#this is a metaphor for being at an egg and spoon race where your spoon is the wrong size and your egg is just a very convincing rock

[polygonate]

at the egg and spoon race hoping noone can tell my spoon is the wrong size and my egg is just a very convincing rock

[theobsessor1]

Curious Happenings

summary:  Thomas’s great grandfather has recently passed and in his will, he left his large house and giant sanctuary reservation attached to it to Thomas. Only Thomas comes to learn that it’s not quite as it seems, as every day it seems to get stranger and stranger.

pairings: none yet

Warnings: mild language Word count: 4089 co-written with my friend @i-crave-luck , if you wish to be added to the taglist let us know.

(previous chapters ch.1 )

Chapter 2 of Right Here by Your Side

Thomas groans, turning over to his back as he rubs the sleep from his eyes. Warm golden light leaks in from the window, lighting up the room. 

It takes a moment for Thomas to remember where he was as he sits up, confused, realizing he wasn’t in his old Florida home anymore but was in Oregon in his grandfather's home. A small meow catches his attention as the cat from yesterday sits at the door of the room, watching him.

“What? Are you hungry?” 

The cat meows again, more insistently this time, before trotting off. 

With a sigh and a shake of his head, Thomas gets up from the bed, wrinkling his nose at the fact he fell asleep in his clothes from the day before. Heading to his room, he takes some clean clothes from the closet before looking for the bathroom. Trying to remember where it was. 

The cat seems to glare at him, making an annoyed sound. 

“Okay, I get it, I’ll feed you in a sec. Unlike you, I can’t lick myself clean.” 

Thomas isn’t sure if he imagined it, but the cat seemed to be disgusted by this, turning around and haughtily leaving once again. 

Rolling his eyes he takes his time to shower, enjoying the warm water, washing away the anxieties of the previous day. He has time to think, a particularly distressing thought crossing his mind and causing him to pause in washing his hair, realizing he spent possibly the whole night with the giant cat in the bed...yet he’s fine? He usually has an allergic reaction to cats! Did he even remember to pack his epipen or pills?

He would have to check his room before going downstairs, maybe take the pills just in case when he finds them. Could a giant cat like that even be hypoallergenic? You would think not, with all that fur. 

Shaking his head to clear his thoughts, he finishes up his shower. Finding his small case he had stored his medicine in, taking out some pills before heading down the stairs. 

He’s wonderfully surprised by the scent of something good cooking. He goes down the stairs and pauses, shocked to see Logan in the kitchen making breakfast and humming quietly. The cat was happily sitting on the counter next to him, drinking from a mug that looked like one of the many from the upstairs bedroom they found the cat in yesterday.

Logan looked really different from yesterday, his skin strangely tinted green and ears extremely long and pointed. When the light hits his eyes they would almost appear to glow. 

Thomas took a few steps closer in awe and confusion, though honestly he should be probably questioning how he got back in the house instead of his new appearance. “Logan?” 

Logan jumps slightly, turning to Thomas with wide eyes and brandishing a wooden spoon. “Oh, Thomas! Apologies, I hadn’t noticed you come in. You are wearing a protective charm, correct? That would explain why I appear to have trouble sensing you.” Logan grabs a plate from behind him, handing it to Thomas, stacked with scrambled eggs and wild berries. “Now that you are here you must eat up, there is a lot of work to do to get this place back into proper shape, and I hope we can start as soon as possible.” He sets a plate in front of the cat, snatching away the mug, to its annoyance.

“Oh, uh, thank you, uh, what exactly is there to do?” Thomas asks, bewildered. What did he mean by protective charm, or this talk of sensing him? Logan’s ear twitches, catching his attention. 

“Well, how much do you know?” Logan has begun cleaning up the utensils he used for cooking, and now that Thomas looks around, the whole kitchen looks a lot cleaner. 

“Well, uh, depends what you mean.” Thomas shakes his head. “Okay, wait a moment. Could you explain why you look like that first?” 

Logan pauses in his cleaning, tilting his head to look at Thomas, eyes glinting. “What do you mean? I am an elf, this is how we naturally look.” He squints at Thomas, metaphorical wheels turning in his head. “Thomas, what do you believe Alkwin did here?” 

