#him having to grow beyond the «simply following orders» mentality his name implies and put himself out there

[age-of-moonknight]

“Soldier,” Vengeance of the Moon Knight (Vol. 2/2024), #3.

Writer: Jed MacKay; Penciler and Inker: Alessandro Cappuccio; Colorist: Rachelle Rosenberg; Letterer: Cory Petit

[the-ghost-king]

About the cupid scene, Nico was forced to come out, but its also made very clear that Cupid is the bad guy. So is Aphrodite to an extent. They have a twisted and fundamental misunderstanding of love and how it works for mortals. I get that people could be mad about how Nico was forced to come out and putting him through more emotional trauma, but I also think its very realistic in showing how callous and cruel the gods understanding of love is.

I am reminded of the quote by Madeline Miller, "There is no law that gods must be fair..."

I also understand why the scene might be traumatic for other young LGBTQ+ readers, I've seen a lot of people talk about the fear of being outed in regards to them reading that scene as a kid. I completely respect their feelings on that, and I understand that as well. However, as someone who had been forcibly outed once before reading that scene, that scene really helped heal me. I don't think the Cupid scene is inherently homophobic, and I'm often bothered by the lack of nuance regarding around how it's handled.

I recognize it's a very emotional scene, and that people may have a hard time fully separating their emotions from that scene, but at the same time if there's a group of people saying "hey I understand why you disliked this scene but it was really helpful to me as a child because of the different experiences I had" maybe slow the breaks and hear what others also in the community have to say before determining if the scene is homophobic. You don't have to like the scene, and yeah maybe the scene did hurt you but that doesn't make it homophobic.

I want to specify on my word choice there a little closer, because of course outing someone is an act of homophobia, and the scene is homophobic in that sense. However often times the conversation about homophobia in this scene goes to "Rick was homophobic for writing this" where personally I would say this scene toes the line at being too far without ever crossing it. Some people may think this depiction crosses the line into "Rick was homophobic for writing this" which is fine, but just because something depicted homophobia and hurt you doesn't mean it was homophobic. Something doesn't have to out rightly be stated to be bad, in order to be read as bad*, and the Cupid scene does a wonderful job of depicting this.

I talk here about how Nico is shown what love is, and how love is treated by Nico, and how it affects his character. I think it's important to note that Nico's entire storyline can essentially be encompassed in an Orpheus-like or Odyssey-like tale. Nico's undergone this huge emotional and physical labor all in the name of having some form of unconditional love. I think that post is a really important read in the context of this one because I very carefully outline how love shapes Nico and how Nico shape and chooses his own definition of love, but I want to specifically dig into the Cupid scene on this post.

The big criticism often seen is "it's homophobic" which I covered above, and I want to clarify I'm not upset with or mad at or trying to tell anyone they can't dislike it or even say you can't say it's homophobic (my words on my one post are a bit off I'll admit) but the problem I have is when people believe they hold a moral high ground for thinking it's homophobic, or they remove all nuance from the discussion with "it's homophobic". Which is frustrating and annoying because it's a very complex scene, and it really changes Nico's arc and personality and it does help characterize him.

The big reason it shapes him so much is because of the other largest reason the scene is criticized, Cupid's behavior. What often fails to be recognized in those scenes is that Cupid is intentionally painted as the villain, this is very important to the scene.

In the context of this scene Nico makes an unspoken choice, a choice of "what is love to me?". I talk about how Nico claims his narrative in BoTL when he overcomes Minos, and he partially peaks that arc by convincing Gods to join the final battle of TLO. Following that arc however, Nico falls into his second arc, his crush on Percy was important in PJO, but not as important as it is in HoO.

By HoO Nico's entire character revolves around Percy, how to help Percy, how to aid Percy, etc. All of this has to do with Nico's crush on Percy, but also as an act of repayment because Nico hurt Percy- Nico lied to him about knowing him at New Rome in SoN, and he goes to Tartarus shortly after... This mirrors what Percy did after Hades tricked Nico... Percy choked Nico because he was upset with him, so Nico tried to win back Percy's affection by bathing him in the river.

The Cupid Scene is the resolution of Nico's arc, he is essentially given a choice- Cupid or Jason?

For this reason, we do see Nico recognize love for what it has been vs how it could be.

Cupid is there to represent what love is, to Nico love is brutal, and painful, and a lot of hard work... Nico has made himself utilitarian in love simply because it is the only way he can find any affection. Love to Nico is about flaying yourself for the benefit of others, to trample any and all parts of yourself simply to appease those you care for, because you want them to love you so much as you love them. The parallels I could draw between Nico and Orpheus, or Nico and Odysseus... I'd be here a long while...

In that scene Jason represents the alternative form of love which Nico chooses after his interaction with Cupid.

Jason says during the scene that he "preferred Piper's idea of love" which has to do with kindness and caring, etc, and then Jason becomes the embodiment of that idea during the scene- which showcases the alternative of what love can be, thus making Jason a personification of love in the context of that scene.

Jason looks to Nico, he doesn't ask for more, he simply looks to Nico with understanding and acknowledges him for who he is, and he does the exact opposite of what Nico expects:

Jason loves Nico where he is, without conditions, without forcing Nico to become something more. Jason didn’t force Nico to say more than what was necessary for him to understand, Jason looked at Nico and he called Nico brave.

Cupid is a more volatile form of love than Aphrodite, Cupid shoots arrows that makes people animals, that can make a god grow insane, but Aphrodite's form of love is about acceptance and humanity (think to how she picked Ares over Hephaestus even if it was perhaps "wrong")- both are about truth but one is about force and the other about acceptance.

When Nico walks out of there, he makes his choice- he is forced to come out yes, Cupid is wrong for doing this, but Jason again stays a figure of love in Nico's life. Jason basically says, "Good job, I know that was hard, thank you for sharing and let me know if you need anything, people will care about you and understand you," again and again and again to Nico, he doesn't tell Nico he has to come out, and he agrees to keep it between them for now. Jason is love as acceptance, Jason is the first person who unconditionally loves Nico, and that's the choice.

Will Nico accept unconditional love? If the answer is no, then Cupid wins and Nico is denying himself. If the answer is yes, then Jason and Nico win, and Nico no longer needs to make himself utilitarian in love in order to be loved.

The choice is made with Reyna and Hedge, most specifically Reyna.

When he accidentally comes out to them, and they accept him without making a big deal of it, without show, just that acknowledgement and "thank you for sharing" and Nico accepts their words and friendship still- Nico made his choice then to accept the love he was being freely given.

“He carried so much sadness and loneliness, so much heartache. Yet he put his mission first. He persevered. Reyna respected that. She understood that. She'd never been a touchy-feely person, but she had the strangest desire to drape her cloak over Nico's shoulders and tuck him in. She mentally chided herself. He was a comrade, not her little brother. He wouldn't appreciate the gesture.”

This is where we see the slow and steady, and healthy, end to Nico's arc in regards to love really grow into itself, and he begins to heal. He no longer sees such an intense need to make himself utilitarian for love, and he begins to heal from his internalized homophobia too.

(Internalized homophobia discussions with Nico also bother me too often times, people too often assume you can't date while struggling with internalized homophobia or at least very heavy handedly imply that which is just not true... You may have some issues in your relationship, but you can work through the internalized homophobia while building a new relationship and be just fine. Also to assume someone has an unhealthy relationship because of internalized homophobia is weird and lowkey reinforces the idea that "broken" people don't need love, but also does a huge disservice to so many LGBTQ+ people who are happily married/themselves but still struggle with these feelings, and to see a healthy relationship depiction despite someone in that relationship struggling with internalized homophobia is fine and good actually. As long as the individual can recognize what they're dealing with, and work through it in a healthy and constructive manner, then there's nothing wrong there...)

When I started this post to be honest I thought I would have a lot more to say, it's a scene that touched and changed me so deeply as a person, and beyond that in a more objective experience it completely changes Nico's character, by turning his arc around and beginning his healing process. To be honest, there probably is more to be said on it, I just haven't found the words yet... I know parts of this post are clunky and in a year I'm going to read this and see all the places it could be better but for now I'm content with it.

Whether or not someone considers the scene homophobic is a subjective experience, but I think this is a very well written scene purely for the characterization and symbolism, intentional or otherwise. I don't really care that much to debate if it's truly a homophobic scene or not, I can see both why people say it is and why people say it isn't and that can be culminated into "people have different needs" and "minorities aren't a monolith". Personally my much larger complaint is the complete lack of nuance and insight scenes like this are handled with, not the matter of personal opinion an individual reaches on the scene.

*the post uses the word "adult audience" and yes, fair point, children should not be able to decipher symbolism to the extent adults can. But older children and young teens, which the RRverse series are sold for, is when critical thinking skills and media analysis do begin to become parts of classroom curriculum. The scene does an excellent job of not outright stating Cupid is evil, but of depicting that in a very clear cut way.

[faces-in-unexpected-places]

How did you come up with the names in “do you have the time?”?

Hi there! I'm finally getting around to answering this. Super excited because the name choosing-process took little while and did have a lot of thought behind it. Get ready for a NOVEL, ANON.

We'll start with Jeremy since he's the easiest. The character was loosely inspired by ANOTHER character named Jeremy from a French animated TV show called Code Lyoko that aired on Cartoon Network for a spell back in the day. This character served as inspiration for his physical design (hence the long blonde hair and sweaters. I have plans to give Jeremy glasses in the future as well), as well as temperament. Jeremy in the show is characterized as the "brains". Of course, many of my characters are known to be highly intelligent because the story mostly takes place in a university scientific research building, but Jeremy (my character) tends to identify more closely with this trait than the other characters (to the point that if he feels his intelligence is being threatened or challenged, he becomes defensive and critical of himself). Also, the name Jeremy sounded kind of academic and nerdy to me.

His last name being Brilliant is pretty self-explanatory, I think. He is commonly seen by others as a quick learner and astute thinker.

Here's a picture of Jeremy from Code Lyoko.

--

With Madison being his sister, the last name Brilliant worked really well. In her case, it represents her struggles in academia and tendency to compare herself to Jeremy in the present day and what she can remember of him when he was her current age. It represents the daunting pressure she has placed for herself in her own mind that she must "live up to her name" by also being just as "Brilliant" as Jeremy is. As for her first name... I don't actually remember how I chose Madison. I think the main reasons were 1.) I liked it. It's a nice name, in my opinion, and 2.) I needed a name that could be shortened to a common nickname (like Maddie) to show that Jeremy addressing her as Madison was a very deliberate thing he did to seep her at arms' length. The first time he calls her Maddie in the present day is a big deal for their relationship because it represents the beginning of their relationship healing, after it had been tense and emotionally cold for months/years.

--

The name Leslie was inspired by yet another character. Leslie Knope from Parks and Recreation. Not so much in the way of looks, but the general predisposition to be eager to help people and express her affection for people. Especially people who appear closed off demo others and their emotions (Jeremy) or vulnerable (Leopold) or are in need of guidance whether they know it or not (Madison). Leslie Knope as a character was phenomenally written and one of the best examples of a "strong female character" that I can think of. (I have a whole thing on what it means to be a "strong female character" and how most writers/directors are doing it wrong, but that is a post for another day). Leslie (my character) much like Knope, is strong in her convictions revolving around the people she loves, loves her work and is extremely competent in it. This is due to her constant over-achieving can go unnoticed or under-appreciated because of how CONSISTENT she can be in her diligence. She also has the tendency to lose track of herself and her identity by focussing to much on the needs of others and not enough time introspecting and capitalizing on self-care, though she'll be the first to preach self-care to the ones she loves.

The last name Goodchild is also pretty self-explanatory (most of the last names are, which I've grown to cringe at a little over the years). She was a very GOOD CHILD. Followed all the rules, always punctual, went above and beyond, and has carried those habits into adulthood. Most of the time, these traits serve her well, though is has been hinted at and will be explored later that these traits could be born out of fear and/or the need for validation from others.

--

The name Leopold stuck out to me pretty early on in the conceptualization of his character. I wanted something that was different/unique and a little older sounding (because... he's an old man lmao). One of his defining character traits is that he's... kinda weird. He's rather unconventional and doesn't tend to do many things "by the book" (working on the floor, using colored pencils to take notes, etc.) and has been shown to be actively stressed out or depressed when working at a desk and computer or chalk board, etc..

The last name Looney is meant to represent his growing mental/emotional instability over the course of the story and also give some of the minor antagonists an easy way to target him and further exacerbate the decline his mental health by ridiculing him. It serves as an easy way for him to be dismissed by his peers, which is especially difficult in science (since research must be peer-reviewed in order to be accepted) and distressing when he is studying a complicated but also stigmatized topic like time travel.

Side note: when I was a kid, I had very short, blonde hair. Almost like a buzz cut. In the right light/angle, I often looked bald. And since my last name is Baldridge, lots of kids used that as an opportunity to tease me, asking me "if my last name was Baldridge because I was bald". It's kind of like one of those rather unfortunate last names that does seem to have some kind of reality to it and is unfairly abused by others. I ended up giving Leopold the same problem. It's something that if you can't do anything about it, you'll hear about it for your entire like. Similar to how I've been told "I am your father" for 24 years because my first name is Luke. More on that and how it connects to Sophia's character in... right now!

--

I chose Sophia because it is a very soft sounding name to me, implying that she has a softer side to her, despite being a prominent antagonist to the above four characters for the time being. With her given name being Xuan, Sophia is a more common and Americanized name that she's identified with and prefers to be addressed as. The reason for this has not been stated, and I'm not sure if it will be. I'm not sure how important the reason is. This dual-name situation is the little piece of me that prefers to be called Isaac instead of Luke. I don't go out of my way to explain why to people unless I am directly questioned about it.

I think that it should be normalized to be called whichever name you wish to be called and that is should not have to be an expectation to have a "valid" enough reason to prefer one name over another. Attention of the duality of her name is brought to light when you see that everyone addresses her as Sophia except for her father, Chi, who unwaveringly calls her by her given name. This highlights the lack of respect Chi has for his daughter in the present time of the story when juxtaposed to Leopold and the remaining cast who address her as Sophia, despite her still being an active antagonist.

--

Andre, meaning brave, was chosen because Andre is rather comfortable in his place in life both academically and professionally speaking. While not brave in the "protect-your-family-from-an-angry-bear-with-your-bare-hands" kind of way, he is shown to be brave in that he cares very little of what other people think, which is shown to be a secret weakness of Jeremy's. He lives freely with few inhibitions, which is a difficult thing for many other characters. A large part of this stems from Andre's optimism because he is a first-generation college graduate (like yours truly) and has already accomplished more than he ever imagined or thought possible for someone who grew up with little/no exposure to higher education or professional guidance. This also serves as an interesting comparison to Jeremy and Madison's relationship with education where their success was contingent on so many judgements and preconceptions and expectations of their parents, whereas Andre's success was accepted just by attending college and was simply further supported/awarded by his graduation and attainment of a relevant job

--

Those are all of the main characters that had a lot of in-depth thought put into them that I can touch on at the moment. Thank you again so much for asking! It means the world to me that someone would be interested enough to ask questions about this, especially since it is a very rough first draft that has been in the making for years and is uploaded at extremely inconsistent intervals. To be frank, I'm surprised I've gotten questions or comments about the story at all, at any time! Please feel free to ask more if it strikes your curiosity. And be prepared for ANOTHER NOVEL lmao.

[fanesavin]

Long Way Back, Part I: Down in New Orleans

Date: Thursday 3rd of August - Thursday 10th of August Word Count: 41117 Featuring: @faye-andrews​ Fane, Eowyn, Beulah, Fireflies & the Nightwisp. Synopsis: After a hectic three weeks of interrupted attempts at meetings and dates cut short Faye, Fane and Eowyn ultimate end up taking a trip down South to escape their schedules and the Springs for a while. The first day involves first time meetings and experiences with flying, truth potions, an unlikely and rather unwanted gift from a Nightwisp. Tag Warnings: Disturbing Imagery, Murder Mention, Sex Mention, Implied Miscarriage

Fane was currently sprawled out on Faye’s bed, arms stretched out idly tapping away at his phone playing a game of snake whilst she moved about the various closets and drawers packing things up into a suitcase. His own was already neatly packed up and in the boot of his compact SUV that currently sat parked up on the drive outside, he’d booked their tickets the night before after receiving Faye’s texts about wanting to get out of town for a little bit of a break. He couldn’t blame her with how insane things had been lately. Plus, she needed to see her Gram as well and Fane wasn’t going to complain to an impromptu trip. Ryan was left in charge of the estate and dogs (he never minded considering walks gave him a chance to take his camera along), paperwork in order and anything major from work set to reroute to his phone and laptop (packed in a small handheld luggage bag with other necessary paperwork and items for the five hour flight that lay ahead).

Over two or three weeks of not having seen one another properly without being dragged in separate directions by this thing or that had left them in need of a chance to reconnect and get their bearings. Explaining why he currently lounged on her bed whilst Faye bustled around. As the snake accidentally ran into a wall ending his game Fane dropped his phone onto his chest and tilted his head aside to look at her. “Are you sure there’s nothing I can do to help?”

The last three weeks had been… long. And that was putting it kindly. Between what had happened with her mother and the Fae, the magical bullshit that had once again taken over the town (sticking her in a rather vexing situation with Freddie Watts, resident hater of all things her), her meeting with Ephram, and the general lack of any sort of real time together with Fane that wasn’t made up of a quick FaceTime at midnight, or a twenty minute coffee date between everything they both had going on in their personal schedules, Faye was wrung out. Truly and utterly done.

She’d called Fane last night after getting a grumpy Eowyn down to sleep - finally - and nearly broke down into tears.

Which is why they were here now.

“No, it’s fine really,” Faye sighed, pulling one or two more things from her closet and folding them to go in the small suitcase she was sharing with Wyn. They each had a small carryon bag as well, Wyn’s consisting of a pink backpack covered in purple unicorns, and Faye’s of her satchel that she used for teaching, which would hold her own laptop and a few personal items to take on the plane. She’d never flown before, so she was feeling slightly nervous about the trip. The Rift wasn’t charged enough to take them so far, so flying was the only other option.

She was excited to be going back to New Orleans, though the news she was carrying with her wasn’t the best. But more than likely, her Gram would already know. That’s what she did: she knew things.

After the suitcase was done except for a few small things like toiletries and what nots, Faye finally sat down beside Fane on the bed, flopping onto her back next to him. She lay with  her eyes closed for a long moment, breathing quietly, before she turned her head to look at him.

“Thank you. For this. And for comin’ with us.”

With his phone resting on his chest Fane’s arms automatically shifted to rest above his head on the mattress, body stretching out a little with the act whilst he tracked her movements from the closet to the suitcase and back again. He’d had his own encounter with a certain Mr. Watts, accidentally run into his and Ephram’s wife, been mauled by imps and recorded dancing in the square (no thanks to Heilyn for that one). He wasn’t perhaps as exhausted as he could be, but getting away from the chaos for a little bit would be nice.

Being assured once more there was nothing he could do Fane merely blinked once and tilted his head back up to study the ceiling, not the most interesting of things to do. Perhaps playing another game would keep him occupied?

“Your Gram knows we’re coming right? I don’t need to book us anywhere or anything to stay right?” better to ask now rather than later he figured.

Hearing the zip of the suitcase and feeling the mattress dip under her weight nearby Fane’s eyes slid from the ceiling (boring) to Faye (by far super-mega-way-more-interesting). He didn’t speak whilst she lay there beside him, simply looked at her until their eyes met as her head turned and he waved a hand idly.

“S’no problem,” he assured casually letting his words meld as they tended to when he was relaxed “can hardly deny an invite can I? Plus, someone needs to talk you onto that plane. You haven’t got anything sharp or any liquids in your carry-on right? Put anything squeezy like make-up and bottles need to go in a plastic bag just incase they leak under the altitude and pressure… Sometimes it gets a bit messy if they go splat. Not worth the clean up” he assured his expression growing ponderous as he considered his mental checklist. “Passports and stuff? Underwear, socks, clothes, shades, shoes, chargers and did you get some hard-boil sweets or lollies for the flight it’ll help with the altitude change?” If not they could get those at the terminal but better to ask anyway.

“She does,” Faye said with small nod. “I talked to her early this morning. She can’t wait. She’s never gotten to meet Wyn in person, and it’s been five years or more since I’ve been back.” She grew quiet for a moment, turning her gaze back to the ceiling. “My Gram… she’s…” A fond smile grew on Faye’s face. “She’s… eccentric. And nosy. If she wants to know somethin’ she’s gonna ask, so… just take her in stride okay?” Faye didn’t doubt that Fane could handle the old woman’s questions, even though she could tend to be deeply personal without meaning any harm by it. Still, the last time Faye had ‘taken someone home,’ it had been her ex-husband. And her Gram hadn’t cared for him much at all. She called him a few colorful cajun names if Faye remembered correctly.

She turned her head back to Fane as he spoke again. “No, but I’ll double check. That’s all I need is to get strip-searched by security.” She gave a small huff. Flying wasn’t something she’d ever cared to do. The very thought of it made her nervous. So as Fane rattled off his list, Faye just nodded without necessarily hearing everything he said. She did hear ‘altitude, pressure, and splat’ all run together into one terrifying jumble of words, however.

She rolled over and sat up, giving his leg a pat. “You want some wine? I think I’m gonna have a glass... or four…” Pushing up from the bed, Faye scrubbed a hand through her hair as she exited the bedroom, figuring he would follow as she made her way down the stairs and into the kitchen. She found a glass and a bottle, decided better against the Merlot before putting it back and pouring herself a healthy measure of whiskey. She took a long sip, looking up as Fane entered the room.

“Sorry,” she said, looking down a bit sheepishly. “I’m nervous. If you can’t tell. They have liquor on the plane, right?” she asked around the rim of the glass.

“I’m sure it’ll be a treat,” Fane agreed his eyes closing momentarily as he cricked his neck before his eyes opened again when she spoke once more of her Gram giving her a slightly lopsided smile. “So, basically you?” he asked with a cheeky grin but the look softened “consider m’self fairly warned but I’m sure it’s nothing I can’t figure out.” Fane wasn’t really entirely sure how he felt about meeting Faye’s only remaining family beyond that of Springs, cautious for sure but also curious to learn about where she was from and her history. If dealing with her Gram was a part of that then, he’d do as she said and take it in stride.

Still, the mention of strip-searching made him waggle his eyebrows at her childishly “nah, only one who gets to do any strip-searching is me so long as you don’t have anything sharp you’ll be fine.” Perhaps he should have been a little more cautionary in his bits of advice and judging from her spaced expression he’d spooked her.

The pat to his thigh and question made him sit up shortly after her, “drinking won’t help” he cautioned warily not particularly fancying having to deal with a potentially inebriated Faye through security, gate, flight and customs. Following her from the bedroom at a more languid pace he continued speaking knowing she could hear him, “it’ll just make you feel bad and then you’ll just drink more to try and make yourself feel better and-- yeah, it’s not the best way to deal with this. Trust me,” he leaned the front of his hips against the counter whilst she poured out a whiskey for herself “nothing’s gonna happen.”

Any offer of alcohol was declined, he was driving after all and even now preferred not to dabble when in charge of the safety of other people. Maybe it was trivial but he’d always felt inclined to not test his drink-driving limit. “There’s really nothing to be afraid of. I swear… But if you’re feeling that bad, just think about where we’ll be at the end of it hm? That tends to help, just keep reminding yourself of why we’re doing this.”

“Hush,” she said gently to his teasing. Faye wasn’t sure how to feel about basically introducing Fane to her family either. He hadn’t had the actual pleasure of meeting Victoria, thank goodness, and Faye’s Gram was all the blood family, besides Eowyn, that Faye had left. She was nervous, wondering how he felt about it all. She wondered if it was too soon. If it was too much of a step. She wondered if she should just tell him they didn’t need to go to New Orleans. That they could just go to… Seattle, or something that didn’t involve her family. God, she wished she could still feel the hint of his emotions when they touched. That might give her some idea. But also, she trusted that if he thought it was too much, or wasn’t comfortable with it, he would have spoken up. Or she hoped he would have.

