The next morning, I’m woken up by the little brownie again. Or at least I assume it’s the brownie because he’s the one who’s been helping me this entire time. Today, he just knocks on the door though and when I go open the door, groggy, the food platter is on the floor.

I sigh. Man, my little temper tantrum is causing all sorts of problems. The brownie being scared of me depresses me more than anybody else though. Midir being scared might have but he isn’t. I discard the option of Jalkyn being scared depressing me more than the brownie as soon as it occurs to me. I don’t think Jalkyn would ever be scared of me. He’d just slap me with his powers like he did last time. It’s kind of weird though. If I had been fully demonic, I don’t know what would happen to him if he had done that. Bad things maybe? I dunno. I only go all demonic with anger; I’ve never been in a remotely sexual situation. But I have claws in my demonic form. And my fangs- which are always there, just generally little points, a little longer than the rest of my teeth- grow. Ick. No blow jobs when I’m demonic, that’s for sure. I make a mental note of it.

A knock on the door comes, but it’s too loud and measured and quick and professional sounding to be the brownies. I pout, but get up and yank on some silly faerie clothes- the only clothes I have at the moment- and answer the door. It’s Cayden.

I look at him neutrally. He thinks I’m dangerous. Not cool, man. He started it. Jerk off. Oh wait, I wonder how easy it would be to fuck with him? I’m cheered immensely by that thought and it brings me through my very fast etiquette lesson and out to the practice yards.

And then Midir is there which I think will make it difficult to get mad, although I’m thinking about my time with Jalkyn as soon as I see him. Man, was Jalkyn just fucking with me or is Midir really on top of my desired partner list? Eh, he could be. He’s super cute and here, unlike that super sexy human singer I like so much and I haven’t had sex with him before, so there’s that curiosity factor….

I shake my head, trying to clear the thoughts away. Bad thoughts, bad thoughts, bad thoughts. He’s going to be teaching me to fence and that is not a metaphor. I have to remind my brain of that a couple times.

I glance around the practice grounds without much interest, trying to distract myself. I can’t see very far, but I can see Cayden and Midir at least. Cayden and Iain must have been pretty far away last time.

Cayden hands me a... Something. It’s like a padded pole. I blink at it.

"You’ll only be using this for a couple days, until you have the basics down. This won’t hurt anyone even if something goes wrong."

I instantly focus on the ‘anyone.’ Not ‘you’, but ‘anyone.’ I try to tell myself I’m being sensitive, but they both know how to use swords- they aren’t going to get hurt.

"What is it?" I ask, hoping it’s something interesting enough to distract me a little.

"A wooden practice sword wrapped in blankets."

It is. I nearly start giggling right there. Oh god. I am strongly reminded of last summer. For some reason, some kids at my school decided they wanted to larp- live action role play. They started with seven boys and one girl and went the whole nine yards- costumes, rules, "magic spells", and pipes wrapped in blankets. Everything was really fake and it was laughed at when it began because the magic spells were similar to humans "magic spells" while larping- it was basically just saying something and the other person had to oblige.

But by the end of the summer, they had enough people to stage a full-out war on the field. There were over a hundred people participating. It was so fucking awesome. I got to be a Lieutenant Commander on the side of the Reds. My squad was named, "Pretty in Pink." I think my commander was making fun of my eyes, but we so totally owned and made all of the men we "killed" wear pink Victoria’s Secret lingerie.

It was fun.

And it just made this a lot more fun. I resist the urge to smirk. Larping time.

It turns out to be not near as fun. Cayden shows me the moves and then corrects me constantly as Midir, in effect, serves as a dummy for me to swing at, or to swing at me so I can block. And I find out I slump and have a very bad stance. Midir was incredibly patient while Cayden corrected me again and again and made me redo the strikes and blocks again and again.

He offered me these adorable little smiles and I got the feeling he was laughing at me a couple times but it was a nice laughing at. Really cute. Adorable.

When Cayden was finally satisfied with how I was standing, he started calling out, "High strike, middle strike, low strike."

I obediently repeat the moves, Midir countering effortlessly. I do the same when we switch, even when Cayden speeds up his count. He has to correct my stance a few times, but I manage. Heh, larping for the win. I guess we did get pretty good. We got really into it. All those people in sexy pink lingerie…

It’s when Cayden stops counting that the real fun begins. Midir picks up tempo, striking quickly and I have a moment to think ‘damn, he’s good’ before I end up flat on my back, a blanket covered wooden sword at my throat.

