Aos Sí

14: Introductions

Ethan was back in the wall before I comprehended what happened. I looked over to him trying to catch his breath just inside the entryway, then pouted up at Seán. The Irishman scratched his head a bit in concern.

"Sorry. Dinnae mean ta scare ya."

I blew a raspberry and walked over to Ethan. "He's not going to bite."

"Okay, sure," Ethan whispered. "But he's still hovering."

I dropped my face into my palm and looked back to Seán, shooing him back to the bed. He shifted out of sight. Ethan poked his head out again, then followed me to the table. I flung the grapple up, then went up first. Ethan was hesitant to follow, but eventually did. I offered him a seat next to me. He sat rigid, staring at Seán with wide eyes. Seán, to his credit, had rolled onto his back and thrown an arm over his eyes. I decided to break the silence.

"Alright, ya drunken eavesdropping jerk, how much did you hear?"

"'nough ta know he wants to move," Seán replied, pointing a finger towards us. "You two really aren' that quiet."

I shifted in my spot.

"Sorry."

Ethan and I glanced at each other, then burst into a fit of giggles at our simultaneous apology. When I calmed a bit, I saw Seán peeking out under his arm at us with a bit of a teasing grin. I waved angrily at him to get him to look away again.

"Eh, 's fine. Just don't stay up too late."

I pouted. "Actually came out here to go back to sleep."

Ethan fidgeted in his spot. "So. May I?"

Seán lifted his arm to look over at us. Ethan froze, though relaxed when I patted his shoulder. Seán gave him a tired, warm smile. "'course. I'll double check with Signe tomorrow, but I can't think of a reason not to."

It took all my energy to contain my squeal of joy.

There wasn't much more to offer in way of conversation, so we said our goodnights to Ethan, and I curled up in my washcloth of a bed.

I̵̵̷̗̠͇̯͇̟ͯ͊ͫ͂ṯ̶̨̛͔͕͔͕͓̟͎̙̻́̎̏ͥ̑̂ͩ͐̎͛̆͜͡ ̡͙̠͓̪͕̗̬̗̼͉̳̗͆͂͊ͤ̀ͯ̓͗̓̌̇́̚͘͞d̴ͩ̑ͧ͑̓̓̒͒͗ͦͬ͂ͫͪͫ̎̾͏҉͍̟̜̫͓̠̰̦͔̥̝͓̭̺̟̘̕ͅo̸̙̥̳̜̯̩͎̟͖͕̝̎͆ͧ̓́͟eͩ͋ͪͨ̏̏ͯ͌҉͉̭̖́͞s̵̡̛̫͚̮͕̠̣̥͔̝͉̮͇̣͑͌ͫ̊̉͗́ͧ̎̽̐́ň̡̼̘̟̝̖̥̳̩̼͔͖͇̮͗ͩͧ̔͂ͩ̌͑̏ͩ͗ͨ͐̂́̀͞'͒̍̈́ͨ͊͊̔ͣ̑ͤ̇͏̵̴̘͎̞̺̘̝̪̗̥̞̰͞͝t̸̪̥͙̱̱̬͚̲͍͈͕̜̝̼̠ͥ̾ͧͫ͑ͭ͒ͮ̇̈ͦ͐̋̎̒̎́̚ ̡̪̰͈̻̗ͩ̾̐̅ͪ̓̏̃ͯ̔̿̒̾͝h̢̳̰̤͉͚̦ͩͥ̆ͫͣ͝a̸̢͇̝͇̱͓͍̭͎̺̎̾͋ͨ̽̅̕ͅv̗͕͉͙͎̄̍͋̇ͥ͞ͅe̷̷̜͍͔̲̜͉̣̱͇͕̘̲̮ͦͯ͊̾̍̒̓̈̑ͭ ̈́ͮͮ̌ͩͧ̈̊̐̈̌͑̎͏̧̘̞̹̙̱͈̀͡t̸̢͚̥͖̻̝͙͎̜̯̱̝̖͉̲ͤ͗ͬ̾̋̈́̉͊͜͞͝o͛̈͗͛́ͤͮ̈́͘͏҉҉̸͈̖̰̙̞͔̜̲ ̶̴͙̭̲͈͖̭͕̰͙̣͙́̃ͤ̀͆̀́͞b̸̵͋̏̍͆ͨ͛ͬ̌̃ͨͨͤͩ́͏̸̼̙̗̥e͍̟̹̠͆ͪ̌ͩ̊̃͌̓͂͑́̕͢͡͝ ͊ͮ̔ͩ̈̾͌͏̧̭͖̜̘̝̫̣͙̤̭̱̯̪͚͈̭͍͈̖S̸̈́ͮͨ͑ͮ̇͛͑ͯ҉̦̻͚̗̜̙̳̳̥eͯ͋̊ͥ̍̈ͩ̀̾̑͂͛͟͡͏̣͎̜͎̼̭̪̯̪̜̳̯̪̜̺á̧̇̏ͥͥ̓̃̒ͦ̑ͦ̆̀ͩ̈́́҉̙͖͇̹̣̭͖̱̤̣̘̬̠̬̬͇n̵̻̬͇̣̩̱͓̘̳͖̙ͣͮ͑̇̿̾ͣ̅̀̀̕ͅ

I bolted awake in a cold sweat. It wasn't the terror. Or a fear. There was a crawling sense of dread, running down my back. I took a deep breath, trying to keep my heart rate from going any faster.

I was alone. Seán had already gotten ready and must have left me to sleep in. I wasn't sure how I felt about that. There was no note, so I could only assume he had just gone to get food. I buried myself in the washcloth, trying to remember what happened in my sleep.

Had I had a nightmare? There had been something, but it wasn't like the others.

I screamed when the door opened.

"Oh sweet Jesus!"

I scrambled out of my hideaway to look over at Seán, who was trying to rebalance a plate of food.

"Uh, everything okay, Jack?" an unfamiliar voice called from down the hall. Seán looked at me, and once I nodded, he shouted back.

"Yeah! Sorry, jus' got spooked by a spider." There was a bit of silence that followed, then he slowly approached me, closing the door on his way. "You okay, aos sí?"

I took a deep breath and nodded. No point in worrying him. "Just a nightmare that had me on edge."

He frowned, then sat down on the bed, the plate of food nearby. Eggs, bacon, and some fruit. I assumed the usual and took a blueberry for myself. "Sure 's just a nightmare?"

I considered it for a moment, then sighed. "I don't know what it was. Usually I'm terrified after them, but this time I just felt... tense."

He tilted his head in thought as he munched a bit on some bacon. "Could be gettin' better."

I offered an awkward smile. "I hope so."

But something told me it wasn't.