“Nnngh.” Jay leaned forward and rubbed the back of his neck. “Ugh. Maybe I should sleep on the bed.” He got out of the rocker and walked over to the bed. He hesitated a moment before tapping Isellta.
The fey startled awake. He regarded the human with wide-eyed fear. He tightened his grip on the pillow.
“Hey. It’s okay. It’s okay.” He held up his hands in a not-touching gesture. “I’m not gonna hurt you. I won’t even touch you. Okay?”
Isellta nodded.
“I’m getting a stiff neck from sleeping in that chair. Would you be okay if I slept on the bed?”
Isellta’s fingers kneaded the pillow.
“I swear I won’t touch you. Not even with my legs.”
“Jay. I…Robin. I don’t know. I don’t know what I did wrong. I don’t know. I…I don’t think he wants me anymore.”
Jay’s heart sank. “Why?”
“I don’t know. Maybe I’m overthinking it. Maybe I’m wrong. Maybe…” His wings fluttered. “Maybe he just wanted to go home.”
His wings went still.
“But. He left without looking back at me. He didn’t. He. I wanted to be sure that he was okay. I just wanted to see him one last time. I wanted to say good night to him. I wanted to tell him I love him one more time. But he left.” Isellta leaned his face against the pillow. “I think he was mad at me and I don’t understand why. It doesn’t make sense. I didn’t do anything wrong.”
“I’m sure you didn’t do anything…” He gaped.
Isellta set the pillow down and crept over to the guard. He gently stroked his arm. “Jay?”
“What if I brought him here?”
Isellta sat back on his feet. His hands lay quiet in his lap.
“Look. Whatever’s going on inside his head, you two need to battle it out and get it all resolved. I imagine he’s not any happier than you are right now. So, what if I go and bring him here?”
Isellta’s wings perked up.
“I’d drag him in here and lock the door and let you two battle out all of this emotional drama stuff.”
“Would you really do that for me?”
Jay smiled. “You know I would.”
Isellta threw himself at the human and hugged him.
Jay hugged him back. “I’d do anything to make you happy.”
“Could I come with you?”
“Sure. Why not?”
***
Robin chin-propped on his hands and stared at his half-finished drink.
It’s too bad vampires can’t get drunk, because I would love to be so freakin’ drunk right now.
“Hey, bro.” A vampire with cornrows sat next to him.
“Hey, Gyp.”
“Whatcha lookin’ so down for?”
“Love.”
“Wha? You sayin’ you’ve fallen?”
“Yeah. Fell pretty darn hard.”
“Who’s the lucky one?”
“Isellta, fey of the Nor’eastern Woods.”
“Chasin’ a fey, huh? She lovin’ you back?”
Robin picked up his drink and chugged it down. “She is actually a he.”
“WHAAAAAA? Since when do you hit on guys?”
“I don’t know! And I don’t freakin’ hit on guys. That ain’t my thing. It’s just…this fey. He has this stupid girly face and he has these stupid wings and he’s just this stupid skinny little…” He banged his fist on the table. “GAAAH! I look at him and I want to hold him in my arms and kiss him and oh! I wanna do so much more than that.”
“Bro. If you get all graphic on me, Imma gonna scream and run.”
“Stupid.”
“So. Why you drinkin’ your sorrows for?”
“I.” He banged the table again. “I’m a freakin’ idiot. That’s why. It took me forever to realize I had feelings for the little fool and now he’s miles away and. And I pushed him away. And I’m thinkin’ of…I’m thinkin’…Oh, I wish I were drunk.”
“Why?”
“Because I’m thinkin’ of ditching him.”
“He playin’ fey mind games on you?”
“No. But. Maybe. I.” Robin’s fist hit the table again. “I don’t even know what’s going on. I thought we were cool or hot or whatever the term is and then he goes and sells me out. I mean, what the heck? What am I supposed to do about that? What am I supposed to think? What? What am I? What?”
“Shoo! You got it on so many layers of bad.”
“I know. It’s makin’ me freakin’ crazy.”
“Shoo! You always been crazy. That’s why we’re bros. Our craziness complements each other.”
“True. I just. I don’t. I don’t wanna ditch him. I want him. I.” He saw Isellta smile at him. “I love him. I wanna just grab him up and kiss his stupid face.”
“Bro. That is THE weirdest thing I’ve gone and ever heard you say. But I’m gonna ignore the whole weirdness factor and just move on with it. So, you love him. Why don’t you go on over to him and be all, ‘Hey, man. You did dumb stuff at me. What gives? You got problems in your head? You got—‘ Well. You’re kind of mouthy. I’m plenty sure you can carry on from there.”
“Thanks a lot.” Robin picked up his glass and contemplated the half inch of alcohol still sitting inside.
Go to him.
“I wanna go to him, but what if he laughs right in my face?”
Gyp shrugged. “If you ain’t got any guts about doing a face-to-face, call him and download that whole spiel at him.”
“Stupid little thing doesn’t even have a phone. Besides all that, I wanna see him.”
“So? Go see him.”
“He’s in Henspence.”
“Henspence? Shoo! You chased him away good. Ain’t a dealbreaker, though. Go hop a train headin’ that way and barge into his place of residence and tell him what plus what equals WHAT?? You get me?”
Robin drank down the very last drop in his glass. “Yeah. I get ya. Thanks.”
Gyp clapped his hand on Robin’s shoulder. “Any time, bro.”
ambroseandelsie 