"I'm here." He agreed, gesturing with arms open. "Have you always lived in Altair?"

"Not always. I studied outside of Altair for a bit," she gestured at her belt. "I went to school for architecture."

"And now..?"

"And now I'm back home, serving my country. Servicing the homes. People need homes."

"Have you ever met a demon?" He inquired. "Seems like they're a common pest here."

"Mm," she nodded, placing the dead fuses in her pocket. "A few, here and there. I don't go out at night and I know all the important wards, so I've been luckier than most. The small ones, though, those are unavoidable."

"We have one here. It lives in dark corners."

"Really? A house demon! Those are rarer nowadays. Is he very bothersome?" (edited)

"I don't appreciate his ankle-biting..." he related. "But I think Parisa finds him entertaining."

"Does she really? Most outsiders find the demons horrifying, even the tiny ankle-biting ones." Melat said. "I'm glad she's adapting. They were worried about that, you know, the princess coming from her big castle in Atherdale to stay here. And then the demons. We wondered at that, that the king would send his relative to stay somewhere so dangerous. But maybe that was the plan, you know? Wasn't she involved somehow in the late queen's death?"

Feofil raised his eyebrows high. Nope-- he wasn't touching that with a ten foot pole. "It's nothing like that. She's here as a favor to me, and to start a relationship with the Altirian people."

"Oh." she said with a note of disappointment. "Well. Shall we go downstairs to look at those support pillars?" (edited)

"What's the issue on those again?" he asked, leading her back towards the stairs.

"They start to crack with age." As they made their way back into the hall, he noted that the living room was silent, though light shone down from every previously-broken bulb.

"Pari?" Feo called out, listening for a response. It was possible she'd just retreated to her room. It was also possible she'd been devoured by something in the dark.

There was no response. Feo approached with urgency, Melat following closely behind ("Oh, we should have brought the princess with us!") and there they found Pari, passed out with the papers scattered upon the coffee table. She'd cushioned her head in her arms and seemed to have dozed off while scouring one of the documents.

"Pari?" He repeated a second time, reaching down to nudge her arm gently, trying not to let the fear creep up. She'd just nodded off, that's all.

She didn't respond, but he could see her chest rise and fall. Not that he was looking, obviously.

"Sleeping," he concluded. "Will you check the pillars now?"

"Sure," she said. "I'll be okay down there by myself. Roo just re-warded the place, didn't she?"

He nodded. "Can I get you some coffee? There's a pot on the stove."

"That would be wonderful," she agreed enthusiastically. "Thank you. I can wait here, or if you want me to get started, you could bring it downstairs."

"I'll bring it down." He promised.

Melat gave him a smiling nod and bounded away in the direction of the basement, once he directed her. Then it was just Feo and Pari, once again in the living room, surrounded by blankets and pillows and papers.

Feofil retrieved one of the blankets he'd discarded earlier and draped it over her snoozing form. It really wouldn't do to have her fall ill, and he knew there was no way she wasn't cold.

The movement made her stir. Pari blinked at him blearily as he tucked the blanket around her shoulder, eyes hazy with sleep.

"Oh, hey. The lights are back," he informed her.

"Mm." she gave him a vague smile. It was clear that she had no idea where she was or what was going on. "Feo."

"Yeah?" He prodded.

"I was tired," she said faintly. "I woke up too early."

"I told you," he touched her back, their skin separated by the blanket. "You can't hack it on my sleep schedule."

"I like being awake with you. Feels... less lonely." Pari muttered, her eyes falling shut again.

"Go back to sleep," he told her. "I'm around. But we can't have you sleep deprived."

"I'll sleep," she agreed, reaching over to brush her fingers against his hand. "Stay here, okay?"

"I'm going to go check on Melat. Holler if a demon shows."

"Mmm." she said again, sounding a little more sour this time. "Melat?"

"Yeah. It'll just take a second." He said, pulling away.

"Melat..." she muttered again, mutinously, as he wandered off.

