Chapter Eight

Idris found that sharing tea with Arlyn and Yuli now was markedly different from their first meeting a few short days ago.

Tam and Arlyn were both smiling this time, exchanging knowing glances and teasing kicks with each other as they chattered away. Even though Idris got the impression Yuli hadn’t fully understood the gravity of the situation back when they’d first met, she seemed lighter now too, eagerly telling Idris all about her trip to the Unseelie Kingdom. Her fingers glittered with rings as she waved them in the air while she talked: their mother’s rings, Tam had explained.

He had a couple himself now, threaded on a leather thong around his neck.

There was still a slight air of sadness about, as Tam was still planning to leave, but he was leaving for a world his sisters could visit, a world where he could be free to visit them if he ever wished to face the Queen’s ire in returning to Faerie. It was a little like when Sana had gone away to university - though she tried to hide it, Idris knew his mum had cried for hours at the thought of all her children finally leaving home. It wasn’t a bad change, but it was a big one. And in Tam’s case, it was a change that was far preferable to what he had been resigned to at the beginning of the week.

When the sun began to set, Arlyn helped Tam to cook dinner for them all, bringing out mushrooms and strange luminous leaves that she’d taken from the Unseelie Lands. Idris was relieved to see the leaves stopped glowing once they’d been cooked: despite all the new things he’d tried since coming to Faerie, eating something that looked radioactive was a step too far.

“What is human food like?” Yuli asked Idris as they ate. “I imagine it is worse than this.”

“It’s more similar than you think,” Idris said with a laugh. “You’ll have to see for yourself one day.”

“I will eat so much human food,” Yuli said, viciously stabbing at her plate with her fork as she tried to spear a mushroom. “It is not fair that Tamriel should get to try it all himself.”

“We will have ice cream when you visit,” Tam told her. “I think you will like it.”

“I am more interested in what drinks the humans have to offer,” Arlyn said.

“I’ll post you a bottle of absinthe through the portal,” Idris promised. He got the impression Arlyn would be one of the few people he knew who would stand the drink - the only other person who touched the stuff was Kayla.

“And crisps!” Yuli added, her eyes gleaming. “Tamriel said you had crisps earlier and I want to try.”

Tam laughed, and reached across to pull Yuli’s hair back from her face, away from where it was perilously close to dropping into her plate. “I will send you many packets of crisps.”

They finished eating as Yuli happily listed her demands for gifts from the human world, though as Idris started to explain what chocolate bars were he noticed that all three faeries had gone still, their heads cocked slightly to the side as though listening out for something. Idris’s words dried up in his throat as he strained to hear whatever it was they heard.

“I do not mean to be rude, Idris,” Tam said, “only I am certain I can hear music.”

“Me too,” Yuli added, cupping her hands to her ears as though to hear better.

Idris found himself holding his breath, staying as still as possible until finally - he heard it. A faint but steady beat of drums in the distance, an intricate melody that blended in so well with the rustle of the forest that it was almost impossible to hear.

“A revel,” Arlyn said, her golden eyes lighting up. “Oh how perfect, what better way to spend your last night in Faerie, Tamriel.”

Tam glanced at Idris. “I am not certain -”

“Don’t worry about me,” Idris told him with a grin. “I killed it at the market the other day, I’ll be fine.” He wasn’t entirely sure what a revel was in Faerie, but he knew enough to guess it was some sort of party.

“See?” Arlyn said triumphantly, just as Yuli leaned in towards Idris to quietly ask: “What did you kill?”

“It seems foolish,” Tam said, but Arlyn just snorted.

“Why? The Queen does not know you intend to leave, nor will she be attending,” she said.

Tam thought for a moment, his lips twisting ever so slightly to the side as he mulled it over. “Idris?” he asked, not bothering to state the rest of his question. He didn’t need to.

“I haven’t been out dancing in ages,” Idris said. “I think it’ll be fun.”

“It is decided then,” Arlyn grinned. “But you should change your shirt, Tamriel: green is terribly dull to wear to a revel.”

