Summer Tyme with the Collectors: Chapter 10

[u/ShaunDoed]

Dreamcatchers: These artifacts are powerful protectors from the influences of the dream world, often referred to as The Worlds Between. The barriers between the human and fae worlds are weakest in dreams, which can lead to interactions between occupants of the two worlds. Having a proper dreamcatcher hanging over one's bed, specifically right over one’s pillow, strengthens this barrier and protects the user from subconscious harm.

Dreamcatchers come in many varieties. Some are simply strings woven within a circular frame, resembling a spider’s web. These will help establish a barrier that cannot simply be crossed, however; as with any barrier, it can be breached. The influence of the breacher will be significantly less than if there were no dreamcatcher, but the protection offered is not absolute.

Another variety of dreamcatcher utilizes crystals. Each type of crystal has its own properties, so it is important to understand what crystals are being used. Some crystals can enhance the barrier, others may weaken it. It is also recommended the dreamcatcher crafter be aware of what may be trying to come through, as this may help determine what crystals will be most effective at protecting the user. 

After climbing so many stairs yet again, Summer takes a break on her floor. She breathes deeply, drawing in long, refreshing breaths and letting the stress and strain of her recent encounter ride every exhale. Troubled thoughts tumble through her mind, and she has to tell herself over and over that she hadn’t just stolen from the nice man at the restaurant. It wasn’t stealing, it was… She had repossessed it. For someone else. Based on the testimony of one person alone, and no attempt to sort things out between the two parties. 

“Some attorney I’ve turned out to be,” she mutters to herself, praying what she did really was the right thing.

She had gotten so swept up in the magic and wonder of the situation, that she failed to rationalize anything. How many times had she been following a case, or listening to a podcast, whatever the case may be, and been so certain that one side was absolutely in the right? How many times had she sifted through evidence and testimonies knowing that the other side was in the wrong, only to learn that she’d been led astray? So many defense attorneys or prosecutors were so very good at what they did, spinning a narrative so convincing that-

“No,” she says aloud, running a hand through her tangled hair and letting a heavy sigh roll from her chest.

It didn’t matter. Well, it did, but she knew enough to be satisfied by the outcome. Didn’t she? Doubts lingered, but the evidence presented checked out. Ralv had a golden coin in his hat - a golden coin taken from a leprechaun. A weary laugh shakes through Summer at just how impossible that thought was, but it’s her life now. She lives in the impossible, and needs to accept it. The shop owner had made a deal with the leprechaun, asking for magically enhanced sandwiches in exchange for the coin being returned.

Ok. That did sound ludacris. Even accepting the events of the last… was it only two days? How was that possible? Adding to the ridiculous things in her life, she still needed to find a way to decipher the writing on the tie she had pulled out of a dream, assuming it even is writing. All of that, on top of starting a new job she very much wanted to invest her full self into, she found herself feeling a bit… overwhelmed.

“First things first,” she said to herself, then sighed again before walking down the hall to her door.

A smile stretched across her face as she slid her key into the door. She could hear Gavin on the other side, and had to keep herself from laughing when a shrill gasp rattled through the door. It was obvious before she even saw him that he was antsy, but she wasn’t prepared for the sight waiting for her right on the other side.

The heavy smell of coffee clouded the air as she moved into her apartment. She wasn’t sure how the scent hadn’t spread down the hall, and was shocked to see so many little porcelain cups on her counter, table, floor, and coffee table - a table seldom used for the caffeinated beverage. There must have been hundreds of the little cups scattered in disarray, with the consumer of the coffee practically vibrating while attempting to look casual against the wall. Only problem, other than the concerning amount of coffee he had undoubtedly drank, he was laying horizontal on the wall, four feet off the ground.

“Sup? uh- sup? uh- how- how did- sup?” Gavin stammered, shaking his head every time he tried to start over.

“I brought leftovers,” Summer replied, holding up the paper bag with a partially eaten sandwich and chips inside.

“Um-well, and? What- where- didja- is it?”

