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Ziazan picked up the book on tarot cards and flipped to the section about patterns, then turned the book so Lauss could see it, tapping the page. "After shuffling, you either lay out a pattern--this here's a simple one--or let the person you're doing the readin' for cut the deck and draw cards."


Faolan shrugged, reaching out to take the girl's hand in his. "Sorry it weren't much help to you. Maybe there's still room in his life for you, though." Perhaps he did know who she was interested in after all, but he'd never tell if he did. The girl was allowed her secrets. He pulled her back towards him with a gentle tug on her hand. "You'll pay, sure. I never said you wouldn't. Only said I wouldn't take your money." A mischievous look flashed in his eyes, playfully seductive smile tugging at his lips.

"Um, yes. That's right, Lauss, but you really don't lay the patterns out in advance. You do it when the person wanting the reading is with you and you tell them what the cards mean as you lay it out, so they can follow along with what the fortune is. After the pattern's all out, you summarize it for them," Zia explained, only slightly taken back by its brother's eagerness. Well, Lauss certainly had a better handle on the cards than Rhian did sometimes at least.

Faolan smiled up at her, eyes half closed--expression not unlike a very pleased cat. "When I do readin's for people special to me, I tend to take payment of a special kind. It only seems fair now, don't it, lass?" He tugged on her hand again, getting her to stumble once more and caught her to his chest. "I only ask that you give me somethin' that you only can give away once."

Zia smiled, eyes half-closing in mirth. "Much better. You don't wanna do a reading on me, do you? I don't think the cards, no matter the deck, really work on me 'cause of what I am." And it didn't mean its being an Essentic.


"Your first real kiss," Faolan purred out, voice low and soft. Before the girl could protest, he pulled her to him, lips pressing to hers, and kissed her. He didn't know how much the girl knew on romance or if she'd find another boy to like since her first love wasn't going to pan out, but one thing was for sure--Lee would likely never be kissed again the way Fao was kissing her. There was no holding back, if there was, it wouldn't be anything more than some shy chaste kiss, and that simply wouldn't do to be considered her first true kiss. Tilting his head to the side slightly, his lips parted and the tip of his tongue lightly slid along the girl's own lips.

"Do a readin' for yourself, Lauss. Faolan does them for himself all the time," Zia said, smiling patiently.


After some long and rather pleasurable moments, Faolan finally pulled back, breaking the kiss and watching the girl with almost unreadable golden eyes. It was an odd request and he was sure the girl wouldn't understand, even if he tried to explain it, but Grandmother's deck always demanded a payment when used for anyone's fortunes but his own, be it in money or something more special. He'd long ago figured out the more special the person was he was reading for, the more special the payment had to be.

"I didn't . . . um, I didn't do that to be cheatin' on my wife," Faolan explained lamely.

Zia looked over the proto's shoulder and nodded. "Looks about right. You don't always have to use patterns, either. Sometimes just drawin' a card or two can tell you the answer to what you're wantin' to know."


Faolan licked his lips nervously. "No, I ain't gonna tell her. At least, not right away. It ain't exactly something I can explain properly, anyway. I told you how the cards were charmed, yeah?" At the girl's nod, he continued. "They want payment for services and not always money satisfies them. Sometimes, for some people--special people--they want somethin' priceless." He stood up, very close and somewhat towering over her in the small bedroom. "And I don't want you to go, lass. I didn't mean to make you feel . . . bad. If it's any consolation, you're a natural at kissin'. Not sure many girls have ever kissed me like that."

"The cards need a focus so your fortune is more accurate, if that makes sense," Zia replied, nodding. It was proud that Lauss was not only interested in learning the tarot, but learning it quickly.

Faolan put a hand on the girl's shoulder, looking a bit concerned. He licked his lips, wanting to apologize again, but he wasn't exactly sure for what. Giving a soft sigh, he moved away to the dresser and fished out a t-shirt, tossing it on the bed before sitting next to it. After quickly gathering the cards up and putting them away, he leaned forward to reach under the bed, fishing for his boots . . . and inadvertently giving the poor girl a great view of his well-muscled back and tattooed line of runes down his spine.

"Give me a moment here, lass, and I'll see you home safely. It's gotten a bit late while we were readin' you the cards," he told her, still bent over and hunting for his left boot, the right one having already been found.

"Help with a career would be a good path to check on with fortune telling. Our purposes are not unlike careers, I guess," Zia reasoned, looking thoughtful.

Faolan looked up from lacing his boots. "What are what?" And then it occurred to him she meant the runes down his back. He reached a hand back in utter limberness and touched at the tattoos, then smiled sardonically. "A gift. From my birth father." He went back to putting his boots on, then stood up and tugged on his shirt, not that the snug-fitting nearly thread-bare material helped at all in hiding the slim muscular build beneath it.

"Donnae worry none on how far it is. I donnae mind the walk. Zia can stay here and tell Elle where I went," Faolan said, giving a slight shrug. "Needed some stuff from outside anyway." And by outside, he mean off the carnival grounds, of course. "Ready to go home, ma bonny lass?" He held a hand out to her.