"Yield."

Hot damn, this boy just got sexier! Anyone who can wield long, hard objects this well gets a free pass to- cousin! This is my cousin!

I sigh and raise my arms, managing the ‘I surrender’ pose even while flat on my back on the ground.

God dammit, why do we have to be related?

 

 

The lesson goes well. Cayden releases me after which, during which he gives me another short lesson on manners. Apparently I hold my fork like a barbarian. Midir snickers during this and Iain is as far away from us as he can get, although Cayden joins him when he actually begins eating, leaving me and Midir alone together. Jalkyn’s missing completely. I don’t know if I should be worried or not- I haven’t been to enough of these little informal meals.

So, I choose not to and just focus on Midir.

Once again, so much sexier if we weren’t related. And if he wasn’t acting so shy! He was fine the entire morning and then as soon as Cayden left the room to join the shiny dragon man, he flushed a delicate pink, began pushing around his food, and refused to meet my eyes.

It’s really cute, but very non-conducive to me making a friend- well, a non-ainmhain friend. I’m not sure if Jalkyn counts as a friend or not, anyways.

Finally, after about two minutes, I get sick of it. "What’s the matter?"

Subtle, Sin. Real subtle. Oh well, Jalkyn told me personal questions are considered rude, but… showing emotions is considered showing weakness and I think I can get away with being rude if the other party is acting "weak." At least that’s the impression I got from Jalkyn. And besides, I can still the play the ‘barbaric half-breed card,’ right?

Midir’s blush darkens. "Um," he begins, shifting nervously. "S-Sorry about-" He has to pause to swallow. "About yesterday," he squeaks.

Yesterday? Oh! The sex on my bed thing. I have to bite my cheek to stop from laughing and instead just shrug. "It doesn’t matter."

"Well still," he mutters, still red. "Sorry."

So. Fucking. Cute.

I beam at him, I can’t stop myself.

He smiles back reluctantly.

We make very awkward small talk the rest of lunch. I make him laugh a couple times. Finally, he smiles at me and stands. "I have to go. Dad’s trying to teach me how to teleport today."

Dad? Oh right, Meara. Meara’s his dad. Ick.

Nonetheless, I no. "Tomorrow, I guess."

He smiles and nods before exiting, leaving me alone. I sigh and give up on the weird food. I leave, wandering around the halls for a bit, before admitting that I am, once again, lost. But… there’s… I have nothing to do until later… And no magic lesson today so it’s not like I have to worry about energy…

I grin and glance around. No one in sight. Good. A moment of concentration and the world is shifting around me. In a moment, I’m in Border Town, in Janie’s dorm room, on top of the rune she drew.

Janie looks up and a loud popping noise sounds. The guy she’s with scrambles for the blanket.

"Hi, Sin, long time no see. I’m a bit busy right now, so could you-"

"Bye," I say, laughing. Four days without me certainly have not changed Janie. I snicker and head over to Lonnie’s dorm.

---

The party’s awesome. I end up drinking way too much though and falling into bed with Lonnie.

The next morning, I snuggle closer to him as he yawns and wraps an around me.

"Mm, we should do this more often."

I wiggle a little. "No. Well, if you bottom," I amend.

He snickers. "Not on your life. I would if you weren’t so insatiable though."

I scowl at him. "Jerk off. It’s not like you aren’t."

Lonnie sniggers and leans down to kiss me.

My epic quest to get back to the faerie hills is derailed for a while.

When we’re done, Lonnie pets my hair, prompting me to wrinkle my nose and slap at his hand. "One, I am not a dog."

"Kitty," he counters, scratching behind my ear.

I slap it again. "Two, think about where that hand’s been, dickwad! Go get some Purell or something!"

He laughs. "My other hand was in bad places."

I roll my eyes and let myself flop bonelessly back on top of him. "What time is it anyway?"

He goes for his cell phone, squinting at it for a moment. "’Bout seven."

I blink. "Didn’t we go to bed at like five?"

"PM dork, not AM."

"Oh." I shut my eyes and then they shoot back open. "Fuck!" I shout, scrambling onto my feet. I slip on a pair of underwear- not sure whose it is- and nearly fall on my face but Lonnie catches me in time.

"What’s the rush? You’re not having morning-after regrets, or something, right?"

I snicker and ruffle his braids. "’Course not. How many times have we done this?"

He cocks his head to the side and grins at me. "But this is the first time we’ve been friends and had sex." There’s something a little unsure in his eyes.

