#oroben

“Not going to lie, I'm beginning to feel like this was a bad idea.” You curled your fingers in your gloves, hoping they wouldn’t lose feeling anytime soon.

 “You and me both, babe.” Nia’s face was barely visible under her yellow woolly hat and chunky matching scarf.

 “You wanna just turn back around?”

 “Honestly, yes, but we are almost there, and the trek back is gonna take longer than getting to the place you got stuck in a fairy circle.”

 “Well, at least it isn't snowing anymore.” You could see in front of you this time, and the only sound that could be heard was the crunch of the snow beneath your feet. 

 “Okay, I trust you.”

 Nia pulled down her scarf so you could see her face properly and smiled, “I appreciate it.”

 It was only minutes despite it feeling like hours, but you finally made it to the place Nia had found you laying in the snow, yet the fae man was nowhere to be seen. 

 You looked to Nia who shrugged. “I won't be able to see him. I didn't step into the circle.”

 “Is that really how it works?”

 “I kind of made it up. Your guess is as good as mine at this point.”

 Pressing your lips together you turned slowly. The scenery may have been coated in snow, but his trousers were dark enough to be seen from a good way away. 

 “I can't see him.”

 “Okay, you know what, seeing as he isn't here yet, let's set down some ground rules. First -”

 “What do you mean by ‘yet’?” You asked, more than a little confused. 

 “We went out of our way to look for him, he's more than likely to show up.”

 “But what if he doesn't?”

 “Then we go home and hope he never shows up. Anyway, the rules. Don't say my name, at all. Don't give him your thanks ever again, even though you have to be polite, do not do that again.” She didn't look very convinced at the idea that you would accomplish that. “And whatever you do, do not agree to go back with him to the fairy world. Let's hope that's not his favour.”

 “You know it's extremely rude to talk about someone behind their back.”

 You made an undignified squeak, spinning around whilst frantically searching the treeline for the sight of him. 

 “Oh God, is he here?” Nia began to worriedly scour the trees with you. A few moments later he emerged from the trees, with that stupidly handsome smile on his face. 

 “I see him. There in front of us. I’d point but that’s rude.”

 “I can't see him…”

 “Oh, trust me, he's there.” The fae stepped forward a few steps before he stood still, standing far enough that you would have to raise your voice above normal speaking levels. 

 “Okay, whatever, he's probably doing it on purpose. Be polite and tell me whatever he says.”

 “Are you two quite done?”

 “Yeah, sorry,” You gave Nia’s hand a squeeze and took a deep breath before you faced him, “hello.”

 “Hello again, (Y/n). May I ask you a question?”

 “Of course, you can ask me a question.” You thought narrating what was going on would be best for Nia. 

 “Were you missing me so much that you came out looking for me?” If you were close enough, you were sure you'd be able to see a mischievous sparkle in his eye. 

 “I did come looking for you, yes, but it was so you could answer some questions I had. If you please.” You tacked the ‘please’ onto the end and prayed your smile looked sincere. 

 “What a pity. Well then, what are your questions?” 

 “Oh,” You didn't think you would make it this far, “one moment please!”

 He scoffed, then inclined his head and swept a hand in front of him in permission. You tugged Nia, who hadn't stopped staring at the place you indicated earlier, back a few steps. 

 “He said he's going to answer the questions we have.”

 “Apparently,” she kept her voice hushed, “fae can't lie. So, hopefully, he will give us straight answers. Ask him for his name. And what he wants to do with you. And anything else that comes to mind.” 

 “Hey,” You stared him straight in the face, “you can't lie, can you?”

 “I would have hoped you already knew that. You shouldn't ask someone if they're a liar.”

 “So, you can lie…?”

 “I can't lie.”

 “You can't lie. Alright then. Why can't my friend see you?”

 “Because she hasn't stepped into a fairy circle. Which is what I would say if I was a liar. But I can't, because I'm fae. She can't see me because I don't want her to see me.”

 “He doesn't want you to see him, that's why you can't see him.”  You resisted the urge to scrunch up your nose at that. “What's your name?”

 “Oroben. But I'm not sure why you asked. A human can't have power over a fae by knowing their name, silly.”

