Page 12 of Shelf-Made Man
Alfie bowed his head and gave it a small shake. “I haven’t explained properly. We can see the other world, but we can’t move between them.”
“But—”
Alfie held up a hand. “I know. I’m here. What I mean is that very few of us can make this transfer. Powerful wizards are capable of it, and some of them can even transfer others. I imagine that’s what happened to me, although I don’t know why. Also, there are some beings who can sometimes do this.Trolls, for instance. Nixies. Selkies, grims, and the hafgufa.” He sighed. “Not humans, and not elves.”
Now Tobias had a better understanding of why Alfie had been so upset when he learned where he was. Ready to comfort him, Tobias had a rather shocking thought and he cleared his throat. “You know how I told you that, um, my aunt gave me a doll that turned into, well, you?”
“Of course.”
“Her second husband was a wizard and the doll, uh, well,you—dammit, this is awkward!—belonged to him.”
“That makes sense. He’s likely the one who transferred me.” Alfie sighed. “And you’re using the past tense, so I assume he’s deceased.”
Tobias shuffled his feet like a nervous schoolboy. “Um, yeah. Or disappeared maybe? And the thing is, he’s been gone for… a while. Before I was born. So it’s been a long time since you were transferred.”
To Tobias’s surprise, Alfie gave him a small smile. “You’re concerned for me. Thank you. But the temporal issue isn’t a worry. If I could somehow return, I would find myself at more or less the same place whence I left, and likely not more than a year or so later. Which would be problematic, actually, because I was very nearly killed. I’m guessing that your wizard’s intervention saved my life.”
That made Tobias blink a few times as the gears turned slowly in his head. “So you were injuredbeforeAunt Virginia’s husband magicked you.” That was arelief. Not that he’d ever believe she was married to a villain, but the wizard could have accidentally hurt Alfie. It sounded, however, as if he had been trying to protect him. “But all those years when you were a doll, you must have been…. I can’t even imagine how awful.”
Another smile. “I wasn’t aware, Tobias. I didn’t suffer.”
That mattered to Tobias. Not that he generally enjoyed other people’s misery, but he found himself especially distressed by the idea of Alfie’s. Although Tobias hadn’t asked for the responsibility of caring for an elf, he took it seriously. And besides, he liked Alfie, who was doing his best under what must be devastating circumstances, and who was… nice.
Tobias wanted to know a lot more about how Alfie got hurt, who that Snjokarl guy was, and how Aunt Virginia’s husband had become involved. But there were more important things than simply satisfying his curiosity.
“You’re looking a little more chipper,” he said. “Do you want to get dressed?”
“Does my nuditybotheryou?” Alfie stressed the word and, in case Tobias hadn’t caught his meaning, waggled his eyebrows.
Although Tobias blushed, for once he didn’t stumble over his words. “Not bothered at all, but since you’re not in any condition for either of us to enjoy it properly….” Oh my God, he was flirting. With an elf.
And the elf was laughing, seemingly delighted. “How am I so fortunate to have acquired a savior who is handsome, strong, kind,andamusing?”
Tobias’s blush intensified.
With some difficulty, he found a pair of navy-colored sweatpants that would probably work, at least for the time being. Alfie could tighten the drawstring waist, and the elastic bands around the ankles would keep the hems from dragging. He also gave him his favorite T-shirt, made of incredibly silky cotton the color of ripe plums. Alfie needed help putting it all on, but together they managed and then followed up with another bathroom trip. This time Alfie didn’t lean so heavily on Tobias.
Alfie brought them to a halt as they were returning to the bedroom. “May I perhaps spend some time out of bed?”
“Are you sure you’re up to it?”
“Lying around will do nothing but make me wallow in self-pity.”
It would also be easier to change the bedding, so Tobias led him into the living room and quickly dragged the sheet and blanket off the couch so Alfie could sit.
“Isthiswhat I consigned you to by commandeering your bed?”
Tobias shrugged. “It’s a couch, not a torture chamber. It’s pretty comfy, actually.”
“For sitting, perhaps. But it’s far too small for a man of your impressive stature. You must have been miserable.”
Actually, Tobias hadn’t slept well at all, but he wasn’t about to admit it. He had just opened his mouth to change the subject when there was a heavy knock on the door. Crap. It was possibly religious recruiters or a salesperson, or even more likely, his slightly off neighbor who liked to complain about the trees growing in front of Tobias’s house: three impressively large Douglas-firs. Tobias liked them because they were pretty and attracted birds, but the weirdo neighbor was convinced they were going to fall any minute and take out the whole block. He got especially nervous when the weather turned icy.
“Hang on.” Tobias strode to the door.
It wasn’t the neighbor. It was two men who didn’t look much like Jehovah’s Witnesses or solar panel salesmen. They were as tall as Tobias and as heavily built, with bushy blond hair and even bushier blond beards. Their clothing—tall black boots, dun-colored baggy hose, and taupe tunics—made them look like escapees from a Renaissance faire. Tobias noted the leather belts with knife sheaths at both hips.
The men looked surprised to see Tobias. “You have him already?” one of them growled. “Why didn’t you say something?”
