Drabble On Ficathon

They look at fae when fae says it, and fae’re still smiling, but for the first time since the pair’s met, they’re not.

They take Beyond’s cigarette straight from faer hand, and Beyond doesn’t think now’s the time to tell them that new research is showing that something like them’s really better off getting a vice they can inject or, honestly, rub on the gums. Beyond’s got some great crystals straight from the cavern, some great spirits, too, if they’re a drinker, and they don’t need to lie to Beyond, fae knows dwellers can drink. And fae could lie and tell us with a straight face that it’s because fae values the autonomy of all the commonfolk of Mirror and sure, that one’s obvious, but that wouldn’t stop it. But it’ll humor us with the truth instead: if fae keeps the silence awkward enough, this bastard’s gonna break and say something fae can use, which is exactly what happens when after one huff, two, three, Dove says, “So do a lot of people.”

And then fae grins, because fae’s got them, and fae says, “But I’m not making this offer to a lot of people: I’m making it to you.”