 “Your name is Oroben. Okay then.” You glanced at Nia, who just gave you a vague ‘I don't know’ gesture. You jumped when he growled. 

 “This is getting very annoying very quickly.”

 “Oh shit!” She cursed, tripping over herself in her attempt to step backwards. 

 “Are you okay -”

 “Don't say it!” She pointed at you accusingly before grasping your outheld hand. You pulled her up as you heard Oroben scoff. 

 “What a shame. I would have loved to hear her name too.”

 “You're right, he does look like snow incarnate.” She looked equal parts terrified and in awe.

 “Wait, you can see him?”

 “Yes,” he said, his voice stern, “hearing you repeat yourself was getting rather dull.”

 “So, Oroben. What was the favour you wanted?”

 “Favour?” He cocked a brow.

 Oh no. Did he not want anything? Did you just give him the idea to ask for something? That familiar feeling of panic was starting to creep into your system, yet again.

 “Ah, yes. The thanks you gave me. Take me to where you are staying and then I will tell you.”

 “No,” Nia looked at you and tried to whisper-yell, “that is mental, we can’t bring him back with us!”

 “Weren’t you the one who said I owed him a favour?!”

 “I did, but I didn’t think it would involve you bringing him back to our place.”

 “Do we have a choice?”

 “Are you refusing my request, (Y/n)?” Oroben called, his voice dripping with smugness.

 “No, no, no, we are going now, aren’t we?” You pinned Nia with a pointed stare and nudged her for good measure.

 “Fine.” She snapped at you before, turning on her heel and stalking away.

 The entire way back was silent - a silence that was filled with tension and threatened to choke the air out of your lungs. You were constantly checking behind you to see if Oroben was following you along the snowy path. Sometimes when you glanced back he wasn’t there, and then the next time you did he was following with a smirk on his pale lips. When you had arrived at the cottage, Nia cleared a space for herself on the front step and sat down, ignoring both Oroben and yourself.

 “So,” you awkwardly scratched your arm, “Oroben. Are you going to tell us what your favour is now?”

 Oroben was leaning against a tree on the edge of the stone path, glaring daggers at the humble little house. “I want to be able to enter that again.”

 “Wait, you can’t enter the house?” Nia asked, getting up and slowly surveying the cottage. She was doing so almost meticulously; her eyes were scanning the windowsills and the door.

 She knew something, and she wasn’t telling you - which was fair considering Oroben was standing right there. Still, it would have been nice to know.

 “No, I cannot, and I would like to be able to do so again. So,” he waved a hand dismissively, “fix it.”

 “Fix it?” You looked at the house incredulously, “Oroben, I don’t even know what’s stopping you in the first place!” 

 He sent a glare your way, arms crossed as he pushed himself away from the tree and stood directly in front of you. “You don’t. But she does.”

 Nia froze for a moment before she sighed and faced you both. “Yeah, I do. Sorry, (Y/n).”

 “You knew? How come I didn’t?”

 “When I found you standing inside the fairy circle, I blamed your idiocy on you being confused.” Oroben rolled his eyes, “Now I’m beginning to believe you actually are that stupid.”

 Nia’s jaw dropped while Oroben smiled wryly at your expense.

 “Okay, next time it’s bully-(Y/n)-week please let me know so I can mark it in my calendar and prepare in advance.”

 Nia placed a hand on your shoulder and gave it a squeeze before replying, “Sorry, honey.”

 “Yeah, yeah,” you shrugged her hand off and awkwardly looked between the two of them, “So, uh, what are the things that stop you from going into the house?”

 “The flowers in the window,” he turned up his nose and then pointed to a horseshoe that you didn’t even realise was hanging in the doorway, “and iron, get rid of it.”

 Nia looked like she wanted to punch him in the face but managed to refrain. “You want us to pull the flowers out?”

 “Yes,” Oroben said it with such resolve you were shocked still for a couple of seconds, unlike Nia, who looked like she was going to follow up on her urge to deck his lights out. However, before she could do anything you dragged her around the corner of the house and gave a half-hearted apology to Oroben.

 “Don’t do it.”

 “(Y/n), every time I come here I care for these flowers as if they were my children, and now some hoity-toity fae dude is telling me to rip them out?”