Nothing would make her feel worse than him feeling obligated and then things going south. Or feeling obligated at all.

Another reason she got up in search of liquid temperance.

“I’m not gonna make a fool outta myself, good lord. ” She turned as he leaned up against the counter, leaning back herself, one arm crossed over her stomach. “I do trust you. Which is the only reason I’m gettin’ on that plane and were not just Ubering there.”

She sighed, looking down into her nearly empty glass. She chewed her lip. “No. No, you’re right. It’s… it’s fine. I’m just… it’s been a really long time and so many things happened down there and I-” Faye pressed the cool surface of the glass to her lips, holding it there while her thoughts drifted just a bit. Finally, after a long moment, she said softly, “I killed someone the day I left. I meant to do it. He tried to kill me, so I made him pay for it.”

Her eyes slid to his. “I was a different person in New Orleans, Fane.” They dropped away again. “And people remember things like that.”

Despite all of Faye’s anxiety around the matter of going back home, Fane could only be considered to be lingering at the other end of the spectrum in a semi-state of tranquility. He saw no point in wallowing in his concerns or the potential what ifs. Did he hope Faye’s gram liked him? Of course he did, but there was no point in his mind in getting himself worked up into a frenzy over it either. It would be whatever it would be. Meeting family was never something he’d ever particularly gotten to the stage of with any of his past partners but some research suggested that three or four months tended to be around the time when most people in normal relationships did this sort of stuff so… If Faye wanted to tell her Gram what had happened with her mother, wanted to give her a chance to meet Eowyn then Fane would happily accommodate. Plus, she’d asked him to come with her specifically so of course he was going to go. There were no two ways about it.

Fane wouldn’t deny the fact that he was curious; learning more about where she was from would help him in turn learn more about her. So, he took it in stride as with most other occurrences recently. There was also the fact that three weeks of not having seen one another kind of sucked as well.

“I know,” he acknowledged managing a small smile at her remark about ubering. “It’s going to be fine, promise” to emphasise this point he dragged his index finger in a cross over his chest.

He watched her as she took another drink, but when she began to speak his eyes lifted attentively. “You’re nervous about going back?” Fane asked as she lapsed into silence. However, the admission that came next caused his fingers to curl ever so slightly on the countertop and he took a moment to let his weight sink over the island until his chin rested in his hands with his elbows on the island. He wasn’t entirely sure what he was supposed to say to that, and Fane debated internally on how best to approach the matter. Faye had never admitted something like that before yet the impression he had of her Fane had always had a feeling she’d crossed that line. Instead of offering words of assurance he tilted his head smoothing a hand over his chin “do you want to tell me about it?”

With her declaration of being a different person then he merely pursed his lips, but ultimately he sighed “you can’t keep running from your past forever. One day it’s going to catch up with you-- history sucks but often it’s better to confront it on on your own terms than wait for it to come around and bite you when you least expect it don’t you think?” His eyes didn’t leave her when he finished speaking, “I think that going home will be a good experience for you… But some of your burdens to bed and get a chance to see your gram, hm?”

Faye missed home. Or the place she had once considered her home. Soapberry was her home now. The people there were her home. And Fane… he was home too. There was no way around it. No way to rethink it. Wherever he was, that place was home. It had become a person, and not a place. So despite her fears and her misgivings, Faye tried to be optimistic about all of it. She had no doubt that her Gram would love Fane. She had disliked Faye’s ex so much, that the man wouldn’t even go to her house anymore after she hexed him several times for being ‘a bumbling asshole.’

The time apart had been awful. But Faye knew there were things that needed doing, and they couldn’t do them if they were spending all their time with each other, no matter how they might want to. So they had pushed through, and finally, when the town had once again righted itself, they were together again and about to go away for a few days. Faye should feel relieved.

But that was the last thing she felt. For so many different reasons.

“Yeah,” she answered. “Little bit.” And then she told him why, her hand so tight around her glass she thought it might shatter beneath her grip. Faye watched his body language, watched the shock register across his face, and watched as he processed it. That she’d murdered someone. She turned a bit, so that he would be looking at her in profile as she looked out the kitchen window. Did she want to tell him about it? “Not really. But… I think I need to.”

Again, she grew quiet, her entire body tense as a rail, wondering what he would think of her after her story was finished. “My coven tried to have me killed. Me and my husband. There was a religious group - Church of the Rising Sun - that knew what we were. Their leader, a man called Johnathan, had made it his life’s mission to weedle out the witches in the city. He didn’t even worry about any other supers - Hell, I don’t know if he even knew about them - he just made us his focus. Preachin’ his religious garbage in public, callin’ on the people to fight back against the oppression of the Pagan Witches and their Devil Worship. I’m a goddamn Baptist,” she said with a huff, shaking her head. “Or I was… But anyway… he openly threatened us. He even threatened our coven, which we ran as a small private school for girls. There were crosses set on fire in our yard. Our apothecary that we ran to make money was trashed. They even kidnapped some of our girls once.”

Faye shook her head, the anger apparent on her face. “He was an evil, cruel man. And we wanted to fight back. To get rid of him before he got rid of us.” She took another drink from her glass. “The council voted no. To stay neutral. To wait it out. To not give them any reason to target us. Though we already were. Just by existing. So me an’ him, we decided to do something about it. We’d already decided to leave town, because we wouldn’t sit back and watch everyone we cared about die if there was nothing we could do to help them. Other than getting rid of Johnathan. I guess our coven didn’t trust us. Figured we were gonna do somethin’ rash before we left.”

“They sent a Hunter after us.” Her eyes drifted back over to Fane. “He tried to kill me. Us. Tried to cut my throat.” She rubbed a finger over a tiny, thin scar on her collarbone. “So I repayed the favor.” She finished the last of her whiskey. “‘Cept I finished the job. Eventually.”

“A week later I got word that my coven was dead. House burned to the ground, with everyone inside.”

She sat the glass down a bit more forcefully than she should have. “It already did,” she said sharply. She wasn’t angry with him, not at all, just the situation itself. For not taking the initiative sooner and ridding the world of her horrible mother when she had the chance. “And more of my past is waiting back there. In that city.”

Her eyes met his, softening a little. “Yeah… yeah I s’pose it will be.” She turned to rinse the glass, effectively ending that line of conversation for now. “What time is our flight?”

Was he shocked by the revelation that had come so abruptly? Yes, but he wanted to try and understand the story that came with that. Faye wasn’t a woman to act without reason, whether it ultimately ended well or badly there was always some sort of truth or reasoning that went with it. She wasn’t a woman to simply kill needlessly, or, at least he hoped that was the case. So he settled on the counter not making a sound as she turned to look out the window.

Fane’s hips rested on the edge of the counter making no move to drift closer nor shift further away, simply maintaining his ponderous and neutral stance where he leaned upon the island-counter. As the story unfolded his lips drew into a thin line, and then into a deeper frown at the thought of what she must have had to go through. So many deeply rooted religious atrocities that she’d faced and survived, no wonder she held such loathing for the topic. He’d admittedly wondered a few times why she never seemed to mention a coven of her own, or why she didn’t seem to belong to any on affiliation but never felt inclined to ask less it stirred up unwanted memories. Though apparently he was learning about it today without even needing to prompt.

The story of this Johnathan man made Fane’s frown turn into a slight glower, looking away from Faye down to the countertop on which his arms rested. Why did people think they had any right or entitlement to treat other people this way? What had supernaturals ever done to deserve this sort of persecution? The thought of innocent children, young girls being kidnapped simply rubbed him the wrong way and Fane’s jaw tensed slightly. Looking back to Faye he saw the anger etched into her features.

The betrayal she must have felt by being turned on by her coven made Fane rub his jaw, heart aching at the thought of her suffering through that loss of trust from those she probably considered closest to her. How many times had Faye been hurt by the people she was supposed to have faith in and trust? Her mother, her coven, Chris? Even Fane was guilty in a way of that regardless of his own personal reasons for it. His eyes were drawn to the rub of the scar, the silvery line evident against her skin. And what she had to say next caused him to let out a low breath and a quiet utterance of “jesus” raising a hand to rub his eyes he pressed his palms flat to the cool surface and pushed back to a standing position. “What happened to Johnathan?” it was the first thing he’d really said through listening to her.

The sharp clink of glass on counter didn’t deter him from circling around the counter, moving over to stand beside her reaching a hand out to touch her hips and turn her to face him. “I’m sorry, I didn’t know” he murmured softly, hands slipping further around her until he drew her into a gentle hug. “You know we don’t have to go if you don’t want to right? Though maybe reconciling with what happened there will help you find some sort of closure on that.” Fane wasn’t sure whether it would, but he could only hope that there was some small possibility of her managing to do that.

Releasing her as she turned his hands fell back to his sides and Fane stepped away letting her have a bit of space, “flight’s at one, considering we’ve still got the drive, check-in and security shouldn’t be too bad considering we’ve got first-class seats which means it’s all expedited and less hanging around before we get travelling.” If there was one thing Fane hated it was hanging around with nothing to do, his restlessness led to him getting bored rather easily. Better to pay a bit extra and get a decent experience than suffer economy and long queues. “Speaking of, we should probably start thinking about sorting any final stuff you need to pack before we leave.”

Faye had been harmed enough in her life, and been the brunt of too much hatred to kill needlessly. So Fane was right. There had always been a reason. Even after leaving New Orleans, and the life she was dragged into then, there had always been a reason. A damn good one. And Faye’s powers had been useful for finding out the truth. Sometimes she was wrong, and the person didn’t deserve death. Other times they deserved it ten times over.

But that was another conversation for another night. One Faye knew needed to happen, but couldn’t stomach just yet.

It was hard enough to tell this story. Of how Faye’s trust in covens had died a long time ago. Blackwater Coven in Soapberry had asked her to join them once. Faye had turned them down. Not willing to put her life in the hands of a contingent of people that weren’t her blood. That weren’t her family. Though even that meant little these days.

So the story continued on, and Faye’s eyes closed a little as she heard his muttered exclamation. She hated for him to hear this. To see her for what she truly was: a murderer. Killing never made her happy. Did she feel like a wrong had been righted? Sometimes. Did she feel that she was saving others from harm and persecution? Sometimes. Most times she just felt numb. Her life had been marred by blood and betrayal, and Faye was tired. Which is why she was trying so hard to build something better. Something full of light and laughter and love. Because that’s who she was now. And she never wanted to look back.

“I don’t know what happened to him. For all I know he’s still there. Spreadin’ his hate and his bigotry.” She silently hoped someone had killed him, or at the very least run him out of town. But cutting off one head only meant two more would spring back in it’s place. And Faye was too tired to fight the hydra at this point.

She looked up as Fane came over, and let him turn her towards him. Three weeks without his touch had left her hypersensitive, and Faye willing moved closer, leaning her head onto his chest and closing her eyes. “How could you know?” she said, voice muffled against his shirt. “And no. No, we need to go. I need to go. You’re right: I can’t keep running. And it wasn’t all bad. Just those few things…. Big things… but there’s so much good too.”

She gave him a small smile and a nod as he pulled away, always seeming to know when she needed just a little space to deal with things. She wanted his touch, god she wanted it so badly, but they had a plane to catch. “Alright. I’ll um… I”ll wake Wynnie up from her nap in a few. Will you go through things with me one more time first? Make sure I have everything?”

There were a few odds and ends and ‘better safe than sorry’ items that Faye packed up in the end, but within the hour they were ready and on their way, Faye feeling both excited and scared of so many things, but more than anything, she felt… strangely enough… happy. And she was determined that ‘happy’ was the feeling she would hold onto for as long as she could.

The airport was crowded, and Faye held Wyn on her hip as they stood waiting to board. “Is it always like this?” she asked Fane as she adjusted the curious toddler.

They would cross the bridge of the other dark deeds littering Faye’s history when they reached them, just as Fane would gradually tell some of his own. By comparison they were rather mild, but he’d always done his best to stay in the light (ironic considering the light could also ultimately be his end). It wasn’t hard per say to hear these truths but it was hard to contrast the person capable of that to the woman he saw here in the kitchen now. Time had clearly taken its toll to dampen her hot-temper; not that it had been tamed entirely considering some of the outbursts he had been witness to thus far. Plus, she’d killed her mother didn’t she? Fane was never going to underestimate her power or drive to what ends she might be capable but it was difficult to wrap his head around. Still, this was another piece of the puzzle that made up Faye and whilst he might not agree with the sentiment of killing he could understand it to a degree.

His exclamation wasn’t at the admission to her killing people, more the story about what had happened to her coven after all he’d stayed the night she killed her mother and he’d stay now. After all, he could recognise and appreciate her efforts in trying to move on from the dark days. To lay them to bed and try to find something better, and if she was willing to let him Fane wanted to try and help her build that life for herself and Wyn, felt that she deserved that after the betrayal and hardships through which she had endured.

Fane made a mental note to look into that at some point, to see whether or not he could pull some strings to find out what happened to this Johnathan character. Whilst he didn’t typically wish harm upon others it didn’t mean he sometimes felt that way inclined. But right now? Right now he was needed here, and it was why he left his spot to circle nearer to her and give her a moment of respite in his loose hug. He didn’t answer her question because really, how could he know? “Alright, then we’ll go but if you ever feel uncomfortable about anything you tell me alright?” Shifting back to give her a serious look before he pressed a kiss to her forehead and drawing away.

When it came to giving Faye space to collect herself Fane was somewhat intuitive, his movements ebbing and flowing like the tides drawing him nearer and receding when the time was right. “Yep, I’ll meet you in the bedroom and we’ll go over the stuff.”

It wasn’t long before everything was sorted and packed away in the car, with the cottage locked up securely they set out on their way. The drive from Soapberry to the airport wasn’t too bad, considering it was the middle of the day and once they arrived there it was simply a matter of handing the keys over to the valet, unloading the bags and making their way to the terminal.

Thankfully, there were no major incidents and checking in, security and getting to the gate went issue-free. So as Faye spoke he tilted his head in her direction, “yep. I mean, it’s summer holidays as well so you kind of have to expect all this” he gave a general wave of his hand towards the people passport and boarding passes in hand.

Looking back, Faye had been angry for a long time. Until recently, when things started to change and she realized that anger didn’t solve anything. Her grief still manifested as anger sometimes, but she liked to think she had a slightly better hold now than she had even a few months prior. Nearly losing everything you ever loved was enough to make someone reevaluate their priorities. And how they were living their life. And then Faye had gotten those things back: Fane. Her magic. Her relationship with Ephram that wasn’t totally estranged anymore. Her daughter. So many things that made Faye realize she couldn’t keep living like she had been.

And while there were dark things still hiding in the archives of her personal history, things that it would be hard to talk about, and even harder to witness Fane’s reaction to, Faye would reveal them when the time was right. She just hoped that when she did it didn’t make him see her differently. Or change things between them. It was hard for her to open up as it was. And opening up to someone she cared so greatly for - someone she loved - and having them look at her with anger, or even worse, with disgust… there was nothing more heart-wrenching. At least not in Faye’s mind. She really didn’t know if she could survive having Fane hate her too.

No… she knew she couldn’t.

But that was for another time.

She wanted nothing more than to build a new life for her and Wyn. A better life. A good life. And she wanted Fane to be a part of that life. An integral part. Even now, Faye found it hard to imagine a future without him in it, though she kept those feelings tightly reined. Things were going well, and she saw no reason why they wouldn’t continue to go as such, but she kept her hopes on a low burn, lest they overwhelm her.

“I will,” she said, smiling at his kiss to her head. Anything that bothered her, she would tell him. And they would deal with it as it came.

Just as they were dealing with the crowd at the airport now. But when he assured her that this was normal, Faye relaxed slightly. It was only a few hours by plane to Louisiana, and Eowyn seemed to have no qualms about any of this, looking around and occasionally tapping Fane or her mother on the shoulder to point questioningly to something she didn’t know the name of.

Finally, after what seemed like ages, they were boarding. Faye helped Eowyn into her seat, the little girl immediately moving to look out the window, Bun still securely in hand, while she secured their bags overhead. She moved into the middle seat to let Fane put his things away, and finally sat down, scrubbing a hand nervously through her hair. “At least one of us is gonna enjoy this,” Faye said to Fane as he took his own seat. Eowyn was grinning at something outside, paying neither of the adults one bit of attention.

There was no part of his mind that doubted that he’d leave Faye and Wyn, at least not at this moment in time. Had she done terrible things? Yes, but as he always ended up circling back to the ultimate crux of the matter. It was her past and she was trying to find a new route forwards and in Fane’s books if you truly worked and dedicated yourself to seeking a better life then why shouldn’t you be given forgiveness and a second chance? The outlook was perhaps a dangerous one, one that had gotten himself hurt many a time in the past and likely would continue to do so in the future.

Yet that very belief was also the burning heart that had kept him going all this time, through the harm and suffering he’d experienced at the hands of others. It was how he’d come to terms with himself in a way, believing that if he could accept the worst in others and try to give them a second chance that maybe they’d prove him wrong. Prove that darkness wasn’t always the route a person would take. There had to be something worthwhile in the world, otherwise what really was the point in the end? So he would deal with Faye’s history when it came up, try to listen, to understand her troubles and the darkness haunting and weighing down her soul.

But for now that moment wasn’t now.

Instead, Fane assured Faye to ease some of her nerves along with happily indulging Wyn’s curiosity about the new things around them telling her the words and doing his best to help her understand where they were. She was a smart child and seemed more excited about the prospect of a holiday than her mother was, or at least the travelling process that is.

Considering their seats were first-class they were the first called to board and the space in the front of the plane compared to economy was a luxury in itself especially with his tall frame and long legs which otherwise would have been cramped up by the time they touched down again. Putting his own luggage away Fane sat down in his seat, stretching out in the leather recliner with his feet kicked out in front of him though Faye’s nervousness was palpable. Reaching out across the gap between their seats to seek out her hand he gave it a reassuring squeeze along with a look to say ‘trust me, this won’t be as bad as you think’ before his gaze travelled to Wyn who seemed taken with watching the flight crew packing the last of the luggage on board. “You should take a leaf from her book,” he joked lightly “there’s nothing to be scared of, trust me.”

Faye knew that most people wouldn’t be able to see past the terrible things she’d done. But Fane wasn’t most people. It was odd, in a way, how someone with such a dark and brutal past as Faye would come to care for the kind of man that Fane was: not without his own darkness and pain, but gentle and caring, forgiving, the kind of man who saw people for who they were, not who they used to be. The kind of man who could see Faye for who she was, not who she had been. And while the past couldn’t be changed, it didn’t define a person’s heart. It didn’t define who they were now. And for someone like Faye, that was a balm like no other. To know that he could see the darkest parts of her soul and still say, ‘I’m not leaving.’

It was one of the reasons she loved him.

And it only grew day by day.

Faye wanted to tell him, it made her heart swell even as she thought about it, but she knew it wasn’t the right time. Things like that, declarations like ‘I love you’ were something Faye didn’t take lightly. They were worth waiting for.

But back to now. This would be Wyn’s first true holiday. She’d never been out of Soapberry in her three years of life. They’d been to the beach, and the zoo, and pretty much every family-centered place the town had to offer, but never had Faye taken her daughter this far from the relative safety of Soapberry’s barrier.

Never having been on a plane before, Faye didn’t know the difference in first class versus any other class, although she would readily admit that the accommodations that Fane had gotten them were extremely nice. She’d tried to buy the tickets for her and Wyn, but Fane wouldn’t hear a word of it, so finally Faye had conceded. She wouldn’t have know where to start anyway.

Faye gladly returned his squeeze, threading her fingers lightly with his as she smiled over at Wyn. “Probably,” she agreed. “And I believe you, I just… she’s a lot braver than me. Aren’t you, baby?” Eowyn turned as her mother called her, plopping down in the seat and grinning over at Faye and Fane as she swung her feet against the leather. She made a hand signal that meant she was hungry now that her explorations were done, sitting back in the seat and looking expectantly at the adults.

“We have to take off first, and then you can eat, okay?” Faye told her.

Eowyn seemed to be satisfied by this, and promptly stuffed Bun’s ear in her mouth and went back to looking out the window.

Though he might need time to consider the things he learned, to work through them and try to come to terms with them within himself it didn’t mean he would let that be the defining judgement for a person. Fane would always give them the chance to explain themselves, did it make it right? No. But everyone deserved a chance, and when you had forever at your feet it seemed pointless not to be willing and open-minded regarding such things. Did Fane care deeply for Faye? Yes. Was it something he was willing to label just yet? Not really. If time had made Fane anything about such declarations it was immensely cautious and wary of the potential consequences of saying it too fast. For now he was content, simply knowing that Faye trusted him enough to invite him back to New Orleans; where so much of her history both light and dark existed was a testament in itself.

Soapberry was all well and good, but there was more to the world than the confinements of a barrier. History to be seen and learned about and Eowyn deserved to see that world for all its beauty as did Faye. To be shown that despite the misery she’d seen there was goodness and beauty still to be found if you knew where to look, and Fane wanted to share that with her. To perhaps give her some amount of hope that there was still some measure of good in the world.

“She’s very brave,” he agreed smiling over at Eowyn as she turned and grinned little legs swinging back and forth on the seats. Her request didn’t go unnoticed but Faye had it in hand.

Soon enough the engines of the plane stirred into life and the air-crew came out to do the safety announcement before leaving to take their own respective seats as the plane headed out onto the runway. As the plane situated itself Fane took a couple of the hard-boiled sweets and offered them out to Faye “suck on this, it’ll help your ears to pop-- no idea why but it works.”

A short time later they were off the ground, cruising up and away from the land to altitude; breaking through the layers of cloud until they emerged the other side of the seemingly endless blanket of white with the sun shining outside. The seatbelt light flashed off and Fane looked aside at Faye once more. “Hey-- so, any more tips on how to meet your gram? What do I call her? Anything else I should know?” Fane figured it would be best to distract Faye and getting her to talk to him seemed like the best course of action plus it didn’t hurt to learn some stuff. Kill two birds with one stone so to speak.

Faye had always wanted to travel, but had never really had the means or the opportunity. Her ex surely never wanted to take the time to go anywhere or save up money to experience anything other than the mundanity of every day life. It took attempted murder to get him to leave New Orleans. So this was a brand new experience for Faye. Being taken somewhere. Even if it was back to Louisiana and nowhere exotic. But Fane had already taken her to Egypt and Paris in the last eight months. Faye was still getting used to letting him do things for her. And telling herself that it was because he wanted to, and wanted to see her happy, and not because he felt like he had to or felt sorry for her in any way.

So she would take it as it came, and hopefully things would continue to just flow easily and without pretense between them. Faye took the offered candy with a smile of thanks, popping it into her mouth as she got Eowyn’s belt fastened. She gripped Fane's hand as the room off, and once they leveled out it really wasn't that bad. She unbuckled when all was safe, and smiled at Eowyn as she pressed her face back against the window, watching the clouds roll by. Faye chances a small glance out as well. “It's beautiful,” she said, ruffling Wyn’s hair and telling her to be careful before sitting back in her own seat.

“Um, well… her name is Beulah. Delacroix. So maybe start out with the usual Mrs.? She'll tell you what she wants you to call her.” Faye smiled fondly at the thought of the fiery old woman. “She hates liars and cheats and people that think they know everything. She despised my ex.” Which basically gave Fane a good synopsis of the kind of person her ex-husband had been. Before he became distant and closed off and … odd. He hadn't always been that way; he'd been a decent man when they first met, but an entirely different creature than the man sitting next to her.

“She's a witch like me, which you know. She does a lot of old magic. Root magic, they call it. And she just… she knows things. So don't get freaked out if she says something about you that's not common knowledge. She's blunt, um… honest. If she wants to know somethin’ she'll just ask.”

Faye snorted a laugh. “And she's got a dirty mind.”

If there was one thing their history already proved it was Fane’s love of travel and exploring everything the world had to offer. Whether that was architecture, history or cuisine or simply anything between or beyond those scopes. So far Faye had been adamant in limiting what he could do or buy for her and considering Fane’s penchant for big gestures it sometimes made it hard and thus he had to put more thought and effort into the plans he did pull out from his sleeves.

