Page 19 of Cosy & Chill
The Copper and the Gold
Roisin pressed herself deeper into her seat and turned her head away. She’d found a table close enough to the two young men to overhear their conversation, but she didn’t want to be caught eavesdropping. Neither did she want either man to remember her.
Meddling in human affairs without the humans’ consent or knowledge could get a fae into serious trouble. Roisin would hate to make it home after twelve hundred years only to find herself banished for breaking the rules. She had to remember to tread lightly, even if impatience gnawed on her like a hungry rat.
Finding the house on the High Street empty, and someone interested in renting it, had been two strokes of luck. The obvious attraction between the two potential tenants had been a bonus.
The blond man was the kind who loved challenges and shiny things, always ready to help and please others. When Roisin had attempted to plant a suggestion in his mind, he’d already been halfway there, imagining himself in a bright, warm space with the redhead for company instead of outside in the cold, surrounded by the bustle of a market crowd.
He’d approached the solicitor before he’d coaxed the lad with the copper curls to view the house and the store with him.
Roisin hadn’t followed them into the Crow & Anchor from idle curiosity. She couldn’t interfere directly, but shecouldsmooth the path of their dream, make it easier for them to follow through, sign the rental contract, and move in.
Roisin took a sip from her whisky, listening to a conversation about rent and dreams. Hope wafted from the two young men like fragrant steam, and Roisin welcomed it, used it to shore up her own spirits. She drew her notepad closer and—after another sip from her glass—bent her head over the page and started sketching. The store took shape as the two discussed it, with a sign over the door, yarn filling the shelves, and small tables with people enjoying coffee and ice cream in the other half of the room.
She paid attention to tiny details, even added extra seating on the pavement outside the shop. The sun shone brightly in her sketch. Customers smiled and left with bulging bags. The two young men—one golden-blond, one with copper-bright curls—smiled with contentment and happiness.
It wasn’t enough.
Knowing humans as she did these days, she thought the two might find it weird to run a business together after knowing each other for only a few days. They might find it stranger still to share a home, even if a blind fae could see that the two were destined to be lovers. They complemented each other in every way, and Roisin determined that—in exchange for giving her the chance to search for her amulet—she would smooth this part of their journey for them, too.
She started on a second drawing. A domestic scene this time, of shared breakfasts and evenings spent in front of the fire. Never having seen the inside of the house, she had to imagine the setting. It helped that humans were predictable, as much in their domestic habits as in their expectations when it came to love and relationships.
The sketch blended comfort, companionship, hope, and desire, her intent spilling out into the room as she worked, drawing the two closer to each other until gold hair and copper hair mingled over sheets of notes and half-empty beers.
The drawing took her all afternoon and another glass of whisky. When she was done, Roisin set both drawings side by side on the table. She took a breath, held it for a count of seven, and exhaled across the pages.
The careful lines and shadings disappeared as if Roisin’s pen had never touched the paper. The tiny details she had imagined blended with her thoughts and wishes. Invisible to human eyes, they coalesced into a cloud of glittering dust, and settled over the two young men as they agreed the name of their new venture and clinked glasses.