 “I know, I’m sorry.”

 “Ugh.” She rubbed her eyes with the palms of her hands. “It’s not your fault. Well, it is, but I’m not holding you accountable for it or anything, don’t worry.”

 “You’re the best.”

 “You know,” she pulled off her hat, making her hair spring up in multiple directions, “one of these days that isn’t gonna work on me anymore. And then what are you gonna do?”

 “Honestly? I don’t know. Cry, maybe grovel a little bit?”

 “You better,” she joked. She patted you on the head, then looked at her flowers sadly.

 After you gave Nia a quick hug, you rounded the corner to find Oroben standing on the steps, his hands reaching for the flowers on the windowsill as if he was going to pull them out. Then he sighed and retracted his hands, looking at both you with impatience written all over his face. 

 “Well? Are you two quite done?”

 “I’m not ripping them from their roots.” Nia gave Oroben the hardest stare you had ever seen her give another living thing. Suddenly you were glad she was on your side. “But I’ll move the pots so they aren’t blocking the window.”

 “You are not in a position to be making demands,” His voice was dangerously low, and you positioned yourself in between the two of them. You may have been the reason that this situation came to pass, but you were not under any circumstances going to let Nia get hurt for something she didn’t do.

 “I’m not the one who owes you a favour, they are. So, if you'll excuse me please, I would like to remove those flowerpots for you.”

 She stormed right past him and you had to admire her resolve - you probably would have listened to his instructions and followed them exactly, not demanded he take an alternative. Then again, Nia wasn’t the one who was on a metaphorical leash.

 “Aren’t you going to remove the horseshoes, (Y/n)?”

 That strange fuzzy feeling overtook your brain, and you ended up telling him how you felt about it before you could bite down on the words, “Can you stop doing that?”

 Oroben raised his white brows, then laughed like you told him the funniest joke he had ever heard. Within a split second he had grabbed the front of your coat and jerked you towards him. You were nose to nose and you instantly felt the blood drain from your face.

 Oroben then murmured in your ear, “While what your friend over there said is true, you are definitely not in a position to be making demands. So, when I asked you to take those wretched horseshoes down, your answer should have been ‘Yes, of course, Oroben.’”

 He released his grip and you stumbled back, hand on your chest, heart beating fast. Without a word you went to ask Nia for a step ladder. 

 ***

He glided through the halls, the disdain that was plastered on his face hadn’t moved an inch as he inspected every surface.

 “My grandparents are probably turning in their graves!” Nia wailed.

 You tried your best to comfort her, although she was doing a lot less sobbing and a lot more complaining. If you were in the proximity of a bed and not currently on the Livingroom floor you were sure she would have flung herself across it. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean for this to happen.”

 “I know you didn’t, honey,” she leaned her head on your shoulders, “It just sucks that this happened to us.”

 “Yeah. It does.” you agreed, sitting up straight when Oroben drifted through the door.

 “Is she done? I’m growing tired of her wallowing.” 

 Nia clenched her fists and gave you a pitying look, “Yeah, you’re on your own for this. I’m gonna go and put the pile of flower pots outside in the shed for now and figure out what I’m gonna do with them later.”

 “Hey, where are you -”

 “Bye (Y/n), remember your manners,” she sang as she carefully stepped around Oroben and headed to the front garden.

 You groaned, then realised Oroben was still in the room and apologised as quickly as you could. Oroben just raised his hand, silencing you as he gazed off in the direction Nia had disappeared to. “I can’t tell whether I like your friend or whether I want to drown her.”

 He laughed at your horrified expression, then hummed quietly to himself, “Well, if she really means that much to you maybe I’ll think twice before I do it.”

 Your brows shot up and you were thankful he was looking back to the front of the house. Did he really just say he would consider your feelings? Everything he had done up until this point made you sceptical.

 “So, Oroben...”

 “Yes?” He stepped into the light that shone through the bay window, then tentatively sat down cross-legged on the hardwood floor and basked in the sunlight. The rays lit up his snowy hair, creating a halo of sorts. He looked relaxed and beautiful in all his glory.

 “You were allowed to come into the house before?”

