Ophelia had decided an hour into the van ride she never wanted to ride in such a small space with so many people again, even if she was the smallest and easiest to find a space for- no, scratch that, no ‘even’ about it- it was awful either way. She had been squeezed between Jules and Caspian, who was back to being tense, by the way.
Her father was sitting in the passenger seat again with the archer, Thorn he’d introduced himself as, driving them down narrow roads, ‘shortcuts’ he said, ‘lies’ she had replied and she was not wrong- he had gotten them lost for ten minutes and then lost again twenty minutes later, and then finally Finn had resorted to the map that Caspian had stored in the glovebox.
At least someone came prepared.
“You grumble a lot for someone so small,” Thorn laughed and she rolled her eyes.
“At least I know my way around Eire, Archer.”
The others snickered as the archer looked downright offended via the rear view mirror.
“Yeah, well…”
Ophelia cocked a brow, “Well what, archer?”
“Well… why don’t you drive if you know your way around Eire so well!”
Ophelia rolled her eyes, “Because the only car I know how to operate is the Model T, archer. Beside that, I have never operated any motorized vehicle. Nor have I ever had need to. By the way, Galway is north of here, not south.”
Thorn pouted and made a hard u-turn, sending Ophelia sliding into Caspian’s plated shoulder. Her face collided with the unforgiving metal of his armor and she let out a growl to the idiot who was ‘driving’ the damn van.
“Children can operate ships alone better than you can an automobile.”
She felt Caspian laugh and relax from his tense form for a moment as she re-aligned herself with the seat. Her hand rubbed at her reddening face as she felt a rash start up.
“There is iron in the paint on your shoulder.” She told him and he cocked a brow at her as if to say ‘and?’. She turned away with another growl.
Jules smiled at her as if to set her at ease.
Thorn automatically put an end to that idea when he spotted her face in the mirror.
He tapped her father on the shoulder, “You’ve got a pouter, Kelly! Ah, I remember the days!”
“I will disembowel you with my Cinniúint, and when you’ve healed I’ll disembowel you again with my Galar.” She growled, pulling the later from her thigh holster to wave between the fool ‘driving’ and her father.
“Benji probably doesn’t know how disembowel someone, Thorn. Best not stir the pot anymore.” Finn advised and Thorn pouted.
“But it’s so much fun!” He whined and Ophelia readied herself to slit his throat.
Caspian pulled her back, his arm wrapping around her petite form to keep her from jumping out of her seat to attack the fool.
“He’s got kids, I don’t think they’d appreciate you killing their father.” Caspian revealed and Ophelia relaxed, but not before cutting a sharp ‘X’ into the console between her father and the fool’s elbows.
“Yeah! I’ve got kids!” Thorn cheered and her father rolled his eyes at the fool’s antics.
“Amadán!” (Fool!) She swore, “ Ní bheidh do leanaí a shábháil tú ó mo wrath má leanann tú ar bréagán liom!” (Your children will not save you from my wrath if you continue to toy with me!)
Thorn tapped her father on the shoulder, “What’d she say? C’mon tell me, tell me! I need to have my next quip ready!”
Caspian disarmed her and held her tight against his chest as she shook in rage.
How dare this mortal!
She relaxed under the soldier’s hold and relaxed further when he rubbed circles on her shoulder. Damn him.
But never say she isn’t petty because…
“Aiteann!” (C*nt) She rang to the archer sweetly- if not softly.
Finn tensed and turned around to look at her with a look of absolute horror, “Who the hell did you learn to say that from?”
“Ooh, you did it now!” Thorn cowed, “You got Boss-O to curse! Ooooh!”
Baptiste giggled in the back of the car, apparently awake from his ‘nap’.
Jules was snickering beside them softly, trying to not burst into giggles as the petite woman angled her head to meet her father’s eyes even as she was kept in a tight lock face first into his friend’s chest.
“Silence that fool and I’ll tell you!” She growled again and Caspian snickered.
