given Fitz's lack of flexibility, it wasn't too much of a surprise.

Point. But you'd think someone trained to be an assassin in a royal court might have managed to acquire at least a trace of sublety, diplomacy and ability to hide their true feelings...Bleh.

The Fool may have thought of Fitz as some sort of pet

I missed that entirely. I may have a reread some day to see if I can spot it. But probably not :-)