 “Before your friend's grandparents took this property it belonged to a woman. She was lovely and always welcomed my visits.” His eyes snapped open to glare at you, “Then your friend's grandparents decided visits from my kind were no longer welcome and put up those horrid fae repellents so no one could enter.”

 You were unsure as to how you were supposed to react to his death stare, settling for avoiding his stare and shuffling in your position awkwardly. Oroben sighed dramatically and lay gracefully on the floor, still within the pooling light. “It wasn’t your fault. Besides, I’ve fixed the mess they created now. As long as you don’t put anything back up when I leave, I believe your debt to me will have been paid.”

 Those few words gave you buckets of hope, but you were still curious. What was so important about this house that he felt like he deserved to walk around inside freely?

 “Why do you want to be allowed in so badly? Was their privacy really so insignificant to you?”

 “Privacy is one thing, and complete denial of access is an entirely different thing, dear (Y/n). I made it very clear that no one was to bother them, I had no qualms with them staying here.”

 You whistled, low and smooth before indulging him with your thoughts, “You must have a lot of power to be able to tell everyone what to do and where to go.”

 “Were you not aware that this entire woodland belongs to my father?”

 “I didn’t know fae existed until literally yesterday.”

 “Really?” Oroben gazed at you, surprise written all over his face. You never knew he could make such an expression. It was almost endearing. “Are you humans really that uneducated?”

 And now it’s not endearing anymore, you thought as you sighed through your nose, hoping your face didn’t let him know how much you wanted to hit him. “Yes, we are. But we are getting off topic. If no one bothered them, then why did Ni - I mean, my friend's grandparents put up all the stuff to stop you guys from getting in?”

 “Oh, I cannot wait for the day you allow your friend's name to accidentally slip through your pretty lips.” His grin was wolfish. The day you gave him Nia’s name would be a very cold day in hell indeed. He chuckled before he continued, “They didn’t put them up as soon as they moved here. It was a year or two afterwards. I know why they did it. Those conniving pixies were playing nasty little tricks on the old couple.” 

 “You really don’t like pixies, do you Oroben?”

 “No, I do not.” The curl of his lips was enough to tell you that. “They are the reason why people fear us so much. They don’t listen to anyone who is below the King, and even then they are difficult to placate. At best they're a nuisance, at worst they are downright cruel. I can’t believe we have the same blood running through our veins.” 

 “Well,” your curiosity had gotten the best of you as you slid across the floor, joining him in the sun, “what did they do?”

 Oroben raised a brow at you before closing his eyes and sighing. You noticed he did a lot of sighing. “It started off with them moving their belongings around the house. Then they began to steal them. It wasn’t long before they started leaving dead things on their front step, in their garden. I had finally managed to get them to leave the couple alone before I went to apologise. They took one look at me and the next I remember was waking up in the forest. I’m just thankful I know the woodland like the back of my hand or I would have been in a lot of trouble.”

 “Why can’t you remember?” You realised it was a stupid question as soon as it reached your ears, but it was out there and you couldn’t do much to take it back now.

 “Does your friend know any magic?” He asked, sitting up in such a languid way you were sure it was something only posing models could achieve.

 “Are you suggesting her nan blasted you back to the forest with magic?”

 “Until yesterday you didn’t know my kind existed, is magic really so farfetched?”

 “Okay, you got me there.”

 He smiled and made his way over to the window. “Your friend is almost done out there.”

 “I’m gonna make her some hot chocolate. She’s probably freezing.” Dusting off your jeans you started to head for the kitchen until Oroben placed his hand on your shoulder and spun you around again. He pressed something cool into the palm of your hand and whispered a small thanks into your ear. You cocked a brow at him and grinned.

 “Oroben, you thanked me. I think you owe me a favour now.”

 “Hardly.” He scoffed and moved away just as Nia walked through the door. “Well, I will take my leave. I will see you two again very soon. (Y/n). (Y/n)’s friend.”

 And with that, he was gone.

 “What, we took away the things that stopped him from coming in and now he thinks it’s free real estate or something?” 

 “Probably. Want something to drink?”

 “Please,” she shrugged out of her coat, “I’m freezing my ass off.”

 Nia followed you into the kitchen. You placed Oroben’s gift on the kitchen counter, not giving it a second glance as you went to grab milk from the fridge.

