Joseph Stevens grabbed himself a cup of coffee from a hotdog vendor outside the publishing headquarters of Astounding Fantasy. The editor and chief then headed in, sipping from his steaming cup as he held a copy of The Times under his arm. As he walked through the corridor down to his office, he saw a middle-aged bearded man chatting away with his secretary. As the young woman started laughing, the man turned with a grin to Joseph. "And is this the editor then?" the man asked in an Irish accent, a twinkle in his eye as he flashed a smile. "Yes, I am." he answered as his secretary slowly stopped giggling, "My name's Joseph Stevens." "Ah, good." the other man said, "I understand ye have a reporter who's interviewing the author Mia Shea." "Yes we do, Miss Arine Lloyd. She's not here though, so..." "Oh, that's too bad." he said, "Ye see, I'm Miss Shea's literary agent, and Miss... Lloyd," he said, pausing to see by Joseph's reaction whether or not he got the name right, "Yes, Miss Lloyd wanted me to answer some questions about Miss Shea as well. Sort of flesh out the article, you see." "Oh, I see." Stevens said, "Well, she's not here, but if you like I could give you the address of the hotel she's currently staying at." "Wonderful." the man said as he straightened his glasses, "You have no idea how happy this makes me." he added with a smile. ------ Arine looked at the group of fairies in front of her. There was the elder, whom Arine learned was known as 'Athas, then there was the male fairy Ogma and the golden haired granddaughter of 'Athas named Eriu. Finally, there was the squirrel sitting next to the elder. As the small animal finished off its tea Arine tilted her head a bit, "I've never seen a squirrel that could drink tea." she admitted. "Aye, I'll be fancying ye hav'n't." Eriu said, "Troth be told, she tisn't really a squirrel." "Really?" Arine asked as the elder flew over to her, "Then what..." "Shhh." 'Athas said as it landed on Arine's shoulder. As Arine turned to her the fairy leaned forward, "Ye said ye be wantin' my advice, remember. Well listen to what I says," she said just before reaching out to turn the blonde reporter's face away from her. She them began to whisper something in Arine's ear, followed by a small kiss to her earlobe. She then flew back over to her fellow fairies. Arine put her hand up to her ear, "You... You kissed me." she said, "Why?" "So ye won't be forgettin' what I told ye." the fairy explained, "'Tis a simple bindin' spell o' sorts, ye see. Now do you remember what I told ye?" Arine nodded her head, "T'a gr'a agam..." "Not me ye silly chil'." the fairy said, at which point the other two started to laugh, "Mia. Tell it to Mia." Arine looked a bit nervous, "You don't think it's too soon?" "Ye know well how she feels." Ogma said, "She 'tis an elf, and an elf knows wit one look o' the eye..." "Yes, I think I can see that." Arine said, "Are all elves as affectionate as she is?" Suddenly the room became very somber. Even the squirrel seemed to look down. Arine realized that somehow she'd brought up something painful, but before she could inquire any further, Mia came back into the room in her nightgown, whistling a merry tune and carrying a fresh pot of tea and a teacup for the blonde. "Sorry it took so long, I..." Mia's voice drifted as she noticed the sad looks in the room, "My goodness, what's wrong?" "I... I'm afraid it's my fault." Arine said, "I asked if all elves were as affectionate as you are, and it would appear that I inadvertently did wrong to ask." Mia looked at Arine silently for a second or two before passing her the cup. She then poured her some tea, and turned around to pick up her own cup. "It's alright." she said with her back to Arine, "You didn't know. You see," she said as she turned back to the reporter, "There are no more elves. I'm the last." Arine's eyes widened as she looked at the brunette in front of her. "What?" she asked, "But... But how? Why?" Mia sat next to the reporter, "Partly marriage with humans." she began in a somber tone as she poured herself a fresh cup as well, "But mostly a blood feud that forced me to leave Ireland, taking a group of the daoine sidhe with me. All my kinfolk are gone now, Arine. Someday, when I pass away, the elf will go the way of the dragon, the mermaid and the unicorn." Arine looked at the brunette in front of her for a few seconds before putting her cup down on the small table in front of her. She then reached over and stroked Mia's arm. The elf closed her eyes as she leaned her body over, resting her head on the blonde's shoulder. As Arine wrapped her left arm around her shoulders, 'Athas and the other fairies left the room, the squirrel very quickly following by crawling up one of the bookshelves and leaping for the window sill. "You poor thing." Arine whispered, adding, "You must be terribly lonely." "I have the sidhe (fairies) to keep me company." she said as she closed her eyes, "And there's a witch or two who visit occasionally. And I have Althor and my cat Dubh. But..." her voice drifted a bit, "But even so, yes. It does get lonely. I can... I can still remember how terrible it was when Katie died." "Katie?" Arine asked. Mia