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All sorts of people come to Niki for help.
She doesn't mind. Actually, it's kind of her job in a roundabout way. Not officially, but morally. Though she still gets paid for it. Well, it's complicated, but the way Niki sees it, not helping would definitely make her a worse person than helping, so doesn't she have an obligation to help if she can help, while also deserving to make a living out of it?
Magic wielders are rare.
After years of futile trying, the kingdom has pretty much given up on wanting to pinpoint the reason some humans are born with the ability to wield magic, and others are not. There seems to be no logic to it, no genetic disposition or other similarity between various witches that would explain their shared ability. Maybe that's to be expected. Who in their right mind presumes magic will adhere to what's considered 'logical'?
The royals changed tracks and are now way more invested in trying to recruit people who are magic wielders into their ranks. Niki was offered a prestigious position as a nanny for the crown prince. She very politely declined.
She doesn't enjoy the hustle and bustle of the capital city. As soon as her years at the academy were through - some of the most miserable years of her life, surrounded by haughty, stuffy magic wielders who loved competitiveness and bragging - she quickly packed up all her stuff and moved to the middle of nowhere. Her cabin is wonderful. Niki is surrounded mostly by woods, she has her own vegetable garden, and she can sit on her porch to soak in the early spring sun.
And people who do need her help still always seem to find their way to her door.
"Uh, excuse me?"
Niki is pulled from the book she was engrossed in by a soft, deep voice. She looks up at the man in front of her, his stance slightly hunched, though it does little to conceal that he is quite tall. He is wearing a heavy cloak around his shoulders that hangs to below the hip, and of which the hood makes a valiant attempt at hiding his hair from view. But it's not an entirely successful attempt. Niki can see the long pink braid peeking out from through the folds.
"Hi there," she says pleasantly, smiling at him. "Sorry, people don't usually come by this late."
"I can come back later-" the man starts, but Niki waves it away with a shrug.
"No, no, it's okay." She gets up, bunching up the blanket she was using to keep herself safe from the evening chill, and putting it down in her rocking chair. She leaves the book on top, the dried lavender stalks she's improvising as a bookmark sticking out from between the pages. "Come in, please."
The man slowly follows her inside, hesitating a little. Niki draws the curtains and flicks at the stove with her finger, making the hot plate come to life. She already put a kettle on earlier, since she usually enjoys having a cup of tea before bed.
"Do you want anything to drink?" she asks. "I'm making herbal tea, my own mixture. But I should have some coffee beans around too."
"I'm good," the man says, clearly somewhat tense.
Niki has an advanced spell set in place around her cabin that prevents people with ill intentions from approaching it. She can rest assured that the stranger means her no harm. And it's not unusual for somebody who needs magical aid to be in a state of anxiety or discomfort. People don't exactly seek out a witch because they can fix their own problems.
But this man comes across even more strained than she's accustomed to from the poor souls who visit her. So she decides to get straight to the point.
"My name is Niki," she says, gesturing at a chair for the man to take a seat while pulling out her own. "I'm an independent magic wielder who specializes in the herbology and elementalist branches."
"Techno," the man introduces himself. "I'm pretty sure any magic wielder will do."
Niki chuckles lightly as she sits down. "Well, it can depend on what you need help with. Some people seem to think that magic is magic, and there's no difference at all between what two witches can do. But that's not entirely true."
"I've been cursed by the fae."
Niki's mouth opens, no words come out for a moment. The kettle whistles on the stove, and she flicks her finger again to snuff out the flame, but does not get up to retrieve it. The man shifts back at her startled reaction.
"Sorry," Niki says. "It's uncommon for the fae to curse anybody. I'm surprised."
She's lying. Fae are prone to cursing folks. However, usually they have it coming some way or another. But she can't exactly ask Techno what he has done to deserve the fae's ire. That'd be rude.
"What kind of curse is it?" she asks instead.
"I have extremely bad luck," Techno says.
"Hm," Niki replies, "And you're certain it's-"
"It's magical," Techno interrupts. "I'm certain."
"I didn't mean to imply anything," Niki responds. "But how do you know?"
"Before, I had this thing," he says. "It's uh, it's hard to explain. It was like a bell? You rang it, and it would absorb magic."
"You had a conduit?" Niki asks, this time not bothering to hide her astonishment. Magical conduits are even more rare than magic wielders are, since they have to be made by a witch and only the most skilled witches can make them, if they spend significant time on it.
"My parents gave it to me. They're dead now," Techno says.