“You sound like an angry cat.” Baptiste stated before bursting into laughter, forgetting that he was sitting right behind Caspian and within easy range for her to claw his skin.
Well, she had to rectify that, didn’t she? He had infringed upon her honor! She was no damn cat, she was a lady of the-
Her father had grabbed her shoulders once she sunk her claws into Baptiste’s skin, blood welling to the surface as she growled.
“I am not a cat, Dúramán!” (Idiot!)
They all burst into laughter except for the very irritated demigoddess who was two steps from cursing them all with infertility for trying her nerves.
Half an hour later, ten minutes after she stopped growling and five minutes after that for them to stop laughing at her, ten more minutes of the fool getting them lost once more and five more minutes after she had reached her fucking limit she let out a piercing shriek that silenced the fuckery the fool had put on the radio with a small explosion. The fool threw on the breaks and she ceased her shriek with a smile once they came to a complete stop.
They all stared at her in shock and she smiled at the fool before dropping any expression, danger glinting in her eyes and her unnatural cold seeping into the car.
“You, are going to sit in the back with Dúramán, got it, mortal?”
Thorn unbuckled himself and slid out of the car.
Ophelia turned to the others, “Can any of you follow instructions?”
Her father put down the map that he had been scanning for the past hour, which was all in irish, by the way, and he didn’t really know any irish, if his memories were correct in her mind beside what he heard from his grandparents.
“I’ll drive.” He volunteered and it was quickly decided that they all wanted her as far from the fool and Dúramán as possible, putting her in the passenger seat with the map that she proceeded to fluently translate.
Everyone was silent for awhile except for her voice providing directions, her right hand still skimming her now sheathed Galar on her thigh as she instructed them to the city of Galway.
It took them four hours, since the fool had gotten them so twisted around, but they finally made it in middle of the night.
Ophelia breathed a sigh of relief when they found themselves to the rented out house where they were to stay.
She struggled with the car door for a moment before nearly falling out of the deathtrap trying to get out. Caspian steadied her and cocked his head to the side.
“You good now?”
She nodded, “The road to Heaven is well signposted, but it's badly lit at night.”
He furrowed his brow at her, “What does that mean?”
Finn came around the other side and answered, “Life has many challenges but the reward is good. My mom used to say things like that all the time.”
Caspian nodded and released Ophelia and they all followed Finn into the house.
It was small on the outside, but there were two lower levels which defied all logic to Ophelia, but whatever, she was too tired to question it. Ophelia descended to the lowest floor, glad for the lack of windows and the resounding smell of earth that surrounded her. It was the closest thing she had felt to being in a sidhe in a while- the base had never truly felt like it, even though it was probably closer technically speaking, but she favored this house over that even though the base had much more room.
She took the smallest room right off the stairs, leaving the larger room open. She shut the door and began stipping her hide armor after removing her weapons and their sheaths, each of them fading into shadows to be summoned if she needed them. A knock came at the door as she slipped out of the dragon hide. She approached the door and opened it to find Caspian standing in front of her.
His eyes widened comically and she frowned at him, her head cocked to the side as she nimbly began to undo her bun, her braid falling loose as his eyes seemed to have a will of their own and scanned her slowly up and down.
“You’re uh…” He swallowed and his cheeks reddened to an endearing pink.
She smiled at him lightly, if not a bit awkwardly, in response, her fingers untying her braid, the normally pin straight hair now a mass of waves that fell over onto her chest, appearing to give him the wherewithal to look away from her form and back to her eyes.
Humans were so odd.
“You’re not wearing any clothes.” He stated, swallowing again.
“No…” She urged and he blinked several times.
“Or underwear.”
“No.” She shook her head, her brows furrowed in confusion.
“Why aren’t you wearing any clothes?”
“Because I am going to bed?”
“Without any clothes?” His voice had an odd disbelief laced in them.
“No,” She replied and he gaped before shaking his head and walking quickly away, his apparent missive flowing back to her as he walked down the hall.