By the time they wrapped up the support pillars thing, the princess was awake once again, her short nap interrupted by Feo's consideration and then ruined by the Altirian stranger. She had just been perusing the land agreements again, head in her hands, when they traipsed up the stairs, Melat laughing about something he'd said once more. She rolled her eyes and turned to watch as they headed towards the door without even acknowledging her.

"Thanks again for stopping by and taking care of us," Feo said as they neared the front door.

"Oh, of course, we all take care of each other here," Melat assured him, her eyes glowing with enthusiasm. Pari had made her way out of the living room and now watched them with barely-constrained irritation, her arms crossed under her chest. "Let me know if you ever need anything," Melat reiterated. "Anything at all. Or even if you'd just like to... drink coffee in the cold."

"Thanks," he smiled softly, eyes crinkling. "Maybe someday."

She gave him one last, hopeful smile and then looked to the door. "Well, I'd... better get back out there. It was nice to meet you."

"Stay warm out there," he bid her goodbye.

Pari headed off to the kitchen as he eased the door shut behind her, lips pressed tightly together. He fled at the sight of her but there he was, scampering at the feet of some pretty Altirian girl like a lost puppy. Fine. Feo's tastes were provincial; that was fine. She wouldn't waste her time anymore, and she wasn't going to chase after someone who would prefer to tumble a farm girl in a bale of hay... though, with the way he flirted, he had more of a chance with the goats.

He turned back to Pari after securing the locks on the door. "Well?" He asked, "Did you sleep any?"

“Yeah.” She replied shortly, disappearing through the doorway.

He had an inkling as to the cause of her shortness, and it proved a theory of his. If she wasn't trying to play games with him, she wouldn't have cared that he'd-- what-- grinned at a girl? But here she was, mad about it. "We might think about lunch soon," he called after her.

She didn’t bother telling him that she was already working on it. The smart thing would be to act casual. Who cared if Feo and the electrician got along, even if that electrician was half as pretty and twice as obnoxious as the princess? It just highlighted his bad taste even more. “What do you want?”

He entered the kitchen. "To make lunch with you?"

"What do you want to eat, Feofil. And no. You'll get in my way."

"I'll get the tilapia started." He decided, going to the fridge.

She huffed in annoyance but began pulling out ingredients. "What's your carb going to be?"

"We have leftover quinoa, I think," he said, pulling a container out of the fridge as well as the packaged fish.

“I’ll make something for the quinoa…” she exhaled, taking the container out of his hands and busying herself over the stove.

He said nothing, instead fetching a baking dish from a cabinet and setting out to prepare the fish with some herbs and lemon. He worked in silence, taking care to stay out of her way and only sparing her an occasional glance to try to discern her thoughts. Ultimately he wasn't hanging his own mental state on them-- that would be suicide-- but he was curious as to exactly how she was stewing inside that pretty head of hers.

“So now that the lights are on,” she said abruptly, “you can finish up the property stuff on your own. It’s not hard.”

"Sure," he agreed mildly. "Maybe after we eat."

Pari didn’t acknowledge his acceptance, though her chest twinged with annoyance. The worst thing about Feo was that he almost always went along with everything she said.

"Did you want to go into town today?" He asked after a while. "We could get more produce, we're almost out."

“It feels like a snowman’s asshole out there, Feo. Do you really want to walk through that?” This country didn’t even have cars. Ugh.

"I thought Tyrneamitores ran hot," he borderline-teased.

She scoffed. “And cats freeze in sub-zero.”

"So that's a no, then?"

“Use your context clues.”

"I could go alone," he said. "But you know how Altirians feel about their buddy system."

“Yeah, no, that’s a dumb idea too. We’re not out, right? We’ve still got enough for a few days. Maybe the melt will come in soon.”

"We've got enough for... tomorrow?" He offered.

“Ugh. Fine.” Pari sighed. “We can head out after lunch. Come over here.”

He left the fish dish and joined her at the stove.

“Taste this,” Pari said, offering him a spoonful of yellow curry.

He took a small taste and paused. "Little bit more salt."

Pari complied, reaching past him for the salt and spooning a small amount into her pot. “Try it again. Is that good?”

