reasonable guy experiencing unreasonable things

because there's something else, something bright and pure, something that you've never felt b e f o r e, something you can't touch something you can't see, you just don't                                                 b e l i e v e     rowan steele, twenty two, denies he's a faerie

[cordeliahathaway]

It was all so different here. She hadn’t expected it to be so different - or was it just her that was different? God, that’s sentimental. Biting back a laugh as she ran a hand through her newly dyed hair - a shade that seemed to be between brown and auburn - and moved a elegant finger over the button of her camera to take a photograph of the sun setting. It really was a gorgeous town, Barton Hollow. Despite the memories that still haunted her, she couldn’t deny that it was so lovely. 

Once the photograph seemed to be to her liking, she tucked away the camera in its case, planning to make her way back to her car when she spotted a familiar face out of the corner of her eye. Rowan. Her eyes widened, and all thoughts of leaving flew out of her mind. Once he spoke, his words shaky, she gave him a shaky smile. “Hi, Rowan,” she said softly.

[mr-rowan-steele]

  The guilt of up and leaving Barton all those years ago had never really left Rowan, despite his efforts to keep in touch. Dozens upon dozens of letters that started with the words I’m Sorry had been written to those he left behind, but he never could bring himself to drop the quaint white envelope into the mailbox. His uncertainty was exacerbated by the passing of time, as he theorized none of them lived in the same houses anymore—sending a letter would be a waste of time.

  Boy, did he have a lengthy letter memorized for Cordelia Hathaway, and seeing her struck a chord of bitter happiness in his soul.

  “Hey Cordelia,” he laughed, his mouth twitching up and down as the mixture of excitement and melancholic nostalgia overtook him. “Long time no see,” he tried to be casual, closing the distance between them with a few steps, but when he really looked at her—so close to her—his smile disappeared. “I’m sorry. How have you been?” he asked with solemn demure.

[melisica]

(by shontz photography)

[mr-rowan-steele]

  Despite his deep-rooted resentment, Rowan could not deny that the answer he was given ten years ago was the last puzzle piece to the bigger picture—a perfect match, as its unexpected shape had explained the rest of the enigmatic pieces with undoubtable certainty. Methods of transportation were always going to be tough, as, iron and metal were a fae’s worst nightmare.

  But when one finds the answer, one can work towards a solution, and in his secretive studies Rowan concocted a viable means to travel that eliminated seventy-seven percent of the adverse side effects experienced while in close contact to machinery.

  It really did work like a charm—he’d could be rich if he sold his secrets to the faeries—but there was something about sitting on the park bench and feeling the soil and earth underneath his feet through socks and shoes that put him at peace. By plane or by car, Rowan would always appreciate the time he spent with two feet on the ground.

  In his peripheral view he could see the outlines of a figure, as he was keen to ignore them and mind his own business on his phone. Yet, when it appeared they weren’t going to leave him to his personal space, Rowan’s head pivoted towards them.

  His blank expression tightened with shock. “Oh… oh my god,” he said in between a shaking breath “It’s you.”

[melisica]

[mr-rowan-steele]

   Rowan came and went from Barton in the same haphazard fashion, reinforcing his doubts that stepping foot in Louisiana was the worst decision he’d ever made.

   Well, that’s an exaggeration, but nothing could have prepared Rowan for the gut-wrenching truth: he was a faerie--a faerie of blood-tainted royalty at that. Rowan knew he was nothing like that dark queen who had no qualms disemboweling people in the streets, and he knew he wanted nothing to do with her. You couldn’t say he was satisfied with the answer he finally found in the stagnant swamplands of the Deep South, but you could bet he was done with the incessant hovering alligators once he found his unpleasant heritage.

   Rowan acted fast and got all of his credits lined up with another university back in Arizona for the next semester, and after finishing up his junior year at BHU he vanished from the town completely.

   Of course he took Lucy—there was no way he was going to leave that cat behind even though it technically belonged to Emilie. He always felt bad for taking Emilie’s cat out of state, but after several months of trying to keep a low-profile he contacted Emilie and apologized for his disappearance. He’s been regularly talking to her ever since.

   Along with Emilie, there’s a few people he’s made amends with since up and leaving without a word. Phoebe Snow, he’d learned, was his half-sister, who he accepted and learned to love dearly despite their only form of communication being emails and letters.

