Chapter Text
When Farz came to, he could feel something snug around his wrists. The light in the room was bright and it pressed hard against his eyelids. As his consciousness finally caught up, Farz remembered what had happened at the bridge, the cave...
Sid.
Green eyes shot open and he went tense all over. Farz stared wide-eyed at the ropes around his wrists and shoulders and legs. Enough to secure him to the chair he was on. He tugged at then on instinct and squinted as his eyes adjusted to the light in the room.
Which... it was a room. Not spacious but with four basic walls made of stone. Shelves more chairs and a table, a sink of some kind beside what looked like an oven. This was a kitchen. How was he in a kitchen? Where the fuck was he?
"Oh cool, you're awake." A voice said matter of factly. It was Sid's unmistakeable tone from somewhere behind him. The sound of a glass as it clinked against a stone counter made the brunet's hair stand on end. Farz did his best impression of an owl as he tried to twist around to see what was going on.
"Let me go," Farz demanded. He pulled against the ropes on his wrists again but the thickly wound tethers didn't budge. He growled low in his throat. "Let me go now."
"Wow, no good morning Sid? No thank you? Y'know, I put you in the good chair. It's got padding and everything." He came around the left side of Farz and placed a cup of some kind of orange liquid in his field of vision. "I made you juice and everything, and this is the thanks I get?" His voice rang with amusement.
"Fuck you," Farz ground out. He yanked his shoulders forward to no avail. He eyed the glass of... orange juice? It sat in the air mere inches from his face, like a taunt. "I'm not drinking that." Farz tilted his head back to stare defiantly into Sid's face.
Sid tsked. "Look, if you think I'm trying to poison you you're an idiot. I could have killed you at any point while you were passed out. Why would I wait 'til you were awake?" He rolled his eyes and set the glass down on the table near Farz. "You were wandering around the woods for who knows how long and you've been out for like two hours. I just figured maybe you'd be thirsty when you woke up."
Farz stared resolutely up at Sid and Sid in return stared back at Farz with a raised brow.
"I'm. Not. Drinking. That." He bit out each word and balled his hands into fists against the arms of the chair. Who cared if he was dehydrated and hadn't eaten since yesterday afternoon. There was no way he was taking a drink from his kidnapper.
With a shake of his head and a small smirk, Sid breathed out a sigh, "Whatever, have it your way. I'm going to make myself something to eat."
His captor casually strolled past him back to the stone counter. Farz jerked in his seat hard enough to scrape the chair back an inch and get at least some idea of the full layout from the corner of his eye. There were counters and a set of cabinets with bells hung on the handles. Flasks and a wicker basket full of... fruit and meat, it looked like, sat off to one side.
Sid paid him no mind as he went about his business. He lifted a rather long knife and inspected it. Farz tensed, immediately, but all his strange captor did was bring it down onto a set of strawberries to cut them up.
The scent of fresh berries filled the room and Farz watched the man with a squint. Sid whistled to himself lightly as he chopped, like there was nothing weird going on in the least.
"What do you want," Farz asked in a cold tone of voice.
Sid paused briefly between cuts to glance over his shoulder at Farz. He grinned. "Well look who's asking questions instead of making demands and being a dick. Now that you mention it, I did have a pretty good deal I was gonna offer you." He brushed a few chunks of berry off the knife and then slid over to the sink to rinse off his fingers.
The brunet glared tiredly at the man. It couldn't be more than 3am now. How did this guy manage to have so much energy when everybody in their right mind ought to be asleep?
"What deal," Farz said flatly. He frowned at the knife as Sid spun around to face him. The red still on the blade looked daunting when paired with the man's sharp smile.
Sid gestured lazily with the kitchen knife as he next spoke, as if it were the stick he had tossed around earlier. "The deal where I do you a favor and get you home, safe 'n' sound... if you do me a favor."
Farz considered him for a moment like he really wished Sid would just turn out to be a figment of his imagination. Then, he sighed.
"What kind of favor."
The amber eyed trickster hummed as if surprised. He slid the knife into the sink and crossed back to the prep counter. "I'll be honest, Farz, I didn't expect you to break that easy." As he spoke, Sid flicked the strawberry pieces into a bowl that was already chock full of sliced fruit.
"I didn't say I'd do it," Farz clarified. "I asked what you wanted out of this." He... probably didn't have much of a choice, to be fully true, but he'd be damned if he stopped being stubborn now. Sid made every spiteful bone in his body flare up, more than anybody ever had. It was both invigorating and aggravating.
