CADENCE: A TALE OF MODERN FAERY
chapter two: your touch
Corny really, really hated Mondays. Nothing ever went right, and everything he did fell apart. Today was a prime example of a horrible Monday. 7 a.m., and he wanted to be back in bed already.
"That's a lot of blood."
"Yeah." Luis tossed a mop at Corny, who half-heartedly grabbed at it before letting it fall to the ground. "Help me clean it up."
"No way," Corny grumbled, but he picked up the reddened mop, and tried to look like he was helping. "Lucky Kaye, off with her emo prince boyfriend, and I'm here wiping the floor."
"Oh, stop complaining," Luis said, surveying the much cleaner coffee shop. "We're about done. C'mon, time for the first caffeine high of the morning."
Corny turned to the unmoving girl who watched them. "Coffee?"
She shrugged, rolling over to study the wall as if it were far more interesting than the boring blue it was.
"Well...when you start to feel better, you can leave. Really." Corny wanted some time alone with Luis before the day began in full, but his not-so-discreet hint just earned him another shrug.
"Don't rush her. She just puked up a whole lot of blood. That was one hell of a curse."
They both shuddered, exchanging glances. When you got on the wrong side of the fey, you could be in a lot of trouble.
When Luis and Corny had arrived at Moon in a Cup this morning, they hardly had time to unlock the doors before the girl had come stumbling up. From the look in her eyes, she clearly wanted more than a latte, but seemed unable to speak. Every time she opened her mouth, blood came out instead of the words. It was a serious curse.
Most of the regular solutions – salt water, certain plants, and magical knots – had not worked, which left the simplest and most unpleasant solution: iron. No one would willingly swallow iron. However, Luis forced a handful of iron fillings down her throat. She gagged, swallowed, and threw up for the next ten minutes.
Problem solved.
It had been a half-hour. She was now curled up in a booth, draped in Luis' jacket, half-lidded dark eyes dancing around her dull surroundings. One hand came up, silencing a yawn. Luis strode over to sit beside her, giving the girl an encouraging smile.
"How're you doing?"
A third shrug.
"Any better, at least?"
Shrug and slight nod.
"Do you think you'll talk anytime soon? It would be useful for us if we could know your name and some other confidential information for our records."
"Lll...." She frowned, struggling to form the sounds that had once been so familiar. "Lleeigh…?"
"Is Leigh your name?"
She sighed happily, relieved to talk again. "Yea…yes. Yes."
"Well then, Leigh, if you could fill out a paper for me, you're free to go wherever."
Corny dug up some sheets of computer paper, which he left at the table along with a cup of coffee. Leigh gave him a strange look, and it was his turn to shrug. "I thought you might be thirsty. I didn't poison it or anything. Really."
After showing her what to fill out, Luis stood up to go get some coffee of his own.
He tried not to laugh when he distinctly heard her mutter, "Fucking paperwork."
The day passed the same as usual after that first experience. Early morning customers were either unsuspecting humans on their way to work, or fey and humans with faery problems who wished to come during a less crowded time. Later in the day, the majority of the customers came in, and by nightfall, it was mostly their group of friends and the occasional other patron.
A surprise came later in the day when Leigh, after seeming antsy and uncomfortable for quite a while came up to Luis and asked if they were hiring. They weren't. She got the job anyway.
Tonight it was just Val, Luis, and Corny lounging around and drinking obscene amounts of coffee. Kaye was off at Court with Roiben, fulfilling her promise to spend half her time there and half her time Ironside. Ravus had been 'busy', and that had remained his answer no matter how much Val had pleaded with him that afternoon.
"Where's Ruth?" Corny asked. Although he hadn't been sure of Luis's friends at first, he genuinely liked both Val and her best friend now, and was glad that their two circles had mixed through Luis.
Val grimaced. "Off with The Bitch."
Luis smiled and shook his head. Most of the time Val was pretty easygoing, but her opinion of Ruth's girlfriend tended to be extreme. He thought she was jealous because 'The Bitch', otherwise known as Karen, meant that Val got less of her friend than she usually would. Still, he liked his head where it was and would avoid getting it bitten off as long as he could, and hadn't pointed that out yet. "You're in a bad mood," he teased.
"Whatever." She tried to balance a salt shaker on the grains she had poured out, a trick he had been working on for a while.
"Lonely?"
"Yes! I miss Ruth, but she's off fucking my worst enemy. And I miss Ravus…I haven't seen him in two hours. Even Kaye's gone. Now here I am, talking to you two, and I went to bed at midnight and I woke up at four and I didn't have breakfast and I blew up my microwave and I can't get the damn salt to stand up!"
"I think you need to get some sleep. Home. Now." Luis guided Val over to the door. "See you tomorrow, okay?"
"'Kay…," she mumbled, letting him push her outside. "Bye…."
Luis yawned and locked up before leaving himself, followed by Corny. They made their way back to the apartment they shared with Kaye – paid for the next six months in advance with leaves glamoured to look like money.
With a groan, Luis collapsed on the couch, running a hand through his hair. He directed a tired smile at Corny.
"One hell of a day we had."
Corny nodded his agreement, sitting down on the other end. "Time to wind down, I guess."
"It's nice to be alone."
"Yeah, I guess it is kinda –"
His thought flew out of his head as Luis's perfect lips pressed to his, Luis's perfect arms wrapped around him, and Luis's perfect hands slid down his back.
As his jeans fell down around his legs, Luis broke their kiss long enough to whisper in his ear.
"Love you."
"Uh-huh...." Oh god, he loved Luis.
And one more surprisingly perfect Monday could be checked off the calendar.
Author's Note: Ohmigawd. I've been gone for months. I'm so beyond sorry, you guys. First there were exams, then Christmas, then me just being lazy. Over break I wrote a few more chapters though, and even though this chapter is pretty bad (I rewrote the entire thing a few minutes ago) the others should be received well. I ended up cursing more than usual in this chapter, but my thought was that if you've actually read the books, you shouldn't mind. And...some Luis/Corny. I love them. So, updates should be regular from now on, and please don't forget about me! Review?