   After graduating from veterinarian school, Rowan was successful and happy treating animals at a local animal hospital in his hometown. With rigid training that continued years after he left Barton, Rowan came to terms with his abilities, but never quite enough to let another man get too close to him romantically. Love, to him, transformed into something that didn’t always need sex to make it meaningful. Platonic and non-sexual affection became just as fulfilling, and Rowan was content living his life that way.

   At thirty-three years old, Rowan had started his own clinic and had no intention of ever coming back to Barton Hollow. But fate works in mysterious ways…

[floralls]

(by Pupi Perez Brizuela)

[melisica]

(by Brendan George Ko)

[petersamuel-sexton-deactivated2]

"Look at you, crafty. I never would’ve pegged you as such. Guess that teaches me, " Peter smiled softly, picking up his stacks of books once more to head up to pay. The heft of the pages made the young man stumble for a moment, and he shifted his weight on his feet before turning to Rowan. "Thursday sounds like a plan, then, Rowan. It was great to meet you." Balancing carefully, Peter stuck out his hand for the other student to shake.

[mr-rowan-steele]

  “Crafty?” Rowan repeated back, laughing “What? I don’t look crafty?” Shaking his head, Rowan waved Peter off “Yeah, Thursday sounds good—but hey--be careful with those books… and stuff.” Reaching up to rub the back of his neck, Rowan offered his free hand to shake Peter’s “Nice meeting you too dude, good luck with your classes.”

[surmamort]

"I’m sure." Sawyer smiled kindly at him before grabbing her notepad and pen. There had been an influx of customers all day, which meant that her patience and memory was wearing thin. Writing things down meant that she’d actually remember them and not fuck them up. "One caramel latte and a bagel…" Sawyer mimicked back to him. Plucking the piece of paper from its pad, Sawyer smiled at him. "That’ll be ready in about five." The brunette turned around and addressed the toaster oven and the bag of bagels that lay directly on top, then turned her attention to the espresso machine. "How has your day been?" Sawyer asked, making a mental note that talking to customers might get her a bigger tip.

[mr-rowan-steele]

  Rowan’s gazed darted down—it wasn’t like she was being rude about it but he still felt sore for being turned down. “Thanks,” he said sheepishly before inching over to the pick-up counter. He would have slid out his phone and dived right into a tangent of social media, but the question from the barista made him pause. “Oh… it’s been nice,” he began, scratching his cheek “At least things are starting to warm up, right?”

  He debated throwing the question back on her, but with a sincere smile he asked “What about you?”

[yoursummerdreamz]

[mr-rowan-steele]

Tracking Mud: Rowan & Nicolas

[loyaltyisreturned]

Nic raised an eyebrow. He could work with this, the kid seemed eager to gain permission, and the tall fae saw no problem in giving to him at a price. Careful to keep his tone low, he responded: “And what’s wrong with the place you usually practice? You piss the woods off so badly, it kicked you out too? Because I could see how and why that would happen. Next best,” the metal-smith said with a snort. “My swamp’s not second best to anything.”

He was laying it on a little thick, he knew. But the boy in front of him needed to believe that Nic was doing him a huge favor by letting him stay on his land; so he needed to be convincing. The young man was still squirming like an animal in a trap, and the fae wanted to draw it out a bit longer before releasing the latch. So, with exaggeratedly relaxed movements, Nicolas tapped the bark behind him, pretending to ponder over the boy’s comment. He let the silence between them last longer than polite manners in a business transaction would dictate, yawning into the space between them like a giant cavern. Content to let the prince sweat it out, he stayed his tongue, the only sounds around the pair those of the swamp and his fingers of the wet wood behind him. In this silence, Nicolas blatantly sized up the young man in front of him, keeping his gaze aloof and studying. After a couple of minutes, he let his fingers still. 

"Well, if you’re only here to practice magic… we can probably work something out. Seems I’ve got the land, and you’ve got the demand; so the only thing missing from this transaction is payment. So go ahead," Nic smirked. "What do you have that I want?" 

