OTA - Winter or Yves

[yves]

The fair haired sprite had been staring at him for nearly an hour now as Yves had made his way around the little shops. For all the creature had somehow enchanted itself to be of mortal height, there was no denying it was a pixie. Those pointy ears and sweet and spicy scent could be confused for nothing else.

Yves had ignored it at first, wandering through the early morning market and pretending not to notice the way it followed. Even allowing it to get close a few times before turning and staring directly into its pale blue eyes. Strange looking thing, all pale flesh and bone. Clearly underfed in its youth. Likely brittle boned, and unaware of it's poor immune system. Yves would have felt bad for it- If he was in the habit of feeling for lesser beings.

It had skittered off for a bit after that, but he'd spotted it once more when he'd stopped near the end of the market in a quieter area. They were practically alone, some grannies on a bench nearby so busy chatting that they hadn't even noticed they had company. The only people who might see them were those passing down the parallel street on the other side of the road- Though there view would be slightly obscured by the stalls and carts.

"The Unseelie Butcher," The pixie gasped, blue eyes going wide as they confirmed what he'd suspected all morning.

"Dreadful nickname, slanderous as well," Yves replied, sneering a little and removing the creature's charm with a wave of his hand.

Winter was so good at measuring and controlling his potion doses now that he rarely carried any with him, and the moment Yves waved his hand, the fair haired pixie knew he'd made a mistake. ...Perhaps several, if he was honest. Shrunk down to his normal size, Winter darted around in a panic, desperate not to be seen- Only to be snatched out of the air by Yves.

"Go home, pixie, and do not speak any of my names ever again," Yves warned, waiting until Winter nodded before letting him go and watching him zoom off as fast as his shimmering wings would take him.

(OTA- Tag Yves or Winter, only one or the other please! Catch Winter hiding and trying to make his way home, or Yves skulking off back home to his lab.)

Comments

[winter_wisp]

Winter sighed, flopping onto his side and looking uneasy.

"Should I tell Will then?" he asked quietly. "We haven't spoken in some time now."

[akatawitch]

Sunny did her best to put aside her gut reaction of rage and disgust that happened whenever she thought of Willy these days to think about that logically. Finally she said, "That might be the right thing to do. Though if that's too hard... maybe talk to Faizel first."

[winter_wisp]

Winter let out a sad coo, something he did far less often now he was grown.

"Maybe I shouldn't tell anyone. Maybe he'll just go away," he said quietly.

[akatawitch]

"This I can tell you," Sunny said with more certainty. "They never just go away."

[winter_wisp]

"Never?" Winter echoed, wetting his lips and curling up a bit. "I don't want to go running to Will, I don't want to run to anyone. ...Aspid's book though. He's dead, I shouldn't fear returning to that place. ...I know how to get there."

He sat up again, white curls flat on one side now where he'd crushed them against the arm of the sofa.

"You could come. You could tell me how you know so much about deadly beings while we walk."

Though more than wanting to hear Sunny's tale, Winter wasn't sure he was brave enough to go alone.

[akatawitch]

Sunny looked at him for a long moment. "Are you sure about this?" She had only taken intro psychology, but even so, going back to the site of deep trauma seemed like a potentially terrible idea.

Plus, y'know, the Other Side and stuff.

[winter_wisp]

"I'm sure, I can do this," Winter insisted, nodding. In a show of maturity, the pixie looked thoughtful for a long moment before saying something somewhat sensible.

"I will leave a note for Phouka, so he knows where we have gone, then I'll get changed into something more suited to traveling in the forest. ... We should see if Philip will come. He can scout ahead for us. He's small but brave, the best sort of scout."

[akatawitch]

Sunny nodded her agreement as she pulled out her phone and tried to think of who she could text for the same purpose. She wasn't entirely sure why she landed on Felix as she wasn't sure how much she could expect from him if she ever turned to him needing help that wasn't of an intellectual nature, but maybe that was part of it, too. Bravado.

Heading to the Other Side with Winter. If you don't hear from me by tomorrow, something went wrong.

That was probably more time than she needed normally, but weird fairy time bullshit was not impossible. And it was true, even if she was totally fine, timey-wimey mess counted as something going wrong.

[winter_wisp]

Winter, in the meantime, vanished into the bedroom, leaving Phouka a note before digging through the closet to find something less mortal looking to wear.

When he returned he looked like he'd tumbled out of a fairy tale. Everything was in deep olives and plums, the fabric fitted but draped, cut to look like leaves stitched together and paired with simple dark trousers and heavy looking leather boots that matched the belt that held a small but vicious looking dagger at his hip. He looked less like a pixie, and more like some fair haired version of peter pan, heading off to battle.

