A Return from Hiatus

Neffydd felt the chill from outside settle in around her body. She pulled the blanket closer about her, snuggling down into the warmth and thought about the past few months.
Over the winter Neffydd had been sick. Very sick. The illness had come on strong in the middle of the winter and finally depleted her strength enough that she couldn't work, play, sleep, even walking had become next to impossible. Between the pain, fatigue and medications she had lost the will to do much of anything.

In the early spring, after Neffydd had begun to heal, Shael took her around the corner to a small pub where they proceeded to drink and pour their hearts out about recent happenings. Neffydd told Shael about the Leprechaun she had been too shy to ask out and even showed her the message she had written out on her mobile com but hadn't had the guts to send. After a few more drinks they took turns in the latrine and when Neffydd returned from her spin Shael handed her the com back.
"I checked it over." She said and Neffydd's stomach flopped at her next words. "It looked pretty good, so I went ahead and sent it... Is that OK?"

"Well, yeah..." She affirmed after a moment. "Even if it weren't, it's too late now."

"You two need another round?" The tree sprite behind the bar asked them.

"Oh..." Neffydd turned to her and smiled, "Dear GODS, yes!"

~:}Y{:~

Over the next few months Neffydd got to know the tall Leprechaun, Shay O'Dell, much better. She made sure to cut out enough time for him and making a few general changes around the lair to accommodate his excessive height. She and Warder Sullens changed out their furniture, being sure to pick items that would hold the lanky Fae comfortably.

The summertime brought entertaining things and the search for a permanent lair. Sullens had finally been paid the money he was owed and they were determined to procure a place that would fit the needs of their clan.

Mostly mundane things that kept the family busy viewing homes and signing paperwork. Then there was the moving and the settling in and the parties... So much to do so little summer to do it in.

The Fair came and went and the children returned to school. The Leprechaun had a death in his family and decided to have some space, away from the clan to gather himself back together. His choices made Neffydd sad, but she knew he had his own life to live. He wanted to still meet, casually, but hadn't decided what he wanted for their future.

Soon, Autumn had thrown her beautiful blanket of russet leaves, bright gourds, crisp fruits and sparkling frost over the country side.

A group of her friends got together at a local restaurant for the season premier of The Walking Dead. Shay brought Neffydd, Tomoe and the minion Zennaton to the show for a couple drinks and some snacks. Before the show even started Shay had left for home and the trio from chanMaelgwyn were happily munching away on half-priced appetizers.

"Can I get ya anything else?" Neffydd shook her head but didn't speak. She was trying not to look at the waiter. It was the only defense she had against the sheer beauty of him. She was acutely aware of his person, any time he came within twenty paces of her.

[That waiter is a cutie ^_^] Neffydd typed the message to her friend, a water sprite named Babbling Brook, (or 'Babbles' for short,) who was sitting not five paces from her.

[His name is Jedi :)] Came the quick reply. [He's a really good friend of mine. I adore him... You should give him your contact number!]

[How is it that you know EVERYONE??]

Throughout the rest of the night Neffydd worked up the courage to talk to the guy who walked about the place, cleaning and checking on customers, as if he expected to be ignored. Several times she walked by him, hoping to catch his eye and talk to him. When she finally was able to meet his gaze she was too tongue-tied to do anything but give him a faint smile and head up to the bar where she admitted defeat to her friend.

"I'm sure I have something you can write your number on..." Babbles said and began to rummage around in her bag. "That way you can just give him your number, then run away." This seemed like the best plan ever, so Neffydd nodded.

Neffydd's heart was beating so hard that she could barely swallow. The perky sprite fished a blank business card out of her purse and the bar tender just happened to have a pen handy (and a smile, fancy that...). Neffydd's script was sweeping and lilted in that way she had developed to cover the nervous shaking.
 
As they walked out the door, Jedi placed himself by the exit so he could wish them well-part and Neffydd saw her chance. She strode to the exit, gave the server the best smile she could without looking like a freak and handed him the small paper card with her mobile com number on it. He looked at her in confusion.

"You should call me... or solid message. We can have drinks soon." She smiled again.

"Uh..." The poor guy looked stunned silly. "Yeah...?" She nodded at him and walked away.