"I see." Vaguely, Niki rubs her chin. One of Techno's parents could have been a magic wielder then. That would also explain the pissed off fae, since they rarely get along with witches.
"The bell broke," Techno adds. "So I came for a new one."
"How long have you been using it?" Niki asks.
"Ah, a couple of years at the very least," Techno admits, hands wringing together awkwardly on the table. That's a long while to be stuck with a fae curse, too.
"And how much longer will the curse last?"
"A couple of years at the very least," Techno repeats sheepishly.
Niki nods, accepting the information. Fae curses can only be broken by the fae who weaved them, so attempting to undo them would be pointless. But they are always limited in time - a fortnight, a moon cycle, eight seasons, whatever the fae deems is the appropriate span for the curse to last. Techno only needs something to cope with the bad luck until the curse ends.
"Can I see?" At the question, Techno falters, and Niki tries to offer him a reassuring smile. "There is a reason why you're covering your hair, right?"
Rather than carry out the simple request, Techno taps his fingers on the table. "Can you make me a new bell?"
"I'm afraid not," Niki says, getting up so she can walk to the stove and finally pour her tea. "If you're needing a magic wielder who can make you a new conduit, you'd need to get to the academy. They'd know how to help."
"I was worried you might say that," Techno sighs, slumping hopelessly in his chair.
"However, that doesn't mean I can't be of service." She turns back with her cup, smile still firmly in place. "You said you were using the bell as a way to absorb the curse's magic, didn't you?"
"That's the idea," Techno says.
"We can do similar things with other methods. For example, there are herb concoctions I can create which ward off magic or flush it from the body." Niki sets the cup down on the table, but doesn't sit again. "If I know what I'm working with."
Techno seems reluctant, but then he apparently decides he needs Niki's help more than he needs to conceal his appearance. He uses both hands to take off the cape's draping hood, allowing Niki to have a proper look at his face for the first time.
Overall, nothing stands out to Niki as unusual. Techno has pale skin with a few freckles, light blue eyes that remind her of the periwinkle flowers she had on her windowsill in the academy, a very human appearance. The only oddity is the pink hair, and the reason Techno covered it up also immediately becomes apparent. When uncovered like this, it is easy to tell that the color is natural rather than dyed. Pink down to the very roots. Even the most skilled magic wielder can only use imperfect glamours to temporarily alter their appearance, and while using magic to change one's eye or hair color is popular, the difference is noticeable.
This peculiar pink is a side effect of the fae curse.
"As far as you're aware, the curse only causes bad luck and changes to your hair?" As she asks this, Niki automatically reaches up as if to touch Techno's braid, wanting to assess the magic better. He jerks back violently. She drops her hand guiltily, not wanting to make him uncomfortable.
"Yes," Techno answers, scooting even further away from her. "And so far, having a way to get rid of the magic before it can affect me too badly has always worked."
Turning, Niki walks to her desk. She has an indoor planter with her most important herbal preparations and jars of dried flowers. "We'll definitely need lavender, sage, nettle… Probably hawthorn too." She knows she is talking to herself, but she's honestly getting a little excited. The idea of making a remedy that can negate the magic of a fae is interesting, nothing she has done before or has heard of anybody else doing. It's a challenge.
And Niki quite likes a challenge.
"There'll probably be some trial and error at first while I'm figuring out the right doses," she warns, already pulling out different containers.
"Anything is better than nothing," Techno says miserably. It curbs Niki's enthusiasm somewhat. She's acting as if this is all fun and games, but for Techno, it must be genuinely upsetting that he has lost the one thing he used to cope with this curse.
"Sorry." She turns around. "Do you live in town?" Niki settled close to a small town in case she needs anything she can't provide for herself.
"A different town," Techno says. "North of here. It took me half a day to travel."
"That's not too bad," Niki says. "Come back in three days and I'll have something prepared for you."
Techno gets up from the table, pulling his hood back in place. "And the cost?"
"How about…" Niki taps her chin, thinking it over for a moment. "Free of charge until I get the doses right. After that, I usually charge ten gold for a remedy that'll last you a week."
"That's very generous," Techno says.
"Well, you're basically going to be my test subject," Niki says with a grin. "The least I can do is extend the experimental treatment for free."
Techno offers a smile back. "Deal."
Niki works day and night so she can uphold her promise.
Putting together the actual herb blend is easy enough, the trick is to make one that will not have any nasty side effects for Techno. A lot of herbs have medicinal properties in addition to the effects they might have on magic after Niki imbues them. She doesn't think Techno will appreciate it if his curse medication comes with a side of laxatives.