“He took care of hurt or displaced animals, right? I don’t-- I don’t understand, elves aren’t real, those are all just in movies and books.” 

That cat makes a sound akin to laughter behind Logan, causing the elf to turn to him with a glare. “Remy, this is not a humorous matter. If you will not help, then I must ask you to leave.” 

The cat huffs, taking the time to stretch before hopping off the counter and wandering off. 

Thomas can’t help but feel nervous when Logan turns his dark gaze back onto Thomas with a sigh. “I assure you the Elven race is real, among many other creatures and legends. Please tell me you know something about this? Had Alkwin, or your parents, ever spoken of such things to you at all?” 

Thomas takes a moment to process how strange the cat was acting and Logan’s information before registering the question. “Uh, well, I remember being told stories as a kid, sorta. It’s a bit hazy. But my parents adamantly disapproved of all that, especially after...Well, after they stopped letting me come around.” Thomas rubbed his knuckles on his chest self consciously before forcing his hand back down. The prominent scar across his shoulder blade and arm itches, reminding him that it’s still there. 

Logan glared at the counter top, grumbling something in another language. If Thomas were to guess, it was probably some not-so-nice things. “I can’t believe your parents would raise you to such naivety, your mother was mostly raised here, like you were to be! Growing up knowing the truth!” He shakes his head, closing his eyes with a huff. “To have locked you away from such knowledge and your own family like that is disgusting.” 

Thomas clears his throat awkwardly. “Okaaaay, but you can’t possibly be an actual elf right? You’re just pulling my leg?” 

Logan glances up, looking deeply into his eyes, taking a deep breath to cool his temper. “I am not ‘pulling your leg,’ I am serious. Alkwin helped creatures, yes, but not just ordinary ones, he helped all range of creatures, magical and supernatural alike... Myself included.” 

Thomas blinks, brows furrowing. “But...they can’t possibly exist?” 

“Yes, they do! I am standing right in front of you, clearly not human!” Logan groans in annoyance. “Alright, alright. This is fine, we can go out and show you a few things to help bring your fragile human mind to peace with this. We can use this to start teaching you proper etiquette and care with creatures around here.” He grumbles.

Thomas nervously spoons some eggs into his mouth as Logan starts mumbling more to himself. This morning has been all kinds of strange. 

The cat, Remy, jumps onto the kitchen bar next to Thomas, startling him. He hadn’t heard the cat return. He might need to buy him a bell so that doesn’t keep happening. Remy was most likely seeking attention if anything from yesterday was to go by, the attention hog. But Thomas was happy to provide, petting the cat as he finished his breakfast. 

“Very well, I believe I have come up with the best course of action. You will accompany me to check on the calmer creatures to help ease you into all this and your role as caretaker. We will be leaving as soon as you’re ready.” Logan looks at him expectantly.

He freezes, mind turning blank “Oh, uh, should I bring anything? Or change?” He asks awkwardly.

“You will want to be adequately dressed for traipsing around the forest. A dagger would not hurt.” Logan suggests coolly, before turning to leave. “I’ll be out back waiting for you, do hurry. I like to keep to a schedule.” 

“Wait! Why would I need a dagger?” 

“Well, it is better to be safe than sorry as that saying goes, correct? There are many creatures that inhabit the forest and not all are friendly, though I doubt they’d attack with me around.” 

Thomas watches as he leaves, feeling his anxiety grow. It would be fine right? They would be safe? He forces himself to take a deep breath, it will be okay. He isn't a scared little kid anymore, he’s not some easy prey like he was back then. He can handle the woods. 

He probably didn’t need to change? Wearing jeans and tennis shoes would be enough, and he hadn’t exactlly packed much of his closet, so he would have to wait for the rest of his wardrobe that's packed away in the moving truck that’s on its way. That would be alot of unpacking when it arrives...and probably a lot of rearranging too. 

Steeling himself for his adventure into the unknown, he leaves the kitchen looking for the back door, Remy silently at his heels.

He finds Logan standing at the border of the tree line, leaning against a tree, inspecting an arrow. He had equipped himself with a quiver full of arrows and a bow, along with several daggers strapped to his person. Where on earth did he get all that?