Hearing Faye’s remark about the sight Fane cast a look out the window, that was the thing with immortality; sometimes it took someone else pointing out the beauty of the world to trigger him to recognise it also. Sometimes the tears rolled by and it was difficult to remember to take the time to truly appreciate the simple things in life that occurred naturally. “See?” he joked giving her a light nudge “not so bad is it?” The air stewards wandered about the cabin offering complimentary drinks and fresh food; far better than anything normally served elsewhere for which Fane was thankful. Most of the stuff served on a plane was rather foul in all honesty (another perk of paying for upgraded seats).

Taking a coffee he’d ordered he sipped whilst she spoke of her grandmother taking mental notes as she recounted bits of information. “Alright, I tend to go with that on introductions anyway but it’s always good to know” still hearing what she didn’t like caused Fane to arch a brow ever so slightly. “So if that's what she doesn’t like what does she like?” Though his attention was drawn to one particular thing she said “root magic? How’s that differ -- i’m assuming it differs somehow to normal magic?”

Her snorted laugh only served to boost his grin however a mischievous light appearing in his eyes. “Oh yeah? Well, a dirty sense of humour’s the best sort of humour to have otherwise what’s the point of life? So we both share that in common.” Fane was glad for that fact at least.

Faye new Fane liked big gestures. But she didn’t want him to think that’s the reason she enjoyed being with him. It was the furthest thing from the truth, in fact. She would be utterly content if Fane was a pauper living in a one room apartment. Money didn’t matter. Nor did standing, or birthright, or prestige. Faye only needed him. Stefan Savin. And nothing else. But with time would come the realization that it was alright to let him do such things for her, just like anything else. And Faye was proud too. She would never be able to get him the grand things - for one, what else did he need? - that he had shown to her. She wasn’t destitute, but she was still paying two mortgages - one on the huge, empty house she’d shared with her husband, and one on the beach house she lived in now - had medical bills piled up from the hospital after her accident, and she wasn’t getting paid for her summer leave from the Academy. She had income coming in from Morgana’s still, but it wasn’t that much.

The thought of the bar she had once run back home made Faye smile. She would definitely have to take Fane there. It had been years since she’d seen her old friend Renee, the woman who ran the place for Faye now.

She turned to Fane as he spoke, giving him a soft look. “No. Not so bad.” Faye got a bottle of water for herself, along with an espresso, and an apple juice and a cheese and fruit assortment for Eowyn. The toddler settled eagerly into her food, concentrating on squishing the cheese bits flat before she ate them.

Her daughter occupied for the present, Faye turned back to Fane. She grinned. “Handsome men,” she teased. “Seriously though she… she respects upfrontness. Honesty. Character. Trustworthiness. Kindness. But not bein’ a pushover either. She likes people who can get things done and don’t whine about it the whole time.” She gave him another small grin. “She’s a sucker for a good accent too. Though she sounds even more cajun than me. My accent’s watered down a bit since I’ve been gone.”

Faye made a humming noise as she sipped her water. “Root magic. Conjure. Hoodoo. It’s called all sorts of name. It’s inherently an African-American folk magic though. It mixes in Native American botanical knowledge, and even some European folklore. She learned it as a girl. Would never tell me from who. It’s not Voodoo. So don’t call it that. That’s different. But it’s… powerful.”

She gave her own small laugh. “My Gram’s nearly 80. You think it’s cute until she gets a handful of your ass and blames it on not being able to find her glasses.” This was said quietly, so Eowyn wouldn’t overhear.

“Awh shucks, you’re going to make me blush” he joked winking at her cheekily. Their conversation was relatively quiet, not particularly wanting to disturb Eowyn though there were plenty of channels and games on the TV to keep her entertained throughout the flight. Still, he was interested in what she had to say and tell him about her Gram not only for his own benefit when he met the woman but because he genuinely was curious. Faye’s description put at ease any concerns he may have otherwise had considering if he ticked them off he had pretty much all of those under his belt relatively well. “Ooh, which accent though? More eastern European or this one?” Not that Fane tended to actively choose which accent he spoke with but he did enjoy watching people’s confusion when he did alternate between the two. “Is this you saying you’re going to come back sounding like a backwater wildling when we head home?”

Home. Whilst Fane meant Soapberry he’d started to feel a semblance of the word whenever he was around Faye, after all home is where you felt most comfortable, where you could take off your burdens and simply be and Faye let him do that and all the more.

“Huh, do you know what sort of folklore it incorporates?” Fane was always a sucker to learn about the practical applications of lore and history, how the facts in stories got so twisted and misshapen yet some measure of truthfulness remained despite time’s efforts to warp it. “I’m kind of curious to see it at work now” he admitted honestly.

Her next point made him chuckle drily, though he lowered his voice a little more just for the sake of propriety “I have no idea what you mean, why wouldn’t anyone want a handful of this ass? Sounds like good taste runs in your family” he teased sitting back with a small smirk curling his lips.

She grinned, a touch of pink on the apples of her cheeks. “I like them both. She probably will too.” Faye always found it amazing how Fane could switch between accents so fluidly. She loved the one he used from day to day, though it was different when he was relaxed. Not as crisp and enunciated. Though she knew part of it was the persona he put on from day to day.  She’d also learned that sometimes he muttered to himself in Romanian, and she found that accent appealing when he drifted into it as well. All in all she found most everything about him appealing.

Faye snorted, sliding a discrete hand along the top of his thigh. “I’ve always been a backwater wildling, baby... “ she said in her thickest cajun French. “You gon’ lemme show you a good time, hm?” His usage of the word ‘home’ didn’t slip past her, and it softened her playful look just a bit. Home wasn’t a place, she would agree. Home was people. Family. Where you could lay down the weight of your life and let someone else help you carry it for awhile. Where you were always wanted. Always loved.

And home was starting to mean more and more to Faye every single day.

“Well, I’d have to let Gram explain it better. She’s not a practitioner, as you’d call it, but she knows how to make the spells, the talismans. It’s just… messin’ with things you weren’t born into can be a dangerous and disrespectful game. And Gram has always had great respect for every kind of magic that exists in the world.”

“It doesn’t work like my magic. It’s not something you see really. It’s more about creating things like luck, good or bad. Cleansing the spirit or finding things wrong with it. Jinxing, crossing… things like that. It’s not somethin’ you can see. It’s somethin’ you have to believe. And honestly, most of her spells she just makes up. She has her influences from certain things, like conjure and castin’ bones, but she prefers to stay away from anything culturally sensitive. She’s always been good like that.”

“Most Delacroix women have excellent taste.” Her hand gave his thigh a small squeeze, and stayed there, gently curved over him as the chatted on for a good long while.

“Guess we’ll have to see which one wins out, if she’s as blunt as you say she is i’m sure she’ll come right out with her preferences.” His attention was drawn by the slide of her hand over the denim of his jeans huffing a laugh under his breath as his free hand came to settle over her own. “Cherie, you always show me a good time I’d question the day you didn’t” and that was the truth if ever he’d spoken it. However, his teasing softened to something more sincere “but, you know that you make me happy right? That this is more than anything I could ask for…” Fane felt the need to ask just to make sure she knew how he felt.

Fane figured that perhaps talk of magic and such things would best be left for when he actually met the infamous woman. After all, if these were her domains then it would also give him something to talk to her about. “She sounds like a smart woman, I’m looking forward to meeting her.” Patting Faye’s hand lightly he gave her a smile looking over to Wyn who had found the remote and was fiddling around with the entertainment system.

The conversation drifted over various topics, from magic to stories of New Orleans to things that had went on during their weeks apart. That is until the crew came around to announce that they would be landing shortly and Fane looked at his watch a little surprised at how fast it seemed time had flown and soon enough they were touching down in the airport near New Orleans.

A trip through customs and baggage claim later Fane walked carrying their suitcases without any real fuss. “Do you have the address to get us near? I’m assuming you can direct us once we’re closer to familiar grounds.”

“I’m sure she will.” Faye had never known her Gram to pull punches. Even when it came to things that people might not want to hear. It seemed that Faye was surrounded by those sorts of people: Iann, Fane, Teddy, Ephram, Cassie. All friends and loved ones who told the truth almost always. Faye being someone who like to hide from her own truths, it was perhaps fortunate that the people she loved were so openly honest.

“Well, I'm glad I'm not boring. We all know how you don't like that, hm?” Her face was turned up towards his, tilted slightly, and she watched as his gaze softened like hers had. The words made her throat tighten, and she turned her hand over to thread their fingers. ‘I know’ didn’t seem right for her to say. Words often failed Faye when it came to Fane, and actions spoke louder than most anything between them. So she rose up just a little, enough to brush her lips across his. Her eyes closed, and her free hand rose to stroke over the line of his jaw. The kiss was gentle and light, not the deeply passionate one she longed to give him once they were alone, but it said just as much. It said ‘I know, but I love hearing you say it anyway.’ It said ‘you make me happy too.’ It said everything he had said to her, solidifying all of it between them. Faye couldn’t ask for anything more than this either. This… happiness. It was a simple word to describe what they had between them, but an apt one.

She lay her head on his shoulder for a bit when she pulled back, before turning to help Wyn put on a movie.

The flight was over before Faye realized it, so absorbed were they in talking and entertaining Eowyn.

Faye pulled out her phone as Fane asked about the address. “It’s a bit out in the country. I lived in the city, over my bar, but Gram lives out in the sticks. Still technically in the parish, but…” Faye shrugged.

Once they had settled the rental, Eowyn safely tucked in the back in the rented carseat, Faye insisted on driving. They got settled on the I-10 headed south, the GPS taking them towards familiar territory. Faye felt herself growing nervous, but also excited. It felt good being back here, if she were honest. It was hot as hell, the humidity had her sweating before they made it into the car, and it even smelled different. “I was here for Katrina,” she commented as they turned off the interstate onto a four lane state highway that would eventually turn into a two lane county road. “City was never the same after that. Still recovering.” She pointed out a few shops that were still boarded up and abandoned as they passed by, graffiti covering the plywood covering the windows.

It was not quite an hour before the two lane, which had become increasingly surrounded by thick forest and the occasional patch of wetland, narrowed. Faye slowed down, and they finally came to what looked like a driveway tucked among the old oaks and the kudzu vines. A mailbox without a name or a number sat empty beside a wooden sign painted with the words ‘Private Residence No Admittance.’

Faye turned down the drive, and they were immediately swallowed up by the trees and the thick greenery. “Guess it’s a good thing you don’t mind the woods, hm?”

“You make it sound like I have such a problem with being left with nothing to do,” he complained though by no means serious in his complaint mostly because it was an ultimately true statement. The tighter grip her her fingers around his own made him look down at them with a smile. He could tell what she was going to do before she even moved to do it and the soft passing brush of their lips and stroke of her hand made him let out a quiet sigh of contentment. Fane knew that words often tended to fail between them but he felt like it needed to be said, felt like he needed to remind her of the fact that this was more than enough for him to feel content in life. His mind still lingered a little on her confession earlier and sometimes a part of him wondered how she must feel carrying such burdensome history on her shoulders.

Eventually they were leaving the airport and in possession of their rental, and whilst the humidity was affected Faye he simply walked along relatively unaffected by the heat of the day only squinting a little from the bright glare of the sun overhead. “Fair enough,” although Fane had been planning on driving and with a bit of trying to convince her that he was okay to drive (which Faye was having none of) he eventually relented to riding shotgun and being in charge of navigation.

His interest was shared equally between the buildings they passed and checking the map just to ensure they were headed in the correct direction. “Storm shelter?” he asked as he looked aside at her a little curious, he’d never been anywhere during any major catastrophe thankfully but he’d been alive long enough to have seen his fair share of damage. It was quite a force of nature,” he agreed thoughtfully as he eyed the shops in their sad run-down state. It was a shame, but that was the cost of living in a world dominated by mother nature wasn’t it? Terrible disasters were prone to happen and for those who lived in the danger-zone it was just a risk they had to ultimately deal with. After all, what could really be done against earthquakes, volcanoes, tsunamis and tornadoes amongst other destructive tools in mother-nature’s arsenal?

As they turned towards less built up areas, buildings growing more and more sparse Fane eyed the land curiously. Where a person chose to live tended to say a lot about the person living there, so this spot relatively far from what some might consider civilisation was an interesting one to him. Faye’s remark about woods caused him to lean a little closer to the window and hum in agreement “I guess so.”

Soon enough the vines and trees receded on their approach to an old plantation styled building covered in heavy hanging ivy which covered most of the white panelling of the house itself. Upon closer inspection Fane could pick out several spots of the residence perhaps in need of a little paint and renovation (he couldn’t help himself from wanting to preserve old residences likely rich with history just as he was inclined with the smaller artefacts he dealt in day-to-day). But his thoughts were drawn by a slightly odd feeling upon approaching the residence and Fane glanced aside at Faye, “wards? Or just powerful magic?”

She merely smirked at his comment. He knew damn good and well that he grew bored easily. He fidgeted. Messed with things. Anything to occupy his attention when he was looking for something to do.

“No. No storm shelter,” she answered. “We um… we stayed in my apartment.” ‘We’ being her and Chris. “It was awful. There was… I managed to save my bar and a few of the places around us - the folks that knew what I was - from too much damage. But wards only do so much. And they were done fast. We ended up with a few feet of water downstairs in the bar. Structural damage… it nearly took the roof off. I…” Faye shook her head, not sure what else to say. “We helped as many people as we could after.” For what good was magic if it couldn’t be used to help people?

“These trees are two hundred years old or better,” she said of the oaks growing along the path. The forest had encroached on either side, but the oaks still stood unmarked except for the gray curtains of spanish moss hanging from their thick branches. When the house came into view, Faye felt a little jolt in her chest. She’d grown up here. Her parent’s house had never felt like home. Not really. She still owned it, back closer to the city, but she hadn’t been there in years. The tree her mother had tied her to and burned her still stood in their backyard, covered in char and ash and the outline of a sixteen year old girl who had done nothing wrong except for being born different.

Faye had never been able to face it again. Maybe she should now that they were here.

But right now they were here. And she felt the tingle of familiar magic as they drew closer. “Both,” she said in response to Fane’s question. The word was a bit breathless, as Faye’s heart beat rapidly in her chest. It was her family’s magic that she felt. Her blood. Her birthright. It was like stepping into warm water after being outside on a frigid winter night. Even Eowyn had gone quiet in the backseat, where she had been making popping sounds with her mouth and laughing to herself. Faye glanced in the rearview mirror to see her daughter staring intently at the house as they pulled up and Faye put the car in park.

Without much hesitation, Faye turned the engine off and got out, standing beside the open door to look up at the house in all it dilapidated beauty. A gust of wind kicked up a small dust devil, and it spun around the front of the car before fading out in a rustle of fallen leaves.

As it died, there came a sound that Faye would always remember: the creak of a screen door. She looked up towards the sound, and there stood her grandmother, looking just as she had the last time Faye had seen her, over five years earlier. The old woman didn’t say a word, just met Faye’s eyes across the small expanse of yard between them. Her own eyes were a faded violet, almost periwinkle in color. Faye let out a breath and stepped away from the car, moving forwards and up the steps of the grand old house. She stood there, not really knowing what to say as her throat tightened and her eyes welled up with tears. Part of her felt ashamed for being gone so long. Her grandmother was strong, and powerful, but she was getting older, nearing 80. She wouldn’t live forever.

“Gram, I-”

“Hush,” the old woman said nearly at the same time as Faye spoke.

Faye looked up at her, mouth set in a tight line. But her grandmother only smiled. “Hug an old woman before you go runnin’ that mouth, oui?” Her accent was as thick as Faye remembered, and it made her feel warm and safe.

A wet laugh poured it’s way from Faye’s mouth, and she stepped forwards and embraced her Gram. “I missed you so much.” She hugged her tight, and inhaled the familiar scent of cloves and vanilla as a few tears slipped down her face. “I’m so sorry I’ve been gone…”

For her part, Faye’s grandmother only made a noise that meant Faye didn’t need to apologize. “Don’t think nothin’ of it. You’re here now, aren’t you? And you brought extra.” She pulled back, giving Faye’s cheek a firm pat. “Now introduce me to my great-grandbaby and your handsome man.”

“Be nice,” Faye said sotto voice, though she was smiling.

“I’m always nice, child. Now scoot.”

Faye went back down the stairs and back to the car where Fane had taken Eowyn from her carseat. The little girl looked slightly confused. She’d only ever seen her great-grandmother over the phone. “Come on,” she told them both, taking Eowyn’s hand and leading her towards the house. Her other little hand stayed firmly gripping Fane’s.

“Wynnie,” Faye said to her daughter, squatting down next to her. “This is Grammie. Remember you see her on mama’s phone?” The little girl stared hard at the old woman waiting at the top of the stairs. “You can hug her for real now, hm?” Faye continued. After another few moments of staring, Wyn let go of Fane’s hand and walked resolutely up the stairs towards the old woman, stopping and staring up at her.

“You scared of me, pichouette?”

Eowyn shook her head.

“Good. Now give us a squeeze.” Eowyn giggled and held out her arms to be picked up. The old woman lifted her up with ease, though she muttered to the little girl about how heavy she was. “You look just like your mama did when she was a runt, hm? Not a trace of nothin’ else in there.” It was a back-handed dig at Faye’s ex, who the old woman had despised beyond belief. The comment wasn’t meant to be cruel. Just honest.

“Gram,” Faye said once she and Eowyn had settled. “This is Fane. Fane Savin.”

“I know who he is, Marie. You been talkin’ ‘bout him for weeks.” There was a glint of mischief in the old woman’s eyes, and Faye’s face turned slightly pink. Her Gram just chuckled, looking fully at Fane for the first time. Her faded eyes stared hard at him for a short moment, though her smile never faded. There was something there, something that was a warning but not quite. Something that would be settled between them before things got too comfortable. Finally, she turned back to the house, Eowyn’s happily in her arms.

“Come inside, Fane Savin. And bring my granddaughter with you.”

Fane was curious to hear the story, like all those she likely had from her time living here in the city. “I’d say structural damage is better than the alternative” considering how many lives were often lost with this sort of thing flooding and other natural damage was tame by comparison. He could tell she was starting to retreat a little and reached over to lightly touch her arm, not enough to distract from her driving but to reassure her he understood. “You did what you could, which is what counts there’s no way to save everyone in things like this…” with that said he drew his hand back.

“Nice to know I’m older than some trees around these parts then. Way to make me feel old Faye, comparing me to bark but wait-- is that you saying I’m wise? Since people claim trees to be wise” but it was all said in jest, Fane would never subscribe to such descriptions of himself especially when it was he presenting such suggestions. For all his interest in the house however, his gaze was drawn to observing Faye’s reaction. This was her home after all, even after all these years. See seemed excited by a little apprehensive, understandable considering everything.

The answer earned another curious look back towards the house, and before he knew it the driver’s side door was shutting. Fane stayed put for the time being, giving Faye a moment to gather herself and reorient with the surroundings of her home. Wyn was still quiet in the backseat, it was only when he saw an elderly woman appear he took in her appearance. Despite her age she looked well, and he could see the family traits distinctly. As Faye moved off to greet her Fane eventually got out circling around to unstrap Eowyn and get her out of the car leaving the bags for the time being. They could get them later on.

He could distinctly hear the conversation going on, but opted to attune himself to the sound of the wildlife in the nearby land rather than eavesdropping. This was Faye’s time with her Gram and he… well, he was simply here to support her however she needed him to through this trip.

Lifting Eowyn up and settling her on his hip he gave her a small bounce, “travelling was fun wasn’t it?” His words earned a blink from the toddler who finally tore her eyes away from the women and house to look back and give him an enthusiastic nod. “Maybe we’ll do it some more,” though that was said more to himself than the little one he held in his arms.

As Faye returned he set Eowyn back down on the ground, letting her grab a hold of his hand and basically drag him in tow towards the steps and woman waiting for them. The height difference between himself and the toddler meant he had to tilt a little anyways, but he didn’t mind letting her pull him along until they stopped at the bottom of the stairs.

Fane didn’t mind not being the centre of someone’s attention, for all his ability to be loud and cheerful he could just as easily fade into the background which is exactly what he did as they stopped. Instead, Fane stood and observed Eowyn’s interaction with her great-grandma his mind dwelling on what it would have been like to know his own back when they were alive. They’d passed long before his own time but it didn’t stop him wondering about them. Despite his own thoughts he was attuned to the conversation going on recognising the dig at Chris if ever he heard one but not opting to do anything to draw any untoward attention to himself not fidgeting for once simply standing a little behind Faye his hands clasped behind his back out of the way.

That is until Faye introduced him and he offered the old woman a smile, small but charming and nothing too over the top as she said she knew who he saw. “Nothing too bad been said about me I hope Mrs. Delacroix” he offered in good-humour having opted for his day-to-day accent that was mostly soft English with a very slight Eastern influence curling a few of his words rather than going to the extreme at one end or the other. Fane stood straight under her cursory inspection, neither presumptuous overconfidence nor shy just a delicate balance somewhere between the two. He could recognise the warning look he was offered, and a part of him was both curious and a little unsure quite how to interpret it. Understanding would likely come with time.

“Yes ma’am,” he answered politely when the invitation lifted the perimeter it felt like a heavy curtain being suddenly drawn back after being stood too close beforehand; allowing you to breath easy once more. It was always an odd feeling of being bound by some ancient aspect that meant he was unable to cross a private threshold without the necessary invitation but he’d gotten used to it now. Looking over at Faye he offered her his arm with a small smile before he started up the steps leading into the house following wherever Faye’s gram seemed intent on taking them whilst looking around the decoration. “You have a lovely house, antebellum architecture if I’m not mistaken?” 

“I’ll leave the tellin’ of that to Marie,” she said back. “And pah… it’s Beulah. Mrs. Delacroix makes me feel like an old woman.” She cackled a little at her own joke before eyeing him and then inviting them all in. Beulah had her own intentions when it came to Fane Savin, ones she would let come to light soon enough. But for now she headed inside and to the kitchen that was down and to the right. Immediately to the front of the double doors there was a large staircase that took up much of the foyer, leading up to the second floor where it split right and left into a balcony  that ran the circumference of the entranceway. There was a large hallway on the second level that went back into the depths of the house, and doors leading off at regular intervals could be seen. There was a library to the left, and a formal dining room to the right, both of which looked slightly underused and a bit dusty.

Faye had taken Fane’s offered arm, not missing the look that had passed between her Gram and Fane. But she didn’t say anything, as it seemed to settle between the two. What would happen would happen, and Faye honestly didn’t know what her Gram had in mind. She knew she wouldn’t harm Fane, never that, but she would probably test him, mess with him… to ascertain what sort of man he might be. Because Faye’s track record wasn’t the best. So she just gave him a smile as they traversed through the house behind her Gram and Eowyn.

The kitchen was just like Faye remembered, warm and full of light and hanging herbs and dried flowers. Something was already making the place smell like heaven, and Faye found that she couldn’t wait to sit down to dinner.

Beaulah set Eowyn down and the little girl moved off to explore for a moment, before coming to her mother and signaling that she had to go to the bathroom. “I’ll be right back,” she said, touching Fane’s arm as she passed by with Wyn.

“He’ll be fine, I won’t bite,” Beulah said over her shoulder as she checked whatever was in the stove, determined it needed another few minutes, and stood back up. “You two wash up. Give us two a chance to get… acquainted.” She waved Faye and Wyn off in the direction of the bathroom, and when they were gone, she turned back to Fane, tilting her head as she gave him another long, searching look. “Sit,” she said, indicating Fane should take a seat at the small table situated near the window of the kitchen. It wasn’t said in a commanding way, but merely in the way of grandmothers who expected their word to be obeyed without question. Without waiting to see if he would, Beulah moved off to another small room attached to the kitchen. The sound of rustling and clinking glass could be heard, and came back with a clear jar of something red. She snagged two glasses off the shelf and went to sit down at the table herself.

Pouring two fingers worth of the red liquid into each glass, she pushed one towards Fane. She raised her glass towards him and slowly tipped the red liquid back, swallowing all of it in one go. “Moonshine,” she explained at his quizzical look. “For good luck and a journey safely traveled.”

