kanni & sinensys

[kanni]

"just givin' you a warnin', that's all." arlow flicked the latch open, letting the gate fall open rather than swing as it once had. the hens in the yard scattered this way and that, easily spooked by the sudden movement. as arlow approached the front door, the scent of sunbaked earth and something faintly herbal greeted him, so deeply embedded in his memory that he barely registered it anymore. the worn path wound gently past the gnarled old tree that had provided him with shade as a child, past the sagging fence that had once kept in horses but now did little more than mark the boundary between cultivated land and the wild. the house ahead was just as weathered as everything else, but if dusthaven ever did burn to the ground, he suspected this place would remain out of sheer force of will.
x
arlow reached the porch, stepping onto the creaking boards with familiarity. he knew better than to knock and cause the old woman inside to break something in her surprise. instead, the sheriff gently pushed the screen door in - why she kept the thing when all it did was allow the wind to blow in dust he never knew - and whistled out a sharp two tone note.
x
it took all of five seconds for an answering tune to reach arlow's ears as he held the door for conrad. emilia rose cassidy half emerged into the entry hall, a woman small enough to seem almost like a child peeking in on her yule presents. sharp eyes the color of storm clouds over the prairie fixed on arlow first before sizing up conrad. her silver hair was swept back in a long, loose braid,and despite the dusty heat of the day she worse a long-sleeved blouse better suited for fall and a full skirt. though both were suited for years long gone, and had seen far better days, they were neatly mended and as clean as clothing could get anymore. and, of course, the blunt tips of her black leather boots peaked out from beneath the hem of her skirt. no matter what else changed, grandmammy cassidy would go to her grave in those things.
x
as quick as she was to pop her head out, emilia had vanished back through the doorway into what arlow knew was her library. he followed after, minding the lower arches caused by sagging ceilings and loose boards. in her nook emilia cassidy looked even smaller, surrounded by stacks of texts and mismatched furniture. there was little space to stand, and so arlow sat, leaving the rocker by the window for conrad. he couldn't take much more sun than he'd already had. his grandmammy crossed her arms over her chest, sharp eyes following the movements of the younger men as they situated themselves.
x
"alright boy," her voice was sharp and clear, and the tone of it was like steel. she'd always been a stern woman, and many a memory of getting the end of a stick for being a menace of a boy crawled to the forefront of arlow's mind. "what have you brought me this time? he don't look broke, and you ain't gave me a warnin'. if anythin' he just needs a glass of lemonade and a parasol and to be sent on his way." she snorted lightly, taking her own seat in the overstuffed blue gingham seat that was grandmammy's chair. even after she was gone it would be her's.
x
arlow cleared his throat, sweeping off his hat to fiddle with it in his hands. he knew she saw the mess his hair was, saw the disappointed gleam in her eye, and swiftly ran a brisque hand over it to try and right the brown strands.
x
"wasn't really plannin' on bringin' him, kind of just came up. his name's conrad. er, conrad abernathy. he's here about the water. wants to go lookin' for it." emilia scoffed, tucking her heels under her chair as she continued to situate herself.
x
"well ain't we all. hate to say it, conrad," she switched her hailstorm gaze onto the other man, eyes narrowing ever so slightly as she really got a good look at the city man. arlow wasn't quite sure what it was she saw, but something there softened the stern line of her shoulders just so. it took an edge off arlow himself, because if grandmammy didn't chase them out with a broom, they were good enough people to tolerate. "but the water you're lookin' for's not here. not a lotta places i can think of for it to go but it's gone."
x
arlow cleared his throat again, unnecessarily really, and ducked his chin to avoid being met with the chastizing gaze of his grandmammy for interrupting. "we know that ma'am, but i was hopin' maybe you knew somethin' from the old stories that might help us. like you said, there's not a lotta places, but it could still be somewhere. somethin' from one of your books, maybe. we'd appreciate it somethin' fierce if you could give us a startin' point." because it was true. if there really was merit to the myths and old tales that were inevitably found in his grandmammy's collection, arlow could help bring life back to dusthaven. it wouldn't be a dusthaven anymore, just a town with water, and a community ready to grow and evolve with the rest of the world. even if it meant crawling around on his hands and knees in a dried up mud pit, if eimilia rose said it was the way to go, it was the way to go. he trusted his grandmammy more than he trusted himself. always had, always would. she had a way of knowing things that weren't meant to be known, could see and hear things that no one else could.