He looks up as Thomas approaches, an ear twitching. “Stay close and do not stray, we do not need you getting lost. If you do, Remy will keep you safe until I find you again.” He puts the arrow back in his quiver before heading down a slightly worn path into the trees. 

As Thomas follows Logan, he can’t help but notice how smoothly he seems to move and traverse through the forest, each of his movements precise. It was like the plants around him moved out of his way. 

He looks away, aware he might have been staring, focusing on not falling on his face. It’s wild wrapping his head around all this. “You uh, knew my grandfather right? Since you said you worked with him?” 

It’s silent for a moment, making Thomas question if he heard him before Logan finally responds. “I was a colleague of his, yes,” is the short clipped answer he gives. 

“Did you get to know him well? He was a pretty awesome grandfather and I had hoped he had some good friends that stayed with him, since most of the family kinda avoided him.” Thomas knows he may be starting to ramble but he can’t help it, feeling nervous out in the woods does that.  

Logan stops himself from turning around, jaw clenching slightly. “Possibly.” 

“If magical creatures are real? Then how come the entire world doesn’t know this?” Thomas could hear Logan huff in front of him. “ Simple, really. Most creatures keep hidden from humans or humans mistake them for other creatures, subconsciously refusing to believe them as real.” Logan turns his head to look at Thomas from the side of his eyes, baring his teeth frustratedly, slightly sharper than the average person. “You would know all this if your mother hadn't acted so rashly about a simple mistake-- disregard that.” He quickly cuts himself off, eyes widening, before turning his head back forwards to focus on where they were walking, speeding his pace. 

“Wait! Did you know my mom too?” Thomas attempts to clumsily speed up to walk beside Logan, who keeps silent. 

“You do, don’t you, you mentioned her earlier too!” 

“I will not admit to such things,” Logan hisses, moving faster. 

Thomas groans childishly with annoyance, stumbling a bit to try and keep up pace with the more nimble of the two. He was starting to sense a pattern with these conversations. It seems Logan liked to avoid talking about his folks. 

He cries out, tripping over a tree root. Unhelpfully, Remy sits in front of him with a light mew. “I’m fine, thanks for asking,” he states dryly, before flipping over to his back to catch his breath. 

He couldn’t hear Logan, so he could only hope he hadn’t kept walking without him. 

A chittering sound off to his left catches Thomas’s attention. What looked like a rabbit was peeking out of a burrow in the ground, under the tree roots. Keeping still to not scare it away, Thomas watches with awe as the animal skittishly comes out, its little nose twitching and sniffing. 

As it hops slightly out of its home, Thomas realizes with a start that it is not an ordinary rabbit. Mini antlers protrude from its head, and- oh my gosh are those wings! 

He has to keep himself from squealing, seeing something so cool as this. Oh gosh how cute would the babies of this thing look!

“That is a wolpertinger.” 

“Jesus!” Thomas jumps, startled by Logan’s sudden presence as he stands by his head. Thomas’s sudden exclamation and movement has scared the bunny creature back into its burrow. “Dude! Warn a guy before sneaking up on them!” He might need a bell for Logan too, gosh. 

“Apologies, I did not mean to startle you. I thought you were aware I was still here. We will have to work on your perception skills, it seems.” Logan offers a hand to help him up.

Thomas shakes his head, taking the hand. “It’s fine, uh, what did you say that thing was called?” 

Logan perks up, smiling slightly, happy to teach. “A wolpertinger, they are native to Germany, though many of them have been displaced and have been scattered about in sanctuaries to protect the species.” 

Thomas looks up to Logan, bewildered. “Wait, there’s more places like this?” 

“Yes, of course, sanctuaries like this are built all over the world. Many are disguised as regular sanctuaries, much like this one here.” Logan motions for him to follow as he talks. “Magical creatures around the world are often harmed or displaced in the modern day, with the ever expanding human race. Places like this allow for them to continue to live safely and usually within their native type of habitats, undisturbed by technology.” 

“Huh, that’s really cool. Like, it sucks to hear that they have to leave their homes but it’s pretty cool that my grandfather is one of those people that were helping them find somewhere safe.” 

