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Another swing and a miss: for the umpteenth time that night, Alden felt his stomach drop. He couldn’t understand why he was failing so badly with this human. For weeks he had been watching, learning how to be the perfect conversationalist. The temptation to ask her what he was doing wrong pushed at his lips, but he resisted—something told him that the ol’ “Excuse me ma’am, I’m a fay representing the summer court; would you be so kind as to take a second of your night and answer my quick survey on why our interaction has been such an abject failure?” would only lengthen her mistrust in him, and perhaps convince her that he was crazed and dangerous. The truth was, his grasp on the brutality of human society was limited. Fay could be temperamental, petulant, and cold, but almost never to each other, and rarely unprovoked in the case of human interaction. The didn’t swipe children from their yards, brutalize each other for pocket change, or rape. It wasn’t in their nature—the Seelies, anyway. The Unseelie were the root of all that was evil, but, just like the humans, Alden had no experience with them; they were ostracized, banned from ever being able to integrate into any of the four courts. Light, love, and innocence were all that had ever been allowed to imbue his soul, which was why his new friend’s reactionary mistrust filled him with melancholy confusion.

Though she was not obvious about it, Alden noticed the way the girl positioned herself when she made the call; always watching him as if he were going to turn feral at a moment’s notice. Sighing, he turned his back to her so he was the prone one, and leaned against the boardwalk’s coarse railing. His eyes found the water; like always, he found himself struck by its lassitude. The waters churned lazily, splashing against the beams that supported the walk, but otherwise swirling unhindered. Various vegetation as well as garbage spun in endless circles just underneath the dock. Just a dead, lifeless pool of water. The waters in the woods never had and never would see such listlessness. The pixies, sprites, nymphs and sylphs always brought life to the lakes and ponds in the woods—follow the giggles and unmistakable glow, and you would soon find yourself at a lake’s edge. Even when winter’s rimy kiss froze the waters solid, the traffic of fay folk didn’t dwindle. They simply played on the slick ice until exhaustion drove them to seek comfort on the snowy bank. Despite his upbringing, Alden found himself incredibly fond of the winter season. There was always a surge of life around that time, perhaps a compensation for all that was lost from the hibernating trees and animals. He wondered if it was the same or the opposite for their human counterparts. Did their vibrancy also permeate in winter’s chill to stave off the grimness of the dying land, or did they whither with it until spring brought its reprieving warmth? 

He did not ponder long before his friend finished up her call. Upon hearing the click of the receiver, he turned back around to face her, careful not to move from his spot at the railing. Disappointment welled at the edges of his heart, but he was glad for her—she would soon be able to escape the discomfort and wariness that practically dripped from her. “Oh, wonderful! No need to apologize; I’m just glad that you found someone to get you safely back where you belong.” Alden flashed her a kind smile, but then let it drop to a grin—his mouth was almost sore with smiling, feeling it was necessary to comfort the girl. In hindsight, he realized that the biggest smile in the world would not have earned her trust. 

“Maybe I’ll stay with you for a bit, just to make sure you don’t run into any trouble. There’s a lot of sketchy activity around here at night.” Or so he had heard, verbatim, actually. The fair always drew the attention of miscreants like moths to a flame, according to a few of the people he found himself eavesdropping from. It made sense, he supposed. There weren’t many street lights to illuminate those who prowled, and many people thought nothing of walking alone to their cars. With the fair producing such a cacophony of music and screams, the shouts of the helpless would go unnoticed. Alden frowned into the darkness.

“I’m sorry, I don’t think I caught your name? Mine is Alden…but I believe I already told you that, come to think of it,” He grinned sheepishly, pushing his unruly hair from his face.