pennysheets | Swept into Faerie for @punched

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Swept into Faerie for @punched_hitler

The realms of faerie love their frivolity. Great gatherings with music and food and dancing and chatter. Soldier doesn't know which great fae lord this is; it isn't like it matters. He's not here to kill any of them. He's here to prevent anything from happening to his own master, so he keeps his attention on him, as is only appropriate.

Though he does find his gaze drifting from his master to the swirl of movement and color from the ballroom floor, from time to time. There are flashes of leaves and talons and raven wings among the dancers, in cloths and hair and eyes, but the rhythm is engaging, the melody is pleasant, and he knows the steps. His feet itch to move, even though he knows he could probably never keep up with the true faerie dancers, and might lose what little he has left of himself if he tries. He still kind of wants to.

He knows he mustn't ask. But apparently his master can tell what he wants, because he finds the cool eyes on him when his gaze wanders back where it belongs. He straightens up, guilty and afraid, but the old fae just smiles indulgently.

"Go on, pet," he says. "I am safe enough for now."

Soldier goes. He doesn't have the same grace as most of the people on that dance floor, as heavy as he is with the metal growing out of his bones, but he has some value as a dancer still. He spins the real fae around to the beat as it picks up in response to the newcomer, strange steps from another life that they manage to pick up with laughter and chattering amongst themselves-- not for him, never for him, but still pleasant to have around him-- and feels almost happy enough to smile. It won't last, it never lasts, and he might come away from the dance with new fangs hooked into his mind, but he doesn't care. He wants to dance.

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Soldier has, at least, been thoroughly schooled in the types of fae, so that he can ~~hunt them down on command~~ know who he's dealing with and not offend when in public settings. So he nods. "Called muruch in the Irish. Water spirits. Capable of minor shapeshifting in a similar fashion to a selkie." And yeah, mostly female, though that seems rude to point out, even if he is leading the guy like a dame around the dance floor.

"That's us," Steve confirms, if wryly. That self-deprecating tone is still there. "And have you also heard the bit about how, ah. Hideous the males are supposed to be?"

That part is also pretty well-known. Merrow males are not only vanishingly uncommon, but the few that do exist are not supposed to look like the one Soldier is currently waltzing around the floor.

"I do not take rumors about types of appearance at face value," Soldier says, partly politeness and partly out of an honest inability to tell what counts as attractive. Is Steve supposed to be hideous? Is he supposed to not be and that's the reason he sounds like he thinks he ought to be? Soldier doesn't know.

Still: "You don't seem hideous to me."

That makes Steve smile, almost bashfully, if Soldier might happen to pick up on such a thing. "Well. It's not actually a rumor," he says, because it is actually true. Those very few merrow men that exist don't look like Steve.

He didn't always look like this, either.

"But thanks," he adds, and now there's a hint of self-consciousness under it, too. "That's a really nice thing to say. A dance partner who's talented and kind, I'm definitely glad I came to this party."

Emotions are much easier to read than attractiveness, so Soldier definitely picks that up. Bashfulness suggests humility. Soldier has never yet met a fae who can, who would, be humble with a mortal. He is... curious.

"I don't think saying you don't seem hideous really counts as nice," he has to point out. "That's just common decency." There's a hint of Brooklyn to that, some long-dormant accent attempting to reassert itself.

That makes Steve laugh a little, if only because, "A thing sometimes lacking among the fae," he points out, and maybe he means it just in general, but he also might mean it about some fae in particular. Some certainly more than others, if nothing else.

But not an issue with his dance partner. The soft laughter dissolves into a smile, then, because he hears the hint of an accent and while he doesn't quite recognize it, it feels like he's getting to see more of the man than others might, and he likes that. It proves there's a personality under the professionalism. "You seem like a very decent sort of man," he adds. "I appreciate that. But my point was, I guess, I don't fit what they expect, so I don't always find things very... welcoming."

Considering he murders people for his master, and is in fact very good at it, Soldier would disagree about the decent thing. But arguing is also not safe, so he lets it be. "Making life hard for the different ones," he surmises instead with a sober nod. "It's the same everywhere, I guess."

The song ends, and Pierce is beckoning him. Possibly the song ended because Pierce was beckoning him. Soldier steps back from the merrow. "I need to go."

Steve's nodding as the music fades away and his dance partner steps back. He feels a distinct, almost surprising sense of loss, but - well. He had been enjoying himself much more than he'd expected, when he'd decided he ought to at least put in an appearance today.

His eyes flick over to Pierce as well, then back to the dark-haired man. "You don't seem like someone who gets much free time," he says, and he sounds unhappy about it.