It was moonshine. Smelled like moonshine. Tasted like moonshine. But there was a slight hum of magic about it. Nothing malicious or harmful, merely a spell meant to uncover truth, be it of body, mind, heart, or soul. Glamours would fade, pretences would fall away, harmful intentions could be revealed if they existed. An effect much like alcohol could have on it’s own, but at a much faster and much more efficient rate. Though without the inebriation. And while it was a truth serum, at it’s core, there was no compulsion to blurt things out without prompting. Though if a question was asked, and the drinker chose to answer, it would be the truth, plain and simple. It didn’t seem to affect Beulah herself since she held no glamours, no false pretences or facades, and would always answer truthfully. She was who she was. Anyone who didn’t like it could go to Hell. Though over the years, she’d found loopholes in how to circumvent the magic, tell the truth without telling the whole truth. Omission instead of lying.

Beulah had used the drink on Chris when he’d first come to visit her. He’d been more than happy to sample ‘free booze.’ Needless to say, she had not been pleased at the outcome.

Though something told her that this one… he was different. Like day to night. She would suss him out eventually, but for now she simply poured herself another round and waited on him to join her, if he would. 

Hearing Beulah repeat a sentence he’d said more times himself than he cared to count was almost ironic, “I dread to think what that makes me then but I can understand the sentiment.” Recently Fane had enough Mr. Savin’s to last him a lifetime and then some. As they wandered through the house Fane found himself looking around at the layout taking note of the different doors curiously and making a note to explore later if he was allowed not wanting to intrude in Beulah’s home or hospitality.

Fane’s eyes drifted naturally to the hob as they arrived but Eowyn soon drew Faye’s attention and her touch to his arm was met with a smile. “Ah don’t worry about it, take your time” he wasn’t sure how long Beulah’s interest would last but if the look was anything to go by. Well, he knew something was coming though good or bad was yet to be decided. He watched as Faye and Wyn departed but soon his attention was taken by Beulah’s directions. Typically he wasn’t one to take directions from other people but he saw no point in being stubborn or obstinate today. Moving slowly to take up the seat she directed him to and leaning his forearms on the table hands clasped together whilst he watched the woman bustle off to what he could only assume was a pantry; a theory confirmed by the clinking and rustling that came shortly after she vanished.

When she returned his eyes went to the jar and his expression grew quizzical, unsure what exactly it was considering red liquid tended to immediately making him think blood, but closer inspection of the way it sloshed in the jar proved it wasn’t viscous enough to be blood. So her explanation was met with a small nod of understanding, however as she pushed one towards him he smiled gratefully looking down at it taking a subtle breath filtering out the other smells of the house and kitchen to try and determine whether there was anything untoward about it. Nothing did, but frankly Fane never took a drink from someone he didn’t know or trust well enough. As much as he respected Faye’s grandma his caution ultimately won out even as she downed her own. Fane’s hands remained clasped in front of him, politely and in view but making no move to take it. “I appreciate the offer ma’am, but I’m more of a whiskey person myself plus, I prefer to stay in control of my faculties-- no offence meant” he offered her an apologetic smile hoping he hadn’t offended with his decline to her offer of a free drink but still dipped his head politely to her toast.

Fane wouldn’t have minded the spell if he had drunk the offered glass but he made a point of being honest anyway. If Beulah had questions then he would answer them to the best of his abilities. As Beulah poured herself another Fane eventually tilted his head a little “I’m sure you have questions for me” making a small gesture to indicate he was happy to answer whatever she had to ask he waited observing her patiently.

Fane would have the opportunity to explore as he saw fit later on, the places in the house that were off limits being very few. And only then because they contained things that might be dangerous. Faye took her leave, and she sat down with her drink, looking over at him thoughtfully as he politely refused.

“Got whiskey too, if you’d care for a glass?” She would get him one if he wanted it, though it wouldn’t contain the spell. “None taken. I like a man who holds himself to certain standards. Far too little of that these days, if I do say so. Plus, more for me,” she grinned, but screwed the top back on the jar nonetheless.

“‘Course I do. Though what those questions might be I’m not so sure yet.” She gazed at him, tilting her head this way and that as if trying to figure out what the best angle to look at him from was. Finally settling on a tilt slightly to the right, Beulah reached out a hand to lay gently over his own. She closed her eyes and sucked in a small breath. Her magic skimmed his thoughts like one might books at a library, getting general ideas without delving into private detail. “Royal… traveler… lover… soldier… prisoner… father… ” Her voice was gentle as she opened her eyes, but didn’t let go of his hand. “Who are you now, Andrei Alois? And why should I trust you with my granddaughters-” Her voice slowly hardened, but stayed even. “- instead of turning you to ash where you sit?” Beulah gripped his hand hard then, squeezing much harder than an 80 year old woman should be able to, and when she held up her other hand and opened her palm, in it sat Fane’s daylight ring, gone from his finger where it always rested.

Sunlight streamed through the windows of the kitchen, still bright and hot in the late afternoon. It illuminated one side of Fane’s face, as well as Beulah’s. “Speak the truth, or I let go.” She calmly indicated their clasped hands. “And we all know what happens then.”

“I’m alright, but thank you anyway-- perhaps later” that is if he lasted that long. Her remark about certain standards certainly rung true enough for him, or so he hoped. Fane held a certain moral code that he did his best to try and live up to. It certainly wasn’t easy and there were days he was tempted to break it, after all how easy would it be to simply give in to those dark urges and impulses? Too easy. Fane chose the hard route, held himself accountable when he could and tried to do as much good as he could with what he had earned in the world.

Fane sat under her inspection, observing her in kind but making no move closer or further away. Though the pressure of her hand as light as it was over his own caused him to glance down momentarily that is til she started speaking and he could sense the mild skim over the surface of his thoughts. His eyes lifted to her face levelly but still no effort to break the contact was made. He’d known enough witches to know what she was doing but where most might make an effort to resist, hide or fight the mental intrusion he simply sat and let her browse, like his thoughts were an open record collection set out in a vintage store just waiting to be picked and played. Surface thoughts were all well and good but the things deeper would take more effort to pry into if she really wanted to go looking. “I ask myself the same question most days, and honestly? I’m not entirely sure myself who I am or what really exists anymore of Andrei. All I do know is that I’m a person trying to do their best in a world where the odds are stacked against you more often than not. I’m an amalgamation of my experiences that have shaped me to the individual I am today. Good? Bad? Who knows, I prefer to let others make their minds up on who I am but I’m all those things.” His own tone when he spoke remained patient and  even unrushed in his answer.

The sudden vice locking down on his hand was surprising but Fane had learned long ago to school his expression, any shock or trepidation that he might have felt simply locked down behind a mask of complacency. The sight of his ring in her hand caused his brow to arch skeptically his eyes to travel to the sun, down to the grip of her hand upon his own and then to her face trying to figure out whether or not it was a truth or a bluff. “You shouldn’t,” he stated simply not needing to be threatened to answer honestly “why should you trust a person you don’t know? I’d call anyone a fool for trusting someone outright that they just met. I could also point out that I’m sat here with you having travelled away from my hometown, my friends and both my children in order to support your grand-daughter in confronting her fears about returning here when I could have simply not bothered and stayed at home because it was an interference to my routine. I’m here because I want to be here and because I’m serious about Faye and Eowyn. There are plenty of things I didn’t have to do that I did and it’s exactly why I’m sat here now hoping to convince you I’m genuine in my intentions.”

There was no ire in his voice, death hardly scared him, he’d contemplated it a lot and his own death hardly was something that concerned him but his thoughts did go to Dani, to Sam, to Faye and Eowyn along with every other person he cared about. Ironic how not caring about his own demise was the very thing that would hurt the people he cared for the most. “You don’t need to threaten me to get me to speak truthfully, your grand-daughter’s suffered enough heartbreak for a lifetime and then some, are you really going to be the one to hurt her like that again?” his coal eyes hardened staring her and leaning forward just a little his poise confident despite the potential threat to his life being in the balance as it was his turn for his voice to grow cool, not threatening but pointed like a cleanly honed blade cutting straight to the point. If she wasn’t going to bullshit then neither was he.

After a moment he smiled disarmingly his head tilting almost daring her to do it “but yes we do know what happens then. You get an unnecessary mess to clean up, I mean ashes are an absolute nightmare to clean up and this suit? Dry clean only darling-- hardly worth the expenditure I promise.” Was it a cocky move and statement to make? Perhaps, but he was here to prove that he wasn’t about to be cowed by her threats but nor was it going to get a rise out of him either. Fane had been a diplomat long enough to know the benefits of patience and composure. Wait your opposition out, but was she really his opposition? Not really though the point was still applicable. His smile remained in place, eyes glinting in the sunlight reflecting the slight flecks of russet hidden within a statement there ‘I respect you, but I’m not afraid of you’.

“That’s all any of us can really ever do, ain’t it? Let others form their own opinions and judgements of us based on what life’s made us? The hard part comes when their opinions ain’t the same as our own.” Being what she was, Beulah had faced her own share of hatred and ignorance. People thinking she was one thing when she was most certainly not. But she’d grown used to it, and only kept people around her that needed to be there; that deserved to be.

Beulah gave a grunt of agreement as Fane spoke, his calm scepticism mixed with caution telling her a multitude of things. First off, that he wasn’t easy to frighten. Secondly, that he had been bluffed before, possibly with his life in the balance. Thirdly, he wasn’t rash and quick to act. There were other things as well, but those were the three that came to the forefront. Though should she really expect anything less from someone who’d lived as long as he had? Well… she’d seen a lot in her 80 years. Immortals who had no sense about themselves whatsoever was one of them.

“This is true,” she told him as he spoke of what he’d left behind, of not having to come with Faye, but of wanting to because he was serious about her and Eowyn. “Though intent be important too; specifically the difference between obligation and desire.” She let that comment remain, though she was able to feel the truth of what he said through their connection. Much like Faye had been able to feel him before the loss of her memory magic.

“Ain’t a threat, ‘s merely a question. Threats’re… classless.” She waved the hand holding Fane’s ring in a dismissive gesture. “But no, I don’t seek to hurt Marie more than she already been hurt. What kinda grandmother would I be then, hm? Though sometimes a little hurt now to protect from a bigger hurt… well…” She drew the word out. “Options have to be weighed.” As he leaned forwards, his voice and his gaze growing darker and more serious, a small smile tilted the edge of the old woman’s mouth.

And with his next comment, which started out as razor-sharp as the last one, and floated into something wholly unexpected, Beulah raised one eyebrow, a gesture eerily similar to the one Faye use quite often, before bursting out into a mad cackle. She released his hand, slapping her own down on the table as she laughed. Fane’s daylight ring was back where it belonged, and he was still intact. Whether it had been an illusion or if she’d really taken his ring she didn’t say. “You got balls like a mule, son,” she cackled. “On va passer un bon temps.”

“I see you two are gettin’ on just fine,” Faye’s voice came from the doorway as she and Eowyn reentered the room. The little girl moved off again to explore the kitchen as her mother came to stand next to Fane, stroking a hand down the back of his neck. “Playin’ nice?” she asked, looking pointedly at her Gram from behind Fane.

“‘Course we are,” Beulah grinned, reaching and giving Fane’s hand a firm pat. “Your boyfriend was just tellin’ me ‘bout the drive over from the airport.”

The oven beeped just then, and she made a face and pushed up from the table, her attention turned to the stove. Eowyn toddled over, watching curiously, and the two struck up a conversation, one verbal and one full of gestures and baby facial expressions.

“You okay?” Faye asked Fane sotto voice, giving his shoulder a squeeze. “I can show you our room if you want? Help bring the bags up?”

“Not much you can do then, let bygones be bygones just because other people want to stay ignorant doesn’t mean I have to.” No doubt they both had their fair share of experience with people who didn’t care to take the time to understand, Fane didn’t like it but he did his best to brush it off even if deep down it did still hurt a little. Fane felt things so much more deeply after he’d been turned, his emotions seemed to resonate to the very centre of him and whilst often it allowed him capable of great feats of forgiveness he was also capable of darker depths not that he often let himself take that route.

“Of course it is, though I would also say a decent measure of both is healthy though admittedly my desire to be here outweighs my tendency towards obligation.”

As Beulah made her statement about threats being classless his head tilted back just a little “well,” he drew the word out slowly clicking his tongue “it sounded like a threat considering you took my only means of not burning to a crisp and proceeded to present the ultimatum of me answering truthfully or be burned up.” Fane knew his logic was sound, whether she wanted to debate the point he would happily do so but that was his stance on the matter and it likely wasn’t going to budge. “Not the one I’ve heard her talking at length so affectionately about, but I guess we all do what we think is best at the end of the day for family don’t we?”

The mimicry of a motion he so often utilised himself was perhaps the clue that his risk had paid off. Sometimes you just had to go all in and hope for the best. So her laugh and slap to the table caused him to sit back ever so slightly taking a moment to check for sure his ring was there. Assured that it was he looked up with a smirk curling his lips as her laughter echoed in the kitchen. “Oh, thank you very much,” his lips pulled back revealing his teeth “but they’re really quite average.” The French was just like that which Fane had heard Faye speak when they did switch to that language and he laced his fingers together on the table “oui, je sens qu’on va passer du bon temps ensemble.”

His torso turned in the direction of the door, his slanted smirk still plastered on his lips. “What else did you expect?” his head tilted as he felt her brush a hand down the back of his neck pressing a light kiss to her arm before his smirk turned into a grin at the firm pat to his hands. “Hm, yes--” not even missing a beat he tacked on “not the most interesting of tales I’ve shared I’ll admit but I got a bit of a history lesson which is something I always enjoy being given amongst other lessons, Faye’s a very good professor.” His head tipped back to peer up at her slightly upside down then “aren’t you?”

As Beulah got up and Faye asked him if he was alright he merely righted himself and twisted to sit sideways on his chair to look at her. “Always, you heard her just getting to know one another.” Still the thought of going to find their room did sound rather a decent idea, “sure. I’ll get them from the car and then we can head up?” The suggestion was made as he rose from his chair pausing to look over at Beulah “sorry to interrupt, how long until dinner would you say? Just so we know how long we have to unpack things.”

“That’s good to hear,” she told him sincerely. “Marie would probably take it the wrong way if she thought you felt obligated. Though I guess the two o’ you probably go pretty straight with each other, hm? ‘S good. Ain’t no point in secrets. Or lies. Omission maybe, for a time, but dishonesty? Never a good idea.”

Beulah simply grinned. “But did I? Or’d you just think I did?” She tapped her temple. “I wouldn’t burn a man up that I invited in as my guest. ‘S just smoke and mirrors. Puttin’ on a face. Mostly. You should know about that, hm?” She waved off his comment about how Faye spoke about her. “Marie sees me through rose-colored glasses most o’ the time. But yes. That we do.”

She laughed, pushing a bit of hair back from her face where it had fallen out of the loose bun at the back of her head. “I’ll take your word for it, son. And yes… yes I think we will.” It wasn’t often that she got to converse in French, and she gave him a pleased grin as he spoke back to her. The dialect and accent was different, but the meaning could be reasoned out well enough.

She moved off as Faye entered, acting as if nothing untowards had just passed between them.

Faye looked skeptically between the two, before turning her attention to Fane as he looked up at her. “‘Spose so,” she smiled, petting his hair again. “Alright then. I’m glad you like each other.” Faye nodded at his agreement. “It’s just up the stairs and down the hall to the left. All the way at the end.” She gave his arm a gentle touch and went over to Eowyn. “You wanna stay here and help Grammie with dinner?” she asked, leaning to kiss the little girl on her head. Eowyn nodded an enthusiastic yes.

“Well be fine, child,” Beulah said, turning to Faye with a smile. “You go on an’ get settled. And maybe a half hour? Little less?” she said, turning to answer Fane’s question.

“Alright. Be right back baby.” Faye moved towards the stairs, telling Fane she was going up to make sure things were settled in the room, though she was certain her grandmother had already fixed everything. She headed up, her hand smoothing over the banister as it had since she could walk. The wood was slick from years and years of hands doing just that, and Faye felt herself smile. Just as she thought, the bed was already fitted with fresh sheets that smelled like lavender, and a homemade quilt done in diamond patterns of blue and yellow. Fresh towels and homemade soap were in the bathroom, and the clawfoot tub was invitingly large and deep. Even the curtains were freshly laundered, sheer and gauzy and covering the two sets of tall French doors that led out onto a personal balcony overlooking the wildly overgrown back garden, with it’s wysteria and azalea, and the lilies and irises and elephant ears that all flourished in the wet Louisiana heat. There was even a fireplace and a few pieces of firewood, though it wouldn’t be needed this time of year.

She was standing at the window looking out into the garden when she heard Fane come in and set the bags down. “One of my earliest memories is standin’ right here, watchin’ the fireflies.” She turned to look at him, the sheer fabric of the curtains playing between her fingers. “Thank you. For bringin’ me here. I missed it. I just didn’t realize how much until now.”

Beulah had the right of it as she spoke of the dynamic between Faye and Fane. “Lying just causes more problems than it solves I’ve found, plus once you start lying to one person you have to lie to other people. Gets to the point you’re juggling so many things you’re bound to mess up eventually. Truth’s truth, nothing more to it than that at least for me.”

The grin was sly and Fane merely gave a good-natured shrug “can’t blame me for being stuck fifty-fifty on the matter, I figured as much but you can never really be a hundred percent on these things.” Even so, her remark about smoke and mirrors earned a low sound of agreement “maybe so.” But Fane had his reasons for that. As his point was waved off Fane considered it for a moment before pointing out honestly “I think she needs it.” Fane didn’t say it aloud but he figured she did need that view and belief that not everyone in her family was like her own mother. He wasn’t sure how Beulah viewed the matter which is why he left that unsaid not wanting to stir the pot considering what Faye had to tell her.

“Probably best,” Fane always was bolstered by good-natured laughter and plus, with what he’d heard about her from Faye he figured that ultimately she wouldn’t mind what some might consider inappropriate or crass humour. What was the point in life if you took it seriously? Languages were something Fane happily prided himself on at least speaking them, and French was one he considered his stronger aspects. His time living in Paris accounted for something.

Getting up and tucking the chair back in Fane nodded to Beulah’s time-frame “alright then, we’ll be back in about half-an hour.”

With that, Fane and Faye went in their various directions and after fetching the bags from the car and bringing them upstairs he followed the instructions; up the stairs, down the hall to the left and to the last door. As expected Faye was already in there and he set the bags down by the foot of the bed when she spoke. The room was elegant and inviting, homely in its own way and Fane found himself taking in the small details and allowing his eyes to linger on the shelves. Eventually, Fane walked up behind her slipping his arms around the curve of her waist and locking them low on the front of her belly pulling her back against his chest whilst he dipped to press a kiss to her neck affectionately. “Think we’ll see any tonight?” he asked quietly but at her thanks he made a low sound “you’re the one who wanted to come, this is the least I could do… But I’m glad you’re happy” after all with how apprehensive she’d been it was hard for him not to worry about her. After a few beats of silence he smiled against her neck “your gram seems to like me. Good start I’d say.”

“Truth is truth. Amen to that,” she agreed readily.

She gave a thoughtful little ‘hmm’ as Fane pointed out that perhaps Faye needed to see Beulah as she did. As the kind, caring, strong woman that had basically raised her, that had taught her magic and how to be a witch. “Maybe so.” With one last thoughtful glance and snort of laughter she moved off, and dinner was coming up shortly.

Faye smiled at him as he came over, eagerly leaning back into his embrace as he wrapped her up. She hummed in pleasure as his mouth found her neck, and her eyes closed as his voice floated over the silence. “Mmm, yeah. Prob’ly. We can take Wynnie out to catch some after dinner, ‘fore it gets too dark.” Her hands crossed over his over her belly. “I know it was me, but… havin’ you here… it makes it easier. I’m not sure I could do it without you. And I’m glad you’re happy too.” The beats of quiet passed, and Faye laughed low in her throat. “Were you really just talkin? ‘Cause I know that old woman and she thinks she’s sneaky but she’s not.” The words were affectionate even as they were curious.

They stood for another long moment before Faye sighed. “‘Spose we should get unpacked for she calls us down.” Turning in his arms, she looped her hands around his neck, a playful smile tugging at her lips. “But kiss me first, hm? I haven’t been kissed properly in weeks.”

As she would likely no doubt have already realised her neck was perhaps his favourite resting place, and whenever he got the opportunity Fane enjoyed nuzzling and hiding his face away in the small crook. Breathing in the smell of lavender and incense that was so calming and familiar. He couldn't explain why, just that it felt comforting and reassuring to be pressed up against her like that. “Is there a method to it or is it literally just finding a group of them and just trying to catch them in jars?” Though most of his focus was taken up by her words and he presses his smile into the column of her neck giving her a small squeeze. “I wouldn’t be anywhere else and I’m happier than I could ever put into words.”

Fane huffed a quiet laugh against her skin at the inquisitive question into what had happened in her absence. “Yeah, we were talking and I made a great joke that seemed to be the crux to winning her approval-- see my humour does count for something.” He did grow a little more serious then “but yeah, we just talked and she asked me a few things and seemed satisfied with what I had to say. Then you turned up and interrupted” he gave her a slight nudge in the ribs “how long were you stood there anyways?”

His grip eased some as she turned though his hands remained interlocked and pressed into the small of her back. He hummed as she spoke of unpacking though his thoughts for the most part were elsewhere namely on having her here in his arms after what felt like an age without her. “Oh really? That’s a travesty, sounds like your boyfriend deserves a kick up the backside for not making the effort to kiss you properly.” His smile was mischievous as he gazed at her “luckily for you, I’m here to help change that.” Closing the little distance that existed between them Fane brushed his lips over her own before pressing forwards in a more deliberate kiss relaxing into the warmth and familiarity of her lips against his own. Tilting his head and gripping her back a little more firmly he drew her close and kissed her more deeply biting down on the irresistible curve of her lower lip.

Faye loved it when he nuzzled into her neck. Not only did it feel good to her, but she knew it comforted him as well. “No,” she said, eyes still closed. “They just float around in the tall grass and the trees. Just catch ‘em in your hand and put ‘em in a jar. Gotta be careful not to squish ‘em though. We’ll let ‘em go afterwards.” The pronouncement that he was happy set a warmth into Faye’s chest, only adding to the feeling of rightness that being here with him brought.

“She does like jokes. The cruder the better. So I won’t ask what you said,” she laughed, giving him a bump with her elbow. “And I never said you’re humor was worthless. I happen to like it, silly as you are sometimes.” She rubbed a hand over the smoothness of his arm as he grew a bit more serious. Part of her wanted to ask what her Gram had questioned him about, but a bigger part knew that some things were best left between the people that had discussed them. So Faye didn’t press him for more. “Only long enough to have to cover Wyn’s ears,” she huffed. But there was a smile in her voice.

Her head tilted back as she turned in his arms, nose brushing lightly along his jaw. “He is sort of an ass… I mean… hardly pays me any attention. I barely see him… I mean a girl’s got needs…” Her quiet laughter was swallowed up as he pressed his mouth against hers. His lips were already warm from where they’d been pressed against her neck, and the low flicker of flame that had burned in her belly for the last three weeks rose higher. She’d missed him. The few calls and texts and the one or two hastily snatched coffees hadn’t been enough. Maybe it was selfish or even greedy, and as much as she knew they both understood how busy their separate lives were, it still didn’t make the absence any easier.

He pressed more insistently into her, and Faye hummed in approval. Sliding her hands up his chest to his neck, she let out a quick breath as his teeth nipped her bottom lip. “Tease…” she said past the ache and the sting, nails scraping through his hair. She kissed him again, one hand crawling down and under the edge of his shirt to find the warm skin of his hip. They probably didn’t have time for what she wanted, what they both wanted, but they had a few minutes, and Faye didn’t plan to waste them.

“Sounds simple enough, though I guess there’s a talent to it - why don’t they fly away?” Fane had never been anywhere that had an abundance of fireflies so it was one thing he’d never tried his hand at. There was nothing that felt more right than being here with Faye, being where he was needed and more importantly where he was wanted. The thought brought a cheerful smile to his lips, this trip was definitely worth it.

