The Industrial Elf Ch. 03

**It's a bit of fun to try to fit creatures such as elves into everyday modern life. That said, it ought to go without saying that all persons in this are figments of my imagination as are any uh, corporate entities.

I ought to point out that there's nothing much in the way of a love scene in this for a couple more chapters, so if you're only here for that, you'll be disappointed. O_o

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They sat together for a while, happy just for the comfort of sitting side by side with each other, touching slightly as though they each quietly feared that it was an illusion. They took turns telling tales of their experiences and discoveries. He asked for details of her clan's skills and knowledge, having guessed that they were not far from his people's.

After a time, he stood up and walked a distance way, returning to hand her his bow, "I have no gift to welcome a traveler such as you, Ilmare. Please accept my bow. It is one of man's best ones, and it adds to the strength of one's draw. It took me long to accept, but for hunting, it is better than any that I have made."

Ilmare stared at the thing in her hands, until he explained the function of the pulleys and the blotched coloring. She'd never seen one like it and bowed to him in gratitude. "The tufts on the bow string," she pointed, "these are talismans or charms? I feel no magic from them. What do they mean?"

He smiled, "Though we have ever looked upon humans as dolts - often rightly, there are some wise ones among them. These mean only that I wish the string to be silent when I loose the arrow. They are to muffle the sound. I think your draw might be shorter than my own, a little anyway, and we can cut back some of my arrows for you." He showed her the wickedly sharp tip on one of the arrows in the holder.

She gently tried the draw, "Elohan, you can draw this weight? I will have trouble."

He smiled, "I can adjust it for you easily, and I have another, so when we tire of eating out of their metal containers, we may eat as elves again."

"This is a wondrous gift, Elohan. My thanks to you."

He shook his head, "A small thought for how long you looked for me."

"I think that you have suffered more in the waiting that I in the looking for you," she said at last.

Elohan expressed his gentle doubt, "I had only to wait, as heavy as it was, but I always had my old home here to return to. It is hard to be away from one's place, so I think your burden was greater. You did not know if you would find me, and every step took you farther from your home."

Ilmare nodded, "But I knew that there was one at the least who might wait for my news while you knew nothing of my coming. I must admit something here then," Ilmare smiled softly, "While I traveled, I had a thought come often to me. The thought became a wish just when I would have given it up, and it kept me on the road. When I doubted, I found that I could only stop for a time, maybe to work and gather my pay. But my wish had by then become a hope, and always my hope drove me on, and kept me from turning to the west."

She saw his puzzled look and continued with downcast eyes, "You had nothing but this, Elohan. I had my hope. And then one night, as I sat by my small fire, I thought that if I could find you alive, and from the tales I had been told, I knew I would have found one warrior still, and with some luck, perhaps... we could find our way west together.

If then we find the others it would be one happy end to the tale. If we find no one,... well at least I would be alone with someone, and to journey with someone is far better than to journey alone, and would make finding no others at the end bearable, if it came to that."

He laughed softly at her shy smile and the possible double meaning in her words, "Perhaps, Ilmare. The stars will have something to say, maybe, and if we find your clan, will you not wish to be with them?"

"I may," she said, "would you not wish to go to your clan?"

He shook his head, "By now, they will have chosen another king, and much time has passed for anyone to want to abide my wishes or commands. It may be better if I do not seek them at all."

Ilmare brightened suddenly, "Then come with me to find my clan, Elohan! If they live there, you would be welcome, and that is a certainty. We had none who knew much magic. I myself know but little. You would find a place among us, and ..."

"I know," he smiled, "and we could find our way together, but I think you must say this because there have been no elves in your life of late."

She chuckled and smiled at him, "I believe that my fortunes improve suddenly. And it is said of my kind that we get what we wish for the hardest more often than not."

He looked up at the small patch of stars that could be seen through the canopy of the glade, "We have both been long in the wishing. The little I knew of your people, I knew nothing of their beauty, but I had heard that your kind is not shy in the asking for what they want and how it comes often to them. I see some truth to the legends now." They smiled at each other and sat in silence for a while.

