:D

Gary didn't usually need to buy things from Moon Market. Most of the time, his family ate in the circle in the hollow, or if he wanted to make Taiwanese homecooking he'd forage plants from the forest and make do.

But Nicola was craving very specific things, now nine weeks pregnant, and Gary wasn't going to deny his pregnant promised whatever she wanted. As he placed something into his basket, he happened to look over and spot Marcy just a few feet away.

He smiled warmly and waved to her.

"Hey, Marcy. Still in town for summer?"

That was kind of how she was feeling now. Especially since it was summer and she didn't have her classes and her dormmates to keep her distracted. She had a place to stay, her mother sent her money so she could rent a room for the summer. She was lucky enough to have access to a kitchen.

But she was feeling a little more lonely than usual as she did her shopping, so when she heard a familiar voice and saw a familiar figure, she felt more compelled than usual to go toward him.

"Hi," she said softly, giving him a small, polite nod. "Yeah, I am. I, um, have some online classes so I figured it was better to stay local so if I needed to go to campus for something I could... I... how are you?" she eyed what he was grabbing off the shelf. "Do you, um... shop here often?"

Hadn't she just admitted to having a lot of questions? Wouldn't it be easier to just ask them?

Instead of saying anything about that though, he kept himself in check. Yeah...Marcy had every right to hesitate to rely on him for anything, even just answers to questions.

"I, um... I appreciate that," she gave a polite smile. "Th-Thank you. I will... remember you're here." She fidgeted with the bag of pixie dust before tucking it away.

"It was, uh, good to chat," she said. "I've got stuff to do to, um, prepare for finals and everything." Which was kind of true, but at the same time it definitely felt like lying. "I'll see you... next time, I guess? Or, uh, if I have any questions..."

She should agree and move on. She should say okay and thank you. But she just looked at the table in front of her. He said she didn't need to apologize but that was all Marcy wanted to do. It was all she ever wanted to do. Apologize for being an inconvenience, apologize for existing.

She shifted, finally look up at Gary. "I mean, I can't come by the hollow all that often anyway. At least not inside. So... I guess we don't have to worry about it too much." There was a bit of lightness to her tone, hopefully leaving the implication out there that that just meant they'd have to meet outside the hollow.

Or perhaps he'd take it as then they shouldn't meet up.

Marcy didn't know if she cared which way he took her words. Either way, this would still hurt for both of them.

Should I just tell her? was on the tip of his tongue. Nicola, his wife, Hattie Rose and Sadie's mother. He could, it'd be easy to blow up his life, it was a long time coming anyway.

"That's okay, I don't mind coming to town more." Gary said, sipping his tea. "It's not an inconvenience to see you."

He wished she knew that.

But he knew why she felt that, because he couldn't just claim her as his. Or wouldn't. Whichever it was.

It didn't matter what he said, she would feel that way. How could she not when she was part of a secret life?

Seeing her just made the secret harder to maintain. And one day, when the cats all got out of their bags, who would people blame? Who would they keep in their life and who would just keep being another stranger?

"Okay," she gave him another small nod. "Thank you. I... I'll keep that in mind if I um... have any more questions."

Gary's eyes widened, shocked by her questioning and the anger that tinged with it, but he wasn't offended. He deserved much worse and frankly he was glad Marcy was at least reacting instead of sitting there meekly.

"You said nothing you need to apologize for," he said simply.

He took a sip of his tea.

She should agree and move on. She should say okay and thank you. But she just looked at the table in front of her. He said she didn't need to apologize but that was all Marcy wanted to do. It was all she ever wanted to do. Apologize for being an inconvenience, apologize for existing.

She shifted, finally look up at Gary. "I mean, I can't come by the hollow all that often anyway. At least not inside. So... I guess we don't have to worry about it too much." There was a bit of lightness to her tone, hopefully leaving the implication out there that that just meant they'd have to meet outside the hollow.

Or perhaps he'd take it as then they shouldn't meet up.

Marcy didn't know if she cared which way he took her words. Either way, this would still hurt for both of them.

Okay, ouch. But fair. Really, what right did he have to be the slightest bit wounded by that?

Still, he carefully looked over at Marcy and said, "You know you can ask me, too."

"How much can I?" she asked, a little surprised by her own brazenness. "How often? Do you have a lot of young fairies coming to you specifically for guidance, or wouldn't it seem a little strange that the only one who was was a Taiwanese half-fairy?"