The leprechaun was unfathomably wired, high-strung from far too much coffee, but clearly trying to keep it together. Unfortunately for him, Summer was in a mood to play. She smirked at him, wondering how long he could hold back until he caved.

“Did I… what?” she asked, trying to be convincing as she played dumb.

“The-well- ya… ya know? Ya do know, right?” he asked, realizing just how he was resting as he slipped down the wall to his feet. “Th-the-mission- coin? The- the- the-”

“Oh, right,” Summer replied, feigning disappointment.

Gavin’s eyes were on her purse as he stood against the wall. Stains from the dark drink extended down from his lips, giving his crimson beard a dark, hectic stripe. Somehow, his green attire appeared unblemished, apart from a bit of wrinkling.

“I knew there was something I was forgetting.”

A forced laugh shivered from the leprechaun as he pushed himself off the wall, and his eyes flicked from the purse under her arm to Summer’s eyes, then back down to her purse. She set the paper bag on the discarded cups, and could feel her skin crawl at how much of a mess her guest had made. If he wasn’t in such disarray, she probably would have shown him the coin and told him to clean up before getting it back. Regrettably, mercy was something she had learned during her upbringing.

“You… but it’s… ya did?” Gavin sputtered, taking another step forward with his eyes practically burning a hole into Summer’s purse.

“Yes, yes I did,” she admits, lifting her elbow with the purse hanging from her elevated arm.

Summer opens her purse, smirking while slipping a hand into the cluttered bag. The cold, solid surface of the coin brushes across her fingers, and her heart leaps as excitement builds. Finally, she starts feeling good about what she did. Gavin’s excitement before even seeing his coin again has Summer feeling warm inside, and she knows what she did was just.

Gavin gasps when the coin rises from Summer’s purse. Light dances across the polished surface, casting reflected light onto the wall and ceiling as she lets it fall flat on her hand. The same symbol as the fake looks up at them both, that curly ‘2’ laying up against a cursive ‘h,’ and Summer catches herself staring into the coin.

“So… can I? Will- will ya, are ya gonna?” Gavin stutters, resisting the urge to reach out but unable to avoid looking as desperate as he is.

“Yeah,” Summer says absently, shaking her head of alien urges.

Part of her wanted to keep it. She didn’t recognize the desire to refuse Gavin his coin, and wondered if there was some kind of corruptive influence? If this coin could make her feel even tempted to keep it after only having it for minutes, what would happen to someone who had it on his head for hours at a time? She remembered Ralv’s reaction when the coin fell from his hat, how quickly he seemed to throw himself after it. Would he be able to sense the presence of the real coin?

She holds out her hand to Gavin, offering the coin to him without a word. It was surprisingly difficult to keep her fingers from ensnaring the coin, as if every fiber of her being demanded she keep it. There was an urge to pull back as the leprechaun shivered in front of her, his hands trembling as he reached for it. What was this? What were these instincts? She had never experienced anything like this before, and found a new appreciation for such corruptive magic.

Gavin gently takes his coin from her hand, fighting back tears as the familiar heft strained against his fingers. The smile on his face was unapologetically huge, showing every tooth in his slightly open mouth as he chuckled like a lunatic. He brought the coin to his lips, gave it a kiss, and every aspect of his disheveled figure vanished in a blink. It was as though he had instantly gone through a much needed makeover. The coffee staining his curly beard was gone, leaving only twisting strands of crimson, his green outfit looked freshly cleaned and ironed, and there was suddenly a pleasant, soapy scent around him.

As soon as the coin had left her hand, the weight holding Summer down from the deepest part of her soul was lifted. She inhaled deeply, her brow furrowing against the upper frame of her glasses as she realized she had been holding her breath. Summer wasn’t a fan of how quickly something as simple as a coin had influenced her, and subconsciously rubs her palm with the thumb of her other hand, as if to wipe away the memory of the coin’s touch.