nodded. "Katie Flanagan, my first sweetheart. We met a few years after I arrived in the US. Being Irish herself, she wasn't quite as scared as you were about finding out about who I was, and about the sidhe. There was still a bit of adjusting for her to do in the beginning of course, but we stayed together for close to fifty years before she passed away. If it hadn't been for my friends among the fey folk, I don't think I would've been able to manage." "Fifty years?" the blonde asked, "Most straight marriages don't even last that long." Mia smiled, "When an elf falls in love, they do so on first site and usually only ever have one relationship. I never expected to love another. I never expected to meet you." Arine smiled as she continued to hold Mia close to her, feeling the writer's breath against her neck. "Mia." she finally said, "I have to leave soon, to go back to my hotel and write my article. Before I leave though, there's... There's something I want to tell you." "Hmmm..." the elf said. "I... I hope I say this right." the blonde said nervously, "T'a gr'a agam duit (I love you)." Mia opened her eyes at that. She looked up at the blonde, seeing Arine smile at her. "Arine." Mia said, reaching over to stroke her cheek. "I love you." Arine said again, this time in English, "And I'm glad I came to New York, and I'm glad I was given this assignment, and I'm glad I met you." she said. She then leaned into a kiss. The elf deepened the kiss as she wrapped her arms around the reporter's neck. As their tongues entwined, Arine ran her hand up and down Mia's back. When at last they separated, Arine leaned her own head on Mia's shoulder. "I'll only be gone for a little while." she said as Mia stroked her hair, "I'll come back over again tonight, if you'd like." Mia giggled a bit, "Of course I'd like." she said, "Wait though. Let me change and I'll walk you to the bus depot." A short time later, Mia came back into the room dressed in a blue skirt, a maroon sweater and low pumps. Soon, both women were at the bus depot waiting for the bus that would take Arine back to her apartment. When the announcement came for her bus, Arine grabbed her backpack and turned to Mia. She gave the elf the address and apartment number of the hotel she was temporarily staying at, as well as the apartment's phone number. She then hugged the elf tightly, kissing her on the cheek before running to meet her ride. Mia smiled and waved as she watched her love enter the bus. As the doors to the bus closed however, Mia felt something. Whether it was a premonition or simply women's intuition she couldn't say, but something was definitely wrong, she could feel it. She turned as the bus left, hurrying back to her house to consult the stones. ------ Arine held her backpack tightly as the man with the buzz cut and the leather jacket listened to his walkman. She noticed his nose ring, and smirked. She never could figure out how someone with a nose ring could blow their nose. She looked out the window and watched as the suburbs slowly gave way to the city. She felt like she was leaving behind a wondrous dream to return to the dreary real world, and the thought made her melancholy. Reaching into her bag, she pulled out her tape recorder and her earphones, listening to Mia on her mandolin over and over again on the ride into the city. ------ Mia pulled the bag from the nail it was hanging on and quickly removed the stones. She then cast them. A second later, she ran over to the far side of the room, grabbing a gnarled-looking old walking stick with a knob near the top of it. She then grabbed a red scarf which she quickly tied in place on her head to hide her ears and hurried out of the house as fast as she could, holding the stick tightly in her hand. She had the slip of paper with the blonde's number, but knew she wouldn't be there yet. The brunette arrived in the bus station just in time to grab a ticket for the bus that was taking off in three minutes. She got on the bus with her shillelagh and tried not to panic. Arine's bus left thirty minutes earlier, meaning she may not get there in time. As the bus began to slowly pull out, the brunette wiped away a tear of anxiety that slowly worked its way down her cheek. "Hold on." Mia whispered under her breath, "I'm coming, hold on." ------ Arine saw the skyscrapers outside her window, and turned off the tape. The bus finally arrived at the depot, and she got off with the other passengers. Walking past the old man holding the "John 3:16" sign and the wino sitting in the station holding his bottle in a paper bag, she exited the building and hailed a cab. Finally, ten minutes later, she arrived back at the hotel. She went up to her floor, and was surprised to see a middle-aged man with a beard and glasses waiting outside her room, leaning on a cane. He turned to her, eyeing her suspiciously. "Arine?" he asked, "Arine Lloyd?" The blonde raised an eyebrow, "Yes, I'm Arine." she said apprehensively, "May I help you?" The man smiled pleasantly as he came closer, "Indeed ye may." he said in a thick Irish accent, "Allow me to introduce me self; my name's Donovan O'Brian."
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