“How can they just ignore information about the Demon King!? It’s absurd. She basically almost destroyed everything in the material world!” I grumble internally. I’m making a point of staying quiet this evening. Ayre made me seriously mad, and all Fae know to never speak words in anger if we can help it. Things that get said in anger might be meant and feel necessary at the time, but will seldom continue to be and feel so afterwards.

  So, when your words can shape magic with ease, and you’re mad and want to say something hurtful, you simply shut up and recuse yourself from the situation. No fae would seriously wish harm upon others, even if we, like any other living thing, can be prone to moods.

  But, as I sit here, with the room filling with steam because Ayre has discovered a new bathing sensation that’s sweeping the nation, my grumpiness is only getting worse. It’s hot in here now, steam is drifting everywhere, and it’s leaving me feeling damp and heavy instead of relaxing in this nice bed warm and dry.

  Olly seems no worse for wear, looking at him. But he’s stoic as a rule, so maybe he hates being damp just as much as I do and is just doing a better job of not showing it. I look closely at his face as he makes the incredible effort to write wrong-handed in his journal. He looks like he’s struggling to hold back emotions, and seeing it makes my heart hurt a little, probably just because of our connection, though. I think. Maybe. Probably just that, yeah.

  Besides, I’m mad at him, too. He brushed off my warning about the Demon King and her servants just as well as Ayre did. But I’ve mostly forgiven him because he had just spent time apparently living in the mind of one, and was tired, and just generally doesn’t know much.

  My bitter edge softens a bit as I list the reasons for why Olly's dismissal is ultimately reasonable. Unexpectedly, he turns and looks at me and catches me staring at him and gives me a questioning look. Tentatively, he raises a hand and gives me a little wave to break my momentary loss of focus.

  Absently, I wave back, before consciously realizing I’ve been caught staring, at which point I roll over to face the other direction and feel myself blushing furiously. I hide my face in my hands, trying to think about all of the scenarios, situations, and scenes that befit Ayre, Olly, and my current situation to distract myself. Regrettably, though, nothing comes to mind. As when I try to focus, I feel a tug of concern across the connection he and I share that thoroughly distracts me from distracting myself.

  Concern for me? Concern for what he’s thinking about? “Why do I feel so invested in one of these outcomes over the other? It’s absurd. Of course he’s worried about what he experienced earlier today. That’s the only thing that makes sense. Besides, I shouldn’t be a major factor in his story. That’d be meddling…” I pause, thinking about our earlier discussion, “Olly said he didn’t think what I’ve been doing is meddling though…”

  My thoughts are abruptly cut off when I feel the bed shift from a great weight coming down on it that causes me to roll into the newly formed chasm in the mattress before I can react. Tumbling for a couple moments, I feel my roll arrested by a gentle hand.

  I open my eyes and see Olly looking down at me, “Sorry, Lil, didn’t think about that being something that’d happen.” He grins awkwardly at me. “I wanted to ask if you were doing okay.”

  “He was concerned about me! You shouldn’t be, you silly boy.” I settle myself into a cross-legged position on his palm and look back at him. “I’m fine. Probably.” I say crisply, but feel my own stoicism falter when he frowns.

  “It’s because of the Demon King thing earlier, yeah? I wanted to apologize but I was too tired. I still am too tired, actually.” He grins a little, which offsets some of the emotions I feel myself suffocating under.

  “It’s okay Olly. You just got through a traumatic experience, and with everything else going on, I don’t really hold it against you.” I wait for a few moments, holding my chin in my hands while thinking. After a long delay, one that normally would have made Ayre mad at me for delaying things, but one that Olly never minds because it’s the speed he’s usually operating at anyways, I continue, “I want to hear more about that memory you had, but…can you promise to hear me out about my side of it? I promise I’m not making anything up or anything like that.”

  The last sentiment comes out as a bit of a surprise, maybe trying to explain away my own feelings from earlier to myself. He just smiles simply and nods, “Yeah, I’m alright with talking about it more — in the morning if that’s alright. The hour of sleep I got in the tent really only made me realize how tired I actually am. And much like Ayre, dealing with those friendly people downstairs drained me even more.” He looks away from me for a moment before continuing, “It’s not that I didn’t believe you, Lilly. It’s just that my first exposure to that idea at all was through the mind of someone with an opposite opinion, and I’m still trying to figure out where my own memories end and those begin because the feelings Valynn had over the idea feel powerful enough that I’m wondering if I don’t have some association with them, too.” He frowns, “But that’s just my normal, I guess.”

  He begins to stand after that sentiment. A wave of chill passes between our connection, and it makes something deep inside me ache, but I don’t know what to say. “It’s so easy to comfort someone who’s crying, you just rub their back, give them a hug, and sit with them until they feel better. What can I even do for Olly? He’s not being beaten down by one event or experience. Every day is a fresh set of horrors for him. Frankly, the fact he holds up as well as he does is impressive.”

  You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

  “I’m probably gonna try to sleep — not to break off the conversation, but I’m falling asleep standing up, so it’s better for me to do that in my own bed rather than yours.” He gives me a weak smile as he lowers his hand for me to step off and onto the plush pillow.

