The Bite of the Frost Fae

Reading Dates

Mathias tapped his fingers on the table in front of him. He had been waiting for almost forty minutes now and he felt his spirits dampening. Running a hand through his hair he got up and decided to look through some of the shelves. Sigve must've just been late that day, at least Mathias hoped so.

The man couldn't remember the last time he visited the library, probably not since the beginning of high school. There was a lot of dust on these shelves. He grimaced as he saw the thick coating on the two fingers he had trailing over the books. Wiping his hand off on his coat, he turned to head towards a different part of the library when a certain book caught his eye. On one of the lower shelves, there was a faded, lavender book with silver writing. With a hum, he bent and pulled it out. "The Faerie Handbook?" He snorted and opened the book. "Flora, fauna, arts and culture, lore..."

With a shrug, Mathias sat down and started to read. It wasn't often he read since most books didn't quite catch his attention long enough for him to get invested. But he had no trouble investing his time in this since it was an anthology with a variety of topics on each page. He hadn't even realized how long he was sitting there until he felt a presence sitting across from him. Slowly glancing up, he sighed in relief when he saw it was Sigve. "I thought you stood me up. How long were you sitting there?"

"About five minutes, but I didn't want to interrupt your reading. What book do you have?" With an abashed look, Mathias gave an awkward smile and showed him the cover. Sigve looked it over with a small quirk of his lips. "Interested in the fae?"

"The cover looked neat!" That earned the Dane a light chuckle from the other, causing his chest to fill with warmth. "Don't laugh at me. Maybe folklore is cool."

"It is, as you say 'cool'. But be careful with the fae folk. One misstep could lead to a life of misfortune or being trapped in their world."

"You know about this stuff?" The playfulness in the air appeared to seep away as he saw Sigve tense slightly. "Yes... My family taught me about it." He checked the clock on the wall. "I know this meeting has been short, but I must go..."

"Are we going to stay in touch?" Mat frowned slightly.

"Don't worry. I'll be around."

"A pretty big town..."

Sigve sighed, reaching to push a lock of dirty blonde hair from Mathias' face. "We will see each other soon. Know that I can't lie." And with those words, he was leaving.

Mathias pouted slightly and thought bitterly, leave it to me to always fall for mysterious and sketchy people. Grabbing the book he went to check it out, surprised to find his library account still open after so long. The cold snowflakes bit at his skin as he stepped outside, a bit disappointed but not surprised to see no sign of Sigve.

***

Late that afternoon, Mathias had curled up on his chair with a warm mug of hot cocoa. Catthew rested on the arm of the chair on his left side, and on his right, he had balanced the Handbook. "How to attract fairies..." Mathias had no idea when he had finished his cocoa and fallen asleep, but when he opened his eyes again he was back in the garden from the other night.

He sat up and looked around. This time everything had been covered in the frosty ice from before. Luckily it wasn't cold, in fact, he was completely comfortable, even the lighting wasn't straining his eyes. As he stood, he called out, "Sigve? You here this time?"

"I can't help bringing you back here," A deep voice sighed from behind him. Mathias turned around to face him.

"What do you mean?"

"It's no accident you're here." Mathias noticed the pink dusting Sigve's cheeks.

"So you've been bringing me here, why?" Sigve sheepishly shrugged, patting the spot on the frozen bench next to him. Mathias didn't hesitate to sit with him, their knees brushing slightly. "Are these not dreams?"

"They are... Sort of. For you, yes."

"This is so weird. I feel like my mind is just trying to fill in your personality since I don't know you well."

"And what would that have to do with my garden?" Sigve asked, a hint of amusement in his indigo eyes. Mathias shrugged, giving a bashful smile. "Maybe I think you look like a nature guy."

Sigve held a hand in front of his mouth as he grinned slightly. "You'll figure out if that's true soon enough. I'll make sure our erm..."

"Hangouts?" Mathias offered.

"Hangouts, are longer. I wish to..." He quieted, shying away slightly. "Get to know you."

"I think you need to stop being so mysterious and cute or I might start crushing on you." Mathias laughed, feeling pleased to see Sigve's cheeks flushing darkly. "How can you be so open like that?"

Before Mathias could answer, he found himself slowly waking up.

Shifting, he grunting as Catthew jumped off after being disturbed from his movement. "Uggh..." Mathias rubbed his eyes and sat up. "What the fuck..."

His foot nudged against something and he squinted down, then moved to pick up the fallen book. Standing, he stretched and went to close the anthology when his eyes skimmed over a small part.

Time in their world moves differently than ours. He blinked, curiously opening the book further. Despite being tired, he sat back down to continue reading. "Okay, this is getting creepy..."