Uncle Mike left her sitting there while he went back out into the din of the tavern to keep the peace between what sounded like a troll and someone else, and she just sat there, his scent in her nose and the feeling of whatever brand of charisma magic he used. It took her a moment to realize she was thinking of him with a sort of comfortable warmth in her face and a smile. She could still feel his arms around her shoulders, and the protectiveness in his voice. Was she under some kind of delusional spell that most people associated with fae whose magic was like his, or did she seriously have a crush on the man? Granted, if he was the same Green Man talked about in pagan lore he was close to a couple thousand years old but then a lot of fae were purported to be immortal. Then she remembered the breeding law that she wasn't exempt from, and the impossible fines and consequences involved if people didn't meet it. Mike had said he couldn't afford the fines, and the fae couldn't lie but she'd talked to others. Mike was one of the old ones who HAD money, and just chose to invest it in other things. So in that, he couldn't afford an avoidable fine.

She knew she couldn't. Apparently the fine would be in the several-thousand range. When it was just easier to bone and spread the genes around, most fae wouldn't want to disobey.

She wasn't going to get over her heart-pounding fear by sitting in here quaking, thinking about what it might be like to cuddle with her boss again, so she got to her feet, smoothed out her hair and clothes, and walked back out into the general hubbub.

The noise had managed to ramp itself back up and now that the witch's spell had been flicked aside, most seemed content to talk about it, or disregard it completely. From what she was picking up the general opinion was, witches sucked. She didn't know a lot about them, except that they used blood and death to power their rights, both white and black, though white were far less violent than their dark counterparts.

"Hey, Heather, you missed all the excitement," said a voice she recognized, and the man whoever he was patted her on the back. She couldn't help but flinch a little, as she felt her way back behind the bar.

"Believe me, I didn't…." she said quickly. It took her a moment to realize who had spoken. It was Kieran.

"Wanna talk about it?" he asked. They'd gotten to be decent friends since she started working here per order of the Grey Lords.

She sighed and remembered the sound of that faehound panting, her blind run through someplace that changed on its own whenever the fancy struck it, and not knowing where she'd wound up, and shook her head. "Not really… let's say a faehound was involved and leave it…".

Kieran made a hissing sound. "Nasty".

"You don't have to tell me…" she shivered again.

"Here love , drink" said a familiar voice, and he took her hand and placed a glass mug into it. She sniffed. The glass was warm and whatever was in there smelled of fresh apple and baking cinnamon but there was a strange underhint to it. Oak? It seemed to fill her up from top to bottom before she even took a sip. It was as delicious as it smelled and seemed to spread a warm tingly feeling to her every nerve ending. She licked her lips and just had to ask.

"What IS this?"

She felt warm breath on her neck and in her ear and Uncle Mike whispered "It's best ye don't ask. Call it cider, it'll do wonders on the nerves, but I can't promise it won't make ye sick later…".

She thought on those words for a moment, decided to hell with the consequences, and kept sipping it. It DID do wonders for her nerves. She got the feeling it was some kind of "fairy brew", but as she didn't feel compelled to do anything against her will and she wasn't feeling immediately ill, she considered things all good.

Work progressed like business as usual but with the breeding deadline approaching the topic of conversation went from the witch, to the law. From sounds of it, half of them were fine, some of them had plans and the rest claimed to be untouchable, citing they already had "broodmates", as they were being referred to. She found it a little distasteful but fae numbers were at an all time low, so she figured it was just their way of coping with the fact that romance couldn't really be part of things.

And speaking of the topic of the new breeding law…

"Has anyone claimed you yet, then?" asked a man at the bar who had just sat down. He didn't sound like a regular, so either he didn't come in often or he was just visiting.

She turned to him and frowned.

"No one gets to 'claim' me," she scowled. "What'll it be?"

"A date with you?" he asked. She got the subtle scent of magic and it made her head feel swimmy, but she was far used to this from Uncle Mike. She preferred his particular brand more than this novice.

"Stop that," she snapped. "Guinness it is".

The man whoever he was actually listened to her, and she slid the bottle across to him.

"I was just havin' a bit of fun…." He huffed.

"For the record, no. I don't have anyone just yet" she figured she'd tell those within earshot.

No one really said anything more past ordering drinks until the bar FINALLY began to close up. Kieran had even left, as had Todd, the Selkie who had rescued her from the reservation. Pretty soon it was just her, Fergus and Uncle Mike himself as always. Mike and Fergus were discussing something in his office so she occupied herself cleaning as usual. She thought she'd finally calmed down, a mixture of time and whatever sort of brew Mike had given her. She thought she'd get a ride with Mike and so she took a seat once everything had been done and waited.