  “It’s alright, Olly. You deserve the rest. I’ll make sure Ayre stays quiet whenever she’s done humming over there in the bath…thing.” I try to give him the brightest, warmest, smile I can, but it seems to do preciously little for him as he gives a bleak one in turn as he turns away from me.

  I realize, as I stand there on the soft pillow that most of my anger has been robbed from me at this point, so maybe I can go pester Ayre a bit. I flutter over to the top of the stall and land atop it, sitting facing outwards while listening to Ayre humming an…artistically creative interpretation of one of my father's tunes. It brings a smile to my face. Ayre might not have a musical bone in her body, but her quiet singing and humming always sounds nice when she doesn’t know I’m listening.

  For that, I decide not to interrupt. I’ll just sit here on the sill of the stall until she either notices, or I fall over dead from steam exposure.

  She notices quicker than I’d have hoped, unfortunately, though. “Can I help you, Lilly?” Her voice comes out terse, but is preceded by a drawn out sigh and a stretch that gives a better idea of her current mindset. Not angry anymore, just normal Ayre-terseness.

  “No, not really. I was coming over here to bother you, but you seemed to be thoroughly enjoying yourself, so I changed my mind and decided to listen to your singing and humming instead.” I explain honestly as I cast a look over my shoulder to look at Ayre. She’s blushing a little bit after the compliment. Other mortals might be embarrassed about being seen in that state, more than the compliment, but over the years Ayre and I had seen one another in just about any state imaginable. Turns out that neither fae nor dragons are terribly prudish. Some fae are alarmingly open about such things, like the fae of the Court of Dreams and Desires, but they’re…distasteful.

  “I see. No problem then. Could you warn me you’re listening next time?” She asks, looking back up at me while moving and flexing her wings in the water flows. The whole situation is leaving her looking very shiny. Almost polished, and I see that there’s some sort of scrub pad and soap on a shelf inside that she appears to have made use of. So she’s literally polished. Maybe I’ve just never seen Ayre actually clean…

  I make a show of thinking for a moment while looking at her face contemplatively. “Hmmmmmmm…. Nope. You always stop singing when you’re aware I’m listening, so it would be counter to my purposes. Plus, listening to something like that when someone thinks they’re alone is basically a trope in and of itself. And a good one.”

  “Usually in a romance story, Lilly. That’s the only place I’ve ever seen that play out, and it’s usually preceding something a bit more….more.” She puts her hands on her hips while looking up at me. “And I’m fairly certain you and I don’t have that kind of relationship.”

  “Maybe, but the whole point of tropes is to be used in new and creative ways. And I think “A friend secretly listening in on private singing because she knows the friend will actually be flattered even if she pretends she’s not” has plenty of non-amorous potential. Unless you want to hold my hand or something. I can probably abide that. But I’ll require you to sing while we do.” I give her an innocent smile that sets her grinning.

  “I’m just about done,” She speaks a little louder to get her voice over the din of rushing water, clearly informing the room of her intent to get out of the bath-thing.

  “Nothing to worry about, Olly went to bed. Your virtue and innocence will be intact if you dry off and get changed.” I tease at her. “I could wake him up if you'd like?”

  “I could pluck your wings if you'd like?” She returns with a bit of fire in her eyes. It gets me thinking about the connection between her and Olly and that pokes a few holes in my currently good mood.

  “I’ll spare you this time. But I think it would be pretty funny if it happened, is all I’m saying.” I hop down off the sill and glide over towards my chosen bed (The smallest one, I’m considerate!) I stand there, thinking for a few moments about if I should change for bed, but I decide that my dress is plenty fine enough for sleeping just as well as walking, running, dancing, dreaming, jumping, flying and falling. Maybe another time I’ll have to spend some time making some more comfortable clothes specifically for sleeping now that it’s something I have to do with regularity.

  I watch Ayre step out of the stall with positively glistering scales. I stare for a little bit as the warm luxlight of the room glints and glitters off of her scales, hair, horns, and eyes in an almost mesmerizing way and have to admit that Ayre might be one of the prettiest people I know. Even accounting for all of my Fae friends who pride themselves on such things.

  So often I realize that I’ve probably grown inured to the special things around me since I’ve known them as my standard for so long. Seeing someone as fantastical as Ayre standing in such a mundane environment really highlights it in my mind that we’re no longer just spending years relaxing in a cabin made wholly by hand over nearly twenty years. The rows of unnaturally clean lines of trees in the forest might seem ugly on the face. All of them being grown to make this interesting looking city have a beauty all its own, it just takes a couple more steps of processing to get there.

  I nod at the thought as Ayre looks over at me with a smile. “You’ve got the smile you get when you’re thinking about something thoughtful.” She whispers as the water flow shuts off behind her at a pulse of her magic.

  Laying back onto the big, soft, pillow, I respond as quietly as possible. “I was just thinking of the nature of pretty things, is all.”

  “Which is clearly why you were staring at me, right?” She says with a bit of jest in her tone.

  “Well, obviously, yes. I’ve seen the way Olly looks at you. I’m hardly alone in that thought.” I reply flatly. “At any rate, I’m off to sleep, do try to not make too much noise, Ayre. I’ve used a lot of magic today and need my beauty sleep while I can get it.” Making a show of falling back into my pillow, I settle in and close my eyes to surely be annoyed by the existence of dreams once more.