londoncallingrpg

It had been some time now since his attack, and though he still wore a few faded bruises that stubbornly refused to fade, the streaks of purple and blue across his fair skin were not what was bothering the pixie. Guilt clung to him, weighing him down, waking him in the night, and dampening his mood. It didn't matter how many times his friends and kin insisted he'd just been protecting himself, pain stabbed through his heart any time he let his mind wander to that night.

He'd replayed it over and over in his head, the man's words, the feeling of his fists and the pain that had left him weak and breathless- And the feeling of ice as his power had reached out to protect him. He hadn't meant to harm the man, but there was no undoing what had been done. All Winter could do now was live with the pain of knowing he had taken a life while defending his own.

Not wanting to be fussed over or worried about, he'd taken to going out more during the day. Wandering the city and wasting hours at the library or the shops. Anywhere quiet and calm, really.

Some days he made his way over to a small ballet school near the centre of town. Through large glass windows he'd watch the girls inside learn their positions and practice their jumps. They were so graceful, all smiles and giggles, even when their teacher's voice grew stern and they all rushed to get back into place. Winter found he envied them- But also found comfort in watching them dance.

Usually when the class ended, Winter would leave, but one day the instructor had signalled for him to come inside, and Winter had been curious enough to do just that.

"This is the third time you've watched one of my lessons," she noted. "Do you dance?"

Winter bit his lip, then shook his head. "Not like they dance," he said as the girls shuffled past him and out onto the street. "They're very elegant. I'm not sure I could be that."

The instructor raised a brow, then smiled. "No? Well, I do like a challenge..."

He'd been going daily since, learning at a rate that Miss Fairlite insisted was very impressive. She waxed on about natural grace and ability, but Winter found, for once, he wasn't interested in the praise. He didn't come to be told he was good or talented- He came because it felt good. Because the music made his heart patter in a way most of the music he devoured usually did not. ...Because for nearly an hour a day he felt free of his guilt and worries, his full focus on the dance and Miss Fairlite's instruction.

It was wonderful. Better than ice cream even.

(OTA. Feel free to have seen Winter dancing through the window and either come in to watch, or meet him outside after. :D)

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

From:

winter_wisp

Winter had never seen anything like it, and he stepped closer, eyes wide in wonder. His magic buzzed, excited and electrified, drawn to her power the way it often was to fae and other more powerful beings.

It urged him to be small, to dance with her. To frolic with this new power. To serve and aid, as pixies often did.

He knew he shouldn't, but Sunny was intoxicating to the tiny creature like this, and he shrank down, his wings freeing themselves as he began to flutter around her, humming and whispering words only his kind understood. ...Little sounds of praise.

From:

akatawitch

Anyanwu flowed like water through the melody, lost in the sweet joy of it, in the thrill of being released after so long inside. It was almost better than sex.

Not that she had much experience with which to think that, but Phouka had been very, very good.

When the song came to an end, she came effortlessly to a stop and her face was human again.

And then she covered her face with her hands, stunned and a little afraid of what she'd just done.

From:

winter_wisp

Winter was still fluttering around her, his small voice still singing praise in a language only his kind and the trees truly understood. Though eventually the tiny pixie landed on a high enough perch to see her.

"Oh, Sunny, do it again!" he pleaded, unaware as to why she might be hiding.

Edited Date: 2016-05-22 03:09 pm (UTC)

From:

akatawitch

"I shouldn't have done that," Sunny mumbled into her palms. Try as she did to hide, her ear was quite obviously turning red.

From:

winter_wisp

"Why?" Winter asked, his wings drooping slightly. Even in the dim light of the studio, they shimmered, prismatic colours filtering through them, leaving rainbows on the wall behind him.

"It was beautiful," he insisted. "Your power sang to mine. ...I liked it," he added with that familiar and impish grin. The one that made it had to tell if he was happy, or up to no good.

From:

akatawitch

Sunny lowered her hands, still pink in the cheeks and clearly struggling for the right words. "Someone's spirit face is... well, not private exactly, but it's. It's special, I guess." Chichi had compared it to seeing someone naked, but that wasn't something she wanted to say.

From:

winter_wisp

Winter understood the idea of privacy. How it was different from secrets- How it invoked different feelings.