“Probably best,” he muttered pressing another kiss to her neck and lightly nuzzling the skin again humming in absolute content. “Guess you’re just going to have to get used to that then, ‘cause my crassness isn’t about to go anywhere in fact I’d argue it might get worse if I’m unduly encouraged.”

Fane laughed quietly as Faye complained, “well, I have seen his ass and it’s pretty nice but I think he’s an idiot if he isn’t paying this beautiful woman any sort of attention. You’re right, a girl has got needs that deserve to be tended to by someone that clearly cares” which is exactly why Fane kissed her the way he did, because he did care and he missed her more than he would ever be able to filter through verbal displays.

There was barely any space between them, and Fane let his nails drag along the curve of her spine through the material of her shirt whilst his other hand snaked more securely around her waist removing any further space between them; allowing her warmth to filter straight through the layers of their clothes to sink into his body. “You know it,” he muttered against her lips a mischievous glint in his eyes as he gazed back at her shivering a little as her nails raked through his hair. Chancing a look at his wrist-watch Fane was distracted by the press of her lips unable to help the need such a simple act stirred in him moaning quietly. God would it be so bad if they were a little late to dinner? Probably not the best first impression to make but he couldn’t help but wonder. They could probably manage something couldn’t they? Pulling away from her kiss he ducked to pepper her jaw and neck with kisses his tongue dragging a stripe over her skin tasting the salt of her skin before he let his lips linger and suck on her pulse-point hungrily. It was almost amusing what the simple deprivation of her presence and attention could result in an almost all-consuming need for her.

She felt the tremor that ran through him as her nails scraped across his skin, so she did it again. Across his hip and the scars that arched along the muscle there, over his stomach, her hand seeking warmth and soft skin while her mouth sought out the press of his lips and the bite of his teeth. Thoughts of dinner fell to the wayside as he moved back to lave at her neck. Her hands tightened against him, a silent act of encouragement, and a small sound, almost pained, worked it’s way up out of her throat.

It felt like forever since he’d touched her, especially like this. Weeks without him in her bed had strung her tight as a bow, as he was slowly loosening her with each stroke of his fingers and his tongue. The urge to lock the door, which still stood wide open, the aroma of dinner creeping slowly up the stairs and down the hall, was strong. Because honestly, at this point they wouldn’t last long once they were able to be alone for more than a few minutes at a time when they weren’t exhausted.

As it was, Faye gave him a small push, walking him backwards towards the bed as her hands became more insistent. “I missed you…” she breathed as he bumped the edge of the double bed with his legs. “These last three weeks have been… God, they’ve been awful…”

The drag of her fingertips over whatever skin she could find had him ignited; skin boiling over in a flood of molten wildfire coursing through his veins in wake of wherever she happened to touch. She didn’t need to give him encouragement the flicker of her pulse under his lips and sounds he drew from her throat alone served to do exactly that.

Fane tended to pride himself on his patience and with most things that was the case, but when it came to wanting Faye most standards of his patience fell by the wayside or sometimes got tossed rather forcefully out the window. Of course they’d seen each other, but after the Fairy incident it left them at almost a month since they’d re-established this particular emotional and physical connection, something always getting in the way leaving them both frustrated and wound up.

He wasn’t expecting the push, and staggered a little not wanting to be parted from her but knowing exactly what she wanted by the look in her eyes. Normally he was the predator stalking his prey but right now with her bearing down on him Fane recalled the appeal of handing over control. “I missed you too,” he rasped quietly letting her back him up until the back of his knees hit the bed and he automatically sat on the edge reaching out to grip her hips not particularly caring for the state of the door or otherwise. “I bet,” he murmured his head tilting back to look up at her poised over him enjoying the sight immensely. “I’m here now, we’re here now though.”

When he sat back on the bed, Faye stepped between his knees, pressing close and carding her fingers through his hair as he looked up at her. Though he was tall enough that even sat on the bed it wouldn’t take much effort to kiss her if he wanted. “I wanted to call you up so many times,” she whispered, her thumb brushing his bottom lip. “Let you whisper dirty things to me while I brought myself off…” She pressed a little closer, her restraint waning with every touch of his hands across her waist. A month was too long. Too damn long to go without this part of their relationship. Faye was a physical person, and had always had a healthy appetite for sex, but until recently she’d been practically starved for it.

Her ex had ignored her mostly, his lapse into his own internal world leaving Faye frustrated and entirely unsatisfied in more ways than one. It left her feeling hurt, and unappealing, and lonely. Which is how her path and Fane’s had crossed ironically enough. It hadn’t been their first meeting, her and the man gazing up at her so adoringly, but it had been the catalyst. And here they were now. God, Faye could hardly believe it. It frightened her sometimes, like she’d told Iann, because it was almost too good. They worked almost too well. But Faye had committed to not questioning it. She was happy, and so was Fane. That’s what mattered.

“We are, aren’t we?” A small push was all it took and she was crawling over him on the bed, straddling his hips as her mouth ghosted along his neck. Her hair fell all around them, a wavy blonde mess, as Faye’s brain and body started to shut out anything besides the warmth of him beneath her. Hands rode up his shirt, pushing it high on his chest as she kissed a line down his sternum, warm open-mouthed kisses that left little marks of wetness across his skin. Her tongue found a soft nipple and sucked it into a hard peak as her hips pressed insistently down against him.

Dinner could burn for all Faye cared.

Whilst he was well aware of what he could do, Fane preferred to sit back and admire her which is why he did exactly that. Her whispered words sparked an almost sinful gleam in his eyes the press of her thumb to his lips a temptation in itself, still he pouted a little up at her “why didn’t you cherie? You know I would have, I would have told you exactly what to do, what I would do.” Her edging closer caused him to inhale his hands slipping from her hips around and gripping her ass possessively.

If there was one thing Fane wanted it was to make her feel desired, to remind her that she could be wanted; that she was wanted by someone. He’d made that decision a long time ago now, to passively pursue; only ever heeding her wishes and respecting whatever decision she made. Sure, it felt like sometimes it had been two steps forwards three steps back but what really could he have ever expected? At the end of the day, things had happened to work out and they were here, together, now.

The push sent him down, back hitting the bed that dipped as she crawled ontop of him his head pressing back as she sought to shove his chest up leaving his torso exposed. He hardly minded her attention, even with the multitude of marks cast into the light by the act, it was hardly anything she hadn’t seen before. His mind was entirely blank save for the warm press of her lips that is until the locked and sucked on his nipple the act causing his nails to dig into the material of her clothes as his back arched up off the bed and a needy mewl to escape him his hips rocking earnestly back against her own.

“God--- I need you, I need to feel you right now” he was desperate and no amount of her teasing would unfortunately be tolerated today it seemed.

Two steps forwards and three back would have been an apt description, especially when Fane had needed to leave after the month of memory spells raged through the town. Faye had thought him gone forever, and even though they had written once or twice - an outdated way of communicating, she knew, but so much more personal than a text or email - it had seemed very dire indeed.

And then he’d come back. And though neither of them had truly known what to expect when he’d come to her house that night, it had ended with them both tangled together in her bed, the last several months finally rising to a peak that could no longer be put off or denied.

And here they were now. If she believed in a benevolent God, Faye might have thanked Him. And she’d never come closer to praying in her life, not since she was a little girl, than when she’d seen him standing on the beach that night, an illusion of her heartbreak. Or so she’d thought.

But he had been no illusion. Just as he wasn’t right now, arching beneath her as her mouth tugged him into a state of near desperation. His hands tightened on her hips, and he pressed against her, the words ‘I need you’ falling from his mouth in a desperate rush of air even as her hand slipped down to the waistband of his jeans. “I want you so much…” she breathed, ghosting her lips across his other nipple, sucking it into hardness as she had it’s twin. She’d just dipped her fingers towards the rapidly hardening flesh beneath her when suddenly:

“Dinner’s done you two!” her Grams voice called up the stairs. “Come on down.” And that was it.

Faye looked at Fane, her cheeks flushed, lips swollen from kissing him, and her fingers just millimeters from where she wanted them, and let out a frustrated groan, before falling bodily on top of him. “It’s not fair…. It’s not fair at all…” she mumbled grumpily into his neck, making a small pained noise as her hips tilted into his once more time. “I’m gonna die…”

His words weren’t simply ones of desperation, his claim was a moment of raw and pure honesty. He didn’t just want her, he needed her, like a junkie needed their fix except his addiction was the witch currently pinning him to the bed and he never wanted to come down from this euphoria. Yet, he’d begin to notice how every moment without her left an ache in his chest and his thoughts more often than not turning towards her.  

Fane still felt guilty about what had happened during that time but it had, ultimately, come to a head that had led them to the very situation they were in now. He’d hoped that perhaps they’d be able to finally steal a moment, but instead, found them both interrupted by a dinner call.

Of bloody course they were.

The pressure of Faye sinking down above him and pressing to his chest caused his own hands to leave her and petulantly throw themselves over his head, eyes screwed up and a groan of protest to leave him. “What deity did I piss off to deserve this?” he muttered, hearing Faye’s own protests muttered in kind to his skin.

The press of her hips earned another groan of protest “you’re gonna die? No, I’m gonna die I can only take this so many times-- bloody hell” his head fell aside on the mattress his body aching from her previous attentions. “I swear, at some point I’m going to have my way with you and lock you up in the bedroom for a week at least” he declared even if it was unlikely that such a thing was ever going to happen. But she wasn’t the only one capable of being dramatic when denied something they wanted.

Faye needed him too. So much that she was starting to forget what it was like to not have him in her life. Had she not been so tightly wound, so openly desperate for his touch, and for him as well. For him, warm and real and making her heart swell with each passing day. For Faye, wanting him, while not the same as need - even though she needed him… God, she needed him like she needed air, or sunlight, or the blood in her veins to keep her alive - was one way she could show him how she felt. Especially as words escaped her so often.

And being apart had been hard. Some might say she was needy, and maybe she was, but let them try living without color, or taste, or sensation… and see how much they needed it then. That was how Faye felt, in part, when Fane was gone. Colors weren’t as bright. Food tasted bland. Sensations were muted. Eowyn brought out the life in all these things, and Faye would never deny that her daughter made her very, very happy… but the love she felt for Eowyn was different than the love she felt for Fane. And Faye would never be able to put it into words, so she didn’t try.

“I think they all have it out for us,” she grumbled. “Just pick one.”

“Only a week?” she said, sounding disappointed, but smiling into his neck anyway. “I was thinking more like two or three… a month even. Even you might get tired of the things I’m gonna do to you by then.” His dramatics didn’t bother Faye at all. She was prone to her own, and as the both of them were Leos, respectfully, they fully embraced the occasional histrionics of the other. Within reason. Sometimes they needed to be taken down a notch, told to calm down or take a breath, or just to hold their damn horses, but mostly the mutual dramatics went off without a hitch.

Faye lay there for a moment longer, just breathing him in. “‘Spose we should go down, hm? ‘Fore she comes lookin’ for us like a couple o’ teenagers.”

He snorted a laugh at her grumble, deciding that as much as he wanted someone to blame he wasn’t going to chance pissing anyone else off even a hypothetical deity from ancient texts and stories. Better safe than sorry. You never knew what existed in this world after all.

“A month? What about a hundred days?” he asked tilting his head to look at her a little “like the Romans just… less treacherous and more hm, lecherous?” Fane suggested with a chuckle rather proud of his turn of phrase no matter how dumb it might be. “Plus, I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of anything you want to do to me, and anyways who says you get all the fun of doing things to me? Maybe I want to return the favour?” They both had their tendencies and that was simply a fact of the matter, it caused its issues but they dealt with them as they came up. After all, most of the time they took each other’s dramatics more in the vein of humour rather than genuine severity.

“I feel like a teenager who just got caught in the middle of a romp right now,” he grumbled in kind before heaving a sigh “but I guess you’re right.”

“A hundred days of debauchery? What sane person would say no to that?” Faye gave his ear a nip for his efforts at humor, though she laughed anyway. “Return away. I’m yours to do with as you please.” The thought only served to make Faye feel more frustrated than ever, so with a monumental effort, she pushed herself up and off the bed, turning to the mirror on the wall to make sure she didn’t look too ruffled. “Remind me to tell you about the time I actually did get caught,” she grinned over her shoulder. Holding out a hand, she helped him up and helped him sort himself as well, before they both headed downstairs.

Dinner was good. Roasted chicken, baked potatoes, fresh greens and an assortment of steamed home-grown vegetables, along with fresh bread, wine for the adults, and milk for Wyn, left them all full and sated. They chatted about Soapberry, and Faye’s job, Fane’s too, and talked about Wyn and what she was doing in school. Faye didn’t bring up her mother yet. She wouldn’t. Not around Wyn. Besides, she had a feeling her Gram knew. She always knew.

After Faye insisted on doing the washing up, she found the others as they had milled around waiting on her. “You ready to catch some lightin’ bugs?” she asked Wyn, holding up a glass mason jar with holes poked in the top for air. Wyn nodded readily, and took her jar. “One for you too,” Faye grinned as she handed one to Fane. “Since you’ve never in your entire life caught lightnin’ bugs. Or you can call ‘em fireflies. Whichever.”

They headed out onto the back porch, where it was wide enough to hold an outdoor patio set and a porch swing. It ran the length of the house, and was covered by the balcony of the second floor. The back garden was overgrown. Vines and flowering brambles were everywhere, running over the iron fences that still encircled it on the outer edges. Here and there a statue stood out from beneath the flowers and the bushes: fairies and fauns, the occasional angel and woodland creature. Though despite the wildness, it seemed tended to, in a roundabout sort of way. The plants flourished, their leaves green and thick; the flowers were vibrant and smelled like heaven, and the trees surrounding the entire space, with their overhanging branches and curtains of moss, seemed almost to breath quietly in the warm night air.

There were paths in varying combinations of grass and stone leading all around the garden. In the very middle stood a gazebo, alongside a small pond filled with colorful fish that would change hues if you watched long enough.

Faye took Wyn’s hand as they walked out into the grass. “Look there. See that?” She pointed to where spots of bright yellow seemed to float about on the breeze, flashing slowly on and off. “You gotta catch him easy,” Faye mimicked closing her hand gently around something, “and then put ‘im in the jar, okay? It’s their butts that glow.” Eowyn giggled at this, but then set her sights on a low flying spot of yellow before heading towards it. Faye smiled, watching the little girl for a long moment before turning to Fane. “Come on… your turn.”

“That’s the point, no sane person would say no to that” though the nip to his ear made him huff again tilting his head back in an attempt to get away from her knowing that any more of such attention would make it very hard to go back down to dinner. As she shifted back he stretched out before sitting up pulling his shirt back down despite its rumpled state. Smoothing a hand through his hair he laughed as he got up to sort himself out “oh I will.” With a glance in the mirror and a cheeky slap to her ass he followed her out the bedroom.

Fane knew that Faye would tell her Gram in her own time about the occurrence with her mother and saw no point in bringing it up, so he indulged in idle conversation enjoying the chance to get to know the little part of Faye’s blood family that remained. Feeling obliged to help clean up with Faye considering the effort that must’ve gone into preparing their meal he insisted rather obstinately about assisting her and between the two of them got the job done rather speedily. And soon enough they were on to the next activity of the evening. Taking the jar he held it up curiously trying to figure the logistics of putting fireflies in there without them flying out the next time you opened the lid to deposit the next one. He’d figure it out but it seemed a tricky task.

Following with the jar tucked under his arm Fane admired the gardens, knowing that throughout their stay here he was bound to end up walking and exploring them in the bit of time he might happen to find to himself here. The garden was charming in its own rustic way, like the house he found and as they stepped down into the grass he observed whilst Faye explained what you had to do. Eowyn was off almost immediately when she spotted one and Fane hung back watching the toddler wander about scooping and depositing the insects into the jar with a fond smile. At Faye’s mention of it being his turn he looked dubious but unscrewed the lid peering about for a particular spot before he waded out into the grass mimicking Faye’s movements earlier to scoop the insect out of the air and put it in the jar before putting the lid on. The process repeated, though occasionally between him scooping one out of the air and trying to put it in the little blighter flew off again earning a slightly irked look every now and then. “Why don’t you give it a go?” he called after a little while turning to look over at her whilst cradling his jar of luminous insects in the crook of his elbow.

Faye had been content with watching Eowyn catch her little jar of bugs, her Gram following along and helping her from time to time, and watching Fane’s pretty good first attempt. “Alright,” she said with a smile, moving off towards the center of the garden where the little flickers of light were thickest. She took the lid off her jar and tucked it beneath her arm, turning in a slow circle as her eyes tracked an insect that was flying close by. With a practiced hand, she reached out and cupped it gently in her palm, opening her hand over the jar and dropping her prize deftly inside with a little bump against the rim. It promptly fell to the bottom of the jar, unharmed. The aerated lid was placed over it and Faye moved on to her next catch.

A half dozen lightning bugs later, Faye was near the back of the garden, trying to get one more that had eluded her thus far. She almost had her hand around it, hovering in the air near the large, overgrown greenhouse that nestled in this particular corner of the area, when something caught her eye. A flicker of blue, distorted by the haze of old glass. “Ohh,” Faye said, stepping carefully down from the stone block she’d been standing on. Her eyes never left the place where she’d seen the shimmer of color.

It came again, quite suddenly, from inside the glass walls, and Faye let out a breath of excitement. She chanced a look for her Gram and Eowyn, wanting to show them as well, but they were back up near the house, too far to signal unless she yelled. And that would scare it. But Fane was closeby. “Hey… come ‘ere,” she said, the excitement evident in her voice as she was already carefully opening the door to the greenhouse.

“Have you ever seen a nightwisp?”

It took Fane a while to get a hang of the methodology behind catching the insects but the more he tried the easier it became. Still, when Faye joined the effort and rather expertly started catching fireflies he merely rolled his eyes and tsked “look at the pro, in her element. Did they have firefly catching competitions when you were a kid?” Fane joked lightly as he watched her wander around. “Please tell me there was and they had a firefly trophy to go with it.”

He’d ended up wandering a little towards the pond, curious to take a look at the fish in the water when he heard Faye’s excited breath. Her conspiratorial tone didn’t help matters either in terms of his curiosity and he offered her a quizzical look as she brought his attention to her… discovery?

It was only when he followed her gaze he noticed the odd luminescence coming from within the greenhouse its pale silvery blue light refracting off the glass. Soon enough the fish were abandoned for an exploration of the greenhouse though Faye’s question didn’t ring any particular bells. Magical creatures or aspects with the exception of dragons (which to his very very great misfortune had yet to prove existed, not that he was discrediting this because just because there was no evidence didn’t mean they couldn’t still exist somewhere) really weren't in his memory bank. His mind wasn’t a steel trap and Fane relied on the logs and journals he kept to remember the important details of his life; all safely stored back at his estate. So, unless it was some entity of mythology - take the Manticore for example or even the Minotaur Fane really couldn’t help very much without prior research.

“Nightwisp?” he echoed curiously following her into the greenhouse “no-- never heard of it.”

Broken glass - from a few missing ceiling panels Faye realized as she looked up - littered the dirt and gravel floor of the greenhouse, along with the remains of several long-dead palms, withered ivy, and various other dead and rotting plants and flowers. It obviously hasn't been used properly in years, though Faye remembered it flourishing with life at one point in her youth. Just more evidence that her Gram was getting older, and less able to keep up with things like she once had.

Their feet crunched over the detritus as they moved slowly inside, and Faye made a mental note to be careful around the shards of glass that were still hanging on to a few cracked side panels. The blue light flickered from deeper inside, and Faye followed slowly, turning to look at Fane over her shoulder. “I saw one once when I was a girl. But it was in the woods. I liked it so much I learned to make bluebell flames to mimic it.”

She ducked beneath a fallen beam from the ceiling. “Watch yourself,” she warned, motioning to the sharp edges still attached to the wood. Not that Fane wouldn't be able to heal, but it would still hurt. And she didn't want him suffering because she was careless. “Nightwisps are of the ether. The places between places. If you should happen to capture one, or better yet befriend it, they can lead you safely through any danger. A burning house. An enchanted forest. The deepest, darkest part of anywhere that exists in any world. They'll lead you safely through.” Faye paused as the little creature shimmered through the corridor in front of them, smiling sadly. “The only catch is they give up their life force to do it.”

Faye looked back at Fane, her expression telling him that she'd never dream of capturing something so rare and beautiful. “But they can also see the future. Or a version of it.” She walked on, following the glimmer of blue, until a few feet later they came to a round room with a dried up fountain in the center. Faye stopped.

“Do you see it?” she asked Fane.

The shards caught the moonlight filtering through from outside like remnants of a shattered star, glittering and reflecting the light amongst the dirt underfoot. A rather beautiful duality if thought about in terms of the contrast between the shimmering light amongst the dark turf beneath. “I’m sure this place was a sight when it was complete” Fane remarked lightly dragging his fingers along a worn wooden countertop on which some flowers still bloomed. Fane both loved and hated places like this because it always stirred in him the urge to want to help, to conserve and take things back to a state where they could truly be appreciated. Yet, there was also a beauty in the display of time shown here; every weather worn panel and chipped window with its own unique story to tell if a person was willing to listen or look closely enough. Even so, things shouldn’t be forgotten to time. During their stay Fane would ultimately end up occupying any free time he did have with cleaning up the greenhouse if only a little; removing the broken glass and replacing some of the window panes nothing major but enough to make a little difference-- a thank you to Beulah for letting them stay but also an act of kindness he hoped she might appreciate.

“You should show me sometime, that is if you don’t mind” Fane was aware of Faye’s fear of fire and would never ask her to do something she might feel uncomfortable doing but he couldn’t help his fascination with her displays of magic.

His hand came up in a protective fashion as he ducked similarly under the beam minding some of the loose stones underfoot “mind your stop” he didn’t particularly want her turning an ankle in here either. He listened curiously to her explanation of what Nightwisps were and his own expression grew to mimic her sadness. He knew the toll it took to ask someone or something to give up its life-force for some greater purpose (if using it for your own benefit could even be considered a greater purpose), that guilt would be something he would always carry with him. Now, Fane tried not to make such sacrifices anymore but do his best to find some alternate solution to them.

The reached an open room the glass ceiling curving up in panels to form a single domed roof through which the moon could be seen clearly. Yet the illumination of this room came not from the pearly luminescence overhead but the orb-like celestial spirit floating a peaceful path around the edge of the fountain shimmering wisps of silver and dusty celeste trailing in its graceful journey. Fane was about to open his mouth to answer her question but as though the Nightwisp sensed their presence the orb seemed to still its journey before it shot like a comet arcing across the domed ceiling, its traverse reflected in the glass above as it descended towards them both circling once, twice, three times before it stilled a few feet or so away swaying smoothly from side to side.

“Who is it that disturbs my voyage here this very night?” the soft melodic voice vibrated through the air an empyrean quality to its tone that resonated through the nearby glass. It was a tone of no comparison; one that was ancient yet new all at once, all-knowing yet ever-learning, friendly yet distant and left Fane both curious and speechless all at once.

“It was. I learned a lot in here. What flowers could heal. What plants could poison. I grew up inside these walls.” Faye looked around sadly, mirroring Fane unknowingly as she drug her fingers over the dusty tabletops. “I think Gram has some pictures somewhere of when it was complete. Though don’t be surprised if she subjects you to photos of me as a child too before we leave.” Faye’s voice was fond, though the overtone of sadness was there too. The greenhouse was slowly fading away, as everything did with time. If Fane helped restore it… Faye and her Gram both would be overwhelmed. Because it wasn’t only preserving the beauty of something old and antique, but preserving the good parts of Faye’s childhood. But Faye didn't know his thoughts, and they continued on.

Faye watched the loose stone underneath as Fane pointed it out, ducking and moving around pieces of fallen wood, and the occasional branch from the trees above that had fallen through the glass. They entered the circular room, alive with soft, blue light, and Faye’s breath left her as she finally saw the Wisp as it arched in a silent streak over their heads, leaving trails of shimmering light that faded in and out as it moved and swayed. It was reflected in Faye’s plum-colored eyes and mirrored in Fane’s darker ones.

And then… and then it spoke.