 “(Y/n),” you turned to see Nia holding Oroben’s gift - it was a gorgeous little heart-shaped locket, “where did you get this from?”

 “Oroben gave it to me, why?”

 She slammed her head down on the kitchen counter so violently it made you jump.

 “Nia…?” You asked warily.

 “Am I going to have to write you a list of what you can and can’t do?”

 “Please don’t tell me this is a don’t.”

 “Yes. Yes, it is. Don’t take gifts from fairies. That’s probably what he meant by ‘I’ll see you again soon.’ You owe him another favour, dumbass.”

It just stopped.

 Instead of the treacherous ice-ridden path, you were standing on plush grass. The howling wind in your ears disappeared and an orchestra of rustling leaves and bird songs took its place. Even your friend who had managed to march far ahead of you in the storm, their dark coat disappearing from your sight, replaced by the man standing in front of you.

 An odd-looking man with skin as white as the snow you were just pelted with, eyes as frosty as the lake near the cottage you were supposed to be heading towards. From the fine drapery of his shirt to the shine of his leather boots, he looked ethereal.

 “Hello there.”

 His voice was soft, could even be described as lilting. And if you weren’t in such a daze at the sudden change in scenery you may have admired him instead of the wary glance you sent his way.

 “Hello.”

 “What’s your name?” The man asked, tilting his head as he did so. His white hair fell in lovely waves, you noticed, and the smile plastered on his face was sugary sweet.

 “It’s (Y/n)…” You mumbled and his smile grew wider. 

 It was so bright that you felt the need to look anywhere but his face. You gazed up at the clear sky before you dropped your head to look at the floor. Surprise carved its way into your features as you inspected the grass. Amongst the wildflowers and bright blades, there was a ring of what looked like mushrooms around your feet, arranged in an almost perfect circle. If you took a couple of steps either way you would have reached the edge of the peculiar ring.

 “My, aren’t you looking a little under the weather, (Y/n)?” He leaned forward, hands tucked neatly behind his back with his white brows raised.

 The way he said your name was nothing short of enchanting, and you couldn’t help but look up and into his eyes. It was like he was the only thing you could focus on for that moment. And then your head cleared, and you couldn’t remember why you had looked up in the first place.

 “Where am I?” You asked, and his smile dropped while his stance straightened and stiffened.

 “It’s considered very rude to ignore a question you have been asked.”

 “Oh.” You stood, shivering in your wet clothes as you wrapped your arms around yourself. You gave him a half nod before replying. “I am looking a little under the weather, yes. That may be because I’m soaked and cold. It was snowing…”

 “No, it wasn’t.”

 “It was where I was a few minutes ago,” you insisted.

 “How interesting.” 

 “Where am I?” 

 He just stared at you through his lashes, it was enough to start to make you feel uncomfortable very quickly.

 “Do you really not know where you are?” You shook your head at his question. He let out the biggest, most mocking sigh you had ever heard in your entire life, “How tragic. Looks like you’re stuck here.”

 “Are you, are you not going to help me get back?” Your limbs felt heavy as the cold seeped into your bones. If you didn’t warm up soon you were sure you were going to die of the cold. The man just raised his brows at you and then clicked his tongue.

 “That depends, what are you going to give me in return?”

 “Give you in return? I don’t have any-” You were cut off by a string of laughter coming from your right, far into the lush trees. It sounded like children and was followed by music that was so charming you almost turned to follow.

 “I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” The man's voice was stern as he took a step forward, stopping just shy of the ring, “I don’t want those pixies meddling with my business.”

 “… Pixies?” You repeated, staring off into the trees. The man had said it as if it left a bitter taste in his mouth, his nose even scrunched a little.

 “Regardless!” He clapped his hands, startling your attention back to him. “I know what I want from you, dearest (Y/n).”

 “Yes?” You were apprehensive to say the very least.

 He smiled, bowing his head, “Your thanks.”

 “My thanks? That’s it?” You couldn’t believe your ears. Your thanks were nothing, you would have given your thanks to him every single night if he sent you home.

 He finally stepped into the circle as the music drew nearer, the harp notes hanging delicately in the air. With his warm hands planted firmly on your shoulders, he began to gently guide you back, until your heels grazed the edge of the circle.