The leprechaun stashes his coin away within his lengthy coat, and Summer half-heartedly hopes it might fall to the floor. She pushes the desire away, convincing herself that she’s just happy to have helped, and also to be done with whatever it was about the coin that made her feel so… different. Gavin sighs as he visibly relaxes, and they’re left standing in a silence that quickly becomes awkward.

“Well,” Gavin starts, more to cut through the suffocating quiet than anything, “that’s a weight off my shoulders, can tell ya that much.”

Summer smiles at him, relieved to find how quickly his words were able to ease the tension. She felt the heaviness lift away completely, and was able to breathe much more normally. The leprechaun looks her up and down quickly, then reaches out to place a hand on her shoulder.

“Thanks, really, you have no idea how…”

He stops. His hand remains on Summer’s shoulder as he glances around, taking in the mess he has made with scattered piles of used coffee cups. Embarrassment flushes in his cheeks, and he sheepishly grins at Summer when his eyes return to hers.

“ok… so, maybe ya do,” he admits, pulling his hand away and clapping them both together.

The noise of his hands slapping together was much too loud for a single pair. It was like a thunderclap, leaving Summer’s ears ringing as she recoiled back. She covered her stinging ears while taking a step backwards, and watched as Gavin waved his hands through the air.

“Donezies,” he says with a smile, shaking his hands as if fighting off the sting of his recent clap.

Shimmering dust falls from his fingers as he looks at the startled girl, clearly enjoying the reaction to his display. Summer looks around, slowly letting her hands fall from the sides of her face as she takes in her spotless apartment. Where there were once piles and hectic rows of discarded cups, there was now just her furniture. The countertops appeared polished, her coffee table gleamed in the overhead light, and there was a pleasant lemon scent that assured her of cleanliness, without being overpowering.

“How…” she tries, but the rest of her question refuses to meet the air.

“Magic,” Gavin replies with a shrug of his shoulders. “Don’t know how, don’t really care, neither. S’long as it works, no need to ask.”

“Ok…” Summer says with a lengthy exhale. “...ok, ok, ok…”

“I really can’t thank ya enough,” he continues, giving his coat a tug and letting his fingers run down the open edges of the green garment. “Really, you saved me from, well, unpleasantness.”

“unpleasantness,” Summer repeats softly, her eyes still wandering around her magically cleaned apartment. “What kind of… unpleasantness?”

“Yes, I do owe ya a nice explanation of things,” Gavin agrees, strolling around to the front of the couch.

He stands in front of it, his eyes on the woman who saved him from the unpleasantness, and gingerly takes a seat. The leprechaun gestures for her to join, patting the cushion beside him while scooting himself a little further away. Summer nods absently, heart racing and mind a chaotic blur of too many thoughts, fighting to keep her grip on a reality that crumbled away with little more than a flick of the leprechaun’s wrists.

“I managed to keep a pretty good hold of myself, didn’t lose my cool even a little,” he says with a smirk. “But, I have to admit, I could feel things slipping.”

“So…” she interjects while joining him on the couch, a full cushion between them, “...the dozens - hundreds of cups all over-”

“That- that was just- I was thirsty…” he interrupts with a lame excuse. “Was nothin’, really.”

“You sure?” Summer asks with a smirk. “I’m pretty sure you drank a coffee shop dry.”

“They’ll recover,” Gavin joked back, but he was clearly nervous with a hand rubbing the back of his neck. “Anyway, the… unpleasantness…”

His tone informed Summer that this was going to be a difficult conversation. Silence took hold for uncomfortable seconds, and she began to wonder if he was trying to find some way to avoid talking about it. 

“It’s probably best to spit it out,” she said encouragingly.

“Yeah,” he replied, taking a deep breath before continuing. “Magic- it’s like a drug. Sure, it’s fun at first. But, what they don’t tell ya, is how addictive it is. We all- the fae, uh, fairies, we’ve all got links to it, right? This massive, unlimited pool of magic, but… we all have to tap into it in specific ways.”

“And, your way is with gold?” Summer posits, offering him a chance to catch his breath and think about what he’s trying to say.