Tam muttered something about green being a ‘perfectly fine colour for any occasion’ , but he stood to get changed anyway. Idris decided to get changed as well, remembering the blue shirt his mum had given him. It wasn’t something he’d normally choose to go clubbing in, but it was better than the cream linen shirt Tam had leant him.

To Idris’s surprise, Tam pulled on a deep crimson shirt - he’d got so used to seeing Tam dressed in neutral greens and browns and greys that to see him wearing something so colourful felt strange. A good strange, Idris decided. It suited him.

“You look good,” Idris said, and Tam flashed him a surprised smile.

“As do you,” he replied. He stepped in close to Idris, his hands coming up to smooth the collar of Idris’s shirt. “The blue suits you,” he said, his voice lower, rougher than it had been before.

“Oh?” Idris said softly, moving in closer towards Tam. “Well thank you very much.”

They were so close, Tam’s lips only a few tantalising inches from Idris’s own, and Idris tilted his head slightly to the side as he leant in to -

“Hurry up!” Arlyn yelled from outside. “In case you have forgotten we are waiting for you.”

Idris pulled away from Tam just as Tam’s face twisted into a frown.

“Younger sisters, huh?” Idris laughed, and Tam groaned.

When they joined them outside, Arlyn arched an eyebrow at them. Yuli merely looked bored.

“Better,” Arlyn assessed, looking them both up and down.

“Come onnnn,” Yuli moaned, restless. “I want to dance.”

“Let us dance then,” Tam smiled, and together they all set off through the forest towards the source of the noise.

Idris had thought the market was colourful, but he realised now he had only seen a glimpse of what faeries could do once they came together. Ribbons of jewels were strung between every tree and wound around their branches, each gem lit from within with a bright glow. Fairy lights, Idris thought with amusement. The jewelled ribbons were joined by longer, flowing pieces of gold and silver fabric which created an ever-moving barrier between the centre of the revel and the wood, a fluid doorway to what felt like yet another dimension. The ground was covered in a thick blanket of grass that didn’t seem to get squashed or muddied no matter how ferociously the faeries danced, and around the centre of the gathering were similar stalls to those of the market, selling all manner of refreshments to the thirsty revellers.

“I will get us drinks,” Arlyn announced, adding to Tam: “or is that not allowed?”

“If you get me a drink I’ll repay you with a dance,” Idris said, feeling that finally he had truly got the hang of how things worked in Faerie. Tam looked amused, and Arlyn gave Idris a predatory smile.

“Oh we have a bargain, Idris,” she said. “I hope you can keep up.”

She disappeared into the crowd, Idris losing sight of her almost instantly as she was swallowed by the dancers. There were hundreds of them, a thousand even, all laughing and drinking and whirling about each other. Idris had assumed Faerie was sparsely populated, given how few other Fae he had seen during his time with Tam, but here at the revel he began to wonder how he’d spent almost a week in the land without passing by anyone outside of the market.

“Revels such as this draw Fae from all over the land, from the farthest reaches of the Seelie Court,” Tam said, as though he could read Idris’s mind.

“And you’re sure the Queen won’t show up? Or George?” As far as Idris could see there weren’t any dancing, murderous horses, but it didn’t hurt to check.

“I am sure,” Tam said, laughing a little. “You have nothing to fear: revels are places of ecstasy, not violence.”

Idris desperately wanted to make a joke about how clubs in his world were also typically places of ecstasy, but he knew it wouldn’t land. Tam would learn soon enough, he thought with a thrill.

Arlyn came back with three glasses filled with a brilliant orange liquid and one that Idris recognised as not-quite-grapefruit juice which she handed to Yuli.

“Drink first,” Arlyn told him with a sly smile. “Then we dance.”

The drink was strong and sweet, like skittles and vodka and candied fruit peel all in one. It lingered on Idris’s lips, a trace that didn’t seem to disappear and left him wanting more. He didn’t get a chance to ask what it was, or to ask for another - as soon as he had swallowed then Arlyn grabbed his hand, tossing his glass idly to the side and pulling him towards the centre of the crowd. With a laugh, Idris let himself be led, Tam and Yuli following in the space they left behind as they cut through the rows of dancing Fae.

