fandomhigh | Fandom Library, Wednesday, February 4th

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Fandom Library, Wednesday, February 4th

Arden couldn't skip two weeks of work, even though she felt 'bitten by a gremlin' was a really good excuse for missing one, and so she was back behind the circulation desk today. With a book. And determinedly ignoring everything the gremlins did, so long as they were doing it more than five feet away from her. See if the little jerks got any attention from her for awhile.

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"Yeah," Arden said. "Does your world have laws against telling regular folks about magic, too?"

"No laws about it, it...well I guess my worldly experience is limited but my understandin' is that most people would dismiss you as tellin' tall tales. Or it's like a dirty secret you ain't supposed t' gossip about. Everyone knows th' local midwife don't just help deliver babies but we don't talk about that with folk who are from 'away'. That sorta thing.

"So you can tell 'em but it don't do no good a lotta the time."

"Gotcha," Arden said, a wry smile tugging at her mouth. "Mine does. Nobody who knows about the Otherside is allowed to tell a human about, not without seriously extenuating circumstances, and even then..."

Oh look! Water!

“Does it have anything’ to do with the witch trials? That was parta our history lessons, like the whole mess in Salem.

“Course Granny said most o’ that didn’t actually have anything’ t’ do with witches.”

Arden shook her head. "No, that was purely human nonsense. Othersiders just don't like how we're outnumbered by humanity and, more specifically, humanity's guns. We get by by hiding in plain sight. Well. Most of us. Them. Whatever."

"I ain't sure guns are useful against haints an' such back home. Witches an' other folks who got the gift are human an' mortal so unless they made a deal with somethin' they'd be just as vulnerable I 'spose. But I'm gettin' th' impression that all magical folks in your world ain't human?" he asked it without judgement, merely curiosity. He might not have been quite as blunt if it had been any other day.

"No, most of them aren't," Arden said. And the next words were dragged out of her stupid mouth before she could even reach for her water. "I'm not."

He supposed he might have gathered that, upon reflection later but as it was that was kind of fascinating to hear. He had not yet done enough reading to be familiar with more than basic folktales on fae and the like to really be able to contextualize it though.

"Oh wow! What-" Nope! He was quick enough with the water, mostly. That would have been very rude to ask, however curious he might be.

"I've sometimes questioned whether I am. A manifestation of vengeance called me a haint when I was a kid and I was never able to completely convince myself it was wrong."

That time he'd actually chosen not to stop himself. He hoped it would create more common ground.

"In my world, there are ways for humans to become Othersiders," Arden said slowly, very clearly still new at talking about this topic so openly. "Vampires can get permission to sire a human. Shifters can pass along their abilities via a bite. And no one is entirely sure if witches are humans or something else; not even witches know, I think. And sometimes humans can get magic powers, though I'm not sure how. But...if it helps any...I've never heard about a human turning into anything like you've talked about."

"It might have been on account that I died." He was moving the bottle to his mouth but actually stopped. "Oh...I haven't thought of that in I dunno how long. I told my adopted brother Floyd that I could pretend to be like anyone else. I think I was pretendin' that I just got knocked out. But I guess I can't lie t' myself t'day either."

Deep down he had known, and it hadn't been any supernatural influence that kept him from acknowledging it. That thing seemed to be having no trouble resisting the truth day effect.

"You died?!" Arden asked, eyes wide.

"We were playin', me, my brother an' his friends. But somethin' pretendin' t' be Curt's daddy came t' fetch 'im. Curt kep' screamin' 'you ain't my daddy you ain't'. His daddy was dead an' this thing...I could see it for what it was, but I didn't really understand. I told it t' leave Curt alone, thought just by tellin' it off, standin' up to it it would back down.

"But it hit me." His hand went up to his neck. "I felt my neck..." Water.

"I heard my first family callin' t' me but the door slammed shut an' I woke up. I didn't hurt no more but it was dark, an' everyone was gone. They'd ran when it happened an' the school house was closest. I could hear Floyd inside yellin' they had t' go back for me but just as the teacher, Miss Belle...huh, heh, Miss Belle. No relation t' your fellow aide."

Another drink. He needed to at least try to collect his thoughts.

"It was shortly after that I had t' leave my second family. I couldn't pretend no more."

And that had been only a few months after losing his first family.

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