But after three days, she has something she's relatively certain should do the trick.
Techno knocks on her door around dusk again. He said the town he lives in is half a day's travel away, so Niki figures he might sleep over nearby when night falls, perhaps even set up a tent. It's honestly none of her concern, but she's the type of person who can't help worrying. He lowers the hood as soon as he steps inside.
Niki gasps at the sight of a huge bruise on his cheek. "What happened?"
"I guess my luck fully ran out," Techno says, attempting for some levity.
"I have an ointment you could-"
"It's fine," Techno says, holding up a hand. "I'm fine, really. Did you manage to make me a fix?"
"It's not a fix," Niki says. "I think this should help, though." While he stands near the table, she returns to her desk. Her scribbled notes litter the surface, Niki's handwriting getting more chaotic with every page as she worked on figuring this out. She returns with the herb blend she ended up with. "You make a tea out of it. Steep for three minutes, then drink before it cools completely. Make sure to bury the dregs in your garden."
"Thank you," Techno says after receiving the bag. He is already taking a step back, but Niki points at a chair.
"Now sit so we can deal with that bruise." Techno looks like he's about to protest, so she throws in her best approximation of puppy eyes. "Please? Just stay for one cup?"
"If that's the payment you want," Techno says, sitting down.
Niki smiles to herself. She grabs a jar from her desk too, and puts it on the table so Techno can help himself while she prepares the drinks. From the corner of her eye, she catches Techno wincing as he applies the salve.
"So what exactly happened?" she asks.
"Walked into a door." Niki breathes a laugh, and Techno halfway glares at her. "Making fun of the cursed guy? Shame on you."
"I'm not making fun of you," she says.
"I came to you in my weakest hour," Techno laments.
She puts the cup down in front of him. "Compared to what some people who get cursed by the fae need to deal with, bad luck is honestly pretty mild."
"You think?" Techno asks with a squint.
"I once knew a guy who would turn into a crow every time at sunrise, and only become a human again when night fell. Can you imagine needing to go through life a majority of the time without your thumbs?"
Techno chuckles. "That does sound pretty rough." He hands her back the jar and wipes his fingers on one of the napkins Niki left on the table. "Bad luck isn't exactly a walk in the park either."
"I can imagine," Niki says sympathetically.
"For a while, every plant I touched withered," Techno tells her. "You realize I live in a farming town, right? Potatoes are, like, our only export."
"Less than ideal," Niki agrees.
"And every time I picked up an iron tool, I would hurt myself one way or another."
"I get it, I get it," Niki says with another laugh. "You have it worse than the crow guy."
Techno nods, taking a sip from his tea. "Definitely. What happened to him anyway?"
"Oh, he ended up marrying the fae who cursed him," Niki says with a hum.
"That's not an option for me."
She giggles, using her spoon to stir in the porcelain cup. She got this set in the capital, it's one of the few things from there she cherishes.
"Have you been enjoying H. Rose's fairytales?" Techno asks suddenly, and then, at Niki's apparent surprise, quickly adds, "I saw the book you were reading the first time I visited the cabin."
"Ah, yes," Niki says, "They're whimsical, but in the best way. Where you almost could kind of believe they're real, you know?"
"I haven't read them yet," Techno admits. "But I've gone through her works in the historical fiction genre."
"Really? What are those like?"
The conversation unwinds between them from there, for hours, until Niki notices that it's getting much darker outside than she expected. She stands up, reigniting the flames in her fireplace with a clap of her hands.
"It's pretty late. If you want, you can stay the night. I have a spare room-"
Techno interrupts her. "No, I should go. Thank you for having me. And for the herb treatment."
"Are you sure?" Niki asks. "How far do you have to go? The woods can be dangerous at night."
"I'm sure." Techno's expression falls as something almost distrustful slips in. "You really don't need to do this much for me. You've already gone above and beyond."
Taken aback, Niki tilts her head. "I only want to help."
"I know, I'm just- I'm fine, okay? Really. Thank you again, I'll be back once I run out." Techno is getting up, rushing to leave the cabin. Niki feels bad about pressing him, so she lets him go without another word.
But something inside tells her Techno needs a lot more help than he is willing to admit right now.
Niki should give herself more credit, her dose turns out pretty close to perfect.
