The rest of the morning went smoothly, but just before lunch I had someone new come in that I didn’t recognize.  He was one of those people you’d notice in a crowd because he was dressed impeccably in what I was pretty sure were custom-tailored clothes; had striking features; and he carried himself like he knew he was important.  Okay that last bit was maybe my imagination, but there was still something in his bearing that made me think that he subconsciously felt his worth, but not in an obnoxious way.  Probably more like if someone was royalty and just had that bearing based on years of proper training and etiquette.

“Good morning!”  He gave me a warm smile.  “I have a form here for an event I’d like to hold.  Well, several actually.  I’ve had to get permission from several officials and argue with a lot of politicians to make it happen, but I think I completed everything I need.”  He handed the forms over, looking a little anxious as he did.  “It’s for a Christmas event.  I’m trying to hold a party for the entire town and allowing everyone in town in for free food and gifts and just a good time, hopefully.  I know a lot of people have a tough time around the holidays and I’d like to see some of the town getting to come together and help out those who might be alone or just need a friendly face this time of year.  Plus, I think there are families that could really use the chance for a meal right now and maybe a gift for their kids.  It’s coming out of my pocket, the city won’t be paying for anything, but I wanted to hold it in Basil Park and that’s what the forms are for.  Obviously there isn’t just one form that would cover everything – I’ll be bringing in food, giving out free things, hiring entertainment, and having a ton of people in the park, over several days – so I filled out everything I think should cover it.”  He hesitated as I looked over the forms.  “If you see that I’m missing anything, could you let me know?  I’m happy to fill it out, I just need to know which is missing, if any.”

I was honestly impressed.  I’d rarely seen anyone not from our office fill out the forms 100% correctly, but near as I could tell, he had.  He’d clearly taken the time to read the instructions and follow them carefully, resulting in forms that were actually very pleasing to look at.  Well, for me.  I liked perfect forms.  And these were perfect.

His name was printed at the bottom.  L. FitzJames Woodson.

Woodson?  I’d heard that name before.  I couldn’t remember where, but I was pretty sure it was a supernatural thing, which made sense since he was a supernatural.

Fairy, nymph, or angel, Kat chimed in, apparently thinking along the same lines.  That’s the vibe he gives off.  Wait, Woodson?  Woodson – ooh, he’s a fairy.  That’s the name of the last royal family of fairies!  I wonder if he’s actual royalty or just related?

Wait, so…he might actually be royalty?  Or related to some?  The way he carried himself might make a lot of sense, then.  And the fact that he had custom clothes and was, well, planning to throw a party for the entire town out of his own pocket, which I had to guess would cost him millions even with conservative estimates.

I reached the last form, still checking it over while my mind raced.

Should I call him Your Highness?  Or something?  Do I treat him different?

Uh, I’m not the right person to ask.  I dunno what’s proper etiquette for fairies, but if I had to guess, Kat paused, no?  The fairy kingdom isn’t a thing anymore and we don’t know for sure if he’s royalty.  Plus, um, humans present, you know, so suddenly calling him Your Highness might be weird.

Fair.  And an excellent point.

I reached for my stamp and started stamping “Approved” across his forms, much to his relief.  It dawned on me as I did that I hadn’t said a word yet – first because I’d been admiring his beautifully-filled out forms and then because I’d gotten distracted over the idea of fairy royalty.

“These are all correctly filled out, which I don’t often see.”  Uh, maybe that was rude to most people in the office, but I meant it.  Apart from our own clerks, people usually missed at least something.  And he hadn’t.  “For what it’s worth, thank you for taking the effort to fill them out properly.”

He broke into a relieved smile.  “Thank you!  Or you’re welcome, whichever is most appropriate.”  He watched as I stamped the final form, then started scanning them.  “I was told you’re the strictest on the forms, so I wanted to bring them to you to make sure they were correct and I wouldn’t want to run into any issues,” he confessed.  “I figured if they had your stamp of approval, uh, literally, I guess, then it would be a good sign for how the party would go.”

I was a little flustered to hear this.  I wasn’t unfamiliar with the rumors that I was the “worst” clerk to go to with forms because I might turn them down where some of the others might be more lenient, but I’d never had someone specifically seek me out before because of that.  I wasn’t sure exactly how to respond to him, so I just kind of nodded and tried to think of what to talk about with a potentially royal and definitely very wealthy person I wouldn’t see again while he waited for me to finish with my stuff.

But thankfully, he had the small talk covered.

“I hope you – and everyone here,” he added with a glance at the other clerks, “will be able to come to the party!  We’re holding it kind of open-ended over several days to make sure everyone might be able to fit it into their schedules.  I’ve been trying to coordinate with bus drivers, too, to have buses or shuttles available from some parts of town to make sure everyone has a chance to get there with minimal difficulty.  I’m just hoping this can help people out for Christmas.”

I looked at him, openly curious.  “You care enough about people in this town, many of whom you’ve never met, to spend what I have to assume is a lot of money, just to make people have a better Christmas, even though there’s no financial benefit for you?”