[sinensys]

and so conrad followed arlow deeper into the elder cassidy's homestead, the unyielding dust wake following suit. it took him a few steps to realize more had changed than just the quiet; something more rumbled beneath that silence. that stillness was enough to quiet even conrad, who mutely followed the sheriff through the held-open screen door. all the tiny noises --- their footsteps, the gate opening, the chickens scattering, the peculiar whistling ritual arlow had partaken in --- raked through the calm of the front yard, but it hadn't disrupted that aura about the place in any capacity. he had difficulty identifying what it was that felt different, the words eluding him, but the fae knew for certain that something strange was confined to this space. something that was notably absent in the rest of the town, yet never noticed. it lurked beneath that outdoor silence.

was it solace?

when they entered, conrad found the interior felt eerily familiar, as though he'd been here yet he hadn't. the space was welcoming but did not stand out to him enough to warrant such strong feelings. it unsettled him. how could one house out in the prairie feel so strange, yet not clearly belong to any faction he knew besides ordinary human? after all, this was one of arlow's relatives and, as far as the kelpie could tell, that man held no fae ancestry. if he did, it was lost enough to not count --- not to mention the cultural loss. but in all his time, conrad had never felt any pull to this place, and it irked him. it didn't make sense, none at all.

he idly scratched at his whining skin through his sleeve and watched as an older woman appeared, gaze piercing.

oh. the realization dawned on him: it wasn't the space --- it was her. as the woman approached, that flicker of energy grew, a fluttering pulse faint yet steady. of course --- but how? and why? suspicion crept in unwillingly. most humans here were unforgiving of magic and its derivatives or associates, yet here this woman was, and clearly in high respect. conrad recalled the brief snippets he heard about her from his time in creed's footsteps, following at his heel. they spoke little, but every time she came up, it was with genuine reverence --- so the likelihood she was cast out for her ways was low. the lack of an explanation for the juxtaposition's existence made the kelpie uneasy.

her eyes met his finally. it felt strange to not need to forcibly clamp down on his tongue, the space exuding enough serenity to allow him to simply wait for arlow and the elder cassidy --- emilia, his mind later supplied, idly --- to finish talking. conrad would simply cant his head to turn and look at the speaker.

an idea slinked into his brain pan, and after toying with it for a moment, he went with it. if this woman truly knew of magic, then surely revealing he did too would only help convince her to help? he ultimately decided he had very little to lose.

"forgive me," he started, gaze flitting between arlow and emilia before settling on the latter, "for speaking out of turn, but, truly, any insight would be deeply appreciated." he took a deep breath, still only looking to the elder cassidy. "i know the area, historically speaking, used to be covered in lakes, where this town's lake was actually drawn into that well that got destroyed. so i truly do believe there must be some source nearby," he finished the thought before unmasking his magic energy as he would to another fae. he did not realize he began holding his breath.

[kanni]