“Finn and I are bunking down the hall.”
She frowned at his tense back and shut the door quietly.
Humans were so odd.
If there was one thing he had never thought he’d see, Cas was certain he had seen it as he walked into the bedroom he and Finn were sharing. Finn was on the first level, updating the other team over the phone- an update he had decided to sit out of as he still wasn’t on talking terms with the rest of them.
Well, if he had ever in some strange drunken mindset wondered what Finn would look like as a girl only naked, he had just seen it. Part of him was still reeling while the other parts were equally appalled and shamefully uncomfortable.
He stripped off his midvarium armor and hidden weapons, putting down his bag of more weapons and ammunition and another bag of changes of clothes. He left the room after finding towels in a hall closet and headed toward the shower.
Half an hour later he entered the bedroom again to find Finn unpacking his things, already clad in a pair of pajama pants.
He couldn’t look him in the eye, how do you explain to your best friend you’d seen his newfound daughter naked? And that she was so confused at his discomfort that he knew she would continue on her merry way if someone didn’t talk to her.
Fuck it, he’d tell him if only to get him to have that awkward conversation with her and not Cas.
“I think you need to talk to Ophelia about clothes.” He began and Finn quirked a brow at him.
Fuck, he really didn’t want to talk about this.
“Why? They’re pretty self-explanatory and she clearly knows what they are.”
Cas shook his head, facing his bags, “I wouldn’t be so sure about that.”
“What?” Finn urged and Cas swallowed down his discomfort.
“Sheansweredthedoornakedanddidn’tknowwhataproblemthatisandwellnowIknowwhatyouwouldlooklikeasanakedgirl.”
He turned around to see Finn gaping at him and if it were over literally anything else he would have been dying of laughter, no, that was sadly not the case.
Cas swallowed, “I think you uh, really need to talk to her about that.”
Finn just continued to gape.
Well, turned out Finn didn’t want to have that talk either and had convinced Jules to ‘lend’ some clothes to Ophelia who clearly didn’t know why Cas couldn’t look her in the eyes and why Finn was almost as uncomfortable as his best friend.
Everyone else seemed to pick up the discomfort of their team leader and his friend, Thorn a little too curious, needling Cas until he spewed out a response.
Finn had quickly thrown Thorn into having that chat with his daughter- why he had decided that was a good idea, Cas didn’t know, because Ophelia had you know- seemed a little too blade happy when she had last spoken to the archer.
Baptiste had caught wind of what was going on just as Ophelia entered the room, acknowledging Thorn with a nod.
“Fool.” She greeted and Thorn pouted in reply.
“Thorn needs to talk to you.” Finn urged and Thorn nodded.
“Alright.” She allowed and Thorn directed her to the front room that was cordoned off as an office.
“I pity da fool.” Baptiste quipped as they left.
Ophelia found herself alone with the fool and sat down in one of the wing backed chairs the opposite of which Thorn took a seat.
“You made Old Man Caspian uncomfortable last night.” Thorn began.
Her head cocked to the side, “How so?”
“Mmm, let’s put it this way. You are far more comfortable with nudity than humans.”
She blinked, “It’s not as if he really saw me, he was only seeing my glamour.”
Thorn sighed, “Which happens to make you look like your father’s twin. Cas is his best friend. He probably did not wish to see what his friend would look like as a naked woman.”
He clapped his knees, leaning forward, “So let’s keep that stuff to a minimum, alright?”
He smiled, “I really don’t want to have this conversation again.”
Ophelia nodded and stood, walking out of the office to meet with Jules again, a flash of confusion going unnoticed in her eyes.
That night found Cas outside her door again, having decided that she needed to know from him personally how she made him uncomfortable. He didn’t trust Thorn like Finn did, Thorn had a habit of dancing around uncomfortable situations and he certainly did not trust the archer to not dance around this one.
He knocked on the door and Ophelia answered, thankfully wearing clothes.