As soon as she said all that she looked down at the table between them, her face turning bright red.

"I... I'm sorry. I don't-- I shouldn't have..." she wanted to disappear. Too bad she wasn't a whole fairy and couldn't shrink down to pixie size and fly away. That would make so many of her problems so much easier to solve--or at least run away from.

For that blink, the scene transformed in front of her: the ruins disappeared, replaced by sparkling hallways of stone and marble. She took a sudden breath and tasted wine on her tongue.

Linnet had taken several steps forward without realizing it. She didn't hear Marcy offer her water at all. She simply kept talking, feeling thirsty and hungry all at once.

"Linnet?" she called after her friend, unsure where she was going or what she was following. Why was she following it?

She hurried after her, reaching out to lightly take her arm. She didn't want to startle her--was it like sleep walking? Was it dangerous to wake her? Was she awake? "Hey, Linnet, maybe we should sit for a moment? I don't--" she had some sort of far away look in her eye. She was somewhere entirely different than Marcy. Like she was dreaming. Like she was lost.

"Linnet??"

"Oh, yeah, Hattie Rose is always getting into something new. We're hoping the photography thing sticks for a while if only because her mother spent a good amount of money on a nice camera for her." Gary said. "So far she's making good use of it. And Sadie of course is demanding pictures taken all the time. It's already lasted longer than the painting phase."

He realized how widely he was smiling while talking about them and slowly tempered his enthusiasm.

"All I did was hangout with my friends when I was your age-- go to school, party, study, repeat." Gary said. "I don't remember sleeping, I know I did, but when I think about it it's like 'when did I have time?' The 80's was a great time to be in your twenties."

A beat.

"I think I ran into one of your friends when she collected dust in the hollow, um. Linnet? She seems nice."

She smiled through his little anectdote about himself. She didn't really party--she tried a few times, to little success. She did some mental math again, hearing he was in his 20s in the 80s. She needed to ask how old he was exactly. But then that meant asking more questions about being half fairy and what that meant for her own life expectancy and she... didn't love thinking about all that.

"Oh," she said, surprised. "Um, yeah. Linnet is great. She's a music talent. She's really sweet. She's... well, she's helped me learn a lot about that side of my life."

As soon as Linnet got on the ship to Delos, she'd started feelin' a lil...odd. She wasn't sure how to describe the feeling, so she chalked it all up to sea sickness, and spent half the trip with her eyes closed, putting her head on Aaron T's shoulder (he was a real trooper about letting her do that). The feeling didn't exactly go away, but when they'd arrived, she opened her eyes and felt mighty calm: the opposite of the exciteable sea, sending waves to the shore. But that wasn't a bad thing! This was a place of great history. She had stood in such places before and felt reverant. Maybe that's what these ruins called for now. Aaron and Linnet split at some point as they wandered the island. It happened real natural and Linnet found herself with Marcy instead. "This place is so beautiful," said Linnet, feeling almost breathless as they took their time walking through. "And a little sad? I can't explain it. I guess I'm just thinkin' about all the people who used to walk this way, when there were four walls and tile on the floor and all that."

Marcy

She was excited to go to Delos. There was something about being there that made her feel alive in a way she hadn’t before. There were so many stories left untold. There was something so deep in the world here that she just wanted to stick her hands into the ground and root to the spot. After wandering with Luca for a while, Marcy found herself wandering alone—well! Alone until Linnet found her! They fell in step as they explored. “It is,” Marcy agreed. “I know how you feel. There’s so much here that we’ll never know about these people.” She lightly touched the cool stone wall. The history was deep in there and she didn’t have enough pixie dust to pull something that old out. It didn’t seem to want to come out for her, either. So she had to just let it be. If the story wanted to be told, it would let her in. “It’s sad to think about these people. Like… they walked around in here, they laughed and cried here. Maybe they had a pet. They had favorite colors and least favorite meals and… now all we know is what the bones of their house looked like.”

Linnet

"Right..." Linnet murmured, though it sounded like she was only half-listening to Marcy. She definitely was listening! It was just that some of what Marcy said stirred an old deja vu inside of her, like she had this conversation before. Only that wasn't quite right...it was more like, she knew those answers. If she concentrated hard enough, she could tell Marcy exactly what kinds of pets romped through these temples and what they had for their meals and all those details. That didn't make sense, obviously. Linnet didn't know a thing about them old Greeks and the lives they had here. "We got to know some other things. Wasn't the tour guide saying about...well, how pottery and all that can tell us about their appetites?" Linnet said, frowning.