the shift in the room was subtle, no more than the rainbows thrown by prisms in the window changing their angle less than a fraction. to arlow, it was the passing of time bringing a brief clarity that hadn't been there before, a momentary sharpness to the lines of the room. to those with the gift to see, to know, it was a sudden r of umble energy where there had only been a sigh before. a call answered, power that, while not unpolluted by human blood, was strong and deep-rooted nonetheless.
x
arlow glanced sharply over at conrad. the man had done the one thing he had told him not to and spoken out of turn. while he doubted grandmammy would care all much who was saying what, as long as they didn't beat around the bush with it, it aggravated the sheriff to have his instructions involving his family ignored. he was exceptionally particular about allowing interaction with them, to the never ending exasperation of his people.
x
the air stretched taut between the two that could feel it, the way one can smell a storm brewing on the open prairie long before the first strike of lightning hits. grandmammy cassidy sat back in her chair, fingers tapping absently against faded gingham of one of the arms. her eyes were fixated on conrad now, seeing something that arlow couldn't discern as special or different from what he saw at a glance. he knew that look though, as well as he knew the spines of the books that surrounded the trio. emilia had noticed, and was weighing the value of what it was. it unsettled him mildly, as witnessing emilia's process usually did, but he was especially ruffled as he wasn't sure if it was conrad's words or the man himself that had sparked interest.
x
the silence stretched to the point of solidfying, arlow knowing better than to break it himself. his hat was still caught between his hands, thumb smoothing over the rounded corner repeatedly. grandmammy was sat like a coiled snake, ready to strike, and he wasn't one to get caught in her path when he knew the consequences well. finally, and without much preamble, the elder woman exhaled sharply through her nose and stood, skirt flaring as she spun to face her books. arlow watched her weave through the stacks, flitting in and out of visibility as she moved through a room much larger than it first appeared. the library had originally been intended as a hosting room for dinner parties and small dances, but grandmammy had never been the cooking type and she would always rather dance outside in the wind and swaying grass.
x
the sheriff kept on eye on his grandmother, the other on conrad as he waited for her return. he wasn't sure what had prompted conrad to directly go against his instructions, after his agreement to them was all that had garnered the man an audience with the cassidy matriarch. he'd ream him for it later, that was for certain. arlow didn't do disrespect towards his people, and he sure as hell didn't accept it when pointed at himself. but he didn't dare respect the rules of hospitality put into place in this house.
x
when grandmammy cassidy returned, she brought with her a small stack of paper backs. their edges were frayed, yellowed pages no longer properly attached to their once tight bindings peeking from between thick covers. the gray-haired woman was gentle as she laid the books out on a side table between herself and conrad, turning them wth one hand so the titles faced the physician's assistant.
x
"i haven't had someone such as yourself sit in my home in a long, long time mr. abernathy," emilia murmured, tapping one finger against the red lettering of the title closest to herself. "didn't think i would again for a long time to come. not with the way things are now." she settled herself back into her chair, sweeping her skirts back underneath herself. arlow frowned, feeling lost in a conversation clearly not meant to include him quite yet, but his grandmother still did not turn her eyes to him.
x
"the two of you might be onto somethin', though i'm not sure how much of a stretch it is to hope for these things anymore. you're right about that kind of water not just up and vanishin'. if it ain't at the surface, it's underneath it. really is a matter of where." only now did grandmammy deign to acknowledge arlow, turning her head just so as to reopen the interaction to her grandson. she flipped open the book she'd tapped to a page containing a faded map that looked closer to something out of a fantasy land to arlow than anything real. "water always has a way of rememberin' where it's been. you just have to find a way to get it to tell you."
x
arlow frowned lightly. "i'm not sure how we're meant to talk to water, ma'am. does that map show anythin' that could have connected to the well at some point?" his grandmammy shook her head, a knowing smile tugging softness into the otherwise severe features of her face.
x
"the water knows how to talk if you can get close enough to it, and if the right questions are asked. i think y'all are further along than you think."

[sinensys]

unease trickled into the rain barrel of his stomach, twisting and writhing as this bizarre woman peered into him, seeing him. conrad didn't know what to make of it, and that fact disturbed him deeply. what should have been some insipid and listless visit was suddenly an event that brought him face to face with an entity he did not know how to engage with. the uncertainty unsettled the fae, eating away at him.

well, conrad supposed he knew a few things. first, emilia cassidy was no fae --- the energy signature of that flicker was all wrong for that. it felt far more consistent, less erratic; it was much more stable, controlled. most other fae conrad had ever encountered tended to be more sporadic, the energy lying in wait or bubbling like sparkling water before abruptly spiking. so, not fae. definitely nothing eldritch puppeteering the human shape, they wouldn't have been able to mask that chaos within. so she had to be human, who simply chose magic out here and miraculously was accepted. none of these observations answered the most burning non-water question conrad had: why?

emilia cassidy continued to peer into him; conrad's fingers grew ansty. when she made some unseen decision, she vanished into the library. conrad side eyed arlow, but refused to give him a full look considering he had gone against the agreement. well, he technically didn't, since arlow never specified that the fae couldn't talk, just that arlow would do the majority --- devil's in the details. instead, conrad kept his gaze towards the library: it was stunning. he stepped closer to inspect some of the titles closer to him, tilting his head to take a better look, arms behind his back. a magnificent variety of tomes, encyclopedias, and grimoires vied for his attention meekly, silently, their vibrant or dulled spines never quite revealing their ages accurately. he could see where several spellbooks and potion guides stood among the other various genres accrued, neither hidden nor advertised. conrad was not given the chance to investigate further since the elder cassidy returned, armed with several more books --- maps, he soon realized.