She held the door open for him to enter and he took a seat at the foot of her bed, perched on a cushioned bench.
She wore one of Jules’ dresses- short and black with a v-shaped neckline made of flowy fabric that shifted with her movements.
She perched herself on her dresser quietly staring at him quietly, analyzing him.
She nodded to herself and shadows concentrated in her hand, giving way to reveal a small jar that had not been there before.
She slid off the dresser and closed in on him.
She unscrewed the lid, “Close your eyes.”
His brows furrowed in confusion, but he followed her direction and felt two of her fingers circle around the middle of his forehead. Whatever coated her fingers was like a thin salve, it’s scent that of lavender and other softer notes of scents that he could not name and she released a slow breath, her words a soft utterance.
“Go raibh tú a fheiceáil.” (May you see)
“Alright, you may open your eyes.” She allowed and he blinked several times, his vision foggy for a few minutes.
It gave way after a time and his eyes widened dramatically as he truly saw her for the first time.
Dark burgundy hair that hung over her shoulders to end at her small waist, which looked even smaller than before, her body not shorter, but more delicate looking, petite and lithe- like a dancer. She had a small chest, perfectly proportionate to her nimble frame. She appeared to have little fat, muscle appearing to be what made up most of her weight.
Her eyes were almond shaped- the same color as Finn’s own with the same eerie glowing light in them as before, captivating Cas and making it difficult to look away from them as he took in her innocent heart-shaped face and full lips that were quirked up in a small smile.
A small thin nose completed her delicate face and damn him, he felt a burgeoning desire to protect her despite having seen her skillfully threaten Thorn with her dagger.
Well, he was comforted by her actual looks, grateful that if he ever saw her naked again she would not look exactly like a female version of his best friend.
Despite himself he wondered she would have looked like if he had seen her as he did now.
Fuck, not a good idea!
“The fool said I made you uncomfortable because my glamour takes after my father, I hope this may help.”
He swallowed, nodding and she smiled.
“Ah…” He mumbled and she cocked her head to the side, her face open and curious.
His eyes caught on her right cheek, a small rash close to her hairline.
“What’s that?” He asked and her brows furrowed, “What’s what?”
He pointed to her cheek, touching it lightly with his left hand, the cool touch drawing a shiver from her.
She brought her hand up to the reddened skin.
“Oh,” She said, “The paint on your armor on the shoulder has iron in it- my kind are… allergic to iron.”
His eyes widened slightly, “I’m… sorry?”
She narrowed her eyes on him, “I should hope so.”
He swallowed and looked away from her.
Ophelia sighed and the jar disappeared as shadows concentrated in her hand once more, giving way again, leaving her hand empty.
“Now, why have you come to me?”
He blinked, “I wanted to talk to you.”
“About?” She urged and he swallowed once more.
“Uh…”
She narrowed her eyes on him, “Do not waste my time.”
He gulped and she rolled her eyes, “Come now, have you lost your ability to speak?”
He stood but she didn’t take a step back, leaving her face three inches from his chest. He nudged her shoulders and she stepped back, her eyes foggy with confusion.
“I… I’ll come back later.”
She cocked her head to the side, stepping aside.
He rushed out of there without looking back, accidently slamming her door in the process.
“You know, maybe you should have gotten Jules to have that chat with her.” Baptiste drawled and Finn pinched his nose.
Why the hell didn’t he think to have the other woman to explain modesty to his newfound daughter?
“Because you’re confused and thereby prone to idiocy.” Jules drawled as she came into the den from the kitchen, munching on a poptart. He frowned at her.
She shrugged, “Or at least that’s what Zaria would say.”
He sighed and looked up at the ceiling.
Cas re-entered the room from the stairs.
“She rubbed some stuff on my head and now she looks different.” He stated and Finn cocked a brow at him.
Cas shrugged, “I see what you mean though when you said she doesn’t look like you at all.”
Thorn came into the room from the office with a laptop and plopped himself down on the couch.