She only needs to adjust a few small things, and then Techno starts showing up on her doorstep every other week with twenty pieces of gold. Sometimes he has to leave quickly. Other times, he stays and they talk. About literature, about potatoes (turns out Techno is a farmer himself, inheriting the farm from his parents), about the capital. Techno speaks about how he wants to travel more, but that would require leaving the farm behind. Niki tries not to make the capital city sound too much like a wretched den of terribly annoying people, no matter how badly she hates that place.
Techno always stays a few steps beyond reach.
Niki notices it quickly, the physical distance he keeps between them. She assumes Techno simply is the type of person who doesn't like being touched. When she hands him a cup, his hands draw away so their fingers don't brush. He keeps wearing the cloak as the season turns warmer, covering up every inch of skin he can. She doesn't judge him for it. But sometimes, when she asks him about how he's faring with the curse, their eyes meet, and Niki will see something there. Something that comes alarmingly close to guilt.
She wants to ask him, but never gets there.
Niki isn't that type of person. The type of person who can pry, and worry at the edges of a band-aid haphazardly put over a still bleeding wound so she can fix what lies beneath. She wishes she were, because she likes helping people. Only when they ask for help first, though. She doesn't feel it's her place otherwise.
She only gets close to it with Techno once.
He's wearing the cloak still, despite it being well into summer, and Niki can tell it's getting frayed. The bottom hem is coming apart. She has half a mind to make Techno a new one as a surprise gift. They're friends now, anyway, and he brought her some of his potatoes and a few recipes and a book he thought she'd like, all outside of the payment she's receiving for her herbs. So, making him a cloak as a gift should be fine, right?
She's so concentrated on trying to gauge how much fabric she would need that she hardly notices it when he lifts his arms and it reveals part of his shirt. There's a very obvious red stain.
"You're bleeding!" Niki says, alarmed.
"What?!" Techno drops his arms instantly, but she's already reaching forward to tug the cape up again and get a better look.
He reacts by flinching away from her, jerking his hip against the table and throwing over some of her dishware. He does hoist the cape up himself a moment later, to check on the injury, but only after he's far enough away from her to avoid being touched.
"What happened?" Niki asks.
"I cut myself earlier, must have bled through the bandages," Techno says with some nonchalance.
"I'll get you some new ones," Niki says, hurrying to do so while Techno sits down.
"Sucks that this is interrupting our talk about urban development around the capital region."
"Would you forget about that?" Niki says firmly. "Here, let me-"
"I can do it myself," Techno snaps, accompanied by another step away from her. The harshness of his tone feels very out of character, and it probably reflects on her shocked face. Techno looks regretful, and holds out a shaking hand. "Sorry, I meant… I'm fine to do it myself, okay?"
"Of course," Niki says, swallowing around the words. She gives him the bandages, and Techno hikes up his shirt too, so he can treat the wound. The cut looks shallow, so that's good. But Niki notices a few more bruises nearby, running along Techno's chest and stomach.
She doesn't say anything. It's not her place. It's not.
"I thought my remedy was helping," Niki says softly. If it's not, she wishes Techno would have told her up front.
"It's helping," Techno says, turning away from her. Probably just so he can reach better. "This has nothing to do with my terrible luck."
As if that's not massively more concerning.
"Actually, can you give me more of the herbs this time," Techno asks, not looking up to meet her eye. "So I can start keeping a bit of a reserve. I'll pay you."
Techno is probably saying he doesn't want to come by as often anymore. Niki clenches her fingers together, so tight it almost hurts, and nods. "Yes, of course."
She doesn't want him to know she feels like crying, especially since she's not entirely sure why herself.
Summer scorches along, until the early days of autumn bring relief.
Techno does not stop coming to the cabin every two weeks. Niki gives him a double portion of her herbal remedy each time, and though she doesn't ask, she assumes that maybe she was wrong before. It's clearly not the case that Techno wants to come by less. Maybe he's just stockpiling for winter, when the snow and hail will make it harder for him to travel to her cabin.
He definitely looks as if the season is taking a toll on him.
He's a bit more shaky than usual, paler too. He complains about being tired lately, but chalks it up to needing to hurry along and harvest the remaining potatoes before the weather gets worse. Niki considers whether she should offer to give him some herbs for that too. It's not uncommon for people to get sick more easily when the coldness and darkness of winter creep in.
"Do you ever get lonely out here all by yourself?" Techno asks once.
Niki looks up at him in surprise. They've been reading in silence, side by side in front of the fireplace. They've been doing that sometimes, if Techno pops by early enough. He's reading H. Rose's fairytales. And Niki is reading her historical fiction.