the fae inhaled in trepidation, remembering the unease temporarily forgotten as he got lost in his exploration of the nearest bookshelf.

he leaned over to study the map, glancing up at emilia after she spoke, restraining his suspicious snark. "i think we'd all rather the circumstances not be the ones they are. i didn't anticipate this either," he managed to settle on a soft mutter. some of the shapes scrawled on the tinted pages were vaguely familiar, as though the distant memory was passed down to him from some unknown source. conrad couldn't make sense of it, that feeling truly strange, and so he blamed the strange atmosphere and the strange woman. why did this human have a tome that could do this? his fingers found themselves gently tracing the outlines of the ancient water sources. various iterations in different colors were shown, dated across several decades.

conrad's gaze remained transfixed on the cartographic collection, slowly and exceedingly gently turning the pages. the 'speaking to water' aspect made an infinite amount of sense to him, but he could not explain this without outing himself to the sheriff. the fact that the elder cassidy understood this unnerved him slightly, but less this time. there was something relieving in knowing she was at least helping. "no, the well taps into an aquifer under the town, which used to be a massive lake," he started, speaking slowly, still distracted. "or tapped, more aptly. but the aquifers can be connected and sometimes the water can come up to lakes in the form of springs. so following..."

he trailed off, squinting at the book and rotating it at a slight forty five degrees and mumbling a quiet "why is it angled like that?" instead. the kelpie finally looked up at arlow and emilia, pointing towards one of the regions on the map with two fingers. "i think north-" a quick glance back down. "yeah, northwest is the way to go."

[kanni]

the elder cassidy's storm-gray gaze lingered long on the spot that conrad had pointed to, her fingers curling slightly as if to feel out the shape of the land in her palm. though her face remained as neutral as a grandmammy could in these times, a thousand brief flickers swirled like clouds behind her eyes. there was a thoughtfulness there, perhaps something deeper even, something that emilia had kept close to her chest for decades, and would continue to do so.
x
"well now," the old woman murmured, sucking her teeth. the words settled slowly into the quiet of the room, the tension that had been building like a blanket of snow dusthaven hadn't seen in years growing ever heavier. "ain't that interestin'." arlow's grandmammy didn't elaborate further, the silence between the trio growing as the woman once again seemed to consider something long and hard. full minutes later, emilia gave a quick dip of her head and stood with a snap, skirts swirling as she began to restack the books neatly. arlow blinked at the sudden burst of movement, the grip he'd had on the brim of his old had loosening ever so slightly.
x
"northwest, then. that's a place to start, sure enough." as emilia lifted the large stack of books into her arms, shoeing away arlow's flustered attempts to help like butterfly wings against a strong gust of wind, she once again studied conrad out of the corner of her eye. "you keep that sharp mind about you, mr.abernathy," one fingernail tapped lightly at the edge of the book at the top of the stack. "it'll serve you well. but be mindful what you start listenin' for, both of you. there's old things in the ground beyond that water that are bound to whisper back."
x
as arlow's grandmammy whipped herself back into her maze of a library like a toy top, neatly avoiding sharp corners as she went, arlow glanced back over at the man beside him in mild confusion. his grandmammy was a wise woman, but an odd one with eccentric tendencies and a tongue that could cut or strangle you. the sheriff knew the majority of this conversation, and interaction as a whole, had flown right over his head, but he wasn't quite sure how to feel about it. it did irk some small, vulnerable part of himself to have flesh and blood recognize something in this stranger that she had never seen in arlow, a part of him that cried for soft words and validation. a larger part of him was just ready to move on with this mission of theirs, because he still had not eaten that day, and no one knew hanger quite like arlow cassidy.
x
as quick as she had left, emilia returned empty handed, coming to stand next to arlow. the difference in height between the pair was almost comical, and yet with the way she held herself arlow still felt no bigger than a little boy. "you take care of yourself, boy," his grandmammy patted a calloused hand against his stubbled cheek, fond in the twist of her mouth at his unkemptness. "and mind your footing. you've got a bad habit of lookin' two steps ahead when you should be mindin' the snake under your boot just now." arlow sighed, no stranger to these warnings, but gave his grandmammy a small nod. as for the final book left behind,the one conrad had pointed out their targeted location upon, emilia nudged it towards the man. “take this. i ain't got any sort of use for that one really," she said, like it was nothing, like she wasn’t passing along something far older than either man in front of her. “might be you’ll need it more than I ever did.”
x
it was like ringing a school bell to signal the end of the day, and arlow knew then it was time for them to mosey out of the farmhouse and onto the next thing. even if the pair of men chose to stay then, emilia would go about her day as if they weren't even there, no more than two additional spirits to those that more than likely roamed the property. arlow gave a deep exhale, moving to herd his companion back out the way they had come. "much obliged, ma'am"