Idris hadn’t expected Tam to dance, couldn’t even begin to imagine what Tam would look like if he did, and yet as they made their way through the crowd Tam started to move in time with the music, the drums and strings and flutes animating his body in ways Idris hadn’t thought possible. Idris could feel his own body trying to move in time with the music, an ache in his legs and arms and chest that filled him with energy and made him want to let loose.

So he did.

Idris’s hands were in the air, holding onto Arlyn’s, tugging Tam closer to him. His feet were stamping and jumping and sliding on the grass, dancing entirely by himself and yet somehow moving in time with the whole crowd. Arlyn pressed herself to his chest and spun them in circles as Tam let Yuli stand on his feet, until suddenly their roles changed and Arlyn was dancing with Yuli whilst Idris was guiding Tam in a series of spiralling steps. At some point Yuli ended up on Idris’s shoulders, laughing as he swayed in time to the music. Arlyn, several drinks in and unwilling for her younger sister to be taller than her, clambered up onto Tam’s shoulders and lifted her arms up to the sky in jubilation.

It was like nothing Idris had ever experienced before. It was every drunken dance at a club, every awkward childhood disco, every exuberant family wedding all wrapped into one. He’d never felt so alive, so full of joy as when he held Tam in his arms, the waves of the music washing over them and bringing them closer together.

He could have this, he thought to himself. Tam could be his. There would be no awkward online dating profiles, no disastrous first dates, no late night arguments where he would be told that things just weren’t going to work out. He and Tam worked, complimenting each other just as the violins and the drums wove their music together into something beautiful.

Idris lost all track of time, the only markers he had to gauge how long they had been dancing was the occasional drink that either Tam or Arlyn passed him. The sky was almost pitch black, the stars shining above them like fireworks, blending in with the lights that surrounded the dancers. Idris felt as though he could dance forever.

Arlyn, thankfully, seemed to still have an idea of time, as after a couple of hours (or perhaps only a few minutes) she pulled their little group over to the outskirts of the revel.

“It is late,” she said to Yuli. “You should return home.”

“But I want to stay here!” Yuli stamped her foot in the universal sign of displeasure of children everywhere, although to Idris’s surprise her hair briefly flashed white.

“You are too young,” Tam told her, though he did not say it unkindly. “And there will be more revels to come.”

“We’ll take you dancing in my world,” Idris promised.

Yuli considered that, although she still looked one pout away from throwing a proper tantrum.

“If you go home now, you will be wide awake tomorrow to see me off. You do not want to sleep through my departure, do you?” Tam tried, dropping down to be on a level with Yuli.

“I suppose not,” she sighed, and Tam smiled.

“Good,” he said. “Sleep well.” He kissed the top of her head and stood up, Yuli waving goodbye to Idris and Arlyn before hiding a yawn and setting off away from the revel.

Idris’s mind might have been clouded by the drinks and the music, but sending a child off to walk through the forest at night seemed like the worst idea imaginable. Neither Tam or Arlyn seemed phased, so he cleared his throat and asked: “Is she alright walking home by herself?”

“She knows the way,” Tam said, shrugging.

“And it is not far,” Arlyn added.

“Besides, what harm could come to her?”

“Plenty of harm!” Idris said. “What about George?”

“Oh you met George? How is he doing these days?” Arlyn asked, completely unperturbed by the mention of the carnivorous kelpie.

“He wanted to eat Idris,” Tam said. “But he will not eat Yuli: that is not the Seelie way. If we were in the Unseelie lands then I would be concerned, but no harm will come to her here.”

“ Alright ,” Idris said slowly, still not fully convinced. He supposed that George aside, he hadn’t really seen or met anyone truly dangerous in Faerie. The Queen was a bitch, for want of a better word, but she seemed to view all of them as too beneath her to warrant a second thought.

