her with cheers, and Rikkush peeled off from the horde to patter alongside Ihagrah. "You got kicked out?"
"Quit, so I had to 'vacate my domicile forthwith' according to her Ladyship." She grunted as she re-balanced her pack with a flex of her shoulders. "Good riddance to bad rubbish. She'll find out soon enough how much she's missing." And in the meantime, she could tell her story to anyone who wanted to listen to it.
This particular ghetto was known colloquially as The Midden, and was busy with just as much life. No matter how crowded and cramped it was, there was always room for one more somewhere.
Rikkush knew a place. Kobolds were good at fitting things into spaces where they normally couldn't. Ze helped Ihagrah move her things into a tiny little closet of a bed-sit[1]. Most of the treasures from her former life would be sold. They had little use in a place like this.
Ihagrah would find work soon enough. Someone always needed Harukh muscle or Harukh height. Some merely wanted her to stand in certain places and loom at people. And while she spoke to others on her breaks, the rest of The Midden learned about Lady Tolimas and her blatant speciesism. And her furious claim that she didn't need any 'filth' like Ihagrah.
Word like that got around.
Gobelliin artificers stopped supplying wares to her stores. Hellkin and Halfbreds stopped making charms to help her. Those who considered themselves friends of the Unwelcome stopped shopping there.
And to add insult to injury, the entire place was in chaos because Ihagrah wasn't organising everything any more.
Two weeks after she left, Lady Tolimas found her again.
"Why are you not at work?" her Ladyship demanded. "My store is falling to pieces and you're slacking off!"
"I quit, remember?" said Ihagrah.
"Yes, I'm sure it was a very funny joke in Harukhai," she condescended. "The joke is very much over now. You need to come back to my store and sort everything out."
"No," said Ihagrah. "I'm done with you blaming me for everything. I'm done with you screaming over every little inconvenience. I'm done with your tantrums... And I'm done with you."
"Hahaha," she deadpanned. "Stop with this nonsense at once. You have a job to do."
"I'd like to see you try making me do it," said Ihagrah. "Have you met my new boss? This is Tender, my new boss."
Tender was looming, because he had a bit of Giant blood in him. He also looked like he could eat Lady Tolimas' head in one bite. He had the blood-red skin, the hooves, and smoking eyes of a woodcut villain. His claw-like nails always looked like they dripped with fresh blood whenever he was peeved. Like this particular moment.
"I trust there isn't going to be a problem," said Tender in the tones that made it clear that, if Lady Tolimas was insisting on making one, he could insist on making it worse.
Lady Tolimas became instantly polite and sought the nearest exit.
The next time Ihagrah saw her, she was closing down her precious little store. Tender's place, for the record, was doing very, very well.
[1] An apartment with barely enough room for a bed and nothing to do in it, but sit.
[Photo by Gabriella Clare Marino on Unsplash]
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