He was beautiful.  Ess knew it for a certainty, even though she couldn’t see his face.  Shades tried to attract her attention, but the man dancing in the trees was just so achingly beautiful she couldn’t tear her eyes from him.  Other beautiful people danced in the background and she wished, oh how she wished, she could be part of them.  The beautiful faceless man held out his hand, inviting her to join them, but her feet were too heavy.  She clumped towards them like a pregnant hippo as Shades morphed into Oz, calling her back.  Silly man.  Why would he want to stop her?
 
“Oz?” she said, and in saying it out loud she awoke.
 
“Aha!”
 
Ess opened her eyes to see Oz beaming down at her.
 
“I knew it.  You do dream of me,” he said.
 
“Oz?”  She prised her face off her pillow, some of which seemed to stay with her.  She peeled a sheet of paper from her cheek, stared at it blankly for a moment and then replaced it on top of the pile she had been lying on.  She looked down at last night’s bed, which, after a couple of seconds, resolved itself into Oz’s couch.  Yesterday’s events came flooding back.
 
“Oz!  You’re awake!  Are you all right?”
 
“Me?  Never better, my little wood nymph.”  He took a deep breath, filling his lungs, and slapped his chest.  “In fact, I feel like a twenty-year-old.  But in the absence of one, I’ll settle for you.  Which brings me back to the main subject.  Just what is the meaning of this?”  He indicated the couch with a sweep of his arm.
 
“This?”  She looked at the pile of papers on the couch.  “Well, if you put things away after you…”
 
“No, I mean this.  Why are you here, sleeping on my couch, when you know there is an unspoken pact between us that you will eventually share my bed with me, no matter how much you pretend to resist me?  By every pantheon of gods, woman, you had the perfect opportunity to ravish me in my sleep, and you turned it down?  What’s wrong with you?”
 
Ess rubbed her eyes and worked her head to and fro.  It would take a week of yoga to work the kinks out.
 
“Well, I see you’re back to normal.  Shame.”
 
“Of course.  Why shouldn’t I be?  Wait.  Were we on the razzle last night?”
 
“No.”
 
“No, didn’t think so.  No pixies hammering at my skull.  No tongue like the bottom of a bird cage.  No naked woman in my bed.”  He frowned.  “So why did you spend the night here, and why can’t I remember?”  His hand flew to his head.  “Was I hit by a bus?  Am I concussed?  Did you get their number?”
 
“You don’t remember?”  Ess rose to her feet and groaned as her spine fought to straighten.
 
“Not a dicky bird.  Seriously, what happened?”
 
“What was the last thing you remember?”
 
“A vile lunch of rabbit food and no alcohol, though the company was pleasant enough.  Then… a walk?  In the park, maybe?  And then you, sprawled like an artist’s model on my couch, murmuring my name like a lovelorn teenager.  Was I doing disgusting things in your dreams?  Details, I need details.”
 
“We met Daisy’s family.”
 
“We did?”
 
“Yes.  Well, I did.  You fell asleep.”
 
“That doesn’t sound like me.”
 
“No.  She did it.  One of the fairies, I mean.  She sort of hypnotised you.”
 
“She didn’t have me quacking like a duck, did she?  Never liked them stage hypnotists.  Always struck me as mean, and my body is mesmerising enough to get any woman into bed.”  He glanced at the couch.  “Well, almost any woman.  Wait, she didn’t, you know, molest me whilst I was defenceless, did she?”
 
“She wanted to, but she couldn’t find a pole long enough to touch you with.  This is serious, Oz.  I thought for a moment they were going to keep you.  And then you were so dopey I thought you might never wake up.”
 
“And so you stayed to nurse me back to health?  How wonderful of you, but you could at least have worn a nurse’s uniform.  I’ve got one you can try on.”
 
Ess gave a theatrical shudder.  “The scary thing is, I know you’re not joking.”
 
“At least try it on for size.”
 
“No need.  You’re obviously back to rude health.”
 
“Ruder than normal, if anything.  So what did we discover?”
 
“From her family?  Nothing much.  But she’s not there, that much I’m certain.”
 
“So back to square one?  Then we have no more clues.  Time for a little R and R.  It has a little nurse’s hat and everything.”
 
“You’re sure you’re okay?”
 
“I will be as soon as you try on the outfit.”
 
“Outfit!  Damn!  I was going to get a dress, and then you decided to go all comatose on me.  Damn it, Oz, I don’t have time for your silly games.  I’ve got a ton of things to do, and the town’s going to be packed.”  She started for the door, then paused, staring at the man with a worried frown on her face.
 
“But you’re okay in yourself.  You’re sure?”
 
“Honestly?  I’ve never felt better.  I feel fresh and full of the vigour of spring.  My sap’s rising.  Want a look?”
 
“Mother Gaia!”  She turned from him and made for the door.  “I preferred it when you were unconscious.”