Say what?

All Together Now
By Dialecticdreamer/Sarah Williams
Part 2 of 2, complete
Word count (story only): 1094
[Wednesday, May 13, 2020, 12:30 pm]


:: Aidan brings up a strange duplication of effort, and asks for an explanation. Part of the Edison’s Mirror (Teague Family) story arc. ::


Back to A Small Hurdle
To the Edison's Mirror Landing Page
On to




“Can we help?” Aidan asked. His words came more quickly, but his expression remained serene. His grip on the phone remained careful, as if it would break with the wrong twitch of a finger.

“No, it’s not a matter for civilians,” Win insisted gently. “I’ll tell you what I can after I get off shift today.”

“We will be home. We’d be pleased to set another place for you for dinner,” he added.

“See you then,” Win hurried to say, as her radio began squawking for attention. “Bye!” The call ended.

Aidan’s brow furrowed as he passed the phone carefully back to the librarian. “Thank you, very much.” He motioned vaguely toward the 500 section of nonfiction stacks. “I’ll be ready in just a moment. Ed, would you help Mac to choose a story to read aloud together as a family?

The librarian chuckled, rubbing at her lower lip with the side of her index finger. “That could take quite some time,” she warned as Aidan shook his head.

Vic waved him off. “We’ve got it,” he promised.

Ed held Mac’s hand securely, and led her toward the chapter books.

Vic leaned slightly to one side, startlingly reminiscent of a mime, without the exaggerated effect. “Ed grew up with his family reading aloud together. I had to get used to it, because it’s totally different than watching a movie together,” he explained. “I’d trust Ed’s sorting decisions over mine or Aidan’s.” HIs lips quirked. “Or yours.”

“I’m a professional,” she protested softly, looking puzzled.

“You haven’t lived Ed’s life, or mine, or Mac’s. Or Aidan’s, if it comes to that. If I need help researching, that’s library science. The details that make the most difference to Ed and Mac right now, though, those are psychology.” Vic shrugged a little sheepishly.

The librarian’s eyebrows climbed. “You… have a point.” She rubbed her mouth again, this time to conceal most of a smile. “And apparently, he doesn’t like the word ‘one’.”

Ed carried three books tucked under his arm, and still held Mac’s hand. She carried another book in her free hand, studying the cover illustration so intently that Ed had to guide her around a chair pushed back from the table.

It took only a few minutes to check out their reading material, and to get the heavy duty plastic carry bags arranged fairly.

However, no one spoke until the library was hidden by several turns and a screen of thick pine trees on what might be an undeveloped plot. Vic cleared his throat. “I want to check out the area around the house. I want to have some options for privacy.” His gaze cut to Mac, pointedly, but the preschooler did not see it.

Mac scampered along, tugging at Edison’s hand in random intervals. Every time she spotted a tiny white flower with a yellow center, no bigger than a pencil eraser, she crouched down and pulled Ed along with her.

Vic paused, letting the pair get ahead of himself and Aidan. “This is serious enough that I’m willing to make an amulet for the two of them,” he murmured to the older man. “But I’ll need your help.”

“Of course. What will you need?” the auburn-haired man asked.

“It’s going to wipe me out for at least two days. I’ll need you to basically zombie-walk me to the bathroom and probably give me a sponge bath. I’ll drink water or broth if you dribble a bit into my mouth, slowly, but soup is too thick, and melted ice cream is problematic, too. Otherwise, that’s a bigger calorie load than broth is, per tablespoon.” Vic pursed his lips.

“How is this different than the other things that you’ve done?” Aidan murmured, barely above a whisper.

“It stays on their person. No one but the persons it’s attuned to with blood will be able to see or touch the necklace. It will defend them more aggressively than just alerting either of us. Think of a…” Vic slowed his steps, thinking. His gaze dropped to the rough ground at the edge of the two-lane road.

“Is it a lethal defense?” Aidan asked, his voice even.

Vic shook his head. “Think of it as a punch in the gut from the object, rather than a person.”

Aidan hummed. “If that’s all, I find it a reasonable reaction to a threat to Ed or Mac. I’d like to have a similar defense for you, too.”

“I only look like a teenager,” Vic growled at him. “We may as well try to make four amulets, because I can make the argument that you’ll need the defense more than I will.”

It was Aidan’s turn to slow his steps. He nodded sharply. “I agree. We’ll work out the details, and the specific methods long before I carve the first bulla blank for an amulet.”

Vic smiled, his expression overflowing with relief. “Thank you. Thank you for not demanding proof of every tiny detail.”

Aidan bent until his knee nearly touched the carpet, but it gave him just enough reach to collect a three-leaf clover. “Ed, have you told Mac the stories about four leaf clovers? Three leaf clovers are the basic version, and four-leaf clovers are deluxe.”

Ed chuckled, even as he guided the younger girl several more steps ahead. Both crouched, running their fingers over a patch of clover.

“Good thinking,” Vic murmured to the older man. They took a step to the side, uphill.

“Exhaustion isn’t the only worry,” Aidan pressed. “Is it?”

“It could bypass the surplus magic that I still have, and steal some of my lifeforce,” Vic admitted hoarsely. “It would be worth it to protect them, but… I haven’t given up hope of a future.”

Aidan nodded. “I understand that. This world is unlike mine, but I believe that the risks of flame-touched and werewolves can be managed. In fact, if we simply moved to the mainland, we would probably find many villages with no traces of either.”

“Just my luck,” Vic groused. “I’m sorry.”

The older man shrugged. “I’ve been considering ways to blend in among the flame-touched, to keep your abilities more secret. They’ve admitted that they don’t sense me, at all, which is both reassuring and a little disappointing.”

Vic cleared his throat. “I’ll get the materials together. Maybe a bracelet or an anklet would be best, and they’d certainly need less material than a necklace would.”

“Could you make them after dinner?” Aidan’s expression turned rueful. “I am still relying on your cooking skills, after all.”


30