Partner

Has anyone ever said the Sidhe names out loud? I accidentally called someone (a male who was not the inspiration, as I had the character before I met him) Essuan at work, to another employee and the other looked at me and said "S1?" and I was like "*snort*"

Auhi sounds Aw-hee. Souse like the drunkard. Lillow began Lih-low but turned into Lee-low. Hohi is hoe-he. Essuan is Sss-ooo-wan As in the saying the letter S out loud.

It wasn't until I did that, that I realised how aboslutely alien the names were to at least most of you guys. Maybe in another country these are normal name, but for me, and others of the northern land, they sound crazy when said out loud.

Ehehehee.

No one got a cookie. But this is fairly quickly done. Suppose you could earn a cookie by figuring out the next bit, but its been obvious for a while, I think.

Read, Review and Enjoy.




Mik slid into the board room and felt hugely under prepared. When Paw had said ‘wing it,’ Mik had cringed at the idea, wondering if perhaps the Sidhe knew something that Mik didn’t. Apparently Paw had known something that Mik didn’t.

Mari never said that they would have to present their lectures to a board of military personnel. Nor did she say that this was not optional. Not until the next day.

When Mik had arrived and found. SURPRISE. Lecture time.

Aw crap, by the gods and high spirits. By Rahl-ta’s betrayal and Tahl-ra’s anger. Illuva help him and De turn a blind eye.

Fuck.

Mik glanced about the room and took a calming breath. He felt like just saying that he hadn’t written anything. But he got the impression that, as Mari would likely know that he didn’t write a lecture the night before, the lecture was not only not optional, but he had to do it.

Damn it all to the seventeenth ring of hell and back again.

“I am here today to tell you about Sidhe, to explain to you how to be a better partner. The other lectures you have heard all include mainly generalizations, as if the Sidhe have one personality type. They do not. The Sidhe are not single minded. They have diverse personalities and you need to adapt to the personalities. Even if it means not writing a lecture that you have been told you need to do. Even if it means ignoring paperwork to care for your Sidhe.

“Take last night for example, my Sidhe, Paw, has been having nightmares of late. He is prone to them. He will not sleep unless I am in the same bed as him and he had not slept in nearly two weeks. I set aside my people work, as the Sidhe would call it, to take Paw to the bed so that he could sleep. I passed up on what I was supposed to be doing.

“Most of you have been practically brought up in the military. Obey your orders, do your paperwork and do your job. No excuses, that is what we are told. In this program, your job is not the paperwork. That’s my job. Your job is not keeping track of everything you do, there are cameras in every room to keep you honest and to witness all that is going on.

“Your only job is to care for the Sidhe. If you are told to do a reading, do the reading. Until your Sidhe needs attention or help.

“You probably want advice that will help you care for your Sidhe. A bed time or a favourite food. An issue that might start a fight. There isn’t one. My own Sidhe will snarl and yell if you mention breeding. Souse, the current leader of the tribe, will discipline you and dominate you if you try to tell him that he is ruling poorly. Essuan, the tribe’s healer and Souse’s mate, will hurt you if you try to tell her that you know better than she does in the area of healing.

“Paw won’t eat anything shaped like a phallus. Souse won’t eat red meat if he can help it. Essuan despises carrots,” Mik paused as he watched several members of the board shift and look… well… bored, “And if you have those looks on your faces, those bored, I have better places to be, looks, the Sidhe will cuff you upside the head, dump juice in your lap or attempt to draw on your face with permanent marker. If you can’t interact and pretend to be interested, you’ve got no chance here.”

Those that had been bored, glared at Mik. These were higher ups, people the likes of which Mik really shouldn’t have been mouthy towards. But he. Really didn’t care.

“What exactly would you suggest?” one of them asked.

“Role playing. Now, I’ve suggested taking a Sidhe into the lecture with their partner. But at the moment the Sidhe are sleeping and going about their daily routines. A simple role play is…” Mik searched back to when the Sidhe had first arrived, “You come home and your Sidhe has literally destroyed the living room. What do you do?”

“Destruction is frowned upon,” the man responded.

“Not amongst Sidhe. They are in what they consider a hostile territory, they are going to tear everything apart until they are satisfied that there is nothing lethal or damaging in the place,” Mik moved to once side of the man and pointed at the person sitting beside him, “You.”

And so he went around the room, explaining why each person’s response was not quite appropriate. In the end, he was standing before them all, arms crossed and a grave look on his face.

“So what is the appropriate answer?” the first man asked finally.

“There isn’t one. Depending on your Sidhe’s personality, there may be a better answer. My better answer was to inspect the damage, find out what was damaged, and then leave the Sidhe to it. Basically telling him that he can destroy as much as he likes, until he is satisfied that the place is safe. Your reaction to the destruction tells the Sidhe about your personality and you could insult them just by giving the wrong reaction. Let’s run through a few scenarios that we have had success in, that we know a few appropriate answers for.”

Mik ran through babies, mates, lovers, pairs, partners and even being approached by a Sidhe of the opposite sex. He stressed that sexual pairings are not welcomed but, should it happen through certain methods, it will be allowed. If there were any doubts, by Sidhe, as to the validity of a people/Sidhe pair, they would be separated immediately. Such on and such on down the line until an hour later, Mari interrupted him.

“Mik, we need you back at the apartments, now,” Mari said quickly.

Her hair was not perfectly kept, she was pail and she looked worried.

Mik’s heart skipped a beat. His first thought was that the mesa had died suddenly. Then his thoughts turned to Paw. Terror clawed at his stomach as he brushed past the woman and rushed down the hall of the program’s building. They were holding the elevator for him. Just as the doors were closing, Mari slid into the elevator, huffing.

“Paw and the baby are fine. But. Well. You have to be there. Something’s wrong and the other partners can’t sense it. But all the Sidhe are acting the same.”

“The same?”

“They’re all meditating. At once. Even the babies have gone still in Paw and Essuan’s arms.”

“Whisper,” Mik murmured, “by the gods, Whisper.”



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