“It’s called a glamour.” He explained, “It makes faeries look human, or at least that’s what this website says. It also says faeries kill those that can see through their glamours- it’s apparently called ‘clear-seeing’, apparently they like their privacy.”
Thorn passed the laptop to Finn and he began to read off the text to the others.
“The Fae, known as faeries to mainstream culture and the Aes Sidhe to the Irish, are beings of mystical and spiritual power- they come in many forms, from the human looking royal sidhe, to the spiritual bean sidhe (known also as banshees) to the bean nighe, to the unnoticable demi-fey, they are among the most varied of races. They value many things such as courteous manners, generosity, honesty, fairness, hospitality, privacy, appreciation, as well as solitude and secrecy. But beware, the Fae are dangerous to toy with as they are prone to cursing any who cross them with disease, infertility, and other types of ills that would cause the humans who crossed them pain. Faeries abhor the dishonest, the rude, the boasters, the selfish, gloominess, as well as those who infringe upon their privacy (such as seeing through their glamourie), but the worst of all offenses is to thank them and is a quick way to gain their ire.”
He pulled back.
“That would explain why she doesn’t like you, Axe-man .” Cas clipped and Baptiste appeared confused.
“I don’t understand, why don’t they like to be thanked?”
Ophelia’s voice answered him as she entered the room.
“Humans say thank you as if it is nothing and it cheapens the sentiment. It does not fully appreciate the actions or meaning behind the actions that my kindred give when they show favor to a human. It dismisses the pains they have taken to gift the mortal and as such deserves to be met with the most painful of curses.”
Baptiste blinked, “I’m sorry?”
She scoffed, “Those words are almost as cheap, especially when spoken with insincerity.”
He wisely looked away from her, unnerved from the glowing annoyance that met him when he made contact with her eyes.
“Wait, so you can curse people?” Thorn sounded shocked.
She shrugged, “Humans do it all the time, sure we can.”
“But humans can’t actually curse people with stuff like infidelity!”
She rolled her eyes, “Infertility, fool, the word you’re looking for is infertility.”
Thorn gaped at her silently in response.
“So you can do all of those things?” Finn inquired and his daughter nodded.
“Of course, my people make no secret of our abilities- it makes everything easier if the humans who cross us know our ways.” She admitted.
“But you don’t know human ways?”
“No, I have never had need to- the humans who reside in the Otherworld live as we do, and I have never remained away from my home for as long as I have now.” She revealed and he nodded in reply.
“You have humans in the Otherworld of yours?” Thorn asked, “It says here that faeries kidnap humans.”
Ophelia shrugged, “We do.”
“What?!” Finn’s eyes widened comically and she laughed.
“We have need of humans in the Otherworld. The Tuatha do not, but fae do- without humans our food holds no nutrients, it does not sustain us. If we cannot grow our own food we resort back to stealing it from humans- it is a matter of survival.”
They all gaped at her, “So you kidnap people for it? And when you don’t kidnap people you steal?”
Ophelia nodded, “You sound as if it is a bad thing.”
“It is! It most certainly is!” Finn was absolutely appalled and the rest of his team appeared the same.
She shrugged, “It is not as if we do not pay reparations to the family.”
“Reparations? Are you fucking serious?”
She blinked, her brows furrowed as she cocked her head to the side, confusion glowing out from her eyes.
“I do not understand.”
“Mother of God, she doesn’t understand what’s wrong with kidnapping and stealing.” Thorn muttered, his eyes wide in disbelief as he stared down at the floor.
Baptiste and Jules quickly left after that, dragging Thorn away as well, leaving Finn and Cas alone with the confused demigoddess.
Finn stood and turned to her, opening and closing his mouth repeatedly as he tried to figure out how to explain what should be clear to her. He finally sighed and clenched his jaw, a headache coming on.
“I’m going for a walk.”
He left Cas alone with his daughter, needing desperately to clear his head.
ns 15.158.61.48da2
