“Okay, stay here. I’m going to go find you some clothes.”
He gives me an indecipherable look. Then he shrugs.
“Fine.”
He settles down by a tree, rests his back against it, and pulls his knees up. His arms wrap around his legs and he rests his chin on his knees.
I swallow. “I will come back. I won’t be long.”
“Obviously,” he huffs without looking at me.
Sighing heavily, I turn and walk away.
It is getting dark by the time I return. Anxiety is already thrumming through me. Shoplifting was horrible. Hopefully, I’ll never have to do it again. It was made all the worst by my deep unease at leaving Mabon alone. Every minute felt like an hour.
And now I’ve finally made it back to the woods, only to find that he is not by the tree I left him sitting under.
Please, please let him be causing trouble and not actually in trouble. Better yet, please let him be bandaging up a tree or something else completely inane.
I step carefully through the trees. Calling out his name is bound to be a bad idea, for all sorts of reasons.
A glimmer of lavender catches my eye. It’s Mabon. Sitting under a different tree. Face to face with a fox. The fox’s ears twitch at my presence, then it lopes off. A flash of russet in the gloom.
“Did he have anything interesting to say?” I joke.
Mabon shrugs. “If you want to know where the good mice are.”
My lungs freeze for a moment. I force them to work again. I really cannot continue to get freaked out by every little thing. I’m about to cross the country with Mabon. I’ve been amongst fey for, I don’t even know how long ago it was that Mabon took me. Time has ceased to have any meaning. But the point is, I should be used to weirdness by now.
Wordlessly, I hand Mabon my plastic bag of pilfered clothes. He takes it gracefully.
“More gifts? At this rate, I’m going to have to give you my firstborn.”
I chuckle and shake my head. “You don’t need to do that.”
Mabon flows to his feet. “You don’t want my firstborn?”
I open my mouth, but no sound comes out.
“You are rejecting my firstborn? How dare you! They will be as beautiful as I am!”
Is that a trick of the light or is rage really making his eyes burn? Regardless, pissing Mabon off is a bad idea. It’s time consuming, if nothing else.
I hold up my hands. “I’m sorry! You are right. Your firstborn will be beautiful. I would be honoured.”
He glares at me for a moment longer. Then he sniffs disdainfully. “I don’t want to give you a child, anyway.”
I suck in a deep breath. “We need to get going. Put the clothes on.” I think a change of conversation is for the best, otherwise I’m only going to dig myself into an even deeper hole.
Mabon sniffs again and tosses his head, but he starts pulling clothes out of the bag. He holds up a pair of briefs.
“You may dress me. Human clothes are bizarre.”
The look he gives me is sly and conniving. He is such a little pervert. But his little ruse to get me near his junk isn’t fooling me.
I shake my head. “You can figure it out.”
His lips purse but he sees I’m onto him. He sighs dramatically and starts stepping into the underwear. I turn around.