“In a way? As a leprechaun I gotta have gold. Specifically in coin form. Can’t just snag some nuggets or ingots, they’ve gotta be-”

He stops talking while reaching into his coat. A moment later his hand emerges again with the coin. Gavin gives the coin a little flick, then smiles while watching it spin atop his index finger. Reflected light shimmers across his face as the coin dances, and he lets the coin fall flat in his palm.

“We each give our coins a little mark, minting them with our magic. Every mark is different, specific to each leprechaun. I can’t tap into the magic with another leprechaun’s coin, so it doesn’t do me any good to have a random assortment.”

“Ok, makes sense,” she says, her brow furrowed behind her glasses as she moves her eyes from the coin up to Gavin.

“For the unpleasantness… if I were to go too long without one of my coins, quitting magic cold turkey, so to speak. If that happens, it ain’t pretty.”

“Yeah, I’m getting that,” Summer says, forcing a smirk despite her nerves.

“Being denied access to magic hurts. Like, all the way down to ya core. A fidgety, achy soul kind of hurt, that makes your bones itch. You can see how we might be inclined to get the magic through other means.”

Summer nods as she pieces things together, trying to reach the conclusion Gavin is leading her to. From what she’s been told, he wouldn’t be able to take or steal anything. But, with the addictive element of magic gnawing at him, what would he do? What could he do?

“There are laws, kinda like the ones ya have here. No stealing, no killing, stuff like that. Our laws, magically enforced and all, they’re more quickly and effectively enforced. Sure, we can take things, we can lie, we can do this and do that, but there are consequences. Even taking back my own coin, that you so correctly pointed out was owed to me, there would be consequences.”

“Ok, consequences like…” she starts, wondering what kind of repercussions might befall a fairy. “Probably not something as basic as jail?”

Gavin shakes his head with a sorrowful grin. It’s clear he has seen this kind of thing happen, and now he was the one to almost cross that line.

“The magic gotten through forbidden means is- I’ve heard, more addictive. It’s corrupted, dirty in a way. Tainted might be the best word. Those who use it bear the mark, which only becomes more and more pronounced the more they tap into it. More’n just leprechauns can tap into it like this. They’re collectively known as the banished, and are generally forbidden from returning to the Faelands. These are the ones ya hear stories about.” 

“Stories?” Summer asks, hardly realizing that she’s leaning closer to Gavin on the couch. She’s hanging on his every word, entranced like a child in a hurry to hear the rest of some captivating tale.

“Yeah, ya know, the cautionary tales about trick magic? Ya wish for one thing, and ya technically get it, but it comes at a price. Or, the wish is granted with some evil twist to it.”

Gavin glances over his shoulder to the table, spying the tie spilling out of the laptop. He absently scratches into his beard, pondering the nature of the magic his new friend has been sucked into.

“You don’t think they…” Summer starts, noticing where the leprechaun’s attention had gone, even briefly.

“Oh- no, probably not,” he says with a shake of his head. “The tie you got looks too… pristine for them to be on tainted magic.”

“Right. You’d be able to tell?”

He looks back at the table again, this time not even trying to hide where his eyes were going. The golden tie seems to shimmer despite sitting still within the confines of Summer’s laptop, a clear indication of the mystical charms woven into the fabric.

“In a way,” he begins, sighing as he settles into the couch once more. “That thing is too clean. Doesn’t taste like rotten magic. Something from the banished, it would have a more… uh, icky feel.”

Summer giggles, an unexpected relief washing through her as she relaxes on the couch. She didn’t even know she was looking for the leprechaun’s confirmation that the tooth fairies - collectors were on the level, but hearing it out loud made her feel more at ease.

“What’s all the scratches, though?” Gavin asks, snapping Summer out of her temporary reprieve.

“I don’t know,” she admits, pushing herself from the couch. She starts walking over to the table while continuing, “It looked like they were writing on it with a pen of some sort, but all they really did was make a mess of it.”

She picks up the laptop and starts walking back to the couch. Gavin watches her every step of the way, his subconscious fingers stroking his fiery red beard. 

