[ This has got to be one of the weirder jobs that he and his team have taken.
On any given day, Josh makes it a point to generally steer clear of Fox and Rabbit. The Fae brokers were notorious for asking for the oddest things, and they'd never quite lost interest in the keys he kept close at all times. But when a boy named Arthur walked into EXIT asking for help raising the ghost of his sister for closure, it was bound to be the odd kind of month; filled with negotiations for safe(ish) passage past the Hedge to track down a lost family member.
Turns out, there was no ghost to raise. No little twelve-year-old Morgana to speak to for Arthur to apologize to and profess feelings of loss for. And more importantly, no body in the box that Arthur had dug out of the ground; just a rotted old piece of firewood dressed in a young girl's clothes.
They had ended up sitting down to finish off the Dumb Supper they'd set down for the Supper (favorite dishes, drinks that would have kept the meal going), while Arthur seethed under his breath, murmuring that gaslighting sonofabitch as while he brooded over one of the beers Ana had swiped from behind the counter.
It's been the equivalent of three days now, since they crossed the threshold of a maze Migo had tracked down in the middle of a small midwest town. The borders of Fae weren't too different from the Gates of the Underworld, in that there was always a guardian, and they always asked for a toll:
the sweetness of youth with the rot of age (three apples half past their expiry date, frozen to maintain the illusion of freshness) a broken love song (a cracked Sarah Mclachlan vinyl), and a knight's favor from a lady love (Arthur had kept one of Morgana's ribbons, Josh wasn't sure how that counted but Rabbit assured him that it'd do even if they were siblings)
The goblin at the gate had been dressed as one of the farm hands, and his mismatched eyes (one blue, one yellow) had gleamed at the sight of them: Odd to have Jack's Lantern take interest in the business of the Bright Ones.
But they'd made it through with little to no fanfare, turned the corner of the maze to find themselves on the very edge of Autumn at the borders of the Winter Court.
They've set up camp, him and Arthur, a good six feet away from the river's edge. The younger man is sleeping now, while he takes first watch. ]
↠ one. the canyons broken by cloud
On any given day, Josh makes it a point to generally steer clear of Fox and Rabbit. The Fae brokers were notorious for asking for the oddest things, and they'd never quite lost interest in the keys he kept close at all times. But when a boy named Arthur walked into EXIT asking for help raising the ghost of his sister for closure, it was bound to be the odd kind of month; filled with negotiations for safe(ish) passage past the Hedge to track down a lost family member.
Turns out, there was no ghost to raise. No little twelve-year-old Morgana to speak to for Arthur to apologize to and profess feelings of loss for. And more importantly, no body in the box that Arthur had dug out of the ground; just a rotted old piece of firewood dressed in a young girl's clothes.
They had ended up sitting down to finish off the Dumb Supper they'd set down for the Supper (favorite dishes, drinks that would have kept the meal going), while Arthur seethed under his breath, murmuring that gaslighting sonofabitch as while he brooded over one of the beers Ana had swiped from behind the counter.
It's been the equivalent of three days now, since they crossed the threshold of a maze Migo had tracked down in the middle of a small midwest town. The borders of Fae weren't too different from the Gates of the Underworld, in that there was always a guardian, and they always asked for a toll:
the sweetness of youth with the rot of age (three apples half past their expiry date, frozen to maintain the illusion of freshness)
a broken love song (a cracked Sarah Mclachlan vinyl), and
a knight's favor from a lady love (Arthur had kept one of Morgana's ribbons, Josh wasn't sure how that counted but Rabbit assured him that it'd do even if they were siblings)
The goblin at the gate had been dressed as one of the farm hands, and his mismatched eyes (one blue, one yellow) had gleamed at the sight of them: Odd to have Jack's Lantern take interest in the business of the Bright Ones.
But they'd made it through with little to no fanfare, turned the corner of the maze to find themselves on the very edge of Autumn at the borders of the Winter Court.
They've set up camp, him and Arthur, a good six feet away from the river's edge. The younger man is sleeping now, while he takes first watch. ]