"Mm," he nodded, and went back to his lemon slicing.

They worked in silence for a while. Pari considered asking him a question about anything, really, but the quiet was comfortable rather than awkward, and the burn in her chest had reduced to its constant simmer once again. It was hard to stay annoyed with him. He did a lot of annoying things, like humming while he worked or occupying the kitchen when she was… but it was nice to remember that someone else was in the house. It was nice that he knew how to fit around her, how to step in the spaces between so that he never got in her way.

At last they were settled at the dining table, too big for just the two of them, the house empty of all sound save for the clinking of silverware.
"So," Feo began after swallowing a mouthful, "I'm trying to get Sparrow to come visit for a weekend sometime."

"You think Kyros will let her?" Pari asked after sipping some water. Sure, she'd made Sparrow cry that time she'd called her Kyros's emotional fleshlight, but was she wrong?

"If there's anyone who can convince him, it's her." He pointed out. "He's soft on her."

"She's got him wrapped around her pinky finger." Pari said, rolling her eyes. "Always has."

"Funny how that's true the other way around too." He remarked, piercing a piece of fish.

"Sure, but at least she's always been upfront about it. Kyros goes on and on about having walls and being alone when his Achilles heel has been out in the open his entire life."

"He can live without her for a weekend." He decided.

"Or he'll come along." Pari scowled. "Maybe a demon will eat him and my problems will be solved."

"I don't think they'd want him. Too full of stress."

"Don't they like, thrive on negative emotion? He could singlehandedly power an entire demon castle." she made a face. "Unless he's with Sparrow. They're gross together."

"Hm, I guess you're right. He definitely shouldn't come here."

"Yeah," Pari exhaled, tipping her chin back. "I wonder if Vic's dating anyone."
She didn't get to talk to him very much. She didn't talk to anyone very much at all, aside from Feo, who she kind of had to talk to. Not that she minded, most of the time.

"I'm sure he's found himself more cringy goth Communists in college," Feo teased.

"Oh god, not Delores." Pari derided, a flicker of a smile appearing on her lips. "How do you go goth and keep the name Delores anyways?"

"I mean, it means pain, so in a way it's kind of self-descriptive."

"If I were named Delores, I would be in pain too."

"A real chicken and egg problem," he speculated, gathering the quinoa on his plate. "What does your name mean, anyway?"

At this, Pari did laugh, before leaning back and taking a sip of her water. "Fairy."

"Mine means friend of god..." he put on a big voice for that part. "Except in Spanish, where it means ugly."

“You don’t have to worry about that.” she said automatically before seeming to realize her slip up and tacking on, “I like you for your personality.”

Feo narrowed his eyes, leaning back in his chair and fixing her with a deviously pensive look. "Who is the most handsome of us? Kyros, Miz, Vic, me."

“Beauty’s in the eye of the beholder, so I can’t say.”

"Okay? You're a beholder. So say it."

“There’s a lot to consider!” she pointed out. “What are we talking about? Beauty in terms of what metric?”

"You're stalling." He accused with a grin. Pari had never been one to shy away from voicing her opinion, certainly not for fear of hurting someone's feelings. If she was stalling, that meant she was avoiding something she feared even more... giving him a compliment.

“I’m not stalling, I’m considering. I’m a politician, Feo, I can’t go frivolously answering questions.” Parisa argued. “So give me a metric.”

"Pick whatever metric you want." He crossed his arms loosely over his chest, growing more amused by the second.

“Okay, if we’re going for daring and laissez-faire— then Vic, obviously.”

His eyebrows shot up. "Wait till I tell Vic you think he's hot."

“Vic already knows.”

"No, he wants to think you think he's hot. There's a difference."

“What about you, Feofil? Out of all the girls you know…” she asked instead of rising to the bait.

"All the girls I know?"

“Yes, all of them.” Pari insisted. “If we stick to the group it’s just me or Sparrow and I’m not pitting us against each other.”

"And what's my metric here?" He poked fun.

“You’re the beholder.” she threw back at him. “Beauty. Just pure and unfiltered, who do you think is the most beautiful?”

