Partner

I see in personalities. When I write. When I re-read I find that I lack the descriptions, but I'm not going to re-edit an entire chapter just to add in the descriptions after posting it to AFF. So the descriptions of characters can be a bit ... spotty. Paw, I believe, I described at the beginning and I might have described Mik. Possibly.

I know I have an issue with it and I try to toss in description whenever I recall to. Yes, they have shapes and heights and hair colours and eye colours, but more often than not it's the play of personalities that gets me to write more and by the end of it I've forgotten to add that this person's eyes turned to a darker shade of green when they scowled and such on.

I apologise, but at the same time I must say that I doubt my writing will ever be description laden. It can be for natural beauty stuff, it can be for moments but not overly so. Description is nice, but I couldn't tell you the colour of my boss's eyes and I've been working with him for nearly two years. I can't tell you the colour of my brothers' eyes either. But I can tell you about their personalities.

I think I just confuddled myself, even. But basic gist is that I'll try, but I can't promise anything. I'll try only because I know that it'll make a better writer out me. Sadly, I'm like that.

Besides that... er... despite?

Read, Review and Enjoy








Mik slipped into the room of wide eyed men and women and blinked at them. They all blinked back at him. Then they noticed Paw and all eyes shifted to the Sidhe. Paw bore his teeth at them and slid in behind Mik, peeking over the man’s shoulder only occasionally.

“Hullo, group two,” Koln stood at a desk, having entered just ahead of Mik, “My name is Samuel Koln and I am in charge of this program. If you fuck up, if you hurt them, if you rape them, if you beat them, if you sell any part of them or speak of this program to the press you will lose everything. Including, eventually, your life. Do not think that I will be gently on you because you are Wern’s prodigies or because you scored top ranking in the tests. Those that scored top in the last tests have proven to be the worse partners we have.

“Mik.”

Leave it to Koln to topple his thought process AND THEN ask him to speak.

Mik cleared his throat and looked over the faces of those in the room. A few were frightened, a few were unmoved and too many were staring at Paw.

He pointed casually at those that were frightened and those that were unmoved, “You folk there, and there. There. Are likely going to do the best. Those of you that are staring at Paw should place your eyes elsewhere,” with a snap to his tone that made a few in the front row shift away from him instinctually, “Never touch another partner’s Sidhe. Try so and the consequences will be dire. And I don’t mean Koln dire, I mean Sidhe breaking your bones dire.”

It hadn’t happened yet, but it could.

“You all think this will be straightforward, that the manual they are about to give you-”

“Already gave,” Koln cut Mik off, “Already, Mik, we learned after Paw ate yours.”

“Fine. Already gave you, will help you through this changing time, will tell you exactly how to care for a Sidhe.”

“It’s the second edition, Mik. We’ve added stuff.”

“Learned after Paw!” Paw giggled and then buried his face into Mik’s back.

“It may help some of you. Some of you will find yourself with a Sidhe who doesn’t react well enough to what you are trying. Or reacts the opposite way. They are not single minded creatures, they do not all think the same way.”

Paw moved around Mik and walked up to a middle aged woman in the front row. He poked her between the eyes. She frowned. The Sidhe moved down the row to a younger woman and twitched his head to one side, then the other. She watched him. Paw yawned, showing off his impressive set of teeth, and stretched, arching backwards, hands above and almost behind his head as his back cracked and he bent at an impossible angle. When he straightened, she was sitting with her arms crossed and a dark look on her face.

Only she was obviously trying very hard not to laugh.

Paw skipped down to the other side of the room, arms swinging and came to a sudden stop in front of an older woman, gray colouring her blonde hair. The stance he took on was an aggressive one. He bore his teeth and spread his arms and, for the most part, seemed an angry creature on the verge of murder.

All this, Paw did while Mik spoke.

“Their social structure is unlike anything you have ever seen. There is a complex interaction within a tribe and the introduction of new Sidhe will alter the flow of the tribe, there will be ramifications. If your Sidhe breaks the rules, he or she will be punished, will be put in their place. Either by someone who steps up to form a tribe, or by one of the existing tribe, who is more dominant than they are. Nothing you do will stop this and if you interfere… well…”

“Show them,” Koln snapped.

