Partner

Me not writing is a very grumpy person. But I've been playing my game for the past... two days? And so I haven't gotten any writing done. So I made myself sit down and write before playing my game and *gasp* before I got coffee.

There may be writing later, there's only so many times you can play a game before you start winning in a couple of days instead of a couple of months.

Read, Review and Enjoy




Mik slipped into the apartment, set his keys on the counter and closed the door. That was when he heard it. Music. From the living room. In all his time with the Sidhe, none of them had ever tried to croon, sing, hum or even listen to music. They had all listened with rapt attention as Mik’s mother had hummed to herself, had been obviously startled when Jay whistled a bar of a song. But none of them had shown any other kind of interest in music.

The man walked to the living room, shifting the heavy personal computer case from one hand to the other.

He didn’t recognize the music. No words, sounded classical almost. It came from the television set, which displayed only a moving screen that swirled and burst, changed colours and grew with the notes. The furniture in the room had been pushed back, against the painted walls. Paw and Lillow stood in the center, still as could be.

Paw’s left hand in the air above and to the left of his head, Lillow’s right hovering just in front of it. Paw’s right was around Lillow’s waist. The girl’s left was away from her body, lower to the ground. She was staring intently at Paw’s face.

“Ooohhh.”

Mik’s eyes left the dance pair and looked around the room nervously. The voice had sounded like Taln’s. He didn’t hear it again so he turned back to Paw and Lillow.

Paw’s left hand was pushed over Lillow’s right shoulder, the girl’s right hand still hovering just in front of Paw’s left. Lillow’s left hand was almost sitting around Paw’s shoulder fingers stiff. They shifted very slowly. Paw moved his torso towards Lillow and the girl bent back at the waist. Back stiff, she lowered herself until she was bent at an impossible angle, Paw all the while following her down-

“Oooohhhh.”

Mik’s head snapped towards Taln’s room, quite certain that what he thought he had heard, was actually what he had heard. The man crossed the living room, side stepping a paint covered plate as he did so, and threw open Taln’s door, ready to beat anything that needed beating.

Taln was astride Hohi, obviously aroused, the man was arched just slightly, tense from head to toe. Hohi’s hands were on Taln’s hips, Taln’s hands were curled tightly around Hohi’s wrists. The man’s legs were spread out on either side of Hohi’s leg’s. Toes curled into the blankets beneath them. Taln’s back was to Hohi and the man didn’t notice Mik gaping at them. Hohi’s head turned slowly and he shot the kind of deadly look at Mik that had the man stopping to make certain that his heart was still beating.

Paw slid effortlessly between Mik and the scene, clamped a hand over the startled man’s mouth and pushed Mik back into the living room a distance before returning to the bedroom and very quietly closing the door.

“What the he-” Mik tried to ask but Paw’s hand was clamped back over Mik’s mouth in an instant. The Sidhe made eye contact with Mik and held it until Mik sighed.

Paw released Mik and wiped his hand on his pant leg, “It is purely consensual,” the Sidhe whispered, whispered as if afraid to disturb the two in the next room.

“But with the… it’s not normal for a people to hop into bed with someone after being raped,” Mik whispered back.

“It has been several months.”

“I asked Hohi to do it,” Lillow murmured, lowering her head at Mik’s look, “he was interested in Taln first. He was. I swear. I just… told him that he could prove he is able to please someone with…”

“Someone who hasn’t been pleased properly?” Paw muttered at Lillow.

“Clever, actually. But in the long run, what kind of damage is this going to cause Taln? Guy sleeps with him once then leaves?”

Both Sidhe looked at Mik. Mik frowned, “what?”

“People do it all the time, called one night stand, and not what this is,” Paw shook his head and made to look Mik up and down as if re-evaluating what he knew about the man. The Sidhe’s eyes fell, instead, on the personal computer case, “what is that?”

“How is it different?”

“Paw asked of the whats and is thats?” Paw jabbed a finger at the case.

“Paw. You can see what’s in the case when you tell me how this is different?”

“One of those things explaining with the explaining is difficult,” Paw muttered, waving his hand dismissively, “have to ask Hohi. And Mik not interrupting Hohi and Taln until they’s done. Whas in strange box thing, is smelling of computers?”

Mik sighed and walked back to the kitchen, Paw trailing him eagerly. The man flipped open the case and then the computer inside. He turned it on as he had been instructed and made a hand motion to Paw. The Sidhe grinned in delight.

Then it dawned on Paw that the people would not give him a computer lightly. Paw glared at Mik.

“What for?”

“Valease, the people who own the land that you live on, have declared war on the Sidhe nation.”

Paw looked unhappy, to say the least, “no one own land, territorial border say that Valease can expand into woods but they never have because we live there. Therefore that land is our land.”

“This land is your land, this land is our land.” Lillow sang. Actually sang, but she stopped there and blinked at Paw, “sounds catchy!”

Mik gaped at Lillow, pulling his attention away finally and to Paw, “right, but the Valeasans say Sidhe killed forty-eight people.”

“Deaths.”

“Deaths no longer exist Paw, they’re like knights and kings.”

“Still kings, so why not still Deaths? Sidhe could do that, yes, Paw saw news, but…” Paw shrugged, “Too messy and why those ones? Why not all of government? Why not most of population? Why tear out throat to make point?”

“How do Sidhe make points?”

“Skin alive, drape skin over public place and shove people into road wherein lots of trucks and cars and news drones can see,” Paw responded calmly, “Or burn whole city down after poisoning water supply. Example mad. Example not made by tearing out throats. Especially when one of ministers killed was pro-Sidhe.”

“Some Sidhe-”

“No. Man is under protection by Whisper’s word. From long time ‘go,” Paw fluttered his hand about, “no Sidhe would kill that man. But only Paw’s word to say so, so why would people believe that this is so? So no reason to speak up before.”

“Could we focus, for just a minute?” Mik muttered, recalling what he had told Mari a few hours before, “they have nuclear weapons. They would not hesitate to use them. Mustard gas.”

“Ketchup gas?” Lillow murmured, leaning over the counter with a smile.

“No. Lillow,” Paw responded, swallowing hard, “mustard gas is yell and bad and… insides turn to blood. Choke on own self.”

Lillow paled considerably, “oh. Lillow go… uhm… Souse. Talk to Souse.”

The girl was gone before Mik could protest, so he turned the protest to Paw instead, “you upset her.”

Paw tapped at the keys on the keyboard and grunted, “she thought we were making fun. Serious matter,” click click click.

“You’ve gone people.”

“Have not,” Paw stopped typing and glared at Mik.

“You just upset a kid, our kid, because it’s a ‘serious matter’ when every other serious matter hasn’t been serious enough to actually treat the younger ones like you just did. You treated her like you. And her. Were people.”

“Insulted.”

“People.”

“Sidhe can be insulted.”

“Sure. If I said you were lacking in bedroom skills.”

Paw’s lips pressed into a firm line. The Sidhe turned back to his computer, “Mik go away, you are distracting me.”

“People,” Mik muttered, leaving the apartment in search of Lillow.



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