 “And what do you say now that I am about to send you home?”

 “Thank you?”

 His eyes sparkled as that impressive smile settled on his face again.

 “Oh, you are very welcome.”

 And with a small push, you landed back in the snow.

 ***

 “Here you go, sweetie.”

 “Thank you.” You accepted the warm drink from her hands as she ran to go snatch some blankets from one of the bedrooms.

 “I’m so sorry.” This was the fifth time she had apologised after finding you laying down in the snow outside. She tugged the blankets around your shoulders and placed her hand against your forehead, her bronze eyes filled with concern. “I didn’t even realise you were missing until I called your name and you didn’t respond.”

 “It’s okay.”

 “No. No, it’s not okay. I should have been more responsible.” She was pacing in front of you now, mumbling and gesturing as if you weren’t there. The light from the fire flickered against her dark skin, making the furrows in her brow and the frown on her lips look even more prominent than they actually were.

 “Nia.” She stopped at the sound of your voice. “It’s okay. I’m fine. You don’t need to apologise. I should have been more careful, especially with the weather being so bad.”

 “I know.” Nia sighed. She turned and walked straight into the kitchen. You heard clinking before she emerged with her own cup, flicking off the kitchen light and settling next to you on the plush rug. 

 “Nia?” You poked her leg and she grunted, placing her cup on the floor and falling back to stare at the ceiling.

 “This was supposed to be a nice getaway. Instead, the weatherman lied to us and you’re probably going to get sick. What am I supposed to say to your parents? I can’t call them up and say ‘Ah, yes, hi, it’s Nia. Yeah, my best friend, your child, is super sick because I apparently don’t know how to navigate through the woodlands that I have visited hundreds of times before.’ Your mama would kill me.”

 “Then don’t call her unless I actually get sick?” you suggested, bringing up the cup to your lips and relishing in the heat it gave off.

 “Are you asking me or telling me?”

 “I’m telling you.”

 “Alright then. But if you do get ill the first thing I’m doing is ringing your mom. Even if she banishes me forever.” She sat up and cupped her mug in her hands.

 “You’re the best.” Reaching over you pulled her into a one-armed hug before snuggling up next to her.

 “Yeah, yeah.” She smiled.

 You two sat in comfortable silence. Listening to the fire crackle, hearing the wind whipping against the windows. It was nice.

 When Nia had downed the rest of her hot chocolate she started tapping her nails along the surface of her mug. She did so for a few minutes before she turned to face you.

 “(Y/n), what happened?”

 “What do you mean?” You tore your gaze from the windows. The snow was becoming lighter, thankfully, and the wind was settling down too.

 “When I saw you outside. After I realised you weren’t with me I started to panic and went back to look for you. And when I found you, you were just… standing there. Like you had seen something, and you were stuck to that spot. And then when I started calling your name, you stepped back and fell.”

 “Wait, you saw me before I fell?”

 “Why wouldn’t I?” 

 Nia looked more than a little confused at the statement and you debated whether telling her was really a good idea. She would probably think you were crazy, and she would definitely call your mom if she thought you were delirious from illness.

 “I don’t know. I wasn’t there.”

 “I mean, yeah, I know. I had to call your names a bunch of times before you even moved.”

 You sighed, deciding to tell her would be best. You wouldn’t forgive yourself if she never found out.

 “No. Like, I physically wasn’t there. I was somewhere else. It wasn’t snowing in the place that I was, but I was still wet. And there was a man and -”

 “Okay, you know what, I’m calling your mom, I’m sending you home. Hold on let me just -” Nia leaned back, reaching for her phone that was on the coffee table, but you grabbed her arm and pulled her back to you.

 “Nia, you’re not listening.” You were beginning to sound desperate now and you knew it, but you also knew you weren’t crazy, and you needed her to believe you, “There was a massive forest around me and music and the man said something about pixies. There was a weird mushroom circle -”

 “A weird mushroom circle?” That must have sparked something in her brain, because her eyes widened as she pulled herself from your grasp, running into the dimly lit hallway before disappearing from your sight. You heard her footsteps before you saw her appear in her oversized cable-knit jumper, clinging to a book with an expression that was two steps away from being frenzied.