She couldn't know what they were talking about, because they weren't speaking in English. Eventually Fergus walked out, said his goodnight to her and left.

"I wanted –"

"Hey, I was wonderi-"

They started speaking at the same time, and she managed a weak chuckle.

"Aye, ladies first," he said.

She pushed her hair out of her face, the great heavy weight of it like a lead curtain and she tucked a vine behind her ear and said "I was wondering if I could talk to you before we head out".

A gentle hand helped her stand though she didn't need it, and she stood.

"Well as it happens I wanted to talk to you too," he agreed. He led her back into his office and she felt around for a chair. She sat, and waited for him to start. She had a feeling she knew what this was about anyway.

"The breeding law," she guessed.

He heaved a weary sigh and she heard him ruffle a hand through his hair. "Aye. The breeding law," he agreed.

"It's all anyone talks about now," she folded her arms.

"So it seems. I don't suppose anyone's asked after you?"

She snorted.

"Yeah, one earlier. Guy tried pulling some kind of magical whammy, but I'm too used to yours. Told him to quit it, gave him a beer," she snickered.

This made him outright laugh and it turned out that, too was infectious. Soon she was giggling along with him and she leaned her elbows on the front of his desk and just laughed until her sides hurt. Not just at her reply, but everything just pouring out of her, the trauma, both from the river and Underhill, and everything that had happened over the last few weeks. It all flooded out of her in her laughter.

Soon enough they stopped and she asked, "you?"

He stopped chuckling for a moment. "Aye, a few, mostly old friends but I know it'd never take. Y'know," he added. She assumed he meant a pregnancy. Fae breeding with fae was a slow process, though no one as yet would tell her precisely why.

She smirked and remembered the face she'd felt, his true form. Flowers and leaves, nature, the very essence of life. She frowned. "SURELY, the Green Man wouldn't find it difficult to have a kid?" she smirked.

He growled a little.

"Don't you start too. I'm humble about my power and what I can do, even how old I am, but I'm still a livin' man. If I were an ACTUAL tree, no I don't see it'd be difficult" he shot back.

She sighed. "So no one's asked either of us, leastaways no one we'd get along with, is that the gist of it?"

"Yes, that'd be a succinct summary, and it's a problem. Deadline's only a week away," he sighed. "An' I can't lie".

She brightened a little. "I can!"

She could practically imagine his scowl.

"Truth isn't somethin' you should mess around with, you know. An' if any of the Grey Lords found out you'd lied, you'd have wished you hadn't," he said darkly. "Ye don't know what they're capable of".

"So the point of this whole conversation was-?" she wondered. She was just asking, not being a smartass at all.

"I wanted to ask if you'd consider me," he said after a moment's pause. She blinked a moment, sure she hadn't heard right. She considered it alright. The deadline was soon, they knew each other a bit better than she knew any other fae around the area and he was generally kind to her. He didn't consider her blindness a handicap at any rate. And she did like him. But the breeding law implied a child being born, and THAT wasn't easy to consider, at ALL. But she was considered a part of the fae now, and it was a law. And if she said yes, he would consider it binding. He was full fae, powerful, ancient and no dummy.

"It would mean…. Y'know," she shrugged. "You don't have a problem with the half human thing or ," she waved a hand in front of her eyes. He huffed a little.

"I never minded the humans, not insofar as a species. The iron annoys me," he frowned. "But it annoys us all. You don't have to give me an answer right away, we work together near every day, but just… think on-"

"Yes".

She had blurted it out before she'd even had a chance to consider the downsides.

There was a very pregnant pause.

"Are you certain?" he asked her.

She gave it another thought, and nodded. She could certainly do worse, and right then the pros outweighed the cons. They'd both be untouchable, fine-wise and she could worry about babymaking at a later, less hectic date.

"Yes,". Then she thought about it. The fae were a very word-oriented people. If you declared something that meant anything, you damn well did it right. She decided to make something up on the spot.

"I accept your offer of pairing off per order of the new breeding law," she recited. Then she hoped it didn't sound too stupid. He chuckled a little, and she felt him take both her hands in his. They were warm and slightly rough, though she thought that was just because hers were smooth.

"That'll do well enough," he said, and he put a hand to the side of her face and before she knew it he was kissing her.