Partner

This was fun to write for the most part. All they really did was have a chat, but that's okay by me.

Might have been something more... but a cat climbing into your lap tends to cut off the writing abilities. Especially when the cat is determined to get your attention.

Read, review and enjoy.




Mik stepped off of the elevator to…

Something that was hard to describe. Souse was marching about like he did after he had disciplined someone and nearly everyone else was scuttling about as if they were being hunted by something bit and dangerous.

Mik found Paw and sat beside the Sidhe, pecking Paw on the cheek as he did so.

“So, what happened?”

“Souse dealt with them,” Paw responded in a weary voice, “Mik…”

“Yes?”

“The male,” Paw gave Mik a tired, exasperated look, “has been crying for most of the afternoon.”

“Rel was disciplining him. The male was yanking him around like a rag doll and Rel put down his foot. Though…” Mik almost said Mm’s name, something he had learned was dangerous amongst the other Sidhe, “he wasn’t crying physically.”

“Very loud that one,” Paw sighed, “doesn’t speak our language at all,” the Sidhe gave a shake of his head, “and very loud.”

“You said that…” Mik murmured drawing Paw close, “where’s the mesa?”

“With Lillow and Hohi over there,” Paw motioned to the trio. Lillow was bouncing the mesa in her lap and Hohi stood over her looking very protective as various tribe members approached her, heads down and eyes cast to the side, “can you make him be quieter?”

Mik sighed, “We can’t explain to him what’s going on, let alone that he needs to be quieter in an aspect that we don’t even understand.”

“He’s very loud,” Paw muttered, draping an arm around Mik.

Essuan approached with a blanket and tucked it around Paw. She gave Mik a look, as if ordering the man not to disturb Paw, and walked off to join Souse.

“How is he loud?” Mik asked quietly.

“Louder than all the other voices, than all the other songs. Louder than Whisper was,” Paw murmured sleepily, rubbing his face against Mik’s shirt to scratch an itch. The Sidhe made a content sound at the back of his throat, “feels a bit better now, good thing. Yeh? Zaputayuun neh?”

Mik made a small, agreeing sound at the back of his throat as Paw drifted off to sleep.

As soon as Paw was asleep, the behaviour of everyone else changed. Lillow went from pretending she didn’t notice the others who were submitting to her, to lording over them, snarling silently and baring her teeth at them. Hohi’s lip curled up in a snarl if anyone came too close and he cuffed one male for trying to touch Lillow.

Essuan looked down her nose at everyone, something that was very easy for the female to do, and stood a step behind and to the right of Souse.

The others, for the most part, acted more subdued and cowered behind furniture or pillars or other members of the tribe when the eyes of the Elders fell on them. Fear predominated over the room.

Was this what Paw meant when he said culling? The one who couldn’t submit enough, well enough, long enough, would be culled from the tribe?

The elevator chimed and Koln stepped off. He went straight to Essuan. The woman gave his head a pat and smiled sweetly at him, saying something about fucking boogers, before Koln turned and headed towards Mik.

Mik smiled at the man and made a motion to Paw, “I’d sit up, but …”

Koln snatched a blanket up from a nearby chair and draped it over Paw. The Sidhe let out a sleepy, almost purring sound before falling back into a deep sleep.

“Perfectly understandable,” Koln murmured to Mik, sitting in the chair he had pulled the blanket from, “Souse has given us all … a few words… on how to help… with certain issues.”

“Ah, I was wondering if something like that would go out,” Mik responded quietly, “I haven’t heard anything of it.”

“Because you aren’t a partner. Not any more. I didn’t go to the meeting. Too much paperwork. So into my office he waltzes, as if he owns the place and very blatantly he asks me if I need sex and why am I so uptight?”

Mik frowned, “he thought you were uptight because you needed sex?”

“No, he,” Koln paused, “seems to be capable of reading minds. The uptight part was when I responded no and would he kindly keep his damned thoughts to himself.”

“Ah,” Mik muttered, “he’s never offered me sex…”

“He seemed to enjoy it the first time,” Koln muttered in an annoyed tone, “but that doesn’t mean I’m going to hop into bed with him again.”

Mik made a sound at the back of his throat, “managed to catch up on paperwork?”

Koln snorted, “gods no. The hired me three secretaries to do the paperwork. Program’s going to be expanding in a few months and yada yada, you know the drill… I can’t keep up on the paperwork as it is and Mari’s a bit… busy, let’s say. So she informed Galt that if he didn’t hire more people, his damned paperwork wasn’t getting done. And so here I am while they are back there doing it all with her lording over them with a ruler.”

“You’re joking…”

“No. It’s actually a meter stick,” Koln sighed out, “so, needless to say, I have an abundance of free time on my hands suddenly and not much to do. Essuan doesn’t really need me the way she used to, none of the Sidhe really need their partners the way they used to… and so… even more free time.”

“Perhaps we need to find you someone to date,” Mik muttered, jokingly.

Koln was silent for a long moment, “where’s Taln? Maybe he’d understand my predicament better.”

“Oh, don’t be like that.”

“I’ll go ask Lillow,” Koln muttered, standing and rushing off before Mik could say anything else.

Leaving Mik with a hundred and fifty pounds of Sidhe sprawled over him and nothing to do.


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