"Sometimes," Niki says. "Not often. I kind of like the peace and quiet."
"Me too," Techno answers. "I've been thinking of moving somewhere more remote."
"You don't want to stay at your farm?" Niki asks.
"I used to. I mean, it's my parents', so it felt kinda rude to give it away. But, I don't know…"
"I'm not lonely," Niki says. "I'm happy by myself, I've been taking care of things here for a long while. And I can always go into town if I want people around."
Techno hums. "Maybe I'll come live nearby. I could be your neighbor."
Niki smiles. "You could. I'd like that."
That's the last time she speaks to Techno that winter.
The last dustings of snow have been melting away under the first sunrays that arrive with spring.
This might be Niki's favorite season. She loves seeing the world come to life around her. The weather getting better, her plants flourishing. Like the first time they met, she is sitting on her rocking chair outside, enjoying the lingering warmth of the day while reading. She thinks about Techno often, mostly in shades of worry and a keenness to see him again. She has even considered traveling to his town herself.
She's been trying to resist that urge, still feeling it's not her place. But then she has to remind herself they're friends, they're friends - Niki never had many of those. And if she's concerned about a friend, then she should go visit him. It wouldn't be wrong of her to do so…
In the end, however, she doesn't need to. Because a familiar man wrapped in a heavy woolen cloak walks the path towards her cabin.
Niki notices that something is wrong immediately. Techno is hunched over, somehow more than he usually already is, and the angle makes it impossible to get a glance at his face. His legs must be shaking, he looks unsteady on his feet.
"Techno?" Niki gets up, the blanket falling onto the wooden porch. The book left open in her chair, no bookmark inside. She's taking the first few steps towards him when he collapses.
Techno groans, voice muffled into the dirt. He's failing to push an arm up under himself, but Niki kneels to help him turn onto his back.
"Techno, what happ-" Her voice gets caught in her throat.
He looks like a corpse. Skin washed out and graying, dark bags under his eyes where sickness has flushed out the color. Niki can tell from some yellow patches that there are old bruises fading, but he looks horrible now thanks to something else. An illness? Fever? She presses her palm against his forehead to check.
As soon as she does, a shudder runs through her. Her eyes go wide.
Techno was not cursed by the fae.
A simple touch is all that a magic wielder like Niki needs to distinguish that. Curses have a very distinct feeling to them. Magic woven around a person's being, clinging to them like a tar stain. Magic wielders would be able to determine a lot about the curse from touch alone. The true nature of it, how long the curse will last, sometimes even traces of the fae who put it there. But the most important thing is that they can feel the magic itself for the separate thing it is, tethered to a human without being part of them.
For Techno, this is not the case.
Niki can feel the magic inside him, intertwined with his very core, soaked into his very being. Part of him. Not cursed by the fae. Something else.
She pulls Techno's arm around her shoulder and helps him stand.
The effort needed to get him into the cabin is an exertion. Even when Techno blinks to some awareness, and tries to walk so Niki isn't simply dragging a dead weight around. Niki persists, more than anything letting her anger fuel her. She is beyond pissed.
But she pushes it down, while she brings Techno inside and tucks him into bed in the guest room. Not before removing the cape, each layer peeled away showing a few more healed injuries. She pushes the anger down as she stokes the fire and starts pulling herbs from her planters. She pushes it down as she fixes up the cleansing tea. She pushes it down as she sits at Techno's bedside and tilts him up, gently tipping the cup back so he can drink her remedy with half-lidded eyes. And she pushes it down while he sleeps.
Until a few hours later, when his eyes open again with some more clarity to them. Techno still looks weak, as is to be expected. But strong enough to weather the storm of her exasperation.
"Why did you not tell me you're a changeling?" Niki asks, coldly.
When Techno fainted and Niki touched him, she thought for a moment he was actually a fae. Changelings are few and far in between, Niki certainly never met one before. But the combination of fae magic and human nature she felt inside Techno left little to the imagination. He isn't a fae. He's not a human either. He's neither, or maybe he's both.
"I-" Techno starts.
For once, Niki's anger is poignant enough that it fuels her into interrupting him, voice raised in pitch. "Do you realize you were making me poison you?!" she asks. "You could have died! You lied to me!" She exhales roughly, getting too worked up to properly speak.
"I didn't lie," Techno forces out, shifting against the pillows.
"You told me you were cursed by the fae," Niki says.
"I mean," Techno starts, looking away for a moment, unable to meet her eye, "what else would you call the creation of a changeling? Cursed from birth, if you think about it."