“Indeed.” Logan steps through a curtain of leaves, glancing around at the trees scattering the area. 

Thomas doesn’t understand what he’s doing until the wood on the trees seems to ripple and shift. Small children, maybe young teen size begin, to separate from them, wandering over to Logan like little kids ecstatic for their parents to be home, even though they left only for a few hours.

They all seemed to be made of earth, skin dark and different shades of dirt, hair made of vines and leaves, eyes grey like stones. Logan welcomes them with open arms, crouching down slightly as they all hold tightly to his sleeves, bouncing about and seemingly speaking to him, though it was in no way that Thomas could understand. 

“Hm, yes, it is good to hear the population is rising. Though, we will have to be careful to watch the numbers, we don’t want them having too many kids now, no matter how adorable they are.” Logan tilts his head to another that’s wildly gesturing to him. “No, I believe it will rain later today, don’t worry your little heads about that.” He perks up, ears standing straight. “Oh yes, I brought someone along today.” 

Thomas gives a shy wave as all of them look at him “This is Thomas, Thomas say hello to the nymphs. They are nature spirits that live in most of the plant life found around the world.” 

“Uh, hello.” The nymphs are suddenly surrounding him, tugging at his clothes and touching his skin curiously, making a range of chattering sounds as they excitedly bounce around him like a gaggle of school girls. 

“Apologies for their wildness, there is not much one can do in manners when it comes to nature. They are just trying to get to know you, touch being one of the ways they primarily communicate with one another alongside gestures. I believe you humans have something similar called sign language, correct?” 

“Yeah, people with hearing impairments usually grow up learning it.” Thomas squeaks when one of them touches his butt, jumping away with a light blush. The nymphs collectively make a sound like a chorus of giggling. 

“Alright, that’s enough. Leave him be, you little heathens.” Logan fondly shoos the nymphs away from Thomas. “There’s a reason in myths why men would often be running after them, ugh, the little beasts will tease until you give chase before disappearing. A game of theirs that’s usually harmless but not everyone appreciates.” 

“I--” Thomas again jumps, a sudden ringing and buzzing from his pocket as his phone goes off. 

Logan flinches away, wide eyed. “What on earth is that?” 

“Shoot, I hadn’t realized I left that on.” Thomas sheepishly takes out his phone. Looked like Joan was trying to call and check on him, but the service didn’t look like it was going to cut it to make a functioning call. He can try texting him real quick. As he does this, Logan creeps closer till they are practically butting heads. 

“What is that?’ 

“Have you never seen a cell phone before?” Thomas peers at him after sending the text. 

“There is the telephone on the wall in the house, but I have never seen something like this, is this some kind of advanced  rune magic? No, that can’t be it, you humans don’t use magic anymore. Technology, then, correct?” 

“Uh, yeah, It’s technology, it’s like a mini computer in your hand, if that makes sense?” 

“Not really, I have no idea what a computer is.” 

“Oh.” 

Well, guess the first thing he is going to need to do to the house is get some proper wifi and a computer. He’s sure Logan would have a blast with the internet...Or possibly want to destroy it. It could go either way. 

A loud shriek goes off further in the forest drawing their attention. Logan stands straight, looking off to the distance and ears up twitching slightly. A few of the nymphs have appeared again, feverently chattering to him, looking upset. 

“There’s a problem, let’s go.” 

Shit! Thomas could hardly keep up with his long legs as Logan runs expertly through the woods. He has nocked his bow, that can’t be a good sign. 

Going a bit further into the woods, the trees noticeably becoming much larger as they traverse to a large clearing, finally slowing down, Thomas leans against a tree to catch his breath as Logan continues on ahead. Remy went with him without a second glance. In the clearing stood three gryphons, all looking rather disgruntled and upset, screeching at each other angrily. 

Logan raises a hand towards them, giving a sharp whistle to announce his presence. Each of them turn to him with more angry sounds. “Shush, what's got you all upset? Shouting amongst yourselves will solve nothing.”

They ruffle their feathers unhappily, trilling restlessly at him. Thomas approaches slowly, he’s watched Harry Potter, he knows how this works. Of course, that doesn’t make it any less scary when the giant angry creatures turn their gaze to him. 