[mr-rowan-steele]

  “It’s just—It’s just the stuff that’s happened with the faeries recently—I didn’t get kicked out I just didn’t want to, you know, go in there after the Unseelie attacked the townspeople like that. Going in there would be like, asking for it,” Rowan explained with quick, nervous jerking motions. He had no clue if this man was the type to keep up with the supernatural politics of Barton Hollow, but while he hated to assume, who hadn’t heard of the Queen’s bloody attack? “You’ve, uh, heard about the attack and stuff, right?”

  Rowan’s eyes went wide, and his heart nearly stopped—he was horrified realizing he’d implied about the swamp. “Oh no, no no no. Not at all! The swamp isn’t second best to anything—you’re right, I was just saying, like, in terms of how far it is from me, you know? The woods are a lot closer, and the swamp is like a good few miles away, but I mean if I had to choose I’d choose the swamp it’s a much…” he swallowed, he couldn’t lie “…more… unique, location.”

  The silence terrified Rowan, but he was devoted to wait it out. His demeanor stiffened up, save for his hands and arms, as he’d intermittently reach up to rub his neck and relieve some nerves. Being scrutinized like this felt awful, but wasn’t he the one who’d walked into this mess? He had no power here save for whatever fawning he could muster—hell, he didn’t even have any money to barter with.

   “Uhh,” Rowan swallowed, eyes falling down to the ground as he tried to come up with some form of payment. The clothes off his back seemed a bit too extreme (and not all that valuable—his jeans were smattered with mud) but that seemed to be the only physical thing he could give at the moment. “Um, I can give you… money, if that’s what you want? I need to get back into town to get it though,” he cringed “I have… I can… cook?”

[petersamuel-sexton-deactivated2]

"You’re welcome. And…rowan berry jelly? That sounds really good— I had no idea they used the berries for that," Peter nodded thoughtfully, his arms crossed as he watched Rowan put a number in. He took the phone back with a little confusion, not catching onto Rowan’s playfulness until he saw the grin the other man wore. 

"Ah, I see! You and your books will be busy— Should I leave you alone for some quality time, or would you mind me intruding? I can seek ya out some other day, if you and your pages need some time to find knowledge in each other." The sharp-featured boy chuckled, slipping his phone in his pocket. "Um, if you’re honestly going to use that day for studying though, I won’t bother you."

[mr-rowan-steele]

  Rowan nodded. “I’ve always loved making homemade jelly… even as a kid,” he remarked “It’s always so much better than anything you can get at the store.”

  “Oh no, it’s fine—like I can make time for it,” he assured, sliding his hands up to rest on his hips “Honestly it’s not such a big deal, ‘cause you know, I’m doing alright in my classes anyway, and I’d just be spending that time doing homework and then I’d leave. So, yeah, I can get my homework done and we can meet up next Thursday.” Rowan shrugged, smiling “Should be fine.”

[surmamort]

Sawyer let out a sigh of defeat as she sprang up at attention. Eyebrows pulling together, the brunette shook her head. “No, it’s cool.” Smoothing back her hair, Sawyer pursed her lips before finally addressing the customer. “What can I get for you?”

[mr-rowan-steele]

  “…You sure?” he asked, a bit incredulous. Tapping the counter, his eyes wandered up to the big chalkboard, and he took his sweet time deciding on what to order. “I’ll have… uh, a Carmel Latte. With a bagel. Please,” he said, looking back down at the woman and smiling pleasantly.

[layla-matin-blog]

Layla couldn’t help but smirk at the man’s uncertainty. It could have been annoying, but he somehow managed to pull it off as cute. She tilted her head a little, nodding after he murmured under his breath. “Was it, then?” She said. “Were you watching it with anybody?”

[mr-rowan-steele]

  “Yeah—I mean it looked even better than the last movie and that came out what, ten years ago?” he said on impulse, saying the first thing that came to his mind to ground himself in the conversation. Vivid images of middle school flashed before Rowan’s eyes--and he visibly cringed thinking about the inexcusable awkward social circumstances that haunted him in his younger years. How distant 2004 seemed.

  “I, uh, saw it by myself,” he admitted. He didn’t think of it as such a forlorn occasion, but no one else he knew wanted to go see it with him. “It was a matinee showing… last week. Nobody was in the theater.”

