Ch2

The research institution was in chaos.

Word travelled fast, about how the comatose Fae had finally opened his eyes, and broke the ice into smithereens, before using some weird magic to dissolve the ice shards, which was scattered all over a 6-meter radius of where he stood.

Now he sat on a comfy chair, wearing a nightgown and some pants, as he was interrogated by the people in the research department.

"We'd like to ask about yourself," the Head Researcher said, his eyes gleaming with curiosity. "Who, and what, are you? How long have you been trapped in ice for? And why?" he started shooting off questions, one after another, in rapid succession. He only stopped when the Fae in front of him didn't answer at all, seemingly in a daze.

After a while, the Fae moved his lips stiffly, which was to be expected as he had been trapped in ice for a seemingly long time.

"... We'd..." he started, before he spoke in a different language entirely. When the Fae saw that the researchers had complicated expressions, he stopped.

"It doesn't seem like he speaks in any language we know of," a researcher in his elderly years stated.

"Well obviously," someone retorted with a snort.

"We won't be able to get any of our long-standing questions get answered today, it seems."

"Well, he has been trapped in ice for a very long time, you know? Maybe it's some sort of ancient language that doesn't even exist in this world anymore."

There was a murmur amongst the researchers.

"Well, maybe we could start off by teaching him a language we all know?" someone suggested.

"Good idea," the Head Researcher nodded his assent. "Then, who was the one who alerted everyone of his awakening?"

There was silence, as a sole hand was raised.

"I did."

A thin man with long, brown hair, tied up into a bun spoke up.

"Charles Xabel," the Head Researcher glanced at his nametag. "Well since you're probably the first person he saw, then he'll be in your care. Teach him our language at least, would you?"

"Y, yes sir!" the man smiled brightly. His eyes, hidden behind his large, thick glasses, glanced once again at the Fae. And damn, he was beautiful.

When he first laid his eyes on those gold-silver eyes, he'd been shocked into silence. He'd thought that his delusions had finally drove him mad, and that he'd finally started hallucinating. But no.

There was a crack, and then the ice shattered.

The ice that could never melt, nor crack, no matter how much effort they put in. Even hydraulic presses broke when they were desperate enough to try it. And yet, the moment those eyes fluttered open, it broke.

Furthermore, in a daze, the Fae picked up an ice shard, and it dissolved completely, without a trace. This was wholly unscientific, and he felt that he, Charles, would really need to find himself a psychologist. Because maybe, maybe those hours spent on research had finally gotten to his head and his brain had stopped working in a rational way.

But then the beauty, the Fae, moved his hand, and he snapped out of his stupor, because, damn it, no human can ever imagine, much less attempt, to do such a small move and make it look elegant.

The Fae tilted his head, confusion clearly written on his face. "--" he spoke, and Charles immediately felt as if that voice, that voice, had charmed him to the point of no return. He might've gotten himself bent because of his voice.

What else would this be if not something other-worldly and unscientific???

So he picked up a nearby communicator, and contacted the Head Researcher of the institute. Because he felt that he wouldn't be able to handle this alone, the Fae's pheromones (?) would melt his brain and make him stop working completely.

"Ooh, lucky you," a familiar voice said. Charles dodged the incoming shoulder slap from his friend.

"Damn it Sam, you know I won't be able to keep myself upright from one of your playful slaps," he glared at her.

"Aah, but it's interesting. I mean, you've been visiting that block of ice at least once a day after your work is done, one might think that you've had a crush on a comatose test subject," she giggled, he green eyes glinting in mirth. "Though I do admit, his body is definitely to die for! I hadn't been able to get him out of my head after that first time I saw him. Sometimes I'd even go into a daze from that memory, you know?"

"Hah, the great genius Samantha Carte, got herself distracted by a comatose subject's hot body? Even though you're such a workaholic? Don't joke," Charles snorted. Every one knew how scary Samantha could be once she went into work mode. None of her assistants could last for a month; they all left her with tears on their face.

"Thank you for the compliment," she said with a laugh. "Though others would perceive me as a demon, you're the only one who could tell that I'm just a genius and a workaholic."

"That… wasn't exactly a compliment, but oh well," Charles smiled back at her. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have work to do."

"Hah, good luck on being a language teacher, Charles," she rolled her eyes, "I remember how much you loathed grammar and sentence structure. You only took them because it's one of the requirements, albeit a minor one, to enter the Research Guild."

"Oh, shut it."

Charles then turned towards the Fae, who was staring at him in a daze. It was somewhat unnerving to be looked at with such eyes, and he cleared his throat in order to alleviate the awkwardness.

"Um, sorry for ignoring you, my name's Charles Xabel, You may call me Charles," he said, introducing himself with hand gestures. The Fae tilted his head.

"Charles Xabel?" he repeated, making Charles' face blush. His name being spoken in that voice, was so… He didn't want to continue down that line of thought. Then the Fae turned towards Samantha. He tilted his head once more.

"-- Samantha?" he said.

"Eh? Uh, yes, I'm Samantha, Samantha Carte," she replied, her surprise more or less the same as Charles', evident in how her fox ears perked up.

"-- Fae?" he asked once again.

"Umm, I'm not a pure-blooded Fae, if that's what you're asking?" she replied.

"'Not pure-blooded Fae'...?" he repeated in confusion.

"Uh, um, how do I explain this," she stammered, looking towards Charles, who also had a troubled expression on his face. "I'm a Fae, but also a human…?"

"Human?"

"Urm, someone like Charles. Charles is a human," she gestured towards Charles.

The Fae nodded.

"I'm… a, Fae," he spoke slowly, testing out his words, as his gold-silver eyes looked at them in innocent curiosity. He seemed to be looking for them to correct him if he was wrong, or praise him if he was right.

"Wow, he has a high learning ability. He got that just from our interaction? I'm pretty impressed," Samantha whistled.

"Well, he is a Fae, Sam, you know how high a Fae's learning ability is," Charles deadpanned.

"Hey! I'm a genius even amongst the demi-Fae, you can't use me as the minimum to gauge how high someone's learning abilities are!"

"Huh," Charles blinked. "I… kinda never thought of it that way, I just thought you're the norm..."

Samantha blushed, her face almost as red as her hair.

"Compliments won't get you any favors from me!"

"I wasn't exactly complimenting you, just telling you what I've thought all this time..."

"You--"

Charles decided that it was high time he stopped paying attention to Samantha for now, and focus on the Fae in front of him, who was just looking on as they conversed and basically ignored him most of the time.

But… It was a little bit awkward, as he didn't know what to say next. Scratching his head, he thought for a moment before sighing, "Actually, I don't really know where to start in teaching him our language."

"Well, he seems to have a high level of comprehension, though the question of where to start is a bit worrying," Samantha agreed.

"Well, my suggestion would be to start from the most pressing thing currently," the Head Researcher coughed, startling both Samantha and Charles. They'd forgotten that their boss was still there, along with a few other senior researchers.

Trying to hide his embarrassment, he asked, "What pressing thing, sir?"

"Well, maybe he's hungry? He has been trapped in ice for a very long time, after all," the Head Researcher said with a smile.