He sucked in air through his teeth, still smiling. "I mean, it's basically no contest, isn't it?"

“And..?” If he said his mother, she was going to strangle him.

He grinned at her smugly for a beat longer, then stood, deftly gathering their plates before turning toward the kitchen. "I'm not at liberty to say. Can't risk giving her a bigger head than she already has."

Pari sat in silence, digesting his words, her cheeks growing warm. No way. He couldn’t be… he wasn’t talking about her was he? But he liked her, she knew that. She’d felt it earlier that morning. He’d told her, though that had been a few months and a lot of fights ago.

“Feo!” she jumped up, scurrying after him with an uncertain laugh in her voice. “You have to answer the question, that’s not fair!”

"I just did!" He defended, already at the sink rinsing plates.

“You have to say a name!” Pari insisted, “I said one.”

He gave her a look. "You also said Vic."

“And?” She crossed her arms. “Maybe if you gave me a different metric, I would give you a different answer. But you didn’t specify, that’s not my fault.”

It was then that there was a timid knock on the front door. Feo tilted his head slightly, brows furrowing. "Did you hear something?"

Pari exhaled soundlessly, turning to head for the door. “What is it this time, are they going to renovate the kitchen?”

Instead, when she opened the door, she found herself staring at open air and the white nothingness that the forest had become. "Excuse me," whimpered a little voice below her eye line. Pari looked down and discovered a bundle of children huddled together, shuddering in the cold.

Feo stood behind her, watching the kids warily. The Lumanliscs had been very clear to be careful of whom they trusted, no matter how innocuous they seemed-- though on the other hand, they hadn't mentioned any demons that presented as a bunch of shivering kids. "What brings you here?" He asked, hoping to convey a tone that was polite but not overly invested.

"We're lost," said one of the smallest girls, sticking her chin out defiantly. "It got cold and we couldn't find the way back home." "Sometimes the forest moves," the taller of the two boys said, glancing back into the woods. "Could we... it's very cold. Could we come in?"

"Where are you from?" Feo asked. "And what are you names?"

"Jia," said the tiniest one. The elder girl was Ana, and the two boys were named Sten and Remi. "We're from the village over the hill," Jia explained. "Except now there's no hill, only trees." "It's freezing out here," Pari muttered. "Let's interrogate them inside."

Fine, they seemed to make human enough conversation. Feo pulled the door the rest of the way open, granting them passage. "Leave your boots by the door."

The group shuffled inside after stomping their feet on the icy porch and leaving their shoes in a heap by the door, as Feo had requested. Pari watched as they trailed into the living room, towards the fire, and then glanced at Feo. "So, who are these kids?"

"They're from the next villager over, but apparently they're lost." He frowned. "Lot of visitors today, huh?" He didn't know what that meant, if it meant anything at all.

"Yup." Pari muttered, crossing her arms. "And all of them are monolingual Altirians, so I guess you're playing host."

"You don't think they speak English?" He half-joked. "I'm tired of playing translator, Pari. Do better."

"If 20 year old genius electrician Melon or whatever her name was couldn't speak any, what chance do we have of the random 10 year old speaking English? I'll go make hot chocolate."

"Alright. I'll keep an eye on them." He said. "For demonic activities.... or otherwise." The last part was appended as he spotted one of the kids opening up the photo album. "Hey, do you kids want some hot chocolate?"

"Hot chocolate?" Jia perked up, pulling her hand away from the album. "Yeah!" "Why do you have a blanket fort in here?" Sten asked, his brow furrowed as he scanned the room.

"It's how adults get business done." Feo said, grabbing the book while the kids were distracted and sliding it in place atop a tall shelf.

"If you say so." Sten said, sounding disbelieving. Jia ran up to Feo's feet, looking up at him excitedly. "Is it the powder hot chocolate or the chocolate hot chocolate?"

"It's fancy, I promise. Fit for a princess."

"Hey," she said after a moment. "Who evenare you?" "He's the man, Jia." Remi said in a soft voice. "The woodsman."