I snicker and lean down to kiss him lightly on the lips. "I never ever regret sex."

I wonder if I’m going to regret those words as soon as I say them, but shrug it off. Doubt it.

"I’ve got to get back to the hills."

"Is there even a point now?"

I grin. "Er, get in less trouble?"

He laughs. "And what exactly are they going to do to you? Try and kill you?"

I grin reluctantly. I didn’t tell Lonnie about the incidences, but he knew. I’m assuming it was Janie, but it could have been his third eye too…. He’s just impossible to keep secrets from.

I lean in for one last kiss and then pull away, tucking one white and blue braid behind his ear. "We really should do this more often."

He grins devilishly at me and slaps my ass at which I glare at him half-heartedly.

"Off with ye, wench!"

I snort, flip him off, and grab the bag I packed last night when I popped by Myda’s. Real clothes and a toothbrush for the win! And then the worlds start shifting. It’s slower this time than usual. I’m tired. Border Town blurs and shifts away, and then it’s the bland area of the land betwixt, which really isn’t land at all. It’s just empty space. This is from what Border Town was made from all those years ago. The space is all colors and no colors at once. One moment I’m convinced its swirls of every color, the next it’s no colors. I pay half a mind to it, concentrating on that beacon.

And finally, I’m there. I let out my breath in relief- I was worried about making it for a second, it was going awfully slow- and then I’m grabbed from behind.

 My scream’s cut off when my breath’s knocked out of me as I’m slammed against something really hard. The wall. The stone wall. I grit my teeth, ignoring the pain, and crane my neck around. It’s Iain. And oh, fuck! He’s strong. His hand- his massive silver hand that looks suspiciously like dull metal and feels like it too- is curled around the back of my neck, holing me against the wall about a foot off the ground. He’s taller than me but not that much taller so he’s close. And it’s scary.

"What?!" I snap. Ow. My head is starting to hurt. And I was doing so well all day- I didn’t have a hangover or anything!

"Where have you been?" His voice is quiet and low, dangerous.

I tense. "Home," I snap.

"Why?"

Uh… Because there was a party? And I got to get drunk?

The silence drags on. His hand doesn’t tighten on my neck, but he doesn’t loosen it either.

I hear the door open but I can’t turn my head far enough to see.

"Oh, you’re back."

Jalkyn. He doesn’t sound angry. He sounds rather disinterested. Iain’s hand tightens.

"I would have expected you to stay wherever you were for a while, at least."

He circles around and comes into my line of sight. He’s coated in glamour again, looking as flawless as he can. He’s in all white again and has those stupid honeysuckle flowers woven into his hair.

"Let me tell you what’s wrong because lizard boy here obviously isn’t going to."

Iain’s hand tightens further and a soft growl trickles from his lips.

Dammit, Jalkyn, be nice for once! Seriously. I try to project that to him, but either he’s blocking his empathy or he’s ignoring me.

"See, everyone freaked out when you didn’t appear this morning. First, I got blamed for botching the healing somehow. Actually, I’m still being blamed, they just came up with more possible alternatives in case I never admit to botching it. Theory number two is that you jumped ship. Actually, I proposed that theory. I’m apparently the only one who knows you can teleport. Midir missed it the other day and no one believed me, so I guess that’s just my theory."

His words are bitter. He should sound bitter. He better sound something other than amused soon, because Iain’s gonna fucking strangle me!

"Theory number two for everyone else is that you’re hiding out somewhere. I don’t know how exactly they think you could hide from their spells, but no one answers me when I ask questions. Theory number three is that you were abducted by family enemies."

He snorts, expressing exactly what he things of that theory. I agree. That last one is stupid. So it the hiding one. When the fuck have I ever hid here? Admittedly, I’ve only been here for four days, but I think I’ve established that I’m aggressive and therefore not really the hiding type. And Jalkyn is obviously an amazing healer. I feel fine. Well, other than my head and neck where there is going to be a massive bruise tomorrow because of fucking Iain!

"Fabulous," I mutter. "Get off me!" I snarl at Iain.

"Everyone’s been freaking out about you all day, love," Jalkyn says. I glance over to find his hand on his hip. His eyebrow’s cocked. "Worried about you, or something similar."

I blink. Oh. Right. I guess it would kind of be weird to have someone disappear that you know doesn’t know the way around the area. Especially if your spells can’t find him.

"Won’t do it again," I mutter than realize the whole deal thing. Overnight, I add mentally. "Without warning," I add allowed. Hey, I can always tell Jalkyn or the brownie or someone else who won’t or can’t tell me no, right?

