"Look, when I said come by, I meant through the door."
"I prefer this way."
"'Course you do," I sighed, dropping my bag on the workbench and eyeing it. The faery was perched on my windowsill, where it'd been when I came home and almost had a heart attack. Finding supernatural creatures in your living quarters isn't the best way to lead a stress-free life. "How do you even get up here? This is the sixth floor." The faery tilted its head and blinked at me and I decided I didn't want to know. "Nevermind."
The faery leaned forward suddenly, sniffing. "You smell of herbs."
"Yeah, that'd be the job." I sat down warily on the edge of my bed, still a respectable ways away from the faery and close enough to the door to make a break for it if I needed to. I live in a studio apartment, so everything's laid out in one space. Convenient for emergency escapes.
"You work with plants?" There was almost an interested note in the faery's voice. Weird.
"I sell them." Not exactly the coolest of jobs, I know, but it pays the bills. It also gave me easy access to potion ingredients whenever I decided to give them a go…although considering the latest disaster, I didn't think that would be happening again anytime soon.
"An admirable profession." The faery nodded approvingly. "Few mortals these days work with the land as they used to. It is all rather distressing." It sounded genuine.
"Oh yeah?" I was curious despite myself. "Why is that?"
"The world of glass and steel is not my own." There was a sad look in the faery's eyes, which were still entirely too feral to be comfortable. "It is harder to visit safely. It was easier a thousand years ago." A thousand years? Okay, this thing was old.
"Why even bother then? Why not just stay in Faerie?"
It sniffed. "I like mortals. They are amusing."
"What, so we're just entertainment to you?" The words came out harsher than I'd planned and I gulped, hoping I hadn't angered it. The faery turned cold eyes on me.
"In part." They way it answered made me think there was more to it than that but I wasn't going to press the matter.
"Um. Ok. Let's move on." I waved my hand, trying to think. "Um. Is there something I can call you? Not your true Name," I added hastily, because most things would kill you flat-out before giving you the chance to learn their name. Names have power. You can control beings with them.
Or so I've read.
The faery stared at me, face unreadable. Then it slipped off the windowsill and moved in my direction. I tensed, ready to make a bolt for it. I guess what I said hadn't offended it after all, because it just sat down on the bed, folding its legs under it. It was still entirely too close for comfort though, and I was severely tempted to just skedaddle.
"I have been called many things," it said evenly. "Doctor, Fool, Friend, Nyarlathotep, Professor, Physician, Smith. Zagreus," it added, almost as an afterthought.
"Uh." I blinked. "Is there one of those you like the best?"
The faery tilted its head to the side, thinking. "Doctor, I suppose. It is what I have been named most, after all."
"Why's that?" Somehow I couldn't quite imagine it in a lab coat and stethoscope.
"I heal," it said simply. I got the nasty feeling it was one of those types that broke bones to make them stronger.
"Noted. So, um…do you have any preferred pronouns?" Faeries were, for the most part, I think, agender, but you never knew.
"I am used to he and him," the faery – the Doctor – shrugged. "I do not mind them."
"Ok. Good to know. So. Let's…get down to business then. Before I agree to anything, I want to know one thing." I held up a finger for emphasis and the Doctor's eyes slid over to it, like a cat watching prey. "What's in it for me?" It sounded horrible, I know, but I'm broke and not nearly enough of a hero to blindly put myself in danger.
"I can reward you," the Doctor replied.
"With what? No offense, but I've read up on this kind of stuff. Fairy gold and all that."
"I would not trick you."
"Again, no offense but-"
"I promise I will reward you with something you will treasure," he said earnestly. I blinked. This felt wrong. Faeries weren't supposed to give out promises like that so easily.
"Are you sure?" I asked suspiciously.
"I swear it once, twice, thrice, be done." The Doctor held up fingers as he did so, mimicking me. I let out a long breath.
"All right." I got up and walked over to the bench, feeling the Doctor's eyes on my back. It was more than a little unnerving. "I read up on the stuff Anji gave me last night," I called back as I rummaged through my bag, looking for the envelope. "Ah-ha, got it," I muttered as I pulled it out from beneath a book. It was slightly crumpled, with one edge folded over. "Oops."
I went back over to the bed and opened the envelope, laying things out on the covers. The Doctor watched curiously. "Ok. So this girl, Sam, disappeared exactly eight days ago, is that right?"
"That is right," the Doctor dipped his head in affirmation.
"Ok. The police haven't found anything. What do you know?"
"Very little," he said morosely, staring at a picture of Sam. She was laughing in it. A happy kid. "We were…" he hesitated, searching for a word. "Companions, I suppose. She did me a favor once and I repaid it by granting her wish of adventure. I took Samantha to the NeverNever."
"Woah, isn't that dangerous?"
The Doctor shot me a withering look. "Not while I was there. We returned at precisely the same time we left. She vanished the next day. There were traces of magic around her house."
"And you couldn't track it?"
"No." He shook his head angrily. "It attacked me." The Doctor studied me, pinning me with his gaze. "I know it was not yours, though. Your aura is purer." I blinked, unsure how to take that.
"Uh. Ok," I said for the millionth time that night, running my hands though my hair. "Ok. I can't believe I'm actually doing this, but I'll help. One question, though."
The Doctor tipped his head to the side again. "Yes?"
"Why me? There are tons of other practitioners around here. I'll bet most of them are more capable than me. Hell, I'm not even that strong. Why come to me?"
The Doctor actually smiled at that. It was a pretty terrifying smile, to be honest, full of bright white teeth that looked just a little too sharp. "Because, Son of Fortune, you have a good heart." He leaned forward to place an ice-cold hand on my chest and I just about jumped out of my skin. "I knew you would help if I asked." The Doctor withdrew his hand and I breathed a sigh of relief.
"I…see. You do know that's not actually my name, right?"
"I know," the Doctor said, grinning wickedly, "Fitz." The way he said my name made me shiver. It sounded entirely more…I don't know, more, than it should. "I just like the sound of the title. It suits you, I think."
"Just so we're on the same page."
"Mmm. What are you going to do?"
"Uh. I guess I'll go by the house tomorrow, see if I can find anything." I highly doubted it, but hey. You never knew.
"Good." The Doctor stood up decisively, signaling that the conversation is over. He made to leave, actually walking over to the door this time, then paused with his hand on the doorknob. "I thank you." Then he was gone.
I stared after him, feeling like I'd just fallen into a hole. A very deep one. I had no idea how I was going to handle this. I mean, me, finding missing girls and working with faeries? That was so far removed from my normal life. "God," I sighed, flopping back onto the bed and staring at the ceiling. "What have I gotten myself into?"
I didn't get a response.