As Babbles drove them home, Neffydd realized that she had been so flustered that she had never paid the fracking bill! Her friend turned the vehicle around while Neffydd fought her anxiety over the direction her food was going to travel.

"I can run in and pay, for you." Babbles offered after witnessing the extent of the anxiety. Neffydd agreed that this might be the best plan so her friend took her card and paid the bill. When she returned, the water sprite's bouncy laugh preceded her.

"You know, I got in there and he didn't even know you had skipped out!" It seems Jedi had been just as distracted by her forwardness as Neffydd had...

Neffydd walked through the portal of her new lair in a daze. Had she really just given the hot guy her contact?

Hoo, boy... This should be interesting.

Thawing an Icy Heart

The deliciously hot water lapped over Neffydd's head and filled her ears, muffling the music playing from her aether com on the bathing room counter. She was hoping to boil out the horrible feelings that seemed to thrum through her body with each painful heartbeat.

She focused on relaxing every muscle and the tickle of air bubbling through her hair as the water invaded, forcing the lighter gas to escape in every direction. The water creeped its way into he ear canals with a wet hiss and she could hear the music again. She opened her eyes and stared up at the ceiling trying to sort the things that were running through her brain.

She had seen Jedi again, last night after their favorite Sunday outing, but her hibernation cycle had gotten the better of her. While waking in her lover's arms was one of the most wonderful sensations, sleeping through the scant time he could spend with her was crushing.

"I'm gonna have to go soon." Jedi murmured in her ear as soon as he noticed she had reawakened.

"Nooo..." She groaned and clutched to his arm, burying her face in his richly scented skin. The smell of him was comforting and exciting at the same time.

"I have to." He stroked her hair and kissed her head as he pulled her hands from him.

"I know," Neffydd sighed and let her arms fall to her sides. "But I don't have to like it."

Jedi left the room for a moment and returned to put on his coat and hat.

"You know..." She gave him a half smile, still laying where he had left her. "This is becoming a bad habit."

"What?" He asked, his expression a weird mix of smile and grimace. "Me going to my home and my family?" A frigid-hot spike pierced her soul, striking her momentarily breathless. Why couldn't his place be with her?

Jedi didn't seem to note her weakness and she she was able to catch her breath again. She knew he had responsibilities that he didn't neglect... that was one of the things that attracted her to him.

"No," She plastered on a bright smile that she was pretty sure wasn't as bright as it was meant to be. "Leaving wanton women in the middle of the night." She gave up on the smile as a bad job and settled for a pout that was a bit closer to the real emotions trying to beat their way out.

"It's not like you'll be lonely, with all the people here." It almost sounded as if he were trying to convince himself.

"People aren't interchangeable." She frowned up at him. "I can keep company with others, but I still miss you."

He stared at her for a few moments, looking shocked. "I don't know what to say about that."

"Then say nothing." Neffydd shrugged.

"Don't worry," He told her and opened the portal. "I'll see you soon." With that, he was gone.

Neffydd sat up and scrubbed her face in an attempt to force the agonizing ache back. There really was no reason for such emotional shenanigans. He couldn't leave her, because she didn't really have him. They'd only been acquainted for a little over two moon cycles, but every time they were together it was like fitting in that missing piece. Every time he left for his home she missed that piece.

Her face was still in her hands when she heard the portal open. She whipped her head around, mind automatically listing the location of every weapon she could reach in under three ticks.

Jedi grinned at her from the door and lifted a satchel of snack foods.

"Tomoe left this behind." He stepped inside and leaned toward her, discarding the sack. "Any excuse for another kiss..."

A Friend Returns

For months, now, Neffydd has been looking at the empty pages of her blog, trying to force the words to fill those pages. She would sit and stare, listening to the phantom screeching of phalangial laughter and disparaging that her Muse might have really meant it this time. 

She always says she'll leave for brighter writers, but Neffydd wasn't convinced... until now.

But wait! What is that sparkling? Over there! In the corner of her eye! 

Welcome back my beloved friend! Have you had a good holiday? Are you ready for work? We've missed NaNoWriMo; but let me tell you about this beautiful, mostly invisible Mandalorian I met...