"It's different," Niki says. Though already, she can feel her outrage turn into a simmer. It's hard to stay mad at somebody who looks so utterly pathetic. And she's much more concerned with wanting to know why Techno would do this? Why would he put himself in such a position?
Fae and changeling are (partly) made out of magic. Extracting that magic is akin to carving out a piece of flesh and blood. If Techno truly wasn't lying about his bell, he was regularly using an item that sapped away his very life force. And the herbs Niki so unwittingly gave him are even worse. They're ingested, and meant not only to extract magic but ward off the future growth of it.
Techno is harming himself, he made Niki an accomplice in that harm. She has the right to feel anger towards him.
Then how come she feels like crying again?
"I'm sorry," Techno says, softly.
"No, you're not," Niki says, with a squint.
Techno tries to laugh, but it looks like it pains him too much. "I'm not sorry I did it, but I'm sorry for upsetting you, if that counts?"
Niki shakes her head. "It doesn't. What you did was incredibly stupid. How did you even get started doing something that dangerous?"
"I-" Techno starts, hesitates, and Niki is about to snap at him - just a little bit - for still trying to conceal things from her after all this time. But it seems he was only trying to make up his mind on how to best phrase his confession. "I was switched out soon after birth. My parents realized I was… not the child my mother birthed, when I was a few years old."
Slowly, Niki sits down again on her chair next to the bed.
"They decided to keep me. Couldn't bear to give me away, I suppose. Or realized they couldn't get their true child back and decided the substitute would have to do." A wry expression passes over his face. "They treated me with love. I didn't know until I got older. I mean, I knew I was different than other kids, but it never really faced me."
He tips his head back against the pillow with a deep sigh.
"But when I reached a certain age, weird things started happening around me. Uncontrollable magic manifesting. My parents got me the bell. I don't know where. They just told me to ring it. As long as I did, I could stay in the village, stay with them. Nobody would hate me. I- I figured out eventually that everybody around me knew I was a changeling before I did. Ironically."
"When did your parents finally tell you?" Niki asks.
"When I finally asked them," Techno says. "I must have been twelve or so. I overheard some of the elders talking about me. Wondering if the bell would stay enough. If my magic would outgrow me and I'd need to be cast out to protect the town from the fae's influence."
Superstitions around fae are a tale as old as time. Niki isn't surprised to hear Techno recount this. If anything, it is half a miracle his parents could convince the town to keep him around at all, using the magic draining of the bell as a safeguard against the belief that a changeling carries fae misfortune. Techno's parents must have had significant influence within the town while alive.
Niki doesn't know what to say. It's horrible, to her as a magic wielder, that people should let their prejudice against the arcane rule over common sense or empathy. But she's also fortunate, in a sense. People who aren't witches are more defenseless against magic. They feel more scared by it.
"And after your parents died?" she asks.
"I remained in the town because I knew I wouldn't be accepted anywhere else. The hair is kind of a dead giveaway I'm not fully human, in case you hadn't noticed," Techno says, slightly flat at the end there, pulling a smile from Niki. "When the bell broke, I panicked and knew I'd do anything to find some other way to keep my magic at bay, before the townsfolk turned on me completely."
Niki swallows. "Even if it would hurt you?"
Techno looks at her. "Like I said, I had never been accepted anywhere else. Not until-" His eyes cast away. "Uh, not until you."
"Techno…"
"It's fine," he says quickly. "I lied to you. So I understand I probably squandered any goodwill my book recommendations could have gained me."
"You're right about me being angry at you," Niki says. Techno grimaces slightly. "But," she continues, "I'm also your friend. And that means I refuse to let you go through something like this alone. No more herbs, though. Ever again."
"I will have to leave town," Techno says. Not that he sounds too upset about it.
"You should go stay with Phil for a while," Niki says. "He's the crow guy I mentioned once."
"The guy who married the fae that cursed him?"
"And has since adopted a changeling, actually." Niki smiles. "They know a lot about magic, and your nature. They'll be able to help you."
Techno will need time to develop the fae parts of himself, insofar as they weren't permanently damaged by years of using the conduit and now Niki's remedy. But Techno won't ever be free to walk among humans until he accepts himself and learns to control his powers.
"And after that, I move down the road to become your neighbor?" Techno asks.
"After that, I'll consider forgiving you," Niki says. The quirk of her lip gives away that she's not entirely serious. "After a few more book recommendations, maybe."
"I suppose that's a fair bargain," Techno agrees.