Iain growls and drops me, before storming out. I crumple. It takes me a moment to get the energy to stand.

Jalkyn floats over and helps me up. His hands are gentle and soft warmth emanates from them where he touches me.

I blink and crick my neck to the side. It doesn’t hurt. Neither does my head anymore. He healed me? What the fuck?

"Uh, thanks?" I mutter, still not sure.

"Don’t get used to it," he snaps.

I smile at him. "Do you want anything in return?"

"Lesson three," he snaps back. "Don’t make open offended offers to faeries. Always make an offer or wait for them to. Never just ask. God, especially with ainmhain faeries."

I grin cheekily at him. "Why?" I tap his chin, tilting his face up. "Gonna make me have sex with you?" I swoop down and plant a kiss on his lips.

"Yes," he hisses.

I smirk. "That’s not a chore, sweet cheeks." And I can test out my new shields! He won’t fuck with me too much if they fail if I’m doing what he wants me to do anyways, right? And besides, I’m… actually not particularly horny right now, Lonnie’s a good partner, but I usually am! And Jalkyn being a willing partner can only be a good thing.

He scowls at me, but flushes slightly. Cute!

I grin at him, trailing a hand a hand up and down his cloth covered thigh.

His head falls back a little and his lips part. He lets out a soft sound.

I smile and back him slowly onto the bed.

The door slamming against the wall as it’s thrown open.

We both freeze.

Oh god. It’s Cayden. Iain and Meara are both behind him. They all look pissed.

Jalkyn pulls me down and hisses, "Don’t move."

A subtle tingling spreads over me. Magic. And then there’s doubles of us. Well, a double of me. Just kind of sitting there.

"What?" I hiss at him.

"Shut up!" he whispers back.

"Sinjin," Cayden says sternly. "Where the hell have you been?"

I tense, but Jalkyn just makes my double shrug.

Iain snorts. "He said he returned home."

Cayden snorts and glares at me- er, my double. God, this is incredibly creepy.

"Is that true?"

My double shrugs then nods.

Cayden sighs, rubbing the bridge of his nose. He looks... exhausted? Annoyed? Frustrated? Whatever, he doesn't look happy. "Fine. Please, do not do it again."

My double nods in agreement.

"Wait a sec-" I start. He cuts me off by squeezing my length sharply. I let out a sound. I can't help it. And not a gasp or a hissed sound, a full out moan.

Cayden's eyes widen and now he's looking directly at us, the real us. The other two as well.

Jalkyn groans, annoyed, from underneath me as I start to panic. A moment later, all three's eyes swing back to the glamoured me. Cayden starts talking like nothing has happened.

I stare down at Jalkyn.

"I rolled them," he mutters, looking away. "They're not gonna catch you."

"Us," I correct.

He smiles bitterly up at me. "They've caught me with a dick up my ass before. All of them. One more time wouldn't make a difference. So they're not going to catch you."

I frown at him. "They're not going to realize what happened?" I did. When Jalkyn pretended to be Midir. It was really off, how could I have not noticed?

He shakes his head. "I'll make the transition... less abrupt that it was with you." He glanced at the three worriedly.

"What's the matter?"

He doesn't answer for a moment. "I'm currently completely controlling two blooded, full-grown faeries and a dragon's minds. It's difficult."

"Anything I can do?"

He glances at me. "Sex feeds magic."

I bristle. "I'm not having sex with you in front of them."

He shrugs. "Then just be quiet." His pallor is beginning to come back. Cayden is going on some long monologue about duty. It doesn't seem like it's going to end any time soon.

I sigh. "Fine, fine. Just... you promise it will hold?"

"If I'm going to break, I'll give you fair warning. Enough to get up and dressed."

I nod. That's the best that's going to happen. And I can't let Jalkyn exhaust more energy on account of me. He's being nice today. I don't know why, but he is.

He opens his legs and lets me crawl back between them. A couple minutes and we're back to where we were when we were interrupted. I just can’t get into it no matter what I do. I look down at Jalkyn and he's pale, but not like he was when he was exhausted. I look to where his gaze is directed. Oh shit. Iain is looking at us, his silver orbs narrowed and focused.

He just continues to glare at us silently as Cayden finishes up his speech. Meara snaps something that I don't even hear and then they walk out. We wait in silence until their voices are gone, dimmed to nothing. Jalkyn still looks panicked. I grab his hand and squeeze gently, but he doesn't react.