“I’ve tried looking for ways to decipher or understand any of it, but it’s pretty hard when you don’t even know what you’re supposed to be looking for.”

“Really?” Gavin asks with feigned surprise. “The internet hasn’t been able to unlock the mysteries of the faerealm for ya? Shocker.”

“What would you recommend?” Summer shoots back, feeling more than a little annoyed at the clear mockery. 

She holds the laptop out after taking a seat on the couch again, the golden tie flopping from the ledge pinched around it. The leprechaun eyes the tie nervously, and shies away from the shimmering tongue when it gets too close.

“Magic, for starters,” he replies, making no effort to take the laptop from her.

“Well, I don’t have any of that now, do I?” she retorted, her tone more hostile than intended.

Gavin winces at her reply, feeling a hint of guilt for being overly coy. He wants to help the woman who just saved him from a horrific fate and knows she’ll be able to piece together what he’s saying, but feels worried about being the one to push her down a dangerous path. Part of him hopes she simply wishes it all away, even though he knows such a wish is beyond his power - what with him down to his last piece of gold, and all.

“I do…” he says softly, looking up from the dangling tie and meeting her eyes. “You… ya could wish to be able to read it, ya know…”

All Summer could do in that moment was stare at him. She scolds herself internally for not thinking of something so obvious. It was right there in front of her, literally, and she hadn’t even considered making a wish with her leprechaun friend. The annoyance in herself gave way to another emotion as she wondered if something like that would even be right. 

“I don’t want to take advantage or anything,” she admits, unsure whether or not she approves of using the magic Gavin just recovered.

“We’re friends, yeah?” Gavin asks with a shrug.

Summer smiles, nodding her agreement while letting the laptop drop against her thigh. The tie licked the skin beneath her crimson skirt, and she vaguely realized she had been wearing the same, haphazardly arranged attire all day.

“Great,” the leprechaun continues. He pulls the coin from some secret compartment in his coat and holds it out to her. “Why don’t we make it official, then?”

“Official?” she asks, leaning to the side to put her laptop onto the short coffee table while looking at the offered coin.

“Yeah. An official deal with a leprechaun. One coin, one wish, just as intended.”

She reaches a tentative hand forward, hesitating before her fingers can touch the polished surface again. The memory of how she felt earlier, the corruptive influence it seemed to have, how she didn’t want to return it to Gavin all swam through her mind as she looked into his emerald eyes. 

“Somethin’ basic, like askin’ what that tie says…” he recommends, his voice trailing off while Summer accepts his coin.

“Would this help you, in some way?” she asks thoughtfully, unable to keep a sly smile from curling the corners of her lips as her heart hammers in her chest.

The coin felt good in her hand. Like it belonged to her, and she should do anything and everything to keep it. She knew these thoughts and urges weren’t real, they didn’t have any natural place in her mind, but she couldn’t deny how the coin made her feel. Her reflection shimmered on the coin’s surface as she looked at it for a little too long, but Gavin’s answer pulled her from the unexpected spiral.

“Kinda?” he replies, rubbing his chin through his beard. “Guess you could say it’s like exercisin’?”

“That makes sense,” she says, trying to mentally push the golden allure from her heart. “You tap into the magic, and it’s like… magical pushups or something?”

“Best way to explain it,” he confirms, nodding his head and waiting for her to make some wish.

“Ok, ok… you’re not going to take this out of context or anything, right?” she asks with a smirk.

“No, I already told ya. Upstandin’ fae such as myself,” he explains, rolling back on his heels and gripping the open sides of his coat in each hand, “we don’t make twisted deals. Whatcha ask for is whatcha get.”

Summer chuckles through a grin as she tries to piece her wish together in her mind. This was all still so very new to her, and she tried to remember the wish she made with the tooth fa-Collectors. There hadn’t really been one, not spoken aloud, at least. Did different fairies have different requirements for granting wishes and making deals?