“She has been making her own way around Faerie for at least the last year,” Tam said gently, his hand reaching out to rest on Idris’s arm, squeezing slightly in comfort. “Though if it will spoil your enjoyment of the evening I will ask a pixie to follow her home and report back that she has safely made it.”

Idris supposed that Tam had been younger than Yuli when they had first met: if Tam had journeyed through a portal to another world without supervision, a child walking home by themselves likely didn’t raise any alarms at all. Still, he couldn’t get past the worry, and so he nodded in agreement to Tam’s suggestion.

Tam let go of Idris’s arm, and whistled up at one of the many pixies lazily flying above the dancers. Idris couldn’t make out his words, but a moment later the pixie had flown off in the same direction Yuli had walked away in, and Tam was back by his side.

“She will be fine,” Tam said firmly, wrapping his arms around Idris and pulling him in close, already back to swaying in time with the music.

“Alright,” Idris said, forcing himself to try and put the matter from his mind. Knowing Yuli was being watched made it easier to bear, and he let Tam pull him back into the revel as Arlyn announced she was getting more drinks.

Tam didn’t let go of Idris as they danced, his hands tangling in the back of Idris’s shirt as they moved as one. Idris could no longer tell who was leading, or even why that would matter: he and Tam shared the same music, the same breath, the same heartbeat.

“Can I kiss you?” Idris asked, his words coming out in a rush before he realised what he was saying. “Or are there rules about that as -“

Tam cut him off with a kiss, closing the short distance between them and pressing his lips firmly against Idris’s. Alright then , Idris thought, kissing was clearly fine, more than fine - it was wonderful. Tam tasted like the wine they’d shared, of tart fruit and honeyed cakes, and Idris eagerly licked into his mouth, desperate to find out if Tam’s moans tasted as good as his lips.

He wrapped his arms around Tam and tugged him closer still, and Tam sighed into Idris’s mouth before continuing to kiss him with renewed vigour. His hands slid up Idris’s back, coming to cup his neck, his cheeks, before his fingers wound themselves into Idris’s curls and using his new grip to angle Idris’s head just so to deepen the kiss. Idris felt as though he were floating, Tam’s kisses stealing his breath and mingling with the wine to leave him lightheaded.

It was magical.

Idris slipped his fingers under the hem of Tam’s shirt, rucking the material up so he could slide his hands up Tam’s back, his fingers tracing the line of his spine, his muscles. Tam smiled against Idris’s mouth and mirrored the movement, his hands warm and broad against Idris’s bare skin. Emboldened, Idris let his hands drift further down, his hands trailing over the small of Tam’s back before settling on his arse. He gave a tentative squeeze and Tam groaned, grinding his hips forward against Idris’s.

Idris felt like he’d regressed a decade: he hadn’t danced like this in years, his movements with Tam slow and dirty and so damn hot he could feel his cock begin to twitch with interest. Not for the first time that week he cursed the lack of toilets in Faerie; if they were in a normal, human club he would have pulled Tam into the first empty stall and sunk to his knees without a second thought.

Idris wondered if it’d be rude to ask Tam if they could leave and find somewhere private, if perhaps he was being too presumptuous, when Tam gave Idris a final bruising kiss and promptly sank to his knees before him. Idris was too lost in the moment to think much of it: all that mattered was that Tam was scrabbling at the front of his jeans, his fingers deftly undoing the buckle of Idris’s belt before yanking down his jeans just enough to get his mouth on Idris’s cock, so perfectly hot and wet even through the fabric of his boxers. Idris moaned, his fingers tangling in Tam’s short hair as Tam mouthed at him, teasing his cock into hardness.

“Take him properly!” someone called, bringing Idris crashing back into reality.

Shit, was Tam really about to give him a blowjob in the middle of a party? How much had they drunk?

“Wait,” he panted, urging Tam up and away from his cock. “Wait.”

Tam frowned in concern and wiped his mouth on the back of his hand, rising to stand and immediately putting his hands out to gentle Idris’s shoulders.