“What in Hades?” Peter tripped over the pile of books blocking the door and caught himself on the doorframe. Coffee bobbled precariously in his free hand.
June snatched it before the sweet nectar of life known as caffeine could escape and damage the books. “How are you not used to my research process by now?” She savored a gulp. “I pile books and print out journal articles, all in an organizational schema that no one else can understand.”
“Powered by copious quantities of coffee and little else,” he said drily.
She toasted him and took another sip. “Mmm. Thank you. And for the waffles earlier.”
“Bit of a hazard, dear.” His lilt was teasing, mostly.
“I’ve got it worked out, mostly, although your input would really be invaluable…the problem is, the faeries are SO very unpredictable.”
“You say that as if they’re real.” Peter pushed his computer glasses atop his head and smiled. “Far be it for an Irishman to argue with you about the Fair Folk, that’s for certain sure.”
June shrugged. “Why disavow it just because I’ve never seen it? I’ve seen stranger, and Mom…” She trailed off. “Well, supposedly Faerie is where Mom spent some time, out of time, as it were.”
“Aye,” he said gravely, and rested a hand on her shoulder.
A few moments passed before she shook off her fugue. “Well, anyway, that pile is on types of fae, because you need to know what to deal with, and over there is types of magic, and that enormous teetering tower by the window is on bargains.”
“There used to be a windowseat in the vicinity of that tower,” Peter said fondly. “And you have ink on your nose.”
“Yes, well, so far it seems that the lecture will be mostly on why bargaining with the fae is a bad idea.”
***
A quick one tonight thanks to Becky Jones’ prompt: Fairies are SO unpredictable. Mine went to Leigh Kimmel: “It’s only a marginal risk.” See those and more, over at MOTE!