"Woodsman?" Feo asked, intrigued.

"The man who lives in the woods." Remi explained. "Aren't you?" "Well, he's a man and these are woods." Anna piped up. "But who's the lady?" "A witch?"

Feo stifled a chuckle. "Don't you call her that." he warned. "You wouldn't want to upset the witch, after all."

"What should we call her?" Sten asked seriously as Jia wondered as to whether why a witch would be offended at being called a witch.

"Miss is okay." Wasn't there something about not giving demons your name? Or was that fairies? Anyway, it was an off chance, but not a risk he wanted to take anyway.

It was around that time that Pari returned with several mugs of hot chocolate on a tray. "Hello Miss." Jia said with great effort as Pari handed her a cup. "I Jia. House... out woods. But snow." "Hi Jia." Pari replied. "I hate snow." Jia considered this, then nodded. "Me also." Pari turned to look at Feo, a sheath of dark hair curtaining her cheek. "So we're babysitters now." (edited)

His brow furrowed a little. "What kind of parents let their kids go wandering in the woods in a place like this?"

"I didn't even think there were kids here." Pari admitted. "Seems like a great way to get rid of one or two."

"God, you don't think..?"

"I don't know. It would be stupid to sacrifice kids when Altirians are going extinct." Pari set aside her empty tray and took a seat on the couch behind them.

"I still don't fully understand them. What do we do with these kids, anyway?" He picked up the empty tray.

"Entertain them until the storm blows over?" she asked. "At least the lights won't go out." And then, with an odd powering down noise, the house descended into darkness once again. Several shrieks rose in the air.

"It's okay, it's okay," Feo's voice rose above the din as he scrambled to find the lighter that had been on the coffee table. "Pari, get the candles."

"Fucking Melon," she muttered as she rose and disappeared into the hallway. "Is it the demons?" Sten demanded. Jia wailed.

"It's just the power," he assured them. "Everything is okay." He clicked the lighter he'd just found and a small flame jumped to life in the darkness. "Pari?"

"Coming," she called, her voice growing louder as she approached with several large candles in her arms, her skin ghostly in the dark. "I've got a flashlight too." (edited)

"Let's get it on," he took a candle from her and lit the wick, setting it down on the side table before grabbing another.

She paused, raising her eyebrow at his choice of words, but did so. The faint light soon shone upon Remi hugging Sten tigh, and Jia holding a pillow in her arms like a shield.

Feo set to work lighting all the candles they'd gathered from the morning. "Sit still and drink your hot chocolates, okay?"

Soon the table was layered with an assortment of lit candles; some of them tall and some short, some skinny and lopsided while others sat stout. Jia, Sten and Remi sat in a half circle around the table, discomfort radiating off of them in waves, though their task of drinking hot chocolate seemed to have sated them for the time being. Pari had resumed her seat on the couch, her gaze occasionally flickering towards the entrance to the hallway. It was odd that the house had powered down the way it had. Earlier, the lights had flickered before failing, but they had been given no warning before everything had gone dark this time. Had Melat messed up with the fuse box? Maybe she and Feo had been too preoccupied with each other to pay attention to the actual task... back country boneheads. She exhaled sharply in frustration, her anger rearing its ready head once again.

"You know, I was with Melat when she fixed the thing, maybe..." Feo paused, biting his lip. "Maybe I can try the fuse box again?"

"No," she said, rising from her seat. "I'll go. It can't be that hard. I'm sure the kids will freak out even more and you're good with them, plus I can't speak Altirian." Besides, she really needed to be alone for a while, even if it was in the dark.

"Are you sure?" He knew Pari had not so much as looked at a fuse box prior to this. "Don't electrocute yourself."

"Oh, sorry." she said, saccharine. "I forgot that spending an hour with Melat turned you into a bonafide Benjamin Franklin. Just keep an eye on the kids." As Pari strode out the door, Remi turned to consider Feo. "She's scary."

"A little." Feo agreed. "Do you kids... know any good songs to sing?"

