Declan couldfeelBo’s glare from across the room, ‘sweet’ or bloody well not.Everil had odd ideas of what constituted assweet.
“Need me to repeat that?”Antonio said, a beat too late as if he realized he’d rattled off the address without breath.
“No.But,” Declan paused, mulling over how to word the next part, “if you see me with a will-o’-the-wisp, he is a friend of the family.”
“Great.”Flat.
“My family.Not the one you were familiar with.I’m unable to travel without him.”
“Sure.That’s fine.Bring whoever you want.There’s a little pond with benches.I’ll, um, see you.”
The mobiles Declan knew once upon a time made a sound when disconnected.This one did not.Just silence and a dark screen gone bright with a background of Bo, Everil, and Talia.
“What the fuck was that about?”Bo asked, suspicious.Odd, being so protective over a man he’d allowed to be cursed and remain so.
“I’m not sure,” Declan replied truthfully, glancing to a quiet, considering Everil.“I’ll be off.Give Talia my regards.”
It’d not do to be dramatic, now.Better to leave to find his wayward ride, resolutely not thinking of the thin edge to Antonio’s words.Why, of all the monsters in the shadows, he’d called for Declan.
Florianrefusedtofinda way to wisp walk them to the park.(It was not, Florian also informed him, called a ‘wisp walk.’Declan, nearing four centuries alive, honestly didn’t care.Florian, perhaps edging toward a millennium and a half, didn’t care about Declan’s lack of caring.A terrible cycle of apathy.)
Rather, they stepped into the world just in front of Antonio’s garage and went to the park on foot.Quickly, yes, being fae and Declan more than a little concerned, but on foot nevertheless.
“You’re not going to tell me this is a bad idea?”Declan asked when the park came to view, lips pursed.“Color me surprised.”
“The last time I tried you said, and I quote, ‘I’ll likely regret this.It’s why we’ll have a snack first.’” Florian replied.
He was rolling his eyes.Declan could hear it.
“You like sweets.”
“Whelp,” Florian muttered, but it lacked heat.The fact his glamour was that of a man in his later years, middling brown skin lined with irritation, only cemented the picture of a scolding elder.Which, Declan supposed, he was.“Why do you insist on doing things like this?”
“I’m so alone, Mother,” Declan’s voice whispered in his memories.“I’m so tired of being alone.”
“I grew out of going out with the lads to test out what new brightly colored pills have hit the street,” Declan answered, mild and smiling.
Florian sighed.
“If Calloway is here, try to not kill him,” is what the wisp came back with, his dry voice harder at the edges than before.“His mother throws a nasty fuss when her precious baby breaks a nail.”
“I’m sure I don’t know what that’s like.”Declan allowed himself a quick grin at Florian’s surprised, short laugh.“Stay out of sight.I’ll be… however long I’ll be.”
Declan didn’t want to think about what Aisling would say when he returned to Faerie without a bond, and Declan still having come at a human's beck and call.The sad look and,“oh, hummingbird.”Voids, if word got back to Colm–
Declan’s brother had always said he was soft.Too eager to be liked.He hadn’t understood why Declan kept a friendship with Everil after Nimai’s entry strained their relationship and had voiced his anger when Declan agreed to stand witness to Everil and Bo’s oaths.
But how could he ignore someone reaching out to him in genuine need?It wasn’t in him.Not when they had treated him as they would anyone else, rather than as the feared thing lurking in the dark.It cost Declan little to meet the human.Just time.
Perhaps Declanwastoo soft.
Not that it mattered, not when he came upon the pond.Spotting Antonio was no great feat.Dark shirt and dark jeans still, his broad back to Declan.Even seated on the little wooden bench, the man moved constantly.Shifted in restless anxiety, with each adjustment tugging at Declan’s eyes like sunlight on sharp metal.
The human glanced over, tension writ on each line of his face.Hunted.The look of a man grasping at straws, and–
Declan faltered, blinking.He must have imagined the emotion that flickered across that roughly handsome face.There’d been nothing in their talk that would lead to Antonio lookinghappyto see Declan.
“Good evening,” Declan said after a beat, continuing his careful tread to the bench.“So to speak.”