[sinensys]

if conrad didn't know any better, he could have mistaken the elder cassidy for fae. with her erratic yet smoothened movements and her clear propensity for knowing something you didn't, albeit lacking any arrogance or predatory intentions, the average human may have even believed that kind of lie. the old woman whirled about as she pleased, plans and destinations known only to her, with seelie court grace. the kelpie would have found it respectable, had he not been in a more dire, uneasy circumstance.

emilia collected the books she'd brought out, save for the one with the water maps. her next words did nothing to dispell his apprehension, even prefaced by flattery. what variety of 'sinister' in the ground she had in mind was unclear, and worst of all, he could not even ask for that clarification since her unknowing grandson was listening. she could have meant that geographic, sylvan, or eldritch traps awaited them, waiting to be sprung --- or something worse. he had no way of knowing. conrad took a moment to glance at the sheriff, only to quickly look away, having caught the other man's eye.

what an awful day it had been so far. his skin silently agreed.

emilia returned, granting arlow a few words of advice --- her parting wisdom, it seemed. had things been different, conrad might have even rolled his eyes at the display. instead he crossed his arms and leaned back, politely neutral expression watching the older woman look up at her much, much taller grandson. the height difference was staggering.

"take this."

mine! the intrinsic fae nature snapped within, fingertips itching --- conrad gently closed the tome, letting his hand linger on it. "i... thank you, mrs. cassidy. i appreciate your aid. i won't forget thus," he tipped his head. the book in his hands did not replace their restlessness.

he gave the sheriff a sharp look at being ushered out, but allowed himself to be anyways. squinting against the sun's crooked onslaught, conrad brought a hand up to cover his eyes for a few moments before slowly allowing himself to peek through the cracks between his fingers, eyes adjusting. the tome was held to his chest.

"so... where to now, sheriff?" the kelpie peered at the other man, but he could not say he truly saw him.

[kanni]

x
arlow didn’t answer right away, the pair standing on the uneven boards of his grandmammy's porch. mostly because he was thinking—if you could call trying to wrestle through a fog of hunger and irritation “thinking.” coffee and a cigar, a terrible combination but one that he'd deemed worthy of the title breakfast that morning. it was all he'd really had time for before conrad all but threw himself against his door in a tizzy, and now the knot in his stomach throbbed in time to the ever growing beat in arlow's temple. he could hardly tell where the migraine ended and the difficulty he was having untangling the vague conversation his grandmammy and conrad just underwent began. adding "hanger" to the mix was only making it all worse.
x
arlow exhaled sharply, rubbing a calloused hand over his face. “you're askin’ me where we go next like I got a damn clue beyond 'northwest',” he muttered, voice coming out rougher than he meant it to. conrad and grandmammy had gone back and forth over that book like they were speakin’ in some half-coded language he didn’t have the key for, a sacrificial ritual that he was soon to be an unwilling lamb for. the general direction to go in and some child-like depicition of a body of water was all arlow really had a solid grasp on. “far as I know, you two were the only ones who actually saw somethin’ beyond blue scribbles and a few arrows.”
x
not that arlow was at all unfamiliar with the surrounding land. he'd grown up here, after all. had broken bones falling out of decades old trees, chased after calves into long-dry cricks, and had sword fights using old reeds from ponds. as a boy, arlow had covered more than his fair share of mileage, mentally mapped the floodlands of the spring and ditches filled to the brim with soft snow in the winter. but that was a long time ago. arlow'd spent a decade away, and even now, a year back in dusthaven didn’t mean he’d reacquainted himself with every crick and holler that stretched beyond the town limits.
x
before he could even attempt to ponder further on conrad's request, a sharb stab of pain interrupted the steady beat behind arlow's eye and the man hissed under his breath. the flickering at the edges of his vision wasn't exactly a positive sign of things to come, and tugging the brim of his hat ever further towards the dirt beneath his feet could only do so much. "we gotta sit for a minute. under that tree. then we can talk more." arlow waved the hand he didn't have pressed firmly against his right eye in the general direction of the bare-branched tree in the front yard. there wasn't much shade to be offered there, but it was better than standing out in the direct sunlight his grandmammy's porch offered no relief from.
x
arlow didn't wait for a response, dropping off the front steps and trudging his way to where a large, gnarled tree root jutted out of the ground like an arm rest. the sheriff was quick to all but collapse against the tree trunk, propping his head on the arm he braced against the aforementioned root. "just need a sec, head's killin' me."