“Thomas, I suggest you don’t come any closer. Gryphons can be quite-- what are you doing?’ 

Thomas cautiously bows to the gryphons, feeling a bit ridiculous as he glances at them. Everyone is staring at him.

Logan watches with surprise as the gryphons bow back, puffing out their chests and pleased with this show of respect as they straighten. “What? You said you didn’t know anything about magical creatures!” 

He chuckles abashedly. “Ok, well, um, I don’t really, I just remember a few things that Hagrid said in Harry Potter, that gryphons should be treated with high respect was one of them.” 

The gryphons seem to like this response, chirping happily. Logan looks rather bewildered. “I don’t know who this Hagrid or what Harry Potter is, but you just earned their undeniable respect easily! That takes years to earn!” Logan frowns, putting a hand to his chin. “I will need to study this man you speak of later, he seems to have a good knowledge of magical creatures.” 

“I’d be glad to show you the movies sometime.” 

Logan furrows his brows, opening his mouth to ask a question when something bursts from the tree line, screeching furiously, causing Remy to yowl  loudly in alarm. “Fuck!” 

The gryphons shriek angrily, stomping and flapping their wings at the new creature in the area. It seemed to be a deer-like creature, covered in shimmering teal and gold feathers. It’s hind legs ended in wickedly sharp talons that it dug into the ground. It had a gorgeous peacock tail that it spread angrily, stomping its hooves and throwing its head, showing off it’s antlers. It screeched at the gryphons again, baring too-sharp teeth and flapping it’s gleaming wings. 

“Thomas, I suggest heading home as I try to get this peryton back to its proper territory,” Logan says calmly as he nocks an arrow back, shooting it to the ground near the creature’s feet, startling it in the opposite direction a few steps, flapping its wings some more with an angry, spooked snort.

“But--”

“Go!”

Thomas’s breath catches in his throat, watching Logan and the gryphons continue to shepherd the creature back towards the trees. He feels Remy rubbing against his leg, insistently, glancing at the cat before he can find himself move again and do as he is told. 

Hurriedly, he follows Remy back, hardly paying attention to the trees as they rush past him. His lungs shudder harshly with the need for oxygen as he runs, having been quite far from the house. When he makes it back to the house he quickly shuts the door, leaning his back onto it as he steadies himself. Taking extra care to take deep breaths and calm his heart rate. 

His scars seem to burn with the memories that seem to be taking joy in torturing him at the moment, brought back by the startling encounter. 

He sighs, running a hand through his hair. 

Wait a moment, that burning wasn’t just in his head. Reaching under the collar of his shirt, he takes out the small amulet he always wore. When he was younger, after the accident in the woods his grandfather had given it to him, promising it would keep him safe. It had originally been his, taking it from around his neck to give to Thomas. And so Thomas had kept it, always wearing it for good luck, in a way. 

He’d never suspected it was anything other than an old locket, though by what Logan said, it seemed to be more. 

Curiously, Thomas held it in his palm. The metal of the locket seemed to be heating up a bit and glowing a slight red. Something scratched at the door and he turned. It was probably Remy, right?

Something stopped him from opening the door though, a cold feeling of dread as he spots Remy a few feet away, fur raised, baring his teeth and hissing. 

He doesn’t move, holding his breath he hears something breath heavily outside with a strange inhuman noise. If it were Logan he would have spoken up and attempted to open the door to just come in, he reasoned.

The amulet burned in his hand, pulsing as the red glow grew stronger. He winces, dropping it and letting it fall to rest back around his neck again, the burning smothered slightly by the fabric of his shirt. There are more scraping sounds from outside before it goes silent. Remy quiets down, still wary.

The amulet slowly cools and loses its glow.

Whatever had followed him seemed to have left. He found himself too frightened to turn and check the window, for fear it may be there. Remy comes over to him and mrowed. 

He waits a moment more, just to be sure whatever creature that had been there was gone before finally taking a desperate breath of air and sliding to the ground with relief. Remy happily plops himself into Thomas’ lap, butting his head against his chin. 

He’s going to need to talk to Logan about that when he returns. 

Unaware of the old claw marks in the door frame, left by that very creature long ago.