"I know the walking song!" Jia exclaimed, then began in an upbeat tone, accompanied by vigorous hand movements: "When you're walking in the woods / and there's shadows on the ground / look up at the trees, look at the canopy! / You'll see them crawling down, down, down--"

"That's good, that's good," Feo encouraged. "Remi? Sten? Let's all sing it together."

"I don't like that song," Sten said. "I've seen the things in the trees. You have to hide when you see them." "Yeah, the song says that." Jia explained. Sten swallowed. "My brother didn't get to hide."

Feo exhaled a short breath. "Okay, what's your favorite song, then?"

"Umm... I guess I like the sun song." "Oh, I know that one." Remi piped up, then began to chant. "Sun. Sun. Burn away. Burn the shadows all away." They startled when the phone rang, tinny and mechanical in the dark.

In the meantime, Parisa trudged towards the basement, using the light of her phone to make her way down. She had been too steamed to grab one of the flashlights from Feo and the kids, but on second thought... it was better to leave them with all the supplies they needed. Those kids had been shaking when the lights had gone out, despite the warmth of the fire nearby. Cells were fairly useless in Altair. While the Lumanliscs had brought in landlines, calls could only be made within the country. Whatever odd space-time mumbo-jumbo that kept Altair segregated from the rest of the world also seemed to slice away any communication attempts. It was odd, because before its vanishing, they'd been able to use the internet and everything... but now they could only get through with human messengers and letters. Pari's cell was basically deadweight. Still, somehow, she hadn't been able to let it go. The staircase to the basement was narrow and steep, but surprisingly enough, it didn't creak. The house had good bones, even if it was old. She made her way down the steps, one hand on the railing and moving slowly; it would be mortifying to die of a broken neck. If she was going out, she'd go out with a bang. The basement itself was pitch black, save the small, sterile glow that emanated from her phone. It only cast light a few feet ahead -- not at any distance significant enough to give her an idea of how big the space was, or where the fuses might be. Though she'd been down here earlier in the day with Feo, they hadn't ventured past the shelves containing his family's photo album and the candle boxes. Parisa vaguely remembered the area being large, fairly empty and rectangular, the shape cut into a series of rows via metal shelves. If she just walked straight forward, she'd reach the end of the basement. Usually fuse boxes were at the back of these places, weren't they?

She sighed soundlessly and began to walk forward, keeping her free hand stretched out to brush against the ends of the shelves. One... two... three... And then she'd passed the seventh shelf, and no more shelves came up. Pari took three more steps and then light pooled upon the bare wall in front of her... but there was no fuse box. Maybe a corner, then? She moved her phone to the left and checked -- nope. There was another large cabinet, but this one was locked. She didn't think the fuse box would be kept in there... it would have to be attached to the house, right? So then she moved her phone to the right and froze. A familiar face stared back at her, smiling emptily. Melat. Pari felt the phone slip from her fingers but tightened her grip reflexively, her breath stuttering in her throat. "Oh, what the fuck--" Melat continued to stare at her, her eyes shadowed, stuck in that grimacing grin. Then her jaw unhinged, and Pari swore she heard it creak. "Good morning." her voice was a whisper - inflectionless. Her mouth stretched, and all Pari could see was more darkness. "The power's gone out."

Feo looked to the landline, making an effort to mask the jump the sudden outburst of noise had caused. He moved away from the children, keeping them in the periphery of his vision as he lifted the phone off the receiver. "Hello?"

"Feofil," Roo's voice echoed from the other side. "Hi. How are you doing in the storm? I wanted to check in on you."

"We're fine-- some lost kids came knocking so we're all holed up in the living room right now." He plugged his other ear to drown out the singing and chatter that had resumed from the children. "Well, except Parisa, she insisted on going down to fix the fuse box."

"Oof, I'm sorry that we didn't manage to get on the power issue. I hope it's not too cold. I wanted to send someone out, but we got stuck in the village and the storm took out the local lines," she sighed. "Wait, you said there are kids? What are their names? What do they look like?"

"Wait, you--" He cut in, backtracking. "You did send someone. Right? This repairwoman named Melat came by on your orders."