 She practically tumbled into your lap in her haste, before scurrying to sit next to you and rapidly flip through the pages of the book.

 “A fairy circle. (Y/n), you stupid idiot, you stepped into a fairy circle.” She pointed to an image of little figures dancing inside of a ring of mushrooms.

 “A... fairy circle?”

 “Okay, remember how my grandparents would always bang on about how magical and stuff this place was? And how we all chalked it up to them being old and stuff? Well, they were insistent, let me tell you. I remember them talking to me about charms and spells I could do to keep things away or something of the sort.”

 “What does that have to do with anything?”

 She smacked your arm, “I’m getting to that! So let's say that fae and pixies and gnomes and all of that are true. Maybe my grandparents actually performed a ritual or whatever to keep this house safe? I have never seen a fairy or anything in the house, and I don’t go adventuring into the woods often. I prefer to go sit by the lake that’s here. Maybe fairy rings only grow in creepy secluded places like the woods and stuff? Like a rule on where the circles appear or something.”

 “I am not well versed in this topic at all, so if anything,” you looked at her, you could tell she was trying to suppress a smile, “you're the expert in this situation.”

 “Oh, thanks.” She batted her eyelashes at you then snorted. “I honestly thought you would think I was mad if I told you I believed in things like that.” Nia turned the pages slowly as her tone became a little more serious.

 “I thought you would think the same thing, honestly.”

 She flashed you a smile, but it faded much too soon.

 “You said you saw a man, right? What happened. I need to know exactly.”

 You recounted the event that took place, not leaving out any little detail. Everything from the way that he looked to the things that you told him. When you were finished she shoved you like you had said her hair looked too frizzy.

 “You gave him your name? And you gave him your thanks? Are you stupid? Never mind, why am I asking, you’re definitely stupid.”

 “Nia, stop bullying me and tell me why that's a bad thing!”

 “You gave him your name, right? It was only your first name, so I don’t think that's too bad. Giving your full name apparently gives a fairy power over you, I’m not sure what giving half of your name would do, but I guess we’re gonna find out soon enough. And you gave him your thanks, which mean you owe him a favour now.”

 “That doesn’t sound too bad?”

 Nia looked at you like you were the dumbest thing on legs and responded in a hushed voice, “Fae, fairies, whatever you want to call them, can take that favour in any way they want. Anything from asking you to make a flower crown to telling you to give your life to them.”

 Your stomach began to churn and knot, and you were certain it had nothing to do with the fact that you hadn’t eaten anything since lunch.

 “What was I supposed to do?”

 “Not talk to strangers? I swear, only you would stop and talk to a random person who showed up in the middle of nowhere.”

 “I was being polite!”

 “That’s the only good thing you did.” She shut the book and placed it by her feet, then crossed her legs and sighed, “Being impolite is even worse apparently.”

 You groaned and rolled onto your back “You know, I thought fae were small child-looking things with wings, not handsome men that looked that snow incarnate.”

 “They can appear in any form apparently, so don’t feel too bad.” Nia patted your leg affectionately in an attempt to soothe your nerves.

 “Great. I’m going to die indebted to a fairy.”

 “That’s assuming the guy doesn’t come and cash in his favour before then.”

 “Not helping Nia.” You glared at her, but there wasn’t really any malice behind it. 

 “Okay, just... I don’t know, stay in the house until you need to go back home. Maybe when you leave to go home he can’t follow because of some weird land fairy laws.”

 “I don’t want to be cooped up in here. The whole reason why we are out here is to actually to things in the woods and at the lake.”

 “I know… Hey, sweetie, don’t look so sad,” she cooed, petting your hair as she did so, “Do you wanna go back there tomorrow? It should stop snowing by then. Maybe we can figure something out by being at the place physically. He might never show his face again, or if he does you can at least try to get answers from him or something. I’ll be there to kick his ass if he tries something.”

 You laughed at the last bit. Were people even allowed to do that? That didn’t seem very polite at all.

 “I hope so. Thanks Nia, you’re the best.”

 “Don’t thank me yet, but you’re welcome. Let’s have something to eat and then head to bed for now. We can start fixing this mess tomorrow.”