An Indication of Truth
by imp

An Indication of Truth

imp

Summary

May isn't always comfortable with her new life.

Notes

None

Chapter One

She chose Toby because of the girl, Dare, whose memories were false to May, but no less powerful for that. Toby's own memories lived in May's mind too, a jumble of recollections and experiences that shaped her, even though they were not, technically speaking, hers.

The first few months were a rough gig. Toby almost dying - or technically dying and returning; May wasn't too keen on examining it too closely - took a lot out of all of them, including May. But then once it became obvious that Toby was going to live for awhile longer, and May was going to stick around, things calmed down. And thus, for May, became infinitely more complicated.

Faerie wasn't the mortal world, and didn't have any scientists waiting to lock her in a room for experiments. Toby had watched enough human media for that to be a very real fear of May's, even though she knew how ridiculous it was. But Faerie was still a place that liked its legends to be legends and its species to be predictable. A Fetch like May had its place, and as long as she stayed there, no one would find her particularly disturbing. Okay, that was mostly because most of Faerie pretended she didn't exist. But still; once upon a time, May hadn't been a threat.

Now she most definitely was a threat, both because of her association with Toby, and because she was a Fetch living in the moral world, in clear defiance of Oberon's Laws.

Or at least, the way Faerie thought Oberon's Laws were supposed to work. Which was functionally the same thing.

The Luidaeg had summoned May three hours ago, and May had gone to her, slipping out of the house and taking a cab while Toby was distracted by petty crime. The Luidaeg met her with a glare and issues a bunch of threats, most of which assumed May had some kind of agenda that she definitely didn't. Once that was done with, she ended up going to a coffee shop on the water, a Faerie haunt that was largely populated by the lower classes at this time of night.

"I'd like whatever's your best IPA and a plate of fries," she told the waitress. The waitress nodded and disappeared. Tuatha de Danann, then - short-term teleportation must be great for waiting tables.

May wondered what the absolute inability to die was worth. Probably not much, with the exception of very specific circumstances. Maybe she could become a bodyguard.

She was on her third careless handful of fries when someone sat down across from her. Her skin was darker than May's, and her hair was long, shiny, and black. She smiled when May looked at her and said, "Is this seat taken?"

"That depends," May said. "Is that your best pickup line?"

The girl - woman - laughed. Her laugh sounded wild, more of a screech than image-obsessed Faerie would normally admit to. "Sure. Let's say it is. What's your answer?"

May, captivated in spite of herself, said, "The seat's free."

"Now it's not," the woman said, and took a fry. "I'm Jasmine."

"May."

Jasmine smiled. "I know." She took another fry.

"Everyone does." May sighed. Maybe she couldn't trust Jasmine - given Faerie, and May-the-Fetch's long memory of their exploits, she almost certainly couldn't trust Jasmine. But it was still enjoyable to sit here with a pretty girl and not have to deal with anyone eying her with vague hatred for having the nerve to be the person, or object, that reminded them Toby was going to die.

"So," Jasmine said. "This place is nice."

The waitress appeared in front of them, as though Jasmine had summoned her. "Can I help you?"

Jasmine smiled up at her. "If you could put May's stuff on my tab, that would be great." She ate one last fry. "Want to get out of here?"

May wasn't sure whose memories to credit for how suspicious she felt. "To do what?"

"Walk along the water, of course. The moon only lasts so long."

"It tends to come out on a regular basis," May said, but she stood up when the waitress nodded to Jasmine and disappeared. "Thanks for the fries."

Jasmine inhaled sharply. May couldn't help but smile. "Sorry. I couldn't resist."

"Surely you know that being immune to death doesn't mean -"

"Immunity to harm? Sure. But I like living on the edge."

That was, of course, a lie. May was actually pretty afraid of the fact that every day she spent in the world, in a body that was more or less her own, made her want to stay that much more. But Jasmine laughed like she'd told a funny joke, and suddenly making her do that was pretty high on May's list of priorities. The teenager that she'd never been, but that Dare had died as, twisted and blushed inside her when Jasmine took her hand.

"Let's go," Jasmine said, and May followed her into the night.

The moon was in fact out, though it was obscured by wispy clouds as often as not. Jasmine didn't let go of May's hand, and May didn't ask her to. It was an anchor that brought May an odd amount of clarity, even as her heart pounded. She wanted to keep it.

Faerie was no more or less prone to love at first sight than the human world. But that, of course, didn't mean it never happened. No; very much the opposite.

May was still trying for casual, though. "So," she said. "What brings you to the Bay?"

"The open air," Jasmine said. "A chance to fly. And, of course, the adventure. Everything's changing here."

"You mean Toby," May said, stomach sinking in understanding.

"Oh, I suppose," Jasmine said. "But I also meant you, of course. Everyone."

They walked down a dock to the beach itself. May tossed out a glamor, so that the police wouldn't ask them hard-to-answer questions. "So you're here to watch Toby be a hero? And the rest of us, obviously."

"I'm a Raven-maid," Jasmine said. "I'm here to keep an eye on things." She squeezed May's hand.

Well - there had been less promising pickup lines. May squeezed Jasmine's hand back, and they continued walking.

It felt surreal. Not because the glamor made the air around them shimmer, or because Jasmine was so beautiful it was a little hard to look at her. No; it felt surreal because the emotions and desires May felt were entirely her own. They were nothing like the echoes of teenage longing she felt when she looked at Toby, or the wisps of an entirely different type of longing she felt when she looked at Tybalt. Jasmine was hers - and so, when Jasmine said, "Do you want to go back to your place?", May shook her head.

"I have a somewhat inconvenient roommate."

Jasmine smiled at that. "I have sixteen of them," she said. "Being who I am."

It was a hint. May knew it was a hint, just as she knew she could get Toby to leave them alone, if she took Jasmine back. But - no. May wanted to take this slowly, step by step, so she could remember each step as they deserved.

"Tomorrow night, then," May said. "I'll meet you at the bar. Then maybe - maybe my roommate will be out."

"Sounds like a plan," Jasmine said. She smiled, a soft, slow expression that opened her whole face up, and leaned in, brushing her lips across May's.

It was so soft it was barely a kiss. But as they parted and May flagged a taxi to go back home, her lips were still tingling.