Whispering Suits

Gran is understandably pissed with me, but I'm more upset that Dan isn't talking to me. I think he thought I'd ran away, left him behind. It's taken a couple of days, but I've tried explaining the best I can that I would never just leave him. But it's hard when I have to lie to him. I have my first lesson with Cyrus today, and I've had to lie to both Dan and Gran and tell them I've started therapy. It's not a great lie, but it's the best reason I could come up with for why I might need to semi-regularly spend hours away from home. Gran did ask for the name of my therapist and so I figured the best lie is to tell the truth, so I told her that his name is Cyrus, and then lied and said he specialised in grief and sudden loss counselling and she stopped asking questions. I called the number Cyrus gave me earlier to order a car, I know I could walk back across town but the weather is truly horrendous again and honestly it's not like using the strange Faerie taxi isn't doing me any harm. The car pulls up, and I can't tell if it's the same Faerie as last time driving it, but I try not to think about it. I suppose I have to trust that anyone reporting to Cyrus is covered by our deal. I make sure my tarot deck is tucked safely away in my pocket where they can't see it. Just because Cyrus has extended me protection doesn't mean I can just blindly trust these Faeries. Not with something so important. The car ride is smooth, and the Faerie driving has the radio on. I try to place the song, but it doesn’t sound like anything I’ve heard before. Is there such a thing as Faerie radio? I don’t have time to really linger on the thought, as we pull up outside of Cyrus’s apartment. I’m surprised to see him standing outside, he looks anxious and has his hands stuck in his pockets. He seems to relax slightly as I get out of the car, his hot breath creating a puff of steam in the air as he exhales deeply. He gives a curt nod to the driver who peels away down the street with a screech. Cyrus opens the door, and I follow him inside in silence. The ride up to his flat is awkward, but I don’t know what to do or say. I wasn’t expecting him to be outside waiting, and I’m anxious about whatever has Cyrus on edge. He almost runs out of the lift, throwing his apartment door open he half shoves me through and slams it closed behind him. He rests his head against where his hand lays on the door and breathes out again. I can see the muscles in his shoulders move as the tension leaves them. “Cyrus, what is going on?” I say, finally having found my voice. I guess I was feeling pretty tense too, all the way up here I felt sick, but now that I’m inside his flat, I feel lighter. He turns and looks at me, he doesn’t look well. I don’t have much experience with Faeries, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen one look so run down. His eyes look a little darker than usual, and his hair seems to have lost its usual shine. He runs a hand through his hair, and I get the feeling he’s conflicted on what to say. “There’s been some, developments” he says, his voice missing its usual cocky-confidence. “Come on, I can explain better once we’re comfortable”. I don’t resist as he takes my hand and leads me to the living room, in fact I’m strangely glad to be near his warmth. I don’t know how to feel about the strange sense of calm that has come over me since I saw him, I hadn’t even realised it but these last few days had been hard. I guess he’s not the only one this bond is having an affect on. I sit down on the sofa, and look at the empty fireplace longingly. Then, with a flick of his wrist, Cyrus lights the waiting logs with a small burst of fire that he seemed to make out of thin air. I try not to look impressed, but it’s hard, it looked so natural for him. He catches me staring at him, and I try not to blush when he smiles. “So, it does go both ways, huh.” He says, his confidence clearly back in full force. “I don’t know what you mean” I say, trying my best to sound like I couldn’t care less, but I’m glad when he sits on the opposite sofa rather than next to me. I need to keep as far away from him as I can. “Sure” he says, resting back on the sofa, his features seem to have come to life again under the firelight and I can see glimpses of his gleaming copper eyes underneath the glamour he still has on. I wonder why he bothers, but I suppose I never said he had to show me his true form. I remind myself to focus, I can’t worry about what he might look like under that glamour, afterall, I’m not interested in him. This is just a business arrangement, anything I might be feeling is just the spell. It’s just magic. “Are you going to stop wasting time, and tell me what you mean by ‘there’s been developments’? Or do I have to guess?” I say, crossing my arms semi-defiantly. I’m trying to hide the fact that I’m shaking, despite the fire now roaring besides us I feel a chill in my bones. I could tell by the look on Cyrus’s face, something is wrong and I need to know what. Cyrus tilts his head back, so I can’t see his eyes anymore. “You don’t have to guess. I just don’t know where to start.” He sits up to look at me. “I need to know how much you understand, about my world, I mean. I know you spotted me as a Faerie from the beginning, but I don’t know how. Usually, mortals are completely clueless, but you’ve always seemed…well half clueless. I can tell you don’t know everything, after all if you did you wouldn’t have made our deal, but you know more than you’re letting on. So, why don’t we lay our metaphorical cards on the table. You tell me what you know, and then I can fill in the gaps.”