I frown and glare back at Iain. "What?" I finally snap, unable to take it anymore. God, I don't like being stared at! Especially when naked, right after sex, by a man that hates me, when my partner just attempted and failed to roll his mind.

Iain doesn't say anything, just glares at us for another long moment in silence and then leaves.

I stare after him. What the fucking hell?

Jalkyn pulls away from me and huddles into himself, shaking a little. "He scares the living shit out of me."

I frown and glance at him. His eyes are wide and he's pale, shaking. God, he's not kidding. He's not even hard anymore and he managed to keep his erection through holding onto glamour and then rolling their minds.

"Shit. Why?" He hasn't been nice to me, but he hasn't given me any reason to fear him either. Well, other than threats, but he hasn't done anything about it. "He's not allowed to hurt you."

Jalkyn shook his head. "Nuh-uh. I'm not like you. I'm not related by blood to the family. My only tie is dead and I never met her anyway."

"Tie?"

"My mother was your dad's wife, remember? That marriage is the only reason I'm related. Cayden still felt honor-bound to take me in, but he didn't have to technically even by the Honor Code. Meara wants me thrown back out and Iain hates me and wants me gone too, but Cayden won't let them. Says honor still demands it.”

“Oh.” I pause for a moment. “I’m confused.”

Jalkyn nods. “He means it by the original meaning of honor, not by the standards set forth by the Honor Code.”

I wait for a long moment. “What’s the Honor Code?” I finally ask when no answer seems to be forthcoming.

He blinks at me. “Oh. It’s a written set of standards of behavior. It’s basically law. The Wild Hunt won’t kill you, but breaking it pretty much means you lose all respect and your word is considered crap.”

“Oh. So Cayden…”

“Is actually really honorable, not just doing it to avoid punishment.”

“That’s, uh, nice, I guess.”

Jalkyn shrugs. “He pulled me out of my home and forces me to live here among high court fae who treat me like a whore and a dragon who wants to roast me alive.”

“Not so nice.”

Jalkyn sighed. “Honor codes fuck people over.”

I sigh, thinking of my own situation. I could be curled up in bed with Lonnie right now... "Yeah they do."

He smirks at me.

"Er, not that there's anything wrong with you! It's just-"

He cuts off my babbling. "I'm not a catch, love. I know that. You think I didn't get teased all the damn time for it? I'm ainmhain, I'm supposed to look perfect."

He slides off the bed and begins to pull on his clothes again. "Instead, I spend most of my time manipulating people into sleeping with me." He snorts and begins to redo his hair. "Getting people to sleep with you is supposed to be the easy part."

I sigh and slide off the bed as well, yanking my pants and boxers up from around my ankles. I kiss him on the cheek, ignoring his jump and startled stare. "You're not ugly-"

"Not attractive either."

"You've got pretty eyes and a killer bone structure. And you fuck like a fucking... I don't know. It's good though."

He smirks at me and pokes my chest. "I fuck like a whore."

"It's really freaking hot."

He grins at me.

"And besides, can't you just, like," I wave my hands vaguely. "Ainmhain faerie the hell outta people?"

He seems to get what I mean, despite my lack of eloquence and coherence. He actually glares at me. "Yeah sure," he snorts. Then he glares at me. "Technically, it counts as rape. Untechnically, it's rape. Fuck, if someone's shouting 'No, no! I didn't want it, you made me!' the next morning it is rape."

I raise an eyebrow. "That ever happen to you?"

"Nope."

Yeah. That's 'cause he fucks like a whore. Fucking amazing talent in bed, man. "You don't really seem to have a problem with using your powers on others."

He snorts. "If I don't have sex or touch them sexually, it's not rape. It's just sexual harassment, which I'm totally okay with."

I give him a disbelieving stare.

He gives me the finger. "I believe I should be able to tell a girl 'Hey, nice tits' and not get in trouble."

I can't help it; I laugh. "You're an awful person."

He grins and salutes me.

"And hey, you're bi?"

He nods. "Yeah. Side effect, I'm told, of being ainmhain."

I tilt my head to the side.  "I don't think Janie is..."

"That your ainmhain friend back home?"

I nod and he grins. "No worries. All of us give into it eventually. You'll get your chance."

I snort. "Ew."

His eyebrows shoot up. "You're a homo?"

My eyebrows rise. "The fucking a dude bit didn't give it away?"

He grins at me. "Fag."

"Bitch."

I think we might actually be able to be friends.