Page 36 of Sidhe
Later,afterpancakesanda round of general and somewhat vague introductions for Walter—that he was Nathan’s Spirit Guide, Walter offered easily, but further details he kept closely guarded—Nathan headed upstairs to the library to see if there were any books on changelings. He knew what Jim could do, knew that so far Iain couldn’t do anything, but he wanted to know as many variations on changeling power as he could before this mystery man Walter had mentioned showed up on their doorstep.
“I feel I must reiterate once more—I am not Nathan’s guardian angel. I was a man once myself,” came Walter’s voice as Nathan approached the library door.
Iain’s laughter filtered out in reply, and Nathan imagined the lanky brunette wearing a weak grimace of a smile. “I know. I’mjust not really all that pure in the sin department, is all, so heavenly guardian still seems a bit daunting.”
“Spirit Guide.”
“Sure, sure, I just figure mine must be a wreck, huh? I’m a fucking disaster area.”
Nathan turned the corner just in time to catch Iain’s stunned face when he realized he’d sworn in front of Walter.
“Oh, god,” Iain gasped, “please don’t smite me.”
Nathan tried not to laugh. He’d never looked at Walter in fear of being smote—or was it smited? Smitten? Nathan coughed and shook his head. “Iain…” he said tentatively.
“Nathan.” Walter looked to him warmly before turning back to Iain. “It’s quite alright, Iain. You exaggerate your sins. You are a good man. I can see that only too easily.”
Nathan didn’t miss that Walter avoided explaining that changelings didn’t have Spirit Guides—or so Nathan had always been told.
Iain’s eyes were about ready to pop out of his head. “You can see that?”
“One of the many gifts I have retained in solid form. I can’t see everything, but I can see your…I suppose you might call it your aura, the presence that hangs about you from the choices you’ve made and the purity in your heart. That you are a good man is bright and beautiful.”
If it had been anyone else calling Iain ‘beautiful’ Nathan might have thought it was either a come-on or a tease, but when Walter said it, the connotation meaning something so much deeper than physical appearance, it was something entirely different.
Iain was positively dumbstruck. He actually squeaked in response, a little whimper that he quickly coughed his way out of, blush in his cheeks, goofy smile back in place, as he attempted very valiantly to make a suitable comeback.
“You’rebeautiful,” he said at first, which caused his eyes to widen again at his traitorous brain for allowing that, fumbling and blushing even more. “I-I meant…y-ya know…that you’re obviously a really awesome guy yourself if you were chosen to be someone’s Spirit Guide for their whole life. That’s just…amazing. You must have been something else when you were alive.”
“I…” Walter trailed, the smile flickering from his face.
The few times Nathan had tried to get Walter to talk about his human life, he would always dismiss the notion as ‘of no consequence’ like it wasn’t important, at least not in relation to Nathan’s life. But that was silly. Nathan wanted to know, because Walter waspartof his life.
He sat down beside the other two amidst the piles of books and looked at Walter expectantly. Iain’s expression was much the same.
Walter sighed deeply under their scrutiny. “There is not much to say. I lived a simple life in a large but simple city. I was well-educated, and very determined to make something of myself and to teach others, and so I was a professor of history. I was not very good at making friends, however, and I lost my parents young, with no siblings. It wasn’t until I met my…wife, and we created our own family that I knew joy.
“I never wanted another to be without that opportunity, and that feeling stayed with me even when I passed. When I was offered the chance to watch over Nathan, I knew it was an easy decision. I will be with my wife and daughters again someday, but for now, this is where I am meant to be.”
Nathan stared in open surprise and awe, having known so little about Walter, and honestly feeling very selfish and guilty for having Walter all to himself all these years, where he couldn’t be with his family in the afterlife, whatever that might be like. He didn’t know what to say.
“Holy shit,” Iain said succinctly, blushing dark red once he realized the words he had chosen. “I just mean…I’m only a lowly librarian. Sure, I’m a changeling, but I can’t do anything special. Makes me feel pretty useless.”
“No one is useless, especially not those who have been called to serve in the coming war,” Walter said with a confident though sympathetic smile. “You will play an important role as well, Iain, though I cannot see your path clearly. Although, if I might say…I would not terribly mind it if you cursed slightly less from time to time.” He looked at Nathan. “You either.”
Nathan burst into laughter when Iain went pale. “Don’t listen to him, man. Sometimes the only way to accurately describe a situation is with a big, loud ‘fuck’.” He winked.
A chuckle fell from Walter’s lips, and because even he found the humor in Nathan’s words, Iain relaxed and laughed as well.
“Now, where thehellis that book on dimensional rifts?” Iain asked with a grin, diving back into the books.
Nathan picked up a book himself but didn’t think a tome on salamanders would help right now. “You sure this is what you wanna do with that Library Science Masters of yours?”
Iain was as much an orphan as the rest of them now. He was no seal, but he had nowhere else to go, and to be honest, they really could use a little more Giles in theirBuffyand have someone with some real experience rearrange their mess of a resource library. Iain couldn’t make much money, if any, but he’d get his meals for free, have a place to live, and apparently his mother had left him enough inheritance that he had been able to buy out most of his town’s supernatural texts.
Now that Nathan thought of it, maybe it was a dream job come true for Iain.
“It’s a tough job trying to think of the right categories for all this shit,” Iain said, “but I don’t mind. Home sweet home for me.”
