Aos Sí

13: Nighttime Talk

My face went beet red as Seán set me down on the table. He shifted to lay on his stomach to talk to me as face to face as we could.

"I thought you two were gunna be gone all day," I said as quietly as I could.

"'s six in the afternoon, aos sí."

I opened my mouth to respond, then closed it. I wasn't sure how to respond, shrinking back. Seán's brow furrowed. "Sorry, didn't mean ta make ya embarrassed."

"Don't tell Mark, please," I replied. "I don't want to give their presence away."

Seán eyed me for a moment, then nodded. "I won't. You were a special circumstance. Looks like ya needed the time though. 'm happy ya found someone else to talk to."

I laughed a little. "I... didn't realize how much I needed it."

He let out a puff of a sigh. "Ain't that how it usually goes." He ruffled my hair with a finger, and I tried to wave him off with a giggle. "Hungry?"

While I thought we had eaten enough when I was with Ethan, my stomach twisted a little to remind it that was actually several hours ago. I nodded. When his hand is offered, I jump up and run up to his shoulder. Seán wiggled a bit at the feeling - we hadn't really done that much - and got out of bed once I was settled.

There was an open pizza box in the kitchen, and Seán grabbed a couple slices of pizza, cutting one into small bits for me. Far too many. I peered at him. He just winked in return and chowed down.

We ate in silence, then went back to the guest room to watch YouTube, with not much else planned for the night. Seán lay on his stomach, as far back on the bed as he could, pillow tucked under his head. I leaned on his arm, his phone propped up against the backboard.

I'm not sure when we fell asleep. But I woke up to a familiar face looking at me.

Once my mind registered Ethan's place on the bed, I jolted up and looked back at Seán. He was still fast asleep. I turned back to Ethan.

"What are you doing here!?" I asked in a harsh whisper.

"You didn't show up at the kitchen," he replied, a disappointed look on his face. "I thought something happened to you."

I felt my face go a little red again. These guys really needed to stop doing that to me. I started to get to my feet. "I'm-- I'm fine, but you really need to--"

We both froze as Seán shifted in his sleep. My eyes flicked between his shoulders, and when I saw one arm start to slip out from under the pillow, I grabbed the front of Ethan's shirt and ran the other way.

"We should really, at least, head into the wall," I murmured. "Seán isn't always the heaviest of sleepers."

Ethan nodded and led my back to the hook he had in the bed. We slid down and snuck back into the wall, closing the door behind us.

I shook out the rest of my tired and gave Ethan a smile. "So, climbed all the way up here just to bother me?"

His ears went a tad red, "Well, ya'know."

I snickered, then nodded, "I'm just teasing. Yes, I do know." My smile fell a little to be a bit more somber. "Gets real lonely bein' the only Borrower around."

He sat back with a huff. "Eh, I'm sure losing my mind won't have too many adverse effects."

I let out a strained laugh. "Don't do that! There's few enough of us as there is!"

"Eh, it'll happen sooner or later. But you're definitely helping."

I stumbled a bit over non-sense before shrinking back with an embarrassed giggle.

Ethan grinned, "So how long are ya stayin'?"

My face fell as I realized. "Four more days."

"... Oh." He shifted a little. "Or. You could stay?"

I winced. Truth be told, I had thought about it. But... "I don't know if I could do that to Signe and Seán. I mean. Yeah, being Seen isn't... the greatest, 'specially since I want to be kept hidden from everyone else, but..."

Ethan nodded, "I get it." He hesitated. "I could come with you?"

I balked. "What!? I mean-- Y-You could, I would have to ask Seán, but-- I promise, it's not as great as I might have--"

"It sounds pretty daunting, honestly."

I snapped my mouth shut.

"I mean, I saw what it was like when you first walked into my house. And-- And I mean, it probably wouldn't be too hard to set something up like that and if they already know about us anyway I bet we could ask for stuff and ya'know I just think it would be nice to not be alone, ya'know?"

I let out an airy laugh. "I. I'd have to ask Seán and Signe, but. I-- I think I'd like that."

Ethan's face lit up with a smile.

We managed to converse a bit longer about nothing in particular, but soon the abrupt awakening caught up to me. When my yawning was interrupting every sentence I tried to say, Ethan admitted defeat, and we went back out.

He offered me the grapple. Confused, I grabbed it. When I had a firm grip on it, Ethan leaned over and kissed me on the cheek. I froze, feeling my face turn brilliant, cherry red, as Ethan took a step back and rubbed the back of his head, his own face reddening.

We both let out a surprised squeak when one very sleepy, quiet, Irish voice sounded above us.

"Well tha's just fuckin' adorable."