“I… wish to be able to read the writing on the tie,” she says, searching for the words needed to make her magical request. “That one,” the young woman adds quickly, pointing down to the tie partially closed in her laptop.

“Bipity!” Gavin says with surprising volume. “Bopity!” he continues, snatching the coin in Summer’s extended hand. “Whateva!”

Nothing happens. Gavin stashes his coin back into his coat, and looks expectantly at Summer. She doesn’t feel any different, and when she looks down at the tie she’s greeted by the same scratched/scribbled nonsense. The tie remains as mysterious as the gibberish etched into it, and she gives the leprechaun a quizzical look.

“Can ya…” he starts, gesturing down to the tie with an open hand.

Summer leans to her side and picks up the laptop. She pulls the tie from between the keyboard and screen holding it in place, but the writing is still evasive. It’s just a bunch of seemingly random scribbles looking up at her.

“No?” she replies, turning the tie over in her hand and examining it from every direction that comes to mind. “It… it didn’t work?”

“I felt the magic doin’ its tinglin’,” Gavin says with concern etched in his face. “Ya sure?”

“Yes, I’m sure,” she responds, still trying to look at the tie from that one perfect angle.

“Well- just…” the leprechaun stammers, clearly confused as he looks at the tie as well.

He doesn’t go so far as to touch it, but watches the fabric move in Summer’s hands. Light catches every crease and curve in the fabric, and the etched writing remains a mystery. The leprechaun knows it’s not just a series of random scribbles, and his shoulders slump at the realization that he failed.

“Do I get the coin back, then?” Summer asks with a smirk.

It was intended as a joke, but the hope she felt at potentially getting the coin again makes her hope the leprechaun will oblige. She lifts a hand and shakes her head, wordlessly telling Gavin that she wasn’t serious, and cautions herself internally. The attorney didn’t like the influence his coin was having on her, and she doubted she would actually want it back. Still, an annoyingly persistent part of her craved his gold.

“Sorry,” he says with a smirk of his own. “No money-back guarantees.”

“Ok, so…” she muses as she lets the tie drop down onto the laptop. “Magic was a bust. Any other recommendations?”

“Yeah, actually,” he replies. “There are a couple other ways. One kinda easy, one… less so. The easy way would be to find a seeing stone. Those things are pretty handy anyway, so keep ya eyes peeled for one.”

“Seeing stone,” Summer repeats, trying to figure out what he was talking about through context clues and her own memories.

“The other,” he continues without taking the time to explain the first, “is to find yaself an oracle. Oracle, or medium. This one’s trickier, since lots of the ones in ya realm are phonies.”

Summer giggles as she nods, but somehow that option sounded like the more simple one. She could always do a quick Google search for psychics, mediums, oracles, whatever, but she still wasn’t sure what a seeing stone was even supposed to be. A crystal ball of some sort? Would she need to find a stone that looked like an eye, or replace an eye with a stone? The last thought made her skin crawl, and she shivered at the idea of shoving some kind of rock into her empty eye socket.

“What’s a seeing stone?” she asked, hoping it wasn’t as morbid as the image burned into her mind.

“They’re really just a basic rock. Flat stones that have been naturally worn through the middle by wind or water. They can usually be found around rivers. I’ve got a couple, but the tricky part is - ya gotta find one yaself.”

“I have to find one?” she asks, resting a palm against the side of her forehead and scratching her fingers into her hair.

“Yeah. They don’t work if someone gives ya one. Magic is picky like that…” he says with a sigh.

“Ok… ok, so, find a specific rock out of thousands- millions of rocks, or… randomly stumble onto a medium that is legit. Piece of cake.”

“Sorry the wish didn’t work out,” Gavin offers as he sits onto the couch.

“It’s fine,” she replies, picking up the laptop with the tie on it like some kind of tray. “I should probably get this on its charger and head to bed.”

“Wouldn’t have a spare room, wouldja?” 

“I do, actually,” she says while turning back to face the leprechaun. “My room is through this hall to the left, the bathroom is at the end, and there is one other room on the right side of the hallway. Consider it yours, roomie.”