Faye let out a short sound that was part amazement, part surprise, and part wonderous laughter, but she quickly put her hands over her mouth, not wanting to frighten the little creature. But it didn't seem afraid. If anything it was cautiously curious, and the glass vibrated gently with the ethereal resonance of the Wisp’s voice. As it questioned her, Faye dropped her hands.

“Faye,” she said quietly, pointing to herself. “And Fane Savin.” She touched Fane’s arm, though she still looked at the form of the Wisp. It was still swaying gently, trailing liquid stardust that left a shimmer in the air before fading out.

“Hello Faye Savin. Hello Fane Savin,” it said, addressing them both in turn, pulsing gently in time with its words.

“Oh… no… no, I’m not Faye Savin,” Faye said quickly, feeling her cheeks flame as the Wisp misunderstood her. “I’m-”

“Are you not Faye? And is he not Stefan?” it asked over her protestations, sounding confused.

“Well… yes,” Faye said, frowning, “but-”

“And are you not here together?” the Wisp continued in it’s calm, gentle voice.

Faye let out a breath through her nose. “Yes, but-”

“Then you are Faye and Stefan Savin.” The Wisp said with one final pulse, satisfied with it’s logic for reasons unknown. “Why are you here tonight, Faye and Stefan Savin?”

Faye looked at Fane, a slightly helpless and apologetic expression on her face. Though something bright and hot and unnameable flickered through her as the wisp called her by a name that was not her own. It frightened her in its intensity, so she pushed it back, focusing on the question that had been asked of her.

“I… I saw you,” Faye said, turning back to the Wisp even as her eyes lingered on Fane for a moment before following. “From the garden. I remember seeing one of your sisters as a child…”

“Yes. I know. But why are you here?” the Wisp asked again, swaying back towards Fane.

The thought of a younger Faye wandering about, picking leaves and roots to crush them together into spells made him smile though it was tinged with sadness. “Well,” he breathed drawing the word out “I want to know every part of your life-- the good, the bad, the ugly so I hope she gives me that opportunity to get a glimpse of what your life was like here I’m looking forward to it.” As they wandered through the derelict corridors Fane made his mind up, any spare time he had whilst they were here he’d dedicate to helping do whatever he could to make this place rendered safe and secure for Faye’s gram.

Fane wasn’t often left awestruck, but right now it seemed like his brain had short-circuited and any speech capabilities had utterly failed on his behalf. A part of him was tempted to take a photo but eventually figured that might be rude and so his phone stayed where it was. He glanced at Faye as she let out a breathy laugh admiring the sight of her features illuminated by the soft celeste glow, the colour of the light turning her eyes a dark shade of lavender, if the NIghtwisp had stolen his words the sight of Faye in that moment left him breathless.

As it spoke, Fane turned back smiling as the little orb swivelled in mid-air to momentarily face him when Faye introduced them both and he almost laughed as it greeted them both individually his eyes sliding over to Faye noticing the heat colouring her cheeks; a sight that did make him chuckle softly.

The Wisp’s logic was sound, and Faye’s protestations only made him shake a little in silent laughter raising a hand to press to his lips to stop any sound from coming out. There was also a slightly warm feeling at the implication the name seemed to hold and the Wisp’s certainty in giving it. Like it knew something that neither of them would know at this moment in time. The prospect was both a terrifying and fascinating one, though it was the weight of Faye’s gaze on him sobered Fan. Enough to stop his laughter and after rubbing a hand over his stubble he let his hand drop back to his side.

As the Wisp swayed back towards him Fane admired it for another second. “We were curious” he answered honestly, “I’ve never seen a Nightwisp before.”

“And now you have, though curiosity is often a dangerous thing Stefan Savin” it answered once again buffed by unseen and unfelt forces, “do you have need of me?” The question sounded like it presumed to know their intentions, that it expected them to be no different than the others of their kind who met a Wisp and took advantage of its gifts.

“Yes, I have and yes, that’s true” he acknowledged patiently “but how do we learn without taking that risk?” Though, the Wisp’s next question made Fane’s eyes widen, shaking his head  “oh no-- no, I don’t have need of you we just-- wanted to see you.”

“There are plenty of ways to learn; books, media, but you speak of life Stefan Savin and those things cannot teach you the value of life. Remember though, to hold dear what you care for.” The Wisp pulsed slowly, “if you have no need of me Stefan Savin why are you here?”

Fane blinked again, “um-- I-- really did just want to see you, I didn’t mean to disturb you and if I did I apologise for that.”

The Wisp stayed silent pulsing gently as though taking stock of the integrity and truth to his words before it drifted closer circling left around his head before coming to a stop after a single full rotation to stop in front of him. “You may stay Stefan Savin,” the Wisp finally spoke turning towards Faye once more “and you Faye Savin, why are you here?”

Faye smiled even though he couldn't see her. “Well, I guess the good thing is that the part of me that’s here is mostly good. Not a lot of bad memories, other than comin’ here when I was runnin’ from somethin’.” Running from her mother’s hatred. Literally. Out her window and through the streets into the woods, barefoot and in her nightgown. She'd show up muddy and tearful and crawl into her Gram’s bed and her Gram would pet her hair and rock her to sleep even when she got older.

This place was one of only a few where she felt completely safe. And to preserve it would be… it would mean more than words could express.

The Wisp dance slowly in the air, and Faye was so entranced that she didn't see Fane’s expression as he gazed at her. It was a rare thing indeed to feel a moment of pure, unfiltered joy. And that was what Faye felt, and what her face showed. At least until the Wisp misunderstood and Faye blushed fiercely. Fane’s expression was full of humor however, as she turned to him a bit helplessly, and that eased her embarrassment just a bit.

The Wisp dipped towards Fane then, and Faye watched as they spoke to one another: the immortal and the timeless. It was her turn to be left breathless then, as she watched the ethereal light play over his features, casting them into soft relief. He looked… beautiful, and Faye was well and truly enraptured. She also knew she would likely never see something so rare again in her lifetime. So she watched and listened, motionless, as the Wisp gave its own council, and asked its questions in a voice that slide like silk and honey and wind chimes over the blue-black surface of the greenhouse.

Fane's answers pleased the little creature, and Faye watched with a mixture of fear and excitement as it curled towards her and asked the same. She didn't correct the name, since her earlier efforts were futile. Who was she to question a being that had existed for eons anyway?

“I was curious as well, and wanted to see you,” Faye answered honestly.

“You have seen us before. That is the truth. Why again?” The blue light tilted slightly, as if it was looking at Faye curiously.

Fsye swallowed. “I… because you're beautiful. And gentle. And I remember… how I felt such… joy, when I saw your sister. I wanted to feel that again.”

“We remember you, Faye with the violet eyes. As we remember all. Know all. You have changed since that day, but yet you haven't. Do you have need of me?”

“No,” Faye shook her head quickly, her voice catching even as she smiled. “I just wanted to remember that feeling.”

The Wisp made a small noise that sounded like a contented sigh. “You have joy. You need not seek me to find it. But this is also the truth,” it said of Faye's words. There was a moment where the Wisp grew still, and its light seems to almost turn inwards, as if it was having a silent conversation with something Faye and Fane couldn't see. Faye looked at Fane, a question on her face, but the light flared bright once more.

“We shall give you a gift, we have decided. Since you are kind and truthful and need nothing from us. If you wish.”

There was no sort of fear or trepidation in him when he spoke to this entity, viewing it simply as an equal; another that knew some of what it was like to carry the burden of eternity. Though he wasn’t sure whether they experienced things in exactly the same way considering this creature held no corporeal form but more one made up entirely of energy. Yet, unlike him with a memory that was prone to forgetting lest he write things down this creature claimed to be able to recall all that it and its kin had seen. Fane was left to wonder what sort of burden that was, to always remember and never forget.

He grew quiet once more as Faye spoke to the creature, a melancholy smile present on his lip as he stood there, hands moving to clasp idly behind his back. Much like his own answers seemed to please the little creature it seemed to pulse more brightly as it spoke to Faye seeming to understand their intentions were not to ask it to give up its life-force for anything. Fane merely gave a shrug in response to Faye’s look whilst pulling a face that essentially said ‘hell if I know what it’s on about’.

Faye hadn’t mentioned anything in the way of gifts, and if he knew more Fane would have realised that this was an extremely rare and barely documented occurrence among encounters with Nightwisps. The sudden flare of the light caused him to wince a little raising a hand to shield his eyes but answered its offer. “You need not gift us anything um-- do you have a name?”

There was a vibration which chimed through the air like the tinkle of distant bells but so much more pure than that as the Wisp laughed. “You may call me Karina, and that is precisely why we have decided to bestow this gift to you both.”

With that there was a sudden explosion of blue-white light from where the Wisp was previously, the air in front of them fragmenting into blazing shards of crystal that spun, interwove and expanded to form a window like surface in mid-air like a miniature television screen. The Wisp danced and darted around his shoulders bouncing, rolling along its own whimsical path a bright celest trail drifting in its wake with ancient runes seemingly interspersed in the stream of energy being roped around them. He looked a bit confused as it proceeded to loop around Faye and complete the circle with the window.

Energy pulsed through the looped connection which pulsed with growing intensity before the world seemed to erupt and he was drawn mind and soul to focus entirely on the window. The surprise of the strength of the suddenly established connection drew a quiet gasp from him before images flashed across the screen one after the other in a snapshot progression.

Fane saw them both wandering familiar streets of Paris, Italy and countless other cities, them back at her cottage, his estate laughing and shooting up a storm with nerf guns and water-fights, hide and go seek in the long winding corridors, a blonde Eowyn giggling joyously whilst riding on a pony, the stream of tears down both their faces as he was forced to choose one family over another, himself with a golden aura that engulfed his body and exploded from his eyes and mouth hieroglyphs ever-changing and shimmering with a life and power of their own in the aura which clung to his skin...

The rush of emotion with every reel played out was overwhelming and Fane was forced to reach out, grabbing Faye’s hand and squeezing it like a lifeline whilst the dark depths of his eyes reflecting every flash of potential futures unwinding and twining themselves together in a snapshot collage of what life might or might not hold in store for the both of them.

Faye had never heard of Nightwisps bestowing gifts. She had always heard that they were Seers, but she wasn’t sure what that meant. Her Gram could See, but it wasn’t a gift that one could call on at will. It just… happened. Like it had the few times Faye had Seen. It was frightening, and she didn’t care to repeat the experience.

But there was nothing about the Wisp - Karina - that frightened Faye. As she’d said, the only thing she felt was joy, and as Fane declined the offer of a gift, Faye nodded in agreement, taking a step closer to him. But before she could speak, the Wisp pulsed brightly, and the world around them exploded in a glittering sea of glass and light. Faye felt more than saw the Wisp dance around her own body, for her eyes were locked on the growing crystal display in front of her.

For someone who had spent their entire life wielding the power of memory and thought, the magic forming before them drew her like a beacon in a storm. White hot and yet cold as ice, the trails of magic looped around her and Fane, and when finally the connection was sealed, she felt the tug that, had it been physical, would have sent them to their knees. As it was, Faye found herself feeling like she might collapse as the images formed in front of them. She saw everything Fane did, felt everything he felt.

And Faye knew that it was future being played out before them, possibility after possibility, both good and bad, happy and agonizingly sad, each flux of the timeline showing what might be and what may never come to pass. It held Faye enraptured, even as tears streamed down her face.

She saw an apartment in the city (it was Paris, she knew), rain on the windows and her and Fane on the couch. Faye was sleeping, her head in his lap as he typed lazily on his laptop. There was a house in the country, surrounded by fields of lavender and bright blue skies. There was Eowyn running after a pack of dogs in the wildflowers, laughing and calling to her mother in a crisp, perfect French, her fairybell voice high and clear. Faye raised a hand to her mouth.

The images fluttered again, and they once again showed Faye and Fane. They were in a doctor’s office. Heilyn was there, looking at them with an expression Faye couldn’t read. Fane looked shaken, and Faye looked pale. The image changed again as she got up and left the office. It showed the two of them again except this time they were in his bedroom at his estate in Soapberry. Faye was walking back and forth across the floor while Fane perched nervously on the edge of the bed, watching her intently. The image of her turned, and the real Faye sucked in a breath as she saw the curve of her stomach, heavy with child just as they moved forwards again.

Faye felt like she couldn’t breathe as the images kept coming. Her holding a screaming newborn to her chest as Fane leaned down over them, pressing a reverent kiss to the child’s dark, still wet hair. And again, though this second child had light hair like Faye. And once more, a third miracle blessing their family. The joy was nearly too much, and Faye felt her knees grow weak. But the magic had ahold of them, and neither could go far. It was fortunate, for what came next snatched all the joy from Faye’s arms, from the weight and living warmth of a child had carried and given birth to. She was knelt in a pool of red, crying out in agony and despair as the life’s blood of her child bled out of her. The image of Fane and the golden light that bled from his own body superimposed itself over the image of Faye raging at him in a gray mist of rain and stone markers, blaming him for pushing too far, for messing with things best left alone, for caring more about immortality than his own family. The real her cried out at the pain that ripped through her womb and her heart.

But then it was gone, and even more images shimmered into existence. Faye growing older, Eowyn growing up, graduating from school, her brothers and sisters alive and flourishing. Falling in love with Noel, Shivonne’s son. Having a family of her own. Faye and Fane at her wedding, and then… the faded gray of a memorial stone inscribed with Faye’s name, Fane’s arm around Wyn’s shoulders as she held the hand of a dark haired little girl that looked just like Noel.

Faye couldn’t take it… it needed to end. Magic had it’s price, and the price of the Wisp’s gift was in the knowing. And in the not knowing. And in the feeling. She begged for it to stop even as she wanted it to keep going, face streaked with tears of joy and tears of sorrow.

A bonding in blood, a life bound with another, a marriage that wasn’t a marriage, but was so much more than that: a bonding of souls. Of the essence of life. Wyn growing up, Faye staying the same… grand-children, great-grandchildren…

A younger her, fresh-faced and new. No scars, no violent past. Only a violent present, as the bruises on her face and arms showed.

She couldn’t remember when Fane had taken her hand, only that he was holding on for dear life. Faye held on too, threading her fingers tightly with his as all the years of their lives, of every life that could ever be or would never be, flashed before them.

There was no way to cease or block the overwhelming tidal wave of emotions that came crashing down anew with every shimmer of the images as one sequence faded into another, one potential thread stringing itself to the present; forging a new potential reality with its own joys, trials and tribulations. Often Fane was able to keep his emotions in check, but the violent wrenching slide of his emotions from a bone-deep sorrow, pain and guilt all the way to the euphoric high of meeting their first child was more than enough to smash through any of his typical guises.

He wanted to look away but couldn’t bring himself to tear his eyes away, tears streaking down his face and dripping off his chin as the futures played out in front of them. The sheer force of the darkness and sorrow over the loss of a child hit him unexpectedly forcing him to literally suck in a breath and back away. The price his fear for the unknown date his own sanity would slip away costing them; paid by the blood of their own child, a choked sob caught in his throat as he shook his head more tears dripping down his face. No, that couldn’t be right.

As fast as it appeared it was gone and he was presented of images of Faye and himself (ever the same) whilst she grew older and older. The sand running out as she aged in front of his eyes, moments showing other’s judgemental gazes on her for dating a younger man and his efforts to try and stop the looks, even going to the lengths of dying parts of his own hair grey to look older than he was. The sight of her tombstone cementing his desire to never want to waste a single moment of their lives that they had together. He watched as people said their respects: Eowyn, Leo, Alexandra, Adrian for their mother, Noel, Iann, Tuah, Teddy, Sam, Dani all ultimately leaving until only Fane remained. Only when he was alone did his melancholy expression shatter, falling to his knees in a fit of sorrow and pain that felt like his heart was being ripped to pieces in his chest whilst colour bled once more from the world turning it grey and lifeless without her there to find the colours to paint them in.

Then there was a younger her, coincidentally bumping into one another at the Louvre (he’d recognise the gallery anywhere) and the grey bleakness shifting to a melancholy soar like a bird finding its wings after being grounded for so long. Trying to help her escape her violence, doing everything in his power to protect her, to keep her and her memory safe… The confusion and new love that blossomed there.

Eventually, the images slowed fading to the gardens at his estate at a family barbecue; an older Dani and Sam happily married, two children of their own whilst Faye and Fane sat sharing a bottle of wine watching Eowyn manipulating fire for Noel who looked justly unsettled, Leo demonstrating flares of his light magic which Fane observed on cautiously a peregrine falcon swooping down to settle on the teen’s shoulder, Alexandra who looked like a younger version of himself but with her mother’s eyes messing with an orb of water that she accidentally lost control over ultimately soaking a Capuchin Monkey which hung close nearby and looked incredibly peeved after getting soaked. Finally, there was a blond haired boy tossing about a ball of shadows cheerfully where he lounged on the grass nearby.

The images finally splintered and shrunk, the silver light fading until only the soft blue glow of the Wisp remained along with a heavy silence. Fane’s eyes screwed up and he sniffled a little turning to wipe his nose on his sleeve feeling a bit pitiful for being such a mess but unable to help the way his emotions felt well and truly wrung out. His mind whilst still reeling from the things they’d both just witnessed wasn’t concerned for considering his own feelings instead adjusting the jar he’d cradled in his arm before pulling Faye into a crushing hug pressing his head into her hair and breathing her in deeply needing to reassure himself of her solidarity right here, right now.

Hugging her though only proved to make him shake as another wave of unbidden emotion rushed over him, making him sob silently as he clung to her. Not even paying attention to the Wisp as it gradually circled up and up, spiralling out of a broken window pane into the night leaving them alone in the green-house.

The feeling of being overwhelmed but still unsure of which emotion to latch onto washed over Faye as the blue light faded away. As did the images both good and bad, joyous and heartbreaking. Faye was breathing hard, like she’d been running from something intent on sinking it’s teeth into her flesh. She blinked as the silence settled in, loud as ever, and wiped at her face with a trembling hand, her other still clasped firmly in Fane’s. She would probably be bruised tomorrow, as hard as he’d been holding on to her, but Faye didn’t care. The thought hadn’t even entered her mind. It was too full of wave after wave of raw emotion… and she was left floundering in their wake.

As if they’d both shaken off the paralysis of the Wisp’s magic at the same time, Faye turned to Fane as he pulled her towards him. Her arms wrapped around him, curling around his back and up over his shoulders to dig into his flesh, finding the bend of his neck to bury her face in. afraid of what would happen if she let go. She sobbed too, great heaves of her chest as she pulled him in, held him to her, tried to take away the pain and the sorrow that she knew he felt, just as she did. There was no denying it. But God… the joy. The joy was probably even more painful than the sorrow. Especially holding her son, their son… there was nothing like it in this world or the next. And it was the joy of that and all the good the Wisp had shown them that Faye clung to as she held Fane close, the happiness that she wanted to remember, wanted him to remember. For it was only a glimpse of what might be or might not be, and as wrung out and spent and utterly shaken as she was, the Nightwisp’s gift was something Faye knew she would never take for granted.

Fane shook in her arms as he sobbed silently into her shoulder. She’d never seen him cry in the year she’d known him, and what he must be feeling to cause him to drop the facade, to let his emotions and his pain carry him away… Christ, she loved him. And it took everything she had not to say it yet. Because it wouldn’t be fair. Their emotions were too raw, bleeding too heavily for her to add the weight of the word ‘love’ to the wounds.

So she just held him as they both cried, whispering words of comfort and assurance that she had him, that she wasn’t going anywhere, and that she felt it too.

That wicked sting that was the price for joy, and the price for pain.

And that no matter what happened, no matter what path their lives took in the echoes of time, she would be right there beside him. Always. As long as he would have her.

Whilst Faye breathed heavily it seemed like Fane’s had ceased entirely; seizing up in his chest and unable to escape by any means. If he had happened to hurt her he would heal any damage he’d done later, though neither of them realised it quite this moment.

Her arms curled around him and Fane’s body instinctively pressed closer, burying himself away in the dip of her shoulder whilst she hid her face away in the curve of his neck. The wet, hot heaves blew against his skin as she cried and that only made his own tears flow faster torn up over how much he felt. The potential outcomes, the possibilities were in flux and ever changing; they might not get any of that or they might get all of it… Who knew? As much as Fane wanted to think on the happiness he felt, the joy of their children his mind was stuck on one particular track; one which had ripped off the bandage wound tightly over a hurt that had yet to go away or heal. The sight of her anguish, her pain as she raged and yelled at him because of the loss of their child. That guilt destroyed him, ate him up from the inside out like a corrosive poison eating its way through his flesh and made him burn with self-loathing.

Because it reminded him of Silas. His son that never was, and that acid; burning its way through the dams and walls he’d tried to build up around these emotions were breaking down right now and no matter how hard he struggled to try and patch those holes there was no getting to them all. The pain exploded, fresh and raw leaving him feeling stupid and pitiful and weak. He always was the strong one, the one people relied on to keep his cool but he was struggling day by day.

It took a while, to let his emotions run their course for his shoulders to stop shaking and his eyes to screw up as the tears finally began to slow her murmurs and reassurances filtering through gradually. He sucked in a deep breath then, filling his lungs with incense, salt and lavender before a final shudder wracked his body. Eventually, Fane mumbled a quiet “sorry” against her shoulder. “God I’m so sorry, I’m so sorry” the fear of himself doing something so monumental that it would lead to the suffering they’d seen… It petrified him to the core.

It was hard on him, she knew, to be the one that carried everything for everyone. Or tried to. To be so strong for so long. To want nothing more than to shoulder the burdens for the ones he loved, and ease their suffering even just a little. And as much as Faye admired and respected and loved that part of him, she knew that eventually, no matter how strong and resolute something was, there was a point where the weight would become too much. Where even the strongest rock would break.

Fane’s weight had finally become too much. And he broke. Faye's arms moved to encircle his neck as he found comfort in her own, the hot splash of tears wetting her skin as she held him tight and stroked his hair and pressed gentle yet firm kisses to his face. “Hey… hey, no. Don't be sorry. Please, baby, don't be sorry.” She didn't pull away yet, even though she wanted to look at him. Instead she nuzzled against him, her hands tightening in his hair even as tears and small sobs still shuddered through her as well.

“There's nothin’ to be sorry for. None of it was set… not the good, or the bad. I had… If anythin’ I'm the one who's sorry. I had no idea this would happen… I swear.” There was a pause, and Faye knew he was likely dwelling on the darkest part of what they'd seen: the loss of a child. Because in truth she was too. This time she did pull back. And took his face in her hands. Her thumbs traced his cheeks, brushing away the tears before kissing him gently, reverently. He tastes like salt water. “I know you,”’she told him. “I see you. Not some vision of what may never ever come to pass. You would never hurt me, or our-” Her voice broke, and her eyes closed as she took a shaky breath, but when she opened them there was a tiny smile on her face. “Our children.” The word made her heart flutter in her chest, and she could still feel the weight of their son, Leo, as she held him to her chest. “If by some… some miracle they ever do exist… You would never hurt us. I know this. I know you. I-”

Faye’s throat closed up, the words ‘I love you’ once more about to slip from her mouth. “I know you, love…” she said instead, unable to stop herself. “Don't let this hurt you. It's one of a million possible outcomes. And I would never blame you, okay? I swear it. And look at the good… I saw… we saw our family, Stefan.” She pressed her forehead to his, and there was a smile behind her tears. “There's joy in that glimpse, even if it never comes to pass.”  

He sank into the comfort of her touch, every passing kiss her lips grazed to his face or rake of her fingers soothingly through his hair. The assurances did little to ease the clenching fear that gripped him right in that moment, because he was sorry and felt every ounce of guilt his counterpart felt. He wanted to swear, that whatever led to that future… He’d stop it but that was the thing about knowing the future; in trying to prevent it there was no guarantee that you were walking straight into that possible outcome.

Faye’s apology made him shake his head ever so slightly against her shoulder, “no-- it’s alright, you didn’t know.” His voice when he finally found it was thick with emotion, struggling to keep it even from the weight of the emotion carried through the words. He didn’t want to pull back, but eased his hold enough to let her do so and as she took his face in her hands his shoulders hunched staring blearily down at her; a far cry from how he normally poised himself. Their kiss was fleeting, barely a passing brush before she was speaking again and he tried to calm his racing mind as she spoke.