“Financial, no, but that’s not everything.”  He rested his forearms on the counter, kind of leaning closer so he could talk to me.  “I think sometimes it’s worth spending money on something that will just make people happy.  Do you know there are more suicides during the holidays than other times of the year?  It’s a sad reality, but a lot of people feel even more lonely and depressed during the holidays, and if I can help just one person get through the holidays without reaching the point of feeling so lonely and hopeless they want to take their lives, if this party could help just a single person survive the holidays, then it’s worth it.  Not to mention there are families out there that will struggle to buy food, let alone gifts, and this way all the kids in town can be sure to have at least one gift, and all the families can have at least one hot meal for the holidays.  That’s what I’m hoping to do, and as far as I’m concerned, it’s worth the investment.  I do see it as an investment – and investment in people, people who might just need a bit of help to get through a tough time.”

I didn’t really know what to say to that, but I could understand his point.  “I think a lot of us have been through a time like that, when all we needed was a friendly hand,” I murmured, remembering my time with Mom and her family.  I’d gotten close to being so overwhelmed with the need for perfection that I’d developed borderline OCD, something Kat had demanded I get therapy for after we got away.  I still had tendencies that touched on that, like my need to have the forms perfect and all my pens lined up just right and so on, but I’d worked on not letting that control me, either.  If it hadn’t been for Kat looking out for me back then…I didn’t know what might have happened.

The fairy smiled sympathetically at me.  “I’m guessing from that tone, you’ve been through something like that.  I’m sorry about that.  But that’s really what this party is about – just hoping I can be that moment someone out there needs to survive another day.”

I honestly thought it was really a nice idea.  Sure, there were people who might abuse it by showing up with all their friends and eating the food when they didn’t need it and could afford to buy their own stuff, but it sounded like he was intent on making sure that everyone in town – whether they technically needed it or not – could come and enjoy the party.  It was honestly a nice thing for him to do, just offering something like that for free.

Tell him you’ll go, Kat encouraged.  Come on, he asked if you were going.

I had to hide my expression.  It was just a polite thing!  It’s not like it’s me personally – he’s apparently interested in making sure everyone in town shows up.

Ezraaaaaa, she whined, come on, try, for me?  You think he’s nice, I can tell, and you liked those forms he gave you enough I think you want to frame them.  You rarely try flirting and here’s a nice guy who might be open to a chimera – supernatural and all.  Just try?

Whoa.  Hey, I was only talking about just talking to him, not flirting!  What gave you the idea I’m interested?

He’s a guy, you’re gay, he’s nice, you like his forms, blah blah.  There’s a potential there.  You flirt and see how it goes.  That’s how it works, Ezzie.  Just try.

I rarely really tried flirting.  I tended to leave that up to Kat because it was so much more her thing than mine and even the idea just made me blank.  How was I supposed to chat up a rich guy anyway?  He was clearly rich if he was throwing this party this easily out of his own pocket.  Yeah, someone like him might be okay talking to a simple city/court clerk, but he wouldn’t be interested in me like that, no matter what Kat thought.

“Am I missing anything, by the way?”  He interrupted my thoughts.  “Can you think of anything else I might need for this as far as permits and things go?”

I carefully looked over his forms, trying to think of anything else he might need.  “It looks good to me, but I’m not into event planning, so I’m probably not the best person to ask.”

“But you see stuff like this, right?”  He reasoned.  “So you might recognize if something stood out as missing.”

Food, vendors, alcohol permits, entertainers, etc. – it seemed like he had everything covered to me.  Only….

“Have you spoken with police about having a presence or do you plan to hire your own security?”

His brows furrowed at my question.  “Security?  It’s…a party.  Would I need security?”

“It’s always safest,” I pointed out.  “Especially when you’re going to have that many people.  You could have kids get lost, people get into fights, people getting pickpocketed – there’s a lot of potentials when you have crowds like that.  Obviously you want it to be a time of celebration and happiness, but you can’t forget that some people will see it as a hunting grounds or just run into someone they don’t like and start a fight.”

“Oh.”  The fairy seemed a bit stumped by this.  “That’s a good point.  I want people to be safe at this, I forgot that some people might not be on board for just making it wholesome holiday fun.”

“The police will help some if you contact them, but you may want to hire some additional security for an event this size,” I warned him.  I scribbled the number of the police liaison for stuff like this on a business card, then handed it to him.  “They probably won’t have enough people free to handle the entire thing and still take care of the city in general, so if you count on them alone, you might be running thin on security.”

“Fair point.  Thank you.”  He gave me a warm smile.  “I’ll look into that and might be back for any permits related to that.”

I nodded a little awkwardly, ignoring Kat’s whining about why I wouldn’t flirt – mostly because I had no idea how, let alone doing so in this context just seemed inappropriate – then told him to wait a minute while I went down the hall to get stuff stamped by my boss.  I returned a few minutes later with his official permits and handed them over.

“Everything else is set on our end,” I informed him.  “If anyone asks, you can show them those, so I would recommend keeping them on you or on someone who will be at the event full-time.”

He nodded as he paid his fees, then gave me another smile.  “Thanks for the help, uh, Ezra?”  He glanced at my name plate on my desk.  “And the advice.  I’ll get on that.”

“You’re welcome,” I told him, then watched him head across the lobby and out the door.