She reached over sometimes to lightly rub the cropped hair on his head, liking the feel of it, "Why do you keep it so short, Elohan? I have never seen one of us like this, and wonder about its purpose. Did the others among you do this?"

He shook his head, "I kept it long for many years, but it became harder to hide among mankind for it had fallen out of their fashion. At length, I cropped it short like this. It stays out of my way and needs nothing from me at all. I see now that it is in some favor among them again to have it long, but not for one of my appearance."

"Your appearance pleases me," she admitted, "I have never seen one so fair as you in your color, not even your princess, and your light hair makes you look almost like a forest spirit to my eyes, and a fine one too. We are quiet in movement, but you are silent, Elohan." She took his upper arm in both of her hands and squeezed gently, "Perhaps might means less now among the humans. They need only move small things today mostly. But to my eyes, you are as mighty as your lady said, perhaps more, and that cannot be a bad thing - to a lost elf girl such as I am. Was there ever one for you as you waited?"

He nodded, "Once only, and for such a short time, for she was human. I have never really loved since. And you?"

"It was the same for me, Elohan. Once only. It hurts to care for one of them and then to watch their lives flash by them, no?. You have given me such a kind welcome in your way, but I would ask a boon of you if I could." She looked a bit uncomfortable, and he was quick to see it and tried to make her feel at ease, Taking a chance, he put his arm around her shoulder lightly, "Ask it then, Ilmare. Ask anything of me."

She looked up at him cautiously, "I do not have to be anywhere for more than two days now. Now that I have found you, I would that we could stay together, here or anywhere you say for the time. I get much comfort from the nearness of you, and, - if I could, I would be happy to sleep only near enough to touch you if you need a little sleep this night.

When I do not have work in their places, I sleep as little as any elf. But when I spend time there, the noise and my tasks wear on me. Then I sleep almost as much as one of them."

He smiled down at her, "After this time, there is place only for one to sleep in the great tree's arms here. I would feel honor if you would sleep in my place. I will watch over the night."

"Nay," she said, "It would mean much to me to sleep only near to you. If there is but one place, then if you agree, I would sleep together with you. I have much to show you in the morning, but then it will be clear that to travel together, we will have to sleep like this anyway. In truth, I have never slept together with one of our kind, but I feel the want of it tonight. I come from a warmer land, and though I can bear the coolness here, I want to be warm this night."

"But we are not - "

"No," she smiled shyly, "we are not wedded or anything like that, Elohan. We have only found each other today, and I would only sleep. Who knows where the road will bring us? It may be that we cannot abide each other, or it may be a wondrous thing to be together. There is time for that, and it may be as well that we find that we are the only ones now, I do not know.

The first elves had to begin somewhere long ago, did they not? I think the last elves must begin somewhere as well if we must and if that is what we are now. We have time to plan while I work a little yet, and if I must begin somewhere with you, I would that it was here - in a true elf-place, where I can feel magic that still lives." She smiled up at him and kissed his cheek.

Even in the warm glow of the now-dying fire, he looked into the brightest green eyes that he'd ever seen in his long life and knew that with her here now, it marked a welcome change for them both. A long solitary journey - even for self-sufficient folk like them - could be a soul searching thing. But together ...

High in the oak boughs, Ilmare was happy as she pressed her back against him, and then pulled one of his arms around her. She carefully laid her head on his other arm and sighed, "I thank you for this, Elohan, and for being alive still for me to find. May the stars watch over us."

He pulled her tightly to his chest, feeling her hope alive in his own heart. For the first time, he felt that he now had a reserve to draw upon since his own hope had been fading for such a long time. It was a new hope now, but it shone brightly and he felt it. He raised his head slightly to kiss her ear. "May the stars watch over us, Ilmare. Peace already lives in my heart."