There was no helping his fear over the potential of what might come to pass, “but what if it does-- What if it does?” he had to ask the fear making his voice shake in trepidation of the potential what ifs hovering over him. “I could feel your pain your grief and the guilt… oh my god it’s unbearable” he shook his head “I never want you to feel that, to experience that but what if it does?” The fear was plain to read in his expression, the question left unsaid what if you end up hating me?

But then she spoke of their children, their possible future… And he quietened some and as the name she opted to call him registered his throat worked, adam’s apple bobbing from the emotion and sheer warmth that came from hearing her say that. She’d said it before, but in a state of fatigue that he wasn’t entirely sure what to make of them but now? He hugged her again then, pressing his forehead to her own and brushing his nose against her own “they were so beautiful” he eventually breathed some measure of happiness finally beginning to replace the sorrow as he thought back to the glimpse of their potential family.

Faye could see the fear and the agony and the guilt written all over his face. And she wanted more than anything to take it all away, to see him smile. To see him laugh. To see his eyes light up with joy again. And she would have known right then, if she hadn't already, that she wanted to spend what time she had left in this world making him happy. But still, she couldn't deny his fear, or what he was asking, knowing that it had as much of a chance of happening as anything else they'd seen in the Wisp’s crystal-blue mirage.

“If it does…”she said firmly, the muscles of her jaw tightening at the still fresh memory of the agony they'd both experienced, “then we’ll get through it. You and me. Okay? I promise. I felt it too… everything you felt. I felt your pain… I still feel it.” She shook her head, a few fresh tears slipping down her cheeks. “I know you would never want that. I know you'd never hurt me. Us.” Meaning their family, be it fantasy or one day reality. “And I could never, ever hate you. Or blame you. Anger? Yes. Maybe. But… not hate, never that.”

He seemed to settle some at the mention of the possible family they'd seen. The three children that were of his blood, her blood. That they'd made together, and that she'd carried in her womb and given birth to, with Fane by her side the entire time. Though it wasn't like that month of memory, thank whatever deity was watching. It wasn't a remembering of something that had already been. Faye didn't know if she could have handled that, and something told her that Fane most certainly wouldn't have been able to. Another small mercy. No… it was a glimpse. And like all things, there could not be light without darkness.

She closed her eyes as he pulled her in, huffing a wet laugh against his cheek. “They were...” she agreed, her voice thick with the sheer overwhelming emotion of it. No thoughts of it being too soon, or too much, or too serious entered her mind. All she could think of was Fane's face as he'd gazed down at his newborn children, of the sheer joy in his eyes, and of the warm weight of their little bodies at her breast. Her hand pressed to his neck, trembling. “God… you were all so beautiful…”

Time would bring his more positive emotions back to light, but for the moment he simply had to let his emotions run down whatever channel they wanted. Yet, she seemed to grow stern on the topic holding his face and with a small shake to make sure her words were understood and fully registered into his head. Fane stood and he listened, wide-eyed before some of the grief started to finally recede. “You and me,” he echoed that with a small smile lifting his hand to brush away her fresh tears. He wasn’t sure whether he could agree with the blame, her gaze was rather accusatory in the memory but he decided it was better not to point that out whilst she tried to ease his negativity.

Family would always be the turning point for Fane, his own especially existing as both his strongest and weakest points. Because caring so deeply for people made you vulnerable, but only through that vulnerability could the true depths of love and understanding be accessed. He’d made his peace long ago with that, but also with the notion that he never would have children that would share his eyes or hair so to suddenly be presented with that opportunity… It was shocking, heartwarming and heartbreaking all at the same time.

“We, we were all beautiful” he amended softly as he dwelled on what they had just seen. This didn’t mean he wanted those things immediately but… a future where there was that possibility? He didn’t even understand how. Eventually, after another lapse of silence he drew away “we should head back-- your gram and Wyn will probably be wondering where we got to.”

Faye had almost always worn how she felt on her sleeve. Be it anger, envy, jealousy, hurt, love… All her emotions were put out there for the world to see, if it knew what to look for. Fear was turned to anger, as was grief. Love turned to fear, jealousy to envy… up and down and over and under. Each emotion washing into the next like silt in a river bed. So it was now. All the emotions dredged up by the Wisp’s gift played over and over again through Faye’s mind and her heart. And she saw some of the same emotions mirrored in Fane as she looked into his dark eyes.

Faye nodded as he repeated her words back to her. The image of her screaming at him stayed heavy in her mind as well. That didn’t mean she believed it would ever come to pass. She didn’t believe it would. And perhaps seeing so many outcomes, perhaps that knowing would send them on a path to a happy one. Filled with family and laughter and happiness. Something they had both always wanted.

Faye’s family, the people she loved, would always and forever be her weakness. And her greatest source of strength. She would do anything for them. She would give up her life if she had to. But she would rather live, if it was all the same. Live and see them grow and prosper. Before her husband had disappeared, Faye had decided she wanted another child. A sibling for Eowyn to grow up with. Faye had been an only child, and it was lonely at times. She had no cousins to play with either, her parents growing up as solitary children as well. So Faye had always wanted a big family. But her efforts had failed, and she remained barren. And in falling in love as she had, with a man who could never father children, or so it had always been said of his species, Faye had contented herself with the fact that she would most likely never again feel life growing inside her. And that was alright.

And like Fane, she wasn’t near ready for that sort of step forwards in their relationship, but to see it, to feel it, even for a fleeting moment, was worth more than she could ever say. She just didn’t know how it could ever be. Though the Wisp’s magic wouldn’t lie. Faye knew this in every part of her that was magical, ever piece of her that was a witch. That future may never be, but it was real. In another time and place, it was as real as the two of them stood here now.

Faye nodded as he amended her words, and gazed at him for a long moment. Their son had had his eyes, dark and filled with a ruby sheen when the light hit them just right. The silence had settled finally, the last resonance of the Wisp and it’s magic gone, when Fane finally spoke of the here and now. “Yeah… yeah, we should. Come on.”

She took his hand, and together they navigated the way back through the greenhouse and into the late evening air. Fireflies bobbed through the garden, and Wyn rushed towards them when they both reappeared, eager to show them her catch.

Fane wished he had more than a glimpse of what that future could possibly be, more insight into what those potential lives would look like. Their youngest seemed to have Faye’s golden locks but his defined jawline, their daughter his raven locks but her mother’s violet gaze and their eldest still shocked as an almost miniature version of himself. Fane wasn’t sure how he felt about the possibility of a smaller version of himself out and about in the world but that was the burden of knowing such things.

There was no point in dwelling however, it was what it was and they would both carry the joy and sorrow of it between them but Fane felt inclined to getting out of the enclosure the greenhouse gave them. Which is why he was soon pulling her away from the domed room their fingers laced once more together.

As Wyn came rushing through the gardens with a jar full of fireflies clutched to her chest Fane managed to pull a smile onto his lips at her happiness using the young child’s infectious glee to distract him for the time being from what had happened in the greenhouse. No doubt they’d need to discuss it at some point but right now the toddler captivated all attention and for that he was quietly thankful. Adjusting his own jar that had remained tucked in the crook of his own arm he paused stooping down to take a look at the numerous bugs flashing on and off in the jar held up by the toddler. “Wow! Look how many you caught, that’s amazing! I think we’ve got a new champion” his enthusiastic tone earned a giggle from Wyn he spun to show Faye her prize.

In the meantime Fane unscrewed the cap of his own jar, releasing the fireflies he caught earlier in a small flurry of gold lights drifting off back towards the grass on lazy golden paths. With the night drawing on it was soon time to head inside, with the fireflies released, a chance to meet gram’s dogs and give them a small scratch, Fane eventually went to get a shower to wash off the journey and heat of the day whilst Faye put Wyn to bed.

By the time he heard the door click open he was already sat in bed in nothing more than his usual nightly attire of boxers reading through a couple of emails that had been sent to him. Tilting his head to peer at Faye over the brim of his glasses he offered her a tired smile feeling a bit more refreshed now than he did after the events of the greenhouse. “Did she go to sleep alright?” Fane figured the travelling would have likely tuckered the toddler out for the count but you could never know with those bundles of energy.

By the time Faye tucked Eowyn into her little cot that had been made up in Beulah’s room, at Wyn’s clear insistence on sleeping in the same room as her Grammie, it was growing late. The half hour or so apart from each other had given Faye time to settle her swirling emotions and recenter herself. Her Gram had given them both a quizzical look when they’d shown back up from the back of the garden, but hadn’t pressed either of them for anything.

It wasn’t something that would be left by the wayside though. And while nothing she’d seen had made Faye feel awkward or uncomfortable (a few of the only emotions she hadn’t felt that night), talking about it in the light of day instead of in the heat of the moment gave her only the slightest bit of trepidation. But again, it was too big to go undiscussed.

She smiled as she shut the door behind herself. “Yeah. She was out almost before I finished her story. It’s been a long day.” Faye needed to check her own computer for anything from the University, or anything else that might be important, but she couldn’t bring herself to get it out. The bed was entirely too enticing, as was Fane, looking entirely too appealing even in just glasses and boxers. Faye had on a t-shirt and cotton sleep pants, as was her go to, though she slipped out of the pants - it was entirely too hot - and tossed them over the foot of the bed as she moved to the bathroom to brush her teeth and wash her face.

A couple of minutes later, the water shut off and Faye came back out, pulling back the covers and climbing in beside him. She snuggled close, laying her head in his lap behind his laptop so she wouldn’t disturb him, and looped an arm over his bare legs. They were cool, but soon started to warm beneath her hands as she traced idly along his calves with her fingers.

She stayed quiet, not feeling the need to talk just yet, and simply absorbed the silence and the comfort of his presence.

“Don’t blame her, travelling is tiring as hell” the laptop was balanced lazily on his stomach his finger dragging idly over the screen to scroll the text as he read a couple that he had received. Fane needed the distraction; the connection to back home to relocate his emotional balancing point in case what they had seen did happen to come up as a conversation point tonight. It would come up no doubt but the question was simply a matter of when rather than anything else. As with most things between them time would provide them the opportunity and moment to discuss it when the moment felt and suited them both. At least that was his hope and intentions.

So he sat waiting for Faye to exit the bathroom the white glare of his screen reflecting in the glass of his spectacles currently perched upon the bridge of his nose.

Fane felt rather than saw Faye’s climb into bed, feeling the pressure of her head settle in his lap the weight causing his free hand to drop and take up petting her hair idly whilst he read a smile pulling at his lips as his toes curled and he shifted ever so slightly under the exploration of her fingers. For a few minutes that was how it existed, the two of them entirely at peace here, together away from the normal daily occurrences of home.

His fingers twirled an idle strand of her hair until eventually he shut off his laptop lowering the lid to gaze at her affectionately. “How are you doing?”  They had agreed a while ago now to honesty and he knew Faye wouldn't do that. “Shouldn't stay up too much longer, it’s been a long day for you as well.” Setting the laptop aside on her bedside table he stretched himself out ever so slightly leaving himself open for her to move up and cuddle if she wanted to take the offer aware his coolness would be a temporary respite from the humid air hanging in the room.”

“It is,” Faye agreed. “And she runs ‘til she falls over.” Fane knew this about Eowyn by now. Her energy and curiosity overtaking her need for rest and down time. And that made her cranky. Which made bedtime or naptime a battle now and again. But tonight she’d gone down without any trouble, and Faye had kissed her Gram goodnight and went down the hall to her own room.

Faye too, knew they would talk about things when the moment was right. It might be now, or it might be a few days from now. They both tended to simply speak when the urge or situation presented itself, so she wasn’t worried about it getting brushed under the rug. Her fingers explored the smooth skin of his legs, and she smiled as she watched his long feet arch and shift. There was something inherently intimate about bare feet, Faye had always thought. Her hand drifted down to rub over the curve of his ankle, feeling the fine line of seemingly delicate bone beneath her fingertips.

His hand in her hair slowed her own explorations, and she hummed in approval. “I’m alright,” she said honestly. “Tired. A little… shaken. Maybe a bit confused…” She shifted to look at him, her head still in his lap. “About earlier.” In the greenhouse. She had questions, and wanted to hear his own theories and opinions, but honestly had no idea where to start. He stretched himself out after putting his computer away, and Faye sat up and moved to lay against him. She didn’t bother with covers, as the room was a bit warmer than she liked, and his coolness did wonders, even as he warmed beneath her. “It’s been a long day for all of us,” she said, not allowing him to leave himself out of the rotation.

“Are you okay?”

Fane laughed looking upwards, feeling at ease once more as their conversation stuck to easier things. “Well, that’s kids for you. Keep going ‘til they crash and then get right on up before setting off again.”

He couldn’t help the very minute wiggle earned from the brush of her fingers along his calves, Fane didn’t mind people touch him especially Faye but sometimes it still tickled a bit. He watched her over the screen of his laptop as she reached out and touched the firm line of his ankle, the bones shifting a little under her touch as he flexed his foot up. “See something you like?” he teased her lightly not at all minding her deft physical exploration of his body.

Fane’s own fingers brushed and stroked through her golden tresses, winding them loosely around his fingers before releasing and repeating the process again. He felt rather than saw her shift and looked down to her his fingers moving to stroke her temple reverently especially as she mentioned earlier. There were plenty of thoughts and feelings still floating around in his head about that and he merely hummed softly to show his agreement. “It has.”

He wasn’t entirely sure how he felt about it, or how to verbalise it “I’m not sure, I don’t know what to think--- whether I should be happy or sad or hopeful or not?” his expression contorted a little frustrated on the matter. “What do you think about… all of it?” Fane asked when she was settled against his chest shifting to slip an arm beneath her and press it into her heated flesh to help cool her down some.

“You have nice feet,” she said lazily as she continued to stroke over his skin.

She adored him playing with her hair, and was often left with little bits of it braided and twisted into intricate designs if they sat still long enough. Faye didn’t mind. Like the bruises and strawberry marks he left on her skin from time to time, anything that showed his affection for her was welcomed.

Smiling tiredly at him as he stroked her face, Faye reached up and covered his hand with her own, threading her fingers briefly with his as she pressed a kiss to his wrist. Once settled against him and wrapped securely in the circle of his arm, Faye took a moment just to listen to what he had to say. She felt the same way mostly. Happy, sad, hopeful… all rolled into one. And she told him so.

“And even after all that… none of it felt… wrong,” she chanced to say. “If that makes sense?” Faye grew quiet for a moment, pondering all the things she’d seen, though one thing stuck out in her mind, simply because it unsettled her: the golden light.

“What was that?” she asked him. “I know magic when I see it, and that was… that was something else.” Her eyes stayed focused on a point across the room, even as her hand tightened slightly over his chest. If not magic, then what? Faye wasn’t sure she wanted to know, but it seemed vital. More than anything else they’d seen in the Wisp’s vision.

“Just my feet?” he harrumphed “I’d argue all of me is nice.”

Fane had picked up a few things a while ago about learning how to braid and plait, though it was rare he got a chance to demonstrate such talent beyond those times Faye did let him play and mess with her hair. Though that evening he was content to simply brush, touch and twirl the odd strand around his fingers. His fingers grazed her temple reverently, brushing over her smooth skin and admiring her eyes as he did so. His own smile grew as she took his wrist and pressed a kiss to it letting her settle in his embrace.

“Yeah, I know what you mean… It should probably be terrifying, and admittedly some of it was but.. Yeah none of it felt wrong.” Fane had been so overcome with his thoughts of the harm he’d done that he’d not had much chance to consider the other aspect of it. His aspect of it. So her question had him mulling quietly, “I--- I honestly don’t know. It looked old though-- beyond old more... ancient. But it looked like magic to me? Or power… or… energy? Of some sort at least.” He couldn’t say for sure what but it was certainly odd to say the least. “I’ve never heard of vampires being able to channel things like that though, only witches?”

Fane’s arm circled her tighter not quite sure if he felt comfortable with the implication it suggested, something happened to him that gave him that power and that potential prospect was… Terrifying in itself. “Have you seen anything like that before? That energy?”

Faye nodded as he agreed with her. It should have been terrifying, the bad parts at least, or hell, even the thought of having children. But perhaps it was because they were both parents already and it was nothing new to them other than the circumstances of their - their children, good lord… the thought made her heart flutter for a thousand different reasons - potential children’s births.

“I wanted more kids,” Faye said quietly, but with a bit of a bitter huff. “Tried. But nothin’ came of it. Guess I’m too old. Or-” She stopped just shy of saying that she had always thought that her husband might have been taking something that prevented it. He had loved Eowyn, but had never shown anything but a passive interest. At least not after the excitement of her birth was over and the reality set in.

“No… not magic,” she continued. “At least not any magic I’ve ever seen. Not to say I’ve seen everything, but… it was…” Faye shuddered slightly. “Old. It felt… old,” she agreed. “And we can channel energy from ley lines. Mana pools. Even each other if the connection is strong enough. Vampires can’t channel that energy. But... I wouldn’t say that other species couldn’t channel an energy of some sort.” His arm tightened around her, and she knew he must be as disturbed by the thought as she was. “The last time I saw anything of the sort was when Ephram and I absorbed the magic of that ley line near my old house. It… it poured out of us like that. Until our magic got a hold of it and contained it. But it was split between us. And still people died that night. And when Ephram’s magic left, and it all went into me… it started leakin’ out. Takin’ my magic with it.”

“Whatever it is…” Faye wanted to tell him to leave it alone. But what if it wasn’t a bad thing? What if that was how their children came to be? Through whatever force embodied itself inside Fane? “Be careful,” she settled for.

Her admission caused him to shift, raising a hand to pull his glasses off and set them aside before he wrapped her up properly in his arms holding her to his chest hoping to give her some measure of comfort. “You did?” he wasn’t particularly surprised by this admission but Faye had never spoken of such things with him before. “I’ve never really considered having any more beyond Dani considering I had Sam as well essentially… Don’t get me wrong, I love being a dad but god it was trying at times. Drove me up the wall.” His fingers brushed up the curve of her arm and over the slope of her shoulder. “But you’re not too old are you? I mean-- You haven’t…” he trailed off his expression finishing that particular thought. “What else though?” he prompted gently knowing she had been about to start another thought before she stopped herself.

Fane frowned a little as she spoke of it not being magic, “it looked like magic though.” But what did he know? Faye was the one with experience with this sort of thing after all not him. Her mention of the ley line caused his discomfort to rise but he kept her held close. Especially considering he’d heard about the outcome of that particular event. “But what about someone without magic to contain it? Surely it would burn through them but… that didn’t look like it was burning through me?” Fane wasn’t really sure if the two events could be compared considering that seemed to take as much as it gave.

He chewed his lip letting out a quiet breath and settling to simply hug her close, “I will. I promise… If anything comes up I’ll let you know.”

“Yeah,” Faye said through a sigh. “I was an only child of only children… no siblings, no cousins. I always wanted a big family.” There was a slight sadness in her voice, though she smiled slightly at the remembrance of what she’d seen in the vision. “Figured Wyn might like a brother or a sister.” Her smile grew as he talked about his own experiences with being a parent. Fane had raised children to adulthood, and Wyn was still a baby, so he had more experience than her. Had lived through the teen years and now the early adult years. She couldn’t even imagine her own daughter at that age. Faye shrugged at his question. “I don’t know. I’ll be 40 next month. And I mean, yeah, I haven’t stopped-” She still had her cycles every month like clockwork, so that wasn’t an issue. He asked what else she’d been thinking, and Faye sighed.

“Sometimes I think he was using something that prevented it. I don’t think he wanted more. So he took my choice away without even asking me.” The bitterness was evident in her tone. “By the time I’d worked up the nerve to confront him about it, we hadn’t had sex in weeks. Months. So I just… I gave up.”

Faye looked up at him. “And it may have been magic, just not any I’ve ever seen. If it was old enough, it could be a type of magic that doesn’t exist anymore. At least in theory. You know as well as I do that pockets of things - creatures, enchanted objects, magic itself - still exist all over the world. Things that’ve faded from the world at large. Who knows what’s left to be found out there, in the places where most people would never go.”

The question was a good one. Fane was immortal, and his body could stand up to things that hers would never come close to handling, magic or no. “Maybe it wasn’t magic then. But more… an energy? A force? Something that would be contained by your body’s abilities?” It was really hard to compare witch magic and the magic of a ley line to something that would influence someone like Fane. It was like apples to oranges almost. Though they didn’t know if it was apples and oranges to begin with. All in all it was both madding for their respective curiosities, and frightening as well.

“Okay.” She turned her face deeper into his chest, breathing him in as she closed her eyes. He smelled so good, and they had time if they wanted anything more intimate than holding each other, but Faye didn’t want to move from his arms. Not that she didn’t desire him, she did - it always sat at a low simmer in her belly - but they were both exhausted. They had time in the coming days and nights. Even the mornings perhaps.

There were so many things she wanted to ask questions about. Did he think Dani would ever make him chose? Would he really dye his hair to spare her feelings as she grew older? How had they bound themselves so that she didn’t? A thousand questions rolled around in her head, but she didn’t ask them. Because she couldn’t pick just one. But a few things made her grin outright.

“You know I could totally take you in a Nerf fight, right?”

“Being an only child can’t be all bad, I mean at least you don’t have the issue of having to share stuff with other people and them whining about who’s the preferred child.” Fane pointed out giving her a gentle poke in the ribs to hopefully lighten her spirits. Fane had raised Dani and sam and he couldn’t be prouder of the pair of them, but it didn’t mean Dani’s decision to pick Sam over him didn’t smart like hell. It still ached even if he did his best to encourage them to move on with their lives, because… once again he’d not been enough for someone to choose him. Perhaps it was a selfish thought, but four hundred years of not feeling like you were enough for someone  to pick you or stay never lessened that particular blow. He continued rubbing his hand up and down her arm as she spoke and his brows furrowed, “so I mean technically it isn’t too late for you to have more.” He pulled a face at the thought of her decision being taken away without her knowing and he couldn’t help but scowl a little, “you know the more you talk about him the more convinced what a dick he was, you know that right?”

She had a point, and he gave a slight nod neither agreeing nor disagreeing to it. There were plenty of things lost to time and there was absolutely no guarantee that that might be exactly the case. Time would tell ultimately. The debate could go on forever, “contained?” he echoed looking a bit dubious of that particular word “I’m not sure I like how that sounds but… I suppose.”

They did both have time for more things if they wanted, but he was content to lay here and simply hold her. The simple act physicality enough to sate him for the time being, plus they had the rest of the trip to themselves. There were questions he had but for now he wanted to think of them before he asked them.

His body shook under her in mirthful laughter, “uhuh sure,” he failed to sound convinced “whatever you say cherie… Whatever you say.”

“I guess it had it’s perks,” Faye agreed. She snorted at the poke to her ribs, jerking a little away from it. Faye knew an inkling of what had happened with Dani and Sam, but not a lot of details. They had chosen to be with Sam though, Faye knew. Which made what she had seen in the mirage all the more confusing, when Fane had come to her saying that he had to chose Dani or Faye and Wyn. The Dani Faye knew would never give her father that ultimatum. If they did… Faye could already feel the heat of anger at the memory. So she pushed it away. There was nothing in Faye that would ever chose anyone over Fane. Other than Eowyn. And even then Faye could think of no situation where it had to be either or. She’d just seen their future, after all. Every one that might ever exist.

“No. I guess technically it’s not. I mean, accordin’ to the Wisp, it’s not too late for either of us.” It was a statement of fact, not any kind of suggestion really. Like she’d thought before, she was in no way ready to take that step with him. Not that she wouldn’t be one day perhaps. The thought made her feel warm and hopeful. But even if it wasn’t a biological child as in the mirage, it was much too soon. Though there had been no adopted children in the glimpse they’d seen, other than Dani. Curioser and curioser.

“Yeah. Contained. I don’t really like it either.” And that was really all she could say. It was simply another possible future that may or may not come to pass.

Now it was her turn to poke him in the ribs. “I’m a damn good shot I’ll have you know. Keep laughin’ though. I’ll show you.”