Marcy

She noticed Linnet's tone seemed far away, but she just assumed she was lost in thought as she contemplated the building around them. Marcy would love to sit with a pile of pixie dust and just pull stories from the stone, but she didn't want to deal with the customs to bring all that here. "Oh, yeah, that's right," Marcy nodded, agreeing. "Something about wear and stains, right?" She looked back at Linnet, noticing her expression. "Hey, are you alright? You look..." distressed was the word that was coming to mind, but that felt extreme. "Do you need some water? I've got extras in my bag."

That was so wild to him. The dorms closed for summer! Were her parents not concerned with where she lived during summer break? What if she slept on a park bench, would they know?

He wished he could offer her to stay with him, his promised, and their girls. It was entirely his fault he couldn't. So he supposed he had no room to judge her parents.

"They're good, yeah. Sadie's finally making friends at school it seems. We've met some of the other parents for playdates so I suppose she's getting on well now. That or she's a good liar, but she's too little to be good at that I think." Gary mused.

There was so much he could say but knew he shouldn't. That he was sad his kids were so big now, that he and his promised were weighing the pros and cons of having another baby, that Marcy would love them if she had the chance to know them.

"And Hattie Rose is still fighting me on university, but my partner agrees with me about it. She's started to get into photography along with everything else she does."

There was a beat.

"What about you? Um. Besides school and spending time in the forest. What do you like?"

Listening to Gary talk about his daughters always twisted something in her. He was clearly so proud of them and adored them more than anything. But she couldn't help that small drop of jealousy knowing Gary never boasted about her. And that he never would. She could go off and accomplish something huge in her life and he wouldn't turn to the person next to him and say 'that's my daughter.'

Sometimes she wondered if her mother was right. If it was for the best to keep her away from Gary and his life and the Hollow.

"She's very talented," Marcy said with a small smile. She didn't add her thoughts on those kinds of pressures on a teen and how much that could make them not want to pursue education at all. She didn't say how it could strain a relationship if they forced her to do something she didn't want to, or that letting her take a gap year wouldn't hurt. Who was she to give parenting advice?

"That's about it," Marcy said with a shrug. "Well, no, that's not true. I like video games and comics. I like playing D&D with my friends..." It was like Marcy forgot everything about herself now that she had to share it with him. That, or she worried it was too boring and not impressive enough. "I don't really do much else, though."

"In theory," Gary said. "But not really."

He shook his head slightly.

"The other dust-talents are very busy, they do the hard work. I just make sure everything runs smoothly. I step in wherever needed, but I run a pretty tight ship at work so everyone is good at staying on task." He explained. "No metaphorical fires to put out yet. And if there were, they must've figured it out without needing me. They try to do that-- I think they're afraid to ask me to handle things because I'm a harsh boss. They probably feel bad for Sadie and Hattie Rose, but I'm more chill with them."

"How's school going? Are you going to The States for the summer, to spend it with your parents?"

"How are things with them--Sadie and Hattie Rose?" she asked, though maybe she shouldn't have. It was always a touchy subject.

"I don't know. i haven't really thought about summer yet. I'm barely ready for spring break," she let out a small laugh. "I haven't talked to them about it yet though. They haven't brought it up to me either." Her parents were busy though. They had a lot to do. She didn't blame them or anything.

That…was probably not the question to ask if he wanted to actually have a conversation. He just didn’t know what to say to her. He never did.

“Good, good.” Thorns this was so awkward. Why did he have to make us weird last time by calling her his kid?

“Um—“ he reached into his pocket and put the pixie dust on the table. “It should be the same amount as last month. If you need more or — or need anything just let me know.”

"Thank you," she said politely. "It should be enough." She didn't really do much with it, anyway. Maybe she should ask him about it, about how to do more with it, or how to use her talent more. She should just talk to him.

But she couldn't bring herself to do it outright. Not unprompted.

"So, um... how are things at the Hollow?" she asked, her hands folded on the table in front of her. "Are you busier now that the season is about to change?"

@mar-mar-marbles

Gary and Marcy were meeting again for him to hand over her pixie dust. He hated that this was the extent of their relationship, but at the same time it was by his and Haley's design. He should be grateful Marcy didn't ask him to send another dust-talent in his place.