On his shoulder sat Philip- Who definitely hadn't been nesting in Winter's sock drawer. The little bird was puffed up proudly, and it chirped at Sunny before fluttering over to her and perching on her head.

"I'm ready if you are," he said.

[akatawitch]

Sunny knew what was coming when she saw Philip flying towards her and waited for the impact in her hair before she said, "Hello, naughty little thing," she said affectionately.

She didn't have anything to change into that was more practical, but she had her knife and some powders and her innate talent. She could camouflage herself just fine.

"Ready as I'm going to be."

[winter_wisp]

Winter nodded, heading for the floor length mirror that hung on the wall. A mirror that served no purpose but this one, a door to The Other Side.

Winter tapped on the glass, and the mirror seemed to ripple, becoming liquid right before Winter stepped through it. He had passed through a few times before, and he knew exactly where he'd be, a large clearing near the lake. Less than an hour's walk to Aspid's cottage.

Philip was clearly no stranger to it either, as the plump bird chirped a little before taking off to lead Sunny through.

[akatawitch]

Sunny sighed. Of course she'd been outside the mortal realm before, but not in this part of the world. Still, she wasn't going to be outdone in bravery by a budgie, and she stepped through.

The air immediately smelled different, as it had in all her crossings.

[winter_wisp]

Winter hadn't wandered far, nor had Philip, who landed on Sunny as soon as she crossed through.

"It's not far," Winter said, "If we follow the bank of the river north, we only have to go through the woods briefly. It's the safest way."

[akatawitch]

Sunny nodded her understanding and reached to give Philip a reflexive skritch. "Lead on, then."

[winter_wisp]

Winter nodded, starting to walk and putting a fair amount of space between himself and the water as he led the way.

[akatawitch]

Sunny, remembering the first time she crossed that bridge into Leopard Knocks, came to the uncomfortable conclusion that there was probably something she didn't want to encounter living in that lake.

Normally she wouldn't think of doing such a thing, but here and now she stuck close to Winter not because she felt protective, but because between the two of them, he was the one who knew what he was doing.

What the hell had she agreed to this was a terrible idea.

[winter_wisp]

Winter could sense Sunny was uneasy, and after a moment started to chat.

"It's not all dangerous you know," he said. "Before I lived with Aspid, I spent a lot of time in the woods with my friends. We sang with the flowers, made music with the bees, built forts from fallen leaves... The Wyldwood has its dangers, but it has beauty and wonder too. Though it's safer when you're small, like Philip."

Philip chattered a little in agreement, bouncing and then taking off to flutter just above them both.

[akatawitch]

Sunny snorted at Philip's bravado, but she did relax a fraction. "I don't know if it's fear exactly. It's..."

She pressed her lips together in thought. "You're always aware of unfamiliar surroundings, when you don't know what's dangerous and what's not. When I was nine and my parents moved us back to Nigeria, we went to the market in Abuja. It really wasn't anything to be scared of at all, but I don't know how Mama put up with me. There were so many sights and smells and languages and movement and noise, and I just got overwhelmed. I got used to it, by the time I was twelve it was just a market, but that first exposure freaked me out."

[winter_wisp]

"That sounds exciting," Winter said. "I understand how that could be frightening though."

He put his arms out as he began to hop from rock to rock as he walked.

"Overstimulation can be hard, especially for those with magic. Still, some of those scents and sights must paint your dreams sometimes, and that must be nice in a way."

[akatawitch]

"It's just... part of home now." Sunny explained, probably not very well. "So I suppose it does. Though this is better than how I used to react to magical overstimulation." She smiled at this as she revealed her childhood humiliation. "My nose wouldn't stop running."

[winter_wisp]

Winter smiled at the confession, giggling and adding a little bounce to his walk.

"I was like that when I first lived with Aspid," he confessed. "His home was full of so many new things. I would get headaches all the time."

His smile faded a little, but he shrugged. "I adapted though."

[akatawitch]

Ew.

Not sure what to say about that, Sunny decided to change the subject. "You wanted to ask something."

[winter_wisp]

"I did?" Winter asked, glancing over and looking puzzled. "Oh, I don't remember what I wanted to ask. Sorry."

[akatawitch]

Sunny snorted, not surprised exactly but amused. Though perhaps it was for the best. She didn't want to tell this story anyway. "That's all right."

[winter_wisp]

Winter frowned, hating his stupid brain. It never remembered the important things. It never served him when he needed it, even now, even grown. It was still so flaky and dumb. It knew some bigger words, knew how to focus a little better in small bursts, but overall, it seemed like some things didn't change.