He was incredibly tempted to turn his poke into a tickle but ultimately decided against such things, and held her fast so even though she jerked she couldn’t go far. But since they were on the topic of children Fane worried at his lip a little whilst he held her, “plus… another reason I don’t think I ever did was that-- Well, Dani’s very um-- not really possessive but… I don’t know whether another kid around would make them feel… Put out? I don’t really know how to explain it” Fane admitted with a slight frown trying to put into words his own concerns over the matter. “I don’t want Dani thinking that… If I ever did have or adopt another kid it would lessen them being my child? Does that make any sort of sense?” Fane wouldn’t think that Dani would ever make him choose, plus they had seemed happy about him finding someone he liked here in Springs but he couldn’t help but wonder just how they really might feel about things.

There were plenty of potential options but it was still early days for them both and Fane was content as they were because at the moment he wasn’t entirely sure what the future entailed. If children somehow could be added to the equation… Well, they’d cross that bridge when it arrived but not yet. Even with their potential glimpses there was nothing concrete about them.

Instead of dwelling on the prospect of him becoming some energy or power wielding individual his mind turned to more interesting things. “What about that binding? Have you ever seen or heard of anything like that? Like, extending a life-force somehow?” Fane asked curiously as his fingers danced down her arm once more feather-light and soft with every brush of them.

He made a slight ‘ooft’ sound as she poked him in the ribs but stuck his tongue out “whatever, you know what? Whilst I have nerf guns I also have a laser kit set that works… So I, Stefan Josiah Savin hereby challenge you to a match utilising no abilities sometime between the business that is our lives to decide who,” he paused for dramatic effect “is the best marksman or markswoman out of us.”

Faye frowned slightly as he talked about his reasons behind never seeking to have more children. While it was early yet, and all the potential futures they’d seen were all up in the air, pieces of sand that could be shifted and moved and blown away altogether depending on the choices they made, of which neither knew the ones that would lead to any particular eventuality, the fact remained that there was a child in the mix besides Dani. A living, breathing one who adored Fane already. And while Faye knew that the relationship between Eowyn and Fane was still in it’s infancy, and she didn’t dare label it with anything, there was no doubt that he meant a great deal to the little girl. But Faye kept her thoughts to herself. For now.

Because if it came to it and Dani, a grown woman, felt ‘put out’ by a three year old little girl with not an ounce of meanness or spite in her body, Faye would have something to say about that. They could bet on it.

But thankfully, the topic moved on, though the subject was only slightly less troubling. But at least about this Faye could speak. “I’ve heard of people binding their life forces together, yes. It’s blood magic, and borders on the dark side of things. Though usually there isn’t mutual consent. At least not in the few cases I’ve read about. The binding in the mirrors though… it was different. It was... “ Faye huffed, unsure how to even explain how it had felt to her. “It felt like… like coming home.” It was all she could think of, but it was true. Home, the place you were meant to be. The place that called to you, that comforted you, the place where you never had to be afraid or alone.

Faye let out a peal of laughter, giving him an only slightly patronizing pat on the stomach. “Alright then. But be prepared to get that fine ass spanked by a girl.”

Fane loved Dani, there was no doubt about that but there were times that when he thought about how things were between them he felt a heaviness weighing him down. Their stubbornness and vindictive streak was something he’d come to terms with a long time ago, plus they had been a handful by themselves so why would Fane want any more children beyond them? There were several other reasons beyond the one he’d given but Faye’s lack of response had him a little unsure whether talking about this was the right thing to do, it was still early days after all but he had promised to be honest with her and that was the truth or at least one truth. 

Eowyn was vastly different to Dani in how she behaved, much more mild-mannered that felt like a breath of fresh air whenever she toddled into the room her curiosity much like Dani’s was boundless albeit charming but she never demanded any absolute attention through the intense mood-swings from how passionate Dani was even at a similar age. There was no in-between, it was either all consuming love or burning hate if you did something to upset them. Not that there was anything wrong with these things, not at all, they all made up who Dani was but it didn’t change that it sometimes made it difficult to know exactly where he stood with them. There was the secrecy about them too, something that had been troubling their relationship in particular lately (it had gotten better admittedly) but the mere thought of it was enough to make him close his eyes and sigh dejectedly. “Tell me something honestly--” he shifted a bit to look at Faye then “do you think I’m a good dad?” It was something he’d asked himself a lot over the last seven years and something he could never really be sure about.

Ultimately, what Dani did or felt wasn’t dictated by Fane; it never had nor ever would be but Fane knew his child well enough to be a little wary about how they would react to other children around him. There was nothing he could really do about how they felt, because as they had pointed out the night of his return they were their own person and not the child he’d spent years raising and pouring his love into.

His head lolled to the side lazily as she spoke of the binding magic, “well clearly if we were ever to do that there would be mutual consent… I mean, I’ve heard of binding generally but life-forces? What sort of things would be entailed in that?” Not to say that he was entertaining the notion… yet, but it couldn’t hurt to ask could it? “Have you--” but thinking better of his question he trailed off not sure whether now was the right time to ask whether she’d considered such things like extending her life. Instead, he smiled at her words “well, I can certainly say for a fact that every time I’m with you it feels like I’m home so… Maybe we’re on our way there?” His face stained a little red and he gave a quiet chuckle unsure quite how she’d take that “sorry- that’s sappy…”

The laughter was a welcome diversion, and he merely gave her that look one that he knew she’d understand without him even needing to say anything but he did anyways because how could he not? “You know-- that doesn’t sound half as bad as you think it does” he pointed out with a slightly more sly smile. “Though it does beg the question, do I get to spank you in turn if I win?”

Faye didn’t mind talking about it, she was just unsure as well where Eowyn fit into that mindset. It was obvious that Fane cared for her, and he had never held back affection or tried to keep her at a distance, just like with Faye. And she knew he wouldn’t just blatantly dismiss her. No, he would never do that. So perhaps it was just Faye’s own insecurities showing themselves briefly. After all, her own father hadn’t cared enough to stay around so why would-

Nope. No way was she headed down that road tonight. Fane cared. She knew he did. I mean just looked at what they’d just gone through together? What they’d been through already? And besides, the easiest answer was that he simply saw Faye and Eowyn as a complete package, and the thought that it would ever be a problem, seeing as how Dani had expressed their happiness for them already, never crossed his mind. At least that was Faye’s perception.

She looked up at him as he asked his question, and for a moment she was confused as to why he’d even ask that. “Of course. You’re an amazing dad. You always put your family first, and you’d do anything for Dani. You raised them to be smart, independent, strong… and I mean… I know things haven’t always been wonderful between you two, but… you did a good job, baby.” The last bit was said softly, as Faye smiled gently at him.

“I’ve only ever read about it. It’s not like a handfasting, or a marriage. More like a… binding magical contract that says our lives exist as one essence. For example… me an’ you.” A slight blush tinted her cheeks. “If… one day… we were to bind ourselves to one another like that, I would live as long as you. I would never age, since I’m bound to you and you’re never changing, physically. But also on the flip side, if I die, so do you. I’m not immortal. I can still be hurt, I can still get sick. I would have to look into specifics, but like I said… even with good intent and mutual consent, it’s blood magic.”

She looked at him curiously. “Have I what?”

But her look of curiosity turned to something softer as he took up her earlier sentiment. “No… no it’s not sappy. Come ‘ere,” she smiled. She tilted up and kissed him, one hand on his cheek to keep his face turned towards her. “It’s the sweetest thing I’ve ever heard.” And it was. To know that he felt the same as she did was, as always, a lightening of her heart, even as it grew more and more full of love with each passing day. With each moment they spent together.

She snickered, nipping lazily at his jawline. The hand that had rested there earlier drifted down to rub soft circles over the soft skin below his belly button, though she had no real intentions to go much further. “I might just wave a white flag if that’s what the loser gets.”

Her perception would be right and he would have confirmed that if she asked, but right now his mind was dwelling on Dani and some of his own insecurities were coming to light. Faye gave him her assurances but even that only helped ease a little of the weighing concern he felt and Fane couldn’t help but grimace a bit as she mentioned it not always being wonderful. He blinked, staring up at the ceiling like he might somehow find some answer waiting for him there “they ran away from home, from me for seven years without a word Faye…” there was a new touch of pain to his voice but also a bitter edge one that he very rarely let edge into his daily tone but proof that his barriers were slowly, ever so slowly starting to come down enough that he could talk to her about these things that were bothering him because he trusted her and sharing this was proof of that.

“Then when they finally come home and things finally start getting better… It eventually turns out that for months they’ve kept the fact that they found their biological family-- something not even I could manage and they never even… They didn’t even think to tell me. What does that say about my parenting skills? That they don’t even feel like… like they can come and tell me these things?” Perhaps it was the dam that had been broken earlier which provoked him to speak of these things but Fane found himself blinking back a few fresh tears. The things were stacking up when it came to Dani and him and it hurt to think he’d failed so badly that they couldn’t even tell him the truth about this monumental event in all their lives.

When he calmed down again he curled against her fingers winding around her arm as he held her close. “But are there any other side-effects or, consequences to it? Barring the mortality consideration?” Fane shrugged gently “I was just… wondering if you’d… well, thought about it?”

He felt her move and let her pull his head ever so slightly to near her own, his eyes fell closed as their lips met her mouth warm and inviting despite the brevity of the kiss and his expression grew even more bashful as she proclaimed it the sweetest thing she’d ever heard. “Well it’s true,” and it was, being with her felt like home and maybe he should have been surprised or a little worried about that but he couldn’t help how she made him feel and every moment he could feel him falling further and further towards something he knew he wouldn’t be able to deny forever no matter how cautious he was with these matters.

Her nip and the press of her hand only made a low sound rumble in his throat a cross between a deep laugh and something else. “Surrender so soon? I never thought I’d see the day.”

Faye pushed up on an elbow to look at him as he spoke about Dani, watching as he become slightly more agitated in the process. He seemed a bit different since they’d left the greenhouse. The poised calm that always settled across his face on most days and in front of most people was gone, replaced by a genuine look of open hurt and something else. A touch of anger maybe? Betrayal? Bitterness? Maybe all three? Faye couldn’t quite put her finger on it. But she didn’t stop him to ask, not when he was opening up about the things that bothered him, the things that hurt. That weighed on him every single day.

She stroked his arm soothingly, letting him know she was listening and that she would continue to do so for as long as he needed. It wasn’t until he questioned his worth as a father that Faye spoke up. “Dani leaving had nothing to do with your worth as a father. It was wrong of them, to leave like that. Just like it was of them not to tell you something so important. That doesn’t mean you raised them badly. Not one bit. We can only do so much as parents. Eventually the decisions are theirs. The consequences too. Doesn’t mean it doesn’t hurt. I know it does.” She pressed a kiss to his shoulder. “But you can’t blame yourself. You gave them everything they could ever want or need, and more. What they chose to do with that as an adult isn’t your fault.” He knew about her helping Dani with the grimoire, and that they had told Faye they thought it belonged to their biological family. Faye didn’t recall Dani ever mentioning that they had actually found that family though. Faye only remembered the book, and how it seemed to react the them, how she had come to the conclusion that there might just be latent magic in Dani. Maybe. And had cautioned them against doing anything more than reading the book. Even that she didn’t recommend doing alone. Fane knew all this, as Faye had seen no reason to keep it from him.

“Maybe they didn’t wanna hurt you? And it wasn’t done maliciously? It doesn’t make it right, but… maybe?” Faye thought that Fane should have been the first one to know if his daughter that he raised for nearly her entire life had found her blood family. It only seemed the right thing to do. But in the end it had been Dain’s decision, and while Faye didn’t agree with it and felt angry on Fane’s behalf, all she could do was to be there for him and support him and hopefully help him get through it. Whatever that might mean.

She couldn’t stand to see him upset, and so she petted him until he rolled over against her, and then she continued, her hands in his hair as they spoke of something else. “I’m not sure right off hand. I think if one person is deliberately trying to leech off the other, if the intentions aren’t pure, then the weaker person can suffer. But I’d have to read up on it.” She shook her head. “No. I never have. Never had a reason. Til now at least.”

She kissed him reverently, her nose brushing his and her lips forming a smile against his own. Her thoughts mirrored his, that perhaps she should have been a tiny bit hesitant or worried about how easy this felt, about how she’d already come to associate him with the place she felt safest and most like herself, where she felt like she could let her guard down and be who she really was, knowing that he would see that and not anything else. Knowing that he would see her. Just as she saw him. Faye had already taken that leap and accepted how she felt. But it had taken heartbreak, and the honest words of a trusted friend, to make her see it. That she loved him. And while she hadn’t said it yet, it had been on the tip of her tongue several times, the greenhouse with the Wisp bringing the word ‘love’ to her lips, but not the entire sentiment.

She was cautious too, but honestly she would be surprised if she lasted another month. And even if he didn’t say it back, Faye would be alright with that. She would just want him to know.

His laugh and the added hum made her nip at him again, slowly and without too much insistence. “Or I could still cream you and you could give me that as my reward.”

He needed to say it, needed to get the weight of that burden off his chest because if he was being honest it was tiring to carry that weight. “Then why does it feel like it was my fault?” he questioned knowing full well how that weight always hung around his neck that personal shame in this failure he felt. “It just feels like they’re slipping away, and sometimes I look at them and… I always see my kid but other times… other times I can barely recognise who they are anymore. What does that say about me?”

Fane didn’t mind so much anymore about Dani investigating their family but it would have been nice to have some idea. “I mean it would have been nice to have at least been told that Shivonne was her cousin but even with your work with that grimoire, they didn’t even let me know-- I found out through you. It just, feels like sometimes I’m banging my head against a wall with them… They say they trust me then they blatantly go off and do something without at least giving me some forewarning… What if something happens to them? What if something terrible happens and I don’t know? I’m not the sort to stop them experiencing life but… the danger they put themselves in… The things they do… they could die and I… I wouldn’t know because to them I’m just a side-note not worth enough to tell.” Fane wasn’t sure if his fears were logical or utterly irrational “it’s stupid but, sometimes it just feels like they don’t care enough to bother telling me anything honestly anymore.”

He drew in a breath as Faye suggested her thoughts on the matter raising a hand to wipe at his eyes “maybe, but don’t they realise that it hurts me more being left in the dark only to keep finding out later what they’ve done?” Fane wasn’t sure how long this would go on. Instead, he tucked himself up against her and let the pet of her hands draw him away from his concerns if only temporarily glad for the distraction. “Might be worth doing some research into?” it was asked casually enough but the implication of what he was thinking about was still there.

There would be no eternity with his caution, it was simply his own trepidation around that particular word and its carried sentiment that made it difficult to utter. Because if he was being honest and truly examined his feelings more closely he would come to the understanding that what he felt was exactly that. Love. He was just afraid to cross that line.

“Isn’t it meant to be a punishment? Not a reward?” Fane countered with another soft laugh.

“Because she's your daughter,” Faye said simply. She knew it bothered him. Deeply and on a level that Faye might not totally be able to understand quite yet, since Wyn was just a baby. But she did know one thing: that he was an excellent father. “The fact that it affects you so much, that you care so much, should speak for itself. Dani is… headstrong. I know that and I've only known them about as long as I've known you. Just because the path they choose is unfamiliar, or might change them, they're always gonna be your daughter.” Faye didn't know if she was helping or not. She felt like she wasn't really. What did she know about teenagers and grown children?

“Shivonne? The Deputy? Huh.” Faye's eyebrows raised in surprise. Dani had never mentioned that they thought their biological family might be so close. She'd never mentioned anything to Faye other than what she'd been told about the grimoire. But then again, Faye hadn't asked, and it really wasn't her business. But it was certainly Fane's. And Dani should have told him from the start. Not months later.

His frustration and his pain hurt Faye to witness, but she was glad for it. Glad he wasn't holding it inside and letting it fester. Letting it build and build until it exploded. Faye had never seen Fane angry. Upset yes. But angry? Or not in control of his temper? Never. But she had a feeling that once unleashed he would rage like a wildfire. Burn hot and fast and then sink into a deep, simmering, quiet anger. Which to Faye was worse than any outward display of such an emotion. At least with screaming and throwing things you knew where you sat. With anger turned inwards… anything could happen. “You are not a side note,” Faye told him firmly. “And it's not stupid. Not at all. But if it’s gotten to the point where you feel that way, then darlin’... you need to talk to them. I know you may not want to stir up that can o’ worms, but they can't keep treatin’ you that way. It's not fair. You can't keep worryin’ about pissin’ them off and them pitchin’ a goddamn fit and stormin’ out. If they're grown enough to go and do all these things, go on all these trips, do all this research, have a life of their own… then they can damn well put on some big kid panties and face the consequences.” Faye was flushed by the time she was done having a go. But not at him. Just… what kind of child treats their father - a man who had given them literally everything- that way.

“Sorry,” Faye sighed, and settled back down. “And maybe they don't. Maybe they're so wrapped up in themselves they don't realize how it's affecting anyone else.” She pet him gently, though her touch was a bit more firm than it had been before she'd gone off on his behalf. And then… he wanted her to look into… into the binding? The blood bond? Her hands slowed ever so subtly, a small pause as his words sank in. Did he mean… for them? For himself? For someone else? Deep down Faye knew what he meant. She'd seen it just as he had in the Wisp’s blue crystals. Several feelings fluttered through her chest: cautious excitement; blind panic; fear; acceptance; joy… so many things that rushed through her and made her heart beat just a little faster, which she knew - damn him - that he would hear. But in the end, a soft smile won out, and she kissed his crown gently. “Alright. I will,” she said quietly against his hair.

Faye didn't know when it would happen. Didn't know the exact minute or hour or even day that she would tell him how she felt. But soon. Her caution and her fear kept her quiet for now, and she was content to wait. Content as they were.

She grinned. “Punishment can be a reward, if you know what you're doin’.”

She had a point, Fane knew she had a point but it didn’t mean he wasn’t frustrated by his own inability to relate as completely as he used to when they were younger. “Headstrong? That’s putting it mildly” Fane chuffed slightly, “always has been that way though-- tell them no and they’ll go do the thing out of sheer curiosity about why you said no in the first place. Parenting them involves structuring what you say in such a way you don’t give them a reason not to go and jump from the frying pan into the fire just because they want to know why you said no in the first place.”

He sighed again more resigned now, “yeah that’s her-- don’t know the woman personally, I’m sure she’s nice enough but… It’s also kind of terrifying. Apparently her kid looks like a spitting image of Dani.” Fane wasn’t exactly sure how he felt about Shivonne or her presence in town, part of the reason he hadn’t sought her out or made any attempt to contact her yet. Until Fane knew where he stood well, he’d cross that bridge when he felt ready and able which he really didn’t right now.

Fane had been keeping this in for months, and to talk to someone about it was good- a small relief on the building pressure but it didn’t diminish the feelings very much. He could feel Faye bristling and he hadn’t meant to get her worked up and felt a little guilty for bringing it up to make her react this way in the first place. She was right, his anger when it did show burned bright and fierce before boiling doing to a constant simmer. He knew the difference between hot and cold anger; one would consume you whole the other? That could be manipulated and shaped to shore up resolve and steel will to accomplish seemingly impossible feats. Again, Faye was right but it didn’t make it any easier to broach. “I know,” he finally admitted with a small huff “I’m just--- I’m afraid of the consequences. I’ve lost Dani once and it almost killed me, I lost Silas now, and if I lose Dani again?” Fane wasn’t sure what would happen to him after that if things took a turn for the worse.

“S’fine, I know you mean well by it.” Fane wasn’t very used to people jumping to his own defence, always playing lawyer for himself so for Faye to rant if only momentarily about something… it caught him off guard but also flooded him with considerable warmth. So, Fane settled down into her arms though his next suggestion sparked an entirely different reaction and he wasn’t sure how to take the speed in her heart increasing - excitement or panic? But she kissed his temple and agreed, a part of him wanted to tell her she didn’t need to if she didn’t feel comfortable but… she wouldn’t have agreed if she didn’t want to consider it would she? Thus, Fane let it be.

“Well… when you put it that way,” he laughed “we’ll just have to see who wins and go from there.”

“I hope Wyn ends up more sensible and not quite so stubborn,” Faye half- laughed. “You can't fault curiosity, but curiosity without caution…” She trailed off, leaving the rest of the sentence unspoken.

“Noel,” Faye said, giving the little boy’s name. “He's cute. Smart too. I'm sure if you ever wanted to talk with her she'd be willing.” And Faye left it at that.

She remembered full well what losing Fane had felt like, even if it had been temporary. And then almost losing her daughter… that terror and the panic that came with it. If Fane had felt anything like she had when he’d permanently lost a son that he remembered having like he was as real as Dani, then Faye didn't know how he'd stood it. And she understood even more why he’d left. “You won't lose them,” Faye said resolutely. “You won't.” Did she know that for certain? Of course not? But she would do everything in her power to make sure it didn't happen.

He was right; Faye wouldn't have agreed if she had been uncomfortable. Well… too uncomfortable. The idea, even though she knew it was just research, gave her so many conflicting emotions - not bad, other than the tiny bit of panic that sat tight in her chest - that she couldn't say anything past her soft agreement. What could it hurt after all?

“I guess we will,” she smiled, still with her mouth against his crown. They were quiet for a bit before Faye asked, “Do you wanna go out tomorrow night? To the city? We could drink too much and make out in the Quarter?”

“Guess time will tell,” that was all he could truly say on the topic and as she offered up Noel’s name he nodded storing it away in the back of his mind. “I’ll keep it in mind.”

There was no denying it was hard, and there were days that sometimes it felt like there truly was no point in going on but he always ended up reminding himself of the people in his life that did make it worthwhile. He couldn’t stay living in the past no matter how much some part of him wanted to. So he pushed through his feelings, buried or set them aside to try his best for the others in his life; Dani, Faye, Eowyn and everyone else he cared about. “I hope you’re right,” he really did because Fane wasn’t sure how he’d deal with any other outcome than Dani still being around.

His mind was mostly on the potential what ifs, plus he couldn’t deny he was curious about this binding magic. There always tended to be prices and repercussions so wasn’t it better to make sure that they were fully informed if they ever considered such a spell or ritual? No harm in research in the slightest.

As the pair of them finally settled his head tilted a little against the press of her mouth her breath warming him with every exhale. “How could I say no to that? Mm, yes I’m all for drinking too much and making out with my gorgeous girlfriend considering it involves my three favourite things-- you, booze and making out… All three of which I have been severely deprived of lately.”

Faye hummed as she did when she was agreeing with him but really didn’t have any other words to add. Her hands continued to stroke through his hair, down along his neck and shoulders, trying to soothe him into getting some rest. She didn’t know the true depth of the weight he carried, didn’t know the darkness of his thoughts when things got to be too much. If she had… If she had she would have done her best to help carry the weight that he’d shouldered for so long. He hadn’t been alone over the last four hundred years. She knew he hadn’t. But how much of the things he carried had he carried alone? Unable or unwilling to let anyone help him? How many times had he pushed aside what he wanted, what he felt, over concern for someone else?

Too many.

“Me too,” she said, a soft, short sound. “Me too.”

Faye had never wanted immortality. The prospect of it had frightened her for most of her adult life. Or more the prospect of being alone for centuries. Because who would choose her in this lifetime, let alone for eternity? But now… now the prospect didn’t seem to dark. There would be a price, as all magic had, and the price of immortality was just that: not being mortal. Watching friends and family grow old and pass on. While you stayed forever the same. But what if you found someone to share forever with? What then?

Like Fane had said, only time would tell.

She laughed low in her throat as he agreed that going out, and her suggested activities, was a very good idea indeed. “Well then, consider it done. It’s been a long time since I tied one on in my hometown with a good lookin’ man next to me.” She shifted a little, pulling the covers up as the room had cooled off, the air conditioning finally kicking in. “Now try and sleep. ‘Cause you’re gonna need your strength to keep up with me later.”

Fane drifted off before Faye, who lay awake for a long time before falling asleep herself. Her dreams were of Nightwisps, glass houses full of laughing children, and the slow fall of golden sand through an hourglass made of bones. It fell, and fell…. and fell… forever.

FIN.