"Well I cannot now!" he spat across the table, his braid in his hand, fingers running down it in little bump-bump-bump motions.

"I kept asking them for some high Fayerie to change it. To make me look like one of them. So that I would blend in. Look like I was Tuatha or at least a halfbreed who might have been..." He hung his head again before finishing his drink.

"Now I am only another tallfolk who knows a little magic. And at least I have that much."

"Okay, so that's one thing that haven't changed anyway, yer still moping over stupid shit. Don't yer get it?" Jochy gave Seth a rather stern look. "They obviously loved you just the way you were, gangly pale tallfolk looks and everything. She grew to love you, not someone else. She could have put the fayerie on yer when yer were a kid and nobody was the wiser. But she didn't want a halfbreed or a tuatha kid, she wanted you. Would you have wanted to change her into looking like a tallfolk woman if yer could?"

Seth nodded some and shrugged.

"I know. I know they loved me, Jochy. And that is why I wanted to look like I was a part of the family. So. So I could show them how much I loved them."

He chewed on the inside of his cheek then, "And I wanted to feel normal somewhere. For all the love... Jochy, I did not belong there. I was in the wrong time in the countries far removed from where I was born. I always thought that if I just had red hair..." He shrugged some and looked away. "And, as you say. Moping over foolish things. I suppose it is a part of being tallfolk. Or perhaps of being myself."

"Think it's just you being you. And I shouldn't have called it stupid. It ain't. Things hurt like hell when growing up, it's hard to never fit in. Keeping secrets." Jochy grimaced a little and emptied his beer. "Not sure either of us really belong anywhere. I've jumped through a few dimensions, as have you. This place... it's the second one I've actually fancied staying in. The first one was the 'dale where I met you. Homes yer pick are better than the wones yer born in, just like friends are better than family. They're yours. Your decisions, your choices."

"I picked the Nialls, then," he said quietly, intensely. "I... I do belong here, Jochy. I belong at the Cnoch. More than I ever did in six years with Amadeo or the five years before with my mother."

The youth looked down at the table before letting out a breath. "Lugh's balls, I find myself getting so worked up," the youth chuckled a little, "And over so innocent a thing, too. Apologies."

"Is alright, I'm used to it." Jochy grinned and ordered another beer. "And honestly, I've missed you. It's great to have yer back no matter the shape, some things just remains... you. And yer a great guy. So if yer ever wanna bitch about the unfairness of the universe, I'll be there."

"Good neighbour for that, Jochy... and I do not believe I will take you up on it too often. If I am to be honest... I have been quite fortunate. If only this time around. In fact, I have a 'this time around', so I suppose I am doing quite well." He smiled at the man then and chuckled.

"And may I say that you are not the worst kisser I have known."

"If you had said that, you'd be lying. I know exactly how good a kisser I am. And here's a little something for you to consider..." Jochy's smile had grown teasing now. "I know what you fancy in bed, and I have seen you naked. Think about that one for a moment."

"No," corrected the youth, rapping on the table a couple times, "You know what he liked in bed. And while you have seen me naked, Jochy, there is very little indication that you will do so again." Seth's narrow lips split into a grin then.

"True, true, I actually taught him what to like in bed..." Jochy did look a little smug at that. "He was still a virgin when we met." And he wasn't that sure that this Seth wasn't either.

"Never say never about the nekkid, but... really, all I have to do is to just close my eyes and imagine." And so he did. With a very satisfied little smirk on his lips.