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Ilmare opened her eyes and found that his throat filled her view. She pulled her head back slightly to look upon his sleeping face and studied it for a time as she asked herself a few questions. She found that she was pleased with the answers that came to her, even the ones which were not yet a certainty, and she was most definitely pleased that she'd turned over somehow in the night and was still in his embrace. It meant that he'd allowed her the movement and then embraced her again, really.

That was before the realization of her own position came to her.

It was something of a shock to find herself wrapped around him with one leg high around his waist. She hadn't planned that at all, and knew that there was no way to untangle herself without waking him. She finally smirked at herself, but a small gasp escaped her as a distant memory came to her mind. Ilmare thought about that memory and she allowed herself - in spite of the awkwardness of everything - to chuckle silently once. She'd never thought that it would ever apply to her, but now it was something else to hope for, she decided.

Before anything else, Elohan heard the birds discussing the newcomer in the oak along with their usual chatter. It caused him to listen, and he wondered at the weight that he felt on his side. Another thought, and he felt her hand on his back and her other one behind his head. He decided that it was a moment to hold on to and enjoyed it - until she gasped. He slowly opened his eyes.

The eyebrows before him rose slightly, and then he saw her brilliant green eyes and the smile that began there as the weight on his side shifted quickly away. He'd liked her leg where it was, he thought, though he found it interesting the way it pressed on something else of his now.

This was going to be a bit strange for them both, since to get out of the rather intimate position that they'd somehow gotten into had only put them into another one perhaps just as familiar. He smiled in return and kissed her, deciding that perhaps their bodies were trying to tell them something. What he found odd was the comfortable sense of certainty that he felt with her now.

Ilmare's response to his kiss was instant as she hugged him tightly. After a second, he heard her soft laugh next to his ear, "You do not wake up all at once, Elohan. I have learned that your eyes sleep the longest. Your toes were up before them - but they were not the first."

Before he could even begin to feel awkward, her face appeared again in his field of view for a moment.

"Do not feel shame," she whispered, "for I do not. We are not young elves here, you and I. I was in love once as I have said. I found that I had become a little bitter that I was not allowed the time that most elf-girls have to feel their first young love. I felt cheated somehow. It is how I came to take a human lover since I had seen no elves for so long. In most respects I know it was a mistake for we always argued, but I did learn much - enough to know how a male awakens." She pulled herself to him again and kissed his throat.

Elohan rolled onto his back, pulling her along onto him. He laughed a little as he said, "You were bitter, Ilmare? I cannot think how it must look on your face. Can you show me so that I know the warning if I see it?"

He heard her muffled reply under his jaw as she said, "Nay, for it would frighten the birds who now sing to tell each other of the strange cat in their tree today. And anyway, I cannot think that I would have anything to feel bitter about with you near to me. Tell me, did you dream this night?"

Elohan nodded, his eyes widening as he remembered. Dreams are not the same wild fancy to elves as they seem to humans. To elves, dreams often point to solid possibilities - what might come to pass as one of several possible outcomes. They are not so much predictors of the future, but can often guide an elf's actions in waking life to aim at the end in the dream. Dreams which come to an elf while asleep in the boughs of a tree in his home are considered especially important.

Ilmare raised her head. Her hopeful smile twisted his heart. "And did you see trees?"

He nodded again, "Not like these. And lakes and mountains that I did not know."

She laughed at his smile and knew there was more, "I saw them also! Before we climb down, warrior, you will tell me what else you saw, or I will not let you up. Tell me now."

He looked up the trunk of the ancient oak, "Perhaps I do not want to climb down yet."

She shook her head grinning, "You must tell me, for I know where to lie heavy on you if I must." She shifted until he groaned, "Say it."

"If you do more of that, I might forget what I saw."

She laughed at him, "Your thoughts are backward. If you tell me, I may do more of that."

He smiled, and said only, "Elflings."

Ilmare shook her head, smiling widely now, "It is not enough, Elohan. Did you know them?"

"Not all," he said, "for I saw many."

Rolling her eyes, she shifted again, "The ones you knew - whose, Elohan? Whose were they?"

He laughed, "They were ours, shining one."

