Silver settled in at the bar, waving to Erryc for his usual pint. Erryc nodded and kissed the top of Fawn’s head,
Silver’s brow creased. When the fuck did that develop? He shook his head, deciding that he didn’t care enough right now to go find which barflies he owed money on that for.
Erryc nodded a greeting toward Silver as he began filling a tankard. “Back for another job? I’ve had some people asking about you. Heard there was a huldira further up in the Whispering Woods that needed slaying—”
“Not tonight. Someone else can take that one,” Silver said, shaking his head. He knew it was doubtless better to throw himself headfirst into another job, to let the work fill his waking moments so he didn’t mope around uselessly. But the mere thought of going back out into the dark, the long, endless empty road, made him too tired to even consider it.
Erryc looked a little surprised, even a little concerned. “Everything alright?”
“Slept badly on the ground,” Silver grimaced, giving his neck a little roll as if to suggest the pain lived in a different muscle.
“Oh, that’s the worst. I had a floor board that disagreed with me the other night,” Erryc nodded sympathetically and slid the pint of ale down the bar. It passed over a faint stain down the length of the counter, left behind by the toadbird’s black ichor.
Silver found himself staring at it even as he lifted the tankard to his mouth. It made him think of that night he had met her. Worse, it made him think of her sitting in that glass, drenched in pollen wine, flaring bright and beautiful.
He swallowed hard, wishing he’d known what that had meant before. Maybe he wouldn’t have spent so much of his time with her being a prickly idiot.
Silver glanced up, realizing Erryc was still standing by, staring at him expectantly.
“So?”
“What do you mean, so?”
“Are you not going to tell me about the last job? What did the fey lady want?”
“Finished the job, end of story. I’ll move onto the next one, and,” Silver interrupted himself with another swig of his drink.And so would she. They were just briefly passing through one another’s lives, a singular intersection of paths that went on in opposite directions.
“And?”
“And that’s it,” Silver sighed with a bit of finality. Erryc always asked questions to keep him talking, and he appreciated that. It tended to be good for business to talk loudly about his adventures, and even occasionally charmed someone to his bed for the evening.
“Maybe the next one will have a better ending,” Erryc shrugged.
“A better beginning, too,” he muttered, and drained his drink in one long draught,
No shortage of concern in his expression, Erryc began, “You know, Silver, maybe the real treasure is—”
Silver belched, effectively cutting him off. “Being alone.”
Erryc nodded, taking his point. “Another ale?”
“No, bring me some of that sparkling pollen shit.”
Erryc stared for a moment, and seemed to think to ask a question, but closed his mouth when Silver lifted his eyes and met him with a glare.
“You don’t have to bother with the fancy glass, this time,” Silver called after Erryc’s retreating back, before he disappeared into the storage room.
Silver sighed and sank a little further into his seat. He didn’t consider himself to have many friends. Perhaps some amount of his loneliness was his own doing. He wasn’t trying to overlook the one he had here, but this wasn’t something talking about could ease. A few more drinks might help, though.
He’d meant to stop letting people come along on quests, and this was just another example to prove he should have stuck to that. He’d grown tired of having to watch people leave when they didn’t need his services anymore.
What was it worth to keep wanting to be someone’s everything, when it left such a hollow in him to be discarded after being only one or two things to someone?
Erryc returned, dropped off that single delicate wine glass again, and fled down to the other end of the bar to speak with someone else before Silver could complain.
Whatever, he’d try the wine in the vessel it came in. Though, he’d had a thought or two about licking it off the little fey that had managed to occupy every inch of his mind.
It was sweet with a sharp little bite, the drink nipping back with every taste. He grimaced at the thought that it was just like her, in every way.