So he ordered himself a coffee and waited for Marcy.

When he saw her, he waved, small and polite, and waited for her to join him.

"Hey, Marcy." He said, his hand reaching into his pocket, but hesitating to pull the dust out just yet. Why? With his other hand, he downed some of the now lukewarm coffee. "Are you warm enough? Um, with the weather?"

Just one more way she felt a little out of place.

"Hello," she said politely as she walked up, taking her seat. "Um... Yeah, I am. I... wear a few layers and like, thick socks. So that helps." This meeting already felt like a mess.

@fairygarykao

Mutual Pining

@wintersselene & @mar-mar-marbles

THIS! IS! THAT! GOOD! SHIT!!!!

Mutual pining my beloved! Not only is it mutual pining, oh no. It’s mutual “unrequited” pining!!!! It’s mutual “unrequited” OBLIVIOUS pining!!!!!! God I love disaster gays!!!!

Individually, these girls have so much going on. Selena with her magic, Marcy with her family situation; it’s a lot. And yet these two are able to find time to have big obvious crushes on each other! They don’t have the time to process nor acknowledge those crushes but hey, we can’t win ‘em all!

The basis of all good romance stories is two-fold: why aren’t they together, and why do they need to be? Marcy and Selene both crave community and connection and are able to meet each other at their own levels and give each other what they need emotionally. They need each other and frankly deserve some happiness in their lives!

Unfortunately, they’re both inexperienced, oblivious little wlws, so who knows when or if they’re going to figure this out. They will probably need a nudge. Or a swift kick in the ass.

"How's it going?" Part of her wanted to dive right in to the whole Taehyun situation, but she felt strangely anxious about bringing it up. She had felt a weird pit in her stomach every time she thought about the kiss, to be completely honest.

She hoped that if they just started talking about something else, it would go away. She hoped that her nerves weren't written all over her face--or worse, seeping out into the room. She didn't want to dump all of this on Marcy!

"It's going alright," Marcy said with a nod and a shrug. "Classes are going fine.

She felt a little awkward, which she knew she shouldn't. She didn't know a normal way to ask Selene 'how was your new years?' in a way that didn't raise suspicion. If she wanted to talk about it, she would. And Marcy would listen and say all the right things, like when she heard June talking on the phone with her sisters. Lots of 'no!'s and 'omg's and 'he did not!'s and so on.

"So how are you? How have things been with, um... you?"

He tilted the device, showing off the little screen on its side. It was an outdated one, so the screen wasn’t a touch screen or anything fancy like some other institutions had. Just black pixels on a grey screen. Thanks Pride U! 

“Right now it’s pretty steady,” he explained. The waves were small. Consistent. “But if it starts beeping more, then we’re in an area with more interdimensional energy. Demons like to hang out there.”

He continued to walk, stepping over a fallen log. His boots crunched against the leaves.

“If it does surge while we’re out, we should probably run,” he added. 

Normally, he’d linger — since he was confident in his ability to not be possessed — but he wasn’t about to risk this girl’s life. 

She peered over at the screen, enthralled, wondering if she could find a way to justify a demonology course for one of her majors.

"That makes sense. So... do the demons hang out at the areas with interdimensional energy because the barriers between dimensions are thinner there, or are they thinner and the activity is so high because the demons are hanging out there?" she asked, following along.

"Yeah, I've had my fair share of running from things in these woods. Nothing like a demon, though. If it surges does that just mean there's a demon nearby or one is actively trying to tear through into this dimension? Does the power of the demon affect the surge level too?"

She hoped she wasn't being annoying with her questions.

The girl nods and Shere smiles at her. Then, he sees her confusion. She mustn't be familiar with them but, then, where was she –?

"Mm they are. But I am only one person, can't change it all over night. I can only do good as I'm able to," he murmurs, finishing off the wing before turning and leaning back to look at her, careful not to smudge the drawing.

Still though, it was sad to hear someone say that part out loud.

She gave her professor a small smile and a nod. His smile was small but it was a touch more genuine than when she walked into the room and that was all she could have asked for.

Pretty soon, other people started filing into the class, and Marcy didn't want to risk losing a good seat.

"It was really nice getting to know you a little more, Professor," Marcy said with a short, polite bow of her head. "I hope we can chat again some time." With that, she hurried off to take a seat in the front row. She had a feeling she was really going to like this class.