Where there is ruin... (Ireland)

[Aiden Finnegan]

Aiden was surprised by Jaxen’s approval; the man did not give it out generously, but that was not why Aiden had bought Sage the gift – far from it. The drone was more a means to say, ‘thanks for putting up with me.’ The couple had not fought, nor had they experienced any drama beyond Jaxen’s jibes, but Aiden had been a handful to deal with over the course of the last few months.

                Jaxen wandered off after the exchange, into a throng of tourists. Aiden silently thanked the Gods that he had remembered to make use of Jaxen’s little trick of the Power. Before they had departed for the Causeway, Aiden used the magic to change his appearance – not drastically – just enough to only resemble himself. His hair now looked to be a fiery shade of ginger, with a fully grown beard to match, and his eyes had been made to look a rich shade of brown.

                Beyond that, Aiden had dressed himself in a plaid button-front shirt with a tweed vest laid atop, blue jeans, flat cap, and a decent pair of brown, leather Chelsea boots completed the look. Despite the month, it was still cool by the coast. Aiden almost wished he had decided on the cable knit sweater – almost.

                To more fully play the role of local man, he imitated his father’s Irish accent. The guise worked well enough; no one gave him a second look. He was certainly not a Rockstar right now, no sir – just a man from Dublin.

                Sage smiled up at Aiden and murmured a ‘thank you’ before returning the gesture with a delicate kiss. Aiden felt his cheeks heat a little. As expected, his boyfriend began pouring over the instructions and dove headfirst – literally – into operating the thing. It hovered just over their heads, reminding Aiden of the faerie fire that he had long ago shed. Sage linked arms with him, and they strolled leisurely along, keeping Jaxen within eyesight. Aiden steered them to a spot free of tourists, one that had a decent view of the crashing waves along the coast.

                “When I was a child, my Mum used to tell me about this place,” Aiden spoke softly in that fake accent, “A giant was said to have created it to reach his rival in Scotland. An odd story about cunning and trickery. No wonder Jaxen insisted we come here first…”

                Aiden looked over to Sage, who had that look. He smirked and said, “What is our slimy friend doing over there?”