Soldier hitches one shoulder, the fully flesh one, in a shrug, but he agrees, "No."

A pause, then he says, quickly and quietly, "There is a hunt at the Hill Holding on the next full moon. My master will be there." Which means his Soldier will also be there. If this merrow really wants to see him again, that's the next easy way to do it that doesn't include following him home. Soldier is not particularly hopeful that anything will come of it, but he wants that unhappy expression to go away.

Yeah, that's exactly what Steve had expected, and he starts to look a little resigned - but then Soldier goes on, and the message is clear. Steve's eyes sparkle a little; "A hunt, hm?" Not the type of event he would normally attend, but then, these are not normal circumstances.

The unhappy expression is definitely gone. "Maybe I'll find myself there, then. You never know."

The truth is, he will absolutely find himself there. As usual, he keeps to himself, mostly, lingering on the periphery dressed in clothes that are so deep blue they're almost black. But he also keeps his bright eyes out for Lord Pierce's entourage; particularly, one figure in said entourage. He doesn't want to approach too eagerly, though, given that it's not Pierce's attention he wants. So he watches, willing himself to wait for a good moment, and maybe tries to catch the Soldier's eye, if he can.

The weeks since the dance haven't been particularly busy ones. Soldier has only had one accident to arrange, and has mostly been at loose ends. Reading in the Pierce Lord Holding's library, practicing with his weapons and the arm, standing around at attention at his master's side, and thinking about a merrow whose name he doesn't even know. Pierce hadn't seemed fit to tell him when he returned to his side-- hadn't even commented on the dance-- and of course he hadn't asked.

Mostly his feelings about the man are of confusion. Nothing he'd done made sense, for a true fae interacting with a human. It gnaws at him, but it's not unpleasant to think about, either. Still, he fully expects to be forgotten by the fae, because humans are only noteworthy to the fae as tools or toys and Soldier is already owned thoroughly by a powerful Lord. Thus, he is definitely not looking for him among the gathering moonlit crowd at the hunt.

All of which means Soldier is surprised when he does see him lingering among the courtiers. The merrow from before is looking at him. Looking for him. His gaze hits Steve's, but it's brief, sliding away again after the moment of connection, and his expression doesn't change for more than that flicker of surprise, but it's not an unpleasant surprise. He can't leave his master's side yet, but there will be talks after the hunt itself when a Soldier would unwelcome, and he'll be free to slip away then.

Or Steve can try to join the actual hunting party. That could be fun, too.

There - he'd definitely caught the Soldier's gaze, if only for a second. Steve hides his smile, half-relieved and half-satisfied, behind one hand for a moment, watching the way the man moves with his master. It seems clear he'll be going on the hunt, and Steve is torn - he hates hunting, and is terrible at it to boot. He would much rather catch the Soldier alone later, and he thinks he can.

But what if he can't? They certainly can't have a meaningful conversation on said hunt, but on the other hand, it will mean he didn't come here only to leave with nothing. At least he'll have gotten a little time with the man, even if not the kind of time he'd like.

He'd better join the damn hunt. And try not to stick out too much. Oh, well - if he does, it'll at least give the rest of them something to laugh over later, and maybe it'll give him a better chance at a little more time with the human.

Steve will be sized up by one of the attendants, and he will be given a boar spear and the dubious warning, "Don't die."

Soldier, as fate would have it, also has a boar spear, given they're almost of a size, and humans, while more likely to die for stupid reasons, are still generally sturdier than any fae not made of stone or tree bark. So he takes pity on the newcomer and stands beside him. "Do you actually know how to use that?" he asks in an undertone.

Steve, who somehow doesn't necessarily appear worried about the warning - or, well, anything else - smiles at Soldier's question and says under his breath, just as quietly, "Absolutely no idea."

Then he pauses, and adds, "I do know not to hold the pointy end."

He doesn't think he'll get Soldier to crack a smile, he's far too well trained for that, clearly. And Steve certainly doesn't want to get him in trouble with his master, that's absolutely not the goal.

But maybe he'll smile on the inside.

Soldier heaves a little sigh. The urge is there, but he hasn't smiled in a long time. It will take more than that to make him crack. Still, it's nice of Steve to try, he thinks.

Instead of smiling, he demonstrates. Spear butt braced on the ground and with a foot just in case, point held low. "A boar is vicious. It will run up the spear to try and get to you even if you spit it cleanly. It will catch on the crossbar. But you must be braced well or it will push you with the spear and you'll wind up against a tree with a face full of angry pig."

Well, a sigh is something, after all. He'll take it.