"I saw them too," she sighed happily, "But I still may not let you up," she said it with a grin, "I like where I lie now." She put her head down just to hold him for a moment.

"I heard you laugh softly before I opened my eyes, Ilmare. Why?"

She shook her head, "I will not say it now in fear of ruining it. It concerns an old saying between elf-girls and their mothers. I will say if it has come to pass, and so you must wait for me. Come, let us climb down."

His hands stroked her back gently, "But you said you would do more of that."

She lifted herself up and climbed off of him to sit looking down from another bough, "That is so, but I did not say when I would do it."

She looked around, "Come, let us bathe. We have to talk and be elsewhere for a time."

He had a fine view of her face through her long hair as she laughed, "I see the fine trail that you led me now. I was led far, when the place where I first saw you is only there."

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Dressed in human clothing, she led him into the town to the grocery store. The cashier recognized her and said, "You're always smiling when you come in here, Elly, but today you look like you're gonna get face cramps if you keep up that look. What's going on?"

Ilmare just shook her head as she put their purchases into her pack, "I just can't help myself today, Rita." She indicated Elohan behind her in the line with a toss of her head, "New boyfriend. Rita, this is, -- " she paused and Elohan quickly offered his hand with a smile, "I'm Jack. Pleased to meet you, Rita."

The young cashier grinned back at him, "I'm glad to meet you." Looking at them both, she said, "You know, you guys are different from each other, but you look great together - like you're the same somehow."

Ilmare smirked, as she spoke with her soft accent, "That's the funny thing about it, I think I told you before that I'm from the hills of Tennessee, right?"

Rita nodded, "Yes, I remember you did say that because I asked about your accent."

"Well anyway," Ilmare continued, "I come from a little holler up there, and Jack here - he's a old Ontario boy from Peterborough. Turns out we're both Finnish way back, and his people and mine all come from a little place right up near the Arctic Circle there. I mean like they lived only a few miles from each other!"

The rest of the short conversation was just pleasant small-talk and they were out of the place within another minute. As they walked, Elohan wondered aloud about how they'd manage the navigation of the trip, whenever they set out. He didn't really like traveling in a straight line, as it would force them to cross property and such. He also wasn't keen on using human roads to walk along. He hadn't noticed where she led him until she stopped.

"The best way that I have found is to use their roads. Almost all of them are marked on their maps, which we can get anywhere along the way." Ilmare said.

He didn't like it, "But to walk along their roads, Ilmare..."

She smiled at him, "Who told you that we would walk?"

He stared at her dumbly, until she pointed.

They stood beside a camper van.

"We ride as far as we can with this." As he stared at it, she unlocked the door and set the groceries down inside. He still stood there when she looked back, and she smiled as she took his hand and pulled him inside.

"Come over here a minute," she giggled as she closed the door, put her arms around his neck and purposely spoke to him in her lilting Tennessee English, "You stand there like that much longer boy, you're just gonna have a mouthful of flies to show for it. Welcome to my home, Elohan."

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With the groceries put away, they sat at the small table together. Elohan sipped experimentally at a cup of coffee that she'd prepared for him.

"It is made from a bean," she said. "They drink much of it. It has no effect on me, I think, but I have it sometimes when I sit here and think on where to look next for you."

She looked at her cup, "I like only the taste now." She stood to walk to the front of the vehicle and returned with a large handful of maps and a cardboard box that she set down next to the maps.

"I have used these to find the roads as I went. We have only to decide where to go, and then plan it with these. We know only to go west, I think, but my hope is that as we go, we will feel and know the way. These will help - and this also maybe."

She indicated the box, "I bought this two moons ago. It is a newer way for them to plan their way, but I have not done anything with it, and do not know what to do with it, really. I cannot see how it will help us, but I see many of them in their vehicles, so I bought one. Do you know of it?"

He nodded, "Yes, Ilmare. I know about it and even how it works, but I have never seen or touched one. It is to be fitted to your vehicle here and can guide us too. I can do this for you. What are the boxes on the floor there?"