"Alright, alright, fair enough." Sid snagged the bowl and moved to the table. He yanked the back of Farz chair around to force him to fully face the table and then took the seat across from the brunet. Strawberries, cherries, and some kind of brightly colored melon glistened under the ornate ceiling lamp.
It was at that moment that Farz realized there were no actual windows in the room; just lamps and some wall lanterns to keep it well lit.
"In the end, I just need one thing from you." Sid peered at Farz through the curtain of his bright red bangs and then popped a halved cherry into his mouth. He tipped his head to the side. "I need you to get me a wolf pelt."
Farz blinked. Then blinked again.
"What?" His face contorted in confusion and revulsion. Farz had never gone out to hunt even once in his life. He mostly lived off bread, potatoes, and cheese that he made himself. Seeds and corn were also great, since he kept a lot of chickens; it was easy to share with them, then just sell eggs to buy more grain. It wasn't that he didn't like meat, it was fine, he just wasn't the guy who went out and got meat of his own accord.
A skinned wolf sounded both horrifying and impossible, at least with his skill set.
Sid clearly understood the reason for his shock in a split second. He quirked a brow, then shook his head and raised a hand as if to placate Farz. "Wh—no, no, not like that. Jesus Christ, not that." He stuck out his tongue as if disgusted with the idea, then took a bite out of a hunk of melon.
"This isn't any normal kinda pelt, fuck that. If I really needed the fur I'd just go steal it off somebody. Plenty of hunters come through here. Besides, fur is too itchy anyway." He waved a hand around as if this were all inherently obvious. "The pelt I want is magic."
Farz stared.
"Magic."
"Yeah, magic. Did I stutter?" Sid finished off the square of melon and leveled a wry look at Farz like he was an idiot. "I've got a payment to settle, you got yourself caught by a yōkai... it all works out great!"
Green eyes drilled into golden ones. Farz brows furrowed as he processed all of it. Eventually, he made a frustrated noise and let his head fall back in annoyance.
"Yōkai?"
Sid picked through the fruit to find a particularly big piece of strawberry and gave a hum of assent. "Well, people around here usually call them fae or spirits, but it's not really that different."
Farz cast a searching look at Sid, as if he wanted the other to just break into a laugh and say he'd fooled him or something. "You're not... really a fae. Those are just stories." Farz felt stuck. Like his brain wouldn't catch up. He couldn't say he didn't believe in spirits and ghosts but to see a fairy in person sounded like a stretch.
"I can't believe you didn't notice before, did you really seriously buy this?" Sid motioned to himself in disbelief and Farz eyed him warily.
"Buy what?"
"Oh. Now that's hilarious." Sid grinned.
"What is?" Farz glared at him like he'd have leapt onto the other if he weren't tied down to a chair.
"Nope, nothing, forget I said anything." Sid chuckled under his breath and spun the bowl around on the table idly. "That's not what's important. The deal is what's important." He tapped his knuckle against the table and fixed an expectant look on Farz. "So, you gonna do it?"
"No."
The apparent fae laughed. "That's cute! But, you don't really have a choice."
Farz grumbled and let his head fall forward. When he lifted it, he raised a brow at Sid and squinted. "What if I refuse to move? I could just rot here, or whatever."
Sid smirked. "Oh, buddy, you wish. Listen," he stretched and stood up as if this were all a simple conversation, "Maybe if you hadn't given me your name, that would be an option for you, but since you introduced yourself so nicely I think you'll find that you're kinda fucked."
A heavy weight dropped in Farz gut. Fairies took your name and gave you food and stole you away. He could practically hear the words of the mothers in town as they warned their children not to speak to strangers. He shut his eyes and swore.
Sid rounded the table. "Why don't we shake on it and I'll get you outta those ropes! Sound good?" The fae held out a hand and waited for his unwilling guest to take it.
Farz opened his eyes and looked at the had like he wanted to bite it. Then, he took a deep breath and averted his glare back up to Sid's face. "What if I can't get the pelt?"
"Eh, I don't think that'll be a problem," Sid shrugged, hand still stuck out, "The guy who has it should be easy to trick. He's big and dumb and has a thing for the people who wander into this forest." He grinned. "I think you'll win him over, you're cute enough."
Heat rose to Farz' cheeks and his hands balled into fists at the unexpected compliment. Green eyes swiveled back down to stare at the hand. There was no actual other option.
"Fine."
He jerked his hand against the ropes to put it in Sid's. The room went chill and a shiver ran down Farz' spine. Air couldn't get thick, but it felt like it did just that. The fae gave a wicked grin and his eyes flashed under the lamplight.
"Perfect."