Welcome to Gaia! ::

((mornings are crappy in general. XD ))

Ae smiled. "Thank you, Elizabeth." she said formally. She slid a glance towards Shy. "It was difficult, but I have a feeling this man will not let it remain a private matter for long." she shook her head. "It is nice, to know that you are interested. The fae are made up of two courts. The Unseelie and Seelie, the dark and the light. Recently we made contact with the ... leaders?"

Shy frowned. He hated using the term king and queen. How archaic. "Rulers." he supplied.

"Rulers. They have not known so much about us, it seems one of their own had kept us a secret... and now we both with to know more about the other. Did Shy tell you, that we are all reincarnated? All of us, except for the ones from the courts."

Ae cast a bemused glance over to Shy. Was he so awful at explaining about their history?

"The fae, the ones in the courts are not like us. That is what I mean by recinarnation. I, and Trojan, your child, the others of this project... we were faeries, pixies that were reincarnated back into these forms. Had Shy not intervened... we might have died out forever, our souls lost, bought back to life in other spcies..." she shrugged. "Do you believe in a heaven? Well. We might have ended up there."

Trojan took this opportunity to gesture at Shy, and Shy nodded.

"Excuse me for a moment, ladies." he said, walking away. He and Trojan were close enough to see, but far enough that their words were private.

"But the courts?" her eyes took a sudden gleam, a breathlessness, like a girl with her first love. "They are different. We will die, eventually. Maybe a thousand years, maybe a hundred. We haven't spoken with the original fae about this yet... but they do have life spans. Currently, the king and queen of the different courts are grooming their successors... Raven of the Unseelie, Tristan of the Seelie." she smiled. "It is... foreign territory."

Trojan flicked a glance towards Elizabeth and Ae, and back to Shy. He gestured once, opening his arms wide, frowning a little bit as he did so. Shy looked enraptured at this, and he nodded his head, looking over as well. For a moment, it was hard to conceal the amusement and delight on his face. So different from everything else.

"Oh, no. No where near Gaia." Ae said, laughing. "Where would they hide it?" she asked. She was soft, supple right now-- she wouldn't know suspicion if it bit her on the a**. "Raven and Tristan are..." she paused, and tilted her head, as if she could hear something else. Something... sibilant.

"The courts' claws?" she asked quietly, and smiled.

"Ae, you should have told me." Shy murmured as they came back to join the group.

Ae used this opportunity to look back at Elizabeth, blinking. "I'm sorry." she said serenely. "I missed the last part."

Trojan settled protectively behind Ae.

Shy smiled. "Ae." he said, almost too gently.

Ae frowned, turned to Trojan who was giving her a suspiciously innocently look (why were men never good at it?) and paused. "Shy?" she asked warily.

He shook his head, clearly telling her they would discuss this another time. "Ah, Elizabeth." he said, smiling. "I almost forgot why I bought you here. About your phobia?" he asked her gently.

"Phobia?" Ae asked, startled. "Are you going to let Shy deal with it? He is excellent." she smiled. "He's linked with one of the largest hospitals in our vicinity... sometimes he goes in and gives his services, sometimes he sends me and Donovan. But he is very good." she assured the human.

Shy watched her, curious. He hadn't asked her before-- but he knew he had to know. "How will I treat your phobias if I do not know what they are?" he said out loud.

Ae hid a smile behind the sleeve of her robe. "Well." she said simply. "If this is over..." she paused, tilting her head and looked up at Elizabeth. "It was very pleasant to meet you, but I don't think Shy is done with you yet." with a conspiratol smile of a woman who had to deal with Shy as well, she nodded her head. "Perhaps you will come by again, later."

Taking this as his cue, Shy touched Elizabeth's elbow gently. "Now." he said. "Why don't we talk about prices...

How busy are you, as a curator?"

Shy gently led her towards the elevator. "I would consider it." he said serenely. "Payment enough." he pressed the button. "If you would consider working for me."

He slid a glance towards her.

((wow. look at the incredible shortness!))

Shy's eyes narrowed in delight, and he nodded his head. "We will put this down on paper, you and I." he said. "Work out the arrangements." he led her to the elevator and was about to continue, when something beeped twice in his pocket.

Shy paused, and frowned. Turning to a side panel, he entered the direction code and was met with the faces of two concerned looking fae.

"Shy, is everything alright?" they asked. "You weren't back at the garden, so we bought her to your office."

Shy smiled. "Just giving the guardian a tour." he assured them.

Promising to be along as soon as possible, he tilted his head, considering. "You could cook for me." he said, pleased. "You can show me around your museum the way I have shown you around my lab. It will be a fruitful relationship, between the two of us."

"Now. To see Alice..."

Shy's expression eased. "We will find you quarters here, kitchens, what you need." he waved his hand. What did he know of making food? Just that it tasted good, and that his favorite baker wasn't on gaia.

"Alice?" he asked, slightly surprised. "Why, should anything be wrong with that?" jumping from topic to topic as he was prone to do when he was happy, he nodded his head. the elevator doors slid open, and he smiled. "Please, follow me."

They walked down a short distance, close enough that the silence would not have been uncomfortable-- it would give them both enough time to think. And so, standing in front of a door, Shy pressed in a code and walked into a room...

(medical evaluation coming in next post)