[sinensys]

conrad pressed his lips into a thin line and followed arlow to the tree, silent for once. the day was nowhere near the end, and the fae was already fatigued. between discovering his newly-acquired skin condition, losing control in the sheriff's office, and the nervousness he felt inside the elder cassidy's home, he was exhausted emotionally. the aggressive heat and sun did nothing to help.

the cowboy collapsed, and battled with some unseen force within, evidently losing. conrad stood awkwardly beside him. standing like this, looking down at the pained human, conrad felt... something. sure, he'd seen ailing humans in that week of scuttling in hector creed's shadow, and yes, some of them were tragic. but then he'd felt nothing but spite, caught in the bitter chokehold of something greater than him yet still inside. he'd only managed to contain the glower, forcing different points along his lips to pull upwards, and played nice to the best of his ability at the time. yet now felt different. it was difficult to wish misery, and cruelty, and suffering upon the sheriff right now --- conrad didn't really have to, it seemed, since it was already being done. as much as he wanted to viciously maim the town and chase out its residents, they already were shriveling up without his intervention. his need for water was desperately dire, but the humans weren't faring much better: if they were unlucky in their hunt for water, they'd all wither out and die. conrad would just go out first. and so conrad stared downwards mutely, watching arlow fight the knives in his head, leaned against the tree. how frail the man seemed now. the fae was suddenly keenly aware of his own frailty, his skin the first canary to wheeze in the coal mine. spite remained, but something else had peered out from behind its flickering frame, a candle's shadow.

was it... sympathy?

he begrudgingly considered the sentiment invading his mind, biting his tongue. yeah. sympathy. damn it.

finally he clicked his tongue, rolling his eyes and tucking the book under his armpit. "give me that," he grumbled quickly and, not giving arlow a chance to react in any way, swiped the hat off the human's head. conrad looked around briefly, looking for someplace to set the hat down without covering it in more grime. realizing there was no place to do so, the hat went onto his own head. instantly, the relief from the light's unyielding assault was noticeable; he blinked a few times in surprise. western hats continued to make sense --- not that the fae would wear one of his own. this was just temporary, after all. this was him moving things along, past this human inconvenience. and nothing more.

he moved to kneel before arlow, refusing to make eye contact. conrad's fingers found themselves on the sheriff's head and pressed into the scalp symmetrically yet still at random --- he had to sell the charade of a medically-adept doctor now to avoid verbally dancing around it after. "close your eyes," he instructed. "tell me if it hurts too much where i press," came the afterthought. for a minute and a half he continued this, before the fae finally breathed out the words to a pain-reliever, gently whispered to mask it in a sigh. whether or not the human picked out the faint gaelic was unknown to him. another minute or two passed before conrad decided to bring the charade to an intermission, the play paused but not yet finished. it wouldn't be until it was all over.

conrad still refused to make eye contact, choosing to watch arlow's hair beneath his fingers instead. he huffed with only a little bit of exasperation: "has it stopped yet?"