Though his eyes are sharp and attentive as Soldier demonstrates how to use the spear. Steve copies him, trying to get the same angle of the butt against the ground, gripping the shaft in the same places. He's not bad at getting the gist, though of course he certainly lacks the training and repetition to get it exactly right.

"But it'll only come from the ground," he says, tone somehow both serious and almost playful. "Much more two-dimensional than other situations I've been in."

That's interesting. Soldier eyes Steve thoughtfully. "In the water?" he guesses. As a water fae, he probably fights underwater. That would be useful to learn about. Soldier has had to fight in three-dimensional space, but only in climbing, not in swimming.

But he hasn't been sent against water fae in their own kingdoms. Probably because he can't breathe underwater. It's something he probably ought to learn.

Steve nods, smiling a little - pleased, though he's also not surprised Soldier picked up on his meaning immediately. "We don't hunt the same way," he admits, nodding to the preparations taking place around them. "But we know how to defend ourselves, all the same."

And there are disagreements and skirmishes and all-out battles, of course. Merrows are only a very small population among several much larger kingdoms. As it is for the Irish people, so it is, it seems, for their fae as well.

"Is there anything else I should know? I'd hate to die by angry pig before I get to spend more time with you."

That has Soldier pausing again, giving Steve a slightly wary sidelong look. The interest of the fae is not often a safe thing, in his experience. "I am not that interesting," he says after a beat. "That anyone would care to spend time with me."

"Well, I beg to differ," Steve says, with a funny little smile, as he makes a show of looking around - and then back at Soldier. "I think you're the most interesting person here. And I want to spend time with you."

For better or worse, Steve does not have a lot of experience with humans. Or, really, a lot of people outside the pretty cloistered merrow-folk, past exchanging greetings at a festival or gathering here or there. And he wasn't overly popular even among his own people, before he left not long ago.

He doesn't realize that he might be making Soldier uncomfortable - at least, not more than the general wariness the man has shown.

That makes no sense at all, in Soldier's experience-- unless this otherwise friendly fae has ulterior motives. He's silent for a long moment, trying to wrestle with something that feels like it might be disappointment at the thought that the merrow probably just wants to use him for something, then says, "The hunt will be leaving shortly. If you stay close to me I can make sure no boars try to kill you."

If the merrow really does want something from him, there's not much he can do about it except make sure to stay close to Pierce once this hunt is over. He won't tell Pierce about it, because he knows what will happen then, but that doesn't mean he has to be easy to use, either.

"I'd appreciate it," Steve says, and it's playful, but he means it. He's sure he can take care of himself, but he's also going into utterly unfamiliar territory, and clearly Soldier knows what he's doing. It's good to have someone he trusts to stick close to.

Because he trusts this human, for better or worse. Many would say Steve trusts too easily, but he actually doesn't. Most fae are not trustworthy, and even less so if they figure out what he is. He knows it's not safe to be himself - and yet, this human makes it feel safe. Maybe because they're both outsiders. Neither of them really belong, and yet here they are.

A horn sounds and all around them, heads turn and bodies start to move. Steve lets out a breath, then shoulders his spear easily despite its size tilts his head in the direction of where people are congregating. "Maybe we'll get lucky and the boars are taking the night off."

"That would be very unlucky," Soldier comments quietly, motioning for the merrow to follow him, deciding to worry about what exactly he wants out of Soldier later. "If there are no boars. They will find other prey."

He remembers clearly the hunt where one of the other fae's human pets was transformed for the chase, instead. He does not want that to happen again. He knows his master wouldn't allow that to be him, he's too valuable, but-- he doesn't want it to happen again, anyway.

Steve only needs a few seconds to disentangle for himself what that might mean. His face goes a little dark. "Of course they will." He sighs. "I guess I will hope for boar, then."

He really, really hates hunting. But he's in it, now. Maybe at the least he can try to make sure anything they kill dies quickly.

"We're going to have to kill more than one boar, aren't we," he says, as they fall in with the group as it departs. "I hate killing. Animals most of all."

"You and I might not have to kill anything, it depends on where the boars go," Soldier says, glancing aside at him again. Most fae he knows enjoy the hunt, animals or not. Even if they don't like to dirty themselves participating directly, they still enjoy egging it on and certainly eating up the aftermath. It's a bit odd to find one who has no taste for it at all.

Still. This is what Soldier is for, among other things: taking those dirty tasks so his better don't have to. So he adds, "But if we find one. I can kill it. You don't need to if you don't want to."

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skipped ahead a little, but please feel free to fill in

exactly as planned :3

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