Year's End... Finally

Neffydd's eyes took in the sights around her but her brain was refusing to properly translate them, preferring, instead to snuggle into the comfortable haze of intoxication this night of recreation had brought.

She slowly swiveled her head toward the left and looked to the floor by the table where Shael was laying.

"Just gotta lay down for a while..." Her slight form was lowered to the flooring with the help Neffydd's best friend, a tree gnome named Dramus and their mutual friend Dehmar.

She felt a tap on her arm and Neffydd swung her head to the right to accept her turn to breathe the incense. The world faded out for a while and Neffydd continued to drink the liquor put in front of her...

The stroke of midnight came and went. There were glasses raised and more liquor consumed. Enlightening conversations that no one would remember later and plans to "do this again".

"I'm here!" A troll yelled from the doorway. "Oh... we're here." His girlfriend shoved him the rest of the way inside.

Neffydd grabbed the bottle of horrible champagne and raised it toward the troll couple. "Do you want some champagne?" she wiggled it in front of them like a worm on a hook. "It's disgusting!"

The troll couple looked at the bottle with trepidation before the guy snatched the bottle away from Neffydd. He turned it over to look at the lable.

"Lemmy see!" He barked and grabbed the cup Neffydd had ready for him. He poured a good draft into the cup, took a generous swig then puckered and winced. "That... is... AWFUL!"

"Yup!" Neffydd beamed at them, "That's why I said it was!" And they drank....

The further the night progressed, the more inebriated they became and, one by one, they dropped out or curled up to sleep somewhere soft.

Distracted

Neffydd looked down at her input pad and silently cursed the entire lineage of the blasted device.

She should be writing something. It's not like nothing had happened in the month she'd procrastinated... exactly the opposite, in fact! The words simply would not come from her fingers onto the input keys! Grrr...

She vowed to later write of the awesome Year's End party her best friend Dramus threw and the Feast she attended with most of her household... but right now she was simply too distracted by her new social network.

Thezombieclub.org chat chimed for her attention...

.

..

...

Yeah... simply too distracted.

More Everyday Public Transit Humor

Neffydd was going to be late for the public transit to The Pit, again, so she started to trot through the brisk winter night. She jogged up to the stop where a Faun and Nymph standing, waiting for the same transit...

Nymph: "Do you need my scarf?"

Faun: "Stop! I'm too sly for that; I'm too sly."

Nymph: "I'm just sayin'; It's really cold."

Faun: "I'm too sly for that! It doesn't fit my image. I'm tryin'a be gangsta, yo!"

Neffydd's thoughts on this were: Eye rolling; 'POSER!' and the term 'sly' is slang for 'homosexual'... How appropriate.

Oh, and by the by: Neffydd knew plenty of 'Gangstas' and 'Hood Rats' who would bundle up in layer upon layer of grandma's knitting just to stay warm.

Just sayin'.

Like He Knew What He Was Doin'

Neffydd listened to the public transport driver and a Gnomish passenger chit-chat about idle things, both trying their hardest to impress a plump Pixie. It became more and more obvious that the Gnome was far outmatched by the chocolate skinned, half Mountain Giant driver as the conversation progressed.

With little gems like: "I was gunna go to Jamaica last year, until I heard that they got the snow that we were supposed to get." and "I don't wanna go to the Bahamas! I'd get stuck in that 'Devil's Triangle'!" How could she do anything but close her eyes, lean her head back and listen to the entertainment?

"Don't get me started on the Bahamas, man!" The driver shook his head. "I really don't want to take a cruise there, now that I heard what happened. Did you hear about that?" The driver must have been as entertained as Neffydd was to be engaging the idiot Gnome again and again.

"Naw... What happened?" The Gnome was predictable.

"I heard it in the news about that cruise captain that abandoned ship when it was sinking and let all the people drown." The driver's voice was dramatically 'stage hushed'.

"What?" Neffydd could almost feel the Stupid oozing out of the Gnome's mouth. "The Titanic?"

The only sound that you could hear in the stunned silence at the front of the transport was the sound of the engines and jaws dropping in disbelief, before the driver burst into peals of amused laughter.