Fluttering down from his perch, he returned to mortal height, his wings stretching out wide before folding against his back, then vanishing. Something he'd practised doing when fae Willy had asked him to learn.

"Then I'm honoured to have seen it," the pixie said, offering a tiny bow.

From:

akatawitch

Sunny smiled softly, grateful that he understood the gravity at least, if not the full significance. "It's almost my real face, in a way. Some Leopard children don't even show their human faces when they're first born. I was a very different case, of course."

From:

winter_wisp

"You were different," Winter said, looking thoughtful before speaking again.

"Sunny, do you ever wish you were more like your kin?" he asked quietly.

Winter wished that often. That he could be more like the pixies in the village that had taken him in.

From:

akatawitch

"In what sense?" Sunny asked, looking down at her hands, turning them over to look at the backs. "That I'd been born to Leopard parents I didn't have to hide my magic from? That I'd been born in Nigeria so the kids at school wouldn't call me akata? That my skin had color? Though the answer's all the same. Yes."

From:

winter_wisp

"I wish that too. ...Well, different things, but the same," Winter confessed. "Except, then I wouldn't be me, and you wouldn't be you. ...I wouldn't like to not be me, and- I'd be sad if you weren't you. I like you a lot, Sunny. Exactly as you are."

He frowned then, wrapping his arms around himself.

From:

akatawitch

Sunny frowned too as she looked up, thoughtful. "What's wrong?"

From:

winter_wisp

Winter wanted to tell her what he'd done, about how it was filling him with guilt that weighed heavy, even on top of all the other strange and confusing feelings he had lately. Fin had told him not to speak of it though, and he didn't want Sunny to think he was a bad pixie anyway.

Instead he settled on something else that was bothering him. Something he'd not told Fin or Willy about. ...He hadn't even told Phouka yet.

Quietly, he walked over to his bag, digging through and pulling out a brochure for the BRIT School. It was slightly crumpled now, but he held it out for Sunny to see.

"Finlay wants me to go to that posh school, but- I wish to go here."

From:

akatawitch

Somehow, that didn't seem like the thing. A thing. But not the one at the heart of it.

All the same, Sunny didn't press the issue. She took the brochure and gave it a once over, not opening it yet. "Why this school?"

From:

winter_wisp

"Because I want to learn what they teach. I want to dance, I want to perform," Winter said softly. "...I don't think Fin will allow it though, not after... Um, something that happened. And Fae Willy will agree with whatever he says."

From:

akatawitch

"Why not?" Sunny asked, opening the brochure to skin the contents. Really, as far as she could tell the point of Winter going to school at all was discipline and socialization, academics being something of a bonus. If that were the real aim, then why not let Winter study something he actually cared about? He might actually pick up on the other stuff that way. "I think he'd want you to be learning something you like."

From:

winter_wisp

Winter wilted, not sure how much longer he could dance around what had happened.

"Because. ...Because I did something very bad, Sunny. Something terrible," the pixie said, beginning to get upset.

He was still certain school was some sort of punishment, so why would he be rewarded with a school he wanted to attend?

From:

akatawitch

Sunny looked up at him and blinked slowly, deliberately keeping herself calm and sedate as Winter threatened to work himself into a tizzy. "Well," she said, not asking what it was. "When I talked to Fin about it, he wanted you to learn more about people in a structured environment. I'd think if you were learning something you liked, you'd both be more likely to get what you want."

From:

winter_wisp

"Maybe I don't deserve what I want," Winter said, reaching to take the brochure back, then ducking his head.

"I should go home. I have chores to do," he added quietly.

From:

akatawitch

Sunny let him take it before asking, "Do you want to talk about it?"

From:

winter_wisp

"No. ...Yes, but- Finlay said I mustn't talk about it," Winter replied.

From:

akatawitch

"I see," Sunny murmured, thoughtful. "Well. It's your business. If you'd like to talk about it, I'll listen. If not..." she shrugged.

From:

winter_wisp

The pixie fidgeted, then pulled a long shirt on over his dance clothes.

"We shouldn't speak of it here," he said quietly. "We can go to my flat. Phouka is out, we will have some privacy there."