Mik sighed and undid his shirt as Paw got bored with the older woman and returned to his side. Mik pulled the shirt to the side and showed the group the bruise on his shoulder. Their startled looks said it all. He flipped his shirt back and began buttoning it back up.

“Mik is our golden boy. Our go to guy. Paw is the only Sidhe who has chosen to willingly communicate with us.”

“With higher partners,” Mik corrected Koln.

When Paw had entered the room with the ‘lower’ partners, he had ignored everyone but for Edno, the young man named Taln and Koln. He had even, for the most part, ignored Mik.

“I suppose that would be correct…” Koln muttered, “Paw will speak with your Sidhe, when you are not there.”

“Elevator,” Paw said with delight.

Mik had had the unfortunate privilege of showing Paw how it worked… and Paw had loved it. Up and down and up and down, just the thought of it made him queasy.

“If you do something to hurt the Sidhe, we will know. Through Paw, the other Sidhe will know. You do not want to be caught in the shit storm that would follow if you were to disobey these rules.”

“But he sleeps with a Sidhe.”

“How the fuck do you know that?” Koln snapped at the speaker, “No information about this program is to be leaked, none is to be shared, you don’t tell your mother or your sister or your recent fuck. You don’t even tell your dog. Because if this hits the news before we are good and ready to show the people what we can do and it gets traced back to you we will go old school on you.”

“Old school?” Paw whispered in Mik’s ear.

“Later,” Mik hissed back.

“Now. In about two hours. You will be meeting the Sidhe. There are twenty of them. Look around you. There are sixty of you. You out number them three to one, so don’t think you’re walking away with a Sidhe just because you passed the tests and managed to make it here on time. The Sidhe choose you. And the process has been … carefully explained to them,” Koln sighed.

Mik, for a moment, wondered why. And then he recalled the fad that had come over the first group of Sidhe when they had met with their partners.

Boop.

Mik let out the breath he was holding.

“I will see you all on the floor. Well… most of you. Until then, your time is your own.” Koln made a motion to Mik and walked out of the room.

Mik, and Paw, followed closely behind. The door closed firmly before Koln turned to him.

“That was the most confusing shit I’ve ever heard come out of your mouth,” Koln snapped.

“Well… Sidhe are like that.”

Koln sighed, “You are right about that. Come with me. Souse wanted the partners and their Sidhe to meet the new ones before group two has a go at them.”

“Why?”

“How the hell should I know?” Koln snapped.

“Essuan keep Koln up alls nights?” Paw murmured, slipping in to walk beside Koln.

“Yes. Damned woman won’t sit down, won’t sleep, eating constantly. It’s not even been a month yet.”

“Mmm. Yah. Mmm,” Paw made several reassuring sounds before sighing, “maybes Essuan need mint. Mint good for Essuan mood. Essuan like tea, too. Yes. Koln give Essuan tea, Essuan maybe sleep. Also maybe…”

“She isn’t happy with the garden, keeps trying to rearrange things and I tell her not to, I tell her I’ll do it but she just keeps shifting the bowls of water, and those things are heavy.”

“Ah… Essuan once had pets, yes. Pet and babe and contented then with life amongst that time. Ehm… Happy then? So now, new babe, want new pet.”

“Pet, like what, a cat.”

“Squirrel. Rabbit. Wolf. Essuan really like fish.”

“Really?”

“Yes.”

“Maybe she’d actually sit still and watch them, instead of pacing all hours of the night.”

“Maybe Essuan no move water bowls if there little living things inside?”

“Maybe.”

Maybe Mik was not certain how to translate this sudden shift. Paw just didn’t seem too interested in Mik, since the appointment the day before the Sidhe had been all but ignoring him, except the few minutes they had been in the room.

As if Paw had heard Mik’s thought, the Sidhe spun on his heel and scowled at Mik, “And in case Mik forgot,” Paw jabbed Mik between the eyes then gave him a light poke, “Boop.”


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