[Wild Roses] expansion of 'summons', pt. 2
Original prompt version is here.
The candy he placed on a sturdy oak table, just slightly off center, and he waited until he knew he was alone before saying the name, while focused on the gift.
His cousin popped out of thin air a few inches above the table, then dropped down crosslegged to sit next to the offering. Reached down, caught up the bar of candy and sniffed at it thoughtfully.
Flipped a small, filigree knife from a pocket as he unwrapped the chocolate one-handed, shaved off a precise, tiny curl, which he laid on his tongue and let dissolve before he asked, “and the icons aren’t good enough for you?”
“This way, I’m assured of an answer, Cousin.” He cracked a smile as his cousin laughed delightedly, his fangs unhidden and his hair a natural curly red. Aodh was dressed in a plain gray teeshirt and many pocketed nearly-the-same-shade-as-the-gift brown pants, trimmed in a dark red that crossed old blood and his cousin’s hair.
“And what would your question be, that gets me such offerings as this?” Aodh gestured with the package, eyebrows lifted in inquiry.
Isael took a deep breath, then let it out slowly, looking up at his cousin. “I need your help.”
The eyebrows lifted further, and Aodh tilted his head, in something that might be birdlike on someone else. “Oh, so?”
Isael bit off a sigh, and began listing out what he needed, and thought he might need. “I need to get out of this city--probably for a week or more, and I’d very much rather not be around people if I can possibly help it. So I need someplace safe, and a way to store food so I won’t accidentally poison myself if I’m not paying attention. You have some of the old card-keys, the ones Sebastian made--" he hesitated slightly as the corners of his cousin's mouth turned down, then forged on-- "before he figured out how to destroy them from a distance. I’d guess there’s one or two that might fit--he seems to like quiet, self-sufficient places. . . and if any one asks, you telling them that you borrowed me would be,” he bit his lip, “appreciated.”
“Conall ever finds out about this, he’s going to put me through another wall,” Aodh remarked conversationally, shaving another tiny curl of dark chocolate off the bar before it was stuffed away in a pocket--not the same pocket the knife had come from and disappeared into, Isael noted idly.
“That mean no?”
“Non,” the red head shook, shifting mid-shake to the spiky white thistle-fluff Isael had grown familiar with over long years. “You need the help, and you asked me.”
“You’re a much better liar than I am.”
Aodh turned slightly-too-gold eyes on him, head tilted a little to one side. “ . . . I deceive, cousin,” he said, distance deliberate, “You omit. There’s a difference between a lie of deception and a lie of omission, but both are lies.”
The candy he placed on a sturdy oak table, just slightly off center, and he waited until he knew he was alone before saying the name, while focused on the gift.
His cousin popped out of thin air a few inches above the table, then dropped down crosslegged to sit next to the offering. Reached down, caught up the bar of candy and sniffed at it thoughtfully.
Flipped a small, filigree knife from a pocket as he unwrapped the chocolate one-handed, shaved off a precise, tiny curl, which he laid on his tongue and let dissolve before he asked, “and the icons aren’t good enough for you?”
“This way, I’m assured of an answer, Cousin.” He cracked a smile as his cousin laughed delightedly, his fangs unhidden and his hair a natural curly red. Aodh was dressed in a plain gray teeshirt and many pocketed nearly-the-same-shade-as-the-gift brown pants, trimmed in a dark red that crossed old blood and his cousin’s hair.
“And what would your question be, that gets me such offerings as this?” Aodh gestured with the package, eyebrows lifted in inquiry.
Isael took a deep breath, then let it out slowly, looking up at his cousin. “I need your help.”
The eyebrows lifted further, and Aodh tilted his head, in something that might be birdlike on someone else. “Oh, so?”
Isael bit off a sigh, and began listing out what he needed, and thought he might need. “I need to get out of this city--probably for a week or more, and I’d very much rather not be around people if I can possibly help it. So I need someplace safe, and a way to store food so I won’t accidentally poison myself if I’m not paying attention. You have some of the old card-keys, the ones Sebastian made--" he hesitated slightly as the corners of his cousin's mouth turned down, then forged on-- "before he figured out how to destroy them from a distance. I’d guess there’s one or two that might fit--he seems to like quiet, self-sufficient places. . . and if any one asks, you telling them that you borrowed me would be,” he bit his lip, “appreciated.”
“Conall ever finds out about this, he’s going to put me through another wall,” Aodh remarked conversationally, shaving another tiny curl of dark chocolate off the bar before it was stuffed away in a pocket--not the same pocket the knife had come from and disappeared into, Isael noted idly.
“That mean no?”
“Non,” the red head shook, shifting mid-shake to the spiky white thistle-fluff Isael had grown familiar with over long years. “You need the help, and you asked me.”
“You’re a much better liar than I am.”
Aodh turned slightly-too-gold eyes on him, head tilted a little to one side. “ . . . I deceive, cousin,” he said, distance deliberate, “You omit. There’s a difference between a lie of deception and a lie of omission, but both are lies.”