[surmamort]

"Where the fuck is it!" Sawyer let out an annoyed breath before rifling through a few more papers. The sound of somebody entering The Mystic, however, caught the brunette’s attention and her head snapped up. "Hi," Sawyer muttered, "I’ll be right with you… maybe." 

[mr-rowan-steele]

  “Oh, it’s no problem—take your time,” Rowan replied, not expecting to be addressed right as he entered the coffee shop. It was early but there was no line, or at least, none that Rowan saw. The barista looked busy with… whatever she was doing. “Do you… need help?” he offered, walking up to the counter.

[milokatz-blog]

   Although college was on his mind for the future, he was going to ease himself back into it. One step at a time, he told himself. “I think I might take a course over the summer. Perhaps part time. What about you? Are you still in school?” Milo tilted his head to the side. “Comic Con can be fun, but it can also be a pain. Maybe next year— er, this year I suppose, you could come with me. It’s a lot more fun with a group of friends. Although, I must warn you, I have friends that I meet up with from other states when I’m there.” Milo laughed. 

   ”Arizona? Wow! That’s pretty far. What brought you to Barton Hollow?” Milo’s father had also liked video games, but not as much as his brother apparently. Milo still really liked being able to play video games when he was in the mood for it. “Oh don’t worry, I’m sure there’s someone that wants it if you do ever sell it.” He smiled at Rowan. “Ah, and they don’t make as many games for Macs are they do for PCs. Which is awful if you ask me.” 

[mr-rowan-steele]

  A jerked laugh came from him—he didn’t know why he found Milo’s comment so amusing. “Yeah, I’m a junior, but I’m in vet studies so I’m sticking around for another few years… I’m a full-time student.” Rowan paused, not expecting Milo to offer going with him to Comic Con or anything so soon. “Wow… well, that’s like--,” it didn’t sit right with him. Cities always made him sick, and the mild nausea that would hang over him the entire time he was surrounded by people sounded torturous. “I’ll have to check my schedule,” he said in a hurried voice “But yeah, I mean, sure—I’ll think about it.”

  “I was born here, actually,” he informed Milo with a small smile “Moved to Arizona when I was real young and now I’m back for school.” He nodded “All I know is like, The Sims are on Mac, and I haven’t ever played that… there was also Spore but I heard that wasn’t a good game when it came out, so I never played it.” His gaze followed along the wall where posters for game tournaments and retro video game posters were displayed proudly “I’d get a PC, but I’ve always been worried about like, learning a new operating system.”

[petersamuel-sexton-deactivated2]

The young man shrugged, a little self-conscious of his blurted enthusiasm but grateful that Rowan didn’t seem to find it strange. “Yes, I definitely do think so. Animals are fundamental, you know? And I think you’re right,” Peter said as an afterthought, tugging on an earlobe absently, “I don’t know if there are any of those trees around here, actually. But I’ve seen the illustrations in my books, and they’re pretty gorgeous.” 

The other man’s reaction was hard to read, and Peter almost immediately made a decision to not try. Instead, he reached into his pocket and took out of his phone, quickly calling up his contact book and clicking “Add New Contact.” 

"Here," Pete said before he could lose his nerve, tilting his phone towards the other student, "put your number in. I’ll send you a text. I really appreciate it; and I’m not usually available in the morning either, so hopefully I won’t catch you at a bad time. Maybe I can track you down next Thursday?"

[mr-rowan-steele]

  In all his years, Rowan hadn’t brushed off the incessant self-conscious thoughts that buzzed inside his head and worked up his anxiety and nerves. He had an outpouring of sympathy for anyone who stumbled over any social blunders or missteps, and unconsciously, he’d trained himself to carry on conversations affably as he could despite any nervousness from other people. “Yeah, well… I don’t know people don’t usually tell me it’s cool or anything,” he laughed “Thanks dude.”

  “I’ve always wanted to make jelly out of Rowan berries,” he said “Because I read forever ago that’s something they do with the berries…”

  “Oh, yeah, sure thing,” Rowan took the phone and tapped the screen—inputting his name and number.  “I’d be down for next Thursday—except, y’know, hanging out at the library,” he said, still focused on the screen. Looking over the information incredulously, he slowly handed the phone back over to Peter, looking back up at him with a goofy smile.