[kanni]

x
arlow could hardly think with the state he was in, but he was still well aware of those sharp eyes burrowing in nearly as fierce as the throbbing in his head. could feel just how conrad was picking him apart while he sat there trying to will his skull to stay in one solid piece, rather than splintering into shards better suited for becoming his grandmammy's next wind chime. something about conrad staring down at him made arlow's skin itch. he had never, and likely would never care about how he presented himself to others. with arlow what you saw was what you got, that's just how it was, and beyond his relatives no one had ever complained, least of all arlow himself. but here he was, as crumpled as crumpled could be and feeling heat slowly bloom in his ears knowing conrad could see it.
x
before he could mutter something to mask the faint embarrassment warring with his migraine, conrad clicked his tongue and arlow's hat was gone. whatever rage or protest that the sheriff would have easily been able to muster at any other given moment died under the surprise of that hat landing on conrad's head and the other man's fingers landing in his hair. there were unspoken rules when it came to hats, rules that arlow would be sure to inform his companion of when his brain returned to normal status. with the brim low upon conrad's hat, shadowing those sharp features just so, he looked every part a man born to the dirt and heat of dusthaven, and for half of a split second, arlow's train of thought derailed into a place he was entirely too pained to examine.
x
arlow exhaled sharply through his nose at the sudden prodding conrad had chosen to subject him to, the pressure only adding to that which was preexisiting. he had half a mind to shove the other man off, demand his hat back, and wait out the pounding behind his eyes with a lowered brim. it was hard to listen to that half a mind when conrad was unsettlingly close, jarring nerves arlow wasn't aware he had leftover post-grandmammy visit. there was no flinching, no sir, but his shoulders were tight as the skin over his knees tucked tight against himself.
x
arlow gave it a moment, as unlike the first persistent passes of conrad's fingers, the pressure from the digits was now beginning to relieve the tension in his head. conrad may have been muttering to himself like an insane person, drawing a side eye from arlow that he was well known for, but it was working. working almost unnaturally fast. has it stopped yet? arlow blinked. it had. the sheriff's brow furrowed deep and low, but he grunted out an affirmitive.
x
"er. yeah," arlow paused, avoiding direct eye contact but unable to completely look away from the face that was barely a foot away from his own. conrad's skin was somehow untouched by the sun, despite the week and change he'd spent working directly under it with doc. it was almost something to be envious of. "thanks." arlow's eyes flicked up to the brown felt tilted just so upon the other man's head. "y'know, i'd like my hat back."

[sinensys]

conrad withdrew his hands instantly, as if burned, and leaned back --- but his hands remained in the air before him, conrad stilling. he wasn't sure why he didn't get up immediately, but for a few moments he stayed that way, finally looking at arlow's face directly. what the fae was searching for was unknown even to him. dark eyes, tanned skin, and sharply furrowed brows, despite the other features being more soft, gentler, a trait visible even beneath the scruff that dominated the sheriff's face. he realized this was the first time he'd taken a good look at the man he'd wished death on only a few hours ago --- before he'd seen the human's face, but he'd never truly looked.

arlow said something; the sounds didn't register as words, but as indecipherable noises, a code he could not yet parse.

it occurred to him that this was, by far, the strangest experience yet. of all the things to happen to him, this... this understanding was not one he expected. and that was an unwelcome thought. to be trapped in the human realm, his imminent demise approaching, yet also aid the humans who destroyed his well, his way home, was an unfathomable low he knew he stooped to. in any other circumstance, the kelpie would have cursed the man further, a petty creature wrought of wrath and chaos and spite, and yet --- and yet. here he was, kneeling, watching, waiting for death while knowing the rest were soon to follow. part of him bristling and adamant: this was all done out of the need for survival. the echo in the cavernous recesses of his mind spoke only of grief, somber; some little, shaky voice reminded him that sand never travelled back up the hourglass. it was the humans' fault, this he was certain of, but he wasn't sure it mattered anymore. what was done, was done. conrad swallowed thickly, combatting the pressure that had unknowingly built up in his throat.

"i'd like my hat back," his brain finally caught up. conrad snapped out of his stupor, blinking and then briskly transferring the hat back onto the cowboy's head before standing up. the dust clung to his knees and the kelpie made a face, attempting to rid himself of the granular onslaught, but it was to no avail. a few moments passed and he gave up, squinting, almost mourning the loss of the hat and its shade. the latter, that is.

"are you ready to move on or what? i'm not feeling up to dragging you back in this heat if you collapse," he snarked, desperately reaching out to the closest mask available to him. the kelpie kept his gaze out, the book making its way back into his hands. he was eager to move on from the weird interaction --- the embarrassment of his moment of weakness was creeping in. he felt betrayed by his very own self for that, for forgetting the enemy. the book felt heavier in his hands as he gripped it.