#elsewhere

"Though hard to tell how old any elf is..."

"It's possible he hasn't aged thanks to balefire in well over a decade and a half"

"Sometimes the siidhe fear of age..well, most of them don't return so maybe that explains it"

She nods.

"They fear age, and decay, and death... which, well." A smile and an elegant gesture.

A soft laugh "yes well... unlike trolls who respect their elders, and sluagh who see it as a great goal"

"Precisely."

"huh. You can rub that in Jacob's face. Very unlikely he'll ever be older than you"

"Oh, true!" Most pleased.

"Would you like me to .." A weird thought "WOuld you like me to do a potrait of what you might look like older? Like at 80?"

"Only if you are in it, too."

A grin "Truly?"

"Aye. Withered but wise, surrounded by winter trees and ghosts of roses..."

He actually pulls out a note, and writes the words down "Withered but wise, surrounded by winter and the ghosts of .. oh you are a poet my dear"

"I learned from thee."

"And yet you were and are my muse. Full Circle"

"How fortunate for the two of us!"

"I knew you were magical when I first saw you. The pale gemstone in a circle of admirers... yet so shy and in denial about how special you were"

"Circle of admirers? Pah."

"some referred to them as the 'zarem'" He says with soft amusement

"I remember the first time I saw you - hiding in Clem's shadow... and the first time I saw you, when you were painting in the garden..."

A note: the scarecrow painting travelled from Scarsdale, to be given a place of honor in Zara's new bedroom.

He noticed it. Oh yes. "Oh the garden...caught in that...wonderful moment. Like a fly in the web. I've been happily trapped in your weavings ever since"

She nods. "There was music, aye. And moonlight. And thee."

"Mmm would you like to go somewhere tonight, love? I know you might have studies, but.. I did promise to whisk you where you willed"

"Oh... somewhere blustery. It is fall, and feels it not here. I wish for moonlight and wind and to curl up with you under a blanket..."

He rises "Further upstate then? "

"Maybe Vermont?"

"ive been there once. Shall we grab a blanket, or spring for a motel?"

"Oh, sleep with the dew and the starlight..."

A pause. "Let us make certain it is a wool blanket."

"Good idea" And he fetches that, and... yes, the traveling tea set.

Her clever Hunter. She grabs a book of poetry and some pillow.

And a moment later, using that very blanket for a bunk, he throws it about them both and... they vanish.

Oh they would go to a world of autumn and hues....

but little did they realize they would also stumble upon an adventure.

But that is a story for another night. Shhh... no peeking ahead of your current chapter. It's rude.

(end scene)